October 4, 2015

The Infinite Sea (5th Wave #2) by Rick Yancey 4.5/5 stars

Hey, guys!  I just finished the second book in the 5th Wave series by Rick Yancey.  If you missed my review of book one, check it out here.  It's a good book, and you'll probably enjoy it.
The Infinite Sea was also great, though not quite as spectacular as book one.
The Cover:
The Cover:
The cover shows a person in a tunnel-like area that's flooding.  I can honestly tell you I have no idea what scene is displayed.  In fact, I don't believe that it is a scene but a strange, not obvious symbol.  The cover gets you interested, but it doesn't really relate.  At all.  C+ cover just because it doesn't connect.

Official Description:
How do you rid the Earth of seven billion humans? Rid the humans of their humanity.
Surviving the first four waves was nearly impossible. Now Cassie Sullivan finds herself in a new world, a world in which the fundamental trust that binds us together is gone. As the 5th Wave rolls across the landscape, Cassie, Ben, and Ringer are forced to confront the Others’ ultimate goal: the extermination of the human race.
Cassie and her friends haven’t seen the depths to which the Others will sink, nor have the Others seen the heights to which humanity will rise, in the ultimate battle between life and death, hope and despair, love and hate.



My Review:
The first thing you guys should know are the point of views for this book.  Instead of the first book, where the POV alternated between first person segments from Ben and Cassie, with a short 3rd person in the middle, this book had a long segment from both Cassie and Ringer, with two small 3rd person sections focused on Poundcake and Ethan.  Ben's POV was no longer around.  And he was my favorite character.  I was definitely disappointed by that but maybe in the next book Ben will have a larger role!
The plot was really cool.  It developed the Others/ aliens plan and purpose more and more.  Their ideas were interesting and original.  It made it a pleasure to read.  One of the highlights was the aliens new plot on how to use the little kids they took.  (Hint: It involves bombs)  It was a new idea that was so disturbing that it worked really well to tell us about the mindsets of the aliens.  
The characters were great and complex.  They had their own motivations and thought-processes.  Ringer is an amazingly strong female character, who is frankly bada**.  She couldn't have cared less about her "love-interests" and would rather kick butt.  It's rare to see such a great girl character who doesn't make me want to bash my head against a wall.  Ringer was this girl.  (All that said, I still wish that Ben had a larger role.)
My main issue with this book was the last bit.  The complexities of the aliens plans got a little hazy.  A large scene starring Ringer and Vosch was just muddled and I ended up confused (in a non-purposeful way) and had trouble buying the scenario.  It just didn't make sense.  That was only a span of maybe 20 pages, but it was an important piece of the story that will be built on later and was just in need of some sort of editing or another.
All in all, I really liked this book.  It was great and I look forward to the next book!  It had unique ideas, interesting and complex characters, and a fast-moving plot.  The writing in general was done with a lot of skill, which was just obvious to anyone who reads it.  I would definitely recommend it to anyone who read The 5th Wave.  (If you haven't yet, I'd recommend you read that, too.)

Phrase:
Dreamland

If you liked this book, you may also like BZRK by Michael Grant.

Happy Reading!

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September 23, 2015

The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey 5/5 stars

Hey, guys!  Sorry that I haven't posted in a while.  School started back and apparently you can't read much while having a constant stream of homework.  I just haven't had much time to read this month!  That being said, I made time to read this remarkable book.  This is one of those books that I had to set down at certain points and just scream in (a good kind of) frustration.  It was good, without a doubt.

Anyways, the cover:


The Cover:
It shows Cassie wandering in the woods after the first few waves of attacks.  It's not an exciting cover, but there's nothing bad about it.  It could've been much worse.  A- cover.

Official Description:
Never mind, their description is a spoiler fest and doesn't even mention the second main character. I'm not a fan and would recommend not reading it if you don't want major spoilers.  Any description has lots of spoilers, since there are plot twists left and right in this book.  I read this book completely blind, thinking it was about aliens and had good ratings (and was the only book in a pile of free prize books I could chose from that I'd heard of).  Nevertheless, I won't spoil anything in my review.

My Description:
The aliens are here.  They are not here to help or even to imprison the human race; they are here to exterminate.  The first three waves killed most of the human population.  The 4th wave turned the remaining humans against each other.  No one could be trusted when you couldn't tell the difference between the aliens and the other survivors.  A girl's and a boy's experiences in this new war on the Others are very different.  The girl struggles to keep a promise to her little brother and to survive all alone and in hiding in the new world.  The boy joins an army that's set on destroying the aliens however possible.  Their paths cross in a series of intricate and shocking ways.

My Review:
This book was amazing.  The last two hundred pages, I was so invested in this book, its characters and its plot that I frequently had to put down the book and just freak out.  The writing style was great.  It was funny, lively, and serious all at once.  It was perfect for building suspense and diffusing the tension whenever needed.
The book switches point-of-view whenever a new part happens, so be aware of that.  Most of the main characters had a few pages of a point-of-view but Cassie and the boy (whose name I'm not saying because it's a spoiler) both had longer, first-person sections.  I'm not going to lie and say that I enjoyed all the parts equally (the boy's where arguably the best), but all of the characters were very complex and well-thought-out.  They were also really likable, which is always a good sign.
The best part of The 5th Wave was its plot twists.  They littered every page of this book and constantly threw me off guard.  You anticipate many of the twists, but the characters' reactions to the surprise would throw me for a loop.

Overall, I would definitely recommend The 5th Wave, the first in its series.  The Infinite Sea is already out, and I am definitely looking forward to reading it.  I also hear that a movie is coming out soon based on this book, so there's lots to look forward to after reading this remarkable book!

The Movie Trailer:



Happy Reading!

August 30, 2015

Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer 3.5/5 stars

Hey, guys!  Sorry that I haven't posted recently!  To be honest, I just haven't had the time to read with school starting back.  I meant to post this review about a week ago but got behind.  Sorry!
I read Into Thin Air for my Summer Reading book this year.  (Well, I actually chose Pride and Prejudice and had to abandon that (more to come on that disaster of a book).)  Into Thin Air seemed much better.  According to descriptions it was Jon Krakauer's account of his perilous climb up Mount Everest.  While I can't deny that it was, I was also a whole bunch of irrelevant mountain statistics.  It wasn't a bad book, but it was very heavy and very little happened for the first two thirds.
Anyways, the cover:
The Cover:
It is formatted like a newspaper article (in a way), like Jon's role in climbing Mount Everest, a journalist.  The photo is of Everest in a storm.  It fits the book well, but it isn't a particularly interesting cover.  B cover.

Official Description:
On May 9th 1996, five expeditions launched an assault on the summit of Mount Everest. The conditions seemed perfect. Twenty-four hours later one climber had died and 23 other men and women were caught in a desperate struggle for their lives as they battled against a ferocious storm that threatened to tear them from the mountain. In all, eight climbers died that day in the worst tragedy Everest has ever seen. 
Jon Krakauer, an accomplished climber, joined a commercial expedition run by guides for paying clients, many of whom had little or no climbing experience. In Into Thin Air he gives a thorough and chilling account of the ill-fated climb and reveals the complex web of decisions and circumstances that left a group of amateurs fighting for their lives in the thin air and sub-zero cold above 26,000 feet - a place climbers call 'The Death Zone'. Into Thin Air reveals the harsh realities of mountaineering and echoes with frantic calls of climbers lost high on the mountain and way beyond help.


My Review:
I enjoyed Into Thin Air once the storyline truly started moving.  However, that took probably 250-300 pages.  Those first pages were full with all of the factual information about Everest and the backstories of characters that you could ever want to know.
The author introduced a few too many irrelevant characters and would rarely bring them back up again.  This led to some confusion of who the characters were and whether or not they would be important later on.
I just didn't find myself engaged in the story.  If you are interested in Everest, I would recommend Into Thin Air because I actually learned a lot.  If not, maybe choose a different book.

Phrase:
Altitude Sickness

Happy Reading!

July 27, 2015

Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell 3.5/5 stars

Hey, guys!  I just finished reading Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell (also known as the author of Eleanor & Park).  I entered into this book thinking that it would be a wonderfully cute love story where the main character was a giant nerd/fangirl.  While that was still what it was, I found the story lacked the umph/the connection that really got me engaged.

The Cover:
The Cover:
It shows Cath writing Simon Snow/ Baz fanfiction while Levi tries hopelessly to get her attention. It's a simple cover that it kind of cute.  I love the cover but I think it gives a bit of a misconception about what the book is about.  (More on that later)  A+ cover.

Official Description:
A coming-of-age tale of fan fiction, family and first love. 
Cath is a Simon Snow fan.
Okay, the whole world is a Simon Snow fan...
But for Cath, being a fan is her life—and she’s really good at it. She and her twin sister, Wren, ensconced themselves in the Simon Snow series when they were just kids; it’s what got them through their mother leaving.
Reading. Rereading. Hanging out in Simon Snow forums, writing Simon Snow fan fiction, dressing up like the characters for every movie premiere.
Cath’s sister has mostly grown away from fandom, but Cath can’t let go. She doesn’t want to.
Now that they’re going to college, Wren has told Cath she doesn’t want to be roommates. Cath is on her own, completely outside of her comfort zone. She’s got a surly roommate with a charming, always-around boyfriend, a fiction-writing professor who thinks fan fiction is the end of the civilized world, a handsome classmate who only wants to talk about words... And she can’t stop worrying about her dad, who’s loving and fragile and has never really been alone.
For Cath, the question is: Can she do this?
Can she make it without Wren holding her hand? Is she ready to start living her own life? Writing her own stories?
And does she even want to move on if it means leaving Simon Snow behind?


My (Mildly Sarcastic) Description:
Cath is a Simon Snow fan.  However, she is not a quirky nerd who just glows with excitement about fictional worlds.
No.
Cath would rather sit in her room, not speaking to anyone and write fanfiction.  Her dorm room is where she will sit like a bump on a log through perhaps two or three hundred of these four hundred and fifty pages.  On her laptop she sits while complaining about how lonely she is, apparently not recognizing that she brings it on herself by not even speaking to her new roommate for the first month or so of college.
She will make you, however awkward you are, seem like a social butterfly.
Why read a story about someone on their laptop when you yourself could be doing the same thing? you might ask.  I don't know.  The best response I have is to read the love story that picks up about 3/4 of the way through this novel.

My Review:
As you can probably tell, I was bored by this book.  It wasn't poorly written; the writing style was actually quite interesting, and you can definitely tell that Rainbow Rowell knows how to write. However, I just do not think that she should've chosen this particular topic.
Firstly, you can tell that she doesn't quite get the whole "fangirl" thing.  Sure, she gets the basics down, but the overall feel was... off somehow.
Also, she couldn't quite get the whole awkward thing right either.  (Well, it was definitely awkward, but it wasn't the right kind of awkward to get across a story.)  I have definitely read my fair share of stories with crushingly awkward protagonists.  (See: If I Fall, If I Die and Boo) But, those books made me relate to the characters instead of just wincing.  
I'm also not going to lie that it irritated me beyond belief how much "Simon Snow" was a blatant rip-off of Harry Potter, a boy wizard in a boarding school to study magic.  It wasn't just that though. Here's a quote so that you can see how deep it ran: "'Baz's hair is sick,' Wren said during Simon Snow and the Selkies Four [fourth movie].  All the actors had longer hair in this movie."  Maybe being mildly upset about this is just because I know way too much about Harry Potter, but still!
My final complaint was that the ending was the definition of anti-climatic.  It was almost as if Rainbow Rowell just lost interest in the book and shrugged and called it done.
All of Fangirl's shortcomings aside, the writing style was still very interesting, and the dialogue was funny.  While most of this book was boring, the parts that were a little exciting were all brilliant pieces of writing.  However, these great spots were few and far between.
I would not recommend Fangirl.  I really hoped to like it and was sorely disappointed, and I think you will be as well.  All in all, I would say that I've definitely read better books and, even, better fanfiction.

Phrase:
Range Management

Happy Reading!

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July 22, 2015

The Long Walk by Richard Bachman (AKA Stephen King) 5/5 stars

Hey, guys!  A few days back, I posted about the first book I read in The Bachman Books collection.  I had already read Rage (which was interesting and mostly enjoyable) and decided to start the second book, The Long Walk.  It was one of the best books I've ever read.  The premise was fantastic, the characters incredibly complex and fascinating, and the writing... just perfect.  

The Cover:
It shows the dotted yellow road line extending farther than you can see in the distance, a shoe that had fallen off a Walker on the ground and a storm brewing on the horizon.  It works really well for this book, I think.  It's not eye-catching per se, but it does link with the book in the perfect way.  One of the covers that you look at after you finish reading and think, "I get it."  A+ cover.

My Description (There isn't a very good one officially):
The Long Walk is an annual competition.  100 teenage boys enter each year to see who can walk the furthest and win fame and a prize of their choice.  The rules are that you must keep walking at a pace of over 4 mph.  If you go under that speed, you get a warning.  After four warnings you are out.  The catch is that when you are out, you are shot by the soldiers lining the road.  There is only one winner, the other 99 must die.  
Ray Garrity enters this competition during The Long Walk, and he must battle physical and mental strain just to stay alive.

My Review:
Saying that I was a ball of pure stress while reading this book would be an underestimate. Considering that it was basically a book about characters walking in a straight line, you wouldn't imagine that I would be so stressed.  However, the way that The Long Walk was written, it kept me so far on the edge of my seat that I was almost on the floor.  If you could read this book without getting a knot in your stomach/ experience physical pain, I would be shocked.  This excitement was caused by anything and everything: a steep hill that was almost impossible to go up at 4 mph, a friend being shot for stumbling too many times, an exhausted stumble, or just the realization that literally everyone was going to die.  
The mental and physical hurdles of the Long Walk were also crazy.  The Walkers walked for hundreds of miles with breaking pace.  Not for sleeping, eating, or even going to the bathroom.  The other boys dropped like flies from everything from a cramp, to exhaustion, to the inability to continue walking in their own pus filled shoes.
If you were to ever feel guilty for sitting down while reading a book, this is the one to do it.  You can't feel very good about laying in bed while reading about Garrity fantasizing about the calm, painlessness that was death.  
The characters were some of the most well-thought-out and unique characters that I have ever read about.  I couldn't help but to love them, but only one character would be left standing.  I had to sit by as all the characters that I grew to like were slowly worn down past their breaking point, walked for miles in desperation, and then were shot.  It could be quite traumatizing if you are a person who can't handle character deaths!
The plot, the characters, the ideas that it makes you think of, the writing style were all perfect.  My only complaint about the entire book was the last page.  It was fully wrapped up, but left for a bit of interpretation.  I understand why Richard Bachman/ Stephen King did it, and it did work well for the story but I wanted a little bit more of an ending!
Even with the ending, I would recommend The Long Walk with all of my heart.  It was one of the best books I've ever read.  Just, please, please consider reading it!

Phrase:
Jelly sandwiches

Happy Reading!

July 19, 2015

Rage by Richard Bachman (AKA Stephen King) 4.5/5 stars

Hey, guys!  A few days ago, I bought a collection of four Stephen King novels that he wrote under the pseudonym of Richard Bachman in the eighties.   The books were Rage, The Long Walk, Roadwork, and The Running Man.  I picked it up mainly because I have been really wanting to read The Running Man, and the whole collection was three dollars (it was a used book store) so I thought that even if I hated the other three books, I would have a good deal.  Let's just say that based on just the first book, I've already more than gotten my money's worth!

The Cover:
The Cover:
I don't like this cover.  It shows Charlie, our protagonist, sitting at the front of Mrs. Underwood's class with the pistol in his lap.  That's fine, but the expression on his face is too cruel.  It doesn't match the tone of the book at all.  C cover.

Official Description:
A disturbed high-school student with authority problems kills one of his teachers and takes the rest of his class hostage. Over the course of one long, tense and unbearable hot afternoon, Charlie Decker explains what led him to this drastic sequence of events, while at the same time deconstructing the personalities of his classmates, forcing each one to justify his or her existence.

My Review:
I loved the idea of this book.  It is a book about a school shooter, from the shooters's perspective.  He seems perfectly reasonable, and I found myself rooting for him, as absurd as that sounds.  The most interesting part of this idea was how chill Charlie's hostages were.  They also seemed to be rooting for Charlie.  I don't want to spoil anything for you guys because this book was a roller-coaster ride of subtle shifts that ended up... where it did.  (Wow, what an ending!)  Rage was a very interesting view on humanity, insanity, and schools.  It is definitely worth reading and I'm glad that I did!
A good portion of this book was Charlie completely wrecking teachers and policemen as they tried to talk him down, and it was hilarious!  That alone was fantastic.  
The only drawback of Rage was that a few of Charlie's stories were a little long-winded.  It wasn't a big deal but it did slow the book down a bit.
Also, I need to warn you that this book is for the older folks.  If you are not in high school yet, I would not read this book.  There are a few scenes that are a bit racy that could make you uncomfortable.  Even if you are in high school, I would give a warning.  You know what you are comfortable with, keep it in mind!  The scenes in question have some variation of language,  violence, and sexual situations.  The last one is the one that I'm mainly warning about.  Decide for yourself.
I still definitely recommend Rage as it has a unique view on humanity and the way that society works.

Phrase:
The next time you ask a question...

Quote:
"What must it be like for a suicide coming down from a high ledge? I'm sure it must be a very sane feeling.  That's probably why they scream all the way down."

*Note: I was browsing the internet because I thought there was a movie version of this to draw your attentions to (there isn't), and I noticed that Stephen King has stopped the printing of Rage because he is afraid about inspiring school shooters.  You can still find it in The Bachman Books collection and libraries, but you may be unable to buy a new copy.  Sorry!
To read more: http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2013/07/15/stephen-king-discusses-book-he-doesnt-want-anyone-to-read/

Happy Reading!

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July 16, 2015

The Heir (The Selection #4) by Kiera Cass 4/5 stars

Hey, guys!  I just finished The Heir by Kiera Cass.  It was the fourth book in The Selection series.  If you missed my first few review, click here for The Selection (#1), The Elites (#2), and The One (#3).
The Heir was a bit of a letdown compared to the last book in the series,  The One.  I probably could have prevented much of my disappointment if I had read some description or another before I began reading it.  Instead of being a continuation of the earlier story, like a book four would suggest, it took place at least twenty years later and centers around America's and Maxon's daughter's Selection.

I think it would have been a better decision to have The Heir be the first book in a sequeling series instead of just a continuation.

The Cover:
The Cover:
Again, there is not much to say.  We have our main character, Eadlyn, is a grey dress.  The mirrors reflect her is a wedding dress, which I think was a nice touch.  There is also a crown over the title.  I like this cover more than the previous books in the series.  A cover.

Official Description:
Princess Eadlyn has grown up hearing endless stories about how her mother and father met. Twenty years ago, America Singer entered the Selection and won the heart of Prince Maxon—and they lived happily ever after. Eadlyn has always found their fairy-tale story romantic, but she has no interest in trying to repeat it. If it were up to her, she'd put off marriage for as long as possible.
But a princess's life is never entirely her own, and Eadlyn can't escape her very own Selection—no matter how fervently she protests.Eadlyn doesn't expect her story to end in romance. But as the competition begins, one entry may just capture Eadlyn's heart, showing her all the possibilities that lie in front of her . . . and proving that finding her own happily ever after isn't as impossible as she's always thought.

My Review:
My thoughts during this book mirrored The Selection.  I was a little offended by the idea and thought it was too predictable until I got invested in the plot.  These books are very character-driven, and after the switch to a new protagonist, I thought I wasn't going to be able to continue the series.  Eadlyn is a MUCH less relatable character than her mother.  I would read about America and think that she was awesome, which was the highlight of the series really; I would read about Eadlyn and want to punch her (she is bratty, spoiled, and quite a bit fake).  About halfway through the book, though, I started enjoying the book as the characters developed and the plot picked up.  That isn't to say that I grew to like Eadlyn or that it became less predicable (I think I could tell you without a bit of doubt who she will end up with).  
I didn't enjoy The Heir nearly as much as I enjoyed the previous three books, but it was still interesting and worth reading.  I look forward to the next book when it comes out.

Phrase:
Always need butter

Happy Reading!


July 12, 2015

Staff of Serapis by Rick Riordan 4/5 stars

Hey, guys!  This is going to be a really quick review.


Rick Riordan wrote this short story as a sort of sequel to his earlier short story, "The Son of Sobek", which stared Carter and Percy from The Kane Chronicles and Percy Jackson.  This short story centered on Annabeth and Sadie as they met on a train and attempted to defeat Serapis and his staff.

It was pretty good but was not worth buying.  It was about the same as two or three chapters.  It felt a bit forced, to be honest.  Sadie would say something that really would never come up in conversation to remind the readers of something from The Kane Chronicles.  In fact, these references were so heavy that I thought that they were designed so that people who had read only the Percy Jackson series would wonder about penguins or whatever and choose to start Sadie's series.
All of that wasn't to say that I didn't enjoy it.  I just felt like it wasn't as good as it could've been.  I love, and probably always will love, Rick Riordan's writing style and characters, but I felt like this could've used some work.
All in all, I would not recommend buying it, but I would recommend reading it.  Don't expect much going in and you will probably enjoy it.  Go see if you can borrow it from a friend, your library, or something else.

Until next time, guys!  Happy Reading!

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July 8, 2015

The One (The Selection #3) by Kiera Cass 5/5 stars

Hey, guys!  So I just finished the third book in the Selection series.  If you missed my earlier reviews of this series, click here for book one and here for book two.
The Cover:
The Cover:
It yet again shows America is a dress in front of mirrors.  It's not too exciting, but I do like the use of white, like a bride, on the cover.  It works pretty well for this book even though it contains no wedding dresses.  B+ cover

Official Description:
The time has come for one winner to be crowned.When she was chosen to compete in the Selection, America never dreamed she would find herself anywhere close to the crown—or to Prince Maxon's heart. But as the end of the competition approaches, and the threats outside the palace walls grow more vicious, America realizes just how much she stands to lose—and how hard she'll have to fight for the future she wants.

My Review:
I read this book in a single day.  Almost a single sitting.  It was by far the best book in the Selection series so far.  They toned down the unneeded drama (such as the love triangle) and increased everything else.  The cuteness factor increased, the danger increased, the revolution increased.  Basically, the awesomeness increased.  It was perfect.
The characters remained the fantastic, complex balls of emotions that they've always been.  It is also important to note that I have not been disappointed by a character and started hating them yet, which is a true accomplishment in a third book in a series.  Usually someone will get whiny and I'll be hoping for them to get killed off, but that was not the case in The One
The plot was much more exciting than the previous books.  It moved quickly and kept me on the edge of my seat.  
My only real concern is that this book was told exactly like the final book in a trilogy.  I found out that there is another book, The Heir which follows this novel.  I'm concerned that it will be bad because this book was supposed to be the end, you can tell, and I don't want the series ruined for me... Who knows though?

Phrase:
Northern Rebels

Happy Reading!

July 5, 2015

The Elite (Selection #2) by Kiera Cass 5/5 stars

Hey, guys!  So I finished the second book in The Selection series by Kiera Cass.  If you haven't read my review of book one, click here.  I really enjoyed it so here's a brief review!

The Cover:
It shows America dressed up in her ball gown.  Really not much to say about this one.  It's not an embarrassing cover but it's also not eye-catching.  B+ cover.

Official Description:
The Selection began with thirty-five girls.Now with the group narrowed down to the six Elite, the competition to win Prince Maxon's heart is fiercer than ever—and America is still struggling to decide where her heart truly lies. Is it with Maxon, who could make her life a fairy tale? Or with her first love, Aspen?
America is desperate for more time. But the rest of the Elite know exactly what they want—and America's chance to choose is about to slip away.  

My Review:
This book was fantastic.  It was romantic and cute at certain points and surprisingly intense and action-packed at others.  It was definitely better than book one.  My favorite parts, such as the characters and their fierce independence, remained the same and the parts that I didn't enjoy, such as its predictability, faded a bit.  
It was a quick read that definitely left me starving for more.  I also loved its ending!  If you enjoyed the first book, you will love the second!

Phrase:
Ear-tugging

Happy Reading!

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