5 Star Reads

I really wasn't sure where to start out with my reviews because I've probably read over 100 books since the last time I posted any on here. So I decided to pull from the books that I gave 5 stars to on Goodreads in the last few months. I'm thinking it might be fun to do a book club where we do a google hangout or something to talk about a book once a month. If you're interested in something like that leave a comment and I'll see what I can pull together :).

 

Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys

 

Between Shades of Gray is set during World War II, I avoided it for a long time because let’s face it WWII books are depressing. I had heard really great things about this particular book though and it was part of the reading list for the YALSA HUB reading challenge that I’m participating in so I decided to give in and read it. I can't believe I waited so long to read this book! It is horrifying and beautiful all at the same time and that is a really hard thing for an author to achieve (at least I think so).

 

The story is about Lina, a fifteen-year-old Lithuanian girl, her mother and younger brother who are taken from their home by Soviet officers and forced on a train with hellish conditions that is traveling to the arctic circle. They end up at a work camp in freezing Siberia where they are made to work under the cruelest conditions. Lina is an artist and secretly documents her life through her art even though she could be put to death if it is found.  

 

I was not really aware of this part of World War II. So many people uprooted and relocated to work camps for years and years (if they survived the horrible conditions). I am so glad the author wrote about a part of history that no one writes about. There are plenty of books about the horrors of the holocaust but there were so many other horrible things happening to other innocent people at the same time. They must be remembered as well. The writing is beautiful and you can tell that the author definitely spent a lot of time researching. The notes at the end are fascinating.

 

I listened to this book and found the audiobook quality to be outstanding. The narrator’s voice melds really well with the characters.

 

Winger by Andrew Smith

 

Winger is about Ryan Dean West, a fourteen-year-old Junior who goes to a boarding school for rich kids and plays winger on the school rugby team. He starts out the year having to live in the dorm for troublemakers with the biggest bully on the rugby team, Chas. He gets drunk on it his first night back at school which pretty much lays the groundwork for the rest of the school year. He’s in love with his best friend Annie but also has a little bit of a crush on his roommate's girlfriend, Megan. Ryan Dean is funny and disgusting (like most teenage boys), and kind of a punk, but in a loveable younger brother kind of way.  He is the perfect teenage boy voice and his humor and character development throughout the book is spot on.

 

I totally fell in love with this book! Not very many books can have you cracking up one minute (screaming Ned gave me a giggle fit) and crying the next (towards the end is heartbreaking, sorry). While the end does get a little heavy it is really important to the story and Ryan Dean’s growth as a character. There will be a sequel which makes me really happy!

 

Rat Queens Volume 1: Sass & Sorcery TP by Kurtis Wiebe Illustrated by Roc Upchurch

 

Rat Queens is definitely my new favorite comic book series. It centers around a band of kick ass women mercenaries; Hannah the rockabilly elven mage, Violet the dwarven fighter (who has chosen to keep her beard shaved), Betty the smidgen who loves candy almost as much as she loves ‘shrooms, and Dee an atheist human cleric. I can’t talk about this graphic novel without mentioning the beautiful artwork, it is really awesome and you can tell they really cared about the details which is something I always appreciate in a good graphic series. The storyline is very Dungeon and Dragons meets Tank Girl and is full of crass humor, epic questing, and lots of blood and grog.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Beautiful Music for Ugly Children by Kirstin Cronn-Mills

 

Beautiful Music for Ugly Children is about Gabe, who was born Elizabeth. Gabe loves music and hosts a weekly community radio show called Beautiful Music for Ugly Children. The book centers around Gabe’s relationships with family, friends, and his listeners. This book thoughtfully addresses Gabe’s life as a transsexual guy by using the A-side/B-side of records as a metaphor for his life - “When you think about it, I'm like a record. Elizabeth is my A side, the song everybody knows, and Gabe is my B side--not heard as often, but just as good.”

 

This is such a beautiful book! It has been a long time since a book made me cry as much as this one did. But it was a good cry, I promise. Gabe is a very genuine and unique protagonist and felt very real to me. While the transsexual storyline is important and very much a big part of the book, I found the relationships to be far more important because you see how his friends and family help shape Gabe into who he is. His relationship with his best friend Paige is so authentic and the relationship between John (his neighboor and radio mentor) and Gabe is super unique. John treats Gabe as an equal, not as a surrogate son or just some kid to mentor, but a friend and an equal and I think that is really important to the story and Gabe’s growth also I loved John's reaction to Gabe coming out. It is how everyone should behave.

 

I absolutely loved all the wonderful music references and Elvis talk. In the book John is the first DJ to play Elvis on the radio and Gabe is a huge Elvis fan so that made me kind of giddy. Gabe is so passionate about music and radio it made me feel bad that I’m never that passionate about one thing.

 

I feel like this is a really poor review compared to how much this book made me feel. And maybe that’s why it’s hard to review. There are so many wonderful components that I don’t want to give everything away. My “gush” books are always horribly reviewed for this reason. I just want to squee and say OMG you have to read it and I can’t put much else into words.  So yeah, I have nothing but love for this book and think everyone should read it!

 

Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell

 

This is another total “gush” book. In fact it has been my gush book since last March until I read Beautiful Music for Ugly Children and then Winger. I’ll try to give it the review it deserves.

 

Eleanor is a big presence with her wild red hair and mismatched thrift store wardrobe. She lives in poverty and her stepfather is abusive. She is constantly bullied and picked on by her peers. Park is quiet and likes comic books and music. He has a dream home life compared to Eleanor and manages to fit in just enough that he’s not targeted by the bullies.

 

They meet on the bus and their story starts slow with Eleanor reading Park’s comic books over his shoulder. He eventually starts making her mixtapes and they start hanging out after school and their friendship blossoms into a profound love.  Oh and yes, I mean mixtapes, the story is set in the 80’s which makes for pretty awesome historical fiction.

 

They meet on the bus and their story starts slow with Eleanor reading Park’s comic books over his shoulder. He eventually starts making her mixtapes and they start hanging out after school and their friendship blossoms into a profound love.  Oh and yes, I mean mixtapes, the story is set in the 80’s which makes for pretty awesome historical fiction.

 

I'm in love with Eleanor and Park’s story. They are the perfect portrait of first love. But the story isn't just a love story, it's a story of misfits, abuse, and letting go. Multifaceted stories are my favorite because they allow more people to connect with the story and that's really important in teen literature.

 

I first read Eleanor and Park last March and absolutely loved it! I decided to listen to it this March for the YALSA HUB challenge. The Audiobook is lovely. Rebecca Lowman's voice is as smooth as butter and so easy to listen to. She also narrates Rainbow’s other book Fangirl which is equally enjoyable.

 

Scowler by Daniel Kraus

Now for something completely different!

 

Scower is a true horror book. Something that I feel isn’t done very well nor very often in the YA genre. The book is about nineteen-year-old Ry Burke who lives with his mother and younger sister on a dying farm. His father Marvin is a truly horrible monster of a man who abused  Ry and his mother in horrifying ways before Ry saved them with the help of his imaginary protectors (toys whose personas are actually three parts of Ry’s own personality that he has developed to help him cope). Marvin was sent to prison years ago for the things he did. Then a meteorite hits and quite literally all hell breaks loose. Ry is again confronted by his father and his protectors come back to him.

 

The book reads in flashbacks and the present (which is actually the 80s). It is horrific and amazingly written. Like some seriously great writing is in this book and that’s why I was able to finish it even though there are a lot of uncomfortable things that happen in the plot. I would definitely recommend it to teens who can take some really tough, gritty reads and who enjoy books that are "messed up" in the psychological and gore sense.

 

Since I listened to the audiobook I must add that it is a really great audio production, the way Kirby Heyborne performs Scowler's percussive dialogue is pretty amazing and adds so much for the listener. Also doesn't Marvin look like Walter White on the cover?

Currently Reading:

Fuse (The Pure Trilogy) by Julianna Baggott (audio)

Belle Epoque by Elizabeth Ross

The Truth About Alice by Jennifer Mathieu 

*Check out the other books I’ve read on Goodreads*

 

Disclosure: Links to books are amazon affiliate links.  I highly suggest checking books out from your local library, but you know, do what you gotta do.