TINY PRETTY THINGS By Sona Charaipotra, Dhonielle Clayton

I received this book for free from Reviewer Purchase in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

TINY PRETTY THINGS By Sona Charaipotra, Dhonielle ClaytonTiny Pretty Things by Dhonielle Clayton, Sona Charaipotra
Series: Tiny Pretty Things #1
Published by HarperTeen on 7/12/16
Genres: Contemporary, Mystery & Detective, Young Adult
Pages: 464
Format: Ebook
Source: Reviewer Purchase
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Gigi, Bette, and June, three top students at an exclusive Manhattan ballet school, have seen their fair share of drama. Free-spirited new girl Gigi just wants to dance—but the very act might kill her. Privileged New Yorker Bette's desire to escape the shadow of her ballet-star sister brings out a dangerous edge in her. And perfectionist June needs to land a lead role this year or her controlling mother will put an end to her dancing dreams forever.

When every dancer is both friend and foe, the girls will sacrifice, manipulate, and backstab to be the best of the best.

Short and Sweet Review

At the American Ballet Company our main characters Gigi, Bette, and June just want to be Prima Ballerina, and they’ll do whatever it takes to get to the top even if it includes sabotage and backstabbing.

In this book we get the POVs of each girl and there wasn’t one I liked more than the other. I can honestly say I wasn’t attached to any of the characters. Gigi is a sweet girl and during the course of this book she gets most of the lead roles. Roles that Bette thinks belong to her. Bette is known as the top ballerina and is somewhat of a bully. Bette will do a lot of things to make people question themselves and want to quit. June on the other hand is basically an understudy she doesn’t get lead roles or solos. June doesn’t have a lot of friends and she pushes people away.

Each of these girls has problems, Gigi with her health, Bette with her pill popping, and June with her bulimia. We learn more about each girl when we read from their POVs, but the only one I felt sorry for was Gigi. A lot of messed up things were happening to Gigi and she really is a sweet girl and at some point this stuff does take a toll on her and she does have a few breakdowns. I’m not even going to get into the romance because I found it irrelevant.

I felt like some of the things that were happening were just too much but I will read the next book just to see what will happen.

LOOKING FOR ALASKA By John Green

I received this book for free from Reviewer Purchase in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

LOOKING FOR ALASKA By John GreenLooking for Alaska by John Green
Published by Dutton Books on 3/3/05
Genres: Contemporary, Romance, Young Adult
Pages: 221
Format: Paperback
Source: Reviewer Purchase
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Miles Halter is fascinated by famous last words—and tired of his safe life at home. He leaves for boarding school to seek what the dying poet François Rabelais called “The Great Perhaps.” Much awaits Miles at Culver Creek, including Alaska Young, who will pull Miles into her labyrinth and catapult him into the Great Perhaps.

Short and Sweet Review

This book goes from past tense to present so lets start with Before.

Miles “Pudge” is starting his first year at Culver Creek, where he meets his new friends Chip “Colonel”, Alaska, Tukami, and Lara. Pudge has a crush on Alaska but she’s already taken so that’s obviously not going to work out. Alaska is a wild card sometimes she’s okay other days she’s not. During this time we see the group do a lot of drinking and smoking and going to class. One night Pudge is taken out of his room and is thrown in the lake and that’s when Pudge and his group of friends decide they’re going to do a prank war. The before is basically a count down to the after.

In the After we see that Alaska has passed. The group tries to deal with it but Pudge, Colonel, and Takumi are taking it hard. They try to figure out what was going through Alaska’s mind in her last moments. I think they eventually get closure but its up to the reader to decide what Alaska was really doing when she died. 

Looking for Alaska is a short book but there’s a lot packed into it. I think that some of the things that happened weren’t realistic. I also know that Pudge liked Alaska but after her death he painted her in a light that didn’t represent who she was at all. This was a good book but not one I would read again.

#NOESCAPE

I received this book for free from Reviewer Purchase in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

#NOESCAPE#NoEscape by Gretchen McNeil
Series: #MurderTrending #3
Published by Freeform on 9/15/20
Genres: Horror & Ghost Stories, Mystery & Detective, Thrillers, Young Adult
Pages: 352
Format: Ebook
Source: Reviewer Purchase
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Seventeen-year-old Persey feels worthless much of the time. Her parents prefer her smarter, more enigmatic big brother to her, and she can't quite seem to succeed-let alone fit in-at school. But there is one thing she's good at: escape rooms. So when she's invited to compete in an escape room competition that carries a prize worth millions, Persey is all over it.

Persey enters the competition along with seven other young contestants, but while most escape rooms are about teamwork and collaboration, this one is all about being cut-throat-literally. When contestants start getting killed off, Persey must solve a series of bizarre and gruesome puzzles, riddles, and games to make it out alive. Along the way she learns the contestants are mysteriously related-and someone is out for vengeance.

Twenty years before Dee Guerra and the Death Row Breakfast Club took down The Postman and Alcatraz 2.0 in #MurderTrending, long before Becca survived The Juggernaut and Who Wants to Be a Painiac? In #MurderFunding, the murder games first began with one awful day at Escape-Capades, Ltd.? And there's no telling who might have made it out alive, or what they may have later become.

Short and Sweet Review

20 years before there was an Alcatraz 2.0 there was Escape-Capades. After beating an escape room Persey is invited to Las Vegas to compete in a new escape room with a grand prize. Persey along with 5 other teens enter the escape room where there’s individual puzzles and some that require teamwork. This isn’t a normal escape room, contestants begin to get killed off, and while solving puzzles we also learn that the contestants have secrets and they’re all connected in some way.

This book is only from Persey’s POV, we get to see what the escape room is like from her eyes we also get flashbacks of what her life was like before. I liked seeing all of the different rooms and how the puzzles were solved. Things do start to get gruesome when contestants start meeting their ends in different rooms. Our contestants think its a joke at first until it becomes obvious that it’s not. Persey feels the need to save everyone and look out for them even though most of them don’t deserve it. I did like Persey as a character she had a bad upbringing, but through it all she actually was smart in her own way. Some of the characters were annoying so I wasn’t too sad when they ended up being killed off.

Overall this was a pretty good book! It does give us some insight on the first book #murdertrending. I think that reading this book first instead of last and then moving on to the other two books would be a good way to read this series!

THERE’S SOMEONE INSIDE YOUR HOUSE By Stephanie Perkins

I received this book for free from Reviewer Purchase in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

THERE’S SOMEONE INSIDE YOUR HOUSE By Stephanie PerkinsThere's Someone Inside Your House by Stephanie Perkins
Published by Dutton Books for Young Readers on 9/26/17
Genres: Contemporary, Horror & Ghost Stories, Mystery & Detective, Thrillers, Young Adult
Pages: 304
Format: Ebook
Source: Reviewer Purchase
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It's been almost a year since Makani Young came to live with her grandmother in landlocked Nebraska, and she's still adjusting to her new life. And still haunted by her past in Hawaii.

Then, one by one, the students of her small town high school begin to die in a series of gruesome murders, each with increasing and grotesque flair. As the terror grows closer and the hunt intensifies for the killer, Makani will be forced to confront her own dark secrets.

Short and Sweet Review

I will make this review really short and not so much sweet. Makani lives in Nebraska with her grandma. Someone is killing the students in town in pretty gruesome ways. Thats pretty much it Makani lives in a small town with a serial killer on the loose. I just could not deal with this book there were times when I would just read something sigh and put my kindle down. Makani has a romance with Ollie and geez you would think that for a story about a killer in town there would be less making out and sex and more trying to stay safe and find out who the killer is. There’s also a plot line about Makani dealing with something that happened in her past and once I got to that part I sighed and put my kindle down, honestly that whole thing about what happened in Hawaii was a waste of time and irrelevant to anything happening. Also no one will guess who the killer is because it’s not anyone relevant, their motive is stupid, and it just leaves you wondering why you read 291 pages of nonsense. 3 days later and I’m still trying to clear my mind of the ridiculous mess that this book is. Honestly girl, small town, killer, lots of making out, and nonsense, that’s it!

THIS COVEN WON’T BREAK By Isabel Sterling

I received this book for free from Reviewer Purchase in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

THIS COVEN WON’T BREAK By Isabel SterlingThis Coven Won't Break by Isabel Sterling
Series: These Witches Don't Burn #2
Published by Razorbill on 5/19/20
Genres: Fantasy & Magic, LGBT, Paranormal, Young Adult
Pages: 336
Format: Ebook
Source: Reviewer Purchase
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Hannah Walsh just wants to finish high school. It's her senior year, so she should be focusing on classes, hanging out with her best friend, and flirting with her new girlfriend, Morgan. But it turns out surviving a murderous Witch Hunter doesn't exactly qualify as a summer vacation, and now the rest of the Hunters seem more intent on destroying her magic than ever.

When Hannah learns the Hunters have gone nationwide, armed with a serum capable of taking out entire covens at once, she's desperate to help. Now, with witches across the country losing the most important thing they have--their power--Hannah could be their best shot at finally defeating the Hunters. After all, she's one of the only witches to escape a Hunter with her magic intact.

Or so everyone believes. Because as good as she is at faking it, doing even the smallest bit of magic leaves her in agony. The only person who can bring her comfort, who can make her power flourish, is Morgan. But Morgan's magic is on the line, too, and if Hannah can't figure out how to save her--and the rest of the Witches--she'll lose everything she's ever known. And as the Hunters get dangerously close to their final target, will all the Witches in Salem be enough to stop an enemy determined to destroy magic for good?

Short and Sweet Review

This sequel picks up right where These Witches Won’t Burn ended. We’re back in Salem with Hannah and she’s still grieving from everything that she lost. The hunters are still around and dangerous and Hannah is given the opportunity to help stop them and she accepts the offer.

Well the witches are in a lot of danger, the hunters won’t stop until everyone is cured and a lot of covens are being attacked. Hannah is approached by an elder who gives her the chance to help recruit other witches to assist with stopping the hunters. We meet Alice, the witch Hannah had a problem with in New York and it was tense between the two of them understandably. We also see a few familiar faces from the last book.

I liked that we see the caster, elementals, and blood witches work together to achieve a common goal. We see a lot of trial and error with how they thought they should take care of the hunters and it was nerve wracking seeing the witches put themselves in that kind of danger.

We also see more romance between Hannah and Morgan I liked them together, Morgan had a way to put Hannah at ease and it wasn’t because she was using her powers.

Hannah was put in a lot of danger especially because her powers weren’t working like they should and she wasn’t thinking clearly most of the time. My main problem with this book was Hannah, she not only put herself in danger but the people around her, she would also lash out at people who didn’t deserve it.

Overall this was a good ending to the duology but I think I enjoyed the first book more, for some reason I just couldn’t deal with Hannah in this book.

FROZEN TIDES By Morgan Rhodes

I received this book for free from Reviewer Purchase in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

FROZEN TIDES By Morgan RhodesFrozen Tides by Morgan Rhodes
Series: Falling Kingdoms #4
Published by Razorbill on 12/15/15
Genres: Fantasy & Magic, Romance, Young Adult
Pages: 432
Format: Ebook
Source: Reviewer Purchase
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CLEO: Reeling after a shocking realization about Magnus, Princess Cleo must cast aside her feelings and look toward her kingdom with the eyes of a queen.

MAGNUS: The steely prince of Limeros is once again torn between love and duty, leaving him wondering whether he's strong enough to rule his people.

LUCIA: Heartbroken and blind with fury, the betrayed sorceress allies with the awoken Fire god, who also seeks revenge.

JONAS: The defeated rebel leader reunites with Princess Cleo, only to become a pawn in the dangerous hunt for the elusive Kindred.

KING GAIUS: A desperate King of Blood flees Mytica and sails to Kraeshia, where he attempts to ally with the famously brutal emperor across the Silver Sea.

Short and Sweet

After the events of Gathering Darkness, each of our characters has a goal, and most of them revolve around finding the kindred and coming into power positions.

Characters

Magnus: Magnus is back at the Limeros and he takes the throne while his father is away. Magnus just cares about being able to be the ruler his kingdom needs and making the right decisions.

Cleo: Cleo is still with Magnus mainly because he saved her from being executed. All Cleo wants is to find the other kindred and reclaim her throne.

Lucia: Lucia is still dealing with the losing Alexius and while in the headspace of anger she decides to team up with Kyan the fire God. Lucia goes along with Kyan but the further they go on with their journey the more she starts to contemplate the destruction that they’re leaving behind in their wake.

Jonas: Jonas is finally ready to kill Magnus and rescue Cleo, but during the process he ends up going on a search for more of the kindred and becoming meeting more allies.

Amara: The princess Kraeshia is ready to do what she has to to prove she’s powerful. She’s already killed her brother and she won’t stop there. Amara is smart and deceitful.

Romance

Cleo and Magnus: These two… I love the tension between them. They both like each other but they try to fight their feelings. Eventually those feelings come out and that was my favorite part of the book. Cleo and Magnus care about each other even though they don’t want to admit it most of the time.

My Thoughts

There’s so much going on in this book and none of it was overwhelming. We follow our characters and they all have very different paths they’re following, Magnus and Cleo are in Limeros, Jonas and Lyssandra are on their way to Limeros, Amara and King Gaius are in Kraeshia, and Lucia and Kyan are just going where they think the kindred are. There’s so many twist that I wasn’t expecting! I love how Cleo and Jonas are reunited I also like how Magnus decides to team up with Jonas. Although Lucia is going around with Kyan she does end up having a moment of clarity where she realizes she needs to go her separate way. Amara is also on the move and she plans on taking Mytica as her own.

Overall

I love this series! I feel like every book just gets better! I’m so excited to start reading Crystal Storm!

THE LADY ROGUE By Jenn Bennett

I received this book for free from Reviewer Purchase in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

THE LADY ROGUE By Jenn BennettThe Lady Rogue by Jenn Bennett
Published by Simon Pulse on 9/3/19
Genres: Fantasy & Magic, Historical, Romance, Young Adult
Pages: 384
Format: Ebook
Source: Reviewer Purchase
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Some legends never die…

Traveling with her treasure-hunting father has always been a dream for Theodora. She’s read every book in his library, has an impressive knowledge of the world’s most sought-after relics, and has all the ambition in the world. What she doesn’t have is her father’s permission. That honor goes to her father’s nineteen-year-old protégé—and once-upon-a-time love of Theodora’s life—Huck Gallagher, while Theodora is left to sit alone in her hotel in Istanbul.

Until Huck returns from an expedition without her father and enlists Theodora’s help in rescuing him. Armed with her father’s travel journal, the reluctant duo learns that her father had been digging up information on a legendary and magical ring that once belonged to Vlad the Impaler—more widely known as Dracula—and that it just might be the key to finding him.

Journeying into Romania, Theodora and Huck embark on a captivating adventure through Gothic villages and dark castles in the misty Carpathian Mountains to recover the notorious ring. But they aren’t the only ones who are searching for it. A secretive and dangerous occult society with a powerful link to Vlad the Impaler himself is hunting for it, too. And they will go to any lengths—including murder—to possess it.

Short and Sweet Review

Theodora has a treasure hunting father and she’s always wanted to go traveling with him but he doesn’t let Theo join him only his apprentice Huck. The only thing left for Theo to do is stay in the hotel in Istanbul. But when Huck comes to the hotel without her father Theo knows something is wrong. Following the clues her father left in his journal, Theo and Huck go on an adventure to rescue her father. After going through the journal Theo and Huck learn that her father was looking for a ring that once belonged to Vlad the impaler, and this ring may be the key to finding her dad. Huck and Theo travel through Romania following clues and also avoiding enemies who are also after the ring.

I was really excited to read this book and to be taken on an adventure to find relics. Theo and Huck used to have a romantic relationship until her father put a stop to it, now things are tense and awkward between the two. I did find myself becoming disinterested and bored at some points I did want to stop reading the book. I think it was because some things just dragged on and I didn’t really like the interactions between Huck and Theo some of it seemed forced.. I did like how Theo and Huck met different characters and how they always had to make sure no one was on their tail. Overall the book was okay I wasn’t as into it as I thought I would be.

HEX HALL By Rachel Hawkins

I received this book for free from Reviewer Purchase in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

HEX HALL By Rachel HawkinsHex Hall by Rachel Hawkins
Series: Hex Hall #1
Published by Hyperion Books on 3/2/10
Genres: Fantasy & Magic, Paranormal, Romance, Young Adult
Pages: 323
Format: Ebook
Source: Reviewer Purchase
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Three years ago, Sophie Mercer discovered that she is a witch. Her non-gifted mother has been supportive, consulting Sophie’s estranged father—a warlock—only when necessary. But when Sophie attracts too much human attention for a prom-night spell gone horribly wrong, it’s her dad who exiles her to “Hex Hall”, an isolated reform school for wayward Prodigium, a.k.a. witches, fairies, and shape-shifters.

By the end of her first day, Sophie has three new enemies, a futile crush on a warlock, a tagalong ghost, and a vampire roommate. Worse, Sophie soon learns that an unknown predator has been attacking students. As a series of blood-curdling mysteries converges, Sophie prepares for the biggest threat of all: an ancient secret society determined to destroy all Prodigium, especially her.

Short and Sweet Review

When Sophie was 13 she discovered her witch. Sophie is now 16 and after her last spell goes wrong she gets sent to Hecate Hall a school for witches, shapeshifters, and faeries. At Hex Hall Sophie meets her roommate Jenna, who is a vampire and unfortunately is being blamed for the death of a student. While at Hex Hall Sophie also becomes the enemy of three of the most popular girls and she learns that someone has been attacking students.

Sophie struggled a lot at school mainly because unlike the other students she hasn’t been practicing magic as long as the other students have. Most of the students hate Sophie because her father is the head of the council, which is awful mainly because Sophie has never met her father so she really doesn’t know a lot so it makes her seem like she’s pretending to be clueless when she really has no clue about what’s going on. Sophie meets Anna, Elodie and Chaston, three of the popular witches who happen to want Sophie to be a member of their coven but when Sophie declines they end up making things even harder for her. Sophie also meets Archer a very handsome warlock but he already has a girlfriend, Elodie. I think that Sophie and Archer had chemistry so it was upsetting that he was already taken. During the school year a few students get attacked and sadly everyone is pointing the finger at Jenna. I thought it was great that Sophie stuck by her side. We see Sophie grow as a witch and we learn a lot about her family history. I liked how everything progressed and seeing Sophie’s interactions with the other characters and how the mystery of the attacker slowly unfolded.

I love how the book ended and I’m excited to see what will happen in the next book.

POSSESS By Gretchen McNeil

I received this book for free from Reviewer Purchase in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

POSSESS By Gretchen McNeilPossess by Gretchen McNeil
Published by Balzer + Bray on 8/21/12
Genres: Fantasy & Magic, Horror & Ghost Stories, Mystery & Detective, Paranormal, Young Adult
Pages: 400
Format: Ebook
Source: Reviewer Purchase
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Fifteen-year-old Bridget Liu just wants to be left alone: by her overprotective mom, by Matt Quinn, the cute son of a local police sergeant, and by the eerie voices she can suddenly and inexplicably hear. Unfortunately for Bridget, the voices are demons—and Bridget possesses the rare ability to banish them back to whatever hell they came from. Literally.

Terrified to tell her friends or family about this new power, Bridget confides in San Francisco's senior exorcist, Monsignor Renault, who enlists her help in increasingly dangerous cases of demonic possession. But just as she is starting to come to terms with her freakish new role, Bridget receives a startling message from one of the demons. And when one of her oldest friends is killed, Bridget realizes she's in deeper than she ever thought possible. Now she must unlock the secret to the demons' plan before someone else close to her winds up dead—or worse, the human vessel for a demon king.

Short and Sweet Review

Bridget can hear the voices of demons and she has the ability to banish them back to where they came from. Bridget is being trained by Monsignor Renault a senior exorcist who enlists Bridget to help him with dangerous exorcisms. When Bridgets friend is killed, Bridget realizes that the demons have a message for her and now she has to figure out how to stop the demon king before he claims a human vessel.

Bridget is one those characters who likes to be left alone, she just doesn’t want to be bothered. I liked Bridget it was interesting to see how her ability worked and I liked that she was able to help with the exorcisms. The demons could communicate with Bridget and gave her a message about what the demon king planned to do, I like how this progressed the plot. Bridget also had a love interest, Matt Quinn and he’s the police sergeants son. Matt and Bridget used to be best friends when they were younger but drifted apart. I liked seeing how Bridget and Matt reconnected, they did have chemistry and they were a good fit he was very protective over her. Bridget’s friend is killed during the halfway point in the book and that’s when things really started to progress. My favorite things about this book was seeing Bridget go to the exorcisms and her piecing together what the demon king had planned and where her ability came from.

I love all of Gretchen McNeil’s books and this one was also entertaining and fun! I liked the whole exorcism aspect and the little bit of mystery that was also in there!

STARRY EYES By Jenn Bennett

I received this book for free from Reviewer Purchase in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

STARRY EYES By Jenn BennettStarry Eyes by Jenn Bennett
Published by Simon Pulse on 4/3/18
Genres: Contemporary, Romance, Young Adult
Pages: 432
Format: Ebook
Source: Reviewer Purchase
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Ever since last year’s homecoming dance, best friends-turned-best enemies Zorie and Lennon have made an art of avoiding each other. It doesn’t hurt that their families are the modern day, Californian version of the Montagues and Capulets.

But when a group camping trip goes south, Zorie and Lennon find themselves stranded in the wilderness. Alone. Together.

What could go wrong?

With no one but each other for company, Zorie and Lennon have no choice but to hash out their issues via witty jabs and insults as they try to make their way to safety. But fighting each other while also fighting off the forces of nature makes getting out of the woods in one piece less and less likely.

And as the two travel deeper into Northern California’s rugged backcountry, secrets and hidden feelings surface. But can Zorie and Lennon’s rekindled connection survive out in the real world? Or was it just a result of the fresh forest air and the magic of the twinkling stars?

Short and Sweet Review

When Zorie accepts an invite for a clamping trip she never thought that her best friend turned enemy Lennon would also be going along. But when the camping trip goes from bad to awful, Zorie and Lennon find themselves alone in woods. Now these two have to hash out their issues and make it back to civilization.

Zorie goes on a camping trip mainly because her mom convinced her and her crush was going on the trip. After the camping Zorie had plans to meet up with her astronomy friends to see a meteor shower. Well everything on the trip does not go to plan and the group ends up being kicked out of the camping grounds and having to make it on their own. Thats not the worst of it because Zorie ends up arguing with a girl in the group and she decides to leave Zorie and Lennon stranded. I thought it was interesting to see Lennon and Zorie’s interactions especially because they’ve been avoiding each other for a while. I thought these two were funny and even when they were insulting each other there was still a bit of their friendship peeking through. I did like finding out more about what ended up causing a rift between these two.

Zorie and Lennon were a cute couple. I feel like the time that they were apart was time wasted. Lennon was also very resourceful out there in the wilderness, he knew the trails and how long it would take for them to make it to their destination. I also liked Zorie’s interest in astronomy not a lot of YA characters are into that.

Both Zorie and Lennon have been dealing with personal issues. Lennon’s dad died and no one knew about it and Zories dad has been having an affair. I’m glad that Zorie’s dad was confronted I also like that Zorie ended up staying with her mom I loved their relationship.

I thought this was a fun book especially with the summer coming. Zorie and Lennon were fun characters and I liked seeing them navigate their way through the wilderness. I plan on reading more of Jenn Bennett’s books after this!