Enclave by Ann Aguirre - Student Made Trailer

My Batty About Books partner, Maria, is hosting Ann Aguirre over at Maria's Melange!  

She's also giving away a copy of both Enclave and Outpost, the second book in the series!!

Check out Maria's blog for reviews of Enclave and Outpost! Maria has included the official trailer for both books in her reviews.

This past school year, my 8th grade book club and some students in my 8th grade video class both read Enclave.  The video students then created a trailer.  

WDMS Student Trailer

Don't forget to head over to Maria's Melange to enter the 2-book giveaway!

PS: If you want to see a few more videos the class made, check out our Schooltube page!

Bitterblue [!!!] by Kristin Cashore- Review

Reviewed by: Aneeqah's Not So Real Life
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Bitterblue by Kristin Cashore
Rating: 4/5 Stars
Genres: Dystopia, Fantasy
Release Date: May 1, 2012

Source: ALA Midwinter
My Review:

In the third book of The Seven Kingdoms series, Bitterblue is now 18 and queen of Monsea. Her kingdom is still recovering from the rule of King Leck, and Bitterblue is trying to put it back together again. She starts sneaking out of the castle at night, and finds out about the world outside of her palace. She meets new people, and comes to the realization that she needs to find out more about the past, to fix her kingdom.

Before anything, let's just stare at that cover. *drool* It's gorgeous isn't it? And next to Graceling and Fire, it looks even better! When the books are right next to each other, you can tell they're part of a series, but they're not exactly alike either. It's a really amazing cover!

So now, onto the real book itself. In Bitterblue, we get to see characters from the past books. Katsa, Po, Giddon, Bann, Raffin, and even Fire all are in there. We get to see more of Giddon, and I really liked that we got to get to know him better. Katsa isn't in the book very much, just a few scenes, although she's important. Po was there, and played a role in the story, and I LOVED that he was in the story! We also got to experience Katsa and Po's relationship with each other from Bitterblue's perspective, which was very interesting, something I hadn't thought of when I was reading Graceling.

Let me say that I loved the last part of the book. I think it was fantastically written. We see some character growth, some unexpected things, and lots of things happen. The story twists, things come up that I wasn't expecting, and it just got interesting.

Here's basically a summary of what I thought as I was reading Bitterblue:

Beginning of the Book



Middle of the Book



End of the Book


So, in short, it got progressively better.

But there were a few things that didn't work for me. For one, Bitterblue was kind of a problem for me. She just didn't act like she was 18, and that she had been ruling the kingdom for 8 years already. She seemed more like she was 15, and had been ruling for only a few years. She never seemed 18 to me, and I don't think I ever thought of Bitterblue as 18. Her personality, her way of thinking, her attitude, it just never seemed like she was 18. 18 means your an adult, right? Well, she just didn't seem like an adult. She acted more like a child, or teenager rather than an adult.

That being said, I don't think it affected the whole story that much, except that it was kind of annoying. However, there were also some things that were predictable in the story. I don't like being able to guess things in a story, but I did correctly guess some things. There were some things, though, that I never saw coming, which was great.

The romance, also didn't work for me. It seemed way too rushed, and I didn't see any chemistry between Bitterblue and the other person [whose name I won't say, because I don't want to give anything away!] It didn't take over the story though, so I guess I should be thankful for that.

Putting those things aside, I loved the story. Alot. There was some action, some very well-developed and slightly flawed characters that I could believe, and a little mystery. It's what your looking for in a good series!

Overall, I really liked the book. I can say that I really, really liked the book. But there were a few things that stopped me from giving this book a full 5 stars. It was a good ending to one of my favorite trilogies.




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Born Wicked by Jessica Spotswood- Review

Reviewed by: Aneeqah's Not So Real Life- Teen Reviewer!
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Born Wicked by Jessica Spotswood
Rating: 3.5/5 Stars
Genres: Historical Fiction, Dystopia
Release Date: Feburary 7, 2012
Source: The library!

Let me start of by saying this: I really wanted to love this book. I've heard so many good things about it, and I just had that feeling that I was going to love it. Also, the authors is so nice on Twitter, and I love her. But unfortunately, it didn't live up to my expectations.

So, let's start with the characters. Our protagonist is Cate, who is trying to balance everything from managing her sisters to keeping up with town appearances so no on suspects the Cahill family of witchery. I didn't like Cate at first. She was so stubborn, and sometimes was really plain mean to her sisters. But, I did grow to like her as the story went on. I liked that she wasn't perfect, but sometimes she just got on my nerves [especially towards the end, where she makes some really stupid decisions]. But overall, I liked her, even though she did irritate me.

The setting of the book was interesting. It seems like it's set in a dystopia 1900s type thing. Throughout the book though, I kind of wanted some more information. There was some mention of a Indo-China and war or something like that, but it was only mentioned once or twice. I'm hoping that we get to learn more about that in the next book, because it actually seems pretty interesting. The world-building doesn't seem complete to me in this book, so hopefully we'll learn something in the next one.

The plot started off quite boring, actually in the beginning, but the book really started getting interesting in the middle. There were some good plot twists that I didn't see coming, but there were also a few that were kind of obvious. I definitely wouldn't say this is an action packed book or super fast paced, but it was intriguing; you wanted to know what happened.

Now... the love triangle. I didn't really like it. To me, there was a case of almost insta-love, and I don't really like either of the guys. It's not very well done, and it seemed... a little forced, I guess. It would have been nice to see a little character development in both of the guys, so we could really see what they were like. So, I didn't really like it, at all.

Sometimes in the book, especially at the beginning, everything was downright depressing. Everything was going wrong, their mother is dead, Cate has to protect everyone, keep their identity a secret, etc. I mean, how can a 16 year old girl do that?! I wanted something actually happy for her. I can't imagine living through all that and still being totally sane. A little bit of happiness or happy events would have been great to the story, and make everything seem a little less hopeless, in my opinion.

And then the ending. I feel like it was so abrupt, a definite cliffhanger. We're left with so many questions, and I didn't really understand it. I felt like the events were so rushed. A little more time at the end would have been really good, so that we could understand everything. The book wasn't that fast paced, so the ending felt even more rushed at the end. It seemed like an almost awkward place to stop. Overall, it wasn't a very good ending, especially because it's a total cliffhanger [and we all know how everyone hates a cliffhanger ending].

So, in the end, it was a pretty good book, despite the problems. It was compelling to read, and I was interested in the story. But, there were so many problems that I couldn't fully enjoy the story. I still probably will read the next book [which is going to be called Star Cursed], although I won't be buying it, just getting it from the library.








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Blood Red Road by Moira Young- Review

Reviewed by: Aneeqah's Not So Real Life- Teen Reviewer!
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Blood Red Road by Moira Young
Rating: 4.5/5 Stars
Genres: Dystopia, Post Apocalyptic
Release Date: June 7, 2011
Source: The Library!
My Review:

In this book, we meet Saba. She, her twin brother Lugh, her little sister Emma, and their father. They live in a desert-like place, in the middle of nowhere. But one day, a red sandstorm comes, and 4 mysterious horsemen come and take Lugh away. So Saba embarks on a journey to find her beloved brother Lugh.

I'm just going to say that I really liked this book. It definitely was not at all what I was expecting. For example, the world building. I thought it was pretty well done. There are still a few things that were never answered, but everything was really well thought out and it all made sense. Truly, this book had it all. Cage fighting, escape scenes, giant worm scenes [yes, I typed that correctly!]. Whenever something seemed dull, there was always another surprise around the corner. There were so many good plot twists, and unique things that really kept me reading. I was totally hooked when I read this story! It had it all, and I just devoured the book.

I also liked the characters, Jack being my favorite. I was surprised to find that I really cared about the secondary characters, which is usually a rare case for me! They were pretty well-fleshed out, they had their own personalities, and I just loved them. I even liked Saba, after I warmed up to her. Although, sometimes, she was so oblivious and rude, that I wanted to punch her. But, I loved how she was fierce and tough.

The writing style was also something very interesting in this book. I wasn't expecting it at all. At first, it seemed kind of disjointed, but I was surprised that it started flowing easily after a while. It required getting some used to, but after a while, I barely noticed it, which actually really surprised me. And I liked it, after finishing the book. It conveyed a message: Saba was a simple, tough girl, who didn't know how to read or anything. It was a simplistic writing style.

The beginning, however, was boring for me. I found myself mad at Saba, and just plain bored. I was beginning to think that I was going to give the book up, but then it actually starts to get good. And after that point, I was totally hooked. It just takes a long time to set everything up and to get used to the style of the writing, but after that, the book gets really good.

Saba, at times, was a problem for me. I did like her for the most part, but at the beginning, she was so ridiculously mean to her little sister Emma. I know I don't like one of my sisters, but I'm not that mean to her. She's your sister, you're not expected to love her at all times, but you can't be continuously mean to her 24/7.

So overall, I really liked this book! It's got lots of action, and it keeps you hooked, and it's so, so different from anything else that I've ever read. I definitely recommend this to anyone looking for a fast-paced, action-filled read!


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Incarnate by Jodi Meadows- Review

Reviewed by: Aneeqah's Not So Real Life
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Incarnate by Jodi Meadows
Rating: 4.5/5 Stars
Genres: Dystopia, Paranormal
Release Date: January 31, 2012
My Review:

First off, thank you so much to HarperCollins for giving me an ARC of this book!

In this story, we meet Ana. She is a totally new soul. In her world, souls have been reincarnated for thousands of years. But before she was born, a person named Ciana died. Ciana should have been reborn, but she wasn't. Instead, Ana, a totally new soul, was born. In the history of their world, this has never happened before. Obviously, people don't like the idea of this. So when Ana travels to the City of Heart to find some answers, she doesn't expect anyone to be nice to her at all. But Sam is.

The world-building was very intricate in this book. The whole thing with reincarnation was really cool, but there were also lots of different creatures, like dragons, sylphs [which are shadow-like things], centaurs, and a bunch of other things. It was really neat, and well-done, except it was a tad bit creepy that you could be reincarnated to be a boy or girl. And that your parents could become your children when they get reincarnated. It's complicated, and yes, a little disturbing, but it's still pretty easy to grasp the idea of this whole incarnation thing.

I liked Ana. She wasn't perfect, not even close to it. She started out insecure, because of all the lies her meany mother told her. But she slowly changed when she realized everything her mother told her was a lie [her mother was a really mean and cruel to her, by the way]. I think her switch from non-trusting to trusting was good, it wasn't too fast or anything. Overall, she was just trying to find out who and what she was supposed to be.

I also liked Sam. He was super sweet and kind, and helped out Ana alot. My only concern was that he was a little too perfect. Just a little. He was always there for Ana, always knew what to say, etc. He didn't really have any bad qualities at all. I really liked that he was sweet, but I also enjoy a flawed character too, but I didn't get that with Sam.

The romance wasn't insta-love, which made me happy! I hate, hate, hate insta-love so much, so I was thrilled when it wasn't the whole love-at-first-sight thing. However, that being said, the romance was just alright for me. I didn't really see a connection between Ana and Sam, except for one thing [which I won't say here, because I think it's a little spoilery]. Maybe I'm just being critical of romance now that I've read Under the Never Sky [because the romance in that book was AMAZING!], but the romance... didn't work. I did appreciate the un-insta-love though.

There was lots of action in this book that really kept me hooked. Lots of unexpected things too, which I loved. There were things that I never say coming and I was like "BAISJFASDVP;OIUA!". I love being taken by surprise, and that happened in this book! And whenever you thought things were getting a little dull, the author always threw something in the book to keep you wanting more. This book had it all, action scenes, running scenes, getting shot-at scenes, slow scenes, and even a big glittering party scene!

The reason this book didn't get a full 5 stars was probably because of Ana. I did say I liked her, but she wasn't unique. For me, she was just your typical girl protagonist. And then the whole creepy thing with incarnation. I just couldn't get over that fact.

Overall, this was a very unique story that I would recommend to anyone looking for a interesting YA story that has it all!




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Water Wars
Cameron Stracher
Sourcebooks Fire
240 pgs.

Water. We need it. There are some places that have a lot of it, but can't get to it.  And there are some places that don't have enough of it at all.  Will and Vera live in time when not just some places are experiencing a drought, but the whole world.  The water they can get has been purified in such a way that people can get sick. Their mom is sick and the Water Authority Board isn't doing anything about it.

One day Vera meets Kai and he's pouring water on the ground.  He say's he knows where there's a river flowing and everyone can have pure water.  Kai, Vera and Will become friends.  It helps that Kai brings them gallons of water for their mom.  One day Kai disappears and Vera is sure he's been kidnapped and that only she and Will can rescue him.

The Good

• all signs point to real shortages and contaminated water so the premise is great
• sometimes Vera's voice rings true
• awesome cover

The Bad

• was never convinced that Will was 17.  His actions, the time he spent with Vera, the way he spoke - those things seemed to belong to a much younger child.
• Vera was a whiny brat and she said things that I could not imagine any kid, let alone a 15-year-old, saying. "If anything happened to Will, I didn't know if I could go on."
• the dialogue was stilted

Water Wars would work better if the characters were younger.  You would expect children at the age of 15/17, who lived in world of poverty and did much on their own, to be more mature.  So the choices they made were unrealistic.  I didn't feel a strong connection to any character which also made their  choices hard to understand.  They chased Kai on bikes not knowing who could have taken him or what direction they would have gone in.  They also knew there was a curfew and about the killing pirates.  They made friends too easily and were able to get out of scrapes with barely any loss. Since I wasn't vested, I didn't care what happened.

Interview with Cameron Stracher

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