An Ember In The Ashes by Sabaa Tahir

Hello reader! Today I'm going to review one of my all time favorite action and adventure books: An Ember In The Ashes by Sabaa Tahir. 

   This marvelous book takes place in what I assume some twisted sort of Ancient Rome. It is ruled by an Empire and has an academy called Blackcliff where it trains Martials (or Masks because they wear iron-silver like masks that meld to their faces). 

    There are three different groups: Martials, Scholars and The Tribes. In a small Scholar village lives Laia, a 16-17 year old girl that lives with her grandparents and her brother Darin. One terrible day(that I can't give to much detail on)Darin is imprisoned. Laia makes it her primary job to save her brother, regardless of all the sacrifices she will have to make. So, she sets out to go find the Resistance and when she does the price is costly.

In order to save Darin, Laia must pose as a slave and spy on the Commandant in the heart of Martial territory. In the one, the only, Blackcliff Military Academy.

     Meanwhile Elias Veturius, the Commandant's one and only son, is said to be the finest soldier at Blackcliff but secretly is its most unwilling. Elias is the only one in his group to not have his mask properly melded to his skin. He hates everything and anything about the Empire. Except for maybe one acception, Helene Aquilla (the only girl in Blackcliff) who is  his best friend. And pretty much his only. 

 

     Elias has never wanted anything more in his entire life than to desert the Empire. But he knows if he does they'll track him down and kill him. No exceptions whatsoever. Until one day a marvelous opportunity falls into Elias's hands. One so great, so perilous, so dangerous that Elias will be lucky to come out alive. 

    This book is extremely graphic so if violence is not your thing than STEER CLEAR FOR YOUR OWN HEALTH! It is also made very clear that slaves get sexually assaulted and Helene has to put up with banter and catcalling and other nastiness. But nothing she can't deal with. This book portrays some very strong women and you get to watch Laia be shaped into one of them. The morals consist of what it means to be good, how dangerous the world can be but primarily focuses on the question "what would you do to save someone you love?"

    And, if you're anything like me, you'll read the last page first which is a big NO! It spoils! So don't look up any questions you have either! 

   However, I love this book so much. I read the entire thing in two days and could not put it down to save my life. Recently the sequel, A Torch Against The Night, came out. It was also tremendous. As for that book please STEER CLEAR FROM THE BACK! Huge plot twists in both books so I advise not to go nosing through different parts. Thank you. 

   Well, I hope this review made you decide to pick this book up and if you do please enjoy! 

Remember to keep reading and be nice to others,

Scribbler On The Roof 

Anything But Ordinary by Lara Avery

     Hello reader! I hope you're doing well and that you've been staying dry if it's raining by you. This past weekend the skies have opened up and just sent us a deluge. No thunder and lightning  though.

     Since it's currently raining I thought how awful it would to be swimming. And then I remembered a fantastic book I've read that I hope you might enjoy. Anything But Ordinary is one of the only books I've ever reread besides Harry Potter.

   17-year-old Bryce has her entire life figured out. She's going to be an Olympic diver, one of the best because she's been training her entire life. Bryce has always participated in swimming and she always tells people that her key to succeeding is something every one can come by. But it's not. It's just space. She needs her proper space, knows exactly how much she needs for her perfect dives. In what we assume to be a race, Bryce is ready. But she realizes there is not enough space. But she complies anyways and everything was perfect but she needed just one more inch of space. And the place lacking it was the perfect, curved edge of her skull.

     Five years later, Bryce wakes up from a coma. She still feels 17 but she's not. Everything she knows is gone.
She no longer has an athlete's body.
Her parents aren't really happy.
Her younger sister is 15 and has taken a dramatic personality change.
Her boyfriend and best friend are now college graduates.

      Bryce has no clue what to do with her life. She can't swim anymore and her whole life has been brutally thrown away. But,there is one thing that Bryce notices is wrong. There is something more to her. Something not right.

       In this heartbreakingly beautiful novel you experience Bryce start to reaclamate to life, discover a whole new world of adult hood and deal with the dramatic changes in her life as she tries to find who she is.

     I will warn you that this book does not have a happy ending. It'll leave you crying within the first two pages and sobbing at the end. Lara Avery really does show the reader how much we all have and how we need to be grateful for it. Avery does a spectacular job at feeding us emotion after emotion and keeping us hooked. I definitely know I'll read this book three times, four times maybe even six!

    I hope I helped you with your next reading choice and if you do choose to pick it up I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

Remember to keep reading and be nice to others,
Scribbler On The Roof

   
     

These Shallow Graves by Jennifer Donnelly

     So, for those of you who've never heard of Jennifer Donnelly, WHAT'RE YOU DOING WITH YOUR LIFE? Jennifer Donnelly, is a god. I swear. I've read all of her novels so please do expect to see more of her work suggested on this blog.

      Donnelly tends to write novels that take place in the 18-1900s so not only is she providing an amazing story we get a fantastic history lesson as well!

    Josephine (Jo) Montfort is a 16 year old girl, living away from home to attend boarding school. She desperately wants to write but finds that most of her friends don't really care. Frustrated, one day Jo's good friends show up wearing mourning clothes. Immediately the girl assumes they're morning their father who has been ill. But, to Jo's surprise, her father is dead. So, she is whisked away back to New York. 

    Jo can't figure out how her father accidentally shot himself whilst cleaning his firearm. He was a sports man, he was smart enough not to clean a revolver when loaded, let alone shoot himself.

      A little later Jo visits the press to deliver something to the editor. Whilst she's there she overhears reporters talking about how her father must've committed suicide. Furious, Jo accidentally ends up twining herself into the conversation. 

   It is not only until a little later that Jo really realizes something really is amiss. So, determined to solve her father's possible murder mystery, she starts to piece together everything she's got.

   This book portrays romance between Jo and her sidekick, Eddie. But Donnelly does show just how independent Josephine is. Jo definitely changes in the novel and I believe if she were real she'd make a great role model for young girls of our generation.

   There is no sequel to this book but hopefully there will be. And warning, this is a Jennifer Donnelly book. You don't get away without your heart being broken! There's a 90% chance it'll get stitched back together, but not the way you want it to. 

   I hope you found this review appealing and I strongly encourage you to pick out this book. If you do so, I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. I adored it so much I read it in a day and a half.

Remember to keep reading and be nice to others,

Scribbler On The Roof 

The Alchemyst by Michael Scott

     

     Hello! I'm back. I apologize for not writing in a while. I fell into a bit of an updating slump. So far I'm breaking my promise of posting often! Today I thought I'd bring you a very nice series, The Secrets of The Immortal Nicholas Flammel by Michael Scott. 

       Sophie and Josh Newman are your everyday normal teenagers. Their parents are away on a work trip so the two find themselves living with their aunt during their summer break. The twins both find jobs, Josh at a bookstore and Sophie at a coffee shop. Josh finds himself working for Nick Fleming and Sophie finds herself working with Nick's wife, Perry Fleming. 
     One afternoon whilst the twins are on their shifts a man by the name of John Dee comes and attacks Nick Fleming demanding some sort of book. Nick and John have an insane battle in the bookstore, magic flying everywhere. And Josh, stunned, has no idea what to think.
    As it turns out (no spoilers!) that Nick and Perry are actually the immortal Nicholas and Perenelle Flammel. The two are in grave danger and they believe that Sophie and Josh are the twins mentioned in the prophecy that will save them. Nicholas also mentions that he and Perenelle have a month to live and they desperately need the twins help.
   So, Sophie and Josh Newman, embark on a perilous quest that unfolds throughout six novels to save Perenelle and Nicholas from their deaths and will later end up doing much, much more. 
   The series is actually quite good. We get some very good history lessons in the author's notes and very endearing characters.We encounter other characters from history such as Joan of Ark, John Dee and gods Isis and Osiris. The books contain magic, great battle scenes and show us valuable lessons such as loyal friends and how important bondage between siblings really is. 
     Another particular thing I like about the series is that it does mention that there is no good and bad. John Dee is our antagonist but Michael Scott does show us how immortality has turned Nicholas and Perenelle into rather somewhat selfish creatures. The two have ended up killing other twins in the past  hoping that they are on the ones to save them. 
    I strongly recommend you to read this series and I hope you fall in love with our characters and adore them so. I will tell you one thing, DO NOT TRY TO ASK THE BOOK'S WIKI FOR ANSWERS! Terrible, horrid idea. It'll only get you wound up in an even bigger spoil. And I know how hard it is not to. I unfortunately made that mistake. And I don't care if you think your favorite character is dead or not. DO NOT CONSULT THE WIKI. Also, when you finish, don't try to comprehend the unclear finale. It'll come eventually but part of the beauty is not quite understanding it. 

   As always, thanks for reading.  I hope I've helped you out and you to enjoy this fantastic series!

  Remember to keep reading and be nice to others,
Scribbler On The Roof

List of the series:
The Alchemyst
The Magician
The Sorceress
The Necromancer
The Warlock
The Enchantress 

       

Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer

Hello reader! For today I thought I'd bring you somewhere exciting. A book where man meets fairy. That's right, Artemis Fowl. Now, Artemis Fowl is amazing in so many ways. I cannot wait to tell you about it. 

Artemis Fowl is a 12-year-old criminal mastermind who is missing his father and his mother is lacking her sanity. He has only one friend, his guard Butler, who helps him in all of his evil doing. Artemis has finally discovered that humans and everything you know about are not alone. Deep underground by the Earth's core are the fairies. Where dwarves, elves and pixies live in secrecy but function just like mankind. This is we're you'll meet Holly Short, the one and only female in the entire police force  and it is her personal duty to be the best she can ever be and not fail. But so far she keeps getting caught doing the exact opposite.  One night a mission goes wrong and Holly and all the other fairies in her squad are punished. Angry, Holly decides she needs to take a fly topside alone and  refresh her magic. And that's when Artemis captures her in hopes she can restore his mother's sanity and run experiments on her. And Artemis knows every elf's weakness...gold. It is now up to Holly to fight her own way out and  trying to escape with the members of the LEPrecon fighting for her back from Artemis's clutches. But if Artemis knows their weakness and he is a criminal mastermind it's going to be much harder for the LEPrecon to free Holly than they expected. 

     This book includes magic, science fiction and unforgettable characters who you'll love more and more throughout the entire eight novels. These books are action packed and humorous (but not all humor you can find in Percy Jackson. It includes puns and some silly references that younger readers might not get) and you'll watch Artemis grow up and become the formidable man he is destined to be and how Holly Short gets tied up in it all. 

    The first book was a bit slow and it took me time to get into it but the rest of the series was fantastic with Colfer's creative ideas, shocking antagonists and surprising plans Artemis creates in the beautiful world Colfer provides. I really, really enjoyed this series and when you reach the last book I hope you feel like you grew up with Artemis even if you read the entire eightnovels* in less than a month and a half. Like Rowling, Colfer gives us important morals regarding friendships and reaching adult-hood. 

* Artemis Fowl, The Arctic Incident, The Eternity Code, The Opal Deception, The Lost Colony (my favorite), The Time Paradox and The Atlantis Complex 

 

  I hope you found my review helpful and enjoy the books  as much as I did! 

Remember to keep reading and be nice to others,

Scribbler On The Roof

The Cursed Child by J.K Rowling

So, it's finally here. The eighth Harry Potter book and reader, I'm sorry to say but I hope you have not bought it. To be honest, I enjoyed the book. We got to see Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny and Draco all grown up and with children and having jobs and leading different lives but it wasn't what I WANTED. I wanted J.K Rowling to write a story but as you know it's a play and she had help with it from Jack Thorne and John Tiffany.

      As you know, the story is a play. One thing first, plays are much easier to write than stories. It's just dialogue and working out what people's actions are. Stories, on the other hand are much, much harder. I feel like J.K Rowling wrote a premise and handed it to Thorne and Tiffany and said, "write me the eighth Harry Potter book as a play. We'll see where you are next week." And they left and wrote the story. I feel like this entire thing was just to make more money unlike all the other books which were for fun and the readers too. Because, when you look at it why is it a play instead of a book? Because Rowling wouldn't have to write it and she knows so very well that all her readers can tell what her writing's like. And then everyone will buy the book and poof! Rowling had thousands and thousands or more pounds in her pocket. Now, I'm not saying ANY of this is true. It's just my opinion!

     Another thing I didn't like was that the story did not match the summary. The story was better than the summary because it had time travel and mild excitement but it wasn't the J.K Rowling story I wanted. The tale does not properly start until Albus's fourth year and the scenes until then are practically on the train, a scene at Hogwarts and then the year is over. It is repeated until the fourth year.

     Also, unlike all the other Harry Potter books which had morals that taught us stuff like "be brave" and "as long as you set your mind to something you can do anything" or "you need to always stick with your friends to...". In Harry Potter we get to either grow up with the characters or watch them grow up (or both). To me, Albus and Scorpious are flat characters. They did not grow because the only moral we learned was "don't steal illegal stuff because they're illegal for a good reason" and "don't screw around with your parents' past because you'll make things even worse".  However, if you are so determined to read it and have not yet I suggest you borrow the novel from a friend or get it at a local library because it isn't worth wasting your money on.

All right, I'm sorry I had to discourage reading you from something but I PROMISE to come back with more positive reviews!

Remember to keep reading and be nice to others,
Scribbler On The Roof

Cinder by Marissa Meyer

     Hello, reader! I apologize for not posting recently but I am back with a review of one of my FAVORITE series, The Lunar Chronicles. Cinder, book one was extremely wonderful as was the rest of the series (Scarlet, Cress and Winter) and I strongly recommend the series.

     Humans, androids and cyborgs crowd the streets of New Beijing. A plague haunts the population. From space, lunar people watch, awaiting to follow their queen and make a move. No one knows that one girl will be humanity's only hope. . .
      Cinder, a sixteen year old gifted mechanic, is a cyborg. She's a second class citizen, lives with her adopted mother (also known as her step-mother) and step-sisters. One day, while tending her booth at the local marketplace, the prince of the Eastern Commonwealth comes looking for the best mechanic in the city unaware he will meet Cinder. But when her life  accidentally becomes intertwined with his she's caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal and must uncover secrets about her past to protect humanity's future. Because there is something unusual about Cinder. Something that she could be killed for.

   There is a prequel to the series but I wouldn't read it before Cinder. Here is the order of how I believe you should read the series: Cinder, Scarlet, Cress, Fairest, Winter, Stars Above. I recommend reading the prequel before Winter so that you don't have to constantly deal with unanswered questions.
   All right, reader! Thank you for your attention. I hope you enjoy the series just as much as I did!
Remember to keep reading and be nice to others,
Scribbler On The Roof