It takes incredible skill to be a master storyteller. After Unwind and even UnWholly, I would have easily put Neal Shusterman on that list. I read UnSouled, though, so I’m withholding final judgment for now. I’m not as encouraged to keep reading, but I’m glad I did. I have to push through to the end,… [Read More]
The Necessity of Hope (Review: The Children of Men)
Dystopia is hot right now. Perhaps, seeing how situations that were once born of slippery slope fallacies are becoming recent history, more and more people are drawn to depictions of worlds gone terribly wrong. How bad could it get? How would humanity be saved? Since we live in a culture where many people have separated… [Read More]
Playing Dr. Frankenstein Again (Review: “UnWholly”)
I was in middle school when I discovered Harry Potter. I got into it because I heard it was popular in the U.S. (Living in Europe, I didn’t really know much about its actual popularity at the time.) It only took a few chapters before I was hooked. Occasionally I stumble across a book that… [Read More]
How to Really Fight Evil (Review: “Messenger”)
I am a sucker for a series. I love Harry Potter, and I used to love The Baby-sitters Club, and I’m really only still watching Glee because I have a great gift for the virtue of hope and I hope it will eventually be good again. Somewhere deep down, though, my belief in eternity makes… [Read More]
The Truth Will Set You Free (Review: “Thumped”)
You may remember a little novel that blew my mind last year: Bumped, by Megan McCafferty. I couldn’t believe that someone had combined three of my favorite things: dystopias, life issues, and teenagers with problems. I also couldn’t believe that no one was talking about it! It’s not a stretch to think that our world… [Read More]
An Unacceptable Compromise (Review: “Unwind”)
“Ripped from the headlines” used to be an incredibly popular slogan for movies and TV episodes. A story based on real situations rather than one pulled from a writer’s mind was intriguing and a little frightening. When I heard the premise of Unwind, the most captivating aspect was that I could see it really happening…. [Read More]
Not So New Anymore (Review: “Brave New World”)
I have never had my heart broken by a book so quickly. I cried when I first read A Walk to Remember (hey, it’s romantic and sad!), and I was upset when Mockingjay was such a lame conclusion to the Hunger Games trilogy (I got sick of Katniss’s PTSD), but I don’t think any book… [Read More]
The Other Side of the Future (Review: “Gathering Blue”)
If The Giver blew your mind, it may further blow your mind to know that The Giver has sequels. As if the journey of twelve-year-old Jonas through the frightening truth about his seemingly perfect world weren’t enough, Lois Lowry has spun another tale. The Giver presented a futuristic world with no choices and an oligarchy… [Read More]
The Heat Is On (Review: “Catching Fire”)
While I was home for Christmas, I saw Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows with my mom and sister. I loved it. It was one of the best sequels I’ve ever seen, because it didn’t strictly require knowledge of the first movie, but it built beautifully on what had been established. Reading Catching Fire, the… [Read More]
Playing with the Girl Who Was on Fire (Review: “The Hunger Games”)
This may be the hardest review I’ve written for ACNM. This is not because I didn’t read the book. I did; I’ve read it twice now, and I would never try to review a book I hadn’t finished reading. This is not because I didn’t like the book; it was amazing. This is because the… [Read More]
Inconceivable! (Review: “Bumped”)
Last week, I read a book that I could not put down. Even when I paused to gasp or to ponder what I’d just read, I only stopped long enough to process my thoughts, and then I immediately went back to turning pages as fast as I could. I was stunned and excited, and it… [Read More]
