The Midnight Children by Dan Gemeinhart

The Midnight Children by Dan Gemeinhart
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

OMG what a great book---Ravani can't sleep and when he looks out the window and sees a van pull up and 7 children file out and enter the vacant house next door, with one of the children seeing him and putting her finger to her mouth, Ravani has so many questions! What follows next is a gripping story about evil, friendship, the meaning of family and how Ravani finds his voice. Living in Slaughterville, yes, they kill cows, Ravani's dad works there and it kills Ravani when he must take his dad lunch at the killing place. I could not stop turning the pages as I fell in love with Ravani, his family, his new friends but the evil that is lurking was suffocating. A must read, you will fall in love with Ravani, his family, and his new friends next door!

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Ghostlight by Kenneth Oppel

Ghostlight by Kenneth Oppel
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is my 1st Kenneth Oppel middle grade novel and it is just the beginning!!! I will be go back and read all his other books! The suspense, thrilling plot, and awesome characters sucked me in; and the ghosts were both GOOD and EVIL! Gabe's summer job telling about the ghosts in the Gibraltar Light House can get boring so he embellishes the story of Rebecca Strand and her father the lightkeeper. What it does is bring the ghost of Rebecca to Gabe and what she tells him about her "death" changes things. Gabe and his friends, Yuri and Callie, race to help Sara, while evil ghost Viker is on a rampage to consume all the ghosts he cane, getting stronger and closer to his evil plans for humans! Highly recommended, I could not put this book down, neither will you!

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Amari and the Great Game (Supernatural Investigations, #2) by B.B. Alston

Amari and the Great Game by B.B. Alston
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I did not LIKE this ending at all! I kept turning the pages but was so overwhelmed and chagrined with the evil that happened in this WHOLE book; I think B.B. Alston needs to re-think Book 3 if he is going to once again shatter the reader time and time again (like he does to Amari throughout this book!!!) with threatening war, challenges that are meant to sink, dangers that are motivated by the WORST bad characters, and finally decisions that work against the characters and plot---too too bleak---give the reader a MORE POSITIVE story in Book 3, this reader begs you...

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We Hunt the Flame (We Hunt the Flame, #1) by Hafsah Faizal

We Hunt the Flame by Hafsah Faizal
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

OMG, loved this book! It is also the YALSA/HUB Top Ten chosen by teens for the year 2020. The worldbuilding was lavish, the characters deep and elaborate, and the plot was mesmerizing. I loved the Huntress/Hunter, Zafira and rooted for her as she embarks on a dangerous, thrilling quest when she receives an invitation to retrieve the lost artifact that will return magic, but she could also die too. I also liked her struggle---women are looked down upon by the rulers, hence her title Hunter---she clothes herself as a boy to help her people. The evil in this book was tough, thankfully there were characters that counteract it, so the reader is compulsively turning the pages, as each chapter flies by. Highly recommended for teens and adults who love fantasy and so exciting, the 2nd book will be available in Jan 2021, I can't wait!!!

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Burn by Patrick Ness

Burn by Patrick Ness
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was an interesting book awesomely Narrated by Joniece Abbott-Pratt. I loved the audiobook version of this historical fiction book that also weaves in drag0ns, humans, goodness/evil, Russia and satellites. I loved Sarah and Jason both good, kind, honest teens who are hated by the locally racist sheriff because Sarah' mom was black and Jason's parents are Japanese. But life in 1957 is not always fair and Sarah's dad hires a dragon to burn their fields. But this blue dragon is highly intelligent, has a message for Sarah, and has evil forces working against them. When Sarah, Jason, the sheriff and the dragon clash, something awful happens, and that brings an assassin into the picture too. Malcolm is a Believer, who has been groomed to kill someone. He is great with knives and dangerous. As he falls in love with another man; another no no from the racist sheriff; they run away together and are pursued by law enforcement. I loved this book until they arrived in a new alternate universe and then the story just got bogged down bringing the reader up to speed in the new world. Evil was raging here and with Covid I find some books and what happens in them really turn me off, just like this book.

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The Midnight Star (Young Elites #3) by Marie Lu

The Midnight Star by Marie Lu
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The final book of Marie's Lu's The Young Elites did not disappoint. I loved the world building and characters as they race against the clock to help themselves from the devastating effects of their powers. There is so much more time spent on the characters and I enjoyed the depth Lu delves into Teren, Rafaele, Lucent, Enzo and Violetta. As always I appreciated Magiano's joyful heartfelt influence with Adelina since she really tried to listen to him as the voices drove her crazy and forced her evil forward again and again. I enjoyed finding out more about the gods and folktales that ruled their worlds. I could not put down this novel and I will not soon forget the Roses, The Daggers, and Young Elites!

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