BZRK: Apocalypse (BZRK #3) by Michael Grant (Awesome)

I received BZRK: Apocalypse a few days ago as an ARC (Advanced Reader's Copy).  Once I found out, I practically burst from excitement!  I've been a fan of this series from the first day that the first BZRK book came out (link is to my review of the first in the series).  Also, Michael Grant is one of my top-ten favorite authors of all time.  I read the Gone series first, followed by BZRK, and then Magnificent 12 series.  While all of Michael Grant's books so far have been spectacular, they greatly vary from each other.  However, I imagine that if you read Gone and liked it, you will like BZRK as well.  I loved both.  And the conclusion to the BZRK trilogy was, in a word, breathtaking.

The cover:

This series tends to have symbolic-seeming covers.  This one seems even more cryptic than the others.  It might show a mind shattering as madness overcomes it, or, maybe even, blood splattering around a crumbling world?  I honestly have no idea.  But the cracks on the word BZRK make sense, as much of this book is about the organization of BZRK cracking.  Overall, I like the cover, but it doesn't necessarily show anything.

Description:
Death or Madness.  Those are the only two options for the members of BZRK, and neither will be easy to avoid.  Sadie is suddenly thrust into leading the New York branch of BZRK into an impossible battle against the Armstrong twins.  Vincent is still struggling to recover from the lose of his biots.  Bug Man is on the run.  Lear seems to be setting them up for an impossible task.  And a mysterious person appears to be turning normal, innocent people into crazy, murderous lunatics.  But, how can the BZRK members possibly survive when even their own thoughts and memories are compromised, not to mention those of the people around them? Death or Madness.  Those were always the options, but in BZRK: Apocalypse, they might become reality.

Review:
It was a great, great book.  From about page 170 onwards, I just sat reading in a sort of trance where I did not exist.  Nothing around me did.  I forgot I was reading.  Nothing grabbed my attention away as the scenes played out in front of me.  I can always tell I am reading a truly spectacular book when all that exists, while reading, is the book and the characters and situations inside it.

I was shocked by how far Michael Grant went.  Not a single character was safe. Anything could've happened.  In a way, the insecurity of the character's positions made the entire book far more intense and riveting.  Some books seem to have no danger, since you know the author won't kill off the characters.  Do NOT be lulled into that false sense of security by Michael Grant!  No one was safe.  Death or Madness, they could all fall.

One of my only complaint in this beautifully executed book was that one of the story lines followed a helicopter pilot, and the little plot line really didn't seem necessary.  Sure, later in the book, she played a role, but I didn't feel like we needed quite as much from her point of view.  That leads me to my second small issue with BZRK: Apocalypse.  Practically none of the book was told from Noah/ Keats's point of view.  It was as if he went from being a main character to being just a supporting character next to Sadie.  It made sense for the plot line, but since he was my favorite character, I wish he had had a larger role than the one he had.

The plot line kept twisting as it became a race between several villains to bring about the apocalypse on their own terms.  I was completely thrown quite a few times.  I actually gasped aloud at one point. You will not be disappointed by the bulk of the conclusion to the BZRK series.

All in all, a great book.  I loved the story.  The very end (an epilogue, which I am not a big fan of to begin with) did not quite satisfy me.  However, it was not in the sort of way that I did not know everything I wanted to know.  The story was complete, but I didn't quite like the way it was tied up.  It just didn't seem to fit quite right to me.  However, most endings in books, that are not open-ended, leave me feeling the same.  Slightly disappointed in what becomes of the characters.  That might be why I hate epilogues.  There is always a feeling that that is not how the characters life should've ended up after all the excitement is over.

I would highly recommend BZRK: Apocalypse! You need to read the first two books first, but it's worth it!  It comes out October 14th in the USA (it might already be out in the UK, but I don't really know).  I suggest going ahead and reading it as soon as it comes out!

Phrase:
Death or Madness.

Elixir by Ted Galdi (Awesome)

*Note: the author gave me a copy of this book for the purpose of reviewing*

I read the book cover's description before I started reading.  It sounded really interesting, and I was not disappointed.  The book centers around a super-smart kid, which I was really excited about.  In my opinion, smart main characters are an underutilized characteristic of books.  

All of that aside, here is the cover:

In  my opinion, the cover nicely sets up the tone of the end-half of the book.  It shows a rush against the clock, while Sean is racing away from well dressed men with guns and towards a girl.  The cover shows a high level of intensity.  It's also a tad bit "murky" which leads to build a level of uncertainty, just like in the book.

Description:

Sean Malone is a genius kid who cannot help but solve problems that have plagued lesser minds for years, or even centuries.  But, some problems were never meant to be solved.  And when they are solved, many very powerful people rush to cover them up.  In any way they can, even if it means doing terrible things.  The situation worsens when Sean's girlfriend comes down with a terrible disease and Sean is her only hope of living another day.

Review:

I was surprised by how much I enjoyed Elixir.  Once the story got going, it really got going!  I found myself so sucked into the storyline that my eyes were just flying across the pages, without even noticing as the hours ticked by.  All of that said, the beginning was a little slow.  It was still exciting and interesting, but it didn't cause me to be as invested as I was by the end of the book.

The characters had a nice depth to them.  Especially Sean, who we got to see a good glimpse into the mind of.  In fact, in a vague sort of way, he reminded me of Colin from An Abundance of Katherines by John Green, if only in the ways he thinks about his own genius. The supporting characters all had their own personalities, as well.  They were easy to see as separate people with separate lives, which is a detail I always appreciate.  

The book was so exciting! There was practically non stop action, especially at the end.  I cared about the characters and worried about what would happen to them.  It was a great book, which I would highly recommend.  It will be officially published on August 5th, and I hope you will go read it!

Phrase:

What was in that shampoo bottle?