Doll Bones - Holly Black

Title: Doll Bones
Author: Holly Black
Format: Hardcover
Rating: 2 Stars

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Zach, Poppy and Alice have been friends for ever. They love playing with their action figure toys, imagining a magical world of adventure and heroism. But disaster strikes when, without warning, Zach’s father throws out all his toys, declaring he’s too old for them. Zach is furious, confused and embarrassed, deciding that the only way to cope is to stop playing . . . and stop being friends with Poppy and Alice.

But one night the girls pay Zach a visit, and tell him about a series of mysterious occurrences. Poppy swears that she is now being haunted by a china doll – who claims that it is made from the ground-up bones of a murdered girl. They must return the doll to where the girl lived, and bury it. Otherwise the three children will be cursed for eternity . . . 

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Zach, Poppy, and Alice are three kids who have been friends their entire childhood.  They have played a game of piracy and adventure for years.  Then Zach's dad gets angry, tells Zach that, at 12 years old, Zach is "too old to be playing these games," that it's time for Zach to grow up, and then he throws away Zach's action figures.  Keep in mind that Zach is 12 YEARS OLD!

Ok, so this leads Zach to shutting himself off from his friends - oh no, wait, just Poppy.  He still thinks Alice is the shit and wants to hang with her.  But Poppy and her friendship and the insistence on playing the game are just too much for him.

So, after a few days, Poppy says that the Queen, this bone china doll in her home, has been sending her dreams that the person she was created from needs to be buried and given a proper funeral so she can stop haunting people.  This leads to Alice, Poppy, and Zach leaving their home at like 2 in the morning to go running off on a bus to some town hours away to bury a doll.  And they are 12 YEARS OLD!

Anyway, rambling about the fact that they are 12 aside, let's talk about what I thought.

I wish that Poppy would have been the main protagonist.  She drove the story, but Zach was the narrator.  Everything they did in the story revolved around Poppy, though, and she was the one who made everything they did happen.  She should have been the narrator.

The romance in this story was small, but it was there, and it was completely unnecessary.  About 3/4 of the way through the book, Zach suddenly decides out of nowhere that he wants to go on a date with Alice, who's wanted to date him for a while, and again I feel I must point out THEY ARE 12. This little snippet did nothing for the story and plot and the nothing would have been different in this book had the romance not been there.

I found it hard to believe that these kids just took off and nobody was looking for them while they were running around god knows where trying to bury a doll in some cemetery in East Liverpool.  Don't you think there parents would have had people searching for them?!

The ending, to me, was just a bit too convenient and wrapped up a bit too nicely.  Poppy and Zach spent a lot of the books fighting - I still don't really know why, but from what I gather it was just because Zach was annoyed that she wanted to play the game, and even though he did too he pretended he didn't because his dad threw away his toys.... So, like he was sort of just annoyed with his dad and taking it out on Poppy.  Anyway - the ending!  THE ENDING!  It was just off to me.  They get to this graveyard after sneaking out of the library (where a librarian conveniently showed up on her day off and forced the kids to call their parents.)  So, anyway, they are out of the library, they find THE GRAVEYARD they've been looking for.  And in a span of just a few pages, they bury the doll, their parents show up and DON'T SAY A DAMN THING TO THEM, and everything between Poppy and Zach is wrapped up nicely by the simple act of burying a doll.  In fact, one of the things that happens on the last page is one of them asking the other "Wanna play?" And the other agreeing.  Like no talk about all their tension, all their anger towards each other, nothing.  I mean, it's been a long time since I was 12, but I just think there would have been more talk about them being mad - I don't know that they would have gotten over it that quickly.

Anyway, this book ended up being a bit more of a dud for me than I thought it would be. If you've read it, let me know what you thought in the comments!

Wonder - RJ Palacio

Title: Wonder
Author: R.J. Palacio
Rating: 4 Stars

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I won’t describe what I look like. Whatever you’re thinking, it’s probably worse.

August Pullman was born with a facial difference that, up until now, has prevented him from going to a mainstream school. Starting 5th grade at Beecher Prep, he wants nothing more than to be treated as an ordinary kid—but his new classmates can’t get past Auggie’s extraordinary face. WONDER, now a #1 New York Times bestseller and included on the Texas Bluebonnet Award master list, begins from Auggie’s point of view, but soon switches to include his classmates, his sister, her boyfriend, and others. These perspectives converge in a portrait of one community’s struggle with empathy, compassion, and acceptance.

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Now, y'all - I have to tell you: I watched the movie FIRST!  SHOCK AND AWE.  I know - I get all the bookish disappointment for that one, right?! 

Anyway, I finally read the book - and even though the writing was super easy for me, I still rated it 4 stars, because I had to keep in mind it is technically a middle grade book, and I am clearly not a child aged person. 

The book was cute, and truly wonderful.  The characters were fantastic and all so well written. Each character was well-developed with their own distinct personalities, and things that were totally unique to them.  

I really enjoyed the development of the story as well.  From Auggie's hesitance at attending a new school to his meeting new friends, and through to his encounter with bullies at the end who break his hearing aids, everything was just right in this book and even though it was a quick read - I didn't want to put this book down at all.  

This book did a good job of showing that even kids can overcome difficulties on their own, if they have adults who teach them well.  Yes, sometimes kids need help, and this book shows that as well.  BUT, it shows that kids are stronger and kinder than adults sometimes give them credit for, and kids can and will overcome and do good things if adults help and teach them well.

This is a book I would recommend to any kid or adult looking for a fun and fulfilling book to read. 

Nevermoor: The Trials of Morrigan Crow - Jessica Townsend

Title: Nevermoor: The Trials of Morrigan Crow
Author: Jessica Townsend
Format: Hardcover
Rating: 4 Stars

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A cursed girl escapes death and finds herself in a magical world - but is then tested beyond her wildest imagination

Morrigan Crow is cursed. Having been born on Eventide, the unluckiest day for any child to be born, she's blamed for all local misfortunes, from hailstorms to heart attacks--and, worst of all, the curse means that Morrigan is doomed to die at midnight on her eleventh birthday.

But as Morrigan awaits her fate, a strange and remarkable man named Jupiter North appears. Chased by black-smoke hounds and shadowy hunters on horseback, he whisks her away into the safety of a secret, magical city called Nevermoor.

It's then that Morrigan discovers Jupiter has chosen her to contend for a place in the city's most prestigious organization: the Wundrous Society. In order to join, she must compete in four difficult and dangerous trials against hundreds of other children, each boasting an extraordinary talent that sets them apart - an extraordinary talent that Morrigan insists she does not have. To stay in the safety of Nevermoor for good, Morrigan will need to find a way to pass the tests - or she'll have to leave the city to confront her deadly fate.

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Morrigan Crow is a cursed child. She was born on Eventide.  That means that when she's 11, she will die at midnight on the end of the next Eventide. Then she meets a man, Jupiter, who, in a very Harry Potter "Yer a Wizard" type moment, chooses her as his candidate to join the Wunder Society, and whisks her off to the Free State. 

While there, Morrigan meets many people who enthrall her, teach her, and in some cases annoy the crap out of her.  (Come on, she wouldn't learn much if she got along with everyone she knew.) 

Morrigan also sees some pretty amazing and magical things like:

* A talking magnificat
* A chandelier that can regrow into whatever shape it wants
* A smoking room that fills with different scented types of smoke (it's really more like a fog)
* A bunch of daring people who use sort of heavy duty enchanted umbrellas to jump off the top of a building. 

The characters in this book are as charming as they are well-developed. They are all distinct from each other with their own personalities, quirks, and dreams. That's not always a given in books these days - there are a lot of books where they characters all just seem to blend into each other. But that is not the case with Nevermoor.  These characters are all their own, as well as being utterly charming and delightful - even the ones who are here as the bad guy characters.  They are all so well-written!

This story itself is marvelous as well.  It is well plotted and as well developed as its characters.  There were moments of tension and joy throughout the book.  Everything fits so well - and even though this is a fantasy book, you'll never find yourself saying "Oh that could never happen."  I mean, we all know in fantasy, there are things that could never happen - but the events in this story fit so well together.  This is a well thought out, well written story.  You and your kids or nieces and nephews or grandkids will love it!

Nevermoor is filled with moments that are absolutely absurd - like when Morrigan's parents think a curtain on the floor is her dead body (thanks to Jupiter's magic), and moments that are so funny and delightful.  This is a book that kept me laughing and wanting to know more from beginning to end.

The only complaint I had about this book was that Jupiter gave Morrigan a nickname and called her Mog several times throughout the book, even though she said that she preferred to be called Morrigan.  If someone tells you they don't want a nickname, don't give them a nickname - call them by the name they tell you!  That's just common respect. 

Other than that, I loved every single second of this books - and I think you will, too!