Before this year’s Valentine’s day dance, Ella starts receiving paper hearts from a secret admirer who claims to know what happened during those elevens weeks that Ella cannot remember. So, with the help of a cute boy from the library named Andy, Ella follows the clues on the 11 paper hearts in the hopes of remembering what she has forgotten. This book is best suited for teen romance and mystery readers; particularly people who enjoyed Tell Me Three Things by Julie Buxbaum, Since You’ve Been Gone by Morgan Matson, and the movie The Vow. I would recommend reading this book around Valentine’s day, as this is when the novel takes place, but it can absolutely be enjoyed at any time. This book showcases the power of true love and the importance of being true to oneself. Even though this book was easy to read, I, like Ella, got frustrated at times because I didn’t have all the answers. As a result of not having all the answers, it seemed like Ella was lost or confused for most of the book and she couldn’t seem to move forward with her life. Furthermore, even though the end of the book was satisfying, I was left a bit confused and frustrated because I couldn’t understand why Ella’s family and friends (or her secret admirer) weren’t willing or able to fill in the gap in Ella’s memory sooner. Another critique for me is that the book was on the shorter side; it would have been nice to maybe have had a few more chapters at the end of the book (after Ella gets her answers).
Lastly, I love making book playlists, so I thought that the “paper hearts playlist”, included in the middle of the book, was awesome; the song choices are also perfect for Valentine’s day!
Overall, I thought that this book was cute, romantic, and engaging. 11 Paper Hearts was Kelsey Hartwell’s debut novel; I am excited to (hopefully) read more of her books in the future! I gave this book a rating of 8 out of 10. This article was written for "The Nerd Daily". Click to view this article on "The Nerd Daily's" website or copy & paste the following URL into your web browser: https://www.thenerddaily.com/review-11-paper-hearts-by-kelsey-hartwell/
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Ren: an orphaned silver wielder in hiding who makes a living by stealing, gambling, and fighting in the pits. Darek: the handsome yet annoying head of the rebellion who recruits Ren (using financial incentives) to join the fight to overthrow the evil and powerful King of Erdis. Kellen: the youngest Prince of Erdis and the black sheep of the family who could care less about his title and is living secret a double life. Adley: a ruthless warrior working for the King (called a King’s Child) tasked with destroying the rebellion in order to earn the coveted title of King’s Fang while attempting to hide her forbidden relationship with Lesa.
I thought that this book was very engaging, action-packed, and fast-paced; I loved how Gruenke incorporated lots of unexpected surprises and twists into the plot. I also thought that the concept of the silver wielders was very cool and unique; the powerful descriptions of the silver wielders presented in the novel make it very clear why the rebellion wanted to kick the powerful King off the throne and why the King took such drastic measures to ensure that the royals were the only silver wielders in Erdis. Without giving anything away, I really enjoyed reading about Ren’s romantic relationship that develops throughout Of Silver and Shadow; I wish that more of this romantic plot line was included in the novel (perhaps we will get to hear more about Ren’s relationship if/ when the sequel is released). Even though I thought that this book was well-written, I felt like things were often repeated and some information was lost because the story was told from multiple different perspectives. Another downside for me was the violent and detailed descriptions of the punishments that the King (and the King’s Children) dished out and the fights that took place in the pits; I would have preferred if these violent events were either less descriptive or less frequent.
This article was written for "The Nerd Daily". Click to view this article on "The Nerd Daily's" website or copy & paste the following URL into your web browser:
https://www.thenerddaily.com/review-of-silver-and-shadow-by-jennifer-gruenke/ Check out my Of Silver and Shadow Q&A with Jennifer Gruenke by clicking here!
The story alternates between both Kiem and Jainans’ perspectives. Even though it was slow to start, Winter’s Orbit became an engrossing read around the half-way point when Kiem and Jainan find themselves in a life or death situation. This book would be best suited for young adults or adults who enjoy the fantasy, science fiction, and romance genres. In addition to the budding relationship between Jainan and Prince Kiem, Winter’s Orbit focuses on topics such as political obligations and alliances, the rise and fall of empires, power and corruption, change versus tradition, abuse, mental health, love and loss, man against nature, technology, and appearance versus reality. I found that this book was easy to read but it was challenging for me to picture the world of Iskat in my mind; it would have been nice to have some more world building descriptions and/ or some illustrations. I also found some of the names (people, places, technologies, etc.) and political elements to be confusing and hard to follow; I would have preferred less political details and more of a focus on Kiem and Jainan’s relationship and/ or the murder investigation. I also found it frustrating that it took Kiem so long to uncover the truth about Jainan and Taam’s relationship; I thought that Jainan’s actions and body language made it obvious what type of a partner Taam was. I also thought that it took Jainan an extended amount of time to open-up to and trust the easygoing Kiem. Luckily, after the pair discover the truths about each other, Kiem and Jainan’s growing feelings for one another accelerate. I thought that the story-line was well-organized, and the concept was unique; I haven’t heard of another novel that has a homosexual love story with science fiction and political elements as well as a high-stakes murder investigation. This love story was also unique in the sense that Jainan and Kiem did not choose each other; they were stuck together, even though Jainan was in mourning, purely for the benefit of the empire. Due to this, Kiem and Jainan’s romantic relationship is a slow burn and could almost be characterized as an “enemies to lovers” trope; both Kiem and Jainan enter the compulsory relationship with reservations and apprehensiveness. Overall, even though Winter’s Orbit was slow to start, I did enjoy reading it and would recommend it to lovers of Red, White & Royal Blue (McQuisten), the Star Wars movies, and A Wrinkle in Time (L’Engle). This book was action-packed with hardly a dull moment and it had a satisfying ending; it made sense, but it left some plot lines open for a potential sequel. I gave this book a rating of 7 out of 10. This article was written for "The Nerd Daily"
Click to view this article on "The Nerd Daily's" website or copy and paste the following URL into your web browser: https://www.thenerddaily.com/review-winters-orbit-by-everina-maxwell/ Check out my Winter's Orbit Q&A with Everina Maxwell by clicking here! My review of Winter's Orbit was quoted by "Book Marks"! Check out "Book Mark's" article by clicking here. |
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