Reviews by Tag: new york city

Rent is a rock musical about New York City struggles in the 90s with the rise of AIDS. It is a musical written by Jonathan Larson and has many awards. It started off Broadway, made its way to Broadway, and now there is the movie adaptation. Unfortunately, Jonathan Larson passed away before he was able to see its success. This musical is all about love, acceptance, bohemia, drugs, pride, friends and loyalty.

Warcross by Marie Lu follows a teenage hacker/bounty hunter, Emika Chen, in a futuristic New York City. Emi makes a living by tracking down illegal gamblers in the brain-computer interface game known as Warcross. Unfortunately, her profits aren’t enough to save her from eviction, leading her to steal power ups at the Warcross Championships. She does get caught, but instead of being arrested, Emi gets hired by the creator of Warcross, Hideo Tanaka, to find an elusive hacker known as Zero.

Edith Warton's narration of high society life during the Golden Age of Old New York is filled with drama, forbidden romance, and betrayal. Newland Archer is wealthy, popular, and he's about to marry New York's finest young woman, May Welland; everything changes when May's cousin, Ellen Olenska, returns to New York. Archer is pulled between his duty to May and his desire for Ellen. Warton's plotlines were exciting, and her writing was palpable. I despised Archer after the first couple of chapters, but Warton's story kept me intrigued and even made me root for Archer at times.

The Thousandth Floor is a futuristic fantasy, set in Manhattan, New York in 2118. The world has evolved drastically, with mind-controlled objects and more. The first edition to this trilogy has me intrigued and I can't wait to read the next book. I love the way each chapter is told by a different character and how everyone is connected at the end. The plot is very well-thought and detailed. I recommend this book if you like suspense and are a fan of fantasy.

The Battle for Room 314 by Ed Boland, published in 2016, tells the compelling story of his year teaching in an inner-city high school in New York City. As a young man, Boland worked for Project Advance, a non-profit working to place low-income, inner-city students in elite boarding schools and eventually Ivy League universities; however, he begins to feel unfulfilled and wants to widen his impact to help more deserving students.