Reviews written by Alanna Shaw

I really appreciate what Stoke Books is doing. They are putting together high-interest stories for struggling readers. Being a teacher that works with lower level readers in a middle school setting, I can advocate for this need! It's very important to grab the reader's...

My relationship with this book is rather complicated. As a retelling of JA's Pride and Prejudice, it was fun. There were, however, some plot flaws that irked me along the way. I think of myself as a JA connoisseur. Therefore, it is my duty...

This was nothing like what I expected. AT ALL. To be honest, though, I'm not sure what I was expecting. The setting for Daughter of Smoke and Bone was phenomenal. I know nothing of Prague, but I could imagine myself there. The writing was so descriptive...

I really had high hopes with The Rose Throne. I love fantasy/ fairy tale-ish books, but this one was only so-so for me. I really liked the concept behind The Rose Throne. It had a certain magical element that I enjoyed (and was also very original)....

Another great installment in the League of Princes series! This time around we see a whole new side to some of our beloved princes and princesses. I was so intrigued by the 'other side' of Briar Rose and Liam. I can't tell you much, but I...

Move over Tris and Katniss, because Fen de la Guerre is ruling the dystopian scene. I really hope this is the beginning of a series, because the final page left me breathless. I have to know more about what this future America is like....

The Sweetest Dark book was mesmerizing. I had no idea what to expect when I started it because I have never read a book about drakon/dragons (aside from Dealing with Dragon in 6th grade eons ago). I was hooked from the first chapter! The writing...

Do not let the cover of this book fool you! It is not an overly cutesy middle-grades novel.(I was wrong!) This was actually a solid mystery with several sub plots. The main plot centers around trying to figure out who is attacking the selkies...

I had no expectations going into this book. All I knew was that this was the book chosen for my first virtual book club/read along, and I was hoping it would be worthy of discussion. I quickly found that it surpassed anything that I previously thought. The Lost Girl was...

Wellllll.... It had promise. But this was no Thirteen Reasons Why. In fact, it's pretty hard to read something on this subject without making that comparison. the s-word was okay, but it did not steal my breath and leave me speechless like Thirteen Reasons Why. ...

The first thing that caught my eye about Happily Never After is the setting. It's set in this amazing Georgia town. You may know of Savannah, Georgia. I could not believe the author was not from Savannah because she did such a great job describing its quirky atmosphere. ...

Eh. It had promise, but that's about it. I liked the mystery aspect of it. The summary on Netgalley really made it sound interesting and suspenseful. What I got, though, was something else entirely. I think I'm just going to make a bullet list of what...

I am a mythology junkie. If a book that comes along based on a myth, I jump all over it. Obviously, if you couldn't tell, Abandon is based on the Hades/Persephone story. Loosely. Yes, there were obvious similarities between the Greek myth and this modern retelling,...

In one word: cute. I didn't expect this to have such a MG feel to it, but it was okay. I am such a sucker for fairytales that I was fully able to enjoy a story that was a little too squeaky clean to...

I am so sad to see this series end. I am completely smitten with Henry (and James), and this is a bitter sweet moment. This very unique spin on the Persephone and Hades myth captured my heart from book 1 (The Goddess Test). Sadly, Kate's story comes to a end...