December Wrap-Up!

December Wrap-Up!

As expected, my reading definitely slowed down in December amidst finals, moving, and the holidays. I ended up reading six books this last month. I didn't end up completing several of the self-imposed challenges I set out to complete this year, but I will talk more about those in my statistics post. Here are my thoughts on the six things I read in December. ~Em

This was the last book I read for the semester in my Multicultural Literature for Children and Young Adults. It's about a girl named Elise who moves to a new city to help out her sister-in-law and niece after her brother is killed in Afghanistan. In the new city, Elise meets Mati, a boy who is there to help his father while he goes to doctor's appointments. The two start to fall for each other when Elise learns that Mati is from Afghanistan and the two have to deal with some prejudices within their families. I read most of this book in November and just happened to finish it at the beginning of December, so I don't remember a whole lot of it. I didn't end up rating this book because I wasn't particularly moved by it. The discussion of racism and prejudice was poignant and it was difficult to read the moments when Elise or Mati faced negative reactions from the other's family. I would recommend it though for a diverse romance. No rating - Read for MLCYA

Emoni is passionate about cooking and is trying to decide if she should pursue college or just begin work in a restaurant to gain experience. She is a teen mom and has to take her daughter into consideration when making decisions about her future. Emoni's school offers a culinary course during her senior year that includes a study abroad trip in Spain. Emoni knows she would benefit from this trip but isn't sure if she can afford it. I liked this book a lot! Elizabeth Acevedo creates such believable characters and share difficult yet relatable aspects of life in her stories. I loved the relationship Emoni had with food and how she dealt with struggles in her everyday life. Rating: 4/5

In this volume, the girls take on a ball, the holidays, dating, and exams. I really enjoy the Giant Days series so far. The characters are so funny, the situations they get into are wild, and I love the art style. Rating: 4/5

This is the second book in the Gemma Doyle trilogy. It follows Gemma and her friends in finishing school and begins right after the events of the first book. In this book the holidays are approaching and the girls are eager to leave school. Gemma and her friends go back to the other realm on a mission to contain the magic that has been unleashed. This book got much more fantastical than the first and I found it hard to suspend my disbelief for some of the things that happened. I also felt that it was much too long. I am excited to finish the series though and see how things will wrap up. Rating: 3/5

Saga is a series about a couple from different planets who are not supposed to be together and after they have a child, the government comes after them to try to kill the couple and their child. This is definitely an adult graphic novel series and there are a lot of dark topics and it is sexually explicit. I'm interested to see where the series is going to go, but at this point I'm not completely invested in the series. I like the main couple and I have heard that the series just gets better so hopefully I will like it more as it goes on! Rating: 3/5

I picked this book up so that I could read a graphic novel series based on some of the secondary characters in it. I hadn't heard good things about this book, but I really wanted the context of the characters. The book follows Tori, who hates pretty much everything and everyone. One day, someone starts pulling pranks at her school that seem to have things to do with her. I really did not like this book. Tori is having an existential crisis throughout the whole book and it would be one thing if mental health was handled well in this book, but it is not. I did not enjoy Tori as a main character and it was very difficult to understand the tone that some of the characters were assuming when they spoke. I am currently reading the graphic novel series about the side characters in this though and I am loving it! So, at least something good came out of reading this book! Rating: 2/5