Book Review: Across the Universe by: Beth Revis

My Rating: ★★★★
Date Published: January 11th,  2011
Publisher: Razorbill
Age Group: Young Adult
Pages: 416
Do I own it?: Yes

Synopsis:

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

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


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

Review:

** spoiler alert ** 

I enjoyed this book very much, but I did not give it five stars because the ending was very slow and boring. 

Honestly, I did not think that this novel would be so creepy. I was extremely surprised. I found that the freezing process was awful. When the author was describing this scene, I was getting chills. I also thought it was really sad that Amy was half conscious the entire time she was frozen, which is over 300 years.

This book had fantastic characters.I hated Eldest from the moment I met him. I loved Elder and especially Harley. I also liked Doc. The only negative thing that I have about the characters is that there were a lot of predictable moments. I knew that Elder had unplugged Amy, I strongly suspected that Orion is the one who was unplugging everyone else, I also suspected that when Amy was in the garden waiting for Harley to come back from getting his paints that she would be raped or almost raped. I also knew that Harley was going to kill himself or harm himself in some way after we found out that his girlfriend killed herself.

I loved the mysteries in this novel though. Every time a secret was revealed, I was shocked, and found myself gasping at the book. I was also repulsed at some of the secrets and answers to the questions I had.

The ship was extremely interesting, and I loved how everything worked together. I find that the idea for this book was fantastic. I liked it a lot, and cannot wait to buy and read the second book. I already read the first chapter of A Million Suns, and I really want to know what happens next!

Christmas Book Haul!

 As you all may know, I love books. As a result of that, a lot of the presents I got where books. Here are the books I got this year:






In this picture, you will also see the lovely skull scarf I got from my sister for Christmas. It resides in the background.

Here are the books I got:

-Clockwork Prince by: Cassandra Clare
-The Unquiet by: Jeannine Garsee
-The Future of Us by: Jay Asher & Carolyn Mackler
- Persuasion by: Jane Austen
-Sense and Sensibility by: Jane Austen

Book Review: The Raven Boys by: Maggie Stiefvater

My Rating: ★★★
Date Published: September 18th, 2012
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Age Group: Young Adult
Pages: 409
Do I own it?: Yes

Synopsis:

“There are only two reasons a non-seer would see a spirit on St. Mark’s Eve,” Neeve said. “Either you’re his true love . . . or you killed him.”
It is freezing in the churchyard, even before the dead arrive.

Every year, Blue Sargent stands next to her clairvoyant mother as the soon-to-be dead walk past. Blue herself never sees them—not until this year, when a boy emerges from the dark and speaks directly to her.

His name is Gansey, and Blue soon discovers that he is a rich student at Aglionby, the local private school. Blue has a policy of staying away from Aglionby boys. Known as Raven Boys, they can only mean trouble.

But Blue is drawn to Gansey, in a way she can’t entirely explain. He has it all—family money, good looks, devoted friends—but he’s looking for much more than that. He is on a quest that has encompassed three other Raven Boys: Adam, the scholarship student who resents all the privilege around him; Ronan, the fierce soul who ranges from anger to despair; and Noah, the taciturn watcher of the four, who notices many things but says very little.

For as long as she can remember, Blue has been warned that she will cause her true love to die. She never thought this would be a problem. But now, as her life becomes caught up in the strange and sinister world of the Raven Boys, she’s not so sure anymore.

Review:

** spoiler alert **


I received this finished signed hardback copy of The Raven Boys by: Maggie Steifvater from my local library's ARC program.

Well. I have a lot to say about The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater. I remember reading her book Shiver, and I could not finish it because it was terrible. I almost gave up on this book at one point. I really did not like her writing style. It was confusing, and strange. In the beginning, the characters kept talking about a "ley line" and I had NO clue what was going on. The author should've explained what a Ley Line is earlier on.

Blue bothered me throughout the entire book. I thought that she was supposed to fall in love with Gansey??! I wanted her to fall in love with Gansey! Why is Adam in the picture? Blue would not make up her mind which really pissed me off. There were also just too many point of views. There was Adam, Blue, Whelk, AND Gansey. That was just too many point of views for me!

The story was a bit lacking. Gansey would not tell Blue why he was looking for Glendower, and I thought that that was a bit stupid, and the whole "kiss/kill" think was also stupid because it wasn't clear that she was making any kind of relationship with Gansey. Almost the entire book bothered me, but there were some things that I did enjoy, like the fact that Noah was a ghost. That was a really surprising plot twist, and I enjoyed that.

I liked the book, so I think that when the second one comes out, I will in fact read it. The end of the book made up for the fact that the beginning and middle wasn't so great.

Book Review: The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by: Michelle Hodkin

My Rating: ★★★★
Date Published: September 27th, 2011
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Age Group: Young Adult
Pages: 452
Do I own it?: Yes

Synopsis:

Mara Dyer doesn't think life can get any stranger than waking up in a hospital with no memory of how she got there.

It can.

She believes there must be more to the accident she can’t remember that killed her friends and left her mysteriously unharmed.

There is.

She doesn't believe that after everything she’s been through, she can fall in love.

She’s wrong.

Review:

Honestly, I don't think there was anything wrong with this book. I loved every single aspect of the plot, and the characters. The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer, was truly a masterpiece. The entire book kept me on edge. I wish I could go to the bookstore right now and buy the second one. I don't know why I waited so long to buy this book.

I thought that the plot was really complex, and worked together, and I honestly didn't see anything coming. Especially a certain thing that Noah is able to do. Not only is the cover art beautiful, but so was the writing. That was one of the things that I enjoyed the most about this book. The writing was hauntingly beautiful. This book kept me up till 1 am yesterday, because I couldn't stop reading it.

The characters were amazing. Jude creeped me out, I loved Mara and Noah, Daniel was just adorable, and so was Joseph. Jamie was pretty amazing too. I wanted to punch Anna throughout most of the book though. Claire made me angry too. I really liked the fact that Mara's mom and dad were so caring, and cared a log about her. I also really enjoyed how the book started. The prologue reeled me in right away.

The romance in the book was PERFECT. Some authors push the romance too early in the book, and make they're characters kiss waaaay too much, but in The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer, they didn't kiss as much, and didn't even have sex, which was really good. And they also didn't like each other right away.

There is nothing negative to say about this book. Bravo Michelle Hodkin! That WA a fantastic story. Can't wait to buy the second one.

Book Review: Beautiful Creatures by: Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl

My Rating: ★★★★
Date Published:  December 1st, 2009
Publisher:  Litte Brown and Company
Age Group: Young Adult
Pages:  563
Do I own it?: Yes

Synopsis:

There were no surprises in Gatlin County.
We were pretty much the epicenter of the middle of nowhere.
At least, that's what I thought.
Turns out, I couldn't have been more wrong.
There was a curse.
There was a girl.
And in the end, there was a grave.

Lena Duchannes is unlike anyone the small Southern town of Gatlin has ever seen, and she's struggling to conceal her power and a curse that has haunted her family for generations. But even within the overgrown gardens, murky swamps and crumbling graveyards of the forgotten South, a secret cannot stay hidden forever.

Ethan Wate, who has been counting the months until he can escape from Gatlin, is haunted by dreams of a beautiful girl he has never met. When Lena moves into the town's oldest and most infamous plantation, Ethan is inexplicably drawn to her and determined to uncover the connection between them.

In a town with no surprises, one secret could change everything.

Review:  **********************SPOILERS***************************************

I'm really conflicted about this book. When I started to read it, it was okay, but it wasn't amazing. There is A LOT of hype surrounding this series, and I was afraid I wouldn't like the book. Luckily, I liked it enough to keep reading. There were only a few times where it was really interesting, but the rest dragged a bit. Although the rest of the book was alright, the ending really made up for it. I couldn't put the book down for the last 100 pages or so. Ultimately that's what made me give this book 4 stars. The thing that I really liked about Beautiful Creatures, is that the writing is so similar, that it's really hard to tell that two different authors wrote this book.

The only thing that I HATE about this book, was that in the end, she didn't get claimed, and the claiming is pushed back to her 17th birthday. That REALLY pissed me off. The thing is, I knew it would happen. But I really hate that. It's one of the worst ways to end a book. The entire book is leading up to the moment she gets claimed, but she doesn't. The ending was a whole bunch of crap.

I liked the characters a little bit more than the plot line. My favourite characters were; Ridley, Reece, Aunt Del, Marian, Boo, Lena, Macon, and Ethan.

The other characters were okay, but they just weren't my favourites. Apart from that, I gave this book 4 stars. The ending was interesting enough that I will read the second book, but not yet since these books are massive, and I have a big tbr pile to get through

Book Review: What's Left of Me by: Kat Zhang

My Rating: ★★★★★
Date Published:September 18th, 2012
Publisher: HarperCollins
Age Group: Young Adult
Pages: 343
Do I own it?: Yes

Synopsis: 

I should not exist. But I do.

Eva and Addie started out the same way as everyone else—two souls woven together in one body, taking turns controlling their movements as they learned how to walk, how to sing, how to dance. But as they grew, so did the worried whispers. Why aren’t they settling? Why isn’t one of them fading? The doctors ran tests, the neighbors shied away, and their parents begged for more time. Finally Addie was pronounced healthy and Eva was declared gone. Except, she wasn’t . . .

For the past three years, Eva has clung to the remnants of her life. Only Addie knows she’s still there, trapped inside their body. Then one day, they discover there may be a way for Eva to move again. The risks are unimaginable-hybrids are considered a threat to society, so if they are caught, Addie and Eva will be locked away with the others. And yet . . . for a chance to smile, to twirl, to speak, Eva will do anything.

Review:

I finished this in one day guys... What's Left of Me was SO good, that I couldn't put it down. This book has been sitting under my TBR pile for such a long time. I wanted to read it, but I wasn't THAT interested in it, you know? I got this book as an ARC off of Goodreads, and I was going to wait before I read it, because I had other books that I wanted to read before this one. Well, let me tell you right now that when I was halfway through this book, I had so many feels, that I wanted to just cry.

I cannot express how much I loved this book. It was actually one of the most interesting Dystopian books I've read so far. I thought that the idea was really original (although it does remind me a lot of The Host). The characters were so well put together, especially the ones that are Hybrids, because I think of them as two different people. For example, I like Ryan A LOT better than I liked Devon, and I found him more attractive than Devon, even if they look exactly the same. I actually didn't like Hally at first because I found her incredibly annoying. But she grows on you!
The adults in the facility made me so angry, that I wanted to reach into the book, and punch them out. That's how angry I was at times!

I'm so happy that I won this book on Goodreads, because it was excellent. Thank GOD this book didn't end on a cliffhanger. I would've died if it did, because the next book comes out August 29th, 2013.. CAN'T WAIT!

Book Review: The Monstrumologist by: Rick Yancey

My Rating: ★★★★
Date Published: July 20th, 2010
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Age Group: Young Adult
Pages: 434
Do I own it?: Yes!

Synopsis:

These are the secrets I have kept. This is the trust I never betrayed. But he is dead now and has been for nearly ninety years, the one who gave me his trust, the one for whom I kept these secrets. The one who saved me . . . and the one who cursed me.

So starts the diary of Will Henry, orphan and assistant to a doctor with a most unusual specialty: monster hunting. In the short time he has lived with the doctor, Will has grown accustomed to his late night callers and dangerous business. But when one visitor comes with the body of a young girl and the monster that was eating her, Will's world is about to change forever. The doctor has discovered a baby Anthropophagus--a headless monster that feeds through a mouth in its chest--and it signals a growing number of Anthropophagi. Now, Will and the doctor must face the horror threatening to overtake and consume our world before it is too late.

(Short) Review:

This book exceeded my expectations. From the title and the synopsis, it kind of sounds like a joke, right? It's not. The Monstrumologist was one of the scariest books I have ever read. It was so gory! Like, incredibly gory.

I think that the thing that surprised me the most about this book, was the writing. It was excellent! It wasn't childish, and I felt as if I was reading an adult book. At times the writing was a bit dull, and hard to get through, but the action scenes made up for that.

I was actually scared to read this book during nighttime, because it made me super jumpy (My house is right across from a huge forest)....

I cannot wait to read the next one, and I hope it is as scary as this one is. I'm already extremely attached to the characters. Can't wait to pick up Curse of the Wendigo!