Mini Reviews for CHOSEN and THE MAP FROM HERE TO THERE
The Map from Here to There by Emery Lord Also by this author: When We Collided, The Names They Gave Us
Series: The Start of Me and You #2
Published by Bloomsbury YA on January 7, 2020
Genres: Contemporary Fiction, Young Adult Fiction
Pages: 368
Source: Netgalley
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FTC Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley. All opinions are my own.
Review:
With The Map from Here to There, Emery Lord delivers a beautifully written and compelling follow-up to her popular novel, The Start of Me and You. I loved the first novel and couldn’t wait to get my hands on a copy of the sequel because I really wanted more of Paige and Max’s journey. The sequel was a little surprising, but in a good way. It’s a much more serious and emotional read than the fun and fluffy one I was expecting. While there are certainly plenty of fun and fluffy moments with Paige and her friends as they go through their Senior year together, the story focuses more on Paige and her continuing struggles with anxiety and identity. Paige is trying to make big decisions about life and college and really just figure out who she really is and where Max fits into it all. As Paige considers her options, endless questions just constantly flood her brain and ramp up her anxiety: Will their relationship survive if they go to separate schools? Should a decision about where to go to college be based in any way on what school your friends and/or significant other are going to?
Lord does a wonderful job of continuing Paige’s journey in a realistic and relatable way. The fear and uncertainty about life after high school is certainly an almost universal experience. I did find myself occasionally frustrated with Paige because of how she was letting all of her uncertainties interfere with the important relationships in her life, but at the same time, I found that was a realistic aspect of what she’s going through as well, so I could forgive her for it.
One of my favorite aspects of the sequel is actually that Paige’s core group of friends were still a big focus of the story. I honestly expected them to take a backseat to Max and Paige so it was great to see this wonderful friend group still in the forefront and to follow their Senior year journeys as well.
The Map from Here to There is overall a very satisfying sequel to The Start of Me and You. If you weren’t ready to say goodbye to this lovable cast of characters after the first book, I think you’ll be happy with Lord’s continuation of their journeys. 4 STARS
Chosen (Slayer, #2) by Kiersten White Also by this author: The Guinevere Deception
Series: Slayer #2
Published by Simon Pulse on January 7, 2020
Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult Fiction
Pages: 368
Source: Netgalley
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Book Depository
Goodreads
FTC Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley. All opinions are my own.
Review:
Last month I finally sat down and read Slayer, the first book in Kiersten White’s Buffy the Vampire Slayer-inspired series. I’ve actually never watched an episode of Buffy (hangs head in shame), but even without prior knowledge of Buffy and her world, I still very much enjoyed Slayer. White does a wonderful job bringing this world to life for me and I loved the characters, especially White’s additions to the Buffy universe.
Nina, the scrappy new Slayer that is the focus of White’s series is such an easy character to root for, so after meeting her in the first book, I was eager to follow her character’s evolution in Chosen, the second book in the series. Chosen picks up right where Slayer leaves off and while it is just as action-packed as the first book, it is also more of an emotional read. I don’t want to give away any spoilers from the first book for those who haven’t read it yet, so I’ll just say that Nina experiences both loss and betrayal in Slayer and is still dealing with the emotional fallout in Chosen. Nina is subsequently in kind of a dark place in this second book, but she still has plenty to keep her mind occupied, what with mastering her newly found Slayer abilities, creating demon sanctuaries, and of course, saving the world from yet another impending apocalypse.
My only real gripe about the sequel was Nina’s sister, Artemis. I actually quite liked Artemis for the most part in the first book, but she frustrated me to no end in Chosen. Her jealousy of Nina leads her to make some selfish and just plain awful decisions. I found her disappointing, not just because of how her petty actions impacted Nina so much but also because they had real and potentially deadly consequences and she just couldn’t get past her own jealousy to see that.
Chosen successfully continues the magic of the first book in the series and I hope that White will continue the journey with a third book. If demons, vampires, and a scrappy heroine trying to save the world from pending doom, all with a side of family drama, appeals to you, I would definitely recommend Kiersten White’s wildly entertaining Slayer series. 4 STARS
About Emery Lord
“Hi! I’m Emery. I’m the author of four novels about teenage girls: OPEN ROAD SUMMER, THE START OF ME & YOU, WHEN WE COLLIDED, and THE NAMES THEY GAVE US. I was born near a harbor on the East coast and raised near a beach, an ocean, a great lake, and the Ohio River. I’m a longtime Cincinnatian, where we love good beer, good music, and our public library. I’m married to a scientist who shuts down every wedding dance floor, and we are owned by two rescue dogs. I believe in the magic of storytelling, Ferris wheels, and you.” – Emery Load, in her own words
About Kiersten White
Kiersten White is the New York Times bestselling author of many books for teens and young readers, including And I Darken, Now I Rise, Bright We Burn, The Dark Descent of Elizabeth Frankenstein, and Slayer. She lives with her family near the ocean in San Diego, where she perpetually lurks in the shadows. Visit Kiersten online at KierstenWhite.com and follow @KierstenWhite on Twitter.
Top Ten Tuesday – Books from My Winter TBR I’m Most Excited For
Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together. Top Ten Tuesday has been one of my favorite memes ever since I started blogging, so huge thanks to Jana for taking over the hosting duties!
This week’s TTT topic is Winter TBR. My Winter TBR is sure to be way more than ten books so I’ve decided to narrow down what I’m sharing this week to the ten reads I’m most looking forward to. Well, at the time I’m writing this post anyway. Such is the life of a mood reader, haha. You can click on each book cover to learn more about what kind of reads I’m excited about this fall. I’ve also actually included 12 entries, 10 ARCS but then 2 from my backlist that I really wanted to read this year but ran out of time. Those are backlist priorities for me.
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Books from My Winter TBR I’m Most Excited For
1. BIG LIES IN A SMALL TOWN by Diane Chamberlain
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2. THE VANISHED BIRDS by Simon Jimenez
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3. THE DARK CORNERS OF THE NIGHT by Meg Gardiner
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4. UNDERCOVER BROMANCE by Lyssa Kay Adams
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5. SCAVENGE THE STARS by Tara Sim
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6. THE OTHER PEOPLE by C.J. Tudor
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7. FOUL IS FAIR by Hannah Capin
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8. OF CURSES AND KISSES by Sandhya Menon
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9 THE SUN DOWN MOTEL by Simone St. James
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10 YOU WERE THERE TOO by Colleen Oakley
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11. THE LONG WAY TO A SMALL, ANGRY PLANET by Becky Chambers
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12. ALL SYSTEMS RED by Martha Wells
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Question: Are you planning to read any of these books this winter?
It’s New to Me – Favorite Authors I Read for the First Time in 2019
Today’s post is inspired by the wonderful Angela at Musings of a Literary Wanderer who, earlier this week, shared a list of authors she finally read for the first time in 2019. As I read through her list, I thought it would be fun to look back over my own reading year and see what authors I read for the first time and share my favorites. I had actually made a list of authors I wanted to try for the first time in 2019 and while I didn’t get to them all, I did get to quite a few and I’m happy to say that I enjoyed them all immensely. Below are some of my favorites.
1. NEAL SHUSTERMAN
When my son came home from school telling me that I just had to read Scythe, I decided to make trying Neal Shusterman’s books a priority this year. My son rarely ever gets excited over books that he’s reading so I knew there had to be something special about this Arc of a Scythe series. And my hunch about this series was right. I loved Shusterman’s characters and his incredible world building. I was also intrigued by the unique premise about a world that has become so advanced that people no longer die. The idea of these scythes who are chosen and then trained to kill enough people each year to keep the population under control fascinated and creeped me out at the same time, especially the politics of it all and the consequences of abusing one’s power. I was also equally fascinated and a little creeped out by the whole concept of the Thunderhead. It reminded me a bit of the A.I. AIDAN from The Illuminae Files. I enjoyed Scythe so much that I immediately picked up Thunderhead, the second book in the series, and devoured that one as well, and then picked up a copy of The Toll, the third book, which just came out a couple of weeks ago. Those who know me know I’m the slowest series reader on the planet, so it’s a big deal for me to have actually read this one as quickly as I did. Since my son is the one who turned me on to this author and series, I’m letting him read The Toll first, but as soon as he is finished, I’ll be diving in that one as well.
2. SUSAN MEISSNER
I actually just finished As Bright As Heaven right before I sat down to draft this post and the book was so incredible that I just had to add Susan Meissner to my list of new favorites. What drew me to this book was that it’s historical fiction that is set around World War I and that focuses on the Spanish Flu epidemic that killed so many thousands of people both in the U.S. and globally. I thought Meissner did an incredible job of exploring a topic that I didn’t know much about and I loved that she showed us the story from the unique perspective of a family who happens to work in a mortuary. We see the fallout from the Spanish Flu from their eyes as it impacts the city of Philadelphia where they live and how it impacts each of them personally and then we follow them in the years after. The story Meissner tells is one of great heartbreak but also one of great resilience. I shed more than a few tears while reading this, both of sadness and of joy. I’m really looking forward to reading more of Meissner’s historical fiction novels in 2020.
3. FIONA DAVIS
Fiona Davis is another author I read for the first time in 2019. I love historical fiction and I also love Manhattan, so when I learned that Davis loves to write historical fiction that features iconic New York City locations, I knew I just had to try one of her books. The Chelsea Girls was my first read from Davis and I immediately fell in love with her beautiful storytelling and her complex characters. You can read my 4.5 star review of The Chelsea Girls here, but suffice it to say, I enjoyed it so much that I’ve already picked up a copy of The Dollhouse, another of Davis’ popular novels.
4. LISA JEWELL
I’ve been hearing great things about Lisa Jewell’s thrillers and have added several of them to my TBR over the years. It took me until 2019 though to finally actually read one. Man, am I hooked though! The Family Upstairs had everything in it that I love in a good thriller – a compelling mystery, tons of suspense and twists and turns, as well as a healthy dose of complicated characters and haunting family secrets. You can read my 4-star review of The Family Upstairs here, but all you really need to know is that Lisa Jewell is definitely going on my go-to list of authors for when I’m in the mood to read a riveting thriller. Ruth Ware has been a favorite of mine for a while now, but she’s got some serious competition from Jewell.
5. ANNETTE MARIE
I honestly didn’t read nearly as much fantasy this year as I usually do. I hit a major fantasy slump and just tended to shy away from it after a few meh reads. I had promised myself that I would try an Annette Marie book this year though so a few weeks ago, I finally gave in and picked up the first book in her Red Winter series. I’m really glad I did too because Red Winter turned out to be a slump busting novel on every level. I loved Annette Marie’s storytelling, her exquisite Japanese inspired world building and folklore, and all of the unique magical creatures that are encountered throughout the story. The characters really drew me in as well. Emi, the protagonist, is a young woman who is meant to sacrifice her mortal body so that it can serve as host to a goddess. As the day of sacrifice fast approaches, Emi starts to have doubts as to whether or not she really wants to go through with it. I found this internal struggle to be very compelling and realistically portrayed. I mean, really. Who wouldn’t question whether or not they wanted to die so that someone else can inhabit their body? I also found Spiro, the kitsune who may be able to help Emi escape her fate, to be an especially fascinating character. He has magic and can shapeshift from a human-like form into that of a fox. It becomes clear as the story progresses that Spiro is not exactly what he seems, which has Emi (and me as well) determined to find out more about him and what he appears to be hiding. And not only is the story itself riveting and filled with these fantastic characters, it’s also filled with beautiful artwork that really complements the story and helps bring everything into an even more vivid focus. I enjoyed Red Winter so much that I immediately purchased the other books in the series so that I can dive even further in to the world of Red Winter.
Question: So what about you? Did you read any new-to-you authors this year? If so, who were your favorites?