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Written in Starlight by Isabel Ibañez (book review)

haleylynnthomas22

Apr 17, 2021
3 min

Written in Starlight by Isabel Ibañez (book review)

GENRE: YA Fantasy LENGTH: 359 pages PLOT Following the events of Woven in Moonlight Catalina, the heir to Inkasisa, has been banished to the Yanu Jungle. There she struggles to survive while tracking down the legendary indigenous Illari people in the hopes of forging an alliance with them to reclaim her throne. CHARACTERS I was undeniably wary about Catalina being the protagonist. In Woven in Moonlight she was immature and stubborn. In this novel, however, she is a caterpilla

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A Good Girl's Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson (SPOILER FREE book review)

haleylynnthomas22

Apr 10, 2021
3 min

A Good Girl's Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson (SPOILER FREE book review)

GENRE: YA Mystery LENGTH: 433 pages PLOT Pip decides to do a school project investigating a death in her small town. It is believed that popular girl Andie Bell was killed by her boyfriend Sal, but Pip is out to prove his innocence. CHARACTERS There are too many characters to possibly discuss them all individually, so I'm going to touch briefly on the four most prevalent and then discuss things in a broader sense. Pip is a character who has good intentions but makes questiona

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A Guide to: The Books by Angie Thomas (Including Concrete Rose)

haleylynnthomas22

Feb 27, 2021
3 min

A Guide to: The Books by Angie Thomas (Including Concrete Rose)

THE HATE U GIVE This novel follows Starr Carter who witnesses the death of her childhood best friend, Khalil, when he is wrongfully shot by the police. As rumors run rampant Starr is forced to choose between staying safe and silent or speaking up for justice. MY REVIEW This novel was emotional, powerful, and eye opening for someone like me (a privileged white reader who's never had to suffer from racism or police brutality). Starr and her father Maverick were my favorite cha

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Among the Beasts and Briars by Ashley Poston (book review)

haleylynnthomas22

Feb 20, 2021
3 min

Among the Beasts and Briars by Ashley Poston (book review)

GENRE: YA fantasy LENGTH: 338 pages PLOT Cerys lives in the kingdom of Aloryia which is surrounded by a cursed wildwood. When the curse escapes the woods and takes her people she must travel into the wildwoods along with her fox companion. They seek the mystical city of Voryn in the hopes of finding help. CHARACTERS Cerys is a loyal friend and dedicated daughter who carries with her a lot of survivor's guilt. A part of her longs for something more, but she also has a lot of f

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I Read a Book Written by a K-pop Idol: Shine by Jessica Jung book review

haleylynnthomas22

Jan 16, 2021
3 min

I Read a Book Written by a K-pop Idol: Shine by Jessica Jung book review

GETTING INTO K-POP AND ABOUT THE BOOK This past fall I started casually listening to K-pop (Korean pop music). I know a lot of people who listen to K-pop are hardcore fans. I am definitely not that. There are so many groups I am unfamiliar with as so far I've only explored the more popular groups. I mostly listen to Blackpink and Twice, though I am a fan of a handful of other songs by various other girl groups as well. I doubt I'll ever be a 'stan' as some super fans call the

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Chasing Lucky by Jenn Bennett (book review)

haleylynnthomas22

Jan 9, 2021
3 min

Chasing Lucky by Jenn Bennett (book review)

GENRE: YA Contemporary LENGTH: 404 pages PLOT Josie returns to her New England hometown of Beauty after having fled in the night with her mother five years prior. After an incident where she breaks the window of a prominent store in town owned by a wealthy family, her estranged childhood friend Lucky takes the fall. As Josie attempts to pay Lucky back for the cost of the window the two find themselves falling for each other. CHARACTERS Josie has a passion and a drive for phot

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haleylynnthomas22

Dec 26, 2020
5 min

I Ranked Every YA Fantasy I Read in 2020 (Part II - #12-1)

12. Incendiary by Zoraida Córdova (rated 4.25 ⭐️) Renata is a memory thief of the fallen kingdom of Memoria. She was kidnapped as a child and used by her enemies to aid in her people's downfall. Now, years later, she's returning to the enemy's castle as a spy. This novel had meticulous world building, effective atmosphere, and lots of juicy political intrigue. The pacing, however, left the story feeling like it was stumbling around bumping into things. Read if: You've ever fe

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Raybearer by Jordan Ifueko (a review) (A.K.A. The Best YA Fantasy of 2020)

haleylynnthomas22

Nov 21, 2020
3 min

Raybearer by Jordan Ifueko (a review) (A.K.A. The Best YA Fantasy of 2020)

GENRE: YA Fantasy LENGTH: 343 pages PLOT Tarisai has grown up with a distant mother known only as The Lady and a revolving door of servants and tutors. All she longs for is a family and she just might get it when her mother commands her to travel to the empire's capital. She is to win the love of the crown prince and gain a place on his council. The only catch? Then she has to kill him. CHARACTERS There are quite a few characters in this novel but I'm mainly going to focus on

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A Guide to: Jenn Bennett's Contemporaries (Alex, Approximately and More)

haleylynnthomas22

Sep 19, 2020
6 min

A Guide to: Jenn Bennett's Contemporaries (Alex, Approximately and More)

Jenn Bennett is the author of 4 YA contemporary novels to date. She has a fifth coming out in early November which I do plan to read and review but, for obvious reasons, it won't be included in this blog. She also has several adult fantasy novels and one YA fantasy novel. However, this blog solely covers her contemporaries. For each book I will give a brief plot summary, my review, and my star rating. The books are ordered from my highest to lowest rating. TITLE: Starry Eyes

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I Gave Goodreads' Recommendations a Second Chance (Forest of Souls vs. The Kinder Poison)

haleylynnthomas22

Sep 12, 2020
5 min

I Gave Goodreads' Recommendations a Second Chance (Forest of Souls vs. The Kinder Poison)

ABOUT THE RECOMMENDATION Forest of Souls by Lori M. Lee is my favorite YA fantasy of 2020 to date. Not too long ago I did a blog reading 3 Goodreads' recommendations, but none were in my favorite genre (YA fantasy). That experiment had...mixed to negative results. However, I wanted to give Goodreads one more chance. So, I picked up one of the books they recommended me based on my enjoyment of Forest of Souls. That book was The Kinder Poison by Natalie Mae. This blog will exam

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Clap When You Land by Elizabeth Acevedo (a review)

haleylynnthomas22

May 16, 2020
2 min

Clap When You Land by Elizabeth Acevedo (a review)

Genre: YA Contemporary (Poetry) Length: 417 pages Rating: 5 stars Plot: Yahaira is a girl growing up in the United States. Camino is a girl growing up in the Dominican Republic. Neither girl knows of the other's existence until a tragedy brings them together; the death of their father. Characters: The two main characters are half-sisters Yahaira and Camino. Yahaira is, by her own admission, a girl who is good at most things but doesn't necessarily stand out. The one thing she

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haleylynnthomas22

Sep 29, 2019
2 min

A Review of: Wicked Fox by Kat Cho

Genre: Urban fantasy Length: 420 pages Plot: Set in Seoul, South Korea, the novel follows two main characters, an ordinary high school boy and a mythical gumiho (nine tailed fox) whose fates become intertwined. The plot centers around gumiho Miyoung losing her yeowu gusel (fox bead), which is the equivalent of a human soul. The story is imbued with lots of Korean culture from aspects of religion, to food, to superstitions, to school life, language etc. Characters: Ahn Jihoon

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A Review of: Grim Lovelies by Megan Shepherd

haleylynnthomas22

Dec 14, 2018
2 min

A Review of: Grim Lovelies by Megan Shepherd

Summary: Grim Lovelies is a young adult fantasy novel by Megan Shepherd. It is the story of five beasties (animals turned into humans by a witch) whose newfound humanity is threatened when their witch mistress is murdered. They have three days to find the spell that will keep them human or risk turning back into animals. Narrative Style: The novel is told from the third person perspective of Anouk. I feel as though, especially in YA, this particular narration style is underus

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