Blue Window - Adina Gewirtz

My rating: ⭐

From the cover:

"Five siblings fall through time and space into a strange, unkind world -- their arrival mysteriously foretold -- and land in the center of an epic civil struggle in a country where many citizens have given themselves over to their primal fears and animal passions at the urging of a power-hungry demagogue.

When siblings Susan, Max, Nell, Kate, and Jean tumble one by one through a glowing cobalt window, they find themselves outside their cozy home -- and in a completely unfamiliar world where everything looks wrong and nothing makes sense. Soon, an ancient prophecy leads them into battle with mysterious forces that threaten to break the siblings apart even as they try desperately to remain united and find their way home. Thirteen-year-old twins Max and Susan and their younger siblings take turns narrating the events of their story in unique perspectives as each of the children tries to comprehend their stunning predicament -- and their extraordinary new powers -- in his or her own way. From acclaimed author Adina Rishe Gewirtz comes a riveting novel in the vein of C. S. Lewis and E. Nesbit, full of nuanced questions about morality, family, and the meaning of home."

"Soon, an ancient prophecy leads them into battle..." Um...soon being a relative term here, because I got a third of the way in and nothing had happened. Good god. I tried so hard to finish this book, but reading for pleasure should not take this much effort. The five siblings fall through the window pretty early on in the book, and then.........nada. No plot development, no answers to wtf is going on, hell, not even really any character development. I couldn't do it. I hate not finishing books, but good lord. There are too many fantastic books in the world to slog through one that drags as much as this one did.

Otherworld - Jason Segel and Kirsten Miller

My rating: ⭐⭐

From the cover:

"The company says Otherworld is amazing—like nothing you’ve ever seen before. They say it’s addictive—that you’ll want to stay forever. They promise Otherworld will make all your dreams come true.

Simon thought Otherworld was a game. Turns out he knew nothing. Otherworld is the next phase of reality. It’s everything you’ve ever wanted.

And it’s about to change humanity forever.
Welcome to the Otherworld. No one could have seen it coming."

I found this book...lacking. There was no depth to anything. Not the characters, not the world they lived in, frankly not even to Otherworld. I finished it because I hate not finishing books, but fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu...it was boring and predictable. It seemed like we were supposed to empathize with the main character, but I found him to be kind of an unbearable dick. We jumped right into Otherworld without any story development or buildup, so from the beginning it was like meh...what's the point of all this? Even the conflict was so overblown and ridiculous that it was hard to care about. I love Jason Segel, and I really wanted to like this, but...it's a no-go for me.

Illuminae - Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff

My rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

From the cover: 

"This morning, Kady thought breaking up with Ezra was the hardest thing she’d have to do. This afternoon, her planet was invaded.

The year is 2575, and two rival megacorporations are at war over a planet that’s little more than an ice-covered speck at the edge of the universe. Too bad nobody thought to warn the people living on it. With enemy fire raining down on them, Kady and Ezra—who are barely even talking to each other—are forced to fight their way onto an evacuating fleet, with an enemy warship in hot pursuit.

But their problems are just getting started. A deadly plague has broken out and is mutating, with terrifying results; the fleet's AI, which should be protecting them, may actually be their enemy; and nobody in charge will say what’s really going on. As Kady hacks into a tangled web of data to find the truth, it's clear only one person can help her bring it all to light: the ex-boyfriend she swore she'd never speak to again.


BRIEFING NOTE: Told through a fascinating dossier of hacked documents—including emails, schematics, military files, IMs, medical reports, interviews, and more—Illuminae is the first book in a heart-stopping, high-octane trilogy about lives interrupted, the price of truth, and the courage of everyday heroes."

This book is a fucking roller coaster ride. The audiobook is amazing, the book is unique and fascinating, and I highly recommend both versions. I don't want to get into any details of the story because how do I talk about it without giving stuff away? I don't think I can! But seriously, seriously, I cannot say enough good things about this book. Fans of Firefly, it's got a similar vibe. Fans of good books, this book is incredible. Anyone considering picking it up who is put off by the size--it's a tome--don't be! The book is so large because it's laid out like a real dossier, with case files, images, all kinds of incredible formatting. It seems huge, but it goes by surprisingly quickly. The audiobook does as well. It's read by a full cast, and it's more like listening to a movie than an audiobook. I loved both versions so much that I listened to the audiobook, immediately read the book version, read the book version again, and then re-listened to the audiobook. Four reads back to back, no lie. Truly, this is more than a book...it's a work of art. For the love of god, do yourself a favor...read it!

Rosemarked - Livia Blackburne

My rating: ⭐⭐⭐

From the cover:

"A healer who cannot be healed . . .

When Zivah falls prey to the deadly rose plague, she knows it’s only a matter of time before she fully succumbs. Now she’s destined to live her last days in isolation, cut off from her people and unable to practice her art—until a threat to her village creates a need that only she can fill.

A soldier shattered by war . . .

Broken by torture at the hands of the Amparan Empire, Dineas thirsts for revenge against his captors. Now escaped and reunited with his tribe, he’ll do anything to free them from Amparan rule—even if it means undertaking a plan that risks not only his life but his very self.

Thrust together on a high-stakes mission to spy on the capital, the two couldn’t be more different: Zivah, deeply committed to her vow of healing, and Dineas, yearning for vengeance. But as they grow closer, they must find common ground to protect those they love. And amidst the constant fear of discovery, the two grapple with a mutual attraction that could break both of their carefully guarded hearts.

This smart, sweeping fantasy with a political edge and a slow-burning romance will capture fans of The Lumatere Chronicles and An Ember in the Ashes."

I was lukewarm on this one. The concept was intriguing, and the execution wasn't bad, but it was longer than it needed to be. If I drew a line graph of the action throughout the book, it would look like someone flatlining and then finally being revived just when you thought hope was gone. The book starts off strong. Zivah is a promising apprentice healer who passes her final test just as a squadron of soldiers camped in her village falls ill with the rose plague, a vicious illness that kills most who succumb to it and leaves many survivors permanently infected and contagious to everyone around them. While caring for the soldiers, Zivah also contracts the plague, surviving but ending up one of the permanently contagious. At first, Zivah loses all hope, planning to live out the rest of her life in isolation, unable to put her skills as a healer to good use. When she and Dineas are forced together, another path presents itself and the two of them set off to the capital, planning to spy on the Amparan leader and help free their people from its rule.

Here's where the flatline begins. pick a chapter in the middle, any chapter, and I can pretty much guarantee you that what happens is 1. Dineas trains, 2. Zivah works as a healer in the rosemarked compound, and 3. Dineas comes to the compound for his regular visits with Zivah to make his report of what he's learned. Lather, rinse, repeat. At times, I wasn't even sure what, exactly, they were trying to accomplish with their infiltration. Fortunately, just when I was starting lose hope, the last few chapters blew up. Zivah and Dineas were forced into action, and the book ended leaving me wanting more. Good save, Blackburne!

Paper Towns - John Green

My rating: ⭐⭐⭐

From the cover:

"Quentin Jacobsen has spent a lifetime loving the magnificently adventurous Margo Roth Spiegelman from afar. So when she cracks open a window and climbs into his life—dressed like a ninja and summoning him for an ingenious campaign of revenge—he follows. After their all-nighter ends, and a new day breaks, Q arrives at school to discover that Margo, always an enigma, has now become a mystery. But Q soon learns that there are clues—and they're for him. Urged down a disconnected path, the closer he gets, the less Q sees the girl he thought he knew..."

So Quentin Jacobsen loves his next door neighbor from afar for most of his life, even though they stopped hanging out at a fairly young age. Then one night she drags him into an epic andventure before disappearing abruptly the next morning. Following her disappearance, Quentin, his two best friends, and Margo's best friend-turned-Quentin's-weird-friend's-girlfriend all begin trying to solve the mystery of her disappearance. At first Quentin worries that she committed suicide, but the more he finds out, the more he hopes she's still out there somewhere...waiting for him.

Mehhhhhhh I just don't know. I wasn't overly enamored with this book, but it had its good points. At times Quentin was kind of a whiny jackass, but he and his friends also had pretty good senses of humor. The thing I liked the most about the book was the emphasis on how your perception of a person =/= who that person really is. Overall, it wasn't a bad read...just not my favorite.

Alex and Eliza - Melissa de la Cruz

My rating: ⭐⭐

From the cover:

"Their romance shaped a nation. The rest was history.

1777. Albany, New York. 

As battle cries of the American Revolution echo in the distance, servants flutter about preparing for one of New York society’s biggest events: the Schuylers’ grand ball. Descended from two of the oldest and most distinguished bloodlines in New York, the Schuylers are proud to be one of their fledgling country’s founding families, and even prouder still of their three daughters—Angelica, with her razor-sharp wit; Peggy, with her dazzling looks; and Eliza, whose beauty and charm rival that of both her sisters, though she’d rather be aiding the colonists’ cause than dressing up for some silly ball. 

Still, she can barely contain her excitement when she hears of the arrival of one Alexander Hamilton, a mysterious, rakish young colonel and General George Washington’s right-hand man. Though Alex has arrived as the bearer of bad news for the Schuylers, he can’t believe his luck—as an orphan, and a bastard one at that—to be in such esteemed company. And when Alex and Eliza meet that fateful night, so begins an epic love story that would forever change the course of American history."

Could have been worse, but could have been waaaaaaaaaay better. The development of the story was crazy choppy, and the progression of Alex and Eliza's relationship was super weird. It almost seemed like what used to happen to me when I would start working on something. I'd have all these great ideas for key scenes, so I'd skip around and write those scenes, and then....bleh, I don't want to have to do the hard part of coming up with the in-between stuff! This book? Key scenes with no in-between. Its one big redeeming quality is that it's a relatively quick read. If a book has to be choppy and weird, at least it only took me a few hours to read.

The Inexplicable Logic of My Life - Benjamin Alire Saenz

My rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

From the cover:

"The first day of senior year:

Everything is about to change. Until this moment, Sal has always been certain of his place with his adoptive gay father and their loving Mexican-American family. But now his own history unexpectedly haunts him, and life-altering events force him and his best friend, Samantha, to confront issues of faith, loss, and grief.

Suddenly Sal is throwing punches, questioning everything, and discovering that he no longer knows who he really is—but if Sal’s not who he thought he was, who is he?"

Benjamin Alire Saenz has a way of putting feelings into words in a way unlike any other author I've read. Even with simple, every day moments, I find myself chugging along, reading, and then bam...so many emotions. How does he do that?! Sal's friendships with Sam and and Fito are so lovely, pure, and supportive, and his relationship with his dad and his grandma are heart-stoppingly beautiful. This book was sad and sweet and happy and a million emotions in between. No one can simultaneously break your heart and make you feel like you're overflowing with happiness the way Saenz can. 

Bonus: All the tamale talk during Christmas. Christmas 2017 introduced me to tamales for the first time, and ever since I can't get enough.