Book 22: Fire

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Book Summary:
Fire, the last remaining human monster with an irresistible appearance and hair the color of a flame, is both hated and adored. She has a unique ability to control the minds of others, those that haven't learned to guard their minds against her. When Prince Brigan brings her to King City to help the royal family uncover a plot against the king, she finds that her power could help save the kingdom. In a time of war, she must learn that she is not the monster her father was.

Book Review:
This book is a companion novel to Graceling (whose review can be found here), and takes place approximately thirty years before that timeline in a land called the Dells. There isn't a lot that connects this book to Graceling, except that it introduces how Leck came to be, so you can definitely read it without having read Graceling. Honestly, I liked this story more than Cashore's debut novel. I felt that not only was the story more put together but that the characters were better rounded as well. I was a little put off initially because, like Katsa in Graceling, Fire is against getting married, and I kept thinking that Kristin Cashore must be completely opposed to the idea of marriage. Then the author explains Fire's thinking, which isn't that she doesn't want to get married, it's that she doesn't want to have children because she believes that she should be the last of her kind. She can't subject the humans to another monster that could potentially end up being cruel like her father was. In the end, she ends up falling in love and getting married.

I loved the characters in this novel. Fire was very well written, and I really felt like I knew her. Not only does Cashore describe Fire's looks and personality beautifully, she also makes the reader understand how Fire thinks and feels. Although, she did have a very Katsa-like feel, she was different enough that it didn't bother me when similarities between the two popped up. The one thing I didn't really like is that although Fire is only like sixteen years old, she is written in a way that makes her seem much older. The character of Leck both intrigued and bothered me. On the one hand, I liked getting to read his background, as that was a complaint of mine from Graceling, but on the other hand, I felt that his storyline was out of place and didn't mesh well with everything else that was happening. It seemed like Cashore put him in the story for the mere point of connecting this book to Graceling, and I felt that this was completely unnecessary as it could have stood just fine on its own without that connection.

I thought the storyline in this novel was much better than that of Graceling. Cashore apparently learned from the first novel, and decided to make the romance actually secondary to the main story. My biggest issue with the plot goes back to the character of Leck. Because the author felt the need to bring him into this story, there were almost two distinct plot lines occurring that really had nothing to do with the other, even though throughout most of the novel Cashore tries to write as if they do deal with each other. It doesn't help that the story kind of jumps back and forth between these two plots at random, and it wasn't until close to the end that I understood that Leck had absolutely nothing to do with the story of the war that was happening. It was a little confusing until that point.

I have to say that my biggest issue with the story, and honestly with Graceling as well though I didn't really realize it until after reading Fire, is that Cashore obviously has a view on casual sex that she tries to impress upon her readers. This wouldn't be a huge deal to me except that her target audience is teenagers. On top of this the women in her novels are not ideal role models for young girls as they lie, cheat, and sleep around to get what they want, and they are very irresponsible to boot, getting pregnant because they are either too lazy or just don't care enough to take the medicine that will stop this from happening. I realize that to an extent this is true to life, but it bothers me nonetheless.

So overall, I did enjoy this book. It was a quick read with a decent storyline and good character development. As far as family friendliness goes, there is little, if any, cursing, but there are definitely multiple sexual references (this book talks about periods and pregnancies as well). I originally said in my review of Graceling that I would let my younger teens read it if I had kids; however I would like to update that by saying that although I would let them read it, I would definitely talk to them about all of the things that both these novels bring up.

My Rating: 8/10

Book 21: Graceling

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Book Summary:
Katsa lives in a world where some are born with innate skills. These Graces are feared by many but exploited by those in power. When she was young, Katsa learned that her Grace was that of killing, and though she despises it, her uncle Randa, king of the Middluns, uses her to punish and torture those who displease him. When she meets Prince Po, a Graced fighter, her world is turned upside down. In the midst of turmoil surrounding a horrid secret in a faraway kingdom, she doesn't expect that this cocky prince will become a true friend and that he will show her more about herself and her Grace than she thought possible.

Book Review:
As far as debut novels go, Kristin Cashore did a decent job writing this one. I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of this book and read it in record time. Overall, the story was engaging and the main characters were interesting. I found Katsa and Po to be pretty well rounded characters, and I loved reading their evolution from strangers to friends to lovers. The back story on both of these characters was decently written, so I definitely felt like I knew them really well by the end of the novel. I think Katsa's character was possibly my favorite thing about this story. Even though she believes her Grace to be terrible, she finds a way to use it for good by helping others whenever she can. I've read multiple reviews where people didn't like that she had such a big issue with marriage and couldn't understand why she hadn't changed her mind by the end of the book given everything she's gone through with Po. I, however, felt that this added so much to her character and that it made perfect sense. Until she leaves Randa's court, she's never had freedom, and even though Po loves her and would never cage her, if she married him she would be giving up her freedom again. Even though I don't agree with that train of thought, I think that it completely matches Katsa's character.

As far as other characterization goes, I don't think Cashore did a great job. Most of the characters other than Katsa and Po are very one-dimensional. I wish we had gotten a little more background on characters like Oll, Raffin, Giddon, and Bitterblue. I felt that these characters were very important to the plot; however, I didn't really feel like I knew them. They felt more like characters instead of friends. And then we have Randa and Leck. I felt that these two characters were very poorly formed, especially Leck since he is the main villain of this plot. Other than the two of them being kings who crave power, I don't fell that I knew anything about them like why they actually acted the way they did. The author definitely could have done a better job writing these two.

I really liked the idea behind the plot of people with Graces that could be as mundane as swimming or as powerful as mind-reading or suggestion. I thought, though, that the plot as a whole was somewhat poorly formed. They say over and over again how people are afraid to be around those who are Graced, but most people that Katsa and Po come in contact with don't seem that scared until either Katsa and Po get angry. And even though the main plot is supposed to be about Katsa and Po finding out who had kidnapped Po's grandfather and in turn learning of a great threat and thwarting it, I couldn't help but feel that this was actually secondary to Katsa and Po's relationship. I know that the novel is supposed to be a coming-of-age story and that their relationship is a big part of that, but it just seemed to overwhelm the book to a point that the rest of the plot outside of their relationship was not well written. For the first half of the book they're trying to figure out who kidnapped Po's grandfather, and then once they figure it out, they realize that King Leck is not what he seems and the rest of the story is them trying to kill him. When if finally gets to the climax of the book, the scene in very underwhelming. Cashore definitely could have put a little more effort into this aspect of her story.

As I said earlier, overall I did really enjoy this book. It was an easy read, and even with the issues of secondary characters and plots, it was definitely worth the time. As far as family friendliness goes, there is no cursing that I remember, but there are some definite sexual references as Katsa and Po decide to become lovers instead of marrying. I would say the killing and torture in the book (there isn't a ton of it, but there is some) is probably worse than the sexual stuff. If I had a younger teen I would probably let them read this.

My Rating: 7/10

Book 20: Shadow of Night

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*Spoiler Alert: This is book two in a series. To read my review of book one please go here.

Book Summary:
Diana Bishop, a witch, and Matthew Clairmont, a vampire, have timewalked back to the year 1590 not only in an attempt to get another look at the enchanted manuscript known as Ashmole 782 but also to find a witch that can train the spellbound Diana. Once there they are plunged into Elizabethan London, where mistrust lies around every corner. As Matthew's past comes back to haunt him, the two must draw closer together if they are to survive the vampire's shadowed history. And in the midst of turbulence among witches, Diana learns that she is not only a powerful witch but a unique one as well.

My Review:
I really wanted to love this book. If you read my review for the first in the series, you'll know that even though there was much I didn't like about A Discovery of Witches, overall I was swept up in the story. Shadow of Night, however, was completely different. After about ten pages in, I was terribly bored by the storyline. As far as characters go, I was really annoyed (even more so than I was in the first book) by how Matthew treats Diana. Harkness tries to explain it away numerous times by the fact that vampires are possessive, but her explanations fell on deaf ears with me. It just wasn't a good enough reason for him to be continually angry with her. The alchemical stuff was also just a little too much. I understand that Diana is a historian who studies alchemy, but there was just way too much of it written into this novel. If I wanted to read a book about alchemy, I would have picked up a book specifically on alchemy. On top of that, making Diana's and Matthew's blood do extraordinary things in alchemical experiments was too far fetched for me, even in a fantasy novel.

There really was very little that I enjoyed about this book. One of the things that I liked, though, was the introduction of more characters. I really liked the addition of Gallowglass (Matthew's nephew), Annie (a young witch who comes to live with them), and Jack (a homeless boy they take in). I felt that these characters added a lot to the story. I also liked when Matthew and Diana visited Sept-Tours to see his father. This, actually, was one of the only parts of the plot that I enjoyed.

Overall this book is not as good as A Discovery of Witches, and I can honestly say that I have absolutely no desire to read the final book of the trilogy.

As far a family friendliness goes, this is definitely an adult book. There are curse words thrown around a good bit (though I don't believe there are any f-bombs), and there are numerous sex scenes (some of which are a little more graphic than others).

My Rating: 3/10

Book 19: The Dog Stars

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Book Summary:
Hig is a survivor. He survived the flu that killed everyone he knew. He has no family left and no friends...unless you count Bangly, the cynical codger with whom he cohabitates in a compound of abandoned buildings, and Jasper, his ever faithful pup. For years, Hig knows only one thing, just keep surviving, but after his pup dies of old age, he decides to go out past the point of no return in his 1956 Cessna to see if he can find the source of the random transmission he heard on his radio three years prior. Without enough fuel to return home, Hig discovers that he can have more in his life than what he originally believed.

Book Review:
Let me start by saying that I did not enjoy this book. It took me five painstaking weeks to finish this novel. Everyone kept telling me I should stop reading it, but I just couldn't bring myself to do that for a couple reasons. First, I thought maybe I'd get into it if I just kept pushing through, and second, I need to have books that I review that I legitimately do not like. That being said, I honestly like absolutely nothing about this novel. I mean, I can understand why others have liked it (it's gotten pretty decent ratings on goodreads and amazon), but it just was not for me. Okay, so let me break down all the reasons I basically wanted to shoot myself while reading this book.

First off was the writing style. This was the biggest turn off for me. There were absolutely no quotations anywhere, and just about every other statement was either a run-on or an incomplete sentence. This seriously drove me bat-crap crazy. I realize that the book was purposely written this way, and I actually understand why it was written as such. However, it made me want to gouge my eyes out.

Secondly, I did not enjoy the plot at all. It starts off after basically everyone in the world has died from some unknown flu (which we don't find any real details about until nearly the end of the novel), and then it goes to tell the story of next to nothing. I mean, stuff happens, but when it was over I felt like nothing of importance occurred. I realize that important things did actually happen: Jasper dies, Hig learns things about himself, he finds Cima and her dad, etc. I guess, though, that I didn't care about any of these characters, so none of this seemed that important to me.

Lastly, the ending. One day random planes start flying overhead, and when Hig tries to contact them they don't respond. This happens for days or weeks (I'm not really sure how long), and then the book ends. Who was in planes? Were there a lot more survivors? Were they the Arabs that were spoken of early on in the novel? I have no idea because the book just stops there without letting us know.

So, overall, I basically hated this novel. As far as family friendliness goes, this gets an F rating, as in next to every other word was an f bomb. Also, there are a couple graphic sex scenes along with a ton of violence including some cannibalism. I definitely would not recommend this book to anyone.

My Rating: 2/10 (It gets an extra point because of Jasper the dog)

Book 18: The Storyteller

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Book Summary:
After the death of her mother, Sage Singer becomes an introvert who works through the night, trying to escape her memories and loneliness by doing the one thing she knows, baking bread. When Josef Weber begins coming to the bakery, the two form an unusual friendship. This all changes when he confesses to her that he was a Nazi, and he has spent the last seventy years hiding from his past. He only asks two things, that she forgive him being that she is of Jewish decent and that she kill him. With confusion over her own identity and the idea that her closest friend could have done something so terrible, Sage must make the toughest decision of her life.

My Review:
Let me start by saying that I am not a huge Jodi Picoult fan. It's not that her books are awful because she's actually a very good writer; it's just that all her books seem like a lifetime movie in the making. This one is no different. It was very well written, and I liked the idea behind it. A former Nazi asking forgiveness of the granddaughter of a Holocaust survivor is a great plot. However, this storyline is squeezed in among an affair, a romance, a death, and about ten other subplots. Even though this is the main point of the book, at times it got lost amid all the other things that were going on. I really like that Picoult did so much research before beginning this book. She pretty much learned everything she could about Nazis so she could weave a plausible back-story. She also learned about what someone who actually hunts down Nazis for a living does to find and prosecute World War II criminals. Lastly, she learned the intricacies of bread baking, which being that this is something that I actually know about, I thoroughly appreciated that Sage actually knew her way around baking bread. I think my favorite thing about his book was the ending, and Sage finding out that sometimes people aren't who they seem to be.

Though I enjoyed Minka's story from the war, I felt that it drawn out longer than it needed to be. I honestly skipped pages during her story because it literally went on for well over a hundred pages, and though it had everything to do with her story as a Holocaust survivor, I didn't feel like it was as important to the plot as Josef's story which was not nearly as long. I also did not like the subplot of Sage dating a married man. I don't feel that it added anything to the story other than causing Leo to judge her for it. I understand the reasoning behind the author using this, as it's a device to help us see how much Sage changes from the beginning of the book until the end, I just thought the book would have been fine without it.

Overall, I thought the book was very well written, it just wasn't really my type of book. I think that if you really like Lifetime movies, you would probably thoroughly enjoy this novel. There is some swearing and a good amount of sexual references.

My Rating: 6/10

Book 17: A Discovery of Witches

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Book Summary:
Diana Bishop is an alchemical history professor doing research while at Oxford University. When she requests a manuscript called Ashmole 782 at the Bodleian Library, she believes it to be an ordinary book, that is, until she gets her hands on it. Even though she has tried to keep all magic out of her life, she can tell that this ancient text is bound with it. Insisting that she wants nothing to do with her magic, she makes a few notes and then sends the book back. What she doesn't realize, however, is that this text has been lost for centuries, and the magical community will do anything to get thier hands on it. Soon after, witches, daemons, and vampires begin appearing at the Bodleian. One in particular is Matthew Clairmont, a distinguished scientist who also happens to be a vampire. Once Matthew enters Diana's life, she finds that nothing will ever be the same.

My Review:
If Harry Potter and Twilight were to have a baby, I'm pretty sure it would be this book. That being said, Deborah Harkness is a better writer than Stephanie Meyer, so this was a halfway decent book. I really enjoyed the fact that because Harkness is a history professor by trade, she somehow manages to make a novel that is one part historical fiction and one part modern fantasy. I have very mixed feeling about this book, however, because for some reason I really enjoyed reading it even though so much of it bugged me. Maybe Deborah Harkness put a spell on the book because that is pretty much the only explanation I can come up with.

Though I enjoyed the overall concept of a witch who wants nothing to do with witchcraft who gets violently thrown into that world, I felt that by the end the subplot romance becomes the total driving force for the story. This is fine if you're writing a romance, but I wasn't really wanting to read a romance when I picked up A Discovery of Witches. Also, I feel that though Harkness starts out writing a strong female character who can fully take care of herself, the second Matthew steps into the picture Diana becomes a major damsel in distress. On top of that, Matthew is basically a douche throughout ninety percent of the story, and Diana, after only a couple weeks of knowing him, is completely willing to choose him over her family at every instant. Matthew definitely falls into the stereotypical vampire role of obsession with a woman that turns into the need to posses her fully as if he owns her.  Honestly, I think in general I have issues with vampire romances because they make absolutely no sense unless ultimately the girl is going to become a vampire. If that is not the intention, there is going to come a point where you will look forty years older than your vampire husband. Do characters not take that into account before deciding they want to marry the living dead? On a completely different note, there were definitely some really cheesy lines that I literally laughed out loud at. I also wasn't to keen on the whole genetics side to the story where magical creatures have extra chromosomes, and you can tell what powers a which has based on her DNA. Even in a story about magical beings, this was a little too much of a stretch for me.

All of that being said, I flew through this book and really did enjoy the overall experience of it. Harkness made me care about the characters, and so I fully plan on reading the rest of the series. Maybe this makes me as bad as the twihards or maybe I've just been reading so many books recently that I'm not paying as much attention to writing as I am to the overall story or maybe ever since I first watched Buffy I've just really wanted to fall in love with a vampire, of this I am not sure. Whatever the reason, I definitely want to know what becomes of Diana and Matthew.

As far as family friendliness goes, this is definitely not a book for young teens. There is a decent amount cursing and some semi-graphic scenes both sexual ones and violent ones. I definitely would not let my young teen pick up this book.

My Rating: 5/10

Book 16: Reached

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*Spoiler Alert: This is the third book in a series. If you haven't read the first two books you may want to stop reading*

My review of book one can be found here, and my review of book two can be found here.


Book Summary:
When an epidemic of the plague hits the provinces, the Rising uses their cure to gain hold and overthrow the Society. But when the plague mutates, Cassia, Ky, and Xander must help the Rising and the Pilot find a new cure. They must decide who they can trust. Is the Rising really a rebellion, or are they just the Society under a new name?

Book Review:
It's been a couple months since I read Matched and Crossed, so it took me a couple chapters before I was able to get back into the plot of this series. There were parts of this book that I liked a great deal more than the previous two, but there were also parts that I liked quite a bit less.

First off, I really enjoyed the storyline. I thought this was a much more interesting plot than either of the first two books. Since Cassia, Ky, and Xander are all major players in this book, each chapter is written with one of them as the narrator. As I've said before, I normally don't like when authors do that, but it worked out in this series pretty well. I really liked how in the series as a whole Condie goes from everything being told from Cassia's point of view in the first novel, to going back and forth between Cassia and Ky in the second, and now using all three of them in the third. As far as characters go, I still don't really like Cassia or Ky much; however, I really liked that Xander played such a large role in this story. Since the first book, I've never really gotten the reason behind why Cassia decided she loves Ky so much when she knew next to nothing about him before his face popped up on her microcard. Because of this, I always felt bad for Xander because he truly loves Cassia and had always hoped he would get matched to her someday. Thankfully, though, Xander was given another love interest in Lei, and I really liked seeing that story come to fruition.

Now to the things I didn't like. I thought the last couple chapters were really boring. Honestly, I wasn't such a huge fan of the final wrap up. It's not that the story ended terribly, it's just that I felt that the ending could have been a lot more interesting. It was just kind of a "blah" ending. I also didn't like what happened with Indie. I was really starting to like her, and felt that Condie could have done a lot more with her character. The final thing I didn't really like or even really understand was the whole thing about Cassia and the tablets. I felt like Condie was trying to make us believe that Cassia was really special because the tablets didn't work on her like they did everyone else, but this fell flat for me. I didn't feel like Cassia was special at all. I honestly got tired of reading about her and the tablets, so I ultimately skipped over the parts of the book where she was trying to remember the Red Garden Day.

Overall, I guess the good outweighed the bad in this book. And as far as family friendliness goes, there are very few (if any) curse words and no sexual references.

My Rating: 6/10 - (for the series I would give a 6/10)

Book 15: Me Before You

Me Before You by Jojo Moyes was April's hardback book for one of my goodreads book clubs, so it became book fifteen.

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Book Summary:
Louisa Clark is your average 26-year-old. She's got a great family, a boyfriend whom she will probably marry, and she's never been outside of her small village. But when her boss tells her that he's closing the café and she gets a new job as the caregiver for Will Traynor - a quadriplegic, she finds herself thinking about her life in a completely new way. 

Will Traynor used to be a big shot until he was hit by a motorcycle while crossing the street that caused him to become a quadriplegic. He hates what he's become and finds nothing good in his life...that is, until Louisa Clark enters the scene.

My Review:
Oh. My. Goodness. 

If you'd like to stop reading this review now, you totally can because those three words basically sum up everything I feel for this book. It has to be the most beautifully depressing book I've read since The Fault in Our Stars by John Green, and I loved every single second of it. Now, before you run out and buy this book, let me give you fair warning that this book gets kind of deep and debates the topic of assisted suicide. If you are okay with that, then I would suggest you read it. 

Now, on to the ins and outs of what I liked and didn't. What I loved most was the writing. Moyes made me want to go read the rest of her books because of how lovely this one was written. I think she does a fantastic job of developing the main characters, and by the end I was so attached to them that I set the book to the side and sobbed for a solid 2-3 minutes. Now, as I've said in a previous review, I don't like when authors go between narrators, but for some reason it really worked in this book. It helped that she didn't do it often (it is primarily told from Louisa's point of view) and that when she did it she put the name of whomever was narrating at the start of the chapter. I actually really liked those few chapters that were told from another's perspective. As I said earlier, this book delves into the subject of assisted suicide, in fact the author speaks of a real place in Switzerland where one who is terminally ill can go to do this. Some may find this issue unbearable to read about, but I found it thought provoking. On top of this, I was constantly contemplating the fact that an accident like Will's could happen to anyone at any moment. Anytime a book gets me to think deeply on issues that I wouldn't normally think about, I definitely deem it a wonderful story.

There really wasn't much that I disliked about Me Before You, the main thing being the character of Patrick, Louisa's boyfriend. I was constantly irritated by him and found myself wondering why Louisa was with such a jerk. And his character just goes from unlikeable to even more unlikeable when he sells Will's story to the press. 

The only other thing I have to say is that I wish the ending had been different. I wasn't surprised by it, but I wished the author had chosen to give us a twist and go a different way. That being said, it did not degrade this story in any way whatsoever. 

As far as family friendliness goes, this is not a book for young teens. There are many curse words and multiple sexual references (not to mention all the suicide talk). 

My Rating: 9/10

Book 14: Midnighters - Blue Noon

I'm still trying to catch up on my reading, so for book 14 I picked the easy read of the final book in the Midnighters series by Scott Westerfeld titled Blue Noon.

 

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*Spoiler Alert: This is book three is a series, so if you don't want books one and two to be spoiled please stop reading*

To read my reviews of the previous books go here for book one and here for book two.

Book Summary:
Blue Noon continues the story of our midnighters - Jess, Jonathan, Dess, Rex, and Melissa - as they make a new discovery about the midnight hour that threatens to destroy everything. Blue time is now hitting randomly throughout the day, and they scramble to figure out why it's happening. They soon find that the walls between midnight and real time are crumbling, and if they don't find a way stop it, the darklings will finally be free to become the predators they once were. The only thing they know for sure, is that the flame bringer is the key to saving everyone.

Book Review:
I really don't want to spoil too much about this book, but let me just say that I hated the ending. I completely understand why Westerfeld wrote it the way he did, but it wasn't a plot twist I enjoyed at all. Now, normally when I read books I go to the end first to make sure I like the ending, and then I go back and read the book from start to finish. I've always said that the reason I do this is because a bad ending ruins the entire book experience for me, so if I don't like the ending, I won't read the book. Well, I promised myself that I wouldn't do that with this book challenge. I decided I would read all fifty-two books like a normal person. Let me tell you, though, had I read this ending first, I wouldn't have bothered with the series. Now, please don't take that as you shouldn't read this series. I did like the series, and if you aren't someone who gets super disappointed by twist endings, you will probably be fine. I just don't fall into that category.

Now that I've gotten my largest disappointment out of the way let's move on to the things I liked. The plot of this book was really engaging, and I found that I enjoyed it more than the previous two novels. I loved the idea of regular people getting pulled into the midnight hour because it's like when Jessica first discovered the blue time only on a much grander scale. I also really liked that the author used Jessica's sister Beth more in this storyline. I think one of my favorite things, though, was the midnighters learning that there is another side to their history, one that tells of mindcasters bending people's wills to match their own and wiping the minds of anyone who dared not submit to their authority. Before the previous generation was destroyed, midnighters ran the town of Bixby, and they stayed in power because they could control the minds of the regular people who lived there. I liked when Melissa realized that she wasn't the first crazy mindcaster, she was, in fact, the first sane one because she believed that their was a major problem controlling people the way the old mindcasters did.

Obviously the ending was the thing I liked least about this book, but there were a couple other things I didn't really enjoy. I realize that Rex being part human-part darkling was a major plot point for the series and without him they wouldn't have been able to stop the rip, but I really didn't like it. I thought Rex getting all creepy and saying that people smelled like prey was just a little too much for me.  Also, there were parts of the story that were a little slow, and I ended up skimming through chunks of the book because it was kind of boring.

Overall, I did enjoy this book until the last two chapters. As far as language goes, I don't think it's quite as much as book two, but there are definitely some curse words (but no f bombs), and there are still some sexual references, though as with the second book they don't ever come out to say that's what they're talking about. 

On the series in general, I failed to mention that some of the stuff they talk about is a little dated. They still use VCR's and cassette players throughout the series. While this obviously doesn't take away from the series, young ones who weren't very old when those things were phased out may be slightly confused by Melissa using a walkman.

My Rating: 5/10 - (the series as a whole I would give a 6/10)
 

Book 13: Midnighters - Touching Darkness

Since I needed a couple easy reads to get caught up on my book quota, I decided to finish out the Midnighters Series by Scott Westerfeld before I started anything else. So, for book 13 I chose Midnighters - Touching Darkness.

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*Spoiler Alert: This is book two in a series. If you don't want book one spoiled, you should probably stop reading.*

Read my review of book one here.

Book Summary:
Touching Darkness picks up a mere days after The Secret Hour ends. Now that Jessica knows she's a flame bringer, meaning she can use technology during the blue time, she seems to be safe from darkling threats. But when the midnighters find out that the ancient darklings have teamed up with some humans, or stiffs as the team calls them, they aren't sure exactly what to do. Help, however, comes from an unexpected source as the the group uncovers the reason why there is no lore from the last fifty years.

My Review:
Unlike The Secret Hour, which I felt was just setting up plot lines for this story, Touching Darkness does a great job of standing on its own. If I didn't know going in that this was a trilogy, I wouldn't have known just from reading this that there was another book to follow. Westerfeld also gives the reader a lot more background information on the characters. I especially liked how much more we learned about Melissa's ability, as she was kind of to the background a good bit in The Secret Hour. Being a mindcaster is about so much more than just being able to hear people's thoughts, and I didn't completely get that until the character of Madeleine was introduced. Speaking of Madeleine, her character was my favorite aspect about this book, as it enabled the author to answer most of my questions from the first book. My biggest issue with the first book was the idea that somehow there are five midnighters in Bixby who are all teenagers. This was very unbelievable to me. However, this issue was explained in detail throughout Touching Darkness.

As far as what I didn't enjoy, my biggest complaint was that I felt like the ending was rushed just like it was in The Secret Hour. Although the buildup wasn't quite as slow, I still thought the climax of the novel could have been written a little better. I also really began to dislike Rex throughout this story. His jealousy over Melissa touching anyone but him drove me crazy. Plus, his reaction to just about everything Jonathan says made me want to smack him. Lastly, I really didn't like that the swearing was amped up a good bit. I realize that teenagers swear, but since there was basically no swearing in the first book and this takes place like a week after those events, I didn't really understand why all the characters randomly started swearing so much.

Overall, I did enjoy this book at least as much as the first in the series. As I stated above, there is a good bit of swearing, however there are no f-bombs dropped anywhere. As far as sexual references go, there are a few scenes where the characters talk about sex, though they never come right out and say it. There are no graphic scenes, though, and the worst the characters do is kiss.

My Rating: 7/10

Book 12: The End of Your Life Book Club

I am seriously addicted to Goodreads. Since utilizing it a couple months ago, I've read quite a few books that I wouldn't have normally picked up. The End of Your Life Book Club by Will Schwalbe is one such book, and I am so glad I got my hands on it.

Author Links: Website / Twitter / Goodreads

Buy it Now: Amazon / Barnes and Noble







Book Summary:
The End of Your Life Book Club is a memoir written by a son about the last years of his mom's life. When Mary Anne was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, her life became filled with visits to the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. Deciding to use this time at the center as a way to connect with family and friends, she and her son start a not-so traditional book club. They are the only members, and they rarely read the same books at the same time. In this book, Schwalbe chronicles the remaining two years of his mother's life by the books they read and the discussions they had. Along the way he discovers not only new authors and books, but also things he didn't know about his mother.

My Review:
I'm pretty sure that this was the first memoir I've ever read. And if all memoirs are written like this one, I'm sure it will not be the last. It took me a lot longer to read this than I initially thought it would, but it wasn't because I didn't enjoy it. It was actually because I enjoyed it so much that I wanted to soak up every word instead of speed reading my way through it as I do with most books.

The first thing that I loved about this book is that on top of being a beautifully written chronicle of mother and son connecting through an unfortunate circumstance, it's a book about books. Anyone who knows me knows how much I love books, and as Mary Anne says at one point in the story (not a direct quote here because I now can't find the page), how can someone who loves books not like a story about loving books and the importance of the written word. I think the thing that struck me the most about this book, though, is Mary Anne as a person. She is fully devoted to her family while still being fully devoted to all her causes. As she is a huge supporter and volunteer of numerous organizations, she spends much of her life helping raise money and awareness along with flying around the world to volunteer. Mary Anne seriously inspired me while I was reading this. There is one point after she and Will have read the book Suite Française, that Will basically says he feels guilty for not doing more in the world to help others and this is his mother's reply:

"I loved the people I met on all my trips, Will. I loved hearing their stories and getting to know them and finding out what if anything we could all do to help. That's enriched my life more than I can say. Of course you could do more - you can always do more, and you should do more - but still, the important thing is to do what you can, whenever you can. You just do your best, and that's all you can do. Too many people use the excuse that they don't think they can do enough, so they decide they don't have to do anything. There's never a good excuse for not doing anything - even if it's just to sign something, or send a small contribution, or invite a newly settled refugee family over for Thanksgiving."

I loved this quote from the book because after reading this story I feel like I knew Mary Anne, and I feel like this quote is basically how she lived her entire life, doing what she could whenever she could. And that's really how I want to live my life.

There really wasn't much that I disliked about this book. In all honesty as it was a true story written about real people, the things I tended not to like were ultimately places where I just disagreed with the author or Mary Anne. For instance, while talking about feminism, she makes a point to say that although she doesn't disagree with women who decide to be house wives or stay-at-home mothers, she doesn't approve of people getting advanced degrees and then deciding to stay home. Her argument is basically that while you got your degree you took a spot from someone else and that you should do something with that education to help others. While I fully understand her point of view on this, I definitely do not agree with her, especially since in this day and age women tend to have children much later in life. They could have had a great career before they decided to settle down and have a family. Another thing I disliked about this book was that I felt like there was a lot of political stuff in it. This isn't necessarily a bad thing and it wasn't like a blaring horn with the politics; I just sort of felt like the author was trying to push his political views onto me inception style. Lastly, I felt as though the author worshiped his mom a little too much while writing this. Although I think it's beautifully written, there were parts where I felt like he was looking through rose colored glasses. Although I'm sure his mother was wonderful, especially through his eyes, I felt like there wasn't anything bad written about her in this story. She never gets angry, and whenever something bad happens to her she first thinks about how it affected others. For example, when she falls in front of her grandkids, she's more concerned that she scared them than she is that she fell. She seemed very Mother Teresa-ish as I read this, and that makes me slightly skeptical.

Overall, I did love this book. It made me cry a couple times (which almost never happens when I'm reading). There are very few curse words and no sexual references (though since she works with refugees there are a couple times where rape comes up but nothing graphic is ever discussed).

My Rating: 8/10

Book 11: Midnighters - The Secret Hour

I recently found a locally owned used book store in town, and the first time I visited I picked up Scott Westerfeld's Midnighters series. Book eleven was the first in the series, The Secret Hour.

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Book Summary:
When Jessica Day moves from Chicago to Bixby, Oklahoma, she has no idea that she is about to find a whole new world opened to her - a world in which there is a twenty-fifth hour to every day that has been compressed down into a mere moment. The world stands frozen during this blue time when the slithers and darklings come out to play, and only those born within seconds of midnight are able to move freely through this time, each with there own talent. They call themselves midnighters, and Jessica is one of them.

Book Review:
I was first introduced to Scott Westerfeld by his Uglies series (if you like dystopian novels and haven't read them, I would definitely recommend picking them up). I think he is an awesome story-teller and a pretty good writer. In The Secret Hour he does a great job of introducing the main characters and giving the reader just enough information about each of them to feel informed but still intrigued. I loved the concept of the book; the idea that there is this secret hour in which only a few people can move about is really interesting, and Westerfeld does a great job describing the back story for why this hour exists. I also really liked the fact that each midnighter had his or her own special ability that exists only during the blue time; a large part of the story was trying to figure out what Jessica's ability was and why the darklings and slithers wanted her dead so badly.

As I stated above, this is the first book in a series, and you can definitely tell. This is actually my biggest issue with the book as a whole. I honestly felt like a good bit of this story was just setting up the reader for the second novel. The buildup to the climax was really slow, and then I felt like the ending was rushed because so much of this book was spent giving us a lot of information on the blue time, like back story and rules the characters must follow. To me, all of this felt like Westerfeld was filling us in more because it would be useful for the second book than this one, even uncovering Jessica's ability seemed more like it was a plot device to move us to the next novel than the climax of this one.

I also found it slightly unbelievable that there were five midnighters in the small town of Bixby, and on top of that, they were all in high school within one year of each other. If the town is as small as the author makes it seem, it's unrealistic that there would be five people, in general, that were all born close enough to midnight to be able to walk freely in the secret hour. Stepping off of that near impossibility, if there would happen to be five of them, how plausible is it that they are all teenagers? How is there no adults who are awake during this time? I mean, there have to be more adults in the town than teens, so statistically there would be a much greater chance of there being five adults who were born around midnight than there would be of five teens being born around midnight. I realize that this is splitting hairs and that I probably thought way to much about this, but logically this makes absolutely no sense to me, even in the realm of science fiction and fantasy.

Overall, I really liked this novel. It was a easy read and a fun story. I would definitely recommend it, though more for preteens and teens than adults. There is minimal, if any, swearing and no sexual references other than kissing. Obviously there is a little bit of a spooky/supernatural/science fiction-y feel to the book, but I personally didn't have an issues with it and would have no problems allowing my young teen (if I had one) to read this.

My Rating: 7/10

Book 10: The Art of Fielding

So, The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach was originally started as my ninth book, but I had some issues while reading it, and thus it became my tenth book.

Author Links: Goodreads

Buy it Now: Amazon / Barnes and Noble








Book Summary:
For the first time, I am at a loss on how to summarize a book. Other than saying that it's a book that's sort of about baseball but sort of not, I've got nothing. So in order to give you something here, I'm just going to type the description from the cover. Here you go:

At Westish College, baseball star Henry Skrimshander seems destined for big league until a routine throw goes disastrously off course. In the aftermath of his error, the fates of five people are upended. Henry's fight against self-doubt threatens to ruin his future. College president Guert Affenlight, a longtime bachelor, has fallen unexpectedly and helplessly in love. Owen Dunne, Henry's gay roommate and teammate, becomes caught up in a dangerous affair. Mike Schwartz, the Harpooners' team captain and Henry's best friend, realizes he has guided Henry's career at the expense of his own. And Pella Affenlight, Guert's daughter, returns to Westish after escaping an ill-fated marriage, determined to start a new life. As the season counts down to its climactic final game, these five are forced to confront their deepest hopes, anxieties, and secrets.

Book Review: 
Okay...now...where to start? It's not that I necessarily disliked this book, it's just that I didn't really like it much either. I'm kind of neutral about it, maybe slightly more to the side of dislike but not much. I thought it was decently written, and the characters were pretty well rounded, even if at times unbelievable. I also thought the book was going to have more to do with baseball than it did. Baseball is used basically just as a plot device to move the story along. There wasn't a lot that I really liked about this book. It started off well; actually I was really into it for the first fifty pages, but then it went downhill.

Here's the thing, I'm not a huge fan of books that have multiple main characters and jump around between the characters from chapter to chapter. I get confused on the timeline of events when this happens. So when after reading five straight chapters of this book being about Henry and it randomly jumped to Affenlight in chapter six, I was perplexed. I didn't realize that was coming and was really confused for the next couple chapters. After I got the hang of it, though, it wasn't so bad.

The main issues I have with this book deal the believability of the characters' actions, like, for instance, when Henry and Pella sleep together. I'm not saying that this stuff doesn't happen, but they basically just slept together because they were in a room alone at the same time, who cares if Mike gets hurt in the process. It just didn't fit with their characters personalities to me. Also, Owen sort of drove me crazy. I felt like he was written, purposefully, as this super stereotypical gay male, and it wasn't believable for me. The other thing I didn't like was that there were plot lines introduced in the book that were never wrapped up. This is not the type of book you write a sequel for, so I suppose the author just didn't think people would wonder whether Mike got over his pain killer addiction.

All in all, I didn't hate it, but I didn't love it either. I would probably never recommend it to someone. As far as swearing and sexual references go, both are present and abundant. There are multiple sex scenes (not overly graphic, but graphic enough), both hetero- and homosexual, along with a magnitude of swear words including multiple f-bombs.

My Rating: 4/10

Book 9: Insurgent

First off I'd like to start by telling you that this wasn't supposed to be book nine. This was supposed to be book ten, but I'm having a couple issues getting through my original book nine, so I stopped reading it for a day and read this book instead. I promise I will finish the other book, it will just take me a little longer than expected. So book nine is Insurgent by Veronica Roth

Author Links: Website / Facebook / Twitter / Goodreads / Tumblr

Buy it Now: Amazon / Barnes and Noble







*Spoiler warning! This is the second book in a series. If you have not read Divergent you may want to stop reading right now because there will be spoilers for it here.*

Book Summary:
Insurgent takes up where Divergent left off, Tris Prior has just helped to stop the Euridite simulation that was controlling the Dauntless causing them to kill the Abnegation. She and the remaining survivors (Four, Marcis, Caleb, and Peter included), must escape to the Amity grounds in hopes that they will be safe. When the Euridite and Dauntless traitors show up, they find themselves on the run, and the only people they can turn to are the factionless, who are large in number and who have been patiently waiting for their chance to usurp the factions.

In all the chaos, Tris must decide who to trust while trying to forgive herself for killing Will and overcome the grief of losing her parents.

My review:
I loved this book as much as I loved Divergent. It is fabulously written; Roth does a great job continuing Tris's inner struggle, only this time it is more about learning to forgive herself than trying to figure out what it means to be divergent - although she is still trying to completely understand this. Four's character was also written very well; I loved seeing him struggle between wanting to save Tris and wanting to let her go. Throughout most of the book, I wasn't sure what was going to happen between the two of them, if they were going to kiss or throw punches. There were a couple of surprising characters in this book, the one that goes from bad to good (well, semi-good) I totally called, but I was completely caught off gaurd by the biggest traitor in the book. I seriously yelled, "What?!" when the reveal occurred. I think the thing I like most about this book, however, was the ending. It definitely took me by surprise even though they've been leading up to that for the entirety of the two books.

There were very few things I didn't like about this book. One was the character of Tori (who in the first book helped to hide Tris's secret). All through this book, I felt like she had major secrets that she wasn't letting anyone in on, and by the end of the book, Tris begins wondering the same things. I'm hoping we find out more about her character in book three. Also, I wasn't a huge fan of the way they dealt with Jeanine. I felt going in that it would happen that way, but I was really hoping that it wouldn't. I would explain more about how I feel about this, but I don't want to give away too many spoilers.

Overall, I would definitely recommend this book (after you've read Divergent) to anyone. Again, there is little, if any, swearing and only a few sexual references. There is one scene where Tris and Four get a little carried away, but there is nothing graphic and I honestly wasn't sure afterward if they had slept together or not.

So I am now (not-so) patiently waiting for book three, which doesn't come out until October. How am I going to make it through?!

My Rating: 9/10

Book 8: Tell the Wolves I'm Home

I recently joined some bookclubs on goodreads.com. I figured it would be a good way to read some books I wouldn't have otherwise picked up. Tell the Wolves I'm Home by Carol Rifka Brunt was one of the books for the month of February for one of said book clubs.

Author Links: Website / Twitter / Goodreads

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Book Summary:
In 1987 June Elbus is a fourteen-year-old girl who isn't understood by anyone. Anyone, that is, except her Uncle Finn Weiss, a renowned painter. Super shy around everyone at school and terrorized by her sister, she can only be herself around him. When he dies, far too young, from AIDS, she is lost. She has no one she can turn too except, perhaps, the one person she never suspected. Toby may be just the friend she needs to help her heal. Being the only person that loved her uncle as much as she did, he may be the person she needs the most to get her through.

My Review:
First off, let me say that this book is beautifully written, and based on the reviews on goodreads and amazon, obviously it has deeply touched a lot of people. I, however, am not one of them.

I really wanted to like this book, but I found the story to not only be quite dull but also really kind of creepy. The relationship between June and her uncle, and then Toby, came off very disturbing to me. June says numerous times that she loved her uncle, and she pretty much means she was in love with him. After he dies, she basically transfers those feelings to his boyfriend, Toby. It really bothered me that Toby, a thirty-something-year-old man, would spend so much of his time with a fourteen-year-old girl. I understand that many young girls develop crushes on men in their lives who they deem "safe" and this is what is happening from June's perspective, but that does not explain Toby.

On top of being slightly bothered by the entire book, there is basically no plot. There is no climax. There is nothing but the main character continually thinking and doing the same things over and over again. I kept putting the book down because I was bored, only to pick it back up again because I knew that if I didn't just barrel through it, I would never finish it. I found myself counting down the pages until the end of the book.

Finally, June's sister Greta is the worst portrayal of a sister ever! She is just plain mean and hurtful throughout the entire book, and then when the author explains the reasoning behind it, it is so stupid! I understand sisters being mean to each other; after all, I have a sister. But, I cannot imagine my sister, or any sister, ever acting the way Greta acts in this book. It made her entire character completely unbelievable for me.

All that being said, I would not recommend this book to anyone. I may be in the minority with this, but I just think you will waste your time reading it. I don't believe there is much swearing, but there are some sexual references, though nothing graphic.

My Rating: 3/10

Book 7: Still Alice

Still Alice by Lisa Genova has been on my to-read list for a couple years, but for some reason I never got around to reading it. I decided this challenge was the perfect time to pick it up, so I chose to read it as my seventh book.

Author Links: Website / Facebook / Twitter / Goodreads

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Book Summary:
Alice Howard lives a great life. She's in her early fifties, has a husband and three grown children, works as a cognitive psychology professor at Harvard, and is an expert in linguistics. After becoming extremely forgetful and at times disoriented, she goes to the doctor to find out if these are symptoms of menopause or something greater. From there her doctor sends her to a neurologist, where she discovers that she has early-onset Alzheimer's disease. Told in month to month format, this heartbreaking story tells of how she progresses from simple misplaced items to forgetting her family.

My Review:
Since I can't afford to purchase fifty-two books this year, most of the books I've been reading have come from the library. Because they come from the library, at times I won't be able to read the book I really want to read. This is what happened to lead me to read Still Alice. I really wanted to read Insurgent (the sequel to Divergent) next, but I was unable to obtain a copy. Instead, I decided to read one of the books that I pulled from my grandma's shelf last month when I went to Wellsburg for her funeral. I am so glad that I did.

I really, really enjoyed this book. The story was so heartbreaking that I couldn't put it down. Having had two Grandmother's fall into dementia, much of this story hit close to home for me. Especially when it got to the point of her not recognizing her children and calling them, in her mind, "the mother" and "the actress". I've not done this in other reviews, but I'm going to go ahead and quote my favorite scene in this book:

--Alice looked at Lydia in pieces, close-up snapshots of her features. She recognized each one like people recognized the house they grew up in, a parent's voice, the creases of their own hands, instinctively, without effort or conscious consideration. But strangely, she had a hard time identifying Lydia as a whole.
"You're so beautiful," said Alice. "I'm afraid of looking at you and not knowing who you are."
"I think that even if you don't know who I am someday, you'll still know that I love you."
"What if I see you, and I don't know that you're my daughter, and I don't know that you love me?"
"Then, I'll tell you that I do, and you'll believe me"--

I absolutely loved this scene because it just felt so real and raw to me. As her youngest child and the one from whom she was most distant, it makes sense that Lydia would be the first she'd start to forget. This is one of the times where she is realizing that she's starting to forget her own child. Everything about this scene is perfect for me. And it's so true, once someone you love forgets you, you just tell them that you love them and hope that they believe you.

The only thing that bugged me in the book was her husband John's response to her. I totally understand why he was being distant, he couldn't bear seeing her descent into madness, but it still bugged me.

I would definitely recommend this book to others. It takes a little bit to get started, but the story is ultimately beautiful. There are a few swear word sprinkled throughout, specifically the f word, but I honestly believed, for once, it was well used in a book. Where the character was at emotionally when she used it, was exactly on point. Other than that, I don't believe there is much, if any, sexual references.

My Rating 9/10

Book 6: Diveregent

Still on a dystopia kick, I went with Divergent by Veronica Roth for book six.

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Book Summary:
Society has come to a breaking point, and in order to prevent war they have separated into five factions. The Abnegation believe the fall of society came about because of greed and selfishness, so they have given up all things considered self-indulgent and pledged to act selflessly. The Amity believe aggression to be the root cause to society's downfall, so they have chosen to be peaceful at all costs. The Erudite think ignorance is the issue and seek the never-ending path to complete knowledge acquirement. The Dauntless are the brave and courageous who believe society's true problem was from cowardice. Lastly, the Candor, who think human duplicity was the issue, took to always telling the truth and speaking their mind.

Beatrice Prior was born into Abnegation, but has always had trouble being selfless, as she knows she should. When her aptitude test ends up inconclusive, she struggles to understand why being a Divergent is so dangerous and chooses to leave her family and join Dauntless. As war between factions breaks out, she begins to understand what being a Divergent truly means and how she can use her ability to help those around her.


My Review:
This is my favorite book I have read so far this year. I seriously struggled putting it down the day I started it and was almost late for work. First off, the book is very well written. The characters truly came to life for me. By the end of the novel, I felt like I actually knew Beatrice (aka Tris) and Four (yes that's his nickname). Reading how Beatrice processes through everything was one of my favorite aspects of the book. She knows that she is different, but she doesn't fully understand why or how she is different. And since she's been told to not let anyone know she's divergent because of how dangerous it would be, she has no one to talk to about it. I also really liked getting Four's background. I guessed early on who Four actually was, but I liked that Roth keeps that a secret until Four feels that it is time for Tris to find out.

There honestly wasn't anything that I didn't like at all about this book. Everything about it was just fabulous to me. I would definitely recommend this to others. There is minimal swearing and a few sexual references. Nothing too graphic though; they basically just kiss a lot and talk about having sex.

My Rating: 9/10

Book 5: Crossed

Even though it took me a while to get into Matched, after I finished it, I really wanted to read the rest of the series, so for book five I chose Crossed by Ally Condie.

Author Links: Website / Facebook / Twitter

Buy it now: Amazon / Barnes and Noble








*If you haven't read the book Matched, you may want to stop reading this review as there may be spoilers ahead*

Book Summary:
Crossed begins a mere months after Matched ends, Ky has been sent to the Outer Provinces with other Abberations and Anomolies to be eliminated (though they are told they are going to fight the Enemy), and Cassia has been sent to a work camp by her parents in hope that she can get close enough to where Ky is located to escape and find him.

When Cassia mistakenly gets transferred to the provinces, she finds out that just a few days before she arrived Ky escaped with Vick, a fellow soldier, and Eli, a young kid, to the Carving, a place where they believe they will find the farmers, a group of people who live peacefully outside of the Society. Cassia and Indie, a friend from the work camp, decide to escape and follow Ky. After days of being in the wild, the two reunite. From there they must make a decision to either follow the farmers, who have left the Carving, or join the Resistance.

My Review:
I liked this book more than Matched. Since Cassia and Ky were already defined prior to this novel, Condie was able to go deeper into those characters and really dig into who they are and why they think the way they do. I really liked how even though Cassia dislikes the Society at this point and is contemplating joining the Resistance, she is still naive to the fact that nearly everything they have told her was a lie. She still ultimately trusts most of what she grew up with. It's interesting to see her work through that a little. I also liked that we got to see more of Ky's back story of growing up in the Outer Provinces and what happened to his parents.

My favorite thing about this book, however, was the introduction of the new characters. I loved Indie. Throughout most of the book, she was so mysterious that I kept going back and forth on whether she was going to be a good guy or a bad guy. Eli and Vick were also good character introductions, I enjoyed reading how Vick got to the point of going from being a citizen to being sent to the Outer Provinces to fight.

The only thing I didn't like about this book was that it is not really a stand-alone novel. It is most definitely the middle of a story. Nothing much really happens other than getting to know the characters a bit more than we did in the previous book, and the entire book just feels like a set up for the third book. I realize that most trilogies are written for the second book to be a set up for the third, but many of them still have a really good story that goes with it, this really didn't.

Overall, I would recommend this to anyone; however, I would not recommend picking this up unless you've previously read (and enjoyed) Matched and plan on reading Reached. Like the first in the series, there is little, if any, swearing and no sexual references, only a bit of kissing.

My Rating: 7/10
 

Book 4: Matched

I love dystopian novels. From the moment I read The Giver in 7th grade, I was hooked. Recently there has been an overflow of dystopian novels coming out, from the Hunger Games trilogy to the Uglies series to my choice for book four, Matched by Ally Condie.

Author Links: Website / Facebook / Twitter

Buy it now: Amazon / Barnes and Noble








Book Summary:
Cassia Reyes is your average teenage girl who lives in a perfect world where she has no worries or hard choices because the Society makes them all. From what you eat to how you dress, where you'll work, and who you'll marry, everything is decided for you, even when you'll die.

On the night of her match banquet, Cassia learns that her perfect match is none other than her best friend Xander Carrow, but the next day when she looks at his microcard, it's not only Xander's face she sees but also Ky Markham's. Thrown, she's unsure of what to do or who to tell. When an official shows up to inform her that there was a glitch in the system and that Ky can't be her match because he's an Abberation, she's initially relieved. For some reason, though, she can't seem to get Ky out of her head, and after getting to know him better, she begins to question if the Society is as good as she thought it was.

My Review:
This is one of those books that going in, I just knew was going to be awesome and I would love it. I was sadly mistaken. Now, don't get me wrong, the book is good, I just don't think it's up to caliber with the other dystopian novels I've read in recent years. It wasn't until about half way through, that this book finally grabbed my interest. In general, the concept of the book is really good. The idea that the government literally decides who you are going to be through your entire life is an interesting one. I also thought Condie's writing style was lovely.

I, however, didn't enjoy the main character of Cassia. I just didn't really get her at all. Basically, she falls in love with this guy just because the Society has told her not to. Really? I get that she's just a teenager and they fall in and out of love quicker than I can snap my fingers, but I just think that sort of premise is a bit ridiculous, especially since the entire time she's trying to convince herself that she didn't fall in love with Ky for this reason. On this same thought, the way she treated Xander made me want to punch her. Yes, I actually wanted to punch a fictional character. I really liked the character of Xander. He is a nice guy who does everything he can for Cassia, and she basically blows him off. The character of Ky is much harder for me to review. I think he's a genuinely nice kid who's been dealt a bad lot in life, but it bugs me that he is friends with Xander and then pretty much does everything he can to steal Cassia away.

All in all, I would recommend this book to others, especially for young teens. I'm not sure that there is any swearing in this book, if there is, it is VERY minimal, and there are no sexual references. The worst it gets is kissing and talking of having kids, nothing more.

My Rating: 6/10

Book 3: The Magician King

For book three I went with The Magician King by Lev Grossman.

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Before I go into a book summary, let me first say that this is the second book in a series. The first, The Magicians, I read last year. I will try not to spoil too much about The Magicians here, but be forewarned that there may be spoilers to that book as I write my summary and review for The Magician King.

Book Summary:
This book picks up after The Magicians, Quentin Coldwater is now royalty in Fillory along
Julia Wicker, his crush from high school, and Eliot Waugh and Janet Pluchinsky, his friends from Brakebills College for Magical Pedagogy. As the story starts, Quentin has become bored with his life as king of Fillory and is searching for some adventure, something to fill his dull life. He decides to commission a ship so that he and Julia can collect back taxes from a remote island. Once there he learns of a magic key on a nearby island, and upon finding the key, he and Julia wind up back on Earth. Attempting to return to Fillory become his unintended quest. On earth he and Julia team up with Brakebills' graduate Josh Hoberman and his friend Poppy. Upon returning to Fillory, they find that the entire world of magic is in danger, and that only they can save it.

Parallel to this adventure, Julia's backstory is unfolded. Being that she is a hedge witch (meaning she learned her magic on the streets instead of in a school) her path was much different than that of Quentin's (which is told in The Magicians). After failing her entrance exam to Brakebills, Julia tries to find out anything she can about magic. After years of learning everything she can from the underground world of magic, she catches the eye of an elite group of magicians who, like her, failed their entrance exams but found a way to become powerful regardless. The group teaches her everything they know, but when they decide to further their magic by summoning a god, things go askew and Julia finds herself transformed.

My Review:
I knew going into this book that I probably shouldn't read it, but I did anyway. The reason I say this is that the first book was filled with swearing, sexual references, and graphic scenes. The only reason I read this one was because I wanted to know what happened after The Magicians, the same reason I will probably read the third book when it comes out.

The story itself is very engaging. It's a mix of a really dark Harry Potter with the magical world of Narnia. Some people feel that Grossman ripped off these books, and while I understand why they believe that, there were enough differences for me to feel that this was not completely accurate. I really liked getting to see Julia's background as a hedge witch in this book. After reading The Magicians and seeing how strict Brakebills is about how to use magic, it was very interesting to see the contrast of that in the underground world of magic. Julia quickly became my favorite character in this book, as I didn't really like Quentin in the first book, I still didn't really like him much in this book. He is not who I would choose as a main character in a book. No matter what happens to him, he's never content with his life. Every time he gets exactly what he wishes for, he is unhappy about it. Seriously, you are a powerful magician living as a king, get over yourself!

As far as storyline goes, I kind of felt like the quest to save magic took backseat to Julia. I didn't find that I really cared much whether Quentin and Julia returned to Fillory or whether magic was saved, I just wanted to read about how Julia became who she is.

All in all, this book was okay. I don't know that I would recommend it to people as there is some VERY graphic parts, including a rape scene, along with a TON of swearing. This is not a book for teenagers in any way. That being said, Grossman did end the story in a way that makes me want to find out what is going to happen in the third book, so I give him props for that.

My Rating: 4/10

Book 2: Paper Towns

For book two, I decided to finish out my John Green book set by reading  Paper Towns.

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Book Summary:
The book begins in Orlando, Florida when the protagonist, Quentin "Q" Jacobsen, and his neighbor and friend, Margo Roth Spiegelman, both nine-years-old at the time, find the body of one Robert Joyner, a divorced man who had committed suicide. Flash forward to high school. Q and Margo are no longer the close friends they used to be. Margo is popular and dating starting shortstop Jason Worthington while Q is a band geek, who isn't in the band but spends all his free time there with his best friends Marcus “Radar” Lincoln and Ben Starling.

Margo finds out that Jase has cheated on her with her friend Becca, so she enlists Q's help to get back at them in a night he will never forget. The next day, Q wonders if Margo will begin eating lunch and hanging out with him and his friends since she is upset with the popular kids, but she doesn't show up for school. After going missing for three days, Margo's parents file a report with the police, but decide that since this is the fifth time she's run away, they don't care if she comes back. After learning that Margo has run away, Q discovers a poster of Woody Guthrie taped to the back of her window shades. This leads him to a string a clues that he believes will ultimately lead him to where Margo has run, so he, Radar, Ben, and Margo's friend Lacey all team up to hunt her down.

My Review:
Paper Towns is my second favorite book by John Green. The story was really interesting, and I liked it a lot. About half way through the book I wasn't sure if they were going to find Margo at all, and if they did find her whether she was going to be dead or alive. Because of this, I did what I always do (and people think is crazy), I read the last chapter of the book. Most people think that ruins the book, but I like to know where a book is headed so I can prepare myself.

I enjoyed the character Q a lot. Although he doesn't have a strong voice, he was a great character that I found myself really routing for by the end as he comes to figure out not only who Margo really is but who he is as well. Along with him, I liked the secondary characters of Ben, Radar, and Lacey. In the beginning of the book, Green makes you want to dislike Lacey. He turns her character around quickly, and she adds the much needed female perspective to the group. Plus, being the only character other than Q who knows Margo at all, she is the only one who is truly worried about Margo which creates a nice bond between the two of them. Although Ben and Radar are great characters, I think that they are there more for comical relief than anything else, even though Radar definitely progresses the story at times with his knowledge of computers and the internet.

By the end, I found myself really bothered by Margo. I just didn't like her at all. I thought she was super selfish and needed to get over herself. Her character is probably my biggest issue with the book. She's just kind of a jerk, and I wanted Q to get over her and find someone better to be in love with. Other than that, there were parts of the story that were slightly confusing to follow, and I needed to reread a couple pages to understand what was going on. But, that could be more that I was reading quickly than an actual issue with Green's writing.

Overall I thoroughly enjoyed myself through this book. I would recommend it to others, but be warned that there is some salty teen talk and sexual references, though nothing overly graphic and I don't believe any f bombs (I'm not totally positive about the f word, but I don't recall there being any).

My Rating: 8/10