The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater

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Title: The Raven Boys

Author: Maggie Stiefvater

Length: 468 pages

Publisher: Scholastic Inc.

Classification: Young Adult, Paranormal, Fantasy

Release Date: September 18, 2012

Every year, Blue Sargent stands next to her clairvoyant mother as the soon-to-be dead walk past. Blue never sees them--until this year, when a boy emerges from the dark and speaks to her.His name is Gansey, a rich student at Aglionby, the local private school. Blue has a policy of staying away from Aglionby boys. Known as Raven Boys, they can only mean trouble.But Blue is drawn to Gansey, in a way she can't entirely explain. He is on a quest that has encompassed three other Raven Boys: Adam, the scholarship student who resents the privilege around him; Ronan, the fierce soul whose emotions range from anger to despair; and Noah, the taciturn watcher who notices many things but says very little.For as long as she can remember, Blue has been warned that she will cause her true love to die. She doesn't believe in true love, and never thought this would be a problem. But as her life becomes caught up in the strange and sinister world of the Raven Boys, she's not so sure anymore. (From Amazon)

My Rating:

This is not my first Maggie Stiefvater book, I have also read the first two books in her Shiver trilogy. And I love her writing. Love her books.

I think I waited on reading this book because I figured I would end up liking it and it would be painful to wait to read the following book, since it is a series. So I kept putting it off, thinking "I'll just wait until all of the books are out and then I can read them all."

But obviously I caved. I decided I wanted to read this book this month and added it to my February List.

I am glad that I did, but I am also upset that I did. Because now I am wanting more.

The Raven Boys ended on a bit of a cliff hanger! There are so many questions that I want answered. But I will share more on this later in the Spoiler section of my review.

Let me just say I love the characters! I think that Maggie did an awesome job developing them.
I felt like Gansey and Blue were the two main characters of the book. But I also felt that all of the characters were very important and we also knew a lot about the characters.


SPOILERS AHEAD. 



STOP READING IF YOU DON'T WANT TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENS IN THE BOOK.
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I found Blue's future fortune pretty interesting. When she kisses her True Love, he will die. What a HORRIBLE prediction! Not horrible because it is wrong and won't come true, but HORRIBLE because she has to live in fear about the possibility of kissing a boy that she likes will kill him!!!! I feel so bad for her. I can't imagine her having to live with this.
I like Gansey. I feel bad for him because he feels so much pressure from having family money. He often says things that are taken the wrong way. And I feel like he struggles with trying to get people to see him for him rather to define him by the money that he has.
(Even though I haven't read The Great Gatsby, I kept thinking how Gansey makes me think of Gatsby in some way. Maybe just because they both go by their last names and they both start with G?)

Adam. I was and still am a bit confused by Adam. I felt like he had a good friendship with Gansey, but he struggles with the fact that he thinks if he lives with Gansey it means that he owns him. I felt bad for Adam a lot. He is poor and has a domestically violent father. He works hard and helps Gansey a lot with the search.
And he likes Blue.
Which is one area I was a little confused.
Blue sees Gansey's spirit on St. Mark's Day Eve. And by doing this it means he is either her True Love or that she kills him (which if he is her TL then she would probably end up doing that other part too...)
So this made me think that she is going to fall in love with Gansey.
But it seems like she has or is developing feelings for Adam.
Which makes me wonder if there is going to be a love triangle between the three of them.
I am pretty interested in how the feelings between Blue and Gansey grow. And what happens to the relationship between Blue and Adam.
Then Adam at the ending is the part that pretty much confused me. I don't know if I overlooked something when I was reading the end, but when Adam goes into the pentagram and sacrifices himself, I thought that meant he was sacrificing his life. That he was going to die. Whelk shoots him, but he doesn't get shot. It doesn't do anything to him. And the trees are what kills Whelk.
So I am confused about what happened to Adam. What am I missing?
Is he filled with magic now?
He does it to be his own master, to be in control and have free will.
So does it now mean he controls the trees in Cabeswater?
Hopefully I will find out more in the next boo, The Dream Thieves. 
Noah. I realized that Noah was different from the beginning. But his real identity was a surprise to me. And it also made me heartbroken. Poor Noah. He is so sweet. I am so glad that they were able to make it so he could reappear and stay with them!
Ronan. I found him to be a pretty interesting character. So complex. And I am really interested in what happened to his father. There is more to that part of the story I think. And oh my goodness, the end of the story. Ronan's cliffhanger. I didn't see that coming either. And I think he is going to have a much bigger part in the next book. Since it is called The Dream Thieves.

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END OF SPOILERS!!!

So I am really looking forward to reading the next book. I almost ran out and bought it right away. But since I have the first book on the Kindle, I am debating which why I want to buy The Dream Thieves. Also, I am kinda waiting a little bit though too, because I am worried it might end on an even BIGGER cliffhanger. So I think I am going to wait until it is closer to book #3 coming out.
Guess I'll just wait and see, probably won't be able to wait that long.

Steelheart by Brandon Sanderson

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Title: Steelheart

Author: Brandon Sanderson

Length: 394 pages

Publisher: Delacorte Press

Classification: Young Adult, Science Fiction, Fantasy, Dystopian

Release Date: September 24, 2013

Ten years ago, Calamity came. It was a burst in the sky that gave ordinary men and women extraordinary powers. The awed public started calling them Epics.
But Epics are no friend of man. With incredible gifts came the desire to rule. And to rule man you must crush his will.
Nobody fights the Epics . . . nobody but the Reckoners. A shadowy group of ordinary humans, they spend their lives studying Epics, finding their weaknesses, and then assassinating them.
And David wants in. He wants Steelheart—the Epic who is said to be invincible. The Epic who killed David's father. For years, like the Reckoners, David's been studying, and planning—and he has something they need. Not an object, but an experience.
He's seen Steelheart bleed. And he wants revenge.

My Rating:

I LOVED this book! It was awesome. FANTASTIC! This is my first Brandon Sanderson book. And I really enjoyed his writing, so I plan on looking into some of his other books and add them to my to read list.

I really loved Sanderson's take on Superheroes. In this world superheroes are really called Epics. And they are not your average superheroes that help the troubled and save lives. No Epics are all about themselves. They definitely don't appear to be running around the cities saving people's lives. No, Epics are the ones with the power and the ones that are running things. Controlling the cities. Some of them even take lives. In this book the ones that we would have called Superheroes (guys and gals with abilities/powers) are actually kinda evil. (Well maybe not all of them.)

And that is where the Reckoners come in. They want to take down the Epics.

This book is packed with action. Fast-paced, heart-pounding, incredible action that made the book hard to put down.

I loved the characters! They are all so interesting! And I felt that I could form connections to these characters.

And I felt that it had some really good plot twists. This book kept me guessing. I only made a couple guesses that I felt confident about, and I only got one of them PARTIALLY right.

I finished this book wanting more. I can't wait until the next book in this series comes out!


SPOILERS AHEAD.



STOP READING IF YOU DON'T WANT TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENS IN THE BOOK.
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I really loved when David joined the Reckoners. Finding a way to take down Steelheart is pretty much all that David has focused on since his father's death. And I liked that he was able to find a group that he believed that he needed to become a part of.
I think in some ways this book was a bit different then the books that I usually read. With the biggest difference being there is no HUGE EPIC ROMANCE!
In fact several times while reading this book I had to keep reminding myself: "This is not a romance".
I really wanted David to be with Megan. And I think that is because I read a lot of romance books where they end up being together.
And it is obvious that he has some feelings for her!
I wasn't really sure how she felt about him.
So one plot twist that got me- Prof. Prof is an Epic! Oh my goodness. I was so surprised. Him coming and saving Megan and David, it was so great. I found his character to be even more interesting then I had originally thought. I am looking forward to learning more about him.
Okay. So when Megan died, I just had the feeling that she wasn't really dead. I didn't know how or why, but I just kept thinking she must be an Epic or something. She can't really be dead. Plus she couldn't use the tensor.
But I didn't realize that she would be Firelight! Seriously, I think that was the biggest plot twist for me!!! And she seems to be so confused. Like she doesn't know what she should do. After finding out her secret, all I could think was, "makes total sense." All the little things about her added up.
Now that Steelheart is dead, I am interested in the Epic that will take his place. Will it be Firelight? Will Firelight be evil or try and change things?
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END OF SPOILERS!

I am really interested to see what happens next. I am so excited that there will be a book 2. According to GoodReads it is titled Firelight and will be published in 2014. Not sure when exactly. But I am looking forward to it.

Unremembered by Jessica Brody

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Title: Unremembered

Author: Jessica Brody

Length: 352 pages

Publisher: Square Fish

Classification: Young Adult, Science Fiction, Time Travel

Release Date: January 28, 2014 (Reprint paperback edition)

When Freedom Airlines flight 121 went down over the Pacific Ocean, no one ever expected to find survivors. Which is why the sixteen-year-old girl discovered floating among the wreckage—alive—is making headlines across the globe. Even more strange is that her body is miraculously unharmed and she has no memories of boarding the plane. She has no memories of her life before the crash. She has no memories period. No one knows how she survived. No one knows why she wasn’t on the passenger manifest. And no one can explain why her DNA and fingerprints can’t be found in a single database in the world.Crippled by a world she doesn’t know, plagued by abilities she doesn’t understand, and haunted by a looming threat she can’t remember, Seraphina struggles to piece together her forgotten past and discover who she really is. But with every clue only comes more questions. And she’s running out of time to answer them. Her only hope is a strangely alluring boy who claims to know her from before the crash. Who claims they were in love. But can she really trust him? And will he be able to protect her from the people who have been making her forget?From popular young adult author Jessica Brody comes a compelling and suspenseful new sci-fi series. The Unremembered Trilogy is set in a world where science knows no boundaries, memories are manipulated, and true love can never be forgotten. (From Amazon)

My Rating:

I am going to be honest. I came across Jessica Brody's blog, I don't even remember how and I read part of the description for this book and thought, "Well, that sounds interesting" so I added it to my Book Wishlist (on Amazon) and to my TBR list on GoodReads. And I started following Jessica Brody on Twitter.

Then something awesome happened.

Jessica Brody posted on Twitter about a giveaway she was having and everyone wins. And I thought wow that is pretty cool. If you are able to complete the three levels of challenges you will win a swag pack.

(source)

How awesome is this?

You can find out how to participate here on Jessica Brody's blog.

I then went out and bought the paperback copy of Unremembered and I am SO GLAD that I did!

I think the paperback copy is pretty cool, there is also an interview with Jessica Brody, discussion questions, Unstolen and The Memory Coder. As well as the first chapter to Unforgotten.



I really loved this book.

And I do think it is not really like any other book I have read.



I really love Jessica Brody's writing style in this book. I found the book interesting and easy to read. And I was hooked at the beginning of the story.

Jane Doe (aka Violet...aka Sera) was a very interesting character. And I enjoyed watching her overcome losing her memories and figuring out what is the truth and what is a lie.

I found this book to have action, mystery, love and friendship.

It took me a couple days to get through the book, but that was simply because I was so busy participating in the Love-A-Thon. But I was still able to read it in a matter of a couple days.

There were a couple things that I was able to easily predict in the story. But there were also moments that surprised me and kept me guessing. And I honestly can say that there was a plot twist that I REALLY did not see coming.

***Spoilers Ahead. Stop reading here if you haven't read the book!***


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One thing that I really loved about this book was the fact that there was time travel. I think that is one of the things that REALLY surprised me. (The plot twist that I didn't see coming!) And it is something that Brody hinted at a couple times through out the book. For example the year 1609!
I didn't realize that they were trying to escape to the year 1609! I really thought that it was a reminder of them needing to escape Diotech to be together.
I found the time traveling part of the book extremely interesting! I also liked how she described the use of DNA and the transession gene. I found that part really neat!

When we first learned about her tattoo/mark I immediately thought between that and her violet eyes, that maybe she was created in a lab somewhere.

Well it was either that or she was an alien. Because I didn't think have violet eyes was natural. But I do think the violet eyes are cool!

I also guessed that the boy from the hospital (aka Zen) was the one to give her the locket.

But I guessed several things wrong!
I thought that maybe the foster parents (Heather and Scott) were in on it, and part of Diotech.

I thought that someone erased her memories on purpose! I was surprised to see her memory where she requests her memories to be taken from her. That really surprised me! In fact this is what I took note for on that scene: "Well, that WAS interesting!"

I even thought that Maxxer was possibly Zen's mom, and that she helped get them out of Diotech.

After reading this book it has left me with some questions:

What happened during the time travel that made it so Sera didn't make it to the year 1609? I don't know if maybe I missed something, but I don't know what happened that interrupted the time travel.

Who is/are the people behind Alixter? The ones that are funding/helping him. The ones that might be more evil and horrible.

I liked the characters. I thought Heather was sweet. And I felt that Cody was curious and protective of Sera.
I especially liked Zen and their romance. Even if it was just memories, I got the feeling that they were in love and it was all so sweet.

And Rio. I felt empathy with Sera. I felt sad for Rio. Yes, he created her. And he kept lying to her and changing her memories, but in the end he helped her get out. (which was a twist that I didn't think of). And I thought he really did care for her. And what happened to him made me sad.

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END OF SPOILERS.

I really enjoyed this book. And I looking forward to Unforgotten coming out! I am definitely planning on reading it!

I recommend this book to anyone that enjoys reading young adult science fiction.

Legend by Marie Lu

(source)

Title: Legend

Author: Marie Lu

Length: 305 pages

Publisher: Speak (Penguin Group)

Classification: Young Adult, Dystopian

Release Date: November 29, 2011






My Rating:

I LOVE this book. I knew after reading it that this was going on my Favorite Series list/shelf.

I found this book to be action packed and I had a hard time putting it down.

This book is based in a broken America. It is primarily split into two sides, the Republic and the Colonies. There is also a group of people known as the Patriots.
Not to mention there is a plague that is killing people (mostly in the lower sector since the more wealthy can afford shots to protect them from the plague).

The story is told from two different points of view. Day and June.

Day is the Republic's most wanted criminal.
June is a prodigy of the Republic and starts to work for the military.

I liked the plot of the story. Day's brother catches the plague and so Day does pretty much anything he can do to get his hands on the cure to save his brother's life.

I really like Day's character. She is strong, determined and cares for others in his life. He will do anything including risking his life to save/protect those he loves. And I love it! Yes there were parts of his speech that annoyed me a little bit, like how he calls everyone cousin. But it didn't annoy me enough to quit reading or even take away from the overall loveness of this book.

I liked June's character. She is strong and determined too. I think her and Day were quite similar in a lot of ways. But instead of being a criminal, she is part of the top military of the Republic.




Spoilers ahead. Stop reading if you don't want to know what happens during the story. 
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I was surprised when June's brother died.

...probably because I didn't read anything about what happens in the series (not even the information on the book) before picking it up to read. I had seen good reviews and that it was a dystopian, so I knew I would end up liking it so I didn't need to know much about it.

But I was, especially when we read from Day's point of view of him hitting Metias in the shoulder with the knife.

I was also really surprised that Day was able to jump from such a height and not really get hurt. Especially since he already had a bum knee.

Then we have June going to look at her brother's dead body, being told that Day is the one that murdered him.
Which I immediately took note, that I did not believe that Day did it. Because he hit him in the shoulder. I made a note saying "did someone else move the knife and kill Metias?"

But I kept thinking, if Day didn't do it then who did? My mind thought to different soldiers, the captain, or even maybe someone else that had been on the streets. I just didn't think that Day did it. (Maybe I just didn't want to believe that the character I started to like could do something like that...)

June is very smart and she went under cover to find Day.

She didn't really have to look long. She ended up stumbling into the cage match that he had been at to win some money to buy a cure. And she ended up taking the place of Tess (Day's best friend) and fought in the cage match.

She gets stabbed and runs off. Where Day comes to the rescue. She doesn't realize that it is Day at the beginning (which I found easy to believe) and ends up staying with them for a few days.

They kiss.
They both really like it.

Then she figures out that he is Day. She follows him to his family's house and then is able to make a report about it to her superiors.

I was a bit surprised that she still turned him in. I thought there was starting to be something between them, and figured she would probably hold out a little bit longer and maybe find out what happened before turning him in.

Nope, I was wrong. The next morning they came for his family and when he got there he found a trap. All thanks to June turning him in.

Not to mention they killed his Mom, right then and there. Took his brothers into custody and captured Day.
I felt so bad for him.
And I also felt anger towards June.
Maybe because I thought her act of revenge to capture her brother's killer was not really happening. Since I still thought that Day didn't do it. But I was a bit surprised that she went through with it. I thought she might help him or something.

Later on in the story we find out that she finally believes him about not killing her brother. And she finds some interesting information regarding her brother and her parents.

I loved the puzzle that Metias left for June. I thought it was so creative!

Also finding out that Day also scored a perfect on his trials was surprising. I didn't see that coming. I did think a couple times that there had to be some kind of mistake with his score. But I didn't think that it would be him getting a perfect score like June.

Another thing that had taken me by surprise was the fact that Metias loved Thomas. I totally didn't see it coming either. And it really made me sad for June and Metias (about his death) when she found all the information that he had discovered. I wish he didn't die. But I also liked his advice to her. He was a very good big brother.

I found Day's flashbacks to his childhood to be interesting. Especially about his necklace.

And the banquet that they had to celebrate Day's capture. The second we were introduced to Anden there was going to be our LOVE TRIANGLE.

I love June's determination. And her desire to do what is right. After finding out that Day didn't kill her brother, she decides she needs to help him escape. She wanted him captured for justice, but when she learns that he is the wrong guy, she wants to get him out.

I knew when his execution date got pushed up that something was going to go wrong with the escape plan and I was really worried for June's safety as well as Day's.

And then we have one of the biggest surprises of all for me was when June and Day escaped, and John was executed as Day. This really broke my heart. John (Day's older brother) pretended to be Day (since they look similar) and was executed in his place. Which gave Day the chance to get out. To survive.
It made me so SAD. I felt so heartbroken for Day. Between him and June, they both pretty much have lost everyone. Parents. Siblings. At least Day still had Eden (which they weren't able to get to yet).

And the ending made me want to immediately start reading the next book!

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END OF SPOILERS


So I really loved this book! And I recommend it to anyone that likes to read YA dystopians and likes action and adventure.







       

The Madman's Daughter by Megan Shepherd

(source)

Title: The Madman’s Daughter

Author: Megan Shepherd

Length: 437 pages

Publisher: Balzer + Bray (HarperCollins Publishers)

Classification: Young Adult, Historical Fiction, Horror, Science Fiction

Release Date: January 29, 2013

My Rating: 

I bought this book because I had read somewhere that it was a good book and it was on sale for the Kindle for $1.99. So I thought why not. And I am glad that I did!

I didn't know anything about the book going in and I didn't even realize that it was inspired by H.G. Wells’ The Island of Dr. Moreau until I looked at the blurb on Amazon  after reading most of the story. I have never read The Island of Dr. Moreaubut I am interested in reading it one day. 

I think that this book is: An interesting gruesome page turning mystery with a strong female lead.

I enjoyed reading this book. It kept my interest and I read it rather quickly and I had a hard time putting it down.

I am not a HUGE horror fan (I get scared pretty easily which I am embarrassed about…) but I didn't really feel like it was that scary, at least for me. There were a couple parts that made my heart race. 

The author did a wonderful job with making parts of the story gruesome, vivid, and disturbing. It was definitely a page turner for me.

And there were a few parts where I thought I knew what is going to happen. I think the mystery was set up pretty well. A couple things I saw coming and there were parts that I didn't completely guess correctly. 

I LOVED Juliet's character. I felt that she was well written and very interesting.

Spoilers ahead. If you haven't read the book you should stop reading here.
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I like how she was able to stand up for herself several times throughout the book. Like near the beginning when the creepy professor was trying to hit on her and grab her, she was able to protect herself. No one had to come and save her.
I also like that she stood up to Montgomery and had him take her along to the island.

I liked Montgomery. Well...I guess I had a little bit of a love/hate relationship with him...
Overall, I liked him.
And yeah, I understood why he went with the Dr. to the island and is his assistant. But still...
And I did "see that coming" but yet, I was still a little shocked about it.

Then on the ship we meet Edward.
I couldn't put my finger on it, but I knew at the beginning that there was something off or different about him, but I couldn't figure out what it was.

And I did consider Edward to be suspicious since he kept running off and disappearing for periods of time.

And I thought it was a bit weird how her father kept trying to push her to Edward. But I chalked it up to him just not wanting her to end up with Montgomery.

In this little LOVE TRIANGLE between the three of them, most of the story I wanted her to end up with Montgomery. Although, this isn't really a romance story.
I was a little shocked to find out why Montgomery cared about Alice so much.

And there was a time where I considered Balthazar to be the evil creature. And I also considered the possibility of it being the little boy.

The very ending surprised me. The fact that Montgomery did not leave the island with her.

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END OF SPOILERS

The ending tugged at my heartstrings and I cannot wait until Ms. Shepherd's next book in the series, Her Dark Curiosity is released later next week.

Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi

(source)

Title: Shatter Me

Author: Tahereh Mafi

Length: 357 pages

Publisher: HarperCollins

Classification: Young Adult, Science Fiction, Dystopian        

Release Date: November 15, 2011





My Rating: 





I really enjoyed reading this story. It was a slow start for me because of all of the repetition. And even though I re-read books a lot, I don't like a lot of repetition so close together. But I continued reading and I am GLAD I did.

I found this book to be really interesting.

Type of Dystopian. LOVE

Type of Superpower. LOVE

I love superpowers. I love SUPERHEROES! I love X-men.
(I did think of X-men a lot while reading this story.)

(In fact the story that I have been writing is a type of dystopian that has some individuals with superpowers. Seriously, I love X-men. Stan Lee is amazing.)

I read this book rather quickly and there were times when I didn't want to put the book down.

I like Juliette. She is struggling with the power that she does not want. And I liked the flashbacks where we learned more about her and her childhood.

I also really liked Adam. He is one of her love interests.

There is a bit of a love triangle of sorts. Although she isn't really interested in the other guy. At least that is the impression I got...


***SPOILERS AHEAD. DO NOT READ IF YOU DON'T WANT TO KNOW DETAILS FROM THE STORY THAT COULD RUIN IT IF YOU DON'T ALREADY KNOW***
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I also enjoyed reading about their history together. How their childhoods were linked and they both knew each other.

I also found it interesting that he was able to touch her without anything happening. I am looking forward to learning more about Adam to find out how it is possible and if there is something special with him as well.


My heart broke for Juliette when we find out what happened in the past that made her to into the institution place. As well as the test that Warner had set up for her. Which brought the past bubbling up for her.

Then Adam and Juliette escape together. Which was awesome. And of course they were going to get caught.
But I was really surprised to find that Adam has a little brother.

I thought James is adorable. And I LOVE the relationship that James and Adam share.

I do keep wondering how Warner and his men found them so quickly. Adam chalks it up to someone being bribed, but I am wondering if that is all there is to it.

Kenji shows up and Adam takes care of him, but also doesn't trust him, since he was a soldier under Warner too and just magically shows up at Adam's safe house.

Not long after Kenji shows up, they come for them. So our beloved characters run for their lives.

Warner catches Juliette and they talk. Warner admits to Juliette that he knows the truth and knows that he can touch her also without getting hurt.

Which makes me wonder what is "special" about Warner.

Juliette defends herself and shoots Warner and runs away to find Adam.

I loved that she was able to save Adam.

Then after stealing a car they find Kenji and James again. Kenji takes them someplace special where they will be safe.

I find this Safe Place to be interesting. It is basically a whole compound of people that have abilities and their families and probably supporters. They are the rebels/resistance that are trying to fight the Reestablishment.

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I am looking forward to reading the other two books of this series.
Book 2: Unravel Me
Book 3: Ignite Me (Released February 4, 2014)

I am glad that I decided to buy this series.

Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi

(source)

Title: Under the Never Sky

Author: Veronica Rossi

Length: 389 pages

Publisher: Harper Collins

Classification: Young Adult, Dystopian, Science Fiction

Release Date: January 3, 2012

My Rating: 

I LOVED this book!

I have found a new series to add to my Favorite Series list!

I am so excited over how much I loved this book. I had been putting off reading it because I knew that I would end up liking it enough to want to buy the next books...then the second book went on sale and I bought it so, I gave in and decided to read it.

I am glad and sad that I did. Glad because YAY! I LOVE THIS BOOK!

Sad because...I HAVE TO WAIT TO READ #3.

I HATE having to wait a long time to read books, especially when I am addicted to the story.

This book is read through two different perspectives. We have Aria. She is what is labeled as a Dweller, she lives on the inside of the pod where it is safe. Then we have Peregrine aka Perry. He is labeled as a Savage, he lives on the outside where life is dangerous.

I think this story is really well written and I love the characters. 

I felt that the first few chapters were intense. It definitely hooked me into reading it. I couldn't put this story down, in fact I read it in one night...staying up WAY too late to finish it.

*** SPOILERS

AHEAD.

STOP 

READING

IF

YOU

DON'T

WANT

TO

KNOW

WHAT 

HAPPENS!

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The story begins we find Aria with a group of friends, including her best friend Paisley breaking into a restricted area. Aria is doing it to try and get some information about her mother from one of the boys that is breaking in.

I like the Smarteyes. I think they are neat and I find them being able to go to Realms to experience things without danger or getting hurt to be interesting. 

Inside of the pod no one is supposed to ever get sick or hurt. 

But the place they are breaking into has been damaged by a storm, and in there they are able to experience things for real.

The one boy, Soren, decides that he wants to create a real fire. Which is very dangerous. He finds out that Aria pretty much only came to get information from him which makes him mad.

After starting the fire which starts spreading through the OFF LIMITS Agriculture room, Aria and Paisley try to run to get away.

Soren and his friends chase them. And Soren ends up attacking Aria.

(That is the part that was intense for me. Him attacking her.)

But luckily for Aria she was able to record part of the event and an Outsider saved her from Soren and then saved her from the fire.

When Aria wakes up she is in a medical type room being helped. She then has to report to the Director of Security about the issue. He is also Soren's father.

He basically tells her that once she tells him her side of the story she will be released and will be reunited with her mother.

*When I read that part, all I could think was "Yeah right." Obviously something bad is going to happen.*

And unfortunately for her that is true, instead of being reunited with her mother, she is dropped in the "Death Shop"which is the area outside of the pod. They are not supposed to be able to survive life on the outside.

Not long after being out dropped out there, due to a series of horrible events that happens in Perry's life. He finds her and tries to figure out a way to use her to get his nephew back.

Together they go across the land to figure out a way to get her Smarteye fixed (which he had ended up taking when he first saved her life on the inside).

I liked their relationship from the beginning. Them struggling with each other and trying how to use one another to benefit them. Perry wants to get it fixed to find a way to get his nephew Talon back and Aria wants it fixed to find her mother and a way to return to the pod.

Over time their "relationship" grows into a romance. Which I enjoyed.

I also enjoyed "meeting" Roar. 

Roar is Perry's best friend. He also loves Perry's sister Liv.

I love the relationship between Perry and Roar. And I loved watching a friendship bloom between Roar and Aria.

By the end of the story they are all allies and try to work together. 

I am a little worried about a possibility of a love triangle with Aria, Perry and Roar. I hope that I was just looking at it the wrong way. 

I was a bit shocked when we found out that she was half-outsider and I wonder who the father is. I don't really have that many guesses. But I had wondered if the father would be an important Sense guy in one of the other groups. I am really interested in seeing where this goes and finding out who her father is.

I was sad and disappointed when we found out that Aria's mother is dead at the end. And she gets caught and is now being blackmailed into helping Hess (the Director of Security). 

Perry believes that he has lost Aria to life in the pod and her mother so he leaves heartbroken. He returns back home to the Tides and ends up killing his brother to become the new Blood King. Which also made me sad. Not because his brother was dead (since I didn't like him) but because it was what Perry needed to do. And I feel that it would haunt him.

I found all the stuff about the Senses to be pretty interesting and cool. And I even find the Aether storms interesting.

I also like how we watch Aria transform from beginning of the story to the end. By the end she is alert and stronger and she can fight. 

END

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SPOILERS.

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I would recommend this book to anyone that likes dystopian books. 

I know that is is a book series that I will end up rereading. 

Allegiant by Veronica Roth

(source)

Title: Allegiant

Author: Veronica Roth

Length: 544 pages

Publisher: Katherine Tegan Books-HarperCollins

Classification: Young Adult, Science Fiction, Dystopian

Release Date: October 22, 2013

My Review: 

Let me start by saying...Yes, I am sad over the ending. But it doesn't make me give this book only a 1 star review.

Allegiant just came out on October 22nd. And it has taken me a little while to work my way through the book. (A little while meaning: I did not start reading it as soon as I got it on my Kindle. I finished re-reading Insurgent first, then started it.) But I did finish reading it on October 23rd. So, it is not like it took me forever to read it. (It just took me forever to write my review)

Allegiant picks off pretty much right where Insurgent ends. Tris along with Christina and Cara are all arrested for their crime of going against what the faction leaders said to do. Tobias/Four is beside his mother.


***This review CONTAINS spoilers. 

So STOP reading 


if you do not want to know 


what happens 


in the book!***


We do get to see the point of view (pov) of Tobias/Four as well as Tris in this book. Which I thought was awesome. I really like the character Tobias/Four and I liked being able to see things in his perspective. But like other reviewers (at least on Amazon) have stated, there were a lot of instances where it was hard to remember whose pov I was reading because Tobias/Four and Tris were written pretty much the exact same. I would have to stop and look back at the chapter heading to find out which character I was reading. Which can be frustrating.

But we start the book being in the cell with the girls. Tobias does go down and visit Tris telling her to basically lie during the truth serum so they can all go free. From then on they pretend (at least in front of Evelyn) that they have broken up. Tobias is trying to get close to his mother so he can learn about her plans.

Tris is able to lie and the girls go free and are no longer considered to be traitors.

Pretty close to the beginning of the book, Roth kills off the first character. Edward dies during a demonstration that has gotten out of hand. Now...I do recognize that he is an important character, but his death didn't really effect me very much because, I still thought he was a bit of a jerk.

This is when Tris and Tobias decide they need to leave the city. A rebel group called the Allegiant talk Tris into meeting them to discuss a plan.

Surprisingly, (at least to me) the Allegiant is led by Cara and Johanna. I was pretty surprised. For some reason, I thought the leaders were going to be someone from outside of the city. But I was wrong. They then plan for some of the group to leave the city and see what is outside of the fence.

I was a little surprised when Tris wanted Tobias to save Caleb, only a little. I can understand why she did it. I have a brother. But I can't imagine how I would feel if he betrayed me in such a way that Caleb does to Tris. I mean, he basically signed and delivered her death certificate in my eyes. But I understand this is her road to forgiveness of what he did.

Then when they reach the fence, there are shots. And Tori gets killed. Tori getting killed didn't really upset me at first, I wasn't emotionally connected with this character. I felt a little sad, but by the end of the book, and when I first starting writing this review, I forgot that she got killed and was in this novel. (Whoops!) But then when we find out that her brother is alive, it made me more sad.

I was sad when Tobias starting talking with Nita and agreeing to meet up with her in secret. All I could keep thinking was NOOOOO! You can't do this. I LOVE Four and Tris together. This can't be happening....I knew if it did, I would have a hard time excepting it, because Four doesn't seem like the person that would cheat. Then I was worried this would be an attempt to create a love triangle.
I am so glad it didn't. He eventually tells Tris about these meetings and takes her with him.

We find out that everything within the fence is an experiment. And that it is not the only one that is being conducted. We also find out that Tobias/Four is "not" really Divergent.

I was upset over what happened to Uriah. I was really sad that he got hurt and went into a coma. I really had hopes that he would wake up. But he doesn't. He is pronounced brain dead. This death did make me sad, and I will admit it, I cried a little.

Let's skip ahead.....

Basically Tris decides that this department needs to be stopped. The department is planning on releasing a memory reset on everyone that is back in the fence. And our group has decided that cannot happen. So they form a plan with the help of Matthew to stop it from happening.

So at the end of the story, Tobias/Four goes back to inside the fence to try and stop the "war" between his parents. To also get Uriah's family to bring them back to the department so they can say their goodbyes to him before he gets pulled off life support. Christina goes so she can give the antidote to her family, so they won't lose their memories. Others go too, including Peter.

Peter has been acting weird in this book. I felt like he wasn't himself. And I also feel like he wasn't much of a main character. It is less than a month later, and I don't remember a whole lot about him from this story except for the fact that he has been with our group of friends and Caleb. And he wants to take the memory wiping drug and start all over.

As Tobias/Four is inside the fence fixing things. Tris, Cara, Matthew, and Caleb are trying to stop the department from sending the planes to release the memory reset drug.

This is where Tris decides that Caleb is volunteering to die out of selfish reasons, so she decides to do what needs to be done instead of him.

The room that contains the memory reset drug is protected by a serum that makes you die. And as we have witnessed in the other to books, Tris is immune to these serums. The only one that worked on her was the happy one, and that was because she let it. She has to stop the serums herself from working, otherwise they will work. So she takes a risk here because she is not certain that it will not kill her.

She survives the death serum. And is just able to release the memory reset drug as David shoots her. And her mother appears to her to take her away. She dies.
At this point of the story I started crying. I cried as I read the REST of the book. I didn't start bawling until I saw Tobias/Four's reaction to finding out that she is gone.

But Tris is successful and the people in the department has their memories reset. Except for the group, because they had the antidote that protected them from the serum.

Tobias/Four finding out about Tris dying was COMPLETELY HEARTBREAKING for me. These two have been one of my favorite story couples that I have read about. And a lot of that had to do with the fact that there was no love triangle. It was just Four and Tris. And I wanted them to be together. I wanted them to have a happy ending. Even Christina's reaction made me sad.

I do like that Christina and Four are able to mourn together. They both loved her in different ways. Tris and Christina were BFFs.

I was devastated. I even continued to cry after the book ended. I immediately went and got some chocolate.

There wasn't much that I did not like about this book, with the exception of Tris dying. But there were a few things besides what I have already touched on.

Another thing...am I the only person that felt like Cara had a thing for Tobias? Maybe she was just being a really good friend. But for some reason, I felt like she had feelings for him.

So....Why did I give it 3.5 stars?

I am having a hard time wrapping my head around the idea of the sacrifice that Tris does to wipe the memories of the department people, simply because I don't understand how this would cause the experiment to be left alone. Unless I am missing something or am wrong, the department is run by the government. There are several other experiments being conducted in other closed off cities. Then why would wiping the memories of the department keep anything from happening in the experiment city that Tobias, Tris, and everyone else is from? Wouldn't the government just send new people to the department to run things? I just don't know.

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spoilers.

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I did not read any of the spoiler reviews before I started reading this book. I did look at how many stars people gave it on Amazon. And I was really worried about how much I would like the book since it had so many 1 stars.
But overall I did like the story.

And after reading Veronica Roth's further explanation about why she wrote the ending, really made me feel better. Better in the sense that it did help me understand and accept the ending of the series.


So...if you are like me, read the book, became depressed, and ate chocolate and you haven't read her blog entry about Allegiant, then I highly suggest you do!

Veronica Roth's blog entry can be found here.

Inhuman by Kat Falls

(source)

Title: Inhuman

Author: Kat Falls

Length: 384 pages

Publisher: Scholastic Press

Classification: Young Adult, Science Fiction and Fantasy  (I also believe that this book is a Dystopian type book, so fans of different dystopian books might like this book.)

Release Date: September 24, 2013



My Rating: 

Loved It! (I Would re-read it and would highly recommend to a friend!)



I received a copy of this book for free from the GoodReads First Reads program. I got the book in the mail and read it in less than 24 hours. I loved this book.

Inhuman takes place after a deadly virus called "The Ferae Naturae virus" plagued the United States of America. The virus killed forty-percent of the population. There is now a huge wall (serving as a quarantine line) that separates the West from what is now known as the Feral Zone. No one in the west is supposed to go past the wall for any reason.

Main character Delaney "Lane" McEvoy, a sixteen (almost seventeen) year old girl who has never seen the other side of the wall. All she knows is what she is taught. After finding out shocking news she goes on her own adventure across the quarantine line and into the Feral Zone.

**The following part of the review will contain spoilers, so if you don't want to know more details about the book, please stop reading**

I really liked this book because I found the concept new and interesting. After some time the virus no longer causes death right away, but instead it turns the infected into a mutated animal. There fifty different strands of the virus now. And there is still no cure or vaccination.

Shortly after starting the book we meet the main character Lane. She is taken from a party and brought to the Head of the Biohazard Defense. She is told that her father is in fact not an art dealer, but a fetcher (a person that goes out into the Feral Zone to get items for others). She is told by the Head of Biohazard, that if she gets her dad to do a fetch for her, then her father will not be arrested. So Lane goes into the Feral Zone.

Her father used to tell her all kinds of bedtime stories that he made up. When she was outside of the wall she was able to make the connection that the stories her father told her were true. She was able to use these stories to help keep her (sorta) out of danger and they gave her information that she would have not otherwise known. I really liked that the author did this. I found it interesting.

She first meets Everson Cruz (a love interest) who is a guard. Instead of arresting her and turning her in, he helps her get to the Dr. who knows her father. She finds out her father isn't there and that he has moved on after warning him that the Biohazard defense is after him.

We are then introduced to Rafe. He has snuck onto the island to steal things from the arsenal (like medicine). Lane happens upon him and he grabs her as leverage when Everson later walks in. Rafe cuts her arm and then makes her and Everson get in the closet and locks them in there so he can escape.

Lane has also had a glimpse at her first Feral, which is a human that has been infected with the virus.

Lane eventually leaves the arsenal alone and once again happens upon bad boy Rafe. They get into a bunch of different dangerous situations together.

This is only the first part of the book. There are a lot of action packed scenes. Different characters to meet. There are a lot of discoveries that Lane makes. There are some twists that I didn't see coming. And there were some reveals, where I thought to myself, "I should have picked up on that!" And we do learn some more things about her father, including where he is.

Now I have been getting tired of love triangles. Especially when they fill like they are forced upon us the readers. And when you hate the other person in the triangle and you keep saying "there is no choice, why do you keep making there be a love triangle!" There is a love triangle between Lane, Everson and Rafe. I happen to like both of the guys for different reasons. And both of the guys are complete opposites of each other. I am looking forward to see what happens. I also feel like this love triangle isn't forced. And I can see why Lane likes both of the boys (and it is besides the point of her finding them attractive).

Why did I like this book so much? 

I liked it because it is set in a future different from what we live in. (I enjoy reading books that take me do a different place). I think the author did an outstanding job creating this fairy tale type place for us to venture into with our Main Character. I liked the action. I liked that the book kept me interested. Even now that I am done reading the book, I am still thinking about it and how I wish it didn't end.

I cannot wait to read the next one, but since the book hasn't even been released yet, means that I have a while to wait for book #2. But trust me, I am looking forward to it, and I will be excited to get it when it does come out!

I DO recommend this book!