Little Literary Lass

Tuesday, June 27, 2017

Top Ten Tuesday: Best Books I've Read So Far in 2017

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish. I thought this would be an easy list to come up with, but I struggled more than I expected. I guess I haven't read too many amazing books yet this year, but I hope to read many more in the second half of 2017! This list is in no particular order with the exception of number 1. Strangely enough, I read most of these books at the beginning of the year.

1. The Names They Gave Us by Emery Lord
I really, really loved this book. This is my top book of the year so far.

2. Like a River Glorious by Rae Carson
This is the sequel to Walk on Earth a Stranger. Definitely one of my favorite series at the moment. I feel like I've been waiting forever for the third book!

3. Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo
I mean, obviously.

4. Gemina by Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff
Also an obvious one. For me, at least. I didn't like it quite as much as Illuminae, but I still loved it.

5. A Million Worlds With You by Claudia Gray
Another one of my favorite trilogies. A great series with great covers! This was a wonderful concluding novel.

6. Gathering Darkness by Morgan Rhodes
This is the third book in the Falling Kingdoms series. I'm pretty sure this one is my favorite of the five that are currently out. Unfortunately, my memory is fuzzy about what happened in this book. I read them so quickly that the events kind of blur together in my mind.

7. A Study in Charlotte by Brittany Cavallaro
This book was just a delight from start to finish.

8. This Savage Song by Victoria Schwab
Victoria Schwab writes dark books with morally gray, realistic characters, which is exactly why I loved this book.

9. Sleeping Giants by Sylvain Neuvel
I've never read a book quite like this one. I think it would make a fantastic movie.

10. Front Lines by Michael Grant
This is the last book I finished. It was just cool.

Wednesday, June 21, 2017

Book Review: Front Lines

Author: Michael Grant
Genre: Historical
Published: 2016, Katherine Tegen Books
Rating: 4.25/5 Stars

Front Lines follows the stories of three girls in an alternate World War II history. In this story, women are allowed to enlist in the armed forces. Rio Richlin, Frangie Marr, and Rainy Schulterman all enlist for different reasons and with different expectations, but the war proves itself to be unpredictable and unwaveringly brutal.

I wasn't sure what to expect from this book. I read Michael Grant's Gone series back in high school and quite liked it, so I thought I'd give this one a try. I listened to the audio book and thought the narrator did well; she was easy to listen to and appropriately dramatic.

Front Lines has three main narrators, but the story focuses mainly on Rio. After her sister is killed in action, Rio decides (with encouragement from her best friend) she must do her duty by enlisting. Of course, she hopes for some desk job away from the fighting. Her skills with a rifle earn her a spot on the front lines, though. Frangie is an African-American girl who enlists after her father becomes unable to work. Her dream is to be a doctor, so she opts to become a combat medic. Rainy is a Jewish girl whose brother is also fighting; her goal is to be a part of military intelligence, intercepting German transmissions and shutting down their operations. We follow them separately for a while, but of course their story lines converge eventually.

I liked all the characters; I found them to be realistically flawed. The side characters had a lot of personality as well. I was a bit impartial for a while, but somewhere along the way I found myself really caring about what happened to everyone. The "women in the war" aspect was quite realistic. I think Michael Grant portrayed an accurate alternate history - the sexism and reactions of men both in and out of the service seemed plausible.

As this is a book about war, some scenes were excruciatingly graphic. On one particular drive, I had to unplug my phone from my car; I was getting a bit too nauseous for comfort. Despite my nausea, I appreciated that graphic and uncomfortable situations were not shied away from, as some young adult books tend to. Overall, the characters were well-developed and the plot moved along at a nice pace. I was pondering this book and its characters quite a bit when I wasn't listening to it. If you like a diverse cast of characters and don't mind a bit of a gritty war book, give Front Lines a try!

Book Review: The Names They Gave Us

Author: Emery Lord
Genre: Contemporary
Published: 2016, Bloomsbury
Rating: 5/5 Stars

Lucy Hansson's life seems to be heading in the right direction - until she finds out her mom has cancer again. Things change quickly for Lucy after that. Her too-perfect boyfriend puts her relationship on pause, she begins to question her faith, and she goes to work as a counselor for a "troubled kids" camp instead of the church camp she typically helps with. During this tumultuous summer, Lucy forms new friendships and learns there's so much more to her family and even herself than she thought.

This may be one of my new favorite books. If not an all-time favorite, it's definitely a favorite of 2017 so far. I just have a lot of strong feelings about this one. I loved reading this, and when I wasn't reading it, I was thinking about when I could get back to reading it.

The entire story felt so realistic to me. The characters, the setting, the situations, the dialogue - it was entirely believable. I may have related to Lucy more than any other book character I've ever read. Her faith, her experience as a camp counselor, her relationship with the kids, and her family were all aspects that I could strongly identify with. Thankfully, my mom is healthy, but I found myself getting emotional fairly often when reading about Lucy's mom. There was so much of their relationship that was similar to me and my mother that it was impossible not to picture myself in Lucy's situation.

The Names They Gave Us is a great example of side and minor characters done right. From the kids at camp, to the counselors and Lucy's classmates, everyone was distinct and memorable. I would read so many more books about these characters. Also, I want the Daybreak counselors as friends.

There is some romance in this book, but it's not the focus. It's such a slow-burning, genuine romance that I wish there were more of it. I checked this book out from my library, but I'm going to buy it eventually. I love it so much that it needs to be on my shelves. If you're looking for a powerful, emotional, entirely enjoyable contemporary, this is the book for you.

Tuesday, June 6, 2017

Top Ten Tuesday: Contemporary Books I've Added to My TBR

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish. I was trying to decide which genre to pick for this list, and contemporary books were just popping out at me. Contemporary is not my favorite genre by any means, but there have been a lot of new releases catching my eye. I guess summer is a good time to read these books anyway!

1. When We Collided by Emery Lord
I've read one other book by Emery Lord and I'm reading her most recent book now and loving it. I look forward to picking this one up soon, even if I don't know what it's about.

2. Windfall by Jennifer E. Smith
So I haven't yet read a book by Jennifer E. Smith because none of them have sounded interesting to me. Until this one. I've heard good reviews from reviewers I trust, so hopefully it's not disappointing! It's about a teen who wins the lottery and everything that follows.

3. When Dimple met Rishi by Sandhya Menon
This cover makes me happy. And I've never read a book about an arranged marriage before, so this definitely intrigues me.

4. I Believe in a Thing Called Love by Maurene Goo
This just looks cute. That's all I know.

5. Noteworthy by Riley Redgate
This is about a girl who pretends to be a boy to join an a cappella group at school. Apparently there's also an a cappella group war going on, so this just sounds hilarious and fun.

6. Always and Forever, Lara Jean by Jenny Han
I loved the first two books in this series, so I'm excited to read this one soon!

7. Once and For All by Sarah Dessen
I don't think I've read a Sarah Dessen book since high school. This one's about the world of wedding planning, and if it's like any of her other books, I'll probably love it.

8. Alex, Approximately by Jenn Bennett
This has gotten some great reviews and seems like a perfect summertime book.

9. Open Road Summer by Emery Lord
Another Emery Lord book, because, ya know, I haven't read it yet.

10. Second Chance Summer by Morgan Matson
This is one I've had for a while. I've been hesitant to read it since it's supposedly very sad, but I like a good sad book every now and again.

Thursday, June 1, 2017

Book Review: And I Darken

Author: Kiersten White
Genre: Historical
Published: 2016, Delacorte Press
Rating: 4/5 Stars

Lada and Radu, children of the prince of Wallachia, are left in the grip of the Ottoman Empire as political leverage. Lada plots her revenge while her more gentle brother Radu only wants to find somewhere he can call home. They are befriended by Mehmed, the son of the sultan, and a complex tangle of relationships is created. When Mehmed becomes ruler of the empire Lada seeks revenge against, their relationship is tested.

I was incredibly surprised by this book, mostly because I've read three of Kiersten White's other books and strongly disliked them all. I admit, And I Darken is horribly slow. There isn't much action. It's very complicated, subtle, and political, but that's what made me like it more than Kiersten's other books. This was marketed as "a Vlad the Impaler retelling but Vlad is a girl."

The characters felt so much like real people. Lada and Radu were so different from each other, but they still possessed a strong sibling bond. I just found everything in this book so believable, despite the fact that it's an alternate history novel. Honestly, I'm happy I listened to most of this on audio, because I would have been so lost on how to pronounce pretty much everything.

Jannisaries? Wallachia? Dragwyla?

I really loved Lada. Her interactions with other characters were so entertaining; I never knew what she would do or say. She was snarky, confident, and such a refreshing character. Radu was the more softhearted sibling. Although he was very cunning, he wasn't as interested in fighting as Lada was. They balanced each other nicely. Mehmed, on the other hand, I wasn't a fan of. He was selfish and took advantage of Lada and Radu's loyalty to him. I was waiting for him to die. Unfortunately, he didn't.

I would recommend this book for fans of Game of Thrones. It's got the same slow-paced, politics-driven kind of plot. The intricacies of the characters and the world made it a worthwhile read for me, though. If you're easily bored, maybe skip this one.

Book Review: Love & Gelato

Author: Jenna Evans Welch
Genre: Contemporary
Published: 2016, Simon Pulse
Rating: 3/5 Stars

After Lina's mother passes away, she is sent to live with the father she's never met in Florence. She's not too thrilled about spending the summer with her absentee father, even if it is a summer spent in Italy. Lina is given one of her mother's journals, and she discovers secrets about her mother's life in Florence that will change Lina's life forever. When she meets Ren, a charming Italian boy, things get even more complicated.

This book made me want to visit Italy so, so badly. The descriptions of the food and the countryside were just so enticing that I couldn't put this book down! From the title and cover you might expect a cute, lighthearted contemporary romance, and for the most part it is, but Love & Gelato delivers on more serious topics like grief and what it means to be a father.

I liked our main character Lina, but she didn't stand apart from the multitudes of other leading ladies in contemporary. But I at least didn't find her annoying, which already earns her a lot of bonus points. The side characters were pretty much one-dimensional, however. I wasn't convinced by Lina and Thomas's "sort-of" romance - he ended up being kind of a jerk anyway. And I'm still not sure how I feel about Ren. He was one of those typical YA characters who is hot and cold and terrible at communication, and that's something that for sure sends me into a reading-induced rage.

For a book titled Love & Gelato, there isn't a whole lot of love; the romance develops super late and I wasn't into it. I think I flew through this book because the setting was so fun to read about, plus it was an easy read, but it just didn't impress me much. I did enjoy my reading experience overall, and I would recommend this book to people who really like contemporaries or travel stories. If you're looking for a tremendously unique contemporary, this unfortunately isn't one.