I’ve got two bite-sized reviews for you today: a YA audiobook and a YA anthology. I hope these bite-sized reviews will be enough to feed your fiction addiction!
Dare Mighty Things by Heather Kaczynski Series: Dare Mighty Things #1
Published by HarperCollins on October 10th 2017
Genres: Young Adult, Science Fiction
Pages: 377
Narrator: Soneela Nankani
Length: 10 hrs and 12 mins
Source: Edelweiss, Library
My content rating: YA (Nothing more than kissing)
My rating:
The Selection meets The 5th Wave in this heart-racing debut duology about a girl competing for a spot on a mysterious mission to the outer reaches of space.
THE RULES ARE SIMPLE: You must be gifted. You must be younger than twenty-five. You must be willing to accept the dangers that you will face if you win.
Eighteen-year-old Cassandra Gupta’s entire life has been leading up to this—the opportunity to travel to space. But to secure a spot on this classified mission, she must first compete against the best and brightest people on the planet. People who are as determined as she is to win a place on a journey to the farthest reaches of the universe.Cassie is ready for the toll that the competition will take; the rigorous mental and physical tests designed to push her to the brink of her endurance. But nothing could have prepared her for the bonds she would form with the very people she hopes to beat. Or that with each passing day it would be more and more difficult to ignore the feeling that the true objective of the mission is being kept from her.
As the days until the launch tick down and the stakes rise higher than ever before, only one thing is clear to Cassie: she’ll never back down...even if it costs her everything.
I had high hopes for Dare Mighty Things, but when I started reading it originally, I was in a reading slump and couldn’t get into it. I eventually put the book down and then got the audiobook from the library. This was a good choice for me for this book. I enjoyed the narration by Soneela Nankani—I thought it enlivened the story since the MC’s (Cass’s) voice can be a little dry (she is a very logical thinker and, especially at the beginning of the book is a bit detached from others and from her own emotions).
The story was somewhat similar to Nyxia, and I’ll confess that I had a hard time not comparing the two in my mind (often). But this was told in a different manner (much less focus on the competition itself, which I appreciated) and in a completely different voice (I preferred the MC in Nyxia). I did like that the MC in this book is Indian and asexual—reps we don’t get often, and certainly not together. My one complaint about the book was that even though things in the competition were supposedly extremely difficult, it all came off as a bit too easy for Cass. She was almost too perfect, so I never felt like there was a huge struggle to win the competition. She was practically perfect—only Luka was ever better than her, but he had a major flaw that made it completely unbelievable that he would be chosen over her. Because of this, I felt like the book lacked some dramatic tension.
The ending threw me for a major loop, and I’m really curious to see where it all leads!
***Disclosure: I received this book from the publisher via Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review. No other compensation was given and all opinions are my own.***
Welcome Home by Eric Smith Published by Flux on September 5th 2017
Genres: Young Adult, Short Stories
Pages: 352
Source: ALA
My rating:
Welcome Home collects a number of adoption-themed fictional short stories, and brings them together in one anthology from a diverse range of celebrated Young Adult authors. The all-star roster includes Edgar-award winner Mindy McGinnis, New York Times bestselling authors C.J. Redwine (The Shadow Queen) and William Ritter (Jackaby), and acclaimed YA authors across all genres, like Adi Alsaid, Lauren Gibaldi, Sangu Mandanna, Karen Akins, and many more.
I was really excited to read this anthology because of my personal connection to adoption: my youngest is adopted. In general, the stories were very short, which could make them a bit harder to connect to. Still, some of these were gems.
A few of my favorites were “Up by a Million,” “Happy Beginning,” “The Take Back,” “Jar of Broken Wishes,” and “Upon the Horizon’s Verge.” That last one was my favorite and has stuck with me the longest—it had a really interesting twist and a bit of magical realism.
***Disclosure: I received this book from the publisher via ALA Annual ’17 in exchange for an honest review. No other compensation was given and all opinions are my own.***
I’ve only read Welcome Home off this list. I liked certain stories a lot, but yeah, the whole anthology as a whole wasn’t my absolute favorite.
Yes, there were a few stories that were great, but overall the anthology just didn’t stand out to me.
I haven’t read any of these. Dare Mighty Things is the one that catches my eye the most although the book cover seems underwhelming. But I’m always a sucker for a story involving space.
I agree that the cover for Dare Mighty Things is a bit underwhelming. A shame.
Wow, we were not book twinsies with Dare Mighty Things, this is sad. I loooved that one, one of my favorites of the year. But if it is comparable to Nyxia, now I am extra excited to read that! Sad about the others though, they all seem pretty “meh”. And I am VERY sorry that the adoption one didn’t work out, given your personal connection (and extra awful about the one that was anti- I mean, why!?) Great reviews!
I think that Dare Mighty Things might have suffered somewhat by circumstance—I was in that reading slump when I tried to pick it up the first time, and then I listened to it in December, got sick and had the holidays in there—it took me a LONG time to get through it because of all that. I just never quite connected with Cass and I thought she was a little too perfect at all the challenges (which took out the dramatic tension a bit for me), but I did really like the story!
Nice reviews! I was curious about the Welcome Home anthology, but I hadn’t seen many reviews of it. I’m still not sure if I want to read it.
Yeah, I was unfortunately a little disappointed with some of the stories, but some of them were great—maybe get it from the library?
I heard quite a few reviewers say the same about the List. Unique and thoughtful but too bad it fails to get readers more engaged! Such a beautiful magical cover! I remember being in love with it for WEEKS when it was on NetGalley 🙂
I loved the concept but I just couldn’t get into it as much I hoped to.
I’ve been thinking of doing my own mini reviews, cause lately I’ve been reading faster than I can post, lol 😀
I’ve wanted to read The List too, but I keep reading lukewarm reviews! The premise really is interesting, but that’s about it, it seems.
Yeah, these shorter reviews are a whole lot easier.
Dude, where was possessed-kid fiction when I was a kid?! I would’ve loved that!!! (But then, I was a weird kid! Lol.)
Ha! Yes—I do remember reading a book called The Ghost Next Door when I was a kid, but no possessions. 🙂
I read a book called The Ghost Next Door – it was a Goosebumps book that I borrowed off my brother (who, being four years older than me, had access to ‘scarier’ books! Lol.)
Oh, fun! Mine was a much older book. I haven’t been able to find it in recent years. But it left a big impact on me!