In Mead’s world there are two kinds of vampires – the “good” mortal vampires known as Moroi and the evil undead bloodsucking amoral Strigoi. Vampire Academy tells the story of Vasilisa Dragomir, a Moroi princess, and her half vampire half human guardian Rose Hathaway and the bond they share. This is actually the second time I have read Vampire Academy. The first time I read it was a few years ago, I remember thinking it was a fun read and that I would perhaps get round to reading the rest of the series some day. The second time I read it though, maybe in contrast to some of the books I’ve read recently, the characters just leapt off the page at me. I became so hooked on the series that I have been marathoning it. I’m currently on book four of six, with spinoff series Bloodlines in prospect. Expect more Vampire Academy reviews to follow. What I liked Three dimensional characters. I loved how Mead wrote both Lissa and Rose. I felt it was a very realistic depiction of young women on the cusp of adulthood, learning to deal with issues of love and life. Setting aside all the vampire…
Pivot Point by Kasie West is a young adult novel about Addie, a young woman who has the ability to preview the consequences of any decision she makes and see both sides of the coin so to speak. She makes use of this ability when her parents separate in order to help her decide which parent she will live with. Think Sliding Doors with super powered teens. What I liked Excellent execution of concept. While the concept itself isn’t new, I thought West put together a slick, tight execution. The internal logic held up exceptionally well. I liked that she explained not only the concept but gave it clear limitations: Addie can only view her own timelines, they must diverge from a decision she makes and she cannot view subsequent forks from within a viewing. I’m not explaining that very well. Why not go check the book out for yourself and it will make sense? I liked also that her skill was connected to that of her best friend, who can erase memories, preventing Addie’s being overloaded with false memories. No decision was without consequences. I liked that there was no “good” decisions. True to life, sometimes no matter what…
Pivot Point by Kasie West is a young adult novel about Addie, a young woman who has the ability to preview the consequences of any decision she makes and see both sides of the coin so to speak. She makes use of this ability when her parents separate in order to help her decide which parent she will live with. Think Sliding Doors with super powered teens. What I liked Excellent execution of concept. While the concept itself isn’t new, I thought West put together a slick, tight execution. The internal logic held up exceptionally well. I liked that she explained not only the concept but gave it clear limitations: Addie can only view her own timelines, they must diverge from a decision she makes and she cannot view subsequent forks from within a viewing. I’m not explaining that very well. Why not go check the book out for yourself and it will make sense? I liked also that her skill was connected to that of her best friend, who can erase memories, preventing Addie’s being overloaded with false memories. No decision was without consequences. I liked that there was no “good” decisions. True to life, sometimes no matter what…
Independent Study is the followup to Charbonneau’s The Testing in which young protagonist Cia Vale survived the gruelling life or death competition to secure a place at her society’s university. The society in which Cia lives is struggling to emerge after many years of devastation, both natural and man made and the graduates of the university are expected to provide leadership to their communities. When we left Cia at the end of The Testing she was just beginning to understand what had happened during The Testing and the depth of her society’s betrayal of its young people. She must decide what to do with that information and whom to trust. I will start by saying that while Independence Day is a good book, I did not enjoy it as much as The Testing. Perhaps that’s not too surprising – the second book in a trilogy (Graduation Day, the third and final book in the series is due out later this summer) is often the most challenging for a writer in terms of keeping narrative tension and the plot moving. What I liked The characters. I continued to be engaged by Cia and her story. I find her a smart, level…
Independent Study is the followup to Charbonneau’s The Testing in which young protagonist Cia Vale survived the gruelling life or death competition to secure a place at her society’s university. The society in which Cia lives is struggling to emerge after many years of devastation, both natural and man made and the graduates of the university are expected to provide leadership to their communities. When we left Cia at the end of The Testing she was just beginning to understand what had happened during The Testing and the depth of her society’s betrayal of its young people. She must decide what to do with that information and whom to trust. I will start by saying that while Independence Day is a good book, I did not enjoy it as much as The Testing. Perhaps that’s not too surprising – the second book in a trilogy (Graduation Day, the third and final book in the series is due out later this summer) is often the most challenging for a writer in terms of keeping narrative tension and the plot moving. What I liked The characters. I continued to be engaged by Cia and her story. I find her a smart, level…
I had been initially reluctant to read The Fault in Our Stars by John Green, despite the many positive reviews, mainly because of its subject matter. It deals with the romance between two teenage cancer survivors. I eventually relented when I saw that my local library had an e-copy, which was duly downloaded to my Kobo. From the first few pages I fell in love with these characters – it was clear that Green had put a lot of effort into creating them as unique, individuals with their own hopes, fears and desires, who just happen to be ill with cancer. I ended up purchasing my own copy of the book, as I suspect I will reread it more than once. What I liked The characters. As I mentioned, I fell in love with these characters. The beauty of Green’s writing is that Hazel and Augustus are not defined by their illnesses. They are two young people who happen to be living with cancer. Hazel is defined more by her love of the book “An Imperial Affliction”, which is a plot point in the novel, and her obsession with America’s Next Top Model. Augustus’ sharp wit and fun-loving nature is…
I had been initially reluctant to read The Fault in Our Stars by John Green, despite the many positive reviews, mainly because of its subject matter. It deals with the romance between two teenage cancer survivors. I eventually relented when I saw that my local library had an e-copy, which was duly downloaded to my Kobo. From the first few pages I fell in love with these characters – it was clear that Green had put a lot of effort into creating them as unique, individuals with their own hopes, fears and desires, who just happen to be ill with cancer. I ended up purchasing my own copy of the book, as I suspect I will reread it more than once. What I liked The characters. As I mentioned, I fell in love with these characters. The beauty of Green’s writing is that Hazel and Augustus are not defined by their illnesses. They are two young people who happen to be living with cancer. Hazel is defined more by her love of the book “An Imperial Affliction”, which is a plot point in the novel, and her obsession with America’s Next Top Model. Augustus’ sharp wit and fun-loving nature is…
The Archived by Victoria Schwab is another book that has been gathering great buzz on the booktuber network, and with good reason. It is a very fresh young adult paranormal mystery with great characters and excellent worldbuilding. it tells the story of Mackenzie Bishop, a young woman who has a secret job as Keeper; in the world of The Archive, when you die, your life history is recorded and kept in the Archive, physically represented by a copy of your body. Occasionally a History will wake and try to escape to the real world and it’s a Keeper’s role to return this History to the Archive. When Mackenzie moves to a new area she finds that her Keeper territory is extremely busy and that it could be related to a series of murders that took place in her new building as well as an an internal betrayal within the Archive. She must investigate this connection as well as adapt to her new home. What I liked The supernatural murder mystery. I really enjoyed the way this was built up with various suspects and roadblocks to information. I enjoyed that Mackenzie had to use both her supernatural and her normal powers…
The Archived by Victoria Schwab is another book that has been gathering great buzz on the booktuber network, and with good reason. It is a very fresh young adult paranormal mystery with great characters and excellent worldbuilding. it tells the story of Mackenzie Bishop, a young woman who has a secret job as Keeper; in the world of The Archive, when you die, your life history is recorded and kept in the Archive, physically represented by a copy of your body. Occasionally a History will wake and try to escape to the real world and it’s a Keeper’s role to return this History to the Archive. When Mackenzie moves to a new area she finds that her Keeper territory is extremely busy and that it could be related to a series of murders that took place in her new building as well as an an internal betrayal within the Archive. She must investigate this connection as well as adapt to her new home. What I liked The supernatural murder mystery. I really enjoyed the way this was built up with various suspects and roadblocks to information. I enjoyed that Mackenzie had to use both her supernatural and her normal powers…
There are several books I’m really excited about for 2014. In no particular order, here are the ones I’m most excited about. Independent Study by Joelle Charbonneau This is the sequel to Charbonneau’s YA dystopian novel The Testing, in which protagonist Cia must survive a Hunger Games-like Testing in order to win a coveted place at her society’s university. Charbonneau left Cia at a very interesting point and I am anxious to read how her tale continues. Independent Study will be released on the 7th of January 2014, and I have preordered it from Amazon. The final book in the trilogy, Graduation Day, will be released on the 3rd of June 2014 and is also available for preorder from Amazon. Cress by Marissa Meyer This is the third in Meyer’s set of four YA fairytale/sci-fi blend, The Lunar Chronicles. This one is based on the tale of Rapunzel, who in Meyer’s reimagining becomes a young hacker isolated on a remote satellite. She teams up with Cinder, Scarlet, Wolf and Thorne from the preceding novels in order to bring down Queen Levana of Luna. I adored the first two books and look forward to the continuation. Cress will be released on…