REVIEW | George by Alex Gino.

George by Alex Gino was read 38 of 2016! I read this book as a part of the Banned Bookathon hosted by Catriona at LittleBook Owl and I gave this read a 5 out of 5 stars!

George is about a 10 year old in 4th grade who's name is George, but all she wants is to be a girl.  We follow George throughout the year as she makes a plan to try out for the school play, Charlotte's Web and instead of trying out for the boy parts, she reads for Charlotte.  We follow her story with her family, her teachers, a bully, and her best friend.

My heart is so warm that there is a children's book about a transgender child out there for kids to identify with and see themselves in a fictional character.  I'm just so happy this book exists.

I admire Alex Gino for writing this book. What an awesome debut to make as an author.

The writing was great. I loved reading from George's perspective and the way she thought about her hair, the way she put her towel around herself. My favorite scene is when she gets to play dress up with her best friend - who is also such a wonderful character!


Please comment down below any book recommendations you might have similar to George, particularly for the children/middle grade ages! Thanks!

Until next time,
MissSassyKassie

REVIEW | Empire of Storms by Sarah J Maas.

Settle in because this post is gong to be a long one.  My 37th read of 2016 was Empire of Storms by Sarah J Maas and I gave it a full 5 out of 5 stars!

This is the 5th book in the Throne of Glass series so there's not much to say without spoilers. I will say that this is by far my favorite series of all time (with the only exception of Harry Potter) so if you haven't picked these books up yet I HIGHLY RECOMMEND. They just continue to get better!

OKAY LETS TALK ABOUT THIS BOOK. SPOILER TIME, YE BE WARNED.

First of all, I'm so obsessed with all the women in this story. I absolutely love that this series never gives you a character that lets their love interest do the work for them.

So we need to talk about how stressed out I was throughout reading this book. Oh my god, I thought my chest might explode from the anxiety for all my favorite people. The awesome fight scene at Skull's Bay was SO INTENSE. I was so worried we were going to lose Lysandra in that scene, I could not handle it. And what the heck is the weird thing that happened with the god taking over Aelin's body?? AND I KNEW something was crazy with Rowan stepping in front of Aelin. Holy shit, I was going to freak out if Aelin was the one who killed Rowan. WHAT.

Oh my god, so intense.

I cried for the first time when I read the scene where the Ironteeth witches come together and decide that Asterin will die because of what Manon did to the the other witch when they were at Dorian's city. SOBBED. And THEN when we finally come back to the Manon story line (seriously why did it take so long) holy shit! Reading Manon decide to attempt to kill her grandmother, the woman that she has been trying to please since we met her in Heir of Fire. Oh my god. 

We need to talk about the sexy scenes in this book.

FIRSTLY I'm so glad this ship between Manon and Dorian came to fruition, I LIVE FOR IT. oh my god i'm obsessed with them and it was so hot. And most importantly I love that Manon threatens Dorian when he assumes he can come back without her consent. YES.

I also want to talk about the almost sexy time we got between Elide and Lorcan. OH MY GOD I did not see that coming! One thing I love about the way Sarah J Maas' writing her love interests is that while sometimes they are fast, she can also write a very slow burn such as these two. I absolutely LOVE IT.

Aelin and Rowan. The biggest question I've seen everywhere is also my question. HOW DID ROWAN NOT BURN HIMSELF. She turned the sand to glass how is he not in pain?!

Alright lastly we have to talk about the ending.

I cried from pride and relief when Abraxos came back with the Thirteen and when Rowan's family all turned from Maeve's fleet and chose to fight against her instead. ALSO why was Maeve that dumb. Okay.

Then, reading Aelin refuse to count the whips the Maeve requires oh my god I just was sobbing almost so hard I couldn't see the words on the page. Because that girl already has so many scars on her back from whips so to watch her know what is coming, and still refuse to count. THE STRENGTH IT TAKES. I can't imagine.

And then the reveal that Lysandra will be Aelin so nobody will lose faith in their queen, AND that Aelin actually did raise an army from nothing for Terrasen I CANT HANDLE IT. She didn't get to see that she did not fail before Maeve took her and it was just so much. I'm so proud of her, and what she did.

I am SO nervous for the next book. Are we going to spend most of the book watching Aelin tortured while Rowan is looking for her? WORSE are we not going to see Aelin for a good portion of the book because Rowan is looking for her? I feel like if she is found and freed too quickly I won't be happy with that either. Oh my god, I'm anxious just thinking about the ending to this series and Sarah J Maas hasn't even written it yet. I'm a hot mess.


What did you think about Empire of Storms?! Let me know in the comments below.

Until next time,
MissSassyKassie

REVIEW | Carry On by Rainbow Rowell.

Carry On by Rainbow Rowell was read 36 of 2016! I gave this book a 4 out of 5 stars.

Carry On is a spin off book of Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell. In Fangirl, the main characters Cath and Wren are obsessed with a series called Simon Snow and Cath writes fan fiction online for that series called Carry On.  This book is the fan fiction of the 8th book in the Simon Snow series that Cath would've written.

So, Carry On is about a boy named Simon Snow (who feels a lot like Harry Potter) who is the magical chosen one at the school who must defeat the humdrum.  His roommate, Baz is basically the Malfoy of the story and the whole point from Cath's perspective is that Baz and Simon are in love, even though the author didn't write it that way.

Although I did enjoy the ending of this book and the way the characters grew together, I did have some issues with it.  The first half of the book was a bit boring for me and I found myself drifting off to think of different things when I was listening to the audiobook.  I also couldn't help comparing it regularly to the Harry Potter series which just made me want to read Harry Potter instead of this book.

With all that said though I did love the way the love interest and the antagonist were created, revealed, and delved into.  This story is definitely its own by the end of the story, and Rainbow Rowell's write was amazing as always.  

Let me know your thoughts on this novel! Who was your favorite character? I'm definitely partial to Baz.

Until next time,

MissSassyKassie

REVIEW | Saga Volume 6

Saga Volume 6 by Brian K Vaughan and Fiona Staples was read 35 of 2016! I gave this book a full 5 out of 5 stars, and I do think this is the best volume of this series so far!

If you don't know what Saga is about, it is narrated by the daughter of these two people who are species that are at war with each other and therefore the governments of their people are trying to find them and kill their daughter so the war can continue.  That's about all I got without spoilers, so if you haven't read this volume yet, SEE YA LATER!

So like I said, I think this was my favorite volume of the series so far. I love that we've gotten a few more different character story lines, such as Prince Robot with Marko and the assassin who's having so many struggles, etc.  I absolutely love Marko's mother. She will forever be my favorite.

I also have to say I think this volume might be my favorite because Marko and Alana are separated for most of this volume and my biggest pet peeve of this series is how frequently they fight. It was a breath of fresh air to not have to read their fights every five pages.

I'm also loving seeing Hazel get older and actually have a current role in the story she is also narrating. It was nice to see her make some decisions for herself, like trusting the individual who I gathered was either trans or gender noncomforming.

I can't wait for the next volume! I really am loving the Prince Robot dynamic with Marko and I hope that he stays around.

Thats all I got!

Until next time,

MissSassyKassie

REVIEW | Uglies by Scott Westerfeld.

Uglies by Scott Westerfeld was read 34 of 2016 and I gave it a 5 out of 5 stars! This is a long time favorite of mine, and this was a reread for me. I think I've read it four or five times now.  I read this in order to participate in a liveshow on Aly's channel, TheLittleLibrian. You can check it out here!

Uglies is the first book in the Uglies series, which follows a girl named Tally. Years in the future from our time now, Tally lives in a world where at 16 years old, everyone goes through a surgery to make them as perfectly beautiful as possible.  Just a few months short of turning 16 herself, Tally meets Shay, who likes to explore, adventure, and get into trouble. But a few days before their 16th birthday, Shay finally tells Tally her plan: run away from the city to live our in the with a group of people that never turned Pretty. And so the story begins.

This series is so fun and adventurous and SMART. It delves into the beauty standards of today, what it means to be pretty, and why its so important. I think this book is so important, and could easily be required reading because for me when I read this the first time in high school, it helped me form my own self confidence.

That's really all I can say before I head into spoilers, so for those who haven't read it yet, SEE YOU LATER!


First of all, I need to talk about the fact that this reread was the first time I wanted a spark between Tally and Shay. I don't know if its because I haven't read this book in a while, since I've started reading more diverse books, or something but DAMN I so badly wanted that to be canon.  Alas, disappointment.

I also found that this reread was the first time I read this book and was really annoyed with our main characters, specifically Tally.  I remember connecting so well with her years ago, and maybe its because since I've grown up, gained confidence in myself, and all that jazz her idyllic view of the Pretty operation just bothered me. I'm not saying I suddenly hated this book. I just suddenly wasn't connecting as well with the characters as I did years ago.

I did decide to pick up Shay's Story, the graphic novel about Shay before she meets Tally and before Tally gets to the smoke. I'm definitely planning on continuing that series - expect a review of that graphic novel soon! I just recently finished it.

Until next time,
MissSassyKassie