Reviews I Need to Do

Some reviews I need to catch up on.

1. The Scorpio Races
2. Chaos Walking Series (I'm excited for this one)
3. Cinder
4. Across The Universe

2012 is the end of the world

Time for a dystopic/post-apocalyptic reading challenge!

Hosted by Bookish Ardour

The Deets 

Running Dates; 1st of January – 31st of December 2012 

When Can I Sign Up; All the way up to the last two weeks of December 2012! 

Crossover Genres; Our Dystopia challenge also includes Post-Apocalypse and Ecotopia (environmentally dystopian). 

Challenge Levels

1. Asocial– Choose 5 books to read
2. Contagion – Choose 15 books to read
3. Soldier – Choose 30 books to read
4. Drone – Choose 50 books to read
5. Conditioned – Choose 75 books to read
6. Brainwashed – Choose anywhere between 76-135 books to read
7. Totalitarian – Choose anywhere between 136-200 books to read.

Afterwards

1. Your Reviews; Reviewing is optional! But if you do review we’d love for you to share them by submitting them on the Review Page
2. Finished: When you’re done it’s completion post time and you can share these on the Completion Post page.

Sounds like fun. I'll trying to complete the Soldier level (30 dystopic novels is a lot, but I read a ton anyway!), so wish me luck!

See my book list here .

Review ][ Legend

Title ][ Legend

Author ][ Marie Lu

Chapters (Summary) ][ link

Rating ][

Legend by Marie Lu takes place in a dystopic society and focuses on the relationship between the city's golden girl, June, and it's most wanted criminal, Day. It's also one of the most cliché novels I've read in a while, from your typical tyrannical, post-apocalyptic government, to the plague, to the perfect main characters without a single flaw. Now, I'm not saying that I didn't like it - I actually enjoyed it quite a bit - but I saw every plot twist coming from a mile away. Let's analyze it bit by bit, shall we?

Plot. The plot of Legend was nothing new. Although it was interesting to read and did have a couple of unique twists, I knew what was going to happen long before it happened, and I don't think I was surprised once. This is not a good thing. I like it when novels take my by surprise, and that was one of the things that made Legend seem boring. The novel also contained a ton of flashbacks, and I can't help feeling that there must have been a better way to incorporate the back story than reading flashback after flashback. However, I did enjoy hearing about the corrupt military/investigations (I seem to have a soft spot for police tales, see Mastiff rave below), and the action sequences.

June and Day's world was quite interesting to read about, but I can't help but feel that it could have been developed and explored much more. I feel like Lu just gave us the simplest (and most commonly used) explanations of how and why things worked and left it at that. I wanted something more unique, more descriptive, and just more in general! I also would have loved to learn why the world was the way it was, because despite all the time Day and June spend reminiscing about their individual pasts, they don't ever give a second thought to their society or how to fix it. They're just kind of there. If the novel had been longer (I mean, it's kind of small and measly), we could have explored the world and motives more. Instead, Lu gives us the bare minimum.

I know I've complained about June and Day quite a bit, they're actually quite BAMF characters. Day reminded me of Jace Wayland, and despite having a lame name (well, I thought it was lame and cliché for most the novel, until it's meaning was revealed at the very end), and even though he's a bit too perfect, he still is a very cool character. June was very awesome as well, and I especially found it interesting to read about her at the beginning although I felt like she lost her resolve a bit in the middle of the novel. And this is one of the only novels where I didn't mind reading from multiple points of view! That could be because they were so similar (I would have liked it if they had differed a little), but I felt it actually added to the story instead of taking away from it. One criticism I have about the characters was that their relationship. It seemed completely fake and had zero chemistry, and although I didn't mind too much in this book, I really hope this won't affect how much I enjoy the sequels.
 

Why three kernels? Legend is your classic, cliché dystopic novel, but that doesn't mean that there wasn't anything good about it. Although it won't surprise you, the characters were a joy to read about, and it did have a unique little flare. It's definitely not a novel that I would run out and buy right now from the nearest Chapters (at 11:30 pm), but it is something that I recommend for a nice, rainy day where you have nothing else to do. In general, not an amazing book, but a good book that hasn't quite lived up to it's full potential.

And I have to add a little note about the design of the novel here. Although I know the publishers wanted to make it stand out, YOU HAVE TO STOP SOMEWHERE! It had no fewer than 5 different fonts (keep it to 2 or 3 at the very most, please), and the coloured font for Day's narration simply did not work. Unlike Shiver, where I found the text colour interesting and a joy to read, Day's colour hurt my eyes while reflecting sunlight in a bright car and i found myself distracting by it and trying to determine exactly what colour it was (as it changed with the lighting and I was trying to figure out if it was actually gold or if I was going crazy) when I should have been focusing on the climax of the novel. I also picture Day as looking completely different from the author's sketches, so I've decided to draw him myself and post it here when I'm done.

Oh, and one last thing. In book 2, there will be a long, dead-boring journey, June and Day will fall out of love, then be back in love by the end, and someone's going to have to make a huge sacrifice/die. Probably a new character that we won't really care about. Yep, those are my predictions. They took 2 seconds to come up with and they're probably 100% true. Not quite sure if I'm going to read Legend's sequel yet.

][ Midelaye 

Review ][ Mastiff

  Title ][ Mastiff

Author ][Tamora Pierce

Chapters (Summary) ][ link

Rating ][

Warning! This review does have some spoilers. I tried to keep them to a minimum but I’m tired and needed to reveal some things to share my honest opinion. I didn’t reveal anything major, though.

It’s finally here! Mastiff is the final instalment in the Beka Cooper trilogy, although I wish it wasn’t. This is probably my favourite out of the three which is a pleasant surprise since sequels don’t usually live up to the originals. However, Terrier seems like an introduction or prelude compared to Mastiff!

In this novel, Beka is back and on the trail of her most important quarry yet! With the help of some old friends (Achoo, Pounce, Tunstall, and Sabine) as well as some new ones (Farmer and Nomalla), she faces bandits, slave traders, nobles and mages to rescue a boy, on whom the fate of all of Tortall rests upon. This book is packed with non-stop action and magic, as it has a huge focus on mages (much more than the previous books). And I must say, I actually quite enjoyed the lack of dust spinners and pigeons. I’m not saying there were none, but they were used sparingly and only when needed and helped me believe that the novel was more historical fiction than fantasy (even though there were mages left, right, and center). I know it’s meant to be fantasy, but I still do love it’s historical flare and always found Beka’s powers a bit odd and unconnected, with each other and with the rest of the novel.

Mastiff introduces a bunch of new characters, but one of the most prominent is Farmer, a looby of a mage who is actually much more powerful than he first appears to be. I absolutely loved Farmer. He was funny without being outrageously so, and I found myself slowly falling in love with him as Beka did. The romance was similar to Divergent because it developed slowly and seemed really realistic (unlike all the ridiculous “love at first sight” stuff that YA seems oh-so fond of nowadays), and I was truly shocked when he kissed her. Not because I was surprised, but because that kiss revealed how he felt about her, kind of like the shock of being kissed by a guy you like and that you suspect likes you but you’re not really sure about his feelings until that point... if that makes sense. I felt he was a great addition to the cast, and I wish we could have met Farmer in Terrier so we could have spent more time with him!

Now that we’ve talked about new characters, it’s time to talk about the old ones. Since Goodwin got her turn in the spotlight in Bloodhound, Mastiff was Tunstall’s time to shine. I can’t reveal too much about Tunstall except that he shocked me at the end, but I will say that his reasons where utterly believable, which made it that much worse. That whole section of the novel in general left me feeling hollow, but that was quickly remedied by the ending.

One of my only complaints about the end of Mastiff was that it was wrapped up too neatly. Everyone was happy and life was good, a little too good. I wish that Tamora Pierce had thrown some little twist in there. However, since it is the end of a trilogy, I suppose I am happy the Beka lives happily ever after.

Why five kernals? This book was incredible fast-paced and had new dangers around every corner. However, it never seemed like it was forcing it, and all of the character’s reactions as well as the events that happened seemed perfectly believable.  Mastiff never tried to convince you of anything.  It simply said “here’s what happened, take it and make of it what you will,” and I believed every word. The characters truly endeared themselves to me, and Beka and Farmer will forever be some of my favourite fictional characters. This is my favourite novel from one of my favourite series, and is definitely a trilogy you should NOT skip over.

That said, I’m actually quite depressed that we won’t be hearing from Beka again. She’s one of my favourite heroines of all time, and I’ll definitely miss reading about her adventures as I wasn’t quite ready to let her go (I was hoping for another quartet). I feel like I`m not doing this book justice with this review. It really is quite extrodinary, and I definitly recomend it.

][ Midelaye

2012 Update + Goodreads Account

Hey! Long time, no see. I haven`t read nearly enough lately, and the tings I have read haven`t really been worth reviewing. (By the way, sorry for the weird apostrophes. My keyboard`s set to Canadian French and I can`t change it back).

Anyway, I figured I`d update with my Goodreads account so you can all see what I`ve been up to.

Midelaye`s Goodreads

In other news, I got a ton of books for Christmas! Here`s a list.

Mastiff by Tamora Pierce (reviewed)

Legend by Marie Lu (reviwed)

The Death Cure by James Dashner

The Scorpio Races by Maggie Steifvater
Witch and Wizard: The Gift by  James Patterson (need the read the first)

Destined by P.C. Cast (need to read previous novel first)

Halo by Alexandra Adornetto

Crossed by Ally Condie (need to read Matched first)

Inheritance by Christopher Paolini (this better be the last one because I cannot wait another 5 years for the next book!)

Thanks Grandma! I`m going to try to post a review of Mastiff (which was awesome!) tomorrow, and Legend shortly after. Happy 2012 everyone!

Review ][ Divergent

Title ][ Divergent

Author ][ Veronica Roth

Chapters (Summary) ][ link

Rating ][

This book was A-MAZE-ING! I read it in 7 hours straight. Okay, that's not quite true because I took an 8 hour sleep break in the middle but at 2 a.m. I figured it was time to put the book down.

As you can tell, I really loved this book. The whole thing was really fast paced but I never felt like I was missing anything. And on top of that, Roth expertly weaves in undertones of rebellion and what is happening in Tris' (the main character) world while following the main plot line of Tris' training, which is happening in an underground cave. Quite the accomplishment considering where Tris' is trapped and that she isn't really in the middle of all the changes until the end of the book. However, the reader still gets the sense that the society has reached it's breaking point.

Now I have to rave about Tris' world a bit. The whole story takes place in a dystopian Chicago, and the entire population is divided into five factions depending on the trait they value the most. There is Abnegation (selflessness), Erudite (intelligence), Amity (peacefulness), Candor (honesty), and Dauntless (courage). Guess which one yours truly, the book-lover and straight-A student, would choose? Anyways, I found the whole societal structure really unique and, unlike other dystopian novels I've read, it seems to work. After all it's not a flaw in the system, but the darker side of human nature which brings the government down in the end.

On top of everything else in this novel, there was romance as well. However, it wasn't the instantly-fall-in-love-with-a-guy kind, and there were no love triangle. I actually loved how slowly Tris' relationship developed because the two character really spent time getting to know each other and it was sweet. I'll admit I fell in love with Tris' boyfriend as well and he's my new fictional crush. X3 Just kidding, but I seriously did love the romance in this novel, and it was pretty clean as well.

Why five kernels? This book was really well written and fast paced. It was really hard to find a spot where I could put it down because there was always something going on that I wanted to read about. Divergent also seems to have everything, from clapsing dystopian societies, to warrior-like training that reminded me of Tamora Pierce's or Diana Peterfruend's books, to romance, to humor, and pretty much everything in between. It's a must read, especially if you enjoyed The Hunger Games.

And I seriously can't wait for the next one because the end was... well... not where I expected the book to end.

][ Midelaye

Review ][ Delirium

Title ][ Delirium 

Author ][ Lauren Oliver

Chapters (Summary) ][ link

Rating ][ 

When I turned the last page of this book, my first reaction was "... what?". I know a lot of people loved it, but I'll try to explain as well as I can, without giving away any spoilers, why it didn't work for me.  If you really want to be surprised by it, just skip the next paragraph.

One of the main characters died (well, I thought they did but apparently it was left open-ended; I'm going to go on as if this character died), but it seemed really pointless to me. It seemed like they didn't have to die, and when they did, I didn't really care. When they died, I realized that I didn't know them as well as I thought I did and wished I'd known and cared about them more before the author killed them off. Sure, they were amazing and sweet and totally worth falling in love with, but we didn't really know any of their hobbies or little idiosyncrasies that really made them them. I feel like a much better ending would have been the death of the other main character (who we knew better and cared more about), or one of them dieing to save the other out of love, or both dieing in a Romeo and Juliet-type ending. Maybe I just missed the whole point, but the ending seemed weird and pointless to me.

However, if they didn't die the ending would be much better. Also, if both main characters died, it would be nigh impossible to continue the series.

That said, the rest of this book is phenomenal! The whole idea of a society where love is seen as a disease and can be stopped with an operation is intriguing. I loved all the little details Oliver adds because it really makes you consider what our world would be like without love beyond the obvious things like... well... no one would be in love. The romance in it was also really sweet, and since the characters took a long time to fall in love and get to know each other, it was believable. I also adored the snippets of information at the beginning of each chapter from government websites and text books. It gave the whole book a sense of reality.

Why four kernels? The book was amazing, and I couldn't put it down, but the ending really threw me off and I'm not sure if I'd read the second book. It's not that I don't want to read it because I think it would be bad, but I feel as if the first book wraps up fairly well and I also think I can fill in the missing information myself. I didn't even know it was part of a series until today, and I was okay with that.

Now I feel as if I'm missing something because practically everyone else gave it 5 stars, but that is my honest opinion.  

][ Midelaye