24 April, 2018

[Review] A Whole New World by Liz Braswell


Series: Twisted Tales Series #1
Release Date: 14 March, 2017
Publisher: Disney Press
Genre: Young Adult Fiction/Fairy Tales & Folklore / Adaptations
ISBN: 9781484707296
Edition: audiobook
Rating: ★★★☆☆
Review Written: 18 February, 2018
Summary: What if Aladdin never found the lamp? This first book in a new Disney YA series will explore a dark and daring version of Aladdin.

When Jafar steals the Genie's lamp, he uses his first two wishes to become sultan and the most powerful sorcerer in the world. Agrabah lives in fear, waiting for his third and final wish. To stop the power-mad ruler, Aladdin and the deposed Princess Jasmine must unite the people of Agrabah in rebellion. But soon their fight for freedom threatens to tear the kingdom apart in a costly civil war.

What happens next? A Street Rat becomes a leader. A princess becomes a revolutionary. And readers will never look at the story of Aladdin in the same way again.

See more by Liz Braswell at her Website.

17 April, 2018

[Review] Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi


Series: Children of OrÏsha #1
Release Date: 06 March, 2018
Publisher: Henry Holt & Co - Macmillan Publishers
Genre: Young Adult Fiction/Fairy Tales & Folklore / Social & Family Issues / Prejudice & Racism / Science Fiction & Fantasy / Sword & Sorcery
ISBN: 9781427295507
Edition: Audiobook
Rating: ★★★★★
Review Written: 20 March, 2018
Summary: They killed my mother.
They took our magic.
They tried to bury us.

Now we rise.

Zélie Adebola remembers when the soil of Orïsha hummed with magic. Burners ignited flames, Tiders beckoned waves, and Zélie’s Reaper mother summoned forth souls.

But everything changed the night magic disappeared. Under the orders of a ruthless king, maji were killed, leaving Zélie without a mother and her people without hope.

Now Zélie has one chance to bring back magic and strike against the monarchy. With the help of a rogue princess, Zélie must outwit and outrun the crown prince, who is hell-bent on eradicating magic for good.

Danger lurks in Orïsha, where snow leoponaires prowl and vengeful spirits wait in the waters. Yet the greatest danger may be Zélie herself as she struggles to control her powers and her growing feelings for an enemy.

See more by Tomi Adeyemi at her Website.

10 April, 2018

[Review] Book to Movie Comparison: A Wrinkle In Time by Madeline L'Engle


Series: A Time Quintet
Release Date: 1 January, 1962/9 March, 2018
Publisher: Farrar, Straus & Giroux/Disney Movie Studios
Genre: Young Adult Fiction/Science Fiction & Fantasy/Time Travel
ISBN: 9780312367541 (book only)
Edition: Audiobook/Movie
Rating: ★★★★☆ (book)/★★☆☆☆ (movie)
Review Written: 24 March, 2018
Summary: It was a dark and stormy night; Meg Murry, her small brother Charles Wallace, and her mother had come down to the kitchen for a midnight snack when they were upset by the arrival of a most disturbing stranger.

"Wild nights are my glory," the unearthly stranger told them. "I just got caught in a downdraft and blown off course. Let me sit down for a moment, and then I'll be on my way. Speaking of ways, by the way, there is such a thing as a tesseract."

A tesseract (in case the reader doesn't know) is a wrinkle in time. To tell more would rob the reader of the enjoyment of Miss L'Engle's unusual book. A Wrinkle in Time, winner of the Newbery Medal in 1963, is the story of the adventures in space and time of Meg, Charles Wallace, and Calvin O'Keefe (athlete, student, and one of the most popular boys in high school). They are in search of Meg's father, a scientist who disappeared while engaged in secret work for the government on the tesseract problem.

A Wrinkle in Time is the winner of the 1963 Newbery Medal.

03 April, 2018

[Review] The Sun is Also A Star by Nicola Yoon


Series: N/A
Release Date: 1 November, 2016
Publisher: Penguin Random House
Genre: Young Adult/Literature & Fiction/Social & Family Issues/New Experiences/Emotions & Feelings/Contemporary Romance
ISBN: 9781524721398
Edition: audiobook
Rating: ★★★★☆
Review Written: 13 March, 2018
Summary: Natasha: I’m a girl who believes in science and facts. Not fate. Not destiny. Or dreams that will never come true. I’m definitely not the kind of girl who meets a cute boy on a crowded New York City street and falls in love with him. Not when my family is twelve hours away from being deported to Jamaica. Falling in love with him won’t be my story.

Daniel: I’ve always been the good son, the good student, living up to my parents’ high expectations. Never the poet. Or the dreamer. But when I see her, I forget about all that. Something about Natasha makes me think that fate has something much more extraordinary in store—for both of us.

The Universe: Every moment in our lives has brought us to this single moment. A million futures lie before us. Which one will come true?