Book Beat Reviews

Five Feet Apart by Rachael Lippincott

Hi, my name is Rya. I am a sophomore and I enjoy reading, swimming and traveling.

As a victim of cystic fibrosis, a life-threatening disease, Stella has been in and out of hospitals her entire life. She is determined to fight the illness that has robbed her of so much, but without a cure, this prospect seems nearly impossible. Her only hope is to receive a lung transplant, a possibility that she clings onto tightly.

When Will is diagnosed with cystic fibrosis, his mother immediately signs him up for a medical trial, desperately trying to find a cure for the disease. But Will wants nothing more than to escape the endless maze of new medications, surgeries, and hospitals. He has accepted his fate of an untimely death and plans to spend his remaining years traveling once he turns eighteen.

Patients of cystic fibrosis must stay six feet apart from each other, otherwise, they risk deadly bacterial cross-contamination. When Will and Stella end up at the same hospital, they are both well aware of this rule. But through their conversations and shared experiences, they become close, even from six feet away. In the name of their rebellious love, Will and Stella neglect the six-feet-apart rule and steal one foot of distance, one foot of safety, so they can love each other not six, but only five feet apart.

This simultaneously heartwarming and heartbreaking novel about a romance with unique. Circumstances. I loved this book and recommend it very highly.

Find the book, eaudiobook and DVD here.

Family of Liars by E. Lockhart

Hi, my name is Rya. I am a sophomore and I enjoy reading, swimming and traveling.

The grieving of a dead, yet ever-present family member, that everyone else seems to have forgotten. The growing addiction that becomes enslaving. The careless and painful romances with the new boys on the island. The family secrets that went undiscovered for years. The sisterly love and sisterly loathe. This is the story of Carrie Sinclair’s seventeenth summer on Beechwood Island, a summer that proves that the Sinclairs have always been beautiful liars.

Family of Liars by E. Lockhart is an impressively crafted prequel to her novel We Were Liars. It is written from the point of view of a relative of Cadence, the protagonist in We Were Liars, and takes place several decades earlier. These novels do not necessarily have to be read in a certain order, however, I highly recommend reading We Were Liars first so that you can better appreciate Lockhart’s masterful storytelling and plot-twisting abilities in both books. Also, Family of Liars hints at a major spoiler.

This book exceeded my expectations. In my experience, prequels and sequels are often not as impressive as their predecessor, however, this book was an exception. I was not disappointed by E. Lockhart’s engaging and immersive storytelling, which makes this book worth the read!

Find the book in print, ebook, and eaudiobook here.

Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Hi, my name is Rya. I am a sophomore and I enjoy reading, swimming and traveling.

Daisy Jones is a wealthy, confident, beautiful girl growing up in California during the late 70s. With a natural talent and a budding passion for music, Daisy begins to get involved in the rock ‘n roll scene on Sunset Strip, where her captivating presence is becoming noticed.

The Six is a rock ‘n roll band that is rising to fame, with Billy Dunce as the lead singer. But when Billy finds out that his wife, Camila, is pregnant, he struggles to find a balance between stardom and loyalty.

Daisy Jones and The Six, already two powerful forces in the music industry, collaborate to create an album that wins awards, tops charts, and sells out stadiums. Daisy and Billy become the face of rock ‘n roll, but their relationship behind the scenes is extremely complex. Hatred, indifference, and love entangle until Daisy and Billy don’t know where they stand in each other’s lives.

However, this story is far from a predictable romance. It is both a nostalgic and animated recognition of the iconic era of 70s rock ‘n roll in America. This book is also written in an interview format, a unique approach that made the characters and story seem entirely real. All in all, this book was amazing. It usually takes me several weeks to read a book, but I finished this one in three days because I enjoyed it so much. I highly recommend Daisy Jones and The Six!

Find the book, large print, and CD here.

The Gilded Ones by Namina Forna

Hi, my name is Rya. I am a sophomore and I enjoy reading, swimming and traveling.

The sword made contact with Deka’s skin, the blood ran from her arms, not red, but a vibrant, unapologetic gold. Cursed gold. A glimpse of the shimmering liquid made those who once cared for Deka betray her. The love that once filled their eyes turned to fear as the blood spilled to the ground.

After that fateful day, Deka knew she would live her immortal existence miserably, in a dungeon, being constantly exploited for her valuable blood. One day, Deka is rescued from the dungeon, by a woman who promises freedom for Deka in exchange for 20 years of service in an army composed of other rescued girls, who’s blood also runs gold instead of red. Together, they fight the Deathshreiks, horrible human-like monsters who wreak havoc on civilization.

Soon, Deka has found her place amongst her comrades, others who have undergone similar pain as she has. But Deka still seems to be different, even from the outcasts. She is more resilient than the others, more powerful. As Deka discovers more, she begins to question the societal structure that has been so strictly imposed upon her for her whole life, as well as her own identity. Is Deka a girl? A monster? Or something more?

The Gilded Ones by Namina Forna was an entertaining book, however, different aspects of the book seemed to be targeted at different age ranges, which made the book feel slightly incohesive. But, this is mostly obscured by the plot and fantastical world, which I enjoyed.

Find the book here.

The Maze Cutter by James Dashner

Hi, I’m Zach. In my free time I ski a lot, play piano, snowmobile, and read.

The Maze Cutter, by James Dashner is a new series set 73 years after the events of the Maze Runner trilogy. I would highly recommend reading those books before this one so you aren’t confused.

The main plot of this new book follows a group of kids who grew up on the isolated safe haven of an island where, in the last book, they sought refuge. This new generation of kids have no real concept of the outside world, only hearing about the dangers from stories around the campfire. They are living their normal life when one day they find a ship from the old world on their shores. Quickly after that they leave the island and embark on a perilous voyage into the unknown.

Once they get to the mainland and the real world, things escalate. They find themselves having to choose between comfort and survival, and who to trust. The format of this book is clever, in that it jumps between perspectives quickly, but still has chapters that tie everything together, sort of like a TV show. It hides just the right amount of details so that the reader is just as lost and confused as the characters, but still understands the urgency.

Overall, I enjoyed the plot, the writing style was new and fun. The only issue I had was that this book is obviously part of a bigger story, because it ends abruptly without some answers.

Find it in print and eaudiobook here.

The Immortal Boy or El Inmortal by Francisco Montaña Ibáñez, translated by David Bowles

I am Zach.

The Immortal Boy, or El Inmortal, by Francisco Montaña Ibáñez, translated by David Bowles, is a difficult and frustratingly average book. It follows two different stories, one about a family of kids struggling to eat enough and survive in Bogotá, Columbia. The other story is about a girl in an orphanage in Bogotá who meets this mysterious “Immortal Boy.”

This book is frustrating because of the fact that it was translated from Spanish. This makes reading it awkward and takes away from the story a bit. For example, the way that the sentences are formed doesn’t seem to flow well to me. Furthermore, I also was more invested in the story of the girl in the orphanage than of the family, but the author spent much longer developing the story of the family. This may or may not be a negative thing.

I also do not like the way that the story ends. It builds up to a climax, and then only has three pages of resolution. It is an unsatisfying ending and leaves you feeling really bad inside. The way that the two stories intertwine is fairly obvious and way too gross, as there is a part of the story where I literally threw up in my mouth. One character goes against what the first half of the book made him out to be, and it didn’t seem natural.

Overall, this book has a ton of potential, and it isn’t horrible, but it did not flow well and wasn’t my favorite book. I would only recommend this book if you are okay with feeling nauseous and can get past a couple of weirdly worded sentences. Otherwise, you can skip this one.

Find it in print here.