Tag Archives: teen books

Nov 18 2013
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Book Review: Champion by Marie Lu

ChampionTitle: Champion

Author: Marie Lu

Series: Legend #3

Genre: Teen Fantasy

Rating: 4/5 stars

The Overview: June and Day have sacrificed so much for the people of the Republic—and each other—and now their country is on the brink of a new existence. June is back in the good graces of the Republic, working within the government’s elite circles as Princeps Elect while Day has been assigned a high level military position. But neither could have predicted the circumstances that will reunite them once again. Just when a peace treaty is imminent, a plague outbreak causes panic in the Colonies, and war threatens the Republic’s border cities. This new strain of plague is deadlier than ever, and June is the only one who knows the key to her country’s defense. But saving the lives of thousands will mean asking the one she loves to give up everything he has. With heart-pounding action and suspense, Marie Lu’s bestselling trilogy draws to a stunning conclusion.

Champion

The Review:

Every time I pick up the conclusion to a trilogy I wonder if it’s going to live up to the expectation’s I’ve been harboring for the months leading up to it. Luckily, in Champion, most of the things I loved about the first two books were as amazing as ever: smart and relatable characters, immersive world-building, and wonderfully heart-wrenching moments.

I’ve always appreciated the multiple societies Lu introduced in the first two books, but enjoyed them even more in this novel when she expanded it to a global level. For the first time we really got to see how other countries function in this world and the roles they play regarding the Republic and the Colonies. I particularly loved the Antarctic society where a virtual point system “game” was created. It was evidently responsible for the high levels of national productivity and low crime rates. I found it really fascinating and would love to see an entire book written from a Antarctican’s perspective. Just think, it could be like Ender’s Game meets popular dystopian… I’m just saying.

I always enjoy reading books that are provoking, so long as they’re still fun. Champion, much like the first two in the series, drew me into the conflicts emotionally to the point where I caught myself dwelling on them long after I put the book down. While Legend seemed mostly centered around June in my eyes, Champion seemed much more focused on Day (or, at the very least, he had the most compelling conflicts). Most of his passages were vibrant and evoking, really making the story pop. June, on the other hand, had some good moments but I occasionally found myself zoning out during her POV. Overall, the emotional conflicts in this final book were outstanding in all regards… except for one: the love story.

There seemed to be a great deal of prolonged, almost senseless turmoil surrounding June’s and Day’s relationship. What’s more, it all stemmed from each character’s internal dialogue that the other person either deserved better, didn’t feel the same way, or whatever other stupid reason they could find not to be together. It’s the only thing I found dissatisfying about the story, especially considering how brilliant their analytical skills are supposed to be (which, incidentally, was my favorite element about the first book). You would think they would have been able to figure out a way around their issues somewhere along the way. Love is not that blinding. Anyway, I found it tiresome after a while, and it made me care a whole lot less whether or not they wound up together in the end.

So, despite the fact that Champion lost that consistent, strong characterization that made the first book so special for me, I still enjoyed it. In every other regard, it was truly a satisfying conclusion.

Recommended Reading: I always hand Legend to people who have read Hunger Games and Divergent and are looking for their next amazing dystopian. It’s a fast-paced, exciting trilogy that remains among the ones I recommend the most.

Other books you might like:

by Niki Hawkes

Nov 14 2013
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Book Review: False Sight by Dan Krokos

4.0.1Title: False Sight

Author: Dan Krokos

Series: False Memory #2

Genre: Teen Fantasy

Rating: 2.5/5 stars

The Overview: All Miranda wants is a normal life. She’s determined to move past the horrible truth of her origin as a clone so she can enjoy time with her boyfriend, Peter, and the rest of her friends at school. But Miranda quickly learns that there’s no such thing as normal – not for a girl who was raised to be a weapon. When one of her teammates turns rogue, it begins a war that puts the world in jeopardy. Now Miranda must follow her instincts – not her heart – in order to save everything she’s fought so hard to keep. with the image of a terrible future seared into her mind, what will she have to sacrifice to protect the people she loves?

4.0.1

 The Review:

Even though I finished this book almost a month ago, I’ve had a difficult time figuring out how to review it. There were a lot of cool aspects within this story, and a handful more that left a little to be desired… at least for me. The trouble is, the things I considered borderline deal breakers probably wouldn’t bother most people, so I’ve been struggling to separate my personal preferences from the actual quality of the story. Let’s start with the positives:

This is one of those fast-paced series that barely slows enough to let you catch your breath before pulling you into another wild ride. It was incredibly action-packed, but what I loved was that it also had plenty of inner conflict and character development. I felt like I could really get behind and root for these characters and they, above all else, will be what convinces me to read the final book.

The issue I had with False Memory was essentially the same one that kept me from reading the conclusion to the Maze Runner series: I just got tired of not knowing what was going on. Ever heard the phrase “jumping the shark?” Well, I feel the concept totally applied here, as Krokos continually jumped beyond the rules and parameters of this world as I was made to understand them. Every time I sort of wrapped my brain around what was going on, he smashed my theories and threw them out the window. Pretty soon, I just gave up trying, and that’s when I lost interest. I just needed something concrete to latch onto so I could feel more involved, rather than just grasping at vanishing threads.

Overall, this wasn’t one of my favorites but I do think that was solely a preferential thing rather than any fault with the author. For what he was going for, he executed it quite well even though I couldn’t fully appreciate it. I am still a fan, however, and look forward to reading the next book in his The Planet Thieves series.

Recommended Reading: I will hand this book to anybody who says they enjoyed The Maze Runner – these have similar concepts and story arcs, and I’m pretty sure Dashner fans will love them.

Other books you might like:

by Niki Hawkes

Nov 7 2013
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Book Review: The Naturals by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

The naturalsTitle: The Naturals

Author: Jennifer Lynn Barnes

Series: Naturals #1 (of more, I hope!)

Genre: Teen Mystery

Rating: 5/5 stars!

The Overview: Seventeen-year-old Cassie is a natural at reading people. Piecing together the tiniest details, she can tell you who you are and what you want. But it’s not a skill that she’s ever taken seriously. That is, until the FBI come knocking: they’ve begun a classified program that uses exceptional teenagers to crack infamous cold cases, and they need Cassie.

What Cassie doesn’t realize is that there’s more at risk than a few unsolved homicides— especially when she’s sent to live with a group of teens whose gifts are as unusual as her own.

The naturals

 The Review:

I want to start out by saying that I loved this book. It was intense, fast-paced, fascinating, and totally absorbing. In short, it had everything I’d hoped to find in a novel but with that extra-special something that turned it from great to phenomenal! It’s one of the best books I’ve ever read, and was definitely a “drop everything until you finish it” type of read. I plan on recommending it as often as I can, and here are a few reasons why:

Concept: this was such a cool book! In a market flooded with protagonists sporting supernatural abilities, we forget sometimes how strong people can be without them. These teens can solve crimes by using different elements of observation and analysis, and I found the process by which they did this entirely fascinating. What’s more, there were different types of analyzers – the main character could predict with great accuracy by observing people’s personalities and tendencies, while other characters did things like analyzing emotion, detect lies, and (my favorite) utilize statistics and probability. They fine-tune all their abilities at a miniature FBI boarding school through case studies and simulations. I’ll say it again, it was fascinating!

Story: The book was composed brilliantly. It was essentially a murder mystery that took place over the course of a particular serial killer’s series of crimes. Every so often, we’d get a glimpse into the killer’s mind which majorly creeped me out and made the whole story more intense. I often see writers struggle to convey a well-rounded villain, especially when they’re presented in short snippets before each chapter. Barnes is one of the few I’ve read to not only nailed the creepy, believable villain part but did it without losing any momentum for the story.

Writing: there’s so many elements about the novel that I found clever, even aside from the things and I talked about above. Even the way the story was composed was brilliant – there were so many elements you could tell it took a lot of time and thought, and it came together seamlessly. Every scene had a purpose and added to the snowballing journey to one heck of an ending. I got so involved that I held my breath in places. What’s more, although I had dozens of theories, I never really knew for sure “who did it” until the end.

Overall, this has become one of my favorite books ever and I can see myself reading it over and over again in the future (even though I already know who the murderer is). I’m also planning on reading everything this author has published, as she’s quickly become one of my new favorites!

Recommended Reading: I’m going to suggest this one to any customer looking for their next great read in the teen department (heck, I’ll probably bring it up to people browsing in mystery and fiction too because it’s one of those books that has potential for wide audience appeal). I’ll especially be on the lookout for anybody who loves mysteries and shows like NCIS and Criminal Minds (or to people like me who have always been fascinated by those shows but are too squeamish to watch them). I can’t wait to talk to other readers who loved it to!

Other books you might like:

 Giveaway!

IMG_4201Days after finishing this awesome book, I was lucky enough to meet the author at the Vegas Valley Book Festival. She was awesome – taking the time to talk to me without being freaked out by what I can only call my “fangirl” moment. It was truly a privilege to meet her and she even signed the pile of books I brought her –including a beautiful new hardcover of The Naturals. And guess what?

I got one for you!

 Just click the link below and enter the rafflecopter giveaway for a chance to win! Some rules apply:

  • The contest will run for two weeks (until November 21st) and I will be emailing the randomly picked winner shortly thereafter. If the winner doesn’t respond to my email within 48 hours, I’ll pick a new one.
  • Please be honest – I will disqualify all your entries if you mark something you haven’t done.
  • I will be shipping via UPS, and won’t be responsible for anything lost in the mail (although I will have tracking, so I don’t think we’ll have to worry about that).

I’m sorry to say that this is a US only giveaway. I recognize that a good portion of my readers are from other countries and want you to know I appreciate you just as much as my US readers… I simply cannot afford the shipping.

Click Here to Enter!

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Nov 4 2013
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Top Ten Tuesday – Top Ten Sequels I Can’t Wait to get My Hands On (11/5/2013)

Top ten Tuesday pink

 Hosted by The Broke and the Bookish

Top Ten Sequels I Can’t Wait to get My Hands On!

The first five are sequels that have covers and release dates (and, incidentally, are the books I am most excited to pick up within the next six months):

 For the next five, I decided to feature the first books in the series, as covers, titles, and release dates aren’t yet available for their sequels. Some of these rank among my favorite books read this year, and I am impatiently awaiting the next installments:

You may notice that most of them are YA which should illustrate the direction my reading tastes have been lately. I can’t seem to help it, though, because there are so many great new authors hitting the market that I’m having trouble keeping up with them all!

Is anybody else as excited for these sequels as I am?

 by Niki Hawkes

Nov 2 2013
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Stacking the Shelves – October’s Edition!

Stacking the shelves

Hosted by Tynga’s Reviews

Considering I own over 4000 books, I have a difficult time justifying the purchase of new books when there are so many unread ones on my shelves. I did the math, and if you subtract the ones I’ve already read, then divide the remaining by my average 100 books read per year, it will take me at least 35 years to read everything in my current collection. That’s not even taking into account all of the new amazing books that will come out in that timeframe (I can think of at least 20 I want in the next few months alone). Because of this, I have recently started to clear out some of the titles I know I won’t get to within the next ten years. There are so many unread series that I am excited for that I honestly haven’t missed the ones I was only casually interested in. Let the book purge begin!

Does that mean I’ve stopped purchasing books altogether? Uh, no. Not even close. I’m just a little more picky. :-)

Here’s a look at my library’s new additions:

Hardcopies:

IMG_4167

E-Books:

Trading in Danger by Elizabeth Moon
The Bane by Keary Taylor
The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells
The Glasswrights’ Apprentice
Steelheart by Brandon Sanderson
The Fifth Wave by Ricky Yancey
Allegiant by Veronica Roth

ARCs:

Alliance by Mark Frost
Fractured by Sara Fine
Unhinged by A.G. Howard
Freak of Nature by Julia Crane
Pawn by Aimee Carter
Lady Thief by A.G. Gaughen

Thank you Netgalley!

 There you have it – my month of splurges for October!

What books stacked your shelves this week?

Nov 1 2013
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Dystopian Reading Challenge 2013 – The October Edition!

Insurgent-Veronica-Roth-Divergent-Cover

Hosted by Blog of Erised (one of my favorite blogs), this feature challenges readers to pick up twenty-four dystopians over the course of one year. I don’t know how I’m only just finding out about this now, as I would’ve loved to participate from the beginning. Although, I haven’t missed out entirely because, as a self-proclaimed dystopian addict, I have been sort of participating all year. Here is a look at all the dystopian I’ve read (and reviewed) this month:

Inhuman by Kat F Falls
False Memory by Dan Krokos
Allegiant by Veronica Roth

 Inhuman – 4/5 stars

False Memory – 3/5 stars

Allegiant – 4.5/5 stars

 Add that to the 16 books I’ve read over the year and we end up with:

The Official Tally:

19/24

 Level 4: Leader!

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  What I love about this challenge is that it’s basically a celebration of the awesome dystopian books I would’ve been reading anyway (and it allows me to connect with other dystopian-addicts who are just as fanatical as I am).

 What dystopians have you read this year?