All These Things I've Done - Reviewed by Maggie Devero

All These Things I've Done by Gabrielle Zevin

Reviewed by Maggie Devero

Trying to lead the normal life you desire is hard when you're the daughter of one of the most famous ex-mafia bosses, in the year 2083. And this isn't just because of the struggles of things such as high paper taxes and limited amounts of water. Anya Balanchine comes from a large family of notorious criminals, at the top of which was her father, worldwide runner of contraband chocolate production, Leonyd Balanchine. Though both her mother and father are gone now, due to brutal murders years prior, Anya still manages to get wrapped into this chaotic life that surrounds her family name, and manages to pull each member into its clutches. All because of the stupid family chocolate, her sociopath ex-boyfriend almost dies of Fretoxin poisoning, and sets in motion a chain of horrible events. Anya must fight to continue what little of a regular life her and her siblings (and bedridden corpse of a grandmother) have been leading. But throw a handsome, forbidden boy into the situation, and everything will go awry. Can Anya keep a steady hand over what's left of her family, or will that be left to ruin like everything else in this city? Check out the book yourself to find out!

I gave this book three out of five stars. From the inside cover synopsis, it seemed pretty weird, but like an interesting cool weird. The book in its entirety was not as great. They could've gone so much farther and in depth with the family mafia background, and their connections with top chocolate connoisseurs/manufacturers, and her immediate family's deaths and why they occurred but they didn't. It started off good, with the family goons and poisoned chocolate, but those just got swept to the side so easily when the love interest became the love interest. Then it got all sappy, and romantically focused, and that can be okay but only to an extent, and it just lost me. I was expecting some action, adventure maybe somewhat mystery book, but that really wasn't it. I did like, though, how she aptly portrayed the average teenage girl, especially with the pressure to provide for her siblings with little to no adult supervision. She was fiercely dedicated to her siblings, and went to great lengths to protect them. I liked the book, felt like it could've been done better, but didn't completely hate it. I will be interested in reading the other books in the series Birthright whenever they come out, to see where she takes the story!

December Book Club

Join us during December -- AOHS book club is reading this one!

From amazon.com:
What was once the western United States is now home to the Republic, a nation perpetually at war with its neighbors. Born into an elite family in one of the Republic's wealthiest districts, fifteen-year-old June is a prodigy being groomed for success in the Republic's highest military circles. Born into the slums, fifteen-year-old Day is the country's most wanted criminal. But his motives may not be as malicious as they seem.

From very different worlds, June and Day have no reason to cross paths - until the day June's brother, Metias, is murdered and Day becomes the prime suspect. Caught in the ultimate game of cat and mouse, Day is in a race for his family's survival, while June seeks to avenge Metias's death. But in a shocking turn of events, the two uncover the truth of what has really brought them together, and the sinister lengths their country will go to keep its secrets.

Full of nonstop action, suspense, and romance, this novel is sure to move readers as much as it thrills.

Inhuman- Reviewed by Paige Espinosa

     Delaney Park McEvoy is just your average teenager growing up after a plague that wiped out the Eastern half of The United States. The giant wall separating the West from the East is a regular sight for her, she attends classes online to prevent spreading germs among other students and she dresses up to impress boys with her best friend, Annapolis. That is, she was normal until biohazard agents crashed a party she was attending and seized her to test for possible contamination with the Ferae virus.
     Ferae is a virus that has evolved over the years after the initial epidemic of plague. Now, humans living on the East side of the wall who are infected with Ferae don't just die, they mutate into feral animals, intent on mauling every other human in its path- or so the government says.
     I gave this book four out of five stars because it was well-written, a quick-read, and interesting and engaging from the first page to the last. I enjoyed how one of the boys involved in a budding love triangle acknowledged this development and decided he was out of it, there would be no love triangle. (However, later on there is still a love triangle; I wish it would have ended there and then when Rafe declared we wouldn't be a part of it.) I also had a few moments where the Ferae virus seemed so ridiculous I wished they were just zombies instead. Tiger-men and men with tusks just pushed the envelope to the brink for me and "manimals" pushed it too far. ("Manimals" are people infected with Ferae who are mutating but aren't feral yet. It also makes me think of Pillow Pets and it sounds like something that would be advertised on late night television for "just $19.95 plus shipping and handling!" The term the author used was just too comical for me at points during the book.) Despite my dislike for the ridiculously far-fetched apocalyptic premise, by the end of the book I really loved the characters and even loved a "manimal" that I couldn't stand when it first debuted in the book. Overall, it was an amazing book that I would definitely tell others to read!

Counting By 7s - Reviewed by Maggie Devero

Counting By 7s by Holly Goldberg Sloan

Reviewed by Maggie Devero

Willow Chance is a strange and sweet little girl. An unknown genius at twelve, she takes comfort in immersing herself in many strange quirks such as diagnosing the medical conditions of people around her, studying plant life with enthusiasm, and most importantly, counting by 7s. Due to these odd features though, Willow is awkwardly out of place and misunderstood in her preteen world. The only people she feels comfortable around are her adoptive parents, Roberta and Jimmy. But the worst things happen to the best of people, and when life brutally rips the two most important people from Willow's life leaving her practically an orphan, something breaks in her. No longer does she take comfort in her old habits, or anything at all even. The poor girl is taken in by the Nguyen family, a poor Vietnamese trio who run Happy Polish Nail Salon and live in the one room garage behind the shop. Even though she barely knows them, she feels most at home with them. With their help, and the help of possibly the worst ex-school counselor ever, Dell Duke, they keep her out foster care and leading a haphazard life, but a life nonetheless. Willow must learn to rebuild her broken spirit, and once again embrace life and all the positive things about it, instead of continuing on as an empty shell of her former self. "If you're lost, you might need to swim against the tide."

I really really really loved this book. It was so refreshingly individualistic, with the descriptive and unique writing style (plus the change in narrating through different characters), and the endearingly sweet characters who develop and learn through the course of the novel. And though a few aspects of the book came off as slightly unrealistic, I was personally able to look past them because of the quality things the rest of the book offered. Every character that encountered Willow ended up changing for the better by the end of the novel, and I really liked the idea of that - someone coming into your life and touching you in such a way that it moves you completely. This book itself kind of moved me in this way; I laughed out loud at some parts, and teared up at others. The moral of the story, that everyone has some good in them and need to make the best of the life they have, and that speaks to me a lot. All in all, I enjoyed this book from front to back cover, and I would recommend this to any of my friends, or anyone looking to read a sweet and emotional story. I'm looking forward to searching for other books by Holly Goldberg Sloan, and am glad to give this book five stars.

Lady Almina and the Real Downton Abbey Reviewed by Paige Espinosa

     Lady Almina was a remarkable woman as showcased in this book, written by the current Lady Carnarvon. Transforming from a young woman with a questionable father-daughter relationship to a Countess of Carnarvon, both wealthy and philanthropic. Almina's marriage is at first merely a business arrangement; the Earl of Carnarvon needs money which Almina can provide and she needs a higher social standing which the Earl can give her. Eventually this union appears happy and both individuals seem to like each other. However, during changing times and life-altering events, like World War I, the family of Highclere Castle changes quite a bit from throwing elaborate balls and redecorating for one guest's visit to healing injured soldiers and aiding in the war effort.

     I gave this book three out of five stars because, although the subject was interesting, the actual writing could be extremely dull at times, describing in detail clothes, fabrics, rooms, meals, and social engagements. It also only showed the positive side of this family- which was to be expected as it was written by a current family member. Precious litte was told about the servants and their lives and the skeletons of Highclere's closets didn't even see a glimmer of light. As the reader, I was left at the end with more questions, craving the juicy gossip experienced from the show, Downton Abbey. Well, maybe I wasn't expecting that much drama but I still would have enjoyed maybe an anecdote about an affair or a baby born out of wedlock or even a family myth about a long-dead ancestor's ghost! Overall, the word choice was merely okay, certain words were used a little too much (like describing Almina as "patently" doing something multiple times in one chapter!) and the writing style was very simple, like reading out of an 8th grade textbook. Lady Fiona Carnarvon didn't have much of a voice in her writing except for a few parts where her admiration for the late Carnarvon family members took on a tone of adoration, worship, or even obsession. I wouldn't recommend this book to just anyone but I think fans of Downton Abbey might find it informative and maybe even a bit surprising when character names appear as real people.

Impossible - reviewed by Maggie Devero

Impossible by Nancy Werlin

Reviewed by Maggie Devero

"Are you going to Scarborough Fair? Parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme; remember me to one who lives there, for once she was a true lover of mine..."

An old folk ballad begins to haunt Lucy Scarborough, once she turns seventeen. All she wanted was to go to a normal prom, with a normal cute boy in a band, and enjoy herself. What she didn't expect, was her deranged biological mother showing up at pictures and throwing glass bottles at her and her date, then her date raping her in a closet after prom, and finishing it off by killing himself after he left. The thing is though...Lucy doesn't think her date, Gray Spencer, was in control of himself at the time. Not that he was inebriated or something...Lucy thinks that another person was possessing her date, and was the cause of all this. With the help of some hidden notes and a diary from the time her mother Miranda was sane, Lucy learns she has to complete three unbelievable, and magical tasks in order to discontinue a curse that has been passed down in her family for generations. With the help of her foster family, her best friend Zach, and the modern day things that weren't available years ago, Lucy can only still hope to win this battle, break the curse, and avoid falling into insanity.

I gave the book three out of five stars. The storyline itself was unique enough; I really didn't expect a rape scene to take place only chapters within the beginning of the book. The rest of the book had its twists and turns which kept it interesting. I don't really read a lot of fantasy/magical themed books, or at least ones like this, but I liked it! The writing style was good as well, descriptive enough to not be boring, but not detailed enough to be fully captivating like making me part of the story itself. Even the mini romances throughout the book didn't bother me as much as they usually do, probably because there was not the usual emphasis on them to the plot. Also the cover was really pretty, one of the main reasons I looked at the book in the first place. When I googled the picture for this review, this wasn't even the main cover to come up, but I like this one a lot better. So yes, the book was a nice change of pace for myself, and it was worth the three stars.

The Room Beyond-- Reviewed by Desarae Coffey

The Room Beyond by Stephanie Elmas

I give this book four out of five stars. I was recommended this book by Ms. Crawford for she knows I am into ghosts, love and dark paranormal things. This book can be a little creepy at time, but that is what draws you in.

The Room Beyond by Stephanie Elmas is two stories tied into one. It starts out with a young women, Serena. She begins her new life at 36 Marguerite Avenue in London. Here sits a beautiful mansion that Serena falls in love with. Later she uncovers that the house is laced with dark secrets. She is slightly confused at the fact that the house 34 Marguerite Avenue is missing, but says nothing. The house belongs to the Hartreve family, who she becomes the nanny of Beth the granddaughter.

Serena is welcomed with open arms and by being here she hopes to forget her ghosts of her own sad childhood and find her home that she so desperately wants.

The other story starts out in the year 1892 with the main character, Miranda Whitehouse. In the setting of this story, Miranda is fighting to save her marriage with her husband, Tristan, while being fascinated by the mysterious but strange Lucinda Eden. Lucinda Eden was abandon by her husband and is now living as their next door neighbor. When Miranda Whitehouse invited Lucinda over for her dinner party she didn’t realize the impact Lucinda would make on their lives.

My opinion of this book is its okay. I would have preferred it to be just one whole story instead of two separate stories tying in together. I found it a little difficult to understand and to stay focused. When I read I tend to find myself acting as the character itself. Going through the character's life from my point of view and with this story I found I just couldn’t get attached to any of the characters.