4 September 2016

Review #519: Cuckoo by Keren David



My rating: 4 of 5 stars


“The capacity for friendship is God's way of apologizing for our families.”

----Jay McInerney


Keren David, a Dutch writer, has penned a heart touching and an eye opening YA contemporary book, Cuckoo that narrates the story of a sixteen year old teenager, a talented actor and a household name for his recently cancelled TV series, who found out that his own parents are stealing his hard earned money and is constantly pressurizing him to bag a role in some new show or a movie, eventually making his life a living hell in his own home, thereby forcing him to take shelter in his friends' houses instead of living with his own family.



2 September 2016

Review #518: Blog Tour of A Torch Against the Night (An Ember in the Ashes, #2) by Sabaa Tahir



My rating: 4 of 5 stars


“Power isn’t control at all — power is strength, and giving that strength to others. A leader isn’t someone who forces others to make him stronger; a leader is someone willing to give his strength to others that they may have the strength to stand on their own.”

----Beth Revis


Sabaa Tahir, an American bestselling author, pens the much awaited sequel to her bewitching YA fantasy book, An Ember in the Ashes called, A Torch Against the Night where the author continues to weave the adrenaline rushing and edgy adventure of Laia and Elias, who have finally managed to escape the Blackcliff Military Academy as well as the wrath of the ruthless Commandant and an equally sadistic Emperor and are on a run and on a mission to break free Laia's brother from one of the most dangerous prison of their land.


Review #517: An Ember in the Ashes (An Ember in the Ashes, #1) by Sabaa Tahir



My rating: 4 of 5 stars


“When a man is denied the right to live the life he believes in, he has no choice but to become an outlaw.”

----Nelson Mandela



Sabaa Tahir, an American bestselling author, has penned a heart wrenching and an extremely gripping YA fantasy novel, An Ember in the Ashes that narrates the tale of an ancient yet evocative fantasy world where a young Scholar girl wants to free her brother from the deathly clutches of the ruthless Martial men who have dominated over that young girl's clan for the past 500 years, and now that young girl must do anything in order to help save the only living member of her family, on the other hand, there's also a young man who is on the verge of graduating and becoming a candidate for the throne to the Martial leadership, but he longs for freedom and is planning an escape.


30 August 2016

Review #516: The Palace of Illusions by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni



My rating: 4 of 5 stars


“A woman is not a touch but a response to it”

----Pratibha Ray



Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni, an Indian best selling novelist, has penned an extremely emotional and gripping mythological-cum-historical-fiction novel, The Palace of Illusions that narrates the great epic Indian mythological tale, Mahabharata from the point of view of the most brilliant and fearless female character, Draupadi, who weaves her thoroughly soul touching yet enduring life story starting from the day she was born to the day she left her palace and kingdom to follow behind the footsteps of her husbands to heaven. Yes, in modern terms, you call it a fan fiction of Mahabharata.


29 August 2016

Review #515: The Loose Ends List by Carrie Firestone



My rating: 4 of 5 stars


“Letting go means to come to the realization that some people are a part of your history, but not a part of your destiny.”

----Steve Maraboli



Carrie Firestone, an American author, pens her debut YA contemporary fiction novel, The Loose Ends List that narrates the story of a young high school "soon-to-be-graduated" girl who decides to live her life and enjoy the last few days of summer before she joins college, but her grandmother is dying and takes her along with her extended crazy and quirky family to a voyage around the world on a cruise, and things are about to change for her.



28 August 2016

Review #514: The Reader (Sea of Ink and Gold, #1) by Traci Chee



My rating: 5 of 5 stars


“When a reader falls in love with a book, it leaves its essence inside him, like radioactive fallout in an arable field, and after that there are certain crops that will no longer grow in him, while other, stranger, more fantastic growths may occasionally be produced."

----Salman Rushdie



Traci Chee, an American author, pens her debut YA fantasy novel, The Reader which is the first book in the Sea of Ink and Gold series and this series opens with a young teenage girl and her aunt who are on a run for ages from the men and the assassins who have murdered the girl's father. But pretty soon, the girl's aunt is kidnapped and she is left with so many unanswered questions about her parents and her sketchy past and especially with a package that contains a rectangular mysterious object that her kind do not know how to interpret it or rather say, read the book of her father's.

25 August 2016

Review #513: How It Feels to Fly by Kathryn Holmes



My rating: 4 of 5 stars


“If you want to conquer the anxiety of life, live in the moment, live in the breath.”

----Amit Ray



Kathryn Holmes, an American author, pens a heart touching and extremely enlightening YA contemporary fiction novel, How It Feels to Fly that tells the story of a young, aspiring and really dedicated female ballet dancer who faces image as well as body issues when her body starts to develop curves that is a strict rule against someone who is going to perform ballet professionally, and that depresses her, not to mention, her mother's constant obsession does not help her a bit, instead she is sent away to a summer therapy camp, where she gradually stops believing in herself and her body and also fears to lose her only dream of being a ballerina.

24 August 2016

Review #512: Poisoned Blade (Court of Fives, #2) by Kate Elliott



My rating: 5 of 5 stars


“Loyalty to country ALWAYS. Loyalty to government, when it deserves it.”

----Mark Twain



Kate Elliott, an award-winning American YA author, pens the next book in her series of Court of Fives called, Poisoned Blade and this time the story gets deathly, complex and extremely mind-blowingly edgy as Jes, the champion of the Fives, is caught between the war of her divided kingdom as well as the strive and the challenge to save her dear mother and her sisters, all the while being under constant supervision of a cruel ruler.