Warhammer 40K: Indomitus

Warhammer 40k: Indomitus

Gav Thorpe

This book is a self contained story within the Warhammer 40k Universe, where in the darkness of the far future there is only war.

Set in the backdrop of Goboute Guilliman’s Indomitus crusade, this book follows the trials and tribulations of a lone Astartes attack cruiser. Their mission: to find and purge all xenos and heretics they find and assist humanities worlds. In such a big galaxy full of enemies all willing to sunder humantie for their own goals or even just for their own sick pleasure there certainly isn’t a shortage of targets.

The story follows Captain Aeschelus and his command staff: Lieutenant Praxamedes and Lieutenant Nemetus as well as Necron Overlord Simut and his cohort: Destroyer Zozar and Plasmancer Ah-hotep. Through a series of events haunted by failure and short-sightedness the Astartes and Necron eventually face off in a struggle for survival.

This book is objectively for those a fan of grimdark sci-fi. The great thing about this book is that you don’t need to read a thousand others to understand the story, though an understanding of the Warhammer 40k universe itself would help visualizing the events in the book. The book will have you fully engaged as you follow the characters and their struggles. With moments of character development you still feel that even these warriors plagued by endless war are still human.

Book Review by Matt K.

Dear Justyce

Dear Ms. Stone,

I wanted to take the time to thank you and tell you how amazing your books were. I first read Dear Martin as a choice book for my English class. I wasn't very interested in the book at first, but after reading a few pages, I grew a connection to Justyce, even though our lives are very different.

Justyce is not like a lot of the teenagers I know today: he didn't smoke weed or sell drugs, and he wasn’t affiliated with any gang. He was a smart kid who got good grades and cared deeply about his loved ones. I was highly impressed by Justyce. He knew how to keep his cool around police officers, he had a set plan for his future, and on top of that, he lived in a ghetto and was able to make it to a prestigious college. Justyce had great grades, family and friends, and a teacher who actually cared about him. With all that positivity Justyce had, he still had to encounter negativity in the form of racism. I can relate to Justyce because even though our lives are very different, it feels the same. Everything was going great in his life: he just got accepted into college and got his girlfriend, then boom his friend Manny gets killed by a police officer. I can relate to this because my friend also got shot because of senseless hate at a time when everything was going good for me. Justyce was a role model with everything that happened to him; he still looked outward into the future to better his life and then used what he learned to help Quan's life.

Vernell Laquan Banks, also known as ¨Quan,¨ wasn't like Justyce: he stole, smoked weed, sold drugs, and was failing school. Most people would look at Quan and automatically assume he is a bad person. Quan and Justyce did live in the same neighborhood but went to different schools and hung with different people. I can relate to Quan even more than Justyce: Quan´s father was arrested when he was young, and my dad left before I was born, so I feel a connection just from that. We both didn't have positive male figures growing up. In Dear Justyce, Quan is arrested for a murder he did not commit, and he sat in jail for over a year for it. I understand what he was going through: I have been to jail three times, each time scarier than the last. It felt like I was suffocating under water with no life jacket, so I knew how Quan felt: lonely and hopeless. Quan is an inspiration to a lot of kids like me. Quan showed me that just because I went down the wrong road doesn't mean I can't turn around on the next one. He never stopped fighting: he got his diploma and got out of jail. Today I am working on my diploma and am only a few credits away. Just like Quan, I won´t stop until I have it. 

Thank you, Nic Stone, for sharing these amazing stories with me; they touched my heart and showed me a little more of the world we live in. I can't wait for the next book!!!

True Crime

True Crime by Nicholas Yapp had written about different crimes from kidnapping to homicides. I have not read any of his other books but this one is like an informative book. This book was really interesting because I am really interested in crimes that have gone big, like Ted Bundy. The genre would be non fiction. The book has different stories so I wouldn't really know what would be the theme.

The book is different. You don't find many books that tell different stories on serial killers and kidnappers and many more. It is about different lives being taken away by people that were sick in the head. The book has stories about mobsters and gang leaders such as Al Capone. A story that stuck with me was the Black Dahlia because nobody has found the killer yet and the case went cold. Another was Bonnie and Clyde, they were so in love that Bonnie did whatever Clyde and that cost them their lives. There are 2 more stories that have me thinking. Its Emmett Till and Robert Yummy Sandifer. These are stuck with me because they are both young African American boys that have had their lives taken away from them. The difference is that Emmett was killed for false accusations and Robert was killed by his own friends. A textual evidence that intrigued me was in the beginning of the story of Charles Manson, a prison report said that when he was 17 he was “A slick institutionalized youth, dangerous, should not be trusted across the street.” 

I liked the book, but I wished that it was longer on the stories. It was very informative even though the stories are short. This book is for readers that are interested in learning about serial killers or mobsters. I believe that if you're interested in stuff like that then you would like the book, you just would hate the fact that you are really into a story and its not long at all. I would read this book as soon as I hear about it because it is very good and informative. It might not be long but its something to read about and acknowledge it.

Book Review by Nadiyah A.

Whatever Happened to Megan Marie

Whatever happened to Megan Marie By Anne Schraff. Anne Schraff has written some of the popular Bluford books. Many of Anne Schraff's books are relatable to teenager’s everyday life. Like peer pressure growing pains and relationships. Whatever happened to Megan Marie is about a teenage girl who lives with her mom and abusive dad, her dad offers her gifts to keep her quiet about the abuse toward her mother. The genre is a mystery due to Megan's disappearance.

The book Whatever Happened to Megan Marie is about a young girl who runs away from an abusive household. Leaving many people close to her confused, like her teacher Cathy who actually sets out to find Megan or any clues trying to figure out why she (Megan) has disappeared.  Throughout the book Cathy and Megan have a good relationship, she is someone she can trust and Cathy shows real concern for Magen and Don a guy she has interest in but she ruined it for herself with her attitude acting stuck up. When Megan disappeared, Cathy went searching for her (Megan) like going to the Kane’s home asking if they knew anything about her disappearance. 

I personally enjoyed the book because I like reading things that keep me on my toes. This book targets people who have had similar experiences. It could help someone reach out and possibly seek help. I recommend someone to read this book because it's one book that I actually read and makes you feel different emotions and it's interesting. 

Book Review by Kelly L.

Black Lotus

K’WAN is an amazing urban fiction author. I’ve only read one other book by him but he has yet to disappoint. The book Black Lotus is about a detective who’s strict on the word justice. He views the world as us vs. them trying to rid his city of the “scum” criminals who only populate the streets with drugs and violence; he says he is only balancing out the scales though. 

Detective wolf struggles a lot with his past he could never keep a partner and his only friend is his captain. Detective wolf thinks his way is the better way, Instead of playing by the rules he makes his own which leads him into trouble with his sergeant.  When his only friend is in dire need of help, he jumps at the chance to help him, that’s when the character vs. self and society come into play. He has to choose between the line of justice as a way to balance the scales or simply letting things “takes it course” either way Detective Wolf still has a hard decision to make. Detective wolf will have to dig through the past in order to help his only friend. 

I like the book because it’s intriguing like a movie. It keeps you on your toes, it also engages the reader into the book while leaving you wanting to read more after one page. The ideal audience for this book is young black teens or people who’ve grown up in an urban setting although it could move on to other audiences the ideal audience for me would be black teens who grew up in an urban setting. I would highly recommend this book it is a very good book it cuts right to the chase while also building the suspense.

Book Review by Armani M.

Be More Chill

Be More Chill is recommended at the end of Ned Vizzini’s other book called It’s Kind of a Funny Story. As at the end of Be More Chill; It’s Kind of a Funny Story is recommended. Those books were published by Ned Vizzini himself, but they were republished after his death in 2013. There is also another book that is in the same theme of Be More Chill and It’s Kind of a Funny Story. It is called Teen Angst? Naaah... and they all have the same overall theme of being an awkward teen. Be More Chill is a science fiction, young adult book about Jeremy Heere and his way up the social hierarchy with the help of a mini computer in his brain: a squip. He does this in the interests of Christine, but it came with downfalls. Be More Chill by Ned Vizzini illustrates the social structure that happens in an environment and how it isn’t necessarily a good thing.  

Jeremy Heere is an average high-school teen that takes embarrassment to heart. Christine is his crush, he likes her a lot. This whole story kicks off because he doesn’t want to be seen as dorky. So his friend Micheal tells him about a mini computer that you swallow and it somehow makes you better at everything. So Jeremy on his quest to be “cooler” sets out to find this said computer and he does. It is called a squip. Jeremy becomes more distant towards his friend Micheal, mainly because the squip sees him as a loser. “I look back for Michael, but he’s gone. That was quick. Guess I’ll sort things out with him later” (Vizzini 117).  This leads to Jeremy finding out how to talk to girls and it isn’t the best thing. He starts to analyze how they look and he starts getting into trouble with a girl who has a boyfriend while he is tripping on ecstasy. But the central idea in this book is how being more noticable and being “cooler”, as the character would say, is not always the best thing because you can get into a lot of bad things. 

I genuinely like this book which is saying a lot because I normally don’t like sci-fi books, I find them a little cheesy at times. It was nice that it wasn’t mainly focused on sci-fi it was just a kid who happened upon something that could make him “better”. It also ties in the awkwardness of being a dorky teen which I really like. I would say this book is mainly targeted at kids at highschool age or people who just entered adulthood. I would say it’s also for people who like the main theme of young adult books, which is an awkward teen becoming more than just an awkward teen. Everyone should go out and read Be More Chill. It is honestly an amazing book that takes a look into a teens mind and how he doesn’t want to be seen as the dorky kid.

Book Review by Korryn C.

Tyrell

The book I read was called Tyrell and the author of the book was Coe Booth. The first book of Tyrell was about how his father left and his mom lost herself almost started to forget she had two kids. The second book continues the Tyrell story as his father gets out of jail. The genes of the series are fiction.

This book is about a 16 year old boy who was living well until his dad went to jail. Then his mom started to not care about anything when Tyrell dad went to jail. They got put out their house and has to live in a shelter Tyrol little brother is a smart 8 year old that’s in special Ed because he get money for it N his mom want the money,Novisha is Tyrell childhood who turned into his girlfriend but Jasmine the church girl that likes Tyrell but he do nothing but try to get out of the shelter just to find out his so called girlfriend Novisha has been cheating on him. For example “ I can't believe you played me.”(Booth 280).

I liked the book Tyrell simply because I like to read young adults' books. The book was written for young teens that maybe go through a rough time and think they can’t get through it or wanna give up. If you are into drama and relationship problems I recommend you read Tyrell and if you enjoy it read the Bronxwood.

Book Review by Shanice P.