Book Review by YELL (Youth Engaged in Library Leadership) Intern

Title: Kanye West: God & Monster

Author: Mark Beaumont 

Book review written by Ka Chun C. 

Kanye West: God & Monster is a biography of the most influential Hip Pop artist Kanye West by Mark Beaumont. The book covers his childhood memories and highlights his struggle of becoming an artist and trying to get signed to a record company to pursue his dream of becoming a musician and a fashion icon. The book begins with an introduction to West's maternal grandfather. Kanye was raised on the South Side of Chicago by his single mother. At an early age, he showed tremendous passion for music production which led to him dropping out of college to pursue his music career in exploring mysterious music entertainment.

I really enjoyed this book from a fan's perspective because it divides the chapters by his iconic music albums and analyzes each one of them, so we get to know more about the details and inspirations behind the songs. I highly recommended other Kanye fans to read this book. Kanye is one of those artists who is ahead of his time... way ahead... the only difference is he actually knows it and is verbal about it (which may be why so many people are put off).

I think anyone who judges him on the surface needs to read this book and see the method behind the madness. It also reflects on his ambition and aspirations in terms of building his career and franchise. He expresses his humanity and continually pushes his boundaries through music. The way he expresses himself freely and never hides his personality - because it's not a shame to be yourself - is very admirable.

Ultimately, Kanye's music has had a huge impact on my life. Regardless of his negative impression in the media, he is a good human being with a gifted musical talent.   3/5 ⭐

Book Review by YELL (Youth Engaged in Library Leadership) Intern

Title: The Bridge Home

Author: Padma Venkatraman

Book review written by Anna L.

The Bridge Home is a touching and powerful story about two sisters. Viji and Rukku, who run away from their troubled home to survive on the streets of Chennai. Even though they face hunger, danger, and loss, the love between them is unshakable. Rukku, who has special needs, bring a sense of innocence and joy that makes the hard times a little softer. Along the way, they meet Arul and Muthu, two boys who become their new family, and together they build something beautiful out of almost nothing. The story doesn't shy away from difficult truths, but it's full of heart and quiet moments of hope. When Viji loses a vital person during the journey she is unmotivated to continue in her life as if she has no more purpose. Padma Venkatraman writes in a way that feels honest and real - you feel like you're right there with the characters. It's sad at times, but it's also full of courage and love.
The Bridge Home is a story that makes you see the world a little differently and feel deeply for kids whose voices often go unheard. I would recommend this book if you enjoy hearing about a personal escape. This book taught me many life lessons like resilience, compassion, and the strength to found family. The book reminds us that even in the darkest place having motivation and people surrounding you is the strength that can bring back your shine.  3.5/5 ⭐

Book Review by YELL (Youth Engaged in Library Leadership) Intern

Title: Artemis

Author: Andy Weir

Book review written by Victor G.

Artemis by Andy Weir is a futuristic science fiction novel about a young woman's struggle to get by as a citizen of the first city on the moon. Jasmine Bashara is a brilliant, witty, antiheroine whose only goal is to get rich, legally or not. As a porter and a petty criminal on the side, she smuggles illegal goods into the city, but money remains tight. So when she is offered the chance to become a millionaire (and potentially destroy the city's oxygen supply), she is unable to refuse the job. However, when things go wrong. Jazz finds herself in over her head with law enforcement, the Brazilian mafia, and a disappointed father all to answer to.

This book is a great read for science fiction nerds who like space technology and futuristic fantasies. The author shares a through provoking view of what a world with commercial space travel and cities on the moon could look like. I enjoyed the degree of realism that the in-depth, technical explanations of the technology added to the story. Excellent pacing and well written characters, along with Weir's use of unexpected twists, keeps readers invested in the story and guarantees that there is never a dull moment. Overall, Artemis is a thrilling book that I would recommend to anyone looking for a good science fiction story to read.   3.5/5 ⭐

Book Review by YELL (Youth Engage in Library Leadership) Intern

Title: Once Upon a Broken Heart

Author: Stephanie Garber

Book review written by Stephanie G.

Caption: The book opens to Evangeline Fox stepping into a church, desperate to stop a wedding that's going to happen in just a few hours. The boy she loves, Luc, had suddenly announced his engagement to her stepsister. But convinced that Luc is under a curse, she strikes a deal with Jacks, the Prince of Hearts. In exchange for his help, Jacks demands three kisses, each to be given on his own terms. As Evangeline soon discovers, Jacks has a hidden agenda, and she's swept into a new world of royalty, curses, and exile while trying to find her happily ever after. This book is for the ones who love the song Miss Americana and the Heartbreak Prince.  4/5 ⭐

Book Review by YELL (Youth Engaged in Library Leadership) Intern

Book review written by Alisha W.

Title: Summer's Edge

Author: Dana Mele

-----------------------------Spoiler warning!!!--------------------------

Summer's Edge is a story told through three points of view, Chelsea - the best friend who is literally haunted by the past, Kennedy - Chelsea's ex-girlfriend and the host of the summer lake house, and a third person who I won't spoil yet. In the beginning, five friends finally came together again a year after an accidental fire burned down the lake house and took Emily's life. Ryan, Chase, Kennedy, Chelsea, each of them had received an invitation to the precisely rebuilt house, though all of them deny having sent it. Mila - Chase's girlfriend, is tagging along again, just like that fateful summer of Emily's death.

However, as the weekend wore on, Chelsea begins to suspect whether the fire that killed Emily really was an accident, and if the one who started the fire was one of them. Having spent a year in a psychiatric ward after, there were many details regarding that night that she doesn't know, and it doesn't help that everybody seems to be hiding something from her. She would've never imagined her friends as killers, but Ryan was convincing. An accidental spark, the whole house up in flames. Nobody willing to save Emily trapped in the attic and nobody willing to admit to starting the fire. Ryan implores her to leave, but Chelsea finally steels herself, promising to find out the truth no matter the cost.

Each character is interrupted by snippets of text from an unnamed character, presumably Emily. However, it would seem that she holds a grudge against every single one of them. That they were all murderers. By the end of Chelsea's section, Ryan had "left," an unknown somebody had fell overboard but no one on the boat had seen. Mila had fallen into an open cellar and died, and a candle was starting to grow into a fire, everything happening exactly like the night Emily died.

The next character, we cut to Kennedy's perspective, two years earlier. It turns out that she can actually see ghosts, and have seen them since she was a child, although she had denied it when Chelsea had her visions. There was the backward girl, the blue lady, the crushed man, They were friendly enough, except for one, the dripping man. He had tried to kill her when she was a child, dragging her into the lake. Ever since then, she had tried to keep the spirits pleased.

By the end of her section, Ryan was pushed off of the boat into the lake by Kennedy after he had continually goaded her, talking crap about all her friends. When Chelsea saw from the dock that Ryan had fell and hadn't resurfaced, she jumped into action despite being terrified of the water. Kennedy followed suit, as did Chase, who was also on boat. Emily, who was angry at Kennedy for not being jerk to Mila, was in the attic and didn't witness the event. After a fruitless search, none of them had found Ryan. The hours came and went, and Emily knew that they were never going to find him again.

Now we come to the third section. Emily's perspective.

We learn from her that Chelsea had not spent a year in the psych ward. It was only a few weeks. And it was never Emily that died, but her brother, Ryan. After his death, Emily set out for revenge. She invited Chelsea, Chase, and Kennedy, but Mila came too, to her surprise. It was fine with her though. Mila was part of Ryan's death too. Emily ended up pushing Mila down the cellar, locking Kennedy in the attic and trapping Chase in the living room after drugging them. Then, she lit the house on fire, killing all of them before escaping. Emily had cursed all of them to relive their deaths, over and over again, but now that they had learned, the flames no longer burned. With nothing else to do, the friends decided to stay where they were rather than move to and disappear. Instead, they simply hung around the house, playing board games and living their best lives, watching their former selves fall in love make mistakes and live.

Emily sees all of that. And she hates it. Why should they be happy? After all, she knows that when death comes for her, there will be nothing left except eternal existence, knowing that her friend are happy without her. 

I enjoyed the book. It was a quick and tense read with multifaceted characters whom all have their own problems. None of them are good people, but there are reasons behind why they are the way they are. 3.7/5 ⭐

- thriller

- horror

- supernatural

Book Review by YELL (Youth Engaged in Library Leadership) Intern

Title: Wrong Place Wrong Time

Author: Gillian McAllister

Book Review Written by Alice W.

Wrong Place Wrong Time opens with Jen, an anxious mother, waiting for her son Todd to return home. She feels like something bad is going to happen, and it turns out that she's right when Todd stabs and kills a stranger for seemingly no reason. Todd refused to answer any of Jen's questions about his motives, and he allows himself to be taken into custody by the police. Jen's husband, Kelly, is furious abut there isn't anything he can do. The two return home, and Jen falls asleep, questioning if the murder was her fault, if she had gone wrong somewhere while raising Todd.

When Jen wakes up, she realized that she'd gone back to the previous day, before Todd ever killed anyone. The day after that, she goes back in time two days. Eventually, she goes back weeks, then months, and then even decades. The further back in time Jen goes, the more she learns about herself, the people around her, and the event that led to Todd becoming a murder. 

What I like about this book is the unique premise; the idea of going back in time to prevent a murder is something I've never seen before. There are also quite a few plot twists, thought they were mostly saved for near the end of the book. Unfortunately, I felt like for the majority of this book, things were happening way to slow, The book didn't capture my attention like I thought it would when I was reading the summary. I feel like the pace picked up more at the end of the book (maybe because of all the plot twists/reveals), and I really enjoyed the last two chapters. They wrapped up the book really neatly, in my opinion.

My Ratings: 3.2 ⭐ for the majority of the book, 4 ⭐ for the ending.