Monthly Review! April/May

Hello everyone! Welcome to June! I hope you all had a good April and May and got some reading done. April and May we not the greatest months for me. I was furloughed from my job (like many other people), my dad was in the hospital, and then my grandpa passed away. I wasn’t able to read to much because of all that but I did get a few books in that I wanted to share with you. I hope that your April and May we’re better than mine. Now onto the books!

The first book that I want to talk about is The Deep and The Dark by Niki Smith. This book has it all. Political coups, magical women, and revenge! This was such a great graphic novel. This book is about Hawke and Grayson who are in line to inherit the throne of Sunderlay (eventually). On the night that their older brother, Reyden, is to be named the next ruler of Sunderlay, there is a coup. The twins flee while their brother holds off their cousin Mirelle and her lackeys. The twins end up disguising themselves as girls, Hanna and Grayce, and joining the Communion of Blue, a order of magical women who weave and spin the threads of reality. Can the twins get back the throne? Will Grayce want to go back to being a boy or has she finally found a place where she can truly be herself? You’ll have to read this book and find out!

This was such a good graphic novel! I loved the story and all of the characters. Hawke and Grayce were such good siblings to each other and I loved how strong they were with all the craziness going on in their lives. The ending of this book made me cry (in a happy way) and I absolutely loved it. I would highly recommend this book to anyone of any age. It’s so good!

The next book that I read is called Lily the Thief by Janne Kukkonen. This graphic novel was so cute! It is all about Lily, who is a young girl trying to make a name for herself in the thieves guild. Which isn’t easy when the Guildmaster of Thieves doesn’t like her or her mentor, Seamus. The Guildmaster only gives Lily small time crimes like pick pocketing and won’t let her prove herself to the Guild. Lily decides to prove herself a different way and ends in a whole mess of trouble involving a evil plot by a earl and long dead kings. Can she foil the plot and save everyone in the process?

I really liked this book because it dealt with having to overcome your detractors. Lily knows that she can do these things (and do them well!) but the Guildmaster won’t let her because he thinks she’s going to mess it up. Now this being a children’s book, things to go wrong but then Lily steps up to the plate and figures out a way to deal with what’s happening in her own unique way. I think it shows kids that you can do whatever you put your mind to, even if there are people telling you that you can’t.

The next book that I read was a Young Adult book called Tilt by Ellen Hopkins. This book is about three teens who are holding tight to the last vestiges of their childhood. Mikayla is sure she’s found the love of her life in Dylan. But by the end of her senior year, things have become increasingly complicated. Shane is out and proud but can he keep his life under control in the face of the ultimate loss? Harley is a good girl with a not so great home life. She wants to have new experiences but doesn’t expect for the outcome to be so horrific.

If you have ever read any of Ellen Hopkins’ other books then you know what you’re in for. But if you haven’t just know that this book will rip your heart out in seven different ways. There are no happy endings and no nice clean wrap up at the end of the book. The book just ends (after 603 pages). For me, these books have always shown what life can be like and how the choices that you make can affect the rest of your life. They always come with a good lesson buried inside them but you will have to read a lot of sad and sometimes enraging stuff to get to it. If you are fan of realistic fiction then I think this book would be a good choice for you.

The next book is a non-fiction books called Cake Wrecks: When Professional Cakes Go Hilariously Wrong by Jen Yates. This is a book that I’ve been eyeing on our non-fiction shelves for awhile and I just haven’t gotten around to reading it. Until now! This books was hilarious as the title promises. There were so many cakes that weren’t only badly constructed or decorated. There were some that you just looked at and were like why???? Why is that cake a thing that exists??? Also, if you don’t want to take the time to read this book (although it is pretty small and can be read in one sitting easily) there is a Cake Wrecks website! The author of this book runs the Cake Wrecks blog as well (https://www.cakewrecks.com/)! If you want to get a feel for the book before checking out, here is a great place to do so. Have fun!

Next up we have another Young Adult book! This one is called The Program by Suzanne Young. This book is about suicide and depression so warning for those subjects. If it bothers you to read about those issues then this is not the book for you.

In this book teen suicide is an epidemic. One in three teens commits suicide. To combat this epidemic, the school board develops the Program. Teens go into the program and come out as brainwashed copies of themselves with their memories erased. The Program says that it will cure teens of depression and suicidal thoughts in about six weeks. Sloane, her boyfriend James, and their best friend Miller know better than to show any kind of negative emotions to anyone other than themselves. Not their teachers, not their parents, and especially not the Handlers. The quickest way to get sent to the program is to show sadness. Or have someone close to you commit suicide, like Sloane’s brother did. That cloud hangs over her family. Sloane’s parents will do anything to make sure their remaining child doesn’t meet the same fate that their son did, including calling the Program on her. Can Sloane and Jame’s relationship survive the Program? Or will they forget each other and everything that they’ve been through?

This book dealt a lot with teen suicide and depression in a few different ways. Some of the ways were better than others but I appreciated that the author tried to discuss these hard subjects. I enjoyed this book and I’m excited to read book two to see what happens! I’ll be posting a review of that book as soon as I finish it so look forward to that!

The last book I wanted to talk about is Eliza and Her Monsters by Francesca Zappia. This book is all about Eliza Mirk who has no friends and no social life other than going to her twin brother’s games. But online is a different story. Online she is LadyConstellation, the popular creator of the online comic, Monstrous Sea. Eliza doesn’t think that her life offline comes close to her life online. Online is where her friends are, her fans, pretty much her whole life. Things take a turn when Wallace Warland transfers to her school. After a run in with some bullies where Eliza stands up for him, she and Wallace become friends. Eliza soon finds out that Wallace is Monstrous Sea’s biggest fanfiction writer. Little does Eliza know that Wallace will change her life in more ways than one.

This book deals a lot with growing up and learning about yourself which I enjoyed. I also really liked that there was artwork and dialogue from the comic between each chapter. If you like slice of life books that deal with finding yourself then this book will be right up your alley!

That is it for April and May! Like I said in the beginning, I hope that you all had a better few months than I did. I would love to hear from you! What are you reading? Anything good? What have you been doing during quarantine? I’m trying to crochet some little Star Wars characters (not to much luck so far though) and I’ve been playing a lot of Animal Crossing. I look forward to hearing from you in the comments!