Mystery

9/14

311 pages (DONE)

4/5 stars

RR # 1-3 END

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I’ve just finished reading this book, and wow, it had a very heartwarming ending. Sam and his family were helping Davey find a family since his father passed away and his brother Slade and his friends are in jail. There is foreshadowing in the book that tells you who Davey would potentially choose as his family, and he choose Officer Stockton. The way the author writes the dialogue when Officer Stockton and Davey talk is very heartfelt. I could see that Davey likes his new family. Since Office Stockton is a friend of Sam’s dad they get to hangout everyday. In the book they would use onomatopoeia like; Boom!, and Crash! whenever the boat hits something. And using similes like; The ocean is as still as a lake. The author also writes the book in a way in the beginning to end where you feel the change of mood. At first the mood of the book felt mysterious and ominous, then, it felt happy at the end. Although the book ended, I question if Davey is doing well with his family. This book is very enjoyable to read, and i’m looking forward to reading more of the authors books!

10/27

368 pages / 368

4/5

RR #6-9 END

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The end of this book is actually surprising, it took a big turn from what I was expecting to see.

Maks’ actually discovers his older sister was set up by a stealthy criminal with the help of an detective name Donck, and with his friend Willa. They also figure out that Willa’s father is alive, staying at Waldorf. We’re told that Maks sister was set up by Bruno himself with the help of Brunswick, a man who he is secretly partnered with (he’s a gangster, Bruno is his bond servant). Another conflict arises where Willa is kidnapped by the Plug Uglies, so Maks and his newsie friends gang up to save her. They find that shes in an abandoned building where it catches on fire, saving her just in time. Bruno also barely escapes through a slim alley way. Bruno is fed up with Brunswick’s control over him. They all head to Waldorf where we shockingly find out Brunswick is Willa’s father! Brunswick is defeated and Maks older sister Emma is proven innocent. The book ends in a hopeful tone where our main characters pursue their education and work hard to support the family. Throughout the book the themes are: Family, Friendship, and Survival of the fittest. I like how well the author used foreshadowing, it made us readers curious, and cautious about later events happening in the plot. The author also gives us some hints onto who it may be, so as we read this we are like detectives ourselves. This book definitely was worth the read, and I look forward to reading more books made by this author! 

432/432 pages

4.6/5

RR #11-16 END

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So, over this week, I spent 1 hour reading each day for 4 days, and I finally got to the end of the book! I will quickly summarize the reading: Kenan has footage of the protest going on from the war, Salama tells Kenan not to (like what happened to her family), because it might result in his family being tortured. But, Kenan question why Salama’s eyes dart, and she tells him it is due to mental issues (hallucinations). Kenan says that he will get mental treatment for her, and speaks a heartfelt conversation with her, and finally proposes to Salama (Surprise!) This was a warming part in the book, and suddenly the tone felt heartwarming (the author changed the tone to heartwarming, because, well, it fits this part!). Suddenly a new conflict arises, the hospital has become a major target because their army (the Syrian army) has major losses during the war, leaving them with no force to protect them. Salama, her friends, and Kenan will have to be transported in a boat to somewhere else. To summarize this quick, I believe that the boat was going to sink (another conflict), however Salama and Kenan evacuated safely with the help of another person named Terror, and now are in another country living in Toronto. The book truly goes back to its themes; Love, Hope, Perseverance, and also mental health issues. This was definitely a good book. Each character was like their own (Feels real to the reader), because of the problems they face in life, and how this war connects them together even more. There were some heavy conversation within the book, and really dive deep into the problems of each character and how they feel about each other. At the end of the book, the author left us peaceful, and hopeful, now that Salama and Kenan are living their best lives out of danger. This was a good book, 4.6/10, definitely recommend!

466/466 pages

4.5/5

EXTRA # RR (written for #17)

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This book was an amazing read, the author stuck to the themes of; Racial injustice, the power of language, and identity. The author told us many good messages in the book, which I believe if the whole purpose of writing this book, which is: How society use stereotypes of black people to justify violence and racism against them. This is definitely English class material! Also, this book was set in Garden Heights, an inner-city neighborhood in the southern part of the United States. Now, my first reaction to the name of the neighborhood was that it sounded like this majestic, nice place that surely wouldn't involve anything bad right? However this was not the case. The author might have purposely named the neighborhood like that to make us believe it is this “nice” place. To recap the ending, Starr and her family have gone through development in the novel to create a stronger family and community. During my read I saw that she encouraged us to see the humanity in the victims and injustice in their stories. She will never forget was happened to Khalil, and suggest the reader do not forget the name of the victims who got involved with police brutality, ending it off with saying that we cannot change things if people do not fight for it. This was beautifully ending, and a great message for whoever is out there reading this book. The author left us an inspiring tone, to encourage us to change things for the better, leaving us off with determined mood, thinking about those who caught in police brutality, will drive us to do whatever it takes to change that. This was a great book to read, and I encourage to read this book if you haven’t! My rating would be 4.5/5, definitely recommend.

313/313

4.5/5

RR #18-20

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During these few chapters, Hazel visits Augustus in his house and we also see a new character called Isaac. The reason why Hazel came to his house is because he was crying. He talks about his girlfriend Monica, and how Monica can handle him being blind. Issac says there is possibility they might break up, and that she can’t do it anymore. They decide to play video games together, and they end up losing. To my observation, these chapters that I read demonstrate the realities of cancer. For loved one this can be really hard to face, a difficult time for those. Others, may leave you, not wanting to be put in such a position as this. The author did great giving this message out, and it really relates to those struggling with cancer. This can be also put in as a conflict for our main character as well. She’ll soon have to face the fact that she’s gonna die, inflicting huge amounts of pain to her parents. These goes to the themes in the book; life and death, and suffering. But we also see friendship, and love, seeing these kids really try to live their lives before their death. This goes back to what Augustus said, quoting from an Imperial Affliction; “Pain demands to be felt.”. And this is true, the characters will soon suffer because pain demands to be felt, which is why this quote feels pretty deep to me. I can’t help but notice the dialogue, it depicts the youthness and freedom of teenagers, yet the author does well showing emotion, these kids don’t really want to die but what can they do? They don’t have much time left. The mood is sad, and the tone of the book keeps a humorous tone, but it always feels off due to the readers knowing that the characters will die soon. I find this book interesting to read, it focuses on death in great detail, amazing writing by the author.

187/187

4.4/5

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