Review: Sentinel by Matthew Dunn

 

The sequel to Spycatcher and I will be continuing my reading of this series. I won the fourth book years ago in a Goodreads giveaway win and when I was setting up my buzzword TBR for the year, I decided to put the fourth book on my TBR or I would have never picked it up. Reading the first book a couple months ago, I disliked it because the main character was so arrogant and cocky and he thought he was untouchable. 

I made the decision that if I didn't like this one, I would not continue with the series and just get rid of my copy of the fourth book. I ended up really liking this one. It takes place in Russia and the way to my bookish heart is Russian settings and spy/espionage plots. Will Cochran, the MC, has to stop a war between America and Russia before it is even begun. He has to team up with the first ever Spartan who's code name is Sentinel. His past comes up and they have to figure out how to stop the main antagonist to stop killing Russian agents and to not set off a nuclear bomb. 

This book was better than the first. Some of the arrogance and cockiness from Will in the first installment was toned down way more. He had more failures this time proving that he wasn't a one and done man. He met his match and was over powered several times which actually made him more human than "killing" machine. He once again fell for a woman and she died. 

The two things that annoyed me was that he talked about the smart suits the men were wearing and what kind of knot their ties were in and how their hair was styles either with creams or oils. Like how does that fit the story... IT DOESN'T! And I had to skim the end where he was climbing the moutian with ice axes and crampons. I was annoyed at the 2-3 pages of foot goes there, slamming the ice axe here, sweat making body cold, second ice axe going just above the first and repeat. It was stupid. 

The endings do need work. I will be picking up the third book next month in anticipation of reading the fourth book in September for the Buzzword reading challenge. 

Anticipated Releases for Rest of the Year

 

Getting into the second half of the year. Thanks to Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl for hosting Top Ten Tuesday. Here are my MOST ANTICIPATED out of all the books releasing for the rest of the year. 

The Forest of Vanishing Stars by Kristin Harmel (July 6)

Six Crimson Cranes by Elizabeth Lim (July 6) 

Boy, Falling by Jenny Jaeckel  (July 22)

In My Dreams I Hold A Knife by Ashley Winstead  (August 3)

Velvet Was the Night by Silvia Moreno Garcia  (August 17)

The Plentiful Darkness by Heather Kassner  (August 3)

A Clash of Steel by C.B. Lee  (September 7)

Lakesedge by Lyndall Clipstone  (September 28)

Daughters of A Dead Empire by Carolyn Tara O'Neil  (October 26)

Tidesong by Wendy Xu  (November 16)

Review: Pashmina by Nidhi Chanani

 

Another middle grade book that my daughter requested from a list made by Book Riot that was prefect for 6th graders to read. She really loves the Indian culture and the top place on her travel bucket list is India. 

This graphic novel is about a girl named Priyanka. At the beginning of the story she is being bullied and being called thrift store which isn't repeated but gives the jist of her clothing and how you dress is a major middle school hurdle. During the story, she is going through her closet after a suitcase once again falls to the floor and she opens it and notices a pashmina scarf. She tries it on and she is transported to India. She has these animal guides that show her the beauty of India. But when she is in this world, she keeps being followed by a shadow girl and the animal guides keep shooing her off and ignoring Priyanka's questions.

Priyanka doesn't get any details about why her mother left India and has vowed to never return. Eventually Priyanka gets her wish and gets to go to India to help her aunt with her newborn. Her aunt helps her with family history and tells the story of her absent father. 

I ended up giving this a 3 out of 5. The story wasn't coming of age but more of a family history and cultural experience. I loved the bright vivid colors when she put on the pashmina. I loved how the aunt disobeyed her husband and gave Priyanka the answers that she wanted. The history was amazing . 

Review: My Summer of Love and Misfortune by Lindsay Wong

 

Before I started reading this, I decided to check the rating on Goodreads. Something that I don't do too often because I will then end up reading my friends reviews and that will stay in my mind while I am reading the book. I only looked at the star rating and I was shocked that this had a 2 star average rating. Seeing this, I stayed away from the reviews. I had heard from some booktubers that I watched that they had DNF'ed it and that was it.

So we are following a teenager named Iris. She is Chinese American and she is a very materialistic, narcissistic moron. She has two parents who are not very smart. Her mom is the CEO of an engineering company and her dad is obsessed with Chinese zodiac and getting manicures and pedicures. All her life, she has known that she is cursed because she was born in the year of the Tiger. Tiger girls are cursed and doomed while Tiger boys bring good fortune for the family. 

Reading the first two chapters, I had to vlog myself reading this. I was blown out of my mind that this girl could be so ignorant and obnoxious. She didn't get into any of the colleges she applied to, she failed her senior year by not showing up and she thinks the email from her guidance counselor is a request to be Valedictorian. She gets cheated on by her boyfriend with her best friend. She is sent away to China to fix herself and she then thinks that her parents are fake and then proceeds to look into Forbes top 30 in Asia to find her real parents. She has panic attacks about learning and she can't speak Mandarin to save her life. 

I really hated Iris, but I believe that she was supposed to be an unlikeable main character. I don't want to fault the book for that, but when the parents also make idiotic statements like the mother asking Iris, has no one ever taught you to stay away from strangers. The dad not really knowing anything about his brother and thinking that the uncle and cousin are dirt poor. 

I also could not feel an inch of sympathy for Iris when she got screwed over by her love interest. I know what it feels like to be lied to your face, but girl, for someone who loves attention she needed to pay more attention to the body language of her "lover". 

MAY 2020 BOOK-ISH UNBOXINGS

OWLCRATE JR: ELEMENTS AND ALCHEMY

Quintessence by Jess Redman (signed edition)
Exclusive Potions Class inspired book sleeve (designed by Melanie Demmer)
Periodic Table Of Elements 150-piece test tube jigsaw puzzle (Professor Puzzle)
Avatar: The Last Airbender inspired iron-on patch (designed by Erin Gibbs)
Carl Sagan quote notebook (designed by Alexis Lampley from Nerdy Ink)
Vial of Alchemical Gems (GeoCentral)
Elements and Alchemy monthly sticker (Designed by Ellie vs. Bear)
Exclusive author letter and book map of Four Points (provided by Macmillan Publishers)
OwlCrate Jr Magazine Issue #21 (Cover art by Shafer Brown and interior designed by Michelle Gray)
June 'Magic in Bloom' sneak peek postcard (Designed by VeepDoodles)

THE BOOKISH BOX: LESSONS IN MAGIC

OWLCRATE: REBELS WITH A CAUSE

Incendiary by Zoraida Córdova (signed, exclusive OwlCrate Edition)
Witchyby Ariel Slamet Ries (exclusive OwlCrate Edition)
An Ember in the Ashes-inspired Stainless Steel Straw Set (designed by paperbackbones)
The Bone Season-inspired Wooden Magnet (Juniper and Ivy Designs)
Rebellious Quotes Vinyl Sticker Sheet (designed by Nerdy Ink)
Heart of Iron-inspired Pot Holder Set (designed by Little Inklings Design)
Exclusive OwlCrate "Alman Stone" Enamel Pin (designed by Pinny Slug Designs)
Exclusive Incendiary Author Letter.

                                       

 

TOP TEN TUESDAY: BOOK WISHLIST

 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JANA. Thank you for hosting Top Ten Tuesday on your special day. Today's prompt is Book Wishlist where you list the top ten books you want and link your Amazon wishlist. 

Here is the link to my list. Book List

1. The Burning Girls by C.J. Tudor

2. The Hiding Place by C.J. Tudor

3. The House in the Cerulean Sea by T.J. Klune

4. Half a King by Joe Abercrombie

5. The Last Wish by Andrzej Sapkowski

6. Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman

7. Dreamsongs Volume 1 by George R.R. Martin

8. A World without Princes by Soman Chainani

9. Eastern Horizons by Levison Wood

10. Metro 2034 by Dmitry Glukhovsky

Review: Charlie Hernandez and the League of Shadows by Ryan Calejo

 A middle grade mythology book not written by Rick Riordan. I have been in a serious mythology kick this year and have read a lot of mythology books out loud to my kids. This is focused on Hispanic mythology. I was hesitant about reading this so soon after I read The Storm Runner by J.C. Cervantes because that is about Maya mythology and I had no idea if there would be similarities or same in general. 

I can say that after reading this, that they are completely different mythologies and legends. I really enjoyed learning about the Hispanic mythology. I wish that this was also taught in school along with Greek and Roman. There is so many cultures in the world with their own mythology that deserves to be taught. 

We follow Charlie who is now in foster care after his house burns to the ground and his parents have gone missing. He is living with a sweet old lady named Mrs. Wilson who has an obsession with dolls and children's toys. One day while Charlie is in school, he sprouts horns and feathers. Freaking out, he bumps into the school newspaper reporter who wants to do a story about him and his parents. She eventually finds out about the feathers and they both go on this quest to search for his parents and answers to why he is growing animal appendages.

Like I said earlier, I really enjoyed learning about the Hispanic legendary figures. I also has a lot of Spanish phrases and words. My oldest is learning Spanish and this was a great vocabulary lesson and pronunciation work. I can't wait to get to the sequel.  

REVIEW: Artichoke's Heart by Suzanne Supplee

This book has been one of those that has been on my Good Reads tbr shelf the longest. Since 2015, this book has been an interest and I finally decided to just pick it up and I don't know how I feel about it. I ended up giving it a 3 out of 5 stars. 

This is about a teen named Rosie who lives in a small town in Tennessee. I connected immediately with her living in a small southern town. I even saw myself in Rosie because she is a overweight teenager and she is constantly be judged by classmates, townsfolk, her aunt and her own mother. She overeats and she hates herself for it. She gets a treadmill for Christmas and she also gives herself food poisoning to lose weight. There were a lot of insults toward her that she was lazy and stupid and fat girl are dumb because the only thing that they think about is food.

Picking up this book, I did not know the extent of the fat shaming there was. I am an overweight person and I was overweight in high school. I could compare myself to Rosie on some aspects. But I do say that this has triggered me and my mental health has taken a beating from this book and the thoughts that have cropped back up. The first few pages felt like a slap in the face. The quarter mark had me putting this book down and just hating myself and crying. I did end up finishing the book and the ending was over really abruptly. I was not satisfied with how that car ride was.

Besides the overall weight issue, I also had the connection with Rosie and her intense and conflicting relationship with her aunt. Growing up, my mom and I always got into arguments. It felt like I was reading my journal whenever Rosie's aunt popped up or their arguments were the paragraphs I was reading. 

I don't recommend this book if you are struggling with weight or eating habits. Some people say that they loved watching Rosie grow, but if you are similar to Rosie, I swear to you that this will be a literal punch in the gut. 
 

TOP TEN TUESDAY: SUMMER READING PLANS

HAPPY SUMMER!!!!! Thanks to Jana for hosting Top Ten Tuesday every week. This week is for sharing our Summer TBR's. I have a feeling that I have shared these books before, but I really would like to get to them, so this is called holding my self accountable. If any of these are on your summer tbr's let me know down in the comments and I would love to do a buddy read.