Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo

Series: Six of Crows (bk. 1)

Genera(s): High Fantasy

Subjects: criminals, gangs, magic, abilities, drugs, rescues

Setting: Ketterdam, Kerch and Fjerda

POV/Tense: 3^rd person POV, past tense: Kaz, Inej, Jesper, Nina, and Matthias

Age/Grade Level: Teen

Length: 462 pgs.

HC/PB: Hardcover 

List Price: $18.99

Publisher: Macmillan: Henry Holt

Summary/ product description: “Ketterdam: a bustling hub of international trade where anything can be had for the right price—and no one knows that better than criminal prodigy Kaz Brekker. Kaz is offered a chance at a deadly heist that could make him rich beyond his wildest dreams. But he can't pull it off alone...

A convict with a thirst for revenge.

A sharpshooter who can't walk away from a wager.

A runaway with a privileged past.

A spy known as the Wraith.

A Heartrender using her magic to survive the slums.

A thief with a gift for unlikely escapes.

Kaz's crew are the only ones who might stand between the world and destruction—if they don't kill each other first.”

My Review: This book came out last year and I finally got around to reading it because the sequel just came out. It took me about two weeks to read this book because I was so busy with school, and then my bird died, which made it hard to read. So now I’m finally done with this book. Even though it took so long, I still enjoyed it. It only took me 3.5 hours to read the last 120 pages.

This book was like a fantasy version of Suicide Squad, and I kind of want to compare Inej to Katana and Nine to Harley Quinn and Jesper to Deadshoot, and I’m not sure who the others seem like. It’s about a group of misfits, criminals from various places who came together is a city called Ketterdam, which is basically like Amsterdam. It has cannels and different districts and legal prostitution and lots of gambling dens. It has a late 1800s feel. It’s not even a decade after the event of the Grisha Trilogy and I feel like there’s lot of industrial advancement that happened.

So the book has six main characters, but it only rotates between five point of views: Kaz, Inej, Jesper, Nina, and Matthias. Wylan doesn’t get his own chapters. Kaz is a theif who uses slight of hand, he’s the leader and he also limps because his leg never healed quite right. Nina is a Heartrender Grisha originally from Ravka and she’s busty and bold and has a talent for languages. Inej, a Suli girl, is also known as the Wraith. She moves very silently and collects secrets for Kaz by spying on wealthy people. She used to be an acrobat. Jesper is a Zemeni sharpshooter who has a bad gambling habit. Matthias is a Fjerdian witch hunter who ended up in prison. Wylan is the son of a mercher, and he’s got a lot of talents.

These character are given a task that will earn themselves 30 million kruge (dollars)if completed. They must rescue the scientist who developed a drug called jurda parum from the Fjerdians. The drug make’s Grisha powers powerful beyond imagination and it’s also highly addictive and eventually fatal. The take a boat to the Ice Court in Dierholm and plan to enter and prisoner, hoping to find the scientist in a cell, but like all plans, there are quite a few bumps along the way and tons of twist and turn you won’t see coming. The book also features many flash-backs that give us more backstory on the characters.

I recommend this book to fans of fantasy who want something a little different and unique, also fans of steampunk, because this is kind of like steampunk in a way. And the Curseworkers series by Holly Black, another book about magical criminals.

Cover Art Review: I like the illustration of the crow and towers.

Sweet by Emmy Laybourne

Series: Sweet (bk. 1)

Genera(s): Thriller/Horror/Sci-fi

Subjects: cruises, ocean, celebrities, drugs, survival

Setting: Luxury Cruise Liner in the ocean

POV/Tense: 1^st person POV, present tense rotating between Laurel and Tom.

Age/Grade Level: Teen

Length: 272 pgs.

HC/PB: Hardcover

List Price: $17.99

Publisher: Macmillan: Feiwel & Friends

Summary/ product description: “*People would kill to be thin.*

Solu’s luxurious celebrity-filled “Cruise to Lose” is billed as “the biggest cruise since the Titanic,” and if the new diet sweetener works as promised—dropping five percent of a person’s body weight in just days—it really could be the answer to the world’s obesity problem. But Laurel is starting to regret accepting her friend Viv’s invitation. She’s already completely embarrassed herself in front of celebrity host, Tom Forelli (otherwise known as the hottest guy ever!) and she’s too seasick to even try the sweetener. And that’s before Viv and all the other passengers start acting really strange.

*But will they die for it, too?*

Tom Forelli knows that he should be grateful for this job and the opportunity to shed his childhood “Baby Tom-Tom” image. His publicists have even set up a ‘romance’ with a sexy reality star. But as things on the ship start to get a bit wild, he finds himself drawn to a different girl. And when his celebrity hosting gig turns into an expose on the shocking side effects of Solu, it’s Laurel that he’s determined to save.

Emmy Laybourne, author of the Monument 14 trilogy, takes readers on a dream vacation that goes first comically, then tragically, then horrifyingly, wrong.”

My Review:  Sweet was unexpectedly entertaining and thrilling. Originally I thought it was just realistic fiction, but it does contain some sci-fi elements. It’s set on a cruise ship, which is cool. There are celebrities and wealthy people on this ship. Most are there to try Solu, a sweetner that supposed to help you lose weigh.

The main characters Laurel and Tom do not try Solu. Laurel’s rich friend Vivika (who brought Laurel) did try it and becomes obsessed. Tom was part of a reality show as a kid and used to be fat, but has a meal plan and work out to stay thin. He’s being filmed during the cruise, updating people on what’s happening before Solu launches. Solu it not what is seems. People using it seem to be losing weigh too fast and all they want it more. They’ve become addicted and would do anything for more.

I really enjoyed the pop culture references and celebrity stuff I think it’s kind of fun. I like that the main characters are not obsessed with thin-ness. Tom has his routine. Laurel doesn’t care about loosing weight. She thinks having curves is more normal than being stick-thin. A lot of this book has meaningful stuff about being obsessed with being overweight. A lot of our culture has taught us than being skinny is better when we should just focus on encouraging healthy eating and exercising rather than hate on fat people.

The last 100 pages of this book are crazy full of action and horror. This cruise gets scary. The addicted people go crazy. They’re like zombies that want Solu. I’m not spoiling anything. I think it’s important to know that this is sci-fi and not contemporary. I hope it will make more people interested in reading it. It kind of reminded me of the TV show The Strain for some reason. How the addicts are described later on. Really it’s about a nightmare kind of cruise. Enjoy!

Cover Art Review: Creepy looking just by being upside down and using dim colors. That blood on the title is even suggestive.

Revived by Cat Patrick

Publisher: Little Brown

Genera: Sci-Fi

Subjects: Death, life, science, drugs, love, friendship

Length: 336 pgs.

HC/PB: Hardcover

Summary/ product description: “As a little girl, Daisy Appleby was killed in a school bus crash. Moments after the accident, she was brought back to life.
A secret government agency has developed a drug called Revive that can bring people back from the dead, and Daisy Appleby, a test subject, has been Revived five times in fifteen years. Daisy takes extraordinary risks, knowing that she can beat death, but each new death also means a new name, a new city, and a new life. When she meets Matt McKean, Daisy begins to question the moral implications of Revive, and as she discovers the agency’s true goals, she realizes she’s at the center of something much larger—and more sinister—than she ever imagined.”

My Rating: êêêê1/2

My Review: This book had me from the beginning. Daisy’s narration keeps the reader interested, and the way she talks about her life of lies. The book is very well written, and all the emotions are clear. The whole revive thing reminded me of the Revenants series, only Daisy isn’t immortal, it’s just the drug saving her. The whole God Project and the agents reminds me of FBI and other sci-fi books I love.

I think Audrey’s and awesome character. Daisy and her became friends really fast. I was really sad when I read that Audrey was sick. And Matt, Audrey’s brother, is pretty hot. I love the romance between him and Daisy. Sure, the whole thing about dating your best friends brother is a little overdone, but it’s okay. At least you know what you’re getting into from his sister. The only strange character is Megan, whose transgender. It’s kind of confusing.

This book is a standalone, so the plot had to wrap up at the end, and it did. Perfectly. I recommend this if you like non-dystopian sci-fi or even contemporary.

Cover Art Review: Pretty cool cover. I thought she was trapped in ice at first, but she’s ripping some sheet. Either way, it looks very sci-fi.

~Haley G