Review: The Sword of Summer by Rick Riordan

Genre: Mythology, Fantasy, YA, Middle Grade
Publication: 10/06/2015 by Hyperion Books
Series: Magnus Chase and the God's of Asgard
Pages: 507 Pages
Format: eBook
Rating: 3.75 out of 5 Stars

Goodreads Summary:
Magnus Chase has always been a troubled kid. Since his mother’s mysterious death, he’s lived alone on the streets of Boston, surviving by his wits, keeping one step ahead of the police and the truant officers.

One day, he’s tracked down by a man he’s never met—a man his mother claimed was dangerous. The man tells him an impossible secret: Magnus is the son of a Norse god.

The Viking myths are true. The gods of Asgard are preparing for war. Trolls, giants and worse monsters are stirring for doomsday. To prevent Ragnarok, Magnus must search the Nine Worlds for a weapon that has been lost for thousands of years.

When an attack by fire giants forces him to choose between his own safety and the lives of hundreds of innocents, Magnus makes a fatal decision.

Sometimes, the only way to start a new life is to die . . .

My Thoughts: 
If you are looking for action and adventure, Rick Riordan is your man. In his usual style, boy finds out he is the son of a god and madness ensues. I do enjoy Rick Riordan's books, I have read The Percy Jackson series. I haven't read any of his other series yet but I am planning on starting Hero's of Olympus soon.  However, I do find them to be intended for a younger audience than myself. I'm not old by any means but I do enjoy some adult content. But if you are looking for an awesome book for a young audience, Rick is your man.

Something I really enjoyed about Magnus Chase was that the characters were very diverse. There was Sam who is Muslim and wears a magical hijab; Then Hearthstone is a deaf elf, which is also really cool. Magnus himself is even homeless, so there is a lot of elements that you never see in other novels. I was really awesome to read from people with all kinds of different experiences.

However, what detracted from the book was that I found Magnus Chase to be very similar to Percy Jackson. They are different characters and they are put into different situations but if someone told me that Magnus was Percy, I would believe them. I am not sure if this is because Riordan's style of writing is very similar in both books but I think this is something that only I have noticed.

All-in-all, I had a good time reading The Sword of Summer and I will be continuing on with Magnus Chase. It's a fun action filled adventure and I really do enjoy Rick's take on all the different Gods. I do however want to read Hero's of Olympus before I continue on in Magnus' world. I think I'll need to know what happened with Annabeth in those books before I keep going.

Conclusions: If you love Rick Riordan, I definitely recommend Magnus Chase. It was not too shabby.                                                                                                                                                               

  
                                                                                                         

Review: Wonder by R.J. Palacio

Genre: Middle Grade, Contemporary
Published: 01/03/2013 by Corgi Children's
Pages: 315 pages
Format: Library e-book
Rating: 5 out of 5 Stars
Goodreads | Amazon | Indigo

Goodreads Summary 
You can't blend in when you were born to stand out.

My name is August. I won't describe what I look like. Whatever you're thinking, it's probably worse.

August Pullman wants to be an ordinary ten-year-old. He does ordinary things. He eats ice cream. He plays on his Xbox. He feels ordinary - inside. But Auggie is far from ordinary. Ordinary kids don't make other ordinary kids run away screaming in playgrounds. Ordinary kids don't get stared at wherever they go.

Born with a terrible facial abnormality, Auggie has been home-schooled by his parents his whole life, in an attempt to protect him from the cruelty of the outside world. Now, for the first time, he's being sent to a real school - and he's dreading it. All he wants is to be accepted - but can he convince his new classmates that he's just like them, underneath it all? Narrated by Auggie and the people around him whose lives he touches forever, Wonder is a funny, frank, astonishingly moving debut to read in one sitting, pass on to others, and remember long after the final page.

My Thoughts
I cried, and everything is beautiful. This book made me so much happier in with this world. I fell in love with August, he is an amazing human. Everything about this book was really amazing and I can see this book being taught to middle grade children. This book is even great for adults to read because even we need reminders on how not to judge someone based on their appearance.

I really enjoyed how you got to read from multiple different perspectives in this book. It was very interesting to see what other people thought of August and how their opinions change once they get to known him. However, August was still my favourite prospective to read from. He is just a regular kid even if he has a facial deformity.

I hated when people treated him poorly but all my faith was restored in humanity at the end. I definitely cried during this book. I cried from sadness and cried from happiness. You definitely felt the range of emotions and it was awesome.

Conclusions: Wonder is amazing and might be a new favourite of mine (I don't give out that honour lightly). It's incredibly heart warming and I think everyone should read this at least one time. It has an amazing message which is important for everyone to hear. All of the thumbs up.