Two things: 1. I wanted to like this. 2. I did not like this. I will elaborate. (NB: I waited a couple of weeks to actually sit down and write this review, because I was so aggravated while reading I was afraid my review would come out more scathing than the book deserved. I’m glad I waited. Rant reviews are fun on occasion, but I prefer to be more level-headed for the most part.) I wanted to like this because: There are not enough diverse […]
“I teach you to be warriors in the garden so you will never be gardeners of war”
After discovering that both my CBR 10 reading list and my personal library have been far-too-heavily skewed towards male authors, I was determined to make a correction, and I set out on my first trip away this year with a too-long wishlist that yielded a bonanza of books by women, sixteen in all, pictured here. I could easily have come home with twice as many but kept myself under control if only to avoid overweight baggage charges. After dinner on my second night in London, […]
Incredible world building
I read a few too many articles calling this book the “future of YA” and should have tempered my expectations more. I went in think I’d be blown away which left me unfortunately underwhelmed. The world building is incredible, but the story, characters, and writing leave something to be desired. The author’s statement – and interviews she has given – indicates that she in part wrote this book to give little black girls a heroine they could identify with, someone who would look like them. […]
Gotta be ruthless
First off, let’s give a huge round of applause to the cover designer. There have been some amazing covers in the last few years and this is one of the best. The book itself was also pretty enjoyable. It’s apparently in the works to be adapted as a movie by the same people who did Twilight and The Maze Runner. Not too shabby for a debut novel! Zélie Adebola is a young diviner, what her world calls a magi without power. Her world lost magic […]