Review: Reckless Magic by Rachel Higginson

Goodreads | Amazon

16 year old Eden Matthews has been in and out of private schools for the last two years. Kingsley is her last chance to finish high school and she is determined to simply do that. But when she meets Kiran Kendrick and her world opens to something she thought only existed in fairy tales, she's unsure what her future will hold. Suddenly she is captivated by a boy who seems to be the source of all of her problems and struggling to rescue her best friend from a foreign prison. When attempts are made on Kiran's life, Eden alone must save him. Thrust into a world that is more make-believe than reality, Eden has to find her own destiny without losing those she loves most. Reckless is an intricate story of mystery, adventure, magic and love. Eden Matthews is an unlikely heroine set on a path to save the world and her loved ones before its too late.

I’ve never been one for self-published books or fantasy, because I’m a bit wary of self-published books and I got a little put off by fantasy after I swore nothing could best Harry Potter in terms of fantasy (the fact that I disliked the ‘Rainbow Magic Fairies’ section in my library as a small child might have indicated that I was never a big fan as well), however this did exceed my expectations and I ended up enjoying this novel as well.

Admittedly, it does begin with a rather cliche premise- girl ends up in private school and has magical powers...hmm, wonder where I’ve heard that before? However, the author managed to create something original and interesting after the initial ‘girl doesn’t fit in at the snotty private school’ part.  The life of the Immortals (what they call the magical people here) is really intriguing and I really enjoyed how the author build up this prejudiced hierarchy, and I’m interested to see how this will be incorporated in the rest of the novels. 

However, there were a few points that I didn’t really enjoy in this novel, and one of them is the male protagonist, Prince Kiran. I swear I am going to be killed for this due to the fact that everybody apparently loves him on goodreads, but I just did not like him here. I get that he’s a prince and all that, but he was such a jerk for most of the novel that I just couldn’t see his appeal. I enjoyed reading about him and his family, but he had this possessive and creepy vibe that just didn’t make me swoon. He does begin to become less jerky towards the end of the novel, and I hope that this character development continues so that I will grow to love this character more. If not, (and I can’t believe I’m saying this) bring on a love triangle and kick him out!

As well as that, I also had issues with Rachel Higginson’s writing. Don’t get me wrong- her action scenes were beautiful and the way she described some of the scenes were amazing (a high point of the novel, by the way), but the way there were awkward injections of slang throughout the novel kind of put me off and there were lots of spelling mistakes. That’s one of the issues with self-published books, but still. It would have been nice to read the novel and not be confused when one word was another.

The plot was a tad predictable too, and the Eden/Kiran thing just wasn’t working for me. I had the novel sussed out by about midway, and sometimes there were just these HUGE info dumps on how the world worked. It was a pretty awesome world too, but I’d have enjoyed it more if the author had incorporated it in the novel slowly rather than just spit it out. I mean, the first chapters were essentially Eden not having a clue- maybe she could have added it there? Not only that, the ending was kind of anticlimactic, considering everything was built up so well and I was left going- that’s it? That is, before I realised that there were about three more books to go.

I’ve made this novel sound really terrible now-I assure you, it’s not. There were many high points to this novel- take Eden, for example. I love how ignorant and scared she was at the beginning of the novel- finally a female protagonist that was more afraid of burning her school down accidentally when it had happened before rather than, ‘I hope I’ll be able to make friends and not feel awkward’ kind of thing. She was RATIONAL. As well as this, I also loved how she didn’t allow herself to fall for Prince Kiran. She took into the account that he had acted like a total jerk to her, which a lot of YA heroines tend to enjoy forgetting.  In fact, the only thing I didn’t like about her was the fact that she kept on having to get saved by people, which got a little old after a while. 

The world building in this novel was fantastic as well- the hierarchy, the prejudiced society- everything fit into the novel and created this world which seemed interesting and something that I actually wanted to know more about. I won’t go into details for sake of spoiling the story, but I ended up really liking the idea and how it was carried out.

Here’s another good thing about the novel as well- it’s free on Amazon as an ebook! So, even if you aren’t willing togo and buy the book, it’s free anyway, so that’s another reason to get it, even if you aren’t that interested. I’m not sure I’ll get the next book in the series seeing as it costs money, but personally this book was a nice side read to the ones I’ve be reading lately.

.5

I give this novel 3 and a half stars.


PS: Finally got the stars right. Also, 2 more posts until 100!

Review: The Favorites by Mary Yukari Waters

Hello, I'm Alvie and I'll be guest-blogging here every Tuesday and Thursday to keep the blog up-to-date (like Hayley is) and I'm also Nicole's friend in real life. I'm sorry if I absolutely suck at guest-blogging but here goes :)

Goodreads | Amazon

Kyoto 1978. Fourteen-year-old Sarah Rexford feels like an outsider when she returns to Japan for the first time in five years, to stay with her mother's family. As Sarah begins to reacquaint herself with her relatives and learn more about the culture she came from, she discovers a secret that stretches across three generations, its presence looming over the family home. She quickly learns that personal boundaries are firmly drawn in traditional Kyoto, and actions are not always what they appear...

The Favorites is an interesting novel. Let's put it this way - there isn't exactly a plot and I'm not sure it fits into any genre. In a way, it's more of an educational book than a fun read.
 This book is split up into 4 parts, with the first part taking up about two-fifths of the entire book, which sort of makes sense because it leaves room for another 3 parts. I found that the first part the most interesting of all the parts - I had to push myself to finish the rest of the book.
 Problem one: the book progressed far too slowly. Sure it's always interesting to read about life in Japan, but I felt that it was far too 'educational'. Sometimes Waters would use simple Japanese Romaji that repeated the English version of the word.  For people that know Japanese (such as myself) it's okay, but what about all the other people?  Are we supposed to look it up on Google ourselves?

Problem two: this book is far too peaceful.  By peaceful I don't mean something the opposite of violent, bloody themes.   I mean the book gives of a tranquil feeling when you read it - you can't really feel your emotions change and flow with the book.  Sometimes it feels like the text is just there.

The main character Sarah isn't too likable a character.  She gives off a 'big sister' feel when she plays with her younger cousins but aside from that I couldn't really pick up any personality traits.  Funnily enough, her mother is a rather central character with most of the issues relating back to her in a way.  That's odd because it talks about Sarah's life in the synopsis and not her mothers...

"Three generations of women. One secret that bind them all..."
^ Interesting quote from the new cover version.  The one secret makes it sound more interesting but I hate to spoil - it's not.  It really is just a complicated family matter secret that the public don't know about.  I even drew up a family tree of most if not all the characters in the family, believe me it's not pretty.

What I did like though, was the insight of Japan it gave me.  I quite like Japan and I've never been there before, but in a way I got a glimpse of it through this book.  What I see it to be won't necessarily be the way it actually is, but i'll make do for now.

Overall I didn't particularly enjoy reading this novel.  It was too slowly paced and it didn't capture my interest.  For those who do want to learn about Japanese culture and pick up a few Japanese Romaji words along the way, it's for you ^^  I give this 2 and a half stars.


.5

Didn't like it much, but it wasn't too good.

Waiting on Wednesday {16}

Waiting on Wednesday is a meme hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine where we showcase books that have not yet been released.

Today, my pick is a book that's been announced but doesn't have a cover yet--Unravel Me by Tareheh Mafi. And while I realise it might be a little early to start making posts about it, I really couldn't help myself.

However, I hope that there will be...

• NO LOVE TRIANGLE. I get that some people think Warner is hot and all, but...no. It doesn't work for me.
• Side note: Don't you just love the title? It reminds me of yarn and kittens.

What are you guys waiting on this week?

Team Adam forever, my friends.  SUPPORT NON LOVE TRIANGLY YA BOOKS!

Video Review: Delirium by Lauren Oliver

Goodreads | Amazon 

Before scientists found the cure, people thought love was a good thing. They didn’t understand that once love -- the deliria -- blooms in your blood, there is no escaping its hold. Things are different now. Scientists are able to eradicate love, and the government demands that all citizens receive the cure upon turning eighteen. Lena Holoway has always looked forward to the day when she’ll be cured. A life without love is a life without pain: safe, measured, predictable, and happy. 
But with ninety-five days left until her treatment, Lena does the unthinkable: She falls in love.

Since all the words are being drained out of me due to novel-writing, I've made a video.

What I think is a basic summary of my review (apart from the abundance of ramblings):

• I couldn't quite put my finger on what I disliked about it; I just didn't click with the story.
• I didn't feel emotional attachements towards any of the characters.
• The writing was quite nice, but the flowery prose got a little exhausting after a while.

I mentioned in my video review that I DNF'ed the book. However, I did go back this morning and skip straight to the end, and I have to say that the ending, too, disappointed me. I tried hard to like this book but in the end, it really didn't work out. 1.5 stars.

~Let us imagine stars here~

In my Mailbox: The Faceless Vlog Edition {9}

IMM is a meme hosted by Kristi @ The Story Siren where we showcase all the books we got over the past week.

Because I am even lazier than usual, I made a vlog instead of a regular post. Please enjoy.

Books Mentioned (in no particular order): Just a Girl by Jane Caro, Scatterheart by Lili Wilkinson, Tallow by Karen Brooks, The Body Finder by Kimberly Derting, Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld, Delirium by Lauren Oliver, and Uglies by Scott Westerfeld.

What did you guys get this week in your mailboxes? Please leave a link!

Review: The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness

Goodreads| Amazon

Todd Hewitt is the only boy in a town of men. Ever since the settlers were infected with the Noise germ, Todd can hear everything the men think, and they hear everything he thinks. Todd is just a month away from becoming a man, but in the midst of the cacophony, he knows that the town is hiding something from him -- something so awful Todd is forced to flee with only his dog, whose simple, loyal voice he hears too. With hostile men from the town in pursuit, the two stumble upon a strange and eerily silent creature: a girl. Who is she? Why wasn't she killed by the germ like all the females on New World? Propelled by Todd's gritty narration, readers are in for a white-knuckle journey in which a boy on the cusp of manhood must unlearn everything he knows in order to figure out who he truly is.

Now, I'm a big fan of this series and I've read the trilogy (yes, it's a trilogy) quite a few times, so this may be slightly biased and I may have a tendency to ramble about how great this book is throughout this review. If so, please bear with me and just... don't ever mention the series to me on twitter. 


The Knife of Never Letting Go was an intense book. Jam packed with action, suspense and frankly, quite a bit of violence, it's a crazy read and seriously, don't underestimate what the blurb said up there. It is literally a white-knuckle journey, so much that I finished it in one day despite it being 478 pages. I'm going to try and not going to reveal too much here, but in simple terms: there are plot twists all the way until the literal last page. And yes, it is a post-apocalyptic novel. Now, here are just a few things that I loved about the novel:


The plot. I loved the plot. There was just this entire sense of urgency throughout the novel, and it moved at a crazy pace. There were just so many plot twists- just when you thought something was going to happen, BAM! Plot twist- in your face! But it wasn't just action. Oh, no. There was just so much going on- from the development of this world (which is just actually pretty amazing and really scary at the same time), to the way that the Noise works (Noise- yes I know another noun with a capital letter on it), it was just wonderfully crafted and added to the plot so well.


The characters was another thing I loved. Todd was just so... naive in a sense, and yes, it was frustrating, but then again you could still relate to him, considering where he's been brought up. What I loved was that he wasn't always the hero, despite being the protagonist. It made him seem more vulnerable, and in a way made him more human. Also, his dog. Manchee. Possibly my new favourite dog in the history of talking dogs in the literary world, and his voice was, while childish, very lovable and pretty much my favourite character. Now, I might be spoiling this just a little bit here, but for your information, that mysterious girl mentioned in the blurb- she's amazing. As are the 'bad guys' in this novel, which are pretty much pure evil and basically the best antagonists ever. They are all so distinct and all the voices in the novel are amazingly interesting.


Now, here's a warning before you read the book- if you read it, you'll probably HAVE to read The Ask and The Answer, the next book in the series. That's because this book ends with such a cliffhanger that you will have to read the next book. I practically died waiting for the next time I visited a bookshop because I was so frustrated by the ending.


Now, just because I loved the plot so much doesn't mean that it's the perfect book. It's not. Firstly, it's written from the point of view of a boy that has no formal education and is unable to spell. This means constant uses of 'thru' and 'cuz' and an effing* lot of 'ruddy's used there. I know, I know, it's deliberate, and I did eventually get into it (after which it was brilliant), but it just completely puts you off in the beginning. So Grammar Nazis, beware of this book. 


Also, the amount of violence in this book is quite crazy and there is a fair amount of stabbing, though you've probably somewhat had that coming, with the word 'knife' in the title and the large knife on the cover. However, it is quite graphic and anyone reading this should be aware of that.


In conclusion, this book was amazing for me, though I can completely understand if you don't like it. I want to give it five stars, but there are things that did annoy me, so I'm afraid I'm going to have to give this a 4 .5 stars with a hidden half fangirl star that only I can see.

★★★★.5


Loved it but I have to be fair. 


*You'll get it when you read the book.
PS: I'm sorry for the fail stars. The stars that Nicole uses don't seem to like me, so I'm still working that out.

ALL OF THE THINGS

Welcome to another random Nicoleworld update. Basically, I'm doing a rewrite and serious edit of my novella and hoping to finish the second, novel-length draft in 2-3 months, and since I have this wonderful (I am not being sarcastic. Genuinely) thing called SCHOOL to attend and extra-curricular activities and books to read and videos to watch, I won't be able to devote the necessary amount of time to blogging. My blog is needy. 


Therefore, I have recruited the help of two of my friends: Hayley Waters (you can follow her on Twitter here) and my friend, neighbour, and classmate Alvie. And while I realise that since my blog is my blog and not theirs, they might not update regularly since...well, it's not their blog. BUT ANYWAY! I hope you'll excuse my presence while I retreat to what many authors like to call the 'writing cave'.

So that is all! If you would like to talk to me, please email me or send me a Twitter message @librarystalker. I promise I will not find you creepy, no matter how random you are. And if you want to track my writing progress, I'll be constantly tweeting and complaining about it.

In My Mailbox {8}

IMM is a meme hosted by Kristi @ The Story Siren where we showcase all the books we got over the past week.

I actually got a decent amount of stuff this week, but I'm really frustrated from studying French and I have HAD ENOUGH so I really don't want to do pictures. Sorry for those who want to look at pretty pics.

B  O  R  R  O  W  E  D   F  R  O  M   L  I  B  R  A  R  Y

Halo by Alexandra Adornetto.

B  O  O  K   F  E  S  T ( S  I  G  N  E  D )

As some of you might know, I attended a bookfest last week. I bought Just a Girl by Jane Caro, Tallow by Karen Brooks, and Scatterheart by Lili Wilkinson. I also asked Scott Westerfeld, author of Uglies, Leviathan etc (who was at the festival) to sign a piece of paper for me, since the store had run out of his books :P.

A  R  C  s

I received This is Not a Test by Courtney Summers and The Hunt by Andrew Fakuda for review through Julie's ARC relay, since I'm a part of her Perfect 10 :D. If you check out Julie's website you can read all about the Perfect 10.

B  O  R  R  O  W  E  D   O  R   P  U  R  C  H  A  S  E  D

Thank you so much to the ever-amazing Julie Cross who sent me a signed copy of Tempest!

Nicole, Thanks for being part of the Perfect 10! :)

Although this isn't exactly book-related, I had a chat with a Penguin editor. It was amazing.

MY MANUSCRIPT

That's it from me! What did you guys get this week?

Waiting on Wednesday: Slide by Jill Hathaway

Waiting on Wednesday is a meme hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine where we showcase books that have not yet been released.

Vee Bell is certain of one irrefutable truth—her sister’s friend Sophie didn’t kill herself. She was murdered. 

Vee knows this because she was there. Everyone believes Vee is narcoleptic, but she doesn’t actually fall asleep during these episodes: When she passes out, she slides into somebody else’s mind and experiences the world through that person’s eyes. She’s slid into her sister as she cheated on a math test, into a teacher sneaking a drink before class. She learned the worst about a supposed “friend” when she slid into her during a school dance. But nothing could have prepared Vee for what happens one October night when she slides into the mind of someone holding a bloody knife, standing over Sophie’s slashed body. 

Vee desperately wishes she could share her secret, but who would believe her? It sounds so crazy that she can’t bring herself to tell her best friend, Rollins, let alone the police. Even if she could confide in Rollins, he has been acting off lately, more distant, especially now that she’s been spending more time with Zane.

 Enmeshed in a terrifying web of secrets, lies, and danger and with no one to turn to, Vee must find a way to unmask the killer before he or she strikes again.

The cover is amazing. It's just... wowza. While I'm not a huge fan of paranormal/psychic YA fiction, the plot seems interesting enough (though there is a little hint of a love triangle, which I'm going to ignore). I'm looking forward to this novel and I will definitely be reading it once it comes out. So, what are you waiting on this wednesday? Leave me a link and I'll check it out.  

PS: Sorry, Nicole's at her convention so it's Hayley here.

Guest blogger Review: The Future of Us

Hi! I'm Hayley Waters, the real life friend that Nicole might have mentioned a few blog posts ago. Since she's off to a convention for a few days, I'm in charge of making sure the blog isn't too lonely and writing for her. So, nice to meet you guys, and I guess I'll just try and keep the memes and reviews up for her while she's gone. 

I'm also aware that today is my guest blogger review day so I'm guest blogging for now- I'm going to give it my best shot, hopefully it'll turn out alright.

Goodreads | Amazon 

It's 1996, and Josh and Emma have been neighbors their whole lives. They've been best friends almost as long - at least, up until last November, when Josh did something that changed everything. Things have been weird between them ever since, but when Josh's family gets a free AOL CD in the mail,his mom makes him bring it over so that Emma can install it on her new computer. When they sign on, they're automatically logged onto their Facebook pages. But Facebook hasn't been invented yet. And they're looking at themselves fifteen years in the future. 

By refreshing their pages, they learn that making different decisions now will affect the outcome of their lives later. And as they grapple with the ups and downs of what their futures hold, they're forced to confront what they're doing right - and wrong - in the present.

Firstly, before I begin the review, I want to explain how I even decided to read this book, and it’s basically summarised by four reasons:

1)I couldn’t find The Fault in Our Stars in my bookstore and I just wanted something to read while I was ordering it.

2)I have a bad habit of not reading reviews on Goodreads BEFORE reading a book (yes Nicole, you win this one).

3)Just look at the cover. That’s all I have to say.

4)The premise was crazy, but maybe, just maybe it would be crazy yet brilliant!

The Future of Us had the potential to be a good book. Obviously, it would have been a bit strange, what with the ‘Facebook as a main plot motivation’ going on, but if Jay Asher could pull off ‘Thirteen Reasons Why’, then there was a good chance that, if done right, this book would have managed to be something slightly quirky and upbeat yet loveable.

Unfortunately, after reading this book, I have to conclude that no, it’s not very quirky or upbeat, and to be completely honest, it’s not very loveable either. There’s a few reasons for this, and one of the biggest problems were the characters.

First off, the female protagonist was weak. She spends most of the story whining about her rubbish future husbands (I’ll get to that later) and just sitting there checking up her future and that ‘hot guy I’ve had a crush on since middle school’s’ future. Speaking of hot guys, she does a lot of ogling at boys in the novel, and she’s quite superficial in that way. In fact, the novel begins with, ‘I can’t break up with Graham today, even though I told my friends I’d do it the next time I saw him.’ When the first line begins with breaking up with a boy, that’s a pretty good sign that the girl is boy obsessed. So yeah, Emma was your typical whiny YA girl protagonist.

Then there’s Josh. Red haired, guy-next-door Josh. While he was supposed to be the angsty, angry character who was dragged into the story, Josh was just kind of... flat. While I did like him much better than Emma and most of his emotions made sense (as opposed to a girl protagonist of some sort), he didn’t have much personality. Most of the time, he just didn’t come alive for me. He wasn’t annoying or anything... just very flat and uninteresting. In fact, the only thing I can really say for him is that I’m still confused as of why he liked Emma, when he had so much going for him.

The rest of the characters were flat and really didn’t place much importance in the story, though I did like the sort of love Z thing going on(I’ll explain that in a moment).

Anyway, moving from what is quickly becoming a rant on Emma, let’s take a look at the plot. Simply said, it was just boring. It moved at a snail’s pace, and at times there was whole chapters that I would just skim or even skip, since nothing was really going on. It just didn’t catch my interest, and honestly the ‘Facebook on computer in 1996’ was poorly used and could have been made much more interesting, as most of the time it just sat there as a tool for looking at people’s spouses (ahem). The plot in general was just poorly constructed and seemed to attempt to be inspiring, when it just wasn’t. 

One more thing on the plot- When you write a Science Fiction novel, you usually explain what’s going on. You know, how anything actually happens? No explanation here. Nada. Just taken for granted. I only wish that something could have been explained here, because if it had, it probably would have been a much better novel.

Now, having said that, there were a few things that I did enjoy in this novel.

I  liked the Z shaped love...thing. I know, I know, it’s not new and the partners are obviously being used, but compared to the ridiculous amount of love triangles I’ve been reading, it’s refreshing. Obviously, I would love a love line (or a love dot, even better), but I think that’s being too optimistic. Just in case you don’t know what these mean-here's something I came up with to help you understand:

As well as that, I will admit that while I didn’t really like that characters, I did like the fact that they weren’t really sorted in cliques like YA novels adore doing nowadays. Everyone just kind of minded their own business, and while some people were more ‘popular’, it wasn’t a big focus and the high school life was more about getting into advanced biology classes. That was nice too. 

There were a few parts in the plot that I was okay with too. I’m going to say that despite everything, I did like the fact that even if you changed one thing, your history would change. And okay, Emma abuses it, but still, it’s pretty cool to see her just simply doing something like spilling a cup of water, and seeing how the Facebook updates changed from one thing to the other.

Finally, there was one more thing that I did quite like. I have to say that I honestly did like all the Facebook updates that were scattered throughout the novel and the character’s reactions to them. It provided comic relief to the novel, and while you and I would think nothing on the Facebook status updates nowadays, it really does remind us how much communication has changed in the space of 15 years.

In summary, I found The Future of Us kind of boring and predictable, and I mostly disliked the characters. While I didn’t exactly hate this novel, I think this novel was forgettable, there are many YA novels that are much more interesting and worth your time.

I give this novel 2 and a half stars.

(I don’t know how to place stars here so you’ll have to use your imagination here. Sorry about that.)

Writerly Convetions, Randomness, and Follower Love

Welcome, my friends. Today we gather in this glorious sanctum known as THE INTERNET or THE BLOGOSPHERE to celebrate our love of books.

Sorry, I'm feeling a little ridiculous right now :P. So anyway, I'm going to be away Wednesday to Saturday at a writerly convention which I'm super excited to be attending, and since I've neglected to schedule posts, this blog will probably look a little lonely for a day or two while I'm away.

I also hit 70 followers, and for a newbie blogger like me, that's a pretty big milestone. I love you guys and I find it amazing that 70 people--70!--want to read about a teenager girl nattering on about books. It's a truly great feeling.

So yeah. That's it for today. If anyone's feeling lonely, please chat to me on Twitter :P.

Review: Across the Universe by Beth Revis

Goodreads | Amazon 

A love out of time. A spaceship built of secrets and murder. 
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.

Warning: I didn't proofread this review and I rushed it a little. Expect errors and run-on sentences that don't make sense.

Across the Universe was both an intensely frustrating book and a thought-provoking read at the same time. I have to admit that there were some scenes that definitely shocked and even disgusted me (which I personally think is rather hard to do, since I read In The Miso Soup at the age of eleven without passing out, although I have no idea why the heck it was on my dad's bookshelf and what the heck compelled me to pick it up), and it isn't something that I would necessarily recommend.

The story is told from the perspective of Amy and her boyfriend Elder. The alternating perspectives did annoy me a little since I'm emotionally scared from Jodi Picoult's dual narratives, but I think that the author did pretty well with it.

The author also poses a few big questions in the book--What would life be like if we had a dictator who had supreme power? What if they used technology to control us? What will happen if humans decide to leave Earth one day? It was a rather thought-provoking read at times.

Another great thing in this book was Amy's character. She was a headstrong heroine and she stood up for what she believed--that people should be free, which I wholeheartedly agree with. She was also a pretty real character and actually attempted to find out what was going wrong and who was trying to kill her parents. Quiz time!

You wake up in an unfamiliar place and suspect that you've been the victim of an attempted murder. WHAT DO YOU DO?
a) Think about your boyfriend. He's so hawt.
b) Get angst-y, cry, and complain.
c) Try and figure out who killed you (you might fall in love with a hot boy in the process, but hey, this is a YA novel and the author needs to conform to the cliches of the genre).

If you answered a), even though I'm not a doctor, I can safely say that you have a mental disorder. You probably need intensive therapy. And get off my blog in the meantime. If you answered b), get off my blog. I think you're Bella Swan. If you answered c), congratulations. I think you're Amy.

But I digress. Anyway.

There were quite a few things that bothered me with this book, but I'm only going to list a few. The rape scene was pretty disturbing, and the whole concept of the Season was really, truly disgusting. I couldn't help shuddering and putting it down every few pages--and this is from the girl who read Miso Soup in one go. I was really...grossed out. Disturbed. And the worst part was that a huge chunk of this novel is devoted to talk about the Season. This dark concept definitely isn't the sort of thing I would expect in YA, especially since I was expecting a light and relatively innocent romance. If the Season had served some sort of purpose, I probably would've accepted it more easily. But the worst thing is that I don't know what the author was trying to do by writing about something like that.

Another (admittedly small) problem I had with the book was the slang. Oh, my goodness. So basically, instead of having the F word, the author replaces it with frexing. Yes, frexing. And the characters mention it every 2 pages, like so: 'I have no frexing idea what the frex you're talking about, chutzhead (yes, chutz is another swearword replacement)'. It annoyed the life out of me.

Overview: Honestly, Across the Universe has so many flaws that I don't want to list them all. I never really liked the book very much and despite the main character being relatively strong and the premise thought-provoking, there were too many problems in it to overlook. Two stars.

Didn't like it much.

In My Mailbox {7}

IMM is a meme hosted by Kristi @ The Story Siren where we showcase all the books we got over the past week.

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So I got some pretty awesome books this week from the library and my friends.

Clockwise: Across the Universe by Beth Revis; A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray; Wither by Lauren DeStefano; Terrier by Tamora Pierce; Beauty Queens by Libba Bray

Another shot of the spines. And YES, the thing in the background IS a High School Musical book x_____x My grandma's friend bought it for me a few years back.

I'm very happy with my library books this week, and here's some other stuff I got.

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I got Paper Towns by John Green for the Kindle, Divergent by Veronica Roth, The Iron Daughter by Julie Kagawa, and my friend is getting me the ebook version of Anna Dressed in Blood. (Thanks and I LOVE you Maxine!)

That's all my stuff for this week! Please leave a link so I can check out your awesome IMMs :)

Review: Wither by Lauren DeStefano

Goodreads | Amazon 

At age 16, Rhine Ellery has four years to live. Thanks to a botched effort to create a perfect race, all females live to age 20 and males live to age 25. On the cusp of her 17th birthday, Rhine attempts to flee, but what she finds is a society spiraling out of control.

The cover is one of the best I have seen. It's just...amazing. There is really, honestly, no other word to describe it.

Cover-love aside, I didn't think that Wither was a bad book at all. In fact, it was a fantastic read and I loved the story. But I somehow get the feeling that Lauren DeStefano was trying to shock her audience by mentioning how most men have heaps of wives and try to make babies with thirteen year-old partners. I don't know why that didn't exactly shock or disgust me nearly as much as the Season in Across the Universe (review to come), but nevertheless, I didn't think it was the appropriate way to get the audience's attention.

Moving on.

I noticed that many people found the stationary-ness of the book a little boring--throughout the whole story, Rhine is generally trapped inside the mansion and trying to figure things out. And this is the sort of book I like--where the depths and minds of characters are explored, where there's a little less action, a little more thinking. I really liked the holograms in the mansion, and how nothing was as it seemed.

Rhine was also a fairly well-developed character, and I liked how the secondary characters were easily believable and had personalities. Many YA authors fail to address the fact that each character, regardless of primary or secondary, is a completely different person with different opinions and different ideas. Wither was able to.

Another bonus of this story was that Rhine is trapped in such an impossible set of circumstances that it's okay for her to whine and moan, because that's what any realistic person would do, teenaged or not. Lauren DeStefano also sought the perfect balance between bitter, angry, cunning, and love in Rhine, making her a relatable and strong heroine.

However, there was one thing I really disliked about the book. For instance, there was a quote in the beginning of the book that I didn't copy down, in which Rhine says something along the lines of:

All of the countries in the world were destroyed during the Third World War except for NORTH AMERICA, which had the MOST ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY.

Yes, I capitalised the parts I found particularly annoying.

I don't have anything against North America. In fact, I love America and its people. But this quote just really irritated me--I mean, if the whole world is going to blow up, if the sun is going to collapse or explode or whatever, is good technology going to save a whole continent--a whole nation--from blowing up?

My answer would be no. Yours might be different. (And I might also add here that places like Japan also have some pretty amazing technology.)

There's something called globalisation. We are getting smaller and smaller as a world and we are getting more and more interdependent on one another for everyday conveniences. Where will America get things like coal and raw materials that come from places like Australia and the Middle East? What about the huge percentage of crops that are used as feed for livestock or biomass fuel that are grown in developing countries? What about drugs and shoes and clothes that are produced by huge transnational corporations that are made in developing countries? It didn't make sense, and the arrogance implied in the 'America is the only surviving country' thing really got to me.

Overview: There wasn't a lot I disliked about Wither but some little details in the book just didn't make sense, and the arrogance implied in some of the world-building really got under my skin. Despite this, the characters were well-developed, I loved the writing, and I thought it was a pretty good book overall. Four stars.

It was good.

Waiting on Wednesday {14}

One choice can transform you—or it can destroy you. But every choice has consequences, and as unrest surges in the factions all around her, Tris Prior must continue trying to save those she loves—and herself—while grappling with haunting questions of grief and forgiveness, identity and loyalty, politics and love. 
Tris's initiation day should have been marked by celebration and victory with her chosen faction; instead, the day ended with unspeakable horrors. War now looms as conflict between the factions and their ideologies grows. And in times of war, sides must be chosen, secrets will emerge, and choices will become even more irrevocable—and even more powerful. Transformed by her own decisions but also by haunting grief and guilt, radical new discoveries, and shifting relationships, Tris must fully embrace her Divergence, even if she does not know what she may lose by doing so. 
New York Times bestselling author Veronica Roth's much-anticipated second book of the dystopian Divergent series is another intoxicating thrill ride of a story, rich with hallmark twists, heartbreaks, romance, and powerful insights about human nature.

I'm reading Divergent and liking it, so I can't wait for Insurgent. What are you waiting on this week? Leave a link and I'll check it out :)

Teaser Tuesday {3}

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along!

This week, the teaser I'm sharing is from Evernight by Claudia Gray.

Instead he stared at me through the glass and slowly unfolded his hand opposite mine so that our hands were pressed againts the pane of glass, fingers to fingers, palm to palm. We each moved closer, so that our faces were only inches apart. Even with the stained glass window between us, it felt as intimate as any kiss we'd shared.

This book...I'm not going to say too much, but I'm currently very annoyed at 1) Bianca, 2) Bianca, 3) Lucas, 4) Lucas, 5) Lucas, and 6) the book in general. But I'll try not to judge before I finish it :P

What are your teasers for this week? Please leave a link so I can check them out!

Author Interview: Bethany Lopez

Joining me for my tour stop today is the author of XOXOXO, Bethany Lopez.

Goodreads 
Melissa has learned a lot since her freshman year began, but it isn’t over yet! Her world is about to change again with the birth of her new sibling, and she has to figure out how she will adjust to being the eldest of five kids. She, Jess, and Jimmy are inseparable, and she is having a fantastic time although she can’t help but miss Brian as she tries to learn how to deal with his relationship with Layla. Everything seems to be happening at once and that is when she is introduced to Ben Campbell, a senior at Dearborn High, who becomes an interesting distraction as he helps her deal with the new developments in her life.

Hi Bethany! Can you tell the readers a little bit about Ta Ta For Now! and what they can expect from the novella XOXOXO?

In Ta Ta for Now!, deals with Melissa’s relationships with her friends, family, and her first love Brian Jackson. Throughout the story she realizes her relationships aren’t what she thought they were. She also deals with her sister being bullied and comes to realize just how important her friends and family are to her. In xoxoxo, Melissa is enjoying being a freshman and hanging out with her friends, until something happens to change the dynamic of her family. She learns how to cope and is introduced to Ben, who is a senior that can relate to what she is going through. Just as she starts to realize that maybe Jimmy is more to her than just a friend, Brian becomes a part of her life again.

Ben is a new character introduced into this series. Please share with us something juicy about Ben that maybe Melissa doesn’t even know.

Ben is a wonderful addition. He is a graduating senior and is older than the boys that Melissa has spent time with. Having a single mother and a little sister with special needs, Ben is wonderfully compassionate and considerate, while still being one of the guys. It doesn’t hurt that he is pretty sexy either!

Melissa has a lot to deal with in a short time; do you feel that most teens can relate to similar pressures? And if so, do you feel being able to relate to characters like Melissa helps?

Absolutely! I think teenagers are dealt a lot of pressures that they are not always prepared to deal with and being able to see how characters deal with similar situations, may help them learn how to cope.

As XOXOXO is the sequel, do you have plans for another book in this series?

I have started the third book in the series, ciao. There is an excerpt at the end of xoxoxo. It is due out in September.

Are you currently working on other books? Maybe something top secret?

In addition to the Stories About Melissa series, I am working on an unrelated YA novel. It has elements of Fantasy, as well as Contemporary. 

Thank you so much for joining me for the interview, Bethany! Check out the other stops on the tour here.

In My Mailbox {6}

IMM is a meme hosted by Kristi @ The Story Siren where we showcase all the books we got over the past week.

B  O  R  R  O  W  E  D   F  R  O  M   L  I  B  R  A  R  Y

I went to the library and borrowed these four books (which I'm quite pleased with). However, since I couldn't find my camera, I had to take this utterly rubbish photo with my webcam so sorry if you can't see the books properly.

Clockwise: Along for the Ride by Sarah Dessen; The Fitzosbornes in Exile by Michelle Cooper; Hex Hall by Rachel Hawkins; The Iron Queen by Julie Kagawa

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I received Ta Ta for Now and an ARC of XOXOXO by Bethany Lopez for review, and I downloaded Zombicorns by John Green.

So that's my IMM for this week :). Leave a link so I can stop by and check out yours!