Category Archives: Book Reviews

Red Clocks by Leni Zumas

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In the wake of the unrelenting movements spanning across the globe on gender equality, an achingly honest account on the female experience rises from contemporary beginnings. Leni Zumas masterfully crafts together a mosaic of triumph and misery through the lives of five women:

  • A desperate list-making biographer whose anguish feeds her fire
  • A student brighter than the sun, knee-deep in an undesirable predicament
  • An exhausted wife/mother, carrying in her hands her breaking marriage
  • An arrested mystic guided by her own lunacy
  • And finally, an unacknowledged polar explorer of the nineteenth century.

In brash, burning, and heartrending prose, Zumas teaches us the interconnectedness of one life to another and the vibrancy of hope in tumultuous times. Set in a United States where abortion is banned and IVF illegal, Red Clocks is a novel of forward thinking and revolution. It’s witty and full of relatable quips – a reflection of life’s pitfalls and mountains and written with the hand of a skilled writer.

Zumas writes inside the heads of her characters – each sentence a gunshot ringing clear in the minds of the protagonists. Each woman wielding her own flaws, dreams, and faulty beauty, the reader gains a true and sometimes alarming insight into their lives. The novel is incandescent with the fire of the strange, sparking with the light of life.

Ultimately, through pain and reward, the women of Red Clocks learn their own lessons in the novel’s revelation. While its mature themes are not for everyone, there are countless aspects to love in Zumas’ political, hilarious, and gorgeous testimony to the horrors and beauty of a woman’s life.

-Esther H.

Red Clocks by Leni Zumas is available for checkout from the Mission Viejo Library. 

Quest For A Popstar by Katie Hamstead

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I literally could not read this book, at all. It was so darn cringey, well, I know I called The Football Girl the cringiest book I ever read but  nope, it is now this one.

So let’s see… the book was written as if by a 12 year old, which was a turn off in the beginning. But I thought to my self “Skylar, it may get better, just think of all those other great books that you hated in the beginning but then loved.” Nope, nope, nope. That didn’t happen here in the slightest. But here is the part that I stopped reading:

“I grit my teeth. There are guys in the group who look worse than me and didn’t get such severe criticism.”

And with this, I DNF’d. I do not need to read a book with a female character playing the “Oh look, the man is treated better than me, must be because I am a woman.” No thank you. If you don’t want to read a book that a Junior High school student wrote, do not read this.

-Skylar N.

Suspect Red by L.M. Elliot

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Suspect Red, by L.M. Elliot, was one of the most historically accurate books I’ve ever read. It takes place in the 1950’s, which was the time of the Cold War. This book has everything, from psychotic secret agents, to power-hungry communists. I used this book for an English report, and it gave me an abundance of powerful characters and vivid scenery to write about. Another factor that I really enjoyed was the length of the book. It wasn’t too long, nor too short. The book, in my opinion, is a great read for all ages.

The storyline follows the point of view of Richard, a teenage boy who loves reading. However, the nation is thrown into distrust, with communist propaganda around every corner. Hundreds of classic books are being thrown out, their authors accused of being pro-communist. His father, who Richard idolizes, happens to be working under the people responsible for this overexaggeration of fear, the FBI directors.

Overall, this is a great book for anyone looking for a good, well-rounded historical fiction read. If you’re interested in the Cold War, or just think the cover art looked cool, you’re in for a pleasant surprise. Thank you for reading my review on Suspect Red, by L.M. Elliot. Definitely take this book into consideration!

-Luke D.

Suspect Red by L. M. Elliot is available for checkout from the Mission Viejo Library. 

The Winter of Our Discontent by John Steinbeck

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Ethan Hawley is very satisfied with his life as a market clergy. He has a happy family but they are also unhappy with the amount of money that he earns. For me though, I think the best part of a family is not the amount of money that they have, but everyone loves each other.

Mr. Banker is a nice person but he sometimes can be a little snobbish and selfish. Although I would be ecstatic to have him as a friend because he is always there for you. I don’t know how a little girl like Ella Hawley can be so mature, but she acts like a grown-up woman to her dad Ethan Hawley.

The saddest part for me was when Marullo, Ethan’s boss got deported because he was an illegal immigrant. I really want to give him a pat on the shoulder because he is a very nice and kind person, it’s just that he doesn’t reveal his geniality very easily. It’s a winter when everybody has their own dissatisfaction, but at the end, a lesson can be learned: we should be glad about our life as always.

-April L.

The Winter of Our Discontent by John Steinbeck is available for checkout from the Mission Viejo Library. 

 

Land of the Lustrous by Haruko Ichikawa

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Image result for land of the lustrous

The world has been hit by six meteors. This has made most of the world uninhabitable except for a very small coast. However, this coast is also unstable too, and any creature that we consider living lives in the ocean.

Humans do not exist anymore.  The only creatures that live on the coast are animated gems. No really, imagine people made of amethyst or topaz running around and instead of eating food they photosynthesis, which is perfect for living on the coast.

This is the setting for Land of the Lustrous, where Phos (Phosphophyllite) and 27 other “gems” live an immortal life in peace and relaxation. Well peace and relaxation except for the fact that people from the moon come and attack them every three days or so, trying to take them back to the moon forever. Since they are basically defenseless when broken and alive when it happens, there could be a chance to rescue them, but it is slim. Hence, the gems, along with their strong leader “Teacher”, train and patrol every day in order to be ready to fight against the moon people.

Everybody except Phos at least. On the Mohs scale, Phos is the weakest at 3.5, and breaks easily no matter the method. However, she still tries to fight despite not even being able to hold the lightest sword. Throughout the story, she still tries her best to change.

The first thing to notice is that the art, compared to other manga, is very plain. The manga artist is obviously very new at drawing, and some of the pictures look like the reader could draw them. However, to make up for it, the character’s design looks perfectly like each of their respective gems, in which one can tell that Diamond has shiny hair.

For geology lovers out there, each of the gems correspond accurately to their real life counterpart. Besides from aesthetics and Mohs scale, for example, I learned about the gem Cinnabar, which has mercury in it, because the character Cinnabar has poison that looks like Mercury coming out of her.

As for story, there is all types of genre, with the exception of perhaps romance. It is very comical, especially at the beginning, whenever Phos messes up, and the world that they live in looks like another planet despite being Earth, also making it dystopia. Additionally, it is a coming of age story perfect for those who feel like they don’t belong, as Phos feels that she is useless, which leads to very dark choices such as losing her memories on purpose, which is perfect for goth fans out there who think that this is just a cute, silly story (hint: we find out later that it is not that cute).

I hope that you will give yet another good manga a try!

-Megan V, 12th Grade

The Land of the Lustrous by Haruko Ichikawa is available for checkout from the Mission Viejo Library. 

The Wayward Bus by John Steinbeck

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Image result for the wayward busThis book is another one by my favorite author John Steinbeck. It’s about a bus driver named Juan Chicoy who has a wife that he sometimes loves and sometimes pranks her. I must be feeling dreadfully lonely if I have such a profound and deep husband like him. His apprentice Pimples and his best comrade “Sweetheart” (the bus) are always with him just like shadows.

In my perspective, it would be my pleasure to meet such an intelligent couple like Elliot Pritchard and his wife. I can’t imagine what to feel like as a man meeting their erudite but voluptuous daughter Mildred. Sometimes I really wish that I am as inventive and funny as Ernest Horton. Unlike Mr.Pritchard, Ernest Horton is not very complacent and lonely. He always has friends. He was my role model.

Every girl wants to be like Camille Oaks but also doesn’t want to be like her. She has an angelic face that every man would be willing to be a devil for her. But her jobs require using her beauty to earn money. Camille seems to be like an older sister to Norma, a counter girl at Alice Chicoy’s restaurant. I see my sister’s shadow when Camille comforts Norma.

-April L.

The Wayward Bus by John Steinbeck is available for checkout from the Mission Viejo Library. 

Everything For Her by Alexa Riley

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I can say that I enjoyed this book very much!

To me, the awesome thing about this book is that though it was meant to be a romance, it was also a suspense book as well! Don’t believe me? Then let’s see what it’s about!

Mallory was an orphan as a child in lived in an orphanage. Despite all of that, she got a full scholorship to the college of her dreams, and right as she was set to graduate, she got an internship at one of the most prestigious office’s in the world. To say she is happy in an understatement, she is absolutely enthralled.

“From the beginning, I knew that she would be my greatest achievement, so the day I let her go, I set down a path for her.
A path to me. No one knows it’s been me behind the curtain, pulling the strings. I’ve constructed everything in our lives so that at the perfect moment, I could have her. The time has come.”

Now onto Miles part of the story (or, as he is known at the beginning of the book as the secretive “Oz”). The quote pretty much explains it all. He is very obsessive of Mallory and she hasn’t even met him. He met her when she was about to graduate high school and he was about the graduate college. He has watched her since then and has (as stated above) set down a path for her that will lead her to him. Now that she works in his office, that time has come.

As you can foresee, Mallory eventually meets Miles and they bond instantly (well…I guess she does, he already knows her, ya know?). As his secrets come out (no, nothing earth shattering), she isn’t sure she wants to be with Miles.

“I sit in front of her door all night. And all day Sunday. And all night Sunday.”

But guys, as creepy as all of that must have just sounded, when you read the book it really isn’t. Just believe me, when you read the book you will fall in love with Miles because he honestly says/does the sweetest things. I mean, the man loves his mother to pieces and treats her like a queen, what more can we ask for? Plus, he does mean well, he just doesn’t want to lose someone that means alot to him (love at first sight is what we’ll call this).

The end of this book is hoenstly one of the sweetest/best things I have read. I just made me so happy for them!

“The first time I saw you, I thought I’d woken up in the land of Oz, It was like seeing color for the first time.

That all seems like alot to take in I know, and I don’t want to spoil it for you, so I’ll leave out all of the important plot twists that will literally blow your mind. Just read.this.book.

-Skylar N.

Everything for Her by Alexa Riley is available for download from Overdrive. 

Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen

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Jane Austen’s first novel follows Catherine Morland and her innocent and trustful nature. A satire on the Gothic novels popular at the time, Austen accurately and amusingly generalizes  heroines, plots, and books in her narration. She also defends fiction (since at that time, reading novels could lead to negative judgment on a character reading them) quite eloquently and sensibly.

One of ten children and living in the country, Catherine has not seen much of the world. However, when her friends, Mr. and Mrs. Allen, head for Bath for Mr. Allen’s health, they invite her along. Upon reaching Bath, however, Catherine soon finds that she has no acquaintances there—which means, of course, that she’ll have to make some. Austen’s “heroine” lives through some scrapes during Bath and her visit to Northanger Abbey, some of which are the result of her newfound friends, others because Catherine, an avid fan of these Gothic novels, misinterprets some of her experiences at the Abbey.

Northanger Abbey is one of my favorite Austen books (along with Pride and Prejudice). Her friendship and conversations with the Tilneys provides very amusing reading, and her innocence in the face of almost (to me) obviously bad intentions on the part of some of the characters made her seem younger than seventeen (though her unearned trust of everyone can perhaps be explained away due to her never really been out in society before). In the end, though, Catherine does mature, as she is exposed to the truth about the behaviors of some people.

-Aliya A.

Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen is available for checkout from the Mission Viejo Library.

Sweet Thursday by John Steinbeck

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Image result for sweet thursdaySweet Thursday is basically a continuation of the book Cannery Row. In this book, Mack and his friends are trying to save their dear friend Doc from his unknown depression.

Fauna, the new owner of the brothel was introduced. She is pretty, kind and most important, smart. Even though she doesn’t know how nice and helpful she is. Fauna really detests it when people say “I love you” to her. It was very shocking to me that such an amazing woman isn’t married.

If you ask me who is my favorite character in this book, I will certainly point my finger at Suzy. Again, she is another new character in this book. Suzy is a very wild girl. She is frank, uneducated but also can be very girly when it comes to the man that she loves who is Doc. This whole entire book really touched me because I didn’t know that Suzy can be respectful to Doc. But thanks to God that Doc realized he loves Suzy and brought her back to him. I am really excited to see another gold star on the wall of the brothel which has the name “Suzy” on it representing that she is married.

-April L.

Sweet Thursday by John Steinbeck is available for checkout from the Misson Viejo Library.

Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer

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Mountaineer Jon Krakauer had a long-lasting dream, ever since he was a little boy: to climb the world-famous Mount Everest.

Into Thin Air is, as Krakauer puts it, not exactly an autobiography but merely his own account of what really happened on the peak of Everest in the terrible tragedy in 1996.

Many people died on the expedition to Everest, like renowned guides such as Rob Hall and Scott Fischer. It appalled me to see the harsh conditions in which the climbers labored through, the various health conditions they had to endure, and just how difficult the fact of breathing was at such a high altitude.

I really enjoyed reading this book; usually autobiographies are not my favorite genre, but this one blew me away. Krakauer is very meticulous in detail, and he describes everything that happened on that mountain very specifically. I really appreciated that; I felt like I was there on the mountain with him and the other climbers, and knew exactly what he was experiencing.

The way he also described the feeling of being stranded and blinded in the middle of the snow storm on top of the world was superb. I mean, I was grabbing the book and frantically flipping through the pages, wanting to see if everyone made it out okay. They didn’t, to my horror.

In fact, in this book, I learned quite a lot of things that I had never known about mountaineering before, like these spikes on a climber’s boots known as crampons to help grip the ice, or how the climbers had to do acclimatization exercises before actually attempting to ascend the mountain.

Throughout the book, many brave climbers prevailed, and the cost of sacrifice and loss was sorrowful. Even though I had not known these people previously, I felt bad for their untimely fate. But many were brave and loyal enough to go back and and try to save their fellow climbers, and many that are alive today from the incident of 1996 thank those courageous climbers.

I’d highly recommend this book to everyone; this is one of my favorite reads! From action-packed to intense scenes, horrifying terrors to unthinkable grief, and courage and loyalty of many climbers on Everest in 1996, this book is truly excellent.

-Katharine L.

Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer is available for checkout from the Mission Viejo Library.