Kids of Appetite (ARC Review) ~ Contemporary Cravings will be Satisfied by This Upcoming Novel

Kids of Appetite by David Arnold
Genre: Young Adult/Contemporary
Page Length: 352 pages
Source: ARC won at B-Fest (Barnes & Noble's Teen Book Festival)
Publication Date: September 20, 2016
Publisher: Viking Books for Young Readers

Although I received a free copy of this book, my opinion of Kids of Appetite is completely my own.

About Kids of Appetite (via Goodreads):

The bestselling author of Mosquitoland brings us another batch of unforgettable characters in this tragicomedy about first love and devastating loss.

Victor Benucci and Madeline Falco have a story to tell.

It begins with the death of Vic’s father.

It ends with the murder of Mad’s uncle.

The Hackensack Police Department would very much like to hear it.

But in order to tell their story, Vic and Mad must focus on all the chapters in between.

This is a story about:

1. A coded mission to scatter ashes across New Jersey.

2. The momentous nature of the Palisades in winter.

3. One dormant submarine.

4. Two songs about flowers.

5. Being cool in the traditional sense.

6. Sunsets & ice cream & orchards & graveyards.

7. Simultaneous extreme opposites.

8. A narrow escape from a war-torn country.

9. A story collector.

10. How to listen to someone who does not talk.

11. Falling in love with a painting.

12. Falling in love with a song.

13. Falling in love.

I had no expectations going into Kids of Appetite, and it was kind of nice. Although now that I've read it, I kind of wish there was more buzz about this book because I LOVED IT TO PIECES.

Kids of Appetite offers an extremely diverse cast of brilliant characters who I instantly fell in love with. They all had such unique backgrounds and stories to tell, and it was lovely having the opportunity to be an honorary (or so I'd hope) member of the Kids of Appetite. Hearing their stories and watching them write new chapters in their lives was such a pleasure. The characters were all so battered and broken at the start, and despite even more hardships along the way, they grew and pieced themselves together again. I couldn't be more proud of them.

I absolutely loved Arnold's writing style (Kids of Appetite has some of the most well-written POVs I've ever read), which obviously contributed greatly to my love of this book. And I loved each and every scene that brought the whole story together, especially how Arnold pieced them together to parallel the special scene/epilogue at the end.

But my favorite part by far has to be the friendships. All the characters were so strong and brave (and brilliant, as I said before) on their own, but together, they seemed unstoppable. They were so loyal, patient, trusting, and, most of all, respectful to each other. The most important thing (and often the hardest to do) is that they respected each other for their differences, and in doing so, those differences brought them together.

Even though the characters had extremely different stories from my own (and those of my friends), I could really relate to them. My friends are definitely nowhere near as close or as cool (no offense, friends!) as the Kids of Appetite, but we are each extremely unique and I think our uniqueness is what binds us together, just like this literary quintet.

I don't want to go into too much detail about the plot because I don't want to give away what happens in the end (and I definitely don't want to spoil who killed Mad's uncle!), but let me just say it was a bit slow. But fear not! I still found myself devouring the book because there were so many fabulous stories told, funny comments being made, crazy food being served, and fantastic characterization and development throughout the entirety of the plot.

If you're looking for a wonderful, character-driven contemporary with a focus on friendship and identity, Kids of Appetite is the book for you. Good characterization and voice are two of the most important things for me when it comes to contemporary novels, and David Arnold definitely satisfied my appetite with his newest novel.

My rating: 4.25 stars

The Rose Society (Discussion Review ft. Aila)

Hi guys! I'm here with Aila @ One Way or An Author to give you our thoughts on The Rose Society by Marie Lu. Please note that there are spoilers in our discussion/review, both for The Young Elites (the first book in the series) as well as The Rose Society, so be careful as we go pretty in depth about the events that take place.

The Rose Society by Marie Lu
Series: The Young Elites #2
Genre: Young Adult/Fantasy
Page Length: 395 pages
Publisher: G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers
Format: Hardcover

About The Rose Society (via Goodreads):

Once upon a time, a girl had a father, a prince, a society of friends. Then they betrayed her, and she destroyed them all.

Adelina Amouteru’s heart has suffered at the hands of both family and friends, turning her down the bitter path of revenge. Now known and feared as the White Wolf, she flees Kenettra with her sister to find other Young Elites in the hopes of building her own army of allies. Her goal: to strike down the Inquisition Axis, the white-cloaked soldiers who nearly killed her.

But Adelina is no heroine. Her powers, fed only by fear and hate, have started to grow beyond her control. She does not trust her newfound Elite friends. Teren Santoro, leader of the Inquisition, wants her dead. And her former friends, Raffaele and the Dagger Society, want to stop her thirst for vengeance. Adelina struggles to cling to the good within her. But how can someone be good when her very existence depends on darkness?

Bestselling author Marie Lu delivers another heart-pounding adventure in this exhilarating sequel to The Young Elites.

Aila: Okay, so one word to describe this book? INTENSE. Adelina’s character grows as dark as ever, and I experienced so many emotions while reading about her development.

Alexandra: I agree with Aila. It was really interesting to see how Adelina’s character developed, for better or worse. I’d definitely say the book was dramatic. It was riveting from start to end, and I was literally on the edge of my seat the whole time, either overcome with squeals, screams or tears. It was definitely an emotional rollercoaster.

Aila: OMG so how did you think of the romance? Like, I know everyone loves Enzo and everything but I knew from the end of the first book that it couldn’t happen. Plus, MAGIANO IS BAE.

Alexandra: Hey, you stole my line ;) Magiano is probably my favorite character in the trilogy now. Even from the very beginning I loved him, despite all his snark and his seemingly greedy, heartless demeanor. He really has so many layers to him (as do all the characters) that I really hope will be revealed more in the next book, and he is there for Adelina as an anchor throughout, even when she doesn’t see him that way. He has so much capacity to love her and take care of her, if Adelina would just loosen the reins and see clearly once in awhile. She’s so fueled by hatred and vengeance that she often fails to see what’s right there in front of her. I’ll happily take Magiano off Adelina’s hands if she doesn’t want him ;) Anyway, to go back to Enzo. I really wanted Enzo and Adelina to work out, but in truth, I knew it couldn’t. They fuel each other’s fire way too much and expose an extremely dark side of each other that is really frightening to watch. Together, they have way too much passion and anger inside. Also, Enzo seems the same now that he’s back, but Adelina has to realize (and is slowly starting to realize) that things can’t be the same. Not anymore.

Aila: So true. Seriously, Magiano’s joy and light provides the perfect contrast and foil to Adelina’s dark passion. He’s definitely a character that I would love to see explored more in the next book. It really broke my heart to see Adelina constantly choose Enzo when Magiano was there. WHY YOU DO THIS TO ME BOOK. Overall, the romance in this book was quite unique in my opinion. Rather than make it a normal love triangle with the girl being wishy washy, Adelina takes in account the person she could benefit the most from, in terms of political maneuvering as well as balancing that out with her own passions. Plus, you have a dead guy. So. That’s pretty different. Speaking of romance, Violetta and Sergio though? *waggles eyebrows*

Alexandra: *laughs* I am definitely curious to see if their relationship develops into more. Violetta is similar to Magiano in the sense that she tries her best to soothe. Sergio seems to be a relatively stable character, but when he’s doing his waterworks (since he is the Rainmaker), Violetta seems to be by his side and it is kind of adorable. I’m hoping to see more of Sergio and Violetta (maybe even some chapters from their perspectives?) in the next book. There’s definitely a lot of underlying romances, but they do not overpower the plot of the book, which I really like. But, to continue with the topic of romance a bit more… Aila, what did you think about that little tryst between Maeve and Lucent?

Aila: Honestly I was quite surprised with that one chapter that confronts their relationship. I love being surprised, but at the same time I would have liked to see more exploration between those two characters in general. The way that Lu mentions it, it sounds like it was added on last minute or just as a side note. Theirs is the only LGBTQ+ relationship in the book and it’s like “Oh yeah there’s that too lol.” So while I do appreciate the diversity, it would’ve been nice if we saw a bit more development on their end.

Alexandra: I definitely agree with you. Especially since their relationship ended so abruptly. It was all like, “well you’re the queen so you’re obviously going to have heirs so I can’t be with you because I don’t want to be your mistress”. And I totally understand where Lucent is coming from because I wouldn’t want to be someone on the sidelines that has to be kept a secret, but I’m also curious to know more about Beldain as well as Lucent and Maeve’s past. Especially since it seems Lucent’s time is running out.

Aila: Speaking of Lucent’s time running out, Lu really gave us scare when we find out what’s going on with the Elites, didn’t she? Raffaele’s theory is making me get theories of my own regards to their powers. Since it’s eating away at them, the only way for them to survive is to get rid of their powers… via Violetta maybe? I like the whole twist she put in there, and it makes the situation seem scarier considering all of our beloved characters have these dangerous powers.

Alexandra: It’s a scary thought for sure. I think it makes sense that the powers have repercussions, but I’m really worried to see how they are affected. There were definitely some theories being thrown around, but I’m kind of afraid of what’s to come. It’s hard to say how bad the effects will be (and how quickly they will manifest), especially with characters like Adelina and Magiano who have such strong powers that they constantly rely on to survive. Throughout The Rose Society, we’ve seen Adelina struggle so much already to control her powers and not be overcome by the rampant illusions/hallucinations (and we’ve also kind of seen it even in The Young Elites) so it will be interesting to see how it affects her and her development in the third installment. In addition, it will be even harder for her since she’s turned away from all her friends. Based on her character arc, it makes sense that she’s wary, but she is definitely going to be swallowed by the darkness if she does not seek help or light from her friends (or maybe someone who means even more *cough* Magiano *cough*). Speaking of turning away from her friends, what did you think of that ending? Pretty heartbreaking, right?

Aila: God, that ending GUTTED me. The whole “she sat on the throne but had no sense of triumph” (paraphrasing here) just left me aching. THE POOR GIRL. I love how all the characters in this series are so gray; there’s never a black-and-white outlook, it’s always in the middle. *applauds Marie Lu* Another awesome book written by an amazing author! Overall, Adelina’s development and the ever-growing plot and revelations made this a solid sequel for the Young Elites series.

Alexandra: I definitely feel bad for Adelina and pretty much all the characters (except Teren, obviously, since he’s kind of a psychopath). They’ve all been betrayed and hurt so many times, and it’s really heartbreaking. But since they are grey characters, it’s kind of hard to sympathize with just one character. It’s hard to know who is in the wrong and who is right. I’m really interested to see how the characters develop in the future. The Rose Society was a beautifully written sequel to a fantastic series, and I am extremely excited to see what’s to come.

Aila’s Rating: 4 stars

Alexandra’s Rating: 4.5 stars

An Ember in the Ashes (Review)

An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir

Series: An Ember in the Ashes #1

Genre: Young Adult/Dystopian/High Fantasy

Page Length: 446 pages

Format: Hardcover (purchased)

THE PLOT

Laia is a Scholar. Elias is a Martial. Under the Martial Empire's iron fist, the Scholars are fighting to survive. If you are a Scholar, you are either working class or a slave, and few rebels (or suspected rebels) are left unharmed or undetected. When Laia's brother is taken from her, she is willing do anything to save him—even if it means going into Blackcliff and never coming back. Blackcliff is a military academy where Martials like Elias Veturius are trained to become Masks, the assassin-soldiers of the Empire. Supervised and lead by the cold-hearted Commandant, even Blackcliff's students must face the violence and cruelty of the Empire. This cruelty and violence is part of the reason that Elias Veturius plans to desert.

An Ember in the Ashes is a breathtaking dystopian novel based on the Roman Empire with fantastical and mythical elements woven in. As long as I can remember, I've been fascinated by not only Roman mythology, but Ancient Rome in general. The politics, military strategy, and social structure of that era is a fascinating topic in history, and I'm happy to say that Tahir's twist on the era did not disappoint.

THE CHARACTERS

Before focusing in on Elias and Laia, I'd like to take a second and point out that Tahir did a phenomenal job crafting the slew of characters seen in An Ember in the Ashes. Even the characters with the smallest role in the novel were three-dimensional—not a single one seemed flat or a copy of any other character. I often find that secondary and minor characters are not as finely crafted and can seem very similar to one another, but I was pleasantly surprised by Tahir's cast of characters. She truly honed in on each and every one of her characters, big and small, and thought through how each of their minds worked and how they'd play a role in the plot. These seemingly minor details about the lesser characters really helped me appreciate An Ember in the Ashes even more, and proceeded to further my understanding of the main characters and their emotions as well.

Elias

“Always victorious."

The words of Elias Veturius' grandfather and the motto of Gens Veturia always ring in Elias' mind. As the heir to Gens Veturia and the star student at Blackcliff, it is only understandable the immeasurable amount of pride his grandfather feels towards him, and also the immeasurable pressure put on Elias as a result. Yet fame and strength are not on Elias' mind—all Elias truly wants is freedom.

I absolutely adore Elias as a character. He is a strong character who knows right from wrong even when others do not. Although he makes mistakes (he is human after all), he is willing to make amends and fix his errors. In a society where it is easy to accept social standards and leave people to suffer and die, Elias is willing to fight for justice. He is an extremely caring person who looks out for his friends and even for people he doesn't know.

Laia

“But I’m not strong. I’m weak, and I’m sick of pretending I’m not.” 

Laia lost it all, and she's struggling to reclaim the one person she might be able to save—her elder brother, Darin. Although she may be able to save him, she knows it won't be easy, yet she's still willing to take the risk.

Laia has a lot of expectations to live up to, and tries her best to do everything she can to make her dead family, and her brother, proud. I admire Laia's determination and strong will. Although she falters once in a while, she always finds the strength to get back up and fight again. I believe that despite her flaws, and despite her belief that she is weak, she is in her own way unbelievably strong for trying over and over and over again.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Tahir's writing is exquisite, and I was captivated from beginning to end. She was able to perfectly mix the world-building, character development, dialogue, and action.  The book was a delectable treat that went beyond satisfying my recently book-deprived heart and soul.

Tahir told Laia and Elias' story beautifully, and I cannot wait to see how the rest of their lives unfold.

"You will burn, for you are an ember in the ashes."

My rating: 4 stars

About An Ember in the Ashes (via Goodreads):

Laia is a slave. 

Elias is a soldier. 

Neither is free.

Under the Martial Empire, defiance is met with death. Those who do not vow their blood and bodies to the Emperor risk the execution of their loved ones and the destruction of all they hold dear.

It is in this brutal world, inspired by ancient Rome, that Laia lives with her grandparents and older brother. The family ekes out an existence in the Empire’s impoverished backstreets. They do not challenge the Empire. They’ve seen what happens to those who do.

But when Laia’s brother is arrested for treason, Laia is forced to make a decision. In exchange for help from rebels who promise to rescue her brother, she will risk her life to spy for them from within the Empire’s greatest military academy.

There, Laia meets Elias, the school’s finest soldier—and secretly, its most unwilling. Elias wants only to be free of the tyranny he’s being trained to enforce. He and Laia will soon realize that their destinies are intertwined—and that their choices will change the fate of the Empire itself.