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#3 (Rick Riordan presents) Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky by Kwame Mbalia (2/6/20)

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#3 (Rick Riordan presents) Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky by Kwame Mbalia (2/6/20)

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A novel that I have recently completed reading is titled Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky by Kwame Mbalia, presented by Rick Riordan (an author of many mythology/fantasy books that I have written some book review on previously). Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky falls into the mythology/fantasy genre, is around 500 pages long, and is around the reading level of a teen/young adult. I recommend this book to the exact same crowd I recommended the Rick Riordan books - those who love action, mythology, monsters, heroes, and a solid plot line with relatable characters and tiny, sticky, living dolls with lots of attitude.
Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky is about an average 7th-grade boy named, well, Tristan Strong. Just before the novel takes place, Tristan's best friend Eddie Garvey dies in a bus accident, and Tristan is then in possession of Eddie's mysterious journal. Not long after, however, Tristan's parents send him to his grandparent's home in Alabama for a month, only for during the first night there a tiny mysterious visitor appears and attempts to steal the journal. Tristan tracks her down to a peculiar tree out in the forest, and upon damaging the tree he creates a flaming tear in the fabric of reality that also releases a mysterious and dangerous enemy from its prison. Tristan, along with his the dangerous creature and the small mysterious visitor, fall through the tear and enter a mystical world made of stories and containing characters from folklore like John Henry, High John, Brer Rabbit, Anansi, and more. In this new world, Tristan learns that he has some powerful abilities - he is an Anansesem, a person who can manipulate the world around them to tell stories. Tristan has to find a way to retrieve Eddie's journal, escape back to Earth, close the tear in the sky, and perhaps even help protect this new mysterious world from the iron monsters, growing threats, the creature he released, and mysterious bone ships that are infesting the land.
I definitely enjoyed reading the novel Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky, and I loved learning about a new type of mythology/legends other than Greek, Roman, or Norse tales. In the book, there were lovable and intriguing characters, a long, interesting, and engaging plot with surprising plot twists, and formidable and dangerous opponents that the protagonists have to face and defeat. I recommend this book to anyone searching for a new type of mythology to read about, or simply a long, enjoyable new book about myths, action, heart, and  adventures. I am waiting expectantly for the next Tristan Strong book to be published in the (hopefully) near future, and I do not doubt that many others who have read this book are doing the same.

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#2 Nightshade by Andrea Cremer (12/2/19)

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#2 Nightshade by Andrea Cremer (12/2/19)

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A book that I have been reading is called Nightshade by the author Andrea Cremer, the first novel of the six-book-long Nightshade series. It falls into the fantasy/action genre, is around 450 pages long, and targets mostly the teen/young adult crowd. I recommend this book only to people who can handle some gore and a noticeable amount of romantic actions from the characters.
The book Nightshade follows a seventeen-year-old girl named Calla Tor. She is a Guardian - a half-wolf, half-human being who lives in a pack with her friends and family. The packs are led by Alphas and have similar ranks to those of a wolf pack's, but each pack is controlled by a Keeper, which are nonhuman, powerful beings that wield dark magic and fight to protect humankind. The main antagonists of the book are Searchers - they are the same species as the Keepers, but instead their intents are to destroy all of mankind and/or use humans as their slaves.
In the novel Nightshade, Calla Tor is one of the young Guardians in the Nightshade pack and is about to become the alpha of a new pack that will form when she turns eighteen - the day she will marry her betrothed, Renier Laroche. Renier, or Ren, is another young Guardian from the Bane pack, but Calla is unsure about how he feels about him and dislikes the way he treats her like his property. In the meantime, Calla is strongly drawn toward a human that she saved from a bear in the forest at the very beginning of the book, his name Seamus Doran. Calla thought she would never see him again after their first encounter, but suddenly he began attending her school, and then she was ordered to befriend and keep him safe by her superiors. The more Calla gets to know him, the more she is attracted to him, and they both slowly began to realize that Shay is a little more than just a human.
Will Calla be caught and punished severely for all of the rules she broke for Shay's sake? Will she be able to live with Ren for the rest of her life, though she would much rather be with Shay?  Will Calla be able to protect everything she loves - her packmates, her status, her love, even herself - from the Searchers and the rules that bind her and the rest of the Guardians?
I enjoyed reading  Nightshade and the plot wasn't too predictable and certainly not dull, but there are lots of kissing scenes and Ren-touching-Calla scenes (though not in a too-inappropriate manner). This may intrigue people who enjoy romantic novels, but there are some action scenes with blood and gore in them as well. I recommend this book for people who enjoy (or can handle) both of these things, but I would not recommend to anyone younger than ten years old. There are also some dark magic, religious(esque), and history-related elements to the novel, which also encourages this book to be restricted to younger children. However, Nightshade  was an intriguing and enjoyable book for me to read and I will most likely seek to read the following books in the Nightshade series.

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#1 The Trials of Apollo Book 3 The Burning Maze by Rick Riordan (9/18/19)

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#1 The Trials of Apollo Book 3 The Burning Maze by Rick Riordan (9/18/19)

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A book that I have recently finished is called The Burning Maze by Rick Riordan, of whom I have previously written book reviews for on some of his earlier novels. It is a teenage-directed humor/action/mythology book that is 419 pages long, and the third book of the Trials of Apollo series, the third series out of three on Greek Mythology (so far). I recommend this book to all adolescents with a passion for action and ancient mythology, but you would be about as lost as a kitten in a pack of wolves if you haven't read the previous books beforehand.
This book is about the Greek god Apollo, who has been banished to the mortal world in human form by his father Zeus as punishment for events that occurred in the previous series. In the first two books of the series, he learns that three evil Roman emperors back from the dead (which has to do with the second series), Nero, Commodus, and a mysterious third, have created something called a Triumvirate, in which they join forces and are attempting to take over the world. In this book, Apollo has to travel to the West Coast to uncover and stop the unknown third emperor, who just may turn out to be the most perilous of the three. In addition - the state of California has had some noticeably harsh and intense occurrences...drought, constant wildfires. Dryads - nature spirits - have died all over. California is in a state of emergency. Apollo and his friends learn that the source is coming from the certain section of the Labyrinth, a network of underground tunnels and mazes that grows under the Western World, originally created to imprison the Minotaur, a Greek monster. But...why? What is causing it? And...does it have any connection to the third emperor in the Triumvirate, and if so, what does he plan to do with it?
What does he plan to do with Apollo himself?
I really enjoyed reading this book and am eager to see how the plot further unfolds after this third book. There is *Semi-Spoiler Alert* a very sad twist in it, along with a good amount of gore, but it was a wonderful addition to the series and even better than the first two Trials of Apollo books in my opinion. Also, a good chunk of every single book in the series so far is simply Apollo getting beat up and beat up more, which dies get tiring after a while, but that is the main negative thing that I noticed about it. The Burning Maze is a moderately easy read, though it is noticeably long (though not nearly as long as certain books in the Norse Mythology, the Egyptian Mythology, and the second Greek Mythology series by Rick Riordan. Though is is important to read the previous twelve or at least the first two books in the series before opening The Burning Maze, I will always recommend this page-turner to anyone who asks, and who is interested about the wacky, monster-infested world of Greek Mythology in general.

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#4 The Lunar Chronicles Book 2 Scarlet by Marissa Meyer (1/14/19)

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#4 The Lunar Chronicles Book 2 Scarlet by Marissa Meyer (1/14/19)

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The book I’ve been reading is titled Scarlet by Marissa Meyer, the second book in the series The Lunar Chronicles. It is classified in the science fiction/action genre, is about 500 pages long, and is made specifically for the teen/adult crowd. I definitely recommend it to this group of people, though I would advise reading it carefully in order to not miss any important elements of the story.

Scarlet is based off of the fairy tale Little Red Riding Hood, except in a futuristic setting. In the story, the main character Scarlet is living in a town in France called Rieux. Her grandmother had gone missing, and she will do anything to find her. Scarlet eventually encounters a street fighter named Wolf, and when she realizes that he might know where her grandmother is, the two of them set out to find her. The question is: what is Wolf’s real relationship with Scarlet’s grandmother Michelle, and who, in truth, is he?

I truly enjoyed this book and it was interesting to see the author intertwine the different fairy tales she used (the first book was about the fairy tale Cinderella, and the characters from this book reappear in Scarlet, everyone determined to bring downfall to the evil queen Levana, the leader of the Lunar people who live on the moon - no-longer humans that traveled there and made it their home). Scarlet has a relatively difficult reading level, so you would have to be a rather advanced reader to fully understand it. However, I fully enjoyed both books, Scarlet more than the other (which I would advise reading previously to understand Scarlet fully), and am extremely excited to continue the series (the Lunar Chronicles).

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#3 The Heroes of Olympus Book 2 The Son of Neptune by Rick Riordan (1/9/19)

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#3 The Heroes of Olympus Book 2 The Son of Neptune by Rick Riordan (1/9/19)

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I have recently been reading a book called The Son of Neptune by the author Rick Riordan. It is an action/mythology book meant for teen readers, 500 pages long, and the second book in the Heroes of Olympus series. I definitely recommend this book to the teen crowd, though I would advise reading the previous series and the first Heroes of Olympus book beforehand.

In The Son of Neptune, the main character’s name is Percy Jackson, a half-human half-god (or demigod) living on the run. He eventually finds his way to a Roman camp for half-bloods like him, hidden in the United States. There’s just one problem - he can’t seem to remember anything about his past, except for one name: Annabeth. The book is mainly about him and two of his friends from camp going on a quest to stop the evil forces of Roman mythology, specifically a giant named Alcyoneus who has been brought to the mortal world and captured the god of death. During the time that the three go to Alaska, the giant's homeland, and try to stop him, Percy begins to uncover what he has forgotten...and who he really is.

In my opinion, The Son of Neptune is well-written, engaging, and full of enjoyable moments, whether it be humor or action or courage from the characters. It is written for the teenage crowd, and is rather long and contains advanced language so it would be difficult for younger readers to understand. It was an interesting perspective to be reading it in, because as the readers we know who Percy really is because we've read the previous series but are still interested to watch him uncover it again. To be honest, the last book of the Heroes of Olympus series (The Blood of Olympus) is the best out of the five, but The Son of Neptune isn’t very far behind. The ending very well sets up the third book, The Mark of Athena (Greek goddess, hint, hint), and makes you want to continue reading the series, while the book itself is humorous, satisfying, and awesome all the way through.

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#2 Harry Potter Series Book 4 The Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling (9/23/18)

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#2 Harry Potter Series Book 4 The Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling (9/23/18)

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The book I have been reading is called 'Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire' by J.K. Rowling. It is a 700-page-long fantasy/action novel about wizardry, secrets, and sorcery, and I definitely recommend it to most everyone.
This story is about a teenager, Harry Potter, who is a young wizard attending the wizardry school of Hogwarts. When he was an infant, he and his parents were attacked by the most famous and powerful evil wizard of all time - Voldemort. The wizard easily murdered Harry's mother and father, but on turning to the boy, the spell that he cast, which had killed every single one of his victims, rebounded and fell upon himself. Voldemort was reduced to a weak spirit, vulnerable and harmless. Because of this, Harry Potter became one of the most famous young wizards in the world, known for the scar in the shape of a lightning bolt given to him by the curse that otherwise  did not harm him.
But as Harry enters his fourth year attending Hogwarts, he receives haunting signs about Voldemort returning - most of which are dreams of his enemy planning to rise again. When his school Hogwarts hosts the Triwizard Tournament, a competition between three different wizardry schools across the world, his fears are temporarily pushed aside. Strangely enough, he enters the tournament as the fourth representative, along with the fact that he is too young to compete. With friendships and alliances shifting, new characters entering the scene, and daunting tasks to be performed in the Tournament, Harry doesn't quite know whom to trust and rely on. And will he finally find himself facing the bloody, scarlet eyes of Lord Voldemort himself?
With a complicated, twisted story line and complicated, twisted characters, this book was a long, exhilarating, and exciting plot with a chilling twist and a raw, powerful ending. However, I would recommend reading the first three books beforehand (this is the fourth - one book for each year at Hogwarts). Otherwise, a good deal of the content would be confusing, due to the fact that it had been introduced in a previous book. It is definitely a long book, but not at all dull - magic, Quiddich (read the first book to learn about it), dragons, tournaments...what's not to like?
I would recommend this book to more advanced readers - there are high-vocabulary words and complicated topics and plot lines. However, if you get into it, I believe that it is a highly enjoyable and riveting book that will definitely keep you on the edge of your seats - or broomsticks, whichever you'd prefer.

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#1 Warriors Series Book 3 Forest of Secrets by Erin Hunter (9/17/18)

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#1 Warriors Series Book 3 Forest of Secrets by Erin Hunter (9/17/18)

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I have been reading 'Warriors: Forest of Secrets', the third book of the Warriors series, by Erin Hunter, and I definitely recommend this book. It is a 300-page-long action/fiction story, and is about how the main character Fireheart, a orange-colored feline tom in the ranks a Clan of wild cats living in the forest, is convinced that the deputy of the Clan, a large tabby by the name of Tigerclaw, is evil, ambitious, and preparing to take over the Clan by force. He and his friend Graystripe, another warrior in the Clan, work to expose the treacherous deputy, but they are not prepared for what other secrets lie within the Clan, even Clans not their own, and the truth about Tigerclaw and what he plans to do to achieve his goals.
I believe that this book is an exciting, adventurous tale, and I think that it would strongly appeal to cat lovers, and people who enjoy action, battle, and daring. I would recommend reading the first to books beforehand, however, because a few things may be confusing to some since it is the third book of a series. I am excited to continue to read the series and see the plot unfold, with charming characters, allies among the Clans, and cats you cannot trust.

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#8 The Cats of Tanglewood Forest by Charles De Lint (Illustrated by Charles Vess)

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#8 The Cats of Tanglewood Forest by Charles De Lint (Illustrated by Charles Vess)

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The book I've read is called 'The Cats of Tanglewood Forest' by Charles De Lint, and I do recommend it. A young girl, Lillian, lives in a farm, owned by her aunt, that borders a huge wood. One day, she falls asleep in the woods and is bitten by a venomous snake. The cats of the forest bring her back to life, but in the body of a kitten. The rest of the story is about her trying to turn back into a human again and returning to her aunt's farm, and having a lot of adventures through her journey. I do recommend this book, but it can be a bit confusing (even though it is a short and simple-worded book). There's a lot of magic in it and some imaginary creatures, like bear-men, witch possums, the Apple Tree Man, and the powerful Father of Cats lurking in the woods. However, I think that the book was good (maybe just because I love cats), and I do recommend it to people who like adventure, magic, and some action.

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#7 Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard: The Sword of Summer by Rick Riordan

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#7 Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard: The Sword of Summer by Rick Riordan

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I have been reading the book
'Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard: The Sword of Summer' by Rick Riordan, and I do recommend it! In this book, the main character, Magnus, is a homeless teenager that learns he is a son of Frey, a god in Norse mythology. He finds and ancient and magical sword that his father once owned, but dies in the process. He becomes and einherjar, or heroic dead person, and travels to many lands fighting the forces of evil in Norse myths. This book is good, but has profanity and is rather confusing. I like it because it has action, adventure, and a lot of things 'to the death!', and myths, but it is confusing because of the many worlds, animals, and plot twists. There are 9 different words in Norse mythology--Asgard, Vanaheim, Alfheim, Midgard, Jotunheim, Nidavellir, Muspellhiem, and Helheim--which doesn't help the book's confusing plot (the book is also half a thousand pages long). Still, this book was fun to read and always made me feel like if I stopped reading I would die. Overall, 'Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard: The Sword of Summer' was a fun, but confusing, book, and I definitely recommend it to people who like action, dramatic moments, and an awful lot of death.

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I have been reading ‘Nimona’ by Noelle Stevenson, and it is one of the best graphic novels that I have ever read. The plot of the story is that there is a villian, Ballister Blackheart, that meets a girl, Nimona, that desires to be his sidekick. She has shapeshifting abilities, and turns out to be an amazing helper robbing banks and stealing secret plans. However, Blackheart realizes after a while that Nimona isn’t actually human, and slowly begins to discover what she really is. I recommend this book to people because the graphics are absolutely amazing, and the story itself is very beautiful, mystifying, and sad. There is some blood and profanity in this book, but none of it is particularly serious (except for the climax of the story), and the rest of the book has humor and heart. Once again, this book is amazing and life-changing, and will make you eye animals in a different way after reading it.

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#5 The Case of the Missing Marquess by Nancy Springer

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#5 The Case of the Missing Marquess by Nancy Springer

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I have been reading ‘The Case of the Missing Marquess’ by Nancy Springer, and I do not recommend it! The plot of the story is that Enola Holmes (sister of Sherlock Holmes)’s mother had gone missing, and how Enola goes out t0 find her. Eventually, her search leads to another missing person case, and Enola has to find them and her mother safely. Now, I do not recommend this book to people for several reasons. A main reason is that it is rather confusing, because there are many twists and turns that made me wondering what just happened. Also, it is set a long time ago and people have different lifestyles, which is another reason why the book was confusing. Another reason is that it has some confusing material in it. At the end of the book there is a page that teaches you how to decode secret messages, and when I tried it IT MADE ABSOLUTELY NO SENSE! Also, the book became boring over time and about halfway into the book I stopped. Overall, I did not particularly enjoy this book and I do not recommend it to people.

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#4 My Diary From the Edge of the World by Jodi Lynn Anderson

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#4 My Diary From the Edge of the World by Jodi Lynn Anderson

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The book I have been reading is called "My Diary From the Edge of the World" by Jodi Lynn Anderson. The main character, Gracie, lives on an identical world but with dragons, angels, demons, genies, and many other mythical creatures. The plot of the story is that a Dark Cloud, the things that scoop up your soul when you die, was coming towards their house and they ran away across country, trying to get to the real Earth where there are no Dark Clouds. This book was funny, cliff-hanging, sad, and good to read. After a while I became slightly uninterested, but it was still a good book. I recommend it to people who like mythology, like dragons, fairies, Bigfoot, etc.

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The book I’ve read is called “Watership Down” by Richard Adams. It is about a group of rabbits that leave their home when one of them foresees a terrible fate of the warren. Practically all of the book is how they travel together to find a new home, run into danger and enemy warrens, and establish a new warren to settle down in. There are several main characters, but the story revolves mostly around Hazel, who is a smart, clever rabbit that becomes Chief Rabbit of the new warren. This book is my absolute favorite because it has adventure, suspense, mystery, and several cliffhangers, along with the fact that it makes you love the characters so much that I almost cried at the end. It has lots of vocabulary words and has British-like words and rabbit words as well, but still is 100% amazing and I totally recommend this book to everyone.

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#2 Warriors series #1, Into the Wild by Erin Hunter

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#2 Warriors series #1, Into the Wild by Erin Hunter

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The book I have been reading is called "Warriors: Into the Wild", which is the first book of the whole Warrior series by Erin Hunter. It is about a normal house cat named Rusty (the main character) who meets a Clan of wild cats beyond his fence and eventually joins them, which unlocks a whole world for him out in the woods. As the story continues it shows how he becomes Firepaw and has all these adventures with his friend Graypaw, and how the series begins to unfold as suspicious characters linger in the Clan. Overall, this book was very fun to read and interesting to see the resolution and how the series continues. I recommend this book to people who love cats, adventure, and battles, and I love the Warriors series and continue to read it over and over.

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#1 The Trials Of Apollo, The Hidden Oracle by Rick Riordan

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#1 The Trials Of Apollo, The Hidden Oracle by Rick Riordan

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The book I’ve read is called "The Hidden Oracle" by Rick Riordan. It is the first book of a third series (The Trials of Apollo). In the series, the Greek gods and goddesses are real, and their children on earth are called demigods, or half-bloods. In "The Hidden Oracle", one of the gods, Apollo, is punished and sent down to earth as a human. He has to travel to a half-blood camp and serve a certain demigod to eventually earn back his position as a god. I think this book is really funny because the main character is Apollo himself, and it’s rather obvious he’s not used to being a human. I would recommend it because it has lots of adventure and secret plots and plans in it, though you would probably have to read the first two series to get a better understanding of it. This book was great all around and I really hope to read the second book sometime soon.