Bibliophile Support Group

Savage Run is a YA futuristic dystopia by E. J. Squires. In one of the last hierarchical societies, Newland has a set standard of classes – and seventeen year old Heidi Cruise, being both a Laborer and a female, is in the lowest ranking set. She has already seen her best friend suffer under the ruthless hand of her Master in less than a year and soon it will be Heidi’s turn to be assigned a Master, as well. But she refuses to accept that. It is the time of year that the Savage Run begins – a brutal, male-only obstacle program that offers the lower classes to compete with one goal in mind: survive and become a Master. Determined to find freedom, Heidi is convinced their only chance is to pretend to be male and enter the Savage Run. Yet before they are even able to register, things begin to fall apart. Is it possible for a Laborer, and a female one at that, to ever be free? I will say that occasionally the writing and editing of Savage Run felt like it could use some impr...

On the Bright Side, I’m Now the Girlfriend of a Sex God is the second book in the raucous British YA contemporary Confessions of Georgia Nicolson series by Louise Rennison. For maximum hoots and haws, I recommend reading this series in order – which means starting with Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging . If you haven’t yet read that first hysterical entry in the series – not only do I feel pity for you but I also warn you that this review may include potential spoilers of the first book. You have been warned. Just when Georgia has finally snagged Robbie the Sex God with her wily charms, her Mum announces that they will be joining her father in New Zealand – which may help to prevent Georgia’s Mum from embarking on an affair that she sees all too clearly – but is also very, very bad because she doesn’t want to leave the Sex God and go through snogging withdrawal. Not to mention hot steam apparently shoots out of the ground in New Zealand. Not marvy. With all of that ...

The Hero of Ages is the third novel in the high fantasy Mistborn trilogy by Brandon Sanderson. This is a highly, highly serialized trilogy – so I strongly recommend you read Mistborn and The Well of Ascension before The Hero of Ages , or even this review of The Hero of Ages . It has been a year since Vin located the legendary Well of Ascension. A year since she made the fateful, selfless decision to free the power that was imprisoned there. A year since she found out that was the wrong choice. Now, earthquakes shake the land, ash pours from the sky heavier than ever and the mists have grown larger, stay longer and are killing people. Vin, Elend and the rest of Kelsier’s crew have overcome the thousand year reign of the Lord Ruler, fought impossible battles and sought freedom for Skaa and Noble alike – but how can they fight this? Shaken and frustrated that the answer they had been seeking at the Well ended up being trickery that only worsened everything – all they can...

The Well of Ascension is the second book in the high fantasy trilogy Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson. If you haven’t read Mistborn yet, I would strongly suggest you do not read this review. Instead, go read Mistborn ! Though Vin and her group of thieves-turned-rebels have ended a tyrant government that had been held for a thousand years, the final words of the Lord Ruler haunt Vin. She may not want to believe that the Lord Ruler was holding something even worse back, but she cannot ignore the growing threatening nature of the mists and the figure that is watching her amidst them. Beyond the supernatural concern, Elend’s new freedom-focused government of Luthadel is being confronted with multiple outside armies who’ve decided they’d like to take the kingdom from the young king. Defeating the Lord Ruler was only the beginning… The Well of Ascension was quite something. Just as when I entered into Mistborn , part of me wondered if The Well of Ascension could possibly be w...

Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging is a YA contemporary humor novel, and the first of the Confessions of Georgia Nicolson , by Louise Rennison. A long time ago I read And Then He Ate My Boy Entrancers , which is the 6th book in this series, as I had won it in a contest. Even though it was smack dab in the middle of the series I was immensely entertained and I am FINALLY getting the chance to read ALL the books in the series in correct order. Georgia is your average fourteen-year-old girl in England – nothing abnormal to see here. Yeah, right. Her cat Angus’s favorite pastime is to round up the neighbors small dogs and terrorize them. Her little three-year-old sister is at times adorable and other times pees in her room. In fact, there could be pee somewhere in her room right now . And, finally, upon deciding her eyebrows were furry terrors, she accidentally shaved them off. Whoops! But then she meets the Sex God – dazzling, older boy that makes her heart a-tremble...

Longbourn is a historical fiction novel by Jo Baker that takes the below stairs perspective of Jane Austen’s Pride & Prejudice . As one of the housemaids at Longbourn , Sarah spends her days doing all the things the genteel Bennett’s do not want to even think about – scrubbing laundry, emptying chamber pots, assisting in serving dinner, cleaning, etc. Yet, as upstairs there is furor over the influx of marriageable, wealthy men in town, Sarah finds herself also pulled into romance. And as an enigmatic new footman arrives – apparently a “fine young man” but without references that can be named – the servants’ hall becomes more mysterious and intriguing than ever… This tie-in to Pride & Prejudice has been lauded and mentioned so often that I was quite excited to read it! Sadly, it did not work for me. At all. I hate to be negative – clearly there are many, many people out there that have enjoyed Longbourn – and you could be one of them!! So, remember to take my revie...

Warm Bodies is, essentially, a zombie story – but so much more – by Isaac Marion. R doesn’t remember his name – none of his fellow Dead do. They don’t remember much of anything about their former lives, actually. He lives with a large hive of zombies in an abandoned airport, riding the conveyor belt, listening to Sinatra and calling an old 747 his home. Each day passes by in a blur. Then during a hunt, he meets a girl. A living girl – named Julie. Against all reason, instead of snacking on her brain, R takes Julie captive – but she becomes his hesitant guest. For some reason, R doesn’t want to eat Julie (well, most of the time) – he wants to protect her and try to talk to her (extremely difficult for zombies). Something is changing… Warm Bodies was INCREDIBLE!!! I was recommended it and I am so glad! Warm Bodies has moments that are shocking, sometimes gory, yet also surprisingly humorous, incredibly original and undeniably likable. It’s touching, dark and str...

Seed is a YA contemporary novel by debut author Lisa Heathfield. Growing up in Seed, fifteen year old Pearl knows that it is paradise. She has never been anywhere else – but she does not need to. Among their insulated small family community, they sow and reap the rewards of the land, live their simple lives under the watchful eyes of their leader Papa S. and Pearl and the other young girls look forward to the day they can be Papa S.’s companion. Yet when a newcomer is allowed into their community, a teenage boy Pearl’s age that has lived Outside his entire life, he brings with him incredulity of their way of life. He asks questions that prod Pearl toward moments of doubt about their utopia. He says Papa S. is only a man. What is the truth when Seed is all you’ve ever known? Wow, Seed left a lasting impression. It is instantly intriguing – initially so grounded and subtle that though you know, as the reader, that Pearl is growing up in a cult, it doesn’t immediately see...

The True Meaning of Smekday is a middle grade sci-fi contemporary humor novel by Adam Rex. Hoo Boy! I think I’m in love!!! When young Gratuity (Tip) Tucci is assigned a school five-page essay to explain the true meaning of Smekday (previously Christmas, now the day the first aliens invaded and renamed Christmas), she ends up writing a WHOLE LOT MORE than five pages. Instead we get the full story of just what happened to Tip when she determined to find her Mom as the aliens stated that all American humans must migrate to Florida, how she joined forces with the alien J.Lo and kept track of her cat, Pig. I can’t really imagine saying more without giving away too much laugh-out-loud goodness! The True Meaning of Smekday is AWESOME!!! It’s very funny – yet also has enough seriousness and legitimate emotion to have a level of care and investment in the characters to make it, well, all the more AWESOME! I absolutely adored J.Lo – a hilarious, adorable, lovable alien that pr...