Release Date: February 28th, 2012
Genre:  Dystopia, Romance
Publisher: HarperTeen
Pages: 375
Rating:
Amazon Link*: Click here
Goodreads Page: Click here
Summary:

I’m pushing aside the memory of my nightmare,
pushing aside thoughts of Alex,
pushing aside thoughts of Hana and my old school,
push,
push,
push,
like Raven taught me to do.
The old life is dead.
But the old Lena is dead too.
I buried her.
I left her beyond a fence,
behind a wall of smoke and flame.

Blurb: Hard to follow and connect to, Pandemonium falls far short of the bar set by Delirium.

Review: I spent a lot of time debating whether to give this book 3 or 2.5 stars. There were so many things that bothered me. I loved Delirium, and I don't think this one is just suffering from "second-book syndrome." It's more than that. I just honestly didn't like it.

For one thing, each chapter changes flips back and forth six months. This made it pretty impossible for me to connect to the story. Every time I started to feel for the characters in one timeline, I'd be pushed into another and it just frustrated me. I think that if this story had been linear, I would have liked it A LOT more. I feel like she was trying to put two separate books into one, and she didn't need to.

Next was the "love" part of the story. This series is based on the idea of love being a disease, so you know somebody's going to fall in love. I won't tell you who for risks of spoilers. But I will tell you that their "falling in love" seemed trite, rushed, and was clearly just something to create tension that didn't really need to be there. I didn't understand why the girl was falling in love with this guy, and vice versa. It was a very... hormonal love, I think. Desperate, almost. Blah.

And there's a "twist" at the end that I totally saw coming, even though as I read the book I kept saying "no. Please no. Not that." Because it was CHEAP! I found myself saying "Oh puh-lease!" I had hoped this series would be more original than that. Not to say that it won't cause some interesting conflict in book 3, but I would have been MORE interested to see how the author had moved on WITHOUT this choice.

And just as a side note, these characters don't know the following words: poop, crap, dung, feces, droppings, excrement, etc. The only word they know is s***. And that drove me nutso. And there was one (maybe two) f-bombs.

So all-in-all, not much love. Definitely fell short of Delirium. But will I read the third one? Certainly. And hopefully Oliver will go back to her old style of writing. I liked it much better.



*I am an amazon affiliate. If you purchase this book using my link, I will get a tiny fraction of the purchase, which goes toward contests.

I would like to pose a question purely hypothetically. Let's say (hypothetically, remember) that a certain person would like to start writing again. But that certain person knows she/he would need a beta reader who would motivate, support, and question her/him in her/his writing. How would she/he find such a beta reader?

Writer friends, discuss.

Release Date: January 3rd, 2012
Genre:  Fantasy, Sci-fi, Romance
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Pages: 390
Rating:
Amazon Link*: Click here
Goodreads Page: Click here
Summary:

Humans and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. A deadly plague ravages the population. From space, a ruthless lunar people watch, waiting to make their move. No one knows that Earth’s fate hinges on one girl. . . .

Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg. She’s a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister’s illness. But when her life becomes intertwined with the handsome Prince Kai’s, she suddenly finds herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle, and a forbidden attraction. Caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal, she must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect her world’s future.

Blurb: Totally unique, and totally awesome

Review: WOW! This book was GOOD! For some reason, when I first read the summary I was turned off. I don't know why. But when I had the chance to go to a private Q&A with the author, I figured I should probably read her book. I'm so glad I did!

An upfront warning: this book is totally predictable. Totally. As in, you'll see the major twist coming pretty much from the beginning. Does that take away from the good-ness of the book? Not at all!

One of the things I loved about this book is that, even aside from being sci-fi, Marissa wasn't afraid to make the fairy-tale her own. This book isn't predictable because it follows the original/Disney Cinderella. She has so many more things that make it unique. Moon-people with "magic" powers, a robot helper (instead of mice), and a stepsister who actually likes her! So fun! One of my pet-peeves is when fairy-tale "retellings" are SO close to the original story that it's a stretch to call them a "retelling."

Marissa does a great job incorporating the sci-fi elements into the story. She doesn't bog you down with egregious details on how the different mechanics work, but I believe all the tech she does describe. It was also easy to like the prince. There was no insta-love, and Cinder certainly isn't one to swoon, but there certainly was some chemistry going on there. Literally.

All-in-all a really great read, and I'm so excited that the next three books already have titles and release dates! All of the books will star Cinder as the main character, but will also share a POV with another fairy-tale heroine. Scarlet (2013) will take place in France with Little Red Riding Hood, Cress (2014) will take place ON THE MOON with Rapunzel, and Winter (2015) will take place in the Sahara Desert with Snow White. Cool, eh? Clearly the publisher sees some pretty serious talent in Marissa if they've already taken her on for FOUR books in FOUR years. And I don't blame them. She rocks, and so does Cinder.



*I am an amazon affiliate. If you purchase this book using my link, I will get a tiny fraction of the purchase, which goes toward contests.

Release Date: January 10th, 2012
Genre:  Sci-fi, Romance
Publisher: Razorbill
Pages: 386
Rating:
Amazon Link*: Click here
Goodreads Page: Click here
Series: Across the Universe #2 (Review of #1)
Summary (Spoilers, highlight to view):

Godspeed was fueled by lies. Now it is ruled by chaos.
It's been three months since Amy was unplugged. The life she always knew is over. And everywhere she looks, she sees the walls of the spaceship Godspeed. But there may just be hope: Elder has assumed leadership of the ship. He's finally free to enact his vision - no more Phydus, no more lies.


But when Elder discovers shocking news about the ship, he and Amy race to discover the truth behind life on Godspeed. They must work together to unlock a puzzle that was set in motion hundreds of years earlier, unable to fight the romance that's growing between them and the chaos that threatens to tear them apart.


In book two of the Across the Universe trilogy, New York Times bestselling author Beth Revis mesmerizes us again with a brilliantly crafted mystery filled with action, suspense, romance, and deep philosophical questions. And this time it all builds to one mind-bending conclusion: They have to get off this ship.

Blurb: Just when you thought this series couldn't get any better.

Review: So I was totally in love with the first book in this series, but if I could go back I would give it less stars just so you would know exactly how awesome this book is.

Yup. That's right. The second book is better than the first. Almost NEVER is the second book in a trilogy better than the first. But boy howdy, this book is.

So many twists, turns, personal turmoil, and more! There is some sequel-phase going on, but it didn't take away from the book. I loved watching Amy discover herself, and Elder's fine and dandy too, but the best part of this book is definitely the mystery. And when you find out the mystery... woah. Hold on to your hats, folks.

But that ending... yeesh. Here's the warning label I made up for it:

*Warning: the end of this book will leave you so far off the edge of your seat that falling is a serious danger. Beware injury.*

I wish I could say more, but unfortunately I was dumb and let myself get trapped by finals week before writing my review. So all of this that I'm telling you is what stuck with me even 2-months after finishing the book.
I stayed up until 1am to finish, and I wish I could scrub my brain clean of this book just so I could read it again for the first time.


*I am an amazon affiliate. If you purchase this book using my link, I will get a tiny fraction of the purchase, which goes toward contests.

I usually am not very political in my song choice, but this one just seemed too apropos to ignore what with all the crazy things happening on the internet lately. I did edit the song a little, because even though I looked up the lyrics before I bought it and it does say "The ship going down" it certainly doesn't SOUND like that's what she's saying. Enjoy! Links below.



Library:
A Monster Calls, by Patrick Ness (Goodreads | Amazon)
This Dark Endeavor, by Kenneth Oppel (Goodreads | Amazon)
Department Nineteen, by Will Hill (Goodreads | Amazon)

Purchased:
Seriously… I'm Kidding, by Ellen Degeneres (Goodreads | Amazon)
Sisters Red, by Jackson Pearce (Goodreads | Amazon)
Cinder, by Marissa Meyer (Goodreads | Amazon)
The Book of a Thousand Days, by Shannon Hale (Goodreads | Amazon)

Review (from Amazon Vine):
Partials, by Dan Wells (Goodreads | Amazon)

Christmas:
The Night Circus, by Erin Morgenstern (Goodreads | Amazon) Recommended by Suey
Shadowcry, by Jenna Burtenshaw (Goodreads | Amazon)
DeathWatch, by Ari Berk (Goodreads | Amazon)
Witchlanders, by Lena Coakley (Goodreads | Amazon)