Book Review: The Crossing

Book 75 of 2022

Book 8 of the Carnegie Yoto Medal Shortlist for 2022

The Crossing. Written by Manjeet Mann.

Oh my goodness this book was so powerful. It is written from two different voices, through narrative poetry and it was amazing. It took me a little while to distinguish between the two voices, but once you worked out the pattern, and worked out the repition used of the last word to be the first word of the next speaker, it was even more powerful.

The book deals with grief, and love, and trying o be better, and seeing the world for more than just you. It looks at racial tensions, and how these can divide families and communities. It looks at friendships formed over life changing experiences, and how doing the right thing is always the best decision.

This was a book I highly recommend.

Mrs K

Genre: young adult, poetry, middle school, historical, cultural, young adult, LGBT, family, carnegie shortlist, 2022 shortlist, Yoto carnegie shortlist, the crossing, Manjeet Mann,

Book review: The Dragon’s Promise

Book 74 of 2022

The Dragon’s Promise. Written by Elizabeth Lim.

This is the sequel to Six Crimson Cranes. The artwork for the sequel is just as beautiful as the orginal. And unfortunately that is where the similarities stopped. I loved the original, this one however was definitely a case of persevering through. I think I finally enjoyed the book at around 80% but until then it was only really my sheer determination to finish the book that got me through.

This was also almost several books in one. At the start Shiori is in the Dragon kingdom, then she returns to Kiata, then there is the final journey. Each of these could have been a book on their own there was so much happening. However putting them all together made for a book that moved and shifted a lot!

As I have said, the final 20% which allowed for everything to kind of come together, and some real action to happen was really awesome. I loved the connection and the story with the step mum, and the reintroduction of magic. I even loved seeing the softening of the father. However all of this felt like a bit of a disney esque ending to what was otherwise a very disappointing book.

I am not even sure that this review is fully able to explain my sheer disappointment. There was almost nothing I liked about the book, the characters seemed more needy, the setting did not seem as exciting and the book just felt confused. I genuinely believe that the first book would have been much better to stand on its own.

Mrs K

Genre: Fantasy, Young Adult, Romance, Retellings, Mythology, Young Adult Fantasy, Dragons, High Fantasy, Elizabeth Lim, Duology, Dragon’s Promise, Six Crimson Cranes,

Book Review: Just Our Luck

Book 73 of 2022

Just Our Luck. Written by Julia Walton.

This is quite a short read that I picked up in the school library because it looked good. There was nothing else to it. It was exactly what I wanted. It was light and it was cute and ultimately heartwarming.

In many ways it is the perfect YA novel. As it deals with a lot of those issues that we expect to be dealt with inside of YA. The main character has anxiety, he struggles with his relationship with his father, he is more than a little quirky. Yet he kind of finds his way, and almost lucks onto a couple of friends who end up being his champions. They look out for him, check in on him, and perhaps most importantly they build him up.

It was a story of revenge, and finding yourself. It was nice and short and so well written. A very good light read that I would recommend from year 10 – year 12.

Mrs K

Genre: Young Adult, Romance, Contemporary Fiction, Fiction, realistic fiction, coming of age, mental health, friendship, sports, Julia Walton, Just Our Luck,

Book (series) Review: Ruthless Boys of The Zodiac

Books 68 – 72

Ruthless Boys of the Zodiac. Including Dark Fae, Savage Fae, Vicious Fae, Broken Fae, Warrior Fae. Written by Caroline Peckham and Susanne Valenti.

These are hard reviews to write – because I read them all. They are all VERY long books. But what kept me reading was not so much the books as the needing to know that link to the zodiac academy series. I felt that particularly books three adn four lacked plot and instead were pretty much just using the sex to get the story going. As a self proclaimed lover of Smut I definitely got to the stage where I was more than happy to skim or completely skip over ALL of the sex. Overall it was an interesting series, that just kept me enough to read but not one I would recommend. Certainly not one I could recommend to students.

Mrs K