[BOOK REVIEW] Illuminae by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff

Title:  Illuminae

Authors:  Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff

Genre:  Science Fiction

Year Published: 2015

Number of Pages: 599 pages 

Date Read: 7/23/2019 

Series: The Illuminae Files #1 

Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf

Source:  Purchased

Content Rating:  Ages 16+ (Some Gory Violence and Deaths)

Buy on:  Amazon  //  Book Depository 

“You have me. Until the last star in the galaxy dies, you have me.”

Oh, my goodness! How could I wait so long to finally tackle this book?  I have been hearing nothing but awesome things about this book! And yet, because there were so many other books that I wanted to read, I did not have the time to read this book (until now)!  “Illuminae” which was written by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff was certainly an absolute blast to read!

Kady Grant thought that breaking up with her ex-boyfriend Ezra Mason was the worst thing to happen to her.  Then, her planet ends up getting invaded by a mega corporation called BeiTech and she and Ezra are forced to flee from their planet and go on the spaceship Hypatia to escape from the enemy spaceship Lincoln.  But things start to get worse for the crew of Hypatia when it turns out that there is a deadly virus that is spreading across the ship that is turning the people into hideous monsters.  Not to mention, the fleet’s AI AIDAN has gone berserk and has started killing people on board in order to protect them from Lincoln’s forces.  Now, it is up to Kady and Ezra to save the ship Hypatia from the virus, AIDAN and Lincoln itself.

Wow!  I never would have expected to enjoy this book as much as I did!  Both Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff did a fantastic job at writing this book!  The narrative was highly creative as the story is mostly told through various documents that the commanders of the Hypatia have collected and also through diagrams of the ship and email messages from each of the characters.  I have never read a book where the narrative was mostly comprised of documents and diagrams and it made this book so intriguing to read! I also loved the way that both Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff put in so much intensity into the story as I was literally sitting on the edge of my seat when almost everyone was getting affected by the virus and when AIDAN started going berserk.  It seemed like almost everyone was going to die in this book due to all the deaths that occurred and that just made this book so exciting to read.  I also really loved all of the characters in this book, especially Kady and Ezra as they were extremely well-written.  I loved the fact that Kady Grant was such a strong female protagonist who was able to use her hacking skills to do everything in her power to save the people of Hypatia.  Ezra Mason was another character that I really liked as his sarcastic personality was hilarious to read and I really loved his relationship with Kady as they seem to have a love / hate relationship with each other, but still care about each other deep down.  I especially loved the way that Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff wrote the dialogues in this book, as most of the characters have snarky personalities.  And yet, they all sounded so relatable to me, especially when they are trying to figure out how they will survive this all-out war that they are forcefully thrown into.

For anyone who does not like strong violence and death, there is quite a bit of violent moments in this book, especially during the scenes where the virus breaks out and the infected started attacking people in increasingly brutal ways.  There is also a lot of deaths in this book due to said virus that might upset some people.

Overall, “Illuminae” is easily one of the most creative and exciting books that I have ever read and if you love science fiction books with a bit of romance thrown in, then I would definitely recommend this book!  Now, I am off to read the second book in the series, “Gemina!”

* 2015 Australian Book Industry Award (ABIA) for Older Children (ages 8-14)

* 2015 Aurealis Award for Best Science Fiction Novel

* 2015 Goodreads Choice Award Nominee for Young Adult Fantasy & Science Fiction

* 2016 Audie Award for Multi-Voiced Performance

* 2016 The Inky Awards Nominee for Gold Inky

* 2016 The Inky Awards Shortlist for Gold Inky

* 2016 Premio El Templo de las Mil Puertas Nominee for Mejor novela extranjera perteneciente a saga

* 2017 Rhode Island Teen Book Award Nominee

* 2018 Evergreen Teen Book Award Nominee

* 2019 Lincoln Award Nominee

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• The Martian by Andy Weir

• Red Rising by Pierce Brown

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[ARC REVIEW] Snack Attack! by Terry Border (@PhilomelBooks)

Title:  Snack Attack!

Author:  Terry Border

Genre:  Children's / Food / Humor / Horror

Year Published: 2019

Year Read:  2019

Publisher: Philomel Books  

Source:  eARC (Edelweiss)

Content Rating:  Ages 5+ (Some Scary Images)

Buy on:  Amazon  //  Book Depository

I would like to thank Edelweiss and Philomel Books for providing me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Now, I had read a few children’s books that dealt with talking food and how they view human beings.  However, “Snack Attack!” by Terry Border was an extremely unique case where we actually get to see how the food items fear the human beings due to them being eaten by them.  “Snack Attack!” is definitely one book about food that children will definitely get a laugh out of!

The food items Cookie, Pretzel and Cheese Doodle had heard tales about Monster Kids who would come up and eat the food items for snacks.  But these three food items decided to come out of their packages and play around in the kitchen.  But unfortunately, the three food items stumbled upon a note from the Monster Kid’s mother that states that when her child comes back home, he or she can eat some of the snacks when they come home.  It was then that Cookie, Pretzel and Cheese Doodle have to come up with a plan to save themselves from the Monster Kid.

Can the food items escape their gruesome fate?

Read this book to find out!

Wow! Terry Border’s writing and artwork was quite creative and hilarious to look at!  I loved the way that Terry Border made the story both hilarious and intense at the same time as I was laughing along with the food items’ antics while being scared for their survival against the Monster Kid.  I also loved the concept about what would happen if food items become sentient and we get to see from their perspective about how they feel about being eaten by human beings (which is terrifying)!  Terry Border’s artwork was also highly creative as he uses realistic photographs of various food items and kitchen materials, while drawing some slight cartoonish expressions on the food items’ faces to give them some personalities.

Parents should know that there are some scary images in this book that might frighten smaller children.  There are some images that portray what the monster kid would look like from the food items’ point of view and the Monster Kid is often drawn as a terrifying blue creature with a long tongue that slurps up the food items.  Parents might want to read this book first before reading it to their children to see if this book would be okay for them.

Overall, “Snack Attack!” is a truly creative and entertaining book that children who love reading about food in general will definitely enjoy!  I would recommend this book for children ages five and up since there are some scary images that might frighten small children.

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• My Little Sister Ate One Hare by Bill Grossman

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[BOOK REVIEW] Shadow of the Fox by Julie Kagawa

Title:  Shadow of the Fox

Authors:  Julie Kagawa

Genre:  Paranormal Romance

Year Published: 2018

Number of Pages: 409 pages 

Date Read: 5/11/2019 

Series: Shadow of the Fox #1 

Publisher: Harlequin Teen

Source:  Purchased

Content Rating:  Ages 16+ (Some Strong Language and Gory Violence)

Buy on:  Amazon  //  Book Depository

“It is very hard to be human, little fox. Even the humans themselves don’t do a great job of it.” 

I had never read any of Julie Kagawa’s books before, even though I had heard about her famous “Iron Fey” series.  So, when Owlcrate sent me a copy of her newest book “Shadow of the Fox,” I just knew that I had to check this book out and man, was this one of the best books that I had ever read this year!

Many years ago, a Kami Dragon was summoned to grant one wish and the land of Iwagoto was changed for the worst.  Since then, many people tried to find the Scroll of a Thousand Prayers in order to have their wishes granted.  In the isolated Silent Winds temple, there lived a half kitsune, half human girl named Yumeko, who has been living with the monks at that temple for all her life.  Even though Yumeko would use her powers to play tricks on the monks, the monks would constantly warn her to not use her powers too often or terrible things will happen to her.

Life was peaceful for Yumeko, until one tragic day, her temple was attacked by an oni and his group of demons and all of the monks at the temple had died from the attack.  It turns out that the oni was searching for a piece of the Scroll of a Thousand Prayers and one of the monks had entrusted Yumeko with a piece of the scroll.  The monk then tells Yumeko to take the scroll to the Steel Feather Temple so that they could protect the scroll.  Things get complicated for Yumeko when she ends up meeting a mysterious and cold-hearted samurai named Kage Tatsumi, who is also looking for the missing scroll and will kill anyone who gets in his way.  So, in order to save her own life and make it to the Steel Feather Temple, Yumeko ends up lying to Tatsumi about her true identity and about the fact that she does not have the scroll, even though she actually does.  As Yumeko and Tatsumi pair up with each other, they will soon realize that an evil force is coming after them, as that force also wants to take the scroll from Yumeko.

Wow…just wow… I never would have thought that I would have fallen in love with this book the way that I did!  This was the first book that I had read by Julie Kagawa and it was definitely worth the read!  Julie Kagawa did a fantastic job at exploring the Japanese mythology in this book as she introduces creatures like the yokai and the oni, which are commonly found in Japanese folklore.  I also loved the fact that this book reads like an anime, since I love watching anime!  There are many action sequences in this book and this book reminded me a bit of the anime shows “Yona of the Dawn” (which features a group of people protecting the protagonist) and “Inuyasha” (with the use of demons in the story).  I also loved the way that Julie Kagawa wrote each character in this book, with my favorite characters being Yumeko, Tatsumi and the ronin Okame.  Yumeko was such a cute and endearing character as she is shown as being innocent throughout the story and yet, she is also brave and determined enough to complete her mission in getting the scroll into safe hands.  Tatsumi was a really interesting character as he acts cold towards most people, but when you realize that it is because he is trying to keep a demon inside him at bay, you really start to sympathize with him throughout the story.  Okame was one of my all-time favorite characters as he brings in so much humor to the story and I love his “I do not care about what other people think about me” attitude as it made me root for him throughout the story!  I also liked Tatsumi and Yumeko’s relationship with each other as Yumeko tries to bring out the best in Tatsumi.  But since we know that a demon is inside Tatsumi, I must admit that there were times where I got a bit worried about whether or not Tatsumi might hurt Yumeko because of the demon inside of him.

For anyone who does not like gory violence, there is a lot of gory violence in this book, especially with numerous scenes of people getting cut in half or getting ripped apart.  Also, the fact that the main characters are living in a world where their lives are constantly in danger might unsettle some people who are not used to violence or monsters.

Overall, “Shadow of the Fox” is a fantastic book to read if you love Japanese mythology and action-packed stories!  Man, I really want to pick up the second book “Soul of the Sword” soon, because that ending was murder and I really want to know what will happen to the characters next!

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[BOOK REVIEW] There's a Wocket in my Pocket! by Dr. Seuss

Title:  There's a Wocket in my Pocket!

Author:  Dr. Seuss

Genre:  Children's / Fantasy

Year Published: 1974

Year Read:  2010

Publisher:  Beginner Books

Source:  Purchased

Content Rating:  Ages 4+  (One Scary Image)

Buy on:  Amazon  //  Book Depository 

“There’s a Wocket in my Pocket!” is truly a brilliant book from the creative mind of Dr. Seuss and it is about how a young boy tells the audience about the strange yet fun-loving creatures that live in a young boy’s house.  “There’s a Wocket in my Pocket!” is definitely one of the greatest books about rhyming ever written!

Dr. Seuss has done a splendid job at both writing and illustrating this book.  Dr. Seuss illustrations are truly great and creative as he illustrates the boy with a red outfit and spiky brown hair, which makes him a truly unique character in the book.  Also, the images of the creatures themselves are creative, especially of the images of the nupboards in the cupboards looking furry and yellow and have cotton ball shaped heads.  Dr. Seuss’ story is truly creative as the names that the boy gives to each creature is truly inventive as the names rhyme with various furniture that the creatures associate with such as the yeps on the steps and the vug under the rug.

“There’s a Wocket in my Pocket!” is a brilliant book that children will easily love for many years.  I would recommend this book to children ages four and up since the image of the vug under the rug might scare smaller children.

You might also like:

• Horton Hatches the Egg by Dr. Seuss

• The Foot Book by Dr. Seuss

• Did I Ever Tell You How Lucky You Are? by Dr. Seuss