Teen Reviews

Reviewed by Sam Redfearn, age 15 The Great Pretender: The Undercover Mission That Changed Our Understanding of Madness by Susannah Cahalan The debate as to whether mental hospitals, and the notion of institutionalization as a whole, are the ideal system for the treatment of psychiatric patients in the US is […]

Reviewed by Emily Battaglia, age 17 The Perfect Place to Die by Bryce Moore Set in Chicago at the end of the 19th century, The Perfect Place to Die tells the story of seventeen-year-old Zuretta, who traveled to the city to uncover the malevolent secret behind her sister’s disappearance. Her […]

Reviewed by Hailey Chen, age 14 The Color of Dragons by R.A. Salvatore and Erika Lewis Maggie is an apprentice to a self-named magician with no real magic. She’s someone who has very fickle powers and a lifelong debt being held over her head, with no way of clearing it […]

Review by Jasmine Sov, 15 Dark Rise By C.S. Pacat For centuries, the forces of Light and Dark were at war. Now, all that remains are the remnants of their battles, the half-broken monuments from when the Light defeated the Dark once before. Will is just a simple dock boy […]

Review by Amber Elias, 15 How It Feels to Float By Helena Fox Biz just wants to be a normal teen girl, doing normal teen girl things. But how can she? When her dad who died 10 years ago visits her constantly and talks to her about how life was […]

Review by Emily Battaglia, 17 My Contrary Mary By Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, and Jodi Meadows My Contrary Mary, written by the fantastic trio of female authors, is an epic retelling of the historical incidents surrounding Mary, Queen of Scots. Set in the midst of Renaissance France, the novel shrewdly […]

Review by Cadence Chen, 17 The Marvelous Mirza Girls By Sheba Karim Noreen is a teenager haunted by grief due to her aunt’s recent death. When her mother is offered a job in New Delhi, Noreen follows, hoping that India can heal her broken heart and help her rediscover her passions. […]

Review by Giselle Carlos, 16 Not Here To Be Liked By Michelle Quach Eliza Quan is determined to get elected editor-in-chief at her school newspaper. She’s been committed to it daily since freshman year, staying up late nights and editing early in the morning to get articles done; she’s a […]

Review by Sam Redfearn, 15 Ashfall Legacy By Pittacus Lore When Sydney Chambers was just a toddler, his father left, and he and his mother began to run from the Australian government. At the time, Sydney had no idea why, but when he was twelve, his mother drowned him. Fortunately, […]

Review by Jasmine Sov, 15 The River Has Teeth By Erica Waters Della Lloyd is a witch. And being a witch, she’s got some big secrets to hide—like her own mother, turned into a monster by the inexplicably souring magic of the Bend. Meanwhile, Natasha Greymont’s sister, Rochelle, has gone […]