Reviews written by Olivia F

"All the Crooked Saints" is YA fiction with a heavy dose of magical realism. The Soria family lives in Bicho Raro, Colorado, where they are saints who perform miracles. The process of the miracle is perhaps not what you would expect. They pull a part of the person out (their...

"Beastly" is a beautiful and amazing story of second chances, the importance of who you are within, and love. A retelling of Beauty and Beast, Kyle is a shallow teenager who rules his high school with a cruel and iron fist. After witnessing his cruelty, a witch named Kendra, curses...

"Don't Look Back" is a one-off thriller from Jennifer L. Armentrout. It begins with Samantha appearing bloody and beat up with no memory of recent events and with her best friend missing. She soon learns that she doesn't like the person she was before she went missing, and gathers that...

"Seven Days of You" follows Sophia during her last week in Tokyo, where she has lived for the last four years while her mother was on sabbatical from Rutgers (which ends just in time for her senior year of high school). Sophia is particularly upset because her last seven days...

"When the Moon was Ours" is a hauntingly beautiful and lyrical masterpiece. McLemore is an incredible storyteller. The words do more than convey the story, but carry another world and emotions with every sentence. The book begins with a local folktale about Moon and Honey, a surprising but frightened young...

I think this is one of Kinsella's finest books. There is so much heart, struggle, and soul to this book. Mental illness is really difficult to capture, but I think this was a great snapshot of a young woman adjusting to her new reality and slowly growing (on a jagged...

"Reclaiming Shilo Snow" is an even better continuation of "The Evaporation of Sofi Snow" duology. All the story lines are wrapped up in this final/second book. The book begins right where the previous book left off. In this alternate Earth, World War 3 ravaged the planet and made living there...

"Nexis" is a fantastic and imaginative sci-fi novel. Ellani begins the novel as a petulant teenager, upset with her father for making her a "Natural" and not allowing her to get any Mods. She lives in the post-apocalyptic future where most people live in a dome, sheltered from nuclear fall-out....

"Towering" is the retelling of Rapunzel. It begins when Wyatt is sent from NYC by his mother to live with her best friend's mother after his best friends die tragically. When he arrives, he begins seeing odd things and hearing singing no one else can hear. He makes it a...

"Freeks" is a captivating paranormal mystery. Mara has lived all her life with a circus, traveling from one place to another. This circus contains not just performers, but individuals with special abilities. For instance, her mother is a fortune teller who is able to do so through her gifts as...

"Freeks" is a captivating paranormal mystery. Mara has lived all her life with a circus, traveling from one place to another. This circus contains not just performers, but individuals with special abilities. For instance, her mother is a fortune teller who is able to do so through her gifts as...

"Pretty Dead Girls" was an interesting YA thriller following Penelope (Pen/Penny) in the aftermath of a death of a frenemy, Gretchen. Soon, another frenemy, Alexis (Lex) turns up murdered also. The killer is targeting the Larks, a school organization composed of 5 seniors and 5 juniors- girls who seemingly organize...

"How to Keep a Boy from Kissing You" is the light-hearted, comedic tale of Aurora, a 16-year-old who has dedicated her energy to playing matchmaker and making sure she only receives a kiss from her Prince Charming. She is incredibly oblivious to others around her and pretty stubborn. The book...

"Across a Star-Swept Sea" is an incredible sequel that introduces a new world and cast of characters, making it also possible to work as a stand alone. Although common in the world that resulted in Reduced (individuals who are mentally disabled due to genetic engineering), New Pacifica is different than...

Simply stunning! "Defy the Stars" is a beautiful and incredible YA sci-fi. We begin with Noemi, a 17-year-old soldier from Genesis, a planet formerly settled by Earth and now engaged in full combat with Earth. Earth is dying and they want to take over Genesis. Genesis is free from pollutions...