Saturday, August 10, 2019

Short and Simple Reviews: The Candymakers and the Great Chocolate Chase, Love, Stargirl, & The Epidemic

This is a place for books that I didn't fully review.
Maybe I listed my likes and dislikes, had a little short paragraph, or a few sentences to convey my feelings on the book, but whatever the "review" is, all of them are short and simple. (hence the clever name)
Today I have a round-up of sequels!


The Candymakers and the Great Chocolate Chase (The Candymakers, #2)
The highly-anticipated sequel to the New York Times bestselling novel The Candymakers by beloved author Wendy Mass

It has been a few months since the nationwide New Candy Contest, and Logan, Miles, Philip, and Daisy have returned to their regular lives. But when the winning candy bar comes down the conveyor belt at the Life is Sweet candy factory, Logan realizes something's very wrong....

When the Candymaker announces that they will be going on tour to introduce the new candy bar, the four friends see this as an opportunity to make things right. But with a fifty-year-old secret revealed and stakes higher for each of them than they ever imagined, they will have to trust one another--and themselves--in order to face what lies ahead.

In this action-packed sequel to the bestselling novel The Candymakers, prepare to embark on a journey full of hidden treasures, secret worlds, and candy.

LOTS and LOTS of candy.
  Goodreads / Amazon / Barnes & Noble / Book Depository


Review
I loved The Candymakers , but I didn't like this book as much. Don't get me wrong, it's still a great book and the characters are still wonderful, but it felt like it was too long. The first half is similar to the last book where we get a POV from each kid, showing their POV of the same days. Unlike the first book, though, there isn't much of a mystery driving the first half of the book, so it felt really slow. Once the road trip starts, things pick up a little, but it still didn't grab my attention as much as the first book. I did notice that there were a lot of cameos and easter eggs from the author's other books, which felt a little like my childhood making an appearance.


 I hereby give this book
3.5 Stars
Meaning: It was almost amazing, but not quite



Love, Stargirl (Stargirl, #2)
LOVE, STARGIRL picks up a year after Stargirl ends and reveals the new life of the beloved character who moved away so suddenly at the end of Stargirl. The novel takes the form of "the world's longest letter," in diary form, going from date to date through a little more than a year's time. In her writing, Stargirl mixes memories of her bittersweet time in Mica, Arizona, with involvements with new people in her life.


In Love, Stargirl, we hear the voice of Stargirl herself as she reflects on time, life, Leo, and - of course - love.

  
  Goodreads / Amazon / Barnes & Noble / Book Depository



Review
I actually did not read Stargirl until very recently, so I was able to read this one fairly shortly after reading the first book. I thought this was a fantastic companion to the first book! I loved seeing things from Stargirl's POV. I've seen complaints from others that Stargirl is too "normal" in this book. Yes, her viewpoint is not incredibly weird, but it still read like it was from her. We still see how powerfully she feels things, how much she believes in things, and what she does to make an impact on others. But we also see that she is a human being with feelings and not a caricature. The first book does show us that she is human, but I also felt that at times Leo saw her as other. I loved seeing Stargirl interact with everyone, especially Dootsie. Dootsie is my favorite. The book was written like a really long letter to Leo and I liked the format, but I also kind of wish Stargirl wasn't so fixated on Leo. He honestly doesn't deserve her. Maybe friendship, but I don't want them to be together. Overall, I did enjoy reading this book. 

I hereby give this book
3.5 Stars
Meaning: It was almost amazing, but not quite




The Epidemic (The Program, #4)
Can one girl help others find closure by slipping into the identities of their loved ones? Find out in this riveting sequel to The Remedy and companion to the New York Times bestselling The Treatment and The Program.

In a world before The Program…

Quinlan McKee has spent her life acting as other people. She was a closer—a person hired to play the role of the recently deceased in order to give their families closure. Through this process, Quinn learned to read people and situations, even losing a bit of herself to do so. But she couldn’t have guessed how her last case would bring down her entire world.

The only person Quinn trusts is Deacon, her best friend and the love of her life. Except Deacon’s been keeping secrets of his one, so Quinn must set out alone to find Arthur Pritchard, the doctor who’s been trying to control her life. The journey brings Quinn to Arthur’s daughter, Virginia, who tells Quinn the truth about Pritchard’s motives. The former closer will start to see that she is the first step in fighting an epidemic.

But Quinlan doesn’t want to be a cure. And with all the lies surrounding her, she realizes she has no one left to rely on but herself—even if she doesn’t know who that is anymore.



Review
I thought this was an interesting continuation. After the twist in the last book, it was interesting to see Sloane trying to deal with that and seeing how the world was progressing to The Program. There are a lot of secrets, mystery, and deception in this book. Sloane isn't sure who to trust and she's trying to figure out why there have been so many recent suicides. Sloane's friendship with Virginia was the best part, even though Sloane was only talking to her at first in order to solve Virginia's connections to the mystery. It was difficult to read at times though because, thanks to the first two books, we already know what happens to Virginia. It does give insight into how cruel Pritchard is. What made me drop half a star was the romance. I'm sorry, I don't like Deacon very much. I don't think Deacon and Sloane had a very good romantic relationship. It is explained why the broke up, but I think I'm just tired of books always trying to end with a boy and a girl romantically together. Why can't there be more that end with friendships? 


I hereby give this book
3.5 Stars
Meaning: It was almost amazing, but not quite

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