Review: "The Darkest Minds" by Alexandra Bracken

 

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I read this a few months ago and I am still obsessing over it. The Darkest Minds was absolutely amazing! I loved the story, the world building and the character development. This is a difficult book for me to review because it was the writing that caught my attention so much more than the story. Alexandra Bracken is a wonderful and truly gifted writer. I liked how she didn’t give us all the details at once but rather left clues for us to piece together. The plot twists were very well done and enough of a surprise to wow the readers.

I loved reading this book from Ruby’s perspective because I feel like she is a very strong character. At-first she is unsure of herself, she is still coping with accidentally causing the memory loss of her parents and her friend Sam. It takes her quite a while to become comfortable with the others (Liam, Chubs and Zu) but she does.

Liam is now definitely in my top 5 favorite YA male characters list. He is so sweet! I think him and Ruby make a very good team.

And I was a bit wary of Chubs at-first, but he turned out to be completely and utterly AWESOME! He is probably my favorite character. I loved his sense of humor and how he slowly became accustomed to Ruby. He turned out to be a very good friend.

So many things happened in this book but still I thought it was way too short. This isn’t a very thorough review but if you haven’t read it yet, go read it right now!

~o~SPOILER ALERT~o~           

The ending scene made me so mad! Ruby just had to go and be all noble! It was very unexpected; I was shocked. Thankfully, I was able to start on Never Fade (the sequel to The Darkest Minds) right away.

Review: "Ender's Game" by Orson Scott Card

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Ender’s Game is one of the few books I have read multiple times. It is one of my all time favorite books. Ender Wiggin is a very strong character. At the mere age of six, he had been through so much. Every time I read this book, it makes me cry.

Ender is an outcast from the day he was born because he was a Third. The government only allowed families to have two children, but because his parents had two exceptionally smart children who couldn’t be admitted to Battle School for their personalities, they decided to allow them to have a third child. Ender is sought out by school bullies; he is tortured by his brother, Peter and his parents don’t really understand him. The only person he loves dearly is his sister kind and caring sister Valentine. He is taken away from his family when they decide he is perfect for Battle School.

Ender is isolated in Battle School on purpose by the instructors. Every time he made friends, he was taken away from them. And the one time he decided to give up completely, they used his sister against him.

~o~SPOILER ALERT~o~

The ending was devastating. They told him he was actually doing a stimulation when he was actually controlling a battleship. He had to endure so much and now he had to live with knowing he was responsible for wiping out an entire species. 

At-first I was confused when he finds an alien in his “Game” world. But I liked how it represented hope for him; finding a place for the Buggers to establish another home would give him a chance to redeem himself. 

Review: "Allegiant" by Veronica Roth

Allegiant is the third (and last) book to the Divergent trilogy by Veronica Roth

 

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It started off pretty well but I disliked the dual narrative so much! I'm used to being in Tris' head. I don't think Veronica Roth did a very good job with Tobias' perspective. He sounded way too much like Tris.

Anyway, so they go out of the city and things just fall apart! I was expecting the cameras and the experiments and such but I don't think Roth did a very good job with everything. The Maze Runner had similar concepts and I LOVE those books.This book definitely did not meet my expectations. 

~o~SPOILER ALERT~o~

Apparently, Beatrice Prior gave her life up for a message (which was to send an army of Divergent out of the city) didn't matter! Then why in Hades did she agree to go into the experiment??

And now you're telling me that Tobias isn't Divergent! I think that was completely unnecessary!! And even is he wasn't, Tobias would NEVER act like how he was acting. He would be mad at the bureau people for thinking he was damaged and wouldn't have taken it for an explanation. And he is TOBIAS. He would NEVER go on with a plan in which he didn't know exactly what he was getting into (as was the case with him and Nita). He is not a trusting person, he's never been a trusting person, and there he is going along with a coup with someone he met three days ago. That's NOT how he acts. Does Veronica Roth not realize that she CANNOT change a character's personality to fit the plot?!?! And Uriah! Poor Uriah, who I feel so sorry for right now.

And then, after the last two books had built up to the war between the factionless and the factions, we don't even get to witness most of it. We only get some glimpses from the cameras at the bureau.

And the whole thing with genetically healed and genetically damaged just didn't fit for me. So, they had set up an experiment and monitored their genes. Okay. And they have been in that experiment for more than three decades. I don't get why in Hades someone didn't try to escape!! They said that if they tried to escape, they'll inject them with the memory serum. But if a group of them were to go out, and if that whole group was injected with the memory serum, don't you think at-least some of the residents would know something was fishy? Take the Erudite, for example; they’re naturally curious and yet, none of them tried to find out what was beyond the fence? Humans are curious and stupid creatures! They're not going to stay inside a fence for decades!

I didn't mind that Tris died. I've been waiting for AGES for a main character in one of my favorite book series' to die (I thought it would be a nice change), but the way she died just seemed horrible to me. When she was escorting Caleb to their "mission" I knew that she wasn't going to let him die for her. I mean, this is Tris! So of-course she saved Caleb and went herself, if she hadn't I would've been disappointed.

Also the whole time I was thinking. If the bureau people could really be so low as to wipe out the memories of thousands of people, why couldn't they just inject Jeanine or Evelyn or Marcus? Do you realize how many people that would be saving??
And then in the end, Tobias goes to his mother and just ASKS her to quit the war. This is EVELYN! She left her son when he was a little boy with an abusive father/husband so she could save herself. She led hundreds of people to revolt and wage war. I do think that she would stop all the nonsense for Tobias but it shouldn't have been that easy. Maybe a little more convincing in Tobias' part. And if it really was that easy, why did Tobias not talk to his mom BEFORE all this happened.

The last part with Tobias almost drinking the memory serum was UTTER NONSENSE!! Again, this is TOBIAS!! Yes, Tris' death screwed him up but he wouldn't drink the memory serum. He wouldn't want to forget Tris and everything they did together.

So, what did I like about this book?

Well, I like Christina more now and I feel really sorry for her. She lost her boyfriend in the first book in the hands of her best friend, she was getting close to Uriah who just HAD to die, and then she loses her best friend. I mean, she came from Candor to Dauntless which drove her away from her family but she found a new family among her new Dauntless friends, but now they're all gone too.

I seriously can't think of what else I liked. 

Top Ten 2013 Books I read

Top Ten 2013 Books I read

1. House of Hades (Heroes of Olympus, #4) by Rick Riordan
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
2. Clockwork Princess (Infernal Devices, #3) by Cassandra Clare
   
   
3. Scarlet (Lunar Chronicles, #1) by Marissa Meyer
   
4. Champion (Legend, #3) by Marie Lu
   
   
5. Prodigy (Legend, #2) by Marie Lu
   
6. Code (Virals, #3) by Kathy Reichs
   
   
7. Light (Gone, #6) by Michael Grant
   
   
8. Reached (Matched, #3) by Allie Condie
   
   
9. Pawn (The Blackcoat Rebellion, #1) by Aimee Carter
   
   
10. Allegiant (Divergent, #3) by Veronica Roth
    
    

Review: "Clockwork Princess" by Cassandra Clare

Clockwork Princesss is the third book to the Infernal Devices

~o~Rating~o~
 

I finished the conclusion to the Infernal Devices and I'm still not sure how I feel about this book. Reading this book was definitely an emotional roller coaster. All in all, I think Clare did a wonderful job concluding this series. The ending, for me, was unexpected but I liked it.

The book starts with Tessa preparing for her wedding with Jem. The threat of Mortmain is still hanging over the Shadowhunters but they haven't heard of him in a while. I love books where you get to explore the minds of the side characters as well as the main characters because it gives them a certain depth. This is something I really liked in this book and this book series in general.

I am completely in love with this book! And if you haven't read it yet, WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?

~o~SPOILER ALERT~o~

I don't even know where to start. I think all the characters tied in to the story very nicely. I liked how Clare wrapped up the stories of the side characters. I felt the ending for the side characters were a little "too" perfect with Gideon ending up with Sophie and Gabriel with Cecily, but I didn't mind it. I like happy endings, however cliche like. I thought Gideon and Sophie were really cute. I am also glad Charlotte was appointed Consul; she would be absolutely perfect!

Alright, *deep breath* to the trio. Like Tessa, I absolutely LOVE both Jem and Will so much! In most love triangles, the guys will do anything for the girl (which is still the case here) but I love how Will and Jem will also do anything for each other. They're not just best friends, they're brothers; they're more than brothers, they're blood brothers. Their souls are tied together.

I really liked the scene from Charlotte's point of view when we see how Will and Jem first met when they were twelve. Jem is all Will had for five years, the one person he had allowed himself to show affection for because he was already dying. (Off topic but when I found out Will actually wasn't cursed in Clockwork Prince, I felt so bad for him! For all these years he thought no one loved him and he pushed everyone away. Seriously, if I was a Shadowhunter the first I'd do is go after that stupid blue demon). Anyway, we get to see just how much Will and Jem mean to each other which was just so... touching (why can't I think of a better word?).

After the fighting scene with the automatons, Tessa is kidnapped and Jem is very badly injured. Will, instead of going after Tessa immediately (which is no doubt what most other YA "heroes" would do if the love of their life was kidnapped by a psychotic witch), he sits besides Jem for hours because he knows Jem will need his strength from the parabatai rune. Yes he wants to go after Tessa but he couldn't stand the chance of his best friend dying even though he had years to grasp that idea. Does that not want to make you bawl?!

Jem on his "deathbed" finally finds out Will was also in love with Tessa and tells him to go after her. Will hesitates because he knows Jem will most likely die without him but he goes anyway.

The scene in the stable when Will's parabatai rune starts hurting and bleeding was so intense! Jem was dead, I couldn't believe it! Honestly, I actually started admiring Clare at that point for killing off a well-loved main character. I had started grieving for Jem already. But then we find out, no, he's not dead. He turned into a Silent Brother. Okay, I'm not going to lie, that did sort of make me roll my eyes. But I did get used to the idea pretty quickly.

I think the final battle between the Shadowhunters and Mortmain was short but enough to satisfy me. I liked that in the end, Tessa is the one who kills Mortmain. I think that was ideal. Her turning into her clockwork angel surprised me, I guess I was underestimating her power. Either way, I loved how she crushed Mortmain with "her" hand. Imagining that scene made me unusually cheerful.

Now, to the Epilogue. That Epilogue killed me, resurrected me with the resurrection stone, then killed me again.

As I understand, the epilogue was very controversial. Something I hadn't spent a lot of time thinking about was how Tessa was immortal and Will was not. I knew that Will was going to grow old and die while Tessa will remain in her youth but I guess I didn't really grasp the idea until I read the epilogue. One part of me really disliked Cassandra Clare for writing about Will's death. I didn't want to witness Will growing old and dying. But I do understand and I praise her for writing it. I don't think I've ever thought reading about a death was beautiful, but Will's death scene was BEAUTIFUL.

Jem sat down his bow, and came toward the bed, drawing back his hood, so she  could see his closed eyes and his scarred face. And he had sat down beside them on the bed and taken Will's hand, the one that Tessa was not holding, and both Will and Tessa had heard Jem's voice in their mind.

I take your hand, brother, so that you may go in peace.
Will had opened the blue eyes that had never lost their color, over all the passing years, and looked at Jem and Tessa, and smiled, and died, with Tessa's head on his shoulder and his hand in Jem's.

Wasn't that just the sweetest thing?? I also love how Magnus comforts Tessa after Will's death. He tells her that the first you love who dies is always the hardest. Poor Magnus, did I mention how much I love Magnus?

Jem finally finding a cure and ending his bonds to the Silent Brothers was understandable. He went to the Silent Brothers for Will and Tessa and because he wanted to live for them. If a cure was found, of-course he would use it. Jem and Tessa ending up together was nice. I believe Will would be happier than anyone else to see the two people he loved the most being happy together. I also feel very sorry for Tessa right now; Jem is now a mortal and he is also going to grow old and die. At-least she has Magnus; he's someone who can understand her. 

Review: "Cress" by Marissa Meyer

~o~Rating~o~

  

Warning: Cress is the third book in the Lunar Chronicles series. This review contains spoilers for the first two books.

 

With each installment in the Lunar Chronicles, I feel like the books get better and better. Cress was absolutely marvelous! I love Marissa Meyer's world building and how she wove these unrelated fairy-tales together. All the characters have their own identity, and I love how I can understand them perfectly. Often times when authors introduce too many main characters, some of them lack personality which was never the case with these books. I think the pacing was perfect too. The characters are still getting to know each other and trying to find their own little place in the team.

 

Cress is the new member of the team of misfits. She has been stuck in an satellite for years working as the programmer/hacker of Luna. The only visitor she gets is Queen Levana's thaumaturge Sybil Mira. We find out that she has been the one hiding Cinder's ship all this time from radars so neither Earthens nor Lunars could find her. I thought Cress was a wonderful addition to the group! And of-course I loved the scenes with her and Thorne! 

 

 ~o~SPOILER ALERT~o~

 

I LOVED how in the beginning you see everyone inside the Rampion coming together and working together in spite of all their differences. They all have a major part to play and I love that they are cooperating with each other. Scarlet and Wolf are so cute!

 

I felt so bad for Cress at times! Especially with her and Thorne being stuck in the desert. I was scared out of my life when I read Thorne was blind after the satellite crash. Here's to hoping his eyes go back to normal.

 

Cinder and Kai. THEY'RE FINALLY TOGETHER. Both of them have been through SO much! Cinder thinks she's turning into Levana because she used her powers to first torture Mira and then make her step-mom feel guilty; that made me so sad for some reason. And Kai is trying to be a good leader, but so much was resting on his shoulder. I liked how in the end of the book after Cinder told Kai she was Princess Selene, Kai asked Cinder to tell him anything else she was hiding. She tells him she isn't able to cry and you could tell how that fact bothered her so much. Oh, poor Cinder. That was one of those times where you just want to jump into the books and give the character a big hug.

 

Wolf was completely lost. Other than Scarlet, I think he suffered the most throughout the book. First the love of his life gets kidnapped by Lunatic Lunars and then he's basically used as a pawn first by Mira and then Cinder. I hope he's reunited with Scarlet soon.

 

There wasn't nearly enough Scarlet but we did get a pretty good description of Luna. I am super excited to get to know Winter. She seems so intriguing.  Why do I have to wait so long for Winter?!?!

  

Introduction

Hello to anyone who's reading this. My name is Shouni. Welcome to Through the Book Portal!
I am currently a high school sophomore. Reading is my life! I mostly read YA fiction, though I like classics as well. I'm not a big fan of non-fiction.

This is my first attempt at a blog. I've been wanting to write YA book review blog for a while now. I will try to update this blog as often as I can. This is a good way for me to keep track of all the books I've read and to look back on them in the future. I do tend to rant about books quite a lot, especially if I really liked or disliked the book. I also love reading other blogs so I'm very excited to start my own.    Any tips?