The Sobeks 2018 – Part 2

Hello and welcome to my continuing retrospective of my favourite reads of 2018.

In case you missed my previous post, the Sobeks are my prestigious annual blog awards. I take a look back over the previous twelve months and showcase every review that I awarded 4 stars or above on Goodreads. As I’m very stingy when it comes to giving high ratings, you just know that all of these books are of the highest quality.

In this post, I’m going to be talking about the winners from April, May and June. If you’re looking for some great ideas of things to read in the new year, look no further. My recommendations lie beneath the cut…

 

April

The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl: 2 Fuzzy, 2 Furious by Shannon & Dean Hale

Publisher: Marvel Comics

Page Count: 336 pages

Series: The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl #2

Genre: Science Fiction / Humour

Review: [Link]

Buy it here: [Link]

Synopsis:

Doreen Green, age fourteen, is a little too busy wiping out crime in her suburban New Jersey neighbourhood to focus on her overdue homework. That’s because she also happens to be Squirrel Girl, a bushy-tailed, squirrel-powered Super Hero! After foiling the nefarious plot of an amateur Super Villain, Squirrel Girl is finally finding her groove–and group texting with the Avengers, like, all the time. Doreen, on the other hand, is still trying to navigate friendships, evil teachers, and all the pitfalls that come with middle school. (Seriously, it’s complicated.)

An announcement goes out that sends waves of excitement through the community: There’s a new mall opening on the border of Shady Oaks and neighbouring town Listless Pines, and they all get to vote on the mall’s mascot! Everyone goes wild over the election…a little too wild, if you ask Squirrel Girl and her BHFF (Best Human Friend Forever), Ana Sofia. Soon the two towns are at war–even the trusty Squirrel Scouts are going berserk. Is there something sinister at work in Shady Oaks? Something that has less to do with quality shopping choices and more to do with world domination? And will Squirrel Girl be able to unleash the furry paws of justice in time to save the day?

 

After the Fire by Will Hill

Publisher: Usborne Publishing Ltd

Page Count: 496 pages

Series: N/A

Genre: Contemporary Fiction

Review: [Link]

Buy it here: [Link]

Synopsis:

The things I’ve seen are burned into me, like scars that refuse to fade.

Father John controls everything inside The Fence. And Father John likes rules. Especially about never talking to Outsiders. Because Father John knows the truth. He knows what is right, and what is wrong. He knows what is coming.

Moonbeam is starting to doubt, though. She’s starting to see the lies behind Father John’s words. She wants him to be found out.

What if the only way out of the darkness is to light a fire?

 

May

Nina is not OK by Shappi Khorsandi

Publisher: Ebury Press

Page Count: 352 pages

Series: N/A

Genre: Contemporary Fiction

Review: [Link]

Buy it here: [Link]

Synopsis:

Nina does not have a drinking problem. She likes a drink, sure. But what 17-year-old doesn’t?

Nina’s mum isn’t so sure. But she’s busy with her new husband and five year old Katie. And Nina’s almost an adult after all.

And if Nina sometimes wakes up with little memory of what happened the night before, then her friends are all too happy to fill in the blanks. Nina’s drunken exploits are the stuff of college legend.

But then one dark Sunday morning, even her friends can’t help piece together Saturday night. All Nina feels is a deep sense of shame, that something very bad has happened to her…

 

Inferno by Julie Kagawa

Publisher: Harlequin Young Adult

Page Count: 400 pages

Series: The Talon Saga #5

Genre: Science Fiction / Fantasy / Paranormal Romance

Review: [Link]

Buy it here: [Link]

Synopsis:

TODAY, WE STRIKE BACK.

WE SHOW TALON THAT WE WILL NEVER ACCEPT THEIR NEW WORLD.

Ember Hill has learned a shocking truth. She is the blood of the Elder Wyrm, the ancient dragon who is on the verge of world domination.

With the order of St. George destroyed, she must journey to the Amazon jungle in search of one who might hold the key to take down Talon. As the stakes are rising and the Elder Wyrm is declaring war, time is running out for the rogues and any dragon not affiliated with Talon.

The final battle approaches and if Talon are victorious, the world will burn.

 

Beetle Boy by M.G. Leonard

Publisher: Chicken House

Page Count: 336 pages

Series: The Battle of the Beetles #1

Genre: Fantasy / Science Fiction

Review: [Link]

Buy it here: [Link]

Synopsis:

Darkus can’t believe his eyes when a huge insect drops out of the trouser leg of his horrible new neighbour. It’s a giant beetle – and it seems to want to communicate. But how can a boy be friends with a beetle? And what does a beetle have to do with the disappearance of his dad and the arrival of Lucretia Cutter, with her taste for creepy jewellery?

 

June

The Glass Republic by Tom Pollock

Publisher: Jo Fletcher Books

Page Count: 448 pages

Series: The Skyscraper Throne #2

Genre: Urban Fantasy

Review: [Link]

Buy it here: [Link]

Synopsis:

Pen’s life is all about secrets: the secret of the city’s spirits, deities and monsters that live just beyond notice, the secret of how she got the intricate scars that disfigure her so cruelly – and the most closely guarded secret of all: Parva, her mirror-sister, forged from her reflection in a school bathroom mirror and the only person who really understands her.

When Parva is abducted, Pen is forced to make a terrible bargain for the means to track her down, for in London-Under-Glass, looks are currency, and Pen’s scars make her a rare and valuable commodity. Kept company by the pretty and fierce steeplejill, Espel, Pen isn’t completely alone, but some in the reflected city will do anything to keep her from the secret of what happened to the sister who shared her face.

 

The Sword of Kuromori by Jason Rohan

Publisher: Egmont

Page Count: 336 pages

Series: The Kuromori Series #1

Genre: Fantasy / Adventure

Review: [Link]

Buy it here: [Link]

Synopsis:

Kenny Blackwood arrives in Tokyo to spend the summer with his father and is stunned to discover a destiny he had never dreamed of when he finds himself in the middle of a hidden war that is about to explode.

Racing against an impossible deadline, Kenny must find the fabled Sword of Heaven and use it to prevent the disaster. But a host of terrifying monsters is out to destroy him, and success will come at a price.

With clever, fearless, sarcastic Kiyomi at his side, Kenny must negotiate the worlds of modern and mythic Japan to find the lost sword, before it’s too late.

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© Kim Dyer and Arkham Reviews, 2019. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Kim Dyer and Arkham Reviews with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

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