Top Book Reviews of 2022

Book review winners share the gift of reading

As part of our initiative to encourage students to read something new, they were set a challenge to write a book review to inspire the reading of others. The Library Team is delighted to share this year’s winners of the Book Review House Competition 2022.Congratulations to Jessica (13H), Tram Anh (12M), JuWon (7V) and Sofia (10C).Thank you so much for getting involved and giving your time to create such thoughtful and engaging entries, and for passing on your gifts of reading to everyone in the BIS community.

Anita Curley, Teacher Librarian

Jessica from 13H reviewed "The Art of Power" by Thich Nhat Hanh:

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Tram Anh from 12M reviewed Over The Top by Johnathon Van Ness:

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Jonathan Van Ness is someone I really adore from the Netflix show Queer Eye for their confidence and sense of humour. From the show to the memoir, they advocate for loving yourself, accepting your flaws, and using beauty to emphasise your features to become more of what you already are instead of hiding it.

In this memoir, JVN tells the story of growing up in a small town in Quincy, Illinois, facing bullying, and the adult figures that have embraced their queer identity at a time and place where people were not accepting. They recount the pressure to conform to an ideal image of a strong, buff cisgender (gay) man, and how not being able to do that has pushed them into unhealthy habits. I'm sure this resonates with many non-binary people, as it's about accepting how you look and act and not just the gender you're attracted to. Even inside the queer community, there are ways of presenting that we deem more acceptable than others.

There's also a story of a teenage JVN experiencing a non-platonic connection with a boy and the boy sensing it too but never being able to admit his sexuality until his mid 20s. They had to compromise parts of themselves to hope to experience half of what their straight counterparts do.I believe that many queer individuals can relate to these stories, not just ones who identify similarly to JVN. Even if you don't identify as queer, you should still read it for a little more understanding, for the self-love messages, and for the Michelle Kwan figure skating realness.

JuWon from 7V reviewed A Good Girls Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson

A Good Girl's Guide to Murder is my favourite book so far because it has lots of twists and the criminals are people you would never have expected. This book contains lots of suspense, a bit of drama and is intriguing since it makes the reader certain that the suspect is person A but then it suddenly rules out person A and makes the reader guess someone else. I think the fact that Pip, Ravi, the rest of Sal’s family and a few other people are the only ones who believe Sal is innocent and that this is a closed case makes this book even more interesting because they need to find significant clues that can persuade the rest of the world.

This book is about a case that has been closed. Pip, a student in Little Kilton Grammar school, is researching a case of Andrea Bells going missing for her EPQ topic. Everyone thinks the murderer is Sal, who is now dead and known to have killed himself out of guilt. But this is out of Sal’s character. Sal’s younger brother, Ravi, helps Pip and together they find shocking and fascinating facts about this crime…I really enjoyed all the twists and clues in this book and would love to recommend this to people who are interested in crime, mysteries, detective books and even to people who would like a bit of suspense.

Sofia from 10V reviewed The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux

The Phantom of the Opera is a very good book in my opinion. It’s very in-

depth and explored different genres and ideas not as common in those times.

I know the play came first, but the book followed soon afterward, and even

though you can’t see the faces and expressions of the characters, you can feel

them. You can experience their pain firsthand. The book is also very well

written, so you don’t exactly know who the bad guy is. Erik is obviously a

villain from Raoul’s point of view, but Christine loves him - in a way, even

though she fears him. We feel similar feelings like Christine about Erik:

we’re supposed to hate him, but how could we when we can feel his pain and

suffering, and his longing to be loved? Christine sympathizes with him, with

his love for music, and maybe a little with his pain. She has come to love him

- in a different way than how she loves Raoul - but love nonetheless. The plot

is fantastic, suspenseful, and surprising; not at all cliché. It’s a novel that

makes you feel many different ways and that’s a big factor as to why it’s still

popular (such as Romeo and Juliet); it makes you surprised, excited,

sympathetic and traumatized by all that has happened. I highly recommend

this book, but it might be a little confusing at times with the different wording

choices of that time (1909-1910).

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Jessica from 13H reviewed "The Art of Power" by Thich Nhat Hanh:

Tram Anh from 12M reviewed Over The Top by Johnathon Van Ness:

Jonathan Van Ness is someone I really adore from the Netflix show Queer Eye for their confidence and sense of humour. From the show to the memoir, they advocate for loving yourself, accepting your flaws, and using beauty to emphasise your features to become more of what you already are instead of hiding it.

In this memoir, JVN tells the story of growing up in a small town in Quincy, Illinois, facing bullying, and the adult figures that have embraced their queer identity at a time and place where people were not accepting. They recount the pressure to conform to an ideal image of a strong, buff cisgender (gay) man, and how not being able to do that has pushed them into unhealthy habits. I'm sure this resonates with many non-binary people, as it's about accepting how you look and act and not just the gender you're attracted to. Even inside the queer community, there are ways of presenting that we deem more acceptable than others.

There's also a story of a teenage JVN experiencing a non-platonic connection with a boy and the boy sensing it too but never being able to admit his sexuality until his mid 20s. They had to compromise parts of themselves to hope to experience half of what their straight counterparts do.I believe that many queer individuals can relate to these stories, not just ones who identify similarly to JVN. Even if you don't identify as queer, you should still read it for a little more understanding, for the self-love messages, and for the Michelle Kwan figure skating realness.

JuWon from 7V reviewed A Good Girls Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson

A Good Girl's Guide to Murder is my favourite book so far because it has lots of twists and the criminals are people you would never have expected. This book contains lots of suspense, a bit of drama and is intriguing since it makes the reader certain that the suspect is person A but then it suddenly rules out person A and makes the reader guess someone else. I think the fact that Pip, Ravi, the rest of Sal’s family and a few other people are the only ones who believe Sal is innocent and that this is a closed case makes this book even more interesting because they need to find significant clues that can persuade the rest of the world.

This book is about a case that has been closed. Pip, a student in Little Kilton Grammar school, is researching a case of Andrea Bells going missing for her EPQ topic. Everyone thinks the murderer is Sal, who is now dead and known to have killed himself out of guilt. But this is out of Sal’s character. Sal’s younger brother, Ravi, helps Pip and together they find shocking and fascinating facts about this crime…I really enjoyed all the twists and clues in this book and would love to recommend this to people who are interested in crime, mysteries, detective books and even to people who would like a bit of suspense.

Sofia from 10V reviewed The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux