by ·0 Comments

by Kalynn Bayron

4.5 Stars

It has been 200 years since Cinderella and the Prince found each other, but that fairy tale has been twisted into a nightmare. Teenage girls now have to attend an annual ball, where the men choose their brides based on the finery the girls display. Sixteen-year-old Sophia rather marry her childhood best friend, Erin, than be paraded at the ball in front of a group of suitors. On the night of the ball, Sophia decides to run, and she finds herself in Cinderella’s mausoleum. There, she meets Constance, who is the last known descendant of the original Cinderella and her stepsisters. Together they vow to bring down the king, and during that process, they find out much more to Cinderella’s tale than they ever knew. 

This book is a retelling of the story of Cinderella. It is a fantasy novel with a dystopian theme mixed into it. This book was very fast-paced (although too fast at times), and there was always something going on to keep the reader’s attention. I personally did not want to put this book down! The protagonist, Sophia, is a very strong protagonist to follow. Through her eyes, the reader sees this gruesome, wicked world that she lives in and sees how Sophia longs for an escape from it. I liked how this was a very different take on Cinderella and how the author incorporated a dystopian society into the novel. I also liked the relationship between Sophia and Erin because you got to see how the world that they live in impacted them. Overall, I would very much recommend this book, especially to the people who like to read fairy tale retellings!

Emily W.

View in Library Catalogue: Print

by ·0 Comments

by Jen Calonita

4.5 Stars

Set after the ending of the original 1997 animated Disney film, Hercules, this book explores the twist of “What if Meg had to become a Greek god,” to stay with Hercules in Olympus. Zeus opposes the match of Megara and Hercules. With both of them heartbroken, Hera approaches Meg with a mission, and once Megara completes this mission, her reward is to become a God, which would solidify her future with Hercules on Olympus. The mission Hera assigns Megara is to save her ex-boyfriend’s wife from the Underworld. The ex-boyfriend who abandoned Megara when she sold her soul to Hades to save him. Can Meg put her feelings aside and use her wits to defeat the monsters and Gods that stand in her way, or will she run away from Godhood and Hercules due to her fear of commitment? 

This book is a part of Disney’s Twisted Tales Series. It is book 11 of the series, but you don’t have to read this series in order (as they are separate tales from separate films). As someone who loves retellings and liked the original movie, I was so excited to read this book, and it did not disappoint! All the characters adapted well to the text, and Megara was such an interesting character to follow. In the original movie, the audience mainly follows Hercules and his quest to become a God to join his parents (Zeus and Hera) in Olympus. It was nice to change the perspective onto Megara, who was already one of my favourite characters in the film. This book expanded on Meg’s character, and I thought the backstory was fitting. I also love what the author did to change the story between Meg and her ex-boyfriend. The only qualm I had with this novel was that I thought there was too much intervention from the Gods, which I thought took away from the original purpose of the mission given by Hera (Megara had to earn immortality by completing the mission). Overall, I would highly recommend that you check this novel out!

Emily W.

View in Library Catalogue: Print

by ·0 Comments

by Suzanne Selfors

4 Stars

Mimi Wallingford, the great-granddaughter of the famous actress Adelaide Wallingford, has a life some can only dream about. She is an actress playing Juliet in her family’s production of Romeo and Juliet. Mimi is playing opposite to teen heartthrob Troy Summer, who is playing Romeo. The catch for Mimi is that she has no interest in acting, something her mother cannot understand. But when Mimi, along with Troy, are magically transported into Shakespeare’s Verona, they both experience the Montagues and Capulets feud first hand. When Mimi meets Juliet, she realizes that they are not that different, and Mimi does not want to see the tragic end of Romeo and Juliet play out. But what will happen if they change the ending to this famous tragedy? 

This book was a unique adaptation of the original play of Romeo and Juliet, written by William Shakespeare. It takes place in the modern world (2006, when this book was published). This book was laid out as Mimi Wallingford’s recounted story of what happened when she was magically transported to Shakespeare’s Verona. I found that to be a very entertaining way to tell Mimi’s story. The characters, especially Mimi, were interesting to follow. The pacing was very good, and the parallels between Mimi and Juliet were written well. The only issues that I had with this novel was Benvolio’s character change (as he was changed to be a man who was an awful character, when he was an honest character in the original play), and the relationship between Mimi and Troy seemed rushed. This book is a different take on Romeo and Juliet, but I enjoyed reading it nonetheless. In conclusion, I would recommend that you read this book, especially if you like Shakespeare retellings!

Emily W.

View in Library Catalogue: Print

by ·0 Comments

by Suzanne Collins

5 Stars

The dystopian, set in the future novel The Hunger Games, written by Suzanne Collins, is about the protagonist Katniss Everdeen, fighting for her family in the annual competition where members from several districts fight to the death. She volunteers in place for her little sister Primrose after her name was pulled out to fight in the games. There can only be one winner in the hunger games, and that is who remains alive at the end. We follow Katniss, a girl from the poorest district, District Twelve and Peeta Mellark, the boy who had also been selected to represent their district in the annual games. During the games, Katniss tries to stay alive and fight for her life by pretending to be in love with Peeta just for her safety. Peeta is the baker’s son, he has been giving Katniss bread many times to give to her starving family, and she feels as if she needs to owe him for his generosity. Now, they are forced to kill each other for the games to end.

It’s hard to trust anyone knowing that person might soon become your killer. 

Leaving readers flipping pages till the end, the science-fiction novel by Suzanne Collins includes a lot of shocking turns and twists along with intense action. This outstanding novel is definitely suitable for all ages.

Amina F.

View in Library Catalogue: Print | Audiobook CD | eBook | Downloadable Audiobook

by ·0 Comments

by Karen M. McManus

4.5 Stars

Two Can Keep a Secret is definitely my favourite Karen McManus novel. The ending was something I never saw coming! I highly anticipated this book, and it did not disappoint. McManus writes in a way that hooks you right from the very beginning, and keeps you guessing until the end! 

Two Can Keep a Secret tells the story of two teenagers, Ellery and Ezra, who move to an old town called Echo Ridge. They have to go live with their grandmother, whom they barely know, while their mom is in rehab. Echo Ridge is a small town with a big reputation for mysteries and things going wrong. Many years ago, Ellery and Ezra’s aunt (their mom’s twin) went missing when she was just seventeen. Five years ago, the homecoming queen was killed… and now another girl is missing. The siblings soon become intertwined with the secrets and the tensions of Echo Ridge, while also trying to uncover the truth around all those disappearances. 

This novel is definitely a page-turner. It is impossible to put down once you start reading as you want to figure out what happened to the missing girls. This novel ends on a big cliffhanger, which makes the novel impeccable. I thoroughly enjoyed this novel, and would recommend it to any teenager or YA!

Emily O.

View in Library Catalogue: Print | Downloadable Audiobook

by ·0 Comments

by Jennifer Donaldson

5 Stars

Written by Jennifer Donaldson, I Know You Remember, follows the life of 17-year-old Ruthie Hayden, thrilled to move back to her hometown Anchorage and reunite with her best friend Zahra Gaines. Moments after arriving, she learns the devastating news that Zahra had gone missing after vanishing from a party a few days before Ruthie’s arrival. While Ruthie digs deeper into Zahra’s mysterious disappearance, she learns that her once best friend Zahra has had drastically changed her life. Zahra has gone from being the playful, creative girl who loved books and a girl who knew every of Ruthie’s secrets to an athlete, a partier, a girl with secrets of her own. Ruthie desperately tries to unpack the truth as she falls much deeper into her friend’s new world, coming close to a dangerous realization of what Zahra experienced in the days before her disappearance, one that might be better off not spoken about and buried

Ruthie is not ready to give up searching for Zahra as she makes risky decisions in the mission to find Zahra. 

With a very chilling plot twist and keeping readers on the edge of their seats with eyes glued to the pages, Jennifer Donaldson brings the thrilling mystery to a shocking and unexpected conclusion. My favourite part was the twist at the end because it shows that the characters aren’t who they seem to be. I extremely enjoyed and highly recommend this astonishing novel to young adults.

Amina F.

View in Library Catalogue: Print

by ·0 Comments

by Adrienne Kress

Based in the setting of 1946, New York City, seventeen-year-old Buddy is trying to escape the Lower East Side slums. Working as a delivery boy to help support his family, Buddy realizes that he wants to be an artist. A dream that seems to be impossible. That changes when his delivery boy job leads him to a Mister Joey Drew, who is the owner of an animation studio. Buddy starts working his new job in the studio and meets Dot, a writing intern for the animation studio. Buddy starts believing in what Joey Drew says about dreams coming true. But Buddy discovers that Mister Joey Drew’s animation studio is not as simple or perfect as it seems. Buddy and Dot team up to discover the secrets of the animation studio and find something they probably never expected to find, lurking in the studio.

This novel was based in the universe of the video game Bendy and the Ink Machine. As I did play the video game and enjoyed it as well, I was drawn to read this novel. Dreams Come to Life does a wonderful job translating the universe of Bendy and the Ink Machine into it. If you have played Bendy and the Ink Machine, some characters that do appear in that game such as Mister Joey Drew himself, are very similar to who they were in the video game personality wise. Even if you have no experience or prior knowledge of the original video game, this is still a great novel! It has a great plot, good pacing, interesting settings, and a wonderful cast of characters. I would, however, add on to Buddy’s grandfather’s backstory a little more. It seemed very brief. Despite this little flaw, I would highly recommend you check out this novel!

Emily W.

View in Library Catalogue: Print

by ·0 Comments

by Emma Lord

4 Stars

You Have a Match by Emma Lord

Abby Day comes from a pretty normal family where nothing out of the ordinary ever happens. When Abby decides to sign up for a DNA service with her two best friends, she doesn’t expect to find out anything particularly interesting. She is shocked when she discovers she has a sister living less than twenty minutes away from her. Her sister is Savannah Tully. An Instagram star with perfect hair and a seemingly perfect life. Savannah reaches out to Abby, and they decide to meet up at summer camp to get to know each other without telling their parents. When Abby discovers her best friend turned crush, Leo, is working at the camp, things get way more complicated.

She struggles to balance her growing feelings for Leo, bonding with Savannah and all the other trouble she gets into around camp. As Savannah and Abby uncover secrets about Savannah’s adoption, they start to become closer and work to find the truth about what happened all those years ago. They learn lessons of family, friendship and honesty as they try to navigate a summer that they’ll never forget. I was so excited to read this, and I wasn’t disappointed. I loved the dynamic between Abby and Savannah as they got to know each other. All the characters were so different, creating someone for each reader to relate to. I didn’t expect there to be as many twists and turns as there were, but surprisingly, I enjoyed all the suspense. Many different storylines were going on that all connected, creating a very enjoyable and satisfying ending.

Hailey B.

View in Library Catalogue: Print | eBook

by ·0 Comments

by Holly Jackson

5 Stars

A Good Girl's Guide to Murder : Jackson, Holly: Amazon.ca: Books

If you ask anyone in the town of Fairview who killed Andie Bell five years ago, they’d all tell you the same answer: Sal Singh. Everyone believes it, and no one ever asks any questions; no one, except Pippa Fitz-Amobi. She knew Sal and can’t believe he would ever murder anyone. Especially his own girlfriend. For her senior project, Pippa decides to look into the case and solve it once and for all. With the help of Sal’s brother, Ravi, she follows each and every lead to find the truth about Andie’s murder and Sal’s suicide. Instead of finding answers, Pippa keeps turning up with more questions. As she starts getting closer to the truth, someone keeps trying to cover up their tracks. Pippa starts to get threats, but her interest in the case only grows. It starts to take over her life. She starts questioning everyone and everything around her. A detective can never trust anyone. She decides no matter what, she needs to find out who killed Andie Bell? 

I couldn’t put this book down! Each time I thought I solved the mystery, there was a new twist that completely threw me off course. Each character was so complex and had a key role in the story. Pippa’s perspective was very enjoyable to read, and I felt like I could really relate to her character. This is the best murder mystery story I’ve read, and I recommend it to everyone, even if you don’t usually enjoy mystery books. There are elements of comedy, romance and thrill to keep everyone intrigued. The story was so fast-paced, and I was never bored. If you’re looking for an entertaining, suspenseful read, this is the book for you.

Hailey B.

View in Library Catalogue: Print | eBook | Downloadable Audiobook

by ·0 Comments

by Emily Skrutskie

3.3 Stars

The Abyss Surrounds Us: Skrutskie, Emily: 9780738746913: Books - Amazon.ca

“Come back alive and victorious or don’t come back at all.”
Cassandra Leung, Cas, was born into a family of reckoner trainers. Training giant, genetically engineered beasts that protected ships was all that she knew, all that she longed for. Life was simple and straightforward: pirates are bad, so train reckoners to destroy pirate ships- easy peasy, right? Well, it would have been if she weren’t captured by the very pirates she was raised to despise on her very first solo mission. The pirates, led by Captain Santa Elena, revealed that they had managed to acquire their very own reckoner (despite the fact it was near impossible to steal one) and were in need of a reckoner trainer. Cas, being a reckoner trainer-in-training, had no choice but to oblige.

Disclaimers before I begin my review:
Sci-fiction is not one of my favorite genres. I prefer NA and Adult books to YA. I read an incredible – INCREDIBLE book before I started The Abyss Surrounds Us.

Now, with that out of the way, I rated this book a solid 3.3 out of 5 stars.
Stuff I liked: Loved the world building and, obviously, the pirate aspect. The main character was realistic. Easy to follow plot and writing. Queer (sapphic: woman loving woman) and forbidden relationship.
Stuff I disliked: Plot was weak. Slow paced until the very last third of the book.
So, in conclusion this book would be perfect for younger me but older me is a bit too picky for books now. Happy reading! 

Jazleen

View in Library Catalogue: Print