Review: "Through the Dark" by Alexandra Bracken

~o~Rating~o~

Warning: Through the Dark is a collection of novellas in the Darkest Minds universe. The following contains mild spoilers for the original trilogy.

If I had any doubts before, they’re all gone now. Alexandra Bracken is definitely, doubtlessly, my favorite Young Adult author. Her stories are magnificent, of-course, but it’s her writing that pulls me towards her books. It’s beautiful. 

I didn’t really know what to expect with Through the Dark because it’s a collection of novellas. I hadn’t read any of them before but I had heard great things about the first two. And Bracken did it again. I was laughing and sobbing during all three stories. I love the characters, both new and old. And I loved reading about this world again. As with all my favorite books, this ended way too soon.

~o~SPOILER ALERT~o~

In Time: I started to really warm up to Gabe. And I had completely forgotten what happens to him (it’s been a while since I read In the Afterlight), so the ending shocked me. It was horrible! Poor little Zu.

Sparks Rise: I fell in love with Sam all over again. And Lucas was great too. I like him almost as much as Liam (I did say almost). I was so sad at how this ended, I’m glad I was able to move on to the next story quickly.

Through the Dark: My favorite one out of the three. They have a happy ending! I LOVE happy endings! And the old gang was back! Reading about their characters again was like meeting old friends after a long time; it made me really happy. It was also interesting getting to see how the country was doing after In the Afterlight. Not as well as I hoped but I guess you can’t have everything.

 

Review: “Winter” by Marissa Meyer

~o~Rating~o~

Warning: this review contains spoilers for the first three books in the Lunar Chronicles series (the first book is called Cinder). Winter is the last book in the series.

I started this book the day it came out (first book I ever pre-ordered), and what an awesome decision that was. 823 pages of sheer Wow-ness. I am still unable to form coherent thoughts on this book. It’s over. *sigh* It was just SO GOOD! It had EVERYTHING I hoped for and more.

This book was probably the most fast paced out of the four. There weren’t any slow moments. None! Books like this is why the term page-turner was invented. Winter is definitely a page-turner.

Princess Winter’s character is fantastic (she reminded me of Luna Lovegood). Winter has gone crazy (she is always hallucinating) because she refuses to use her Lunar gift, which is unusual for Lunars. But she is also intelligent, more than people realize. And beautiful of-course which is why Levana made her scar herself when she was younger.

Every character has their own unique story. Marissa Meyer is one of the few YA authors who can pull off having several main characters and not force a few of them into the background (*cough* *cough* Blood of Olympus *cough* *cough*). Every character played a special role and helped in some way.

The relationship between the characters feel very real. Every pairing in this series is perfection. I completely fell in love with the relationship of Winter and Jacin. All the different friendship dynamics are also genuine; it’s clear that they truly are a group of friends who love and support each other no matter how difficult life gets.

This is an awesome ending to an awesome series and it won’t disappoint.

~o~SPOILER ALERT~o~

The following is just a series of random thoughts I have about this book or the series in general:

Kai PROPOSED! HE PROPOSED! Well… kind of. He asked if Cinder would one day consider being empress which to my Kaider mind is a legitimate proposal.

The friendship between Scarlet and Winter was really nice. It felt more real than Scarlet and Cinder’s friendship at-least; I can’t remember those two ever bonding much. But then again, they have been slightly busy.

Scarlet and Wolf are FINALLY reunited!! Seems like forever.

But I would be lying if I said I loved everything about this book. The one thing I was confused about is Wolf. They supposedly enhanced him but I really saw no difference between his new form vs his previous form excluding physical features. I guess that might be the point Meyer was making about his love for Scarlet being stronger than whatever they did to him but it wasn’t explained very well.

I’m still confused on how Iko can love. I get that she has a faulty personality chip but how do you program a robot to feel emotion? I don’t remember if there was an explanation. Or maybe this is just way over my head.

There are so many parts I loved though, they easily trump the few parts I didn’t. This review nowhere summarizes all my thoughts for this wonderful book.

Review: “Nearly Gone” by Elle Cosimano

~o~Rating~o~

Warning: I read this a while ago and am writing this review only now.

Goodreads Synopsis: Nearly Boswell knows how to keep secrets. Living in a DC trailer park, she knows better than to share anything that would make her a target with her classmates. Like her mother's job as an exotic dancer, her obsession with the personal ads, and especially the emotions she can taste when she brushes against someone's skin. But when a serial killer goes on a killing spree and starts attacking students, leaving cryptic ads in the newspaper that only Nearly can decipher, she confides in the one person she shouldn't trust: the new guy at school—a reformed bad boy working undercover for the police, doing surveillance. . . on her.

Nearly might be the one person who can put all the clues together, and if she doesn't figure it all out soon—she'll be next.

Another book I would not have finished if it weren’t for something school related (Reader’s Rally, anyone?). Nearly (yes, that is her name) is kind of horrible. And the paranormal aspect of the book (Nearly can taste people’s emotions when she touches them) was completely unnecessary and unrelated. This could’ve been a perfectly good mystery novel if the paranormal aspect was missing. Instead of adding to the plot, it just made it more confusing and left a lot of questions unanswered.

And not to mention her horrible people skills. She has the perfect best friend: someone who knows her, has been with her through thick and thin, steals money from his abusive father so she’ll be able to pay rent. And who does she choose? The bad boy, of-course! Doesn’t every teenage girl?

This book frustrated me.

~o~SPOILER ALERT~o~

One thing that really bothered me was her friendship with Anh. It never really seemed like a friendship. The tension is high between the two (they’re both competing for a chemistry scholarship); they barely talked let alone bonded. I didn’t understand why Nearly kept referring to her as one of her closest friends when she is always trying to avoid her. And let’s not forget that even when she CHOSE Reece over Jeremy, she would still always get jealous when Anh and Jeremy were together. Make up your mind!

Review: “Hostage Three” by Nick Lake

~o~Rating~o~

Synopsis: Amy is forced to take a trip on a yacht with her father and stepmother. Aboard the Daisy May, Amy almost starts to enjoy herself… until one day, the ship is captured by Somalian pirates. The passengers aboard the ship are taken hostage. Amy finds herself drawing closer to one of the pirates, a boy who didn’t want this life any more than Amy wanted hers.

Hmm… lots of mixed feelings about this book. I still don’t know if I liked it. I’m rating this three stars Goodreads style which means it was okay.

My biggest issue with this book was the structure. I understand Nick Lake was trying to be stylistic by not using quotation marks for dialogues, but lack of punctuation bothers me. A lot. I definitely would not have finished this book if it wasn’t for something school related.

Going past structure, Amy bothered me quite a bit too before I started warming up to her. After her mother’s death, Amy desperately seeks her wealthy father’s attention by lashing out (you know, the usual: getting drunk; smoking; piercings; etc). Her behavior in the beginning took away any chance of me liking her but she was developed in a realistic way.

In a cruise with her family, their yacht is captured by Somalian pirates. The book explores the idea of Stockholm Syndrome, or tried to at-least. The romance between Amy and Farouz seemed forced and unrealistic. I don’t know how you can start to like the person who is holding a gun over your head (but to her credit, neither did Amy).

What I really liked was getting to know the pirates. Everyone steals for a reason and theirs is a pretty good one.

The Zombie Apocalypse Book Tag

A huge thank you to Cindy at Stranger Things Has Happened for tagging me! This is the Zombie Apocalypse Book Tag.

Rules: pick five books at random. Open a random page and the first character you see will be the one who answers the assigned question. Our job is to put together a team to survive the Zombie Apocalypse.

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

The first person to die: Daisy. I could not be happier. She can be torn apart by flesh eating zombies and I’ll sit at the sidelines taking pictures.

The first person you trip to get away from the zombies: Jordan. I like my team already. Not a big fan of Jordan either so this is completely okay. No regrets.

 

 

 The Lightening Thief by Rick Riordan

The first person to turn into a zombie: Annabeth. Noo! The last thing we need is a overly intelligent zombie coming after us.

The first person who trips YOU to get away from the zombies: Chiron. What?! He would never! He wouldn’t right? Maybe his little centaur legs accidentally tripped me when he was running away from Annabeth.

 

 

Matilda by Roald Dahl

The idiot of the team: Miss Trunchbull. I’m surprised at how much this fits. Miss Trunchbull will definitely be the idiot of the team; here’s to hoping she gets eaten by Annabeth.

The “brains” of the team: Matilda. YES!! We’re getting somewhere people. I can see Matilda be the brains; I would not expect anything else.

 

 

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

The team’s medic: Lady Catherine. Yeah… I don’t know how that would turn out. She would spend more time talking about herself than caring for the others.

The weapons’ expert: Elizabeth Bennett. As much as I adore Lizzie, I don’t know if weapons would be her thing. But hey, she is pretty smart so maybe…?

 

 

 

Harry Potter and the Order of Phoenix  by J. K Rowling

The brawler: Umbridge. Hmm… mixed feelings. On the one hand, she is my most despised character. Ever. But then again, the woman is probably good at brawling.

The team captain: Harry Potter. Sure. I can live with that. Harry is a born leader.

 

 

 

You know what guys? I think we can make it. I got an okay team, could be better. This was great! Do the tag if you will it!

Review: “The Rose Society” by Marie Lu

~o~Rating~o~


Warning: This is the second book in the Young Elites series. The following contains spoilers for the first book, The Young Elites.

“Once upon a time, a girl had a father, a prince, a society of friends.
Then they betrayed her, and she destroyed them all…”

With authors like Marie Lu, who has written one of my favorite Young Adult series (Legend trilogy), I tend to let my expectations soar. With one of their series on my I-will-recommend-this-book-to-everyone shelf, I don’t even consider that they might be letting me down. With Marie Lu at-least, that is not the case. The Rose Society is the perfect sequel. If you thought The Young Elites was dark, Rose Society is going to be a big (and hopefully pleasant) surprise. Adelina is no doubt the most morally ambiguous YA protagonist I have read about.

This book introduces some new characters and old characters reappear. The characters, old and new alike, are developed in a very believable way. Adelina’s personality deteriorates so quickly, it’s hard to root for her. Teren, who may or not be the book’s villain (I’m actually not quite sure), is definitely Adelina’s villain but even his character has a rich backstory. The Daggers, who are supposedly the “heroes”, are not always very heroic in what they do (but their intention is the most good out of the three sides). Basically, everyone’s evil and should die (yes, I’m joking).

As dark and disturbing as this was, it felt like a very quick read. (It’s always funny how I just make the time to read when I really like a book, shoving aside all schoolwork. Probably not the best idea…).

This book was great This review no where near describes how much I loved it. Go read it!

~o~SPOILER ALERT~o~

I was fully expecting Maeve to bring Enzo back after that little glimpse of her in the first book. I don’t know how I feel about that yet… I didn’t like Enzo in the first one but his character certainly got more interesting.

I wanted more Raffaelle in the book. He’s such a complicated and intriguing character; I was a little disappointed he didn’t have more chapters. Teren’s point of view was also very interesting. His “godly mission” to destroy all malfettos is completely delusional but fascinating.

In the end, I think it will be Violetta who takes away Adelina’s power. It’s clear she will never be satisfied. For the first time, I really want a main character dead.

I am VERY excited for the next book. But I have a feeling I’ll have to wait another year.

"The Opposite Books" Tag

Hello, everyone! This is The Opposite Books tag created by minhaestante over on Youtube. I was tagged by Stellah in The Little Book Nerd's Life.

The first book in your collection and the last book you bought.

The earliest book I have in my collection right now would be Beezus and Ramona by Beverly Cleary. I loved and still love the Ramona books to death. Those books are hilarious and heart-warming and the perfect series to hook a young mind to reading. The last book I bought would be Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte. I found it at Goodwill and jumped in joy. Jane Eyre is fantastic and one of my absolute favorite classics.

A cheap book and an expensive book.

Let's see... I have bought A LOT of books from used book stores so I don't know which one the cheapest is. My copy of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire was only $0.25. The most expensive book would be Blood of Olympus by Rick Riordan; it was $19.99 dollars of pain and disbelief. I regret buying that book to this day; it was highly disappointing and I refuse to take it as a legitimate conclusion.

A book with a male protagonist and a book with a female protagonist.

For male protagonist, I will choose I Hunt Killers series by Barry Lyga. These books are about Jasper Dent, the son of the most notorious serial killer in the world. Jasper is set on clearing his name when murders, very similar to the works of his imprisoned father, starts again in their area. These books are intelligent, violent and downright scary at times. I see Jasper as almost a teenage version of Sherlock (from the BBC show, not the books). For a book with a female protagonist (which is more than 90 percent of YA books these days)... I'm just going to go with a childhood favorite, Junie B. Jones. I have read every Junie B. Jones book, and if Barbara Parks chose to write more, I would still read them.

A book you read fast and one that took you long to read. 

A book that I read fast... I think that would be the Twilight series which took me roughly a week and a half to read in the sixth grade. A book that took me a long time to read would be Game of Thrones; I love that book but it took me almost two months to get through that whole thing.

A book with a pretty cover and one with an ugly one. 



I love the cover of A Thousand Pieces of You by Claudia Gray. It's a YA Sci-Fi, about Marguerite, whose physicist parents have made a machine that can take you to parallel universes.










Winger by Andrew Smith. I like this book, but the cover is awful. The boy has a bloody napkin stuffed in his nose!





A national book and an international book. 

By national, I'm assuming it means United States (since that's where I am). I guess I'll go with Hunger Games since it is supposed to be a future United States. For an international book, I would choose Written in Stars by Aisha Saeed. It's about a Pakistani-American teen names Naila whose very strict parents takes her back to Pakistan after they find out she has a boyfriend. I didn't expect to like this book as much as I did.

A thin book and a thick book.

Hmm... the thinnest book I have read would be The Autobiography of An Ex-Colored Man by James Weldon Johnson. It takes place during the post-Reconstruction era in America, and follows the journey of a biracial man having to choose between being black in a openly racist society or passing as white and betraying his heritage. The thickest book I own (as in the book with the most pages), would be A Storm of Swords by George R. R. Martin.

A fiction book and a non-fiction book.

Seeing that 98 percent of what I read is fiction, I'll go with my go to answer and say Harry Potter. One of my favorite non-fiction that I've read back in middle school is Chinese Cinderella: The Secret Story of an Unwanted Daughter by Adeline Yen Mah. It's about her experience growing up in China during WWII, in a family that considers her bad luck because her mother died two weeks after giving birth to her.

A way too romantic book and an action book. 

I think, Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi had too much cringe-worthy romance without needing to. Needless to say, I do not like those books. For an action book, I will say The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey. It's sci-fi/Fantasy in a world that has been taken over by aliens who look like humans. It follows Cassie who for a long time believes she is the only human left on the planet.

A book that made you happy and a book that made you sad.

I think a lot of the times, the same book makes me both happy and sad. In the Afterlight, the conclusion to the Darkest Minds series by Alexandra Bracken, made me feel both extremely happy and very sad. It was the perfect conclusion, but as with all my favorite book series, I never wanted it to end.

Want to do this tag? Go right ahead.