Stealing Infinity? More Like Stealing my Time...

 Stealing Infinity 

(Goodreads)

I read this book because it was a gift. That isn't to say that it was a bad gift. I love being given books I have never read or would never consider reading. It broadens my horizons and keeps me from reading the same things each time. 

This book was a letdown. Not because it was a YA book, but because of so many little things. I will explain my main issues with the text individually to help illustrate my low score. 

Synopsis: 

Brooding and burnt out from the stress of her first 17 years, Natasha has given up on life. Grades in the toilet, Nat has very little going for her. This isn't any news to her. Her life hasn't been the same since her father decided to leave her and her mother all alone. Unable to deal with that abandonment, Nat's mom collapses into herself. Natasha is forced to help her mom pay bills, while also giving up on the life she imagined for herself. With no foreseeable future, Natasha has become a social pariah in her high school with only her best friend, Mason for company. 

That is until Elodie breezes into her high school. She is dressed in all of the designer clothes that Natasha wishes she could afford. Not only that, but she is kind to Nat. Mason warns her that Eoldie is a bad influence and will be Natasha's downfall. With nothing left to lose, Mason's warnings are forgotten and Natasha throws caution The unlikely friends skip school to go shopping for clothes Nat can't afford and eventually end up at a rather weird exclusive club. 

After being framed for shoplifting by Elodie, Natasha is faced with an impossible choice; leave everything she knows to attend an unknown boarding school or continue living her life with no future. Presented with the fact that her mother will be cared for and not worry about money while Natasha is at school causes her to begrudgingly agree. 

Whisked away by a model-level attractive boy, Natasha finds herself thrown into a quirky world of luxury. Designer clothes and coveted works of art are now part of her every day. Add in her gorgeous classmates who all could be models, and Natasha is struggling to figure out why she was selected for this school. Her benefactor is none other than Arthur Blackstone, a world-renowned billionaire and art collector. 

Yet, something isn't adding up. Where does all of this wealth come from? It isn't long before Natasha figures out the true purpose of Grey Wolf Academy, time travel. She and her classmates have been brought to this remote boarding school to be time-traveling thieves for Arthur. Not tasked with traveling through time to steal from kings and queens, Natasha wonders if something more nefarious is at work here. 

My Thoughts: 

This book does a decent job of looking at how morality can shift over time. It also shows how morals can be influenced by one's financial situation. Natasha has dealt with a lot in her 17 years. However, she is not the poster child for our students struggling at home. If anything, she is an example of what we do not want our students to do. Natasha throws her life away and does so willingly. 

It isn't that she throws her academic future away, she also acts as the poster child for the phrase "We accept the love we think we deserve." The love interest in this book, Braxton, essentially admits to stalking her. Most women would find that extremely offputting. Not Natasha! She falls for Braxton and falls hard. It is alluded to that they sleep together, adding to the toxic relationship between the two. Natasha admits that she hasn't been in a serious relationship... EVER! But it is okay for her to fall into bed with her stalker. As a teacher (former), I would be hesitant to hand this to anyone younger than 15. The last thing we need to do is idolize these kinds of relationships. YA Literature already does enough of that for us. 

My main issues: 

1) Over-explaining random aspects. 

2) Lack of true relationships

3) Romantic Relationships 

4) Writing Style

I will talk about these a bit later. First, we need to look at the discussions that this book presents. 

• What builds a trusting relationship? 
• What was your initial impression of Natasha? Braxton? Elodie? How did this opinion evolve as you read through the book?
• When a crime doesn't have any direct consequences, is it wrong? 
• When forced into a position that requires trust amongst all parties and you have none, how does it impact decision-making? 
• How far would you go for your family? Is there something you wouldn't do if it meant your family would have a better life? 

Suggested Student Age: 15 and up

Warnings: Alcohol use, kissing, sexual encounters (off camera), parental abandonment, attempted rape,  and sword violence

***** SPOILERS*******

Issue One: Over-explaining Random Aspects

This author clearly did a lot of research for this book. I am not saying this because there was a lot of well-placed information. This book is guilty of one of the greatest writing sins, information dumping. The first 5 pages are just an info dump about Numerology. This holds such a minimal place in the plot of the book.  Why was this necessary? Tarot Cards played a much larger role, but there was no information dump about them. 

Later in the book, they travel to 1745 Paris, France. There is easily a page of description about a fountain. A FOUNTAIN. Not only that but every piece of clothing that Natasha wears is described in depth. I don't care about every dress she wears. We could have shortened this 458-page long book by quite a bit. I understand that the author is trying to reel in teenage girls. However, it bogs down the writing and makes it feel vapid. 

Issue Two: Lack of True Relationships

Natasha is not truly connected to anyone in her life. Her father disappears/ leaves her family.  After that, her mother shuts down and cares very little about her. Given the chance to ship her daughter off to a boarding school in exchange for money, she jumps at it. Sure, she gets some "reassurances," but they are minimal at best. 

She is friends with Mason and Elodie. Elodie frames her for theft and attempts to kill her more than once. She actively works to destroy Natasha's relationship with Braxton. Elodie tries to ruin any possible friendships between Natasha and the other students at Grey Wolf Academy. Remember Mason now. He does absolutely NOTHING to stop Elodie from hurting Natasha. When Natasha is in a downward spiral, he just tells her to do better. She gets arrested and he just stands by looking disappointed. 

Natasha's relationship with Braxton is toxic and questionable. He stalks her and she, for some reason, finds this hot. Leading me to issue #3. 

Issue Three: Romantic Relationships

This book acts like a romantic relationship is the only thing that would keep Natasha at Grey Wolf Academy. Dude, you get to travel through time! You get to wear designer clothes and learn amazing skills. This plot wasn't any better when a half-baked romantic relationship was added. 

Braxton tells Natasha that he spent months researching her life. He is in love with her before even meeting her. He finds nothing wrong with his role in tricking/ framing Natasha. He thinks everything is acceptable because it worked towards his end goal, which is being with Natasha. Does Natasha get a say in that? Sure ..... Not really. 

It isn't even just about their relationship. With a minuscule student body, everyone dates and sleeps with everyone. It is a terrible cesspool of teenage hormones and nasty empty relationships.

Elodie acts as the queen bee, sleeping with every boy who looks in her direction. Not really a good example of healthy teenage relationships. 

Issue Four: Writing Style

This writing style is childish and reads more like a Wattpad fanfiction. If I didn't know any better, I would say this was written by a teenager. This does not read like a seasoned published author. I only finished this book because was praying the characters would get better. None of them did.  

When life gives you lemons...

 You do something else

I spent a long time thinking about how I would talk about the big change I made in my life. I started this blog during Covid as a way to keep myself busy and share my love of reading and my love for teaching. Only one of those things has survived. This was meant to be a blog for teachers by a teacher. 

There are so many books out there that students beg to read. How can we know if the book we put into their hands will land you in hot water? You research! That is where the problems come in. So many websites don't address age recommendations or triggers that might be found in a book. My aim was to discuss the book and the possible applications it would have in the classroom. Not only that, but I also wanted to help other English teachers as they wade through this weird world of teaching post-COVID. 

If you are a person in the education field, it is not odd to hear others say that the landscape of teaching has completely changed. I was in education for 7 short years. For most seasoned educators, they would laugh and tell me that I had experienced nothing but a blip. However, any young teacher who lived through COVID-19 can tell you that these years were nothing even remotely normal. Students are quick to anger and have no real concept of the impact their actions/ behaviors are having on school culture. Students are not afraid to destroy a teacher's career over bad grades or disciplinary actions. If you know, you know. 

This was a lot of what happened to me. Bad grades resulted in children turning to their parents to fight their battles. This was many a trip where I had to sit there and validate each grade a student received. I was exhausted after doing this nearly every week for a different child. I began dreading going to work because I was waiting for the next call down to the principal's office. I was spending 60-80 hours a week. I know that sounds crazy, but when you are working on things from your waking moment until you nearly fall asleep at the table grading papers, that is what your work week looks like. 

(As you can tell, I recently started watching Schitt's Creek.)

The shortened version of this tale is that I decided for my own mental health and the health of my family that I would no longer be teaching. There is so much wrong with the education field in America and until some of that is fixed, schools will continue to lose teachers. I still love teaching and my students. However, I could not sacrifice myself for a job. 

Finally, I will still be working on this blog. I love sharing about the books I read and how they could be used in the classroom. I hope that you enjoy these posts and continue to read along. 

Twin Crowns: What do you do when you have two?

 Twin Crowns

(Goodreads)

I took a step away from doing this blog for a long while. A big part of me felt like I didn't deserve to make this anymore because I made a huge change in my life. I am no longer a teacher. This blog was created by me, an English teacher, for other English teachers. There are so many books out there that I had never read; having another teacher review them was something I always wished for. So, I decided to create something like that for others. After much thought and self-doubt, I worked my way back here. There will be another post about my journey out of teaching, but I felt you, the reader, deserved to know why I took a step away. 

ANYWAY...... ON TO THE REVIEW!

If you have readers who are suckers for "enemies to lovers" or "coming of age" stories, I have a book for you. This book by Catherine Doyle and Katherine Webber tells the story of twin princesses, Wren and Rose, who are far more different than their faces would suggest. Identical in every appearance, the two are raised in two drastically different worlds after the murder of their parents. 

Rose Valhart, was raised as the crown princess of Eana under her guardian, Willem Rathborne. According to Willem, on the night of her birth, both the king and queen were murdered by the witches. Since her mother, Lilith, was a witch, this was the ultimate betrayal of trust. Willem stated that the midwife witch was seen running away after poisoning the king and killing the queen. Raised on the stories of The Great Protector and his vengeance on the witch kingdom, Rose has a deep-seated hate for anyone who possesses magic. Prim and proper, Rose plans to marry the prince of neighboring Gevra. Upon her marriage, Gevra will send its troops to help eradicate the remaining witches in Eana.

Wren Greenrock was the princess who got away. The midwife witch that was said to be seen fleeing was, in fact, carrying Wren away from the violence. Raised amongst the remaining witches under her grandmother, Bamba's tutelage. Trained from early on to be a spy, Wren is tasked with one destiny; take her sister's throne. With the help of her best friend, Shen Lo, Wren infiltrates the palace and impersonates Rose. Where is Rose? Captured by Shen, Rose must cross the Restless Sands to find the truth. 

As the coronation draws ever closer, Rose and Wren are forced to face the truth of the past and decide what they will do with their future. Their decision will impact their people, both the witches and the nation of Eana. Throw in love interests that neither one should have feelings for and you have a recipe for a perfect Young Adult Fantasy novel. 

This book does a good job of looking at the same situation from multiple perspectives. Not only that, but it also talks about prejudice in a way that is manageable and easy to digest. In a world where discussing human issues in the classroom is questionable, this book allows teachers and students to look at it through the eyes of Rose and Wren. It also raises good discussion questions like: 

• Is there more than one side to history? 
• How do we know that the history we are being taught is the whole truth? 
• What are morals and can they change over time? 
• How does the person teaching a person the difference between right and wrong influence a person's moral compass? 
• How can we admit we are wrong with grace? Is there such a thing? 
• Is it possible for those closest to us to have different opinions than us? If so, how can we disagree in a healthy way? What is unhealthy disagreement? 
• Should you trust people just because you are taught to? Why or why not? 

Suggested Student Age: 14 and up

Warnings: Alcohol use, kissing, illusions of possible sexual encounters, death of parental figures, and sword violence

******** SPOILERS*********

This book was a mess from an adult standpoint. There were a lot of things that I struggled with. However, for teens this book is great. This is mainly because they overlook big issues in the story for the love story. 

This is not true when it comes to me. We are going to talk about a lot of the glaring issues present in this book. 

1) Wren is supposedly trained as a spy her whole life. However, on day one of pretending to be Rose, she throws caution to the wind and does whatever she wants. WHAT TRAINING?! She starts to build a relationship with Tor, the Gevran soldier protecting Rose's betrothed, Ansel. She constantly doing whatever she wants, so much so that it feels like she wants to be caught. Fully aware of the danger she is in just due to her skills as a witch, Wren behaves in such a way that calls her "training" into question repeatedly. She "forgets" so many of the various expectations placed on Rose. She also casts magic without caution. She even puts herself in compromising situations with Tor that would ruin Rose's engagement with Ansel. Wren acts like an idiot throughout the book, putting herself and Rose in danger because of her behavior. 

2) Tor is supposed to be this honest, loyal guard. However, he seems completely unphased by the relationship that Wren is building with him. He even encourages it! He swears that he and Ansel grew up together. They trained together and were like brothers. If that were true, why would he be so quick to betray him? I would have liked to see more of Tor being conflicted. He seems far too happy to fall into Wren's arms. However, he fully believes that she is the crown princess Rose. He knowingly betrays his friend because of a pretty girl. 

3) The only character that actually pulls their weight in this book is Shen Lo. Shen repeatedly saves Rose's life. Not only that but after she runs away, he travels across the desert alone to protect her....AGAIN! He clearly has feelings for her and I think Rose is just suddenly realizing that there is something other than an arranged marriage. She doesn't know how to have real feelings for a boy because she has never seen that as an option. Shen is signing himself up to get hurt. Rose, you better not hurt my little boy Shen. 

4) FINALLY. There is a prophecy that happens at the end of the book. In her dying moments, Bamba's sister (Sorry! I forgot her name and can find it nowhere) delivers a prophecy about the girls' future. Because she was a seer and locked up for many years, everyone thought she was dead. It is not until the girls try to rescue her that Willem actually slits her throat and kills her. This prophecy is just thrown to the side and never mentioned again. It was so important for this woman to utter this with her dying breath. Yet both girls act like it is nothing. I KNOW this was a plot device, but that is just lazy writing. Maybe make it an obsession in the next book. That would be an amazing use of something like a LIFE CHANGING PROPHECY. 

All in all, I really did enjoy this book for what it was, a rom-com YA fantasy novel. I will be finishing the series, only because I NEED to know if Shen makes it to the end. Stay tuned. I will be sure to bring you along for this wild ride as we see how Rose and Wren share a crown. Will they work together to help their people or will they pull their country apart? We'll find out when I review Cursed Crowns.