Book Reviews

By Paige

"His job is to make his tribute, Lucy Gray Baird, look good to the public,"

A Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins is an installment of the Hunger Games trilogy, this time following Corolionus Snow, the future president of Panem. It follows him through his time as a mentor in the 10th hunger games, his time as a peacekeeper, and alludes to how he gained power and became president.

If you’re not familiar with the original trilogy, the “Hunger Games”, in the book, are a yearly televised game. It takes two tributes, a boy and a girl, from each of the 12 districts and puts them into an arena where only one survives. This was done as a punishment for the districts rebelling against the government. This book follows the 10th annual Hunger Games, including the tributes and their mentors, though the original trilogy is set in the 75th Hunger Games. The main character of this series is Coriolanus Snow, a student who was chosen for a new mentor program for the tributes in the Hunger Games. His job is to make his assigned tribute, Lucy Gray Baird, look good to the public and get them to root for her. We follow him through lots of ups and downs, bending the rules, and the aftermath of the Hunger Games.

One thing I found interesting about this book, compared to the other trilogy, was how recent the war was. There were constant references and flashbacks from it, how it affected people’s lives. It helped give more context to the games and why they happened. It also showed how the games progressed from the original punishment for the districts to the show it is in the original series. I liked how, even though we know Snow is a bad person, there are parts where he almost makes you root for him. He almost seems like he might have a redemption, like he might grow to be a better person. This truly shows the mastery Collins has over complex characters with multiple motivations. 5/5.

"I've read books where I couldn't remember the first name of the main character, yet in this one I could recognize most, if not all, of the background characters."

Sunrise on the Reaping, another Hunger Games installment by Suzanne Collins, takes place between the original trilogy and A Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes in the 50th Hunger Games. This story follows Haymitch Abernathy from District 12 in before, during, and after his games.

The story starts, as the other books do, on The Reaping, when tributes are chosen to participate in the Hunger Games. Only differences this time are that it’s also Haymitch’s birthday and it's a Quarter Quell. Each Quarter Quell, the rules change in some special way. This year, there’s double the tributes, jumping from 24 to 48 kids total. All Haymitch wants to do is survive the day and spend time with his girlfriend Lenore Dove. However, when chaos erupts at the Reaping, these plans are quickly disregarded as he is unfairly chosen to participate in the Hunger Games. Along with two girls and one other boy, he is shipped to the capitol to train for and participate in the yearly death games made into a show for citizens. Haymitch is forced to decide what’s important to him, how to achieve his goals in the arena, and whether to play along with the games or make the arena his act of rebellion.

What I liked most about this book was how it linked together many characters. The book did this in two ways for me. First, were all the characters in the book. Even the background characters were memorable and felt realistic, where other authors might have neglected to flesh them out. I’ve read books where I couldn’t remember the main characters first name, yet I could recognize most, if not all, of the background characters in this book. The second way was how many characters were in the book that were also in the original trilogy. I felt that it added lots of depth to those already existing characters and layers to the preexisting trilogy. A wonderful addition to the universe, and a tragically sad ending, I loved reading this book more than others and will definitely come back to it when I can. 6/5

"My one grievance is that I didn't read this book sooner,"

The Hobbit by J.R.R Tolkien is a well known, classic piece of literature. Tolkien, considered a master of literature and fantasy, took over two years to write this book. The book follows Bilbo Baggins, a hobbit, a company of thirteen dwarves (including King Thorin), and occasionally the wizard Gandalf, as they take the journey to reclaim the dwarves' ancestral home mountain, which was taken from them by the dragon Smaug.

Bilbo has lived his whole life in his hobbit hole under The Hill, never longing for more. That is, until Gandalf shows up on his doorstep with a full company of dwarves to disrupt the hobbit’s peaceful life. From there, Bilbo gets roped into becoming a burglar/investigator for the company as they attempt to reclaim their ancestral home and treasure from a great dragon. Though Bilbo is originally reluctant and meek, Gandalf continues to talk about his greatness and potential. The company faces many challenges along the path including but not limited to; goblins, trolls, elves, and wolves. They make many friends as well, many of whom they unfortunately have to leave behind on their journey.

It was hard for me to make up my mind about this book. On one hand, I can see why it has continued to stay a staple of literature and fantasy, and I did like the book. However, I feel that it was slightly more straightforward than what I usually read. That isn’t necessarily a bad thing, however it was not something I was expecting. Its themes were clearer, and it didn’t take long to read.

Truly, my one grievance is that I didn’t read this book sooner; my sixth or seventh grade self would love this more than I would now. 4.8/5

"This case goes deeper than anyone, even Pip, thought."

The A Good Girl's Guide to Murder trilogy by Holly Jackson is a YA thriller that follows Pippa “Pip” Fitz-Amobi as she investigates a murder case that happened in her town five years ago.

The murder was of Andy Bell, who was supposedly killed by her boyfriend Ravi Singh. The case was determined to be closed but as Pip investigates, she finds clues that say the police reached the wrong conclusion. She employs Ravi’s younger brother, Sal, to help her investigation. The case goes deeper and deeper, all the clues get jumbled up, people get hurt, Pip becomes obsessed, but she knows one thing; Ravi Singh did not kill Andy Bell. There’s more to this case than anyone, even Pip, thought.

On top of the plot, the writing is masterful. The relationships develop naturally, interactions and reactions are realistic and believable, and I think Pip is just amazing, generally.

Overall, these books absolutely destroyed me in parts, and I will never not recommend it. 6/5

"That being said, I would definitely pick up other books from this author."- A book review by Paige W.

The Scholomance is a magical fantasy trilogy by Naomi Novik that attempts to dive into fate vs free will, choices, and class inequality. In Novik’s story, there are two types of wizards. The first type are “enclavers”; these wizards live inside a semi-real structure known as enclaves that are half in the real world and half in the void. These enclaves are safer, well protected, and much richer. The other type of wizards are “indy” or “independent” wizards. This type lives outside of the enclaves in the real world, and are often at higher risk of being killed or injured by beings called maleficaria; magical creatures that steal magical energy from wizards. On top of that, to protect and train young wizards to keep themselves safe, enclaves have built a school called the Scholomance. Although, this school has fallen from its purpose. Instead of being a safe haven, about three-fourths of the children in the school die to maleficaria that snuck in, due to the school being in disrepair. To me, all of this, along with additional details found in the book, makes for a believable world.

The main character, Galadriel “El” Higgins, is a sarcastic indy wizard, who is avidly avoiding her destiny of becoming a dark mage that will destroy all the enclaves of the world. The trilogy starts in her junior year of the Scholomance, and will follow until after she graduates. Up until this point, she’s survived her years as a loner in the school, and she plans to keep it that way. But no one survives alone for long, and she’s no different. The plot follows her as she has to make decisions about how to live, who to let into her life, and how to avoid her fate.

All this leads up to is the themes I have previously mentioned. However, at times in the book, they seem almost non-existent; secondary, almost. They seem to take a backseat to the plot, only coming out when needed or when Galadriel has some sort of epiphany about one of them. The only one that seems to be used consistently is class inequality and privilege, given that Galadriel has to interact with the differing views of enclavers often. Overall, I feel that the themes in this story could have been handled more consistently throughout the trilogy and delved deeper into the implications of them in the world.

Although I loved the plot and felt that Novik truly delved into world building and how her magic system works, her themes could have been explored more in depth throughout the three books. That being said, I would definitely pick up other books by this author. 4/5

"Angelou tells her story with heavy themes and lessons to be learned"- A Book review by Paige W.

Maya Angelou’s first autobiography I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings is a powerful memoir about her experiences being black in the American south in the 1920’s and 30’s. The book follows Marguerite, Angelou’s full name, through her times in Stamps, Arkansas and various cities in California. It covers topics such as family bonds and loyalty, segregation, the black experience, violence, and the loss of childhood innocence.

The story starts when she’s three years old on a train to Stamps, Arkansas, with her brother Bailey. The young siblings are going to stay with their grandmother and uncle. Their grandmother (whom they call ‘Momma’) is a kind but strict woman, who puts everything into her grocery store and church, and their uncle (Willie) is much the same. Marguerite and Bailey live there for a majority of their childhood, until Marguerite is seven and Bailey eight. At that point their father, who they haven’t seen in years, comes to visit and takes them back to California to stay with their mother. They live in St. Louis with their mother’s family for almost a year, until they’re sent back to Stamps. Due to events in St. Louis, Marguerite refuses to speak to anyone but her family. This is until she meets Mrs. Bertha Flowers.

Angelou credits Mrs. Flowers with giving her the confidence to speak again, many “lessons in life”, and her love for books and literature. During this time, she was introduced to many authors, both classic and contemporary, that likely inspired her writing career.

This didn’t last long though, and when she was fourteen her and Bailey again moved to live with their mother, who now lived in Oakland, California. Here, she finished high school, started college, got her first job as a streetcar conductor, and gave birth to her son. Through both trouble and happiness, Angelou tells her story with heavy themes and lessons to be learned.

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings is a memorable commentary on society both then and now, through both trouble and happiness, Angelou tells her story with heavy themes and lessons to be learned. With her thematic writing style, Maya Angelou makes her autobiography intriguing, captivating, and compelling. 5/5.

"Isobel had sabotaged him by painting a human emotion on his face" -Paige W.

An Enchantment of Ravens by Margaret Rogerson is a standalone novel that follows a young painter, Isobel, through her dealings with the fair folk (fairies). The book is a YA fantasy romance that explores the ‘forbidden romance’ trope.

The fair folk cannot create anything at all, whether it’s writing, drawing, or even simple cooking, they can’t do any of it. However, they also highly value beauty. Which leads them to hire humans to create what they call ‘craft’. Isobel is one of these humans, due to her natural talent for painting portraits. She’s been dealing with the fair folk for years, painting them in return for enchantments to protect her family. Eventually, this leads to her being hired to paint the prince of the autumn court, Rook. Rook hasn’t been seen in centuries, having been fighting something called the ‘Wild Hunt’. Isobel does the painting and gets to know Rook, before he has to leave again to fight the Hunt. A few weeks later, Rook comes back livid. He believed Isobel had sabotaged him by painting a human emotion on his face. As such, he brings her to the fall court to stand trial, though they never make it there. The Hunt finds them and they have to take detours through both the Summer Lands and the Spring Lands, where they meet an assortment of different fair folk, including a previous patron of Isobel’s who seems to know more about what’s happening, and what will happen, than they do. As Isobel meets more and more fair folk, she’s met with the horrific greed that they have surrounding human craft, and the general apathy they have. This eventually leads to her having to make a choice, to stay human, or to become one of them.

Overall, An Enchantment of Ravens is an exploration of the human ability to create that mingles romance with elements of greed, fabulousness, and slight horror. 5/5

"It's very easy to see why Animal Farm has become a classsic."

George Orwell’s Animal Farm is a fairy tale type story that details farm animals banding together to overthrow the mean owner of their farm. The book has been challenged and banned in multiple states for being pro-communist, and was banned in the Soviet Union for being anti-communist (still banned in Cuba for this reason)! In the end, however, the book is neither. Animal Farm is anti-authortarian, anti-totalitarian, and commentary on the corruption of power, none of which are explicitly communist or capitalist problems.

The book starts on Manor Farm, which will later be changed to Animal Farm, and details the lives of the animals. The animals are overworked and underfed, being neglected by the farm workers. A pig named Old Major gathers the animals and tells them about a revolution that he dreamed about. He dreamed that the animals would rise up and live long, prosperous lives without the interference of man. The animals don’t initially take to this idea, but after a few weeks of speeches by pigs and more abuse from the farmer, they do rise up and take over the farm. With this development, the animals now run the farm. They dream of a place of equality for all animals, enough food to eat, and little work. However, someone has to take care of running the farm, and obviously that power should fall upon the smartest animals. However, power corrupts and it doesn’t stay this way for long.

In his writing, George Orwell manages to get details across in fairly simplistic ways, and is a master of using subtext to get his point across. With its apparent themes, strong messages, and satiric elements, it’s very easy to see why Animal Farm has become a classic. 4/5

"The writing is good, and Ernshaw's description of emotion is masterful."

A Wilderness of Stars by Shea Ernshaw is a fiction novel that mixes elements of fantasy, realism, and a little bit of science fiction, the last of which is only noticeable in the last act of the book.

The book follows Vega, a young astronomer. Vega has grown up in a valley with her mom, never going anywhere else. But when an old family prophecy comes true, Vega is forced to leave the valley and go in search of The Architect. The journey is long, dangerous, and full of uncertainty, but Vega has to go. Consumption has ravaged the land, and the astronomer is supposed to have the cure. However, Vega doesn’t have a cure. No one does. All Vega has to do is get The Architect to lead her to the sea, then everyone will be saved. Throughout the story, Vega keeps many secrets. From her friends, The Architect, and sometimes the reader. Will she decide to share these secrets, or keep them until it’s too late?

Ultimately, Ernshaw has written a suspenseful novel, with lots of action. The writing is good, and Ernshaw’s description of emotion is masterful, though some of the relationships felt forced and unrealistic. 3.5/5

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