Book Reviews
Orphan Train
By Christina Baker Kline
The prologue had me intrigued. By the first chapter in 1929, I was fully hooked! I read more than half this book in a single day; I didn't want to do anything else except continue the journey and find out what happens! My poor family who I neglected so I could just sit and read!
I am used to flash forwards and back, and the last book I read was written very similarly where the author is the narrator but only when talking about one of the tenses. However, the two woven stories were so similar, I had a little bit of trouble keeping the backgrounds straight. I enjoyed this style, and felt that there were connections between the present situation and the section of story from the past.
While we read about Vivian's past (it's no secret by the end of the first chapter, really), Molly is learning this past as well. And what we see Molly go through is reflected in Vivian's own past. After telling Vivian's whole story, Molly's own seems not so bad. And if the reader looks back, really... the people involved are blowing things out of proportion and over-reacting. I found her situation stupid, and I just wanted to slap Dina across the face!
The chapters are short which makes getting through them seem pretty easy. As I read, I felt a movie style cinematography play out. This would make an excellent movie, if done right.
The acknowledgments at the end is worth reading, so is the section on the real orphan train riders, and even the discussion questions. I read this for a book club, and am excited to talk about this book. I hope we use the questions in the book because they were good, thought provoking, and deep questions.
I am recommending this book to anyone who has had crap happen in their life where they had to make it or die, or felt that way. I know a teenager who has seen abandonment, homelessness, and the loss of the only parent she ever had. She was shuffled across state lines, from one side of the country to the other and back again, living with friends and family members, switching schools mid-year many times. Only after the death of her parent did she finally settle out of the current and precipitated into a young woman of her own mind and life. All this time, she has had to carry only those things which were of great importance to her, because everything else could be replaced.
Book Review coming.
Far Bright Star
By Robert Olmstead
THIS IS NOT THE BOOK YOU ARE LOOKING FOR. MOVE ALONG.
I don't know what to say about a book about the ramblings of a crazy man. None of it made any sense. In some areas there is great detail and in others there isn't much said and you're left wondering "So.. did he actually find water? Or... did he just dream it?"
I'm sorry, real people don't have conversations like that which are found in the book. Not even people of 1916. There is talk of war, but what war? Or rather: which war? Aren't we already in The Great War in 1916? So why are Americans asking if "he" thinks we'll "go to war"?!
Descriptions of the terrain are as jumpy and vague as the rambling thoughts portrayed as the main character's. I really think Olmstead was on something when he wrote this story.
Dragonmasters Trilogy
by Katie Cross
This is the digital book containing all three books in one. Below is the description of each book followed by my review. A link to the author's site to get the books is at the end of this post.
Flame book #1
Description: Magic Is Forbidden.
Dragon Servants Sanna and Isadora Spence live in the village of Anguis, deep in Letum Wood, where persnickety dragons are the least of their worries.
Thanks to years of simmering tension, the hidden village is destined to crack. Soon. Sanna’s deep love for the giant beasts causes her to make an irreversible mistake, while Isadora’s disinterest leads her to a fateful decision that will change the course of the entire world.
Can the sisters prevent everything they know from falling apart? Or do they allow it to break and the pave the way for new growth?
My review: WARNING: If you plan on diving into this rabbit hole, ensure your copy of the next book before you begin this one! There is no time lost between the two and you can't really take a break in between. Try it. I dare you!
Katie Cross's ability to draw the reader into her world is as powerful as "secundum"! The first in a trilogy, Flame does not disappoint! The raw emotions, the internal struggles, everything the characters experience is transferred to the reader. I have read other Dragon books, but never have the dragons had such a voice to speak for their emotions. This is Marie's masterpiece, and I can't wait for the next book!
Flight book #2
Description: A treacherous new world awaits
Sisterwitches Isadora and Sanna Spence aren’t sitting back anymore. In fact, they’re both tangled in separate new worlds—ones they didn’t anticipate.
Despite the Dragonmasters home burning to ash, Sanna is certain of one thing—she will not be a tyrant, even though managing a brood of frightened dragons falls on her reluctant shoulders. When a devastating tragedy strikes the Dragonmaster families, Sanna is forced to face a world she never knew existed.
Isadora, on the other hand, is too busy with her new life to worry about her old one. In the midst of training with her perpetually annoyed mentor, Maximillion, Isadora is unexpectedly taken away from home and thrust into a dangerous game. Her life is now in the hands of her most terrifying enemy: Cecelia Bianchi.
Both sisters are far from home and over their heads. Can they marshal their courage to save those they care about? Or will their expanding horizons prove to be their biggest danger yet?
My review: Don't know what to say. Make sure you have tissues and lots of chocolate nearby! Go potty first and make sure you have plenty of snacks, this is going to be a long and perilous journey!
I could not put this down, even to care for my tiny humans! The second half really flares like a secundem! I could not only see the images so vividly, but I feel the power surging through the characters....the background music as it crescendos....the transition from one part of the story to the next (which means this will be one neck of a movie!!!)!
There were so many warning signs for one character that I thought I was going to lose my mind! The explanation was legit but also felt like a let down. I was over thinking things....again.
Didn't think a sequel could be better the the first, but it is. I am now on to the third installment. But first, an emotional break as I gather the pieces of sanity and heart and try to sort them out.
Freedom book #3
Description: Isadora Spence knows two things: 1) she’s tired of all the wars and wants them to stop and 2) she never wants to see Maximillion Sinclair again. Sparks fly when rising desperation leads Isadora and Maximillion to attend a political delegation together in the Southern Network. She’s determined to create a pact for peace and save lives, but when events spiral into far more dangerous territory, she realizes the only witch she can trust is Maximillion. Can they work together, or will everything fall apart? Meanwhile, her sisterwitch Sanna is out of her depth in an unfamiliar world of volatile goddesses and buried history. Facing an unwinnable battle against Prana, the ruthless goddess of the sea, Sanna roots through history, only to discover that Prana isn’t the only enemy they face.In a world embroiled with war on all fronts, can the sisterwitches do their part to bring peace and freedom to Antebellum? Or will all their best efforts fail in the bigger machinations of goddesses and witches? FREEDOM is the final book in the Dragonmaster trilogy. This sweeping YA Fantasy saga will take to a new world, keep you on the edge of your seat, and ask you to answer the most impossible question of all: What is freedom?
My review: Each copy should be sold with tissues! Seriously! The plot twists and turns have upset my stomach. I laughed, I cried, I smiled, and I died a little inside. Each chapter ending leaves you wanting to skip ahead to find out what happens, much like great cliffhangers in t.v. Switching between sister stories is great, but is also infuriating because I not I have to wait to find out "what does he mean?!" but then I become engrossed in what the other sister is going through !
I am at peace with this ending. The next thing to happen is Miss Label's School for Girls. HOWEVER, Katie Cross leaves room to continue the stories and stitch them together (100 years of room, in fact).
Onto the Ronan Scrolls and Chronicles of the Dragonmasters!