Sunday, October 30, 2022

Monday Review by the Book Dragon: Powerful, emotional story about one of my favorite characters ever

 


The Book Dragon has read Corinna Turner's A Different Kind of Freedom, book 9 in the unSPARKed series and gives it a resounding 5 claws!
My review: I'm so grateful Ms. Turner released #8 and #9 close together, because the two stories happen at the same time and are woven together in many ways. It would have been excruciating to wait to read what happened to Josh! And this story is all his. When we last saw Josh in book 7, he was near death from an infected rex bite and would rather have died from his injury than be trapped in city, in prison because of his real phobia of the city. He does survive and he is sent to prison, so his worst nightmares have come true! This book is his intense, nail-biting survival story among the worst of human predators. And yet, he learns so many spiritual truths while in prison and grows in many ways. A unforgettable, powerful scene near the end brought tears to my eyes, the first time that has happened in this series (so far). There are rays of hope by the end, and I'm anxiously waiting for the next in the series to see how everything comes together between Josh and Darryl & Harry, for an unexpected revelation has changed everything! That's all I'm going to say about it; you must read it for yourself, and you'll be glad you did!

This book is featured, along with all of Ms. Turner's many wonderful books, at Catholic Teen Books.



Monday, October 24, 2022

Monday Review by the Book Dragon: Stellar installment in an exciting dinosaur dystopia series

 


The Book Dragon has finished Corinna Turner's A Different Kind of Camouflage, book 8 in the unSPARKed series and gives it a ripping 5 claws!


My review: I have read and loved every installment of the fast-paced, nail-biting unSPARKed series, but this one went even deeper into the emotions of teen siblings Darryl and Harry Franklyn, who have been taken into the "safe" city by a CPS villainess who joins a sort of "club" with Harry Potter's Dolores Umbridge and Hunger Games' Effie Trinket, all outwardly primped and proper nasties. She causes much trouble for Darryl and Harry; this is their brilliantly written "survival" story. For nearly a year, they learned the skills of living in the wild among dinosaurs and now must adapt those skills to predators and obstacles of different kinds in separate living facilities: Darryl in a group home and Harry with kind but completely unfamiliar foster parents. Though their obstacles to freedom appear impossible to overcome, there are rays of hope, and two scenes at the end will make your heart smile, even though they are not out of danger yet ... and the reader can't help but be as anxious about Josh's welfare as Darryl and Harry are. This is a must-read series for anyone who has been a nerd about dinosaurs, ages 8-88!

This book along with other wonderful books by the prolific Ms. Turner can be found at the Catholic Teen Books site.