young adult Archives - The Pencil Princess Workshop

A Voice that Thunders

In A Voice that Thunders, Cully Mack plays around with that weird bit from Genesis 6. You know the bit–where Nephilim are on Earth, and sons of God are having children with daughters of men.

That bit is a mysterious and intriguing glimpse of something odd going on in ancient times. As such, it has given rise to more than a few fascinating stories (including Many Waters by Madeleine L’Engle). Mack’s story doesn’t have as strong a setting as L’Engle’s, but I like the way it explores temptation. The story is about Mirah, a captive of a band of warriors from a far off place. Before capturing Mirah and several of her friends, these warriors slaughtered everyone else in Mirah’s village.

As Mirah and her friends seek to survive, to escape, and perhaps even seek revenge, they receive amazing, powerful tools. Unfortunately, those tools come at a great cost. That’s where the temptation comes in. Do they use the tools they’ve been given? Or do they figure out another way to survive and defeat their enemies?

If you like young adult stories, especially ones with magic and romance sprinkled in liberally, you’ll probably enjoy A Voice that Thunders. I enjoyed it, and I suspect I’ll go looking for the rest of the series at some point.

Broken Skies

Theresa Kay’s Broken Skies is a young adult science fiction novel about Jax, a traumatized young woman, living in a post-apocalyptic world. Disease has decimated the human population, and aliens are colonizing Earth.

Then some of those aliens kidnap Jax’s brother, leaving one of their own behind, wounded. Jax makes a deal with the wounded alien. She’ll help him get back to his city if he gets her in, so she can rescue her brother.

What follows is a journey that’s as much about self-discovery as about surviving in a world become savage. There’s also a fair amount of romance.

I like Jax in this piece, and I think there’s lots of great conflict–both internal and external. The world-building is decent. Even better, the plot comes to a relatively satisfying conclusion for the first part of a series. I will probably eventually want to read more.

I’d recommend Broken Skies for people who like science fiction, especially dystopian. Interested in other science fiction recommendations? Check out my take on Beyond, The Left Hand of Darkness , or Cinder.

Mazie

Mazie, the newest book by Melanie Crowder, is a great story about one young woman’s journey toward Broadway.

As a small town girl from Nebraska, Mazie doesn’t know any professional performers (unless you count her dance teacher). In many ways, she’s aiming for something that seems utterly unreachable. It’s a powerful thing–watching her transform her dreams into reality.

I love the deep, realistic character development in this book. I also love the way it explores how ambition can affect relationships–with family, with a boyfriend, and especially with fellow artists. In this book, these other performers often feel like both collaborators and competition.

Like Audicity (which is another Crowder book I love), this trip into the past also has great world-building. I don’t think I’ve ever been to a drive-up restaurant with live performances and waitresses on roller skates, but this book put me there.

If you like historical books, or musical theater, or coming-of-age stories (especially ones about young people who are talented in one of the fine arts), this might be a great read for you.

Not quite your thing? If you browse through my bookshelf here, you can check out other books I adore. The “loved it” and “keeper” tags mark some of my favorites.

The Priestess Trials

The Priestess Trials by A. A. Lee places me in a rich, unique world that feels vaguely familiar.

It’s like something I saw or heard during my time in China–but in the countryside, not the city. However that doesn’t quite fit either because this world has very little modern technology. (They have knives and cooking pots and spears, but certainly nothing electric.)

The main character, Tala, barely survives as a slave for a poor family at the edge of a village facing famine and war. With their harvest threatened, the family plans to sell off Tala as a wife–to a man who has killed off his last several wives. Desperate to escape, Tala joins the priestess trials, where she must tap into her hidden store of magic to make the final cut and have a chance at a future.

From the first page to the last, Tala’s story engages me. I’m rooting for her, hoping that things will work out even when it seems like all of society is designed to keep her down.

Though I found one or two points confusing and was less than satisfied with the ending, this was an excellent book. I will be looking for the sequels.

The Raven and The Dove

I picked up The Raven and The Dove from a sales promotion that Songs of Healing was also in, and I was glad I did. This story by Kaitlyn Davis has great world building, interesting magic, good pacing, fascinating political intrigue, and romance. Plus, people can fly!

Seriously, I love the flying bits. I also love the secret, dangerous magic and the friendships. There are lots of conflicting loyalties here, and they make the story fascinating and frustrating all at once.

I was less excited about how this story ended–or didn’t. I know it’s the first in a series, but there was much more pushing toward the next story than settling this one into a good place. Despite this, I will probably go looking for the sequels to The Raven and The Dove since I did enjoy the characters and quite a few other things about this book.

Invisible

Invisible–another great book by Cecily Anne Paterson.

The book stars Jazmine Crawford–a young lady who actively avoids attracting attention. Since her father’s death, she has perfected the art of becoming invisible.

But then, Jazmine gets in trouble. To stay in school, she agrees to help with the school play. Soon, everybody sees her. Though it feels uncomfortable at first, Jazmine begins making friends. Her past haunts her, though. She must face it before she can truly move forward.

I love the characters in this story, especially Jazmine. Her insecurity reminds me so much of my own feelings at that age. I also like how this story handles the effects of frequent moves, disability, and mental health issues.

If you like your young adult books on the realistic side, this could be a good one for you. (For my other reviews of Cecily Anne Paterson’s books, check out Love and Muddy Puddles and Charlie Franks is A-OK.

Beyond

Beyond by M. C. Winkkle is a young adult science fiction book. It stars Stella, a young woman who is being held captive as an alien spy.

However, Stella’s no spy. She’s just an ordinary girl who has had trouble fitting in with the other kids. She has a close relationship with her mom, though. Her captors use that relationship to push Stella into cooperating with with them, and Stella soon manifests abilities she didn’t know she had. Maybe she’s not quite as ordinary as she thought she was.

This was a fun book that I enjoyed a great deal despite some disconcerting shifts in point of view. If you like alien invasion stories that have a fair bit of nuance, this book might be a good one for you to try.

Interested in other science fiction recommendations? Check out my take on The Left Hand of Darkness or Cinder.

Blessings and Happy Reading

Cress

Marissa Meyer has written another fabulous book with Cress. Book Three of The Lunar Chronicles lives up to the high standard set by Cinder and Scarlet. (My daughter would say it surpasses it. Cress is her favorite.)

Like the two previous books, this one is a fairy-tale retelling–in this case of Rapunzel. For an isolated shut-in, Cress turns out to be a remarkably active and resourceful main character. Her mad computer skills save her (and others) dozens of times, but it’s her ability to make friends after so much isolation that’s truly impressive.

Also like the first two books, this one is full of action and life-changing revelations. When Cress’s rescue goes a bit awry, all the characters get thrown into life-threatening crisis. It’s hard to imagine how the problems could intensify–and yet they do, throwing our heroes into ever-increasing danger.

With Cress on board, this little team of outcasts and misfits may just have a fighting chance at overthrowing the evil empire from Luna that seems intent on ruling the Earth.

Maybe.

In any case, I’m looking forward to the next book, and I strongly recommend this one for anyone who likes YA sci-fi and fantasy (and anyone who enjoys good fairy-tale retellings). For other reviews, check it out on Goodreads or LibraryThing.

Enola Holmes: The Case of the Missing Marquess

Chrysanthemums beneath the title page from The Case of the Missing Marquess: An Enola Holmes Mystery

I became interested in Enola Holmes when I saw the movie (on Netflix) titled with her name. I loved it, and her, and so did my husband and daughter, who watched it with me.

But, of course, Enola Holmes lives in a book, too. A set of books, really, by Nancy Springer. As I usually find with good films made from books, the books are even better. Well, at least the first one is. (I imagine the later ones will be as well–I just haven’t read them yet. I have added them to my “want to read” shelf on Goodreads).

Enola is lovable and smart and funny–and she’s dealing with a whole boatload of patronizing hogwash (because women were treated quite deplorably in her day). It’s delightful to watch her succeed where her brothers assume she cannot. Like Adelaide from a few weeks ago, she refuses to let other people’s assumptions box her in.

Anyway, I strongly recommend The Case of the Missing Marquess for those who like history, or mysteries, or girls finding their way in the world.

Adelaide and the Dragon Castle

Adelaide and the Dragon Castle has a lot of my favorite things in YA fantasy–great characters, coming of age, dragons.

I love the way Adelaide finds her own solutions in a world that glorifies violence. And I love that these solutions don’t come instantly, but take some trial and error.

I’m not as thrilled with the way the story advocates for anything-goes sexuality, but I understand how that could feel completely reasonable in a world that so unreasonably limits a woman’s choices. When most restrictions are nonsensical, why should a person pay attention to any restrictions at all?

I get that modern sensibility says that if I’m uncomfortable with this, I’m the one with the problem, but I still believe there’s value in keeping sex within committed, long-term, (and yes, I’ll even say monogamous, relationships). Sex is a powerful thing, and easily abused–and just because it has been abused one way (a lot) in the past doesn’t mean that going to an opposite extreme is a great idea.

Despite my concerns in this area, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The writing was good; the characters well-rounded; the pacing and plot exciting. There were also some great bits of humor, and I enjoyed the world-building, which was very well done (though the language sometimes dropped out of the more formal usage that helped create the feel of an older-style society).

All in all, this was well worth a read. At some point, I’ll probably be reading the sequels.

Check the book out on Goodreads to see other people’s takes on this book.