The Invention of Hugo Cabret - Brian Selznick

Rating: ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

This was a book I remember coming out when I was in elementary school. I remember how my classmates and I, oogled at the book because of how big it was; there was no way we could read a book that big at only seven years old. But, there was one of my classmates that was a huge reader. He always carried around books and loved when we would go to the library. He checked out this book and I remember wondering if he liked it. A year or so later, I checked it out from the library because I was curious what it was about. And I was captivated by the synopsis. But I got bored so quickly, before the end of the first chapter, so the next week I checked it back in and didn't think about it again. Until the movie came out in like 2011 and I was like "Isn't that the book I checked out?" but that was the farthest I even thought about it.

Until November 2019, I went into a tiny used bookstore in my grandma's small town over Thanksgiving break. And I was looking for some treasures and this was one of the many I found. The reason I picked this up again is because of the nostalgia factor; hence the reason I went on to describe my whole backstory with this book. I then thought about how I was bored by the book, but then I just flipped it open and started reading it and I was so disappointed in my past self for not giving this a real chance. It was good! The writing was eloquent and the illustrations were detailed and told a story like I was watching a movie.

Clearly I ended up buying the book.

Like I said, the writing and illustrations really made this book for me. Usually when I read middle grade, I tend to have a problem with the writing and/or the plot because it's target audience is not a twenty year old. Therefore, I always feel like something lacks in these other books and I think it's the maturity level of all aspects of whatever book. This book I did not find those problems. I didn't feel like the writing and/or plot was immature or not meant for me. It just felt like I was reading a historical fiction novel about a young boy. I really respect the author for making this enjoyable for all ages and not just the target audience. To me, that really shows talent as a writer. The illustrations also played a huge role in this story and also carried the story through specific plot points well, and in a way that was (again) enjoyable for all ages. The illustrations felt mature.

The reason this didn't end up being five stars is because it didn't have that wow factor I feel when reading five star books. This doesn't mean there was anything wrong with it, because I've ended up complementing it a lot, but it just didn't hit the qualifications to meet what I consider to be a five star read. But it was still a really good read and I would recommend to anyone of any age.

The Raven King - Maggie Stiefvater

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️½

The first thing I want to say is that, I didn't understand what was happening the majority of this book. That doesn't mean that I didn't enjoy a lot of it, but there were some parts where there was too much happening that either, didn't correspond with other things going on or just generally didn't make sense with the rest of the concurrent plot. Of course this is just my opinion and my experience with the story. I could think this because there wasn't much development in this book, but why should there need to be? It's the last book in the series, it can be all action based if it wants to, it's just because of this I didn't understand all the plot arcs.

I did really enjoy the characters in this story. I felt like I really knew them inside and out based on their development from the other books and that helped with the confusing plot to me. I did feel like Blue and Gansey's relationship didn't really make sense in this book, it was just filler and unnecessary, except for near the very end, but even then it didn't pack the punch like I was hoping for. I did really enjoy Rowan and Adam's connection/relationship, compared to Blue and Gansey, I felt they really soared and that it had a purpose in this book. Henry felt unnecessary as well. Like he briefly showed up in other books but all the sudden he's a full part of the gang now? I didn't understand that. Something that disappointed me a lot was Piper. I felt she could have been written to be this extravagant villain but the part she did play is this book was lackluster. I liked her character too and wanted more of her.

But the one thing that really disappointed me was the ending. Was I the only one not really satisfied? That's okay, I might be the unpopular opinion but it didn't fully incapsulate the importance and quality of all the books. I also, which goes along well with what I said earlier about the book, didn't quite understand the ending. Was Gansey alive or not...? Like did I just miss some really important detail that explained his future existence within the world? I must have because I was really confused when Gansey was apart of the conversation near the end of the book because I thought he died... hmm.

I guess my expectations for this book were high because 1. it's the last book in the series and 2. Blue Lily, Lily Blue was so good I was expecting that to continue with this, but it sadly did not.

The Tea Dragon Society - Katie O'Neill

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This is the first time I have felt like not writing a review for a book. It's not that I don't want to say anything about it, but it's because I don't have much or anything to say about it; I mean this is in a positive way. It definitely wasn't forgettable, it was a beautifully written children's graphic novel/picture book. The story taught a cute, nice lesson to the main character. There was an element of magic and dragons. There was an underlying message of accepting others no matter who they are, what they look like, or who they love, which is refreshing in a book targeted at such a young demographic. This book really was great and the story was enjoyable. I would read it again and I recommend it to anyone looking for a simple, cute, short story about dragons and friends.