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Many Waters (Time Quintet #4) by Madeleine L'Engle

"Dennys and Sandy, the twins are whisked away to the Andte-diluvian days where they get to be part of history, or at least, Biblical history. It was almost like a prequel to Noah and the Ark with the occasional Unicorn, of course. L'Engle does like her Unicorns."  2 Stars Pros:  Dennys and Sandy, the twins, finally get their own adventure./It was an interesting look into the Apochrypha. I would've thought L'Engle would have shied away from such controversial subject matter. Angels having pre-martial relations with human women, goodness me.  Cons:  Mr. Murry's magical tesser-acting computer certainly took things literally but, I guess it's the whole, "be careful what you wish for" message/ Though Dennys and Sandy were the protagonists, I didn't feel like we really, actually got to know them.  Full Review Sandy (Alexander) and Dennys are finishing up Hockey practice and go home to make themselves some nice hot chocolate, since its mid-winter in...
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A Swiftly Tilting Planet (Time Quintet #3) by Madeleine L’Engle

“The apocalypse is looming when a random South American Dictator threatens Nuclear War. Of course, Charles Wallace is the only one who can stop it!  It's all tied into the descendants of Meg's mother in law, Mrs. O'Keefe, Calvin's mother.  With the help of a Unicorn named Gudior, Charles Wallace is off to save the day. This was another head scratcher and I'm not holding out much hope that the series will start making sense." 2 Stars Pros Time travel, to me, is far less surreal than whatever was going on in #2. So this was an easier read. Cons: Megs constant questioning starts right on page 1, at least she’s consistent/I do love how Mr. Murry is on speed dial with the President/The various timelines got very confusing and all the Brans/Maddocs/Maddox/Gwens/Gwyns and the multiple Zillah and Zillies were extremely frustrating. I had no idea who I was reading about at the end.  Full Review:  Years have passed and all the Murry children have grown. Dennys and San...

* - The Dante Club (The Dante Club #1) by Matthew Pearl

"It had such potential but then the indignant Boston Brahim enter the scene and we're thrown into a world of literature, proofs and translations with the occasional homicide thrown in to keep up the intrigue. I kept reading cause I was curious but this was an almost DNF on multiple occasions simply for the fact that it just went on and on. Honestly, it was hard to keep track and to care about the characters in the end." ⭐ Pros: It was definitely an interesting and unique premise/The mulatto police officer, Nicholas Rey, he was kind, intelligent, an easily likable character and I wanted to learn more about him but Pearl was too focused on the bitter arguments against literature at the time instead of building character.  Cons: All the indignant old men and “Good God” exclamations. It was all a bit pretentious./This book made me feel like Niles and Frasier Crane were solving a mystery./Parts of this book literally put me to sleep.  Full Review Set shortly after the Civil ...

The Rest of Us Just Live Here by Patrick Ness.

"Part Fantasy/Part Coming of age story, this was an interesting one from Ness. It had his dark, gritty realism but at the same time, the storyline with the Indie kids ended up just being overdone and confusing."  2 Stars Pros:  Ness touched upon some serious issues with his characters, mental health/anxiety/OCD/Eating Disorders but he handled it all in a realistic way. He didn't sugarcoat anything, which was tough at times but I think it added to the story.  Cons:  The fantasy story of the Indie kids being told in summary at the beginning of each chapter was unique but also, just kind of felt rushed and trite.  Full Summary: Mike is just weeks away from graduating high school and having his whole life change. His sister Mel, his best friend Jared, the love of his life but he's never told her, Henna, everyone is preparing to up and going their separate ways. And there's that whole thing with the Indie kids always causing some sort of magical mishap. It'll be a ...

The Last Star (The 5th Wave #3) by Rick Yancey.

"The dark but necessary conclusion to Yancey's series. It brings everything to a close but the cost is always high. Yancey handles it all in gently heart breaking way. Post-apocalyptic YA Sci-Fi at its best."    Pros:  Yancey does wrap it up well with a pretty good bow, one of the times a rare ray of light shines through this overall very dark series.  Cons:  Not a con per se but reading this series through now as an adult, it is dark. Like, sure, the protagonists are mostly teenagers but, it can get heavy at times, so tread lightly/Though there were some truly deep parts, the ending did go on for a bit.   Full Review: This is one of those times where I feel obligated to say that if you haven't read the first two books in the series, then stop here. Go back and get a copy of The 5th Wave and then please, proceed...  ***SPOILER ALERT*** It's been 6 weeks since Cassie and company escaped Urbana, Ringer was captured, tormented and freed and the Alie...

The Infinite Sea (The 5th Wave #2) by Rick Yaney

"A direct continuation of The 5th Wave  and Yancey goes even deeper, never pulling any punches and leaving the reader feeling shocked and horrified but at the same time, like the characters, somehow, still hopeful. I'm excited to see how the Series ends in The Last Star. " 5 Stars Pros:  Basically picking up right where The 5th Wave  left off, we follow Ben/Cassie in their attempts to lay low and survive after the cataclysmic events of the first books ending/The scene between Poundcake and Grace was absolute perfection.  Cons:  Some of the scene with Ringer were very surreal and a little hard to follow, a little repetitive but it didn't take away from the book too much, sometimes it went on for a little too long though.  Full Review: Cassie has found her little brother Sam, along with Ben (Zombie) who is Sam's commanding officer and the rest of Ben's unit. Once they realized what was happening, they went rogue and they know it's only a matter of time befor...

The 5th Wave (The 5th Wave #1) by Rick Yancey

"A dark, gritty, unflinching look at how the world descends into chaos when Aliens finally invade. Yancey pulls no punches and there were times that this book was so intense that I had to remind myself that it was fiction. It was a tough read but a powerful one, one that has stayed with me for a long time." 5 Stars Pros:  Though she has her moments of naivete, for the most part, Cassie is a relatable, strong protagonist and her loyalty and love are endless, the same with Ben Parish/Ringer is a mystery that I hope will be solved.  Cons:  This book is extremely dark and violent at times, so brace yourself. It's not a con precisely but it gets deep and depressing at times.  Full Review: It's finally happened.  Aliens have invaded the Earth.  But it wasn't with ray guns, or Death Stars or blowing up the White House, "Independence Day" style. Instead, the mother ship slips into our orbit, hovering above the Earth like a green, lidless eye and for ten days, no...