Reviews written by Christina Franke

What I Liked: After my last middle grade was such a terrible dud, I was a bit afraid to embark into these pirate-laden waters. What if I felt like they'd shivered the timbers of these books unfairly, robbing them of a better life for inferior content? Or stole away...

What I Liked: I'm one of the few people who never got around to reading Kendare Blake's Anna Dressed in Blood, though I do have a copy and will read it...someday. Initially, it wasn't really on my radar, because horror isn't something I seek out, but the reviews convinced...

What I Liked: The Book of Blood and Shadow began with blood and murders. The Waking Dark tops that, opening with twelve deaths in five outpourings of seemingly random violence, each witnessed by one teen who survived. For the most part, The Waking Dark follows these five teens: Daniel,...

What I Liked: Perhaps the most unique element of How I Lost You is that both Grace and Kya are hugely into paintball. Grace's dad owns a paintball place called Splatterfest, and taught both girls the sport, never expecting them to take to it the way they did. Both...

What I Liked: Saints is a companion graphic novel to Boxers, which takes on the opposite perspective: that of a secondary devil. This terminology may not be familiar to you, so allow me to explain. A secondary devil is a Chinese person who has converted to Christianity, thus aligning...

What I Liked: Back in grad school, I had my first experience with Gene Luen Yang's work when we read his most famous graphic novel thus far, American Born Chinese. Though disparate in subject matter, Boxers does have something in common with his prior work, the magical realism that...

What I Liked: If you're still into vampires, then The Coldest Girl in Coldtown is an entertaining, dark, gory read. The Coldest Girl in Coldtown starts off with a bloody bang. Tana, the heroine, awakens in a bathtub at a party, concerned about the pictures people...

What I Loved: Code Name Verity is one of those rare books that awed both critics and actual readers. Initially, I almost DNFed Code Name Verity, but I ended up being seriously impressed with both Wein's writing and her gumption. At the same time, though, Code Name Verity never...

What I Loved: Though I do love romance in books, it's not often what makes a book for me. Generally, I would say I love the characters first and the romance between them second. In the Fire and Thorns series, the romance comes first. The arc of this relationship...

What I Loved: Last year, I was really blown away by Jay Kristoff's debut, Stormdancer. Though this often isn't the case, I'm actually more impressed with the sequel. This does seem to have been a trend lately, and I do hope it continues, especially if the book world...

What I Liked: As a huge fan of the original Jessica Darling series, or, at least, as huge of a fan as one can be while intentionally deciding not to finish said series, I was super curious about Megan McCafferty's prequel. I mean, more Jessica Darling is pretty much...

What I Loved: Gah, the adorableness of this book. Middle grades can be so good, because they give that focus on family so often wanting from YA, and I just love the family of colorful characters brought together here. Counting by 7s is an enchanting middle grade novel with...

What I Liked: The Fantastic Family Whipple is a cute middle grade novel, but do be warned that it is the opening to yet another series. Young readers are going to love The Fantastic Family Whipple, I have little doubt. World records are so compelling to...

What I Loved: The Off Season differs quite a bit from Dairy Queen. Where in Dairy Queen, the focus is all on DJ, she is, in some ways, not the central character in The Off Season, playing a more supportive role: sister and daughter. Though I think I was...

What I Loved: This series is over. MY BODY IS NOT READY. I just want to live forever with these characters. Is that wrong? Sometimes reading is a painful hobby. I get so close to and so emotionally tied to the happiness of fictional characters, but then their books...