This book follows Cordelia Carstairs, a Shadowhunter, through her adventures becoming a hero in a brand new city – London. She quickly becomes close with other warriors in the area like James and Lucie Herondale, falling in love with James, who is sworn to marry someone else. After a series of demon attacks, Cordelia is forced into fighting sooner than expected and finds that she has her own connection to the violence. 

I really liked this book! The characters are extremely well written and realistic – no one wakes up at 3am and runs 15 miles before training for another 8 hours while balancing school and friends. Cassandra Clare does a great job of building character relationships and creating a world with complexity that mirrors our own. Even though this book is about killing demons and evil beings, I found myself relating to what certain characters are feeling or how they react to different situations. Character relationships and development throughout the book make it much more interesting and easier to read rather than a 350 page book with battle scenes every other page. So, I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who is having a hard time reading lately, because Clare does an excellent job creating an incredibly immersive world and a story that is hard to put down. 

Rating: 5/5

-Anna

Of Mice and Men is an exceptional story that included entertaining characters with a variety of personalities. This book accurately portrays the setting of The Great Depression, while following an intense relationship between characters George and Lennie. The novel also includes mature themes such as ‘the power of hopes and dreams’ and ‘the power of relationships.’ While intense, the plot keeps the reader engaged by including short and straightforward sections throughout the story. I would overall give this reading 4.5 stars. 

-Maria

Talk of the “Marsh Girl”  has haunted the quiet coastal town of Barkley Cove for as long as anyone can remember.  Kya Clark is unfit for polite society.  Barefoot, dirty, uneducated. So, when the golden boy Chase Andrews is found dead in fall of 1969, the locals immediately suspect her. But Kya is not what they say. More intelligent than anyone knows, she takes life’s lessons from the land, learning the real ways of the world from mother earth and the marsh she has forever called home. However, when she is drawn to two young men from town, and opens herself to a new and startling world—the unthinkable happens.

At first I did not think I would like this because of the writing style, but the writing is what ended up making me enjoy it and held my attention. The point of view was really interesting. It was both in the characters thoughts and from an outside perspective at once and it lent a really intriguing voice to the story. It felt almost like we were reading from an unreliable narrator and a fly on the wall all at the same time. It held my attention the whole time. Reading about Kyas life growing up abandoned was both heart wrenching and beautiful. The dichotomy of seeing her navigate life  with the mental capacity of a teenager but the intelligence of a highly educated professor was  captivating. The whole story was just so different and I do not know how else to describe it. I have never read anything quite like it and I loved that.

I think that if you are not sure what to read next, in a bit of a slump, or just want to watch the movie you should pick up this book.Whatever your reason may be,  give it a try.  It will be worth it. 

Rating: ⅘

Review by Camryn

Loosely inspired by Conan Doyle and Holmesian literature, this story follows the framing template of a narrating veteran, Cpt. John Wyndham, writing at some point in the future, searching for a place to live. His search leads to his meeting an alarmingly eccentric and brilliant individual (Ms. S. Haas), with whom he will share many strange adventures. However, the stories vary somewhat after this initial exposition. For example, the setting, an unexplained Victorian-esque fluid-reality interdimensional crossroads city (and environs), allows the introduction of a great number of elements from fantasy, steampunk, modern science fiction, and Lovecraftian horror to the otherwise familiarly twisted plot. 

The eponymous letter is revealed to have been used to blackmail one of Ms. Haas’ former lovers, who then enlists the pair to save her upcoming wedding. Thus begin various excursions throughout and beyond the city, along the way exposing Mr. Wyndham to excessive danger and Ms. Haas to minor inconveniences, in order to find and stop the blackmailer. Even the narrative’s rote information gathering stage is enlivened by various chases, tasteful flashbacks, the contrast of the strongly bohemian Ms. Haas and the hapless Victorian-great-aunt-minded Wyndham, and periodic near-death experiences.

This book was a highly enjoyable light read, which shared an excellent mystery and dramatically balanced final confrontation with vivid world-building, while never failing to disrupt the sense of otherworldliness, horror, and wonder created by the mindsets of characters accustomed to disruptions of reality. Appropriate for readers as young as 10, but better appreciated by ages 14 to 16.

Review by Sasha

Priory of the Orange Tree is an 830 page novel about the warring regions of a fantasy world. The book is set in a high court era, where the battle of politics and religions shapes the world in which they live.  This world is based on the dragons and wyrms, which make up the religions of the different regions. Through romance and magic, the people of the world must come together, despite their opposing beliefs, to stop the world from ending.

-Luka

When high school junior Avery Grambs finds herself in the principal’s office again, for once it is not because she isn’t working to her fullest potential.  This time it’s because Grayson Hawthorne is there to take her to Texas for the reading of his grandfather’s will.  This is when Avery’s life changes.  Big time.  Tobias T. Hawthorne has left his entire fortune to Avery and she has no idea why.  With a little help from Tobias’ Hawthorne’s four grandsons, Avery decides to figure out why he disinherited his family and chose her.  But playing the game may prove to be deadly.

This thrilling first book of the Inheritance Games Trilogy is full of mystery and puzzles.  Avery is a likable character with an edge.  Readers can relate as she struggles with understanding her new life while trying to maintain relationships from her old. Be sure to check out the other books in the series to see what Avery uncovers.

Review by Dr. Ward

I read this book when I was very young, probably around age six, and I’ve remembered it ever since. I couldn’t recall the book’s name for years until I was cleaning out my bookshelf and stumbled across it. I immediately sat down to read it.

The Wicked Wicked Ladies in the Haunted House is a children’s novel that features Maureen, a nine year old girl that has a reputation on the playground for being a hard slapper and a stay-after-schooler. When she wanders into the old Messerman house, a mansion that had long been boarded up, she finds seven paintings of seven different women. After she thinks she sees the ladies change their position, she reaches out to touch the painting, only to feel the silk of one of the woman’s dresses. 

This book takes a trip through time when Maureen meets the Messerman daughters and becomes a guest in their home. It’s unclear if she’s dreaming, time traveling, or under the influence of a spell, but Maureen makes her journey through the Messerman house, slowly learning the history of the house and its owners. 

This book is a wonderful journey that I suggest everyone take by giving it a read. 10/10

– Ellie

Aspects of this book felt fantastic. Particularly the chapters between Franz and Sabina (although both independently annoying) and their differing perspectives on words like “strength”. There is one major problem, the book is advertised as a narrative when it barely is.

The book is almost like a trick for Kundera to spout his philosophical perspectives using false characters. The constant fourth wall breaking and unprompted philosophy, a reader feels distant from the narrative and more like a presentation. To add, the characters were of course molded to express Kundera’s points. Sometimes this meant completely irrational behavior on their part to make his beliefs clear in examples. Overall, I think some chapters can make it worth it, and I generally did like the character Teresa. But it definitely wasn’t my favorite, especially with the hype it has.

-Uma

“Yikes” might be the most accurate word for this read. Granted, I knew going into it, thriller and mystery books like this have a high fail rate in my eyes. It was better than Michaelides other book, The Maidens, but pretty slightly. In fact, the books are so similar I was confused. Theo Faber and Mariana Andros suffer similar paternal abuse, find solace in the same therapist, Ruby, have the same job (psychotherapist), and have the exact same thought processes. I couldn’t differentiate between the two, Michaelides was practically continuing The Silent Patient’s narration.

Ignoring the jarring similarities, the book independently had various flaws. Plot holes, too many red herrings, and unrealistic characters sank its teeth deep into this read. Broad diagnoses and inaccurate psychology information was everywhere, something a 17 year old like myself could notice easily. “Every abuser must’ve been abused in childhood” isn’t true factually, and only served to remind me of male, white murders being historically defended instead of sentenced. Without spoiling, the read felt incoherent and so lost in its own plot twist. The writing simply wasn’t immersive.