BehrItAll

Ah, ok.

Queen's Peril by E.K. Johnston

When fourteen-year-old Padmé Naberrie wins the election for Queen of Naboo, she adopts the name Amidala and leaves her family to the rule from the royal palace. To keep her safe and secure, she’ll need a group of skilled handmaidens who can be her assistants, confidantes, defenders, and decoys. Each girl is selected for her particular talents, but it will be up to Padmé to unite them as a group. When Naboo is invaded by forces of the Trade Federation, Queen Amidala and her handmaidens will face the greatest test—of themselves, and of each other.

Queen's Peril just came out this month and it's a prequel to Queen's Shadow.

Just like Queen's Shadow, I really enjoyed this book. I only have the hardcover and so I didn't listen along with the audiobook this time. It is such a fast read, mostly because it is for YA readers, but I like YA. Also, like I said with my last review: there aren't any big battle scenes and no lightsaber fights, but if you love Padmé, then this is a book to read.

The Loves:
- Getting to see Padmé develop her Queen of Naboo persona and maintain anonymity. I guess I never realized that while Amidala was famous, her family and their origins were not known to the people of Naboo. Same for the handmaidens.

-Seeing the handmaidens come together. How they were recruited, their unique skills, their work ethic, but also just being normal teenage girls. Besides seeing them work together to come up with a decoy system to fool even the guards, I liked seeing their squabbles, sorting their complicated feelings, and talk about their menstrual cycles.

I am going to go on a bit of a tangent here: suppressants - sounds like birth control for a galaxy far, far away. Didn't work for Padmé when she gets pregnant with twins...
I mean, I would assume she would still be on them since she was secretly married to a Jedi. Must have just been the will of the Force.

- Ok, back on track. This might be a tiny spoiler but I won't give details. I loved that the prologue was , and how the epilogue is Heartbreaking!

- I loved the little bits of The Phantom Menace and showing some of those characters' POV so that we got a sense of where in the timeline we were: Shmi (which OMG I loved all her scenes <3 ), Palpatine, Maul, and Jar Jar. I also liked that it was not a rehashing of TPM and so we got to see more of the handmaidens' POV during those events.
Especially since it was mention in Queen's Shadow that

- Loved the descriptions of Naboo culture that focused on the arts and music and how that was being used to open relations with the rest of the Chommell sector.

Dislikes:
-I do wish the animosity between Saché an Yané was elaborated. It was too vague. From what I remember from Queen's Shadow

4.5 out of 5 Handmaidens.*

Favorite quotes:

Page 69: "I want to be ready for anything, of course, but I don't want to be so afraid of my own shadow that I give up the parts of me that want to stay idealistic and hopeful. That's why I wanted to be queen, really. To show that Naboo can be strong in its own traditions and a part of the galactic community."

Page 99: (Chancellor Valorum about the tax bill reappearing in variations in the Senate) It was not unlike being haunted, except instead of a ghost that might be exorcised, it was bureaucrats that just would not stop talking about it.

atwoodsmariano

Charlie St. Cloud by Ben Sherwood

I still love this book so much.

It's crazy to think that the first time I read this book I was 15 like Charlie at the beginning of this book and now I'm almost as old as he was after the time jump.

I love the setting of this book and I think the author does a really good job of capturing the feeling of living in this close community in a small town. I think it's cool that Cloutman's Lane where Sam and Charlie grew up is a real place. (I actually looked this up one time)

Most of the characters are interesting and engaging. I think it was an interesting choice to have Florio narrating the prologue and epilogue of the novel and it tied it up really nicely.

The close relationship/bond between Sam and Charlie as brothers is so realistic and I love their shared love for baseball/the Red Sox. From the very first chapter when we are introduced to their characters their close relationship/bond given that both of their fathers left is well-established which makes the car accident all the more tragic/painful. Sam and his play on the meaning of words was a nice character touch.

I think this book did a wonderful job of exploring the themes of pain/guilt that Charlie felt for robbing Sam of the experience of growing up and also about dealing with grief/loss of losing a loved one and how one moves on after losing someone close to them.

The in-between spirit world between the living and heaven was definitely an interesting aspect of this novel that I thought was used effectively and was interesting to explore. It was different than those used in Ghost and The Sixth Sense but there were also some similarities.

Charlie and Tess's relationship was one of my favorite parts of the book and the progression felt very natural and not forced. Usually chemistry between characters is talked about in performing arts but I felt the chemistry/connection in the novel. I thought the connection that they had with them both losing loved ones helped to strengthen the bond/understanding between them and I like how she's able help him to live his life and not forget about but still remember Sam.

Just a beautiful novel. Highly recommend.

Rating: 10 out of 10 Ted Williams chocolate cakes or games of catch at sunset



https://ughefron.tumblr.com/post/110075130547



https://www.goodreads.com/review/sho..._review_page=1

Favorite quote:

obviously

trust your heart
if the seas catch fire
(and live by love
though the stars walk backward)

BehrItAll

Nice review. I like the inclusion of the gifs.

BehrItAll

Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe
by Benjamin Alire Sáenz

I bought this book back on July 29, 2014 and it has been on my TBR since. It being June and Pride month, I finally read it, and much if it takes place during the summer, so it is a great summer read.

I really loved it. It's beautiful. I cried.

I did have some small issues with it.



But I loved:

How poetic it is. I bookmarked lots of quotes.

The growth of Ari's character was so well done. Not just him learning to communicate his feelings when it comes to Dante, but his relationship with his parents.
I grew to love Ari, Dante, and their parents.

There were so many moments when I cried at the end because I was sad, angry, or happy.

I loved it. It was beautiful.

I really would like to read the sequel, especially because I want to see what happens between Ari and his brother Bernardo. I've read it's in the works.

4 out of 5 Rainstorms.

avorite Quotes:
“The sky was almost black and then it started hailing. It was so beautiful and scary, I wondered about the science of storms and how sometimes it seemed that a storm wanted to break the world and how the world refused to break.”

“I bet you could sometimes find all the mysteries of the universe in someone's hand.”

“Another secret of the universe: Sometimes pain was like a storm that came out of nowhere. The clearest summer could end in a downpour. Could end in lightning and thunder.”

“I renamed myself Ari.
If I switched the letter, my name was Air.
I thought it might be a great thing to be the air.
I could be something and nothing at the same time. I could be necessary and also invisible. Everyone would need me and no one would be able to see me.”

“This is my problem. I want other people to tell me how they feel. But I'm not so sure I want to return the favor.”

“The funny thing is, I sometimes think my mother loves my father more than he loves her. Does that make sense?"
"Yeah, I guess so. Maybe. Is love a contest?"
"What does that mean?"
"Maybe everyone loves differently. Maybe that's all that matters.”

“The worst part about going crazy is that when you're not crazy anymore, you just don't know what to think of yourself.”

“It was as if my eyes were a camera and I was photographing the moment, knowing that I would keep the photograph forever.”

“I sometimes think that I don't let myself know what I'm really thinking about. That doesn't make much sense but it makes sense to me. I have this idea that the reason we have dreams is that we're thinking about things that we don't know we're thinking about—and those things, well, they sneak out of us in our dreams. Maybe we're like tires with too much air in them. The air has to leak out. That's what dreams are.”

dh23

Awesome reviews!!!

BehrItAll

Woodwalker: Creatures of Light, Book 1
by Emily B. Martin

I got this book as part of the Harper Collins Fantasy Quest mystery box I bought at New York Comic Con 2019.

It's scary and exciting to buy books blindly. The Harper Collins Fantasy Mystery Box is 2 for 2! I really enjoyed this story.

The world building and pacing is very well done. It was easy to get into the world and understand the politics, religions, customs, and history.

Emily B. Martin uses her knowledge as a park ranger well. I am not an outdoors person, but as I stepped into this world I wanted to become a Woodwalker. It was very magical, even though there is no magic/spell casting in the world. It was a very exciting adventure story.

I figured out the twist shortly before it was revealed because I recalled the first chapter.

5 out of 5 Fireflies.*

Favorite Quotes:

Page 124: -don't do something if you don't think you can do it well.

Page 139: "Always determine what's important, and what's urgent. Prioritize.

Page 217: It's a cruel thing, time. Some days stretch into a thousand lifetimes, endless in their drudgery. Some flip over as quickly as the turn of a book page. And the some seem to do both at the same time, speeding you along faster than you can blink while still allowing you that slow, simmering dread deep in your stomach.

Page 248: "..the Light is more than just how people revere it. It's more than a full moon, or a reflection on a waterfall. It exists beyond how we perceive it, and beyond how folk act on it."

LilMouse

Thank you to NetGalley for providing an ARC of Kind of a Big Deal.

The book has a great premise that went in a direction I was not expecting. Whenever Josie Pie enters stories, the other characters look like people she knows in real life. Prior to reading, I thought the characters would be the actual book characters, complete strangers to her in looks and all, and she'd just follow the path the story took instead of having her imagination or will shape them.

And I definitely was not expecting Muses from Greek mythology to be responsible for Josie entering books or wanting her to get trapped in them. I guess I should've guessed Greek mythology would come into it since those are the oldest stories, right? Not expecting these things to happen isn't necessarily a bad thing.

There were light, fluffy moments that I enjoyed and chuckled at (all the Spice Girls references). It was clever to include a comic book. I sped through this book, too. It's light reading, and sometimes you don't need to read a dark and heavy book.

Josie had her moments where she was immature, selfish, and ridiculous (an 18 year old giving up on her dream when, let's face it, she didn't spend all the much time going after it), yet somehow I wanted her to achieve her dream. I felt bad for her when her teacher (Mr. Camoin) told her to drop out of school and go straight to Broadway. That was irresponsible of him and he was setting her up for failure. He was setting her up to believe getting a role on Broadway would be easy and like it wouldn't take years and years of hard work.

Even though the book leaves us with an open ending and we don't get to see Josie get everything she wants in real life the lessons she takes away are good ones, especially for any teenagers reading this book who think high school is the most important part of their lives. Life may not be a smooth ride, your dreams might change, but don't give up and think one setback ruins it all.

BehrItAll

^Cool cover! Good review!

Sorcerer to the Crown by Zen Cho

This was part of the Ladies First mystery box from Penguin Random House that I bought at New York Comic Con 2019

This was a difficult read at first and I actually considered giving up and putting it on the DNF pile. It was a combination of things. The style of writing is reminiscent of Regency period prose. That took some time to get used to. Also, one of the protagonists, Zacharias, was dull.

I pushed through it and wanted to finish because I wanted to know why England's magic was drying up.

We do find out the answer but all that is more of a subplot. In fact, at some point it's resolved off page.



I am glad I pushed through. It did have its moments. Prunella and Mak were entertaining. While Prunella is lively, she is a bit of a Mary Sue. So powerful with little training, and

There were other side characters that I found to be funny and entertaining. Mak Genggang had personality and one of my favorite quotes came from her actions:

Page 160-1 The swifter of thought and keener of instinct ducked or leapt out of the way, but not everyone was so alert to the danger. The dagger impaled a yellow satin turban crowning the bemused countenance go Mrs. Geoffrey Midsomer.

The ladies around her shrieked as one woman.

"What in the name of Poseidon-!" said Mrs. Midsomer.

"Oh, Laura! Tell me you are not killed!" cried a friend.

There were some "twists" that were predictable. The world building was okay. It needed some work because some things about the magical lore and rules were not entirely clear. Some of the battle scenes were difficult to picture the setting and actions.

This was not a bad debut novel. The idea is actually a really good one, just needed some work with explaining the world building and make it more exciting in the beginning to hook the reader. I only continued because I saw on Goodreads that reviews said that Prunella makes it interesting. And she did.

Zen Cho shows promise and I would read something else she wrote to see how she has grown as an author.

I didn't love this novel, and I am not sure if I will continue with the sequels. If I do, I would borrow them from the library.

2.5 out of 5 Familiars.

LilMouse

I do like the cover style.
Thanks.

That's the lowest rating I've ever seen you give.

BehrItAll

I’ve given lower.

LilMouse

I wish goodreads will allow zero star ratings.

BehrItAll

Like for DNF.

LilMouse

yea, or just so bad it doesn't deserve any stars.

Drunk On You

Same here.

LilMouse

I have at least 2 books in mind that would receive zero.