Another four books read from the list means another update! An airplane ride this past month meant I got to read two books back to back and I’ve been overall devoting more time to reading, since my brain has been so foggy.
I just finished Lagoon by Nnedi Okorafor, a sci-fi-esque exploration of what would happen if aliens showed up off the coast of Lagos, Nigeria. I say sci-fi-esque because while yes, there are aliens, it features a lot of supernatural elements, too, and science is never at the forefront. I loved it for that and I loved it because it’s just so refreshing to read a story where aliens don’t destroy New York or something else ridiculous. Yes, more of this please.
Keeping with the books I absolutely adored theme, have you read On the Edge of Gone by Corinne Duyvis yet? You should read it. Seriously. Go. Now. I’ll wait.
*drums fingers*
*checks watch*
Ah – you’re back? You read it? Good. Now we can squee together about how awesomely amazing it is to have a YA book tackle so many real things and present the end of the world in such a hopeful, humanitarian way. I loved that all of the characters were fully fleshed out, human beings with flaws and hopes and dreams, and no one was Evil, but no one was Good, and it was just beautiful on a number of levels and that ENDING, yes yes, and the cats and yes I cried about the cats every. single. time. they came up.
Gah. Real contender for favorite book of the year, right there.
Before those two, I read (see: listened) to Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard. This made it onto my TBR list largely because it was such a big hit last year and I kept reading/hearing about it everywhere. I like to keep up to date.
It was, however, not a book for me. It was well written overall, but I was just not drawn into the story. I think this was largely because it retread a lot of YA themes that have been popular in the last few years that I haven’t enjoyed, but others (obviously) have.
And last, but not least, I finished Gates of Thread and Stone by Lori M Lee way back in March. This made it onto the list because it a) features a female main character who shares my name (rare!), and b) TIME POWERS.
While I enjoyed the story and the characters, I was thrown a bit by the sudden change in direction of the plot. Also I was a little disappointed that there weren’t a lot more fights using said TIME POWERS. Honestly. The world needs more epic battles with TIME POWERS.
That said, it looks like this is the beginning of a series, so I will keep an eye out for the sequel. Which will hopefully include more TIME POWERS.
Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard (YA)Uprooted by Naomi NovikThe Sorcerer of the Wildeeps by Kai Ashante Wilson- A Darker Shade of Magic by VE Schwab
Six of Crows by Leigh BardugoGates of Thread and Stone by Lori M Lee- The Traitor Baru Cormorant by Seth Dickinson
The Accidental Terrorist by William Shunn- The Three Body Problem by Liu Cixin
Lagoon by Nnedi Okorafor- The Sons of Thesian by ME Vaughan
- Too Like the Lightning Ada Palmer
- The Shadowed Sun by NK Jemisin
- Signal to Noise by Silvia Moreno-Garcia (YA)
- The Queen of the Tearling by Erika Johansen
- Twelve Kings in Sharakhai by Bradley P. Beaulieu
- The Icarus Girl by Helen Oyeyemi
- Prophecy by Ellen Oh
The Ghost Bride by Yangsze Choo- Flex by Ferrett Steinmetz
On the Edge of Gone by Corinne Duyviss (YA – 2016)
K. A. Doore 