Review: Untamed

Untamed by A.G. Howard
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Ah, this was such an amazing addition to the series! Especially the last story, where it showed the reader what happened when Jeb died and Alyssa's human family and then we got to see her with Morpheus and when they had their baby. I mean, this story alone was enough for fans of both Teams to fall in love all over again. It was the best way to end the series and to know that everything turned out the way it was supposed to. Seriously, I would have been happy to just read and re-read "Six Impossible Things" just to see the amazing ending to the story.

Alison and Thomas's story was good. It was nice to see how her parents felt after everything was done and over and they were finally together at last. And reading about Morpheus sneaking into Jeb's lost memories was a good insight not just of Jeb's thoughts, but also about Morpheus too.

But the winner of these three stories, to me, is "Six Impossible Things" through and through. I'm so glad A.G. Howard wrote it and I really, really loved this series as a whole. I'm so glad that out of all of the teen book club books they've read, this one is the one I decided to read with them so far! Will definitely be recommending this to other friends and readers I meet!

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Review: The Moth in the Mirror

The Moth in the Mirror by A.G. Howard
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was such a great addition to the series! I'm Team Morpheus through and through, so it was tenderhearted to see him finding a way through Alyssa's life, even if it meant having to dig into his arch nemesis's head to find out why she is so enamored by Jeb.

And it was great to see what inner struggles Jeb went through to make the huge decision he made at the end of the first novel. I love getting to read the perspective of another character after reading the main novel, because the reader gets a better sense of why they did what they did. Makes me appreciate them a bit more than I might have beforehand.

I didn't necessarily like Morpheus's reaction at the end of this novella, but it was understandable why he went into that direction. But still, very much enjoyed this novel and can't wait to read the last novella that was created in this series!

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Review: American Born Chinese

American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This was the teen book chosen for our Big Read for my library, so my bookclub read it for that month. I will say, I was a bit leery going into it because I'm not a fan of graphic novels. But this book read very fast, even if it was a bit confusing about the story lines.

This book is about three characters:

The Monkey King
Jin (Chinese-American) and his friend at school Wei-Chen (Taiwanese)
Danny (American) and his cousin Chin-Kee (Chinese)

And these three characters all intertwined by the end of the novel. In a very weird, unique way. The novel bounced from character to character, not really having a theme or reason for the random stories, but somehow keeping my attention gathered to find out how this will all come together.

I do have to admit that I really didn't like Jin. He was rude to his friend and he was always calling him an F.O.B. (Fresh off the Boat from Taiwan), which I thought that was harsh. Instead of judging Wei-Chen for being different since he was from another country, I thought that Jin might be nice and help Wei-Chen learn the different culture. Instead, he did so many terrible things to him that I think Wei-Chen would have been better off without Jin as a friend.

I can understand Danny's frustration with Chin-Kee, even though he didn't act like a nice person either to his cousin. I think if Danny would just take the time and effort to include Chin-Kee in his life for that one week of the year that he would have had a better relationship with his cousin and he would have had to leave his other schools.

The Monkey King story started off weird, but the moral of the story was well told by the end. The way that the three stories intertwined with each other was just plain odd and I did not see it coming at all. But it will make for an interesting book discussion talk for my book club, so that's a plus I suppose!

Even after reading this, if I didn't have to read it for our promotion of the Big Read, I never would have touched this book. It was alright, but it won't be anything that I will be re-visiting anytime in the future.

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Review: Ensnared

Ensnared by A.G. Howard
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This was such an amazing ending to a fantastic series! I really didn't think, going in, that I would love this series as much as I did, but I was blown away by Howard's world that she created for readers everywhere. And I'm not even the biggest fan of Alice in Wonderland, but after reading this series, I now want to smother myself in all things Alice!

Alyssa-as-a-crazy person was fantastic. I think Alyssa is much better about being a being from Wonderland than she is as a human. She is so strategic and conniving and it's absolutely amazing what she is capable of doing as the Red Queen. And her determination to get back to her friends and family was what spurred her to become crazy and mad. I seriously admire all of the choices that Alyssa made throughout the whole series.

The thing with Morpheus and Jeb... I can deal with it. It was a satisfactory ending for the love interest of Alyssa. I would have liked it a different way, but I'm just a lowly reader so I'll have to be happy with what I got!

I really think that a wide variety of readers would enjoy this story immensely. There are so many different factors in this story that would capture a wide audience and I'm so glad that I finally sat down and read them. I may even have to buy my own set one day!

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Review: Unhinged

Unhinged by A.G. Howard
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

It was so great to dive back into the rabbit hole and get lost in this amazing world that A.G. Howard created with Alyssa and Co.

I loved that this book was mainly set in Alyssa's home instead of Wonderland. It gives a different view of Alyssa's life and how she loves her home so much. We also get to see her tap into her Wonderland magic while she's in the real world, which is a great mash-up of her two different worlds colliding with each other.

During the first book, I was teetering on which guy I wanted Alyssa to end up with. Both had their good and bad factors and honestly I just loved the Wonderland that Howard created that I wasn't too worried about Alyssa's love life. But this book, I actually picked a team: Team Morpheus. Don't get me wrong, Jeb is alright, but Alyssa just clicks with Morpheus better. There is a better chemical reaction between her and Morpheus instead of Jeb. She might think she loves Jeb, but she does things with Morpheus that she would never do if she had true love for Jeb. So I'm really hoping that she will understand that she loves Morpheus more than Jeb and end up with him, because deep down she is his soul mate and they belong together.

I love the storyline that involves Alyssa's mom and dad. It was such a twist and the great thing about this series versus the original Alice in Wonderland book is that Howard has extended the story to more than just Alice - she is giving all of the characters so much more to their life and the reader is able to ride along through the experience.

I'm so excited and nervous to read the third and final book next. The way it ended in this novel is so up in the air and I can't wait to see how the characters come to their happy endings.

Definitely am loving this series and can't wait to find out the ending! Will definitely be recommending this to other readers at my library!

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