Month: February 2022

REVIEW: Hide and Geek by T. P. Jagger

REVIEW: Hide and Geek by T. P. Jagger

Posted on by Jaymie

[I received a free electronic review copy of this book from Netgalley and Random House Books for Young Readers in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.]

Summary

The town of Elmwood is in trouble. The family that helped build the town is mostly gone. The matriarch who promised to leave her money to Elmwood didn’t. And her children destroyed the family business with their irresponsible choices.

Gina, Elena, Edgar, and Kevin stumble across a chance to save Elmwood – and their families’ livelihoods – when they meet the final member of the VanHouten family. Max found a speech his grandmother wrote – but never gave – announcing a hidden treasure in the town. So the GEEKs are going to find it!

Review

This is a fun mystery/treasure hunt story with solid characters and real stakes. It has a familiar feeling to it – like The Parker Inheritance or The Westing Game, The Amelia Six, Capture the Flag, the 39 Clues series, etc.. But it was still a fun read. I enjoy books like this, and I think kids who enjoy similar treasure hunting tales will enjoy this too.

Rating: ♥♥♥½*

*♥♥♥½ = Good+

REVIEW: Hunt the Stars by Jessie Mihalik

REVIEW: Hunt the Stars by Jessie Mihalik

Posted on by Jaymie

[I received a free electronic review copy of this book from Netgalley and Harper Voyager in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.]

Summary

The war with the Valoffs hadn’t been over long enough for Tavi to feel anything but mistrust and skepticism as she watched the team of them go from ship to ship looking to hire a crew. But while she doesn’t trust Torran Fletcher, his money is still good – and her crew and ship could use it.

Octavia Zarola is “the hero of Rodeni.” She and her crew may know how ridiculous that title is. They have no shortage of bitterness over it. But if any other Valoffs catch her in their space, she’ll be killed without question. Torran promises they will be safe.

But Torran is less than forthcoming about what he wants from them. They are supposed to recover a stolen item. But no matter how many promises are made, Tavi has to stay on her guard – something is not quite right about this assignment. And she can’t afford to give in to her growing intrigue about Torran and the way he makes her feel

Review

This was awesome! It’s the sort of book where you page count, but because you want it to stretch out as long as possible. The characters and world building are everything I’ve come to expect from Jessie Mihalik from her exceptional Consortium Rebellion series. If I can’t get more of those books, at least this new series launch is just as amazing.

I’m happy to see that two other characters from this book are the point-of-view characters for book 2, Eclipse the Moon. That’s what Mihalik did in the Consortium series, and I loved it. This is exactly the sort of book I am always looking for – science fiction or fantasy with sharp, sassy characters who don’t take any crap and who are trying to solve a mystery or save the day. (See also the Touched by an Alien series, Scarred Earth Saga, Crown of Shards, Gargoyle Queen, Sons of Destiny, etc.)

This is a must read, must buy, must re-read series for me already – don’t miss it! (Language, sex)

Rating: ♥♥♥♥½*

*♥♥♥♥½ = I loved it! Will re-read.