Soundless~ Reviewed by Hailey Hinrichs

 

 

 

"Some things don't need words. Sometimes it's enough to just feel. You don't have to label and articulate all that's around you."

 

           Fei has lived in a village that is soundless. For as long as she can remember the village has been silent due to everyone being deaf and sign language being the only any of communicating. But when her sister Zhang Jing and many other people in her village soon start loosing their sight, their village is in even more trouble then before. Living off little food as it is, rations are cut short from the supply line running up to their village on a mountain. With little silver being produced from blind and elderly miners, the villages finds less and less food coming and it seems like everyone will soon die of starvation if something isn't done.

            But one night, Fei wakes up to a strange sound. It has to be a dream, right? No one has been able to hear anything in decades, so how can she finally hear things? She sees this as her opportunity to do something about the food supply being cut short, and with the help of Li Wei, a young miner who just lost his father, she sets out to find the Line Keeper and beg for more food to be sent. Though they seek more food Fei and Li Wei discover a power that can save her village.

 

            I liked this book! I thought it was different because we never really think about what life would be like without being to hear or see until it actually happens. This book definitely makes you realize how much we take simples senses for granted. The way Richelle Mead can even make sound and sight sound so beautiful was definitely interesting. We can really take sound and sight for granted and this book really shows you the ways life could be like without it. I really liked the characters and how there was an interesting story behind each character. There were definitely parts that caught me off guard and they were really good and made me want to keep reading. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone I know.

This Is Where It Ends-- Reviewed by Sarah Roberts

“I didn't need to die for him to kill me.”

School shootings. They are terrible and scary, but they also affect the people inside the school building and people outside the school building. We see this through out this book This Is Where It Ends.

What started out as a normal day for the students and teachers of Opportunity High School, ends in chaos. The principal calls all students and teachers to the gym for the predictable beginning of the year assembly.

Everything is normal at 10:00am when the principal brings her big speech on how students need to excel and achieve their goals this year.

At 10:02, the students get up to leave the gym and resume their daily classes.

At 10:03, the students and teachers find themselves locked inside the gym.

At 10:05, somebody starts shooting.

Follow the point of views of four students who are not only inside the gym, but outside as well.

I thought this book was absolutely amazing! The suspense and storyline were just captivating. I really enjoyed how the story switched between points of views so that we got an inside look and an outside look at the situation going on through out the story. I also really liked how this story covered a topic that most author are  scared to write about. This book also really made me think about how actions of others could truly drive someone to the point of no return. I would definitely recommend this book to all my friends and family because this is an experience you don't want to miss out on.

Passenger-- Reviewed by Sarah Roberts

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Everything you touch surely dies.” 

     One traumatic night changes everything for violin prodigy, Etta Spencer. She loses everything that she knows and loves in the world. Etta is thrown into a world that she never knew existed, by a dangerous stranger with a agenda. Etta knows one thing and that is that she hasn't just traveled miles from home, but years.


     Etta has inherited a legacy that has she never even knew about. She inherited this legacy from a family she never knew anything about. Enter Nicholas Carter.


     Nicholas Carter loves his life at sea, free from the Ironwood family- a family that is very powerful in the colonies- and the service of his own hands. But everything changes with the arrival of a mysterious passenger; Etta. Nicholas experiences the pull of a past that he much rather have forgotten about. He can't escape the family that won't let him go so easily. The Ironwoods won't stop until they get their hands on Etta. He must protect her and the secret object that Etta is supposed to give them


    Join Nicholas and Etta on a perilous journey across continents and centuries, as they piece together clues of a traveler who will do anything to keep the object out of the Ironwood's grasp.


      I thought this book was wonderful! I loved Nicholas as a character because he really embodied the want for freedom. The book gave me chills in some parts, and the characters really came to life in my head, and hopefully other people's heads when they read this book. I gave this book four and half stars because although the characters were well composed, I thought the book lagged a little in a part or two. Otherwise, I thought this book was brilliant and I would recommend it all my friends and family.


Blood and Salt~ Reviewed by Hailey Hinrichs

 

 

 

"When you fall in love, you will carve out your heart and throw it into the deepest ocean. You will be all in- blood and salt."

 

 

            After Ash Larkin's mother goes back to a spiritual commune that she had left long ago, Ash follows her to Quivira, Kansas. A dead girl always seems to haunt Ash but she finds out it's because the dead girl who is connected to her mother from when she was in Kansas. Soon after coming to Kansas, Ashlyn realizes there's something evil hidden in the community. She is haunted by memories of an ancestor who was involved in a tragic love story and murder. Soon, Ash begins to be drawn to a boy she meets, the secretive Dane. When the town starts preparations for a ceremony 500 years in the making, Ash has to fight to save her mother. These past 500 years will unravel because of the sacrifice of love.

 

             I liked this book so I gave it 3 1/2 out of 5 stars. I really did enjoy how the plot was set up and I thought it had interesting characters. The only thing was that there were times where it did get slow and it just dragged on, and that can really hurt a book sometimes. I did like parts of the book and I really liked how Liggett put in flashbacks from Ashlyn's past to help tie in things. I think anyone who enjoys romantic horror stories and thrillers would really enjoy this book. I would recommend this to my friends and I think for the most part it was a good book.  

A Thousand Pieces of You and the sequel Ten Thousand Skies Above You-- Reviewed by Sarah Roberts

“Every form of art is another way of seeing the world. Another perspective, another window. And science –that’s the most spectacular window of all. You can see the entire universe from there.”

 - A Thousand Pieces of You  

    The lose of a parent is never easy, but when you find out that they were murdered it becomes almost unbearable. Especially if the "suspected" murderer is a close family friend.

That's the unfortunate event that erupts in Marguerite Caine's world. Marguerite's world was perfect. She lived with her parents that just so happened to be renowned scientist, her sister, had a guy in her life named Theo who was not only her friend but secret crush, and there's Paul who seems to create a lot of mixed emotions inside Marguerite. This all comes to an end when Marguerite's father is murdered in a dreadful automobile accident. This happens days after the creation of a dimension traveling machine known as "The Firebird".

The villain behind Marguerite's father's "death"...Paul. To make matters worse, Paul has run off with the Firebird and is jumping around dimensions. It's up to Marguerite and Theo to catch up to Paul, and get to the bottom of things. As Marguerite travels to each dimension she enters the lives of her other selves, and even meets different Pauls.

Follow Marguerite in her journey through dimensions, and help find the secrets behind her father's murder as well as....love.

“That kind of sorrow never gets any lighter, but you grow accustomed to the weight as you carry it on.”

- Ten Thousand Skies Above You.

In this sequel to "A Thousand Pieces of You" Marguerite is, yet again, on another adventure. Only this time she's out to save Paul. After a moment of happiness everything in Marguerite's life is turned upside down once again, and another loved one is snatched from her life.

Only this time Marguerites not fighting to save only herself, but everything she holds dear.Join Marguerite as she battles her parents ex-scientific discovery sponsors and...Theo?

Will love conquer all, or will all be lost in a different dimension?

I loved these books!! They grabbed my attention with the very first word. That is why I'm giving these books 5 star ratings. I loved how each character had their own personality as well as the baggage each character carried around. The suspense was also very thrilling in these books, and made you feel like you were actually part of the story. If I could change one thing in these books it would probably be that we hear from Paul's point of view. I would like to know what was going through Paul's mind throughout both of these story lines. I would definitely recommend both these books to my friends and family, because they are both well written.