#122 Amari and the Night Brothers

 Amari and the Night Brothers by B.B Alston 

Release date: 21st January 2021

Genre: Middle grade fantasy

Pages: 416 (UK kindle edition) 

Another @TheWriteReads blog tour, this time its for the wonderful Amari and the Night Brothers. This middlegrade novel follows the story of Amari whos grown up in a disadvantaged neighbourhood in a single parent family, she is also singled out at school for being the only black student. When Amaris brother Quinton goes missing Amari receives a mysterious briefcase with instructions to attend an interview at the elusive Bureau of Supernatural Affairs, Amaris world is turned upside down when she finds out that theres supernatural beings living amongst regular humans. 

Amari is thrust into the world of supernatural affairs which is disguised as a summer leadership camp. She must pick a speciality and go through 3 trials in order to determine her eligibility for that role within the organisation. Her main goal is to get far enough to get enough information to try and find her missing brother. 

The friendships she makes along the way with Elsie her weredragon roommate and Dylan Van Hesling were heartwarming to read about. Elsie is such a kind and understanding friend and she always had Amaris back. Amari's relationship with her brother Quinton was so lovely, a real highlight in the book for me! There are a few trigger warnings for bullying and micro aggressions but nothing too major. Amari as a character is so easy to root for, you immediatley are on her side as shes constantly picked on and has a general hard time of it. I loved how she handled the trials with honesty and integrity- this alone will send such a positive message to younger readers. The trials in general were really fun and fast paced to read, i couldnt put this book down. I dont read too much middle grade but this book really reminded me how wholesome reading it is. Another thing i really enjoyed (amongst the other million things) was how well thought out and imaginative the Bureau was, all the departments were so clever and the social media and tech elements were really well done. 

I wont say too much about the twist as i want to keep this review as spoiler free as possible but i did not see it coming and was so shocked! Brilliant writing and misdirection Mr Alston! 

This book is very reminiscent of the Nevermoor series and also Keepers of the Lost Cities which i loved both of but its also great in its own right. 13 year old Amari is the exact character i would have loved to have read at that age, shes fearless, brave and never gives up. This book is a beautiful story of family, friends and finding where you belong. A massive thank you as always to Dave (@TheWriteReads, netgalley, the publishers Egmont and to the lovely author B.B. Alston who has been so engaging and lovely to his readers on Twitter, the book is a triumph and i am so glad everyone has been enjoying it as much as i did. It truly deserves the hype. The world building was really wonderful, cant wait to see where the next book takes us! 

#121 The Island

 The Island by C.L. Taylor 

Thank you so much to Harper Collins UK Audio and Netgalley for the arc copy of this book that comes out on 21st January 2021. This is my second C.L Taylor book as i also received an arc copy a few months ago of Strangers which i enjoyed. 

This book is marketed as Lost meets The Hunger Games, for me it was more like Lost meets Lord of the Flies/And Then They Were None. When six teenagers jet off to a remote island off the coast of Thailand for a week of surviving off the land tragedy strikes when their 60 something year old guide dies and they are stranded on the island for 7 days. The teenagers comprise of three girls and 3 boys, Danny and his girlfriend Honor, Jefferson, Jessie and siblings Milo and Meg. (sorry if ive spelt any of them wrong, i listened to the audio) 

During the first night the teens are discussing phobias around the campfire, over the coming days the group are targeted by inflicting their phobia on them. The group are unsure if its one of them or an outsider doing this to them. All they know is that they need to survive the seven days and when they dont return they presume their parents will raise the alarm and they will be rescued. 

Ok lets start with the things i liked, i really enjoyed the premise i do like remote island stranded survival stories. I thought there was good back stories for a few of the characters particularly Jessie, Danny and Meg, i would have liked to have seen Jefferson, Milo and Honor having a bit more of a background too. I enjoyed the chapter splits and that it didnt follow all 6 of the teens as that would have been confusing, i also really liked how there were multiple narrators this made it so much easier for me to concentrate on who was who, i really struggle with multiple POV sometimes. 

Things i didnt care for as much: it all seems a bit unrealistic to me, whose parents at that age would let teens wild on a remote island with a randon 60 year old man as a guide and not panic when none of the parents heard from them at all as all of their phones died within the first 24 hours. Unexperiened teens would have been given rigorous survival training before attending something like this surely? I thought the ending was a tiny bit predictable towards the end (i wont say much more than that as i want this to be spolier free but the author gives you too many clues in order for you to work it out) for the first half the author did do a good job of leading you to believe that it could be any of them and subtley gives them all a motive which was interesting.

All in all it was fast paced and a quick read, it only took me a few hours of listening on 1.75 speed. I would read more of C.L Taylors work as shes really up and coming in the thriller world. 

#120 Ready Player Two

 Ready Player Two by Ernest Cline 

Well it finally happened, i got it and i read it even though i was very very afraid. Dont get me wrong i had my issues with it but i can see past those as i had so much fun reading it and it reminded me why the first book is my favourite book of all time and in 2020 (the shittest year that ever has been) i really needed that. Im isolating this week with my toddler as there was a positive case at her nursery so this book came as the most perfect time and i got so lost in the story.

Readey Player Two follows Wade after he won Hallidays contest and inherited his empire. Things arent all rainbows and unicorns for Wade even though he is the owner of the Oasis and has more money than he knows what to do with. His relationship with Samantha has broken down and they are no longer on speaking terms and his friendship with Ogden Morrow the co-creator of the Oasis has also broken down. 

After discovering one of Hallidays inventions that he never released Wade and the rest of the co-owners of the Oasis, Samantha, Aech and Shoto need to vote on whether to make it available to the public. The invention is a headset that allows the user to experience sensations such as touch, smell and taste inside the Oasis. When Samantha is out voted they mass release the headsets and change the way users experience the Oasis forever. When Wade discovered the headset and initially tried it out Halliday had built in software rules that a user can only use the headset for 12 hours and must have a 12 hour break until they can use it again. This is to prevent from any overload happening as the headset is connected directly to the brain.

At the beginning of the story Wade discovers another easter egg hunt left by Halliday. The mystery surrounds seven magical shards related to Kira Morrow that must be found. When years go by (much like the first hunt) without any users finding the first shard, Wade offers a monetary reward for tips that lead him to the first shard. He receives a useful tip that proves useful and is planning how to capture the first shard when suddenly the scoreboard changes and Og has managed to find the first shard. Wade discovers that Og has gone off the grid and fears the worse that something sinister has happened to him. Im not going to say much more than that as i like to keep my book reviews spoiler free but believe me the story really unfolds from there.

The book is jammed pack full of pop culture references even more so that the first book but if you like that sort of thing (which i do) then you'll love this book. All the themes from Ready Player One are prsent in its sequel, relatable yet flawed characters, quests and constant mysteries and above all else the story of friendship. I was dubious i will admit and i didnt like certain elements of it but this book really triggered the same emotions in me that the first book does. I really enjoyed this book and like everyone predicted gave it 5 stars. I dont really think it was needed but im glad it exists.