Katharine McGee's THE THOUSANDTH FLOOR is a glittering, gritty teen drama set in a futuristic New York. Everyone lives in the Tower, a two-and-a-half-mile-tall building that dominates the Manhattan skyline of 2118 and sets the stage for intrigue, drama, and life-changing secrets. What you can steal 1. Characters you love to hate I had no … Continue reading The Thousandth Floor Review

Amie Kaufman’s and Jay Kristoff’s Illuminae is an epic space opera told on a personal scale. It’s the story of Kady and Ezra, but it’s also the story of what it means to be human; whether it’s right to put the needs of the many above the needs of the few; how tragedy shows us … Continue reading Illuminae Review

Stephanie Garber’s Caraval is effervescent, atmospheric, vivid. She masterfully creates a stunning world where sisters, sailors, and mysterious players revolve around one another in a game where nothing—or everything—is real. What you can steal 1. Her sumptuous scene-setting. I hesitate to call this worldbuilding—while Garber does invest in some intriguing worldbuilding, it’s her individual scenes … Continue reading Caraval Review

Ruta Sepetys’ Salt to the Sea is an incredibly moving novel that follows the journey of four young people fleeing the approaching Russian army in the last months of WWII. What you can steal 1. Sepetys’ incredible, sparse prose Sepetys writes with astonishing clarity. Her chapters are short, her sentences bare, but her characters are … Continue reading Salt to the Sea Review