Almond by Won-Pyung Sohn

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As a huge fan of global literature, Almond by Won-Pyung Sohn no doubt comes to mind
when I think of my all-time favorite books. I read this book around three years ago and was
immediately struck by its prose, plot, and engaging yet simple storyline. In that vein, this book
was incredibly easy to read and I was able to finish it in two days.

Almond follows the story of a boy named Yunjae from childhood to adolescence. The
unique point of the story comes from Yunjae’s brain condition called alexithymia, which makes
it near impossible for him to feel emotions like fear, anger, and happiness. Due to his condition,
Yunjae spends most of his childhood in the company of his Mother and Grandmother who
attempt to teach him how to function in society despite his condition.

The rest of the book follows Yunjae’s complicated relationships he forms in school. Most
notably, one with his friend Gon. Through this friendship, Yunjae’s emotional range is
broadened as his world expands with new experiences and social situations. He faces tragedy
when both his Mother and Grandmother are victims of random violence. Yet, this experience
teaches Yunjae about his emotions and deepens his relationship with Gon.

To me, the plot of this book was beautifully simple in the way that it felt relatable and
interesting. The dialogue was easy to follow, and each character felt distinctive and highly
developed. The book is broken up into three parts representing major plot or character shifts, this
kept me engaged as a reader and worked nicely with the flow of the story.

My favorite element of this book was the friendship between Yunjae and Gon. This
relationship felt very natural and their dialogue reminded me of friendships in my own life. The
two characters have conflicting personalities; Yunjae is shy and cold, Gon is outgoing and
emotional. This makes their friendship very dynamic and interesting to read about as you are
able to see the ways they push each other out of their comfort zones and complement each other's
personalities.

However, I felt that the second half of the book lost some of the quality that the
beginning had. The book begins to center Gon’s development and focuses on a storyline that felt
a bit rushed and random. This new plot involves Yunjae having to rescue Gon from a violent
gang. However, it felt as though this conflict came out of nowhere and became a bit confusing.
Still, I loved this book overall and consider it one of my favorites. I would recommend it
to anyone who feels stuck in a reading slump as it is very easy to read. I also would recommend

it to anyone who loves character-driven stories and simple plots. Moreover, the book has
beautiful descriptions and dialogue, it feels like any line from the book is a memorable quote.
One of my personal favorites is this one:

“From what I understood, love was an extreme idea. A word that seemed to force
something undefinable into the prison of letters. But the word was used so easily, so often.
People spoke of love so casually, just to mean the slightest pleasure or thanks.”

-Review by Teen Advisory Board Member, 4/14/24.

Dig Two Graves by Gretchen McNeil

Arrives March 29, 2022

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When I first learned of the concept for this book, I was excited. As a personal fan of Alfred Hitchcock and his mastery of suspense, as well as the YA, meets Murder genre as a whole, I immediately chose this title because I felt I had enough frame of reference but also enough excitement to tear through it at once.

I also want to preface this by saying, This is just my personal opinion, based on my individual tastes in literature and writing styles.

Ok.

Neve is an interesting character. To describe her as an apathetic loner would not be inaccurate. She makes an interesting point of re-affirming herself that she does not want unnecessary attention while craving it deeply. I found her internal dialogue to be a perfect exemplifier of her conflicting attitudes. If a character were to come into mind, she is not unlike Faith from Buffy the Vampire Slayer. She is for the most part well-meaning, no-nonsense, fiercely loyal, and generally rejected by others. (of course, this is where the comparison ends because Faith’s struggles and circumstances were completely different, and she was very annoying lol.)

At the beginning of the book, she is betrayed by her best friend and outcasted in a humiliating experience at her wealthy high school. She is then put in a preppy summer camp called GLAM. Her narration is very angsty and obsessive, but it is not difficult to sympathize with her.

Her father is one of the most complex characters in the book. Neve’s whole family dynamic is well-written and detailed. Neve and her relationship with her family evoked me to empathize more with her than the Yasmin plot ever did. Diane is a weird villain. She is a Barbie doll meets a psychotic murderer. I really like that element. To not waste time, Javier was ok as were the other characters.

Alright, I’m actually going to get into the plot of the book now. Apologies.

The suspense and what led up to the ending were well done. I felt intrigued and entertained by Diane’s penchant for murder and Neve’s careful dance around death. After an awkward beginning, the plot began to pick up as soon as Neve had realized Yasmin was murdered. By the time the book had reached the end, I was invested in Neve’s success.

Overall this book is generally a good read. I would recommend it if you are a fan of teen-murder fiction or you just want to read something light and breezy. 😉

-Review by Teen Reviewer, 12/30/21

All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven

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All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven is a wonderfully well written book that focuses on the importance of mental health. All the Bright Places takes place in modern day Indiana and follows two teenagers named Violet and Finch. Finch is a boy with a harsh past who struggles with mental illness, even though his family and friends won’t admit it. He is known as a “freak” at school and gets bullied frequently. Violet is almost his complete opposite, she is the girl with the picture perfect life, the one who everyone wants to be. Until her sister died and everything changed for her. Now she has been retreating from family and friends and spending more and more time alone. She blames herself for her sister’s death and this is why she is finding it hard to move on. Violet and Finch are both struggling in different ways and come from very different crowds at school so their paths don’t tend to cross, until one day where they meet on the edge of their high school’s bell tower. This day is when their whirlwind journey begins. Finch is able to help Violet find closure for her sister’s death, and Violet gives Finch something to live for. Unfortunately Finch’s mental health struggles are too deeply rooted for Violet to untangle on her own, so he will need to seek professional help before it is too late.

When I was looking for something new to read and came across this book, I was intrigued by the bright sticky notes on the cover and the lure of a story about characters my age. I knew I was going to like this book within the first few pages when I became aware of the rebellious and interesting character, Finch. I like how Finch adds humor and sadness to this story and how his character has many layers that we get to see unravel throughout the book. I also liked how this book was a quicker read and was easy to understand since it wasn’t too wordy. Sometimes I did find it challenging to follow Finch’s thoughts, but I think that is what the author was trying to convey since Finch also can’t follow his own thoughts sometimes. Overall I really enjoyed the book and would recommend it.

This novel is for you if you enjoy bittersweet endings, romance, and coming of age stories. It is also for you if you want to learn more about, or feel like you can relate to, a character struggling with serious mental illness.

-Review by Madeleine Morawski, 12/30/21

The Lion of Mars by Jennifer L. Holm

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The story The Lion of Mars by Jennifer L. Holm is a science fiction novel about an 11-year old named Bell who lives in an American settlement on Mars, far from Earth. All of the adults get sick and the kids must find help. The book is rather short and the problem is solved easily compared to other books and it has a happier ending, so it is good for children. This book explains that politics is not in the interest of the people of the country in which these politics happen. This book also tries to explain to young children that aggressive foreign policy can be destructive for everyone including the people of the aggressive government. However, this book also does it in a way so as to make younger readers of the book understand the message without making the book too dark or traumatizing for young readers. However, the book also contains the theme of friendship and communicating with people who may have ideas that are different from your ideas and your thoughts, which is a valuable lesson for people of all ages. Another theme in the story is that you should always remember your roots and where you came from, but you shouldn’t let it decide who you want to be friends with and who you trust.

-Review by Teen Advisory Board Member, 12/21/21

Vespertine by Margaret Rogerson

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This novel features a girl, Artemisia, who is training at a covenant to become a Gray Sister, a nun who cleanses the body of the dead so that their souls can continue without becoming spirits that want revenge. When her covenant is attacked by possessed soldiers, Artemisia awakens and takes on a powerful spirit, the revenant, to defend her covenant. However, it is soon revealed that there is much more at stake and Artemisia might be the only one who is able to save everyone.

First, the characters. The revenant was by far my favorite character with its prickly attitude. The constant banter between Artemisia and the revenant was also extremely entertaining and engaging. As for Artemisia, my feelings vary a little more. Artemisia is portrayed as a socially anxious girl due to her tragic past. When she was young, Artemisia was possessed by an Ashgrim, a spirit that died from fire. Her family isolated her and in the end, Artemisia continuously burned herself to keep the Ashgrim away before getting help from the covenant and has physical scars to show her difficult past. Despite her past, Artemisia is able to rise up to the challenges presented. She was quite plain in my opinion though her character definitely grew on me as the story progressed. I also liked how there was no apparent love interest. I was able to solely invest myself in the characters without having to think about relationships and whether or not they were going to last.

The plot, in my opinion, was very slow at the beginning and I was unable to be fully engaged. However, the pace picked up near the middle as the plot started revealing the direction it was going in. I flew through the end as I got more invested in the story as well as the addition of more action packed scenes with higher stakes. A negative I have is that the plot twist was predictable. It wasn’t too hard to figure out who was behind the Old Magic and attacks and it was slightly frustrating at times when Artemisia wasn’t able to figure out until near the end even if there were obvious clues.

The worldbuilding was one of the stronger aspects of the novel after it got less confusing. The system present has a hierarchy with clerics, saints, nuns, the Divine, and more. At first, the new terminology prevented me from fully understanding the story and hindered my ability to be invested but because it was repeated many times throughout the novel, I was able to understand the system better by the end.

Overall, this book was a fun read, especially with the relationship between Artemisia and the revenant. I recommend this book to fantasy lovers who want something a little different from the typical fantasy world.

-Review by Teen Advisory Board Member, 12/19/21