January 2017 Wrap Up

So far in January, I have read 2 books. 

Book #1: Earth & Sky by Megan Crewe

Seventeen-year-old Skylar has been haunted for as long as she can remember by fleeting yet powerful sensations that something is horribly wrong. But despite the panic attacks tormenting her, nothing ever happens, and Sky’s beginning to think she’s crazy. Then she meets a mysterious, otherworldly boy named Win and discovers the shocking truth her premonitions have tapped into: our world no longer belongs to us. For thousands of years, Earth has been at the mercy of alien scientists who care nothing for its inhabitants and are using us as the unwitting subjects of their time-manipulating experiments. Win belongs to a rebel faction seeking to put a stop to it, and he needs Skylar’s help--but with each shift in the past, the very fabric of reality is unraveling, and soon there may be no Earth left to save.

I know this is a YA book, but it very much reads like a middle grade. Is it a middle grade? I don't know. Originally I gave this a 4/5, but after some thought, I have to drop it to a 3/5. The story was too simplistic most of the time. I didn't like it much at all. So, this girl goes off with a guy she hardly knows. Not even a few days worth of knowing him...but a few hours. Who would do that? Who in their right mind would just wander off with a man who sounds like a nutter? It just didn't feel right to me. I think he even technically abducted her. Skylar is 16 and Win was at least 18 or 19. Overall, the plot wasn't bad. I don't hate it, but I don't like it either. I will be at least attempting to read The Clouded Sky. Unless that can grab me, I don't think I will be finishing the series.

Book #2: If I Stay by Gayle Forman

Just listen, Adam says with a voice that sounds like shrapnel.

I open my eyes wide now.

I sit up as much as I can.

And I listen.

Stay, he says.

Choices. Seventeen-year-old Mia is faced with some tough ones: Stay true to her first love—music—even if it means losing her boyfriend and leaving her family and friends behind? Then one February morning Mia goes for a drive with her family, and in an instant, everything changes. Suddenly, all the choices are gone, except one. And it's the only one that matters.

So the premise of this book was certainly an interesting one. If you had to choose, what would it be? Mia very nearly passes on to be with her parents and Teddy, but a boy changes her mind at the last minute. I'm not sure I would have made the same choice. Everything she knows is gone. You can't pick up and move on from that. I just hope her road is as easy as it can get. I enjoyed it, but I took off a star because of the ending. That was entirely unfair. I'm definitely going to look into Where She Went.


Book #3: The Book of Esther by Emily Barton

What if an empire of Jewish warriors that really existed in the Middle Ages had never fallen—and was the only thing standing between Hitler and his conquest of Russia? Eastern Europe, August 1942. The Khazar kaganate, an isolated nation of Turkic warrior Jews, lies between the Pontus Euxinus (the Black Sea) and the Khazar Sea (the Caspian). It also happens to lie between a belligerent nation to the west that the Khazars call Germania—and a city the rest of the world calls Stalingrad. After years of Jewish refugees streaming across the border from Europa, fleeing the war, Germania launches its siege of Khazaria. Only Esther, the daughter of the nation’s chief policy adviser, sees the ominous implications of Germania's disregard for Jewish lives. Only she realizes that this isn’t just another war but an existential threat. After witnessing the enemy warplanes’ first foray into sovereign Khazar territory, Esther knows she must fight for her country. But as the elder daughter in a traditional home, her urgent question is how. Before daybreak one fateful morning, she embarks on a perilous journey across the open steppe. She seeks a fabled village of Kabbalists who may hold the key to her destiny: their rumored ability to change her into a man so that she may convince her entire nation to join in the fight for its very existence against an enemy like none Khazaria has ever faced before.

I got this book from Blogging for Books free for review. I did post one up here somewhere. It should be relatively near to this post. I did like the book, but I also rated 4/5 for reasons that I explained in the actual full review. Please go read that to find out more about what I thought of the book.

Review: The Book of Esther by Emily Barton (SPOILERS)

What if an empire of Jewish warriors that really existed in the Middle Ages had never fallen—and was the only thing standing between Hitler and his conquest of Russia? Eastern Europe, August 1942. The Khazar kaganate, an isolated nation of Turkic warrior Jews, lies between the Pontus Euxinus (the Black Sea) and the Khazar Sea (the Caspian). It also happens to lie between a belligerent nation to the west that the Khazars call Germania—and a city the rest of the world calls Stalingrad. After years of Jewish refugees streaming across the border from Europa, fleeing the war, Germania launches its siege of Khazaria. Only Esther, the daughter of the nation’s chief policy adviser, sees the ominous implications of Germania's disregard for Jewish lives. Only she realizes that this isn’t just another war but an existential threat. After witnessing the enemy warplanes’ first foray into sovereign Khazar territory, Esther knows she must fight for her country. But as the elder daughter in a traditional home, her urgent question is how. Before daybreak one fateful morning, she embarks on a perilous journey across the open steppe. She seeks a fabled village of Kabbalists who may hold the key to her destiny: their rumored ability to change her into a man so that she may convince her entire nation to join in the fight for its very existence against an enemy like none Khazaria has ever faced before. - Goodreads.com

The very second I saw this in the list of books you could request, I just had to have it. I am from both German and Jewish (through Poland, I think) heritage. I really wanted to know what would have happened if the tides had virtually been turned. When I first saw the book, and hadn't looked at reviews, I thought it was supposed to be Queen Esther. I'm not sure I've ever been happier to be wrong in my life. This takes place in 1942, so right near the beginning of WWII. I've been obsessed with WWII for a very long time now.

This book takes place over what I am assuming is actually about two weeks. She leaves for Yetzirah, which many people don't believe even exists, to find people who can help her. I feel for this girl. She is so distraught over the fate of her country (or kaganate, despite me not knowing what that means) that she is willing to break Jewish law in order to do so. Esther is literally willing to put everything on the line to help her people.

Esther finds out that the residents of this village are Kabbalists, which means they practice some sort of Jewish magic and she hopes they can help her. At first she's not even sure what it is she wants them to help her do. Anything to save Khazaria. I think that she had a deep knowledge of what had to be done, just wasn't aware of it. The idea behind Esther going against literally everything she knows just to do what she knows is needed is amazing. Being from a very prominent family, she risked shame on them all.

The plot is great, and I loved how characters would either blatantly ignore certain religious law (the negiah) or try to justify their having to break it (working/fighting on the Sabbath). You could almost feel their internal struggles to do what was right versus what they had been told was wrong. Even when others were telling them to abide by the rules, they had to be strong enough to stand their ground. I particularly liked how Ya'el made the bold statement of uncovering her hair, something no married woman ever did in public.

I gave this book 4/5 stars because I was not fond of the way it ended. It did so much as end, as just stopped. Literally in the middle of the battle. What was that? They couldn't have at least finished the battle scene and told us how it worked out? Did they actually defeat the Germanii and protect Khazar and Atil or did the Germanii win and overrun them? I would have loved to know the final outcome.

I received this from Blogging for Books a website where you can choose 1 book to read and review and they will send it to you. I suggest any and all reviewers check out this site. They have some really good books available.