Sadie Hawkins Sunday Review #33: Across a Star-Swept Sea

Across a Star-Swept Sea
For Darkness Shows the Stars, Book 2

Author: Diana Peterfreund
Pages: 464
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Publication Date: October 15, 2013
Read: September 2-5, 2013
Source: Gifted ARC - thanks, Lenore!
Recommended by: Christina of Christina Reads YA

Description from Goodreads:
Centuries after wars nearly destroyed civilization, the two islands of New Pacifica stand alone, a terraformed paradise where even the Reduction—the devastating brain disorder that sparked the wars—is a distant memory. Yet on the isle of Galatea, an uprising against the ruling aristocrats has turned deadly. The revolutionaries’ weapon is a drug that damages their enemies’ brains, and the only hope is rescue by a mysterious spy known as the Wild Poppy.

On the neighboring island of Albion, no one suspects that the Wild Poppy is actually famously frivolous aristocrat Persis Blake. The teenager uses her shallow, socialite trappings to hide her true purpose: her gossipy flutternotes are encrypted plans, her pampered sea mink is genetically engineered for spying, and her well-publicized new romance with handsome Galatean medic Justen Helo… is her most dangerous mission ever.

Though Persis is falling for Justen, she can’t risk showing him her true self, especially once she learns he’s hiding far more than simply his disenchantment with his country’s revolution and his undeniable attraction to the silly socialite he’s pretending to love. His darkest secret could plunge both islands into a new dark age, and Persis realizes that when it comes to Justen Helo, she’s not only risking her heart, she’s risking the world she’s sworn to protect.

In this thrilling adventure inspired by The Scarlet Pimpernel, Diana Peterfreund creates an exquisitely rendered world where nothing is as it seems and two teens with very different pasts fight for a future only they dare to imagine.

Previous Book in Series:
1: For Darkness Shows the Stars

First Sentence: "If the Wild Poppy dared return to Galatea, Citizen Cutler was ready."

Review:
There's a life lesson in this series for me. Much as I think I'm going to love the books that retell favorites, I'm probably actually going to prefer the ones that retell books I didn't like or that I haven't read. The latter is the case with The Scarlet Pimpernel, though I do have it on my shelves, along with a fifth of the other books I hope to read someday but haven't. Initially, I was a bit skeptical to a sequel to For Darkness Shows the Stars, but Peterfreund weaves Across a Star-Swept Sea into that world brilliantly, creating a read I found much more emotionally resonant.

Not being particularly familiar with The Scarlet Pimpernel, I cannot tell you with any degree of accuracy how well the retelling has been done, but I suspect quite well, as Peterfreund did a fantastic job with Persuasion. Even better, Peterfreund has done a gender swap and made The Wild Poppy. Persis Blake pretends to be an air-headed socialite so that no one suspect that she is in fact the most notorious spy in the kingdom.

Peterfreund really digs into gender roles and the absurdity thereof. In Across a Star-Swept Sea, three different cultures mingle, all with different gender roles for women. Even in Galatea, where women have been able to hold rank and rule for ages, everyone automatically assumes that The Wild Poppy is a man. Of course, this feeling that women cannot be so clever or powerful does make it easier for Persis to totally mess with their minds. I liked how, even though she makes use of the resources available to her, even if that means the assumption of her weakness or stupidity. Persis is a truly remarkable girl, intelligent, focused, resourceful, and a skilled actress.

The reason The Wild Poppy exists is to save Galatean nobles. In that country, the regs revolted and overthrew their leaders. However, they're not happy with equality; they want payback, and are punishing their leaders with Reduction. The world building is a bit complex and won't make much sense if you haven't first read For Darkness Shows the Stars, so I would really start there, even though this is marketed as a companion novel. Anyway, the pink pills simulate actual Reduction and remove a person's mental faculties, so that the regs can force the aristos to labor for them for a change. Medic Justen Helo, a symbol of the revolution because his grandmother Persistence Helo developed the cure to Reduction, fears that the new government has gone too far and seeks to escape to Albion. All of the medical stuff surrounding Reduction, both the sort that happened organically because we tampered to much with genes, and the created sort are entirely horrifying. Society, can we please not do this?

The plot runs largely more to intrigue than to daring rescues. In fact, she only goes on a couple of Poppy missions throughout the course of the novel, stuck instead at feigning a romance in her home country of Albion for most of the book. Romance is pretty central to the plot, not that I think the world building is neglected or anything, but it's key. Justen and Persis have this great hate to love thing going, and have the added complication of having to pretend to be a couple to explain why he's in Albion, since the Galateans don't know he no longer supports the actions of the Revolution. Basically, I ship this QUITE a bit. They have excellent banter, and it's fun to watch their feelings slowly change. Justen, of course, is in the difficult position of thinking Persis is an idiot, as she very much pretends to be.

However, much as I loved Persis and Justen, a couple of the secondary cast were wonderful too. Isla, the young leader of Albion is clever like Persis, and she has the cutest little romance going that she's not meant to. Watching her stop deferring to the old men in her council was super gratifying in patriarchal Albion. Tero and Andrine, the reg siblings, are fabulous. The show stealer, though, is Slipstream, aka Slippy, Persis' seamink. I picture him looking mostly like an otter. He's basically the cutest and also very useful. I would like a sea mink, though I doubt my cat would approve.

Across a Star-Swept Sea was pretty close to perfection for me, except for one thing: the hackneyed way that the novel resolved. Now, with a large aspect of Across a Star-Swept Sea being the romance, certain aspects of the ending are pretty much definite. Essentially, I was left feeling unsatisfied, because the romance aspects were left hanging. The book ends in what feels like the middle of the scene. No doubt this was done intentionally, but, as a reader, I am really tired of spending hundreds of pages getting emotionally attached to a particular couple but never getting that emotional payoff in the end.

On top of that, a very large plot point was left wholly unresolved. Without going into too much detail, there's a crossover with the plot from For Darkness Shows the Stars. We get to see those characters briefly, but they essentially don't serve any plot purpose that couldn't have been done more neatly with other characters. Yes, it's nice to show how the book's fit together, but that doesn't mean the characters can show up and have their plot entirely dropped.

Diana Peterfreund's follow-up to For Darkness Shows the Stars truly is best read as a sequel, and not a standalone, at least if you like to have all of the knowledge, like I do. Across a Star-Swept Sea is more light-hearted and romantic than its predecessor, with the same excellent writing and intriguing world building. Long as it is though, it did feel a bit abbreviated, though I still recommend it quite highly.

Rating: 4/5

Favorite Quote:

"'You think they like you because you're soft on them. But all you're teaching them is that you're soft.'
     Now Isla did turn, and fixed Councilman Shift with her most royal glare. 'And if I let your insult pass unpunished, sir? What am I teaching you?'"

Don't Take My Word for It:
The Social Potato's word: "Is it really good? Hell to the YES." - 5 stars
Good Books and Good Wine's word: "this novel was a pure delight" - 5 stars
The Biased Bookie's word: "not a book you should read drowsy" - 4.5 stars

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Up Next:

The next Sadie Hawkins Sunday book will be If You Find Me by Emily Murdoch. This one was recommended by two separate people convinced I will love it, so *crosses fingers*

Want to tell me what to read? Fill out the following form with a suggestion! For more details, check this post.

Review: More Than This

More Than This

Author: Patrick Ness
Pages: 480
Publisher: Candlewick Press
Publication Date: September 10, 2013
Read: September 8, 2013
Source: ARC from publisher

Description from Goodreads:
From two-time Carnegie Medal winner Patrick Ness comes an enthralling and provocative new novel chronicling the life — or perhaps afterlife — of a teen trapped in a crumbling, abandoned world.

A boy named Seth drowns, desperate and alone in his final moments, losing his life as the pounding sea claims him. But then he wakes. He is naked, thirsty, starving. But alive. How is that possible? He remembers dying, his bones breaking, his skull dashed upon the rocks. So how is he here? And where is this place? It looks like the suburban English town where he lived as a child, before an unthinkable tragedy happened and his family moved to America. But the neighborhood around his old house is overgrown, covered in dust, and completely abandoned. What’s going on? And why is it that whenever he closes his eyes, he falls prey to vivid, agonizing memories that seem more real than the world around him? Seth begins a search for answers, hoping that he might not be alone, that this might not be the hell he fears it to be, that there might be more than just this. . . .

First Sentence: "The first moment's after the boy's death pass for him in a confused and weighty blur."

Review:

After finally reading Ness' The Knife of Never Letting Go a month or so ago, I was very curious to try his forthcoming novel. What I'm sure of more than ever now is that Ness is a massive talent. I am also convinced that his books will not work for everyone, because they are daring and strange and twisty and complex. More Than This is a cinematic, philosophical confusing novel, but one I ultimately found fascinating.

I find myself rather at a loss on how to review this book, given that practically anything would be a spoiler, since this is a book that opens up, revealing new layers. For the first hundred or so pages, all you know is what's revealed in the blurb, and talking about anything past that in any detailed way would be to reveal spoilers best left in the dark. Thus, this will probably be short and vague, but bear with me.

The storytelling of More Than This has a rather unique feel to it. Though told in what might seem like a fairly ordinary third person limited narrative, there's something cinematic about More Than This. The novel unfolds like a movie before the reader's eyes, a twisty movie like Memento or Inception that people need to watch several times over to have any sort of solid understanding of what's happening. Even more fascinating is that Seth seems to have a postmodern awareness of his role in the narrative, often calling situations before they even happened, as though he is the creator of his own story.

Seth dies in the prologue, drowns in icy waters. But then he awakens in his childhood home in England, the one his family moved away from after his brother was kidnapped by an escaped prisoner from the neighboring prison. He's thirsty, hungry, and weak. And dead? Seemingly alone, he gathers what food is unexpired and searches out clothing that fits to replace the bandages that covered his body. Whenever he rests, Seth dreams of his life, of his parents who never forgave him for what happened to his brother, of his friends who abandoned him, and his boyfriend who he maybe loved.

Of course, there's so much more to More Than This, rather appropriate no? Only I can't tell you about it. I could compare it to a particular film, but that would be a spoiler like whoa. Keeping things incredibly simple, I had some questions about the worldbuilding, serious ones, but I loved the message of the story, one of looking at the beauty in life and finding your more. I'm also not convinced it really needed to be quite so long.

For such a massive book, this review feels rather ineffectual book, but the book itself serves as a sort of metaphor for life and how we take it for granted. It's a journey to be undertaken by the reader.

Rating: 3.5/5

Favorite Quote: "'I wanted so badly for there to be more. I ached for there to be more than my crappy little life.' He shakes his head. 'And there was more. I just couldn't see it.'"

Review: The Lord of Opium

The Lord of Opium
Matteo Alacrán, Book 2

Author: Nancy Farmer
Pages: 432
Publisher: Atheneum Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: September 3, 2013
Read: August 27-September 1, 2013
Source: ARC from BEA

Description from Goodreads:
The new book continues the story of Matt, the boy who was cloned from evil drug lord El Patrón in The House of the Scorpion. Now 14 years old, Matt rules his own country, the Land of Opium, the only thriving place in a world ravaged by ecological disaster. Though he knows that the cure for ending the suffering is hidden in Opium, Matt faces obstacles and enemies at every turn when he tries to use his power to help.

First Sentence: "Matt woke in darkness to the sound of something moving past him."

Review:

This is one of those cases where I think memory did me a disservice. See, The House of the Scorpion is praised as one of the best dystopian novels, and I do agree that might be true, as it does focus on world building (not a claim many YA dystopians can make). However, when I read it, The House of the Scorpion was in the 3-3.5 range for me. Despite that, I was convinced that younger me missed something and that I would enjoy the series more now. Sadly, this didn't turn out to be the case. From what I can recall, I think The Lord of Opium is a good sequel, but it was a bit slow for me.

Before launching into The Lord of Opium, I read a synopsis of The House of the Scorpion, because I remembered very little. Based on that refresher, The Lord of Opium is legit. Sometimes sequels ruin the original, especially when the sequel may not have initially been planned. The House of the Scorpion came to a nice conclusion, but it didn't wrap things up in a neat bow, and Farmer had lots of questions to really dig into with another book. If The House of the Scorpion was your jam, I don't think The Lord of Opium will taint your opinion of the previous book, except maybe the romance arc I'll talk about later.

The parts of the book I enjoyed were the political and psychological angles. Politically, Opium's a mess. El Patrón and his heirs died, leaving a power vacuum in one of the most powerful drug kingdoms. With El Patrón dead, Matt becomes the new Patrón and legally a human being, no longer a clone. Though legally accepted as human and ruler, others are not necessarily eager to show deference to a fifteen-year-old clone.

On top of that, Matt wants to make huge changes to Opium, namely stopping the production of opium and curing the eejits, microchipped workers. The whole economy of the country will have to be restructured to do this, not to mention the scientific work that will need to be done to remove the microchips from the workers. Plus, other countries will not be thrilled to hear that Matt doesn't wish to export opium anymore, most especially Africa, run by the super creepy Glass Eye Dabengwa, who's a lot like El Patrón was. Basically, all of the leaders of the world are super reminiscent of tyrants of the past and just yikes.

Another powerful element was Matt's internal struggle with El Patrón, who's sort of inhabiting his mind. There's really a question of whether some element of Patrón lives inside of him or if this is something he's imagining as he cracks under the pressure of his new position. Matt was very unlike El Patrón in the first book, but shades of the person he could become begin to appear now. Absolute power corrupts absolutely, as they say, and Farmer really delves into the way dark impulses can sneak through when you have complete control.

Though I liked all of those things, the book just went on forever, and I slogged through it. Farmer's more about the world building and plot, and the only truly well-developed characters are Matt and Cienfuegos. Without more powerful characters, I wasn't invested enough for all of those pages to not be a chore. Sometimes the length is necessary, but I feel like there was room for quite a bit of trimming. I'm also left with myriad questions about the world building, but the biggest issue for me personally was a lack of caring.

The straw that pushed The Lord of Opium from being a book about which I felt relatively ambivalent to one I didn't particularly care for was the romance, especially that very last page. Generally, I do not care for the portrayal of women, with most of them being entirely undeveloped and shunted into homemaker-y roles and the one powerful woman, María's mother, is depicted as entirely unfeeling. Like any woman in politics, Esperanza is judged more for her horrible parenting than her political stances, which, so far as I can tell, mostly involve trying to help the environment recover from what humans have done to it.

Warning: SPOILERS in this paragraph:
Oh, right, I was talking about the romance. Anyway, Matt has this thing with María, also fifteen. They're a little couple, but her mom doesn't approve and is keeping her apart. Meanwhile, he becomes obsessed with his waitress, an eejit he dubs Mirasol, even though she only responds to Waitress. María finds out about this and is jealous. He tells her not to worry, but continues spending a lot of time with Mirasol, trying to save her and the other eejits. He figures out he can wake her up a bit, bring out her personality from within in the mindless zombie persona, if he plays a certain song. She will dance and then pass out. While she's passed out, he kisses her. This is wrong and creepy on so many levels, since she can't consent because she's unconscious AND because she's brainwashed. Also, he's supposedly in a loving, committed relationship with María. But, hey, conveniently Mirasol dies, closing off that love triangle, and leaving Matt free to marry María at fifteen, because, hey, he's the Patrón and he can do whatever the fuck he wants. Romance, ladies and gentlemen!

Though I don't think The Lord of Opium is entirely without merit, it really is not a book for me. I suspect those who really loved The House of the Scorpion will enjoy this, but I make no promises since I do not remember that book well.

Rating: 1/5

Favorite Quote:

"'Do children ever leave the Brat Enclosure?' asked Matt.
     'Not if I can help it.' The woman laughed. The others seemed to enjoy the joke to.
     'We take turns watching them,' the man explained. 'It's tiring to chase after prehumans, and we prefer to keep them corralled.'"

Sadie Hawkins Sunday Review # 31: Kinslayer

Kinslayer
The Lotus War, Book 2

Author: Jay Kristoff
Pages: 464
Publisher: Thomas Dunne
Read: August 19-23, 2013
Source: Finished copy from publisher for review
Recommended by: Lynn

Description from Goodreads:
A SHATTERED EMPIRE
The mad Shōgun Yoritomo has been assassinated by the Stormdancer Yukiko, and the threat of civil war looms over the Shima Imperium. The Lotus Guild conspires to renew the nation’s broken dynasty and crush the growing rebellion simultaneously – by endorsing a new Shōgun who desires nothing more than to see Yukiko dead.

A DARK LEGACY
Yukiko and the mighty thunder tiger Buruu have been cast in the role of heroes by the Kagé rebellion. But Yukiko herself is blinded by rage over her father’s death, and her ability to hear the thoughts of beasts is swelling beyond her power to control. Along with Buruu, Yukiko’s anchor is Kin, the rebel Guildsman who helped her escape from Yoritomo’s clutches. But Kin has his own secrets, and is haunted by visions of a future he’d rather die than see realized.

A GATHERING STORM
Kagé assassins lurk within the Shōgun’s palace, plotting to end the new dynasty before it begins. A waif from Kigen’s gutters begins a friendship that could undo the entire empire. A new enemy gathers its strength, readying to push the fracturing Shima imperium into a war it cannot hope to survive. And across raging oceans, amongst islands of black glass, Yukiko and Buruu will face foes no katana or talon can defeat.

The ghosts of a blood-stained past.

Previous Books in Series:
1: Stormdancer

First Sentence: "Now witness the end of the beginning."

Review:
Last year, I was really blown away by Jay Kristoff's debut, Stormdancer. Though this often isn't the case, I'm actually more impressed with the sequel. This does seem to have been a trend lately, and I do hope it continues, especially if the book world is going to continue to be overrun with series. But I digress. Kinslayer is darker, creepier, and more intense than its predecessor. If you're one of those people who thinks characters meeting gruesome ends is a necessity in epic works, get excited, because Jay Kristoff has a real flair for murdering his characters in nasty ways.

The one weakness Stormdancer had, if it can be counted as one, for me was that it had that typical fantasy slowness at the beginning. Building a world takes time, and characterization took a back seat while that happened. In Kinslayer, the world's already built, so the action kicks off right from the start. Of course, Kristoff does lull you into a nice little unsuspecting place by not doing anything particularly cruel in the first half, and then he pounces on your hear and tears it to shreds. But we'll come back to that.

In the opening, we spend some time with Yukiko and Buruu, who remains magnificent. Yukiko on the other hand, well, girl's not doing so hot. The Kenning has really amped up, and is inducing serious headaches and bleeds out of facial orifices. To silence the voices, she's got a drinking problem. Also, Yukiko's fiercely angry and desirous of vengeance, because, well, she was scorned and apparently that guy still has ways to mess with her. Basically, Yukiko's not heroic. She's not a role model. She's not particularly likable. While this will no doubt be tough for a lot of readers to fathom, I thought it was a nice change of pace from more saintly heroines. Kristoff's world is one where even the good guys have a lot of the dark side in them.

Introducing new characters can be tricky, and often backfires. In such large casts, it's hard enough to keep everyone straight, though, thankfully, there's a handy dandy guide at the opening of the novel that lists the pertinent cast members, which totally saved me. Actually, in this case, I love the new additions to the cast. Hana is probably my second favorite human character. She's on the lowest rung of society, fit, literally, only to carry shit, which she does in the palace. One-eyed and spat upon, she still dreams and dares, having joined the rebellion. I also love her brother Yoshi and his boyfriend Jurou. The healthiest relationship (which may not be that healthy, but let's remember how Jay Kristoff hates happiness) is a gay one, which gives me joy. Momentarily. Until Kristoff stomps on that joy.

Kristoff is also doing some interesting things evolving the characters we knew from the first book. The character arcs are really impressive. Kin shows signs of doing something intense in book three, which could be for good or for ill and the fact that I have to wait forever to find out is frustrating. Aisha has a part to play, and it is intense. My new favorite (human) character, though, is Michi, who we didn't really get to see in action, and, oh man, is it a thing of beauty. She's way more lethal than Yukiko, who, let's face it, mostly has animals do the work for her. Again, I like that, though Yukiko's the figurehead, she's really not any sort of savior; other people are doing the bulk of the work. Of course, one of my favorite animal characters bit the dust. THANKS FOR THAT SCARRING PAIN, JAY.

The plot of Kinslayer moves a bit slowly, but if you wait for it there's some crazy stuff going down. Some things caught me entirely off guard, and now I just have to wait and find out what happens. There's a bit of a second book element in that most of the happenings here are clearly moving the players into place for the epic, bloody showdown to come. Still, I don't feel like Kristoff was just biding his time and I was never bored, so I really don't mind that. Some of Yukiko's journey does seem a bit out of place, but I suspect that something that happened there will become absolutely crucial, so, again, really not an issue for me.

Kinslayer is intense and heart-punching. Are you ready? Probably not. Will you venture into the storm anyway? I think you should.

Rating: 5/5

Favorite Quote:

"Look, I know that might make me a bitch, but at least I'm not a stupid bitch."

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Up Next:

The next Sadie Hawkins Sunday book will be The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin. This actually wasn't going to be next book, but it's jumping to the top of the list, so I could gift the ARC to another blogger, but then I learned Michelle doesn't sign on Saturdays because of the sabbath. So I bought her a copy but I'd already started it. Whatever, it's all made up and the order doesn't matter.

Want to tell me what to read? Fill out the following form with a suggestion! For more details, check this post.

Review: The Meme Plague

The Meme Plague
Memento Nora, Book 3

Author: Angie Smibert
Pages: Not sure - that information isn't on GR or Amazon, and I read a Kindle copy
Publisher: Marshall Cavendish
Publication Date: August 13, 2013
Read: August 8-10, 2013
Source: ARC via NetGalley

Description from Goodreads:
It begins with the name JONAS W. on the side of a cardboard coffin—right before the funeral procession blows up. Then it’s the whisper in the back of Micah’s head: Your father betrayed his country. You can’t always trust your own brain. Not when you have one of the mayor’s mandatory chips in your skull. Micah knows that the chip developed by TFC (the corporation that runs the Therapeutic Forgetting Clinics) does more than just erase unpleasant memories—it implants new ones. The MemeCast warns citizens to “fight the hack.”

Micah and his friends have each lost something—a parent, a relationship, a home, maybe even their own identities as they remembered them to be. But together, they can make sure some things are never forgotten.

Election Day is coming, and Mayor Mignon is set to be elected to Congress. It’s time to build a new electronic frontier, one that’s not controlled by the mayor and his cronies. It’s time to get out the vote and shake up the system. It’s time to finally say enough.

Previous Books in Series:
1: Memento Nora
2: The Forgetting Curve

First Sentence: "Okay, citizens."

Review:

As a dystopian series, The Meme Plague has enough going for it to outweigh the weaknesses. Most importantly, this series is not a romance novel masquerading as genre fiction, instead focusing on world building and issues very closely linked to the evils of the current political system in a far too close and possible future. I've enjoyed the whole of the trilogy, as quick reads that break from some of the common YA tropes.

For those who are unfamiliar with this series, here's a quick overview of the dystopian world of the Memento Nora trilogy. TFC, a corporation with strong ties to the government, runs clinics that help people forget their problems. Psychiatrists and pills are no longer needed to deal with traumatic events or emotions. PTSD no longer need affect soldiers, because these clinics can erase those memories, leaving the memory empty of the events that were disturbing the psyche. In Memento Nora, a group of kids came to suspect that TFC may not be on the up and up, instead using the clinics to control the population.

What endears this series to me most is the inclusion of both diverse and GLBT characters. In both cases, they are included without pomp and circumstance. Being a lesbian or being Asian/black/hispanic does not define these characters, but is merely one aspect about them. So rarely does this happen in young adult fiction and it thrills me any time I find that. Often, these characters end up being token or stereotypes or such a deal is made about them that it ends up stressing that they're weird when they're not. Angie Smibert does a great job making the cast of the trilogy as diverse as the world I'm used to living in.

The series has an entertaining, fast-paced plot. There are explosions, kissing, concerts of rebellion, legal battles, skateboarding, and attempts to overthrow the political system. All of the books are quite short, and I think this is an excellent series for reluctant readers interested in dystopian fiction but overwhelmed by the general offerings, which tend to be closer to 400 pages. In The Meme Plague especially, I was reminded of a less complex Little Brother, so it really could be a nice transition into the genre for younger or reluctant readers. The Meme Plague also brings the series to a satisfying conclusion, closed enough but also left open in a sort of traditional dystopian way.

Where the series has been and continues to be weak for me is in the characters. They're fun and entertaining, but there's a large cast and I have trouble telling their narrative voices apart. Told in first person from five perspectives (I think), if I didn't pay attention to the opening of each chapter which listed who the narrator was, I ended up having to flip back to do so. Still, I was able to remember each cast member and how they were all connected without too much trouble, even though I scarcely remembered the previous books, so that was nice.

All told, I recommend the Memento Nora trilogy highly to younger readers looking to transition to young adult fiction or reluctant readers in search of good, shorter dystopian novels.

Rating: 3/5

Favorite Quote: "Still, pizza would have made me more of a believer. Or less of a cranky agnostic."

Audiobook Review: Insurgent

Insurgent
Divergent, Book 2

Author: Veronica Roth
Narrator: Veronica Galvin
Duration: 11 hrs, 22 mins
Publisher: Harper Audio
Read: July 21-27, 2013
Source: Finished copy from publisher

Description from Goodreads:
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.

Previous Book in Series:
1: Divergent

Review:

Before I really launch into this rant-fest, there are some things you should know. Yes, I hated Divergent, and I suspected that Insurgent probably wouldn't go well. Yes, I knew within the first disc that I wouldn't like Insurgent. Yes, I kept going. To be fair, I wouldn't have read it if I hadn't been sent a review copy, but I was a little curious to see if Roth's story had improved and if I could understand the hype (spoiler: I can't). If all of this bothers you, you're going to want to leave right now, because I don't want to hear it.

World Building
OH HA. Who needs world building when you have a cool idea, amirite? The faction system and the divergent continue to be just as ridiculous as they ever were. Everyone's shocked that the system is crumbling when the system is obviously fucking ridiculous and would never ever work. For the most part, I don't have much to add to the rant about this in the first book, though I do have some more words to say about the concept of divergence.

I talk a lot about static or flat characters, and it is around this that this joke of a society has been formed: the premise that human beings are flat and composed of a singular trait. Now, to say that one person is a bit more of one thing than another and sort them accordingly, I'm okay with (see: Harry Potter), but that's not what's happening here. We know this differs because everyone is shocked and appalled to learn that some people have an aptitude for multiple factions. WHAT DO YOU MEAN SOMEONE CAN BE BOTH SMART AND NICE? Accepting this is a necessary part of enjoying the series, and I cannot and will not suspend my disbelief to this degree. I may not have much faith in humanity, but I do believe that 99.9% of people would be divergent.

In the last chapter, though, there is a twist, one that I predicted, since it was literally the only way that such an incredibly stupid society could ever be explained. Unsurprisingly, I still take issues with it, though I will resist the urge to spoiler, tempting though it may be. My prediction was a little off in the reasoning, though not the basic premise, and, frankly, I thought my reasoning made more sense, because I don't see how the factions were really necessary, how this changed anything about people (see my comments on divergence above), or how this will help one bit. But, Roth did at least try to improve the world building, so there's that.

On Tris
Zeus help me, I still loathe this girl. Tris is whiny like you would not believe. With how much people complain about this or that heroine being whiny, I do not know why Tris is one of the most popular YA heroines. She whines about everything. Someone compliments her? She whines. Someone's prettier than her? More whining. She can't kill herself because she's too damn popular? Whine city.

Being in Tris' head is awful, because she's so completely shallow. She judges everyone by their appearance. A character enters and you immediately know whether they're hot or not, because, really, that's all we need to know, right? We also know if they're more attractive than her, and inevitably she doesn't like those girls, though, mostly, she just seems to not like women. Or men, really. One of the actually enjoyable parts was when Tris was doped with some niceness drugs and ran around being happy and friendly. That was hilarious, because it was the only time she had any real insight: she and Tobias AREN'T very nice.

Then there's that whole thing where Tris wants to kill herself. This upsets me for two reasons. First, I don't think it was a particularly thoughtful approach towards the subject of suicide. It feels like a light construct, meant to show how tough this situation is that Tris, badass Tris, would consider offing herself. Second, there's no way in hell that Tris would ever commit suicide, so it's a waste of my damn time. She was "to be or not to be"ing through the entirety of the book, but, since it's from her perspective and Veronica Roth is not the type of author to kill off her heroine and narrator switch, there's no way that Tris will die.

As I mentioned, Tris is meant to be a strong, badass heroine, but I'm not buying into that whole concept either. She's also meant to have aptitude for erudite, but there's a reason everyone's surprised the one time she comes up with a remotely clever thought. Tris doesn't really do a whole lot for most of the action scenes, and is more likely to cause trouble than anything, because she doesn't think before she acts and is terrified of guns. Most of what makes her a useful character is biological and nothing to do with her skill. Also, for someone who thinks crying is weak and who thought "Someone who looks so strong shouldn't act so weak." about Al's crying, Tris cries a lot. But I case that's just fine, since she's petite and female. JUST MAKE SURE YOU CONFORM TO THOSE GENDER ROLES.

Perhaps even more frustrating is the fact that everyone wants to keep Tris happy. For some reason, she's really important to everyone. The bad guys fear that she will foil their dastardly plans. The good guys look up to her. The pretty girls dislike her for being prettier. Tobias thinks she's hot. Perhaps the biggest example of how Tris can do no wrong (and of how Tris is a douchebag) is her relationship with Christina (no, not me, the character). At the end of Divergent, Tris shot Christina's boyfriend, Will, when he was under a simulation. When she tells Christina, the latter is mad, rightly so. Sure, Tris in some sense had to, but that sort of news is going to take time to digest. Still, Christina deals with it pretty quickly and says she believes Tris about the necessity but that coming to terms will take a while, at which Tris makes a big speech about how Christina doesn't trust her and whines about how guilty she feels and everyone hates her. So, of course, Christina forgives her immediately. Fuck off, Tris.

The Romance 
Oh, Four and Tris, y'all are riding the hot mess express straight into bad breakup city. Okay, that's a lie. They're heading for an HEA, but if novels were honest, they would not last. The problem with them is not only are they both assholes, but that they're both THE EXACT SAME KIND OF ASSHOLE. Their personalities are pretty much indiscriminate to me, except that Tris thinks less before diving into a conflict than Tobias does.

Their relationship is incredibly unhealthy because they're both liars and hypocrites. Several times throughout Insurgent, they get into big fights because one has not been honest with the other. The one lied gets huffy. The liar yells back something the other one lied about. They both resolve to be more honest in the future. Within minutes, they're both resolving to keep something else secret. These two do not trust each other one bit. Plus, I'm really not feeling all that much chemistry from the two of them. In the long run, they both really need to have their way all the time, even though they're both supposedly SO self-sacrificing, so they would fight ALL THE TIME.

The Writing
Veronica Roth's writing hasn't gotten anymore to my tastes, and the audio really didn't conceal how incredibly simplistic the writing is. Now, Veronica Roth may be a genius at sentence composition and simply be writing this way because Tris herself isn't very bright (despite being erudite in spirit), but I can only judge what I've read. Personally, I almost never like books with simple sentences, though, occasionally, they can be made to work with a nice tone or flow to them. This is not one of those times, but, hey, this is a personal preference.

Aside from the simplicity, there are some objectively bad elements to the writing. For one thing, Tris feels the need to explain common concepts to the reader, like when she says that everyone was armed except for herself and one other person who had no weapons. I'm not quoting directly because I was listening, but that's pretty close. Anyway, the last bit of that sentence isn't needed. Anyone of age to be reading this series is probably going to know what this term means. It's like Lemony Snicket, only those books explain complex words and are intended for children. Many instances of Tris' need to dumb things down for her audience occur within Insurgent. There are also sentences like "His breath tickles my hair," which make no sense whatsoever. Hair is not ticklish, though his breath might move the hair, tickling the back of the neck.

Most irritating however are the dialogue tags, or should I say dialogue tag. Most every line of dialogue comes with a dialogue tag, since there are often groups of more than two people, and almost all of the dialogue tags are a form of the verb "to say." I say, Christina says, Four says, etc says.... Using the same word over and over shows a lack of originality and is just generally lazy. Yet again, this could be blamed on Tris, since the novel's in first person, but, whether stylistic or just bad, I do not approve.

The Narration
The half star I rated this up is solely for the audiobook. Veronica Galvin is a pretty good narrator. I didn't have any issues with her performance. If the book didn't piss me off so much, I would have rated up higher for her work and the quality of the audio, but it did.

Rating: 1/5

Review: Starglass

Starglass
Starglass, Book 1

Author: Phoebe North
Pages: 448
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: July 23, 2013
Read: July 20-21, 2013
Source: Author at BEA

Description from Goodreads:
Terra has never known anything but life aboard the Asherah, a city-within-a-spaceship that left Earth five hundred years ago in search of refuge. At sixteen, working a job that doesn't interest her, and living with a grieving father who only notices her when he's yelling, Terra is sure that there has to be more to life than what she's got.

But when she inadvertently witnesses the captain's guard murdering an innocent man, Terra is suddenly thrust into the dark world beneath her ship's idyllic surface. As she's drawn into a secret rebellion determined to restore power to the people, Terra discovers that her choices may determine life or death for the people she cares most about. With mere months to go before landing on the long-promised planet, Terra has to make the decision of a lifetime--one that will determine the fate of her people.

First Sentence: "My darling daughter, know that I never would have left the earth if it hadn't already been doomed."

Review:

Phoebe North's Starglass has been on my radar ever since I learned that the author was once a prominent blogger. I've never read that blog and don't know too much about her, but I like supporting bloggers, so I wanted to read this book. I always expect big things from bloggers who publish, because they know better than anyone what tropes to avoid, or so I assume. For the most part, that was very true in Starglass and I did very much enjoy North's debut.

The plot on a basic level is highly reminiscent of Beth Revis' Across the Universe trilogy. However, in the course of one book, North takes the plot through what took two books in that series: the dissent on the ship and the approach to the planet towards which they've been heading. This is not to say that the two are identical by any means, because they're not. In fact, I think I rather like Starglass better, both for the abbreviated time on ship and for the more interesting characters.

As I mentioned already, North does a lot of those things bloggers regularly request. There's diversity in that everyone on board the Asherah is Jewish, this being one of many ships that departed Earth as its destruction neared the Asherah only accepted those of Jewish descent. One of Terra's ancestors, a non-practicing Jew and a lesbian (squee!) found a place on the ship. There are other gay characters as well, which is awesome, even if society does not approve, which is less awesome.

Another fantastic thing is how many of the authority figures on the Asherah are female. Women and men are in equal standing here. The current leader of the guard is an imposing female by the name of Captain Wolff. When the time comes for marrying (16 - if you have not chosen by 18, a mate will be chosen for you), girls can ask for a boy's hand in marriage just as the boys may ask. Plus, women don't have to bear the two mandated children (one male, one female), as they are hatched from eggs in a disturbing and haunting process.

As with Revis' series, the plot consists largely of a combined mystery and rebellion. North does a good job with it, and did surprise me with one of the twists there at the end. On the Asherah, it's really hard to know who to trust, and that's conveyed beautifully. The pace does move somewhat slow, without much action, but I really enjoyed the writing so I didn't mind.

So far as the characters go, they don't quite have the depth I would have wished for, but they are interesting. Terra's narration is intelligent, but lacks the scientific know-how to get too much into the nitty gritty science fiction details, but that worked out pretty well. For most of the book, Terra has a tendency to go along with what others want of her, even if she's not particularly happy with it. By the end, she's finally obtaining some agency of her own, perhaps due to the example of Mara Stone, to whom she's apprenticed, or to the craziness going down on board the Asherah.

My only other concern is the romance. Most of what went down with that in Starglass was walking the border of discomfiting. For example, I find her treatment of her first suitor rather hateful, but, then again, he did lie to her, so I suppose it's forgivable as long as she learns from the experience, which I think she has. Terra's second suitor also upsets me, because of what that did to her friend, whom she envies for being so pretty. Hopefully, the impending love interest will lay my concerns to rest, but things could really go either way at this point.

The ending leaves me very ready for book two, though Starglass does come to a nice ending of the main plot arc. Phoebe North's debut is a fun science fiction novel on the lighter side, and I look forward to her career; I expect good things!

Rating: 3.5/5

Favorite Quote: "'I don't care about books. I don't care about buildings. Freedom. That's all that matters. So I can love whomever I please.'"

Sadie Hawkins Sunday Review #22: The Knife of Never Letting Go

The Knife of Never Letting Go
Chaos Walking, Book 1

Author: Patrick Ness
Pages: 479
Publisher: Candlewick
Read: June 30-July 4, 2013
Source: Finished copy from publisher for review
Recommended by: Renae of Respiring Thoughts

Description from Goodreads:
Todd Hewitt is the only boy in a town of men. Ever since the settlers were infected with the Noise germ, Todd can hear everything the men think, and they hear everything he thinks. Todd is just a month away from becoming a man, but in the midst of the cacophony, he knows that the town is hiding something from him -- something so awful Todd is forced to flee with only his dog, whose simple, loyal voice he hears too. With hostile men from the town in pursuit, the two stumble upon a strange and eerily silent creature: a girl. Who is she? Why wasn't she killed by the germ like all the females on New World? Propelled by Todd's gritty narration, readers are in for a white-knuckle journey in which a boy on the cusp of manhood must unlearn everything he knows in order to figure out who he truly is.

First Sentence: "The first thing you find out when yer dog learns to talk is that dogs don't got nothing much to say."

Review:
Funny story. A few years ago I DNFed this book on the very first page. The dialect and the dog talking about poo and I was out of there. Of course, later I heard how epic and amazing it worth it the book was, and this is part of why I generally fear DNFs. Anyway, a reader finally forced me to give this series another try and, though I'm still a bit unsure just how I feel about this book that I just finished, I'm glad I did.

First off, The Knife of Never Letting Go is legit. Originally published in 2009, this book predates the whole dystopian craze, and isn't a romance novel in disguise. Ness' world building is a little bit insane (literally), but also very unique and captivating. I don't want to say too much about it, since the way the information unfolds is one of the big pluses of the book, but Ness does explain how things came about, and it's really cool that developing the world is obviously his main focus.

Todd Hewitt lives in Prentisstown, the last boy, to become a man on his thirteenth birthday in a month. There are no women in Prentisstown, all dead from the Noise germ. The Spackle, now killed by the settlers, used germ warfare during the war, and one of the germs made men's thoughts audible and killed all the women. Life in Prentisstown is angry and unhappy, a slow extinction. Men's thoughts create a cacophony of sound, and Todd likes to escape the Noise whenever he can. The concept of the Noise is so cool, and I love the way it's represented in the text. It's sort of like that Mel Gibson movie What Women Want, only everyone can hear what every man thinks.

Well, actually the Noise affects more than just humans, which brings me to my favorite character: Manchee. Remember the dog talking about poo? Well, he's adorable and I want to hug him forever. All animals can speak (though not in the traditional form of speech) on New World. Some don't have a whole lot to say, like sheep, which pretty much just say "sheep." Manchee's a pretty young pup, but you can actually see him learning throughout the book and getting smarter. He also undergoes a lot of abuse and the damn book nearly made me cry.

The dialect of the writing took some getting used to for me, but Blood Red Road paved the way for me to be able to enjoy this style. It took a couple hundred pages for me to adjust, but I did, and can now declare that I think Ness did a really good job with it. The dialect has a natural flow and is no thicker than it needs to be. I actually read some of the dialogue aloud and there's a really natural cadence to it, the sort that suggests Ness got things just right.

The Knife of Never Letting Go is also suitably scary and dark. There's really not much happiness to be had on Prentisstown, and life is almost entirely hopeless. This is how I like my dystopias. Also, no one comes out of this with their hands clean, even the most likable characters. Living on New World means getting your hands dirty.

Two things did bother me about The Knife of Never Letting Go though. First, the fact that, though this isn't Todd's written account so far as I can tell, it's edited so he says "effing," even when he didn't actually censor himself that way. He does try to remember to say effing instead, but if he said "fuck" then that's what the text should say, in my opinion. Second, how was Aaron not dead? This crazy guy Aaron should have been dead a couple chapters in but he just kept showing up again. I'm just not convinced humans can survive all of what happened to that guy, which gave me some serious suspension of disbelief issues.

If you've not entirely written off the dystopian genre and are still game for ones without romance and with plenty of world building, do yourself a favor and read The Knife of Never Letting Go. I'll be reading the whole series, and I'm really curious to find out where it's going after that ending.

Rating: 4/5

Favorite Quote: "The Noise is a man unfiltered, and without a filter, a man is just chaos walking."

---

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Review: Replica

Replica
Replica Trilogy, Book 1

Author: Jenna Black
Pages: 368
Publisher: Tor Teen
Publication Date: July 16, 2013
Read: July 7-9, 2013
Source: ARC and finished copy from publisher for review

Description from Goodreads:
Breathtaking new YA SF from the author of the Faeriewalker series

Sixteen-year-old Nadia Lake comes from a high-class Executive family in the Corporate States. Her marriage has been arranged with the most powerful family in her state, which means she lives a life of privilege but also of public scrutiny, followed everywhere by photographers, every detail of her private life tabloid fodder. But her future is assured, as long as she can maintain her flawless public image — no easy feat when your betrothed is a notorious playboy.

Nathan Hayes is the heir of Paxco — controller of the former state of New York, and creator of human replication technology, science that every state and every country in the world would kill to have. Though Nadia and Nate aren’t in love, they’ve grown up close, and they (and the world) are happy enough with their match.

Until Nate turns up dead, and as far as everyone knows, Nadia was the last person to see him alive.

When the new Nate wakes up in the replication tanks, he knows he must have died, but with a memory that only reaches to his last memory backup, he doesn’t know what killed him. Together, Nadia and Nate must discover what really happened without revealing the secrets that those who run their world would kill to protect.

First Sentence: "The limo pulled up to the curb at the entrance of Chairman Hayes's Long Island mansion, and Nadia dug deep in search of an untapped reserve of energy."

Review:

Back when I requested Replica, months ago, I was still fully enthralled by the dystopian fiction trend. Sadly, by the time it arrived, I'd already hit a wall, a point where every single one I read reminds me of others, and I just haven't been wowed by any for some time, even The Fifth Wave, which has been highly praised. With that in mind, my expectations for Replica were pretty low, and, happily, Replica turned out to be much better than anticipated. Though the world building is shaky, the unique make up of the cast made Replica an interesting variant from the usual formula.

Black uses third person limited narration, switching between Nate and Nadia. Nate is the Chairman Heir, destined to inherit Paxco, the insanely powerful corporation based in New York City that runs pretty much everything. Nadia has been betrothed to Nate since they were both children, and she's always loved him, despite his increasingly drastic antics.

With his latest stunt, though, Nadia has had just about enough. That Nate is gay and the romantic part of their relationship will only ever be for show Nadia has made her peace with. She still loves Nate and she does not begrudge him other lovers, even though she wouldn't mind if his heart had turned to her. Though she supports him, she still does not want to be an accomplice to his sneaking out of a party to have sex with his boyfriend and valet, Kurt Bishop. She storms off, and the next thing she hears Nate has died. And been replicated.

There are two solid points in Replica's favor for me. First, the inclusion of an LGBT main character. While it's sad that this society still hasn't evolved to be a hundred percent okay with homosexuality, the attitude still seems more open than now and I certainly feel like Jenna Black is promoting that romance. Plus, it spoke volumes to me that the only romance of any sort in Replica is that between Kurt and Nate. Though there's an obvious impending relationship for Nadia, she has no romantic arc in this one.

Second, rather than focusing on romance, friendship is to the fore. Nadia and Nate do not have the perfect friendship, but they are there for each other when it counts. Nadia disapproves of a lot of Nate's choices and Nate's a bit too self-involved, but their affection for each other is evident in spite of all of that. There's a dearth of real friendships in YA, and even less with a male/female friendship, so that was nice to see.

Some of the minor plot elements did surprise me, but, for the most part, the plot covered pretty familiar territory. Corrupt corporation managed by untrustworthy parents. Human regeneration. Questions of whether a replica is actually human, and what that means about human nature. A plot to overthrow the evil corporation. I've been through all of that before, and it even comes with the villainous monologue because of assured victory. And, much as I appreciated the out of the box main characters, characterization was still tepid all around. Much of this is decently well done, like the replication element, but it's been done so often and didn't do anything to stand out from the crowd.

Replica entertains well enough and includes LGBT themes, putting a unique spin on otherwise familiar territory. Also, romance doesn't dominate the story, though the book still does read a bit like a CW show, with spoiled rich kids rebelling against their parents and going to party with hot poor people in the process. That doesn't sound like I enjoyed Replica, I suppose, but I did for the most part. Still, I'm not sure that I'll read the sequel, just because I feel like this one wrapped up well enough for me to be satisfied with ending there.

Rating: 2.5/5

Favorite Quote: "'I don't have the patience to play this game anymore. I know you put that message on my tray. You were seen, okay? So denying it just makes you look like a dumbass.'"

Review: Reboot

Reboot
Reboot, Book 1

Author: Amy Tintera
Narrator: Khristine Hvam
Duration: 8 hrs, 42 mins
Publisher: Harper Audio
Source: Publisher for review

Description from Goodreads:
Five years ago, Wren Connolly was shot three times in the chest. After 178 minutes, she came back as a Reboot: stronger, faster, able to heal, and less emotional. The longer Reboots are dead, the less human they are when they return. Wren 178 is the deadliest Reboot in the Republic of Texas. Now seventeen years old, she serves as a soldier for HARC (Human Advancement and Repopulation Corporation).

Wren's favorite part of the job is training new Reboots, but her latest newbie—Callum Reyes—is the worst she's ever seen. As a 22, Callum is practically human. His reflexes are too slow, he's always asking questions, and his ever-present smile is freaking her out. Yet he's still her newbie. When Callum refuses to follow an order, Wren is given one last chance to get him in line—or she'll have to eliminate him. Wren has never disobeyed before and knows that if she does, she'll be eliminated, too. But she has also never felt as alive as she does around Callum.

The perfect soldier is done taking orders.

Review:

Reviews for Reboot have been all over the place, which basically meant I had to try it and see for myself. Ultimately, I'm sort of in the middle. Reboot's a lot of fun, especially in the first half, but also still fairly old hat for dystopian scenarios. I'm definitely glad to have read it, but I didn't love it either.

Why Did I Read This Book?
As I mentioned, curiosity. Sometimes, I'm more tempted to read books that get 1 star ratings from some and 4 from others than those that get a consistent 3 stars. I just have to know for myself what book has generated such disparate responses. Seriously, I was reading reviews and adding, removing, adding, removing, adding this book on Goodreads. It was ridiculous. The audio seemed like a good choice, because action books from first perspective often translate pretty well.

What's the Story Here?
In a post-apocalyptic world where all that remains of the US is Texas, a dystopian government has arisen in the form of HARC, a corporation that controls all of the things. Freaking corporations. Currently, if I had to guess a company that would become the dystopian overlord of us all, I would say Amazon, but maybe that's just because they keep buying up the book world. *side-eyes* As with so many dystopian/post-apocalyptic novels, there's a disease, which causes people to reboot. Basically, they're zombies, only they're hot (like vampires, they're themselves but with perfect skin and hair and bright eyes) and super strong and don't eat people. The reboots are known by their numbers, which are how long they were dead before they rose, with the larger numbers being the strongest and least human. Wren is 178, and she does everything by the book until a 22 disrupts her regimented life.

How are the Characters?
Okay, so I really liked the first part where Wren was all queen of the reboots and stuff. Unlike some ya assassins, Wren really does kill people and she even does so in front of the reader. On top of that, she likes killing, and doesn't even feel guilty about it. People are worthless to her, and she'd rather kill a human than look at it. Callum, the 22, is the only other well-developed character, and he's basically the opposite of Wren. Where she's the perfect soldier and very serious, he's happy and doesn't want to hurt a fly. In fact, even eating meat makes him sort of uncomfortable. I liked Callum consistently, but I loved Wren the bitchy reboot from the beginning of the book most of all.

And the Romance?
Here's the caveat. I just was not really feeling their romance. For me, it would have been more compelling if she hadn't been so interested in him right out of the gate. She's all like "omg, he's not afraid of me," and gets interested in him so quickly, which was necessary for the plot, but didn't really seem like Wren as established. Also, she goes from no emotions to ALL OF THE EMOTIONS. It just felt really sudden. She's this hardcore badass until she gets to know Callum and then she's blushing, gasping, and jumping at people's touches. Yes, she does have feelings, and I totally get that, but, from the glimpses showed of her past, I really doubt she's that demonstrative of a person at the best of times. I just never felt like Wren would be so lovey-dovey, even when she's in love. Basically, all of the things that happened with the romance made me roll my eyes. However, I do love the dynamics of the relationship, and how she is the strong one and he's the one who has to be saved. Then again, that would have been more powerful if the role reversal had been continued; she can love him and still be a cool, stern badass most of the time. When it came to the gushy stuff, she was all melty and blushing, and he was cocky and in control. I would have liked to see her more dominant and consistently-characterized all around. Oh, I will say, though, that Wren does continue to want to kill the humans, so that was good at least.

Am I Going to Continue with the Series?
Though the plot sort of let me unenthused, I do plan to continue. It's not that I thought the plot of trying to get away from the evil corporation was bad, but it's been done a lot, and it's not my preferred story arc for something like this. Still, I'm engaged enough with the characters and story to want to know what happens next.

How was the Narration?
For the most part, Hvam does an awesome job with Reboot. She keeps her voice pretty measured and it really fits with Wren. Hvam's voice is girlish enough to fit with Wren's sort of outward appearance of sweetness but full of mettle too. She does a nice job differentiating the characters, even though she does not go all out with the voices. The one thing I did not like is that, with audio, dialog tags really stand out. This book has "I said" and "he said" all over the place, and Hvam really emphasized them, and I groaned every time it happened again.

Sum It Up with a GIF:

Rating: 3/5

Review: The Eternity Cure

The Eternity Cure
Blood of Eden, Book 2

Author: Julie Kagawa
Pages: 446
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Source: YA Books Central for Review

Description from Goodreads:
Allison Sekemoto has vowed to rescue her creator, Kanin, who is being held hostage and tortured by the psychotic vampire Sarren. The call of blood leads her back to the beginning—New Covington and the Fringe, and a vampire prince who wants her dead yet may become her wary ally.

Even as Allie faces shocking revelations and heartbreak like she’s never known, a new strain of the Red Lung virus that decimated humanity is rising to threaten human and vampire alike.

Previous Book in Series:
1: The Immortal Rules

First Sentence: "I smelled blood as soon as I walked into the room."

Review:

The Eternity Cure has been among my most anticipated reads of 2013, and I was completely thrilled to obtain an ARC. The early reviews almost all agreed: The Eternity Cure improves on The Immortal Rules, which I really loved. Sadly, I never got absorbed into this one as much as I did with TIR. Perhaps I was in the wrong mood or was done in by expectations once again. For all that, The Eternity Cure is still a thrilling, adventure-packed saga that will appeal even to those who did not care for the Iron Fey books.

Julie Kagawa can write the heck out of some action scenes. She keeps the pace of Blood of Eden moving at a steady clip. There's pretty much always something exciting happening: sneaking, chase scenes, verbal sparring, kissing, or battles to the death. On top of that, the stakes are definitely raised. Where The Immortal Rules focused primarily on Allison fighting to maintain her humanity and on rescuing a little tribe of humans, in The Eternity Cure Allison is still trying to avoid becoming a monster, all while attempting to rescue Kanin her maker from a plot with far-reaching consequences.

Another big plus of this series is that, unlike Kagawa's Iron Fey series, romance is a very minor element in the plot. Survival comes first, and thinking about boys and their feelings comes second. For readers who like romance, yes, there is some, but the book doesn't go in the love triangle direction I was expecting. Plus, Allie doesn't just sit around all the time thinking about Zeke when she should be doing other things. Romance doesn't keep Allie from being a force to be reckoned with, especially when armed with her katana.

My favorite character, and my favorite aspect of The Eternity Cure, is Jackal. He's Allie's "brother," as he was also sired by Kanin. He also killed Zeke's dad and a couple of others from that little group, so he's her enemy. However, they have to team up to find Kanin/a cure for rabidism. Listen, Jackal isn't the most trustworthy guy around, but he knows what he is. What can I say? I'm weak to characters that unapologetically wield sarcasm. Jackal's black humor and brutal honesty are necessary to counteract Allie's endless optimism in the face of this post-apocalyptic world.

What kept The Eternity Cure from being a more beloved book of mine were the other characters. Both Allie and Zeke lack spark. They're nice, sure, but they're boring. They reminded me a lot of Stefan and Elena in TVD, right down to me rooting for the demise of their relationship. I just have trouble with characters who are oh so noble and virtuous all the time; even when they're killing people, it's out of necessity. I prefer heroines and heroes with more darkness to them...like Jackal. Kanin still has a lot of potential to be a fascinating character, but he gets so little actual screen time. In a first person narration, it's just really hard to care overly about where the book is headed if you don't love the MC.

The ending, too, was a mite disappointing. Kagawa employs one of my least favorite plot devices to bring everything to a close, which left me disappointed. I wanted the book to be just that slightest bit darker, even though I knew there was probably no way Kagawa would actually go there. Added to a number of other twists that felt very run of the mill, the ending lowered my rating from a 3.5 to a 3.

Kagawa's Blood of Eden series is cinematic and packed to the brim with action. If you enjoy vampires or dystopian/post-apocalyptic scenarios, this is a series you will not want to miss. I'm looking forward to book three, and hoping the romance between Zeke and Allie will fizzle out, though I doubt it.

Rating: 3/5

Favorite Quote: "'Don't tell me you fell something for the little . . . oh.' The vampire blinked, then curled his lip back, disgust and pity crossing his sharp features. 'Oh, sister. Really? That's just sad.'"

Audiobook Review: The Ward

The Ward
The Ward, Book 1

Author: Jordana Frankel
Narrator: Meritt Hicks
Duration: 12.4 hrs
Publisher: Harper Audio

Source: Publisher for review

Description from Goodreads:
Set in a futuristic New York City after a catastrophic flood called the Wash Out, The Ward is the story of sixteen-year-old Renata Dane, a daredevil champion racer who will risk everything she has to take care of her sick foster sister, Aven.

Ren's sister is suffering from the Blight, an incurable, deadly illness thought to be caused by years of pollution. The disease is ripping through the Ward—formerly known as downtown Manhattan—and since the region is home to the poor and the vagrant, little is being done to help the sick.

But when the Blight somehow spreads to the affluent Upper Islets, the government recruits Ren for a secret mission: to search for a freshwater source in the Ward, with the hope of it leading to a cure. She is the only girl in the Ward to master helming a mobile—a car that can defy gravity and drive up the walls of a skyscraper, or transform into a high-speed boat at the push of a few buttons.

However, when Ren accepts this job—and the big paycheck that comes with it—she never expects that it will lead her to dangerous encounters with a passionate young scientist, a web of deceit and lies, and a confounding mystery that's lurking deep beneath the water's rippling surface.

Cinematic and thrilling, The Ward is Jordana Frankel's debut novel.

Review:

Oh, post-apocalyptic and dystopian fiction, I love you so much, but you keep trying to make me stop. The Ward fails to stand out, aside from the largely lackluster writing.

Why Did I Read This Book?
Because I am a sucker for dystopian fiction. What can I say? I've been burned over and over again, but I keep sticking my hand in the fire. I never claimed to be incredibly intelligent. Well, I think I have claimed that but solely in jest.

What's the Story Here?
Ren lives her life to support her sister (not biologically but in everything that matters), Aven, who is sick with the Blight. She earns money racing and by scouting for freshwater as a mole for the Blues, the police force. Basically, she finds some fresh water and it can cure diseases, but then there are suddenly a bunch of forces trying to do different things with the water. Ren, of course, is heading up the good guys and trying to make sure her sister and others get cured.

And the Romance? 
There's some sort of half-hearted love triangle going on between Ren, Derek, and Callum. Derek is her bookie and she's been crushing on him for ages, but, now that she's mixed up in things, he's all interested suddenly. Then there's Callum who pretended to be a Blue and sent her on the quest for the fresh she found. He's also rich. So far, it's mostly been all about Ren and Derek, but he's weird and creepy, so I think I would be rooting for Callum if I had to root for someone.

What About the Writing?
Ugh. There were so many awkward phrases, clearly intended to be thought-provoking or poetic which landed with a thud. I did quite a bit of eye-rolling at stupid sentences. Plus, it was REALLY repetitive. The evil sentence was in this book at least four times, which is just crazy. That's just the top of the iceberg, though. If there's a breath that Ren takes or holds that the reader doesn't have to hear about it, I will consume my bonnet with a freaking cherry on top.

Am I Going to Continue with the Series?
Nope. Not happening. I don't care about any of these characters one bit. They're flat and failed to make me love them, so, even if I were enthralled with the minimal plot, I probably wouldn't venture forth.

How was the Narration?
The saving grace of The Ward is that I listened to it, rather than reading a print copy. I love Merritt Hicks as a narrator. Her voice is soothing and a bit huskier than the average female narrator who does YA audiobooks. Her voice matches perfectly with Ren's character too. She makes the story a much more pleasant experience, but she can only do so much with what she's given.

Sum It Up with a GIF:

Rating: 2.5/5