Book reviews from the Castilleja Middle School.
Women learning, Women reading
 By: Sarah J. Maas
★★★★★ Genre: Young Adult Fiction, Fantasy, Romance Length: 448 pages Summary: The Assassin's Blade is takes place in a city called Rifthold, where the main character 16 year old assassin Celaena Sardothien grows up in an assassin’s keep. She and her fellow assassin Sam are on a mission for their master, King of the Assassin’s, Arobynn Hamel. They have grown up together for 8 years, and when Celaena secretly starts planning to free the slaves from the Pirate Lord Rolfe and Arobynn, Sam instantly catches on and agrees to help. In the four parts of this book the two face great changes and challenges together. Review: I loved this book and I can’t wait to read the rest of the series. This book was instantly one of my favorites. This story is the perfect combination of romance and adventure, with high stakes and surprising twists. I instantly fell in love with the two main character Celaena and Sam. They are so different, yet they are the same. I also loved Celaena's personality, the way she was so confident and independent. She really is the ideal strong female character. All in all this book was FANTASTIC, and I highly recommend it. Warnings: Romance: ●●○○○ Violence: ●●●○○ Language: ●●○○○ Substances: ●○○○○ More Books Like This: Throne of Glass series Reviewed By Anaika, 2025
2 Comments
 Adapted by: Mariah Marsden
Illustrated by: Brenna Thummler ★★★★☆ Genre: Graphic Novel, Historical Fiction Length: 230 pages Summary: In this remaking of the Original 1907 story about Anne, an Orphan who gets adopted by Marilla and Matthew Cuthbert, it follows the same storyline but in the form of a graphic novel. Anne has many adventures at Green Gables and all around Avonlea with her bosom friend Diana. Review: I have always loved reading remakes of older books in graphic novel form. I love seeing how the illustrator sees the characters. Overall I think this book is a great remake of the original. It isn’t as long as the original and I get to see the scenes come to life. Warnings: Romance ●○○○○ Violence: ●○○○○ Language: ○○○○○ Substances: ●○○○○ More Books Like This: A Wrinkle in Time a Graphic Novel Reviewed By Claire, 2025  By: Kristin Levine
★★★★☆ Genre: Historical Fiction Length: 320 pages Summary: This book is a very inspirational story about a girl named Marlee, who lives in the town of Little Rock, Arkansas. In her town, there are many people who don’t support integration, and that confuses Marlee. She is very quiet, and doesn’t have many friends. A new, nice girl comes into school, and befriends Marlee. But when she finds out the truth about the girl’s background, everything changes. Review: This story was very inspirational, and heartwarming. It is an example of how racism is a very large problem in our world, and has been for a long time. The book takes place in a dark time in our history, and it focuses on the things that people were doing to help the oppressed, and how some people didn’t know about the horrible things happening in their own towns. Warnings: Romance: ●●○○○ Violence: ●●●○○ Language: ●○○○○ Substances: ●●○○○ Reviewed by Megan, 2025  By: Veronica Roth
★★★★★ Genre: Dystopia Length: 400 pages Summary: Divergent is set in a dystopian world that is divided into four factions; Erudite: the smart, Amity: the peaceful, Abnegation: the selfless, and Dauntless: the brave. The book follows sixteen-year-old Tris, as she transfers from Abnegation to Dauntless. Tris has to understand who she is, develop relationships, and face her every fear, all while trying to survive the grueling Dauntless Initiation. Review: Divergent has become one of my favorite books. The world Veronica Roth has created is absolutely brilliant. In addition, the characters and their backstories are highly developed and the relationships are extremely deep. It has the perfect balance of action and emotion. Roth leaves you questioning your own identity, and wanting more with this amazing dystopian novel. Warnings: Romance: ●●●●○ Violence: ●●●●● Language: ●○○○○ Substances: ●●○○○ More Books Like This: The Hunger Games Reviewed By Krisaana, 2024  By: Karen M. McManus
★★★★★ Genre: Mystery Length: 384 pages Summary: One of Us is Lying is a mystery told in four different perspectives, Bronwyn the brain, Addy the beauty, Cooper the athlete, and Nate the criminal. The four of them, and Simon, the school gossip blogger, all wind up in detention. Suddenly, Simon drops to the floor dead and the question everyone is asking is "who did it"? Secrets are revealed, relationships are compromised, and everyone is trying to solve the mystery in Karen M. McManus’ new book. Review: One of Us is Lying is absolutely amazing! Karen M. McManus will leave you falling in love with each character and the relationships they develop. While the book may seem like an average story from a stereotypical high school, unexpected twists will leave you at the edge of your seat. And if you read closely, you might just figure out who killed Simon on that Thursday afternoon. Warnings: Romance: ●●●●○ Violence: ●●●○○ Language: ●●●●○ Substances: ●●●●○ More Books Like This: The Hate U Give Reviewed By Krisaana, 2024  Forwarded by: Senator Amy Klobuchar
★★★★★ Genre: Non-Fiction Length: 320 pages Summary: Nevertheless, We Persisted is a compilation of 48 stories from a diverse group of people. The theme of the book is triumph over adversity. The stories come from a range of people, athletes, educators, activists, and many more, and the topics are a range, from figuring out sexual identity, overcoming racism or sexism, defying expectations, and other such concepts. Review: This is a really captivating book, and very inspirational. These are true stories from real people, and if you’re like me where you like gaining different perspectives through reading that you wouldn’t gain otherwise, this is the book for you. If you feel like you’ve lost your voice, or you’re sort of stuck in where you want your life to go, I recommend this book because it’s very down-to-Earth. You may recognize some names in this book because there are actors', athletes', and politicians' accounts in this book. Warnings: Romance: ●○○○○ Violence: ●●○○○ Language: ●○○○○ Substance: ●○○○○ Reviewed by Ellie, 2023  By: Jonathan Maberry
★★★★★ Genre: Realistic Fiction, Science Fiction Length: 400 pages Summary: Tristen is one of four teens out of forty people total to be sent on the Mars One mission to create the first colony on Mars. Even before blast off he faces challenges hard to imagine, such as rare privacy, onerous training, and saying his last goodbyes to Earth, with everything, including his girlfriend, along with it. Not only that but there is also the ever-present threat of the dangerous opposers to Mars One, the Neo-Luddites. Once in space, things only get worse, ranging from implausible mechanical errors to heartbreaking struggles to keep relationships alive over the million-mile stretch. Tristan can only rely his skills and those of the people around him to keep everyone on the mission alive. Review: Mars One is a thought-provoking book that made me consider the pros and cons of space exploration and interplanetary travel, particularly on manned missions. It gorgeously showcased the thoughts and emotions of the characters, particularly Tristen, through the descriptive language. Despite being very descriptive, Mars One is a nice, moderately fast paced book that kept me interested the entire way; I could hardly put it down. Warnings: Romance: ●●●○○ Violence: ●●●○○ Language: ●●●○○ Substances: ○○○○○ More Books Like This: Rot and Ruin The Martian Reviewed By Syd, 2024  By: Raina Telgemeier
★★★★★ Genre: Realistic Fiction, Graphic Novel Length: 213 pages Summary: This is a story about a young girl having a rough time in her life. This young girl's name is Raina. Her teeth are all messed up, she doesn’t have nice friends, etc. This is a book about her life starting from when she was in sixth grade. She lives in san Francisco with her younger brother and sister plus her two parents. She gets bullied in school. She wants nothing more than some good friends/ family to help her go through some troubles. Review: I love this book so much. It is a very honest story and makes you feel that you are not alone. The teenage girl is figuring out were she belongs at her school. These are one of those stories that are relatable... and, it's a graphic novel. If you are that kind of person that just looks at the pictures in books (like me) then you should read this book. It does have a fair share of words, but more cool, awesome, and amazing pictures. Warnings: Romance: ●○○○○ Violence: ○○○○○ Language: ○○○○○ Substances: ○○○○○ Other books in the Series: DRAMA Sisters Guts More Books Like This: Baby Sitters Club Ghosts Reviewed by Mia, 2025  By: Fredrik Backman
★★★★★ Genre: Fantasy, Thriller Length: 400 pages Summary: My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She’s Sorry, by New York Times best-selling author Fredrik Backman, is at the crossroads of fiction and mystery. The tale follows Elsa, a prodigious child, and her grandmother, who has a talent for telling stories. Elsa and her grandmother often visit the Land-of-Almost-Awake, riding on cloud animals to the kingdom of Miamas. Then her grandmother dies, leaving Elsa with a list of people to apologize to, and stories, stories with villains realer than Elsa knows. Review: This book was fantastic! Chock-full of humor, heists, and all sorts of intrigue! The twists and turns were shocking- I was so surprised when the author exposed the villain! Warnings: Romance: ○○○○○ Violence: ○○○○○ Language: ●●●●○ Substances: ○○○○○ More Books Like This: Britt-Marie Was Here The Martian Reviewed By Emma, 2024  By: Randall Munroe
★★★★★ Genre: Humor and Non Fiction Length: 320 pages Summary: The author of this book, Randall Munroe, is a NASA roboticist turned webcomic author. He created the webcomic series xkcd, and is a total physics geek. The International Astronomical Union named an asteroid after him, and the Massachusetts-based scientist has a website where people ask him ridiculous questions that he responds to with serious, scientifically accurate answers. Munroe chose the most absurd, ludicrous questions he could find on his website to answer in-depth in this book. He extensively researched things like powerful laser pointers, Pittsburg-style steak, speed bump injuries, and Yoda’s telekinesis to answer a variety of odd questions. Review: This book is perfect for people who love physics, as well as for people who don't. The book is hilarious as well as eye-opening to things you might never have thought about before. Randall Munroe has a crazy sense of humor, and you will be laughing all day at his ridiculous jokes and comedic approaches to the questions. Funny little cartoons are added to give visuals, provided by the cartoonist side of Munroe, which adds to the book in a way that normal illustrations don’t. I really recommend this book; I was laughing for hours! Warnings: Romance: ◦◦◦◦◦ Violence: ●●◦◦◦ Language: ◦◦◦◦◦ Substances: ◦◦◦◦◦ Reviewed by Aasiya, '24 |
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