Spoiler Alert Mini Review: parched by Georgia Clark

parched by Georgia Clark (release date May 1)
Spoiler Alert reviewer: Delaney

1=No. Just, no. 2=It's OK. 3=I liked it. 4=I really liked it. 5=It was EPIC!

The Book Itself
How well designed was the plot? 3
How vivid was the setting? 4
How believable were the characters and the dialog? 4
How well did the book hold your interest? 3
How well did the author's language add to the book? 3
How well did the writing match the books intended audience? 2

Worldwide
Rank this book's mass appeal. 2
How readable was this book? 4
How pleasurable will reading this book be to most teens? 2

Personal
How highly would you recommend this book? 3
How likely are you to read something else by this author? 2
How memorable was this book? 4
How did you feel about the ending? 4
If you did not finish, how did you feel about the beginning?
How creative was this book? 3

Marketing
Rank the cover (only if the final cover version has been released). 2
How well does the cover match the story? 4
Rank the jacket blurb. 3
Rank the title. 2
How well does the title match the story? 4
Stopping point in the book? Finished

Tell us what you thought of the book overall:

In one word: Retro

Tell us what you really did not like about this book: Dialogue could drag at points.

Pick 5 words to describe this book: Old-fashioned, slow, refreshing, cultured, descriptive

Spoiler Alert Mini Review: Acid by Emma Pass

Acid by Emma Pass (release date April 8, 2014)
Spoiler Alert reviewer: Delaney

1=No. Just, no. 2=It's OK. 3=I liked it. 4=I really liked it. 5=It was EPIC!

The Book Itself
How well designed was the plot? 2
How vivid was the setting? 4
How believable were the characters and the dialog? 2
How well did the book hold your interest? 5
How well did the author's language add to the book? 4
How well did the writing match the books intended audience? 3

Worldwide
Rank this book's mass appeal. 2
How readable was this book? 2
How pleasurable will reading this book be to most teens? 3

Personal
How highly would you recommend this book? 2
How likely are you to read something else by this author? 2
How memorable was this book? 2
How did you feel about the ending? 3
If you did not finish, how did you feel about the beginning?
How creative was this book? 1

Marketing
Rank the cover (only if the final cover version has been released).
How well does the cover match the story? 4
Rank the jacket blurb. 4
Rank the title. 3
How well does the title match the story? 5
Stopping point in the book? Finished

Tell us what you thought of the book overall:

In one word: Mediocre

Tell us what you really did not like about this book: Cliched, had potential, plot rushed, characters not developed

Pick 5 words to describe this book: Cliched, dystopian, rushed, unoriginal, meandering

Spoiler Alert Mini-Review: The Falconer by Elizabeth May

The Falconer by Elizabeth May (coming in May 2014)
Spoiler Alert Reviewer: Victoria

1=No. Just, no. 2=It's OK. 3=I liked it. 4=I really liked it. 5=It was EPIC!

The Book Itself
How well designed was the plot? 3
How vivid was the setting? 2
How believable were the characters and the dialog? 4
How well did the book hold your interest? 4
How well did the author's language add to the book? 4
How well did the writing match the books intended audience? 5

Worldwide
Rank this book's mass appeal. 5
How readable was this book? 5
How pleasurable will reading this book be to most teens? 5

Personal
How highly would you recommend this book? 4
How likely are you to read something else by this author? 3
How memorable was this book? 4
How did you feel about the ending? 5
If you did not finish, how did you feel about the beginning?
How creative was this book? 2

Marketing
Rank the cover (only if the final cover version has been released).
How well does the cover match the story? 3
Rank the jacket blurb. 3
Rank the title. 5
How well does the title match the story? 5
Stopping point in the book? Finished

Tell us what you thought of the book overall:

In one word: Intense

Tell us what you really did not like about this book: Needs to show more steampunk and be more descriptive of people.

Pick 5 words to describe this book: Emotional, aggressive, strong, girl power

Spoiler Alert Mini-Review: Unbreakable by Kami Garcia

Unbreakable by Kami Garcia
Spoiler Alert Reviewer: Tina

1=No. Just, no. 2=It's OK. 3=I liked it. 4=I really liked it. 5=It was EPIC!

The Book Itself
How well designed was the plot? 4
How vivid was the setting? 5
How believable were the characters and the dialog? 4
How well did the book hold your interest? 5, sometimes 4
How well did the author's language add to the book? 5
How well did the writing match the books intended audience? 4

Worldwide
Rank this book's mass appeal. 4
How readable was this book? 4
How pleasurable will reading this book be to most teens? 4

Personal
How highly would you recommend this book? 5
How likely are you to read something else by this author? 4
How memorable was this book? 5
How did you feel about the ending? 3
If you did not finish, how did you feel about the beginning?
How creative was this book? 5, sometimes 4

Marketing
Rank the cover (only if the final cover version has been released). 4
How well does the cover match the story? 3
Rank the jacket blurb. 4
Rank the title. 5
How well does the title match the story? 5
Stopping point in the book? Finished

Tell us what you thought of the book overall:

In one word: Suspenseful

Tell us what you really did not like about this book: Her whining.

Pick 5 words to describe this book: Suspenseful, romantic; good sometimes STUPID

Spoiler Alert Mini-Review: Antigoddess by Kendare Blake

Antigoddess by Kendare Blake
Spoiler Alert Reviewer: Delaney

1=No. Just, no. 2=It's OK. 3=I liked it. 4=I really liked it. 5=It was EPIC!

The Book Itself
How well designed was the plot? 5
How vivid was the setting? 4
How believable were the characters and the dialog? 4
How well did the book hold your interest? 5
How well did the author's language add to the book? 4
How well did the writing match the books intended audience? 5

Worldwide
Rank this book's mass appeal. 5
How readable was this book? 4
How pleasurable will reading this book be to most teens? 5

Personal
How highly would you recommend this book? 4
How likely are you to read something else by this author? 5
How memorable was this book? 4
How did you feel about the ending? 4
If you did not finish, how did you feel about the beginning?
How creative was this book? 4

Marketing
Rank the cover (only if the final cover version has been released). 4
How well does the cover match the story? 5
Rank the jacket blurb. 4
Rank the title. 3
How well does the title match the story? 5
Stopping point in the book? Finished the entire book

Tell us what you thought of the book overall:

In one word: Exciting

Tell us what you really did not like about this book: The ending was pretty sad.

Pick 5 words to describe this book: Intense, dark, violent, fun, fast-paced

Spoiler Alert Mini-Review: Steelheart by Brandon Sanderson

Steelheart by Brandon Sanderson
Spoiler Alert Reviewer: Brianna

1=No. Just, no. 2=It's OK. 3=I liked it. 4=I really liked it. 5=It was EPIC!

The Book Itself
How well designed was the plot? 4
How vivid was the setting? 4
How believable were the characters and the dialog? 3
How well did the book hold your interest? 4
Howe well did the author's language add to the book? 4
How well did the writing match the books intended audience? 4

Worldwide
Rank this book's mass appeal. 4
How readable was this book? 4
How pleasurable will reading this book be to most teens? 4

Personal
How highly would you recommend this book? 5
How likely are you to read something else by this author? 5
How memorable was this book? 4
How did you feel about the ending? 4
If you did not finish, how did you feel about the beginning?
How creative was this book? 3

Marketing
Rank the cover (only if the final cover version has been released). 4
How well does the cover match the story? 5
Rank the jacket blurb. 5
Rank the title. 3
How well does the title match the story? 4
Stopping point in the book? Read it all!

Tell us what you thought of the book overall:

In one word: Super!

Tell us what you really did not like about this book: Some of the main characters' metaphors (bad) got annoying.

Pick 5 words to describe this book: Evil superheroes get their comeuppance.

Mini-reviews from Spoiler Alert Book Club

Did you know that Winter Park Public Library has a teen book group named Spoiler Alert for grades 8 & up? They meet every month (usually on the third Thursday from 7-8 p.m.) to snack and chat about a book they voted on at the previous meeting. Pretty standard book club stuff, yes?

What makes Spoiler Alert pretty unique (and inspired the name of the group) is that members also get a chance to read new teen books before they are published and available to the general public! Members choose which book they want to read from our stash of exclusive preview copies. Then at the meeting we dish about our picks--the good and the bad, provide mini reviews and often tweet the authors themselves to let them know what we thought of their upcoming books. Fun, right?

Spoiler Alert will now be sharing those mini reviews with you. The format will be a little different from the other reviews you see posted here, but you'll get a good idea how the reader felt about the book. The title of the post will include "Spoiler Alert" so that you know where it came from.

Want to join Spoiler Alert? Visit our Teen Happenings page to see when our next meeting is taking place and what book (or books!) we will be discussing.

One For the Murphys by Lynda Mullaly Hunt

Reviewed by Trudy L.
Grade 8

Family. Many meanings come to mind when hearing this word, of unconditional love, trust and at times, annoyance. For twelve-year-old Carley Connors however, her "family", consisting of her new stepfather, Dennis, and her pleasure-seeking, yet loving mother, whenever she thinks of this word, she thinks of a time, an event in which her life changed dramatically.

How had Carley's life turned upside down? She was always used to shopping in Salvation Army boxes with her fun-loving mother who would treat her to ice cream afterwards, congratulating her on how in the world would she live without Carley. Carley's life had turned upside down after a heart-breaking betrayal in which Carley vaguely remembers a scuffle that involved her mother holding down her leg as Dennis was about to kick her, before she soon lost consciousness. Afterwards,she is placed with the Murphys, a family with Mrs. and Mr. Murphy and three boys, in Connecticut, a place different from where her mother and she lived (Las Vegas), and she bonds with them over time, through misunderstandings and faults, and finally, she finds peace within them, a family where she could become be one of the Murphys and belong in their family. Carley goes into 8th grade and also finds a best friend in Toni Byars, and they find out that their personalities are like each other. Unexpectedly, shocking news from her mother changes everything and Carley has to fight between who she loves more, the Murphys or her own mother, who claims that she loves her,and maybe, just maybe, life can go back to how it was before the betrayal.

Carley's strong and funny personality shines throughout the story as she bonds with the Murphys. She sees the world in different ways, such as when she figures out that "love" spelled backwards is,"evol." I loved that! Also, she learns to accept the way things are at the end of the story..not going to spoil the ending. Moreover, the author reveals a surprising revelation near the end of the story that unravels what really happened after Carley lost consciousness. The author's plot is strong and her characters well-developed, except for a few characters such as, Adam, Carley's middle foster brother, whom the author didn't go into much extent.One more thing, Michael Eric, the youngest Murphy, was adorably cute in the way he talked and through his actions.

I would recommend One For the Murphys based upon the author's funny writing style and because I connect with one of the themes of the story, "Keep moving forward." Though pain keeps us on our knees, that's the only way to grow stronger, and for your eyes to be opened to things that you've never noticed before.

Okay For Now by Gary D. Schmidt

Reviewed by Rylee M.
Grade 7

1968. The Vietnam War is raging. Joe Pepitone is playing for the New York Yankees, and the Apollo space missions are under way. At this time there were lots of families with soldiers overseas. Being in New York, which is not the safest city, there are a lot of broken up families. Would you like to live like this? How would it make you feel if your oldest brother was off in the war and your other brother was accused of robbery? Doug, the main character in Okay For Now, goes through this when he moves to upstate New York.

Doug Swieteck lives in a small apartment that he personally calls "dump." His father is a drunk, but his mother is one of the most caring and thoughtful mothers there is. Doug's older brother is off in the Vietnam War, and his other older brother was accused of a robbery. Doug does not have the ideal family life. One of the more positive things Doug focuses on is baseball. Doug is a huge new York Yankees fan. Joe Pepitone, the Yankees' star player at the time, had even signed a hat and a jacket for Doug. Although valuable things don't last long in his house, so he lost his hat on the side of the road, and his brother took his jacket. With practically nothing left he decided to pay a visit to the library, where he meets sassy Lil Spicer, the daughter of the deli owner. The two of them form a surprising alliance as Doug's older brother comes home.

Even though I'm usually not interested or entertained by books that are historical fiction or realistic fiction, I like Okay For Now. I absolutely could not put it down! It was very good overall and very well written. I really liked how the author put the story together and the word choice in this book. I would highly recommend this book to readers of all kinds!

Legend by Marie Lu

Reviewed by Rylee M.
Grade 7

What will happen to the United States in the future? Who will be the ruler? What will it be like? June, a fifteen-year-old military prodigy, experiences the future United States or, what was the United States. She also has to deal with the country's most wanted criminal!

In the book Legend by Marie Lu, June came home to some unpleasant news. Her only brother, who was also her only guardian, was killed. There was a knife thrown in his shoulder by--or so they think--Day, the county's most wanted criminal. They live in the Republic, which used to be part of the United States, until a huge feud broke out and the country was split in two: the Republic and the Patriots. Day,has been accused of theft, arson, destruction of property, destruction of military property, and more. When June's brother is killed, she is sent out to hunt down Day. June's brother was a high ranking military officer, and so is she. With her on her hunt for Day is Thomas, her brother's best friend. When Day and June meet, June is alone undercover roaming the streets. After she spends several days with him and another girl that he took in, June reveals her true identity and turns him in. While he is locked away she comes and visits him several times and develops feelings for him and decides to help him escape.

After reading Legend I definitely think that it is one of the best books I have ever read in my life! I loved all of the action, but at the same time I thought that it was a fabulous love story of two fifteen-year-olds. The events that lead up to June and Day meeting are very important because they are the causes of the events later in the book. I was very shocked at the ending!

I would recommend this book for two reasons. The style of writing and the overall way the whole story was worded was magnificent, and the story itself was very good and very entertaining. Legend would be a good book for readers of almost any interests. With a wide variety of characters with vibrant personalities to the setting it was all very well done. I would highly recommend this book to almost anyone!