The Maze Runner by James Dashner
Start Date: February 20th
End Date: February 25th
PUBLICATION: October 6th, 2009
STARS: 4
GENRE: Juvenile Adventure, Juvenile Action, Juvenile Dystopia
SYNOPSIS: Everything starts when you wake up in the Box.
That's how it started for Thomas, the latest kid to join the Glade. He doesn't remember anything but waking up in the box and his name. Now he's trapped with more than 50 other Gladers in The Maze, a giant maze that always changes and is inhabited with Grievers, black monsters the size of cows with sharp metal limbs. However, Thomas's arrival sparks a new chapter in the 2 years that everyone has lived in the Glade. The weekly supplies are cut off, and the maze doors stop shutting at night, when the Grievers are most active, and the last Glader arrives just after Thomas. If they want to survive, they must crack the mystery of the maze that has stumped them for 2 years, in a matter of hours and escape. Can they make it in time?
REVIEW: This was an interesting read. I definitely enjoyed the massive Dystopian theme and story, but i was irritated with the writing style! It felt immature.
Throughout the whole book, I felt like the book was written similarily to Patrick Carman's Atherton series, which is targeted for Middle Schoolers. This was annoying to me, in part that the book is marketed for teens! I certainly was able to follow with ease (minus a few skimpy detail parts), but the book just held the feel of immaturity.
When the book started and Thomas was released from the box, It felt like The Outsiders to me; A group of guys with their own lingo and hick names in a gang that seems tough and scary from the outside. That slightly irritated me, hearing all this lingo and being thrown into a world where you don't know anything. It actually ends up capturing the feelings of Thomas when he begins his life in the Glade!
With the feeling of immature writing, their was many issues with the descriptive writing. The Grievers were never clear, nor was the outline of the Glade. There was also the matter of the Vanishing Window. Newt, a leader, took Thomas to a window that looked out to the Maze. Ok, A) why only one window in the whole Glade? B) We're never shown the window again! C) Why is the window there? I know that Thomas looked through it to see the Grievers, but there has to be more purpose than that!
All in all, the flaws make it into and easy, imaginative read and another amazing Dystopian. Recommended for Dystopian Lovers and someone looking for an easy read!
End Date: February 25th
PUBLICATION: October 6th, 2009
STARS: 4
GENRE: Juvenile Adventure, Juvenile Action, Juvenile Dystopia
SYNOPSIS: Everything starts when you wake up in the Box.
That's how it started for Thomas, the latest kid to join the Glade. He doesn't remember anything but waking up in the box and his name. Now he's trapped with more than 50 other Gladers in The Maze, a giant maze that always changes and is inhabited with Grievers, black monsters the size of cows with sharp metal limbs. However, Thomas's arrival sparks a new chapter in the 2 years that everyone has lived in the Glade. The weekly supplies are cut off, and the maze doors stop shutting at night, when the Grievers are most active, and the last Glader arrives just after Thomas. If they want to survive, they must crack the mystery of the maze that has stumped them for 2 years, in a matter of hours and escape. Can they make it in time?
REVIEW: This was an interesting read. I definitely enjoyed the massive Dystopian theme and story, but i was irritated with the writing style! It felt immature.
Throughout the whole book, I felt like the book was written similarily to Patrick Carman's Atherton series, which is targeted for Middle Schoolers. This was annoying to me, in part that the book is marketed for teens! I certainly was able to follow with ease (minus a few skimpy detail parts), but the book just held the feel of immaturity.
When the book started and Thomas was released from the box, It felt like The Outsiders to me; A group of guys with their own lingo and hick names in a gang that seems tough and scary from the outside. That slightly irritated me, hearing all this lingo and being thrown into a world where you don't know anything. It actually ends up capturing the feelings of Thomas when he begins his life in the Glade!
With the feeling of immature writing, their was many issues with the descriptive writing. The Grievers were never clear, nor was the outline of the Glade. There was also the matter of the Vanishing Window. Newt, a leader, took Thomas to a window that looked out to the Maze. Ok, A) why only one window in the whole Glade? B) We're never shown the window again! C) Why is the window there? I know that Thomas looked through it to see the Grievers, but there has to be more purpose than that!
All in all, the flaws make it into and easy, imaginative read and another amazing Dystopian. Recommended for Dystopian Lovers and someone looking for an easy read!
Thirst V.4 by Christopher Pike
Start Date: February 3rd
End Date: February 4th
PUBLICATION: August 9th 2011
STARS: 4
GENRE: YA Paranormal, YA Urban Fantasy, YA Romance
SYNOPSIS: After 5,000 year-old Sita died in Thirst V.3, she is reborn into a newborn vampire, but not just any newborn vampire. She is now her friend and Olympic Gold Medalist, Teri Raines. Now that Sita's body has been buried, the team must continue their work to stop the Telar from releasing a virus to kill humanity, and stop the IIC and their powerful mind-control device named the Array. Will Matt, the son of Sita's creator, Yaksha, and almost-most powerful vampire, believe Teri is still there, or learn the truth? Can the new Sita save the world? Will she know how?
REVIEW: STOP!!!!! Before you go on, I HIGHLY advise you stop, go read the 3 omnibuses, THEN read the review. Its hard to understand it unless you ACTUALLY know what I'm talking about. I HIGHLY recommend them for people who are looking for a more sophisticated, and wiser version of Twilight if it had a better editor and author! Otherwise, skip to the end of the review.
I have always loved Pike's writing, a witty, yet sophisticated and mature take on ancient vampires living among us. His books have always held serious action with a taste of sarcasm and humor.
I felt his writing technique failed a bit in this book.
EVERY book had had amazing action painted perfectly, but in the last of the series, there was just dialogue really. No Kick-Ass Sita, but just stupid Wise Old Sita. Kick-Ass Sita is what made the whole series great! This book just lacked the usual standard of action that Pike set in his books!
I also had a huge issue for the book- WHO THE HECK WERE ALL THESE PEOPLE???? The books, if you read them at their release dates like me, are released sooooo far apart that I forgot who everyone was, and god forbid someone put up a character list online! I would do it, but I still don't remember Seymour' or Matt's story completely. This made for a hard time reading the book. If you're going to read the books, take notes, because there's no help out there!
Despite the flaws of the book, I enjoyed Pike taking on the Afterlife, combining Mythology, religion, and current social beliefs to create an Afterlife journey I'd like to go on (and no, this is not a giveaway! Those who read the series to the end of V.3 get this!)! First the caves, which you had to follow once your spirit left your body, which led to the boats, where you had to answer a riddle correctly about something you should've learned while you were alive, and if you answer wrong, you are made to forget the riddle. No one passes until the riddle was answered and time moves fast in the caves. Once answered, you and some people destined to ride the same boat with you, float down the River Styx to an opening meant to test you. Once your test is passed, you must weigh the scales with your diamonds, the good deeds, or the black pearls, the sins. They decide whether you enter Heaven or Hell. I loved this take!
The book also delved into science which I couldn't get through my head. The Array is heavily discussed in the book and explored to death about what it truly is, and it sounded a little nuts to me. I really had such a hard time understanding the Array as explained, that I just said ''screw it" and went with my own take.
All in all, a bit of a let down for the end of the series, AND DON'T EVEN GET ME STARTED ON THE FREAKING ENDING!!!! Recommended for Thirst lovers.
End Date: February 4th
PUBLICATION: August 9th 2011
STARS: 4
GENRE: YA Paranormal, YA Urban Fantasy, YA Romance
SYNOPSIS: After 5,000 year-old Sita died in Thirst V.3, she is reborn into a newborn vampire, but not just any newborn vampire. She is now her friend and Olympic Gold Medalist, Teri Raines. Now that Sita's body has been buried, the team must continue their work to stop the Telar from releasing a virus to kill humanity, and stop the IIC and their powerful mind-control device named the Array. Will Matt, the son of Sita's creator, Yaksha, and almost-most powerful vampire, believe Teri is still there, or learn the truth? Can the new Sita save the world? Will she know how?
REVIEW: STOP!!!!! Before you go on, I HIGHLY advise you stop, go read the 3 omnibuses, THEN read the review. Its hard to understand it unless you ACTUALLY know what I'm talking about. I HIGHLY recommend them for people who are looking for a more sophisticated, and wiser version of Twilight if it had a better editor and author! Otherwise, skip to the end of the review.
I have always loved Pike's writing, a witty, yet sophisticated and mature take on ancient vampires living among us. His books have always held serious action with a taste of sarcasm and humor.
I felt his writing technique failed a bit in this book.
EVERY book had had amazing action painted perfectly, but in the last of the series, there was just dialogue really. No Kick-Ass Sita, but just stupid Wise Old Sita. Kick-Ass Sita is what made the whole series great! This book just lacked the usual standard of action that Pike set in his books!
I also had a huge issue for the book- WHO THE HECK WERE ALL THESE PEOPLE???? The books, if you read them at their release dates like me, are released sooooo far apart that I forgot who everyone was, and god forbid someone put up a character list online! I would do it, but I still don't remember Seymour' or Matt's story completely. This made for a hard time reading the book. If you're going to read the books, take notes, because there's no help out there!
Despite the flaws of the book, I enjoyed Pike taking on the Afterlife, combining Mythology, religion, and current social beliefs to create an Afterlife journey I'd like to go on (and no, this is not a giveaway! Those who read the series to the end of V.3 get this!)! First the caves, which you had to follow once your spirit left your body, which led to the boats, where you had to answer a riddle correctly about something you should've learned while you were alive, and if you answer wrong, you are made to forget the riddle. No one passes until the riddle was answered and time moves fast in the caves. Once answered, you and some people destined to ride the same boat with you, float down the River Styx to an opening meant to test you. Once your test is passed, you must weigh the scales with your diamonds, the good deeds, or the black pearls, the sins. They decide whether you enter Heaven or Hell. I loved this take!
The book also delved into science which I couldn't get through my head. The Array is heavily discussed in the book and explored to death about what it truly is, and it sounded a little nuts to me. I really had such a hard time understanding the Array as explained, that I just said ''screw it" and went with my own take.
All in all, a bit of a let down for the end of the series, AND DON'T EVEN GET ME STARTED ON THE FREAKING ENDING!!!! Recommended for Thirst lovers.
Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson
Start Date: January 28th
End Date: February 2nd
PUBLICATION: March 19th, 2009
STARS: 4 1/2
GENRE: YA Realistic Fiction, YA Contemporary, YA Mental Illness
SYNOPSIS: 18 year-olds Lia and Cassie were the best of friends since the day Cassie moved to the neighborhood, sharing everything from tears to secrets, and they have a big one. They're both Wintergirls, frozen in twig-like bodies, competing between each other to be the skinniest. But when Lia learns Cassie died, Lia still strives to win. With divorced parents, one being a mom who judges her daughter as a messed-up patient who won't amount to much, another a dad who married the fist girl he saw, and a step-mom and step-sister, Lia has no one left but her inner voice who continues to strive for the goal of pure Wintergirl.
REVIEW: Another spellbinding and heartbreaking work by the famous author of Speak.
Lia is a teenage girl who has gone through residential treatment twice for her anorexia and now lives with her dad, step-mom and step-sister, secretly keeping up with old habits and creating new ones, like sneaking quarters in the hem of her robe on weigh day. After a fight with Cassie, Lia finds out that now her best friend is dead, alone in a motel room, trying to call Lia over 30 times. Now she's left to pick up the pieces, and put Cassie's memory to sleep.
This has all the elements that I loved! First, I'm a sucker for eating disorder books. Second, the way the book was written in more than just first-person, it was everything she thought. The struggle between her instinct to eat and to stay skinny, seeing and talking to Cassie's ghost, her feelings of how her body felt and how it was written with beautiful similies, it all amounted to a poetically heartbreaking story. I feel that most ED books miss the feeling of how the character is towards the ones who want her/him to get better, but this beautifully describes the protagonist's feelings towards her parents, therapist, etc.
I was not a fan of three things. One, Elijah. I felt he was just the messenger for Lia if it was a Quest story. I felt he was just thrown into the mix and wasn't very deep, nor did we have much of an understanding of his history. Two (which had to be pointed out to me before i realized it), Hearts cannot be played with 2 people!!! It has to be 3 to 6 players, which saddened me because Anderson seemed to research so much about the main idea and perfecting each detail of it that the basic details were just thrown into the mix without caution. Which leads me to point three. Lia did do cutting in the book, but I felt she did it as a fluke, which left a bad taste in my mouth. The demographic of self-harmers harm to feel something, and I felt that this was just thrown in as well. While self-harmers disassociate while harming, I feel that this wasn't disassociation, and just poor research!!!
The self-harming thing really dinged the score on this book, but the style of writing saves tie book greatly. Recommended for Anderson Fans, Dark Realistic Lovers, and Contemporary Readers.
End Date: February 2nd
PUBLICATION: March 19th, 2009
STARS: 4 1/2
GENRE: YA Realistic Fiction, YA Contemporary, YA Mental Illness
SYNOPSIS: 18 year-olds Lia and Cassie were the best of friends since the day Cassie moved to the neighborhood, sharing everything from tears to secrets, and they have a big one. They're both Wintergirls, frozen in twig-like bodies, competing between each other to be the skinniest. But when Lia learns Cassie died, Lia still strives to win. With divorced parents, one being a mom who judges her daughter as a messed-up patient who won't amount to much, another a dad who married the fist girl he saw, and a step-mom and step-sister, Lia has no one left but her inner voice who continues to strive for the goal of pure Wintergirl.
REVIEW: Another spellbinding and heartbreaking work by the famous author of Speak.
Lia is a teenage girl who has gone through residential treatment twice for her anorexia and now lives with her dad, step-mom and step-sister, secretly keeping up with old habits and creating new ones, like sneaking quarters in the hem of her robe on weigh day. After a fight with Cassie, Lia finds out that now her best friend is dead, alone in a motel room, trying to call Lia over 30 times. Now she's left to pick up the pieces, and put Cassie's memory to sleep.
This has all the elements that I loved! First, I'm a sucker for eating disorder books. Second, the way the book was written in more than just first-person, it was everything she thought. The struggle between her instinct to eat and to stay skinny, seeing and talking to Cassie's ghost, her feelings of how her body felt and how it was written with beautiful similies, it all amounted to a poetically heartbreaking story. I feel that most ED books miss the feeling of how the character is towards the ones who want her/him to get better, but this beautifully describes the protagonist's feelings towards her parents, therapist, etc.
I was not a fan of three things. One, Elijah. I felt he was just the messenger for Lia if it was a Quest story. I felt he was just thrown into the mix and wasn't very deep, nor did we have much of an understanding of his history. Two (which had to be pointed out to me before i realized it), Hearts cannot be played with 2 people!!! It has to be 3 to 6 players, which saddened me because Anderson seemed to research so much about the main idea and perfecting each detail of it that the basic details were just thrown into the mix without caution. Which leads me to point three. Lia did do cutting in the book, but I felt she did it as a fluke, which left a bad taste in my mouth. The demographic of self-harmers harm to feel something, and I felt that this was just thrown in as well. While self-harmers disassociate while harming, I feel that this wasn't disassociation, and just poor research!!!
The self-harming thing really dinged the score on this book, but the style of writing saves tie book greatly. Recommended for Anderson Fans, Dark Realistic Lovers, and Contemporary Readers.
Blood Warrior by H.D. Gordon
Start Date: January 15th
End Date: January 29th
PUBLICATION: September 5th 2011
STARS: 4
GENRE: YA Paranormal, YA Romance, YA Fantasy
SYNOPSIS: 17 year-old Alexa Montgomery had an average teen life- if getting a black eye from your Mother everyday is average. Alexa is used to sparring with her Mother, having to run with her little sister Nelly to school, and not being popular at all her schools that she moves to, but when weird shark people attack Alexa's home, her world is changed forever. Her sister? Vampire. Best Friend? Werewolf! Mother? Gone. So Alexa, Nelly, and her friend, Jackson set out to find a safe place from the shark people, called Lamia, and learn that Alexa is a Sun Warrior, a thought-to-be extinct species of the perfect hybrid of vampires, werewolves, and every other paranormal creature imaginable.
What???
The new city Alexa finds herself in seems to be kind and willing to bow to her, and the perfect home, until secrets are revealed to Alexa that all is not well in this utopia. Will the city destroy her bonds with a Warrior named Kayden, or her relationship with Jackson?
REVIEW: I DECLARE THE NEXT BOOK BE WRITTEN AND DELIVERED TO ME NOW!!!.... Ok, fine! I'll wait, but there had better be a sequel!!
I was hooked by page 1! I thought it would be a book on, like, child abuse since it starts out with Alexa's Mom treating her black eye, and how Mom sounded super controlling by making them run all the way to school. But then the Lamia attack and I was hooked with all the heartbreak!
However, it started declining for me when Kayden and Alexa start getting cuddily and all the other male characters get involved, which are too many!! There's Daniel, Alexa's loser in the battle for her entrance to the Brocken Vampire School, Tommy, some po-dunk kid in her class that gives her cigarettes, Kayden, an I-like-you-now-stay-away-from-me kind of guy, and more, who I can't remember! I felt like the book, while staying slightly on-course with the situation, turned into The Dating Game! Very annoying,
Towards the last 3rd of the book, I love how it took the turn Utopia-turned-Dystopia! That is my weakness! The city isn't what it seems to be, and everyone is too easy-going and perfect! The last 3rd of the book is just what I held out for! A slow middle, turning into a barreling-fast last 3rd revealing more and more until... CLIFF HANGER!!! I hope the author has plans for a sequel!!! Recommended for Dystopian fans, and action lovers!
End Date: January 29th
PUBLICATION: September 5th 2011
STARS: 4
GENRE: YA Paranormal, YA Romance, YA Fantasy
SYNOPSIS: 17 year-old Alexa Montgomery had an average teen life- if getting a black eye from your Mother everyday is average. Alexa is used to sparring with her Mother, having to run with her little sister Nelly to school, and not being popular at all her schools that she moves to, but when weird shark people attack Alexa's home, her world is changed forever. Her sister? Vampire. Best Friend? Werewolf! Mother? Gone. So Alexa, Nelly, and her friend, Jackson set out to find a safe place from the shark people, called Lamia, and learn that Alexa is a Sun Warrior, a thought-to-be extinct species of the perfect hybrid of vampires, werewolves, and every other paranormal creature imaginable.
What???
The new city Alexa finds herself in seems to be kind and willing to bow to her, and the perfect home, until secrets are revealed to Alexa that all is not well in this utopia. Will the city destroy her bonds with a Warrior named Kayden, or her relationship with Jackson?
REVIEW: I DECLARE THE NEXT BOOK BE WRITTEN AND DELIVERED TO ME NOW!!!.... Ok, fine! I'll wait, but there had better be a sequel!!
I was hooked by page 1! I thought it would be a book on, like, child abuse since it starts out with Alexa's Mom treating her black eye, and how Mom sounded super controlling by making them run all the way to school. But then the Lamia attack and I was hooked with all the heartbreak!
However, it started declining for me when Kayden and Alexa start getting cuddily and all the other male characters get involved, which are too many!! There's Daniel, Alexa's loser in the battle for her entrance to the Brocken Vampire School, Tommy, some po-dunk kid in her class that gives her cigarettes, Kayden, an I-like-you-now-stay-away-from-me kind of guy, and more, who I can't remember! I felt like the book, while staying slightly on-course with the situation, turned into The Dating Game! Very annoying,
Towards the last 3rd of the book, I love how it took the turn Utopia-turned-Dystopia! That is my weakness! The city isn't what it seems to be, and everyone is too easy-going and perfect! The last 3rd of the book is just what I held out for! A slow middle, turning into a barreling-fast last 3rd revealing more and more until... CLIFF HANGER!!! I hope the author has plans for a sequel!!! Recommended for Dystopian fans, and action lovers!
Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor
Start Date: December 30th
End Date: January 13th
PUBLICATION: September 27th, 2011
STARS: 4
GENRE: YA Paranormal, YA Realistic, YA Romance
SYNOPSIS: What if there was a world where wishes were currency, Chimaera were real, and teeth were as precious as gold? Karou knows well about this world. Ever since she was born, she's been raised by a few chimaera. Brimstone, a lion-like chimaera who's been her only father figure. Issa, a snake-like chimaera who is the best stand-in mother ever, and Twiga, an amazing chef.
Karou knows the trade of the teeth well, and the power of wishes. After all, her hair is naturally blue. She lives in Prague, currently, and has an amazing friend Zuzanna, and a not-so-great ex, Kaz. She lives a normal life, when she's not trading teeth for Brimstone, but when a trade goes awry when an angelic man called Akiva shows up, Karou's quaint world may be shattered by the truth...
REVIEW: WOW WHAT A BOOK!!!!
The first 2 parts to the book were killer! I was as spellbound to a book as I am to the House of Night series (which is a lot!!)! The writing was fantastic, the elements were rich and tantalizing, and Karou was so mysterious and rich, I wanted more! I thought there was going to be trouble with Kaz, because the beginning was very into Kaz and Karou's relationship and life together, but 180 turn! Creepy creatures from drawings become real and a new world is revealed! Now, I am going to be resistant to Brimstone and his original "portrayal" as a lion, and keep my image of him resembling HellBoy! I mean, come on! Brimstone! to me, that isn't a gold color, its red!
Anyway, I was just as in love with Akiva when he showed up in Marrakesh and how he just sounded so sexy in his description! Man was this Madrigal girl lucky! The story just kept continuing to go! And then the 3rd part was introduced. That's where it got sluggish for me, getting to learn about the Chimaera world and the War. I had a hard time with the imagery, the new twist, the new reality. I was so in love with Karou's world, that I didn't like to be introduced to Madrigal's world. So I was thankful when it got to the end of that part and snapped back to Karou, only to end with a glaring " To Be Continued" a few pages later!
If I were to have just dropped this book (if possible! It would've had to have been with pliers!) before the 3rd part, it would've been 5 stars, but that 3rd part was just tough! and then the "To Be Continued" was just not necessary! I felt it was a little rude, to be honest, to have to be told "oh its not over". I was like "THERE HAD BETTER BE!" by the end. Recommended for YA Paranormal fans, and everyone!
End Date: January 13th
PUBLICATION: September 27th, 2011
STARS: 4
GENRE: YA Paranormal, YA Realistic, YA Romance
SYNOPSIS: What if there was a world where wishes were currency, Chimaera were real, and teeth were as precious as gold? Karou knows well about this world. Ever since she was born, she's been raised by a few chimaera. Brimstone, a lion-like chimaera who's been her only father figure. Issa, a snake-like chimaera who is the best stand-in mother ever, and Twiga, an amazing chef.
Karou knows the trade of the teeth well, and the power of wishes. After all, her hair is naturally blue. She lives in Prague, currently, and has an amazing friend Zuzanna, and a not-so-great ex, Kaz. She lives a normal life, when she's not trading teeth for Brimstone, but when a trade goes awry when an angelic man called Akiva shows up, Karou's quaint world may be shattered by the truth...
REVIEW: WOW WHAT A BOOK!!!!
The first 2 parts to the book were killer! I was as spellbound to a book as I am to the House of Night series (which is a lot!!)! The writing was fantastic, the elements were rich and tantalizing, and Karou was so mysterious and rich, I wanted more! I thought there was going to be trouble with Kaz, because the beginning was very into Kaz and Karou's relationship and life together, but 180 turn! Creepy creatures from drawings become real and a new world is revealed! Now, I am going to be resistant to Brimstone and his original "portrayal" as a lion, and keep my image of him resembling HellBoy! I mean, come on! Brimstone! to me, that isn't a gold color, its red!
Anyway, I was just as in love with Akiva when he showed up in Marrakesh and how he just sounded so sexy in his description! Man was this Madrigal girl lucky! The story just kept continuing to go! And then the 3rd part was introduced. That's where it got sluggish for me, getting to learn about the Chimaera world and the War. I had a hard time with the imagery, the new twist, the new reality. I was so in love with Karou's world, that I didn't like to be introduced to Madrigal's world. So I was thankful when it got to the end of that part and snapped back to Karou, only to end with a glaring " To Be Continued" a few pages later!
If I were to have just dropped this book (if possible! It would've had to have been with pliers!) before the 3rd part, it would've been 5 stars, but that 3rd part was just tough! and then the "To Be Continued" was just not necessary! I felt it was a little rude, to be honest, to have to be told "oh its not over". I was like "THERE HAD BETTER BE!" by the end. Recommended for YA Paranormal fans, and everyone!