Your Reviews

Read a book, saw a movie, played a game and loved it?  Hated it?
Send in a review* by clicking the "Submit a Review" link, and I'll post it here!  (Not that this is my sneaky way of trying to figure out what my next read should be or anything.)

*Novel-length reviews are completely awesome and will happily be accepted, but this isn't school!  Reviews can be as short as a sentence or two.



Title: The Book of Spells: A Private Prequel
Author: Kate Brian
Review: 
I've never read Private, and my friend says it's pretty bad, but she said that this book was great, so I tried it.

It's about girls at a private school in 1915. They find a book of spells and start a coven of witches.

It all plays out innocently enough, but then it all goes dark. Naturally, I read the dark part under the covers with a flashlight. It creeped me out so much that I had to sleep with a stuffed animal for the first time since-actually Crosscurrent (see below). Why do I pick such creepy books??? Why do I read creepy books at night?

One of the girls in the coven dies, but to say anymore would give away the ending.

Rating: 4 - It was good

Reviewed by: 
Grace, age 13, on 7/15/13

"Why do I pick such creepy books??? Why do I read creepy books at night?" -- Funny! I do the same thing!  Maybe we secretly enjoy being so creeped out? -TR

Title: Star Wars: The New Jedi Order: Agents of Chaos: Jedi Eclipse
Author: James Luceno
Review: 
This book was so good!!! It is the 5th(?????) book in the New Jedi Order series, about extragalactic alien invaders.

Things look pretty grim at the start of this book. Han is AWOL, Wurth Skidder is captured by the enemy, and Corellia is trying to rearm Centerpoint Station. It is pretty morbid and grim throughout and it ends in tragedy. 

Leia gets the Hapans to send a fleet of Battle Dragons to battle they Yuzhaan Vong. I'm guessing that none of you are going to go out and read any of the books I review, so I'll go ahead and give away the ending. Anakin Solo refuses to fire Centerpoint and use the Force to make the beam hit its target, so Thracken Sal-Solo fires it without the Force and destroys the Battle Dragons as well as the Vong. Like I said, what a bright, cheerful read!

Rating: 4 - It was good

Reviewed by: 
Grace, age 13, on 7/10/13



Title: Mouse Guard: Fall of 1152
Author: David Petersen
Review: 
It was a pretty good Graphic Novel. It was very short and fast paced
Rating: 4 - It was good

Reviewed by: 
jfreeze17, age 12, 7/9/13



Title: Star Wars: Darth Plagueis
Author: James Luceno
Review: 
This book is AMAZING!!!!!! If you've ever wondered anything about Palpatine's training as a Sith, or about his master; or if you just like the Prequel Trilogy; READ THIS BOOK RIGHT NOW!!! There are so many twists and turns that you do NOT expect.
Rating: 5 - AMAZING! GO GET IT NOW!

Reviewed by:
Grace, age 13, on 7/5/13



Title: Star Wars: The New Jedi Order: Agents of Chaos I: Hero's Trial
Author: James Luceno
Review: 
I've read this book before, but it only started to make me think this time. It starts out with Chewbacca's funeral. Afterwards, you see how shattered Han is. I think it's implied that he was considering suicide, but I'm not sure. He ends up running away with an old friend and meets the Yuuzhan Vong when they attack the space station he's on.

The characters of Elan and Vergere were appropriately confusing. Vergere is an enigma. In later books of this series, she appears to be a "good guy," but in another series she seems to have started Jacen down the path to the Dark Side. Anyway, Elan says she has information on an illness that the YV introduced to the galaxy. Is it Mara's bizarre disease? Vergere gives Han a vial of tears that will do...No one knows. But Mara feels a Force connection to the vial and drinks it...And it begins to cure her disease!!!!

There's a scene where Mara tells Luke something that made me think a very sad thought: Mara knew Luke's father better than Luke did. :( For those of you who don't know, Mara was in service to the Empire before she turned to the Light Side and married Luke!!!

Rating: 4 - It was good

Reviewed by: 
Grace, age 13, on 7/4/13



Title: Both Sides of Time
Author:
Review: 
This book...hasn't aged well. Though the concept is great-a romantic accidentally time travels to the 1890s-the book itself falls flat from bad writing and overdone "modernness." Yes, we know our heroine is from the 1990s. PLEASE STOP RUBBING IT IN.
Rating: 1

Reviewed by:
Adrianne, age 17, on 5/31/13



Title: Star Wars: Crosscurrent
Author: Paul S. Kemp
Review: This book starts out amazing. A five-thousand year old Sith ship makes a bad hyperspace jump, resulting in it traveling 5,000 years into the future. A Jedi, Jaden Korr, hears a distress beacon in a Force vision. He meets some junkers; they become great friends. He helps the 5,000 year old Jedi.

Then, the book just...goes bad. The Sith ship is the core of the story, but that wraps itself up _while the protagonist is somewhere else._ Jaden and one of the junkers answer the distress beacon, but what happens next is more like something out of a low-budget horror flick than the gripping conclusion you would expect from Star Wars. There is a character, Kell, that only even exists to put Jaden in constant peril-like he isn't already.

This book starts out amazing and provokes much thought into complex physics, quantum leaps, and what hyperspace really is. But the horrific ending makes it not worth purchasing. If your library has it, go ahead and read it for the first 90%. If they don't, forget about it. Don't bother buying it yourself or even getting an interlibrary loan.
Rating: 2 - It was pretty bad
Reviewed by: Grace, age 13, on 6/29/2013



Title: Becoming Holmes
Author: Shane Peacock
Review: I liked this book a whole lot, and finished it the same day I checked it out.  I recently borrowed my sister's ten pound Annotated Sherlock Holmes and enjoyed it very much, but this added a whole new layer to everything Sherlockian.  Seeing what it was like to grow up as Sherlock Holmes and where he got to the point he did was immensely engrossing, and seeing how the other characters from the original Conan Doyle stories tied into his life was also entirely entertaining.  I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys the adventures of Sherlock Holmes, TV or books, and also to those who have never read any.
Rating: 5
Reviewed by:
Bregalad the Ent, age 15, on 6/28/2013


Title: The Ghost and the Goth
Author: Stacey Kade
Review: This is a pretty good book. It is about a popular girl who dies and only the goth boy can see her ghost. Expect a lot of creepy appearances by "Gus," the ghost of-Hey! I'm not going to say it! You have to read the book and find out who Gus is!
Rating: 4 - It was good
Reviewed by: Grace, age 13, on 6/24/2013



Title: The Alchemyst
Author: Michael Scott
Review: You will love this book if you like mythology or fantasy. It is so good that I read it for 4 hrs. one day!
Rating: 5 - AMAZING, GO GET IT NOW!
Reviewed by: jfreeze17, age 11, on 6/22/2013



Title: RollerCoaster Tycoon III
Author: Atari Interactive
Review: I've never seen anything but book reviews, but you said read/watched/played/listened to, so this is something I've played.

RollerCoaster Tycoon III boasts the same incredible features as the first two versions of the game. However, it also has much better graphics, though it sacrifices the intuitive interface. This is sim games at their best. You must succeed as an Apprentice and Entrepreneur before becoming a RollerCoaster Tycoon. Build your theme park with fantastic rides, I've never counted, but I'd hesitate a guess at about 100-150 ride options. Not interested in being a Career RollerCoaster Tycoon? Try the new Sandbox Mode-Sort of like Creative Mode on Minecraft. You have unlimited funds and land like a blank canvas. Build your dream park with no restrictions. Create your family and friends to visit your park with the new Peep Designer! I have a group with all my friends and favorite book characters-By far the largest group in the parks! Ride your own rides with CoasterCam, set off fireworks with MixMaster, if you have the Soaked Expansion Pack, you can build pools and waterslides! If you have the Wild expansion pack, you can have wild animals! This is a colassal step up from the first and second version of the game. If you like RollerCoasters, and if you like sim games, try RollerCoaster Tycoon III!!! And sorry if this sounds too much like an ad, I get very formal-sounding when I'm passionate about something.
Rating: 5 - AMAZING, GO GET IT NOW!
Reviewed by: Grace, age 13, on 6/20/2013



Title: Star Wars: Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader
Author: James Luceno
Review: This book is about Darth Vader coming to terms with his Sith identity. To do this, he has to kill any Jedi that survived Order 66. This is portrayed quite tastefully, if murder can be tasteful. Despite the evil nature of Vader, there is still a moment at the beginning of the book (The This is not living part) that is incredibly sad to read, and makes you so empathetic towards the Jedi Anakin should have been. If you liked Revenge of the Sith, you should read this and Labyrinth of Evil. Labyrinth is the prequel, and this is the sequel.
Rating: 4 - It was good
Reviewed by: Grace, age 13, on 6/20/2013



Title: Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith
Author: Michael Stover
Review: Revenge of the Sith is my favorite movie. Ever. This novelization is just incredible.

Being a book, there is much more room for scenes not in the movie. There are lots of scenes that just fill out the story perfectly.

This is the most emotionally intense book I have ever read in my life. Being a book, you can see exactly how deep Obi-Wan and Anakin's friendship is, and how shattered Obi-Wan is when Anakin is dark. You can feel how deeply Padme loves Anakin, and how heartbroken she is when he goes dark. You can see Anakin thinking about Palpatine's words and you can see that he does it all because he truly loves Padme, and you can see how much pain he is in throughout. You can know exactly how Palpatine traps the Jedi, you can see how he alienates Anakin and you can feel exactly how torn Anakin is between his friendship with Palpatine and his friendship with Obi-Wan.

There is a lot more mushy romancey stuff in this book than in the movie, but it just makes you feel how much Anakin loves Padme and how much he is willing to give for her.

I will admit to having cried multiple times during the course of reading this.
Rating: 5 - AMAZING, GO GET IT NOW!
Reviewed by: Grace, age 13, on 6/16/2013



Title: Star Wars: Labyrinth of Evil
Author: James Luceno
Review: This book is set immediatly before Revenge of the Sith. Anakin and Obi-Wan are on the Outer Rim Seiges that Padme talks about in ROTS. Mace Windu and Shaak Ti find evidance that points to Darth Sidious as one of Palpatine's inner circle (hmm. I wonder...). This book mainly focuses on Obi-Wan and Anakin's friendship and camaraderie. (Yay! I spelled that right without spell check!) If you know what is coming in ROTS, this makes it very sad. There is a little romance, but as Padme is stuck on Coruscant, it doesn't really get beyond heart-wrenching longing. Being Star Wars, it is full of action. The characters are amazing, the emotions are real, and you get sucked into it immediately!
Rating: 5 - AMAZING, GO GET IT NOW!
Reviewed by: Grace, age 13, on 6/16/2013



Title: Artemis Fowl and the Time Paradox
Author: Eoin Colfer
Review: You must read the first books first. The time paradox and the rest of the Artemis Fowl series have good twists and turns
Rating: 4 - It's good
Reviewed by: jfreeze17, age 11, on 6/15/2013



Title: Eye of the Crow
Author: Shane Peacock
Review: I love this book.  I absolutely love it.  Though I will admit  I started reading it as a way to lessen the effects of the disease known as "Chronic BBC Sherlock Season Three Deprivation"  it has proceeded much beyond that.  Peacock's stories are so rich and packed with stuff that it is impossible to put it down, and the people are true to life and believable.  If you suffer as well from season three deprivation, or just want a good book to read, you cannot go wrong with this one.
Rating: 5
Reviewed by: Peregrin Took on 6/13/2013
(I too VERY MUCH suffer from Chronic BBC Sherlock Season Three Deprivation!  Way to end on the biggest, most amazing cliffhanger ever, then make us wait forever for the next season!  Will have to pick up this book for sure. -TR)


Title: 
The Cupid Chronicles

Author: Colleen Murtagh Paratore
Review: Okay: I love "The Wedding Planner's Daughter," the first book in this series. Love love love it. It's romantic, it's sweet, it ends happily.  But then...this book...everything seems to suddenly go dark. Cape Cod is this glum place, our heroine is suddenly this brooding stereotypical teen instead of the awesome person she was before, the marriage that ended the first book doesn't seem so terrific now, and a major character gets screwed over. I can't believe Paratore took her own book and made it such a depression-fest. Read the first book and then RUN!
Rating: 1 - Run away!
Reviewed by: Adrianne on 5/31/2013
(I love this review....So funny! -TR)



Title: Catch 22
Author: Joseph Heller
Review: 
As told by the title this is where we get the saying Catch-22, a law saying that you can go home from a war if you're crazy, but you have to ask to be sent home.  By asking to be sent home you show you have a survival instinct, therefore are not crazy and you have to stay in combat.  The book itself is about a bombardier who wants to go home and his attempts to get out of duty.  If you have seen M.A.S.H. there are many similarities to it.Rating: 4
Reviewed by: Stormageddon, age 15, on 5/11/2013

9 comments:

  1. "Fool Moon" by Jim Butcher.
    AMAZINGNESS. I'm going to hog the library's Harry Dresden books now :3

    ReplyDelete
  2. Never read it, but I LOVE getting graphic novel recommendations. Definitely on my TBR list!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Is it okay if I submit reviews even though I'm not at APL?

    ReplyDelete
  4. Sorry, the Revenge of the Sith novelization is by Matthew Stover, not Michael Stackpole

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Matthew Stover, not Michael Stover. I confused two guys who have the same initials and write a lot of Star Wars.

      Delete
  5. Will book reviews from the reading program be posted here?

    ReplyDelete