Savage Reads

Switched, Torn and Ascend: The Trylle Series by Amanda Hocking

2011-02-06T17:53:00.001-08:00

Savage Rating: $$$$$

I read these three books on my Nook in about a week. They really draw you into them, and even though they aren't short books, they go by very quickly. I found the first book on Barnes & Noble while searching around for something that didn't cost too much but sounded interesting. It was only 99 cents. The other two were 2.99 each. That's a pretty good deal! The series is about a girl named Wendy who is living as a human but then finds out she's actually a Trylle (which is a troll). As a Trylle, Wendy finds out she's a princess and has to prepare to become queen. She also has to hold off and end a war with the Vittra (who are another society of trolls). Trylle have psychic abilities and are able to control the wind and persuade people to do things. That was pretty cool. There is a romance in the story between Wendy and a character named Finn. There's a problem with that caused by her duty to the Trylle. That ends up working itself out and she ends up happy with someone by the end, but I won't spoil that part. You'll have to read the books. Parents and readers should know that this is considered a "Young Adult" series and that means there's some bad language and sex in it. I don't think it was that bad, but it's something to consider when deciding if you should read it or not. Also, there's no Accelerated Reader quiz for these books.

Nook

2011-01-29T14:05:00.000-08:00

Savage Rating: AWESOME!!

Hey guys, guess what... I got a Nook!! A Nook is the ereader sold by Barnes & Noble. I looked at Nook & Kindle ereaders. I decided on the Nook. I chose it because you can lend books with other people who have a Nook, it has a touchscreen, & I can legally download books from Epub. I really love it. I also like how I don't have to store books in my house anymore. If you have any questions or want to tell about YOUR ereader go ahead and comment.

Ranger’s Apprentice: Halt’s Peril By John Flanagan

2011-01-27T17:21:00.001-08:00

Savage rating: $$$$$

Halt's Peril was another stunning book by John Flanagan. First of all one thing I did not like was that Halt was injured, but since that's a pretty large part of the story, I guess it's fine. I really like how Shadow (Will's former dog) was in the story again, perhaps for only a little bit, but still. I also really liked when Trobar (the person Will gave Shadow to) gave the pick of the litter, since Shadow had pups, and Will had said when he had given Trobar Shadow "If she ever has babies, I want the pick of the litter." This is a must read for fans of the Ranger's Apprentice series.

Heat by Mike Lupica

2010-07-03T13:18:00.000-07:00

Savage Rating: $$$
Heat is a book about baseball. I didn't give it three dollars because it's bad. It's a good book. I just don't think it's a book you need to own or will read over and over. You might read it twice if you're into baseball, but that's all. It's about a boy who has to stop playing baseball because he doesn't have his birth certificate to prove his age. He makes friends with a girl who helps him find his birth certificate so he can play again. It's a pretty short book, and easy to read.

Getting ready for Mockingjay

2010-07-03T13:05:00.000-07:00

Suzanne Collins' newest book, Mockingjay is coming out in August. I have it preordered and can't wait for it to get here. I decided to read Hunger Games and Catching Fire again to get ready for it. They are the first two books of the series. I rated Catching Fire on here when I first started the blog, but I never rated Hunger Games because I read it before I started the blog. After reading them both again, I still give Catching Fire $$$$$ and I also give Hunger Games $$$$$. They are really awesome stories. They are suppose to be for older kids or adults I think, and there are definietly some things in them that can be scary. There's also a plot about romance and the main character trying to decide between two boys. Still, I don't think they're bad for a kid my age. Maybe Mockingjay will be more adult, but so far these books are good as long as you keep in mind that the violence isn't real and that the whole story is made up. One good thing with a book is that you can picture things in your head the way you want to, so even scary things don't have to LOOK scary if you don't want them to.

Ranger's Apprentice: The Kings of Clonmel by John Flanagan

2010-06-11T21:01:00.000-07:00

Savage Rating: $$$$

This is the most recent book (#8) in the Ranger's Apprentice series. I had it pre-ordered, so it came to my house right away when it was released. That was awesome. The bad thing was that I read it and wanted to take the accelerated reader quiz on it and couldn't because they didn't make one yet. I would have made it to 3,000,000 words this school year if that and Rally Caps had been on the AR list.

I'm very glad I got this book. It wasn't disappointing. There were a few parts that I didn't like the wording on. I can't remember what they were exactly, but I remember thinking it should have been different. Overall, it was another great book in the series, but not the BEST book in the series, so that's why I only gave it four dollars. I would have given it four and a half dollars, but I don't know how to cut the dollar sign in half.

Rally Caps by Jodi Cutler Del Dottore and Stephen J. Cutler

2010-04-27T18:48:00.000-07:00

Savage Rating: $$$$$

My mom read this book to me a few years ago. I liked it then, but I liked it more reading it myself this time, maybe because I watch baseball now. (Go Angels!) It's a good story about baseball and friendship. Probably the most exciting thing about it though is that one of the main characters has a cochlear implant like me. If you don't know, cochlear implants are something that deaf people can get to help them hear. There are some bad words in the story and also some bad behavior. I wouldn't recommend it for kids under 10 because of that. My mom knows the woman who wrote the book through a group she's in online. That's pretty cool. You won't find the book at most book stores, but you can order it online.

The Shadow World by Jane Johnson

2010-04-24T14:11:00.000-07:00

Savage Rating: $$$$

This is the second book in The Eidolon Chronicles. Again, it was a great story but only took me a few days to read. Now I'm waiting for the third and last book in the series to arrive so I can finish it. I'm really glad that I bought that first one at the garage sale. I never would have found them otherwise!

The Secret Country by Jane Johnson

2010-04-24T13:58:00.000-07:00

Savage Rating: $$$$

I bought this book at a garage sale. I had never heard of it before, but it sounded good. You can't get the books in this series (called The Eidolon Chronicles) new anymore. My mom had to order used copies of the next two books online. This story hooked me right away. It's very good. The front cover says that it's kind of like Narnia and I agree. It did remind me of the Narnia books. It has a whole other world and a lot of adventure. The only bad thing is that it's a little easy to read and I finished it in a couple of days.

The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien

2010-04-24T13:48:00.000-07:00

Savage Rating: $$$

My mom said I should read this book since it's a classic and a fantasy. She thought I would like it, but it was only ok to me. Some reasons why I didn't like it were that it took a long time for the story to really start. I also didn't much like the old fashioned language. It did have some good things though. I liked all of the fighting parts. I also liked the way that Bilbo changed during the adventures. He got more and more brave. I'm glad that I read it so that I know the background better when I watch the Lord of the Rings movies.

101 Dalmations by Dodie Smith

2010-04-24T13:41:00.001-07:00

Savage Rating: $$$

This is the book that the Disney movie is based on. It's pretty different than the movie. For example, some of the characters are different in the book. The story isn't great. I like the movie better than the book.

The Lightening Thief by Rick Riordan

2010-03-31T19:27:00.000-07:00

Savage Rating $$$$

I decided to start the Percy Jackson and The Olympians series. I like the story a lot. Some parts were a little bit scary but a lot of parts were funny too. It was easy to get over most of the scary parts, but I have to warn you that there were a couple of things that still scare me a little when I think of them. There are a lot of names that are hard to pronounce. I made up how to say them, but then I found out that they're names that many people know in real life, so I had to learn the right way to pronounce them. I guess if you already knew about Greek Gods, you wouldn't have that problem, but I didn't.

The High King by Lloyd Alexander

2010-03-31T19:11:00.000-07:00

Savage rating: $$$$$

This was the last book in the Prydain Chronicles. When I finished it, I wished there were more. I really liked this series. I didn't have each book separately. Instead I had one big book with all of them in it. It looked SO HUGE when I first got it, but it went by way too fast! If you like war stories. The High King is the best book for you in the series. The ending is satisfactory. Everything gets taken care of that you expect to. But one thing I didn't like very much was that after everything wrapped up, it talked about the future and how things from the stories had been forgotten. I don't like thinking about things like that, but probably most people wouldn't mind.

Hello Readers!

2010-03-20T19:48:00.000-07:00

I thought I would take a break from the reviews and just say hello to you all. This will be a post for you to make any kind of comment that you want (but hopefully not rude ones). If there's something you've wanted to say or ask, but there wasn't a book it was related to so you didn't know where to put it, put it here. Or if there's a certain book you wish I would read and review, tell me and I'll try. But not Harry Potter please. I've tried and just can't make myself like Harry Potter. Sorry : )

Neal

Taran Wanderer by LLoyd Alexander

2010-03-20T19:29:00.000-07:00

Savage Rating: $$$$$

This is the 4th book in the Chronicles of Prydain. In this story, Taran is trying to find out who his parents are. He's hoping he is of noble blood so that he might be able to marry Princess Eilonwy. The actual character, Eilonwy isn't in this story as much, which was a little disappointing to me. Everything else was good and there was a lot of adventure again.

The Castle of LLyr by Lloyd Alexander

2010-03-14T15:30:00.000-07:00

Savage Rating: $$$$$

This is the third story of The Prydain Chronicles. This time the main characters have the job of protecting Princess Eilonwy. This becomes a problem when the princess gets stolen by Magg and the group has to set out to get her back. They also meet a giant trapped in a cavern underground and he tries to trap them there too. He tries to kill one of them. Those things might cause a little bit of worry for the reader, but still, the story isn't very scary overall.

The Black Cauldron by Lloyd Alexander

2010-03-14T15:12:00.000-07:00

Savage Rating: $$$$$

This is the second book in The Chronicles of Prydain. In this story the main characters have already met and their mission is to hand Arawn a defeat by stealing the Black Cauldron. That is a cauldron in which you can put dead people and they can kind of come alive and help you fight the enemies. There is definitely a lot of adventure in this story. You would probably think this would be a very scary story after reading what the black cauldron is, but it's actually not. It's about the same amount scary as The Book of Three. I like this one a little bit better than the first book. I'm not sure why, but maybe because it's not as much of an introduction. When you read it, you already know the characters and are ready to get moving with the story.

The Book of Three by Lloyd Alexander

2010-03-13T16:24:00.000-08:00

Savage Rating: $$$$

This is the first book in The Prydain Chronicles. It's a fantasy/adventure book. This is the introduction to all of the stories in the Chronicles and all of the characters meet each other in it. The main character, Taran first leaves Caer Dallben to look for his powerful pig, which is the start of the adventure. The story is full of names that are hard to figure out how to pronounce. I just decided how I thought they should be said and stuck with that. The story is not really too scary in the end, but while a kid is reading it, they might get scared, especially young kids. I read it in a couple of days. It's pretty easy other than the weird names. I've read a couple of the next books already and they're better than this one, but this one is still good and you should read it before you read any of the others.

Ranger's Apprentice: The Sorcerer of the North

2010-02-08T15:53:00.000-08:00

Savage Rating: $$$$$

This book starts with Will as a full fledged ranger with his own fief. When I first started reading it, I wondered if I had missed a book because it seemed like it had jumped ahead, but I hadn't. I have found out that book number 7 will cover this gap in the story. I can't tell you very much about this book because all of the big things that happen are secrets and it might ruin the story for you to know them now. It's definitely another awesome book in the series though.

Ranger's Apprentice: The Battle for Skandia by John Flanagan

2010-01-26T18:40:00.000-08:00

Savage Rating: $$$$$

I have noticed that the difficulty rate seems to go up with every book in this series. There have been more words I don't know and more and more names that are hard to pronounce. It has gotten a little bit more violent in every book too. However, I have also noticed myself liking the series more and more, so those aren't really bad things. I've been playing on the Ranger's Apprentice website and thinking about learning archery, which are pretty good signs that these books are becoming true favorites for me.

Ranger's Apprentice: Icebound Land by John Flanagan

2010-01-17T19:32:00.000-08:00

Savage Rating: $$$$$

Will and Evanlyn get captured in this story. There is a little bit of romance between them again. Will is forced to be a yard slave and gets addicted to warmweed while he's held captive. There are mostly small skirmishes in this book with one bigger battle between just a few charcters. This might be my least favorite story in the series so far, but it's still a very good book.

Ranger's Apprentice: The Burning Bridge by John Flanagan

2010-01-17T19:19:00.000-08:00

Savage Rating: $$$$$

Another great book in the Ranger's Apprentice series. This book introduces a new female character named Evanlyn. She works with Will in the story and there is a little bit of romance between them. There is a very big battle at the end of the book that is really good.

Ranger's Apprentice: The Ruins of Gorlan by John Flanagan

2010-01-16T19:08:00.000-08:00

Savage Rating: $$$$$

I didn't want to read this book at first. The cover just didn't look good to me. My mom read it and said she thought I would like it though, so I gave it a try. The prologue and the beginning of the story didn't really draw me in, but once the children started at their new apprentice jobs, I couldn't put the book down. The main character is named Will and he becomes apprentice to the Ranger, Halt. Being a ranger's apprentice in the time that the book takes place seems like being a sniper might be today. It is a very cool job. Will learns to move without being seen; he learns to use a bow and arrow and a sword; and he gets his own horse, named Tug. There is a lot of action in this book, but it also made me laugh a lot of times. Friendship is an important part of the story. There is some violence, but it's nothing to worry about. Probably boys will like this book more than girls, but there are some girl characters in it too.

Things That Are by Andrew Clements

2009-12-01T19:29:00.000-08:00

Savage Rating: $$$$

This book is about Alicia, who has to chose whether or not to trust and help William, the second invisible boy she has met. Bobby was the first invisible boy she met (in Things Not Seen). Bobby is back in this book again. Bobby and Alicia kiss this time. The author doesn't describe it too much, but it's still a little bit embarassing to read about. The story still deserves a four dollar rating because it really caught my attention and kept it. I would say it's mostly a story about friendship with a bit of love.

Things Hoped For by Andrew Clements

2009-11-23T08:57:00.000-08:00

Savage Rating: $$$

Things Hoped For was not as good as Things Not Seen. One reason for that was because the blind character, Alicia wasn't in Things Hoped For as much. If you read the first one, you will probably want to read this one too, but don't expect it to suck you in as much. I felt like I was reading this one partly to get through it and on to the next one, Things That Are, where I knew Alicia would be a main character again. I'm starting on that one now...

Things Not Seen by Andrew Clements

2009-11-18T18:45:00.000-08:00

Savage Rating: $$$S

When I first began this book, I was immediately sucked in to the story. I wanted to keep reading and reading it, and I was sad when it ended. In the story, a boy named Bobby wakes up invisible. He meets a girl named Alicia who is blind. They work together to try to find a way to make Bobby visible again. They develope a crush on each other. That doesn't sound very exciting, but the characters, the setting, and the way it was written made it very exciting. I might read this again sometime, but first I'll read the follow-up books to it, Things Hoped For, and Things That Are.

Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

2009-11-16T15:05:00.000-08:00

Savage Rating: $$$$$

I really like everything that Suzanne Collins writes. She wrote The Underland Chronicles, which is one of my favorite series. In all of her books, she writes about kids fighting battles and she gives details of scary and violent situations, but somehow her books don't scare me. Catching Fire is the follow up book to The Hunger Games. There is romance in the books, but it's mostly just kissing and hugging. It's not too embarrassing to read. There's definitely violence, blood, and danger in both books, but again, it didn't upset or scare me. Some kids might get freaked out, but since I didn't, probably most wouldn't. Even though the main character is a girl, I think boys might like the story better than girls. Although the girls might like the romance part better than boys do.

The Mysterious Benedict Society and The Perilous Journey by Trenton Lee Stewart

2009-11-15T13:08:00.000-08:00

Savage Rating: $$$$

This is the second book in the Benedict Society series. I read the first one before I started this blog, so I never reviewed it. I liked the first book better than this one. The first one made me want to keep reading more than this one did. However, The Perilous Journey was still full of adventure, clues, danger, mysteries, and missing people. I would say that kids from about age 9 and up would like this book, and this series. My sister is 12 and she likes it a lot, so I would also say that it's good for both boys and girls. There are some challenging words. Some of them you might not know the meaning of, and others you might have a hard time sounding out (especially some of the names). I will definitely be reading the third book in the series. We have already bought it and my sister is reading it right now.

May Bird and The Ever After by Jodi Lynn Anderson

2009-10-20T19:49:00.000-07:00

Savage Rating: $$$$

Review: This book does have some scary characters and scenes, but you get used to them. It has a friendship theme and is also full of action. There are a few words you may not be familiar with, but they weren't hard to figure out based on what was happening in the story. The main character is a girl, but I would say it's a good book for boys or girls to read. I've already read this book several times and I think it is worth owning.