As promised, for today’s post I’ve reviewed my ARC of Joanna Hathaway’s debut YA novel, Dark of the West. Unlike Alone Together, which I reviewed here, today’s novel is the first in a new YA series (called Glass Alliance), rather than a standalone text. The publication date has been pushed back, but I wanted to post this review now while the book is still fresh in my mind. This novel is set to be released on February 5, 2019, so I’m going to stay clear of any major spoilers. But, as always, a few details not included in the book blurb will be included in my three-part review. This is the last ARC I’ve had the pleasure to get my hands on, but I’ll be on the lookout for more opportunities to read and review other new YA reads.
Tag: Book Review
I’ve been lucky enough to receive advanced reader copies (ARCs) of two YA novels set to be published in May 2018. It seems, then, that this month is the perfect time for blogging about these two new releases! I’m especially excited to share my thoughts on these books, as they are both debut novels. This week, I’m reviewing Sarah J. Donovan’s verse novel, Alone Together. In two weeks, I’ll be reviewing Joanna Hathaway’s historical fantasy novel, Dark of the West. As a disclaimer, my ARC reviews will be pretty spoiler-free, but of course a few details not found in the blurbs will be included in my reviews. If you’d like to see the other book reviews I’ve done, you can check them out here, here, and here.
The weekend after I received approval from my dissertation committee to defend my proposal (otherwise known as last weekend), I read three novels and quite a bit of fanfiction. Reading is my go-to activity when I’m feeling nervous, and with Axis 360 (a library app that I wrote about here) just a click away, I had plenty of books to pick from when I wasn’t in the mood to find a new fic or reread some of my favorites. Unplugged was the first novel I read this past weekend (Fan Art was the second, and I reread Simon vs. the Homo Sapien’s Agenda in order to prep for teaching my classes this week). Unplugged is the first book in The Wired trilogy, and I haven’t read the second and third installments that came out last year, The Body Market and The Mind Virus. The first book was an interesting read for multiple reasons, which I’ll get into in today’s (very spoiler-y) book review.
The majority of my recent blog posts have focused on school-related topics. As such, I thought this week was the perfect time for another book review. There’s still some pedagogical considerations in this post, but I’m hoping that this review inspires teachers and non-teachers alike to give this children’s classic a chance, if they haven’t already done so. My last review was for a very new and trendy YA novel, but today’s is all about one of my favorite children’s novels: The Phantom Tollbooth. I won’t say this book is perfect, as it isn’t (see: colonization origin-story for the secondary world). However, just because a book has its issues, doesn’t mean it’s not worth a read. This motto is definitely the case for Phantom.
So, if you’re a lover of fantasy novels, allegories, puns, or educational tales, click on the link below to…
When deciding what book to read next, I try to think of ones that I’ve been hearing a lot about and/or ones that I think have potential for future use in my classroom. Adding Nicola Yoon’s The Sun Is Also A Star to my PopSugar Ultimate Reading Challenge reading list was a direct result of both these considerations. I was originally assigned a fall semester course that provided me with the opportunity to add young adult (YA) literature to my required booklist. While I’ve been assigned a new course that cannot include YA lit, three of the books I’ve completed for my reading challenge were read in consideration for that prior class: The Sun Is Also A Star, The Hate U Give, and Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda. While I enjoyed all three of these novels in different ways (it’s hard to use the term “enjoy” when referring to The Hate U Give), I’ve chosen my favorite of the three for my first book review on this blog. If you’ve read any or all of these three YA novels, though, I’d love to hear your thoughts on them in the comments section below.
One final note before getting to the “meat and potatoes” of this post. I plan for each book review post to have the same elements:
- a brief introduction
- a “basic information” section
- and, a review of the book from my perspective as
- a reader
- an educator
- a fan (as in, someone who takes part in fandom)
Now, on to the main event…(warning: a few *spoilers* ahead)
