So I'm already starting to get behind on this blogging. I've read 3 more books and have yet to blog them, so I will attempt  to do all three today ...we'll see how it goes. So once again I'm doing a twofer. I read Across the Universe last year when it came out, but never got around to reviewing it, now that the sequel is out and of course I have read it, I an now talk about both of them. On to the double review.

So like I said, I read Across the Universe last year when it came out and of course I loved it. The cover it just so pretty and the synopsis of it was different and interesting and def made me want to read it. The idea of space travel is super cool, and being cryogenically frozen, oh man that scene where Amy is being frozen so she can undertake the 300+ year trip with her parents to the new earth, it was so well written and descriptive that I felt like I was being frozen. So anyway the story is that of a girl from Earth who is traveling aboard a huge space ship in order to find a new Earth to inhabit because the old Earth is running out of resources. So Amy and all of the other people who are frozen are supposed to be woken up once the ship reaches the new planet. The ship is being manned and run by people who have made the ship their home and continue to take care of it through the generations. Amy is woken up early and almost dies in the cryo chamber, but is saved by Elder. Elder is destined to take over the ship, he is taking lessons from Eldest, who now runs the ship. Together Amy and Elder, must unravel the mystery of why she was woken up, who is waking up and killing the other frozens, and why the ship has yet to reach it's destination.

The next book picks up uncovering a lie from the first book, the fact that the engine is broken and the shippers(those responsible for guiding and keeping the ship running) were told to lie to Eldest, who is now dead. Elder has assumed leadership of the ship and isn't doing a very good job keeping order on the ship now that the Fedders(those responsible for keeping the ship running) are off Phydus (a drug making the Feeders more complaint and easier to control). The Feeders, now that they have been giving freedom of choice and thought are starting to think that maybe Elder isn't the right choice as leader and the rumblings of rebellion start. Amy, meanwhile, is determined to unravel the clues left to her by Orion(the previous Elder) before he was frozen for his crimes. The clues lead her and Elder to the conclusion that the have indeed arrived at the new planet, but someone doesn't want them to land and is sabotaging the ship. The book ends with Amy and Elder and others breaking away and going to the new planet, which they have learned, while it is habitable the inhabitants on the planet are not friendly. Overall, the book was awesome, I loved the mystery that came about in the book and totally an't wait to see what they find on the new planet, too bad we'll have to wait until next year to see the end.

Legend by Marie Lu

OK, so far so good, def blogging more than last year. I joined the goodreads 2012 reading challenge and I've set my goal for 100 books this year. Thus far I have read 4 and I am on book number 5. I have also decided that I will blog about all the books that I have read so in theory this means at least 100 posts this year, we'll see how this goes. Anyway onto today's book which actually came out last year. When I read the plat summary for it, I felt like it was an ehh book, but I was going to read it because it was dystopia and I love me some dystopia. After reading it I can still say that it was an ehh book, though not as ehhh as I thought it would be if that makes any sense? So now onto the review.

The book is told through the alternating viewpoints of the two main characters, Day and June. June is the prodigy of the country. She is the only kid to score a perfect score on her Trial (think of it like an SAT and an aptitude test for 10 year olds) The higher the score the better your placement in school and then the better the job you get after you finish. Day is the most wanted criminal in the country. He failed his trial (or so he thinks) and then escapes after being experimented on and lives on the streets acting as a modern day Robin Hood, stealing money and plague cures from the wealthy, destroying republic battleships, and other general acts of vandalism. The story starts off with Day seeing his family that he left behind for his life on the streets being quarantined because his youngest brother has developed the plague. Day then endevors to break into the hosptial to steal the cure for him. This is where the plan goes awry, there are no plagu cures, only suppressents. While Day is making his daring escape, he meets June's brother Metais, whom he injures in his attempt to get away. Later we find out that he has died and its made to look like Day has killed him, when in all actuality this isn't true. And there are plots afoot and big government coverups, like any dystopia.

Much of the story takes place on the streets of the poor sector where June is trying to track down Day for her brother's murder, then once Day is captured in the military base and through flashbacks, done by both characters. While I admit that the flashbacks are important, the book moved a little slowly becasue of it. While June is trying to get to the bottom of the murder and the coverups, she begins to believe Day and starts to fall for him. The two begin to work together, and try to figure out the mysteries, all the while Day is on death row and June is trying to figure out a way to break him out.

Personally I think that the world could have been developed a little better. All we know is that the United States doesn't exisit anymore. The Republic that is left is at war with the rebels in the colonies, but that is all we really know about the outside world. I am hoping that the rebel and the colonies are better developed in the next book since it feels that the way this first one left off that that is where our hero and heroine are heading. So my overall review is that the book/series/triology shows some promise but ultimately it is not the next Hunger Games.

Delirium and Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver

Special double feature today. I read Delirium last year when it came out. The premise sounded really interesting. "What happens if love were considered a disease?" And so I borrowed it from work and read it...twice. It was so well written, so descriptive it was like I was there in the book, I could picture everything. When I finished with it the second time I was anxiously awaiting the second and third books due out in Feb. 2012 and 2013. Well imagine my shock and delight when an ARC (advanced reader copy) appeared at work on Tuesday. I immediately snatched it up, did a happy dance and set about reading it. Now that I have finished it, I have reviewws for both books, while waiting and wanting the final book.

So Delirium tells the story of a girl, Lena Halloway right before she is supposed to get her "cure" from the disease of love. Basically the cure is a lobotomy that is performed when you turn 18. Prior to that time the only real contact that you have with the opposite sex is your father and if you have any brothers. After you are "cured" you basically become a zombie and do not feel passionately about anything, love and hate become bad words and showing emotion about anything is dangerous. So Lena is only a fw months away from her procedure, which she is looking forward. She lives with her aunt, uncle and two younger cousins, since she is under the impression that her mother is dead. Her mother had the procedure multiple times, but was never cured. Lena doesn't want to end up like her mother, so she anxioulsy awaits her cure date. Before you are cured though you are given a sort of aptitude test that will determine your future spouse, job, income, even how many children you will have. It is on the day of Lena's evaluation that she first sees Alex. Later she runs into Alex again and then begins to develop the disease of love. The rest of the book develops their love to the point where they are both willing to forsake their lives in civilization and escape to the Wilds, where the Invalids (the uncureds) live, where Alex was born. The ending is so sad, yet so well done that I couldn't wait for the next one.

The second book is told in alternating times. Each chapter goes between then and now. Then being when Lena was in the Wilds, after she escapes the regulators and leaves Alex behind. In the Wilds she meets a band of Invalids, who teach her the ways of the Wilds. Raven in the leader of the band who found and saved Lena when she was lost. Now is after Lena, Raven and Tack leave the Wilds and have joined the resistance. They have infiltrated civilization and are acting as spies for the resistane. Lena's assignment is to watch a boy, Julien, who happens to be the son of a high ranking DFA official. The two are kidnapped at a rally and because of their close quaters they begin to fall in love. Because this book isnt out for another 2 months that is all I will say for now on the book, but fear not Alex fans, he may be making apperance at the very end in the cruelest of all cliffhangers.



Divergent by Veronica Roth

OK so let me start out by saying I absolutely LOVED this book. That being said I know that there has been a lot of buzz about this book and I can see why. I actually read this right when it came out last year and I wanted to do a really awesome review of it because I loved it so much and that is the reason that I am reviewing it now over 7 months later. So here we go....

The book starts out  in our future dystopian world of Chicago. There are differnt factions that most of society belongs to (There are the factionless, but there are the dreg of society). When you turn 16 you must make a choice as to which faction you are going to belong to. The factions are Abnegation (the selfless), Candor (the honest), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent).  These factions embody what society values and eah faction holds their namesake as the most important aspect of society, for instance Dauntless values bravery, so their members try to exhibit acts of bravery such as jumping off trains and climbing tall buildings. Most people choose to stay in the faction which they have grown up in, but not Tris. Tris is our heroine of the book. She and her brother both forsake their faction (Abnegation) and choose different ones, for Tris it is Dauntless and for her brother Caleb it is Erudite. 

Once you have picked you faction you go and live amongst it's members and must pass a sort of initation test, if you fail you become factionless, but if you pass you become a fullfledge member of said faction.So anyway, Tris goes through the three stages of initiation. While she is going through all of this there is a plot afoot. Some of the other initiates want to off Tris because she is doing so well in her trials, she learns that the reason she is doing so well is becasue she is Divergent, meaning she can manipulate the simulations she is put through,what this also means is that she doesn't just portray high aptitude for on faction, but two marking hr as dangerous to society (not really sure why, hopefully this will be explained in book 2). At the end the plot comes out, and there is a big show down where Tris and her love interest, fellow Divergent, Four save the day, kinda.

Like I said I loved this book, I have no major gripe with it. I can not wait until book 2, Insurgent, comes out in May. I loved how Veronica Roth used the city of Chicago in her story, I had recently been there so when reading it I could picture every place she described. I only have nice things to say about this book. If you haven't read it you need to get yourself a copy ASAP.

Happy Reading

Bloodrose by Andrea Cremer

OK, so it's been a while, well maybe more than a while. I just couldn't find the time to hop back on here and write a review. It's not that I didn't read anything great, I did, but between vacations, my house getting flooded, work getting flooded and the holidays there really just is no time. So that being said, on to the review. So I read Bloodrose, the final book in the Nightshade trilogy, and it was....well it was ok. Now don't get me wrong I LOVED the first two they were great I read them right after each other and couldn't wait to get my hands on this one just to see who Calla would pick in the end, but that's my issue with the book, the ending.

The book is packed with action, it literally picks up right where Nightshade leaves off, with Calla and Adne going off the get Ren, who by the way just happens to be Adne's brother. So anyway, they get Ren and bring him back to the Academy. Sidenote: Andrea Cremer could honestly do a series about the Academy, sorta like Vampire Academy or Strange Angels. Back to the review, So they ome up with this plan to get the rest of the pieces of the Elemental Cross so Shay as the Scion can defeat Bosque, close the Rift and bring harmony back to the world. So the wolves and the Searchers spend the next 200 pages or so going to exotic locations encountering a wee bit of an obstacle, but ultimately retrieving what they went in for.

So on to the big showdown, it was really action packed, but there were a few problems I had with it. One was the fact that, SPOILER ALERT, Ren was killed off they spent the whole trilogy pitting Shay against Ren and even though the reader knows that Calla was going to pick Shay, it still felt like a copout that Ren was killed off. It was like "Oh, She needs to pick between 2 boys, but wait one dies soooooo she doesn't really need to pick". The other big issue I had was the whole closing of the Rift. Of course the good guys win and all that jazz, buuuut  why do the wolves have to be turned into wolves at the end, shouldn't they like be rewarded for helping by allowing for them to continue to be "abominations", just because the don't "jive" with nature and all that crap, but news flash a lot of things shouldn't exist, but they do and besides this is a fantasy world, so what Adne just gets to keep "weaving" doors but Calla can't be a shifter totally not cool. This is why in my mind the books ends differently. In my mind Ren doesn't die, but instead stays on with Adne and the Searches since obviously Calla picks Shay, Ansel gets his wolf back so he can stop being a whiny little baby, and they rest of the pack get to stay as shifters and continue being cool wolf people and everyone lives happily ever after while searching for Logan, who somehow got away during the final fight. The End.

I don't care if that's not how it really ends that is how I want it to end, not as the main group of characters ending up as wolves, that't dumb, dislike. So anyway that is my rant about the end, loved the book and series up until that point, so go pick up a copy on Jan. 3 and if you are like me and think that the end was dumb, just recreate and a refuse to aknowledge that "other" ending.

Happy Reading

Possession by Elana Johnson

 

Ok so for any of you who are out there in cyberspace reading this, you know that I haven't been here in a while. I got busy with work and babysitting and basically life, but now I am back to give further insight on what I'm reading and next up is Possession by Elana Johnson.
Typically I don't buy a book until I've read it and like it. Weird? I know, why spend money on something you have already read right? But here is my thing I love my books (hence my entire blog dedicated to books) I have a collection of them and I quickly run out of space therefore I want books that I have read and like enough that I may one day go back and read it. I can't tell you how many books I have and how much money I have spent on books that the premise looked good, the reviews were great but for me it fell flat and I haven't finished the book/series and now here I am stuck with a book/series that I will not read again. So anyway the point of that story is that typically I only own the book after I have read it and deemed it good enough to have a spot on one of my shelves. But in this case I purchased Possession only based on the cover and the little paragraph blurb on Amazon. I know, I know I work for Barnes and Noble yet I use Amazon. Let me tell you this thought Amazon is easier to navigate and the don't empty your cart after a day or two, making it easier for me to use that as my TBR (to be read) list. So anyway I get this book, but before I do I read the reviews of people who have for whatever reason gotten their book early, and most of them aren't good. The biggest complaint, it's too confusing. So now I am starting to worry, I mean I bought this book hoping it would be good, well let me tell you I was right, this book was worth every penny. Yes the bok was confusing and yes you wil probably have to read it twice or reread parts of it before you get it all and yes the book will make you think, and it will leave you wanting more but those are the best kinds of books. So now one to plot summary

Once again I am reading dystopia, buy hey its what's in now. So this one is set in a Tech future remember how I said too much tech was bad in my review of Awaken (whihc by the way has a sequel coming out next year probably and is set to be titled, The Middle Ground) Well the world of Possession uses their tech in a different way. Anyway we meet the main character Violet or Vi for short and she is set to be matched with her friend Zenn. Now this part of the summary had me thinking it would be like the book Matched, but boy could I be more wrong. So anyway Vi has broken so many rules in her society and they are stupid little rules that the next time she breaks one she is taken to jail where we meet Jag. Jag is so similar to Vi, he too is a rule breaker, but he is from the Badlands. Together the two escape jail and head out to the Badlands in order to escape the Goodies ( I know stupid names but it helps you figure out who is on what side (... kinda.. sorta...). So they make it to the Badlands and of course Vi and Jog get closer and along the way they discover that not everything is what it seems and what they think it is is not how it is which makes everything so confusing (I told you you would have to read it twice) And the end, oh the end totally leaves you wanting more, but is there a sequel, nope there is a companion novel set in the same world different characters though and that is set to drop next summer. So no question today because you will need all your brain power just to figure out what the heck is going on in this book and who is the good and who is the bad and exactly what is happening in this world. Just go read it ...twice you won't regret it.

Ashes, Ashes by Jo Treggiari

OK so let me start off by saying that this book looked like it would be really good, but I was disappointed. This novel definitely had a lot of potential and just when I was like ok here we go now it'll start to get good I was left wondering what the heck happened.

Here is your basic plot, in the future there is a plague that is so bad that it kills 99% of the population. After this plague the weather system also goes outta wack leaving the world with a long wet season and a long dry season , also hurricanes and tornadoes and earthquakes (oh my!) that ravage the earth. Not really sure how plagues trigger natural disasters, but o well it's the end of the world right? SO anyway living all by her lonesome in Central Park is this 17 year old girl, Lucy. She's living and hacking out a meager existence in this lean-to type structure. No what I found really odd about this was that she was living there by choice. Her house didn't succumb to any of the disasters, and yeah sure with 99% of the population dead the water and heat are gonna be shut off eventually, but you still have a structure that you can live in, why would you leave your home in Northern NJ and trek to NYC to live in the woods especially when she states that the reason she left her family's home was so she didn't have to be alone after her family dies. Hello you are living alone, but in considerably worse conditions. So that was one this that bothered me. Something else that bothered me was the lack of zombies, not that I was expecting them right off the bat, but when Lucy does a flashback to the plague she talks about how once you get the plague chances are you are going to die from it, but there is also a very slim chance that you will survive and if you do you can become a "S'ans" and she talks about how they are crazy and try to attack people and I'm like "Oh cool, zombies wasn't expecting that, maybe now it'll get better", but nope disappointed there too, turns out the "S'ans" are just misunderstood and are completely normal aside from their appearance from the plague. Also, the big chase and climax is at the end, the very end and it was very disappointing. Overall, it did not live up to the hype I created in my head for this book based on it's plot summary.

So here are some questions for you based on the book which is in bookstore despite it's June 1 release date, so for those of you itching to read it like I was it's there in the stores waiting for you, but just don't have really high hopes for it. Ok so here are the questions to think about. If you were Lucy would you have left the relative safety of an actual building for the squalor and uncertainty of the woods? Next question is slightly spoilerish so read at your own risk. Would you have let the so called scientists use you and your blood if it meant have a chance to save everyone who was left from a mutating plague? Well, that is you food for thought