Big Tree by Brian Selznick

Summary from Goodreads:

The fate of all life on Earth may depend on the bravery of two little seeds in this epic adventure from the #1 New York Times bestselling creator and Caldecott Medalist of The Invention of Hugo Cabret . “The tale of the natural world is the greatest story we have to tell, and Brian delivers a brilliant chapter of that tale throughout the pages of Big Tree .” ― STEVEN SPIELBERG “We need brave, big stories like [ Big Tree ].” ― The New York Times Book Review “Has the power to intrigue...affecting.” ― The Wall Street Journal * “An enthralling and expansive meditation on what it means to be alive on this planet.” ― Booklist , starred review * “A balanced and rich book. . . . Powerful.” ― The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books , starred and recommended review * “In evocative prose and peppery dialogue . . . the cinematic story journeys across time and space, contemplating the power of life to heal.” ― Publishers Weekly , starred review * "A special, one-of-a-kind book for the whole family that readers won’t soon forget." ― School Library Journal , starred review * “Masterful.” ― The Horn Book , starred review "Inspirational, important, and beautiful. A fable for our times." ― Alan Gratz, bestselling author of Refugee and Ground Zero "Hello, stars. I thought I heard you calling me." A mysterious voice has been speaking to Louise in her dreams. She and her brother Merwin are Sycamore seeds, who hope to one day set down roots and become big trees. But when a fire forces them to leave their mama tree prematurely, they find themselves catapulted into the unknown, far from home. Alone and unprepared, they must use their wits and imagination to navigate a dangerous world―filled with dinosaurs, meteors, and volcanoes!―and the fear of never finding a safe place to grow up. As the mysterious voice gets louder, Louise comes to realize their mission in life may be much bigger than either of them ever could have imagined! Brimming with humor, wonder, mystery, and a profound sense of hope, Big Tree is a trailblazing adventure, illustrated with nearly 300 pages of breathtaking pictures. It is Selznick's most imaginative and far-reaching work to date and a singular reading experience for the whole family. The audiobook edition of BIG TREE is brought magnificently to life by Meryl Streep and features music composed by Ernest Troost.

Review:

This was a great book! Sometimes you sit down to read a few pages of something and end up reading the whole book. This happened for me. Granted, a lot of the book is done in beautiful, classic Selznick illustrations. The story, the concept, the artwork, and basically the whole thing was just genius. I’ve never read or experienced anything like this.

The idea of a book from a seedling’s point of view is just so cool. And then to find out that it was going to be a movie? I want the movie also. It’s the kind of story that has me looking up at the trees now as I go for walks with my dog, and also has me looking up at the moon…And while the story had some scary elements to it -there are dinosaurs and explosions in it- I found it very calming and poetic. It has you thinking deep thoughts about the world and how things come to be.

I hope this book gets lots of attention and one day the screen time it was meant to receive. But, in the mean time, I hope more people I know read it, so I can chat about it without spoiling anything. It’s a great story with some beautiful ideas and artwork too.

This gets a 10/10. What will Selznick come up with next?

Nic Blake and the Remarkables: The Manifestor Prophecy by Angie Thomas

Summary from Goodreads:

Internationally bestselling superstar author Angie Thomas makes her middle grade debut with the launch of an inventive, hilarious, and suspenseful new contemporary fantasy trilogy inspired by African American history and folklore.

It’s not easy being a Remarkable in the Unremarkable world. Some things are cool—like getting a pet hellhound for your twelfth birthday. Others, not so much—like not being trusted to learn magic because you might use it to take revenge on an annoying neighbor.

All Nic Blake wants is to be a powerful Manifestor like her dad. But before she has a chance to convince him to teach her the gift, a series of shocking revelations and terrifying events launch Nic and two friends on a hunt for a powerful magic tool she’s never heard of...to save her father from imprisonment for a crime she refuses to believe he committed.

Review:

I love Angie Thomas’ YA books. I was so excited to learn she came out with a Middle-grade fantasy book. I practically hugged the book when I first saw it. That being said, I didn’t love this book as much as I was hoping to. Maybe my expectations were too high. It wasn’t bad. It just wasn’t great either. And I couldn’t help but keep making comparisons to another book that it was very, very similar to, and not as good as (The Marvellers by Dhonielle Clayton). It had the same mix of prejudice against a main character who has to prove herself in a world she doesn’t know much about…

I loved how fast-paced the plot was. The pacing reminded me a lot of Rick Riordan’s books. There was never really a good moment to put the book down. And that makes for a fun read. I also love a good story with a family mystery. Why did the father do what he did? I needed to know.

I ended up guessing much if not all of the plot twists. I’m not sure a kid reading would be able to do this. I have read a lot of fantasy books, so it takes a lot to surprise me. That being said, I was kind of hoping to be more surprised about the Msaidizi….But, oh well.

I also never really fully felt like I understood or grasped the world of the Remarkables/Unremarkables. There was a never much world-building. Granted, much of the plot involved being on the run in the unremarkable world. However, I wanted to learn/see more as it went. There were some really cool snapshots of things that just weren’t fully mapped out. Maybe they will be in later installments, but I just felt a little cheated at moments where I wanted more (like during scenes where houses were blowing up or wand trees being searched for).

All in all, there were some good things and some not so good things here. I can see kids really enjoying the pacing and probably being surprised by the plot twists. It was a fun read that didn’t fully live up to its expectations for me. I give it a 7/10.

Imogen Obviously by Becky Albertalli

Summary from Goodreads:

With humor and insight, #1 New York Times bestseller Becky Albertalli explores the nuances of sexuality, identity, and friendship.

Imogen Scott may be hopelessly heterosexual, but she’s got the World’s Greatest Ally title locked down.

She's never missed a Pride Alliance meeting. She knows more about queer media discourse than her very queer little sister. She even has two queer best friends. There's Gretchen, a fellow high school senior, who helps keep Imogen's biases in check. And then there's Lili—newly out and newly thriving with a cool new squad of queer college friends.

Imogen's thrilled for Lili. Any ally would be. And now that she's finally visiting Lili on campus, she's bringing her ally A game. Any support Lili needs, Imogen's all in.

Even if that means bending the truth, just a little.

Like when Lili drops a tiny queer bombshell: she's told all her college friends that Imogen and Lili used to date. And none of them know that Imogen is a raging hetero—not even Lili’s best friend, Tessa.

Of course, the more time Imogen spends with chaotic, freckle-faced Tessa, the more she starts to wonder if her truth was ever all that straight to begin with. . .

Review:

I appear to have taken a hiatus in June…The a/c has been broken and it’s just been too hot and humid to sit for very long at my computer. However, I still have been reading a little. I tend to love books by Becky Albertalli. This one was not my favorite of her novels. However, I read it rather quickly and it helped me get through some awful days so I’m happy to have read it.

As usual with this author, I love the cast of characters. They are all so relatable and authentic. I also loved that the setting was a college campus/visit. This was new for the author. And it lent for more exploration, more finding oneself for the main character, and more opportunities for independence in general. Why don’t more books for YA audiences take place on college campuses?

I also loved the romance. I was doing some serious shipping. When things finally happened,  I might have actually yelled out loud, “woohoo!” and those are my favorite kind of romances.

All this being said, the book had one of my biggest red flags too. I hate repetition, and it was full of it. I get that the main character is a doubter and she needs to go over everything a million times in her head; it’s part of who she is. But, it got a little old for me super quickly.  By the half way point, I kind of hated Imogen. Like the point would have been made, and she would have been the same questioning character with the same doubts if she had maybe half the amount of repetition….She was so worried about coming off queer enough or offending the queer community, she often wasn’t just living or doing anything fun. And again, I get that this was sort of the point. It just was too much. I would have cut that anxiety in half and filled the book with a few more adventures/outings or something new to think about.

All in all a little less self doubt would have made this book so much more enjoyable for me, and just a tiny bit more plot…..But all in all, I still really enjoyed it. I still give it an 8/10.

Killer Instinct by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

Summary from Goodreads:

Seventeen-year-old Cassie Hobbes has a gift for profiling people. Her talent has landed her a spot in an elite FBI program for teens with innate crime-solving abilities, and into some harrowing situations. After barely escaping a confrontation with an unbalanced killer obsessed with her mother’s murder, Cassie hopes she and the rest of the team can stick to solving cold cases from a distance.

But when victims of a brutal new serial killer start turning up, the Naturals are pulled into an active case that strikes too close to home: the killer is a perfect copycat of Dean’s incarcerated father—a man he’d do anything to forget. Forced deeper into a murderer’s psyche than ever before, will the Naturals be able to outsmart the enigmatic killer’s brutal mind games before this copycat twists them into his web for good?

With her trademark wit, brilliant plotting, and twists that no one will see coming, Jennifer Lynn Barnes will keep readers on the edge of their seats (and looking over their shoulders) as they race through the pages of this thrilling novel.

Review:

I’m not going to be done with this author for a while….I ‘m super into this series. I started the book after this one already. But, at least I’m almost caught up on my reviews. Almost. This book did some re-capping that I found a little repetitive. The other series didn’t do this so much, but maybe the author learned by the next series. Book 1 had more of a CSI/ X-Men vibe. This Book 2 had a solid Silence of the Lambs feel. They interviewed a serial killer in prison, who was messing with them the whole time.

There’s new characters, a terrifying abduction, more love triangle madness, and lots of profiling. You get to know little bit more about the side characters, but nowhere close to enough. There’s still so much more I want to learn (and I’m in the first half of the next book). But the stakes definitely seem higher. I’m not sure I was into this case as I was into the first case of book 1, but  was definitely into the suspense/high action of the second half of the book. The second half of this book is crazy.

There’s escapes to college campuses, classes on murder, viewings of killer interviews, and just so much to learn about the psychology of serial killers, which I find fascinating! These books are just made for me. Not much happens with Cassie’s mother’s case, but not every book can do that. Some books have to focus on the other character’s crazy families too!

You get to learn a little bit more about the adults in the kids’ lives too. And I found them just as interesting. Again, I want to watch this tv show. Why has no one picked this up??? I can’t wait until I have my time at the end of the day to just relax and read more of this. These are the kind of YA books you can’t wait to get back to. They are addicting, full of suspense and hard to fall asleep at night while you are reading them.  This second book gets a 9/10.  I can’t wait to see where book 3 goes.

The Naturals by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

Summary from Goodreads:

Seventeen-year-old Cassie is a natural at reading people. Piecing together the tiniest details, she can tell you who you are and what you want. But it’s not a skill that she’s ever taken seriously. That is, until the FBI come knocking: they’ve begun a classified program that uses exceptional teenagers to crack infamous cold cases, and they need Cassie.

What Cassie doesn’t realize is that there’s more at risk than a few unsolved homicides—especially when she’s sent to live with a group of teens whose gifts are as unusual as her own. Sarcastic, privileged Michael has a knack for reading emotions, which he uses to get inside Cassie’s head—and under her skin. Brooding Dean shares Cassie’s gift for profiling, but keeps her at arm’s length.

Soon, it becomes clear that no one in the Naturals program is what they seem. And when a new killer strikes, danger looms closer than Cassie could ever have imagined. Caught in a lethal game of cat and mouse with a killer, the Naturals are going to have to use all of their gifts just to survive.

Review:

Okay, I swear I read other authors too….Sometimes….But, I also had these books, and after binging that last series, I knew I had to read these books too. Also, I love books and tv shows about serial killers, so how on earth have I not read these books yet? The Inheritance Games was a bit hard to believe because it was a dream come true, and now we have another sort of hard to believe series because it literally involves everything I love to read about in one package. Serial killers, suspense, kids/teens with powers, love triangles, murder mystery, cold cases, and a main character who’s family probably has been killed by a serial killer or was at least abducted in the past.

I think I liked this book more than the other ones…And that’s saying something because I seriously loved the others. This book was awesome! And creepy. It kept me up late with its creepiness and I wish it was a Netflix series or a long-running show on the CW because it would be such a fantastic show.

That being said, it reads like a police procedural in a way, but with teenagers trapped in the same house. And I’m all for it. There’s a bit of an X-Men vibe going on because the teens all have these unique abilities that help them solve cases and essentially be super FBI agents. It’s kind of like X-Men mixed with Dexter, mixed with CSI.

Of course the main character’s past comes into the story, but I was fascinated by the other characters’ pasts and you don’t really learn too much about them yet. I want to to know more about everyone and I hope you get that later in the series. Obviously we learn a little about one, who’s the son of a serial killer. All in all, this book was addicting, lots of fun, full of mystery and hard to put down. There’s another love triangle. And it’s there’s more psychological thriller aspects to it than he other books had. I loved it. I give it a 10/10.

The Final Gambit by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

Summary from Goodreads:

Avery’s fortune, life, and loves are on the line in the game that everyone will be talking about.

To inherit billions, all Avery Kylie Grambs has to do is survive a few more weeks living in Hawthorne House. The paparazzi are dogging her every step. Financial pressures are building. Danger is a fact of life. And the only thing getting Avery through it all is the Hawthorne brothers. Her life is intertwined with theirs. She knows their secrets and they know her.

But as the clock ticks down to the moment when Avery will become the richest teenager on the planet, trouble arrives in the form of a visitor who needs her help—and whose presence in Hawthorne House could change everything. It soon becomes clear that there is one last puzzle to solve, and Avery and the Hawthorne brothers are drawn into a dangerous game against an unknown and powerful player.

Review:

Part of what drew me to these books to begin with is the fact that this particular installment won the 2022 Goodreads Choice Award: Winner for Best Young Adult Fiction. I was like  oh, I really do need to read these books. The second book had a crazy, crazy ending. I can’t even believe I said before that I had trouble remembering it. In remembering this book, I am remembering how the one before ended…What is wrong with me? Book 2 was crazy. Seriously crazy.

I of course kind of predicted that a certain character would have to show up in this book. How could she not? I did not, however, predict her involvement in the plot. Just when you think you heard it all about one rich family and their schemes/games, then you learn about another one! There’s this chess match at the end that is so intense, I was literally standing up, reading it.

This author knows how to write suspense. Avery has gotten smarter. She does pick a boy in her triangle, finally…Questions are finally answered….And it reads like a final installment book. So, I was very surprised to learn that there appears to be one more book coming? Am I misreading this news? Maybe I’m wrong….But,  I think more is somehow coming out! Either way, I’ll read it because apparently this author knows how to write books that I just eat up like popcorn. It’s hard to just review her books 1 at a time and not for the series at large.

I’ve also been reading other books for a banned book club that are a little darker and I’ve been listening to some Adult audiobooks that are kind of sad, so having these fun YA books to keep me guessing have really been such a treat. I’m so glad I’ve had these books these past few weeks while moving and going through everything. YA books really have this ability to just relax my mind and keep me happy, and these books have really done that for me. I give this one a 10/10.

The Hawthorne Legacy by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

Summary from Goodreads:

Intrigue, riches, and romance abound in this thrilling sequel to the New York Times bestselling The Inheritance Games perfect for fans of Karen McManus and Holly Jackson.

The Inheritance Games ended with a bombshell, and now heiress Avery Grambs has to pick up the pieces and find the man who might hold the answers to all of her questions - including why Tobias Hawthorne left his entire fortune to Avery, a virtual stranger, rather than to his own daughters or grandsons.

Thanks to a DNA test, Avery knows that she's not a Hawthorne by blood, but clues pile up hinting at a deeper connection to the family than she had ever imagined. As the mystery grows and the plot thickens, Grayson and Jameson, the enigmatic and magnetic Hawthorne grandsons, continue to pull Avery in different directions. And there are threats lurking around every corner, as adversaries emerge who will stop at nothing to see Avery out of the picture - by any means necessary.

With nonstop action, aspirational jet-setting, family intrigue, swoonworthy romance, and billions of dollars hanging in the balance, The Hawthorne Legacy will thrill Jennifer Lynn Barnes fans and new readers alike.

Review:

So, I’m a little behind in my review writing….I literally bought the rest of this series, before completing the first book…Or I guess what was out in the seres because I believe there’s going to be one more! And I’m actually currently reading Book 2 in a different series by this author already… Since I last posted,  I moved and went through some big changes, so here I am several books later, trying to remember this one.

And if that last paragraph tell you anything, let it tell you that these books are extraordinarily addictive. If you want something light, with a little bit of romance, and a big question mark type riddle that will keep you guessing for the whole thing, look no further! Pure fun, is how I’d describe the whole series.

A little more is learned in this installment about the will, about the estate, and I think about Avery’s family. She’s still in a love triangle. There’s still riddles. The stakes seem higher. More folks seem out to get her and her fortune. And I guess part of the fun and suspense of this is just the absurdity. The amount of money is just crazy. It’s such a wish fulfillment/dream kind of book, how can you not want to read this? And throw in the mystery….

I don’t think book 2 is ever the best book in a series, but I flew through it and delved right into book 3. I give it a 9/10.