Pennyroyal Academy

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Pennyroyal Academy

M.A. Larson

G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers: 2014, 320 pages

Reviewed by Jessie Park

A girl, later named Evie because she has no name, leaves her family in a far away place, traveling through the haunted forests to come to the bustling city in order to enlist at Pennyroyal Academy.  Pennyroyal Academy trains future princesses and knights in order to fight the war against the witches and dragons.  Ever fearful of being cut and having to leave the Academy, Evie must survive the rigorous training by the Fairy Drillsergeant while also navigating this new world of friendships and enemies, of mean girls and cute boys.  The outside war continues to get closer to the Academy while also becoming closer and alarmingly personal for Evie.  She must draw on all her strength and courage in order to not just stay at Pennyroyal Academy but also to just stay alive.

Carry On

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Carry On

Rainbow Rowell

St. Martin's Griffin: 2015, 522 pages

Reviewed by Jessie Park

Rainbow Rowell first wrote about Simon Snow and Baz in her novel Fangirl.  In Carry On, Rowell has devoted a full novel to the characters that were only briefly mentioned in Fangirl.  Simon Snow is "the chosen one," the one who will stop the dark force that threatens the world of magic.  Except that he's pretty sure he's not really "the chosen one" since he's terrible at magic and is more focused on why his nemesis for the past seven years is missing from their last year at the Watford School of Magicks.  Baz has his own reasons for missing so much school but he won't share it with Simon.  After all, Baz likes seeing Simon squirm.  There is magic, teen angst, friendship, and relationship drama; after all, they are in high school, even if they have to deal with monsters on occasion.

The Wrath and the Dawn

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The Wrath and the Dawn (The Wrath and the Dawn #1)

Renee Ahdieh

G.P. Putnam's Sons: 2015, 388 pages

Reviewed by Jessie Park

The Wrath and the Dawn is the first in Ahdieh's series that is based off the story of Scheherazade and One Thousand and One Nights.  While the author uses a few stories from the collection, the book does a good job of creating its own unique story.  Khalid is the young Caliph of Khorasan and each night he takes a bride and each morning he has her killed.  Sixteen year old Shahrzad volunteers in order to take revenge for the killing of her best friend.  Slowly, Shahrzad starts to fall in love with the Caliph and realizes that things are not all they seem and wonders what secrets her new husband is trying to hid from her.  The Wrath and the Dawn weaves magic, mystery, romance, and suspense in this wonderful retelling of a classic story.  Readers should be aware that the second book in the series will not be available until May 2016.

Nimona

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Nimona

Noelle Stevenson

Harper Collins: 2015, 272 pages

Reviewed by Jessie Park

Nimona is a graphic novel by Noelle Stevenson, which started as a web comic.  Nimona is a young girl who also happens to be a shapeshifter and she has a knack for causing trouble.  She becomes the sidekick to the villain Lord Ballister Blackheart.  Blackheart is out for revenge against Sir Ambrosius Goldenloin and the Institution of Law Enforcement and Heroics.  As Blackheart spends more time with Nimona, he begins to realize that her powers are more dangerous than he imagined.  Can he prove that the Institution is actually up to no good, finally exact revenge against Goldenloin, and keep Nimona in check?  

An Ember in the Ashes

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An Ember in the Ashes (An Ember in the Ashes #1)

Sabaa Tahir

Razorbill: 2015, 446 pages

Reviewed by Jessie Park

An Ember in the Ashes is the first of Sabaa Tahir's epic series.  The author switches each chapter into the point of view of Laia, a slave, or Elias, a soldier, who live under the rule of the brutal Martial Empire (which was inspired by Ancient Rome).  Laia just wants to survive, living simply with her grandparents and brother.  But when her brother is arrested for treason against the Empire, Laia agrees to spy on the Empire at the military academy for the rebels in return for her brother's rescue.  

Elias just wants to graduate from the military academy and run away from the cruelty he's been surrounded by since he was six years old.  His plans of desertion are put on the back burner as he is chosen to compete in the Trials, a brutal series of test in which the winner not only lives but is either crowned the new Emperor or his right hand man.  It is during this time that he meets Laia and their stories begin to intertwine.  Readers should be aware that the second book in the series will not be available until the end of April 2016.

Boneshaker

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Boneshaker 

Cherie Priest

Tor Books: 2009, 416 pages

Reviewed by Salina Bush

During the Civil War, a rumor of gold in the Klondike sweeps the nation and Russian prospectors set up a contest for anyone that can build a machine that can cut through ice.  Leviticus Blue creates the Boneshaker to do just that but something goes terribly wrong.  Without warning, the Boneshaker rips through downtown Seattle, destroying everything in its wake and worse yet, releasing a gas that turns humans into zombies.

Sixteen years later, Briar, Leviticus's widow, is trying to eke out a living to support herself and her son, Zeke, on the outskirts of the great wall built to contain the blight gas and the living dead that still roam the ruined city.  She has been able to keep them alive this long but all this changes the day that Zeke decides to go beyond the wall to find out what actually happened the day the Boneshaker turned everything upside down.  This means it's up to Briar to go in and bring him back out.

I really enjoyed reading about the world the author had created, and how people would live in a world not only with zombies but also covered in poisonous gas.  It was very interesting to see this alternative take on U.S. History.  Also, the characters were very likable and capable, it never felt like they were making stupid decisions just for the sake of keeping the plot going like some other books do.  Overall, this was a very enjoyable read and I will be picking up the others in the series soon.

Dead Witch Walking

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Dead Witch Walking 

Kim Harrison

HarperTorch: 2004, 416 pages

Audiobook published by Tantor Audio

13 hours and 14 minutes

Reviewed by Jessie Park

In an alternate reality, humans live side-by-side with the paranormal entities (called Inderlanders) such as witches, vampire, werewolves, and pixies after a terrible bio-disease wiped out half the human population.  Rachel Morgan is a witch bounty hunter with the Inderland Runner Services but she's stuck in a rut.  She decides to quit and somehow ends up starting her own runner business and partnering with the Service's best runner, Ivy, a living vampire.  But the IRS does not like it when employees break their contracts and Rachel soon discovers that there's a bounty on her head!  The hunter becomes the hunted in this delightfully entertaining and funny first book of the Hollows Series.  Narrator Marguerite Gavin does a great job creating unique voices for each character.

Fledgling

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Fledgling

Octavia E. Butler

Grand Central Publishing: 2007, 320 pages

Reviewed by Salina Bush

This book is not your typical vampire book and I loved it for that reason.  It tells the story of a girl who wakes, gravely injured, and has no idea who or what she is.  She must figure out what happened to her and, more importantly, how to live with the inhuman abilities and needs that she possesses.  It was wonderful learning with the main character how to navigate the world she finds herself in and the book was a very unique take on the mythos we are all familiar with.  It was also very bittersweet reading this book.  This is the final book that Octavia Butler published before her untimely death in 2006, which made it all the more special to me.  It is a fitting capstone to a wonderful career.

Uprooted

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Uprooted
Naomi Novik
Del Rey: 2015, 435 pages
Reviewed by Salina Bush

Agnieszka and her village live on the edge of the corrupted Wood.  They rely in the powers of the wizard called the Dragon to keep it at bay.  In return he demands one young woman handed over to serve him for ten years.  Everyone expects Agnieszka's best friend, Kasia, the best and brightest among them to be chosen, but no one is more surprised than Agnieszka when she is chosen.  I really enjoyed reading this book.  I went into it thinking that it would be another beauty and the beast retelling but I was pleasantly surprised with where the story went.  It was fast paced without feeling rushed, the characters felt like real people and not tropes from a fairy tale, and I really enjoyed the dark atmosphere that was much more Grimm than Disney.  This was a great story about growing up, finding your place in the world, and learning that maybe the conventional way of doing things doesn't always work for you.