Land of the Unaltered

Title: Land of the Unaltered

Author: Leti Del Mar

Genre: Science Fiction

Main Character(s): Rose, Flynn, Aunt Ivy, Eric

Story: Rose is from the rich, capital city. Flynn is from Eureka, one of the cities that supplies the capital city. The people in the rich city alter themselves with plastic surgery to look fashionable. But Rose doesn't want to alter herself, so she moves to Eureka and lives with her Aunt Ivy. In Eureka she meets Flynn. Flynn doesn't like Rose at first, but eventually he starts to like her.

One day their job is to go into the forest to collect samples. Their car breaks down, and they discover a secret that changes their lives. By the end of the story they are on their way to the capital as spies.

Review:

The story seemed a little like the Hunger Games, but without the battle to the death. I liked Rose and Flynn's adventure when they go off into the forest to collect samples. . But overall I felt the story needed more action. There wasn't any big challenge for Rose and Flynn to overcome.

Rating: 3.5 stars

Comments: I don't think I would read this book again, but I would read other books by this author. I recommend this book to young adults.

Reviewed by WM Fazanza

Book One, Mortal Realm Witch; Learning About Magic

Title: Book One, Mortal Realm Witch; Learning About Magic

Author: Jennifer Priester

Genre: Fantasy

e-book

Published 2012

First novel in Mortal Realm Witch series

Main Character(s): DWW, a witch, and Trillman, her dog familar.

Story: The book has six stories that can be read together or separately. But it begins with a "prologue" that explains about witches. We live in the Mortal Realm, but most witches live in the Other Realm. Some witches live in the Mortal Realm with us. After this opening explanation about witches and their magic, the first story about a witch called DWW begins. DWW lives mostly in the Mortal Realm. She gets a letter on her birthday which tells her that she is witch. She is also warned not to tell any mortal that she is a witch, because they might be a witch hunter.

My favorite of the six stories was "Wolf Magic" where DWW is in charge of protecting magical wolf pups and teaching them magic. DWW can change into a wolf. She takes the pups hunting. I liked how she teaches them how to do things. Also this story felt most like a story to me.

Review: This leads to my review. One thing I didn't like with this book was that alot of it is just the author telling us about DWW, but not really telling a story. I mean the author tells us how DWW takes the wolf pups hunting, But it is not like a story where you worry about what is going to happen next. In the beginning they mention witch hunters. It would be more exciting if there were witch hunters chasing DWW and the pups. But maybe this will come later in the series.

Rating: 3 stars

Comments: I don't think I would read this book again. But I would read another book in the Mortal Realm Witch series. And I would recommend this book to some middle-graders and kids who are younger than middle graders, both boys and girls.

Reviewed by WM Fazanza

The Princess Bride

Title: The Princess Bride

Author: William Goldman

Genre: Romantic Fantasy

450 pages

Main Character(s): Buttercup, Westly, Prince Humperdink, the three outlaws- Vizzini, Inigo, and Fezzik, and the mysterious man in black

Story: The story takes place in the fantasy world of Florin. Westly, a farm boy, goes off to make a fortune so he can marry the beautiful Buttecup. But Westly is attacked by a famous pirate, and he is believed to be killed. Then Buttercup agrees to marry Prince Humperdink. But Vizzini, Inigo, and Fezzik kidnap Buttercup. They try to get away, but they are chased down by the mysterious man in black. I don't want to ruin the story for those who didn't read it yet, but there is adventure, fun, and magic. And the ending is..... well, kind of happy I think.

Review:

I liked the mysterious man in black, because he is an excellent swordsman, a very strong wrestler, and smart. When I was reading the book, I did not like all the comments that the author, William Goldman added. These comments were supposed to be about the original story, which was supposed to be written by S. Morgenstern. But later I learned that S. Morgenstern is not a real author. She is not even a real person. She was created by William Goldman like a character in a book.

Rating: 4 stars

Comments: I would read this book again, but I don't think I would read other books by this author. I recommend this book to middle-grader girls and boys.

Reviewed by WM Fazanza

The Red Pyramid by Rick Riordan

Title: The Red Pyramid

Author: Rick Riordan

Genre: Fantasy

516 pages

Published 2010

First novel in The Kane Chronicle series

Main Character(s): Carter Kane, Sadie Kane

Story: The story takes place in present day. The famous Egyptologist, Dr. Julius Crane, makes a mistake and releases some Egyptian gods. Then his children, Carter and Sadie, have to work together and find a way to stop Set, an evil Egyptian god, from exploding the planet. Along the way Carter and Sadie learn that they are the descendants of Egyptian magicians, and they have magical powers.

Review: I thought the story was interesting, because it introduced many Egyptian gods and put them in a story plot. At times it was confusing to remember all the Egyptian gods, but it was also fun to learn a little about them. I like the fact that this book is long and part of a series. Also I learned a little about hieroglyphs, which was a kind of picture writing that the ancient Egyptians used.

Rating: 4 stars

Comments: I would read this book again, and I plan to read other book by this author. I would recommend it to middle-grader girls and boys.

Reviewed by WM Fazanza