Review: The Nethergrim

The Nethergrim by Matthew Jobin

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



It was a generation ago that the wizard Vithric and the knight Tristan battled the evil Nethergrim and the creatures with him. The kingdom still sings songs about the battle and there are festivals every year to honor them. Now there is something dark near the village and animals are disappearing with only their bones left behind. Then suddenly, children disappear. What begins as whispered concerns quickly become a hysterical cry – The Nethergrim is back! One of the missing is Edmund’s brother and he knows he must try to save his brother’s life. Edmund seems to have a touch of magic, but with his father forbidding any reading and no wizard to train him properly, he must learn on the go with his friends at his side.

The Nethergrim is the first book in a new fantasy trilogy. Because it is the start of a new series, readers will experience a lot of character development, world building and background creation. Although all of that is expected, the reader may find the story flat and wanting in sections. I believe if readers understand that this is a debut novel, they may give Jobin some leeway in the final product. I can’t say for certain if I will read the next book in the series or not.




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Review: Team Seven: A Novel

Team Seven: A Novel by Marcus Burke

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



Andre Battel is torn between the Jamaican upbringing his family is trying to instill and the neighborhood street gang that surrounds him. Team Seven takes the reader along the winding path of Andre from the age of eight into his teen years. Although he has real talent on the basketball court, he eventually falls into selling drugs for the local gang, Team Seven. Through a series of unforeseen events, Andre is not able to make his payments on the drugs he is responsible for and the actions that follow have the potential to cause additional damage. Most of the book is told through the voice of Andre, but sections dispersed throughout give the reader insight into his mother, his sister, his father and some of the Team Seven gang.

Team Seven fills a desperate niche that needs to be filled. Teens love to read stories that are similar to themselves and others love to live vicariously through books. Whether the reader is surrounded by gangs or just likes to read about this very tough life, they will get satisfaction from this story. The language is harsh and the truths presented are rough, but life is not always rosy and not every story has a happy ending. Burke wonderfully portrays the struggles of the inner city youth and brings the characters and their issues to the audiences who will devour them. Although this is his first young adult novel, I hope Burke spends time writing more books for these readers.




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Review: Burn Out

Burn Out by Kristi Helvig

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



Tora Reynolds is alone. She has survived the end of Earth and needs to find a way to escape the planet. Her mother and sister have burned to death, her father has been murdered and all plants and animals are dead. She begins to think she will go the way of everything else when Plan A (Markus) arrives. Markus left to look for a rumored colony, and when he returns Tora believes he is there for her. It turns out he is there for the guns her scientist father created. Luckily for her, they are bio-energetic weapons and can only be used by her. Can Tora trust Markus and the mercenaries with him? Her father made her promise never to let the guns go, can she keep that promise?

Burn Out is an action packed adventure of high-tech proportions. Although the events take place on a future Earth, readers will quickly be brought up to speed concerning the pertinent scientific and military events that have taken place. Helvig’s debut novel has the requisite amount of futuristic technology and events to firmly land in the science fiction genre, but it also will pull in readers of post-apocalyptic adventures and throws in a little romance along the side. My biggest complaint is the book was too short. I guess that just goes to show that I will be looking for the next book in this series.




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Review: Love Letters to the Dead

Love Letters to the Dead by Ava Dellaira

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



Laurel has been asked to write a letter to a dead person as part of her English class. She decides to write to Kurt Cobain since he was her sister’s favorite. See … he died young, just like her sister, May. Laurel can’t part with the letter and continues to fill a notebook with letters to Janis Joplin, Amelia Earhart and many other dead people. Although she doesn’t want to share these letters with anyone, let alone the English teacher who originally inspired them, she creates a journal expressing her concerns and experiences beginning high school without her sister. Will she be able to share the truth with her family and new friends? Can she move past her sister’s death and reclaim her own life.

Love Letters to the Dead is a poignant exploration of life, love and loss as seen through the eyes of a very expressive teen. Readers will consume each letter quickly and realize the story is flowing faster than expected. Although the letters are written to individuals who have been dead for some time, Laurel explains during various sections why she admires the person and how that person would have related to her situation. Dellaira has taken a unique approach to this very tough topic and spins it into a novel that will have readers wanting to write their own Love Letters to the Dead.




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Review: The Ring and The Crown

The Ring and The Crown by Melissa de la Cruz

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



Princess Marie-Victoria has always been weak and sickly, yet it is approaching the time when she must step up and take the throne. In order to unite two kingdoms and end a terrible war, she is promised in marriage to Prince Leopold VII, the heir to the Prussian throne. Although she knows that her kingdom needs this alliance, she has always loved Gill, her childhood friend. Aelwyn Myrddn and Marie have grown up together and believe they have devised a way for them both to get what they want. Aelwyn will magically take on Marie’s face and rule in her stead. Marie will run away with Gill and live the quiet life she has always dreamed of. Yet there is more underfoot than either girl could imagine.

The Ring and The Crown is the first book in a new series by Melissa de la Cruz. This fantasy novel includes romance, intrigue and that wonderful historical time period of the early 20th century. The novel quickly moves from one scheme to another and at times the reader will wish there was more information. The Ring and The Crown could definitely benefit from being fattened up and expanded, yet the overall story kept me reading rather quickly. For readers who want a fantasy story that is not going to take a lot of brain power to enjoy, this will be a strong choice. Some readers may stop after this book since most of the plots were wrapped up neatly, but I will be looking for the next book in this series.





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Review: Witchfall

Witchfall by Victoria Lamb

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



Meg Lytton knows she isn’t safe. After her aunt is burned as a witch and she is expectantly cleared as one, she is able to become a companion to the Princess Elizabeth. It is 1555 in Tudor England and Queen Mary is actively encouraging the Spanish Inquisition within England. Meg is having dreams about her own death and the fate of those near her. Although she wishes to keep her powers hidden, she must trust those closest to her in order to discover her full strength. Can she keep her secret betrothal from those around her? Can she avoid her fate found in her dreams? Why does the witchfinder Marcus Dent despise her so much?

Witchfall is the second book in the Tudor Witch Trilogy, but if the reader is like myself they can jump into the series with this book. Lamb referenced events from the first book repeatedly, but they did not impair the flow and enjoyment of this book. Witchfall includes magick, romance, adventure and intrigue all rolled into a story during a popular historical time period. Whether the reader has read many Tudor England books may affect their enjoyment. I love that time period and truly enjoyed this book, but I can’t say for certain if a reader new to this time period would have the same enjoyment. I will be going back and reading the first book before the third books is released later this year.




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Review: Yaqui Delgado Wants to Kick Your Ass

Yaqui Delgado Wants to Kick Your Ass by Meg Medina

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



Piddy is waiting for the school day to start when a girl tells her that Yaqui Delgado thinks she swings her butt too much and is planning to kick her a**. Piddy doesn’t have any idea who this girl even is, and has no idea how she has made her mad or what she can do to stop this looming devastation. Although she is Latina, she has pale skin, good grades and does not have an accent. Piddy’s life was about grades and her missing father, but with the increasing harassment that she suffers in and out of school, she quickly realizes that there are more serious things in life.

Piddy doesn’t want to become a narc, but she also isn’t willing to run away. Yaqui Delgado Wants to Kick Your Ass unfortunately is a very realistic view of the world today. Many bullies have no true reason to despise those they attack. Many are just hateful individuals and the victims have done nothing to earn this negativity. Medina shows the reader insight into the Latina world and the world of single parent families trying to survive in today’s tough inner cities. Although the title can be a little put-offish due to the final word, the book as a whole is relatively clean and will required the reader to reach inside their own thoughts and determine how they would react if they were the victim or they were a witness to the harassment. This book is definitely a recommended book for today’s teens.




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