Fever

This is the sequel to Wither, which I found a little underwhelming. I liked the concept of a world where a virus automatically kills women when they turn 20, and men 25; in my head I imagined a series that was both scientific and thrilling as Rhine races the clock to find a cure and fights evil as girls are being sold off at young ages to be plural wives so the population can be sustained. Instead, I thought Wither was overly sexualized and incredibly slow and boring. But I thought, maybe the sequel will be better... maybe things will pick up. If anything Fever is slower, even more unnecessarily sexual, and completely lacking any elements to catch my imagination and engage my interest. I do not recommend this series and I highly doubt I will get around to finishing it.

Prized

Prized is the sequel to Birthmarked (which I recently read) and I was glad to continue the story. This is the benefit of waiting until sequels are out to read first books - no long draw-out suspense on cliffhangers. And thankfully, Prized ends in a much more settled place than Birthmarked. Once again, this series explores some serious questions about life and death and truth and lies. One of Gaia's major motivations is still to protect mothers and babies and she continues her work as a midwife, which I find so fascinating. And I really shouldn't say a single other thing about the plot, but I'll leave you with this: Prized is even better than Birthmarked. It is one of the absolute best dystopians out there and I heartily recommend it.

Birthmarked

From Goodreads:
In the Enclave, your scars set you apart, and the newly born will change the future.

Sixteen-year-old Gaia Stone and her mother faithfully deliver their quota of three infants e

very month. But when Gaia's mother is brutally taken away by the very people she serves, Gaia must question whether the Enclave deserves such loyalty. A stunning adventure brought to life by a memorable heroine, this dystopian debut will have readers racing all the way to the dramatic finish.

It's been a while since I've read a dystopian! For a while there, that's all I read and then I think I got burnt out (I think it was because of the very disappointing Enclave). So I decided to stick to the dystopian series I'd already read, but this one kept popping up and looked so interesting that I finally caved. I'm glad I did.

Birthmarked is fascinating. It is emotional and does what a good dystopian should, stir up the reader's sense of justice. It's infuriating and disturbing to see people living in such an unjust society. This story is doubly compelling because it deals with the most defenseless people imaginable: newborn babies. I thought all the midwifery in this book was extra interesting too. This book has good pacing, a gripping plot, fantastic characters, a nice bit of romance, beautiful writing, and a terrible ending. :D Just saying... I'm hoping to get the sequel soon from the library because I'm dying for a bit of resolution. Not that second books in trilogies are known for their resolution. But I am hoping it will resolve some of the burning questions I have because of that terrible cliffhanger. I recommend Birthmarked! Definitely not a disappointment.

Crossed

I just finished Crossed earlier today (I know - shocker, right? me actually blogging about a book the same day I finish it?) and I loved it. I won't give you any blurbs because I don't want to spoil Matched for you if you haven't read it yet. But if you haven't, I recommend that you do. This is a fascinating series in a very compelling world.

Crossed is one of the better sequels I've read in a long time. I liked it better than I liked Matched, actually. Cassia is out in her world, she's seeing the truth and she's no longer sheltered and deluded by her "perfect" Society. Like Matched, Crossed doesn't have the break-neck pace that so many apocalyptic/dystopians have these days and it's much better for it. The characters definitely benefit from the story being more psychological because we really get to know them and what's important to them and why. We uncover their personalities and back stories in layers and the whole thing is so engrossing. Not that there isn't any action - the story definitely moves along and its setting is absolutely haunting and gorgeous at the same time. Ally Condie bases The Carving on her native Southern Utah - a fact that only makes me love this book even more.

Ally Condie is also awesome because of the way she uses art and poetry in her writing. She incorporates real poems, as well as poems written by the characters and the effect is beautiful.

I really enjoyed this book and have put this series on my to-buy list. I was going to wait until more came out to make sure they were worth owning and now I'm certain. Can't wait for book three.

The Death Cure

No blurb on this one, since it's the final book in the Maze Runner trilogy and I don't want to give anything away. But I do have lots to say anyway.

What rubbish.

Such a complete and utter disappointment!!!

I really liked The Maze Runner, thought it extremely clever and thought the series had such potential. I had a harder time with The Scorch Trials (it was much more violent and depressing), but I figured it would all be worth it if The Death Cure rocked.

It didn't.

It told me that the time for lies would be over, but it lied about that too. Thomas was a major disappointment in this book. Instead of being brave and accepting the truth (being vague here because I am trying to avoid spoilers), he wimps out. He has truth in his grasp and he avoids it. He doesn't want to know, so we never get to know. It felt like a major cop-out on James Dashner's part. If there was a rich, complex, subtle answer to all his tricky plot elements, why couldn't he have given it to his readers? Makes me feel like he didn't have an answer. Anyway, I haven't been this mad at a series' ending since The Series of Unfortunate Events, which warned me over and over again that I wouldn't like the ending. I had no warning that The Death Cure would be so unsatisfying.

AND, it felt like the entire book was driven by action, which was non-stop and at breathtaking speeds. Where was the plot? Where were the characters? I was SOOOO angry that a major character had almost no part in this book. Can't say anymore. On the verge of spilling it all out because I'm mad. :D

Anybody else read this book? I'd dearly love to vent.

Enclave

Goodreads summary:  
WELCOME TO THE APOCALYPSE

In Deuce’s world, people earn the right to a name only if they survive their first fifteen years. By that point, each unnamed ‘brat’ has trained into one of three groups–Breeders, Builders, or Hunters, identifiable by the number of scars they bear on their arms. Deuce has wanted to be a Huntress for as long as she can remember.

As a Huntress, her purpose is clear—to brave the dangerous tunnels outside the enclave and bring back meat to feed the group while evading ferocious monsters known as Freaks. She’s worked toward this goal her whole life, and nothing’s going to stop her, not even a beautiful, brooding Hunter named Fade. When the mysterious boy becomes her partner, Deuce’s troubles are just beginning.

Down below, deviation from the rules is punished swiftly and harshly, and Fade doesn’t like following orders. At first she thinks he’s crazy, but as death stalks their sanctuary, and it becomes clear the elders don’t always know best, Deuce wonders if Fade might be telling the truth. Her partner confuses her; she’s never known a boy like him before, as prone to touching her gently as using his knives with feral grace.

As Deuce’s perception shifts, so does the balance in the constant battle for survival. The mindless Freaks, once considered a threat only due to their sheer numbers, show signs of cunning and strategy… but the elders refuse to heed any warnings. Despite imminent disaster, the enclave puts their faith in strictures and sacrifice instead. No matter how she tries, Deuce cannot stem the dark tide that carries her far from the only world she’s ever known.

Phew! Long summary! Sorry; I just take what goodreads has to offer and post it here. I know a lot of book bloggers who write their own summaries, but I just don't like doing it. I've tried and I just end up writing geeky-sounding cliched phrases. Anyway.

I think I am officially burnt out on the dystopians. I'm ready for a break. I might have liked this book more before I read all the other ones out there, but this one just feels like a plot repeat. Or some sort of weird cross-breeding of all the different dystopian/apocalyptic plots about there. And speaking of plot, this one had some major logic holes. Half the time I wasn't sure why characters were doing what they were doing, because I definitely was not following.

Also, I don't like violence and gore and this book is just plain gory. There are too many "freaks" (is this the most creative name she could come up with for the weird, mutant-like zombie creatures in this book?) and too much of the book is spent fighting them. I'm not into zombies. 


BUT... Deuce was a very powerful female character. I liked her and thought she was courageous (and not just in the face of danger, but because she protected her friends even when she knew it would be her ruin). The other characters were interesting and many had fascinating depth, especially Fade. There wasn't much romance, which I actually think was a good thing for this book. There was so much else going on there really wasn't time to go into that without sacrificing the plot. But maybe that would have been a good thing because I thought the plot was rather lackluster. What the plot lacked, though, the setting certainly made up for. It was so detailed and well-described. Despite being tired of the genre, I was still fascinated by the idea that our current world could turn into the world in Enclave. I could see the echoes of our modern society and that made the book feel more authentic. The world is so fleshed out and creepy. What imagination from Ann Aguirre!


So there are a lot of pros and cons in this book. I certainly didn't hate it, but I just feel a little burnt out with dystopians. Maybe by the time the sequel to this comes out I'll feel ready to give this world another go.

Divergent

Summary:
Beatrice "Tris" Prior has reached the fateful age of sixteen, the stage at which teenagers in Veronica Roth's dystopian Chicago must select which of five factions to join for life. Each faction represents a virtue: Candor, Abnegation, Dauntless, Amity, and Erudite. To the surprise of herself and her selfless Abnegation family, she chooses Dauntless, the path of courage. Her choice exposes her to the demanding, violent initiation rites of this group, but it also threatens to expose a personal secret that could place her in mortal danger. Veronica Roth's young adult Divergent trilogy launches with a captivating adventure about love and loyalty playing out under most extreme circumstances.

Wooooohoooooo!!!!!!!

Oh I so loved this. I have really been enjoying all the great Dystopian reads out there and this is one of the best I've read. If you haven't heard of it yet, go check out some of the reviews on Amazon and Goodreads. See a pattern? Yeah, they're all as exuberant as mine!

This is a great book with a fantastic plot. Just when I was starting to think Dystopian books were feeling cookie-cutter and unoriginal, Veronica Roth came along and blew me away. I don't know what it is about this genre that's so appealing to me. There's a lot of politics and intense emotions. I loved reading about Tris and her family. Tris was such an amazing heroine. That's one of my favorite things about these novels - strong female heroines who can prove to the world that one girl can make a difference. This is exactly the kind of book I think teen girls and YA girls (and grown-up girls like me) should be reading. It's empowering.

I can't say enough about the writing. It's tight and there are no leaky plot holes. The word choice is perfect. Just the right words to say just the right thing. Incredibly well-written action sequences and descriptions. And the characters! Wow, so well-drawn and real. So believable. There's just the right touch of romance in this story too. Sweet and beautiful but without overshadowing the overall story. Another thing about this is that I completely believed how our current world could lead to Tris's world - from the technologies to the government to the people... everything. Anyway, I thought this book was brilliant and I definitely recommend it to fans of The Hunger Games. It's already on my to-buy list. I can always tell when I should just buy a book because I'm reluctant to take it back to the library. I've already reopened this book several times just to reread my favorite parts. I know it's one that I'll want to revisit again and again and I can't wait for the sequel (Insurgent) which comes out early next year.

Blood Red Road

Summary: Saba has spent her whole life in Silverlake, a dried-up wasteland ravaged by constant sandstorms. The Wrecker civilization has long been destroyed, leaving only landfills for Saba and her family to scavenge from. That's fine by her, as long as her beloved twin brother Lugh is around. But when a monster sandstorm arrives, along with four cloaked horsemen, Saba's world is shattered. Lugh is captured, and Saba embarks on an epic quest to get him back.

Suddenly thrown into the lawless, ugly reality of the world outside of desolate Silverlake, Saba is lost without Lugh to guide her. So perhaps the most surprising thing of all is what Saba learns about herself: she's a fierce fighter, an unbeatable survivor, and a cunning opponent. And she has the power to take down a corrupt society from the inside. Teamed up with a handsome daredevil named Jack and a gang of girl revolutionaries called the Free Hawks, Saba stages a showdown that will change the course of her own civilization.

Blood Red Road has a searing pace, a poetically minimal writing style, violent action, and an epic love story. Moira Young is one of the most promising and startling new voices in teen fiction.

Wohoo! Move over all my recent favorite books. This one has just taken the top spot. And if it's not blasphemous to say it, I think I might just add that I liked it even more than I liked The Hunger Games.

Seriously.

It's that good.

One of the first things you'll notice when you read any review of this book is that either people hated the fact that the entire book is written in Saba's uneducated dialect (horrible spelling/grammar, no quotation marks) or they loved it. I loved it. This may come as a shock to those of you who know what a grammar stickler I am. It took me a couple pages to get into it, but after that, I don't think I even noticed it any more. If anything, it sucked me into the book more fully than it would have without the dialect. It felt very realistic to me too. How would language on our planet change if the events in Saba's world actually took place? I can see how it would become like this, and that idea fascinates me.

I loved the characters. I loved Saba. Loved Jack. Loved that the story was about more than just a love story, but was so much about family ties and trust and friends and so many other good things. The action was amazingly well-written and I loved that this book ended without a cliffhanger so I don't feel like I'm being manipulated into the reading the second book. Which I will be reading as soon as it comes out because I can't wait to see what more Moira Young has in store for me.

1984

In a word - terrifying. Ok, two words: disturbing.

I've been on a dystopian kick lately, and I figured that I ought to at least read the original dystopian novel. I'm so glad I did, but I can't deny that it's given me nightmares. I think the thing that's most interesting about this novel is that, though it was written in 1948, it manages to still be relevant. And prophetic. The really disturbing part is how prophetic it is (scratch that - the most disturbing thing is the ending, but the prophetic stuff is pretty freaky too). It makes me want to question the world around me a bit more. Is history really as accurate as I think? What about current news media? How much information about me does the government know? I tell ya, this novel is enough to make a person permanently paranoid. I think it's good and important to question the world around us, though.

This novel will speak to different people in different ways and I'm curious: have you read it? What did you make of it? For me it felt like less of a novel and more of an essay sometimes (especially when part of the book was Winston reading pages and pages of a novel written by a rebel leader). That doesn't mean I don't think this is an incredible novel, but it certainly didn't read like I was expecting it to.

One warning - there is some sexual content in 1984. Nothing horribly explicit or drawn out, but in case you start reading it on my recommendation and find yourself shocked - you've been warned.

Oh, and I find myself just needing to say this because I can:

2 + 2 = 4.

Not 5.

Wither

What if you knew exactly when you would die?

Thanks to modern science, every human being has become a ticking genetic time bomb—males only live to age twenty-five, and females only live to age twenty. In this bleak landscape, young girls are kidnapped and forced into polygamous marriages to keep the population from dying out.

When sixteen-year-old Rhine Ellery is taken by the Gatherers to become a bride, she enters a world of wealth and privilege. Despite her husband Linden's genuine love for her, and a tenuous trust among her sister wives, Rhine has one purpose: to escape—to find her twin brother and go home.

But Rhine has more to contend with than losing her freedom. Linden's eccentric father is bent on finding an antidote to the genetic virus that is getting closer to taking his son, even if it means collecting corpses in order to test his experiments. With the help of Gabriel, a servant Rhine is growing dangerously attracted to, Rhine attempts to break free, in the limited time she has left.

Wither is such a strange book. I wavered between giving it three or four stars on goodreads and ended up settling for three. It was an interesting concept, but I didn't get into it like I was hoping to. It was creepy dystopian, not compelling dystopian, if that makes any sense. The whole polygamy thing was just not in my comfort zone. Despite having a lot to do with teenagers being married off to make babies at ridiculously young ages, there were at least no horribly gratuitous scenes. The ending left me curious enough that I'll likely check out the sequel (even though I thought the ending was a bit silly for such a serious subject). Anyway, I think I'm getting tired and I hope that I haven't just typed a bunch of stuff that makes no sense... :D

Across the Universe

Goodreads blurb: A love out of time. A spaceship built of secrets and murder.

Seventeen-year-old Amy joins her parents as frozen cargo aboard the vast spaceship Godspeed and expects to awaken on a new planet, three hundred years in the future. Never could she have known that her frozen slumber would come to an end fifty years too soon and that she would be thrust into the brave new world of a spaceship that lives by its own rules.

Amy quickly realizes that her awakening was no mere computer malfunction. Someone-one of the few thousand inhabitants of the spaceship-tried to kill her. And if Amy doesn't do something soon, her parents will be next.

Now Amy must race to unlock Godspeed's hidden secrets. But out of her list of murder suspects, there's only one who matters: Elder, the future leader of the ship and the love she could never have seen coming.

OH.

MY.

STARS.

Yeah - this book blew me away. I finished it a couple days ago and I just can't stop thinking about it. I've even dreamed about it. Of course, I have a little corner of my heart reserved for sci-fi. I don't read much sci-fi, but I've always loved space and imagining what life would be like traveling on a spaceship. After reading Across the Universe, I can only hope that our world will never come to that. YIKES!

Beth Revis' writing is amazing. This whole book is just an incredible piece of work. It's a complete genre mix: sci-fi, dystopian, murder mystery, romance, time travel. The world is so well developed, and (unlike with so many other YA dystopian books) it is based on real science and technology. I can actually see how our world could evolve into the world in Across the Universe. This fact is both creepy and disturbing. The moral and ethical issues this book raises about our own world are seriously worth contemplating.

The characters are fantastic. I love that the story is told from both Amy and Elder's POV, because we got to know both of them - their thoughts, feelings, discoveries, and insights - so well. Their romance was also very organic (I hate when characters fall right in love for no apparent reason). There were some very natural ups and downs between Amy and Elder, but everything felt believable and true to character.

There are some incredibly intense themes in this book and one rather mature scene that Amy witnesses. Other than that, the book is actually very clean. And unpredictable. Holy cow. There are a couple big shockers in this book. One thing I loved about this book, though, is the natural ending. No massive cliff hanger, although there will be two more books in the series. I appreciated that. Let everything get messed up in the next two books - let the characters enjoy a little peace for two seconds for crying out loud!

Anyway, I've rambled on enough. I'll be buying this book and looking forward to more from Beth Revis.

Delirium

From Goodreads: Before scientists found the cure, people thought love was a good thing. They didn’t understand that once love -- the deliria -- blooms in your blood, there is no escaping its hold. Things are different now. Scientists are able to eradicate love, and the governments demands that all citizens receive the cure upon turning eighteen. Lena Holoway has always looked forward to the day when she’ll be cured. A life without love is a life without pain: safe, measured, predictable, and happy. But with ninety-five days left until her treatment, Lena does the unthinkable: She falls in love.

In a word: fascinating. The concept is so interesting! Matched by Ally Condie has a very similar premise, but in my opinion, Delirium does it so much better. First off, I love Lauren Oliver's writing style. I know I would have loved Before I Fall if the content had been cleaner, because the writing is captivating and gorgeous. Delirium is a perfectly clean read (wahoo!), but it's the story that is its strength. I think it has an incredible plot and the world is so detailed! Everything was fully visualized and imagined. I understood the government, the history, the purpose of the "cure", how it affected daily life, etc... Lauren Oliver even included quotes at the beginning of each chapter from different novels, academic papers, government pamphlets, etc... - all created and imagined by Lauren Oliver for her world. I did occasionally feel like there were logic holes in the world, though. Like, "If that were true, would this really work that well?" I know I'm being vague, but I do try to avoid spoilers on this blog. If you read it I'd love to discuss this book with you!

This book is fast-paced. It's intense. I felt like Lena was a good female character: not wishy-washy, but determined and self-assured. There was some very believable character growth from Lena, as well as from the other main characters. My only wish for this series is that it wasn't a series. I get so tired of horrible cliff hangers. I wish there were more new novels that were stand-alone stories.

The Maze Runner and the Scorch Trials

I've been waiting forever to get The Scorch Trials from the library. I own The Maze Runner, but I just haven't had the money to buy the sequel. So, when my turn to read it finally came up, I eagerly picked it up and realized that I barely remembered The Maze Runner! So I read it again first. They are both very intense reads. I recommend them if you like The Hunger Games and Ender's Game. Very good and will definitely keep you on edge guessing what's going to happen. Scorch Trials was more violent and graphic than Maze Runner. I'd almost classify it as a zombie book, which I can't really explain without giving important plot elements away. All I have left to say is that I'm anxiously awaiting The Death Cure to find out how it all ends. Is there no end to how many loose plot holes and questions James Dashner can leave me hanging with??? He better wrap them all up, or I might combust.

Matched

Matched is a great new piece of dystopian fiction by an LDS author. It was very clean and very interesting. It was a bit of a mix between The Giver and The Hunger Games (without the violence). I liked this because it was original and very psychological. Most of the plot conflict takes place within the main character's - Cassia's - mind. I love that we discover along with her just exactly what is wrong with her world. The writing is beautiful and I love Ally Condie's use of poetry in the story. Fabulous. I just wish everything didn't have to be a trilogy. Do I really have to wait who knows how many more years for the second and third books before I know how this story ends? The trilogy is feeling a bit overdone to me... I guess I'm just impatient.

Fahrenheit 451

I just realized that I've been spelling "fahrenheit" wrong all my life. I've been leaving out that first "h." Woops! Anyway, this was the last book I read for my American Lit class. I like Sci Fi on occasion, especially when it's well done. Ray Bradbury does Sci Fi well. Now, when I say "Sci Fi" I don't necessarily mean aliens. Everyone assumes that's what Science Fiction means. It's not. Sci Fi contains several sub-genres, and Fahrenheit 451 is the type of Sci Fi book that looks at our current world and projects what it could be like in the future if some of the worst aspects of our society go unchanged. Think "Ghost of Christmas Future" in A Christmas Carol. The creepy thing about this book is how much Bradbury got right. This book was published in 1953, and issues like censorship, society's obsession with being "plugged in," detachment from nature and people, all are things that we can see in the modern world. We may not be burning books, but I can see how my life is eerily similar to the lives of people in this world. I think this is a great book. Bradbury was very prophetic, even. I'd definitely recommend reading Fahrenheit 451, although it's not a "for fun" read, or, as I've said before, not a "comfort food" book. This isn't a book that will make you comfortable with your own world and life, that's for sure. Which is probably a good thing.

YA books by my favorite YA authors

I really enjoyed Maria V. Snyder's Poison Study, but Inside Out is a dystopian novel (think Hunger Games), not a fantasy, so I wasn't sure if I would like it. I did. This is a very interesting book with a bit of a mind-blowing ending. I totally did not predict it and wasn't expecting it. That's always a pleasant surprise. :D The pacing was good, the plot was interesting, the romance was clean... overall definitely a book I'd recommend.







I was a little disappointed with The Reluctant Heiress, if you recall, but I couldn't help going out and finding another Eva Ibbotson novel. I love her writing and her settings are always spectacular. This novel didn't disappoint in those area. The plot was more original, too, so that was an improvement over The Reluctant Heiress. The only reason I was a bit frustrated with this book is that it wasn't quite as squeaky clean in the romance department as her others. There's a plot twist toward the end that I thought was incredibly irritating and frustrating and almost ruined the whole book for me. All in all, it was good, but with reservations.

Mockingjay

*Spoiler free, so read on!*

You all know how long I've been anticipating this book. So... where to even start! Overall, my feelings are positive. I feel closure on the series. I feel acceptance. I feel like this book has changed the way that I think about war. Which, when it comes right down to it, is what this whole series is really about. The first couple of books may have made us think that this is a love story, but by the time we've all read Mockingjay we can see what it all comes down to: the horrors and emotional impact of war. This is not a fairy tale or a happily ever after type of story. Because of that, I have to say that I didn't love this like I wanted to.

I love the first two books and I really wanted Mockingjay to be a glorious ending, Harry Potter style, where all the bad guys get their trash kicked and hope and good reign in the end, despite the losses and pains of war. Instead, Suzanne Collins paints a non-fiction picture of the realities of war in a fictional world. I described some of the things that happen in this book to Jon (who has extensively studied politics and war), and he assured me that with a few technological differences, there's nothing in this book that hasn't occurred somewhere on this planet in the last 200 years. Real war, unlike fictional war, is extremely ugly. I've read some interviews with Suzanne Collins about Mockingjay, and she's said that her purpose in writing this is to teach kids and teens about the realities of war that adults won't tell them about. And maybe she has a good point. But here's controversial question: does educating people about war (horrendous as it may be) really help prevent war? Probably. But it's not fun.

I'll be honest, this book is emotional and brutal. People you love with die. People who you thought were good with do terrible, awful things. Emotional scars will never heal. After I finished reading it, Jon found me sobbing on the couch. I'm an easy crier, but still.

Despite all that, I do feel like this is a book worth reading. I've had to take a couple of days to mourn to come to this conclusion, but I have made it here. I've been going through the book and reading a few parts again, and that helped me see hope and love in the last few pages where I missed it the first time (blame it on shock from some of the horrific events of the climax). Suzanne Collins has created a detailed and multi-layered story here. This entire series is a journey that is not for the faint-hearted, but if you read it you will come out changed.