Reviews written by Alison Hong

This is most definitely one of the books where I ask this very important question: Where are the parents? Well, without the parents, the book wouldn't go as far as it did, but still. This book is wild. Beyond humanly possible. Don't say I didn't warn you. ...

YA Contemporary Romance, THE ANATOMICAL SHAPE OF A HEART is a mouthful title for a book. But that is how it is. It's a pretty title, don't you agree? Let's start with the plot. Beatrix has a chance meet with Jack, who is doing some illegal stuff....

DARK SHIMMER tells a retelling of a familiar tale we all know. The Evil Queen from "Snow White" has been hated over and over again in so many adaptations and retellings. (Okay, there is an exception in ABC's ONCE UPON A TIME. I so love Regina Mills even when she...

A THOUSAND NIGHTS is a retelling of the Arabic tale, "A Thousand and One Nights." It's a tale of Scheherazade and a sultan. I have mentioned this tale in my review of THE WRATH AND THE DAWN, but I'll tell it again. Scheherazade was clever, and she, to avoid death,...

Second book in the trilogy. Different main characters. Different planet. But same enemy. THIS SHATTERED WORLD stars Jubilee Chase and Flynn Cormac. Jubilee is a soldier while Flynn is a rebel. They are completely opposites (or so it seems), and they work on two sides that are fighting against one...

The story of DID I MENTION I LOVE YOU? continues in DID I MENTION I NEED YOU? It has been a year since Eden has seen Tyler, and the chemistry between them hasn't changed. (But for me, it seems the chemistry is less exciting than before...) They still love each...

Have you ever heard about terrorism? (Shush. There are some who were too young to remember 9/11.) Well, thanks to that event, there is this thing called Islamophobia. It's like arachnophobia, but instead of spiders people are afraid of, it's Muslims. And in this book, that fear is driven up...

How many of us love books with royalty? I know I certainly do. We have a strange obsession with them, and I can't help but be fascinated with them. (I draw a line at real people, because that would be just wrong and I respect people's privacies.) And when a...

The story of Orpheus going into the Underworld to get back his dead wife is probably a Greek myth that isn't very popular. Or at least, it isn't as popular as the myth of Persephone and Hades, and the book, which gives a light on Orpheus' story, is like a...

Told in poetry (specifically, free verse), ONE is an interesting tale of Grace, who is the conjoined twin of Tippi. To me, it's a unique and original story that I haven't read before. I so rarely read poetry, and it was very surprising when I first opened the book and...

I receive a copy in exchange for an honest review. The internet is a scary place for many people. We hear a lot of things about a man selling something on Craigslist and then butchering people when they approach him for a sweet buy. We hear...

"Everyone hates Donald Trump," says the internal thoughts of the main character, Hazel McCallister. Honestly, at this point I don't care whether or not the book is downright horrible (which it isn't, for your information), I'm giving this book a Five just for saying that. But unfortunately, that's not very...

The movie, SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE, is what I'm instantly reminded of thanks to this book. (The movie has a rating of R, so younger kids, please don't watch it unless parents are okay with it.) It's Romeo and Juliet basically. Adriana and Antonio Vivaldi are the star-crossed lovers in this...

Reading this is like a religious experience. Of course, my own church probably won't approve of this because of the almost explicit (but still in YA-territory) displays/descriptions of sex, the large amount of profanity, and the presence of lots of alcohol. But oh, my gosh. This book came at the...

Love Science Fiction? And romance? And virtual reality? Well, I do too. NEXIS has all of that and more. The narrator, Ella, is in a whole haystack of a mess that has landed at her feet, and she is in great danger thanks to her past. So let's dig into...