Tag: middle grade

REVIEW: The Dreadful Tale of Prosper Redding – Alexandra Bracken

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33785202Title: The Dreadful Tale of Prosper Redding (The Dreadful Tale of Prosper Redding #1)
Author: Alexandra Bracken
Rating: ★★★★

ARC received through NetGalley.

This was such a fun read! It’s middle grade, but I totally enjoyed it nonetheless and I really think readers of all ages will enjoy it. The Dreadful Tale of Prosper Redding is the perfect read for the fall. The story features witches, demons, Salem, curses, pumpkins, and other magical creatures that definitely put me in the mood for Halloween!

The story is very well written; it’s creepy and mysterious, but light-hearted and humorous at the same time, which can be hard to execute but Bracken does it perfectly. It features the perfect cast of characters, and I loved both the main character, Prosper, and his inner monologues with Alastor, the fiend. 

The ending is a bit of a cliffhanger, but I really enjoyed this and I’m looking forward to reading the sequel!

Book Traveling Thursdays #9 – Freebie Week

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Book Traveling Thursdays is a weekly meme hosted by Danielle @ Danielle’s Book Blog and Cátia @ The Girl Who Read Too Much. Each week, you pick a book related to the theme and choose different editions of the cover: the original cover, the cover from your country (if different from the original), your favorite cover, and your least favorite cover. To see more information and a list of themes check out the Goodreads page!

This week is a freebie week, which is almost worst because it took me forever to decide which book to feature! I decided to choose a book most of us all know and love: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. Although I only have one set of Harry Potter books, I’m a believer that one cannot have too many copies of the series. The Scholastic 15th Anniversary editions and Bloomsbury 20th Anniversary Hogwarts House editions are both stunning, and I can’t wait until the day they join my bookshelf!

ORIGINAL COVER – UK Edition

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COVER FROM YOUR COUNTRY – US Edition

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FAVORITE COVER – Scholastic 15th Anniversary Edition

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LEAST FAVORITE COVER – Finnish Edition

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REVIEW: Risuko – David Kudler (ARC)

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Title: Risuko
Author: David Kudler
Rating: ★★★

ARC received through NetGalley.

The first thing that drew me to Risuko was that beautiful cover. I literally could not resist founding out more about this book once I saw it. The plot seemed pretty interesting enough so I decided to give this a try. The book is actually geared more towards Middle Grade readers than Young Adults, but besides that, I found it all together enjoyable. I don’t know much about Japanese culture or history so it was very interesting for me to read and learn.

The first part of the book was a bit slow, but picked up and was considerably better in the latter half. A lot of the book is focused on Risuko doing menial tasks, and while it was honestly a little boring at times, I think it served a purpose. The author is clearly building towards other books, and I believe the small, inconsequential chores we were reading about will later become important to her training and her character development. One thing I really liked was the struggle between Risuko’s new role as a kunoichi and her personal mantra to “do no harm”. As the books continue, there will be a internal struggle for her to resolve. I also have to say that although I typically don’t care for storylines about side characters, I found myself loving the tension between Mieko and Masugu. From the beginning, I wanted to know more about what was going on! What’s the story there? Tell me more!

I do wish the book had more action in it. A book about young ladies learning to fight for a war? Yes, please! But I’m sure this book was just a premise to the next, in which I hope is more fast paced with more action. If I was younger, I probably would have rated the book higher. I do think Risuko will be a big hit with other people and a young audience!