Book Review: Insurgent by Veronica Roth

Insurgent was probably one of the most anticipated novels of this year. And personally I already know which book will be my most anticipated novel of 2013. Yes, the wait for the third book is a long one: the expected publication date is September 26th 2013. That's 287 more days.
I flew through Insurgent, the story is even more compelling and fascinating than Divergent.

One choice can transform you—or it can destroy you. But every choice has consequences, and as unrest surges in the factions all around her, Tris Prior must continue trying to save those she loves—and herself—while grappling with haunting questions of grief and forgiveness, identity and loyalty, politics and love.
Tris's initiation day should have been marked by celebration and victory with her chosen faction; instead, the day ended with unspeakable horrors. War now looms as conflict between the factions and their ideologies grows. And in times of war, sides must be chosen, secrets will emerge, and choices will become even more irrevocable—and even more powerful. Transformed by her own decisions but also by haunting grief and guilt, radical new discoveries, and shifting relationships, Tris must fully embrace her Divergence, even if she does not know what she may lose by doing so.

My thoughts

With Roth's writing style as compelling as in Divergent, we are pulled into the story. It has the reader in a grasp and won't let go until the last page has been read.
Insurgent is most definitely a worthy sequel to Divergent.


Every war leaves its traces, this one is no exception.
Tris struggles with herself, tries to cope with her grief. In the meantime the war rages on and of course there's Four. It's the developments that intrigued me, both in characters as in Tris's entire world.
Tris' tendency to throw herself in front of guns and Four's frustrations makes their relationship very intense, confusing and emotional. Their romance is handled perfectly, I was amazed by how it evolved with so much going on around them. This makes their relationship realistic, believable and moving.

Keeping up with the story requires some presence of mind though. It is complicated and rushes from one situation  into the other. Something you'll either love or hate. There is a lot of moving around throughout the city, there are numerous fronts of people and suddenly there's a shift in power. We're also introduced to the world outside the fence, which promises a rather interesting third installment.

My rating of this book

Source

Bought a copy in Cambridge :)

Other links

Find this book on Goodreads

Visit Veronica Roth's website here

~ Sylke

Book Review: Divergent by Veronica Roth

Firstly, I'm very sorry for my absence this last month, I was stuck in a place without a proper internet connection. However, I'm back now, and I'm going to make it up to you with a review of the most amazing book I read in 2011! I actually read it three times more since that first time, so it's about time I review it...

I can guarantee you, this book will get you hooked.

In a future Chicago, 16-year-old Beatrice Prior must choose among five predetermined factions to define her identity for the rest of her life, a decision made more difficult when she discovers that she is an anomaly who does not fit into any one group, and that the society she lives in is not perfect after all.

My thoughts
Divergent tells a story set in a dystopian world, post war. This sounds suspiciously similar to the Hunger Games, and yes, a lot of people do compare these books with each other. At first this made me weary, as I absolutely loved the Hunger Games and didn't feel the need to read a similar story. However, at one point there was no way of escaping: I had to read this book. And I loved it!
The inhabitants of Chicago have been divided into five factions: Abnegation (Selflessness), Erudite (Intelligence), Dauntless (Bravery), Amity (Peace), and Candor (Honesty)
Once a year children aged 16 must choose their faction, it's entirely up to them whether they decide to stay with their family in their old faction, or join another faction. Tris is stuck between two choices, her family or herself.

The book isn't that similar to the Hunger Games in my opinion. The heroines may be a tad identical, yet their worlds are completely different, as well as their stories. 

Veronica Roth's writing style is amazing. The way situations are described, I felt as if I was the one jumping from a roof, not Tris. Also, Roth managed to catch my attention right from the start, even though the first chapters are slow. As the story progresses it gets more and more thrilling. I simply couldn't put the book down.

I loved the world Roth created, and I loved the characters even more.
Tris, this short, shy girl somehow transforms into a strong and fearless leader. The kind of person you can't help but admire. The changes she goes through in just 487 pages, incredible. And believable, amazingly done by Roth.
Four is completely different. He doesn't really change, it's more that Tris him bit by bit unravels. The story is written from Tris's point of view, and as a reader you know as little about Four as Tris does. Where he is an intimidating, mysterious and a bit scary person to Tris at first, she learns about his past and gets to know him.

If you don't read this book now Tris and Four will come and hit you, you've been warned.

Cover

Personally I prefer the UK cover of this book, as I have a preference for pretty covers. I do feel the US cover shows the main setting and plot of the story better.

My rating of this book

Source

Bought at the local bookshop. 

Other links

Find this book on Goodreads

Visit Veronica Roth's website here

~ Sylke

Book Review: The Sky is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson

I'm going to start off in here with a review of a book I read in the beginning of 2012 and it's so far my best read this year. The book I'm talking about is The Sky is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson.


From Goodreads:

Seventeen-year-old Lennie Walker, bookworm and band geek, plays second clarinet and spends her time tucked safely and happily in the shadow of her fiery older sister, Bailey. But when Bailey dies abruptly, Lennie is catapulted to center stage of her own life—and, despite her nonexistent history with boys, suddenly finds herself struggling to balance two.

My opinion:
 The Sky is Everywhere has many of the ingredients of a classic YA-novel, a love-triangle, a teenage girl struggling to find herself and an "evil" rival at school. So what made this book stand out for me? First off all it is beautifully written. It also contains a number of weird characters imposible not to like. For instance her giant of an uncle, who's quite the ladies-man and most of the time sits in a tree (!), the amazing Joe Fontaine, and the main character Lennie is also very realistic and complex.

The book mixes humour with sadness and soreness in a very successfull way. It combines more serious subjects as the grief of a sister and the abandonment of a mother with a beautiful an really cute story. It tells this story at times in a hilarious way (I saw the movie The Descendants just a week ago and this kind of storytelling is just my cup of tea.). Lenny is a bit melodramatic and the romance intense but in this particular book it really works for me. It's like all the emotions of the book are so strong that they come out of the book covers (it seems writing about this book makes me melodramatic;-). Though the book has some cliches, the weirdness and humour prevents it from getting to sentimental. In the beginning of it I have to admit I was a bit skeptical about the writing but then I decided to just lean back and take it all in, and I didn't regret it for a second. Another thing I really liked about the book are all the little notes and poems Lennie writes on papercups, napkins, bathroom-walls, receipts and even on the soles of her shoes.

Goodreads says in the end of the synopsis that this book is perfect for fans of among others Francesca Lia Block. I have not read anything she's writtten but I have heard a lot about her. I know Mari was a bit sceptical about one of her books in this review, but I still think you should try this one though:-)

This book is so beautiful, and is both sad and funny. It has some really weird (in a good way) characters and is just bubbling with the emotions of a grief-stricken teenage girl in love. In case you didn't get it by now, I warn you; it's a very emotional read:-) 

Unfortunately I don't have the english copy available at the moment because there are so many quotes I would like to share with you. I'll be sure to share one with you later on Memorable Monday.

My rating of this book:

/ 

Source:

Review copy from the norwegian publisher Gyldendal in exchange for an honest review

Silje*

Book Review: Don't You Wish by Roxanne St. Claire

When plain and unpopular Annie Nutter gets zapped by one of her dad's whacked-out inventions, she lands in a parallel universe where her life becomes picture-perfect. Now she's Ayla Monroe, daughter of the same mother but a different father—and she's the gorgeous, rich queen bee of her high school.

In this universe, Ayla lives in glitzy Miami instead of dreary Pittsburgh and has beaucoup bucks, courtesy of her billionaire—if usually absent—father. Her friends hit the clubs, party backstage at concerts, and take risks that are exhilirating . . . and illegal. Here she's got a date to lose her V-card with the hottest guy she's ever seen.

But on the insde, Ayla is still Annie.

So when she's offered the chance to leave the dream life and head home to Pittsburgh, will she take it?

The choice isn't as simple as you think.

My thoughts:

Don't You Wish is young adult chick lit at it's very best! It is fun, cute and has an adorable romance, and is the perfect book to bring along for a day at the beach, in the park or anywhere else you hang out to read during summer.

I really liked Annie, both as Invisible Annie and popular Ayla. As Annie her life is incredibly boring, as Ayla her days are filled with the drama of the rich and popular, and the only thing the two have in common is Annie's personality. As she starts living life as Ayla she has to make some important decisions about who she wants to be - is it worth being hot and popular if it means your friends expect you to shoplift even when you have your own black AmEx card? Is it worth giving up your virginity to a guy you hardly know just because he's hot and he expects you to?

There is much I loved about Don't You Wish, like the fantastic Miami setting and the sweet romance, but what really got to me was Annie's relationship with her mom (both as Annie and Ayla). I haven't seen my own mom in almost two years, and there was just something so heartbreaking about some of the mother/daughter scenes and Annie's homesickness. I have to admit, I cried more than once.

If you like fun, easy reads about friendship, family and finding yourself, pick up Don't You Wish when it is released next month (or better yet, pre-order it), and I hope you'll enjoy it as much as I did!

Cover:

I love the heart-shaped glasses, and the dreamy feel of it. Very fitting!

My rating of this book:

Want to know more?

Add Don't You Wish to your Goodreads wish list

Visit Roxanne St. Claire's website
Follow Roxanne on Twitter

Full disclosure:
ARC received from NetGalley

This book can be purchased from a number of local retailers and online book stores like Amazon and The Book Depository (I'm not an affiliate of either). The latter store has free shipping to about 100 countries.

Book Review: The Immortal Rules by Julie Kagawa

In a future world, Vampires reign. Humans are blood cattle. And one girl will search for the key to save humanity.

Allison Sekemoto survives in the Fringe, the outermost circle of a vampire city. By day, she and her crew scavenge for food. By night, any one of them could be eaten.

Some days, all that drives Allie is her hatred of them. The vampires who keep humans as blood cattle. Until the night Allie herself is attacked—and given the ultimate choice. Die… or become one of the monsters.

Faced with her own mortality, Allie becomes what she despises most. To survive, she must learn the rules of being immortal, including the most important: go long enough without human blood, and you will go mad.

Then Allie is forced to flee into the unknown, outside her city walls. There she joins a ragged band of humans who are seeking a legend—a possible cure to the disease that killed off most of humankind and created the rabids, the mindless creatures who threaten humans and vampires alike.

But it isn’t easy to pass for human. Especially not around Zeke, who might see past the monster inside her. And Allie soon must decide what—and who—is worth dying for.

My thoughts:
I know you’ve probably heard what I’m about to say many, many times over the last couple of weeks, but I’m still going to repeat it: No matter what you think about vampire novels, please give this book a chance. The Immortal Rules is anything but traditional, and most importantly it is GOOD. (And by good I mean awesome to the point where I had trouble doing my job because I kept telling myself to read “just one more page” on my Kindle app.)

Forget sparkles, forget vampires who can walk outside during the daytime as long as it’s cloudy, forget about the nice vampires who can choose to live from synthetic blood. Julie Kagawa has finally brought back the real vampires, the monsters who will attack you in the dead of the night, the ones who can’t control themselves around humans. And then along comes Allie. Allie despises vampires and everything they stand for, yet when she has to choose between becoming one of them or die, her will to survive is too strong. I love how Kagawa made us see that this was not an easy choice for Allie, and it made me respect her that much more.

Allie goes through many phases in this story, and I loved following her through all of them. She not only has to fight to survive, but she has to make up her mind on some big moral issues as well; will she try to hold on to her humanity, or just give in and truly become one of the monsters? And through all of it, Allie remains an incredibly likable character. I especially loved how she, despite having to rethink everything she’s ever known, always acts purely on instinct, on what feels right to her. I have a feeling that by the time the Blood of Eden series comes to an end, Allie will be right up there in the same category as Katniss, Katsa and the other kick-ass girls of YA.

My favorite part about The Immortal Rules was how every time I thought I had things figured out, when I thought I knew where the story was headed, everything was turned upside down in ways I never saw coming. (Actually, my very favorite part is that Kanin, the name of Allie’s maker, means bunny in Norwegian, so I kept imagining a bloodsucking bunny instead of a terrifying vampire. But asides from that;) But the twists and turns never felt forced, and every time the story took a new direction it felt completely natural. Which I guess just shows what an amazing storyteller Julie Kagawa is.

The Immortal Rules is the kind of book that you should read as soon as it’s released, because this is not a story that will be forgotten. This is only the first book of a series, but I have a feeling that Blood of Eden will become big. Bigger than The Iron Fey even, which is saying something. And you don’t wanna be the only one left out of that, do you?

Cover: 
It's got the right creepy vampire feel to it, but I'm actually not a huge fan.

My rating of this book:


Want to know more?
Add The Immortal Rules to your Goodreads wish list
Visit Julie Kagawa's website
Follow Julie on Twitter

Full disclosure:
ARC received from NetGalley

This book can be purchased from a number of local retailers and online book stores like Amazon and The Book Depository (I'm not an affiliate of either). The latter store has free shipping to about 100 countries.

Book Review: Masque of the Red Death by Bethany Griffin

Everything is in ruins.

A devastating plague has decimated the population. And those who are left live in fear of catching it as the city crumbles to pieces around them.

So what does Araby Worth have to live for?

Nights in the Debauchery Club, beautiful dresses, glittery make-up . . . and tantalizing ways to forget it all.

But in the depths of the club—in the depths of her own despair—Araby will find more than oblivion. She will find Will, the terribly handsome proprietor of the club. And Elliott, the wickedly smart aristocrat. Neither boy is what he seems. Both have secrets. Everyone does.

And Araby may find something not just to live for, but to fight for—no matter what it costs her.

My thoughts:
I had heard nothing but amazing things about Masque of the Red Death before I started reading it, and I am a huge fan of Edgar Allan Poe and his twisted stories, even if I had not read the original Masque of the Red Death. This is not a traditional retelling, but a reimagining of the original story, meaning that it’s based on the same world, but without actually telling the same story. I loved how effortlessly Griffin managed this, and how she turned Poe’s world into her own.

Masque of the Red Death had me caught in its debauchery from the very start. There is something dark and ominous about the writing, from the descriptions of the corpse collectors to the characters’ fear of breathing without a mask. It is unlike anything I have read in YA before, and shows just how talented Griffin is. And most importantly, the writing sets the mood for Araby’s story, which is not an easy one.

Araby is not a perfect person. She has made some choices to be ashamed of, she’s living with the guilt of something that happened in her past, she is trying to stay in a constant state of oblivion as to not have to think about the world around her. Still she is doing her best to survive in a world so bleak and empty of hope that I personally was impressed that she managed to keep going. I loved how she went from passively existing in this world to really taking charge of things, trying to help in any way possible. Because the Araby you meet on the first pages is not the same girl as the one you’ll leave behind when you close the book.

I really liked the other characters as well, from charmingly down-to-earth Will who’s doing what he can to take care of his family, to arrogant and confident Elliott (the character who probably goes through the biggest change out of anyone in this story), to Araby’s seemingly superficial friend April, Elliott’s sister. I’m especially impressed with how Griffin managed to make me like both of the boys in their own ways, without it ever feeling like a love triangle.

There is a good chance that Masque of the Red Death will keep haunting you for quite a while, long after you’ve read the last page. (And if you’re like me, after you’ve rushed to check when the sequel will be out. I can save you the trouble; it won’t be out until 2013.) This was an amazing start to a new series, and yet it totally worked as a story on its own as well. Yes, I am dying to find out what happens next, but it is not one of those slow first books that takes forever to set the scene for the characters. This is without question one of my favorite books so far this year, and I have a feeling it will be a hard one to top.

Cover: 
Gorgeous! I love the colors used, and even if it is a girl in a pretty dress, it looks nothing like the other covers out there.

My rating of this book:


Want to know more?
Add Masque of the Red Death to your Goodreads wish list
Visit Bethany Griffin's website
Follow Bethany on Twitter

Full disclosure:
ARC received from NetGalley

This book can be purchased from a number of local retailers and online book stores like Amazon and The Book Depository (I'm not an affiliate of either). The latter store has free shipping to about 100 countries.

Book Review: Partials by Dan Wells

The human race is all but extinct after a war with Partials--engineered organic beings identical to humans--has decimated the population. Reduced to only tens of thousands by RM, a weaponized virus to which only a fraction of humanity is immune, the survivors in North America have huddled together on Long Island while the Partials have mysteriously retreated. The threat of the Partials is still imminent, but, worse, no baby has been born immune to RM in more than a decade. Our time is running out.

Kira, a sixteen-year-old medic-in-training, is on the front lines of this battle, seeing RM ravage the community while mandatory pregnancy laws have pushed what's left of humanity to the brink of civil war, and she's not content to stand by and watch. But as she makes a desperate decision to save the last of her race, she will find that the survival of humans and Partials alike rests in her attempts to uncover the connections between them--connections that humanity has forgotten, or perhaps never even knew were there.

My thoughts:

Let me start off by saying that I am very picky when it comes to dystopian settings. I am usually the first to call out "Oh come, that's way unrealistic!" when something bothers me (*cough* that setting where the rest of the world is flooded, but the story is set in Florida *cough*), so I was a little skeptical to reading Partials. Then I read it anyway. And WHOA!

The setting is utterly believable. I have no problem imagining that the US would as some point in the future come up with robots as complicated as the Partials to win a war, then have them turn on us afterwards. And with the way biological warfare is developing, the RM virus is such a realistic possibility that it's almost scary. The surviving humans have gathered together in a society where everyone's main purpose is to find a cure for RM, and I love that we are introduced to this society only eleven years after the war against the Partials.

Kira is an amazing main character. She's got such a strong sense of what's right and wrong, and she is not the type to sit back and let everyone else deal with the problems mankind is facing. There are times when she comes across as much older than her sixteen years, but in a society where children are taught to shoot a gun at eight years old to protect themselves I don't find her behavior unlikely. It was very refreshing that Kira has a boyfriend, Marcus, from the very start. Sure, they have their problems and fights like all couples do, but their relationship always takes the backseat to what's important - finding a cure for RM.

I absolutely loved the way Partials was written. First of all the information presents itself naturally as the story progresses instead of being written out as one long explanation at the beginning. This means I often found myself curious as to the whys and hows of certain things, but I never had to wait long for an explanation. Secondly the action never stops. I did not want to put this book down (as my hubby could witness when I almost dropped my Kindle into a pot of boiling water because I kept reading while making dinner), and every time I thought I had gotten to a "quiet" place where I could stop, something new happened and I just had to keep going. I also liked all the medical terms used in Kira's research work, as well as the political plotting behind the scenes, but this might make the book a little heavy for the youngest readers.

Partials really impressed me, with amazing world building, characters I could connect to, and a level of action rarely seen in YA, and I can not wait to read the sequel, Failsafe, when it is released next year. And if that's not enough reason for you to read it; Partials jumped right on to my top three favorite dystopian novels along with Unwind by Neal Shusterman and Divergent by Veronica Roth. Yep, it's that good!

Cover:

Perfect. One of the best covers for a dystopian novel I've ever seen.

My rating of this book:

Want to know more?

Add Partials to your Goodreads wish list

Visit Dan Wells' website
Follow Roxanne on Twitter

Full disclosure:
ARC received from NetGalley

This book can be purchased from a number of local retailers and online book stores like Amazon and The Book Depository (I'm not an affiliate of either). The latter store has free shipping to about 100 countries.

Book Review: Everneath by Brodi Ashton

Last spring, Nikki Beckett vanished, sucked into an underworld known as the Everneath, where immortals Feed on the emotions of despairing humans. Now she's returned- to her old life, her family, her friends- before being banished back to the underworld... this time forever.

She has six months before the Everneath comes to claim her, six months for good-byes she can't find the words for, six months to find redemption, if it exists.

Nikki longs to spend these months reconnecting with her boyfriend, Jack, the one person she loves more than anything. But there's a problem: Cole, the smoldering immortal who first enticed her to the Everneath, has followed Nikki to the mortal world. And he'll do whatever it takes to bring her back- this time as his queen.

As Nikki's time grows short and her relationships begin slipping from her grasp, she's forced to make the hardest decision of her life: find a way to cheat fate and remain on the Surface with Jack or return to the Everneath and become Cole's...

My thoughts:

Another 2012 debut novel with a gorgeous cover, and a story to match! I made the mistake of starting to read Everneath right before bedtime one day. Big mistake. Seriously, this book will suck you in from the very start, and there's nothing to do about it but continue to read!

Everneath tells Nikki's story from the before and the after, and I loved how this let us see exactly what lead to her decision to join Cole in the Everneath, as well as how much had changed in the months she was gone. I could feel her desperation, her fear and anger, and even after getting to know the consequences, I could actually understand why she would make such a horrible decision. Because who of us haven't gone through times where the promise of feeling nothing - no hurt, no betrayal - would be very tempting?

Cole. Ugh, how I hated him. He has got to be one of the most manipulating characters of all time, and I just wanted Nikki to stay away from him. Or kill him, but the whole "immortal" thing makes that a little harder. And yet he's incredibly charming, sincere despite all the omissions of the truth he keeps making, and you can tell he's trying so hard to understand why Nikki wouldn't want to join him for all eternity.

I think my favorite part of Everneath, aside from the amazing use of old mythology in a new setting, was the relationship between Nikki and Jack. You can tell they have a history way beyond what's spelled out for us, and they are both so very willing to fight for what they have. Unlike many unhealthy YA romances, this is one I would happily let my (future) teenage daughter read about, as it shows true love, kindness and a connection beyond mere attractiveness.

Everneath is an amazing debut novel, one I'm sure will be getting many more five star reviews in the weeks to come, and I can't wait to read the yet unnamed sequel, as well as anything else Brodi Ashton might write in the future.

Cover:

So pretty! I'm a little tired of the girls in pretty dresses, but I still love this cover!

My rating of this book:

Want to know more?

Add Everneath to your Goodreads wish list

Visit Jodi Meadows' website
Read Jodi's blog
Follow Jodi on Twitter

Full disclosure:
ARC received from NetGalley

This book can be purchased from a number of local retailers and online book stores like Amazon and The Book Depository (I'm not an affiliate of either). The latter store has free shipping to about 100 countries.

Book Review: Incarnate by Jodi Meadows

NEWSOUL
Ana is new. For thousands of years in Range, a million souls have been reincarnated over and over, keeping their memories and experiences from previous lifetimes. When Ana was born, another soul vanished, and no one knows why.

NOSOUL
Even Ana’s own mother thinks she’s a nosoul, an omen of worse things to come, and has kept her away from society. To escape her seclusion and learn whether she’ll be reincarnated, Ana travels to the city of Heart, but its citizens are suspicious and afraid of what her presence means. When dragons and sylph attack the city, is Ana to blame?

HEART
Sam believes Ana’s new soul is good and worthwhile. When he stands up for her, their relationship blooms. But can he love someone who may live only once, and will Ana’s enemies—human and creature alike—let them be together? Ana needs to uncover the mistake that gave her someone else’s life, but will her quest threaten the peace of Heart and destroy the promise of reincarnation for all?

My thoughts:

First of all, how gorgeous is that cover?! I am not ashamed to admit that beautiful covers draw me in, but in Incarnate the story was just as beautiful. If only every YA fantasy was as exciting, original and well written as Incarnate, but it really is the butterfly of its genre. I can already tell that Incarnate will be on my Top 10 of 2012 lists, and I'm saying that in January!

Ana is incredible. For the first eighteen years of her life, she has been taught that she is a nosoul, unworthy of love, happiness and life itself. And like I am sure many of you know; if you're told something often enough, you start believing it. I felt so bad for her, and was really rooting for her to find the truth about who she really is. I really enjoyed discovering the small pleasures of life alongside her, and seeing her regain faith in herself, and trust in the world around her.

Sam. Wow. I think I'm in love with him. He was such a kind, gentle soul, showing Ana the kind of friendship and love she had never known before. It was really interesting to see how he deals with being over five thousand years old, to carry all that knowledge and pain from past lives into the future. When he talked of his past lives and deaths I could feel the pain as if it was my own, and I really got to see what a blessing and curse reincarnation was for him. And his love for music was so beautiful!

The story is perfectly paced, with excitement well mixed in with Ana's daily life. I never felt like anything was rushing or going to slow, but was happy for the story to take me where it wanted to go. And wow - that twist toward the end had me crying out in anger! Still the ending itself came together perfectly, with just enough unanswered questions to make me want the sequel, yet without any of the cliffhangers that just make me frustrated.

I really don't feel like anything I say can do this beautiful, beautiful book justice, so please just pre-order a copy and see for yourself! Incarnate is a new favorite for me, and I can't wait to read more of what Jodi Meadows writes in the future.

Cover:

GORGEOUS! And so fitting to the story!

My rating of this book:

Want to know more?

Add Incarnate to your Goodreads wish list

Visit Jodi Meadows' website
Read Jodi's blog
Follow Jodi on Twitter

Full disclosure:
ARC received from NetGalley

This book can be purchased from a number of local retailers and online book stores like Amazon and The Book Depository (I'm not an affiliate of either). The latter store has free shipping to about 100 countries.

Book Review: The Future of Us by Jay Asher and Carolyn Mackler

It's 1996, and Josh and Emma have been neighbors their whole lives. They've been best friends almost as long - at least, up until last November, when Josh did something that changed everything. Things have been weird between them ever since, but when Josh's family gets a free AOL CD in the mail, his mom makes him bring it over so that Emma can install it on her new computer. When they sign on, they're automatically logged onto their Facebook pages. But Facebook hasn't been invented yet. And they're looking at themselves fifteen years in the future.

By refreshing their pages, they learn that making different decisions now will affect the outcome of their lives later. And as they grapple with the ups and downs of what their futures hold, they're forced to confront what they're doing right - and wrong - in the present.

My thoughts:

There is so much I loved about this book that I don't even know where to start. First, it's Jay Asher! Thirteen Reasons Why is my all time favorite young adult contemporary, and so I will always pick up any book I see with his name on it. Second, I loved the '90s. I remember the first time I got to use the Internet at our school computer, the first time I signed up for an email account, and even if it was ten years later; signing up for Facebook. But let me get to my review.

I was a little skeptical to the author collaboration as I've never read anything by Carolyn Mackler, but I could honestly not tell who had written what. The chapters alternate between Josh and Emma, and I loved how they each had their own distinct voice. I especially connected to Emma, because I saw so much of myself in her. I am exactly the kind of girl who would obsess about every little detail of both the future and the present, over-analyze every status update, and try hard to change things if I wasn't perfectly happy with them. Josh gave some comic relief to otherwise serious situations, and I just adored the way he changed his behavior after first seeing his Facebook future.

The ending was slightly predictable, but the journey to get there was not. I was just as excited as Josh and Emma to see how their Facebook profiles would change every time they logged on, and the different romances and crushes were so much fun. Yet despite all the normal teenager-y everyday action, what really got to me was the bigger questions. If you knew your future, would you try to change it? Would you obsess over your future to the point that you're no longer living in the present? And why on Earth do we feel the need to share with hundreds of "friends" online what we just had for dinner?

The Future of Us is a great read filled with fun, friendship and thoughts of the future, and if you were a teenager in the '90s I'm sure you'll exclaim "ohmygod, I had/did/read/heard that too!" more than once.

Cover:

Very Internet-ish, but perhaps not the most exciting.

My rating of this book:

Want to know more?

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Full disclosure:
Purchased at my local bookstore.

This book can be purchased from a number of local retailers and online book stores like Amazon and The Book Depository (I'm not an affiliate of either). The latter store has free shipping to about 100 countries.

Book Review: Touch of Power by Maria V. Snyder

Laying hands upon the injured and dying, Avry of Kazan assumes their wounds and diseases into herself. But rather than being honored for her skills, she is hunted. Healers like Avry are accused of spreading the plague that has decimated the Territories, leaving the survivors in a state of chaos.

Stressed and tired from hiding, Avry is abducted by a band of rogues who, shockingly, value her gift above the golden bounty offered for her capture. Their leader, an enigmatic captor-protector with powers of his own, is unequivocal in his demands: Avry must heal a plague-stricken prince—leader of a campaign against her people. As they traverse the daunting Nine Mountains, beset by mercenaries and magical dangers, Avry must decide who is worth healing and what is worth dying for. Because the price of peace may well be her life....

My thoughts:
I am a huge fan of Maria V. Snyder's writing, and Poison Study is one of my favorite fantasy novels of all time. My expectations for Touch of Power were very high, and so I was happy to recognize it as a Snyder novel from the very first chapter.

Avry reminds me quite a bit of both Yelena (Study-series) and Opal (Glass-series). She is self-proficient, independent and is used to not trusting anyone. There were times when I was annoyed with her stubbornness, and others when I was amazed by her quick thinking - just the way I like my main characters. Avry's healing powers are not harmless to herself, yet she never even questions healing her friends, or even enemies, when they are hurt. Healing is as natural to her as breathing.

Touch of Power is very fast paced, and there's action waiting behind every corner. I did miss getting to know Avry and her thoughts a little better, as there are a couple of situations where I just don't get why she acts the way she does, but all in all I liked the non-stop action. Touch of Power has none of that slow first-book-in-a-series-syndrom that seems to be very common (yes, I'm looking at you Bloodlines), and I can't wait to learn more about Avry and her powers in the next book, Scent of Magic, which is coming out some time in 2012.

Cover:
Beautiful cover, I love the colors, and once you've read the book you'll get the importance of the lily!:)

My rating of this book:

Want to know more?

Add Touch of Power to your Goodreads wish list

Visit Maria V. Snyder's website

Read Maria's blog

Full disclosure:
Review copy from Netgalley

This book can be purchased from a number of local retailers and online book stores like Amazon and The Book Depository (I'm not an affiliate of either). The latter store has free shipping to about 100 countries.

Book Review: All I Ever Wanted by Vikki Wakefield

Mim does not want to end up like her mother, her two criminal brothers or like anyone in her neighborhood really. She dreams of travelling the world and escapes in her much loved Lonely Planet books.

Mim has created a set of rules to live by and those will be her ticket out of the suburb. In just nine days Mim will be turning seventeen, little does she know that these nine days will change her life forever. It all begins when Mim's mother sends her out to do a 'pick up' and one by one Mim will be breaking her precious rules.

My thoughts:

I have been pondering for a few days now how to write my review of All I Ever Wanted. Sometimes it is so hard to do justice by a great story. There were just so many things that made me love this story. The writing was fabulous, the characters were interesting. Short said author Vikki Wakefield has written a charming, suspensful and heartwarming debut novel.

Most of all the characters I loved Mim, the MC, I could relate with her. Mim’s voice spoke to my sixteen year old self and I recognized so much of the younger me in her. Throughout the nine days we follow Mim on her journey she evolves in many ways and she learns that people aren't always what they seem (or things for that matter). The changes in Mim is brought about in a way that makes it feel real and not rushed even if it all happens in just nine days. I know I'm all Mim this and Mim that here but my post would be a mile long if I were to describe all the other wonderfully quirky characters in this story. I reckommend that you pick up this book to get to know them all!

All I Ever Wanted is a story about dreams and hope, family and friends that will keep you turning pages into the wee hours. This book has earned a place on my keeper shelf, not many books get to go there(on the top of my head I can only think of Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta, Wonderstruck by Brian Selznick and The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger that I have there).

If you like a good contemporary I strongly recommend that you check out All I Ever Wanted also if you are a fan of Melina Marchetta's writing this one is for you.

The cover:
It's growing on me.

My rating of this book:

- I fell in love with Mim and her 'people'.

Want a second opinion?:
Alpha Reader
In The Good Books
My Girl Friday

Want to know more?
Add All I Ever Wanted to your Goodreads wish list
Visit Vikki's homepage
Full disclosure: Purchased.

This book can be purchased from a number of on-line book stores(and local ones for those of you living in Australia) such as Fishpond World(I'm not an affiliate). 
                                                                                                              

Book Review: A Blue So Dark by Holly Schindler

Fifteen-year-old Aura Ambrose has been hiding a secret. Her mother, a talented artist and art teacher, is slowly being consumed by schizophrenia, and Aura has been her sole caretaker ever since Aura's dad left them. Convinced that "creative" equals crazy, Aura shuns her own artistic talent. But as her mother sinks deeper into the darkness of mental illness, the hunger for a creative outlet draws Aura toward the depths of her imagination.

Just as desperation threatens to swallow her whole, Aura discovers that art, love, and family are profoundly linked—and together may offer an escape from her fears.

My thoughts:
My only previous experience with reading about mental illness comes from sneaking away with my dads old Stephen King novels as a teenager (which by the way is a perfect recipe for nightmares), so I did not really know what to expect from A Blue So Dark. 


What I got was one of the best written books I have read in a long time. The topic of mental illness is something that's not seen a lot, especially not in young adult novels, but Schindler handles it perfectly. Even in between all the darkness, the crazy, the anger, fear and frustrations, there's still light, hope and love. What took this novel from good to great for me is that I felt every one of these emotions while reading. There were times when I could barely turn the page because I was afraid of what would come next, and I was constantly crossing my fingers for someone to open their eyes and see what Aura was going through and offer some help. This is an amazing debut novel from Holly Schneider, and I can't wait to pick up her second novel Playing Hurt next.

The cover:

The cover is what made me pick up this book from the library in the first place, and I still love it.

My rating of this book:

Want a second opinion? Check out these reviews from some of my book blogging friends:

Peace, Love, and Books
Words and the World

Want to know more?

Add A Blue So Dark to your Goodreads wishlist

Visit Holly Schneider's website

Read Holly Schneider's blog

Follow Holly Schneider on Twitter

A Blue So Dark by Holly Schneider

Published: May 1 2010

Pages (paperback): 277

Publisher: Fluc

ISBN: 0738719269 (ISBN13: 9780738719269)

Full disclosure: Checked out at my local library

This book can be purchased from a number of local retailers and online book stores such as Amazon or The Book Depository (I am not an affiliate of either). The latter store has free shipping to about 100 countries.