Author Archives: Bethlylou

Everything Must Come to an End

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As we take a look back at 2018 we started some really great series but we also sadly had to say goodbye to others.  It’s always a bittersweet reading the final book.  On the one hand you finally get to know how it ends but on the other hand sometimes you are not ready to let go quite yet.  So let’s raise a glass to the books that have entertained us over the last couple of years and who knows, maybe our favorite authors will one day return to your fave characters.

  1. Falling Kingdom Series by Morgan Rhodes  – This epic “Game of Thrones” YA series finally came to a close after it’s 6 books.  Alliances were built and destroyed, Gods sent packing and love conquers all.  It was quite a ride.
  2. Front Lines Series (Soldier Girls) by Michael Grant – Rio, Frangie, and Rainey fight until the end of the World War Two.  After three books of following our girls through battle, we finally see them through the end and what they did with their lives afterward.
  3. Carve the Mark Duology by Veronica Roth – Some of the story building was problematic but it was an original idea that was was engrossing.  I do feel that there is enough story left over that Veronica could return this world, she could.
  4. Charlotte Holmes Trilogy by Brittany Cavallaro – There have been many different takes on Sherlock Holmes and John Watson.  This time around the Holmes and Watson families have a long history as does the Holmes family and the Moriarty family and a century worth of feuds come to end with Charlotte Holmes and Jamie Watson in the center. Truly an enjoyable series for any Holmes or mystery fans.
  5. Talon Series by Julie Kagawa – Ember, Riley,Garrett and the soldiers of St. George have no choice to team up if they are going to save the world from Talon  After 5 books it’s been a wild ride
  6. Red Queen Series by Victoria Aveyard – This may have been one of my favorite YA series since The Hunger Games ended.  It had a little bit of everything.  Super Powers, class warfare, racism and  political philosophy.  I’m sad that it’s over because it was pretty great but I do look forward to what Victoria does next.
  7. Warcross Series by Marie Lu – Virtual reality game is about to take dow the world unless Emika can stop it.  Really it’s not that farfetched and that’s part of it’s brilliance.  Emika is one of the coolest YA heroine.
  8. The Tiger’s Saga by Colleen Houck – This one was kind of disappointment.  This maybe an example of knowing when to stop.  Even though it was always planned on being a quintet, the fourth book was released almost 4 years ago and the story had pretty much been wrapped up.  Tiger’s Dream while a wrap up of Kishan’s arc but was a really long rehash of the last four books.   It didn’t add anything to the story and sort of made me upset with Kishan. 
  9. Strange the Dreamer Duology by Laini Taylor – These two books were beautiful and heartbreaking.  Everyone is living with some sort of a trauma and doing what they can to survive.  We finally see the true depths of what the people of Weep had to live through and it’s horrifying.  You really can’t blame any of them for their anger but despite all the hurt there is a real hopefulness to it.
  10. Throne of Glass Series by Sarah J Maas – Seven books and several twists and turns later we finally see how Aelin’s story ends and it’s epic.  There have been so many stories and characters it was almost hard to believe that Sarah was able to tie it all together in a satisfying ending.  It was heartbreaking and hopeful and one wild ride. 

Quick Review: Arch-Enemies by Marissa Meyer

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What is the definition of a villain?  The Renegades and the Anarchists would say the other is a villain.  The Anarchists wanted to fight for prodigies rights.  They were no longer willing to live in fear and hiding but there methods of violence did sit well with others.  The Renegades used their powers to defeat them and now run Gatlon City.  Both the Renegades and the Anarchists wanted to change the world but had different ideas on how to do it.  Does that make either one of them villains?  This is really the question in the center of the series.  Nova was raised to hate the Renegades.  She sees them as dangerous and not what they appear to be.  She blames them for the death of her family and for the destruction of her uncle.  Meanwhile Adrian was raised by the Renegades and sees what they do as trying to make the world the better place but sometimes frustrated with all the rules.  Things get even more confused when the Renegades reveal their new weapon against Prodigies who break the rules.  Agent N, that take away their powers.  Soon all patrols are being trained on how to use it basically making Renegades judge, jury and executioner.  This is troubling to both Nova and Adrian but for different reasons.  Nova believes this a gross misuse of power and to easy for it to be abuse.  Who is to stop a rogue Renegade from using Agent N on someone they don’t like?  But Nova also starts to see that not all Renegades are bad people and truly believe what they are doing is for the good.  Which makes her question everything that she was taught.  She keeps having to remind herself that she is an Anarchist and that she has a mission to save her Uncle Ace Anarchy.  To complicate things even more to complete her task she must get closer to Adrian, who she may or may not have feelings for.  You know it wouldn’t be a YA novel without some kind of complicated romance.  It’s a fun series as the characters are enjoyable to read and constantly questioning your own loyalties.  Are you with the Renegades or the Anarchists?

Review: Kingdom of Ashes by Sarah J Maas

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What a way to end a series.  It was seven books in the making and finally know how it all came together.  Aelin and her friends have been on a quite a journey.  From the beginning when Aelin was just an assassin and Dorian was a spoiled Prince.  It was expanded so far beyond that now. To other continents and other worlds.  What I liked about this was that every character had a role to play in the ending and that is quite a feat as there are a lot of characters.  I mean we are talking about Game of Thrones level of characters.  They are all flawed people but have one goal to defeat Erawan and Maeve and create a better world.  It wasn’t easy and there were many twists and turns along the way.  It started off slow as the characters were spread far and wide.  It also took me awhile to reacquaint myself with some of the characters as for most of them it’s been two years since the last time we have seen them but once they started to come together that it really started to pick up and get going.  So many story arcs to wrap up and most of them were.  I think a few left open a bit that we could go back and revisit Erilea.  Let’s get back to Aelin as she is really the heroine here.  Of all the characters she has been through the most.  She started out as a assassin and ended up a Queen.  She has endured enough trauma for several lifetimes and would have been forgiven if she gave up and she had plenty of chances to do just that but she doesn’t.  She gave everything she had for her country and her friends.  She used her intelligence and skills to outwit and defeat her enemies as much as she used her power.  I’ll miss reading about her because she was fun, smart and spunky. If you haven’t read this series you should and lucky you, you can now read it in it’s entirety without wearing years between books. 

Rick Riordan and Turning a Book into a Movie

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percy jackson If are more then a casual fan of this blog then you know that I am a huge Rick Riordan fan.  I know he writes for kids but I find his writing to be so clever and charming.  He has introduced to stories and myths that I didn’t know before or had forgotten.  He has widen his universe to be the most inclusive in children’s literature.  He uses his voice and privilege to ally and uplift other voices that don’t always get the spotlight.  To put it simply.  Rick is a good egg.  He is also been one of the biggest critics of the movies of his own books.  While the way he trolls them is amusing it does highlight the difference between the two mediums and how as much as we think Authors have a say in the movies based on their work, they don’t.  We all have a favorite book that was completely ruined by it’s movie.  For fans of Percy Jackson the movie is just terrible and almost unrecognizable to the books.  The choices that the filmmakers chose made it almost impossible to make it a franchise.  I think they realized it with the second movie and tried to fix it but it was already too late.  A problem that Rick foresaw when the filmmaker’s asked for his opinion.  Today, Rick posted a blog post where he details the email conversations with the filmmaker’s and how little power he had in the process.  It’s an interesting read and I suggest taking a few minutes to read.

First, it kills any possibility of a movie franchise. I don’t know if you or your staff have had the chance to read farther than The Lightning Thief in the Percy Jackson series, but there are four other volumes. The series is grounded on the premise that Percy must progress from age twelve to age sixteen, when according to a prophecy he must make a decision that saves or destroys the world. I assume that XXXX would at least like to keep open the option of sequels assuming the first movie does well. Starting Percy at seventeen makes this undoable. I’m also sure that XXXXX (for) the first Harry Potter movie, some in the studio argued for making the characters older to appeal to a teen audience. Fortunately, they took the long view and stayed true to the source material, which allowed them to grow a lucrative franchise. This would’ve been impossible if they’d started Harry at seventeen. The same principle applies here.

Memories from my TV/Movie Experience

Quick Review: Muse of Nightmares by Laini Taylor

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muse of nightmares I really don’t know the best way to describe this book or this series as it’s so lush and unique.  It’s also kind of a hard read because pretty much every character is a victim of terrible abuse and trauma and the events of the book are the direct result of all the trauma.  The people of Weep spent years under the threat of kidnapping and rape and even 15 years after they killed the “Gods” responsible the citadel where it all took place still stood as a reminder of what they endured.  The Godspawn lived in fear of being discovered for fear of what happened to their fellow children would happen to them.  This all came to a crashing half when our hero Lazlo discovered who he really was and brought them together.  Even the villains of this piece were acting on their own traumas.  You knew what they were doing was wrong at times you couldn’t really blame them either. In the end it was an act of compassion that saved them all.  Sarai used her power to listen and understand what was the issue and finally talk them down.  I highly recommend that everyone read Strange the Dreamer and the Muse of Nightmares because they are so lush in descriptions of Weep and the other strange lands.  It’s truly beautiful story that is also timely to today’s me too movement.