this sorta messed me UP

The Infinity Courts – Akemi Dawn Bowman 

Young adult, fantasy, death, afterlife, computers, science fiction, fiction.

7/10

Nami was ready for her future until she was murdered. She died when the bank robber at the liquor store shot her. She finds herself in Infinity where the mind is alive but her body is dead. The people who greet her tell her about the war against Ophelia who has taken over the Infinity and hates humanity. Nami is the only one to help save them from disaster or their world from actually ending. 

This young adult novel was one of the trendy books I saw and was instantly interested. However, the chosen one trope was what got to me but besides that everything else is really good. The storyline and plot goes smoothly. The characters and their interactions with each other were alright but the chosen one trope kept getting more annoying as the characters kept telling Nami she is the chosen one and that she should train for the ultimate fight. I was expecting better for this novel but then again the chosen one trope is heavily in most young adult novels as it is popular among that demographic. It sells right off the shelves.

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Arabian Nights Retelling.. this was really good

The Wrath & The Dawn – Renee Adhieh

Fairy tales, reimagining, retelling, Arabian Nights, young adult, fiction.

Rating 9/10

Shahrzad volunteered to be Khalid’s bride. Everyone knows that each bride was dead by sunrise and she doesn’t care. She wants revenge for her best friend who was murdered by him. The first night she tells him a story but doesn’t finish telling the story. He demands her to finish but she wants to live another day. He let her live another day to finish the story. Second day goes by and he is enthralled by her storytelling. She intends to drag out these stories as long as she needs to create a plan to murder him. Along the way, she loses interest in murdering him and falls for the monster who isn’t really a monster. He is simply misunderstood.

I had read this novel before and wanted to reread it. Mainly because I remembered how good this novel was and how different it was. I love different retellings and I got tired of beauty and the beast retellings even as they all are great in their own ways but it gets repetitive. This is a retelling of Arabian Nights and I loved it. She tells a story every night or so to stay alive and to prolong the possible execution as a form of revenge. She does learn about his history but honestly it should have ended differently. I’m fine with the ending. The author outdid herself in this novel with the characters and interactions. I recommend this if one loves Arabian Nights. Its a fun read and I would go on this journey of rereading it for sure.

who am I? what am I?

Awake at Dawn – C.C. Hunter

Supernatural, fantasy, young adult, fiction. 

Rating 9/10

Kylie is still wondering of what supernatural creature she is, but she did find out other truths along the way. Her father isn’t really her father and her biological father was the dead army man she occasionally had seen. She uses the information of her birth father to try to find his family or well her extended family to find answers of who and what she really is. Another ghost appears in her life asking for her help. As she attends camp activities, who and what she is becomes even more confusing. What doesn’t help is that there is something sinister going on at the camp.

I found this sequel very intriguing and regularly paced as the first one. I believe firmly in that a story shouldn’t be dragged out kind of like how this author is doing. This is an exception because this adds onto the narrative of the main character going on a journey of self-exploration and self-assessing. I sometimes can relate onto the main character because I occasionally have an identity crisis and or existential crisis. Kylie explores that grey area that is a new concept to her and her friends helping her understand that grey area. This is great to read.

Teens Return to Save Disney AGAIN!

Kingdom Keepers 2: Disney at Dawn – Ridley Pearson

Disney, Disney World, children, fiction.

Rating 9/10

Just as Finn and the other teens thought that after rescuing Disney World and the saved the world, they can relax a little. When Chernabog/Lucifer doesn’t appear on the celebration float. The park attendant, Wayne, tells them the evil returned into a new form. This brings on panic and the five teenagers urge to fight the evil from overtaking the park and the world. Everything is at stake, once again.

As I had finished the first book, I immediately began this sequel to the novel and fell more in love with the idea of teenagers fighting Disney villains and saving the world from evil. I simply couldn’t stop reading this novel and eventually finished the novel in no time. I do recommend the first book of this series and this one as well.