The Speaker Review

Hello Fellow book lovers, and happy holidays. I am so excited for the holidays especially Christmas, it always makes my heart glow with joy and love. I am back here today with an awesome new book The Speaker. It is a Young Adult book from Putnam which came out on November 7th, 2017 and its the sequel to The reader. It is a series title Sea of Ink and gold. I would like to say huge thank you to Penguin Random for sending me both books in an exchange for an honest review. Now onto the summary and review of The Speaker.  

In this book, we continue with Sefia, Archer and Captain Reed stories. We originally met all of these people in the Reader. They seem to be the main characters in the Series so far. As we continue through the Speaker, We learn so much more about how all of these people came to be on their journeys. We learn more about Sefia parents, and what they did that cause them to be hunted. We learn Archer history and how he came to be apart of the story. We find out how Reed’s story ties into Sefia and Archer stories. We have gained so much more information on the War that seems to be going on in the story. Now that is all I am going to say because I don’t want to spoil the first book.

I rated this book four out of five stars because of how crazy it is. The reason this series hasn’t reach 5 stars with me is because I feel like Traci Chee, put to many perspectives in the book. So many view points in one book tends to feel confusing sometimes. I felt really confuse by both of the books a lot because of all the points of view. At the same time I am anxious to see how everyone is tied to everyone else, which is something you learn through out this book. These characters and the story are very complex and have a lot of Depth to them. These characters can shock you sometimes with how they react to something. I was really shock by the fact that a few characters use Violence in this book as a numbing agent. The Violence explanation disturb me sometimes because of how it was use. I didn’t want to see these characters having to fight in order to feel better about themselves. It was almost like they where fighting to be more relaxed and using it as an escape of handling real life. This annoyed me and for this book to be a young adult book, the violence was a bit problematic for me. I was also really shock by this book because of some of the history revealed about the characters and their lives. This book just held so much information in it, that sometimes it became an overload to me as a reader.

Now as for the book itself, omg is it beautiful. Both books contain deco edges on the pages and the covers are Asian inspired. The story has a ton of Asian influence along with Eastern European and India in my opinion. The Characters are more developed and have more explanation for how they came to be themselves. You find out fascinating plot information that makes you wonder more about these characters. I love the beauty that I can see in this plot, and these characters, that is raw and terrifying but makes them even more interesting. We also have more pirates in this book which I really love, I felt that was fascinating.The most unique thing about these books is that they unique and like nothing else, I have seen before. I totally still feel like these books should be read because they are extremely action pack. I feel like these are the type of books you will find something new about every time you read them. I honestly would say buy both of these books and read them because they are just that good. I have a feeling there will be more books in this series. As always I will leave the links to the author, books and my social media below. Thank you for reading this blog and please continue to follow me.  

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Meli 

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The Reader by Traci Chee

Hello Fellow book lovers, and happy holidays. I am so excited for the holidays especially Christmas, it always makes my heart glow with joy and love. I am back here today with an awesome new book, Well it's new to me, Called The Reader by Traci Chee. It is a middle-grade book from Putnam which came out last year and on November 7th, 2017 the sequel which is Title The Speaker just came out. I would like to say huge thank you to Penguin Random for sending me both books in an exchange for an honest review. Now onto the summary and review of The Reader. 

This book is about a young girl by the name of Sefia. Sefia is left alone after her parents are murder than again when her adoptive aunt was kidnapped and dragged away. She ends up meeting a boy by the name of Archer who becomes a friend and Partner in crime as the book continues. After her parents died, Sefia finds a book but in her world Books don't exist , and people don't know how to read or write. But Sefia learns as she and Archer make their way through jungles. What Sefia doesn’t know is now she has what I called book hunters in her tale because a book is just not a book, it is actually so much more. As Sefia moves across the country, she and Archer have a lot of problems because of what she has learned and the people who are now hunting her, along with Archer.  But in order to know Sefia real story, you will just have to read this book which I think is a must. Now onto my final thoughts 

I rated this book a four out of five stars because of how crazy it is. It is a story inside of a story inside of the story. It reminds me a lot of once upon a time and how Henry is the author but then his book actually writes the stories of his family. The books in Sefia world, hold all of time and space. They hold the histories of real people and so therefore only the Librarians and Guards of the Libraries can read and know the history of the world. Nobody else can read or write because the books hold secrets that have yet to come. But Sefia ends up with the gift of being able to read which leads her on a journey of discovery. She and Archer lose so much as Sefia learns to read but then at the same time gain so much. All of the characters in this series are complex but at the same time intriguing and not boring. You actually will want to read this series, just because the mystery keeps going and going. I just love these characters so much. 

Now as for the book itself, omg is it beautiful. Both books have those deco edges on the pages and the covers are Asian inspired. The story has a ton of Asian influence in it and you can tell this as you read the book. One minute you feel like your in India the next minute you feel like your in China and plus there are pirates. Traci Chee did such an awesome job making you feel like every character and place was different. She packs this book with tons of action and complexity too. I am in awe of how amazing this first book was and now I can’t wait to get to the second book. This book to me is so unique and I honestly haven't read another book like this before. It's just so intriguing and it keeps you guessing until the end of how it's going to turn out. Trust me this is one book you're going to want to read and review. As always all of my social media links will be listed below along with the Author and the books. Huge thank you again to Penguin for sending me both books to review. 

Traci Chee

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Top Ten Books of 2017

Louise Oneill "Only Ever Yours" is a book about a perfect utopia world that really is more of a dystopian world. We Meet two friends who are trying to become the perfect girls to end up married instead of Mistress or Teachers. Eventually One becomes a teacher and one Ends up committing suicide. It's a sad dystopian that makes you really think and take a long hard look at our society today and how it treats women. I don't usually like Dystopians anymore but Louise knocks this one out of the ballpark. I also rated this book 4 out 5 stars, but now I feel like its more of a 4.75 out of five stars.  Original Review   Louise Oneill twitter

Under Rose Tainted Skies by Louise Gornall is an awesome story about Mental Health. The main Character Nora has agoraphobia and OCD which she is trying to manage throughout the book while meeting a boy. She becomes friends with the boy and she eventually runs to him when she needs help at the end of the book. But this is not one of those books where the boy Solves the girl's mental health. This boy really doesn't change anything except becoming her friend. It is an own voice Mental Health story, so the author really does understand Mental health and how it feels throughout the book. I literally cried while reading this book because it felt so personal and so much about my own mental health life. I rated this book a five out of five stars which is wild because I am very hard on my rating of mental health books.
Original Review   Louise Gornall Twitter

I Eliza Hamilton, is one of two historical Fiction novels on this list, that I love this year. This book is about Mrs. Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton, and how she met and fell in love with Alexander Hamilton. It talks about what might have happened during Eliza time and how she might have felt towards Alexander. Because many of Eliza letters are lost to history, believed to have been burn, we have very little about her. But this book goes above and beyond to Show Eliza as a human being and not a founding father wife. Susan Holloway Scott, the author is also amazing at just handling weird questions about Eliza over twitter. So thanks to this book I have gained more historical knowledge about Eliza. I rated this book a four out of five stars. Original review       Susan Holloway Scott Twitter

Hunting Prince Dracula, become my favorite sequel, of the year and my other favorite historical novel of the year. It is the sequel to the hit Stalking Jack the ripper. It is about Audrey Rose and Thomas Cresswell adventure to a medical school which is in Count Dracul Palace in Romania. We find out more information on Count Dracul and also about the famous Elizabeth Bathory. We have a murder mystery of course. Plus we are also introduced to two new characters in this book along with LGBT love theme. I absolutely love this book and I am hoping beyond hope I get to review the third book coming out next year. I rated this book a 5 out of 5 stars. Original Review             Kerri Maniscalco Twitter

A Curious Beginning is the first book in Deanna Raybourne Veronica Speedwell series. It is about an orphan girl named Veronica, who might have connections to a very famous historical Queen. While this is Historical fiction, I tend to label it more as a mystery. In this book, Veronica finds out who she is, and why she is being hunted down by several people. She also ends up in the Protection of Templeton Vane Stoker, who seems to be her equal in every way. A great series for Stalking Jack the Ripper, Nancy Drew, and Sherlock Holmes fans. I love this series, it is so funny, and very new adult in my opinion. I rated this book a 4 out of 5 stars.  There are three books in this series, the first two are available to buy now, and the third is out in January. Original Review
Deanna Twitter

 

Six of Crows is book one of a Series by Leigh Bardugo, that takes place in the Grisha Verse. It is a book about a heist and six friends who proceed to go on it. But things happen and the heist goes terribly wrong. This book is not one for weak Stomach people. I am very sensitive and I was cringing throughout this book while reading it. So you may be asking why is it in her top ten because I can't stop thinking about this book. I also love love Leigh Bardugo writing, which can have you saying woah in moments of the story. This book had me going Woah, OMG that moment was powerful. I can't stress enough about how amazing this book was, but be mindful of the cringe parts. I rated this book originally a 4 out 5 stars but its more like 4.75 stars. Original review   Leigh Bardugo Twitter 

All new things by Lauren Miller was originally an E Arc I received from Netgalley but then I bought the book. It is a book about a young girl name Jessa who has Anxiety and moves with her father after a horrible accident. While living with her father, she gains two new friends who are dealing with their own personal health issues. She also finds wisdom in God to handle life better. I really love the mental health aspect of this book. This book really makes you feel empowered to handle life better. To me, it was a great story overall and I still think about it. I rated this book a four out of five stars. Original Review    Lauren Miller Twitter

This is about three friends name Taylor, Charlie, and Jaime who travel from Australia to go to a Convention for comics. Taylor is autistic and suffer from anxiety but loves geeky fandoms of all kinds. Charlie is a video blogger who meets and falls for another video blogger. Then we come to Jaime who is a big geek but also really like Taylor and wants to date her. As the story continues we see how the two relationships evolve along with the friendships. I honestly wish Jen would write a sequel to this book because I just love these characters and this story. I rated this book a 5 out of 5 stars. Original Review   Jen Marie Wilde Twitter 

I read two of Danika Stone's books this year but All the Feels was my favorite. All the feels is a Contemporary romance from swoon reads. It is about Liv who has an obsession with a Star Trek type of fandom called Star Veil. She proceeds to use Social media and the help of her friend Xander to prevent the main character from being killed off. It works but also teaches valuable lessons along the way. It also helps to draw Liv and Xander closer together. I rated this book a four out of five stars. Original Review   Danika Stone Twitter 

Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell is the only book I've read by her this year but it's by far a favorite. It is about Cath who has a twin sister, that literally doesn't want anything to do with her anymore. When they go to college Cath who has anxiety has a hard time making friends but gains a new friend in her roommate. Cath's roommate Wren not only becomes friends with her but introduces Cath to her new love Levi. The only issue I had with this book is I want a little more of Levi and Cath and less of Cath Fanfic writing. I rated this book a four out five stars because it is a cutest fluffy contemporary with elements of Mental health. Original Review   
RainbowRowell Twitter


Honorable Mention 

I did not start AG Howard Splinter series in 2017 but it is one of my all-time favorites. This series is an Alice retelling involving Alyssa Gardner the great -great granddaughter of Alice Liddell. She finds out how to get to wonderland. Why wonderland is the way it is and who she really is related to. This wonderland is also very dark and twisted much like Tim Burton Alice in Wonderland. I love this series and I could not do a Favorites list and not mention these books. I rated each book a four out of five stars. Reviews for all of these books can be found on this blog starting with Splintered .      

AG Howard Twitter 

These are my top ten favorite books that I read in 2017. If you notice the common theme among them is that I am still thinking about each of these stories, even after I have read and reviewed other books. These are the main books that stuck in my mind this past year. Also, you can tell that I have my favorite genres too, like contemporary, historical fiction and Mental health. Mental health is one that I hold close and personal to my own heart. As for contemporaries, I have always love cute romance books since I was a kid, and that will never change. Historical fiction is another genre I have loved since I was a kid because of authors like Louisa May Alcott, Laura Ingalls Wilder and Jane Austen. I hope you loved this blog, and I hope you get a chance to read each of these books because I think they will change your life.  As always all of my Social media is listed below, please feel free to follow, subscribe, and share.

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Girls who Code Series

Hello Fellow book lovers, I am back with my latest book review on an awesome Middle-grade Book series. The Series is title Girls who code. Its a series of young girls who like Web Coding and it's for 8-12yrs old. I received a finished copy of Book two in Girls who code Series, title Team Bff: Race to the finish along with an activity book to go with the series from Penguin random house in exchange for an honest review. So huge thank you to them for the chance to read these awesome books for middle graders.  So let's get to the Summary and my thoughts on the book.

Book two Team Bff Race to the finish is about Sophia Torres, who is an athlete, an “A” Student and has a hobby of Coding things like websites. Sophia lives with her three sisters, Mother, father and Grandmother. She is also held very responsible for taking care of things at home along with her siblings. So Sophia and her coding friends Leila, Lucy, Maya, and Erin decide to enter this thing called the Hackathon. which is an event, where they will spend hours coding a robot to actually move by using a computer motherboard. But then something happens and Sophia might not make it to Hackathon which will disqualify the entire group. In order to find out how the girls help Sofia, you will need to buy this book and read it. 

Now the Activity book is Called Girls who Code: Code it! Create It! Ideas and Inspiration for coding. This book holds a small dictionary of Coding terms like Programming Language, Variables, Java, Html, and CSS which are all terms you used when coding. For young kids this is great to learn early, I personally learn these terms in college. It also has a short section about three famous women who help make computers what they are today. It also has Crossword puzzles, Mazes, and Writing spaces for plenty of ideas for coding. The activities really teach young girls on how to start getting into coding. 

       

 I rated both of the books 4 stars because they are great for little kids especially girls. These are great books for kids who want to find a place to start learning about computers. The Storybook Team Bff actually teaches young kids how to work together as a team. Which I love those young kids are learning team effort at a young age, it makes it less awkward for them later in life. I love how all of the girls rush to help Sophia throughout the book and vice versus. Also, My eight and ten years love these books too so I will be continuing with the series for them. The Series reminds me of a younger kid “Baby Sitter Club” but way cooler. The one thing I didn’t like in this book is the fact that Sophia parents demand so much of her, with everything at home. They never seem to respect the fact that she has her own life and responsibilities at school and to friends which is also important to be a well-rounded child. As for the activity book, I thought that was so cool. I really love the mazes, puzzles and web design ideas in the book. I also love that they had put actual terms from web coding in the book along with information about famous females who help computers become more important. I just love the activity book so much and my Eight-year-old is always begging me to print her copies of activities from the book. I hope you all check out this series, especially if you have young kids who love computers. I think this is a great series not only for young girls but also young boys. But I really did enjoy everything else about this series and I can’t wait to read more of these books with my kids. As always all of the information for the author, books and my social media will be listed below.

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Meli 

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Girls who Code: Team BFF: Race to the finish Bk two

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The Irregular

Hello, Fellow book lovers and welcome back to my newest blog. The newest blog is about The Irregular by H.B. Lyle which I received as an Arc from Quercus USA, so a huge thank you to them for letting me review any of their books. This book will be available for sale November 7th, 2018. So let's get to the summary and of course my thoughts on the book. 

 This is a mystery novel about two men Kell Vernon and his co-agent Wiggins. Now you might say to yourself, Wiggins I have heard of this name before. Well, you have its the famous Sherlock Holmes, Wiggins. The book starts out with Kell former agent being hunted down by the killers, Which leads us to meet Kell Vernon and find out that he is a Secret Agent for counterintelligence in London during 1909. He is looking for Russian and German Espionage that is trying to set off war and take out London. But he needs help, so he sets out to hired Wiggins on the advice of the very famous Sherlock Holmes. As the book continues, we learn more about Wiggins, his past and why Holmes is so fond of him as a secret agent.  We also get to see Wiggins in action as a Secret agent. All of this leads us on a chase towards finding out who is actually behind the Espionage along with several murders that are happening in the book. Now onto my final thoughts about this book.

I rated this book a very generous 3 stars out of five and I will explain why. This story lacks the very essence of a classic Holmes mystery. I do understand it was not Suppose to be a retelling of a Sherlock Holmes mystery but you can’t give the reader Sherlock in one chapter and then remove him in the next five chapters. There where moments, where I love the mystery and felt like hey its finally taking off and going somewhere, then the next few chapters would be about Wiggin’s past and present. The author set up the murders but lack the investigation for me behind the murders, and I really love the investigation part of the book. Then the author introduces Bela, who was supposed to be the young female of Russian descendent that Wiggins was supposed to fall in love with. But while Bela had her moments of intrigue, overall she felt flat and lacking the personality of a female for me. I just found too many things in this book that did not appeal to me but eventually average out with the things that I did like. The moments of real Sherlock Holmes vibes, the moments where Winston Churchill actually appears and speaks. I felt like the historical moments actually felt very real and spoke volumes. So if you like espionage mysteries then this book will probably fit your taste more than mine. I tend to like more Sherlock Holmes mysteries and not Spy Espionage. So I suggest you check this book out at the library or buy it to see.  As always all of my links to the author, book and my social media are below

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Meli 

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