book reviewer

MLM Mafia Madness

Hannah LLeave a comment

A Review of The Friend Scheme by Cale Dietrich

Rating: 3 out of 5.

I want to preface this review by saying that this book wasn’t for me, and that’s okay. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, I will never find a good enough reason to think an LGBTQ+ YA book shouldn’t exist. I grew up reading authors like Meg Cabot and Ann Brashares, because they were some of the only books I felt I could relate to. If you had told 13 year old me that 15 years in the future LGBTQ+ books for people my age were a thing, and not just a thing, but prevalent, I would have looked at you so funny. I’m very happy this book exists and that some young adult might pick it up and find what they need in it. However, I had a few problems with this.

Nick Miller is just that, a Miller. A son of the one most infamous crime bosses in Florida and part of a family that has been committing crime and running the underground for decades. He’s never quite fit in, though, and he’s pretty convinced a life of crime isn’t for him. He’s not like his brother, Luke, who picked up the ropes so naturally and even seems to enjoy everything their father teaches them and encourages them to do.

Nick feels trapped, and with no real friends (because of the whole mafia thing) he’s exceedingly lonely. Until, one night, when he meets Jason, a mystery boy he’s never seen around his family’s bar before who takes an immediate interest in him. They start hanging out and getting to know each other, but they both immediately realize that what they thought was a friendship could be so much more. That is, until Nick learns of a rival family plot to infiltrate the Miller ranks as new friends or lovers to try and capture some of the family secrets or weaknesses. Nick immediately knows Jason is a Donovan (the rival family), but could the truth actually be so much more?

I, sadly, had a few issues with this book but I think the biggest one was the ending. It felt a little like Dietrich was ready to be done by the end so he just kind of wrapped it all up with a nice bow even if the package inside didn’t make total sense. There’s a major twist at the end that I won’t talk about because, spoilers, but it happens so fast towards the very end, I barely had time to ruminate in it. Not even 10-15 pages later it’s the end of the book and there’s somehow…closure, but I can’t imagine how because it feels like nothing was done to earn it. I also still have so many questions. There were huge plot points of the book left out of the ending. Like, does Nick ever come out to his dad and the Miller family? Does he ever tell Luke who Jason really is? How do Jason and Nick reconnect and how does Nick even get to being comfortable with that emotionally and mentally? It all just felt a tad rushed in the last 50 or so pages.

Having said that, though, I really enjoyed Nick and Jason’s relationship. Despite the backdrop of crime, they’re still just two boys trying to figure themselves out while not being a total dolt in front of the other. Which, I can relate to immensely as I spent a huge portion of my middle and high school years being an utterly awkward clutz.

I think if this book had been just a little bit longer and given me more time to sit in the angst or showed me Jason or Nick actually fighting or working to be around the other one again, I would have given this a higher rating. But, I just felt a little cheated by the end.

Thank you to NetGalley and Feiwel and Friends for the free version of this eBook for the purpose of this review. The Friend Scheme is out today, July 28!

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A Magical World I Could Get Into

Hannah LLeave a comment

Review of Shielded by KayLynn Flanders

Rating: 4 out of 5.

First of all, hold on a second. Scroll back up and look at the cover for this book. Isn’t it drop dead gorgeous? This colorful, artistic, illustrated cover is what initially drew me to the book. I’m just so in love with the way it looks. I feel like it’s not an art style that’s common on book covers.

Anyway, let’s move on to the actual book!

Princess Jennesara longs for a life outside of the stone walls of the Hàlendi palace, but, unfortunately a great many things prevent her. The normal things, like an overbearing father, and the not so normal things like a magical gift that she has to keep secret from everyone else. Her magic, although strong, wouldn’t prove very useful in battle. She can sense the rest of her family’s emotions, in a way that she describes as “tethers”. This, to me, was very similar to The Unwilling, in that there is an actual physical and emotional bond between a brother and sister. Admittedly, the similarities end there. I did, however, vastly enjoy Jennesara and Ren’s sibling relationship. It was refreshing and fun to read.

Seeing as she’s never allowed to leave the palace, Jennesara spends her time doing what any self-respecting princess would; sword and combat training. She’s damn good at it too.

However, everything changes when her father surprises her with a betrothal agreement to a prince in an allying nation across the island, Turia. Prince Enzo of Turia eagerly awaits the arrival of his new bride so she must leave…tomorrow!

Jennesara never makes it to her destination, however, and in the wake of her absence, a devastating war breaks out, guided by the hands of three ancient mages who have awoken after a few centuries of banishment. Could Jennesara hold the key to stopping them and righting the balance of the island?

I really enjoyed this book. I think it was a very solid opening to a series and I got involved in all of the characters, especially Enzo. Sorry, he’s just too damn cute. The world was very easy to slide into and feel comfortable in. I even enjoyed the magic system, although I feel like all we got to see in this first one was the very tip of the magic iceberg. Jennesara is a solid protagonist. She is quite literally put through the ringer in this book and I remember asking myself several times how much more this poor girl was going to have to endure. Through it all, though, she never loses sight of who she is as a person, which I thought was refreshing to see in a YA novel with a female protagonist. Too often, female leads fall into a troupe of having no sense of self and the plot points of the book help them find it. I felt like Jennesara was already extremely comfortable in who she is as a person, she just needs help figuring out a few things. It’s kind of like putting the horse before the cart.

My only qualm with the book is the little one or two page intermissions between the chapters. I found it hard to track where those little snippets fell on the timeline and give them a frame of reference to the rest of the plot. There’s one in particular that involves a character that shouldn’t be able to be in that snippet by that point of the book but there’s no mention of if this little snippet takes place before the reason they should no longer be in that snippet has happened. If that makes sense while keeping it spoiler free. They helped move the plot along, but sometimes they left me a little bit more confused about where I was in the timeline or if I was missing a bigger plot reveal because I couldn’t figure out when in the timeline something was happening.

That’s the only reason I knocked this solid fantasy staple from a five to a four. I felt, at times, that I was missing something, but the action and characterization in the actual chapters more than made up for it. I can’t wait to read the second one and see what other adventures Jenna, Ren, and Enzo can get up to.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Children’s Books for a free eBook version of Shielded for the purpose of this review.

Shielded is out tomorrow, Tuesday, July 21! Check it out!

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A Fully Realized Creation

Hannah LLeave a comment

Review of The Adventure Zone: Petals to the Metal Graphic Novel

Rating: 5 out of 5.

First, a little backstory.

I discovered The Adventure Zone (TAZ) as it was maybe 3/4 of the way through the Balance campaign. I caught up just in time for Stolen Century and the Finale and by then I was hooked. For those of you that have never listened to The Adventure Zone, this probably sounds like a lot of nonsense words so let me explain.

The Adventure Zone is a podcast of three brothers and their dad playing Dungeons & Dragon and is broken into various arcs for one large campaign, think of them like seasons to a TV shows entire series. The story follows three playable characters, Taako (played by Justin McElroy), Magnus (played by Travis McElroy) and Merle (played by Clint McElroy), and the Dungeon Master, Griffin McElroy. The podcast gained an insane internet following because of its inclusive characters, intense story lines, and gut-busting humor.

Anyway, the backstory.

I started listening to The Adventure Zone when I was working a job I absolutely hated with a commute that I hated even more. The drive took me a little over an hour each way, and given that each TAZ episode is around an hour, I was able to get through two in a day, usually. I sped through. They were the only thing that made my commute any semblance of bearable, listening to those three goofy dudes and their dad have fun, create insane stories together, and just enjoy each other’s company.

The second half of the Balance campaign had such a profound impact on me that I have something tattooed from the campaign on my body, the symbol for the Bureau of Balance. Pictured below.

When the graphic novel series was announced around three years ago I was so beyond excited, not just to see all of the amazing exploits in a visual form, but also because I was just so damn proud of these three brothers and their dad for creating a story so poignant and uplifting and funny that it transcended mediums.

As anyone who loves TAZ will tell you, the third arc, Petals to the Metal, is when shit started to get “serious”. For Here There Be Gerblins (Arc 1) and Murder on the Rockport Limited (Arc 2), everyone was still trying to find their footing and get involved with the story. Petals the Metal is where you FIRST start to see little tid bits of plot that don’t have pay off for (in podcast time) a good few years. So to see them visually represented finally really did an emotional number on me.

Petals to the Metal follows the three main characters, Taako, Magnus, and Merle as they travel to the city of Goldcliffe to try and reclaim an insanely magical artifact called the Gaia Sash. It’s been claimed by a woman named Sloane who used to be a Battle Racer (essentially a Mad Max version of pod racing from Star Wars). She’s using its powers but, as the characters know, anyone who tries to use one of those magical artifacts falls under its “Thrall” and loses control of their magic. To try and get the Gaia Sash away from her they enlist the help of Hurley, a halfling Monk in the Goldcliffe militia. Except, Hurley and Sloane have a fair bit of history. Hilarity and antics ensue, but the ending was still perfect and visually represented everything I could have ever asked for.

**SPOILERS UNDERNEATH, CONTINUE IF YOU DARE**

I cried a total of six times and I can tell you exactly when…

  1. Sloane and Hurley kissing for the first time
  2. Sloane and Hurley saving Hurley from the Silverpoint poison
  3. BARRY FUCKING BLUE JEANS
  4. HE HAD A POLAROID OF LUP Y’ALL
  5. Lucretia and Merle talking about the Gaia Sash
  6. Sloane and Hurley reawakening as their badass cherry blossom forest nymph selves
  7. The appearance of The Hunger/John

I am not ashamed to say I cried a good few times, and this story deserves it. It deserves all the tears. The next few installments of the graphic novel are going to absolutely murder me and I cannot wait. Because, guess what, THE NEXT ONE IS KRAVITZ Y’ALL.