Book Review: Nimona

       Nimona by Noelle Stevenson


Release Date: May 12th, 2015
Read: September 2015
Publisher: HarperTeen
Format: Paperback, 272 pages

Description from Gingerhaze:
    Lord Ballister Blackheart has a point to make, and his point is that the good guys aren't as good as they seem. He makes a comfortable living as a supervillain, but never really seems to accomplish much - until he takes on a new sidekick, Nimona, a shapeshifter with her own ideas of how things should be done. Unfortunately, most of those ideas involve blowing things up. Now Ballister must teach his young protégé some restraint and try to keep her from destroying everything, while simultaneously attempting to expose the dark dealings of those who claim to be the protectors of the kingdom - including his former best friend turned nemesis, Ambrosius Goldenloin.

Review: This isn't the first time I've read Nimona, but I'm so glad I get to review and own it as a physical copy. It is amazing. Gorgeous art, beautiful plot lines, adorable characters.
   My favourite part of this book is the sweet father-daughter relationship that develops between Lord Blackheart and Nimona, because it gives a sort of warmth and coziness to the story that just piques the perfection. And don't get me started on the humour, because you will snort with laughter at least twice.
   I've convinced most of my friends to read this book, and they loved it. Even if they didn't normally read graphic novels, or fantasy. I guarantee you will like this.

Quotable Quotes:
"I'm not a kid. I'm a SHARK." - Nimona

Rating: 5/5 Stars

Read if you liked: Fangirl, Harry Potter, Carry On, the Lumberjanes, Anya's Ghost

Optimistically yours, Ola <3

Book Review: Forgive my Fins

Forgive my Fins, by Tera Lynn Childs 

Release date: January 1, 2010

Read: September 2015
Publisher: Katherine Tegan Books
Format: Hardcover, 291 pages

Description on GoodReads: Lily Sanderson has a secret, and it's not that she has a huge crush on gorgeous swimming god Brody Bennett, who makes her heart beat flipper-fast. Unrequited love is hard enough when you're a normal teenage girl, but when you're half human, half mermaid, like Lily, there's no such thing as a simple crush.

Review: Forgive my Fins is the epitome of a stereotypical mermaid romance novel.  From the moment the book started, cough cough page six, I already knew who Lily ended up with. It was expected, but still cute to see, or I guess read, how they slowly fell in love with each other. Tera Lynn Childs did a fantastic job of describing life under the sea, with all the specific plant types, colours and even going as far as describing the swift movement of the current. I just wish the fish slang had stayed underwater with the rest of the mermaids.

Favourite quote:
"Some people find beauty in chaos."
-Tera Lynn Childs

Rating: 7/10

Recommended if you like: mermaids, fantasy, romance, a light/playful/childish read

A recipe for disaster,

Lauren

Book Review: Carry On

      Carry On by Rainbow Rowell

Release Date: October 6th, 2015
Read: October, 2015
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Format: Hardcover, 522 pages

Description from GoodReads:    Rainbow Rowell continues to break boundaries with Carry On, an epic fantasy following the triumphs and heartaches of Simon and Baz from her beloved bestseller Fangirl.
   Simon Snow just wants to relax and savor his last year at the Watford School of Magicks, but no one will let him. His girlfriend broke up with him, his best friend is a pest, and his mentor keeps trying to hide him away in the mountains where maybe he’ll be safe. Simon can’t even enjoy the fact that his roommate and longtime nemesis is missing, because he can’t stop worrying about the evil git. Plus there are ghosts. And vampires. And actual evil things trying to shut Simon down. When you’re the most powerful magician the world has ever known, you never get to relax and savor anything.
   Carry On is a ghost story, a love story, a mystery and a melodrama. It has just as much kissing and talking as you’d expect from a Rainbow Rowell story — but far, far more monsters.

Review: I have loved Simon and Baz since they were just fictional characters in Fangirl. When I found out they were getting their own novel, I was over the moon. And rightly so! This book met my expectations so easily and was so real (not like, realistic fantasy, but more like, this could be a fanfic). 

   It is very Harry Potter, although any book about a  teenage wizard school is very Harry Potter. Especially if it's a "chosen one" story. This book though, was surprisingly un-Harry Potter as well. The ending especially, but also the fact that everything does have very real dates, and pop culture references that are relevant, but not too relevant. Like Pokémon, and Starbucks.

   The only thing I have to sort of argue is that of course, this book takes place in the UK. And although I'm not from the UK, all of the british slang seemed really pushed.

Quotable Quotes:

"It's the good things that hurt when you're missing them." -Simon Snow

"'You're-you're wearing jeans.' 'And you're wearing half of the countryside.'"- Simon and Baz
"It's good to have a life that passes the Bechdel test." - Mitali Bunce

Rating: 5/5 Stars

Read if you like: Harry Potter, Fangirl, Wizards, Vampires, A+ Characters

Optimistically yours, Ola <3