Breathe To Read

Breathe To Read

Wednesday, November 30, 2022

Book: Guardians

 Book: Guardians

Author: Susan Kim

Pages: 432




This is my 89th read for the year

This is the third and final book in the Wasteland Trilogy.  Esther and her friends are now in control of the District - Montreal.  Tucked safe from the outside world and the harmful rains, the group settles into a pattern of daily life.  They have a flourishing garden, a way to clean the water, and plenty of food to eat.  However a leader of another group - Gideon - wants more power. And with that power comes danger for the whole group.  Esther and her friends must figure out how to protect themselves and their way of life.

This book was the worst of the three.  It was all over the place.  It moved in jerking forward motion - sometimes leaping without any kind of warning.  A lot of things didn't make sense.  When a 9 year old gains power of the group, you are left wondering how.  Esther wants to be "partnered" so many times it will make your head spin.  The book wraps up nicely a bit into the future, which I will give it credit for.  But overall - just poor writing.

Stars: 2


Tuesday, November 29, 2022

Book: Wanderers

 Book: Wanderers

Author: Susan Kim

Pages: 368


This is my 88th read for the year

This is the second novel in the Wasteland trilogy.  Esther and her friends are still in Prin at the beginning of this story.  Food is running out, tensions are high, and then an earthquake hits.  Esther and her clan hit the road hoping to find a place that is safe.  When they come across Montreal, they think they have found Heaven on Earth.  What they don't see is what is hidden in the shadows.

This book was not that great.  I am plugging through this because I do love apocolytic novels - especially trilogies.  So I sometimes find myself reading bad ones all the way through despite my better judgement.  The story hops all over the place and feels disjointed.  None of the characters make that much sense.  The main character is supposed to be someone everyone looks up to, but she is hard to like.

Eh - I am going to listen to the third one.  It gives me something to do when I am doing mundane tasks.  But I won't count this among my apocolyptic favorites.

Stars: 2.5


Sunday, November 20, 2022

Book: Wasteland

 Book: Wasteland

Author: Susan Kim

Pages: 352


This is my 87h read for the year

This is the story of Esther.  In a post-apocolytic United States, all that are left are children.  Those children only live until the age of 19 and then they die.  Something has poisoned the rain and the water, and no matter how much they try to avoid it, eventually the sickness comes for them all.

Esther lives in a city called Prin, which is run by the older teenagers in the group.  Every day is a looming threat of disease, hunger, and attacks by outsiders called variants (children born that are neither male or female at birth).  But Esther just wants to live a normal life while she can - hang out with her best friend and her sister, and avoid having to work hard.  She becomes an outside in the society, but soon meets Caleb and he changes everything.  Soon Esther has something worth fighting for.

This is an okay book.  I actually found it by accident at my library while I was looking for something else.  I love a good apocolyptic story line. The writing isn't great, but it was an interesting enough story.  It is how I assume kids would run things who are under the age of 19 and trying to figure out how to survive and create future generations. 

This is a trilogy, so I think I will at least try the second book to see where it is going. 

Stars: 3.5



Tuesday, November 15, 2022

Book: On Rotation

 Book: On Rotation

Author: Shirlene Obuobi

Pages: 352


This is my 86th read for the year

This is a story about Angela.  She is a medical student who is trying to decide what type of doctor she wants to be.  After a big test where she didn't do as well as she needed to, she finds herself wallowing in a park when a man approaches her and asks if he can draw her.  This starts a whirlwind path that she never expected to be on.  Trying to concentrate on school and figure out if this new man in her life, Ricky, is the real deal or just another fling.  In the midst of trying to get through medical school and settle her future, she just doesn't know if she has time to fall head over heals.

This book was dumb.  There isn't another word for it.  I wanted to like it -thought it was going to be more medical.  But it was like two 13 year old kids struggling with school, life and problems, instead of two grown adults.  The writing was not great.  I cannot believe I finished it, but honestly it is the season of terrible (yet wonderful) Hallmark Christmas movies, so I just read the whole thing.

Not worth it.

Stars: 2


Saturday, November 12, 2022

Book: The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street

 Book: The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street

Author: Karina Yan Glaser

Pages: 320


This is my 85th read for the year

This is the story of the 5 Vanderbeeker children.  They live in a cozy Brownstone in New York, and it has been home for their whole lives.  One day their parents got a notice from the landlord - who lives on the top floor - that their lease will not be renewed and they need to be out right after Christmas.  The whole family is distraut and the children make it their mission to convince the landlord they should be allowed to stay.  Things go from bad to worse in their efforts, and just when all hope seems lost, the children discover a secret about the landlord that changes everything.

This is a cute book.  I don't know how it ended up in my Scribd library, but decided to check it out and I am glad I did.  IT is a late elementary/early middle school grade book (and it shows), but it was fun and light.  There is a whole series so if you have kids around the 3rd-7th grade level, I would recommend this for them.

Stars: 4


Sunday, November 6, 2022

Book: The Book Eaters

 Book: The Book Eaters

Author: Sunyi Dean

Pages: 304


This is my 84th read for the year

This is the story of Devon.  Part of a clan that only eats books instead of food, she is on a mission to save her child.  Devon, a coveted woman in the clan that hardly ever gives birth to daughters, has a son who is born with a rare condition that craves human minds instead of books.  On the run to keep him safe and to find a cure called Redemption, Devon looks for people who can keep she and her son safe.

This was an okay book.  It is an original idea, which drew me to give it a try.  But the story fell short for me.  Because Devon spends most of the book looking for a cure for her son, we don't get to learn as much about book eaters as we do about mind eaters.  And that wasn't as interesting in my opinion.  I didn't love most of the characters.  Even Devon's little boy was hard to relate to because at 5 years old he spoke like a grown up because of all the adult minds he had eaten to stay alive.  It didn't make him relatable.  It is a dark story as well - a lot of maiming and murder.  Again - not a fault, just a warning.

This is a great concept.  I loved the idea.  I just wish it had been better executed.  I can see why the reviews are all over the place.

Stars: 3