Twofer- Pandemonium and The Evolution of Mara Dyer

Hi folks. I finished Pandemonium some time ago, but I never got a chance to blog about it. I do have to say that I quite enjoyed it. It didn't take me very long to read it either (despite the holiday hiatus from the blog). I was relatively satisfied with the storyline. I thought it progressed well, and the adjustment of the main character to her new situation was well played. Introducing a new interest didn't really surprise me either. The ending of the story might be considered a shock to some, but I kind of saw it coming. I think anyone who is a fan of the series could predict it, but I liked it anyway. I am very intrigued to see what happens in the third installment, Requieum (which, unfortunately, was not available in time for NCTE this year).

This week, I read The Evoluation of Mara Dyer, by Michelle Hodkin. See previous blog entry from last year on The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer. I was really, really excited to get my hands on this book. Thanks to some fabulous friends who snatched me a copy from NCTE since Michelle signed the morning I left. I wasn't really sure where this book was going to go. Clearly I needed a refresher as it took me a few chapters to remember exactly what happened in the first book. Once I got into it, I was very intrigued. This book really made me feel a little crazy, too. I was beginning to wonder just how much Mara could take. I honestly did not really see the ending coming either. I didn't expect the storyline to take the course it did. I will definitely be ready for the third book next year. I need to know what happens to Mara, and I hope that it will be better than what I anticipate might happen.

Recently, I have finally acquired a copy of John Green's The Fault in Our Stars. All I have heard about this book is how amazing it is, and I am super excited to finally get into it firsthand. Reviews upcoming!

2012 was definitely not a productive reading year for me. Let's hope next year is a better one for reading!

Catching Up

Hi friends. Recently, I have finally caught up with some of those half-read books that have been lying around my house. First up, I finally (finally, finally, finally) finished Dark and Hollow Places. If you're unfamiliar with it, it is the final installment of the triology of Forest of Hands and Teeth  and Dead Tossed Waves. I am not sure why it took me so long to finish this book. I started reading it, thought it was interesting, then started reading something else and it somehow ended up tucked underneath my bed, waiting to be unearthed. I did find the ending to be mostly satisfying. Crazy how it took me months to get halfway through the book then a day to finish the second half. I felt that the end might have been slightly rushed, but it works.

I also finished Insurgent yesterday. I definitely enjoyed Divergent and sped through it. However, I got about 150 pages into Insurgent and just kind of took a hiatus. I really liked what happened in this story. But oh, you protagonists. Get it together! I do have to say that I feel like the lead character, Tris, is very realistic. I think many people would perform similar to how she does when faced with difficult situations. And let me just say, I hope we are never divided into a society of factions. Oy! For this book, I found the ending extremely satisfying but also a bit confusing. I am not sure exactly what is going on at the end of the book and am looking forward to the next installment to see where Roth decides to take the series.

For now, I have actually started a new book (gasp!). I read Delirium a few months ago and have decided to now read the second book, Pandemonium. We'll see how long it takes to get through it. :)

Delirium

Hi all! So it took a little longer to finish Delirium than anticipated because, well, I took a detour and read Fifty Shades Darker. Yup. Thought about going straight through to Fifty Shades Darker, but I wasn't really up for pornapalooza last week. So I got back to Delirium (by Lauren Oliver) and finished it up so I could move on to Pandemonium, which I actually snagged last year for free at NCTE. Woot! Anyway, here's a look at the cover:

What would it be like to live in a world where love is forbidden? That is exactly the idea that is present in this book. Instead of being the wonderful, happy thing we consider love to be, it is instead considered to be a disease. That' right. Like on the scale of AIDS or Hepatitis. How would that affect your relationships with friends, family, and potential partners? All of these issues are explored in the story, which I found to be quite intriguing. The added bits from fairy tales and scriptures of the society are a great touch, too. If you've ever wondered what the world would be like without love, this is definitely the book for you. But, of course, there has to be an underlying love story. What kind of YA novel would it be without it?

I did enjoy both the storyline and characters. The heroine is great because she has a typical "I'm not all that" complex but learns about herself throughout the story. There are a lot of moments where you can feel impending danger as well, so some things are not quite as surprising. Others are unexpected, but in a good way. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who's looking for a good story with the dystopian undercurrent.

So what's next? Well, I have several options. I am a slacker, slacker, slacker and still haven't finished the last book of Carrie Ryan's zombie trilogy (bad, bad, bad person), and I want to read Pandemonium and see where that goes. I also haven't finished Insurgent. Oops. I am such a half-reader nowadays. What's up with that?

I guess you will have to wait and see. Until then, happy reading!

A little more Entice-d

Hi all! Hope your summer of reading is going a little better than mine. I have such good intentions to sit and read...then I find myself knitting. Or playing on facebook. Or watching Big Brother. Yeah. Anyway, I did finish up Carrie Jones' Entice last night.

And I will have to say, I did like this one a little better than Captivate. There were good parts to that book, but it just didn't hold my attention like Need. Let me tell you, though, she will tear you between two people. Most of the time, I have a clear cut decision on who the girl should choose (i.e. Edward or Jacob, Gale or Peeta, Ky or Xander, etc). In this book, it's a little less clear. I had a clear choice for a while, now it's a little more iffy. I think I like Astley a lot, which is not something I anticipated happened. And I really like the name. It's going on a list of names I like.

Anyway, as for the book itself, I love that it brings in even more Norse mythology. Yay Carrie Jones! I think Norse mythology has been way underplayed, and I'm glad to see it making a reappearance in the world of YA literature. I have to admit, I can only imagine Thor one way now though....oh well. There's a nice little end of days storyline wrapping up in this book, lots of pixies and other fae, and a lot of death. That's right. Death. It's a little on the dark side of things, but isn't all good literature?

There is one more book in the series, Endure, but unfortunately I do not have it yet. Guess I'll have to snatch it up sometime to see how the story plays out. Until then, I continue on to the hundreds of books on my shelf. Next up? Lauren Oliver's Delirium. I've heard good things about it, ,so we shall see.

Happy reading, folks!



Slightly less captivated...

So, last night I finished Carrie Jones' Captivate. Here's what it looks like:

Now, don't be mislead by my title of the post. I did enjoy the book. It was not like Crossed, which was a second book that dragged on. This book didn't really drag, I just didn't like it as well as the first book. I think it's because of what happens though.
I can tell you that I was surprised by some of the events in the story. More than once, I thought, well, I didn't really see that coming. So there are good points. Lots more pixie fun, with a little bit of the other fae sprinkled in as well. Jones throws in some Norse mythology as well, which I absolutely love because I'm a huge Norse fan.
So, if you read the first book, you should definitely check out the second. These books are in a similar vein to other supernatural YA out there right now, but with some definite different directions.
Next up? The final book of the trilogy, Entice. We'll see how long it takes to finish it.

Double Feature! Storm of Swords and Need

Hi all! I really have been reading lately. Promise. But one of the books I was reading was George R. R. Martin's Storm of Swords, so it took me a while. But, you know, I had to get ahead of the HBO season so I would be prepared. OMG! More on that in a bit though. I also finished Carrie Jones' Need last night. So, here are my thoughts.

This book. Ugh. Halfway through I wanted to throw the book and just stop. But I didn't. By the end, I was okay with where it was going. But, again, no one is safe in this series. I starting to get frustrated with all of my favorite characters dieing while those I can't stand live. Grrrrrr. I've had about enough of that. But, I must say, there were some satisfying deaths in this book as well. And some that were quite unexpected. Quite. On the whole, I enjoyed it. There were a lot of twists and turns and intriguing moments, so I was satisfied. However, I am starting to get a little bored with the Daenerys storyline. He needs to fix that. She was one of my favorite characters, now I'm just meh about her.

I do have to say, at the end of this book, I was ready to pick up Feast of Crows and go on with it. However, I decided to take a short break from this series to pursue some of the many other books on my shelf, starting with:

If you are a fan of the supernatural genre, you will probably like this book. I have to admit, I read it in about two days, which is pretty good. It's a quick read with an interesting storyline. No vampires or ghosts or anything like that, but a different breed of supernatural. The story was interesting, I didn't hate the characters, and it wasn't quite as whiny as some books can get. There were a few parts that felt a little rushed to me, especially the end. But there are also two more books in the series, the next of which I am starting today. So, it has a lot of promise. My sister-in-law also read this book and loved it. She took it on vacation thinking it would take a few days and finished it in one. :) It's a fun little read if you need a good book (but not really scary, as the cover comments would have you believe).

So now I'm working on the next book, Captivate. More news on that soon perhaps. What are you reading this summer?





Fifty Shades of WTF

Ok, so I took a brief detour from Insurgent to look into the Fifty Shades trilogy that I've heard so much about lately. If SNL deems it worthy of spoofing, then I suppose I might as well give it a go.
I started with Fifty Shades of Grey this week, which bears this cover:

If you happen to read this book, you'll know why the cover picture is what it is.

The book has its intrigue as well as its not so much moments. I think another round of editing would have been beneficial in that aspect as it could cut some of the less relevant information. On the other hand, I found some of the mundane specifics to be interesting and quite true to life.

The story itself has been explained as "mommy porn" and I would have to agree. This is kind of like a trussed up Harlequin romance. There are some big words scattered here and there and a plot very loosely based on some classic literary tales. Much of the storyline alludes to Tess of the D'Urbervilles, but I found Christian Grey to be much more like Dorian Grey. I can't help but wonder if that idea was buried somewhere deep within the novel as well. That hedonistic, beauty-loving spirit of Dorian is very much a part of Christian Grey's character, but as far as I know he doesn't keep an aging portrait of himself. We shall see what is to come of that in future novels.

Is it the best book I've read this year? Definitely not. There are some fallacies throughout the story, and it has moments where I could only think...yeah, right. That would never really happen.

So if you're looking for a steamy summer romance, then by all means pick it up. It is definitely a little on the kinky side of things, but that is apparently the appeal of the story. If your tastes are more classically inclined like those of the protagonist Ana, you might want to just skip this series.

Back to Insurgent now (or perhaps Clash of Kings...hmmm...so many options). Happy summer reading friends!

Deadlocked

Well, fellow Sookie fans, we are only one book away from the conclusion of the series. And honestly, I think it's time. Of course, I did purchase Deadlocked on its release day because I have to know where the series is going.



But, once again, I was not super impressed with the story. It just feels...blah. Like she's trying to tie everything up but could do it with less books. I think she could probably have stopped a few books ago and been the better for it. However, we are still meandering along Sookie's complicated life with her. And she still hasn't really chosen. If nothing else, I wish she would just pick one damn man already. Geez, girl, you can't keep them all. (Not unhappy to have the Quinn cameo though! I do love that tiger.)

Anyway, this book is yet another filler, I feel, to get us along to the finale of the series. It better be a damn good one, too, since Charlaine's been stringing us along for a couple of books.

Crossed

Another book that I finished yesterday is Ally Condie's Crossed. Ta da!



This book is the continuation of last year's Matched, which I loved. I've had it for a while and finally picked it up to finish durng finals week. (Hey, I gotta do something while everyone's taking exams).

I wasn't unhappy with this story, but it definitely was not as interesting to me as Matched. The back and forth narration in the chapters almost annoyed me. On the one hand, it was okay to have different points of view, but like it said, it got a litle annoying. I was relatively satisfied with how the story ended, too. It definitely sets up well for the next book in the series (can't remember its title offhand, but it starts with a C, too). I am curious to see who Cassia meets up with going into the next book as well. If you read Matched (which I highly recomnend!), then I think this book is worth a read just because it will get you to the continuation of the series when it comes out later this year. :)

I'm baaaaaaaaaaack, for today.

Hi friends! I have done a lot of reading lately, but I haven't posted anything. Life, you know, it just takes up so much time. Oy! In the past week I have finished up several books, so I will just start with the most recent. Here she is, the beauty:

I picked up a signed copy of this book back in November while at NCTE in Chicago. I got to hear Veronica Roth speak, and she was a doll. She's also super young. Probably younger than me. I suppose that's why she captures the voice of her main character so well.

Fans of Hunger Games and similar YA series should enjoy this story. It has a female protagonist, a seriously categorized city lifestye, and a yummy love story. Honestly, I couldn't put it down and finished in less than 24 hours. I can't believe I didn't pick the book up before now. The divisions within the book and the reasons behind them are certainly interesting. They are right on par with things like Hogwarts Houses and Panem districts. Since it won't spoil anything for you, here are the city divisions: Dauntless, Erudite, Abnegation, Candor, and Amnity. I would like to say that I would be dauntless, but I am afraid I would be Erudite instead or possibly Abnegation. If you read the book, you should totally respond with what group you would choose!

Anyway, the second book in the series, Insurgent, came out last week (or perhaps the week before), so it is next on my list. I am actually planning on starting it tonight, so here's tohoping there's a new post about it soon!