The adventurous story of Devon and Chiamaka is a mysterious one that tells the story of how they are being targeted. Even though they want different things such as being a head girl and going to an ivy league school. As well as just trying to stay out of everyone's way just enough to graduate. However, both of their plans are ruined when a bully online threatens to expose all of their secrets. To try and find out who this bully is they both go through traumatic events that lead them to the truth about their “prestigious” and its history.
The Hazel Wood by Melissa Albert is an interesting take on dark fairy tales, but also what the definition of family is. Alice, the granddaughter of famous author Althea Proserpine, has had trouble her whole life. Alice and her mother, Ella, have been moving around their entire lives due to strange people following them or Ella’s failed relationships, and not to mention the fact that Alice was kidnapped by an oddly familiar man when she was a young child.
Me Before You is the first novel in a series of the same name by Jojo Moyes. Louisa Clark is desperate for a job, so she becomes the companion of a wealthy disabled man, Will, even though he despises her presence. Louisa and Will soon learn to get along, but Louisa is shocked when she learns of Will's plans for his life. Although she wants to leave Will before she gets hurt, Louisa makes it her mission to show Will that life is worth living.
Emma Theriault’s Rebel Rose is the first novel in The Queen’s Council series, a series of Disney princess continuations with historical fiction twists; Rebel Rose is a continuation of Beauty and the Beast. Belle must learn to be queen and navigate politics as the French Revolution divides France and her newfound kingdom. While I enjoyed how Theriault wove history into a Disney classic, I found that her characters lacked a solid resemblance to the originals on which they were based.
The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka is a short story that follows the life of a traveling salesman, Gregor Samsa, after he mysteriously transforms into a bug. When Gregor wakes up as a bug, he cannot support his family, open his bedroom door, or even get out of bed. This story provides great commentary on societal expectations while maintaining its hilarity. Kafka manages to spell out all of modern society’s great faults through the eyes of his insect narrator.
Helen Jukes, unsatisfied with her work and home life, receives a colony of bees as a gift from a friend. Recalling how she enjoyed her previous beekeeping experiences, she decides to keep and care for the colony in her backyard. She describes her year of beekeeping, all the while learning more about honey bees and rediscovering passion.
Victoria Aveyard's Red Queen, the first in a series, is a fantasy, dystopian novel which follows the story of a teenage girl, Mare, as she discovers that she, a "Red-blooded" person, has special powers similar to those of the elite "Silver-blooded" class. Mare's life is turned upside down when her power is revealed as the Silvers attempt to disguise the fact that she is a lowly Red by telling the public that she is the long-lost relative of a dead Silver general.
Khaled Hosseini's historical fiction novel A Thousand Splendid Suns tells the story of two Afghan women, belonging to different generations, from the early 1960s through the early 2000s. Both women are born in different circumstances as Mariam is the illegitimate daughter of a rich man and Laila is the daughter of a teacher. Mariam is forced to marry a shoemaker from Kabul when she is fifteen and Laila's life is turned upside down when her parents are killed.
The Song of Achilles, by Madeline Miller, belongs to the historical fiction genre and is a retelling of Homer's Iliad. When Patroclus is exiled from his home for an act of violence, he meets Achilles, the son of a sea goddess, who is destined to be the greatest Greek hero ever known. The two form a friendship despite the disapproval of Achilles' mother.
Amity is soon to be appointed of as one of the four saints of Haven. With the entire town against her because of the sins her mother committed in the past she must work to prove that she is loyal to her new position. But things don’t go as planned. Strange things start happening to the people in the town. Is this connected with Amity’s new role in the town? Is she going to repeat the actions of her mother? On top of it all Amity starts to learn things about herself and the people around her that leave her unsure of what to do next.
