"Ships, Secrets, and Survivors" by Sarah Rodecker and Helena George

This book is like if you took one of those teenagers-having-a-big-and-slightly-deadly-competition books and abruptly turned it into a seafaring pirate adventure book partway through. And also the teenagers are all actually adults; the protagonist is like 20. And all the ships can talk.

The main character, Ravin, is a sort of ex-assassin. "Sort of" because I'm not sure if, when you've trained to be an assassin but then failed the assassin entrance exam, you count as an ex-assassin or just a never-was-an-assassin-to-begin-with.

But there's also a character, named Shade, who's constantly suspicious of him. And we know Ravin is trustworthy because he's the protagonist, but in a world where assassins are an established system of untrustworthy ne'er-do-wells, it does make quite a bit of sense to not trust the one that suddenly appeared in your midst. On a related note, Shade's change of heart and cessation of suspicion does not seem to me to make sense with how his character is up to that point.

I think this could have used maybe one more proofreading pass. There are a couple places where I think I can see what they're going for, but there are a couple of words left out.

The ending wraps everything up a tad neatly for my taste. It's just oddly convenient how everything works out.

Were this a videogame, I'd rate it: ...a soft T15+ for sexual references. Honestly I think the movie ratings do a better job with this sort of thing, because they say "parental guidance until the age of [age]", meaning that parents can decide whether or not they want younger children to read it (or, in the case of movies, watch it). But I wouldn't hand this to a 13-year-old without a few reservations (or at least without talking to their parents), so there you are.

4 stars.

(Endnote: In case you were wondering, which you almost certainly weren't, the titular "ships" are not the romance kind of ships. Except for two side characters who are married, there's no romance in this book.)

Mini-Reviews 19: Remaining Quest Objectives

Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson

I can see why this is such a popular book. I mean, it kept me interested while I was sleep-deprived on an airplane, and that is no mean feat.

Treasure Island doesn't use all the pirate tropes, it started all the pirate tropes.

My mom reviewed this, and this mini-review is part of my first completed quest.

Were this a videogame, I'd rate it: E10+ for reckless violence.

4 stars.

Tags for this one: 4-star, adventure, classics, pirates, rated E10+

Just So Stories by Rudyard Kipling

I didn't enjoy reading this, and I think the reason for that is twofold: A) I'm too old for it, and B) it was meant to be read aloud.

This mini-review is also part of my first completed quest.

Were this a videogame, I'd rate it: E. It's meant to be read aloud to children.

2 stars. Star ratings are a subjective measure of how much I liked a book, not a more objective measure of how good a book is, and I didn't enjoy reading this.

Tags for this one: 2-star, classics, rated E, talking animals

The Mouse and the Motorcycle by Beverly Cleary

Honestly, I like this better now that I'm older. When I was younger, I found the book too tense, but I think it's just right for me now. Also it's about a mouse, so that's a definite plus in my opinion (I am, after all, the person who named his blog "Sam the Library Mouse").

I really enjoyed how the toy motorcycle works. You make it go by making motorcycle noises. It's just such a fun explanation. |And it's made even better by the toy ambulance, which shows up later in the book, being powered by making ambulance noises.|

This mini-review, too, is part of my first completed quest. Hence the title of the collection.

Were this a videogame, I'd rate it: E. Nothing objectionable.

4 stars.

Tags for this one: 4-star, rated E, talking animals

(Endnote: Oddly enough, all three of these books have prominently yellow covers.)