Category Archives: Book Reviews

The Two Towers by J.R.R. Tolkien

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The Two Towers (The Lord of the Rings, Part 2): Tolkien, J.R.R. ...

After the compelling events of the first installment in J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings trilogy, readers will not be disappointed by the quality of the second part, The Two Towers.  The Fellowship of the Ring has been divided: the bearer of the Ring, Frodo, and his friend Sam have mysteriously disappeared, and two of the Company have been kidnapped by the despicable Orcs. The rest is left to stave off the wave of darkness that continues to seep out of the dark land of Mordor.

In Book I, the fate of the remnants of the Company is described as they continue on their mission. While hobbits Merry and Pippin attempt to escape their evil captors while Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli track them across the wide plains of Middle-Earth. On their journeys, the two groups meet allies and foes, and eventually cross paths, and, in a happy twist of fate, manage to gain an advantage in the war.

Meanwhile, Book II describes Frodo and Sam, Middle-Earth’s last hope, and their perilous travel to the evil land of Mordor, with the twisted creature Gollum as their untrustworthy guide. Together, they travel throughout the land in their quest to destroy the One Ring and bring peace to all, but Frodo’s trusting nature is exploited in the cliffhanger of an ending.

Overall, fans of The Fellowship of the Ring will enjoy The Two Towers as much, if not more than, they relished the first installment. J.R.R. Tolkien does not fail to deliver a delightful combination of bewitching prose and poetry that keeps the reader engaged from cover to cover. 

-Mahak M.

The Two Towers by J. R. R. Tolkien is available for checkout from the Mission Viejo Library. It can also be downloaded for free from Overdrive.

The Book Thief by Mark Zusak

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As a lover of historical fiction books, this novel always caught my eye when I passed by the shelves of the library, but I never looked into it because I assumed the book would be generic and clique. Recent famous novels I’ve read tend to follow the same plot line and character development, so most readers are not surprised by the ending. However, The Book Thief, written by Mark Zusak, an Australian writer who won the Margaret A. Edwards Award in 2014, has created a classic that lives up to its recognition, taking an interesting perspective on such a well known historical event. It dives deeper into the heart of World War 2, pushing the novel further through the contradictory and questionable actions of the human race.

Beginning on a train in the 1940s, the main character, Liesel Meminger witnesses the death of her younger brother on their way to Molching, Germany, where she meets her new foster parents. Throughout the story, Liesel grows as a character, unfolding the cruel reality of Hitler and his treatment of Jews and how it ties to her own story, thus encouraging her to write and steal books as an act of rebellion against the Nazis. The book grows through her normal life in Germany, yet slowly intertwines with history in a compelling manner. The main character witnesses the intimate, loving interactions between friends and family, but also the aggressive actions of others blinded by propaganda.

Compared to other historical fiction novels, Zusak provides readers another viewpoint on a historical event many are aware of, making readers acknowledge the other side of the war. The book makes us question ourselves and the validity of our opinions. For example, most believe all Germans were villainous because a majority were Nazi members, but there’s still a good portion of Germans that value all human life. Generally speaking, all of them are still just the same as we are; some were innocent children, others were working middle class jobs, many still wanted to live. But most importantly, what right do we have to villainize them if we don’t even feel sympathy or compassion in return? Zusak was able to brilliantly create a novel, who’s plots and underlying meanings create a puzzle–readers just have to put it together.

Despite the grand amount of pages, The Book Thief should be read slowly and carefully; every page has their own meaning and the slow pace builds up suspense to make the book a worthy read. Also, all of the characters are lovable and reveal their own flaws as humans. Overall, the author made it extremely unique, including a mixture of metaphors, imagery, and specifically, the humanistic characterization of Death. The context of the book was surprisingly poetic, even as it jumped to different passages of time. Zusak wrote a marvelous, emotional story as an ode to humanity itself, a tale that tugs at readers’ heartstrings in ways words can’t even describe.

-Natisha P.

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak is available for checkout from the Mission Viejo Library. It can also be downloaded for free from Overdrive.

Midnight for Charlie Bone by Jenny Nimmo

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Midnight for Charlie Bone Children of the Red King Book 1 - NEW ...

Midnight for Charlie Bone was written by a British author named Jenny Nimmo.  It is the first of eight books in the Children of the Red King series.  This series is among my favorites.  The books refer to an ancient magician known as the Red King.  His magical powers have passed down through his descendants for generations.

Charlie Bone is a ten-year old boy living with his mother, uncle and two grandmothers.  Throughout his childhood, Charlie has been told that his father is missing.  Despite this, Charlie continues to hope that he will see his father someday.  Life is otherwise normal until one day he discovers that he can hear people talking in photographs.  Charlie realizes that he has a special power.

Charlie’s three strange aunts soon arrive for a visit, pleased to learn of his power.  They enroll him in a special school for gifted children called Bloor’s Academy.  Charlie begins to realize that other children in the school have magical powers as well.  He also learns that the Bloor family in charge of the school is engaged in dark and sinister schemes.  Charlie realizes that there is more than meets the eye in this academy, and he is determined to uncover the truth.

I found it hard to put down this book once I started.  The story is engrossing because of its many mysteries.  I became anxious to find out about Charlie’s missing father, and about the history of the children who possess magical powers.  Many questions are left unanswered in this book, so I was excited to read the other books in the series.  The adventures are fast-paced, so I enjoyed reading the series in quick succession.  You will likely want to read the other books in the series as well after reading this one.

-Oliver H.

Midnight For Charlie Bone by Jenny Nimmo is available for checkout from the Mission Viejo Library. It can also be downloaded for free from Overdrive.

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

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Little Women by Louisa May Alcott: 9780593198025 ...

Little Women is a novel written by Louisa May Alcott and first published in 1868.

The novel was an autobiographical family ethics novel set in the American Civil War and based on the life’s trifles of four sisters in an ordinary family in New England in the 19th century. Influenced by Ralph Waldo Emerson, the great thinker of the time, the novel emphasizes the concept of personal dignity, independence and self-discipline. The content is simple but exquisite; the structure is simple but profound, full of strong appeal. Little Women is a semi-autobiographical novel with female characters and feminist consciousness.

During the American Civil War, Mr. March went to war as a chaplain, and his four daughters and their mother lived a poor but strong and optimistic life at home. They were poor, but willing to help their neighbors, the Hummels, who needed help more than they did. Women have vanity; they want to get beautiful clothes, eat delicious food, live like a princess. Although full of fantasy, in real life, they use their own efforts to solve the various difficulties in life. The eldest daughter, Meg, is beautiful by nature and full of longing for love; the second daughter, Jo, was independent and determined to be a writer; the third daughter, Beth, is the traditional good girl, weak and lovable. The youngest daughter, Amy, loves painting. The story follows these four women as they grow from girls into little women, recounting their unruly experiences and respective pursuit of different ideals and the processing of finding their true self.

The reason why the four March sisters, who are the true, the good and the beautiful, have such qualities as kindness, diligence, selflessness, tolerance and toughness cannot be separated from Mrs. March’s excellent education. Parents are their children’s first teachers, and there is no doubt that Mrs. March is an excellent teacher. She is generous, ready to help others, not easily angry, and grateful for life. In the eyes of the children, she is not only a good mother, but also their best friend. They liked to confide their worries to Mrs. March, who gave them good advice and help. It is because of Mrs. March’s unique family education that the four sisters became little women loved by everyone. Consequently, the courageous images of women in this book touch the heartstrings of numerous female readers.

-Coreen C.

The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Bernett

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No matter what age you are, almost anyone can enjoy a whimsical and well-written children’s classic. In fact, my most recent favorite is The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Bernett. 

The Secret Garden tells the story of a girl named Mary Lennox who whilst residing at her uncle’s house tries to figure out how to get into the secret garden, which has been locked up for a decade. Along the way she makes friends and leaves her mark on the dull and somber manor. 

One aspect of this story I loved was the character development. When we first start out the book Mary is an insufferable, harsh brat who knows nothing about friendship because of her circumstances in the past. But once she opens up to people and learns to see the good in things and people alike, everything changes for her and she transforms into a kind and caring child. 

The character development isn’t limited to just Mary though, her uncle’s son, Colin Craven has been thought to be dying for all of his life. But with Mary’s help, everything seems to change for the better. 

The Secret Garden is very predictable, in the way almost all children’s classics are, but I am in no way complaining. In fact, the predictability makes way for you to become more attached to the characters because of all of their arcs. 

Now if you couldn’t tell I have an infatuation with children’s classics. To me, they are such simple and impacting stories that always change your outlook on life. Frances Hodgson Bernett is my favorite children’s book author right now, seeing as she’s written both of my favorites, The Secret Garden and A Little Princess. Both books which I wholeheartedly recommend. 

In short, if you’re a fellow devotee for good children’s classics like me, then you’ll love this book. 

-Asli B.

Wildcard by Marie Lu

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Many people are let down when a great book has a sequel that cannot compare with the original. For that reason I always begin sequel reads with a kind of detachment and I analyze the plot before diving headlong into the book. I am pleased to say that Wildcard did not in any way fall under this category of sequels. The sequel to the amazing book Warcross has even more riveting action and adventure than its predecessor.

Emika Chen barely survived Warcross, but the times ahead promise even more danger. Caught within an epic war between virtual reality and the physical world, Emika and her friends must play the best game of their lives if either world is to survive. With danger at ever turn who can anyone trust?

Marie Lu packs suspense, betrayal, and romance into one spectacular book. A master of words she ensures that you will grab this book off the shelf as fast as possible. Do not forget to check out the first book in the series! (Warcross) But remember…everything has a price.

-Elijah Y.

Wildcard by Marie Lu is available for checkout from the Mission Viejo Library. It can also be downloaded for free from Overdrive.

Paper Towns by John Green

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Throughout my 14 years of existence, I’ve never read a book that amazes me as much as this. It’s plot consists of Quentin’s take on Margo as she goes on one of her crazy adventures once again, or is this one different from the rest? Margo Spiegelman is a rebellious and adventurous young woman who does things as she pleases. Her history of running away on an adventure and returning a couple days later had everyone constantly thinking of her. She often left clues, but they were never specific enough to find her. Her neighbor, Quentin, who shares a bit of history with her, finds love for her only to realize that maybe Margo isn’t exactly the girl of his dreams. When Margo goes on this adventure her senior year, they both learn things they didn’t know about themselves and each other.

The events that take place in this book are simply thrilling and manage to keep you on your toes. Personally, the ending really had me hooked because I had never read about an ending like this one before. That’s one of my favorite things about this book, the element of surprise it had. If mystery and adventure books are your calling, I’d recommend checking this one out. While it has a bit of romance involved, it’s more of an adventurous book. Paper Towns highlights how we all change in highschool and figure out who we are. John Green is an extremely talented writer, and if you choose to read it, it’ll sweep you off your feet

-Kaitlyn Y

Paper Towns by John Green is available to check out from the Mission Viejo Library. It can also be downloaded for free from Overdrive.

Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi

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Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi is the first book in a riveting dystopian fantasy series with lots of adventure and plot twists. The book is set sometime in the future when Earth has been taken over by the Reestablishment, an evil organization that is destroying the world after baiting its people with empty promises. Our main character is Juliette Ferrars, a 17-year-old girl with a deadly power: her touch can kill. No one understands what’s wrong with her, including doctors, and she is shunned by everyone she knows because of her mysterious curse. After a terrible accident occurs, Juliette is sent to a mental asylum where she stays for nearly two years before her life drastically changes. She is discovered by Warner, the son of the supreme commander of North America. He knows about her powers, and he wants to use them in nefarious ways to benefit the Reestablishment. Juliette must escape her difficult situation and figure out who she really is to find safety in her dangerous world.

The Shatter Me books are probably the best books I’ve ever read. I think the elements of dystopia and fantasy are very well combined. There are characters with fascinating abilities trying to survive in and take back a world run by a cruel, evil organization. The plot is well-written and there are plenty of surprises that you definitely don’t see coming, especially in the fourth book when you learn that Juliette is not who you thought she was. The characters are well-developed and interesting, and I enjoyed getting to read from the point of views of different characters. I would highly recommend this series to anyone interested in the dystopian/fantasy genre!

-Kaitlyn S.

Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi is available for checkout from the Mission Viejo Library. It can also be downloaded for free from Overdrive.

Educated by Tara Westover

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With overwhelmingly positive reviews from Bill Gates, Barak Obama, as well as consistently winning the best memoir of the year in 2018 by multiple institutions, I had to see if this book lived up to all the hype it seemed to be receiving from everywhere. 

Needless to say, it went above and beyond my expectations. 

Educated is the author’s own story of growing up in a survivalist family that did not allow anyone, least of all Tara, an education. It is the journey of her breaking free from the destructiveness of her family and ending up studying at Cambridge and Harvard.

This memoir is easily one of my favorite books I’ve ever read, if not only for the powerfulness of it. Throughout the memoir, you go from pitying Tara, to pride for all that she’s accomplished. 

One trait I love about Tara is her determination. As she starts studying for the SAT, she knew almost nothing and had to learn almost all of it by herself. For example, when she started practicing trigonometry for the first time, she had the math level of a 5th grader. But as she studied more and more, and was so driven that she passed the SAT without receiving any instruction other than her brother Tyler and some books. 

This book affected me in such a deep way that I feel as if it will resonate with me forever. Now whenever I’m doing my schoolwork and feeling unmotivated, I think about Tara and how hard she had to work to just prove she had what it took without proper schooling to get into high prestige schools. She was very independent and as someone who is striving to do so, Tara is someone I look up to.

Now because of her upbringing she did have a lot of mental health issues. After discovering herself, she was pushed away by her family. Even though she had spoken out to her other family members about how manipulating and damaging her childhood was, almost no one believed her. Because of this, her family ignored her, and even though they have been the root of almost all her problems, she finds herself heartbroken over this. 

But the main thing her family has done to her was the manipulation of ideals they have put upon her. As she was growing up she was taught that the government and all of its institutions were part of the illuminati and were out to kill them. The only thing Tara’s parents willingly taught her about was religion. In fact, when she attended college she couldn’t write the way other student did because she learned to read and write only from mormon texts, she had almost no idea of how to function in a normal society. When going through with all this manipulation her parents justified it in their name of their faith, but it is clearly radicalism, and it is so, so frustrating to read about. 

And with that I leave with you a quote from the memoir that perfectly encompasses the idea of finding your own truth:

“Everything I had worked for, all my years of study, had been to purchase for myself this one privilege: to see and experience more truths than those given to me by my father, and to use those truths to construct my own mind. I had come to believe that the ability to evaluate many ideas, many histories, many points of view, was at the heart of what it means to self-create.”

-Asli B.

Educated by Tara Westover is available for checkout from the Mission Viejo Library. It can also be downloaded for free from Overdrive.

Burn For Burn Trilogy by Jenny Han and Siobhan Vivian

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Burn for Burn – Alison Doherty

The Burn for Burn Trilogy is definitely interesting. The series is written by two well-known authors: Jenny Han, who has written To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before, and Siobhan Vivian, who has written the list. Two amazing teen romance authors that write a good trilogy together. The three books in the series are Burn for Burn, Fire with Fire, and Ashes to Ashes.

The story takes place on Jar Island, a small tourist island where everyone knows everybody. Three girls: Kat, Lillia, and Mary are all brought together with a goal to get revenge. They all think that revenge is sweet, but it does have drastic results. Their friendship is a secret because in real life they could never be friends.

I think that I read Ashes to Ashes in a bookstore when it came out years ago, but I don’t think I read the whole thing, and I had forgotten I read it. When I started the series recently, I didn’t realize I had read some of the third book until around halfway of Fire with Fire. That already should be concerning to a reader, that the first and third books of the same series were so drastically different. I was hooked into the story at the beginning since I thought it was a normal teen romance book that would have been considered light. I was wrong. I didn’t expect to end the series with the third book being a paranormal romance book. I also don’t like how the writers make you jump back and forth rooting for two different guys the whole entire time. It was a bit much. I still think the series is worth a read, but I don’t like how drastically the writers’ path changed. I think that the first book was the most well written, but you will get hooked into the story that you have to read the second and third books, but they don’t live up to the expectation of Burn for Burn.

-Rebecca V. 11th Grade

The Burn For Burn series is available for checkout from the Mission Viejo Library. They can also be downloaded for free from Overdrive.