Category Archives: diverse books

Mini Book Review: The Faerie Guardian by Rachel Morgan

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The Faerie Guardian CoverBook: The Faerie Guardian by Rachel Morgan

Published October 2012 by Smashwords|237 pages

Where I Got It: Nook store

Series: Creepy Hollow #1

Genre: YA Paranormal- Faeries

You can find The Faerie Guardian on goodreads

Goodreads Summary: 

Enter a hidden world of magic, mystery, danger and romance in this YA fantasy from bestselling author, Rachel Morgan.

Protecting humans from dangerous magical creatures is all in a day’s work for a faerie training to be a guardian. Seventeen-year-old Violet Fairdale knows this better than anyone—she’s about to become the best guardian the Guild has seen in years. That is, until a cute human boy who can somehow see through her faerie glamour follows her into the fae realm. Now she’s broken Guild Law, a crime that could lead to her expulsion.

The last thing Vi wants to do is spend any more time with the boy who got her into this mess, but the Guild requires that she return Nate to his home and make him forget everything he’s discovered of the fae realm. Easy, right? Not when you factor in evil faeries, long-lost family members, and inconvenient feelings of the romantic kind. Vi is about to find herself tangled up in a dangerous plot—and it’ll take all her training to get out alive.

What I Thought:

I liked The Faerie Guardian!  If there’s something I know, it’s a book about fairies, and given how many I’ve read (and want to read), trust me when I say that this book is quite different than a lot of other fairie books.

I LOVE the idea of faeries protecting the human population from some really nasty creatures.  And naturally, things go wrong right from the start.  Things are also pretty predictable, but it was still a fun read.  Most of all, I loved how detailed and intricate this world was, and it really made me want to see more of it.

I didn’t particularly care about the romance.  It was pretty obvious, as far as romances go, but I also felt like there wasn’t anything special between Violet and Nate.  It very much felt like they were together for the sake of being together.  On the other hand, I did like the relationship between Ryn and Violet, and how their story was resolved.  I honestly think they have better chemistry, and I’m hoping that eventually, it’s Ryn and Violet, even though I’m positive that it’ll be Nate and Violet in the end.

Speaking of Violet, she is a pretty awesome fairie, and I really liked her!  I can’t wait to see what she has deal with in the books to come.

Let’s Rate It:

I don’t have much to say about The Faerie Guardian, but I really like the concept and the world that Morgan wrote.  I’m not thrilled with the romance, and I’m desperately hoping that it doesn’t go the way I think it will. I didn’t love it, but it’s still a fun read.  The Faerie Guardian gets 3 stars.

Book Review: Home by Toni Morrison

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Home CoverBook: Home by Toni Morrison

Published May 2012 by Knopf Doubleday|160 pages

Where I Got It: the library

Series: None

Genre: Adult Literary Fiction/African-American Literature

You can find Home on goodreads

Goodreads Summary: 

The latest novel from Nobel Prize winner Toni Morrison.

An angry and self-loathing veteran of the Korean War, Frank Money finds himself back in racist America after enduring trauma on the front lines that left him with more than just physical scars. His home–and himself in it–may no longer be as he remembers it, but Frank is shocked out of his crippling apathy by the need to rescue his medically abused younger sister and take her back to the small Georgia town they come from, which he’s hated all his life. As Frank revisits the memories from childhood and the war that leave him questioning his sense of self, he discovers a profound courage he thought he could never possess again. A deeply moving novel about an apparently defeated man finding his manhood–and his home.

What I Thought:

I really liked Home!  I read Sula and Beloved a few years ago, and while I liked them, I wasn’t completely into them.  But I figured it was a good time to give Morrison another try, and I’m actually really glad I did.

I really liked Frank, and how he had to deal with memories and what happened in Korea.  And he goes on a journey to help his sister, who went through some horrible things herself.  I really like seeing his memories and how he got to be the person we see at the beginning of the novel to how he became the person we see at the end of the novel.

I was struck by how Frank was trying to deal with everything that’s happened, and how he was trying to find his place after coming home.  You could tell how hard it was for him, and it’s something that still rings true today- with all of the stories of soldiers coming back with health issues and PTSD, and all of the recent events in places like Ferguson, you see how we’ve changed a lot, but at the same time, it’s still something that we’re dealing with.

Home is short, but Morrison makes every word count.  It’s simple and beautiful and this is one of the very rare books where I’m more interested in the actual writing than the story (even the story is great too).  Seriously, if you want to study writing, Toni Morrison is such a great place to start.  She can write, and she does it so well.

Let’s Rate It:

I really liked seeing Frank have to deal with so much, and even though his story takes place after the Korean war, so many things (like racism and PTSD) are still relevant today.  It’s also a simple but beautifully written book, and of the 3 books I’ve read by Morrison, I think this is a really good one to start with if you’ve never read Morrison.  Home gets 4 stars.