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Ranking History Mystery
Everyone knows American Girl, but in a brief space in the early 2000s, they branched out to two other series. The History Mysteries series is aimed more for older lower-schoolers and middle schoolers with slightly darker themes like racism, discrimination, and murder. Of course, mysteries are at their core too. These were my favorites as they kept me at the edge of my seat and here are some of my favorites.
(more…)#alisonhart, #americangirl, #barbarasteiner, #betrayalatcrosscreek, #circleoffire, #dangeratthewildwestshow, #eleanorae.tate, #elizabethmcdavidjones, #enemyinthefort, #evelyncoleman, #gangstersatthegrandatlantic, #ghostlightongraveyardshoal, #historicalfiction, #historymystery, #hollyhughes, #hoofbeatsofdanger, #katherineayers, #kathleenernst, #kathrynreiss, #meganmcdonald, #mysteryatchilkootpass, #mysteryofthedarktower, #mysteryonskullisland, #nightflyers, #riddleoftheprariebride, #sarahmastersbuckley, #secretson26thstreet, #shadowsintheglasshouse, #theministrel'smelody, #thesmuggler'streasure, #thestrangecaseofbabyh, #troubleatfortlapointe, #undercoppshill, #voicesatwhispersbend, #watcherinpineywoods, #whistlerinthedark -
Beautiful Chaos Review
After the events of the summer, Ethan, Lena and all their loved ones are dealing with the consequences of their actions as this southern gothic turns to the End of Days.
Garcia and Stohl jump right into the the dire state of Gatlin with plagues of locusts or lubbers as they are dubbed, heat burning the asphalt, Amma’s going dark and worse, the casters’ powers going out of whack. It’s all very Biblical and Gatlins’ mortal citizens react accordingy with extra mass and stocking up the bunkers for the time when the Devil arrives for Final Judgement.
The Devil being Abraham Ravenwood and his nasty co-horts who want to use this convenient chaos to bring about the New Order, wiping out the inferior Light Casters. Only Abraham is messing with beings larger than himself for it is repeated ominously throughout the book, “The Wheel of Fate crushes us all.”
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American Girl Retrospective
Since I have almost finished my American Girl collection (4 more to go, woo woo), I decided to do a little retrospective on the series that has touched so many childhoods and have surely sparked my interest in historical fiction.
My retrospective will be primarily focusing on the arc of the series since they’re pretty formulaic with some exceptions like Kaya, Julie, etc. In fact, I was pretty surprised when I was reading to find the character arcs that spread out across the book. It’s always amazing when you’re able to find new layers in the books you read and I’m also able to find greater historical connections now that I missed when I was little.
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Books for Women’s History Month
It’s women’s history month again! And since last year I did a 8 part series of books one can read, I’m just relisting them here. You can search the tags by title or author to check out my thoughts and summaries on them. But basically one could choose to read a book a day for the entire month so you’ll be very filled with the history of what women can do.
And that’s not all. I may have consumed a fair amount of women’s history books but there are still more coming out, and I’ll be writing about them here because there’s always more to learn.
(more…)#academics, #amazonsabolitionistsandactivists, #americasfirstladies, #anathologies, #anathologyofamazingwomen, #annmccallumstaats, #annshen, #badgirls, #beautyqueens, #becauseIwasagirl, #blackgirlsrock, #brazen, #bygonebadassbroads, #comics, #dangerousbooksforgirls, #deadfeminists, #doesmybodyoffendyou, #dynamicdames, #extraordinarymothersanddaughters, #femmemagnifique, #frontiergrit, #girlhood, #girlsquad, #girlswhogreen, #girlswhoruntheworld, #goodgirlsandwickedwitches, #goodnightstoriesforrebelgirls, #grandesdreamers, #graphicnovels, #imaginingourselves, #inpraisefordifficultwomen, #inthelineoffire, #janeagainsttheworld, #jasonporath, #kateschatz, #lawbreakingladies, #leagueofextraordinarilyfunnywomen, #lorettaross, #middlegrade, #modernherstory, #monstershewrote, #moxie, #nativewomenchangingtheirworlds, #noisemakers, #nonfiction, #notyourprincess, #ourstoriesourvoices, #powerinnumbers, #rachelreads&reviews, #renegadewomeninfilmandtelevision, #reproductivejustice, #sammaggs, #shechangedcomics, #sherepresents, #shutin, #thebookofgutsywomen, #thegirlwhorodeashark, #theradicalelement, #tyrannyofpetticoats, #unscripted, #unsungheroinesoftheholocaust, #watchusrise, #wearedisplaced, #women'shistorymonth, #womeninscience, #womenofthepinetreestate, #YA, #yesshecan, #youtoo, #zingtsjeng -
Feb Books
Someone to Love by Melissa de la Cruz
Almost a companion to Something in Between, readers may remember Royce’s much nicer younger sister Olivia “Liv” Blakely. Now it’s four years later and the sweet kid is dealing with a tumultuous personal demon. Bulimia and cutting. The former is her way of making sure she’ll always be loved after her ex cruelly dumps her for gaining a few pounds. Now she’s determined to get her goal weight of 100, and maybe just maybe all the voices berating her for her stupidness, her selfishness and worthlessness will end.
But getting her crush to notice her is hardly the biggest thing in her life, her friendships are drifting and worst, her Dad has announced that he’ll campaign for Governor of California. She’ll be placed under the public’s scrutiny for the next two years and may have to move to Sacremento all while playing perfect politician’s daughter when she feels anything but.
De la Cruz does not sy away from the utter self-loathing and ugliness that bulimia wrecks on Liv’s self esteem and body. The way her throat aches, the hair falling out, the binging that Liv pushes herself through to throw it back up again as punishment and the constant reprimentions she gives herself. It’s like a never endng wave that it almost starts to feel like the book will have no help, perfectly echoing Liv’s mental state. It’s intense in how it immerses the reader in the turbulant mindset Liv is in, but realistic.
But there is hope even as Liv pushes people away and longs for some connection, some feeling of being loved yet her mind won’t let accept the people who are trying to get her to admit her problem actually care about her well-being and aren’t trying to ambush her. There’s no clear path or solution for Liv but de La Cruz makes it a worthwhile journey of self-love, highlighting how art and inspiration provide a fire for Liv even at her most desperate, and family as dysfunctional and distant as they are will be steadfast support. Plus it catches up with Jasmine and Royce as some readers will be happy to see.
Going Dark by Melissa de la Cruz
Like the one below, I feel like I can’t reveal much because it’s a mystery and it would be best for readers to see the unraveling of clues and backstories themselves so I’ll just summerize.
Amelia Ashley is one of the most popular youtubers and influencers but when she goes on a vacation in Rome, her boyfriend is the biggest suspect. Well he does have blood in his suitcase. But Harper is suspicious. Things aren’t adding up as she investigates more deeply into Amelia’s internet footprint and she starts to question who is Amelia Ashley? Does she even exist?
This is a fascinating mystery where almost no one is as they seem, integrating popular youtube videos/blog format with a suspenseful mystery back and forth as well interesting commentary about the disparate treatment of missing women of color and pretty white girls.
(more…)#balzerandbray, #beckyalbertalli, #belles, #bellestrilogy, #cleopatra'sdaughter, #courtneysummers, #crownpublishing, #feiwel&friends, #goingdark, #hachettebookgroup, #harlequinpublishing, #harlequinteen, #harpercollins, #I'mthegirl, #instantkarma, #jencalonita, #littlebrownbooksforyoungreaders, #marissameyer, #melissadelacruz, #michellemoran, #oliviaabtahi, #penguinrandomhouse, #perfectlyparvin, #poppy, #putnam'ssons, #rachelreads&reviews, #simonvsthesomosapiensagenda, #someonetolove, #st.martinspublishing, #thegrassisalwaysgreener, #theupsideofunrequited, #unionsquareandco, #winterwhite, #YA -
Princess Academy: The Forgotten Sisters
Well the final book in the Princess Academy trilogy brings things full circle as the quiet, short girl who defied everyone’s expectations (including her own) to graduate princess academy and defeat bandits has been recruited by the king to teach his three young cousins to be proper princesses before Danland goes to war.
As you can tell by the end of that sentence that Miri is not doing this by choice. In fact, she had just been about to depart for her beloved Mount Eskel when she’s rudely called back to court to be the royal tutor or else the king will sell Mount Eskel’s quarry to greedy merchants that will surely kick all of them out of their home. And again, there’s the aformentioned war with the bordering kingdom of Stora that has invaded Eris and is threatening to invade unless King Bjorn offers them a royal bride.
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Princess Academy: Palace of Stone Review
After enjoying the first novel, I was surprised to find out that there were two more books making it a trilogy, so of course I had to get into it.
Taking place almost a year since the events of the Academy and Britta’s engagement to Prince Steffan, the girls of Mount Estkel finally get to go to the lowlands to accompany Britta as ladies-in-waiting for a year. As Miri had learned from school, there is so much more to the world than just the quarry and their lider-songs. Now, she’s heading out to the world and it is a lot more complicated too.
Miri is the only one aware of the possible dangers waiting for them in Asland. Katar, former bully, now Mount Eskel’s delegate had written ahead of time that there’s trouble brewing and she needs Miri’s help. Once they arrive, the girls are wowed by the gilt, the largeness and the knowledge of music, medicine, history and more that they had never encountered before. Miri is the only chosen to go to Queen’s Academy with the expectation to carry the nowledge and learning for everyone so she can return to Mount Eskell and teach the villagers so they could improve their lives for the better just as she had with trading ideas.
There she learns that Mount Eskell has no history books as they are still considered lower than those populating the other provinces. She also classes in art, mathmatics and ethics, which the latter has an important plot point here. For the danger that Katar had been murmering about was possible revolution and assassination. The commoners/”the shoeless” are revolting against the favoritism given to nobles and higher tributes leading to starvation and poverty. The rich get richer, and the poor get nothing but the people are planning to put a stop to it by assassinating Britta who represents yet another noble lady stealing the chances of the poor with her lie back during her time in the academy.
Miri quickly gets swept up with the revolutionaries, invited in by the cute Timon and to the cerebral Sisela’s salons where she learns more about the unfairness between the classes, and the equality the “blue-bands” (as they’re soon dubbed thanks to Miri, inspired by her sky-blue colors) hope to wrought through violence. Yep, peace is not an option here. They believe that the revolution can only be successful if all the royals and nobles are executed or else they’ll return with foreign help to execute all of them. Yes, it’s very French Revolution-Reign of Terror and I love it. It raises the stakes as Miri struggles to find a solution to what seems like an impossible problem, an ethical conundrum if you will as she worries about the threat of her family in Mount Eskell facing poverty and starvation again as well as Britta whom the revolutionaries want to kill as the inciting spark.
I can’t say more than that but Hale skillfully weaves these questions of ethics and revolution with Miri’s personal turmoil of whether or not she will stay in Asland once the year is up. In fact, a painting of a commoner girl staring at the moon echoes this thread, Miri interpreting it different depending on her feelings at the moment. Plus her additional romantic triangle manages to keep me guessing and doesn’t feel tedious as both boys touch certain parts of Miri’s personality and her ambitions for life.
Miri continues to be a worthwhile protagonist and other supporting characters like Peder, Britta and even the king and queen who initially seem like distant, oblivious royals turn out to be more three-dimensional than they seem and concern the question of legacy. And another bit of lore building that relates to the title which I can’t spoil.
I think I’ve said a lot about spoilers so I’ll wrap it up here by concluding that I admire how Hale matured this book to match the characters, upping the stakes, introducing new conflicts and created a more lived in world and characters to populate it. So I’m very excited to see read the sequel here. Oh, and once more the traditional songs, Queen Academy poems, and folklore play an important part in emphasizing and forshadowing important beats.
Overall, a wonderful sequel that elevates the world of Princess Academy with real world parallels to history and ethics that changes the game.
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Happy Anniversary
It’s official! It’s been one whole year since I started this blog. I’ve done 24 interviews, 415 posts and I’ve definately read a lot of books.
So to celebrate let’s think about special books. I, for one, still remember the first book I got from the public library. Of course I can’t find the exact title now but I remember it vividly. It was a lower school retelling of what I now recognized as the myth of Midas and his golden touch (always been into Greek mythology. But in this case, I just chose it because of the dog on the cover). It was all about a poor boy who gets the chance to turn things into gold, sprucing up his scruffy appearance so people will no longer make fun of him. But when he turns his dog into gold, he realizes love is more important than gold any time.
Another one was this Strawberry Shortcake World of Friends book. You know how franchises make cash grab books and dvds and all that so it has little plot but more focused on sharing recipes like tea, hot cocoa and crepes. I know, so exotic. But I was 5. I remember I insisting on using it with my mom so we could make a “professional” meal for my grandparents.
So what books provide special memories for you? Comment below?
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Ranking Desperate Duchesses
And they’re not desperate as the title might make you think. We’re in the Georgian era people and unlike the stuffy ton, the parties are more decadent, the games, the rich more careless and everyone is out for their own pleasure. Yes, I say pleasure. All these dukes and duchesses are well-acquainted with the complications of lust and leave tattered reputations behind them with relish. But what of love, well that’s where the excitment comes in as James’ heroines fight and scheme for the hardest seduction of them all, seducing one’s heart.
1. This Duchess of Mine: Jemma and Beaumont’s romance has been almost the foundation of the series, lurking in the backgrounds of almost all the books and finally come to head. The series begins after Jemma returns from Paris (where she fled after seeing Beaumont tupping his mistress and waited three years to retrieve her!), only for the purpose of making an heir since Beaumont is losing time with his irregular heart. Love should be dead between them but it isn’t, affection remains and after the will-they-won’t-they jealousy of Villiers/Jemma/Beaumont the wife and husband are determined to seduce the other all over again. Of course, they do this in totally ineffectual ways with Jemma trying to treat him like any other lover providing competition when Beaumont, staid and sturdy Beaumont doesn’t want to play games. He wants her even though he’s horrible at saying it. And even worse, his honor and his duty still means more to him despite the stress it gives him and lessening his life. The love between them is so intense and the centerpoint of chess and illicit pleasure makes the story my favorite. It’s a culmination of love, choice and loyalty and it’s wonderful.
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Gillian Claire Swearingen Interview
Gillian Swearingen is a college student at the Columbus College of Art and Design, creator of Archie Art April (an Archie themed fanart challenge) and regular contributor to Archie Comics. She graciously took the time to talk about her life-long love for Archie, researching the depth of Archie history and her possible future in the industry.
1. What did you first begin getting into Archie Comics?
I think I was in fourth grade. I always liked comics in general like the ones my Mimi’s (Grandmother) had in her house or ones I read from the library. I guess because of that someone put an Archie comics in my stocking and instantly I was like “I love it!”
I read it at the dinner table and I kept going throughout the day. It was the only one I had for a while and I’d reread it a lot. Then my Mimi spotted it and she’d show me that right next to all the Harvey comics she had, she had stacks of Archie comics. From then on she’d take me to all the places where we could find digests and started my collection.
2. How did you start Archie Art April?
So Archie Art April came about because I had been doing Inktober and Huevmber for a couple of years. The year before I started Archie Art April, I had done Inktober 2020. I did all the prompts from the list and I tried to draw them all with Archie. Then I did Huevember the next month which was easier since I matched colors to the characters. And because I had done these art challenges with Archie, I was trying to find another one to do.
So it was 2021 when I started and it was the fun of creating a new challenge with the characters I loved. Now they’re not my favorite illustrations I have done since I was working two jobs, but I was getting to draw and it was fun.
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Rachel Reads & Reviews 