Review: The Fragile Ordinary

The Fragile Ordinary
by Samantha Young

Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Publication Date: June 26, 2018

When I picked up THE FRAGILE ORDINARY by Samantha Young, I expected to read a light, fluffy romance without much substance (I'm definitely a sucker for those). But I was wrong. Though I probably would have been satisfied with a plot where main characters had met, fallen instantly in love, and then lived happily ever after, after finishing the novel, I appreciated that Young took a more thoughtful, realistic tone. Though the novel is first and foremost a romance, it also deals with heavier topics such as neglect, gang culture, and privilege. Even after I put the book down, I continued to think about the complicated relationships between characters. The one thing that felt a little off about the novel was the pacing; a consequential event happens in the last 30 pages in the novel and I wish that Young had spent more time unpacking it. Despite this, I would recommend this novel to anyone looking for a romance that will make them think. Because of sexual content and substance abuse, this book is probably best suited to older teens.

Review: Mariam Sharma Hits the Road

Mariam Sharma Hits the Road
by Sheba Karim

Publisher: Harper Teen
Publication Date: June 5, 2018

MARIAM SHARMA HITS THE ROAD by Sheba Karim is a profound, thoughtful, and above all, fun trek through the American south as three Pakistani-American teenagers go on the road trip of a lifetime. One is a passionate environmentalist trying to make peace with a father who abandoned her, one is a devout Muslim struggling to accept his own homosexuality, and one is an atheist thrown out of her house by Muslim parents after a scandalous photo of her makes its way to Times Square. Together, they are three emotionally messed up teenagers who are coming to terms with their lives and choices, all while on an often hilarious, always exciting trip from New Jersey to New Orleans. At its heart, MARIAM SHARMA HITS THE ROAD is a book addressing important issues such as Islamophobia, homophobia, parents, growing up, and being grateful for what you have.

Review: Tell Me No Lies

Tell Me No Lies

by Adele Griffin

Publisher: Algonquin Young Readers
Publication Date: June 12, 2018

TELL ME NO LIES is a story about a girl, uncertain about her future and unable to talk about her past. It’s Lizzy’s senior year and she’s set her sights on Princeton but her plans are derailed when she meets Claire, a mysterious transfer student with a secret of her own. As she gets more deeply entangled in Claire’s life and meets new people, each with their own burden to bear, Lizzy feels more and more lost. In order to connect to her new friends and to herself she must reveal her deepest secret.

Griffin does an good job of utilizing her setting: the book was set in the eighties, and many of the problems or experiences the characters have are very oriented to the time period (AIDS, Keith Haring etc.). Also, the ending, I thought, was very fitting for the story. Overall this book was a nice, moderately light read and I’d recommend it!

Review: The Fall of Innocence

The Fall of Innocence

by Jenny Torres Sanchez

Publisher: Philomel Books
Publication Date: June 12, 2018

When 16-year-old Emilia was a child, she suffered a traumatic attack. In the years since, she's done her best to relegate her memory of those terrifying hours to a forbidden corner of her mind. Recently, she's found it harder and harder to ignore her pain. And when new information about the attack comes to light, she's forced to reconsider everything she thought she knew. 

THE FALL OF INNOCENCE is a heavy, unflinching journey into the depths of a girl's emotional turmoil. The author's tone is reflective and almost distanced. It's as if she wanted to give the reader time to contemplate. Ultimately, her beautiful, haunting prose does the brutal subject matter justice. 

Review: Crossing the Line

Crossing the Line
by Simone Elkeles

Publisher: Harper Teen
Publication Date: June 12, 2018

CROSSING THE LINE by Simone Elkeles is a novel written from two different perspectives. One narrator, named Ryan, is a teen who crosses the border from Texas into Mexico to learn to box and to escape his family. The other narrator is named Delilah, the daughter of a wealthy lawyer. When the two meet, they become entangled in a dramatic tale of murder and betrayal set amidst the drug wars of the US/Mexico border.  

The double narrative was a pleasant change from the straightforward single narrator of most novels. The author captured both sides of the story well, and the plot was never stagnant. It was a fast-paced and exciting tale of life on the border.

Review: Summer of Salt

Summer of Salt
by Katrina Leno

Publisher: Harper Teen
Publication Date: June 5, 2018

SUMMER OF SALT is a surreal, yet very comforting novel about magic. Georgina and Mary are twins, daughters of Penelope Fernweh, but they could not be more different. Penelope owns the only inn on the island of By-The-Sea, and Georgina and Mary work there during the summers, when hobby ornithologists come, looking for a bird who may or may not be three hundred years old – it’s likely – and may definitely totally possibly be a long-lost family member. The bird’s name – it has a name, oh yes – is Annabella. Every single woman in the Fernweh family is magic, including Georgina’s mother (expert potion-maker) and sister (Mary can float). Except Georgina. 

Georgina has no idea what she can do. All the Fernweh women have discovered their powers by their eighteenth birthday at the latest, if there are any powers. Georgina is seventeen, and hasn’t felt or seen any ounce of her own magic in the world. And she feels worse knowing Mary’s kind is extremely obvious. Mary’s kind is so obvious, in fact, that she has to learn to control her powers, or risk floating a few inches of the ground as she introduces herself to her college roommate when she and Georgina leave after the summer is over. This is their last year on the island, and every year without fail, Annabella comes on a certain date of a certain month, and with her arrive the inn guests. But this year, Annabella is late. 

Oh, and, this is the year Georgina decides to fall in love. 

SUMMER OF SALT is so sweet, and so deep. Even with all the chaos that love brings, there is a strong innocence there too. When Georgina kisses Prue for the first time, I was practically willing it to last longer. Everything on the island of By-The-Sea is so quaint, I myself fell in love with the town, as well. Some books you read, you appreciate the story but don’t feel in the story, you feel connected but not empathetic. This book is rare, because it is not like that at all. I felt inside the story, inside their bodies and minds. Each time I read parts of it, in the comfort of my bed, on the sofa with light streaming onto the fabric, in the bath, even, I smelled the salt and the brine, heard the waves, felt the floods. To me, the ocean smells like gasoline, feels like wind, and sounds like birds, so I was able to project some of my senses onto the novel too. Even though I live far closer the beach than a Midwesterner might, Summer Of Salt induced ocean-related nostalgia in me as well. 

Not only did Katrina Leno write the descriptions well, she wrote the characters supremely. Mary was so many stereotypes and clichés all rolled into one, Peter was average and slightly pathetic, Vira seemed like Katrina was trying to hard to give our main character a “weird friend,” Prue seemed like the “perfect, dolled up” love interest, and Harrison was sort of useless and distant, but of course, when sh%t hits the fan, every single main character shows their true colors. Vira became, in a couple of choice words, effortless and bad%ss. Mary was more fragile and humane than I think any of us were expecting. Peter was anything but average, yet still pathetic, in the pitiful, troubled way. Harrison grew into one of the best friends Georgina could ever have. And we discovered Prue has motion sickness. 

This book was feminist and humanist, and ended strongly and gently. Simply put, I loved it.   

Review: Neanderthal Opens the Door to the Universe

Neanderthal Opens the Door to the Universe
by Preston Norton

Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Publication Date: June 5, 2018

From the moment I read the unforgettable opening lines of Preston Norton’s debut, I knew NEANDERTHAL OPENS THE DOOR TO THE UNIVERSE was a book unlike any other.

Cliff Hubbard’s nickname, “Neanderthal,” pretty much sums up the way his fellow students at Happy Valley High School see him: huge (he’s 6 and a half feet and 250 pounds) and vaguely subhuman (he’s decidedly unpopular and this is high school, after all). Then Aaron Zimmerman, a football player and bully, has a spiritual experience after nearly dying in a car wreck. When he returns to school he claims God has given him a list of things to do to make Happy Valley a better place. It involves sexy drug dealers, computer hacking, the GSA club, Cliff’s older brother’s suicide…and Cliff himself.

The plot is just as wacky as it sounds, and Norton’s original, irreverent voice complements it perfectly. He weaves together expected YA elements—romance, angst, commentary on the heinous world of high school—with sharp, witty, John Green-esque dialogue. NEANDERTHAL OPENS THE DOOR TO THE UNIVERSE is hilarious, meaningful, and touching.

Review: Lifel1k3

Lifel1k3
by Jay Kristoff

Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: May 29, 2018

In a near future, post-disaster version of Earth, Humans have created Robots with Artificial Intelligence (Logika) that are governed by the Three Rules of Robotics:
1. A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
2. A robot must obey the orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.
3. A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Laws.
Eve, a Domefighter, struggles to make enough money to buy medicine for her sick Grandfather, and to keep her and her friend Lemon safe. Shortly after Eve manifests mutant abilities, they encounter a Lifelike, an Android not governed by the Three Rules. Together, Eve, the Lifelike, and Lemon go on a mission to rescue her kidnapped Grandfather and discover Eve’s mysterious past.

I really enjoyed LIFEL1K3. The book presents issues that may soon be relevant to us, such as becoming too dependent on technology, at what point is AI considered alive, and how humans would react to such changes. However, I was a bit confused as to who the target audience is. The story is rich and thought provoking, yet is written in a way that seems targeted to younger readers. While this is about a common Sci-Fi scenario, I love the depth it goes into about issues with Artificially Intelligent Androids and robots, who can both feel and think for themselves. This book reminds me of the movie Ex Machina. While LIFEL1K3 is nowhere near as intense as Ex Machina, they cover the same issues in similar ways.

Review: Questions I Want to Ask You

Questions I Want to Ask You
by Michelle Falkoff

Publisher: Harper Teen
Publication Date: May 29, 2018

QUESTIONS I WANT TO ASK YOU by Michelle Falkoff is about Patrick "Pack" Walsh, a high school senior. On his eighteenth birthday he recieves a letter from his mother who he thought was dead. This leads Pack to investigate and hunt for his mom. I enjoyed reading this book.  There are a few really good plot twists. I liked the characters a lot. Overall, it was a good book that I definitely recommend!

Review: Furyborn

Furyborn
by Claire Legrand

Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Publication Date: May 22, 2018

While I was initially confused, I actually enjoyed Claire Legrand’s FURYBORN quite a lot. Switching between the stories of two young women, Rielle Dardenne and bounty hunter Eliana Ferracora, creates an interesting dynamic between the two connecting stories although they are centuries apart. Simultaneously, seeing the sheer difference between the elemental magic-centered world of Rielle, from the civil war-filled world of Eliana is very well done. Overall, it’s a very interesting and captivating read. However, while I highly recommend this book, it is definitely for young adults and older due to some of the book’s darker themes and some scenes in particular.

Review: The Strange Fascinations of Noah Hypnotik

The Strange Fascinations of Noah Hypnotik
by David Arnold

Publisher: Viking Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: May 22, 2018

In THE STRANGE FASCINATIONS OF NOAH HYPNOTIK by David Arnold, high schooler Noah Oakman wakes up in a world where everything he knows, with a few exceptions, is slightly different: small changes that seem meaningless but are eerily inexplicable and random. Noah tries to piece together what happened to him by investigating the few things that stayed constant, which he calls his "fascinations". With no explanation as well as problems besides that parallel universe of sorts he has found himself in, Noah does everything he can to bring his life back to the way it once was.

A refreshing and well-written book, Arnold's third book is a delightful piece of realistic fiction with the tiniest hint of sci-fi/magical realism. It has already been optioned by a film studio to be turned into a movie. The intellectual nature of Noah's thoughts and interests, while familiar, was a clean and realistically executed example of the classic "deep, moody, and knowledgeable of a lot of obscure novels and philosophers" trope common to YA main characters. The confusion I felt reading it and trying to understand what was happening perfectly matched Noah's, and was resolved by the end of the story, making this book more of an experience than a passive read. I would highly recommend this to any fans of authors such as A.S King, Lauren Oliver, and John Green.