A Monster Calls was amazing in the complexity it conveyed through a simple story. I really wasn’t expecting it to be so heart-wrenching, let alone a cathartic read. Aimed at a much younger reader than I am, I thought I’d walk away liking this book, at best. Middle Grade to Young Adult books for younger teens rarely hold my attention anymore the way they used to, so I tend to avoid them.
THE INVISIBLE LIBRARY by Genevieve Cogman
Suspense is essential to propel a plot forward. It’s what fiction is made of as readers want to know, what happens next? An effective way to build suspense is to withhold information, make the reader guess, then reveal things later. That’s exactly what The Invisible Library sought to do. However, that for me, also was the downfall of the book. Too much information was withheld, to the point that there was little for me to hang on to. Instead of wanting to know what would happen next, I found myself asking what the point was.
THE HERO OF AGES by Brandon Sanderson
With such a stellar conclusion to the first Mistborn trilogy, The Hero of Ages has firmly established itself as one of my favourite books. The trilogy consistently wowed me and I can’t stop emphasising the sheer brilliance of it. There is no other trilogy in which I rated all three books with 5 stars. That’s why I’m absolutely glad I picked it up despite my initial reservations. Thanks to these books, I have made it my quest to read Brandon Sanderson’s other works. He’s clearly a master plotter dedicated to his craft. There’s something to be said about the complexity of the worlds he’s capable of building.
THE GIRL AT MIDNIGHT by Melissa Grey
The overlapping elements between The Girl at Midnight and Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor is uncanny. If you’ve read and loved DoSaB, you may be overjoyed that there’s another book out there with similar tropes. On the flip side, you may not like it at all because DoSaB was built with much more lyrical prose.
ARISTOTLE AND DANTE DISCOVER THE SECRETS OF THE UNIVERSE by Benjamin Alire Sáenz
Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe was beautiful! I’ve had the hardcover on my bookshelves for over two years. I also knew that Lin-Manuel Miranda was an excellent narrator. But the more people told me to read it, the more I put it off. Yes, I blame my irrational brain. I wanted to read it but then I refused because others encouraged me to. Thankfully, Hazel picked it for our June Epic Recs, so I couldn’t deny her pick. I went on to alternate between print and audio.
