Jill's Book Blog

Title: Dear Martin
Author: Nic Stone
Genre: Young Adult
Publisher: Crown Books for Young Readers
Source: Purchased
Release Date: October 17, 2017
Rating: ★★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

Raw, captivating, and undeniably real, Nic Stone joins industry giants Jason Reynolds and Walter Dean Myers as she boldly tackles American race relations in this stunning debut.

Justyce McAllister is top of his class and set for the Ivy League—but none of that matters to the police officer who just put him in handcuffs. And despite leaving his rough neighborhood behind, he can’t escape the scorn of his former peers or the ridicule of his new classmates. Justyce looks to the teachings of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. for answers. But do they hold up anymore? He starts a journal to Dr. King to find out.

Then comes the day Justyce goes driving with his best friend, Manny, windows rolled down, music turned up—way up, sparking the fury of a white off-duty cop beside them. Words fly. Shots are fired. Justyce and Manny are caught in the crosshairs. In the media fallout, it’s Justyce who is under attack.

Review:

This story is amazing. It’s very moving.

The issues that Justyce faced are familiar to anyone who watches the news. He was wrongfully arrested because of his skin colour. He was trying to do the right thing and ended up in trouble. After that, everything spirals out of control because Justyce wants to face this social injustice head on.

The plot of the story was very fast paced. I read the whole book in just a couple of hours. I couldn’t put it down! When the big twist happens halfway through the book, when the shots were fired, I was shocked.

I loved the irony in the way Justyce’s mom behaved. She wanted her son to have a good life and have opportunities so she sent him to a private boarding school. She didn’t want him to be judged by his skin colour. However, she refused to let him date a white girl, just because she has white skin. Even if the girl loved Justyce and was good for him, she still wouldn’t accept her just because of her skin. This ridiculous prejudice just shows how no one should be judged solely by the way they look. People from all different races and backgrounds are both good and bad. Appearance doesn’t define the way you behave.

It’s a great story for it’s entertainment value as well as it’s teachable moments. I highly recommend this book to everyone!

Title: The Hazel Wood
Author: Melissa Albert
Genre: Young Adult
Publisher: Flatiron Books
Source: NetGalley
Release Date: January 30, 2018
Rating: ★★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

Seventeen-year-old Alice and her mother have spent most of Alice’s life on the road, always a step ahead of the uncanny bad luck biting at their heels. But when Alice’s grandmother, the reclusive author of a cult-classic book of pitch-dark fairy tales, dies alone on her estate, the Hazel Wood, Alice learns how bad her luck can really get: her mother is stolen away―by a figure who claims to come from the Hinterland, the cruel supernatural world where her grandmother’s stories are set. Alice’s only lead is the message her mother left behind: “Stay away from the Hazel Wood.”

Alice has long steered clear of her grandmother’s cultish fans. But now she has no choice but to ally with classmate Ellery Finch, a Hinterland superfan who may have his own reasons for wanting to help her. To retrieve her mother, Alice must venture first to the Hazel Wood, then into the world where her grandmother’s tales began―and where she might find out how her own story went so wrong.

Review:

I loved this book! I love fairytale adaptations, and this one was very twisted and original.

The writing was amazing. Alice had a unique and mature voice. I really enjoyed her narrative. Some of the fairytales from Alice’s grandmother’s book were also in the story. They were super creepy. I had to stop reading it one night and switch to a lighter book so I didn’t have nightmares. But the stories were so good!

The concept of the fairytales coming to life was so creepy. This story reminded me of the Percy Jackson series in that way. Percy learned his family secrets, which brought him into the world of Greek mythology, just as Alice learns her family history in the world of her grandmother’s fairytales.

I really hope a book of Alice’s grandmother’s fairytales is published. It would be awesome to read them all. The physical book was described in the story, so it could be a beautiful book as well.

I loved this story! I recommend it for fans of fairytale adaptations.

Title: American Panda
Author: Gloria Chao
Genre: Young Adult
Publisher: Simon Pulse, Simon and Schuster Canada
Source: NetGalley, Publisher
Release Date: February 6, 2018
Rating: ★★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

An incisive, laugh-out-loud contemporary debut about a Taiwanese-American teen whose parents want her to be a doctor and marry a Taiwanese Ivy Leaguer despite her squeamishness with germs and crush on a Japanese classmate.

At seventeen, Mei should be in high school, but skipping fourth grade was part of her parents’ master plan. Now a freshman at MIT, she is on track to fulfill the rest of this predetermined future: become a doctor, marry a preapproved Taiwanese Ivy Leaguer, produce a litter of babies.

With everything her parents have sacrificed to make her cushy life a reality, Mei can’t bring herself to tell them the truth–that she (1) hates germs, (2) falls asleep in biology lectures, and (3) has a crush on her classmate Darren Takahashi, who is decidedly not Taiwanese.

But when Mei reconnects with her brother, Xing, who is estranged from the family for dating the wrong woman, Mei starts to wonder if all the secrets are truly worth it. Can she find a way to be herself, whoever that is, before her web of lies unravels?

Review:

I really liked this story!

Mei’s situation is very relatable. Her parents insist that she go to medical school, but she doesn’t want to. I have been fortunate to have the opportunity to study what I wanted, but I know that isn’t the case for many people.

I loved Mei’s mother. She was so funny. She was constantly leaving voicemails for Mei and always ending them by saying “It’s your mom,” as if she didn’t know. She also called the police when Mei didn’t return her call for hours. She was very strict but also funny.

I’m a very squeamish person, so I don’t like reading about medical things. There were a few moments where Mei was in medical environments which were so gross! It was ironic since Mei was such a germaphobe. Those parts really grossed me out.

Overall, I really liked this story! It’s definitely worth the hype!

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