Sungju Lee was a child of privilege in North Korea, ready to serve Kim Il-Sung. Then life changed at the age of eleven when his family is sent away from the capital of Pyongyang. Sungju realizes that people are starving outside the capital in the 1990s North Korean famine. He learns how to survive by forming a gang with a group of boys who soon become the only family he has. This is not an easy story to read. Knowing that is all true (with the exception of names) is hard to consider. These boys are left orphans as their parents go to find food. The lengths which they go to find food makes you want to cry. He survives to write this story, but it is not easy. It makes me realize again how much we take for granted.
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What if Germany and Japan won World War II because they had created a super soldier? That's the concept of this YA book. The United States no longer exists. Germany controls the Eastern American Territories, and Japan controls the Western American Territories. But not all Americans are willing to accept their conquerors. A resistance is brewing, and Ren finds himself in the middle of it with a plan to infiltrate the prison. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. From the beginning, Richmond pulls you in with each new page and revelation of Ren's life. Some twists I saw coming, but others were a surprise. There are some parts that are hard to read, and the violence might be a little intense for some. However, this book makes you think how much we have when we consider the freedoms of America. Like Ren, we can say that America was not perfect and is not perfect now, but the founders and people of America created a set of ideals that we can try to live up to each day. Her sister is the most popular girl in the country, but Frey is a secret. She is the identical twin of her sister, Rafi, but her father doesn't want anyone to know Rafi has a twin. Frey is his ace in the hole. She is Rafi's body double to make sure nothing happens to the heir. When Rafi is invited by the Palafoxes, another first family, Frey must go in her place, but can Frey keep up the act of being her sister when she rarely interacts socially. This book starts with a bang. The first scene shows off Frey's skill with handling an assassination attempt. Bullets are flying, and people are dropping. Westerfeld wants to grab your attention and not let go for the rest of the book. The only problem is that it is over 400 pages, and I think the author could have cut some of it out. However, I enjoyed the suspense, the adventure, the characters, the romance, and the twist at the end. Lina saw her life stretching before her like a beautiful dream. She would go to art school and really begin her life. That was before the Soviets knocked down her door and took her and her family to Siberia. Lina uses her art to hold on in the work camps where extreme cold and extreme brutality leave little room for beauty. But it's not just beauty she is sharing, there is also a code in her work. We hear so many stories of Hitler's cruelty, but we forget that Hitler was not the only dictator in history that killed so many. Stalin is one of those, and we were his ally in the World War II. Did we have any other choice? Can we rightly say the enemy of my enemy is my friend? We soon learned that we couldn't trust him, and the Cold War began. These gulag stories are some of the stories we don't hear, but we need to be reminded. Scott couldn't wait for this day, the day when he would enter high school. He and his friends would no longer be kids, and the girls were sure to much better looking. Then he has his first day. After losing his way several times, having the back of his head slapped mutiple times, and his lunch money stolen, Scott is not so sure that high school is all he thought it would be. He finally comes up with his singular goal for his freshman year. He wants to win over the girl of his dreams - the girl he was friends with in elementary school who has now turned into a supermodel. He joins all kinds of clubs and organization just for a chance to be near her and maybe reconnect, but each new thing seems to leave him farther from his dream. I read this several years ago and remembered laughing. Poor Scott. He tries so hard to do everything and ends up running himself thin. I can definitely relate to this type of story. Though I never joined every organization my crush was involved in at high school, I certainly did a lot in high school. His English teacher sounded like someone you would have loved to have, and his experiences ring true even while he is explaining them to his unborn brother. This book is on my bookshelf if you would like to read it. It has a few cuss words and an attempted suicide. Leo Caraway is a no-nonsense, Harvard-bound, Young-Republicans-president teenager. When he gets caught "cheating," his entire life seems to fall apart. He only has one option, the last place he would ever go to find help, his dad. His biological father is none other than a famous punk rock star named King Maggot. If he can get his dad to pay for his college, then he won't have to worry about the scholarships he lost. I have to admit to being a little put off by this story at first, but once I got to know Leo's character, I thoroughy enjoyed it. The situations he puts himself into to finally get what he wants are hilarious: throwing yourself on the crowd or trying to find a lost poodle. You have to root for a guy who is willing to make a change and realize what is most important in life. There are a few mentions of band members using drugs and some mature relationships mentioned vaguely. So it may have some issues that are not for every reader, but it's definitely worth trying out if you like a good laugh. Princess Petunia is kidnapped by a man who wears a wolf mask. She likes to wear a red cape and carry a pistol. It's your classic Little Red Riding Hood with a twist. In this version though, our heroine is ready to defend herself against all attacks, and the villains are not the wolves. There is a more sinister force working in this fractured fairy tale that also combines elements of the Twelve Dancing Princesses. I have to say for such a promising beginning this book did not deliver. Possibly because this is the third in the series, and there was a lot I missed and was not explained in this book. There was also not a lot of interaction between the two main characters, and so the romance seemed a little far-fetched for me. This is the third in a trilogy. So you will want to read The Maze Runner and The Scorch Trials first. So Thomas made it out of the Scorch Trials alive, but he's now locked up because he has the virus. Surprise, surprise, everyone has the virus. It's just that he and some of his friends are immune to its effects, a.k.a. "Munies." Unfortunately, Newt is not immune, but that doesn't mean that Thomas will leave him behind. He and some of his friends get out of WICKED headquarters and head for the city, but the trials seem tame compare to the real world with so many under the Flare's control. Will they ever find a cure? Will they ever be safe? This book was such a disappointment after The Scorch Trials. I will have to say that I did not enjoy the ending, and I felt like Dashner killed off characters he couldn't find a way to save. There is no happy ending in this, and I have to say I struggled through most of the book. When it ended, I had to say, "Really? That's it." I thought there was another book, and there is, but it's a prequel, so no luck for the characters that were killed in this last book. This is the third in the series. So you will want to read The Selection and The Elite before reading this review. America has survived so many tests and trials, attacks from other girls, attacks from rebels, a whipping, and now she must make a choice. Will she fight for Maxon, or will she marry Aspen? Is this about duty or love? How can she be a part of a kingdom that she does not believe in, a kingdom based on a caste system she knows is wrong? Will she even have the chance with rebel attacks coming so frequently? Okay, I have to give it to Kiera Cass. After making America very unlikable in The Elite, she made a great comeback with The One. I don't know how I feel about authors killing off characters sometimes, but in the end, it made America a more sympathetic character, one you could relate to and not so caught up in the drama of being picked. She even made Celeste more likable. I have to say this book made up for the second one. So if you lose heart in The Elite, this one makes up for it. This is the sequel to The Selection. If you don't want any spoilers, read that book first before reading this review. America Singer has made it to the Elite in the Selection. There are only five other girls left to be Prince Maxon's bride. Yes, she's realized that she cares about Maxon, but she's not so sure about being a princess. With the rebels, she's also starting to realize there are more dangerous things than her rival's nails. But now, Aspen's back in the picture. This was my least favorite of the Selection series. I was so mad at America for stringing both Maxon and Aspen along. By the end, it wasn't who should she choose, it was who will take her now? I'm hoping for a better ending. So since both of the guys are still willing to put up with her at the end, I guess I will go through one more book. |
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June 2021
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