Waiting on Wednesday #14

Waiting on Wednesday is hosted by Jill at Breaking The Spine.

 Thumped by Megan McCafferty

  It's been thirty-five weeks since twin sisters Harmony and Melody went their separate ways. Since then, their story has become irresistible to legions of girls: twins separated at birth and living different lives, each due to deliver sets of twins . . . on the same day! In a future where only teens can "bump," or give birth, babies mean money, status, and freedom.
  Married to Ram and living in religious Goodside, Harmony spends her time trying to fit back into the community she once loved and believed in. But she can't seem to forget about Jondoe, the guy she fell in love with under the strangest of circumstances.
  To her adoring fans, Melody has achieved everything she always wanted: a big, fat contract and a coupling with Jondoe, the hottest bump prospect around. But this image is costing her the one guy she really wants.
  Cursed by their own popularity, the girls are obsessively tracked by their millions of fans, who have been eagerly counting down the days to their "Double Double Due Date." Without a doubt, they are two of the most powerful teen girls on the planet, and there's only one thing they could do that would make them more famous than they already are:
Tell the truth.

Review: An Abundance of Katherines

An Abundance of Katherines

Book: ★★★★☆
Cover: ★★★★☆
 (I'm aware that this isn't the new cover. I just like this one better.)

Reading level: Ages 12 and up 
Paperback: 272 pages 
Publisher: Speak; Reprint edition (October 16, 2008)

 When it comes to relationships, Colin Singleton’s type is girls named Katherine. And when it comes to girls named Katherine, Colin is always getting dumped. Nineteen times, to be exact. On a road trip miles from home, this anagram-happy, washed-up child prodigy has ten thousand dollars in his pocket, a bloodthirsty feral hog on his trail, and an overweight, Judge Judy–loving best friend riding shotgun—but no Katherines. Colin is on a mission to prove The Theorem of Underlying Katherine Predictability, which he hopes will predict the future of any relationship, avenge Dumpees everywhere, and finally win him the girl. Love, friendship, and a dead Austro-Hungarian archduke add up to surprising and heart-changing conclusions in this ingeniously layered comic novel about reinventing oneself.

  This book was written by John Green.


  Oh, what? You mean you need more initiative to read it? After reading The Fault in Our Stars, a book that I found myself at a complete loss, (Let me leave it at this: I believe that if you do not read TFiOS, you are truly missing one of the best works of literature of this time.) I knew I wanted to read all of John Green's books. I picked up An Abundance of Katherines at the library, and I'm SO glad I did.

First of all, the writing is wonderful, hilarious, and so, unbeliveably real. There is no sugar-coating, or over-dramatizations. I can;t really describe to you how very realistic this book is, mainly because I cannot comprehend how life was so flawlessly converted into words, printed on pages, and trapped between a cover.

  Reading this book was just so enjoyable. It's like reading summer. While it was definitely a quick read, I enjoyed every second of it, and the sentence to laugh ratio was about 1:1. Not to mention, I actually learned a lot while reading this book, including my new favorite vocabulary word, sitzpinkler. (Sitzpinkler: German for a man who sits to pee.) Actually, my teacher took this book away from me in class because I kept laughing obnoxiously loud. One of the funniest books I've read in a long while.

  The characters in this book have to be some of my all-time favorites. But I must say, Hassan (Colin's best friend) is just amazing. Most of the reason this book was so funny was because of Hassan. Colin is hilarious in a different way, when he wants to be. All the characters in this book have become real to me. Honestly, out of all the books I've read (excluding TFiOS), this book has the realest characters. Ever. I was left completely in awe in the character department.

  My only complaint is that the plot is a teeny, tiny, tiny bit slow. However, the writing is so good that you hardly notice. I was so in love with the characters, setting and writing that the plot was sort of less important. While I do wish it had been a bit more driven, this doesn't really affect my love of this book.

Overall, a really good book. I totally recommend it. DFTBA!

Waiting on Wednesday #13

Waiting on Wednesday is hosted by Jill at Breaking The Spine.

Insurgent by Veronica Roth

 

  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.

 Honestly, after reading Divergent, I don't know who couldn't be dying to read this book! I am so ridiculously excited.

Review: Daughter of Smoke and Bone

Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor

Book: ★★★★☆
Cover: ★★☆☆☆

Reading level: Ages 15 and up 
Hardcover: 432 pages 
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers (September 27, 2011)

 Around the world, black handprints are appearing on doorways, scorched there by winged strangers who have crept through a slit in the sky.

In a dark and dusty shop, a devil's supply of human teeth grown dangerously low.

And in the tangled lanes of Prague, a young art student is about to be caught up in a brutal otherwordly war.

Meet Karou. She fills her sketchbooks with monsters that may or may not be real; she's prone to disappearing on mysterious "errands"; she speaks many languages--not all of them human; and her bright blue hair actually grows out of her head that color. Who is she? That is the question that haunts her, and she's about to find out.

When one of the strangers--beautiful, haunted Akiva--fixes his fire-colored eyes on her in an alley in Marrakesh, the result is blood and starlight, secrets unveiled, and a star-crossed love whose roots drink deep of a violent past. But will Karou live to regret learning the truth about herself?

 The pure imagination in this book took my breath away. This is the most original story I've read in a while. The story started off a little slow, but once you get into this book, it won't let you go. While reading this book, I felt like I was being sucked into an epic fairytale world, which is what I've been longing for in a paranormal. I'm happy to say this this book completely lived up to the hype.

 I absolutely adore Karou. She fits the story so well. I can't really describe how wonderfully crafted she is, along with all of the other characters. The only word I can think of to almost-adequately describe them is vivid. So vivid it seems that they're really out there, living and breathing as you read. My favorite character has to be Akiva, and for reasons other than him being gorgeous. He's haunted and supernatural but also so real. For once, an angel with flaws. To be frank, I'm pretty tired of the perfect heroes, because that is just so terrible unrealistic. I know it's fiction, but it is also a story of emotion. This book has emotion packed into every word, some of it vibrant and fast-paced, others slow and foreboding.

  Truth be told, this book just felt like something whispered over campfires or found in an attic, leather bound and falling to pieces. This book brings storytelling back to life. While you can sort of see how it is going to end, through out the entire book you are entranced. Every aspect about it holds something mystical and beautiful. I think that the true story-like way in which this book is told is something really special.

  The plot of this book was addictive. You find yourself asking over and over again, What? But it's such a delightful confusion. Throughout the book, Karou struggles with who she is. She thinks she is flawed, scared by the things she has done. When really, she is one of the most innocent people in the entire book. I like that about her. I don;t mean that I like that she's down on herself, but rather, she doesn't think she's perfect. Anyway, when she finds out who she really is (which I will not tell you), she becomes happier. She discovers the truth about her and her past, something that has always felt hollow inside her. I loved to see that growth in her. But before she discovers herself, the idea that she could be something bad is so ver daunting, keeping you on the edge of your seat.

 Overall, a fantastic book. I loved every second of it. I completely recommend it for those of you who liked The Iron Fey series.

5 Books I Loved But Didn't Review

5. Delirium by Lauren Oliver

 This book was simply beautiful. Every line was like poetry. The entire idea for this book, that love is a disease, drew me in immediately.  It carries a heart-wrenching message, and I have to admit that I cried my eyes out at the ending.

 

 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.

 4. The Near Witch by Victoria Schwab

This book was so haunting and beautifully written. Every second of it was electric and alluring. Just a great story that feels as if it's from another world, and as old as time.

The Near Witch is only an old story told to frighten children. 
 
If the wind calls at night, you must not listen. The wind is lonely, and always looking for company. 
 
And there are no strangers in the town of Near.

These are the truths that Lexi has heard all her life.

But when an actual stranger—a boy who seems to fade like smoke—appears outside her home on the moor at night, she knows that at least one of these sayings is no longer true.

The next night, the children of Near start disappearing from their beds, and the mysterious boy falls under suspicion. Still, he insists on helping Lexi search for them. Something tells her she can trust him.

As the hunt for the children intensifies, so does Lexi’s need to know—about the witch that just might be more than a bedtime story, about the wind that seems to speak through the walls at night, and about the history of this nameless boy.

  3. Across the Universe by Beth Revis

 I love the stars, and I love books that have to do with being trapped in a hostile territory. And this book is all over that, not to mention just being amazing.

  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.

 2. My Soul to Take by Rachel Vincent

  This is one of my all-time favorite books, not to mention, one of the books that got me into YA. I love the romance, the humor, the characters, the story....  it's all just so good. If you haven't read this book, that means you also do not know Tod. And, believe me people, you want to know Tod.

  She doesn't see dead people, but…
She senses when someone near her is about to die. And when that happens, a force beyond her control compels her to scream bloody murder. Literally.
Kaylee just wants to enjoy having caught the attention of the hottest guy in school. But a normal date is hard to come by when Nash seems to know more about her need to scream than she does. And when classmates start dropping dead for no apparent reason, only Kaylee knows who'll be next…

1. The Iron King by Julie Kagawa

 This is my all-time favorite series. The setting is gorgeous. The faery lore is intriguing. The characters are so realistic you feel as if you could touch them. And the romance? Let's just say, I fell right along with Meghan.

And, um, also Puck. Forever Puck.

 Meghan Chase has a secret destiny—one she could never have imagined…
Something has always felt slightly off in Meghan's life, ever since her father disappeared before her eyes when she was six. She has never quite fit in at school…or at home.
When a dark stranger begins watching her from afar, and her prankster best friend becomes strangely protective of her, Meghan senses that everything she's known is about to change.

 But she could never have guessed the truth—that she is the daughter of a mythical faery king and is a pawn in a deadly war. Now Meghan will learn just how far she'll go to save someone she cares about, to stop a mysterious evil no faery creature dare face…and to find love with a young prince who might rather see her dead than let her touch his icy heart.

Waiting on Wednesday #12

Waiting on Wednesday is hosted by Jill at Breaking The Spine. 

Pure by Juliana Baggott

  We know you are here, our brothers and sisters . . .
Pressia barely remembers the Detonations or much about life during the Before. In her sleeping cabinet behind the rubble of an old barbershop where she lives with her grandfather, she thinks about what is lost-how the world went from amusement parks, movie theaters, birthday parties, fathers and mothers . . . to ash and dust, scars, permanent burns, and fused, damaged bodies. And now, at an age when everyone is required to turn themselves over to the militia to either be trained as a soldier or, if they are too damaged and weak, to be used as live targets, Pressia can no longer pretend to be small. Pressia is on the run.

Burn a Pure and Breathe the Ash . . .
There are those who escaped the apocalypse unmarked. Pures. They are tucked safely inside the Dome that protects their healthy, superior bodies. Yet Partridge, whose father is one of the most influential men in the Dome, feels isolated and lonely. Different. He thinks about loss-maybe just because his family is broken; his father is emotionally distant; his brother killed himself; and his mother never made it inside their shelter. Or maybe it's his claustrophobia: his feeling that this Dome has become a swaddling of intensely rigid order. So when a slipped phrase suggests his mother might still be alive, Partridge risks his life to leave the Dome to find her.

When Pressia meets Partridge, their worlds shatter all over again.

 While I already have a galley, oh my goodness, I just want to touch this book! The cover is gorgeous, and, from what I've read, the book is just plain amazing.

Review: The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer

The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin

Book:  ★★☆☆☆
Cover:  ★★★★★

• Hardcover: 464 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster (September 27, 2011)
• Language: English

 Mara Dyer doesn't believe life can get any stranger than waking up in a hospital with no memory of how she got there. It can.

 She believes there must be more to the accident she can't remember that killed her friends and left her strangely unharmed. There is.

 She doesn't believe that after everything she's been through, she can fall in love. She's wrong.

  To tell you the truth, this book just really, really disappointed me. The beginning was so eerie and foreboding, and I was hooked. At first. After reading further, however, I quickly became confused. At first, it was a good confused. Then I was just sort of bewildered. At the end of the book, I was still confused, left staring that the acknowledgements page and trying not to scream. Many, many questions were raised during this book, and only a few were answered. I know that there is going to be a sequel, but I feel like all of the stuff that happened in this book could have been wrapped up in this book. I would have liked it better as a stand alone.

  One major thing that was disappointing to me is that, as soon as Mara meets Noah, the mystery goes to the back burner. Everything becomes about the romance. While I do love romance in my books, the romance isn't the only thing I wanted this book for. I wanted an eerie, creepy mystery, and I got that, at first. But soon, all attention was focused on Noah. I feel like the mystery and plot in this book had so much potential, but instead, the whole book went to the romance.

  Another thing is that I found myself skimming through paragraph after paragraph and finding that it was just filler and fluff. Now, I do think that filler and fluff is okay, if in the right place and not frequent. But in this book, it occurred way too often, and there was more of it than actual substance to the book. That really frustrated me, as I hate skipping because I feel like I'm missing things, but also hate having to dig myself out of a pile of filler.

  (Spoiler alert!) One thing I remember being off, though, is when Mara sees her earrings at the bottom of the tub, and then later finds them in her ears, well, that's not a symptom of her power. Maybe I wasn't paying attention, but that sort of seems like the author was trying to play Mara off as very insane, and while doing that, forgot what Mara actually was. I don't know. Like the whole book, that was very confusing to me. Thoughts?

 Overall, this book wasn't my cup of tea. But, remember, this is my opinion, not yours. I know lots and lots of people have absolutely loves this book. I would maybe pick it up at the library and give it a try. Maybe you'll love it.
 
  However, even though I didn't really like the book, this trailer is AMAZING. Watch it.