10/10!

Winter's Orbit is one of the best books I have ever read. The society in which the book is set is an imperialist planet that rules all of the other planets that are under its jurisdiction. To summarize, in order to negotiate a peace treaty, one of the princes of the ruling nation is placed in an arranged marriage with the representative of another planet. The two then have to deal with accusations of murder and death threats, all the while trying to figure out their relationship. I really enjoyed this book, mostly due to the writing style. Unlike a lot of older books that I have read, Winter's Orbit is written in a way that makes it easy to understand and get through. One of my biggest pet peeves in reading older books is that authors often deemed it necessary to describe and describe and discribe things to an unecessary degree, making the book slow, hard to get through, and just plain boring. Not once did I have this issue with Winter's Orbit. There was enough description to get a mental picture in your head, but the author never rambled on about things that you as the reader have no reason to care about. Another thing that I appreciated about this book was that it ties multiple genres together, intertwining all of the aspects of the book into a cohesive story. It takes place in a science fiction setting, it involves romance, there is a bit of a mystery that they are trying to uncover, and there are also numerous action scenes. However, despite all of these aspects, none of them overshadow the others, so anyone who likes any of these genres should really give this book a try. In short, Winter's Orbit is a book that I would highly recommend to anyone, due to how easy it is to get through while still being immersed in the story.

February 15, 2022 Review by Penny

9/10

Saving Hamlet is a book that is originally set in the modern age. It follows a high school girl who works backstage for her school's theater, which is currently doing a production of the play Hamlet. One day, she falls into an open pit on the stage and ends up crashing into Shakespearean London. (This time travel is the sci-fi aspect). While there, she makes a friend. She makes it a habit to travel back and forth between the times. However, she is just like any other high school student: stressed with a whole lot of stuff on her plate. She ends up having to choose between the two time periods. I won't spoil her choice. I really enjoyed this book, because it seemed to bring together a whole lot of groups of people. I can see this book being liked by sci-fi fans, by fantasy fans, by theater people, and by people who like reading about modern high school. There is something for everyone in this book. I also appreciated the variety of relationships that were shown in this book, both romantic and platonic. Neither were prioritized over the other, which is unusual for most books. Another thing that I found particularly appealing about this book was even though the premise wasn't realistic, the high school experience shown in the plot was about normal. There was everyday drama, family issues, and much more, all of which were aknowledged in the book. It felt as though the author actually understood what the high school experience is like in this day and age rather than writing about it like a sixty-year-old who hasn't been in high school in nearly half a century. Everything felt realistic and like something that could actually happen, and nothing felt forced. All in all, I thought this was a fun book to read, and I would definitely recommend it to most people who are interested in sci-fi, Shakespeare, theater, or high school books.

March 4th, 2022 Review by Penny

10/10!

Scythe is a science fiction book set in a dystopian version of Earth where death has been solved and humanity is governed by an artificial intelligence. People don't die anymore, or at least not permanently. Obviously, this comes with some serious ramifications for population control. In order to keep the population from growing too much, there is a sytem in place made up of Scythes, who are people who go around and 'glean' (kill) citizens permanently. Each scythe has a different method for choosing who they glean. This concept is a little disturbing, but somehow, once you get into the book, it starts to seem more normal and less unsettling. I found this book difficult to put down, as the book was written in a very engaging manner. It rarely went over the top with unecessary details, but the description it did give made me constantly want to find out more. Another thing that I appreciated about the book was that the characters all had very distinct personalities, but the author was good about showing those differences rather than explicitly stating them. (Show not tell!) I found this book to be exceptionally good, mostly because of how the author was able to make such a disturbing concept for a society sound plausible and logical rather than horrifying and wrong. In most dystopian books, the plot is about trying to go against the artificial intelligence government that has somehow turned evil and wants world domination. However, this book doesn't follow that stereotype, and instead makes the artificial intelligence seem like just another regular aspect of life. All in all, I thought this book was extremely engaging, and I would recommend it to anyone who likes dystopian books or who wants to be sucked into a future world.

March 28, 2022 Review by Penny