librarianryan's reviews
6751 reviews

The Knight and the Butcherbird by Alix E. Harrow

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful lighthearted mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

 

36 pages. 36 pages for a fantasy story that will remain with readers for years to come. This is a post-apocalyptic story where nature has once again taken over. The author Alex E Harrow has done a masterful job, blending fantasy, and science fiction into a modern tale of love and disaster. To say more gives too much of the story away but one of my favorite parts to leave you wanting more is to tell you that the sacred texts in the story are Katherine Applegate’s series called the Annamorphs. 

Last Chance to Save the World by Beth Revis

adventurous emotional fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

 

I thought this was the third and final book in this series. It doesn’t feel like a third and final book. It feels like the first ending before a new plot sequence. Ada and Ryan have made it back to the original Earth. Their combined mission is to reprogram the nanobots that will help clean up earth and save the planet. We do get to meet Ada‘s mom and some of her friends and find out important background information. But at the same time this book almost felt like it wanted to be the original Tom Cruise Mission Impossible with the wait… what the… there is the mission, there’s the second mission, and then we only learn about this overarching type of rebellion, but don’t get enough information or the information is too confusing. I did like this book, but I have been a fan of Beth Revis for a while. And she normally does better than this.  Ada is a pretty decent unreliable narrator and it’s for that reason I cannot decide if I want a sequel series or not.  I can’t make up my mind. I love the first two books. I liked this one. Overall together it works, but each story definitely did need to be its own book. 

Pete and Suzie and the Party Penguins by Samantha Ahearne

lighthearted slow-paced

2.0

 

This story has a nice start. Pete and Susie are a seagull and another bird and they don’t think much of the penguins until they learn they can swim. This book mixes story with yoga and it seems half finished. The reader goes from one thought process to another with no transition between the two. The author will come out and say an affirmation is and then give an example and then move onto the next idea, but there was nothing leading up to that except that they were doing a yoga pose. There is also no explanation of what this sports day is and what the diving is that all these birds need to do. The author fails to explain what’s happening. The reader is left to figure out what is going on. I do think this book has heart and I think the author has tried their best and just needs more practice and more experience 

We Were Warned by Chelsea Ichaso
Did not finish book. Stopped at 11%.

 

I’ve listened to an hour of this and don’t remember a bit of it. There’s a haunted house, they’re making a movie or documentary, and that’s as much as I know. I don’t think it’s the audiobook. I didn’t mind the reader and there’s other characters that have voices. I think for me I need to read the story to get everything out of it. I’m still not sure. I couldn’t understand if they’re high school students or college students. I think the story is there. I just don’t think it was working as an audiobook to keep my attention. 

Sib Squad, Book 1 by Steve Breen

funny medium-paced

3.0

 

This is an early graphic novel about the younger siblings. You don’t get to do the crazy adventures the older siblings do. They decide to have their own adventure and find a wishing well make wishes and have a grand adventure. This book was fine. There were some problems with my galley so I may have missed things. I do think kids will like it and find it entertaining an interesting. For me it was OK. It’s one of those books’ kids like it and that’s all that matters. 

Muted: Volume 1 by Miranda Mundt

dark emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

 

Camille is a witch. There is a family ritual to summon a demon and make a wish. Her type of witch is a blood witch. The blood witch are high society and while she lives with her aunt, she’s been trained for this moment, but knows things are going to go wrong. Camille is left with another family member after her disastrous demon summoning to find who they are, what it means, and what has happened in their life. Camille barely remembers anything before the fire that took her mother. Now it’s her chance to find the secrets that everybody’s been keeping. The artwork in this book is amazing. It’s easy to follow. It’s bright. It’s colorful, and it really draws the reader into the story. 

Student Government by Dave Justus, Lilah Sturges
Did not finish book. Stopped at 22%.

 

This graphic novel is about an interim student government who takes over the university because the powers that be are choosing to close the university to mine for gold. The first 40 pages of this book are not only boring they are kind of annoying. The best way to describe it is Paris Geller university years. We already saw that in the Gilmore Girls and that was way more entertaining. There is also the Alpha’s from Revenge of the Nerds. The real student council who are going to go figure out what these interims are doing and take our school back from them because they like money and partying. This book is set at a university and there will probably be some university students who like it. But I as an adult find it my numbingly, boring and quite a bit annoying. 

ZomCom'ics by Emi Mena Garrucho

funny medium-paced

3.0

 

The artwork in the strips is nice, but I think some words would help the stories along. Most of these are just a few panels Long and some of them the story makes perfect sense other times I’m not so sure. This is the world in which zombies and other types of magical or mystical creatures all roam around and interact with each other making for misunderstanding. I do like the artwork but some of the strips I’m not sure what the author is trying to say. 

Bye Bye, Butterfly by Ashley Spires

slow-paced

2.0

 

I hope the show is better than the books. These books are long and drawn out. They take too much explanation and quite frankly too much time. I don’t think its story always needs to be short but halfway through this book I’m still don’t get why people like this. 

The Great Lakes: Our Freshwater Treasure by Barb Rosenstock

informative slow-paced

4.0

 

Kids who really like non-fiction are going to love this book. This book is about the history of the lakes where they came from the and the life that they have sustained since then.