The 5th Wave

I'm sure most of us have seen the movie the 5th Wave, or atleast of heard of it. It is a movie based on a book that drastically differs from the events. Whitch do I like better? It's hard to say with the two different intracut styles. The movie focuses on Cassie only, and the book has more to it than that.

In this book the writing switches between a girl named Cassie and a guy named Ben. It switches between there points of views. I dislike this, due to personal opinion, though if you love reading the first person this is the book for you. The book accurately capture the personalities in the writing of the first persons and is very believable that they are actually the ones telling the story. My favorite writing was Cassie's. To me she was the most relatable character in the book. Ben on the other hand wasn't as relatable. His connections with the people around him are very brief. I wish the story dived more upon this. Along with this I feel like they only brushed upon the activities that they did daily in the camp.

The plot of the story is the best part of the story. The idea in general, aliens taking over, isn't the most creative but the way they did take over is. Most people would imagine that aliens would go into complete war being a superior species. In this the species isn't superior, but their technology is. Along with the fact that also the aliens in this book are lazy in a way. Instead of fighting till all humans die they force the hope out of humans. They let the humans destroy themselves. I think this is the best part of the book.

Even though this part is pretty great the characters motives are very unoriginal and at times very boring. I wish the author gave more thought to the characters in the book almost. Along with this focus more on the little boy.  

In general, I think I would be neutral as if to recommend this book to a friend. It has some great parts yes, but it also has some parts that I am honestly not a fan of. I didn't hate the book but at the same time I didn't love it.

World War Z

By Josh M.

For quite some time zombies have been considered a tired concept, I’ve never agreed with this sentiment, nor has Max Brooks the author of World War Z and many other zombie stories. So, What sets this apart from the admittedly overflooded market of zombie stories? Well, it isn’t the zombies themselves, they’ve stuck to the formula for the most part, shambling corpses that can only be taken out by destroying the brain. Alright, so the zombies are what they’ve always been, does that mean it follows every other zombie story cliche? No, quite the opposite in fact.

The Amazing Screw-One Head

by Josh M.


When first picking it up I wasn’t sure whether to take the book seriously or do the complete opposite, the dark and brooding artstyle alongside the often ridiculous storylines made it a hard choice to make. Through some questioning about the book I was made aware the author, Mike Mignola prefers to write in a very weird style that should never be taken that seriously, one of the most famous examples of this being his critically acclaimed series Hellboy.

The Last Policeman

By Josh M.

I didn’t find exactly what I was originally looking for in this book, but I found a great story nonetheless. I was handed this book when I mentioned I enjoyed world building over character driven stories. I had assumed this story would be similar to the story that originally peaked this interest (World War Z) in that their wouldn’t be a main character but many characters experiencing different parts of the world. Instead the story centers around one character, Detective Henry Palace in a world with one foot in the grave.

Our Faulting Stars

By Kaylee V

Not only is John Green one of the creators of the infamous Crash Course but he's also the author of The Fault In Our Stars. In this story we follow the life of Hazel Grace, a teenage girl whom was diagnosed with Stage 4 Thyroid cancer. Growing up she had her number of scares with her life, after assurinance her life had at least a few weeks longer she decides to use her Make A Wish on disney world which later arouses conflicts when Hazel wants to go to Amsterdam to meet her favorite author, if it wasn't for Augustus Waters she would have never went.

The best book review by SOMEONE WHO WILL NOT GET A GRADE

Eternal Victim

Eternal Victim by Dexter Morgenstern is an amazing short horror story that will send chills down the spine of all readers.This is a book about a woman with unusual and dangerous nightmares. But the mystery is her past and why she is haunted by images of vicious serial killers. I would recommend this short story to anyone who likes a scary book and enjoys a good plot twist.

It’s a “Lot” to Read But It is Worthwhile

By Andres H.

Salem's Lot deals with author, Ben Mears, returning to the town where he lived as a teenager and had the most horrific experience of his life…that is up until his return to Jerusalem's Lot, or Salem's Lot.  He's come back to write a new novel about the haunted Marsten House that overlooks the small community from a hill. The timing for Ben couldn't have been more perfect because two other visitors have also just moved there, buying the Marsten House and opening an antique furniture store in town.

Jazz: Pain, and Healing

By Kayla W.

Toni Morrison, Pulitzer prize winner and Nobel Laureate for literature, is by no means obscure or uncelebrated. However, that doesn't mean her works, most notably Jazz, don't have a special, almost secret, glow to it.

First and What

by Maddie S.

An easy read, but sort of complex. First and Then was what it sounded like, a love story. However, unlike most, the main character was more repulsive than anything. Throughout the book, Devin finds new challenges in her life when her awkward cousin, Foster, comes to live with them. She tries her best to ignore him and his every movement, but it is kind of hard when he becomes one of the most popular kids in school. She also is at a loss with her best friend/love interest, Cas, when he moves on from her. This leaves Devin, in gym class, with Ezra.

The Call of the Wild by Jack London

by Stav A.

The Call of the Wild by Jack London, is told from Buck, a four-year-old, 140 pound, St. Bernard shepherd dog. This book is for any dog loving teenager that loves an inspirational story. It is about Buck's owner, who is a judge who loves hunting. Manuel, who is the judge's personal gardener and one who is obsessed with the lottery, can't help his family on his little earnings. So he must find a way to feed his terrible addiction. He comes up with the novel idea of selling Buck for 50$.

Book Review: Warriors

By Antonio A.

Warriors

By: Erin Hunter

     The book Warriors is about 4 clans that consist of cats in a shared forest. When the warrior code is threatened by a series of unfortunate events and deaths in the clans, a cat named Rusty who could potentially be the best fighter amongst them.

     I liked the book a lot because of the way Erin Hunter allows the cats to be more human like with their emotions and the awesome fight scenes in the book between the clans.

   I'd recommend this book to anyone who loves fantasy, action and or adventure.

A Story That Will Haunt You (In The Best Way Possible)

By Katie H.

Shadowland, the first book in Meg Cabot's Mediator series, is definitely one of the best books I have ever read. It has a fairly mundane beginning -- Suze is new to California, moving into an old house fixed up by her new stepfather. She tries to make the best of the situation, as anyone else would, and it's not until she sees the dead guy in her bedroom that the reader realizes she's not as ordinary as she seems. She's a mediator; one of the living but able to speak to the dead. Usually, the ghosts she meets use her to pass over to whatever afterlife comes next, but her new roommate, Jesse, has no interest in that, and neither, it seems, does the ghost at her school -- the one hellbent on revenge.

A Guide to a Good Read

By Matthew B.

Written by Douglas Adams, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, is apart of a six book series, but is the most noticeable out of them.  With it's odd characters and storyline, this book as a whole provides an interesting adventure into the world of sci-fi, in a funky way.

The short way to a great book

By Jackie E

"No good can come from a species at war with itself". The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet  by Becky Chambers is a relatively new Sci-fi novel set far into the future. So far, In fact, that the war-torn Earth has been destroyed, and its inhabitants forced to flee to space. Most humans have either taken to living on Mars, or are spaceborn, living within one of millions of multi-species colonies floating in space. This story follows Rosemary, a Mars born and raised human, and her brand new crew throughout galaxies to finish a job their captain signed them up for. Rosemary is a clerk fresh out of college. The job she had studied year for included taking care of a crew's paperwork and helping with inter-species relations. Something that seems easy enough in a controlled environment while in school, but entirely something else when you're thrown out into space. Ashby, her new captain, hired her mostly to comply with new industry standards. After all, they got by just fine without one. But as she starts her new job on the Wayfarer, its became clear now much he had been missing without one. With his new crew member, the GC finds it fitting to offer Ashby a new job. A job that pays more than everything he signed up for last year combined. He was finally able to pay his crew what he believed they deserved. The only downside is they'd be on this work train non stop for a year, at least.

A Crazy Good Book

By Colby M.

Young adult fiction writer, Han Nolan, takes you on a crazy, emotional ride from the perspective of troubled teen, Jason Papadopoulos. After Jason's mother passes away, his life changes dramatically, in a way most could never understand. With help from both real friends and imaginary voices, Jason works to overcome the adversity in his life and make the best of it. Crazy will generate laughter, fear, anger, and sadness, while bringing you along on Jason's journey.

Alaskan Smoke

By Aby H.

John Green never fails to impress readers with his novels. He's written at least 9 books, consisting of The Fault In Our Stars, Will Grayson Will Grayson, An Abundance of Katherines, and each one is seemingly better than the last. However, Looking For Alaska is one of his most captivating pieces. It's a beautiful work of realistic fiction that manages to get your heart racing, make tears come out of your eyes, and make you laugh within its 221 pages.

A Book That Should be Left Behind

By Jasper M

Left Behind is a fundamentalist Evangelical propaganda book written by Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins, and is one of 16 books of a series. The book and its continuing series focus on the Rapture and the Book of Revelations in the Bible, which is the end of the world. It focuses on a journalist named Buck in a year where the Middle East is at peace, and Israel has healing soil that can change the world. That is, until the world starts falling apart and people disappear into thin air without warning, as God's wrath is being unleashed.

A Decent Geek Love

By Jasper M

Geek Love is surely a story you have never read before. Written by Katherine Dunn, it is a novel about a crazy-geek circus family and their horrific, beast-like children. The first few pages will confuse, stun, and surprise you- but Katherine pulls the reader in and want to find out what happens next. The book makes you change views on characters, not based on their freakish appearances, but what is inside them. It is horrific but terribly intriguing.

Into the Wild and Into Your Library

Into the Wild and Into your Library

By Jasper M

Into the Wild, written by mountaineer and adventurer Jon Krakauer, is a unique story that is a mix of a speculative biography and autobiography tells the true story of a young man out of college and trying to take on the Alaskan wilderness with only ten pounds of rice in April 1992. Jon Krakauer sees himself in the young man, Christopher McCandless, and incorporates his own narratives to connect to the man who died while trying to invent a new life for himself in the dangerous wilderness. It is an interesting combination of different types of writing, both telling the story of a man who gave up everything and how his story affects the lives of others.

A Fine Addition

By Joshua G. M.

In my last review, I dissected Ellen Hopkins' novel Identical, and due to how much I enjoyed it I decided to invest in another one of her works. This time around, the text I chose to read was one of her most well-known pieces, Impulse. Much like Identical, this story is primarily aimed towards young adult audiences. However, the story takes a different approach, and instead of revolving around the life of two sisters, Impulse observes the lives of three troubled individuals, all of which are dealing with their own demons.