Review: Plus One by Elizabeth Fama

Plus One by Elizabeth Fama
Publisher: Farrar, Straus & Giroux (BYR)
Publication Date: April 8th 2014
My Rating: DNF

A dying wish. A family divided. A love that defies the law. Sol Le Coeur is a Smudge--a night dweller in an America rigidly divided between people who wake, live, and work during the hours of darkness and those known as Rays, who live and work during daylight. Impulsive, passionate, and brave, Sol concocts a plan to kidnap her newborn niece--a Ray--in order to bring the baby to visit her dying grandfather. Sol's violation of the day/night curfew is already a serious crime, but when her kidnap attempt goes awry, she stumbles on a government conspiracy to manipulate the Smudge population. Sol escapes the authorities with an unexpected ally: a Ray who gets in her way, a boy she might have hated if fate hadn't forced them on the run together--a boy the world now tells her she can't love. Set in a vivid alternate reality and peopled with complex, deeply human characters on both sides of the day/night divide, Elizabeth Fama's Plus One is a brilliantly imagined drama of individual liberty and civil rights, and a fast-paced romantic adventure story.

Plus One was another book where I fell hard and fast for the gorgeous cover, but unfortunately the book didn’t end up living to my expectations. The story had a lot of potential to go far, I was immediately sucked into this day and night divide; people were either Smudges (could only be up and about during the night or Rays (did everything during the day time). I was intrigued in finding out how this division first came about, and how people coped with the curfews in place. I know for one I wouldn’t be able to live the life of a Smudge. And plus when your family was divided like Sol’s family was, her brother had recently been transferred to a Ray and had no contact with her for the past two years, so had to care for her ill grandfather all on her own, along with going to school and working too. Sol really had a lot to deal with, but I liked how tough and resilient she was, she would literally do anything to care for her grandfather, even kidnapping a baby to see him happy.

The whole aspect of kidnapping the baby, mix up and being chased down was a part I really enjoyed, I couldn’t understand why and how the mix up would happen, I was dying to know who was behind it all. But most of all I wanted things to go back to the way they were for Sol, she had jeopardised a lot in taking the risk that she did, but I liked how she wasn’t all alone, the unexpected alliances she found in Jean and D’Arcy I did appreciate. I had a feeling of how things would develop between D’Arcy and Sol and I liked the slow burn relationship that came about. I didn’t really know if I could trust D’Arcy at the beginning, but as the story progressed I got to know his character more, the more I admired the risk he posed to himself and his family by helping Sol and to be honest he was such a sweetheart when everything was falling apart Sol. Also you know guy’s who continue to help or lurk about even when you’ve told them you’re fine, are the ones I could never resist.

The fact that I DNF’d Plus One was largely because up until a certain point the story went well over my head for me. I was truly invested in the beginning to find out what really had gone down, but after new characters were thrown in the mix and I wasn’t getting any answers you could say I sort of lost interest. I did want to find out how things would end for all our characters, but this year I’ve made the resolution that if a book doesn’t keep my interest up until a certain point, then I just admit defeat, instead of forcing myself through like I did with so many books last year, which is a real shame with Plus One as it had been a book which I’d really been looking forward to reading. Fama’s writing however was exquisite, so much so that I shall be looking forward to picking up more of her books. Hopefully they work out better for me than Plus One did.

Review: Never Fade (The Darkest Minds #2) by Alexandra Bracken

Never Fade (The Darkest Minds #2) by Alexandra Bracken
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Publication Date: October 15th 2013
My rating: 5 stars 

Ruby never asked for the abilities that almost cost her her life. Now she must call upon them on a daily basis, leading dangerous missions to bring down a corrupt government and breaking into the minds of her enemies. Other kids in the Children’s League call Ruby “Leader”, but she knows what she really is: a monster. When Ruby is entrusted with an explosive secret, she must embark on her most dangerous mission yet: leaving the Children’s League behind. Crucial information about the disease that killed most of America’s children—and turned Ruby and the others who lived into feared and hated outcasts—has survived every attempt to destroy it. But the truth is only saved in one place: a flashdrive in the hands of Liam Stewart, the boy Ruby once believed was her future—and who now wouldn’t recognize her. As Ruby sets out across a desperate, lawless country to find Liam—and answers about the catastrophe that has ripped both her life and America apart—she is torn between old friends and the promise she made to serve the League. Ruby will do anything to protect the people she loves. But what if winning the war means losing herself?

The kiss was over before it ever really started. A bruising, single touch filled with enough urgency, enough frustration and wanting to send my blood rushing. I was still trying to catch my breath when he pulled back, his hands on my face, his lips close enough to mine for me to feel him pant too.
Then he was stepping back, away, letting distance flood in between us again. His voice was low, rough, "Give 'em hell, darlin'."

Never Fade brought out all my reading habits that I hadn’t done in ages; staying up reading late even though I knew I had to get up extra early the next day, not being able to read on my current page properly, I always find myself skimming slightly ahead and just so that I could ease some of the tension away and of course being the most unsocial person ever in the days it took me to read this book. Never Fade was constantly on my mind, you know when you’re younger and you’re promised a treat if you get all your chores done, I was like that, eager to get everything done, so that it would be nothing else but me and my beautiful book.

The Darkest Minds was a book which broke my heart, I read it so many months ago, but I still remember the achy beautiful passages that I had to push myself through. This time in Never Fade it’s the same but so much worse, with the way things ended in The Darkest Minds, I was eager for the things to get back on track, the way they used to be. But once again Bracken through up unexpected road blocks after road block that had me gasping in rage. I knew things could be bad, but some people in Never Fade were just the worst! In particular those characters who wouldn’t back down and would just pop up when you least expected them (highlight to view spoiler) I’m talking about you Clancy and Rob. Things could really be violent and gruesome at times that I’m glad that Ruby had learnt to become a stronger person, some would say she wasn’t in the best place, but as you begin to progress through the book, you become to realise that all the horrible training she went through at the League actually helped her deal with deadly situations that she found herself in.

In Darkest Minds I loved travelling with Ruby, Liam, Chubs and Zu, they were characters which left huge impressions on me, so I was sort of wary when I was introduced to new characters in Jude and Vida, could Ruby really trust these kids? Especially Vida? By the end of the book, my feelings about these two changed so much, I found myself being all protective around them. I don’t want to say too much, but definitely keep your heart open when it comes to these two characters. Bracken excelled when it came to changing my feelings about a lot of characters, someone I despised in The Darkest Minds because I didn’t really understand their true agenda, but they ended up surprising me in this latest instalment, I was still constantly wary about them, but was grateful that they had stuck around. I also enjoyed the introduction of another new character, although he wasn’t as around as much, I adored their sense of humour and how they were in the right place during one particular tense situation. I’m hoping to get to know this character a whole lot more in the final book in the series. There were many fantastic characters in this story, whereas Liam and Ruby had been my favourite in The Darkest Minds, there were so many here that found a special way to my heart.

Never Fade was one of the best middle book series that I have read in a long time, for me it was actually a story I ended up loving the most. I loved the unpredictable scenes that Bracken was able to weave in to this story, how despite so much chaos being thrown against our characters, I still carried a little bit of hope that things would be okay. Never Fade is littered with fast paced breath taking scenes, but also many heart breaking ones. I was completely destroyed in places, so shall pre-warn you to keep your tissues at the ready. Never Fade was my first read of 2015 and it ended up being a five star read for me, I’m kind of having mixed feelings over picking up In the Afterlight, I want to know how things will end, but at the same time, I don’t want to say goodbye to these characters just yet.

Review: The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken

The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken
Publisher: Disney Hyperion
Publication date: December 18th 2012.
My rating: 4.5 stars. 

When Ruby woke up on her tenth birthday, something about her had changed. Something alarming enough to make her parents lock her in the garage and call the police. Something that gets her sent to Thurmond, a brutal government “rehabilitation camp.” She might have survived the mysterious disease that’s killed most of America’s children, but she and the others have emerged with something far worse: frightening abilities they cannot control. Now sixteen, Ruby is one of the dangerous ones. When the truth comes out, Ruby barely escapes Thurmond with her life. Now she’s on the run, desperate to find the one safe haven left for kids like her—East River. She joins a group of kids who escaped their own camp. Liam, their brave leader, is falling hard for Ruby. But no matter how much she aches for him, Ruby can’t risk getting close. Not after what happened to her parents. When they arrive at East River, nothing is as it seems, least of all its mysterious leader. But there are other forces at work, people who will stop at nothing to use Ruby in their fight against the government. Ruby will be faced with a terrible choice, one that may mean giving up her only chance at a life worth living.

“The Darkest Minds tend to hide behind the most unlikely faces” 

The Darkest Minds was a book that I had seen for some time, but not really paid much attention to, however as soon as I started my copy, I was thrilled to hear from many readers that they had been huge fans of it. Also being in the mood that I was, not wanting to read much, largely because of lack of time, I was hoping that The Darkest Minds would be something that would blow me away. And despite it taking me nearly a month to read it, I ended up really enjoying The Darkest Minds. 

The Darkest Minds starts off with our MC Ruby in a rehabilitation camp called Thurmond, she’s been there since the age of 10, and all kids at around this age are tested and grouped according to their ability. Despite being stuck here for nearly six years, Ruby has lucked out sort of, she scraped under the radar, so could have found herself in a much worse situation. I liked how with Ruby, we weren’t given the full picture with her immediately, we didn’t really know the full extent of her abilities, or even how she ended up in Thurmond in the first place. So getting little titbits of her experiences was refreshing. I felt that I was getting to know her that little bit more when she began to open up and share more of her back story with us. 

Ruby’s story was at times a really heartbreaking one, with everything she had been through; you really wanted her to get her happy ending that she deserved. But I knew with everything going on it would be a struggle to achieve this. But The Darkest Minds was also a story filled with hope; hope that there would be a light at the end of the tunnel that children would be free once more. 

I loved the characters that Bracken created in this story; Liam, Chubs and Zu, people who found themselves in a situation with Ruby, but decided to trust her without knowing anything about her. I loved the relationships that formed with these characters over the course of the story, how such genuine characters they were, how they just got each other and knew they could trust one another. I’m glad that with this book like Olivia Pope from Scandal I had a gut feeling about characters. I knew which ones would remain loyal through and through. So when a particular character did make an appearance later on, I’m glad that despite being slightly swayed, I stuck to my gut instinct of knowing that there was something dodgy about them. Bracken really put my heart through the shredder when it came to her characters, I didn’t want anything to happen to them, especially to the ones that I had formed close relationships with. Chubs, Ruby, Zu and Liam really stood out for me; they really made a formidable team. I enjoyed getting their individual back stories and learning what bought them together. I especially loved the relationship that developed between Liam and Ruby. Liam really did take me by surprise as at first he didn’t come across boyfriend/fictional crush material, but seriously Liam completely won me over by the end. He had everything to offer and so much more; he would put his neck on the line by searching new places before anyone else, he would be there when little Zu had a bad dream, by comforting her and reassuring her that everything would be okay and he always had hope which he was easily able pass onto the others. But his scenes with Ruby just made my heart melt, there were so many obstacles in their way, especially later on, but I loved the moments they were able to steal together. 

The Darkest Minds was a book full of nonstop action, it was a read where I had an inkling that something major was about to go down, but I never knew to what extent. I would highly recommend giving The Darkest Minds a go, especially if you love your thrilling reads, sprinkled with a sweet romance. Also I have to mention the ending!! Why??? (I have been lurking about for the last few days for my copy of Never Fade to arrive, as things better be different in that book!).

Review: Ignite Me (Shatter Me #3) by Tahereh Mafi

Ignite Me (Shatter Me #3) by Tahereh Mafi
Publisher: Harper Collins
Publication date: February 4th 2014
My rating: 3.5 stars

With Omega Point destroyed, Juliette doesn’t know if the rebels, her friends, or even Adam are alive. But that won’t keep her from trying to take down The Reestablishment once and for all. Now she must rely on Warner, the handsome commander of Sector 45. The one person she never thought she could trust. The same person who saved her life. He promises to help Juliette master her powers and save their dying world . . . but that’s not all he wants with her.

Ignite Me had been one of my highly anticipated series finales this year. There was a major love triangle which emerged in the second book Unravel me and although I’m not a fan of these, I desperately wanted to know how things would end. Also I had switched teams in the second book and although I had a clear favourite, I didn’t want to see the other guy heartbroken like I had seen done before in previous books. So I definitely went into this book with my heart in my throat. It didn’t help the least that my order of this book was messed over (my copy didn’t arrive a few days late) by that time everyone was talking about it over on Twitter, Goodreads, and Instragram and I had such a hard time avoiding any spoilers. 

Ignite me kicks off with a lot of things in disarray, with Juliette finding herself injured and having no idea how the others are, it’s a real testing time for her. Also she’s utterly confused about her feelings towards Warner, the more she spends time with him the more she becomes to realise that he really isn’t the monster, she assumed that he was. I was actually delighted with the real Warner that we became to know in Unravel me, he was truly a lonely individual, despite this tough exterior persona he put across, I really did want to give him several hugs over the course of this book. I enjoyed the deeper Mafi went with his character, how we were able to learn all about his deepest fears and desires, honestly it made me love him that much more. However what I didn’t like was how a character I truly admired and appreciated in Shatter Me became this hardened person who didn’t really care about anyone else. This had happened to me before with another series I adored (Queen of Babble) and honestly it just leaves a bitter taste in your mouth. He was acting so out of character, biting people’s heads off, being completely rude and at times putting his friend’s life in danger. At times I really didn’t want to be around this character and his hot headedness, yes his behaviour and reasons for acting at were totally understandable. But what happened to the sweet guy we were introduced to who constantly made me swoon? 

However despite this character's major personality change, Mafi was able to lift my mood with some wonderful characters. Two characters definitely made this book for me; Warner and Kenji. Kenji was brilliant in providing much needed banter and fun during stressful scenes, never have I needed Kenji around more when a certain character was annoying the heck out of me. I also enjoyed his reactions with Juliet and Warner. Warner was truly a delight to get to know, he was utterly dreamy in this book. 

I do think however the see-saw relationship between Juliet and Warner could have been dealt with a bit more better. In Unravel Me Warner was so intent with his feelings with Juliette, and Juliette was the confused one, but this time it was the other way around. Warner had been burred pretty bad so really didn’t want to put his heart on the line again, which I completely understood. But there was this intense will they won’t they vibe forever, I did enjoy the slow teasing and build up because afterwards it was completely worth it, but I wished I didn’t have to wait (highlight to view spoiler) until chapter 55 to get some action  

It might seem like my review so far has been completely ranty, but this is not the case at all. I really did enjoy Ignite Me, some things may have irked me along the way, but the way things ended (but a little rushed) with hope and on the horizon for everyone was really in my eyes the best ending possible.

Mini-reviews: The Dollhouse Asylum and Twinmaker

The Dollhouse Asylum by Mary Gray
Publisher: Spencer Hill Press
Publication date: October 22nd 2013
My rating: 2 stars 

A virus that had once been contained has returned, and soon no place will be left untouched by its destruction. But when Cheyenne wakes up in Elysian Fields--a subdivision cut off from the world and its monster-creating virus--she is thrilled to have a chance at survival. At first, Elysian Fields,with its beautiful houses and manicured lawns, is perfect. Teo Richardson, the older man who stole Cheyenne's heart, built it so they could be together. But when Teo tells Cheyenne there are tests that she and seven other couples must pass to be worthy of salvation, Cheyenne begins to question the perfection of his world. The people they were before are gone. Cheyenne is now "Persephone," and each couple has been re-named to reflect the most tragic romances ever told. Everyone is fighting to pass the test, to remain in Elysian Fields. Teo dresses them up, tells them when to move and how to act, and in order to pass the test, they must play along. If they play it right, then they'll be safe. But if they play it wrong, they'll die.

The Dollhouse Asylum had a lot of potential to deliver a solid story. Cheyenne was kidnapped (saved from the living riot as she’s been told.) The world that she’s taken to seems perfect, and it must mean something if Teo (her former teacher and crush) selected her as one of the few individuals he wanted to save. Cheyenne in my eyes was really naive. If some guy you shared a kiss with and supposedly liked you back kidnapped you with no explanation, wouldn’t you consider it a little strange?  And if he supposedly cared about you, would he really make you earn the vaccine that you truly needed to survive? That is what our “saviour” Teo does, he pairs up all the individuals he’s saved and tells them that they have to prove that they deserve their vaccine.

If this wasn’t enough, Teo wouldn’t let the people he saved keep their real names, but gave them names; Persephone (Cheyenne) Romeo, Juliet etc and had them host dinner parties, and of course to impress Teo you had to play your part as your character would otherwise no vaccine for you. I was quite interested at first to see how things would play out, to see if anyone would actually stand up to Teo, there were seven other individuals, so they could have overruled Teo if they wanted, but no, everyone stood by while Teo took control. Our MC in my eyes just got worse as the story progressed, her love for Teo soon turned to disbelief as she became to realise what a psychopath he truly was. And of course she turned her attractions elsewhere to Teo’s brother *eyes roll*. But even then her hatred for Teo didn’t completely go away and whenever Teo showed his sweet side, she found herself going weak in the knees, never really sure who she liked and how she would ever escape this horrendous world.

I have been told that Cheyenne does improve in the rest of the book; this would have been something I would have looked forward to see may be earlier in the story. There have been several promising reviews for this book, but this book was just not for me

 

Twinmaker by Sean Williams
Publisher: Electric Monkey
Publication date: November 7th 2013.
My rating: 2 stars

Clair is pretty sure the offer in the ‘Improvement' meme is just another viral spam, though Libby is determined to give it a try. But what starts as Libby's dream turns into Clair's nightmare when her friend vanishes. In her search for answers, Clair seeks out Jesse - a boy whose alternative lifestyle might help to uncover the truth. What they don't anticipate is intervention from the mysterious contact known only as Q, and being caught up in a conspiracy that will change everything.

Unless I read the blurb to Twinmaker completely wrong, I really was expecting something different entirely from Twinmaker. This whole idea of improvement and of potentially being able to do this by a few swift jumps I found highly intriguing and the whole jumping aspect of being able to go wherever you’d imagined in a few minutes was a concept I liked (remember the film Jumper everyone?) But for me Twinmaker took far too long to get things rolling. 

Clair and Libby both used the D-mat to get from place to place, both had been friends for a long time, but despite sharing everything they still had one secret between them. Clair had kissed Libby’s boyfriend Zep. The first few scenes I got with Libby, I knew she wouldn’t be someone I would like, and she was a person who took all the credit for whenever Clair had done something good and of course always wanted all the attention. I didn’t get to experience much of her relationship with Zep, but the time Clair spent with him, it was clear that they were a much better suited couple. Yes it was wrong that Clair and Zep were seeing each other behind Libby’s back, but their relationship wasn’t that great.

For me it took far too long to get the crux of the story, I wanted to know whether this supposed improvement which was available would work and what would be the consequences if it didn’t. Instead we had Libby who supposedly tried it acting like a strange person and not staying longer than two seconds for us to see whether it had even worked. Then we had people making accusations, dying and coming back alive and by that point I just couldn’t be bothered anymore with the entire different tangent this story took. I think I maybe could have stuck with this story longer if the focus had stayed more on what was going on with Libby, and I hadn’t been overwhelmed with other stories trying to take the focus. Twinmaker did seem to have the potential to provide a different sort of read, but in my opinion really needed much more in the beginning to keep its readers focused.

Review: The Bone Season by Samantha Shannon

The Bone Season by Samantha Shannon
Publisher: Bloomsbury UK
Publication date: 20th August 2013.
My rating: 4 stars.

It is the year 2059. Several major world cities are under the control of a security force called Scion. Paige Mahoney works in the criminal underworld of Scion London, part of a secret cell known as the Seven Seals. The work she does is unusual: scouting for information by breaking into others’ minds. Paige is a dreamwalker, a rare kind of clairvoyant, and in this world, the voyants commit treason simply by breathing. But when Paige is captured and arrested, she encounters a power more sinister even than Scion. The voyant prison is a separate city—Oxford, erased from the map two centuries ago and now controlled by a powerful, otherworldly race. These creatures, the Rephaim, value the voyants highly—as soldiers in their army. Paige is assigned to a Rephaite keeper, Warden, who will be in charge of her care and training. He is her master. Her natural enemy. But if she wants to regain her freedom, Paige will have to learn something of his mind and his own mysterious motives. The Bone Season introduces a compelling heroine—a young woman learning to harness her powers in a world where everything has been taken from her.

Lately I’ve been quite lucky in picking up books which have received a lot of hype before their release dates. Samantha Shannon’s The Bone Season had been promoted as the next Harry Potter and she had already signed a seven book deal even before The Bone Season had been released. As always I had my wary cap on before going into this book but after finishing this book I can safely say the faith that everyone had in Shannon in being able to deliver a stunning debut novel was fully justified. 

I did admit I did really struggle with getting into The Bone Season, I was really intrigued by the whole concept and found myself drawn to our strong MC Paige, but there was just so much to wrap my head around. I think that if I had realised in the beginning that there was a glossary at the end of the book this would have made my reading experience a whole lot easier. So it did take me until about 40% to really get into The Bone Season, but I’m glad I continued with this book because the second half was so worth it. 

The world that Shannon created in The Bone Season was just out of this world. The amount of detail she included to make this world appear so real was done wonderfully. I had no problem in imagining Paige practising with Warden in the fields, making her way through the woods or even battling her way through everything else. Some may say that Shannon added too much detail and created such a complex world, but I don’t think that this was the case at all. Without all of this intricate detail I don’t think this world would have been believable at all. 

Paige found herself in Sheol I, Oxford because of her ability as a dream walker, if there were any dream walkers around they were either pretty limited, so Nashira the blood sovereign to the rephaim was lucky to finally get her hands on one. Nashira was one of those characters who were quick to evoke feelings of anger within me. (The same could be said on Suhail and the rest of her cronies too). Every time she made an appearance all I wanted to do was to scratch her eyes out, but being the blood sovereign that she was and having five angels by her side I knew she was a truly unstoppable force to mess with. But I admired Paige’s courageousness to continue to find a way out. She was left battered and bruised so many times, but she never gave up on going back home to Citadel. What I also admired about her was that she did anything she could for her friends, even if this resulted in her getting a beating. Paige was a truly excellent character in just the first book, so I can’t wait to see how her character will strengthen and develop in the rest of the series. 

Paige’s relationship with her keeper Warden was a really complicated one. It didn’t help that Warden was such an enigmatic character, that I never realised until the very end what his real intentions were. But this rephaim definitely grew on me over the course of the book. What is it with big scary rephaim that always win you over afterwards?

Click to view spoiler!

I had an inkling of which way things would go with Warden and Paige, the way his character was slowly softening towards her, helping her out indirectly, believing in her in using her powers for herself, and so I think the way the romance developed was handled beautifully by Shannon, yes Paige did hate Warden with an intensity, but when this other side to Warden slowly began to creep its way through, I know I would have a tough time, rejecting his advances too. 

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What I also enjoyed about The Bone Season was the way Shannon gave us Paige’s back story. We were treated to small stories over the course of the book which helped us understand Paige’s character a whole lot more; how she had matured into this incredible character and why she was the way she was. It was also a great surprise in discovering in how we were getting “access” to Paige’s memories in the first place. 

The Bone Season was a brilliant start to what I believe will be a promising series. I would have loved to have the chance to get to know more about the seven seals, the glimpses we did get, were thoroughly entertaining. But I’m sure there’s plenty more to come from this fantastic bunch in the rest of the series. There’s nothing more for me left to say about this brilliant book but other than believe the hype.

Mini-Reviews: Monument 14 and Dead Romantic

Monument 14 by Emmy Laybourne
Publisher: Hachette Children's Books
Publication date: April 4th 2013
My rating: 3 stars 

Fourteen kids. One superstore. A million things that go wrong ... Fourteen kids stranded inside a superstore. Inside they have everything they could ever need. There's junk food and clothes, computer games and books, drugs and alcohol ... and without adult supervision they can do whatever they want. Sounds like fun? But outside the world is being ripped apart by violent storms and chemicals leaking into the atmosphere that, depending on blood type, leave victims paranoid, violent or dead. The kids must remain inside, forced to create their own community, unsure if they'll ever be able to leave. Can they stop the world they've created inside from self-destructing too?

With survival type stories, I’m either here or there, they either win me over completely (This is Not a Test) or annoy me to death. Monument 14 kind of fell in the middle, there were parts which were riveting and had me on tenterhooks and there were others which felt a little flat.

Monument 14 starts off with a bang. On the way to school Dean’s bus is pelted with hail stones so big that they’re tearing through the bus. There’s chaos on the road that causes their bus to overturn. Kids end up dead and it’s only because of Mrs. Wooly the elementary middle school driver that helps them out and helps them hide out in a store. When Mrs. Wooly goes to search for help, the 14 kids are left in charge.

The kids were left in an awful situation, they hadn’t a clue about what was going on outside, but still had to try and survive on their own means. There were always dangers lurking outside who were finding a safe place to stay, but who could they trust? Could they ever trust each other? The kids were left with a lot of responsibility, they had some really young children to look after, keep them occupied and give them the necessary attention whenever they were distraught. Niko surprised me with his level headedness; he was calm, collected and always wary of anyone joining their group. I liked the stability and routine he tried to achieve amongst the group. But I really felt sorry for him when he had no-one at first and was just left at the side with everyone clambering at the popular lads Brayden and Jake. 

Dean was a hard mc to like, I did enjoy getting the story through his eyes, but wasn’t really able to connect to his character as I would have liked. Maybe that’s why I found it myself favouring Niko and Josie more, in my eyes they were characters I would more likely to get on with if I found myself in a similar situation. But the secondary characters definitely made up for it. I enjoyed getting stories from Max, Henry and Caroline, but definitely would have liked to get more of their back stories.

My feelings about Monument 14 are kind of hot and cold, I did find a lot of the time some scenes were really drawn out and my attention wavered quite a bit. But then we had some great pacier scenes with the risk of danger that I found myself zipping through in a frenzy. As I’m so torn, I’m not actually sure whether I would give the sequel a try, the way things were left, I definitely do want to find out how things end up, but I don’t really feel in a rush to do so. Monument 14 was a great start to a series, but I wish that it had left more of a lasting impression with me.

Dead Romantic by C.J Skuse
Publisher: Chicken House
Publication date: February 4th 2013.
My rating: 3 stars

Camille wants to find the perfect boy, with an athlete's body and a poet's brain. But when she's mocked at a college party, she kows there isn't a boy alive who'll ever measure up. Enter Zoe, her brilliant but strange best friend, who takes biology homework to a whole new level. She can create Camille's dream boy, Frankenstein-stylee. But can she make him love her?

Dead Romantic was a hilariously spunky tale of Camille trying to find her one true love. She’d fancied the school hottie Damian, but he didn’t show the slightest bit of interest, just for a quickie. And Camille didn’t want this she wanted something more deep and meaningful. That’s where the creepy girl Zoe from school comes in, there have been tons of rumours about Zoe and her unstable dad, but Camille doesn’t believe a word of it and when Camille’s friends are more occupied with their own friends Zoe’s the only girl Camille can turn to. Zoe comes up with the idea to create the perfect boyfriend for Camille, all the guys at school are a disaster anyway and Zoe’s learnt to bring loads of things back to life from her dad anyway such as hamsters, so how hard can a human be?

I truly felt for Camille, with all her friends pairing off with guys, she felt a little left out, so she was fully up for Zoe’s plan. But then as soon as Zoe started going full steam ahead, Camille started getting suspicious, so many people were going missing, was Zoe getting the body parts for her dream guy from them? And would her plan even work?

Zoe and Camille’s adventure was made fun along the way with the endless snooping around they had to do. But what I enjoyed the most was the shenanigans they got up to with Damian and Louis. Damian and Louis accidently kind of discovered Zoe’s big plan, but instead of running away scared decide to help out. The snarky comments and banter between these four characters when they clearly didn’t want to spend time together made Dead Romantic one heck of a hilarious read. I just wished we got down to the making of Camille’s dream of a boy a lot sooner, there was so much build up and then everything went crazy at the end and left me wanting more! But other than that Dead Romantic was a fun mission which I enjoyed being a part of.

*My reviews were totally meant to be mini ones :(

Review: Taken by Erin Bowman

Taken by Erin Bowman
Publisher: Harper Teen
Publication date: 16th April 2013.
My rating: 2 stars

There are no men in Claysoot. There are boys—but every one of them vanishes at midnight on his eighteenth birthday. The ground shakes, the wind howls, a blinding light descends…and he’s gone. They call it the Heist. Gray Weathersby’s eighteenth birthday is mere months away, and he’s prepared to meet his fate–until he finds a strange note from his mother and starts to question everything he’s been raised to accept: the Council leaders and their obvious secrets. The Heist itself. And what lies beyond the Wall that surrounds Claysoot–a structure that no one can cross and survive. Climbing the Wall is suicide, but what comes after the Heist could be worse. Should he sit back and wait to be taken–or risk everything on the hope of the other side?

Taken was another book which I was extremely looking forward to reading. It had a unique premise; at 18 years old, boys in Claysoot are Heisted, why did this happen no one knew, but it was a ritual established in Claysoot for many years. These boys were also meant to be slated before their Heist, these slatings were organised eventually to result in an offspring, so that they would continue their family line, before they were Heisted. With everyone just accepting this extraordinary phenomena I was surprised that in the many years, no one had ever decided to dig around and find out why this heist actually occurred, why at that age and where the heck did these boys disappear to? There were some boys who refused to accept it and tried to escape over the wall, with who knows what was lurking behind there? But they never survived. So I was glad after losing his brother Gray decided to take it upon himself to get to the bottom of the truth. 

These beliefs that there were nothing beyond the wall and that being Heisted was a necessary part of Claysoot had been instilled into this society for a long time. So after discovering some shocking things Gray decided to risk his life in finding out the truth. Gray was a character who at first I found easy to connect to, he constantly found himself in his older brother Blaine’s limelight, his impulsive behaviour everyone picked on and the several comparisons of why couldn’t he be more like Blaine would bug anyone. So despite having to lose Blaine in the Heist, I think it was completely necessary to Gray’s character building as it motivated him into action. 

What was on the other side of the wall I was extremely eager to find out about, but this is where the story fell flat for me. Some of the discoveries they made along the way did come as quite a surprise to me but there were parts that I found to be lacklustre in places. I think it may be that I was imagining that out of this world extraordinary things could be lurking behind the wall but instead we got a case of lots of finger pointing and no clue about who to believe. The later development of the love triangle kind of buggered things over for me to, I think it was sort of unnecessary and wished that certain characters hadn’t made impulsive decisions that led to it in the first place. 

Taken was the first book in the series with a lot of potential to deliver, I think with this book it was a case of it not being my cup of tea. As a lot of the early reviews from several blogging friends show that they really enjoyed it. I guess I’m more miffed with myself for not enjoying it as much as I did, as I had high hopes that I would find this to be a thrilling new series I could dive into. But unfortunately I don’t think this will be the case. 

Series Feature & Giveaway: The Delirium Series by Lauren Oliver

 

Lauren Oliver presents a frightening futuristic world in the Delirium series. One where love is viewed as a disease or sickness to be "cured."  I can't think of anything worse.  

I met Lauren at a book signing for Pandemonium.  She was intelligent and captivating, but not apologetic about torturing her fans by leaving them dangling, lol!  The series comes to a close with Requiem and fans don't have to worry about another dreaded cliffhanger!

We've decided to giveaway our ARC copy of Requiem to one lucky reader.  The giveaway is INTERNATIONAL.  Just fill out the rafflecopter below for a chance to win.  Good luck and thanks for stopping by!  

Review: Through the Ever Night by Veronica Rossi

  Through the Ever Night by Veronica Rossi
  Publisher: HarperCollins
  Publication date: January 8th 2013
  Source: Edelweiss
  Rating:  5 Stars

 

It's been months since Aria last saw Perry. Months since Perry was named Blood Lord of the Tides, and Aria was charged with an impossible mission. Now, finally, they are about to be reunited. But their reunion is far from perfect. The Tides don't take kindly to Aria, a former Dweller. And with the worsening Aether storms threatening the tribe's precarious existence, Aria begins to fear that leaving Perry behind might be the only way to save them both.

Threatened by false friends, hidden enemies, and powerful temptations, Aria and Perry wonder, Can their love survive through the ever night?

In this second book in her spellbinding Under the Never Sky trilogy, Veronica Rossi combines fantasy and dystopian elements to create a captivating love story as perilous as it is unforgettable.

Through the Ever Night was AMAZING!  Everything I loved about Under the Never Sky was kicked up several notches and then some!  Epic adventure, heart-pounding action, romance, friendship, longing, and heartbreak are all found within the pages.  I’m still reeling with awe at the love I have for this story!

We pick up right where the story left off in Under the Never Sky where Aria and Perry meet again.  Their love for each other is strong, but they face so many outside challenges.  The Aether storms seem to be growing both in frequency and intensity, so all the tribes and even the Realms need to find a safe haven before everything necessary for life is destroyed.  Aria is tasked with the mission to find the elusive Still Blue, an area that is supposed to be unharmed by the Aether storms, by Consul Hess.  He’s blackmailed her into cooperating or risk the well-being of Talon, Perry’s beloved nephew.  Perry is now Blood Lord to the Tides but all is not smooth sailing.  The decision to bring Aria back to the Tides is met with suspicion, and most of the Tides members hate her even if she is half Outsider.  The Tides don’t fully trust Perry either, questioning his decisions as their leader, and Perry feels their doubt profoundly.

Oh man, was this good! I loved Under the Never Sky but I think this surpasses that story, something almost unheard of with a sequel.  No dreaded “second book syndrome” where much of the story is filler, gearing up for the final wrap-up in the last book.  This story was thrilling in every way and almost impossible to put down. 

I loved the romance between Perry and Aria.  Their characters are so well fleshed out, and you feel their concerns, despair, joy, and love right along with them.  They are from two different worlds but their care and love for the people around them, and their common goals make them well-suited for each other.  They had to weather a few storms, and I think they’ve become stronger for it.  I love this quote:

Her eyes blurred, and she wasn’t sure if it was from the pain or from the relief of being with him again.  He brought a sense of rightness.  She felt it every moment she spent with him. Even the wrong ones.  Even the painful ones, like now.  Perry’s hands stilled.  He looked up, and his gaze told her everything.  He felt it too.*

Secondary character such as Roar and Cinder, and even Soren add layers to an already amazing tale, and I found myself fully invested in their stories, as well.   This was an exciting adventure, filled with action, and danger.  Where we leave off in this installment has me anxious and super eager for the conclusion. I really like the way things are shaping up, and I think the next story has real potential to be just as exciting as this one.  Veronica Rossi has managed to stun an amaze me, and I can’t wait to pick up her next book!

*Quote taken from an uncorrected proof and may change in the final copy.

 

Review: Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi

Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi
Publisher: Harper Collins
Publication date: 15th November 2011
My rating: 4.5 stars

Juliette hasn’t touched anyone in exactly 264 days.

The last time she did, it was an accident, but The Reestablishment locked her up for murder. No one knows why Juliette’s touch is fatal. As long as she doesn’t hurt anyone else, no one really cares. The world is too busy crumbling to pieces to pay attention to a 17-year-old girl. Diseases are destroying the population, food is hard to find, birds don’t fly anymore, and the clouds are the wrong color.

The Reestablishment said their way was the only way to fix things, so they threw Juliette in a cell. Now so many people are dead that the survivors are whispering war– and The Reestablishment has changed its mind. Maybe Juliette is more than a tortured soul stuffed into a poisonous body. Maybe she’s exactly what they need right now.

Juliette has to make a choice: Be a weapon. Or be a warrior.

Shatter Me was another book after finishing it I wanted to pull my hair out and scream why DID I NOT READ THIS SOONER!!! Seriously after receiving a copy of Unravel Me I decided to get my butt into gear and do some serious damage to my mountainous tbr pile and I’m so, so, so glad that I decided to pick Shatter Me up. I was a little wary at first as me and dystopians never really click, but I’d had a good run lately but then picked some not so great ones. But with Shatter Me it was a whole another reading experience, I was happily hooked from the first page.

Juliette has been locked away without touching anyone for 264 days; she’s locked away for her own good, as her touch can be deadly. (Remind anyone of Rogue from X-men?). But then she’s given a roommate Adam out of the blue, she hasn’t spoken to a soul in what seems like ages and so it’s a shock to the system having someone so close trying to talk to her especially someone from her past. But things get stranger when Juliette’s yanked out from the asylum and things she assumed about her roommate aren’t what she expected.

The whole world Juliette found herself in was so crazy, because of her ability Juliette saw herself as a monster but others such as Warner the guy who took her out of the asylum thought she was the best thing ever. Warner, I never could really hate him, despite everything he did and his whole end plan he never really got under my skin, in places I did want to thoroughly pummel him for putting Juliette and Adam through so much and he was very much deluded, but I think I don’t know his character that well to go into a full blown Warner hate campaign. I’m sure there are several valid explanations as to why he thinks the way he does and why he’s proposing such a heinous plan. So I’m just waiting to get to know him that bit more before I make my judgement. Also I may have heard some interesting things coming through Destroy Me and Unravel Me which may have got my interest piqued.

Adam *sigh* there seems to be a strong pattern emerging through ya books that all male characters with the name Adam seem to have the ability to make me melt into a puddle and I tend to lose my stream of thoughts. Adam strongly reminded me of Four from Divergent, he was tough, would defend what was right, even if that meant going against the right path or rules and did I mention hot?

The writing style of Shatter Me I would say was unusual; there was an overload of metaphors all over the place, which took me a while to get my head around. I found myself breezing through the book, but then the overuse of metaphors would jumble everything up for a while. I’m sure some of them clashed too, which made things a bit confusing. Also the use of strike text, I was like what is the point of this, is this really necessary? But as the book progressed we saw far less of it and I did begin to miss it. These are my only minor gripes with Shatter Me, I know these really irritated some readers, but I do think that if you are able to overlook this then Shatter Me is a worthwhile read.

Overall Shatter Me was a thrilling read, I love books which are full of action, are fast paced, have a sizzling romance and always keep you guessing with what could be lurking around the corner. I salute Tahereh Mafi for creating such a gripping read. Please excuse me if you don’t hear from me for the next few days as my face will be stuck in Unravel Me!

Also how cool are these banners by Rachel over at Parajunkee. I’m so torn between Adam and Warner, so I think I’m going to put both of these banners up!