REVIEW: Radiant Darkness by Emily Whitman

I finished another good book this week, Radiant Darkness by Emily Whitman.  Here is the summary from GoodReads:

Radiant Darkness

by Emily Whitman

Persephone lives in the most gorgeous place in the world. But her mother's a goddess, as overprotective as she is powerful. Paradise has become a trap. Just when Persephone feels there's no chance of escaping the life that's been planned for her, a mysterious stranger arrives. A stranger who promises something more—something dangerous and exciting—something that spurs Persephone to make a daring choice. A choice that could destroy all she's come to love, even the earth itself.
In a land where a singing river can make you forget your very name, Persephone is forced to discover who—and what—she really is.

This book was very different than the Percy Jackson books, which are the only other mythology books that I have read.  I liked this one better.  I think I prefer the narrator being female rather than male.  I would have preferred more action in this story however.  But all in all, I enjoyed Radiant Darkness.  The chapters were each only a few pages long, which made it easy to put down and then pick up again.  Oftentimes I only have a few minutes at a time to read, so this book was great for me to pick up and read a quick chapter or two.  I am going to try to read more books by this author.  I also am going to read more mythology related books too.  I enjoy them.  Next mythology retelling for me will be The Goddess Test by Aimee Carter.  But first I am going to read Dirty Little Secrets by C.J. Omololu.

REVIEW: The Other Wes Moore by Wes Moore

The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates

Two kids with the same name lived in the same decaying city. One went on to be a Rhodes Scholar, decorated combat veteran, White House Fellow, and business leader. The other is serving a life sentence in prison. Here is the story of two boys and the journey of a generation.
In December 2000, the Baltimore Sun ran a small piece about Wes Moore, a local student who had just received a Rhodes Scholarship. The same paper also ran a series of articles about four young men who had allegedly killed a police officer in a spectacularly botched armed robbery. The police were still hunting for two of the suspects who had gone on the lam, a pair of brothers. One was named Wes Moore. 

Wes just couldn’t shake off the unsettling coincidence, or the inkling that the two shared much more than space in the same newspaper. After following the story of the robbery, the manhunt, and the trial to its conclusion, he wrote a letter to the other Wes, now a convicted murderer serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole. His letter tentatively asked the questions that had been haunting him: Who are you? How did this happen?

That letter led to a correspondence and relationship that have lasted for several years. Over dozens of letters and prison visits, Wes discovered that the other Wes had had a life not unlike his own: Both had grown up in similar neighborhoods and had had difficult childhoods, both were fatherless; they’d hung out on similar corners with similar crews, and both had run into trouble with the police. At each stage of their young lives they had come across similar moments of decision, yet their choices would lead them to astonishingly different destinies.
--summary from GoodReads
This was a fascinating book.  As a mother of 3 boys, my heart ached as I read about these two boys and all of the other children caught in these circumstances.  I also related to the mothers who loved their sons dearly and wanted the best for their boys.  I read the book rooting for both boys, even though I already knew that one boy landed a life sentence in jail for murder.  I would recommend this book to anyone.  I generally prefer to read fiction, but occasionally a good non-fiction book hits just the right note.  

REVIEW: Variant by Robison Wells

 

 Variant 

Benson Fisher thought that a scholarship to Maxfield Academy would be the ticket out of his dead-end life.
He was wrong.
Now he’s trapped in a school that’s surrounded by a razor-wire fence. A school where video cameras monitor his every move. Where there are no adults. Where the kids have split into groups in order to survive.
Where breaking the rules equals death.
But when Benson stumbles upon the school’s real secret, he realizes that playing by the rules could spell a fate worse than death, and that escape—his only real hope for survival—may be impossible.

 From Good reads

I really liked this book.  As I read it I knew that several of the boys at my high school would love it.  Girls too, but it just seems as a librarian I am always looking for books to recommend to boys.  This book would particularly appeal to some of our male reluctant readers, in my opinion.  I'll definitely want to put this book on our next library order.  The book ended with a cliffhanger that I was not too happy about.  I wanted more of a resolution to the fates of the characters.  I will definitely be reading the sequel whenever it comes out.

My 2012 Reading Goals

I am going to join in on the 2012 Debut Author Challenge hosted by one of my favorite blogs, The Story Siren.  The challenge is to read 12 books this year by new authors in the YA category.  This will be a fun challenge, as I love to find new authors.  I'll post my reviews and link up to the challenge at http://thestorysiren.com.

*********************************************************************************

I'm also going to join in on another challenge over at the blog http://romancebookjunkies.blogspot.com

I have been reading historical romance novels for over 18 years now, so this challenge will be easy-peasy.  Historical romance novels have been my favorite choice for reading material for a very long time.  I have only been reading YA novels for about one year now, and I love those too.  But they are very different genres, so it is nice to balance between the two.  The challenge is to read 12 historical novels in 2012, and to link up one review a month.  This will be fun!


********************************************************************************
Finally, I am going to challenge myself to read 100 books in 2012, any genre I want.  I have placed my goodreads ticker on my blog to keep track.