Tag Archives: book review

These Violent Delights by Chloe Gong

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The year is 1926. In the city of Shanghai, two gangs have been rivals for generations. Leading the Scarlet Gang is the Cai family and leading the White Flowers is the Montagov family. Juliette Cai returns from living in America for four years as a flapper back to Shanghai to assume her role as heir when tensions are rising between the gangs. She is determined to kill all White Flowers for the sake of the blood feud but long ago, she didn’t think like this. Before she was in America, she was in love with the heir of the White Flowers: Roma Montagov. But because of how the blood feud worked, betrayal forced the two lowers apart and made them enemies once again.

News of a madness has spread across all of Shanghai after several members of both the Scarlet Gang and the White Flowers were found dead at a port, having their throats clawed out. People begin to fear its contagious manner and where it comes from: a monster lurking in the shadows. Together, Juliette Cai and Roma Montagov must set aside their hatred and work together to find the source of the madness and eradicate it before both of their gangs fall entirely victim to it. But will they be successful? Or will the entire city of Shanghai fall prey to a madness they cannot control?

This Romeo and Juliet retelling had me hooked from the beginning. I personally love books if they have a good writing style and because of the way Chloe Gong created this story, I fell in love with this book. The amount of creativity woven through her words, the memorable main characters, and the amazing plot were all reasons why I loved this book. The ending, especially, was what made the book worth it. I highly recommend it!

These Violent Delights by Chloe Gong is available to check out from the Mission Viejo Library. It is also available to download for free from Libby.

Book Review: Chronicle of a Death Foretold

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Chronicle of a Death Foretold by Gabriel García Márquez is a dramatic novella from the life experience of Márquez. Márquez Is a Columbian novelist and journalist who uses his journalist writing skills to tell the story as if you were there. As he brings you into this story where you question fate versus free will.

This book was fairly short and could easily be finished in a day or two. This book take place in Columbia and follows the true story of an honor killing. Márquez‘s writing skills shine in this book as he transports you to Columbia through his imagery and tells the story as if he was a police officer reporting the crime and going through every detail. The best part about the book was the culture that it represents. We see traditions and laws distinct to this culture. This book is a true tragedy as we see the main character’s fate decided for him, but unlike a tragedy it is comical through the use of irony.

I would recommend this book to anyone who has some free time on their hands. This is one of the first books that I truly enjoyed reading in a while. The story of this book was very good and straightforward, but there is also a lot of symbolism and other literary elements that elevate this book to a new level. If tragedies usually aren’t your type of thing, I still highly recommend it as incorporates humor.

Chronicle of a Death Foretold by Gabriel García Márquez is available to check out from the Mission Viejo Library.

The Dark Ascension Series: The Wicked Ones by Robin Benway

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“The sky was glorious that morning, so blue and sharp that it looked like it could shatter, raining shards down on all of them, but instead it stayed in place while the rest of their world fell apart.”

We all know the story of Cinderella, enslaved by her evil stepmother and ugly stepsisters when her beloved father passes. She wishes upon a star, and, poof! Her dreams become true and she can finally escape from her horrible stepsisters to a land of charming royalty.

But before the two sisters became wicked, what changed them? They had a father who left them one day, a callous mother with a terrible temper, and a feeble stepsister unable to protect herself from their mother’s wrath. Scrutinized and criticized by even their own mother and villagers, the two sisters were misunderstood and abandoned.

Drizella, the older of the sisters, is a sensible young woman who is almost entirely sure that life is meant to be difficult and struggled through. It’s not like life is perfectly mapped out and lined up like the constellations that secretly fascinate her. Besides, a woman’s expected duties are pointless without learning anything new.

Anastasia is a dreamer who sees the world not for the cruelty and struggles it forces her to endure, but as a vast place to explore and even find romance in. Unfortunately, her sympathetic nature is muted by despair.

Though they are determined not to let evil lead them down a forlorn, empty path, can they remain hopeful forever?

I found this novel pleasant and a change of pace from the fantasy-fairytale books I usually read. I do remember reading another book—Stepsister by Jennifer Donnelly—that was a more challenging read with a complicated storyline but had a similar idea to The Wicked Ones.

The stepsisters’ lives weren’t handed to them tied with a bow, it was paved through resentment and struggle. The reader can sympathize with the stepsisters and see their perspective and growth as characters.

Originally, I thought this book was simple and predictable, but it is really just a good novel to sit back and read. The fairytale sweeps you away and you can learn about the stepsisters’ detestable characters.

Through this novel of suffering and strife, the reader learns how the past of the stepsisters’ fostered the black-hearts that they have today.

The Wicked Ones by Robin Benway is available to download for free from Libby.

William Shakespeare’s Othello Review

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William Shakespeare, a prominent playwright and poet, creates a story revolving around Othello, a Moorish military commander from Venice, and Iago, a soldier craving the rank of lieutenant. Othello has a lot of trust in Iago, but at the beginning of the play, he gives Cassio the rank of lieutenant over the qualified Iago. Thus, Iago feels wronged and plots for Othello’s downfall. Using his manipulative skills and careful planning, Iago takes advantage of certain characters’ personal flaws.

Othello, the respected and triumphant outsider, is insecure and struggles to communicate with his partner, Desdemona. Furthermore, Cassio, the man promoted over Iago, has some drinking problems. When plotting his revenge, Iago prioritizes Othello’s relationship by convincing him that Cassio and Desdemona are in a secret relationship. Throughout the play, Iago uses props and tricks to stimulate Othello’s destructive behavior.

In terms of writing style, Shakespeare implements techniques such as blank verse and prose. Blank verse is a form of poetry that doesn’t contain rhymes. Prose is implemented into poetry as a natural and flowing form of dialogue. There are many other literary devices throughout the play such as symbolism, dramatic irony, metaphors, and more.

Although Othello may be a little hard to read at times, I highly recommend the play. If you are reading it in a group, it may be fun to assign roles to one another. Shakespeare is widely recognized and respected for his literary works, but Othello is one of his most engaging and entertaining plays. Almost every character is fully fleshed out and play a significant role in the story. There are strong themes and character developments that progress smoothly throughout the play.

-Kern Mittal

Othello by William Shakespeare is available to check out from the Mission Viejo Library. It is also available to download for free from Libby.

The Odyssey by Homer (Using translation by Robert Fitzgerald)

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I’m sure many people know of this book. Whether you have heard of it or have even read it yourself, I’m sure that a good majority of people know of The Odyssey by Homer. It is completely fine if you don’t but do be warned, this can be a very difficult read without proper background knowledge. I had to read this in school and I couldn’t be more thankful that my teacher had given us extra pages to brief us. These papers were from Edith Hamilton’s Guide to Mythology and taken from the chapters about the Trojan War. These two chapters were relatively short but hold a lot of important information regarding the Trojan War and prior events to The Odyssey. If you can find these anywhere, they would be great to read before reading The Odyssey. You can most likely find this as a PDF online and I’m serious when I say this was one of the crucial things when it came to my understanding of this book. 

The Odyssey is one of Homer’s epics, completely centered around Greek mythology. Specifically, the Greek hero, Odysseus and his journey after the Trojan War and how he gets home. He journeys through different lands, meeting many other popular characters in Greek mythology such as Calypso, Circe, and many more. The Odyssey also includes Odysseus’ son, Telemachos, who goes on his own journey in hopes of finding his father to save their island, Ithaka. The short version of the story is that while Odysseus is out fighting in war and disappears for 10 years, his home is overtaken by suitors trying to take his wife Penelope’s hand in marriage. Telemachos cannot let this happen, so with Athena’s help, he journeys out to find news about his father. While this happens, Odysseus, who has been stuck on Calypso’s island for many years, has escaped her grasp and tries to make his way home, explaining how he had ended up on Calypso’s island and what had happened to him after the war. However, he is not done with fighting yet as when he comes back home, he must fight for it back.

I remember I tried to read this book over the summer before school started. I couldn’t understand it at all and I got frustrated and gave up on it. But when my teacher explained it all, I ended up enjoying the book a lot. There are plenty of Greek values and conventions in the book which help the story make a lot more sense if you know about them. 

Despite having given up on it before school had even started, once everything made sense, I actually enjoyed this book. A lot of people I know don’t like it or dislike it. They are in the middle of the two which is fine. I liked the unique way of storytelling. It was funny to read about the absurd things that happened like how over 100 men came to pursue Penelope’s hand in marriage. Other times, the book would have five chapters that would just be Odysseus explaining what had happened. While it may sound boring, it was really interesting to read about the places he went to and what he had done to get him to where he was now. I also enjoyed picking apart the characters and analyzing them. Many of the characters are heroic and different in their own way. 

The Odyssey is not an easy book to read due to its way it words certain phrases, the different types of spelling, and is especially hard to read without any prior knowledge. If you don’t know much about Greek mythology but are interested in reading this, I would highly suggest researching and trying to find Edith Hamilton’s Guide to Mythology which is available online. While it may take a while to get used to reading this book, The Odyssey was still enjoyable to me, even though I had to re-read a few pages every now and then. I would definitely recommend this to a Greek mythology lover and even would recommend it to those who have little to no knowledge in that area – with some hesitation.

-Nicole R.

The Odyssey by Homer, translated by Robert Fitzgerald, is available to check out from the Mission Viejo Library. It is also available to download for free from Libby.

The Haunting on Heliotrope Lane

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Ahh, the good old days. Playing catch on the street with your buddies. A basketball hoop in your driveway. Block parties. The old decrepit house at the end of the street where the old lady who lived there may or may not have been murdered. 

Those rosy memories. 

The Haunting on Heliotrope Lane is a mystery novel that was written by Carolyn Keene in 2018 as the 16th installment of the Nancy Drew Diaries series. The story follows Nancy, along with her best friends George and Bess, as they try to solve the mystery of what’s really going on in that old house at the end of Heliotrope Lane. 

This book feels quite different from prior ones in the series, taking on a much eerier and more suspenseful tone than previously seen. Especially if you’re like me, and had the amazing idea to listen to it on CD with sound effects and voice acting while trying to fall asleep in a cold, dark room. You never truly know what could be lurking in the shadows.

Anyways, this is probably my favorite book in the series, solely because I’m a sucker for spooks. If you’re into a slightly haunting but still fun and (mostly) kid-friendly mystery, then I definitely recommend this one. As well as the whole series in itself. It’s a revamp of the classic Nancy Drew series, through a modern lens that isn’t actually cringey! It’s a miracle.  Sitting at a whopping 24 books, you won’t be running out of content any time soon. I highly recommend this series, even if it might seem a little childish to my peers. I hold a great nostalgia for these books in my heart, and it only seems fair to try to spread it to as many people as possible.

The Haunting on Heliotrope Lane by Carolyn Keene is available to check out from the Mission Viejo Library. It is also available to download for free from Libby.

A Desolation Called Peace

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A Desolation Called Peace by Arkady Martine is part of a two book long series following the first book A Memory Called Empire.

A Desolation Called Peace is a 2021 science fiction novel following it’s predecessor A Memory Called Empire. This book also won the Hugo Awards for Best Novel in 2022 just like it’s predecessor in 2020. If you have not read the first book I would advise you do before reading this as it contains spoilers of the first book.

This book was different than the previous novel made by Arkady Martine as it follows not just Mahit Dzmare but Three Seagrass, Eight Antidote, and Nine Hibiscus as well as some different side characters. Martine weaves an incredible space opera involving the Teixcalaanli Empire moving star ships into the jump gate near the station of Lsel, the former home of Mahit Dzmare, creating an astounding new alien species, and vivid detail to their culture throughout the book.

Martine also masterfully balances the idealistic views of the imperial heir Eight Antidote with the rugged and sometimes cruel thoughts of General Nine Hibiscus, creating a massive view of the story where many different things are going on at the same time, but eventually they weave together to create a beautiful story called A Desolation Called Peace.

In the story the Nine Hibiscus must somehow find away to communicate to these new aliens past the mysterious jump gate. So she requests the help of Mahit’s former liaison Three Seagrass, who eventually drags Mahit Dzmare into all the political drama caused by the many conflicting parties throughout Teixcalaanli.

I found this novel masterfully done with many plot twists and different perspectives on the war. I also found it interesting how Martine could display the culture of Teixcalaanli and the aliens so richly.

A Desolation Called Peace by Arkady Martine is available to checkout from the Mission Viejo Library. It is also available to download for free from Libby.

Spoiler Free Book Review: The Rising of the Shield Hero Volume 1

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The Rising of the Shield Hero, by Aneko Yusagi, is the first novel in a long-running series that goes by the same name. The books follow Naofumi Iwatani, an average Japanese college student. One day Naofumi finds a mysterious book in his library that transports him to another world alongside three others.

Those from the world that summon them quickly explain that the four of them are the Cardinal Heroes of legend, destined to save the world from the Waves of Destruction. However all is not as it seems and Naofumi soon finds himself betrayed stripped of his reputation, money, clothes, and everything else except the shield on his arm marking him as a hero. And now that the plot synopsis I can finally begin discussing why this book is so good. One thing this book and series does very well is writing an antihero protagonist. Now, Naofumi isn’t a great person, he commits too many morally dubious actions to qualify as a paragon hero or anything of the sort. At the same time, he also isn’t a heartless monster, as while the other three heroes are focused on fighting big monsters for fame or glory, Naofumi instead focuses on ensuring people are safe. Thus, Naofumi is neither hero nor a villain, he is an antihero, a hero with unheroic qualities.

Now there is definitely more I could touch on with this review but that would result in delving into spoiler territory so I’ll just end off with an overall review. The Rising of the Shield Hero is a well-executed revenge fantasy novel so if you’re a fan of that sort of thing I would recommend checking it out.

Life Skills for Teens

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Book Review: Life Skills for Teens: The Ultimate Guide for Young Adults on How to Manage Money, Cook, Clean, Find a Job, Make Better Decisions, and Everything You Need to Be Independent

“Life Skills for Teens” by Vivian Foster is an inclusive guidebook that provides young adults with essential skills they will need to maneuver through the real world. The book covers various topics, from cooking, cleaning, managing money, fixing cars, performing first aid, and many more.

She presented the material in an easy-to-understand manner. The book is organized in a way that is easy and accessible for beginners. It is organized into various chapters covering different skills. Every chapter begins with an introduction to the specific topic and step-by-step instructions for the task.

The book includes many practical tips and real-life examples that young people can practice and relate to. One of the chapters is about managing money and the expected financial problems for teens, and she suggests ways to avoid them.

The author also includes valuable advice on creating a budget that you can stick to, which is an important life skill for anyone. It’s one I am learning, and it’s tough. But hey, the teen years are the best time to learn these habits.

This book includes abundant illustrations and photographs, which make it easy to follow the instructions. The accurate and details images provide a perfect visual reference for each step in the process.

“Life Skills for Teens” is an excellent resource for teens starting out and learning to maneuver the adult world. This book covers various topics and provides practical advice on how to master essential life skills. It is very well-written, precise, easy to understand, and packed with helpful resources. I recommend it to anyone looking to develop life skills and a successful mindset.

Happy Learning!

Bella H.

“Flipped” Book Review

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Flipped is a novel by Wendelin Van Draanen about two neighbors whose relationship starts to “flip”. I love how the novel is told from different points of view between the two main characters throughout the book and how the layout and the plot of the story ties in with the title.

At the beginning of the story, young Juli Baker introduces herself to Bryce Loski, a boy her age who had just moved in across the street. She is mesmerized by Bryce and provides help to move the boxes from the moving truck, but Bryce feels the complete opposite and he finds her annoying. Throughout the years, Juli is head over heels for Bryce and does things that seem to “annoy” Bryce while Bryce seems to dislike Juli and goes out of his way to avoid her. It can be seen that Juli’s feelings for Bryce do not seem to be reciprocated. 

However, as they grow older and start to enter 8th grade, the book gets more interesting as their relationship starts to flip around and Juli starts to find herself falling out of love with Bryce. On the other hand, Bryce starts to acknowledge Juli and slowly develops feelings toward her. Nevertheless, Juli starts avoiding Bryce and he feels he wants to win her back. Then, Bryce realizes he must apologize to Juli for all his wrongdoings towards her. At the end of the story, Juli watches as Bryce digs up a hole in her front yard and sees that he is attempting to plant a sycamore tree, a tree that Juli cherishes. She goes over to him, helps him, and decides to give him another chance.

Flipped by Wendelin Van Draanen is available to check out from the Mission Viejo Library. It is also available to download for free from Libby.