Tag Archives: book review

The Only Road by Alexandra Diaz

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The Only Road by Alexandra Diaz was a book I found while roaming the library. I impulsively threw it in my basket and am so happy I did that. I love this book and its sequel! It is absolutely amazing and one of my favorite books. The main topic of this book is immigration and the hardships it takes to immigrate safely. I actually found this topic really interesting and Alexandra Diaz immersed the reader very well.

The book centers around tween Jaime (Hay-meh) Rivera and his older cousin Ángela (An-juh-luh). After Jaime´s cousin (and Ángela´s brother), Miguel, gets viciously murdered by the local gang, they are forced to leave their home, family and life in Guatemala and travel to the United States of America, illegally. The Riveras sacrifice many things, but scrape up enough money to send their children in as much comfort as possible. Jaime and Angela get smuggled by a friend across the Guatemala-México border and have to embark on their journey through the giant Hispanic country.

Along the way, they meet some friends who are attempting the same journey, but they are from different countries. I really liked how Alexandra Diaz included immigrants from various Central American countries, including El Salvador and Honduras. Back to the point, Jaime and Angela meet their friends and continue getting farther into México. As more obstacles occur, Jaime and Angela fight and learn who they really want to be and who they are traveling for. They also continue to mourn Miguel as the book goes on, understandably.

This book is so good that I don’t want to spoil it at all, hence the short and vague summary. I especially like how Alexandra Diaz includes Spanish words, even if it’s just one here or there. I recommend this book for anyone whos parents, or themselves, have immigrated here and its sequel too. I hope you enjoy The Only Road by Alexandra Diaz!

The Only Road by Alexandra Diaz is available to check out from the Mission Viejo Library.

Book Review: Life of Pi by Yann Martel

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This Summer, I read Life of Pi, an extraordinary story detailing the adventures and survival of Pi Patel, a young Indian boy who fell victim to a shipwreck, and was stranded on a lifeboat with a Bengal tiger. This book was definitely a interesting one from my perspective, as it involves a diverse amount of characters, as well as plenty of symbolism to go with it.

I’ll try my best to avoid spoiling the book, although in describing the story, sometimes I can’t, so be aware, Spoilers Ahead! With that out of the way, the book begins with an author’s note, explaining how he was inspired to write the book because he met a mysterious man who would tell him a story that would make him “believe in god” However, it is later implied this is all part of the story.

At the start of his story, Pi would explain how he was brought up near a zoo owned by his father, as well as how he was always ridiculed for his original French name, the boys at school would often mispronounce “Piscine,” calling him names. to prevent this from happening in the future, he just told everybody to call him Pi. Later, he explains how he adheres to multiple religions, even asking to be baptized and to get a prayer rug at the same time, which is in my opinion one of the most interesting and unique parts of the book

As the years passed the family realized they couldn’t stay in India any longer. it was 1977, and the “emergency” declared by the government had no end, with traces of tyranny being shown through the leaders of Tamil Nadu, the Patels’ home state, being quietly placed into “house arrest”. Because of this, Pi’s family decided to make the decision to sell the animals and move to Canada.

Shortly after the Patels board the cargo ship Tsimtsum, it sinks, leaving Pi the only survivor along with a 300-pound Bengal tiger named Richard Parker, a wounded zebra, a hyena, and a female orangutan. during the first week, the zebra and orangutan fall one by one to the hyena, which is shortly after killed by Richard Parker. Pi learns to coexist with Richard Parker, eventually training him to some degree, making it relatively safe for them to be on the same boat. they pass trial after trial together, braving massive storms at sea, and eventually a man-eating island. after they leave the island, Pi “turns to god” and survives the rest of his long and arduous journey at sea.

I won’t spoil the ending of the book, because the story ends with another author’s note, structured like an interview between Pi and some investigators in an extremely unexpected way. All in all, this was a great book that will make anyone interested in reading the whole thing after a few pages!

Life of Pi by Yann Martel is available to check out from the Mission Viejo Library. It is also available to download for free from Libby.

Queen Of The Tiles: Book Review

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Imagine, on a cold, rainy day sitting down in the family room, bundled up in a cozy blanket and playing a friendly game of Scrabble. To you Scrabble is an unopened box on a shelf, maybe a gift from a friend or something your parents thought you would like, nevertheless Scrabble is not something you ever think of until this rainy day moment arrives and you decide you want to play. 

The book Queen Of The Tiles by Hanna Alkaf takes Scrabble to another level, by going into the mind of a Scrabble player named Najwa Bakri. 

Fresh out of recovering from the traumatic death of her best friend, Trina Low, Najwa is back in the Scrabble competition that decides who is the ‘Queen of The Tiles.’ The story follows Najwa as she tries to uncover Trina’s mysterious death while also trying to become the Queen of The Tiles, herself. 

Hanna Alkaf created a story that not only vividly describes what Scrabble means to the contestants, but also dives deep into the strategy and intelligence that is needed to play Scrabble.

I loved all the characters in the story (even if they did kinda suck sometimes) and I think Hanna Alkaf definitely developed them in the proper way. I especially liked how she made the antagonist so lovable until the reader finds out what the things they have done to get in Najwa’s way.

This book has many suspenseful moments and a mysterious twist ending I did not expect. By the end of the book it made sense how everything played out and the motives for each character to do what they did. I was very satisfied with the ending and give this book a 10/10 rating.

The Serpent and the Wings of Night Review:

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I REALLY REALLY enjoyed this book! It is actually one of the few books that I have stayed up late at night reading, desperately trying to finish the book. But first, a quick summary:

This book is about the main female protagonist character named Oraya, who was picked up from a very young age by the Vampire King, Vincent when her entire village burned down. They have a very interesting relationship in the story. You can see Vincent clearly loves Oraya very much, however, he can’t express his love for fear of Oraya (who is a human) as a weakness seen by others.

Oraya is a very strong main character. She is bold, courageous, absolutely fearless, and was trained from a young age to kill, maim others, and hide her emotions in order to protect herself from her father’s court. She decides to enter a trial of sorts in which if she wins, she will get a goddess’s blessings, which will give her power so she will never be afraid again.

As she continues to compete in the trials, which last four months, she is always close to death. This part of the story was the most complex and heart-pounding because it was so interesting to see how resilient she was when handling pain and the thoughts that torture her from her past.

Also, the enemies to lovers trope present in the book was very light, but perfect to the extent that the author did not overdo it. I really loved how their relationship bloomed from being really not sharing anything with one another to trusting each other with their lives. I thought that was very cute!

The book’s plot line was difficult to guess as well which made it all the more interesting to see the plot twists! Overall it was a really great book!

*Be advised this book best suited is for older readers*

The Serpent and the Wings of Night by Carissa Broadbent is available to check out from the Mission Viejo Library.

Book Review: Mrs. Dalloway

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Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf follows Clarissa Dalloway, a woman in her 50s, as she prepares to host a party. A seemingly simple plot turns into an emotional rollercoaster as Mrs. Dalloway and a diverse, unique cast of characters experience wide character arcs and learn essential themes. Despite this novel only spanning one full day, Woolf has taken this story to a depth I’ve rarely seen elsewhere.

Although the book is written in a stream-of-consciousness writing style, which I admit I often feel can be confusing and dull, I didn’t notice that at all throughout the story. In fact, in my opinion, the writing style enhanced the book’s flow, rather than slowing it down or making it feel choppy.

If you choose to read Mrs. Dalloway, You’ll quickly learn the novel is written almost entirely in prose. Virginia Woolf is one of the most poetic fiction writers I have ever had the privilege of reading. There were many lines in this novel that held great depth and weight to me, even taken out of context. For the most part, her sentences carried a kind of rhythm that made it very satisfying to read. I really loved this and thought it made the story more pleasant.

These beautiful proses, however, come at a cost. Because the language is so flowery, it got a little difficult to understand what was actually happening at any given moment. There were some parts in which I felt like I had to power through the prose to really comprehend what was happening to who. This took quite a bit of work, although I personally experience this with most classic literature I read.

I would recommend this book to everyone, regardless of preferred genre. I think the over-arcing theme is a very thought-provoking one, and it’ll be sure to stick with you. I would especially recommend this book to aspiring writers, as I believe it is a brilliant example of a perfect story structure, with very clear examples of plot points.

“Mrs. Dalloway is always giving parties to cover the silence.” -Mrs. Dalloway, Virginia Woolf

Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf is available to check out from the Mission Viejo Library. It is also available to download for free from Libby.

Loveless

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In this day and age, romance seems to just be a part of everyone’s everyday life. This is the case for Georgia Warr, the main character of the book Loveless by Alice Oseman. Written in 2020, and published under Scholastic Press, this book follows her as she tries to make her way through her first year of university life, with only her two best friends, Pip and Jason, by her side.

The book itself opens with her at an after-prom party, where we learn very quickly that she has never had a crush on anybody, and is quite frankly scared of the idea of intimate romance. After a disastrous event involving her thought-to-be crush, her favorite jean jacket, and a bonfire, Georgia is left to question whether she will ever find someone she actually loves. When she gets to university, she discovers that she is roomed with a girl named Rooney, who she instantly idolizes. The way that she is able to socialize and flirt with other people with seemingly no effort at all has Georgia at a loss. She also meets her “college parent,” Sunil.

Georgia is desperate to learn Rooney’s ways, and they end up bonding over a shared love of theater, and especially Shakespeare. This leads to her, Rooney, Pip, Jason, and Sunil forming a Shakespeare Soc of their own. 

We follow Georgia as she manages her friendships, relationships, and eventual realization of being aromantic and asexual. 

Widely regarded as very good aro/ace representation, I have seen many people recommend this book. It helped me personally learn more about how different people identify and go about the world, and even realize some things about myself. All in all, this was a very good read that I highly recommend you check out if you have the time.

Loveless by Alice Oseman is available to check out from the Mission Viejo Library. It is also available to download for free from Libby.

Adaptation Review/Comparison: The Rising of the Shield Hero Season 2

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Before I begin the review proper I would like to preface that this review is mainly for those who are already aware of the Rising of the Shield Hero and while I will attempt to add context this review is more for those trying to decide whether to continue watching and/or reading the shield hero rather than those trying to decide whether to pick up the series or not. With that out of the way let’s start the review.

Now for those who decided to keep reading after that intro paragraph The Rising of the Shield Hero is a series of Japanese light novels written by Aneko Yusagi which was then adapted into an anime. The series follows the titular shield hero, Naofumi Iwatani, and his journey to save the world along with three other heroes.

The section of the story we are covering here is what is covered in the second season of the anime and in light novels 6-9. Now right off the bat, the anime decides to cripple itself by choosing to not adapt around 75% of the sixth novel which leads to an other-all state of confusion for anime watchers. You see much of the sixth novel is spent on introducing new characters and establishing new concepts and plot points. For example, in the light novel, we are introduced to the character of Eclair Seaetto who was tasked with helping the heroes learn actual combat abilities rather than just spamming their magic weapon skills like they had been. She also ends up beating the Sword Hero in a sword fight in order to prove a point which both highlights her skill with a sword and the fact that the Sword Hero is an awful swordsman.

Anyway, copying the anime in skipping that part we move on to what fans refer to as the Spirit Turtle arc. For a short summary of the plot for this part, in the world of the shield hero, there are four guardian beasts tasked with saving the world should the heroes fail to do so. However, a villain from another world going by the name of Kyo decided that he wanted to awaken the spirit tortoise early so that he could steal its power. Now unlike the previous section which only exists in the novels the spirit tortoise arc exists in both the novels and anime and both have their own pros and cons.

On one side of the comparison, the light novels do a much better job of highlighting the desperation Naofumi feels when fighting the spirit turtle and the sense of dread it brings. Not only do we hear Naofumi’s panicked thoughts but he also highlights how even with his insane level of defense the spirit turtle still manages to harm him. The novels also add the fact that the turtles’ servants act like parasites, using the still living bodies of their victims to grow their numbers. If the novels have one weakness it is that they are a slog to read through. This arc of the story happens to be rather stretched out and honestly it was painfully boring to read at some points.

On the other side of things, while the anime doesn’t do as much to establish the threat of the turtle it does have some definite benefits. For one thing the anime adds more scenes with the character of Ost Horai which give her more depth as a character and make it more painful when she dies at the end of the arc. Additionally, the anime was able to change the boring slog of the novels into mindless action which is a definite plus. If I have to be honest I would much rather watch the animes adaptation of this part than reread the novels.

The adaptation for the next arc, however, cements the Shield Heroes anime adaptation as less than stellar. To the anime’s credit they do at least cover this arc’s main plot points(Traveling to the other world to avenge Ost, meeting the Hunting Tool Hero, Raphtalia gaining the Legendary Katana Vassal Weapon, Fighting Trash 2, and killing Kyo) and it does alter a few things to make more sense like not spitting Raphtalia up from the main group immediately after entering the other world. The problem with this arc in the anime is that they only really cover the main plot points and skip over more minor but still important scenes such as Naofumi acquiring his Demon Dragon Shield which serves as his weapon of choice for quite some time in the novels.

In conclusion, if you want to truly experience the story of The Rising of the Shield Hero to the fullest I would highly recommend reading the light novels as while the English translation can be questionable in some areas it provides a better over-all experience with the story.

Book Review: Trial of the Sun Queen

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This novel was a very interesting novel from my perspective because it included all the fantasy tidbits that I personally enjoyed. This would be appropriate for fans of Sarah J. Maas (aka Throne of Glass and ACOTAR), especially if you are having a book hangover like I did.

SPOILERS AHEAD:

The story is about this girl called Lor. She is currently stuck in this high-stake prison that she’s been in for twelve years with her brother and sister for a crime they did not commit. The conditions are rough, as they have no clean water, no beds, and are all half-starved. The life expectancy there are around a year or two. The prison is meant to die in, and no one is ever released.

After she gets in a big fight with another girl, she gets put into the Hollow, in which no one ever survives. She’s sentenced for two weeks with no food, no water, and no shelter from the wild magical animals that gobble up humans like her.

After about a week, she suddenly gets rescued by one of the soldiers from a far away kingdom. She wakes up in luxurious clothing, a bed made for a queen, and a maid. As the story progresses, she realizes she is in a trial competing for the Sun King’s heart and the Sun King is very interested in her, even though she is very much overlooked by all the other beautiful fae competing for his heart as well.

As she competes in one trial after another, she somehow survives each and every one. She questions her abilities until she overhears the Sun King, Atlas, and her guard talking about her which makes her question why the King favors her and what she has to offer him (which she thinks is nothing).

The ending I will not spoil because I think it was very surprising to say the least because the story unfolds in a way that wasn’t expected. It is not as good as ACOTAR or Throne of Glass, but its close enough that it will get you hooked instantly!

Better Than The Movies by Lynn Painter

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*this review may contain spoilers*

I’ve recently been in a reading slump and haven’t been able to pick up a book and genuinely enjoy it until this read! Those who have read my other posts will know I’m an avid romance reader and it’s my preferred genre and let me say this book fulfilled my little heart. :”)

This story follows Liz and Wes or Libby and Wessy. They’ve grown up being neighbors for most of their life and they were presented as enemies every since childhood to their adolescent years. Whether it be hide-and-seek or stealing each other’s parking spaces, they’ve been at it.

However, the book takes a twist when Liz’s childhood crush, Michael comes back and she gains those same feelings for him that she felt when she was a kid. She isn’t quite sure how to grab his attention and fall for her and this is when Libby makes a “genius” plan to fake date Wessy. Our rival neighbors are bounded by this fake relationship for Liz to get the guy of her dreams and Wes to obtain the parking spot right outside their houses.

With their final year of high school left, the book follows along on Liz and Wes’ friends, hangouts, etc. The very predictable ending is that they fall for one another, or rather Liz falls for Wes.

Even though this book has a great deal of predictability, the main characters are easy to become attached to because of their charisma and personalities. This book can guarantee someone out of a reading slump! (PS. I finished it in a day) This was also my first read from Lynn Painter and it has be intrigued on her other novels, which are all relatively new. I would recommend this book for anyone trying to get into romance or just want a fun read!

-Madison C.

Better than the Movies by Lynn Painter is available to check out from the Mission Viejo Library. It is also available to download for free from Libby.

Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard: The Sword of Summer By Rick Riordan

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Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard: The Sword of Summer is a young adult fantasy novel by famous author Rick Riordan. Magnus Chase, a homeless teenager who discovers that he is the son of a Norse god, embarks on a dangerous quest to stop Ragnarok, the end of the world.

At the beginning of the book Magnus runs away from his uncle’s home and lives on the streets of Boston. After monsters attacked him and Magnus narrowly escaped these beasts, he discovered his true heritage: Magnus is the son of Frey, the Norse God of Fertility and Agriculture.

He meets other Norse gods and heroes in Valhalla, the hall for fallen heroes.
The plot revolves around Magnus and his friends’ quest to retrieve the Sword of Summer, a powerful weapon that can stop Ragnarok. As the story progress, they face several challenges and obstacles, including battling monsters and navigating through different realms of the Norse mythological world.


This book is well-developed and has relatable characters. Magnus is a likable and sarcastic protagonist, and his interactions with his friends, including Samirah, a Muslim Valkyrie, and Hearthstone, a deaf elf, provide insightful perspectives about Norse mythology. The character’s diversity in the book is refreshing and adds depth to the story.


Riordan’s writing style is humorous, witty, engaging, and enjoyable to read. The story’s pacing is also well-done, balancing action scenes and quieter moments of character development.


If you read other Riordan’s books, the plot may be familiar with his previous works, such as the Percy Jackson series. Some of the plot twists may also be predictable for readers who are familiar with Norse mythology. Additionally, the book’s ending may feel rushed and unsatisfying to some readers.


Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard: The Sword of Summer is well-written and entertaining and appeals to fans of Rick Riordan’s previous works and anyone interested in Norse mythology. The relatable characters, engaging writing style, and unique perspective on Norse mythology make it a worthwhile read. This book is available on Libby and at the Mission Viejo Library.

Happy Reading!
Bella H.