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Geeks and the Holy Grail (Camelot Code #2), by Mari Mancusi, for Timeslip Tuesday

The first book in the Camelot Code series, The Once and Future Geek , mixed time travel between the medieval world of King Arthur and our own, and it is a very entertaining book.  The second book in the series, Geeks and Holy Grail (Hyperion, October 2019), is also entertaining (though not quite as funny; King Arthur as a modern day high school student is hard to beat....). When Morgana, sworn enemy of King Arthur, attacks the druids of Avalon, Nimue, the youngest of them, takes the Holy Grail and runs with it.  King Arthur is dying, and only the Grail can save him.  Desperate to keep it from falling into Morgana's hands, she stumbles into Merlin's Crystal Cave.  But instead of Merlin there to help her (he's on vacation in Los Vegas, in our time), there's only his very inexperienced apprentice, Emrys.  His attempt to hide the grail works, in a sense--as a small, flatulent dragon, it sure doesn't look much like a grail.  But it isn't much use to Arthur as a...

The Secret

When You Leave

By Monica Ropal

Cass is convinced that everyone will leave her. Her father is gone and now her mother is married to some random rich guy she doesn't like and she has to go to a random private school. Cass is determined to stay out of the spotlight and stay in the background. However there is a cute boy named Cooper whose locker is next to hers. Although Cass doesn't want anything to do with him, they just click. Then all of a sudden Cooper is murdered. When Cass' friend is accused of killing him, Cass has to be the detective and find out who really killed him, because obviously Gav is being framed.

Honestly I really did not like the book. It wasn't very well planned out and the only thing I was even remotely interested was Mattie, who of course is the love interest in the end. The book starts off when Cass goes to a new private school that has nuns and she just wants to blend in. Cass isn't your 'typical girl' she's a skater girl, and she has other skater friends so she's cool and better than all the other girls at her school. So she's in detention one day and this guy- Cooper- comes in looking for something in a desk. When one of the nuns walks into the classroom he panics and starts kissing Cass. For no reason. With no warning. Of course the nun is all like 'oh you just wanted to see your girlfriend ok you can both go now' and she leaves detention. Cooper is of course like that was nothing don't think of it but I'll wink at you cause you're cute. Some time later Cooper walks up to Cass when she's alone and says 'you're not like other girls, you actually have emotions.' What exactly is that supposed to mean? He's known her for about a day and says she is special because she can feel things. Wow. So special.

Basically the entire plot of the book hinges on Cooper finding Cass special and not like other girls and Cass thinks the same thing of herself. Cooper doesn't treat Cass all that well, he doesn't try to get to know her and she just thinks she is so special because the popular boy likes her. The book could have been a lot better if it didn't mention that Cooper died in the summary. If it hadn't said that then the book would have had a plot twist and more of a mystery component. But no.

Another thing I didn't like about the book is that Cooper and Cass were in a relationship for about two weeks before he died. Which of course gives you so much time to know someone. And I understand that she wanted to solve the murder for her friend Gav because he's being framed but it wasn't that well written. I personally don't really like the whole 'kid knows more about murder than police do and manages to solve it' trope, it's overused and super unrealistic. However this book took that to another level. The only reason Cass was able to solve the murder was because of a cell phone. In a log. Right next to the crime scene. Because obviously the cops wouldn't have checked in a log for the phone, and you know, the killer wouldn't have just deleted the text or destroyed the phone or anything. And of course Cass would just have a dream about it. Dreams don't work like that. She's not talking to dead people. The dream makes no sense at all. It also bothered me that the killer was so obvious. I won't say who it is, but from the moment the character entered I knew he killed Cooper.

One more thing I don't like about this book: Mattie and Cass' brother. Cass' brother was autistic, he didn't talk well and didn't communicate well, and while I have no problem with autistic people, the only reason her brother was autistic was to show how little Cass connects to other people. It showed how much she was like her brother- just a quiet person who doesn't work well with others and no one really understands. It bothered me to no end that her brother was autistic for the sole purpose of showing how hard she has it. And then there's Mattie. Honestly he was the only character I liked. He was mute, so he could never talk, but Cass could of course understand him. It was never explained if he wrote on a piece of paper or if he signed to her but she could understand him while others couldn't. Mattie ends up the love interest and saves her and it's like the brother again, Cass only connects with people who don't talk much or at all. The reason Mattie was mute was because the author needed to show how hard Cass had it and how she doesn't connect with 'normal' people.

I did not like this book. I give it a 1 out of 5 stars, it just was not interesting or engaging. It was like a piece of stale bread. Overused, old, not tasteful and hard to get into. I would not recommend this book to anyone.

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This week's round-up of middle grade science fiction and fantasy from around the blogs (10/13/19)

Here's what I found in my blog reading this week; please let me know if I missed your post! The Reviews The Bootlace Magician (Cicus Mirandus #2), by Cassie Beasley, at Randomly Reading The Boy Who Was Fire, by Marcus Kahle McCann, at The Children's Book Review City of Bones, by Victoria Schwab, at Pages Unbound The Dark Lord Clementine, by Sarah Jean Howitz, at Sally's Bookshelf Dead Voices, by Katherine Arden, at Charlotte's Library Dragon Pearl, by Yoon Ha Lee, at Imaginary Friends The Dragon Warrior, by Katie Zhao, at Log Cabin Library , Forever and Everly , and Lost In Storyland Ember: the Secret Book, by Jamie Smart, at Mr Ripleys Enchanted Books The Hippo at the End of the Hall, by Helen Cooper, at Charlotte's Library Homerooms and Hall Passes, by Tom O'Donnell, at Ms. Yingling Reads The International Yeti Collective, by Paul Mason, at Book Craic The Little Broomstick, by Mary Stewart, at Fantasy Literature Mightier than the Sword, by Drew Callander and ...

Stolen Time, by Danielle Rollins, for Timeslip Tuesday

If you are in the mood for a real page turner of a YA time travel story (it only took me two and a bit hours to read 400 pages), with lots of twists, lots of great characters, and lots of action, look no further than Stolen Time, by Danielle Rollins (Febraury 2019, HarperTeen). It begins in Seattle, in 1913, when Dorothy runs away from the marriage her con-artist mother has inveigled her into.  Her flight leads her to a time traveler, from New Seattle, 2077.  Ash is on a mission to find his mentor, the professor who figured out time travel technology, and who disappeared. leaving his team of young people gathered from different times without guidance and purpose.  Dorothy stows away in his ship, and Ash inadvertently takes her back to his own time, to a city devastated by earthquakes and inundated by tidal waves. It's a city living in fear of a vicious gang, whose co-leader, Roman, was once one of the professor's brightest students.  But Roman wanted time travel to ...

The Clockwork Scarab

By: Coleen Gleason Two girls are dead and one has gone missing in 1889 London.  The only clues are an Egyptian Scarabs that were found at both the murder scenes. Well, not exactly murder, both deaths were made out to look like suicides.  Mina Holmes, as in Sherlock Holmes's niece, and Evaline Stoker, sister of Bram Stoker (author of Dracula), are called to a secret meeting at the British Museum by Irene Adler.  Stoker and Holmes are called to investigate these series of murders by the Princess of Wales.  Along the way Holmes makes friends with Dylan Eckhert.  Dylan was at the museum looking at the statue of Sekhmet,  and Egyptian  Goddess, when he touched a scarab on the statue.  Next thing he knew, he woke up in 1889 London.  His problems come from the fact that he's from 2016 London.  Miss Holmes also has a rivalry with Lieutenant Grayling, of Scotland Yard.  Miss Stoker runs into a mysterious pick-pocket, Pix (meaning Pixie), a c...

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