WAITING ON WEDNESDAY #2

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Breaking the Spine, where we present the upcoming books we're most anticipating at the moment!

As for this week, the books are...

Slated by Teri Terry

Kyla's memory has been erased, her personality wiped blank, her memories lost forever.
She's been Slated.
The government claims she was a terrorist, and that they are giving her a second chance - as long as she plays by their rules. But echoes of the past whisper in Kyla's mind. Someone is lying to her, and nothing is as it seems. Who can she trust in her search for the truth?

Dystopian! Memory loss! Nothing is like it seems! I like not knowing anything, I like books that keep me guessing and yet they're surprising. I hope this one is just like that!

 Fair Coin by E. C. Myers

Sixteen-year-old Ephraim Scott is horrified when he comes home from school and finds his mother unconscious at the kitchen table, clutching a bottle of pills. The reason for her suicide attempt is even more disturbing: she thought she’d identified Ephraim’s body at the hospital that day.
Among his dead double’s belongings, Ephraim finds a strange coin—a coin that grants wishes when he flips it. With a flick of his thumb, he can turn his alcoholic mother into a model parent and catch the eye of the girl he’s liked since second grade. But the coin doesn’t always change things for the better. And a bad flip can destroy other people’s lives as easily as it rebuilds his own.
The coin could give Ephraim everything he’s ever wanted—if he learns to control its power before his luck runs out.

This book has been on my mind ever since I first saw it. There's something hypnotizing about the cover and the whole premise. I can't wait to read it!

So what are you waiting for, guys? And what do you think about my WoW? Share in the comments! 

REVIEW #11 - The Peculiars by Maureen Doyle McQuerry

TITLE: The Peculiars

AUTHOR: Maureen Doyle McQuerry

GENRE: steampunk

PUBLICATION DATE: May 1st 2012
SOURCE: NetGalley

SYNOPSIS:

This dark and thrilling adventure, with an unforgettable heroine, will captivate fans of steampunk, fantasy, and romance.
On her 18th birthday, Lena Mattacascar decides to search for her father, who disappeared into the northern wilderness of Scree when Lena was young. Scree is inhabited by Peculiars, people whose unusual characteristics make them unacceptable to modern society. Lena wonders if her father is the source of her own extraordinary characteristics and if she, too, is Peculiar. On the train she meets a young librarian, Jimson Quiggley, who is traveling to a town on the edge of Scree to work in the home and library of the inventor Mr. Beasley. The train is stopped by men being chased by the handsome young marshal Thomas Saltre. When Saltre learns who Lena's father is, he convinces her to spy on Mr. Beasley and the strange folk who disappear into his home, Zephyr House. A daring escape in an aerocopter leads Lena into the wilds of Scree to confront her deepest fears.

REVIEW:

First thoughts:
The premise is good and it's steampunk. It can't go wrong... or can it?

Cover

I was drawn to the book mainly because of the cover, which is simply stunning!

Plot

It is the first steampunk book I was going to review, so I was quite excited. But the whole thing left me a bit cold. The plot is okay-ish. Typical learn-who-i-am and find-your-destiny type of book, but with nice twists here and there. It should have been a good book.
It's not.
Why?
Well, my main complaint would be... it's. So. Excruciatingly. Slow. The descriptions (lots and lots and LOTS of them )often won over the action, and when the action finally was there, it couldn't keep my interest. The best proof is that it took me almost three weeks to finish this book. It rarely takes 3 days in my case. Uh-oh.
The book picked up the pace a bit in the later part of the book after some revelations about Lena's past and future, though.
I also didn't like info dumps about the inventions and how things worked in this world. It seemed unnatural and forced when every time something new was introduced the characters practically lept to explain how it worked. And these were quite lengthy explanations.

Characters

The characters in this book are something that almost makes up for the slowness of the story. Lena is a very self-conscious girl, who doesn't trust others easily. Her peculiarly looking hands and feet made her wary of other people. Jimson, her companion, is almost always cheerful, enthusiastic and boyish. The reader falls in love with him instantly.
There are other characters as well, and their role isn't that minor - Mr. Beasley, Marilee, Thomas Saltre - and they're a colorful mass, each with their own motivation and character.
But the characters weren't without flaws, and I'm not talking about personalities. Since the book is titled "The Peculiars" I wish there were more information about the Peculiars! Other than two, three types of Peculiars we practically don't meet any of them, and the book is all talk about those creatures.
That made me feel quite unsatisfied.

Writing

Third person POV for most of the time, with short "eavesdropping Lena" chapters in first person POV. To be honest, they threw me off a little. I don't like switching POVs like that, and it didn't lead to anything. Moreover, it only happened a few times in the beginning of the book, as if the author only needed it to explain a few things and then dropped the idea altogether.
But the main flaw here will be the really long descriptions. I like action-driven books, and this wasn't one of them.

Overall

It's one of these "it's not you, it's me" books. I think a lot of people may actually enjoy it! It's not for people who love a lot of action - rather for those, who enjoy descriptions and a very detailed world.

Rating

2 stars out of 5.

IN MY MAILBOX #4

IMM is a weekly meme hosted by The Story Siren.

Only one book this week, but it's paperback! Missed you, paperbacks. ;)

Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins

You can read my review of this book HERE. I loved it soooo much! ♥

So what did you got this week? Have you read Anna and the French Kiss or are you planning to do it? Share in the comment! :)

REVIEW #10 - Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins

TITLE: Anna and the French Kiss

AUTHOR: Stephanie Perkins

GENRE: contemporary, romance

PUBLICATION DATE: Dec 2nd 2010

SYNOPSIS:

Anna is looking forward to her senior year in Atlanta, where she has a great job, a loyal best friend, and a crush on the verge of becoming more. Which is why she is less than thrilled about being shipped off to boarding school in Paris - until she meets Etienne St. Clair: perfect, Parisian (and English and American, which makes for a swoon-worthy accent), and utterly irresistible. The only problem is that he's taken, and Anna might be, too, if anything comes of her almost-relationship back home.
As winter melts into spring, will a year of romantic near - misses end with the French kiss Anna - and readers - have long awaited?

REVIEW:

First thoughts:
I just hope there's my own St. Clair waiting for me somewhere you guys!

Cover

Not really my type, but it's cute enough so it fits the story!

Plot

Thrown a bit out of my safe zone (I am majorly fond of dystopian novels), I plunged into the story. I rarely read contemporary YA and after two awesome reads (this one and The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky) I've come to a decision: I NEED TO READ MORE OF THEM.
Anna and the French Kiss is just what everyone says about it: adorable (but not over the top adorable), full of humor (but not exaggerated one) and it feels as if I were reading about myself and my friends!

Characters

I love what Stephanie Perkins did with her characters - she wrote them SO well, even the cliché ones. First things first - Anna is an absolutely lovely character. She makes mistakes, but they're not infuriating, dumb ones. She's just human. Although I totally screamed "OH NO!" aloud when she did what she did in the later part of the book.
Do I really have to talk about St. Clair? HE WAS SO PERFECT. And I don't use capslock that often, ok. Sure, he had flaws. Annoying ones, sometimes. Painfully, he reminded me of some in real life boy situations. ;) But even so, I loved St. Clair.
What I enjoyed was the fact that every character that appeared in the book seemed very alive, from Anna's friends like Mer, Bridge, Rashmi or Josh to St. Clair's dad.

I found Anna's father hilarious, by the way.

Writing

First person POV, through Anna's eyes. The writing is excellent and familiar in that friendly, comfortable way. It makes you laugh on one page and scream at the character (be it from frustration or glee) on another!

Overall

Loved, loved, loved it! I can't wait to read "Lola and the Boy Next Door", it sounds just as fantastic as Anna. I recommend this book to fans of contemporary books and not only. Even such a dystopian die-hard fan like me could enjoy it so much!

Rating

5 stars out of 5.

(I won the copy of this book at Paperback Treasures blogoversary giveaway. Thank you so much, Hannah!)

FF#4 - place to read!

Feature & Follow is hosted by Parajunkee and Alison Can Read weekly. You can join me and post the links to your own #FF posts in the comments below.

The question this week is...

Q: Activity!!! Take a picture or describe where you love to read the most…

 My absolute favorite place to read is... on tram! And yes, this is actual picture of a tram in my city, I love it (both trams and the city). I feel like I'm not wasting any minute of my life when I spend my time reading while commuting to my uni or wherever. :)

And what are your favorite places to read, dear followers? Leave me links to your FFs!

You can follow me via GFC, Linky Followers, e-mail or/and Twitter.

WAITING ON WEDNESDAY #1

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Breaking the Spine, where we present the upcoming books we're most anticipating at the moment!

As for this week, the books are...

STARTERS by Lissa Price

HER WORLD IS CHANGED FOREVER
Callie lost her parents when the Spore Wars wiped out everyone between the ages of twenty and sixty. She and her little brother, Tyler, go on the run, living as squatters with their friend Michael and fighting off renegades who would kill them for a cookie. Callie's only hope is Prime Destinations, a disturbing place in Beverly Hills run by a mysterious figure known as the Old Man.
He hires teens to rent their bodies to Enders—seniors who want to be young again. Callie, desperate for the money that will keep her, Tyler, and Michael alive, agrees to be a donor. But the neurochip they place in Callie's head malfunctions and she wakes up in the life of her renter, living in her mansion, driving her cars, and going out with a senator's grandson. It feels almost like a fairy tale, until Callie discovers that her renter intends to do more than party—and that Prime Destinations' plans are more evil than Callie could ever have imagined. . . .

I just can't wait for Starters! I've read chapter sampler (first two chapters) and it's a-ma-zing. Totally my kind of dystopia. And if you haven't already, go check out  the trailer.

WHAT'S LEFT OF ME by Kat Zhang

NEVER LET ME GO meets HIS DARK MATERIALS in a beautiful, haunting YA debut, the first book in The Hybrid Trilogy.

Eva and Addie live in a world where everyone is born with two souls, but where only the dominant one is allowed to survive childhood. Fifteen years old, and closer even than twins, the girls are keeping Eva, the ‘second soul’, a secret. They know that it’s forbidden to be hybrid, but how could they ever be apart?

When a dramatic event reveals what really happens to hybrids if they are discovered, Eva and Addie face a dangerous fight for survival, neither wanting to be the one left behind…

The premise alone is just SO promising, and the cover is hauntingly beautiful.

FOR DARKNESS SHOWS THE STARTS by Diana Peterfreund

Generations ago, a genetic experiment gone wrong—the Reduction—decimated humanity, giving rise to a Luddite nobility who outlawed most technology.
Eighteen-year-old Luddite Elliot North has always known her place in this caste system. Four years ago Elliot refused to run away with her childhood sweetheart, the servant Kai, choosing duty to her family’s estate over love. But now the world has changed: a new class of Post-Reductionists is jumpstarting the wheel of progress and threatening Luddite control; Elliot’s estate is floundering; and she’s forced to rent land to the mysterious Cloud Fleet, a group of shipbuilders that includes renowned explorer Captain Malakai Wentforth—an almost unrecognizable Kai. And while Elliott wonders if this could be their second chance, Kai seems determined to show Elliot exactly what she gave up when she abandoned him.
But Elliot soon discovers her childhood friend carries a secret—-one that could change the society in which they live…or bring it to its knees. And again, she’s faced with a choice: cling to what she’s been raised to believe, or cast her lot with the only boy she’s ever loved, even if she has lost him forever.
Inspired by Jane Austen’s PERSUASION, FOR DARKNESS SHOWS THE STARS is a breathtaking romance about opening your mind to the future and your heart to the one person you know can break it.

The cover is so stunning I want to keep it forever somewhere near me. <3 And I hope the book is just as good, because it sounds great!

So what are you waiting for, guys? And what do you think about my WoW? Share in the comments!

REVIEW #9 - Wither by Lauren DeStefano

TITLE: Wither

AUTHOR: Lauren DeStefano

GENRE: dystopian

PUBLICATION DATE: March 22nd 2011

SYNOPSIS:

At age 16, Rhine Ellery has four years to live. Thanks to a botched effort to create a perfect race, all females live to age 20 and males live to age 25. On the cusp of her 17th birthday, Rhine attempts to flee, but what she finds is a society spiraling out of control.

REVIEW:

First thoughts:
I don't know if it's the fact that I read Wither just after I finished Matched (which I disliked, to put it mildly), but the book impressed me. I've seen some mixed reviews and I was afraid that the book won't live up to its hype, but I was proved wrong.

Cover

Another stunning cover and also one of my favorite. The girl looks ethereal and a bit out of this world, which fits the story perfectly.

Plot

Imagine a row of beautiful porcelain dolls on a shelf. They're all dressed in expensive, frilly dresses, their hair is draped in fancy curls. But after some closer inspection you discover that all of the dolls are broken, shattered, destroyed and only their clothes keep them from falling apart. It's a world where everything looks pretty behind the glass.
And this exactly is the world presented in Wither - pretty on the outside, rotting inside. It's a world where repulsive things pass as normal. I found it fascinating and disgusting, but that's what kept me turning the pages.

Characters

After meek and bland characters I met in a few dystopian novels, characters in Wither felt really refreshing. I really liked Rhine and her act, Jenny and Cecily. The fact that the plot was driven by those three female characters was also a novelty - majority of YA novels stick to he+she+sidekicks formula. After reading Wither I could tell how much I grew tired of it, and how much I liked the female characters being the most important part of the story.
Every girl was a different personality, background and behavior and that's what I loved. The story wasn't focused on the romance between Rhine and Gabriel at all and yet there wasn't any insta-love.
Of course there was also a villain - I still can't decide who I hated more - Vaughn or Linden. I think that excusing Linden for his actions just because he was living some kind of fairy tale is absolutely unforgivable. Especially after what he did to Cecily. Just... no.
On a side note, I also liked the character that never once made an actual appearance in the book - Rowan, Rhine's twin. He only appeared in Rhine's memories, but he was a full-fledged and well-rounded character.

Writing

Rhine's first person point of view. I found her POV engaging, and there were some nice quotes, for example:

"I always knew I was an excellent liar; I just didn’t know I had it in me to fool myself."

Loved it.

Overall

Although I've seen a lot of complaints that the story lacks depth, it didn't feel like that to me. I admit that I felt the story lacking a bit in emotional department (that's why the rating is a bit lower), but it was a part of the act of the main character.

Rating

4 stars out of 5.

COVER REVEAL - Inbetween by Tara Fuller

Yet another gorgeous cover reveal! Thank you Entangled Publishing once again.

COVER REVEAL

Inbetween

by Tara Fuller

Blurb:

Since the car crash that took her father’s life three years ago, Emma’s life has been a freaky—and unending—lesson in caution. Surviving “accidents” has taken priority over being a normal seventeen-year-old, so Emma spends her days taking pictures of life instead of living it. Falling in love with a boy was never part of the plan. Falling for a reaper who makes her chest ache and her head spin? Not an option.

It’s not easy being dead, especially for a reaper in love with a girl fate has put on his list not once, but twice. Finn’s fellow reapers give him hell about spending time with Emma, but Finn couldn't let her die before, and he’s not about to let her die now. He will protect the girl he loves from the evil he accidentally unleashed, even if it means sacrificing the only thing he has left…his soul.

Expected publication date: August 7th 2012
Genre: YA, paranormal romance
Add to Goodreads: [click]
Preorder from Amazon: [click]

My thoughts:

A book about reapers! And I like this trend of b&w covers with a splash of color here and there. What do you guys think? Don't forget to add it on GR!

IN MY MAILBOX #3

IMM is a weekly meme hosted by The Story Siren.

Yet another awesome week for books. This time I have yet another great haul thanks to Thomas Nelson and AuthorHouse. ♥

FOR REVIEW:

Slipping Reality by Emily Beaver - I've heard about this book for a while and the thing that is the most interesting about is the fact that a 14 year old girl wrote it!

Swipe by Evan Angler - This one I stumbled upon by accident and I was drawn by the premise (sounds promising!) . It's dystopian, too. And look at the trailer, it's  a w e s o m e!

Thanks to NetGalley. ♥

So what did you get this week? Have you read Swipe or Slipping Reality, what do you think about them? Put the links to your own IMM in the comments!

REVIEW #8 - Matched by Ally Condie

TITLE: Matched

AUTHOR: Ally Condie

GENRE: dystopian

PUBLICATION DATE: Nov 30th 2010

SYNOPSIS:

Cassia has always trusted the Society to make the right choices for her: what to read, what to watch, what to believe. So when Xander's face appears on-screen at her Matching ceremony, Cassia knows with complete certainty that he is her ideal mate... until she sees Ky Markham's face flash for an instant before the screen fades to black.
The Society tells her it's a glitch, a rare malfunction, and that she should focus on the happy life she's destined to lead with Xander. But Cassia can't stop thinking about Ky, and as they slowly fall in love, Cassia begins to doubt the Society's infallibility and is faced with an impossible choice: between Xander and Ky, between the only life she's known and a path that no one else has dared to follow.

REVIEW:

Cover

I love it. The whole series' covers are beautiful and match (ha, see what I did there?) the concept of the book. It's simple yet eye-catching.

Plot

Plot. Story. Um.
The idea was just right for a dystopian novel - society that is controlled in every aspect of their lives, so much that everything is predicted for them (their behavior, for example).
And what did the author do with this quite a nice idea?
She took it and threw it out of the window.
Why?
Because the book is plain boring. I was reading further and further, waiting for some action or at least a main event that would resolve everything and make me want to read the sequel - nothing like this happened, though. The characters do what they're supposed to do, there's nothing that pushes the plot forward.

Characters

Funny thing, because I liked the main character's (Cassia) parents the most. I felt that their story was a lot more tragic than Cassia's story. In fact I was a lot more engaged in the subplot revolving around them than the main love triangle, which was forced and left me totally cold.
Moreover, the main character comes to random conclusions that aren't the least bit explained. There's no character development whatsoever, Cassia just kind of "hops" a few steps at a time and leaves us readers rather bewildered.
Then we have the two boys, Xander "the good neighbor" and Ky "the mysterious stranger". Although neither of them is the typical witty bad boy (I think that would be like a frosting on a cake, ugh) and their friendship seems unusual give the circumstances - again, the lac of plot/action/character development destroys everything.

Writing

Too many empty words, too little essence. I mean it. I think what the author was going for was "poetic", but the poetry in this case didn't work. We get random bits of poems, which supposedly make such an impression on both Ky and Cassia that in the end they fall in love with each other. What...?
There were so many useless paragraphs. I almost screamed for some action to happen.
Let me give you an example of such nothing-words.

That word, calm, sounds impossibly beautiful, gloriously uncomplicated. A water-smooth word, a word that can take the edge away from fear, gloss it over, make it shiny. Calm. Gentle.

What...?

Overall

This book left me sad and frustrated. Sad because such a good idea was wasted. Frustrated because I'm a fan of dystopian books and this one left me with a distaste and less hope for good dystopias that could be written in the future (thankfully I'm reading Wither by Lauren DeStefano right now and I'm positively surprised).
The cover plus the fact that it's quite a popular YA book made me pick it up and I guess my expectations were too high.

Rating

1 stars out of 5.

Have you read this book? What do you think?

FF#3 - Unique names

Feature & Follow is hosted by Parajunkee and Alison Can Read weekly. You can join me and post the links to your own #FF posts in the comments below.

The question this week is... 

Q: BeefcakeandBabes Asks: I like unique names for characters and am looking forward to coming up with some when I start writing. What’s the most unique character name you’ve come across?

A: I had to think for a little while, actually! I think in the beginning, I'd like to clarify that unique =/= weird. I HATE it when the authors want to make the names extremely extraordinary, to make their characters speshul. Just... no. The names should stand out, but the wacky spelling or additional letters don't make your character all that great, believe me.

That being said, I love names from The Chaos Walking trilogy by Patrick Ness (I wonder how many times I've already said on this blog that I love these books?) - the female main character's name is Viola Eade. It's unique and pretty. Another name from these books is Wilf. I absolutely adore his name and his character! Patrick Ness said it's one of his favorite characters, and I bet it'd be yours too. :)

What is your answer to this question? Link me your FF/answer in the comments, so I can peek. And read Chaos Walking trilogy y/y?

You can follow me via GFC, Linky Followers, e-mail or/and Twitter.

COVER REVEAL - Gravity by Melissa West

I am absolutely thrilled to be part of this cover reveal! Thank you Entangled Publishing. :) Just take a look!

COVER REVEAL

Gravity

by Melissa West

Blurb:

In the future, only one rule will matter:

Don’t. Ever. Peek.

Seventeen-year-old Ari Alexander just broke that rule and saw the last person she expected hovering above her bed—arrogant Jackson Locke, the most popular boy in her school. She expects instant execution or some kind of freak alien punishment, but instead, Jackson issues a challenge: help him, or everyone on Earth will die. 

Ari knows she should report him, but everything about Jackson makes her question what she’s been taught about his kind. And against her instincts, she’s falling for him. But Ari isn’t just any girl, and Jackson wants more than her attention.  She’s a military legacy who’s been trained by her father and exposed to war strategies and societal information no one can know—especially an alien spy, like Jackson. Giving Jackson the information he needs will betray her father and her country, but keeping silent will start a war.

Expected publication date: October 2012
Genre: YA, sci-fi, dystopia
Add to Goodreads: [click]
Preorder from Amazon: [click]

My thoughts:
The blurb sounds amazing and the cover is simply s t u n n i n g. I'll definitely read this book as soon as it's possible! What do you think about it?

REVIEW #7 - Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card

TITLE: Ender's Game

AUTHOR: Orson Scott Card

GENRE: sci-fi, dystopian

PUBLICATION DATE: April 1st 2010 (first published 1985)

SYNOPSIS:

Ender Wiggin is a very bright young boy with a powerful skill. One of a group of children bred to be military geniuses and save Earth from an inevitable attack by aliens, known here as "buggers," Ender becomes unbeatable in war games and seems poised to lead Earth to triumph over the buggers. Meanwhile, his brother and sister plot to wrest power from Ender.

REVIEW:

Cover

It's the newest edition of Ender's Game and by far the prettiest. I'm a  fan of good graphics when it comes to covers (I know some readers dislike them). So it's quite satisfying. And I love Ender's image - his eyes look much older than his actual age, which fits the book perfectly.

Plot

That was crazy. Totally psychotic, mad, good kind of crazy. Ender is six years old and he's supposed to save the world, taking over his brother and sister, who weren't able to do so. He's taken to a military school, where he trains, levels up quicker than anybody and leads a very, very lonely life.
It's a story with an breathtaking plot and gruesome intrigue, it's dark and totally engrossing. More than anything though, it's a story about a boy and how his own fate, chosen for him by other people, destroys him. It's utterly beautiful and terrifying.

Characters

Genius six-year-old kids - I had to take the idea with a pinch of salt, because it takes a lot to believe in a kid that speaks like a 40-year-old university professor. Despite that, the characters felt very alive. I felt real, raw emotions when I was reading about what Ender had to endure - it only happened to me once, and it was during my Chaos Walking trilogy read. Ender wasn't necessary a likable character, because in spite of his deep wisdom he was still a kid - a bit egoistic at times, but a broken, devastated even kid. I think I even shed a tear or two because of him.
Other characters were well written too - Valentine, Alai, Bean, even the "villains".
The most fascinating character was Peter though, Ender's older brother. I'm not spoiling anything about him, so read the book to find out!

Writing

I missed 3rd person point of view so much! It felt refreshing. The story was gripping and well paced, the dialogues flowing nicely. I actually read the book in Polish and I'm so used to reading in English it was a bit awkward. But the translation was quite good, from what I can tell.

Overall

The book has been recommended to me on a few occasions. It's been called a 'classic of the genre' and now I have nothing to add, just merely agree. It's the most amazing book I've read in a while. In fact, I don't think anything wow-ed me this much since I read Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins and Chaos Walking trilogy by Patrick Ness. Absolutely breathtaking. I can't praise it enough, everybody and I mean it, EVERYBODY should read it!

Rating

5 stars out of 5 and I would give more.!

IN MY MAILBOX #2

IMM is a weekly meme hosted by The Story Siren.

Two books for review this time:

The Peculiars by Maureen Doyle McQuerry
The Obsidian Blade by Pete Hautman

Thanks to NetGalley. ♥ I'm really excited to read them both! Steampunk, time travel... I will review them for sure. So what did you got this week? Share in the comment! :)

REVIEW #6 - The Other Life by Susanne Winnacker

TITLE: The Other Life

AUTHOR: Susanne Winnacker

GENRE: post-apocalypse, dystopian

PUBLICATION DATE: Feb 2nd 2012
SOURCE: Marshall Cavendish via NetGalley

SYNOPSIS:

"3 years, 1 month, 1 week and 6 days since I’d seen daylight. One-fifth of my life. 98,409,602 seconds since the heavy, steel door had fallen shut and sealed us off from the world."
Sherry has lived with her family in a sealed bunker since things went wrong up above. But when they run out of food, Sherry and her dad must venture outside. There they find a world of devastation, desolation...and the Weepers: savage, mutant killers.
When Sherry's dad is snatched, she joins forces with gorgeous but troubled Joshua - an Avenger, determined to destroy the Weepers.
But can Sherry keep her family and Joshua safe, when his desire for vengeance threatens them all?

REVIEW:

Cover

I like this one better than this. I'm usually fond of no-people on the cover, but this time, Sherry on the cover worked better for me, She's just pretty!

Plot

I didn't find the story particularly groundbreaking, but I did like the different approach to zombies. This book isn't your typical epic let's-save-the-world YA. It's kind of... smaller range. And that's exactly what I *loved* about The Other Life. We're more focused on the family than the big evil plan - but I expect we'll read about it in the sequel. Which, I can tell you now, I'm definitely picking up.
So what do we have? We have a family. A virus, turning people into "The Weepers". We even have a little bit of romance, that doesn't feel forced at all. Everything that should satisfy even a picky post-apo fan.

Characters

I had a hard time with the books I picked up in the last few weeks. They all had well-developed main characters, while the secondary characters were merely showcased for a few pages. It's not the case with The Other Life. The side characters - Sherry's family and Joshua's "family are all vibrant, live characters I loved. Especially Sherry's little brother (which should be given a bigger spotlight, in my opinion) and Tyler, the silent tattoo guy.
Main characters were likable as well, and I found their romance quite adorable, given the circumstances.

Writing

If you like epic fights, constant action, riddles every other page - this book is not for you. The story is involving and scary at times, but it's not your usual fight-fight-teenage drama kind of story. It's rather slow-paced but intriguing, and shows tragedy of a few people rather than the whole population, which happens a lot in recent dystopian/post-apo books.

Overall

I've been lured by "dystopian" tag, but it's more of a post-apo book than dystopian. Although I do see that it shows signs of being dystopian, especially at the end. Despite all that, the book felt really... normal. Like it could happen any day to us too. Which gave me the creeps, I suppose.
While I don't think the book is refreshing or completely "new", it's quite a satisfying read.

Rating

3.5 stars out of 5.

FF#2 - favorite vs mediocre?

Feature & Follow is hosted by Parajunkee and Alison Can Read weekly. You can join me and post the links to your own #FF posts in the comments below.

The question this week is... 

Q: What would your prefer: reading your favorite book over and over again until you got sick of it OR reading 100s of mediocre books? And why?

My answer is...

I'd read mediocre books. Maybe not hundreds of them. But I like trying. I read A LOT of books that are, in my opinion, mediocre, but they're loved by everyone else. Besides, sometimes among those mediocre ones you can chance upon a real gem! That's what happened to me a few times.

And to be quite honest, when I re-read (re-watch, re-listen) something a few too many times... I end up hating it. Two times, three times, five times is ok. But I wouldn't want to re-read my favorite book until I got sick of it. It would be a pity.

I'm aware my opinion is somewhat unpopular, but I'd rather do that than stick to just one book all the time. I like variety.  :)

So, what is your answer to this question? Would you rather read the same book all the time or try reading 100 others, many of them worse than that?

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REVIEW #5 - Across the Universe by Beth Revis

TITLE: Across the Universe

AUTHOR: Beth Revis

GENRE: dystopia, sci-fi, romance

PUBLICATION DATE: Jan 11th 2011

SYNOPSIS:

Seventeen-year-old Amy joins her parents as frozen cargo aboard the vast spaceship Godspeed and expects to awaken on a new planet, three hundred years in the future. Never could she have known that her frozen slumber would come to an end fifty years too soon and that she would be thrust into the brave new world of a spaceship that lives by its own rules.
Amy quickly realizes that her awakening was no mere computer malfunction. Someone - one of the few thousand inhabitants of the spaceship - tried to kill her. And if Amy doesn't do something soon, her parents will be next.
Now, Amy must race to unlock Godspeed's hidden secrets. But out of her list of murder suspects, there's only one who matters: Elder, the future leader of the ship and the love she could never have seen coming.

REVIEW:

Cover

One of my favorite YA covers ever. I mean it. It's so beautiful I would buy the book the second I saw it in the bookstore. I wish it made me love the book more, though.

Plot

I was excited by the premise. I expected epic love story with sci-fi and a dash of dystopia. And I guess I got everything I mentioned, only... very toned down.
I liked how the story revolved around lies. Lies being the main theme of the story in the metaphorical sense was one of the best things about this book. And that's what makes me so conflicted about AtU.
While I liked the idea behind the dystopia presented here, there was also sub-plots I didn't really enjoy. One of them was really easy to guess (it was hinted too clearly in my opinion), the other was brushed over. The other being the whole idea of mating on the ship. There was even a rape attempt which kind of faded into black as a problem that should be resolved. That really made me upset, because I cared about the characters, but not enough to not to get frustrated at the way some of the situations were handled.

Characters

Main characters, Amy and Elder, were likeable. I don't know which one of them I liked more. Amy had this strong heroine aura around her, and Elder gave me the "adorable" feelings every once in a while. What I didn't like was the insta-love between them. I mean, really. I could see the potential romance maybe a bit further in the story, they could totally work for a while as friends, but they jumped into romance like there's no tomorrow, which put me off a bit.
I enjoyed Eldest-Doc team as the villains more than the... well, other villain I won't talk about not to spoil the story to anyone.
And Harley! Let's not forget about cute Harley. His subplot was good too.

Writing

The story is divided into two POVs, Amy's and Elder's. The writing is clear, I didn't really find it irritating like in some cases with YA books. An easy ride.

Overall

It could have been better. I was really confused and didn't know how to rate it at first, because I did like and dislike it at the same time. But, in the end, I will surely read the sequel to see how it's resolved.

Rating

2.5 stars out of 5.

CHALLENGE - Dystopian Reading Challenge 2012

Dystopian Reading Challenge 2012 

This amazing challenge is hosted by Dark Faerie Tales and you can sign up by clicking the link. Go! Do it!

I decided to read 30 (holy cow, how many?!) dystopian books this year, reviews of which I will post on this blog and update the list below with the links. The list may (and probably will) change as I can remove and add titles freely. ;)

1. Article 5 by Kristen Simmons

2. Across the Universe by Beth Revis

3. The Other Life by Susanne Winnacker

4. Matched by Ally Condie

5. Wither by Lauren DeStefano

6. Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver

7. Inside Out by Maria V. Snyder

8. Awaken by Katie Kacvinsky

9. Cinder by Marissa Meyer

10. Starters by Lissa Price

11. Destiny's Fire by Trisha Wolfe

12. Blood Red Road by Moira Young

13.Pure by Julianna Baggott

14. Partials by Dan Wells

15. Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi

16. The Way We Fall by Megan Crewe

17. Insurgent by Veronica Roth

18. Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card

19. Glitch by Heather Anastasiu

20. The Scorch Trials by James Dashner

21. The Death Cure by James Dashner

22. For Darkness Shows the Stars by Diana Peterfreund

23. The Hunt by Adrew Fukuda

24.  Eve by Anna Carey

25. Monument 14 by Emmy Laybourne

26. The City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau

27. Life as We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer

28. Feed by Mira Grant

29. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

30. 1984 by George Orwell

IN MY MAILBOX #1

IMM is a weekly meme hosted by The Story Siren.

It's the first time I'm doing this, and I'm excited to tell you what I got this week. Such lovely books! Not counting Hunger Games, I got TWO dystopian books, which is just awesome. I love dystopian YA so much it hurts, sometimes. ;)

BORROWED:

Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Polish edition. I've read the trilogy in English and it's fun re-reading it in Polish now, especially since I can read it with my Mom. She likes it so far, too. ;)

FOR REVIEW:

The Weepers: The Other Life by Susanne Winnacker

Replication by Jill Williamson

I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have to Kill You by Ally Carter

Thanks to NetGalley. ♥

REVIEW #4 - Article 5 by Kristen Simmons

TITLE: Article 5

AUTHOR: Kristen Simmons

GENRE: dystopia, thriller, romance

PUBLICATION DATE: Jan 31st 2012

SYNOPSIS:

New York, Los Angeles, and Washington, D.C., have been abandoned.
The Bill of Rights has been revoked, and replaced with the Moral Statutes.
There are no more police—instead, there are soldiers. There are no more fines for bad behavior—instead, there are arrests, trials, and maybe worse. People who get arrested usually don't come back.
Seventeen-year-old Ember Miller is old enough to remember that things weren’t always this way. Living with her rebellious single mother, it’s hard for her to forget that people weren’t always arrested for reading the wrong books or staying out after dark. It’s hard to forget that life in the United States used to be different.
Ember has perfected the art of keeping a low profile. She knows how to get the things she needs, like food stamps and hand-me-down clothes, and how to pass the random home inspections by the military. Her life is as close to peaceful as circumstances allow.
That is, until her mother is arrested for noncompliance with Article 5 of the Moral Statutes. And one of the arresting officers is none other than Chase Jennings…the only boy Ember has ever loved.

REVIEW:

Cover

Nothing earth-shattering. It serves the purpose well, and I like the way the title corresponds with the shirt. ;)

Plot

As for the overall feeling, I'd say it's like Marie Lu's "Legend" meets Lauren Oliver's "Delirium". They're both quite average books (although I like Legend a lot) and the result is average, too.
It's dystopian, bad things happen to characters. I liked the fact that our main couple couldn't trust anyone besides themselves, and even trusting themselves was hard at times. The paranoia, the feeling of helplessness was quite well executed.
I wish the world-building was a wee bit more developed, though.

Characters

I have one major problem with them. While Ember and Chase, main characters, were quite well developed, there was next to none side characters. At first it was alright, but after fifth or seventh disappearance of a character after just a few pages, it started to get annoying. We are dumped with names of people we can't get attached to and by analogy, we don't care about them enough to get more engaged in the story. That was a major flaw for me. Besides Sean, who was the only side character that stuck around, everyone else was coming-and-going. I hope the characters introduced by the end of the book - like Wallace or Billy - will be around in the sequel.
That being said, I felt that the story was more the story of Chase, not Ember. It was told from her perspective, yes, but it was all about him. And because of that, I cared a lot more about our tormented little soldier than our main heroine. Her choices sometimes were stupid (especially by the end of the book).

Writing

I didn't have any problems with the writing. In fact, it was pretty solid, and less unnerving than any other book I read recently. First person POV tends to irritate me to say the least, or roll my eyes at times, but nothing like this happened while reading "Article 5". It was a true page turner for me, and I appreciated it. PAGE TURNERS ROCK!

Overall

Pretty solid, non-stop action-packed, awesome main hero (if you like the dark, brooding type that's not overdone at the same time). Definitely checking out the sequel!

Rating

3 stars out of 5.

FF#1 - joining the craze every Friday from now on!

Feature & Follow is hosted by Parajunkee and Alison Can Read weekly. You can join me and post the links to your own #FF posts in the comments below.

The question this week is...

Q: Define what characteristics your favorite books share. Do they all have a kick ass heroine or is the hot love interest the Alpha Male?

Well, most of my favorite books give me that gut-wrenching feeling, the feeling of hopelessness. That's why I especially enjoy dystopian books. The worse things happen to characters, the more I enjoy it. I'm not talking about gore stuff, because that's not what I mean. But a situation that seems - in theory - unsolvable, that our characters just have to overcome... I really like that. It shows how resourceful the characters are and how they cope with the hard times.
Other than that, I obviously love strong characters. I'm not against banter/witty dialogues, but characters that are like that all the time tick me off. 
And I like the feeling of unknown, of the mystery that gets solved in the end. :)

So, what is your answer to this question? What makes you love the book?

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