"The Marsh King's Daughter"

“The Marsh King’s Daughter”

Written by Karen Dionne

Review written by Diana Iozzia

         "The Marsh King's Daughter" was a very suspenseful and intriguing book, an adaptation of the fairy tale by Hans Christian Anderson. I was so interested in this book, and was very appreciative to receive a complementary advanced reader's copy.

          Helena is our narrator and tells her story of her growing up living off marshland with her father and mother, but with a twist. Her father had kidnapped her mother when she was young, and eventually had Helena. Helena finds out (years later) that her father has escaped from prison. Her main mission has now become to hunt him down and exact revenge.

          This is a really interesting concept, mainly because I have an interest in true life crime, as well. I enjoyed this adaptation of a fairy tale that I hadn't even heard of, but I have a sneaky suspicion that this fairy tale inspired "Shrek". 

           I have some warnings. In living off the land, Helena and her family hunt many animals with a bit of gruesome detail, so beware those who are sensitive to animal death (I am, yuck). In addition, the abuse and pain of kidnapping and living in a kidnapper's household is pretty vivid as well.

"The Academie"

“The Academie”

Written by Amy Joy

Review written by Diana Iozzia

            “The Academie” is a science fiction and dystopian YA novel about a dystopian United States that has created a high school and college school system of boarding schools that requires students to live on campus until 23 years old. Allie’s younger brother, Matt, is suspiciously different after studying there for a year. Allie had made a friend, Bryan, previous to going to this school, and she longs to reconnect with him.

            This school is more mysterious and suspicious. Events and occurrences are unexplained and very mysterious. This is a great young adult novel, in my favorite genre: the science fiction/dystopian genre. This intrigued me, because when I was eighteen, I had started writing a story about a corrupt and dystopian boarding school, so I was excited to read this when I received it. I only took about five hours total to read this! It was fantastic.

            I had not previously heard of this novel, I had seen it in a list about Dystopian themes, so I was very interested in it. This book is very well-written, with themes similar to “The Matrix” but it felt very sweet and feminine and full of young love. I really hope for a sequel.

I received this as a complementary review copy.

"Extropia: Mind Game"

“Extropia: Mind Game”

Written by Robin Bootle

Review written by Diana Iozzia

            As a fanatic of science fiction and video games, I love to see well-presented combinations of the two. In this story, a teenager named Edward finds out that his father and brother are trapped in a video game that they created, with Edward and a few friends trying to save them.

            I really enjoyed this book, because it used all of the fun video game tropes and science fiction tropes in a very meta book. Edward and the other characters embody certain characteristics that video game characters would. The descriptions are very realistic of that a game similar to games of “The Elder Scrolls” franchise. I also enjoyed this book, because my boyfriend lives in Cumbria, England, and many of the places mentioned in the book were based off certain places in Cumbria, so it was an interesting journey to watch the characters make.

            I think this book reminds me of a combination of films and books. It’s like if Hiro from “Big Hero 6” went to find his family, but found his way in Wonderland, with lots of fun “The Matrix” style science fiction, with a sprinkle of “Lord of the Rings” and “Skyrim”. The side characters are very Harry Potter-y, which is actually referenced to in the book. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. Naturally, you have a really interesting villain with interesting motives as well, which always proves for good suspense.

I received this book as a complementary review copy from the author.

"The Whole Thing Together"

“The Whole Thing Together”

Written by Ann Brashares

Review written by Diana Iozzia

            This fictional novel about complicated families, summer romances, and discovering selves was a really interesting read, from one of my favorite childhood writers. (Maybe this makes me a little biased, but it has been a solid 5-7 years since I’ve read one of her books).

            A couple who’ve had three daughters together goes through a very ugly divorce. Mom marries new man, has a boy with him. There are two sons from new man’s previous marriage. Dad marries new woman, has a daughter. 17 years later, we begin reading about one unforgettable summer. Mattie is interested in a boy. Emma and Jamie are hiding their relationship from their father (original couple’s father.) Quinn is a free spirit. Sasha and Ray (the two youngest in the clan who are not technically related) share a strange bond, because the two families share the original beach house, switching off every other week.

            Lots of events are kick-started this summer. Some happy, some confusing, and some sad. Although the family is very confusing to understand at first, who’s whose daughter or son, who’s stepmom is whose. Lord almighty.

            I really enjoyed this book, read this in about a total of five hours, I’d say 3 hours yesterday, two today. A very easy young adult read with no sexual content, no illegal content, but like I said, some sad events. I feel that every character is relatable, but I really enjoyed Emma and Jamie’s storyline the best, second with Sasha and Ray’s. I could easily see this book having a sequel or a third novel later on. Lots of interesting characters and plot lines that I could imagine be very interesting to read on about.

            Cons:

            1. Confusing family tree, but there is a slight diagram at the front of the book. Had to bookmark that!

            2. Mattie’s storyline is subpar.

            3. The resolution to most of the plotlines feel very rushed and a bit forgettable.

            4. Sasha and Ray’s bond/relationship/story line seems very pushed on the cover, but it’s not the main plot. I feel that all of the plots coincide well, and none of them stands out as the most important, but the description speaks differently.

I received this as a complementary advanced reading copy from the site, Blogging for Books. Thank you.