“Wings of Starlight” by Allison Saft
Published on the 4th of February this year by Allison Saft, this novel introduces the story between the young fairy queen, Clarion, and a guardian from the WInter Woods, Milori. Both fairies from different realms of Pixie Hollow, must work together in order to confront the monstrous threat looming over Pixie Hollow.
While this romance and fantasy novel isn’t something I would usually pick up, once I did start reading it, I couldn’t stop. The novel was packed full of details that I was immediately immersed into the fantastical world.
The novel not only developed and focused on the relationship of the star-crossed lovers as they navigated their feelings along with their duties, but also the other relationships between Clarion and the other fairies which is something I enjoyed as it made the characters feel much more real.
If as a child you watched the film series of Tinker Bell, I’m sure you recognized the two main character names from that series. And that is because this novel is a prequel to one of the movies in the film series, “Secret of the Wings.” This was something I immediately recognized and just added to the experience of reading this novel.
The novel overall was a five out of five for me, something I would say is worth the read especially if you’re into romance or grew up watching the Tinker Bell film series.
“13 Ways to Say Goodbye” by Kate Fussner
Released on March 18th by Kate Fussner, the novel follows the main character, Nina, and her journey in Paris three years after her sister, Lily’s death. Trying to find a way to ground herself and cope with her grief, Nina visits her Aunt in Paris to work on completing Lily’s bucket list of things to do before she had turned 13, something Lily never got the chance to complete on her own.
This realistic fiction novel really knows how to tug on the heart strings. While there was some light romance in the novel it really wasn’t the main focus which I enjoyed, as it made Nina’s journey the center point of the plot and that much more meaningful.
Reading about Nina figuring out and dealing with the overwhelming sorrow and frustration she feels surrounding Lily’s death was really powerful and moving. The novel showed how everyone deals with grief in different ways, shown in a manner that was moving and easy to comprehend.
Overall this novel was a five out of five for me. Being for a younger audience, it was still an interesting and light read.
“Everything Is Tuberculosis: The History and Persistence of Our Deadliest Infection” by John Green
John Green wrote about a tuberculosis patient’s story and released it on March 18th of this year. The book focuses on the story of a young Henry while also highlighting the scientific and social history of tuberculosis and how it has molded our world.
Something about this novel that I really enjoyed was that not only does John Green write about the stories of real people who live with tuberculosis or have passed from tuberculosis, but he also gives the history of tuberculosis and its current state. This mixture of real stories and facts about tuberculosis makes it feel every bit more real and impactful than if the novel was just written on the history of tuberculosis or stories of people living with tuberculosis alone.
It’s this combination that helps John Green really bring attention to the issues surrounding tuberculosis and how it still exists in many parts of the world, killing millions of people, despite it being a curable disease.
The novel taught me many new things about tuberculosis that I never knew before which was interesting. As well as the stories of people living with tuberculosis were all heart touching and, to me, made tuberculosis every bit more real in the present time. I used to think that tuberculosis wasn’t an issue currently as all I had known about tuberculosis was the outbreak in the 19th century.
This was a five out of five novel for me as it was an eye opening read, learning more about tuberculosis.
