braveyoungcharacters | The Bossy Bookworm

Sep 17

Review of The Return of Ellie Black by Emiko Jean

I'm intrigued by a missing-persons story, and I'm a fan of Emiko Jean's writing. The Return of Ellie Black was a disturbing setup...

Apr 24

Review of This Is How It Always Is by Laurie Frankel

ICYMI: Frankel's storyline is powerful, important, and poignant, and the deep love, support, and acceptance within the family in This Is...

Jan 24

Review of The Vaster Wilds by Lauren Groff

Lauren Groff's beautiful and brutal novel The Vaster Wilds follows a young servant girl running from the Jamestown colony's disease and...

Jan 18

Review of To Shape a Dragon's Breath (Nampeshiweisit #1) by Moniquill Blackgoose

Blackgoose offers a fascinating, layered story about a strong-willed, whip-smart young Indigenous woman in a steampunk 1800s Nordic...

Nov 2, 2023

Review of Some Desperate Glory by Emily Tesh

Emily Tesh's debut novel is a space opera about war, duty, brainwashing, escaping limitations, and reinventing oneself--with fascinating...

Jul 26, 2023

Review of Hell Bent by Leigh Bardugo

In the second installment in Leigh Bardugo's Alex Stern series, Alex is as brave, scowling, and unapologetic as ever--and Darlington will...

Jul 25, 2023

Review of Ninth House (Alex Stern #1) by Leigh Bardugo

ICYMI: When tough, stubborn Alex Stern is offered a new start after surviving a mysterious multiple homicide, she becomes an unlikely...

Jun 29, 2023

Review of Lucky Red by Claudia Cravens

Claudia Cravens's story of a young brothel worker in late nineteenth-century Dodge City, Kansas, offers up a tough young heroine who...

Jun 27, 2023

Review of Daughter of the Pirate King (Daughter of the Pirate King #1) by Tricia Levenseller

The fun first book in Tricia Levenseller's trilogy about a teenage female pirate captain sets up a long game toward obtaining a key...

Jun 8, 2023

Review of Legendborn (The Legendborn Cycle #1) by Tracy Deonn

The first in the series sets up a strong young Black heroine who bucks tradition as she explores her own heritage, flexes her newfound...

May 30, 2023

Review of Silver in the Bone (Silver in the Bone #1) by Alexandra Bracken

Alternative Arthurian legends twist through this first in a young adult fantasy series, but what hooked me was the fearless, hardened,...

Mar 16, 2023

Review of The Golden Enclaves (Scholomance #3) by Naomi Novik

The more somber tone of book three and the focus on logistics feel appropriate as the recent graduates of the Scholomance desperately...

Mar 8, 2023

Review of The Night Ship by Jess Kidd

Kidd's dual-timeline historical fiction, based on actual events, shines in its vivid settings, richly imagined characters, sea voyage...

Feb 9, 2023

Review of Gregor the Overlander (The Underland Chronicles #1) by Suzanne Collins

If you can focus on the good qualities of the prominent (and giant...and talking) creepy-crawlies in this middle-grade novel, you'll find...

Jan 18, 2023

Review of As Good As Dead (A Good Girl's Guide to Murder #3) by Holly Jackson

Jackson doesn't skimp on heart-pounding pacing, captivating character development, and dark turns in this third book in her young adult...

Jan 6, 2023

Review of Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver

Kingsolver offers an epic story of a faulted, unlikely hero in danger of being crushed by exceptionally difficult circumstances. His...

Dec 8, 2022

Review of The Box in the Woods (Truly Devious #4) by Maureen Johnson

The fourth mystery in Johnson's Truly Devious series delivers more smart, creative sleuthing from Stevie Bell and the gang, great...

Jun 10, 2022

Six Great Historical Fiction Stories Set in the American West

Brutality and Bravery in the American West These books explore the brutality of pioneer times, when indigenous peoples were killed and...

Jun 2, 2022

Review of The Impossible Destiny of Cutie Grackle by Shawn K. Stout

Stout's recently published middle-grade story is irresistibly strange, full of difficulties and a tough young heroine's gritty...

Mar 29, 2022

Review of Quantum Girl Theory by Erin Kate Ryan

In Erin Kate Ryan's historical fiction mystery, she uses a fascinating story structure to explore different potential paths for...

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