A Study in Charlotte by Brittany Cavallaro

4 Stars

CHARLOTTE AND SHERLOCK HOLMES ARE THE SAME PERSON

Book Rating: PG-13 (High PG-13 for Language)

Language: High PG-13 (f*ck is used throughout. Not used like every other sentence, but once or twice per chapter. Also used are d*mn, h*ll, b*tch, b*stard, sh*t)

Sex: PG/PG-13 (There is no actual sex in the book. One character is raped before the story begins and talks about it. One character jokingly asks if she should “spread my legs right here” when a character is calling her a slut. Someone asks several times if two characters are sleeping together)

Violence: PG (There is a murder at the school without blood and there is an attempted murder where a girl is bludgeoned and a diamond is stuffed into her throat. A building explodes, but we don’t see the actual event. We hear about a man hanging himself)

Drugs/Alcohol: PG-13 (The main character is addicted to oxycodone and talks about being addicted to cocaine and heroin in the past. She struggles throughout the book. Teenage smoking and drinking)

A Study in Charlotte is basically a modern version of Sherlock Holmes. It follows the descendants of Sherlock Holmes (Charlotte) and John Watson (Jaime) as they solve a mystery in their sophomore year at boarding school. 

I liked this book. I actually liked this book a lot. It had a great mystery, great dynamic characters, and a good amount of action. I liked the fact that Sherlock Holmes was a girl this time around and that Jaime Watson was just as naïve and confused as John Watson at times. 

The mystery was really good the whole way through. It introduced you to every person at the very beginning and made you suspect them all. I couldn’t figure it out so when it was finally revealed I was nice and surprised. I liked the way the villain went about getting Jaime and Charlotte’s attention by reenacting mysteries from The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. I learned about several stories that I’m now interested in picking up and reading. 

Jaime Watson was a good narrator. He was engaging from the very first sentence. He was a little quirky, funny, and ridiculously sarcastic at times. I loved his back story and the fact that he romanticized Charlotte Holmes growing up and dreamed they were off on all sorts of adventures together as kids. It was cute. Jaime was a lot like John in a way. He was quiet, a bit snarky, a little naïve, and always trying to save a Holmes from his/herself. 

The only real problem I had with this book was with Charlotte. Don’t get me wrong, I loved her as a character. She was witty and a little distant. Distracted and too smart to give anyone the time of day. She would’ve been perfect if she was original. CHARLOTTE IS EXACTLY LIKE SHERLOCK. The only noticeable difference between them was that Charlotte was a little bit more emotional. She showed Jaime how much she cared for him on several occasions throughout the novel, something that Sherlock would never do with John. Other than that, Charlotte had the same exact personality as Sherlock. She went off on tangents when deducing or observing something. Her older brother, the tech wiz who is part of MI5 and has unlimited resources is named Milo. MYcroft, MIlo. Two syllables, same sound at the beginning. Same person. Charlotte had a lab. She had the same drug problem as Sherlock. The only difference in that was that she was addicted to oxy. Several times throughout the book, I became confused and was convinced I was reading something out of Sherlock Holmes because the two were so alike. 

I liked Charlotte, but I had to dock a star because I only liked her because she was Sherlock Holmes in a girl’s body. 

Overall, this book was a fun and fast read. It kept me reading from the very first chapter. (I have to give credit to Jaime Watson as the narrator for that though). The mystery was very good and the characters overall were engaging and interesting. It’s the perfect read for a rainy day. 

“At best, our friendship made me feel as though I was a part of something larger, something grander; that, with her, I’d been given access to a world whose unseen currents ran parallel to ours.” 

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Elfin by Quinn Loftis

1 FREAKING STAR

PLUS--A MILLION STARS TAKEN AWAY FOR THE USE OF THE PHRASE "HIS ADONIS LOOK"

(From 40% in)

Book Rating: Idk, PG-13? Never actually finished it so I can’t say

Language: PG (a**….)

Violence: G (THERE’S LITERALLY NO ACTION)

Sex: PG-13 (Talk of sex, Trik is using his tongue all over Cassie and pushing her against things)

Drugs/Alcohol: PG (Teenage party with underage drinking)

I’d first like to say that I see I am in the minority with this book. It has an average of over four stars on Goodreads which actually surprises me. I have a bad habit of hating books that most people love. I respect your opinion if you loved this book and it is not my intention to purposefully insult anyone, so if you’re looking for a brilliant review, it’s not gonna be here. This review will fully trash this book. 

I saw Elfin for free on BookBub and was intrigued by the description. Teenage girl accidentally sees an elf in its true form and her life is immediately forfeit. Cool, right? Unfortunately, this book did not deliver on this promise of action and adventure. Triktapic (what a name, amiright) is the best assassin for the dark king of the elves. He kills people and likes it. Cassie is just an ordinary girl with extremely hot parents and a goth girl for her best friend. Trik runs into Cassie and knows she’s his Chosen Mate and that he’d do anything for her. Cassie is not fazed and is like, cool, he looks dangerous, locked in this dark closet with me as he tries to seduce me with his playboy ways, but I love him too. Literally 15% into reading the elves that were going to kill her were like, “Hey, she’s a Chosen of the big bad assassin, we not gonna kill her. She cool.” So that’s it. Trik follows Cassie to school, makes out with her when he’s invisible in the middle of school, says misogynistic things, and cheats on her not even 30% in. WHAT A GRAND ADVENTURE.

I usually try to give a book a good chance until the 50% mark, but I could tell at 40% that I would not be able to stand these characters anymore. I had to put it down. Not only was the plot one of the blandest plots I’ve ever read in my life (Vampire Kisses was even better), but the characters hurt my very soul. I can’t count the number of times I rolled my eyes at the things the characters said, did, and thought. I’m betting on a solid 23 times. Everyone was exceptionally boring. So to start off this rip-roaring adventure of analyzing characters, we’ll start with the man I hate the most, the dark assassin himself, Triktapic.

Trik: glossy black hair so dark that it’s almost purple, seductive, playboy, desperately in love with a human girl he met in a closet and is constantly concerned if she’s “legal” or not. I have never hated a male character more than I hate Trik. The boy was born over a millennium ago but he still acts like a seventeen-year-old boy who thinks he knows everything. You just give him a mirror and he would stare at his reflection for hours. Ironic that he uses mirrors for traveling. What really bothers me about him is that he is a borderline sociopath. He’s always telling Cassie what she can and can’t do. When she was at a party with her friends having a good time, he swept in there and kidnapped her without her consent. He then went on to tell her to stay in her room until he came back for her and got frustrated when she asked him why. The author makes this out to be romantic. It is not romantic in the slightest. My best friend’s emotionally abusive boyfriend did these exact things to her and it destroyed her inside. It is the opposite of romantic. Not to mention that Trik treats Cassie like a child.

Cassie: I can deal with her. She’s basic in the most literal sense of the word. I don’t think we even got a description on the girl. All we know is that she has big boobs and that’s about it. Cassie aggravated me at times, but she was simple; a character that wasn’t terrible. The problem I had with Cassie, besides her being overwhelmingly basic, was that everything Trik told her she took to heart. When he kidnapped her from the party, she didn’t say a word, just accepted it. When he told her it was “unbelievably” happy that she was a virgin but told her he’d slept with many girls, she didn’t even blink an eye. So like it’s cool for him to sleep with an unnumbered amount of women, but it’s not okay for her to sleep with anyone but him. He then makes her feel uncomfortable and makes her wonder if she should have more “experiences” with other people before settling on him. When he tells her to stay in her room until he comes back and not to leave the house because it’s apparently dangerous, (why? Everyone’s chill with her now), she just silently agrees with him. He treats her like a child and accepts it without another thought. LIKE, GIRL DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW EMOTIONALLY ABUSIVE THAT IS?!

Elora: Cassie’s best friend who happens to be goth, is the only one to think Trik is just a joke. I like her for that reason. Otherwise, Elora is one of those people who thinks she’s funny but really isn’t and everyone around her laughs at her jokes that make no sense just to make her feel better. And that’s Elora’s character.

Pretty much my beef with this book was with the characters. The dialogue was awkward between them and unconvincing. I had no clue why the light and dark kings and queens were included in the POV’s, but I forget their names already. I think they were trying to be relevant but they just ended up taking away from the story. 

My second big issue was with the writing itself. I’m unconvinced that the author even had an editor. I ended up highlighting so many grammar mistakes and awkward sentence structures that I’m sure if I got through the entire novel that my iPad’s memory would be long gone. For example, the author used the word “waiver” when saying “making sure her voice didn’t waver” or using the word “hall” when saying “she’s going to haul your pathetic looking form to be examined by…” I don’t think I could have stood any more of those mistakes, but that’s just how extra I am. It was just common things that every author should know, like the right form of words to use or where a comma should go when using quotation marks. The simple things. It drove me crazy. 

The whole book was incredibly cheesy with the whole insta-love thing and the make-you-want-to-hurl lines and the lack of anything actually happening that was worth my time. It was like bad fanfiction. I wouldn’t ever suggest that you pick this book up.

“She wanted to pull away, yet she also wanted to wrap herself in his arms, to have him touch her, kiss her, love her.” (Chapter ONE)

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Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng

5 Stars

Book Rating: PG-13


Language: PG-13 (Exactly two f*cks)

Violence: PG (It's not so much violent as it is intense. This is an intense book)

Sex: PG-13 (Multiple instances of couples having sex. It doesn't explicitly describe it, but you can definitely tell by the "unzips his fly" and something about "her bare thighs")

Drugs/Alcohol: PG (teen smoking, teen drinking. One kid basically is black out drunk)

     This book is absolutely a masterpiece in family literature. The story tells of the Lees, a Chinese-American family in 1977 middle America who have just recently lost their middle and favorite child. This novel weaves together such an important family portrait through words and verbal images alone. 

     This isn't my typical "go to" genre. I don't read family dramas because I have the common misconception that they're "boring." This one kept my interest until the very end due to the emotional ties that I grew with the characters and how the writing crafted a brutally realistic story with short sentences followed by long, lyrical metaphors. 

     The story begins with the line "Lydia is dead." In a way, this could be the end of a story, but instead it begins one and becomes the most central plot to the book. Lydia may be dead, but we as the readers have no idea why. Celeste Ng takes us through the life of the Lee family, starting from the very beginning...back to where it all began with Lydia's parents meeting. As the book jumps back and forth from past to present we get a fuller understanding of why Lydia is dead and what lead to the point where her life finally ended in the lake. 

     This is so fascinating and mesmerizing. I knew absolutely nothing about the family in the beginning, but by the end of the story, I knew them intimately. I knew why Hannah was so quiet, I knew why Marilyn was so restless, I knew why Nath was so distant. It was as if they existed right in my own neighborhood. My mom always told me to never judge someone one on the outside because you never know what goes on behind closed doors. This story exudes this advice. On the surface, the Lee's are just like any other family. But there is so much that goes on once that door closes that others will never see.

     I loved how the book approached the topics of racism, sexism, and even gender norms with absolute grace. It showed the daily struggles of those who had to deal with the racist comments and those who had to deal with sexist attitudes in a realistic and emotionally charged manner. 

     The writing is lyrical and impactful. Every sentence gave me a new type of feeling. There was not one word that felt out of place. There was nothing left unsaid. Beautiful prose. Beautiful storytelling. A beautifully tragic story. It was a journey to be able to walk through this tale of grief and the methods of coping with these characters. 

     This story really is about all the things a family thinks they know about each other and the things that make them realize that things aren't always what they seem. It's about the things they were never able to tell each other and it's about the words left unsaid in light of a sudden loss. 

     This is not a book I'll soon forget. 

"It was too big to talk about, what had happened. It was like a landscape they could not see all at once; it was like the sky at night, which turned and turned so they couldn't find its edges. It would always feel too big."

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Asylum by Madeleine Roux

1 Star

I'm not sure if I can give this book a full rating, seeing as I only got about 50% through before deciding I wouldn't waste another second of my life on this story.

(From 53% through)

Maybe liked PG-13

Language: PG-13 (Uses of d*mn, sh*t, h*ll)

Sex: PG (One character asks another "Did you get any?" in reference to a date)

Violence: PG (I don't know. I guess things happened at the asylum)

Drugs/Alcohol: G

     I found this book at Goodwill and picked it up because, hey, I heard people liked it. Now I know that it was at Goodwill for a very good reason. This is a story about 16 year old Dan Crawford who gets to go to this program for smart kids as they take college classes for 5 weeks. The hitch though is that the kids are housed in an old mental asylum that the college is converting into a dorm. Shenanigans ensue. 

     Usually, I'm very good at reading books until the very end, even if they're terribly hard to get in to. I rarely ever DON'T finish books. I didn't get into Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children until about 120 pages in, but I persevered because I happened to like the characters and I knew it was going somewhere. I could tell from the very first page. However with this book, I disliked it from the very beginning. The book felt like it just wasn't going anywhere. I can't exactly put my finger on why I felt this way, but I just know that I didn't remotely care about where the characters were going and what was going to happen to them.

     I came into this book expecting to read something with a real YA flair. I expected the writing to be more engaging and thoughtful, but instead I got a book that sounded like it was written by twelve-year-olds. These characters are supposed to be the smartest kids in their school year as they prepare to go off to college. Instead, they sounded juvenile. I just wanted to shake them. The writing style came off as boring. It didn't take a lot of thinking. I found my eyes glazing over before I would lose my place. (Then I would just think, oh well. There's literally nothing I'll miss, before going on to the next page).

     From the very start there was not one single character I cared about. Dan was literally the most boring character I've ever read in my life. His friends Abby and what's-his-face weren't much better. (What's-his-face is Jordan. I just looked it up). They're so bad that I forget their names. I feel like there was something that made Dan different from everyone else, but I can't remember for the life of me what that something was. If you don't constantly remind the reader what it is that makes your character tick, they're going to forget it and move on and the character's just going to become Joe Average without any sense of humor or any drive. What makes a good book is having a character that has a goal in mind to achieve. Dan had nothing.

     The plot wasn't good either. It dragged. And it dragged. And it dragged. The author tried to weave mysteries into the chapters and tried to end them on cliffhangers, but honestly...I didn't care. It wasn't engaging enough. It didn't feel real to me. It didn't feel like something that could be going on with real people in real places. There was this whole scene with the Three Musketeers sneaking into a locked office and finding all these old pictures. They were supposed to be creepy. They weren't. Then there was this whole thing with the serial killer which I guess we were supposed to care about. I didn't. And just to add to the mystery, Abby's aunt may or may not have been a resident there. Ooooo. Still don't care. 

     Not to mention that the old pictures through out the book had absolutely nothing to do with anything happening in the chapters. 

     I honestly don't have much more to rant about. I only read through it halfway and I already forget half of what happened, so we'll just end this review here.

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The Mermaid's Sister by Carrie Anne Noble

4 Stars

*Adorable Wyverns named Osbert ahead*

Book Rating: PG

Language: G

Sex: PG (There's an instance where a man is trying to grope the main character. Multiple innuendos by one character-Jasper-towards Clara. Often speaks of "taking her to bed," "making a dishonest woman out of her")

Violence: PG (Caravans are burned down. A horse breaks his leg and is shot. Two other people are shot. A man is physically aggressive towards his wife and son).

Drugs/Alcohol: G 

     Anyone who knows me knows I'm a sucker for a good book with unique historical premises. I succumbed to the story in this book as would be expected. The story follows Clara, her sister Maren the Mermaid, and childhood friend O'Niell. When Maren begins to change, slowly craving salt water more and more, legs slowly fusing together into a tail, Clara and Auntie Verity know Maren must reach the ocean quickly or else she will die. O'Niell and Clara decide to make the journey through the late-1800's east coast to the sea to save Clara's sister.

     I'll get the bad part out of the way first. The reason I'm giving this book four stars is because it was difficult to get into. It was a lot of character and world building without much action. I didn't REALLY start reading until the halfway point. There wasn't much action to get you hooked, but I think that might be the point of the book. It was slow, but more realistic of what could happen to ordinary (or in Maren's case, not so ordinary) people.

     There are so many things I loved about this book, from the late-1800's Appalachian vibes to the unique characterizations thrown in with some mythology. I'm constantly on the search for books that take place in an interesting time of history. Most cover the Victorian Era or World War II (which I love, by the way), so my interest was definitely piqued when the history came from a small mountain town somewhere on the east coast close to the turn of the century, complete with traveling entertainment and caravans with Gypsies and exaggerating salesmen. It was everything I wanted to read about but was never able to find. I loved how one half of the family (Scarff and O'Niell) traveled around all year in a caravan selling their wares only to come home to the mountain for one week every year.

     Not only was the backdrop for the story enchanting, but so were each of the characters. Even the "bad guys." I loved Auntie Verity and Scarff. Both were quirky and clearly in love. The story they told Clara, O'Niell, and Maren of how they came to them by Stork, apple tree, and seashell was enchanting in and of itself. Any child would fall in love with the wonderment of it all. Not to mention the family's pet Wyvern Osbert who is more like a big dog than a dragon. (I mean, he likes to swim around in the fountain in the yard like a cute little dragon puppy).

     The three children (well, teenagers) Clara, Maren, and O'Niell were each unique. I've found that sometimes it's easy for authors to fall into the rut of making every single secondary character extremely well-rounded and interesting but failing to do the same for their main character. This was not the case for Carrie Anne Noble. Clara had a clear sense of her emotions and had just enough spunk to make her feel like a believable teenage girl living up in the mountains in late-1800's America. I really found myself enjoying the voice she had throughout the novel. I believed her despair as she watched her sister slowly disappear day by day and struggle with her love for O'Niell as she watched his obvious affection for Maren. She would undoubtedly be someone I would befriend in real life.

     O'Niell was just as charismatic, if not more. He was sarcastic and witty, yet brave and noble at the same time. Being Scarff's adopted son and traveling around in a caravan selling wares his entire life, he picked up some things along the way. I loved how dramatic he was. He was constantly putting on magic shows for Clara and Maren and constantly entertaining them with his theatrics as he told them stories of his adventures with Scarff.

     As you reach the halfway point in the book, we meet Soraya, Dr. Phipps, and Jasper again. By far, Jasper was the one who made me think the most. He was interesting...a little complex. He was flirtatious and likable, but every once in awhile you would see this dark side that he kept well hidden. Even when he's being kind, I always got this creepy crawly feeling. He was well written. I won't spoil anything, but he really kept me reading.

     On top of the excellent characterization, the writing style was poised and elegant. I'd almost compare it to Maggie Stiefvater's in The Raven Boys just a little more personal in a strange way. It had a lot more emotion is each sentence. But first person always feels more personal anyway.

     Ultimately, this is a book about friendship and family and when faced with adversity, what one would do to save the person they love most in the world.

"There is no word for the emotion between pity and love, or for the one between longing and sorrow. Just as words cannot describe what I feel right now, something between envy and shame, and between compassion and disappointment."

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That Boy by Jillian Dodd

JJ REYNOLDS IS THE LITERAL WORST

1.5 Stars

Book Rating: PG-13

Language: PG-13 (Multiple uses of sh*t, one f*ck, multiple d*mn, h*ll)

Sex: PG-13 (Things get pretty steamy on several occasions between the characters. No actual descriptions of the "act," just a lot of making out)

Violence: PG (one guy gets a black eye. There's a pretty traumatic car crash that we don't actually witness as the reader but we're there for the aftermath)

Drugs/Alcohol: PG-13 (Tons of underage drinking. I'm wondering if that's all these kids do. Lots of talk of getting completely hammered and the main character talks about getting drunk and being taken advantage of by a boy)

     This book follows the journey of JJ (Jadyn) Reynolds from fourth grade into adulthood. I thought this was an interesting premise because you don't usually find 300 page books that cover such a huge span of time.

     You know, I enjoyed the plot of this book. It was a quick read and had an interesting storyline, as in following a main character for twelve years. The writing was simple which I hope will get me out of my reading rut and into reading something more complex. I liked watching the three main characters grow up together. I thought it was an interesting dynamic. 

     The real downer for me in his book was that JJ was the most immature, whiny, arrogant, entitled little worm. I like her POV's when she was in elementary school through ninth grade because the things she thought and how she spoke were absolutely believable. I could see myself in her 7th grade POV. But as she gets older, I don't see her mature at all. She's snotty and bratty and her only thoughts are about how she's going to get drunk this weekend and hook up with this guy because he's a total smoke show. She just didn't have any depth. The only time I was able to see her as a real human being was when she was out playing football with Danny and Phillip and when she was crying on her parents' bed. She was just SO shallow. She's got a new guy every month, makes out with whoever she likes...I just....She was always talking about how she would never be one of those girls who always croons over the boys and how hot they are, BUT THAT'S LITERALLY ALL SHE DOES. 

     Honestly, the downside to this book was just JJ and the writing (SO BAD, SO JUVENILE) which would amount to JJ's thoughts. So really JJ was the only thing to drag this book down into the depths of Hell. 

     I was okay with both our secondary main characters, Danny and Phillip. Both had different personalities that really made the book a lot easier to read. But they were both just f-boys. I loved the relationship the three of them had together and how easy their relationship was. Danny was the football star, playboy, sweet, devious one and Phillip was the smart, caring, grounding, think-before-you-act one. Both of their dynamics with JJ were interesting. (Lol. If only I liked her). 

     I can say though, this author really knows how to write chemistry. I mean, Danny and JJ's chemistry was through the roof. Like those two were like actual electricity together. I loved reading their chapters. I feel like JJ was more believable and human as well when she's with Danny. I feel like if she was hanging out with him throughout the book, I would like her better. (Now if only the writing were better and JJ didn't sound like a 12 year old 24/7).

     There is one thing that REALLY bothered me about this book though. I felt like, especially in the college years, things started getting a little uncomfortable to read. JJ would go on and on about getting drunk and finding someone to take advantage of her. There was this one line which really disturbed me. I don't know if the author is just uneducated on how these things may sound to people who are very aware of how rape culture works nowadays but she turned this line into something JJ found "sexy."

"You know I haven't quite figured out if I should attack you or go into business with you." 

     This is said while at a college party where things are getting pretty heated between JJ and an older student. They're drinking. She's already pretty intoxicated and girls are being told that they're worth nothing if they don't get down and dirty with one of the boys at the party. It just rubbed me the wrong way. A lot of what JJ said rubbed me the wrong way as she talked about hoping to get taken advantage of and "going up to his room where he could have his way with me." I don't know. I feel like it was just classless with no concern for people that have actually gone through this and experienced something where someone just "had their way" with them.

     If you want a quick read with not much substance, this is the book for you. If you're not a fan of that, move on to bigger and better things. I know I will.

     "I sigh big." (pg. 208) <---A clear example of the terrible writing

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Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys

5 Stars

Book Rating: PG-13

Violence: PG-13 (This is a really dark story. Some of the violence was very descriptive as the Soviet Union punished the Lithuanians. It's not a great book if you're queasy when it comes to violence)

Language: PG (Mild language)

Sex: PG/PG-13 (There is no sex described in this book. However, because of how the Lithuanians were treated, there are allusions. One woman sells herself to the soldiers in order to feed herself and her child. One soldier gropes a teenager when she undresses to shower...)

Drugs/Alcohol: G 

     This book was heartbreaking. I don't know any other way to describe it. This was eye-opening to the troubles of the Eastern-European countries such as Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia during WWII. When thinking of the war, I automatically think of Hitler, Stalin, and the mass genocide of the Jewish people. I never realized that Eastern-Europeans faced a genocide of their own by the Soviet Union.

     The story follows fifteen-year-old Lina Vilkas, her brother Jonas, and her mother who are taken from their middle-class home late at night by the NKVD which was the Soviet secret police. From Lithuania they are taken to a beet farm in Siberia by cattle train where they are forced to stand together in a crowded space for days on end. 

     The thing about this story is that it was totally and completely about the suffering of this family and the people around them. There were several points throughout the book when I had to sit back for awhile and put it down. There was one thing after another as Lina recounted what had happened to her and her family. The thing about suffering is that sometimes it just brings you down to a place of darkness and you need a moment to collect yourself enough to continue on. I wish I had the adequate words to describe how this book made me feel. I felt shocked as I read about this part of history that had never been introduced to me. I felt sadness for Lina as she watched as those around her withered and died. There was an ache in my chest as the book came to an end as I realized what these characters had been through in 320 pages. 

     There were strong characters throughout, but the one who carried the story was Lina's mother, Elena. I have never read a book where I was completely captured by the mother figure. Elena proved what being a parent was all about: Constant sacrifice. Even in the face of so much adversity, Elena constantly reassured their children that their father would come for them, that they would all get out as long as they stuck together. When food was scarce and Jonas was sick, Elena would sacrifice her rations for him until she was nothing more than a walking corpse. I admire her beyond words.

     It's difficult to find a book that speaks to me on so many different levels. Each individual character went through a transformation during their year and half through the novel. Each one was changed. Some characters, villainous in the beginning were seen to possess kindness and understanding that was only seen in glimmers through their hard outer shells. This book really emphasizes that not all people are as they seem. Good people on the outside can have darkness on the inside and people who seem dark and ugly on the outside can be the ones to help others survive due to good deeds done with low whispers and serious faces.

     I read Salt to the Sea late last year and thought it was such a monumental novel that was able to express a side of the war I hadn't learned about in a deep and impactful way. Between Shades of Gray has done the exact same thing. It is inspiring and a book every person should read to fully understand what we have always been fighting for: the basic human right of freedom.

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