Review: Marie Antoinette, Serial Killer

Marie Antoinette, Serial Killer by Katie Alender

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



Colette Iselin wants to go to Paris. She wants it so bad that she switches from Spanish to French as her high school language so that she can go on the Paris field trip. Once she arrives, she plans to enjoy the beauty of the city and possibly discover things about her French roots. But right before her group lands, a series of murders begin. As everyone is worried about who is committing these strange killings, Colette sees a peculiar women in a classical ball gown and powdered wig. What makes the vision even stranger is that the woman looks like Marie Antoinette. With the help a new French friend, Colette discovers secrets about her family and France’s dark history.

Marie Antoinette, Serial Killer is a modern day story with roots in the past. Who is killing these Parisians? Why does it appear that only the rich and influential are being targeted? Alender weaves a wonderful story of self-exploration as Colette tries to discover who she is instead of hiding within the friendships she has created. The connections between these 21st century individuals and the story of Marie Antoinette are plausible and create a reading experience that is full of suspense and adventure. I at first thought it was a story taking place during the French Revolution, but after I discovered that it was a modern story with historical connections I was even more attracted to the book. The book will entice readers of murder mysteries even if they normally are not interested in historical fiction.




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Review: A Beautiful Truth

A Beautiful Truth by Colin McAdam

My rating: 2 of 5 stars



Looee is a chimp who was raise by a couple who were not able to have children of their own. They adapted their family and their home to work with his ever changing needs and he appeared to love them in his own animal way. Other chimpanzees are located at the Girdish Institute where scientific experiments and behavioral studies have occurred for decades. They raise some chimps from birth, but many are rescued from private homes and after a tragic accident, Looee finds himself there.

A Beautiful Truth is told in alternating voices and viewpoints. The reader learns what different humans are thinking and doing; emotions and thoughts from the chimpanzees are found throughout. I wanted to love the book. Eventually, I wanted to like the book. In the end, it was just OK. The story bounced from viewpoint to viewpoint so often that I had trouble determining whose mind I was in. Also, although the stories all take place in the United States, many of the vocabulary and word spelling choices were from McAdam’s Canadian background. Unfortunately, I can only recommend this book to the most dedicated reader. Those individuals who are fascinated with the world of higher level primates will be able to pull pleasure from the larger story, but the actual written book was painful to finish.




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Review: Inhuman

Inhuman by Kat Falls

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



The United States has been divided. The eastern portion of the country has been overtaken with genetic mutations. Many people have been infected with different levels of animal traits and all of these inhabitants are separated from the western side by the Mississippi River and a wall. Crossing the wall is forbidden. Only government sanctioned humanitarian visits are permitted. It turns out that Lane’s father goes to the Savage Zone to retrieve artifacts because he is a Fetch. It is dangerous, but the money is worth it, until he gets caught. In order to save her father, Lane agrees to travel to the forbidden area and retrieve an item. She is willing to risk her life and her humanity in order to save her father.

Inhuman is a fast paced post-apocalyptic adventure with a female protagonist with two male “side-kicks.” Even though Lane has been sheltered in the western United States her entire life, her father has been subtly training her for a visit to the east. She must overcome her innermost fears and find the strength within to fight the foes around her. Falls’ world building is amazing and truly plausible. Although the current science may not be near the stage this America had reached, we aren’t very far behind. Readers will not be disappointed in this new series, and yes it is a series. The ending of this book answers many questions, but leaves the reader wanting to know where this world will go next.




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Review: The Dream Thieves

The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



Nothing is normal while Blue continues to assist Ronan, Gansey and Adam on their search of the ley lines around Cabeswater. Ronan is having bizarre dreams and items from his dreams are coming into his waking life. There are also strange people investigating the same things as Blue’s group and there is no telling what they might do to get what they want.

The Dream Thieves is the second book in The Raven Cycle and it picks up shortly after the ending of the first book. Readers who were tormented with the ending will finally receive some answers but please be warned that there are more books in the series and more questions will go unanswered. Stiefvater weaves a captivating tale that pulls the reader in and keeps them throughout. Blue continues to struggle with the prediction of killing her true love with a kiss, and torn between her feelings and her convictions. This book is worth the read and I look forward to the continuation of the series.




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Review: Unthinkable

Unthinkable by Nancy Werlin

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



Four hundred years ago, Fenella was to become the first Scarborough girl to be cursed and trapped in Faerie. For generations, her female decedents tried to break the same curse and now that Lucy has done the impossible and broken the curse, Fenella wants to know why she is still stuck in Faerie. She makes a new deal with the faerie queen. If she can complete three acts of destruction, then she will finally be free and be able to die. Unfortunately, after she agrees to the new deal she learns that the acts of destruction must be aimed at her family in order to count. If she fails, it will also affect all of the Scarborough girls.

Unthinkable is not only a great sequel to Impossible, it is also a companion story to Extraordinary. The tie in between the novels is accomplished seamlessly. Readers of Extraordinary will delight in the underlying meaning of certain references, but these references will not deter from the story if the reader has only read Impossible. Werlin shows the reader why the original Scarborough curse occurred and takes the tale to a whole new level. Fenella failed the first time and cursed her family for generations. Will she find the strength within herself to succeed in this second challenge? I highly recommend this novel to readers of faerie fantasies and fairy tale retellings.




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Review: Rose Under Fire

Rose Under Fire by Elizabeth Wein

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



Rose Justice is an American pilot who loves to fly. While she was delivering a plane from Paris to England for the Allied Forces, she is captured by the Nazis and sent to Ravensbrück with French prisoners. Although she finds this women’s concentration camp terrible in the extreme, she discovers loyalty and family with her fellow prisoners. Rose Under Fire is another World War II novel covering an all too possible story of women showing strength. This companion story to Code Name Verity occurs several months after the first book’s conclusion. Although these books are connected, the first book is not needed to understand the second.

I really struggled with this book. I enjoyed the format and the story as a whole, but through correspondence early in the book, the reader is told the outcome of Rose so that the only question is how. Rose Under Fire is great in the fact that it is historical fiction with a female main character during war time, but the book as a whole felt too formulistic and I can see young readers not giving it the effort to finish. I will recommend the book to those who enjoy this genre, but will not want this to be an introduction for exploring readers.




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Review: Dancer, Daughter, Traitor, Spy

Dancer, Daughter, Traitor, Spy by Elizabeth Kiem

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



The Cold War is still raging as Marina trains to become a ballerina in the Soviet Union. She knows it is possible, because her mother, Sveta, is the Soviet Union’s prima ballerina. Unfortunately, her mother has the gift of sight and when she attempts to expose a terrible state secret she disappears. Marina and her father flee to Brooklyn and she wants to reestablish herself as a ballerina by attending Juilliard. She is assigned a partner named Sergei, and her father believes he will be their contact in regards to the secret his wife shared with him.

But Marina also has the gift of sight and after “seeing” her father’s murder she must come to terms with the fact that leaving the Soviet Union does not make you automatically safe. Dancer, Daughter, Traitor, Spy is full of espionage and intrigue. Marina is thrown into the rolls of traitor and spy due to the actions of her parents, and she must unravel the secrets they have hidden even from her in order to save herself and hopefully her parents. Kiem takes the 1980’s Cold War era with the advancing technology and brings it to readers in the 21st century. Many young readers only know of the USSR from history books and what better way to learn many common actions then through a fictional story of espionage. After reading Dancer, Daughter, Traitor, Spy, I see many people picking up additional spy novels to devoir.




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