Weekend Recommendations #20

This is a weekly feature, where I get to go all fannish about two randomly-picked favvies (which may not actually be favorites, but got a rating of 3 or higher) that I would recommend to friends! So, here are this week's two picks:

Title: Nobody's Secret
Author: Michaela MacColl
Genre: historical fiction/mystery
Part of a Series: No
Rating: 3 out of 5
Who'll Like It: Girl-read, fourteen and up due to interest level. Fans of Emily Dickinson and anti-fans alike will enjoy this, as it is mainly a mystery story. It focuses some on her poetry, but not tons.

Why I Like It:

I love mysteries, I love this era, and while I'm not a fan of Emily Dickinson's poetry, I have nothing against her personally. Nobody's Secret is a fun quick read, with some surprising twists, and a spunky protagonist. Perfect for a quiet weekend read.

Title: The False Prince

Author: Jennifer A. Nielsen

Genre: adventure

Part of a Series: Yes

Rating: 5 out of 5

Who'll Like It: Girl and guy read, intended for middle graders, but teens and adults alike will enjoy this story's quick-witted and amusing protagonist.

Why I Like It:

It's so hard to write sarcastic male characters without making them obnoxious. But as soon as I met Sage, I loved him. I loved the world, I loved the storyline, and I loved the twists. There isn't a boring moment in this story, and the Author isn't afraid to be cruel to her characters. My expectations with this book were not high, and I was extremely pleasantly surprised when I picked it up.

Weekend Recommendations #18

This is a weekly feature, where I get to go all fannish about two randomly-picked favvies (which may not actually be favorites, but got a rating of 3 or higher) that I would recommend to friends! So, here are this week's two picks:

Title: The Darkest Minds

Author: Alexandra Bracken

Genre: science fiction

Part of a Series: Yes

Rating: 3 out of 5

Who'll Like It: Mostly a girl read, though some guys might enjoy it, appropriate for seventeen-and-up, Readers who like dystopian-esque worlds, futuristic, and stories about teens with "super powers" caused by a weird virus.

Why I Like It:

This sort of book has been done so much that I rarely get entertainment out of them anymore. But The Darkest Minds manages to take this overused idea and make it fresh. I liked the characters pretty well, and more importantly I liked how realistic the internment camps were. Realism, when it comes to such things, is key for me. I also really liked how the Author kept referencing Watership Down. It added a bleak and downright dark element to the whole thing, which it needed in order to be totally successful.

Title: Seraphina

Author: Rachel Hartman

Genre: fantasy/mystery

Part of a Series: Yes

Rating: 4 out of 5

Who'll Like It: Girls and guys alike with enjoy this original dragon story, fifteen-and-up, great for fans of fantasy, dragon stories with original twists, and a hint of mystery.

Why I Like It:

I love dragons, I love mysteries, and I love originality. And it is very hard to find an original dragon story these days. But Rachel Hartman manages to pull some unique and original ideas with her dragons, which I thoroughly enjoyed. I loved her Elizabethan-inspired world, the characters, and the writing. The only real complaint I have is that the mystery aspect of the plot is not as big a part of it as you would initially think. And some people find the story itself a little slow, but I enjoyed the Author's careful world building.