Author Archives: Alia C.

Cold the Night, Fast the Wolves Book Review

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Cold the Night, Fast the Wolves is an action-packed novel written by Meg Long. It is a rigorating story about survival and friendship.

The book starts out in a cold icy wasteland called Tundra. A lone girl who goes by Sena Korhosen, lives there with her aunt in a small cot. Sena makes a living by picking pockets, and her aunt tries to make money by fixing sleds.

On this planet, there is a very rich and important mineral called exo-carbon. To obtain this useful resource, scientists have modified wild-wolves’ DNA, creating a brand new species of wolf called vonenwolves. This type of wolf is purely meant to pull sleds for scientists with exo-carbon.

One day, Sena was running away from a person she had pickpocketed, but accidentally ran into a wild wolf’s cage. This wolf was owned by a man named Boss Kalba. Kalba made Sena a deal: if she managed to heal her fighting wolf, he would forget about Sena showing up here . So, the rest of the story is about Sena slowly developing and bonding with the wolf.

This book would really be good for kids 13 and up, because the plot-line is kind of twisted. The way Sena bonds with the wolf throughout the story really touches my heart. I loved how Sena, at the beginning of the story, always acted like that tough girl, trying to survive the harsh world of Tundra. But whether she realized it or not, Iska (that’s the wolf’s name) was the type of family she needed all along. This book also gives me a sad sense of reality and the emotion throughout this book pierces through me. One warning: This book may take a while for you to get interested in, but don’t give up! You should keep reading till the end, because the ending almost made me cry! But this book was definitely worth it! Out of 5 stars, I would give it a 4.3.

My Time in Pasadena

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Last weekend, I went to a major swimming event called the Spring Junior Olympics. The event was located in Pasadena, so it was a long drive from our home. It was very exciting! It was my first time attending, and it was a lot of fun! My mom, sister and I stayed  at a Marriott hotel called Springhill.

Although I didn’t make it back to the finals, I enjoyed swimming there because it gave me a chance to compete against the best swimmers from around the state. Sure, there were some bumps along the way, such as when my coach (Coach Cho) took us to the hottest lanes for warm up. I thought I was going to have a heat-stroke! It was worse than a sauna turned up at full heat! But overall, it was pretty enjoyable.

One of my favorite parts of this experience was going to the mall and the food we ate there. Our hotel was close to many food places, so every day after we finished swimming our events, we would go to different restaurants to try out different types of cuisine. My all-time favorite place was Ramen Nagi. It was a Japanese noodle restaurant. It was SO good! I ordered the “Luscious Signature Tonkusu Pork Broth”. It had a rich taste of sesame and seaweed, and needless to say, I finished that entire bowl of soup and ramen. So good that I actually asked my mom for another bowl(she said no). After we ate out, we would then walk around the mall. I was awed by the sights around me. My mom did get pretty upset at the fact that I stopped to go into every single toy store I could find, but that wasn’t the point. My mom stopped by a couple of stores to see what type of items they sold. She is really into Chinese and Japanese Ramen, so we bought a couple of instant ramen for her. To wrap it all together in one day, my mom decided to buy my sister and I each a boba. Without a doubt, it was delicious. The point is, I really enjoyed my time at Pasadena and swimming at the Rose Bowl Aquatics.

A Court of Thorns and Roses (Some Spoilers Ahead!)

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“A Court of Thorns and Roses”, is a captivating book about a nineteen year old girl, named Feyre. Feyre and her family are going through tough times, and food is hard to come by. They are on the verge of hunger and are rejected by upper class society. Feyre has taken it upon herself and is now responsible for doing the hunting to provide food for her family. One day she spots a doe to hunt, but to her astonishment, the doe is attacked by a huge wolf first. She wonders if he’s a Fae in wolf form, but she shoots him with an ash arrow nevertheless because she despises Fae. Soon, a large wolf faerie comes and demands retribution for the murdered wolf. Feyre agrees to pay with her life and live forever in Prythian, a land full of dangerous creatures.

I really loved this book! This book reminds me of “Beauty and the Beast”, but with a nice twist to it! Moreover, I love how this book is a pretty straightforward love-story. Most books I read, it’s almost always about a girl, and there are many guys she could possibly fall in love with. But not in this book! That’s why I enjoy reading it so much. The mystery in this book is also amazing! Since the beginning of the book, everyone starts talking about a mysterious “she”. At a certain point in the story, Feyre was swimming with Tamlin when she asked him who took Lucien’s eye? Tamlin hesitantly responds and says “she” took it out. There was another time when a fairy whose wings were ripped off screams in pain while saying, “she” took them off. Like, who is this mysterious “she” everyone is talking about? You’re just gonna have to keep reading to find out! Lastly, I love how there aren’t many plot twists in this story. At the beginning of the story, there are many questions you are going to keep asking yourself, and as you read on, you can start making guesses on who, or what is going to happen next.

Out of 5 stars, I would give this book a 4.8. I would highly recommend this book for ages 13 +, since there are some adult content in there that might not be appropriate for younger children.

A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas is available to check out from the Mission Viejo Library. It is also available to download for free from Libby.

My Thanksgiving Week

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Thanksgiving

 Amy Leigh Mercree, a best-selling author once said, “Thanksgiving is a joyous invitation to shower the world with love and gratitude,” and I couldn’t agree more. Thanksgiving is a day to express gratitude for all the people and things in your life.

Thanksgiving is observed in various ways by many people. This year on Thanksgiving day, my family made lots of mouth-watering food, such as stuffing, cranberry sauce, and ham! For dessert, we had bread pudding with ice cream a la mode. I know it might not sound like the traditional food most families eat on Thanksgiving, but I enjoy it nonetheless.

But to be honest, no matter what family meals, or fun traditions you attend on Thanksgiving, Thanksgiving is truly an amazing holiday! It is a time to be thankful for what you have and spend time with your family. My favorite part of Thanksgiving is spending time with my family and enjoying the delicious food that we make together. On Thanksgiving, me, my sister, my mom and dad all work together to make an appetizing meal. Sometimes, I don’t just like to celebrate America’s traditional type of Thanksgiving, I like to mix in a little bit of other cultures as well. In our family, because we are part Chinese, we like to include that culture as well.

The Young Elites

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Spoilers Ahead!

Of the many books I have read, this is one of my favorites! The novel is bitter-sweet, and it keeps you interested till the very end. However, I do have to say that the romantic aspect of this book could have been developed a bit more. I wished that Enzo hadn’t died at the end, and that Adelina shouldn’t have been banished from the Dagger Society since she was only trying to protect her sister. I know what she did was wrong, but Raffael shouldn’t have banished her. Just my personal opinion. I do love the author’s choice of the special powers granted to Adelina. I have read many books and in general the only powers were limited to control over elements like water, fire, earth, or shapeshifting, etc. I haven’t actually read a book before where the main character’s powers are creating illusions! The uniqueness of this power allows the character to develop in different ways than I have been accustomed to. I also love how Adelina progresses in general as a person throughout the book and how she eventually falls in love with Enzo. It was quite disappointing, on the romantic front, but overall, I think this book could be made into an excellent movie. Out of 5 stars, I would rate this book around a 4.

The Young Elites by Marie Lu is available to checkout from the Mission Viejo Library. It is also available to download for free from Libby.

One of Us is Lying: WHO Done it?

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Hi, today I will be talking about the book, One of Us is Lying by Karen M. McManus. This mystery novel is about five students, Simon, the outcast, Addy, the popular girl, Cooper, the baseball star, Bronwyn, the brain, and Nate, the drug dealer, enter detention for reasons they don’t quite understand. After a little while, Simon decides to stand up and get a drink of water from the tap. But about 1 minute later, Simon is doubling over and choking. His lips are turning blue and his eyes have rolled into the back of his head. Simon doesn’t make it out. He is dead before the end of detention, for unknown reasons. The police performed an investigation and soon figured out that somebody had laced peanut oil, one of Simon’s major allergies, into the cup when he was drinking water out of the faucet. The detectives have now zoomed in on their 4 prime suspects: Nate, Addy, Cooper, and Bronwyn. Could it be Nate? Maybe Simon owes him money? Could it be Addy? Maybe she wants revenge on Simon for posting false information about her online? Could it be Cooper, the new boy that nobody knows about? Or is it Bronwyn, the nerd? Maybe she planned the perfect murder. Who could it be? You will just have to keep reading to find out.

Book Lovers by Emily Henry is available to checkout from the Mission Viejo Library. It is also available to download for free from Libby.