Publisher: Knopf Page Count: 336 Fiction Genre: Dystopian, Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Post Apocalyptic Dates Read: July 14-29, 2015 Summary On a cold snowy night the world comes to an end, set in motion by the Georgian Virus that quickly kills everyone infected with it. Three lives unknowingly intertwined throughout many years. Flash-forward 20 years, and survivors are coping as best they can. There are rumors about a band of survivors who've set up a peaceful community in an abandoned airport. A wandering theatre troupe comes across a deadly town with a vengeful leader as they try to make their way to the peaceful community. Review What a great story! It was nice to see a story start with a virus and not turn into yet another zombie book. It was very well written with and I loved the bit about Station Eleven. Though I know this story would have been just as good without it (it honestly was pretty pointless), but there was just such a beautiful back story that surrounded it. I loved that Mandel told this story through three different time periods, current day, 20 years in the past, and 20 years in the future. I know there are little nuances in the story that typically would have bothered me, like how shallow the "great" connection was between Kirsten, Jeevan, and Arthur, or how the big build up in the future of two of these people reconnecting let me down, but t really did not bother me. Okay, maybe a was disappointed about the reconnection, but I think the ending Mandel wrote was perfect for her story. It was not fully expected which was nice and refreshing. Ratings (based on a 10 point scale) Quality of Writing - 7 Pace - 6 Plot Development - 6 Characters - 6 Enjoyability - 7 Insightfulness - 5 Ease of Reading - 7 Photos/Illustrations - N/A Overall Rating - 4 out of 5 stars
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Publisher: Perennial Classics Page Count: 268 Fiction Genre: Dystopian, Classic, Sci-Fi, Fantasy Dates Read: July 15-25, 2015 Summary In a future, far, far away, a young man doesn't fit in. He believes there is more to life than the mindless existence expected by the government. Brainwashing is all the rage and world controllers dictate your life. The controllers have convinced human society that sex, drugs, and rock and roll are the important things. Review While I had troubles getting into this book, I did enjoy it. I kept comparing it to 1984 and The Twilight Zone (episode "Number 12 Looks Just Like You"). It wasn't one of my favorite dystopian novels but I still liked. Because I read this at a slower pace than I normally devour a book, I think I had troubles connecting with the characters and the story just seemed to drag on at times. Some of the characters, especially the woman bothered me, but I'm chalking that up to them being written as complete airheads. Overall I enjoyed it, but I don't think there will ever be a time when I want to revisit this book. Who knows though, anything is possible. Ratings (based on a 10 point scale) Quality of Writing - 7 Pace - 4 Plot Development - 6 Characters - 5 Enjoyability - 7 Insightfulness - 8 Ease of Reading - 6 Photos/Illustrations - N/A Overall Rating - 4 out of 5 stars Publisher: Dutton Books Page Count: 369 Fiction Genre: Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Dystopian, YA, Romance Dates Read: July 9-14, 2015 Summary Society chooses everything for you. Your job, your daily activities, even who you will marry. Chronic dating is a thing for the savages. Cassia could not be more excited when her magical year finally comes and she can take part in the matching ceremony; when she will find out who she will marry. Cassia could not be more excited to find out that she was matched with her best friend, Xander, but then Ky's face also appears when it shouldn't. Review Meh. I was pretty angry when I finished this book. It wasn't this book specifically that upset me, it is the whole YA, dystopian, romance genre. I'm getting tired of reading the same recipe in these books. Girl meets boy. Girl falls for boy. Girl meets another boy, and falls for him too. Then the government does some trickery and now all three of them are running from The Man. It's not that these follow the same story arch, it's that these authors are stealing from greater authors with outstanding stories, and then bastardize the stories to make something "new". REALLY? Try actually making something unique and different for a change. This book was pure crap. It was basically a dollar store knock-off version of The Giver by Beverly Lewis. Condie could not imagine anything original, and then pieced together successful classics with a flimsy love story, and an even flimsier love triangle. It was just ridiculous. Cassia is such a flat and shallow character. She is like a robot; she does not feel love until the government gives her a picture of a young man and tells her to love him. Xander and Ky's character development is just as awful. We don't know anything about either of these except that they have as many feelings as Cassia does. The chances of me reading the next two is very slim, but I might just because I bought all three books at the same time. Ratings (based on a 10 point scale) Quality of Writing - 6 Pace - 3 Plot Development - 3 Characters - 2 Enjoyability - 4 Insightfulness - 3 Ease of Reading - 7 Photos/Illustrations - N/A Overall Rating - 2 out of 5 stars Publisher: Simon and Schuster UK Page Count: 400 Fiction Genre: Thriller, Mystery, Suspense Dates Read: July 9-12, 2015 Summary Amelia is dead. Her mother is having troubles accepting her suicide. Then she receives a text from a number she can't trace. The message says that Amelia didn't jump. This changes everything. Now how to prove that her daughter wouldn't just walk off the roof of her school. Review This was such a great read! It was also very heart wrenching. The mother's pain was so real that my heart ached for her. McCreight pulled me in, and I felt like I was there by Kate's side as she tried to piece together the last few months of Amelia's life, trying to make sense of the tragedy she is experiencing. Though the legal aspects are very unrealistic and frustrating - there is no way any cop would allow Kate to get away with the things she did. Overall though, this book is very well written and beautifully delivered. An honest look at how technology has upped the peer-pressure game and what teenagers are willing to do to be popular. This book comes with an additional side of feelings that you were not expecting ... It's like double coupon day. Ratings (based on a 10 point scale) Quality of Writing - 7 Pace - 5 Plot Development - 6 Characters - 6 Enjoyability - 5 Insightfulness - 6 Ease of Reading - 7 Photos/Illustrations - N/A Overall Rating - 4 out of 5 stars Publisher: Little Brown and Company Page Count: 620 Fiction Genre: Sci-Fi, Dystopian, Fantasy, YA, Paranormal Dates Read: July 3-8, 2015 Summary When we die, we're just supposed to fade away. I guess Melanie never got that message because she is hanging on and will do anything in life or death to protect her little brother. Wanderer is a spirit that is brought into Melanie's body to retrieve her memories and stop the resistance. Wanderer is just doing her job, but something she has never experienced before is happening, Melanie's soul is fighting back, determined to take control of her own body. Review Well, I honestly did not think there could be anything worse than the Twilight series, and then Stephanie Meyer tried to write another book. Here we are sitting with yet another steaming pile that Meyers has the audacity to call literature. Somehow this book is even more poorly written than the Twilight series, and makes even less sense. I was pleased to see that Meyers is capable of writing a strong female character, though just barely. I picked this book for the author I loathe category because I was hoping that Meyers was greater than the Twilight series, and hoping that I would be able to fall in love with her writing and appreciate her more. Unfortunately I got my hopes too high. The only thing I can recommend this book for is kindling. Ratings (based on a 10 point scale) Quality of Writing - 4 Pace - 3 Plot Development - 3 Characters - 2 Enjoyability - 2 Insightfulness - 1 Ease of Reading - 5 Photos/Illustrations - N/A Overall Rating - 0.5 out of 5 stars Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin Page Count: 216 Fiction Genre: YA, Fantasy, Paranormal Dates Read: June 30-July 4, 2015 Summary Win is kind of a loner. He does that on purpose. He doesn't want or need friends, just wants to get through the school year without making any waves. How does one do that when you're constantly bullied by the other students? Things change for Win when the new girl arrives at their private school. She wants to be his friend, because she needs him to be; outcasts should stick together. Win doesn't care because he's too consumed with his dark past and realizing that he might just be a werewolf. Review W-O-W!!!! I was quiet surprised by this one. I wasn't sure exactly what to expect with it, but it certainly was not what I got. At first I thought Win was crazy. It just seemed so absurd. But then I thought he was serious, and this book was series (Stephanie Meyer, serious) about the werewolf business. Then, enter the plot-twist. HOLY CRAP! This book just slapped me with a huge WTF moment. I truly did not see that coming, and it really pulled everything together. The ending is tragically sad, yet healing at the same time. Very well done, Ms. Kuehn. Ratings (based on a 10 point scale) Quality of Writing - 7 Pace - 7 Plot Development - 8 Characters - 9 Enjoyability - 8 Insightfulness - 7 Ease of Reading - 8 Photos/Illustrations - N/A Overall Rating - 4 out of 5 stars Publisher: Nobrow Press Page Count: 24 Fiction Genre: Graphic Novel, Short Story Dates Read: July 2, 2015 Summary What happens when we die? What if we're a ghost? Does that job come with training? It should. Review This was absolutely delightful. This was a great short story, graphic novel about life after death. Life? There is not a lot of dialog to this, but the art work more than makes up for the missing words. This was very beautifully done. Ratings (based on a 10 point scale) Quality of Writing - 5 Pace - 6 Plot Development - 5 Characters - 4 Enjoyability - 4 Insightfulness - 5 Ease of Reading - 7 Photos/Illustrations - 9 Overall Rating - 3 out of 5 stars |
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