Skip to main content

Slave, Warrior, Queen by Morgan Rice

By
Brief synopsis (no spoilers):
Ceres is a young woman (17) living in an oppressive Empire, with an equally oppressive mother. She has ties to a rebellion, and stronger ties to her brothers. She is basically thrown around her world constantly- enslaved, imprisoned, set loose, etc. Each time, she puts herself in the best position to cause the most damage to whatever she hates most.

 Category:
YA fiction, fantasy

 Why I chose this book:
Recommended on the library website

 My personal opinion:
It's complicated. I loved the action, the pace, the unknown special power, the strong female lead character, the general story line. But I disliked the coincidence (see Emma Coats, rule #19, link below)- Ceres got out of trouble so many times. Mostly by fighting, but a couple times by coincidence. I disliked that the "Queen" phase never came, before the end of the book. Maybe that's part of the series, but the next book doesn't mention that in its title. I disliked that the story line was unorganized. For example, a fighting trainer was introduced and then discarded within a chapter. Why give him a name at all, or why not explain what happened to him? Ceres was in and out of the dungeon so many times, I lost track of why sometimes. It felt like the author wanted to develop one element of the story, did that for a while, and then got distracted. There were so many loose ends left untied. Maybe that's intentional, and maybe it'll all work out by the 11th book? Who knows. But I didn't care for that. I had to choose intentionally to forget certain elements, so it wouldn't bug me that they were left hanging.

 Warnings
Language: None
Violence: Regularly occurring, but not graphic. Child abuse mentioned.
"Adult" situations: Just a kiss or two
Death: Yes, and of main character(s)

 Movie rating equivalent:
PG-13, maybe higher

 Protagonist description:
Ceres is strong, confident, and a victim of society in every way

 Point of view of story:
Third, focused on Ceres, mostly

 Book length:
Medium

 Story flow:
Almost frantic

 Grammar and spelling issues:
None

 Character connection (no spoilers):
I'd like to know more about Thanos and his origin story

 Emma Coats, Pixar rules: http://www.pixartouchbook.com/blog/2011/5/15/pixar-story-rules-one-version.html

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Happily Ever After Kiera Cass

By
Brief synopsis (no spoilers): Short novellas and after stories from the perspective of other main characters from The Selection Series. Includes: -The Prince (with the two bonus chapters), Maxon’s novella -The Guard, Aspen’s novella -The Queen, Amberly’s novella -The Favorite, Marlee’s novella -Three scenes from Celeste’s POV -Lucy’s scene (bonus scene from The One) -The bonus epilogue -Where are they now? Category: YA Why I chose this book: Selection of novellas filling in gaps in The Selection series.  My personal opinion (the review): Of the entire series this was by far and away my favorite. I loved getting to hear parts of the stories from other perspectives. There was also additional details not found in the original story. All my questions or things I wondered about where answered through these stories.  Warnings Language: None  Violence: None "Adult" situations: As with the other novels, a few scenes with more description than I would have liked. ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Tap the Magic Tree by Christie Matheson

By
Summary: Every book needs you to turn the pages. But not every book needs you to tap it, shake it, jiggle it, or even blow it a kiss. Innovative and timeless, Tap the Magic Tree asks you to help one lonely tree change with the seasons. It begins with a bare brown tree. But tap that tree, turn the page, and one bright green leaf has sprouted! Tap again—one, two, three, four—and four more leaves have grown on the next page. Pat, clap, wiggle, jiggle, and see blossoms bloom, apples grow, and the leaves swirl away with the autumn breeze. (Amazon) Attention Span/reading level: Perfect for my three year old. I would say that ages 2-10 would really enjoy something like this. It really keeps kids engaged and makes them feel like part of the story. There is one word to one sentence per page. Good uses for book in teaching: Interaction, that the reader takes part in making the story, what a tree can do (leaves, blossoms, fruit) Favorite part:      Child: The fact that ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Balancing Act by Ellen Stoll Walsh

By
Summary: Two mice make a teeter totter. Soon a frog comes along and wants to join. Can the mice balance all the friends who want to play with them? Attention Span/reading level: 3-6 years old, usually 5 or less words on a page Good uses for book in teaching: Balance, science Favorite part:      Child: When the frog joins in     Mine: That the mice keep playing at the end  Least favorite part: None:   W arnings/negative feedback: None.  Review: This is a really simple but fun way to introduce the idea of balancing and weight to kids. It's fun to show them how it must be equal on each side to balance. Showing that size can affect weight is shown on the page where all the animals are on one side with the big bird on the other. This could be a fun activity to replicate with toys if doing a science lesson at home. 
Post a Comment
Read more