Under the Moon by Lauren Myracle and Illustrated by Isaac Goodhart!

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Awesome backstory!
Thanks to NetGalley and DC Ink for the opportunity to read and review Under the Moon: A Catwoman Tale by Lauren Myracle; illustrated by Isaac Goodhart!
This graphic novel is divided into three sections: The Dark, The Light and Under the Bright White Moon and tells Catwoman’s origin story of abuse and neglect. She lives with her single mother and various boyfriends throughout the years and, the last straw is when her cat is killed by the latest jerk boyfriend. Selena leaves home and after being homeless for a while, she makes friends and finally feels like she belongs somewhere. 5 stars for this riveting graphic novel!

The Darkest Star by Jennifer L. Armentrout!

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Fun, intrigue, mystery, supernatural and sci-fi rolled into one!
Thanks to NetGalley and Harlequin Teen for the opportunity to read and review The Darkest Star by Jennifer L. Armentrout!
Two teenage girls, Evie and Heidi, go into an all-inclusive club and while one is having fun dancing the other one is being interrogated by Luc, who’s being extremely rude. Evie isn’t the least bit impressed with Luc and tells him so. The club gets raided and Luc takes Evie to hide inside a closet with him, claiming to be protecting her. She realizes the next day that she’s lost her phone and it’s probably at the club. She heads back to retrieve her phone, to no avail and from there, the acquaintance with Luc grows into more. In the meantime, the Luxen invasion is described and Origins are explained. Luc and Evie are fun characters, each with distinct personalities and I thoroughly enjoy their banter. This story contains several mysteries, which build then unfold throughout the book. I love the author’s writing and have devoured her realistic fiction novels, The Problem with Forever and If There’s No Tomorrow. The Darkest Star is the first supernatural novel of hers that I’ve read and it’s just as awesome, showing how talented Jennifer L. Armentrout is! Even though many mysteries come into the light, there are still unanswered questions at the ending which leads the reader into the next book, The Burning Shadow. Supernatural mystery earning a solid 5 stars!

The Whole Wide World and Me by Toni Yuly

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Thanks to NetGalley and Candlewick Press for the opportunity to read and review The Whole Wide World and Me by Toni Yuly!
Cute, simple and charming prose! Illustrations are reminiscent of Eric Carle because of the patterns, paint on paper and construction paper looking images and backgrounds. A sweet book with a strong message of uniqueness and belonging. 5 stars!

The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead

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Based on the true events of Florida’s infamous reform school!
Thanks to NetGalley and Doubleday for the opportunity to read and review The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead!
Historical fiction novel based on the real reform school that horribly mistreated the boys who resided there. Traumatized young men were left to deal with the abuse on their own. The story focuses on Elwood and we learn about other boys’ stories through his eyes as he witnesses them. The prevalent racism harbored hatred to the point of punishing innocent people and sending them to this terrible reform school where even harsher acts of racism occurred. The abuse went on for decades and through several headmasters. After reading this novel, I felt compelled to research the truth behind the story and was sickened at the amount of violence and abuse that young boys had to live through. Some didn’t survive. I truly don’t understand how the adults took part in or witnessed and kept quiet about any of the abuse. What’s their excuse? The Nickel Boys is tremendously powerful, enlightening and tragic, 4 stars!

8 Souls by Rachel Rust

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A haunting that just won’t stop!
Thanks to Entangled Teen and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review 8 Souls by Rachel Rust!
Spooky and ominous from the beginning; I was instantly hooked! Mysterious and recurring dreams about a house haunt Chessie; they have since she was little. These dreams were part of her life, to the point that she drew the house for her elementary teacher after she gave the students the assignment of drawing their dream house. Little does she know that Chessie dreams of a house where murders were committed over a century before. When Chessie draws her dream house scene, the teacher is worried and notifies her parents. She then ends up being sent to a psychiatrist. Ever since then, Chessie keeps her dreams to herself, even when she’s hearing voices. She finally confides in someone else and the two of them share the struggle of solving the haunting. 8 Souls is well-written, contains awesome characters and a haunting that won’t stop until justice is complete; 5 spooky stars!

Breakout by A.M. Rose!

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Good storyline, rushed ending.
Thanks to NetGalley and Entangled Teen for the opportunity to read and review Breakout by A.M. Rose!
A prison full of young prisoners, with the last of their lives ticking away while robots guard and serve them, makes up the character pool for the first part of the book. Two cell mates try to escape since they don’t have anything to lose. They get another prisoner added to the escape party and the three of them accidentally end up in a juvenile prison for young men. The young men decide to escape also, so they go together. The main character is often mentioning that things are happening to her only, “happening to me”, like being trapped within four stone walls. Then the next paragraph states that the rest of the group is in there with her. It’s misleading. Breakout is a conglomeration of Virtual Reality and bits and pieces that are reminiscent of popular book plots, such as Hunger Games, Maze Runner and I, Robot. I don’t feel like the ending is solid and seemed almost rushed and I didn’t feel the pull towards the characters that I would have like to; 3.5 stars.

Tower of Winds Series by Makiia Lucier

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Must- read series!

Isle of Blood and Stone review:

The prologue tells a tale of young princes, innocent discoveries and a mass poisoning ending in death. Eighteen years later, we meet the brother of the young princes, Ulises, who is now king. We also meet his friends and entourage and the connections to the prologue are interestingly explained in the third chapter. After that point, we follow Elias, one of the young king’s friends, and Mercedes, the king’s cousin, as they follow clues on a map that may or may not lead them to the two lost princes and their unknown fate, as well as the fate of Elias’s father who also disappeared along with the princes eighteen years earlier. Supernatural elements within this fantasy make the story even more interesting and suspenseful. I enjoyed reading every word of this book, with the layers of intrigue and strong characters. I loved unraveling the mystery alongside the characters and I’m going to immediately begin reading the sequel, Song of the Abyss. 5 full and happy stars!

Song of the Abyss review:

Magnificent sequel!
Thanks to NetGalley, Edelweiss, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt and a goodreads giveaway for the opportunity to read and review Song of the Abyss by Makiia Lucier!
The story begins eight years after Isle of Blood and Stone. Reyna is now a teenager and struggling to sneak off a ship that’s under attack. She saves herself and her maps because of her logic, swimming abilities and help from sea worms. Reyna ends up in Selene, in the kingdom of Lunes, where the king has just died. She’s the only person that escaped the attack. She accidentally meets Levi, one of the princes, as he’s grieving the loss of his father. He’s Captain of the Royal Guard and tries to detain Reyna so he can question her more but she escapes and finds a ship heading back to her home in Del Mar. Levi and his sister, Queen Vashti, visit Reyna’s kingdom to discuss ships being attacked since both kingdoms have people missing. Reyna helps Levi on the quest to find their loved ones and together they discover a horrible and treacherous deception. Song of the Abyss weaves a tale of differing kingdoms and cultures; one of them backwards and secluded and struggling to survive. A bit of historical fiction is added along with mythological creatures to create a fantasy that I loved; 5 stars for a book I couldn’t put down!

A Way to Garden by Margaret Roach

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Outstanding garden photos!
Thanks to NetGalley and Timber Press for the opportunity to read and review A Way to Garden by Margaret Roach!
This book lives up to its subtitle- a hands-on primer for every season! Contents are broken into six bi-monthly sections that walk us through the life of plants and the growing seasons, from birth to death. The author invites readers into her garden and home, to see how much nature truly is in every aspect of her life. Beautiful photographs, accompanied by names of included plants, inspire! This book covers everything from browsing seed and plant catalogs, to different types of plants, to growing, canning and freezing and finally using the harvested goodies. Then onto benefits of trees, prevention and maintaining gardens. The enjoyment of seeing the author’s garden changing through the seasons is my favorite part. 5 stars for lush photos and valuable gardening tips!

Prom-Wrecked by T.H. Hernandez and Jennifer DiGiovanni!

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Event after event of chaos!
Thanks to NetGalley and Entangled Teen for the opportunity to read and review Prom-Wrecked by T. H. Hernandez and Jennifer DiGiovanni!
The opening, showing the ragged and imprisoned state of the teen prom attendees, made me curious and the book didn’t let me down. The group of prom planners and prom goers dealt with a mountain of tumultuous events before the prom ever started and then prom was eventful with completely different issues. The characters are realistic, overwhelmed and anxious, just like real teenagers. Drama, of course takes a part in this story but so does maturity, loyalty and perseverance. Riley, Catherine and Owen are the three main characters, each with distinct personalities and Owen is in the middle of all the action. Fun and with a message of prevailing justice makes Prom-Wrecked an interesting read, 5 stars!

Artemis Fowl (2018 re-release) by Eoin Colfer

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Just as fun as reading it the first time!
Thanks to NetGalley and Disney Hyperion for the opportunity to read and review Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer!
The author has created a code at the end of the book for the readers to decode a secret message. The infamous prologue, introducing the twelve-year-old Artemis Fowl, opens the book. An enigma, a genius and a thief all wrapped in one, make up the preteen Artemis. Artemis’s bodyguard and all-around protector, Butler, takes his job seriously AND he’s very good at it. Artemis’s mother floats in and out of reality since her husband, Artemis’s father, has been missing. Artemis’s goal is to figure out what happened to his father. Holly Short is an elf who works as a leprechaun. She’s feisty and good at her job. Sometimes she butts heads with her boss, Commander Root. Artemis has discovered fairy secrets and captures Holly for ransom while she’s performing the ritual to restore her magic. Root gets Mulch Diggums, the dirt and rock devouring dwarf and thief, to infiltrate the Fowl mansion and rescue Holly. The elf community and Artemis each get more than they bargained for because of underestimating each other’s intelligence. This fun, adventurous fantasy is now being made into a movie summer 2019 for the U.S. and I can’t wait to see it! 5 stars!