Obsidio [The Illuminae Files, #3] by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff

This review contains spoilers for Illuminae and Gemina. To see my reviews for Illuminae and Gemina, please follow the links here and here.

Obsidio [The Illuminae Files, #3]
by Amie Kaufman, Jay Kristoff

Genre: YA science fiction

My Rating: ★★★★

Description:

After the destruction of Jump Station Heimdall, the race is on for research vessel Hypatia to make the long journey back through space to Kerenza V. There, BeiTech's mobile jump platform may be their only hope of getting their story back out to the rest of the universe.
But supplies are running thin -- food, water, even oxygen, will run out before Hypatia makes it to Kerenza.
In a race against time, Kady, Ezra, Hanna, and Nik struggle to compile both a plan to capture the jump platform and the rest of the Illuminae files.
Back on Kerenza, Asha Grant is just trying to keep her head down. But when she runs into her former boyfriend, Rhys Lindstrom, she is sucked into a secret rebellion against the BeiTech occupation.
Together, they might be able to send out their message to the universe -- but at what cost to themselves?

Overall Thoughts

Alright. You guys probably know by now that I loved this series. And I definitely loved this book, too. But there were a couple issues I had with the book that meant it couldn't compete with my favorite in the trilogy, Gemina. 

The Characters

One of the biggest problems I had with the book was the new set of characters. You have Asha, Kady's cousin, who was trapped on Kerenza after the attack by BeiTech, and her former boyfriend, Rhys, but I feel that neither of them got enough page time for me to really care about them? I feel like I would have liked them more as characters if they had gotten a bit more development, but with all of the plot and character threads to wrap up in this book, I'm not sure if it would have been possible without serious detriment to the story. But I loved how all of the characters' stories intersected, and how all of them worked together to save the people on Kerenza and get their message to the rest of the universe.

Plot/Pacing

As usual, I really liked the plot for the story. It was really fast paced -- near the end, it was really, really intense, but I never lost track of where the story was going, or what was happening. It was also incredibly tense -- near the beginning of the book, Hypatia is faced with the threat of losing oxygen before they reach Kerenza (imagine running out of oxygen in the middle of outer space with no one to help you) and it only picks up from there.
Also, there was one small twist -- maybe not even a twist -- that I loved so, so much. I can't say any more because of spoilers, but guys. I don't know why it excited me that much, but seriously, it excited me that much. (I'm dancing on the edge of fangirling right now, so I'm just going to leave it at that.)

The ending was also excellent. I feel like it wrapped up the entire story so perfectly, and it just made me really, really happy. I'm not sure how I feel about the last little segment? On one hand, I like it, and I thought it was brilliant, and on the other hand, I did like the preceding segment better, so I'm really conflicted on that part. But oh well.

These books were quite a wild ride, and I'm really glad I took the chance reading them!

Content (potential spoilers)

Recommended for ages 15 and up.

Explosions, resulting in several people dying. Descriptions of blood, sometimes bordering on gory (though the violence in this book felt less gory than the violence in Illuminae. Could just be me, though.) A machine is used to intentionally collapse a section of a mine, killing the operator and several soldiers as well. Several large scale space battles similar to the ones in Star Wars. Hundreds of people die from suffocation. 

Language is mostly blacked out, as in the rest of the series, but it's pretty easy to tell what the characters are saying, despite that. A few words are not blacked out. 

A few instances of sexual references, nothing explicit that I can remember. There were a few instances of sexual innuendo. There is a reference that suggests two background female characters are lesbian, and another female character mentions having had romantic relationships with other women in the past. 

Mentions of the use of dust, a drug first introduced in Gemina. Nik smokes.

A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness

Hey everyone! I'm not going to be doing my regular post today because I'm going book shopping. So instead, here's a review for an exceptional book that I think you'll enjoy -- A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness.

A Monster Calls
by Patrick Ness

Genre: YA contemporary/magical realism

My Rating: ★★★★★

Description: 

Ever since his mother became ill, Conor has had the same nightmare. But tonight, it's different. Tonight, a monster appears outside Conor's window.
It wants to tell him three stories... and after the stories are over, it wants to hear the most terrible thing of all -- the truth.

A Monster Calls is a Carnegie-winning story of love, loss, and hope.

Overall Thoughts

If you want a book to make you cry, look no further than A Monster Calls. This book is devastatingly sad and hopeful and beautiful all at the same time. I'm finding it incredibly hard to look at each piece of the story as a piece of the story, because everything was so beautifully interwoven. But I'm going to try anyway. Because I'm stubborn.

The Characters

The characters felt real. Looking back, I realize I don't know a lot about most of them, but Ness chose the details he shared perfectly to let us get to know them. They felt like people, and I think that this is the crowning achievement every author should be striving for. Conor, the main character, was sympathetic, and his point of view was interesting and complex. We know, almost from the first page, that Conor is hiding something from us... but we don't know what that is until much later. I enjoyed how complex his inner struggles were, and his grief and anger and guilt felt so realistic. 

Plot/Pacing

The plot itself is simplistic, I suppose: Conor is visited by a monster who promises to tell him three stories, and then asks him to share his own -- Conor's story. Between the monster's visits are scenes of Conor's day to day life, at school and at home, as he deals with his mother's illness. It's a very quiet story, when I think about it -- quiet, but at the same time hard to put down. It was as though the plot conveyed the normalcy of the rest of the world, while Conor's world is slowly falling apart, and it was breathtaking.

Writing

The setting was not a huge piece of the book -- only a few details about each new place were given, but it really fit the simple, spare writing style Ness used in the novel. The writing was haunting: it's simple, but it says so much. No sentence goes to waste.

In terms of theme, well -- it's what made the book for me. It was beautifully handled, explored in complex ways, and I appreciated that.

In short, I understand why this book has twice won the Carnegie Medal -- it deserves it.

Content

Recommended for ages 12 and up.

I don't recall any swearing, but there may have been one or two minor swear words. 

Conor's parents are divorced, and Conor's father is remarried to another woman. 

There are a few violent scenes, but none are graphically described, sparing many details that would be disturbing to some readers. 

Death is a major theme in this book, so be aware going in that this book deals with a terminal illness (cancer, presumably) and does not gloss over the emotions felt by the characters affected by it. These themes are what would make me hesitant to recommend this book to younger or less mature readers.

Gemina [The Illuminae Files, #2] by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff

This review contains spoilers for Illuminae. To read my full review of Illuminae, follow the link here.

Gemina [The Illuminae Files, #2]
by Amie Kaufman, Jay Kristoff

Genre: YA science fiction

My Rating: ★★★★★

Description:

Hanna Donnelly would rather be anywhere but Jump Station Heimdall. It's in the middle of nowhere, light years away from any real action... and any hope of a social life.
Niklas Malikov is a drug dealer and convicted criminal. After recently being released from juvenile detention, a job with his uncle on Heimdall doesn't seem like a bad idea. Turns out it's a horrible idea.
When Heimdall is invaded by a BeiTech strike team, Nik and Hanna must ally themselves with each other to save both Heimdall and the research vessel, Hypatia, from destruction by BeiTech.
But mercenaries may not be the only thing crawling through the guts of the station -- and with the Heimdall wormhole starting to malfunction, Hanna and Nik are running out of time...

Overall Thoughts

Gemina was probably my favorite book in the Illuminae Files trilogy. It was also the longest (over 600 pages!) As with Illuminae, I absolutely loved the way the story was told. I feel like I was way less unsure about the plot and characters going into Gemina, because after reading Illuminae I knew how well the style worked. 

In this book, one of the main characters, Hanna, journals, and some of her drawings are included, which I really liked as well.

The Characters

In terms of characterization, I liked both Hanna and Nik by the end of the book. In the beginning, Hanna is spoiled, kind of a typical rich girl, but she quickly has to focus on survival and she grows and matures by the end of the book, which I liked. Nik was... possibly stereotypical? I read another review of the book on The Story Sanctuary that compares him to the "bad boy with a heart of gold" character trope, and I'd have to agree... but I still liked him a lot (as did the author of the review). As a main character, I liked him a lot better than Ezra Mason. I also really liked his relationship with his cousin, Ella. And speaking of Ella, she was fantastic as well. She's the team hacker, and she's amazing at it, while at the same time not being so overpowered in that respect as to be annoying.

Plot/Pacing

I think one of the strongest points of the series is the plot and pacing. Despite Gemina's mildly terrifying length, it literally flew by. These books also succeed so much on a tension level. The stakes are constantly escalating, and by the end of the book, as with Illuminae, I couldn't stop turning pages. There were a lot of different factors working together -- mercenaries, killer alien parasites, a malfunctioning wormhole threatening to rip the universe in half... And of course there's a countdown, which is one of the plot devices used throughout the series that I think really helps with the tension and pacing aspects.
Also, the plot twists in this series are phenomenal. They caught me by surprise, anyway.

Content

Recommended for ages 15 and up.

Violence, including descriptions of gunshot wounds and blood. There's a high body count throughout the series. Parasitic alien life forms attack and kill several people. Descriptions of the parasites and the way they are grown is also disturbing. 

Sexual content is limited to innuendo, a few references to a character being in bed with another character (not detailed). A character is forced to strip down to her underwear in one scene, not sexual. 

Swearing is frequent, but most of it is blacked out. A few words are not, and it's pretty easy to tell what the characters are saying even when the words are censored. 

Nik's family manufactures and sells a drug. Hanna buys this same drug, and references to having used it before. The drug itself is used in several other ways throughout the course of the story. Nik smokes.

The Sun is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon

The Sun is Also a Star
by Nicola Yoon

Genre: YA contemporary romance

My Rating: ★★★★

Description:

Natasha is a believer in facts. Logic. Things concrete and tangible. Once, she was a dreamer. But now, with her family twelve hours from being deported to Jamaica, she has no room in her life for dreams. And especially not for love.
Daniel is the obedient son. He doesn't want to become a doctor, but that's what his parents want, and so he keeps his dreams of being a poet out of the picture. But when he meets Natasha, everything changes.
Will twelve hours change the course of both their lives forever?

Overall Thoughts

The Sun is Also a Star was a wild ride for me. In the beginning of the book, it was a four star. Near the middle, I got irritated and decided that I should give it a three point five. And now, it's listed on my Goodreads that I rated it five stars (though in complete honesty, I gave it 4.5). But yeah. It was an interesting book, and I'm ultimately glad I read it.
Thematically, this book is stunning. It's showing how people's lives intersect, how one small action can change everything, and I loved that theme. The theme of destiny/fate was not as well done, in my opinion -- the first theme definitely overshadowed it.

The Characters

The characters were interesting. I instantly liked Natasha, and I found her point of view the most interesting to read. It took me a long time (like 75% of the book) to warm up to Daniel... some of his motivations were random, and I couldn't really sympathize with his stereotypical "teenage boy-ness"... if that makes any sense. I did grow to like him during the last act of the story (the end pretty much decided my eventual rating), and I also liked that he was a poet. I also liked how random side characters in the story -- people Natasha and Daniel walk past on the street, or talk to in an office, or hear over a loudspeaker -- get their own backstories from the point of view of an omniscient narrator known as the Universe. I really enjoyed seeing how all of these different people's stories linked together.

Plot/Pacing

The plot was well paced and engaging. The entire story takes place over the course of twelve hours, which I feel could become boring or awkwardly paced if written badly. But Yoon pulled it off very well, skipping over the boring bits and not including so much that it seems unrealistic to take place within a single day. 

I did have a bit of a problem with the romance in the beginning. It is insta-love, after all... and some of the scenes near the beginning of the romance plot seemed a little forced, mostly on the part of Daniel, whose motivations in these scenes were hard to understand. But again, by the last 40% or so of the book, I really liked it. 

Content

Recommended for ages 15 and up. 

Kissing. Daniel thinks about going further with Natasha physically (which annoyed me, as they've only known each other for half a day at this point.) Sexual jokes/innuendo. 

Language is strong, including at least seven counts of the f-bomb, as well as other possibly offensive language. 

Mention of suicide. Discussion of racism, and includes racist characters. The actions and words of these characters are shown to be wrong.

My Favorite Banned or Challenged Books

Tomorrow will be the beginning of Banned Books Week 2019! So, in celebration, I thought I would make a list of my favorite banned or challenged books.
Banned Books Week celebrates the freedom we have to read by bringing awareness to titles that have been challenged or banned. For more information about Banned Books Week, check out their About page: https://bannedbooksweek.org/about/.

And now, onto my own list! (Note that I've included reasons the books have been challenged or banned. You can find more reasons and information on the ALA information website on the topic.)

Photo by Gaelle Marcel on Unsplash

1. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

© 2019 by Rambles from My Library

Banned for: use of racial slurs, violence, discussion of rape, offensive language, racism.

I read To Kill a Mockingbird last year as part of my high school literature program, and I thought it was a beautiful, thought-provoking story. However, it has been the subject of controversy since its publication in 1960.

2. The Giver by Lois Lowry

© 2019 by Rambles from My Library

Banned for: Unsuited to age group, euthanasia, violence, sexuality, discussion of suicide

This was the first true dystopian novel I read (in my recollection), and to be completely honest, it terrified me. However, it is an important book, and while the world it depicts is disturbing and twisted, I believe that it deserves to be read -- perhaps with a little more caution depending on the age and maturity of the reader.

3. Bridge to Terebithia by Katherine Paterson

© 2019 by Rambles from My Library

Banned for: offensive language, occult/magic, violence

When I found out Bridge to Terebithia was a banned book, I was shocked. This book definitely deserved the John Newberry medal it received. It's been a while since I've read this book, to be honest, but I've loved it each and every time I've read it.

4. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

© 2019 by Rambles from My Library

Challenged for: Violence, unsuited for age group, offensive language. 

I wasn't surprised to find out that The Hunger Games had been challenged. It is a violent story -- but that's the whole point. I believe Suzanne Collins was trying to show the horror of the storyworld she'd created, and so I don't believe the violence was without a point in her story.

5. Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card

© 2019 by Rambles from My Library

Challenged for: Offensive language, violence

Another violent book, but again, I believe Ender's Game had a purpose for including the amount of violence it did. Perhaps the violence was further compounded by the age of the characters -- most are under the age of fourteen throughout the story, and some are as young as six. However, the novel is extremely well written with excellent plot lines and interesting themes. 

6. The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien

© 2019 by Rambles from My Library

Challenged for: Occult/magic

This one was another shock for me. The fact that Tolkien's novels have been challenged as being occult -- when Tolkien himself was a devout Christian -- is strange to me. But it's true. There was even a book burning of Tolkien's works in 2001 in Almagordo, New Mexico. 

7. The Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling

© 2019 by Rambles from My Library

Banned for: Violence, occult/magic, religious viewpoint

Okay. So. Since its publication, Harry Potter has probably become one of the most famous controversial books of all time. It's been claimed that it is Satanic, even though, with the publication of The Deathly Hallows, some are looking back over the series and seeing the Christian parallels the series makes.

For myself, Harry Potter has always been a part of my life, and I love the series. I really don't think there's anything Satanic in these books, and that banning them will do more harm than good.

8. The Holy Bible

© 2019 by Rambles from My Library

Challenged for: Religious viewpoint

I couldn't end this list without mentioning the Bible. As a Christian, I definitely don't believe that the Bible should be banned, both for intellectual and religious reasons. It would go against basic human freedoms and rights to ban it, in my opinion. 

And that's about it! What banned books have you read and loved? Have you read any of the books on this list? Let me know in the comments!

Mitosis [The Reckoners, #1.5] by Brandon Sanderson

Mitosis [The Reckoners, #1.5]
by Brandon Sanderson

Genre: YA dystopian

My Rating: ★★

Description:

In this short story set just before the events of Firefight, David and the Reckoners battle the Epic Mitosis.

Overall Thoughts

I don't really see the point of Mitosis. When I saw it listed as part of The Reckoners series, I assumed that it was going to add more to my understanding of the characters, the universe, the plot of the series, something. But it didn't.

Mitosis was, first of all, extremely short. It's not really a novella as much as it is a short story. Because it was so short, not much characterization happened in the story, and as a result, even the characters who were well-developed in the series fell flat in this book.

For anyone who's read Firefight, you'll know that Mitosis was mentioned as one of the Epics that the Reckoners fought before Sourcefield. The plot basically revolves around fighting Mitosis and beating him. And that's it. So, frankly, I was disappointed. Maybe some of my disappointment stems from high expectations. After all, this was written by Brandon Sanderson, the author of such incredible stories as The Final Empire and Skyward. But this story just... didn't do it for me.

Content

Recommended for ages 14 and up.

Violence, on par with the violence found in the rest of the series. There may have been one or two swear words, but I can't recall. No sexual content that I can remember, unless you count a cheesy love song as content. 

Splintered [Splintered, #1] by A. G. Howard

Splintered [Splintered, #1]
by A.G. Howard

Genre: YA fantasy retelling

My Rating: ★★

Description: 

Alyssa Gardner is not crazy. At least, that's what she keeps telling herself. All her life, she's been able to understand the language of plants and insects, a secret she's kept hidden from everyone, including her father. Because as the descendant of Alice Liddell -- Lewis Carroll's real life inspiration for Alice in Wonderland -- crazy just seems to run in the family. Alyssa knows it only takes one wrong move to end up like her mom -- in an asylum.
But a series of strange events soon forced Alyssa to confront a terrifying truth: Wonderland is real... and in reality, it's deadly...

Overall Thoughts

What I was expecting when I opened Splintered: dark Alice in Wonderland retelling, creepy, pulse-pounding, quest-style adventure. What I actually got from reading Splintered: a rambly plotline and an increasingly annoying love triangle. 

I'm kind of sad that I didn't enjoy Splintered, because I feel it had a lot of potential. But it just didn't live up to my expectations.
I can't really tell you what the theme was... and maybe this is because it's been a while since I read it. But I don't recall any particularly stand-out themes, except maybe one tossed in at the end about not having to conform to your destiny? But it wasn't handled as well as it could have been.

Setting/Worldbuilding

I'm going to start with what I did like about the novel, because there were things I liked. I loved the creepy, Gothic aesthetic, particularly in the beginning chapters -- these chapters were probably my favorite parts in the whole story. The setting choice in these early parts of the story were so cool... it almost makes me wish the author had chosen to set her whole Wonderland story in this location. (I understand that the plot makes this hard to work around, but I feel like it could have been done.) So I would say that the setting of the novel was it's strongest point. However, once in Wonderland, the setting became more random, and the world felt less cohesive and defined. It became confusing -- maybe the author's point, but one that definitely lessened my enjoyment of the work as a whole.

The Characters

In terms of characterization... I didn't really connect with any of the characters. Or, that is to say, I did, but then the stupid decisions they made later undermined any likeability they originally possessed.
Alyssa was definitely the most developed character, but I had a hard time following her motivations for following Morpheus once the quest began.
Morpheus is a typical "bad boy with a heart of gold", and while I've seen this type of character done well (I.E. Nik from Gemina) Morpheus never made me feel any kind of sympathy for him.
I liked Jeb in the first chapters (again, before Wonderland). But he quickly lost all the elements of his character that made me like him to begin with, and I ended up being very disappointed by him. (For more in-depth discussion about this, see my Goodreads review.)
Taelor was a stereotypical "mean girl", and she never really got much development apart from that, which is a shame. This stereotype is way too overused, and it shows.

Plot/Pacing

The plot... My feelings about the plot are a little complicated. I loved the premise -- Alyssa is Alice Liddell's descendant, and has to try to break her family's "curse". But the way it was carried out... that was what bothered me.
It's mostly because Alyssa, to be frank, knows nothing. The author holds back key elements of the plot to reveal later, and so for a good portion of the book, Alyssa's actions seem random. Her goal wasn't very well defined, and I think this caused the book to lag for me -- what Alyssa wanted to achieve kept changing from one chapter to the next, and that bothered me.
There was a good plot twist towards the end -- one that I actually really liked. And it explained a lot of why her quest was set up the way it was and everything. But it still felt too random to me, and I wish more had been explained earlier.

Content

Recommended for ages 15 and up.

Typical YA novel content. Some swearing, no f-bombs that I can recall, but some more "intense" language than something you would find in, say, The Lunar Chronicles. 

Several scenes of passionate kissing. A couple sleeps together in a boat (nothing else happens.) One thing I had an issue with in this novel is how saving yourself for marriage was treated almost... negatively. There were a few times where Alyssa referred to her virginity as a "problem", which made me kind of upset. No one should be shamed for saving themselves for marriage! I'm not sure if this was the author's intention, but that's the way it came off to me. 

Violence was moderate, nothing gory as I can recall. Near the end there were a few more intense fight scenes. 

A lot of disturbing imagery, reminiscent of a Tim Burton movie.