Jill's Book Blog

Review: The Last Magician

Title: The Last Magician
Author: Lisa Maxwell
Genre: Young Adult
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Source: Library
Release Date: July 18, 2017
Rating: ★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

Stop the Magician. Steal the book. Save the future.

In modern-day New York, magic is all but extinct. The remaining few who have an affinity for magic—the Mageus—live in the shadows, hiding who they are. Any Mageus who enters Manhattan becomes trapped by the Brink, a dark energy barrier that confines them to the island. Crossing it means losing their power—and often their lives.

Esta is a talented thief, and she’s been raised to steal magical artifacts from the sinister Order that created the Brink. With her innate ability to manipulate time, Esta can pilfer from the past, collecting these artifacts before the Order even realizes she’s there. And all of Esta’s training has been for one final job: traveling back to 1902 to steal an ancient book containing the secrets of the Order—and the Brink—before the Magician can destroy it and doom the Mageus to a hopeless future.

But Old New York is a dangerous world ruled by ruthless gangs and secret societies, a world where the very air crackles with magic. Nothing is as it seems, including the Magician himself. And for Esta to save her future, she may have to betray everyone in the past.

Review:

I loved the plot in this story. It reminded me of the heist in Six of Crows, but less intense and complex.

I had a hard time getting into the story at the beginning, because there were so many characters! The narrative kept switching between different characters, and some had similar names, or were referred to as their first and last names alternately so I thought they were different people. It was especially confusing because there were a few different gang leaders who ran the city. At about a quarter of the way through the book I had everyone sorted out.

I loved the time travel aspects of the story. Though there wasn’t a lot of switching between different time periods, Esta’s actions in the past altered the future. She could see that from the way that the newspaper clipping that she brought from the future changed when different things happened.

The ending was fantastic. There were a bunch of surprises that I didn’t see coming. I can’t wait to see what happens in the next book!

It’s Monday, What Are You Reading? – July 30

This blog meme is hosted by Book Date. It is a place to meet up and share what you have been, are and about to be reading over the week. It’s a great post to organize yourself. It’s an opportunity to visit and comment, and er… add to that ever growing TBR pile!

What I just finished:

This weekend I finished Believe Me by J.P. Delaney.

What I’m currently reading:

I’m currently reading Mary B: An Untold Story of Pride and Prejudice by Katherine J. Chen.

What I’m reading next:

Next I will be reading The Sword of Summer (Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard #1) by Rick Riordan.

What are you guys reading this week? Have you read any of these books?

Jill’s Weekly Wrap-Up – July 29

Here’s my weekly wrap up!

Here are my reviews for the week with my ratings:

The Archies & Other Stories ★★★★
Beast: A Tale of Love and Revenge ★★★
A Noise Downstairs ★★★★★
This One Summer ★★★★★
#NotYourPrincess: Voices of Native American Women ★★★★
Be Prepared ★★★★

I did 7 weekly blogging memes:

I also did a promo post for the online store Literary Book Gifts:

Promo post – Literary Book Gifts

How was your week? What did you guys read?

Sundays In Bed With… Believe Me

The meme that dares to ask what book has been in your bed this morning? Come share what book you’ve spent time curled up reading in bed, or which book you wish you had time to read today! This meme is hosted by Midnight Book Girl.

This Sunday I reading Believe Me by J.P. Delaney.

Goodreads Synopsis:

In this twisty psychological thriller from the New York Timesbestselling author of The Girl Before, an actress plays both sides of a murder investigation.

A struggling actor, a Brit in America without a green card, Claire needs work and money to survive. Then she gets both. But nothing like she expected.

Claire agrees to become a decoy for a firm of divorce lawyers. Hired to entrap straying husbands, she must catch them on tape with their seductive propositions. The rules? Never hit on the mark directly. Make it clear you’re available, but he has to proposition you, not the other way around. The firm is after evidence, not coercion. The innocent have nothing to hide.

Then the game changes.

When the wife of one of Claire’s targets is violently murdered, the cops are sure the husband is to blame. Desperate to catch him before he kills again, they enlist Claire to lure him into a confession.

Claire can do this. She’s brilliant at assuming a voice and an identity. For a woman who’s mastered the art of manipulation, how difficult could it be to tempt a killer into a trap? But who is the decoy . . . and who is the prey?

What book are you in bed with today?

Review: Be Prepared

Title: Be Prepared
Author: Vera Brosgol
Genre: Middle Grade
Publisher: First Second
Source: Borrowed from a friend
Release Date: April 24, 2018
Rating: ★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

A gripping and hilarious middle-grade summer camp memoir from the author of Anya’s Ghost.

All Vera wants to do is fit in—but that’s not easy for a Russian girl in the suburbs. Her friends live in fancy houses and their parents can afford to send them to the best summer camps. Vera’s single mother can’t afford that sort of luxury, but there’s one summer camp in her price range—Russian summer camp.

Vera is sure she’s found the one place she can fit in, but camp is far from what she imagined. And nothing could prepare her for all the “cool girl” drama, endless Russian history lessons, and outhouses straight out of nightmares!

Perfect for fans of Raina Telgemeier, Cece Bell, and Victoria Jamieson, Vera Brosgol’s Be Prepared is a funny and relatable middle-grade graphic novel about navigating your own culture, struggling to belong, and the value of true friendship.

Review:

This is a good story about making friends.

Vera learns how to be friends with older and younger kids in this story. When she wanted to be friends with the older kids at camp, she would put down others to make them laugh, or give them things to please them. It wasn’t a real friendship. But when she was friends with the younger kids, they looked up to her, so she was more generous.

I liked that Vera found her own Russian camp to go to, since she couldn’t go to the camps her friends from school attended. She embraced her culture, since they did Russian activities at camp, and they were only allowed to speak Russian at camp.

One thing I didn’t like was when Vera went along with teasing the other kids. I felt that she did that for way too long in the book. Some parts were kind of depressing too, like when one girl lost her guinea pig and when Vera was being teased.

The story was left on a cliffhanger, so I’m curious to see if it will continue.

Stacking the Shelves – July 28

This is a weekly meme hosted by Tynga’s Reviews and Reading Reality. Stacking The Shelves is all about sharing the books you are adding to your shelves, may it be physical or virtual. This means you can include books you buy in physical store or online, books you borrow from friends or the library, review books, gifts and of course ebooks!

I had two books approved on NetGalley:

Father Christmas and Me by Matt Haig
9 From the Nine Worlds by Rick Riordan

What books did you get this week?

Review: #NotYourPrincess: Voices of Native American Women

Title: #NotYourPrincess
Author: Lisa Charleyboy, Mary Beth Leatherdale
Genre: Non-Fiction, Poetry
Publisher: Annick Press
Source: Publisher via NetGalley
Release Date: September 12, 2017
Rating: ★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

Whether looking back to a troubled past or welcoming a hopeful future, the powerful voices of Indigenous women across North America resound in this book. In the same style as the best-selling Dreaming in Indian, #NotYourPrincess presents an eclectic collection of poems, essays, interviews, and art that combine to express the experience of being a Native woman. Stories of abuse, humiliation, and stereotyping are countered by the voices of passionate women making themselves heard and demanding change. Sometimes angry, often reflective, but always strong, the women in this book will give teen readers insight into the lives of women who, for so long, have been virtually invisible.

Review:

This is a very powerful collection of stories from Native American Women.

These stories were in multiple different forms. There are poems, short stories, essays, as well as paintings, photographs, and drawings. One of the stories was in the form of a comic, and another looked like pages torn from a notebook. Each of them were different and used a different format.

There were a few pieces on the residential schools in Canada. For those that don’t know, the residential schools separated Native children from their parents, and raised them to be “white.” They removed their Indigenous culture from them, and refused to let them practice it. The women who wrote these stories are the children of the kids who were sent to residential schools. Though they didn’t witness it first hand, they have seen the pain that their parents still feel from their time spent there.

There was also an essay about how racist and harmful a Pocahontas costume is for Halloween. It represents more than just a character, even if the wearer means no harm. It is a costume but it represents a real person, who cannot take it off at the end of the night. People also think that Indigenous women need to look a certain way. There were a couple of pieces on not looking Indigenous enough, as if you can’t identify as a Native Woman if you have the wrong colour hair or skin. I find it crazy that people can think that, because they wouldn’t say that other cultures. For some reason people judge Indigenous people by what percentage of Native heritage they have in their genes,

I loved this collection of Native American Women’s voices.

First Lines Fridays – July 27

This is a weekly meme hosted by Wandering Words, where you give the first few lines of a book to hook your readers before introducing the book.

Here are my first lines:

“The first time I dream of my brother’s ghost is on the night I meet Khalaf. In the dream, I’m sitting at a lacquered desk in the women’s quarters practicing calligraphy when someone pulls aside the curtain. I look up from my work to find Weiji standing at the door.”

Do you recognize these first lines?

…

And the book is… The Bird and the Blade by Megan Bannen.

Goodreads synopsis:

As a slave in the Kipchak Khanate, Jinghua has lost everything: her home, her family, her freedom … until the kingdom is conquered by enemy forces and she finds herself an unlikely conspirator in the escape of Prince Khalaf and his irascible father across the vast Mongol Empire. On the run, with adversaries on all sides and an endless journey ahead, Jinghua hatches a scheme to use the Kipchaks’ exile to return home, a plan that becomes increasingly fraught as her feelings for Khalaf evolve into a hopeless love.

Jinghua’s already dicey prospects take a downward turn when Khalaf seeks to restore his kingdom by forging a marriage alliance with Turandokht, the daughter of the Great Khan. As beautiful as she is cunning, Turandokht requires all potential suitors to solve three impossible riddles to win her hand—and if they fail, they die.

Jinghua has kept her own counsel well, but with Khalaf’s kingdom—and his very life—on the line, she must reconcile the hard truth of her past with her love for a boy who has no idea what she’s capable of … even if it means losing him to the girl who’d sooner take his life than his heart.

The Bird and the Blade is a lush, powerful story of life and death, battles and riddles, lies and secrets from debut author Megan Bannen.

Have you read The Bird and the Blade? What did you think of it?

Review: This One Summer

Title: This One Summer
Author: Jillian Tamaki, Mariko Tamaki
Genre: Young Adult
Publisher: First Second
Source: Library
Release Date: May 6, 2014
Rating: ★★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

Every summer, Rose goes with her mom and dad to a lake house in Awago Beach. It’s their getaway, their refuge. Rosie’s friend Windy is always there, too, like the little sister she never had. But this summer is different. Rose’s mom and dad won’t stop fighting, and when Rose and Windy seek a distraction from the drama, they find themselves with a whole new set of problems. It’s a summer of secrets and sorrow and growing up, and it’s a good thing Rose and Windy have each other.

In This One Summer two stellar creators redefine the teen graphic novel. Cousins Mariko and Jillian Tamaki, the team behind Skim, have collaborated on this gorgeous, heartbreaking, and ultimately hopeful story about a girl on the cusp of her teen age — a story of renewal and revelation.

Review:

This is a great summer story. It deals with mature problems that aren’t always in teen/preteen novels.

The two characters are preteens. They are just going through puberty, since they are always talking about getting boobs. That part was funny. I really liked Windy. She was a comic character. She was always dancing and being silly, but sometimes others laughed at her, rather than with her.

There are different pregnancy issues in this book, which kids may not learn about in health class, but they can happen. Rose’s mom wanted to have another baby, but she couldn’t. She had miscarriages. Her insistence on having another baby made Rose feel like she wasn’t enough of a daughter for her. Rose and Windy like the cute boy who works at the convenience store. They overhear his conversations with his friends about another girl, who he got pregnant. The boy, called the Dud, refused to speak to her after he found out she was pregnant. He wasn’t nice, and the girls didn’t like him so much after that, but that is a real problem that some girls have to deal with.

The graphics were also amazing. There was a lot of movement in the pictures, along with sound effects. It really looked like they were moving sometimes. The short panels that moved like a flip book also created movement in the illustrations.

I really liked this graphic novel. It was emotional and serious, but there were some funny parts as well.

TBR Thursday – July 26

TBR Thursday is a weekly meme hosted by Kimberly Faye Reads, where you post a title from your shelf or e-reader and find out what others think about it.

My pick this week is Starfish by Akemi Dawn Bowman.

Goodreads Synopsis:

Kiko Himura has always had a hard time saying exactly what she’s thinking. With a mother who makes her feel unremarkable and a half-Japanese heritage she doesn’t quite understand, Kiko prefers to keep her head down, certain that once she makes it into her dream art school, Prism, her real life will begin.

But then Kiko doesn’t get into Prism, at the same time her abusive uncle moves back in with her family. So when she receives an invitation from her childhood friend to leave her small town and tour art schools on the west coast, Kiko jumps at the opportunity in spite of the anxieties and fears that attempt to hold her back. And now that she is finally free to be her own person outside the constricting walls of her home life, Kiko learns life-changing truths about herself, her past, and how to be brave.

From debut author Akemi Dawn Bowman comes a luminous, heartbreaking story of identity, family, and the beauty that emerges when we embrace our true selves.

Have you read this book? What did you think of it?

Jill's Book Blog

Review: The Last Magician

Goodreads Synopsis:

Review:

What to read next:

Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo

Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

It’s Monday, What Are You Reading? – July 30

What I just finished:

What I’m currently reading:

What I’m reading next:

Jill’s Weekly Wrap-Up – July 29

Sundays In Bed With… Believe Me

Goodreads Synopsis:

Review: Be Prepared

Goodreads Synopsis:

Review:

What to read next:

Ghosts by Raina Telgemeier

Lumberjanes, Vol. 1: Beware the Kitten Holy by Noelle Stevenson, Grace Ellis, Brooke A. Allen, Shannon Watters

Stacking the Shelves – July 28

Father Christmas and Me by Matt Haig

9 From the Nine Worlds by Rick Riordan

Review: #NotYourPrincess: Voices of Native American Women

Goodreads Synopsis:

Review:

What to read next:

Son of a Trickster by Eden Robinson

The Break by Katherena Vermette

First Lines Fridays – July 27

Goodreads synopsis:

Review: This One Summer

Goodreads Synopsis:

Review:

What to read next:

Ghosts by Raina Telgemeier

Be Prepared by Vera Brosgol

TBR Thursday – July 26

Goodreads Synopsis: