Saturday, May 22, 2021

Week 20 Review: To Best the Boys

From Goodreads:
The task is simple: Don a disguise.Survive the labyrinth.Best the boys. In a thrilling new fantasy from the bestselling author of the Storm Siren Trilogy, one girl makes a stand against society and enters a world made exclusively for boys.

Every year for the past fifty-four years, the residents of Pinsbury Port have received a mysterious letter inviting all eligible-aged boys to compete for an esteemed scholarship to the all-male Stemwick University. The poorer residents look to see if their names are on the list. The wealthier look to see how likely their sons are to survive. And Rhen Tellur opens it to see if she can derive which substances the ink and parchment are created from, using her father's microscope.

In the province of Caldon, where women train in wifely duties and men pursue collegiate education, sixteen-year-old Rhen Tellur wants nothing more than to become a scientist. As the poor of her seaside town fall prey to a deadly disease, she and her father work desperately to find a cure. But when her mum succumbs to it as well? Rhen decides to take the future into her own hands--through the annual all-male scholarship competition.

With her cousin, Seleni, by her side, the girls don disguises and enter Mr. Holm's labyrinth, to best the boys and claim the scholarship prize. Except not everyone is ready for a girl who doesn't know her place. And not everyone survives the deadly maze.

Welcome to the labyrinth.

My Review:
I had such a fantastic time reading this book! The whole concept of pretending to be a boy to get this amazing opportunity, was such an intriguing idea to read! That women really offered the opportunities to get an education, it's a horrible situation. And I loved watching her smash those expectations away! 

Rhen was a really fantastic character. She wants to be a scientist, but she's about learned everything that she can, living in this small town. She's smart and she's not afraid to take chances, and watching her take on this challenge was really great!

I really couldn't put this book down! The maze was fascinating and weird, and as the story progressed, there were all these interesting twists and turns, and I just wanted to know how it would all end up! And oh, the writing was so well done! 

The synopsis is a bit misleading. The last line reinforces the idea that this book is basically all about the maze, but it's not, that's only a small part of the book. It doesn't start until a third in, and then it doesn't take up much of the rest of the book. The rest is the prize that she was looking for, to get this education to see if she could figure out a cure for this sickness.

This was a really fantastic read, and I had such a great time reading it! 

Author: Mary Weber
Read: May 16th, 2021
Source: NetGalley
Reason Why: Sounded good, and it's a SAC 2021 Book!
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Published: March 19th 2019
5/5 Hearts
5/5 Books
5/5 Stars

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