#published:2017

Grace and the Fever by Zan Romanoff (Alfred A Knopf, 2017)

SynopsisIn middle school, everyone was a Fever Dream fan. Now, a few weeks after her high school graduation, Grace Thomas sometimes feels like the only one who never moved on. She can't imagine what she'd do without the community of online fans that share her obsession. Or what her IRL friends would say if they ever found out about it. Then, one summer night, the unthinkable happens: Grace meets her idol, Jes. What starts out as an elusive glimpse of Fever Dream's world turns into an unlikely romance, and leads her to confront dark, complex truths about herself and the realities of stardom. (Goodreads)

I don't really have anything much to say about this book except that it was entertaining. I wasn't in love with it, but it was something that I really enjoyed. If you are a fan of boy bands, this might be a book for you. Nothing was what it seemed behind the scene, and it was an eye opener for the main character.

We Come Apart by Sarah Crossan and Brian Conaghan (Bloomsbury, 2017)

SynopsisNicu has emigrated from Romania and is struggling to find his place in his new home. Meanwhile, Jess's home life is overshadowed by violence. When Nicu and Jess meet, what starts out as friendship grows into romance as the two bond over their painful pasts and hopeful futures. But will they be able to save each other, let alone themselves? (Goodreads)

-I usually like Sarah Crossan's books, but this was the first one that took me forever to read. She usually incorporates heavy themes in her books, but this was overkill. There's arranged marriages, abusive relationships, bullying, among other things. I get that, but when she adds attempted assault to the lives of two miserable people? Overkill.

-There was too much things going on in this book. While I wanted both Nicu and Jess to have better lives, but it seems like what I got from the book is that if you have a crappy life, chances are your life isn't going to change.

I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter by Erika L. Sanchez (Alfred A Knopf, 2017)

Synopsis Perfect Mexican daughters do not go away to college. And they do not move out of their parents’ house after high school graduation. Perfect Mexican daughters never abandon their family.But Julia is not your perfect Mexican daughter. That was Olga’s role. Then a tragic accident on the busiest street in Chicago leaves Olga dead and Julia left behind to reassemble the shattered pieces of her family. And no one seems to acknowledge that Julia is broken, too. Instead, her mother seems to channel her grief into pointing out every possible way Julia has failed. But it’s not long before Julia discovers that Olga might not have been as perfect as everyone thought. With the help of her best friend Lorena, and her first kiss, first love, first everything boyfriend Connor, Julia is determined to find out. Was Olga really what she seemed? Or was there more to her sister’s story? And either way, how can Julia even attempt to live up to a seemingly impossible ideal? (Goodreads)

- It took forever to pick up the pace. The first 160 pages were spent with her bemoaning her life. It picks up for 20 pages, then spirals down again to another rant fest on how terrible her life is.

- I’m starting to think that the way Julia was written and how she is supposed to be perceived is deliberate. There are unlikable characters that you root for, and there are unlikable characters that you don’t really care for. Julia falls in the latter. All she did was complain, and while I understand that she is a teenager and everyone has a different familial life, did the author really have to spend a lot of pages to establish how terrible Julia thinks her life and everything around her really are? I think a chapter or two would be sufficient, and the story can move on to what the synopsis promised.

+/- The whole rambling feeling of the book, with Julia blurting out sentence after sentence, and thought after thought sounds like how a normal person would usually converse with themselves. However, it wasn’t a format that I enjoyed, mostly because it took forever for the story to go somewhere.

As of writing, I have finished 2/3 of the book, and nothing promised in the synopsis was still there. I thought this would be a book about sisterhood and finding and understanding your identity. I think everything that made me want to read this book would be squeezed in at the last 30-40 pages or so. Even if it does end up to be a really good part, I don’t think I can recommend this book at all. I think there are other similar books that can talk about these topics in a more direct and elegant way. This isn’t one of them. While I am tempted to not finish the book, I have read way too much of it to stop now.

Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard: The Ship of the Dead by Rick Riordan (Disney-Hyperion, 2017)

The third book in the Magnus Chase series, this brings the conclusion of Magnus' adventures with his friends. After the events of the second book, Magnus and his team must sail across the ocean in order to get to Loki and defeat him.

+ More character arcs are invovlved in Magnus' story, thus spending more time in comparison.

+/- While I think this is a pro on the other characters, it is a general con on Magnus' (and the book) part because everyone else overshadows him, and this is supposed to be his story. In terms of interesting back stories, everyone else's seem to be richer than the main character, even if he is presented as the hero of the story.

+ This was a good conclusion, even if it wasn't extremely action-packed.

- This was long for a book that didn't have much going on.

+ Skadi is awesome and seems like one cool character.

- Not necessarily the book's con, but I had a hard time remembering what happened in the previous book. I'm late to the Rick Riordan party and most of the series have been in circulation when I started trading. This series was released simultaneouly with the Apollo books that the events kind of jumbled around. I know they're dealing with different gods, but the series are the same to its core.

My expectations for this is to entertain me, and it did. I wonder if they will do a crossover of some sort in Riordan's other series.