RBD Review #34 | Rebel Angels (Gemma Doyle #2) by Libba Bray

Book info:
Rebel Angels (Gemma Doyle #2) by Libba Bray | 576 pages | Published December 2006 by Ember | YA, fantasy, historical fiction, supernatural

Summary:
Ah, Christmas! Gemma Doyle is looking forward to a holiday from Spence Academy, spending time with her friends in the city, attending ritzy balls, and on a somber note, tending to her ailing father. As she prepares to ring in the New Year, 1896, a handsome young man, Lord Denby, has set his sights on Gemma, or so it seems. Yet amidst the distractions of London, Gemma’s visions intensify–visions of three girls dressed in white, to whom something horrific has happened, something only the realms can explain...
The lure is strong, and before long, Gemma, Felicity, and Ann are turning flowers into butterflies in the enchanted world of the realms that Gemma alone can bring them to. To the girls’ great joy, their beloved Pippa is there as well, eager to complete their circle of friendship.

But all is not well in the realms–or out. The mysterious Kartik has reappeared, telling Gemma she must find the Temple and bind the magic, else great disaster will befall her. Gemma’s willing to do his intrusive bidding, despite the dangers it brings, for it means she will meet up with her mother’s greatest friend–and now her foe, Circe. Until Circe is destroyed, Gemma cannot live out her destiny. But finding Circe proves a most perilous task.

My thoughts: 
Read October 4-December 14, 2016 | 5/5 stars

RBD Review #26 | Ice Crypt (Mermaids of Eriana Kwai #2) by Tiana Warner

Book info:
Ice Crypt (Mermaids of Eriana Kwai #2) by Tiana Warner | 426 pages | Published July 2016 by Rogue Cannon Publishing | Teen fantasy/SciFi, LGBTQA+ > Lesbian

Summary:
Meela has just returned from the Massacre—the annual attempt to wipe out the mermaids threatening her people’s survival. After forming an unlikely connection with Lysi, a mermaid she was trained to kill, Meela is determined to stop the war between humans and merpeople for good. She knows of a legendary weapon that could bring peace if she uses it against King Adaro, ruler of the Pacific Ocean. But her people have plans for future Massacres and refuse to help her uncover it.

While Meela works in secret to unearth the Host of Eriana, Lysi is held captive under Adaro’s tyranny. Sent to the battlefront, Lysi joins forces with a band of rebels that could either bring her freedom—or have her executed for treason.

Separated by the vast Pacific Ocean, Meela and Lysi must find a way to defeat King Adaro and end the war that has been keeping them apart (courtesy of Goodreads).

My thoughts:
Read July 25- August 24, 2016 | 5/5 stars

RBD Review #25 | Ice Massacre (Mermaids of Eriana Kwai #1) by Tiana Warner

**I was given a digital copy of this book by NetGalley in return for an honest review.** I also want to mention that I did purchase this book after the fact, from Amazon for my Kindle as well as a physical copy, because I want to support the author.

Book info:
Ice Massacre (Mermaids of Eriana Kwai #1) by Tiana Warner | 375 pages | Published September 2014 by Rogue Cannon Publishing | YA, Fantasy, LGBTQA+ > Lesbian

Summary:
The Massacre is supposed to bring peace to Eriana Kwai. Every year, the island sends its warriors to battle these hostile sea demons. Every year, the warriors fail to return. Desperate for survival, the island must decide on a new strategy. Now, the fate of Eriana Kwai lies in the hands of twenty battle-trained girls and their resistance to a mermaid’s allure.

Eighteen-year-old Meela has already lost her brother to the Massacre, and she has lived with a secret that’s haunted her since childhood. For any hope of survival, she must overcome the demons of her past and become a ruthless mermaid killer.

For the first time, Eriana Kwai’s Massacre warriors are female, and Meela must fight for her people’s freedom on the Pacific Ocean’s deadliest battleground.

My thoughts:
Original read July 19-21, 2016 | 4.75 stars

RBD Review #21 | The Raven King (The Raven Cycle #4) by Maggie Stiefvater

Book info:
The Raven King (The Raven Cycle #4) by Maggie Stiefvater | 439 pages | Published April 2016 by Scholastic Press | YA Fantasy (external image)

Summary:
For years, Gansey has been on a quest to find a lost king. One by one, he’s drawn others into this quest: Ronan, who steals from dreams; Adam, whose life is no longer his own; Noah, whose life is no longer a lie; and Blue, who loves Gansey… and is certain she is destined to kill him.

Now the endgame has begun. Dreams and nightmares are converging. Love and loss are inseparable. And the quest refuses to be pinned to a path (courtesy of Goodreads).

My thoughts:

Read May 19-27, 2016 | 5-Stars

RBD Review #13 | The Raven Boys (The Raven Cycle #1) by Maggie Stiefvater

Book info:
The Raven Boys (The Raven Cycle #1) by Maggie Stiefvater | 408 pages. Published 2012 | Teen Fantasy, Mystery, Paranormal

Summary:

• First and foremost I DO NOT AGREE WITH THE BOOK JACKET SUMMARY. Read the review if you’re interested in knowing why. 

Every year, Blue Sargent stands next to her clairvoyant mother as the soon-to-be dead walk past. Blue never sees them--until this year, when a boy emerges from the dark and speaks to her.

His name is Gansey, a rich student at Aglionby, the local private school. Blue has a policy of staying away from Aglionby boys. Known as Raven Boys, they can only mean trouble.

But Blue is drawn to Gansey, in a way she can't entirely explain. He is on a quest that has encompassed three other Raven Boys: Adam, the scholarship student who resents the privilege around him; Ronan, the fierce soul whose emotions range from anger to despair; and Noah, the taciturn watcher who notices many things but says very little.

For as long as she can remember, Blue has been warned that she will cause her true love to die. She doesn't believe in true love, and never thought this would be a problem. But as her life becomes caught up in the strange and sinister world of the Raven Boys, she's not so sure anymore (courtesy of Goodreads).

My thoughts:
Read April 07-24, 2016 | 4/5 stars

RBD Review #16 | Blue Lily, Lily Blue (The Raven Cycle #3) by Maggie Stiefvater

Book info:
Blue Lily, Lily Blue (The Raven Cycle #3) by Maggie Stiefvater | Published 2014 | 391 pages | Teen fantasy

Summary:
There is danger in dreaming. But there is even more danger in waking up.
Blue Sargent has found things. For the first time in her life, she has friends she can trust, a group to which she can belong. The Raven Boys have taken her in as one of their own. Their problems have become hers, and her problems have become theirs.
The trick with found things though, is how easily they can be lost.
Friends can betray.
Mothers can disappear.
Visions can mislead.
Certainties can unravel (courtesy of Goodreads).

My thoughts:
Read April 29-May 07, 2016 | 4/5 stars

RBD Review #15 | the princess saves herself in this one by Amanda Lovelace

Book info:
the princess saves herself in this one by Amanda Lovelace | Published 2016 | 154 pages | Poetry, Feminist, Non-Fiction, Contemporary, Mental Illness, Mental Health

Summary:
“ah, life-
the thing
that happens
to us
while we’re off
somewhere else
blowing on
dandelions
& wishing
ourselves into
the pages of
our favorite
fairy tales.”

a poetry collection divided into four different parts: the princess, the damsel, the queen, & you. the princess, the damsel, & the queen piece together the life of the author in three stages, while you serves as a note to the reader & all of humankind. explores life & all of its love, loss, grief, healing, empowerment, & inspirations (courtesy of Goodreads).

My thoughts:

Read May 05, 2016 | 5/5 stars

RBD Review #14 | The Dream Thieves (The Raven Cycle #2) by Maggie Stiefvater

Book info:
The Dream Thieves (The Raven Cycle #2) by Maggie Stiefvater | 439 pages | Published 2013 | Teen fantasy (external image)

Summary:
If you could steal things from dreams, what would you take?
Ronan Lynch has secrets. Some he keeps from others. Some he keeps from himself.
One secret: Ronan can bring things out of his dreams.
And sometimes he's not the only one who wants those things.
Ronan is one of the raven boys—a group of friends, practically brothers, searching for a dead king named Glendower, who they think is hidden somewhere in the hills by their elite private school, Aglionby Academy. The path to Glendower has long lived as an undercurrent beneath town. But now, like Ronan's secrets, it is beginning to rise to the surface—changing everything in its wake.
Of The Raven Boys, Entertainment Weekly wrote, "Maggie Stiefvater's can't-put-it-down paranormal adventure will leave you clamoring for book two." Now the second book is here, with the same wild imagination, dark romance, and heart-stopping twists that only Maggie Stiefvater can conjure (courtesy of Goodreads).

My thoughts:
Read April 25-28, 2016 | 5/5

*NEW* RDB Review #29 | A Great and Terrible Beauty (Gemma Doyle #1) by Libba Bray

Book info:
A Great and Terrible Beauty (Gemma Doyle #1) by Libba Bray | 403 pages | Published December 2003 by Simon and Schuster | Teen, Fantasy, Historical Fiction, Romance, Magic, Supernatural, Paranormal, Mystery

Summary:
A Victorian boarding school story, a Gothic mansion mystery, a gossipy romp about a clique of girlfriends, and a dark other-worldly fantasy—jumble them all together and you have this complicated and unusual first novel.

Sixteen-year-old Gemma has had an unconventional upbringing in India, until the day she foresees her mother's death in a black, swirling vision that turns out to be true. Sent back to England, she is enrolled at Spence, a girls' academy with a mysterious burned-out East Wing. There Gemma is snubbed by powerful Felicity, beautiful Pippa, and even her own dumpy roommate Ann, until she blackmails herself and Ann into the treacherous clique. Gemma is distressed to find that she has been followed from India by Kartik, a beautiful young man who warns her to fight off the visions. Nevertheless, they continue, and one night she is led by a child-spirit to find a diary that reveals the secrets of a mystical Order. The clique soon finds a way to accompany Gemma to the other-world realms of her visions "for a bit of fun" and to taste the power they will never have as Victorian wives, but they discover that the delights of the realms are overwhelmed by a menace they cannot control. Gemma is left with the knowledge that her role as the link between worlds leaves her with a mission to seek out the "others" and rebuild the Order.

My thoughts:
Official re-read September 6-21, 2016 | 5 stars

RBD Review #2 | We Should All Be Feminists by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichi

Book info:
We Should All Be Feminists by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichi | Published July 29, 2014 by Vintage | 49 pages | Nonfiction, Essay

Summary:
What does “feminism” mean today? That is the question at the heart of We Should All Be Feminists, a personal, eloquently-argued essay—adapted from her much-viewed TEDx talk of the same name—by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, the award-winning author of Americanah and Half of a Yellow Sun. With humor and levity, here Adichie offers readers a unique definition of feminism for the twenty-first century—one rooted in inclusion and awareness. She shines a light not only on blatant discrimination, but also the more insidious, institutional behaviors that marginalize women around the world, in order to help readers of all walks of life better understand the often masked realities of sexual politics. Throughout, she draws extensively on her own experiences—in the U.S., in her native Nigeria, and abroad—offering an artfully nuanced explanation of why the gender divide is harmful for women and men, alike. Argued in the same observant, witty and clever prose that has made Adichie a bestselling novelist, here is one remarkable author’s exploration of what it means to be a woman today—and an of-the-moment rallying cry for why we should all be feminists (courtesy of Goodreads).

• “Gender matters everywhere in the world. And I would like today to ask for a different world. A fairer world. A world of happier men and happier women who are truer to themselves. And this is how to start: we must raise our daughters differently. We must also raise our sons differently.” 
• “The problem with gender is that it prescribes how we should be rather than recognizing how we are.” 
• “I have chosen to no longer be apologetic for my femininity. And I want to be respected in all my femaleness. Because I deserve to be.”

My thoughts:
Read February 9, 2016 | 5/5 stars
I thought this speech-turned-published-essay was awesome. Adichie says what we all wish we could say, and she says it eloquently and professionally. I think it could be very hard to be offended by this work. She sheds light on the fact that, no matter what country you’re in and no matter what race, men and women are treated differently, and that needs to change. She also gives what needs to be done to change it.

When I first saw it, I ordered it from my library and when it came in, I was surprised at how small it was. It only took me about 30 minutes to read. I was hoping for more, but when I was done, Adichie made her point loud and clear and there was no need or desire for more. I will definitely recommend this to anyone interested in thoughts on feminism, positive or negative. Maybe it will give some insight.
Find it:
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