YA Books & BBQ Side Dishes

The Grandest Game by Jennifer Lynn Barnes A book from your “to be read” pile. The Grandest Game by Jennifer Lynn Barnes. It has been a while since I have been in the Inheritance Games universe, but my daughter has been urging me to read this one for a while. Avery Grambs and her Hawthorne Boys are back. Kinda. Avery and the Hawthorne Brothers have decided to use their money to make a game, the grandest game! Seven or eight lucky people play in a twisty, puzzling, and elite game to win $26 million. Avery chooses three of the players and the other four must find their tickets hidden across America. Right away, we get to know the key players in the grandest game, Rohan, Lyra, Gigi, and her twin sister, the mysterious Savannah. My favourite part of the way Jennifer Lynn Barnes writes is her attention to detail. The reader gets to play the game with them because details matter. The biggest problem with the treasure hunt is that I like all of the contestants, I also like games and masquerade balls! The book is told from the perspective of Gigi, Rohan, and Lyra. They are all taken to the Hawthorne Island, where they are given a time limit to get from where they are to the house, collecting as many useful objects and hints that they can find, along the way. Once the eight players begin the game, they are divided into teams and must solve problems to make it out of the house by dawn. Of course there are layers to the game like Grayson’s twin half sisters (Savannah and Gigi), chemistry between Grayson and Lyra, Lyra’s fathers past AND the twins/Grayson’s father’s past plus Besty trouble between Gigi’s teammates Knox and Brady plus who is the old lady again? I really enjoyed all the new puzzles and twist and turns but that ending? Was not an ending. I didn’t like that.

Betting On You by Lynn Painter The Life of a Showgirl – A dual or multi-POV book This is another one of Painter’s books that made me laugh out loud. Charlie and Bailey are complete opposites but have one thing in common, both their parents are divorced. They meet on the plane during one of their custody flights to visit their Dad’s sides in Alaska. Bailey is a rule follower and Charlie is a smart ass realist. Two years later, they run into each other again and a year after that they become coworkers. The book is told from Bailey and Charlie’s perspectives and that’s what Lynn Painter does best, dual POVs. Charlie is it great MMC! He’s a little snarky, charming, thinks in T Swift lyrics, and sees Bailey and likes her quirks. They reminded me of my favourite couple, Pacey and Joey from Dawson’s Creek. Bailey made me laugh with all her special orders, pop, popcorn, pizza, etc. Hahaha there are many seriously funny parts and one liners in this book, but the goose scene made me laugh SO hard! They never actually talk about any of the bets throughout the book so it kind of comes out of left field, but I thought this book was absolutely adorable. She really writes young love so well and if I was a teenage girl, I would be screaming into my pillow reading this book lol and as middle-aged woman, it made me giggle to remember those first feelings. Adorable!

Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater Set in the spring I bought this book for my daughter a few years ago, and it just sat on the shelf, I’m not sure why. I was hooked instantly. Each of the 4 male characters are interesting and I wanted to know more about them, more about their quest, and more about their past. I absolutely adore Blue and her quirky family. This had mystery, a little romance, ghosts, magic and even murder. Although some questions were answered, so many remain. This book left off on a good cliffhanger and sets up the next book of this 4 book series. I am interested in reading more about the Raven Boys and their mysterious friend Blue who comes from a maternal family of psychics and a mysterious paternal side that I’m sure we will learn more about in future books.

The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater Next Book in a Series it took me a while to get back into the series because this book is centred around Ronan. He was my least favourite character in the first book and I wondered, why? About 100 pages in I got it. We get to know Ronan, his family, his beliefs, and in this book the author makes you see, your first impression was wrong. Ronan has a lot of different dimensions to him and he’s a very interesting character. Blue is still there, but now she’s with “her boys“ and I liked the side of her. I like that the story has led them to ancient trees, speaking wisdom in dead languages. Another great cliffhanger ending!

Blue Lily, Lily Blue by Maggie Stiefvater Children’s Book and Magical Realism This is the third book in the Raven Cycle series and I really enjoy this group of characters. The first book focussed on Adam, the second book on Ronan, and this third book is about Blue. Although while it focusses on Blue’s story, the whole gang, including new characters are involved with the next stage of finding Glendower. Now that I know Adam and Ronan better their interactions made me chuckle, and I enjoyed where their storylines are progressing as well. This book raised the level of danger, magic and romantic exploration. I can feel the storylines wrapping up and it was another good ending with a cliff hanger.

The Raven King by Maggie Stiefvater Published in 2016 This is the last book in the Raven Cycle series and the author reminds you of that, right off the bat. The psychics of 300 Fox Way sum up what has happened in the previous 3 books quickly and let the reader know what direction the book is headed towards to get a satisfying conclusion even if it’s not a happy ending. Even at the beginning, my favourite characters are dwelling over goodbyes and endings as they too know this will all end within the year as predicted. Very early on we meet triplets and they are buyers like Colin Greenmantle, from the previous book, in fact they’re rivals of his, and they have another connection as well, Piper Greenmantle. I really liked how we learned more about Maura, Calla, and Persephone their backstory was interesting. I’ve never read a book with tarot cards being used often and I really enjoyed it. I liked that all the characters were given full character arcs over the four books, even Declan has a little bit of a redemption arc and Ronan’s first kiss was so sweet. I really liked the new character that they added in this book, Henry. He fit in with the group in a new and interesting way especially when there’s problems with Noah. The ending was convoluted, but really, the whole series is pretty convoluted lol. But I was completely satisfied with the ending and it all made sense.

Ink and Bone by Rachel Caine A book with a body part in the title. It took me a while to get into this book. The chapters are long. This takes place in present day/near future, in Europe but in an alternate reality. A reality where personally owning or having books is illegal. Books are only held in the Alexandria Library (which stills exists in this reality) and the daughter libraries around the world. Jess is 10 when the story begins and he is a runner for his crime family who is in the business of stealing contraband books to sell on the black market. When Jess is 17, his Dad pays for his examination to enter training to become a librarian. His dad wants an inside man but Jess has ink in his veins. He makes friends in training and 4 of the over 30 students pass, taking positions in different areas of expertise. So there are somethings that bother me about this book. They don’t explain things fully or if they do but it’s slow. Like basic things like their Blanks. I wanted to know more. Even though I like the group and the concept the lack of details like that left me disconnected sometimes. It picked up halfway through and I was shocked at how many main characters were lost after we finally got to know them. I think the second book in this series. The Great Library series will be very good especially now that I understand the players and am invested.

The Night Diary by Veera Hiranandani Set in India This book is actually a book compiled of letters written by Nisha to her mom starting on her 12th birthday, July 14, 1947. Nisha has a twin brother named Amil and sadly their mom passed away giving birth to them. In her letters she tells her mom about their daily life and she examines her life, as well as her dad and grandma’s lives as Hindus, her brother’s troubles with what appears to be described as dyslexia, and their Muslim cook, Kazi’s life. Shortly after she begins writing letters to her mom (who was Muslim) in her new journal, her life and India, her home, begins to change. Becoming independent of Britain has allowed for differences of religions to become battle lines. As she tells her mom the troubles she has and all of India has, she is so vulnerable in her grief. It’s shocking how rapidly everything changes after India regained independence. Even a 12-year-old girl takes notice right away that everything is different even though every thing and everyone, is exactly the same. Nisha is so curious and thoughtful in her letters I liked her right away. I didn’t know anything about this time in India, and through Nisha‘s innocent questions and eyes I learned a lot. I could tell how frustrated she was that her home was India and literally the next day, it became Pakistan a Muslim country her and her family were no longer safe to live in. This was an insightful view of a 3 month upheaval of a complicated but beautiful family that made me tear up with so many different emotions. This was a very good book for kids, teens and adults.

Love Radio by Ebony LaDelle Flip a coin This is a dual POV book about Prince and Dani who are seniors in high school. Dani is working towards becoming an author and Prince works at the local radio station as a love guru/DJ. Right off the hop, a few things that I loved about this book is how many fabulous black authors are name dropped, how many pop culture movies and music are discussed, and how Prince calls out the library for not having enough black representation in children’s literature. This is a young adult book so the colloquial language is very of the time, and I loved it! Prince is a standup kid, he helps his single Mom who has MS, with his little brother. Prince may be my favourite MMC in a YA book yet! He is smart, confident and has so much respect for his Mom, as a Mom with MS myself, I felt their relationship hard. I loved his honesty and how he viewed relationships. When he offered to help take out her braids, I almost swooned, what a down to earth “date”. He is also smooth and sweet, Dani has to try very hard to stick to her path of no boys, just school with Prince around. Haha the Lauren Hill conversation was funny, I loved her music. The conversation especially with Prince and his friends is so young and urban that I felt a little old reading this book but I loved hearing how the boys had crushes, cared about their appearance, and actually put thought into relationships, not just hook ups. I worked in radio for a while and I loved the Motown radio history in this book. Trigger warning there is a SA discussed and I loved that the outcome is counselling and getting help. The prioritization of her mental health over her relationship was good decision for her. Hair Wars sounded so cool and the meaning behind it made me think. I was satisfied with the ending.