Tag Archives: book review

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Posted on by
2

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo revolves around the story of a young aspiring actress who struggles with the misogyny and overall demanding life of the Hollywood film industry. Beyond highlighting the seven marriages throughout her career, the novel also discusses the objectification Evelyn feels as a woman in the 60s, the discrimination she faces for her ethnic Latino background, and the confusion she experiences with her identity all at the same time.

Through Hugo, Reid was able to showcase many inspiring themes, such as ambition and the ability to stand up for one’s self. Hugo’s strive for success, and her ability to rise to such a high position despite the challenges she faces early on in her career, causes readers to feel a sense of admiration, as well as just genuine care and concern for the character. Additionally, the author also emphasizes how Evelyn grows from a young girl who is willing to do what is asked of her to a strong, independent woman who demands respect, and stands up for her own rights. However, these words wouldn’t nearly do the complexity of the character justice, as Hugo is also extremely flawed, and has made some morally shocking choices that can leave readers feeling confused and frustrated, adding to the overall intense atmosphere.

I would highly recommend this novel as it’s not only an engaging, fast-paced story, but also opened my eyes towards the issues of the entertainment industry and the struggles many celebrities go through to get where they are. However, I would beware of some potentially triggering content, especially towards younger age groups.

-Aysha H.

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid is available to check out from the Mission Viejo Library. It is also available to download for free from Libby.

Book Review: The Sun is Also a Star

Posted on by
1

This story is a narrative about two main character love interests: Natasha and Daniel, two young and intensely passionate people. Daniel believes in love, time, fate, and the cosmos, while Natasha is a firm believer of science and all things tangible and observable in nature.

The narrative opens with Natasha’s family being deported back to Jamaica the next day as a result of his father’s DUI, from which the authorities discovered that the family are undocumented immigrants in the United States. Natasha is prepared to do anything to stay in New York because she refuses to accept leaving America, her real home.

Meanwhile, Daniel, who is the son of a Korean immigrant family, is forced to pursue a medical career. He got a interview from Yale in which his parents think is his ticket to a good life. However, he has a passion for poetry. He knows that he has one day to decide whether to attend that interview or save himself from permanently losing himself.

To be quite honest, I was first a bit dubious about this narrative since I wasn’t really much of a believer in fate or the power of the stars to bring people together. However, as I continued reading I realized that we don’t have control over love, and perhaps it does depend on the little coincidences of life that bring people together.

This quote from the book is one of my favorites. “There’s a Japanese phrase that I like: koi no yokan. It doesn’t mean love at first sight. It’s closer to love at second sight. It’s the feeling when you meet someone that you’re going to fall in love with them. Maybe you don’t love them right away, but it’s inevitable that you will” really explains how love is mysterious in its own ways and maybe really is determined by fate.

This book really is though provoking and brings many questions to the surface. For people who believe in fate and the stars: What really brings people together? Is it hormones as Natasha said? Or is it predestined by the stars and fate?

For people who don’t believe in stars and fate, and instead believe in science: How do we know for sure that our world was created by the Big Bang 13.8 billion years ago? There are always things we can’t answer and will remain a mystery…

“How did we go from eyes as a survival mechanism to the idea of love at first sight?”…I guess we’ll never know.

– Aleena C.

The Sun is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon is available to check out from the Mission Viejo Library. It is also available to download for free from Libby.

Book Review: Vengeful (Villains 2), by V. E. Schwab

Posted on by
1

Vengeful was certainly an interesting book. Be aware that this is the second and final book in the short series Villains- the first book being Vicious which I have written a review on so be sure to check that out! 

To start off, I would give it a solid eight out of ten. This book is definitely aimed towards older teenagers and adults and was quite a shock for me to read. The first book, although having strong language was appropriate enough for eighth grade and up but this book had much more innuendo and language so I would say tenth grade and up. 

Now looking at it from the plot and book point of view it was very interesting and kept up from the first book- the characters all complex the plot being enticing and entrancing. The book is hard to put down and is the perfect dark action book for any teenager. 

As the two college students, Eli and Victor, turn to rivals, time skips to where they now face off as adults. More characters are thrown in and there is a new dangerous EO (extra-ordinary) in town. In a competition to fight to the top these characters all face off on this strenuous climb.

This book opened me up to all sorts of different topics, and it may be a bit darker than most fantasy/sci-fi books but really can have people contemplating the meaning of power, and how life and death can affect us all. For people interested in this genre, and even those who aren’t, it is definitely worth the try!

Have a good read!

-Zayna G.

Vengeful by V. E. Schwab is available to check out from the Mission Viejo Library. It is also available to download for free from Libby.

US IN PROGRESS – Short Stories About Young Latinos- by Lulu Delacre

Posted on by
Reply

US, in Progress, is pure heaven. I read the title as us, like the word, but my mom read it as US, like the abbreviation for the United States. I like that because both work as the title. It’s really fun. There are 12 independent stories in this book. Each has their own title and drawing that has a special meaning. 

The first story is called, The Attack, and is about a young Mexican boy named Emilio. His older brother, Tony, has epilepsy and there ends up being a problem. Emilio and José, his twin brother, try to help but it ends up worse. This story was thought-provoking and it was quite a start to this book.

*This one has spoilers 

The second story is named Selfie and the beautiful drawing is of a girl with a sugar skull painted on half of her face. That picture alone intrigued me. The girl, Marla, has a diabetic mother and she started having signs of type 2 diabetes. At school, she learns about bike programs and works to get her own bike. She then rides in the 9 mile Dia de Los Muertos ride and starts to feel better. In my opinion, it was a nice story because it had a happy ending.

*This one has spoilers 

The next story is by far my favorite one. Its name is Güera. It’s so fun! It centers around a Latina girl with pale skin and blond hair. Boy can I get that! Her giant family calls her Güera instead of her birth name, Vicky. When she gets on the subway, a guy gets up behind her. He and another man start to speak in Spanish and it starts to get negative. Luckily, our powerful Latina speaks Spanish and understands what they are saying. She does the unthinkable, she gives a snappy one liner. This story is amazing and perfect in every way.

Burrito Man is a heartbreaking and heartwarming story. A teenager, Alex, goes with her Salvadorian (only one in the whole book) dad to his job as a burrito man at his truck. She then sees how much he cares for her and knows his community when he talks to each person by name as they put money into his tip jar which has a handwritten sign that says Alex´s College Fund. I won’t finish this summary because if I do, it will make you sad.

You have to rip off band aids, especially when you read the story Band Aid. It’s such a sad story with a tear jerking ending. It all starts when Alina´s father gets deported back to Honduras. She then becomes like a mother to her siblings, all while ghosting her best friend. This story really makes you long for your parents to wrap you up in a fuzzy blanket and shove warm, gooey, chocolate chip cookies in your face.

As a firstborn child, I make fun of my brothers a ton, but I would never bully them. Firstborn is about a middle child from Puerto Rico trying to live with her bully of an older sister. Her older sister is verbally tormenting her younger sisters. Eventually, the younger sisters snap. This short story makes me really think about how I treat my younger siblings and it’s definitely an eye opening read.

Cubano Two is about the two new hosts of  the morning news show. Both of them are 8th graders and Cubanos, which you could get from the title. They spend most of the chapter talking back and forth with their spicy vocabulary. It’s a very short chapter and not my favorite one. It’s still good though.

This next short story is called Peacemaker. It is about a young boy and his fighting parents. It’s a very suspenseful story that has a happy ending that makes me question how long the peace will last. I empathize a bit with the main character because I also calm down people after fights, when I can at least. But, I can’t really understand the pain that this guy has to go through.

Following the last story, The Secret, is another happy ending. A teenage girl finds out she’s illegal and starts to isolate herself from her younger sister, the main character. The younger sister reads Esperanza´s, the older sister´s, diary and tries to find a way to help. This story is nice because Esperanza means hope and that’s what this story oozes. Hope.

Pickup Soccer is a story you have to read a bit slower because of all the peoples names! You just read name after name and so it’s a bit of a slower read. It’s also in more of a poem format so it’s fun to read aloud! It’s about a VERY energetic guy and a pickup soccer game, which are very common.

*This one has spoilers 

This next story is named Saturday School. It centers around an unofficial Spanish speaker who goes to summer school to clean up?, her Spanish. It’s funny though because she learns Argentinian Spanish and I always have to explain to my friends that there are different types of Spanish. But, there is a very nice ending with a book club!

The last story!!!!!!! It’s called 90,000 children and there’s this guy, Frank, who hates immigrants, or as he calls them, aliens. It starts out weird because Frank hates immigrants but ends nicely. 

This book is amazing in every way. I love it so much and wish I owned it!! I can’t wait for more people to read it because it has so much knowledge and emotions  and experiences in it that there is plenty to spare!

Book Review: The Demon King by Cinda Williams Chima

Posted on by
Reply

The Demon King, by Cinda Williams Chima, is the first book within the Seven Realms series. The series follows multiple protagonists with the main two being reformed thief Hanson “Cuffs” Alister and princess heir, Raisa ana’Marianna. While the two protagonists have next to nothing in common aside from living in the same city you know that almost no authors would create two protagonists and not have them interact.

I’ll start with Raisa’s P.O.V. first because I personally like it less and I want to get it over with. Being the heir to the throne in her nation Raisa is expected to marry the second she is eligible because this is fantasy medieval Europe and how else would you start teenage rebellion without giving the protagonist something to rebel against? Anyway Raisa’s half of the story basically trying to figure out what kind of Queen she wants to be and which of the two men in her life she likes more; Amon, the son of the captain of the guard and her childhood friend or Micah Bayar, son of the high wizard and a powerful mage in his own right. Ironically, Raisa can’t be with either of them due to age-old magical ceremonies as well as politics. Nothing really gets resolved in this book however because this series has four books and there wouldn’t be a plot if everything got solved in book one.

Now onto my favorite character of the novel Han. Hanson as mentioned above is a reformed thief. Not mentioned above however is the fact that Han was actually the Streetlord of Ragmarket which is basically the equivalent of being a mob boss in real life. This isn’t really relevant to what I’m going to talk about but I just wanted to mention it. Anyway Han’s half of the story is more complicated than Raisa’s which is funny because her half involves politics. Han’s story is two fold; part of it involves him trying to find a legal way to make money to support his family while the other is more complicated. Essentially one day Han and his friend Dancer were on a sacred mountain and found some wizards setting fire to it. In order to stop them Han threatens to put an arrow through their leader and makes him hand over his amulet which is the source of a wizards power in this series. The other half of Han’s story is the tragedies that start occurring because he stole said amulet. 

Personally, I think the reason I liked Han’s character so much was because of his struggle of trying to find honest work, which as someone in the latter half of high school I can sort of relate to. Or it could be my obsession with gentleman thieves showing up, one of the two.

All in all, I think that this book is a pretty good one if you like high fantasy novels.

The Demon King by Cinda Williams Chima is available to check out from the Mission Viejo Library. It is also available to download for free from Libby.

Book Review: Sophie’s World by Jostein Gaarder

Posted on by
Reply

This book was gifted to me by my uncle, and to be honest is not the type of thing I would ever take off the shelf myself. From the outside, A book that promises a history of all of western philosophy can sound very intimidating, but I think Gaarder does a great job and breaking all of this information down into bite sizes pieces for the reader.

Also, I think Gaarder does a good job of giving just enough information about each philosopher or method of thinking to give the reader a good overall understanding of each subject, while still encouraging the reader to seek out more info about everything covered in the book. Personally, I used my notes app to write down certain ideas or philosophers I found interesting so that I could come back to them later If I ever had time.

While this book does work as a beginner’s guide to philosophy, it also has what I would say is a relatively strong story with interesting characters. Most of the philosophy in the book is taught through a character named Alberto Knox, a philosopher who slowly teaches the protagonist, Sophie, the history of philosophy piece by piece. I think this is an effective way to keep the reader engaged while they learn about these concepts, as the reader can put themselves in Sophie’s shoes for most of the book. The plot does develop later, which adds a lot more substance to the characters and the story. One thing I like about how Gaarder handles this story is that later on in the book is how we see Sophie use the same philosophical concepts both her and the reader have just learned, serving as an example of how to approach thinking like a philosopher.

This book can be a bit boring if you are not at all interested in Philosophy or have no desire to try learning about Philosophy, but I would encourage anyone else to try this book because I think It can serve a starting point for anyone to become more involved or educated about philosophy.

Sophie’s World by Jostein Gaarder is available to check out from the Mission Viejo Library.

The Ivies by Alexa Donne

Image

2

“My life at Claflin has inevitably been easier, better, because of the company I keep. The Ivies opened a door, and I stepped through it.”

–Olivia Winters

Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Brown, UPenn, Dartmouth, Cornell, and Columbia. The eight Ivy League schools for five teenage girls set on attending these schools, by any means necessary.

The Ivies by Alexa Donne is an exciting murder mystery that follows Olivia Winters, a scholarship senior at Claflin Academy, as she navigates life under the wing of the Ivies—an elite, ambitious group of girls who eliminate all chances of competition to claim first place. But karma is real… and it’s coming to get them.

Donne’s approach to the life of a high school student is overwhelmingly perceptive. From the way the characters act to the way they talk, their personality is established within the first few pages of meeting them.

This novel breaks stereotypes that center around class and social privilege. For instance, Avery Montfort, a Harvard legacy student who at first seems conceited and arrogant, offers the reader a glimpse of her not-so-perfect life and the weight she carries.

Together, the Ivies work to sabotage other top college material students. Their conniving actions reveal the ugliness behind their riches. They demonstrate just how far people go to get what they want, including murder.

Overall, I really enjoyed reading The Ivies by Alexa Donne. My suspicions jumped from person to person; I never stopped guessing until the very end. Everyone should have the opportunity to meet these brilliant, but back-stabbing girls with twisted priorities.

The Ivies by Alexa Donne is available to check out from the Mission Viejo Library. It is also available to download for free from Libby.

Book Review: All The Bright Places by Jennifer Niven

Posted on by
1

I first heard about this book from one of my close friends. We usually are into the same type of books, so I knew I had to read this. I went to the bookstore a few weeks later and purchased it. It wasn’t until a few months later that I actually began reading it.

I instantly fell in love with the book at the first page. When Finch’s character was introduced, I immediately connected with his psyche. The style of the writing is just one that I find myself relating to.

With every page turn, I became more and more invested in the story. The subtle romance between Finch and Violet that sparked in the beginning was so captivating. Usually books targeted towards young adult audiences don’t seem relatable to me, but this one was. When I am really invested in a book, I will finish it in less than a week. I finished reading this one in two days.

I feel as though any teenager/young adult who reads this book will relate to at least one part. This book was very inspiring to me as well. It made me feel less alone.

This book is honestly what gave me courage to fully open up to my school counselor. It helped me realize that it is okay not to be okay.

All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven is available to check out from the Mission Viejo Library. It is also available to download for free from Libby.

Here in the Real World

Posted on by
Reply

Here In The Real World, by Sara Pennypacker, is a story about a young boy named Ware, who just can’t seem to fit into others’ expectations of him. He doesn’t want to, either. He prefers to stay just outside of crowds, like an onlooker instead of a participant. The people around him don’t really seem to accept him for who he is. Even his parents, as later revealed, wish he could just be “normal,” like all the other kids. 

His parents send him off to a summer camp, an idea he voices his disdain for. He even offers to PAY his mother not to make him go. This statement is what leads to the parents’ aforementioned wish.

His parents do not oblige, obviously, and off to summer camp he goes. Unfortunately for him, things haven’t changed from the last time he was there. The room still smells. The kids are still mean. And they all still have to do laps around the entire building in the blistering hot Florida sun.

It’s during these laps that the main plot of the book begins. 

Ware decides to make a run for the large, old tree behind the building. And he makes it. No one sees him run away. No one sees him climb the tree. And no one sees the old abandoned church behind the wall. Not the way he sees it, anyway. 

He sees a great castle, with a drawbridge and a solar calendar. He sees what he’s always wanted. A place to be alone. To be by himself. That is, until he meets Jolene, the girl who has already “claimed” the lot. She uses it to grow her own vegetable garden. 

Can they learn to get along, and share the space over the summer? Or will it all fall to pieces?

You’ll have to read the book to find out. 

Here in the Real World by Sara Pennypacker is available to download for free from Libby.

It Starts With Us by Colleen Hoover

Posted on by
1

*the review may contain spoilers

I’m well aware that this is possibly the most basic book I could’ve read but I just had to know what the hype was about. So if you didn’t know, this book is a sequel to Hoover’s It Ends With Us.

If I had to be quite frank, it wasn’t my favorite book because it was just so cheesy. It follows the story of Lily Bloom after her divorce with ex-husband Ryle. The readers see her struggle with motherhood as well as trying to distinguish herself in the love department.

The highly anticipated reveal on Lily and Atlas’ relationship was revealed in this sequel but not in the way I wanted it to play it. Compared to the first book Lily and Atlas’ relationship was sort of unrealistic and all over this place, it didn’t seem to match up to how I envisioned the characters previously. I also though the inclusion of Atlas’ stepbrother was unnecessary although it was heart warming it was a plot that I wasn’t interested in.

Colleen hoover is known for all of her books which I would say are good for first time readers trying to get into romance. However, in my opinion the storylines are overplayed and unrealistic that it’s hard to immerse yourself truly within the book.

I would say if you want to get into romance books I personally would stay away from this book. However, if you just want to get into reading I would recommend this book because it is a pretty fast and easy read to get into.

-Madison C.

It Starts with Us by Colleen Hoover is available to check out from the Mission Viejo Library. It is also available to download for free from Libby.