[Review] Columbus Day by Craig Alanson

 

Cover image from the goodreads website.

Series or Stand Alone: Expeditionary Forces #1

Release Date: 11 January, 2016

Publisher: Kindle/Independently Published

Genre: Military Science-Fiction/Army in Space/Supposedly Science Fiction

ASIN: B01AIGC31E

Edition: Kindle and Audiobook (available in paperback)

Rating: ★☆☆☆☆

Review Written: 9 October, 2020
Warnings: Military in Space, Old Boys Attitude, Sexism

Summary:  

We were fighting on the wrong side, of a war we couldn't win. And that was the good news.

The Ruhar hit us on Columbus Day. There we were, innocently drifting along the cosmos on our little blue marble, like the native Americans in 1492. Over the horizon come ships of a technologically advanced, aggressive culture, and BAM! There go the good old days, when humans only got killed by each other. So, Columbus Day. It fits.

When the morning sky twinkled again, this time with Kristang starships jumping in to hammer the Ruhar, we thought we were saved. The UN Expeditionary Force hitched a ride on Kristang ships to fight the Ruhar, wherever our new allies thought we could be useful. So, I went from fighting with the US Army in Nigeria, to fighting in space. It was lies, all of it. We shouldn't even be fighting the Ruhar, they aren't our enemy, our allies are.

I'd better start at the beginning....

See more by Craig Alanson at his website.

[Review] They Both Die at the End by Adam Silvera

Series: N/A

Release Date: 05 September, 2017

Publisher: HarperCollins

Genre: Young Adult Fiction/Gay & Lesbian/Hispanic/Social & Family Issues/Death & Dying

ISBN: 9780062457813

Edition: Ebook

Rating: ★★★★☆

Review Written: 24 April, 2018

Summary: On September 5, a little after midnight, Death-Cast calls Mateo Torrez and Rufus Emeterio to give them some bad news: They're going to die today.

Mateo and Rufus are total strangers, but, for different reasons, they're both looking to make a new friend on their End Day. The good news: There's an app for that. It's called the Last Friend, and through it, Rufus and Mateo are about to meet up for one last great adventure—to live a lifetime in a single day.

In the tradition of Before I Fall and If I Stay, They Both Die at the End is a tour de force from acclaimed author Adam Silvera, whose debut, More Happy Than Not, the New York Times called "profound."

See more by Adam Silvera at his Website.

Warning: IF YOU HAVE A HARD TIME HANDLING THE TOPIC OF DEATH OR DYING, THIS BOOK PROBABLY IS NOT FOR YOU.

[Review] The Stars Beneath Our Feet by David Barclay Moore

*2018 Winner of the American Library Association's Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe New Talent Award*

Series: N/A

Release Date: 19 September, 2017

Publisher: Random House Children’s Books

Genre: Middle Grade/Fiction

ISBN: 9781524701260

Edition: Ebook

Rating: ★★★★☆

Review Written: 30 December, 2017

Summary: It's Christmas Eve in Harlem, but twelve-year-old Lolly Rachpaul and his mom aren't celebrating. They're still reeling from his older brother's death in a gang-related shooting just a few months earlier. Then Lolly's mother's girlfriend brings him a gift that will change everything: two enormous bags filled with Legos. Lolly's always loved Legos, and he prides himself on following the kit instructions exactly. Now, faced with a pile of building blocks and no instructions, Lolly must find his own way forward.

His path isn't clear—and the pressure to join a "crew," as his brother did, is always there. When Lolly and his friend are beaten up and robbed, joining a crew almost seems like the safe choice. But building a fantastical Lego city at the community center provides Lolly with an escape—and an unexpected bridge back to the world.

David Barclay Moore paints a powerful portrait of a boy teetering on the edge—of adolescence, of grief, of violence—and shows how Lolly's inventive spirit helps him build a life with firm foundations and open doors.

See more at David Barclay Moore's Website.

[Review] The Lemonade War by Jacqueline Davies

Series: Lemonade War #1

Release Date: 23 April, 2007

Publisher: HMH Books for Young Readers

Genre: Middle Grade/Family/Business

ISBN:  9780618750436

Edition: E-Book

Rating: ★★★★☆

Review Written: 31 August, 2017 
Summary: For a full hour, he poured lemonade. The world is a thirsty place, he thought as he nearly emptied his fourth pitcher of the day. And I am the Lemonade King.

Fourth-grader Evan Treski is people-smart. He’s good at talking with people, even grownups. His younger sister, Jessie, on the other hand, is math-smart, but not especially good with people. So when the siblings’ lemonade stand war begins, there really is no telling who will win—or even if their fight will ever end. Brimming with savvy marketing tips for making money at any business, definitions of business terms, charts, diagrams, and even math problems, this fresh, funny, emotionally charged novel subtly explores how arguments can escalate beyond anyone’s intent.

See more at Jacqueline Davies's website.

[Review] The Dreadful Tale of Prosper Redding by Alexandra Bracken

Series: The Dreadful Tale of Prosper Redding #1

Release Date: 5 September, 2017

Publisher: Disney-Hyperion 

Genre: Middle Grade/Supernatural/Witches

ISBN: 9781484778173

Edition: ARC E-Book

Rating: ★★★★★

Review Written: 1 September, 2017
Summary:“I would say it’s a pleasure to meet thee, Prosperity Oceanus Redding, but truly, I only anticipate the delights of destroying thy happiness….”

Prosper is the only unexceptional Redding in his old and storied family history—that is, until he discovers the demon living inside him. Turns out Prosper’s great-great-great-great-great-something grandfather made—and then broke—a contract with a malefactor, a demon who exchanges fortune for eternal servitude. And, weirdly enough, eight-hundred-year-old Alastor isn’t exactly the forgiving type.

The fiend has reawakened with one purpose–to destroy the family whose success he ensured and who then betrayed him.  With only days to break the curse and banish Alastor back to the demon realm, Prosper is playing unwilling host to the fiend, who delights in tormenting him with nasty insults and constant attempts to trick him into a contract. Yeah, Prosper will take his afterlife without a side of eternal servitude, thanks. But with the help of his long-lost uncle, Barnabas, and his daughter, Nell, a witch-in-training, it seems like Prosper has at least a fighting chance of ridding himself of Alastor before the demon escapes and wreaks havoc on his family

Little does Prosper know, the malefactor’s control over his body grows stronger with each passing night and there’s a lot Alastor isn’t telling his dim-witted (but admittedly strong-willed) human host…

See more at Disney Press's website.