Heartless
by Marissa Meyer
I was so excited for this book. I loved Marisa Meyer's Lunar Chronicles series. A prequel to Alice in Wonderland sounded like a fun route to go after the conclusion of her first series. However, I just didn't have the same reaction to this book as I did to the Lunar Chronicles. I can't put my finger on what it was about the book that just didn't sit in the same way with me. I didn't care for the characters as much, I couldn't imagine the world as much, and I didn't fall into the story as much. Maybe it's a perfectly fine book, but going into the reading of it with Lunar Chronicles in the back of my mind, I couldn't help but be let down a bit.
Wires and Nerve
by Marissa Meyer
After being let down by Heartless, this book brought my spirits back up. This is a graphic novel sequel to the Lunar Chronicles series. The story follows Iko helping Earth with the aftermath of the series and dealing with being a unique android. All the main characters from the series have a feature in this book so you can see what happened to them and what they are up to. Some characters have more of a prominent role than others, so I would love to have seen more from some of the others, but there is a Part 2 coming out soon. As someone who isn't the biggest reader of graphic novels, I thought it was a fun and quick read. The characters weren't quite like I imagined in my head, but it wasn't distracting, and made it fun to see the story played out in pictures. Now I just have to countdown to Part 2!
By Your Side
by Kasie West
Kasie West is an author I always preorder her books once I see that there's a new one coming out. She writes fun, simple, clean YA stories. I feel comfortable having her books in my classroom library because even though she deals with high school characters, she keeps it clean enough that I don't have to worry about levels of appropriateness. This book is about a girl who gets locked into a library over a long weekend by accident and finds out she's not alone -- there's a boy with a bad reputation stuck in there too. This book was entertaining and I appreciated how, unlike some of her other books, this one gave the main male character development and his own arc. However, I can't say I loved this one. I just felt like some of the plot points and storylines didn't play out well. One of my best friends read this book too and we disagree on our opinions. I would rank this low on the list of Kasie West's books -- she would rank this up at the top as one of her bests. I guess you will have to read it and decide it for yourself.
A Monster Calls
by Patrick Ness
Out of the four books in this post, this is the only one that's not "new". It came out in 2011. I never read it, but I am also one of those people who always wants to read the book before seeing the movie version. This book deliver exactly what it promised -- a gut wrenching tear jerker. The story is about a boy who's mother is sick with cancer. He is struggling to deal with it, and a Monster comes and tells him stories, that at the end deliver a message to him. Quick read that stays with you. I can't even imagine how it will play out on the screen. I knew there was a Monster that comes to the boy, but I didn't except so much of it to be stories told. It causes the book to feel a bit didactic at times and I fear can be a turn off for some students. But then again, this book is not for everyone. The other day a student told me she loved books that make her cry, so of course I had to recommend this book. You need to be ready for a book like this.
