Book Review: Requiem by Lauren Oliver

May 3, 2013 by 3 Comments

Title by Author Requiem by Lauren Oliver
Release Date: March 5, 2013
Publisher: Harper
Source: Purchased
Rating: ★★☆☆☆ 
Buy It: Amazon | Book Depository

Now an active member of the resistance, Lena has transformed. The nascent rebellion that was underway in Pandemonium has ignited into an all-out revolution in Requiem, and Lena is at the center of the fight.

After rescuing Julian from a death sentence, Lena and her friends fled to the Wilds. But the Wilds are no longer a safe haven. Pockets of rebellion have opened throughout the country, and the government cannot deny the existence of Invalids. Regulators infiltrate the borderlands to stamp out the rebels.

As Lena navigates the increasingly dangerous terrain of the Wilds, her best friend, Hana, lives a safe, loveless life in Portland as the fiancée of the young mayor. Requiem is told from both Lena and Hana’s points of view. They live side by side in a world that divides them until, at last, their stories converge.

With lyrical writing, Lauren Oliver seamlessly interweaves the peril that Lena faces with the inner tumult she experiences after the reappearance of her first love, Alex, the boy she thought was dead. Sophisticated and wide-ranging, Requiem brings the Delirium trilogy to a thrilling conclusion. – Goodreads

Review:
Sigh. This book. I’ve considered Lauren Oliver one of my favorite authors since I read her debut, Before I Fall, and both Delirium and Pandemonium were books that sent me into capslock mode over how much I loved them. Not only that, but Delirium was also the first ARC I received as a blogger so this series has always been special to me in that way. Needless to say, despite all my end of series nerves, I built Requiem up to be this amazing read in my head and, well…it wasn’t. And it makes me really sad that I feel that way.

I probably would have given Requiem a 1 star rating if it wasn’t for Lauren Oliver’s prose. Her way with words is simply beautiful and it’s always such a highlight to feel so much emotion in her writing. Unfortunately, her storytelling wasn’t able to match the quality of her turn of phrase this time around and I was left disappointed with the lack of direction in the book.

To put it simply, Requiem made me feel that there was no point to the anything in Pandemonium. My favorite character from the series, Julian, was so well developed there, and I thought his relationship with Lena was so wonderful and organic, but Requiem negated all of that for me. Lauren Oliver seemed to forget about Julian’s character entirely, except for when Lena was in her “I will never love him like I do Alex” angst moments. I wouldn’t expect Lauren Oliver to forget about Alex, or anything else happening in the larger storyline, but I think it’s a shame that she seemed to give up on Julian’s character completely.

The POV switch between Lena and Hana didn’t help me enjoy Requiem, either. I liked Hana’s short story well enough, so I thought her chapters would be equally interesting, but I found them to be dull. Her story only grabbed my attention in too few moments and I wish Lauren Oliver had spent her chapters expanding on Lena’s story instead.

The conclusion of Requiem was the nail on the coffin for me. Don’t get me wrong, some of my favorite endings are open-ended, but I felt this book trailed off into nothing to the point where I now feel so apathetic about the entire series. I don’t need answers for everything, and I don’t think getting them would have made this a more enjoyable read for me, but I simply wanted something more.

Filed Under: 2013, Book Reviews Tagged With: , , ,

It’s May!

May 1, 2013 by 5 Comments

Hi!

So…yeah. I went over a month without so much as touching this blog, or writing a single review, but I think I’m ready to make my return to it. I’ve been so busy with work, as well as other real life stuff, that I actually haven’t read as much as I would have liked, but there were a few books that I have been anxious to scream over (Requiem! The Dark Swan series! Clockwork Princess! Siege and Storm!). I also have a few pre-hiatus reviews already written, so while my return to the blog won’t be immediate — and I definitely can’t guarantee a regular posting schedule right now — things will slowly be updated around here again.

How are you all? What are your favorite reads as of late? These are mine:

ALSO, are there any of you who will be at BEA later this month (!!!)? Let me know because I would love to see you!

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Page to Screen: The Host by Stephenie Meyer

March 28, 2013 by 3 Comments

The Book
After having loved the Twilight books so much, I was actually a little hesitant to read The Host back in 2008. As a matter of fact, the only reason I even bought a copy was to be able to attend Stephenie Meyer’s signing and I didn’t plan to read it for a while. I don’t know what compelled me to open it up, but I soon found myself completely immersed in the book. I love alien stuff, and though admittedly these aren’t the aliens I usually want to read about (gimme the creepy!), I came to truly love Stephenie Meyer’s story. I can tell you now that I have re-read this book so many times that the spine is actually falling apart.

Though the first few chapters were a little slow moving for me, once Wanderer got to the desert I was all in. I loved the conflict between Wanderer and Melanie because they were so different and it was interesting to read how they handled being in one body. While Wanderer is so peaceful and such a pacifist, Melanie is more fiery and rash — mainly because she’s doing all she can to protect Jared and Jamie. Melanie’s presence is (almost) always there, but Wanderer is the central focus and I enjoyed falling in love with Earth and the humans along with her. Another highlight was learning about her past lives. Other readers may be disappointed by how light the sci-fi elements are in The Host, but I personally enjoyed how accessible it was and there were enough details about the other worlds to allow a vivid picture.

Since this is a Stephenie Meyer story, yes, there is plenty of romance to go around. From the summary I went into the book expecting a love triangle between Melanie/Jared/Wanderer and that was true. Kind of. Yes, having access to all of Melanie’s memories, Wanderer did grow to have feelings for Jared and, yes, Jared did have all sorts of conflict due to having Melanie’s body in close proximity. Plus, you know, Melanie is still in there and she has plenty to say about what Wanderer is feeling, mixed in with her own turmoil of Jared being out of reach to her. OH THE DRAMA. That was all great and dandy, but then came the unexpected in the shape of a human: Ian O’Shea. The book has been out for years, and he’s popped up enough in the movie promotional material, but I still feel kind of spoilery even mentioning him so I will just say the following: he is one of my absolute favorite characters and he completely took me by surprise.

Stephenie Meyer gets a lot of criticism for this and that, but I love how she tells a story. She had me hooked with both Twilight and The Host and I know I’ll be reading any of her books in the future.

The Movie
I was able to see the movie at an early screening a few weeks back, and now that I’ve had time to sit on my thoughts, I have to say that I’m not too in love with it. It wasn’t bad in any way, and I do think it was better than the Twilight films, but it didn’t excite me in the way that I hoped it would. The cast was great, and I loved the final scene with Melanie and Wanderer, but I feel that certain parts and character growth were rushed. I know they can’t include ALL THE THINGS in a film adaptation (dammit!) but I do wish there had been more heart to the story, like in the book. Would I recommend it? Yeah, probably, especially if you’re a fan of the book, but overall I think it was rather forgettable. (Still, Stephenie Meyer needs to write the sequel asap so I can have more of Ian in the books and see more of Max Irons’s face in the movies, thanks.)

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Book Review: The Indigo Spell by Richelle Mead

March 4, 2013 by 4 Comments

Title by Author The Indigo Spell by Richelle Mead
Release Date: February 12, 2013
Publisher: Razorbill
Source: Purchased
Rating: ★★★★★ 
Buy It: Amazon | Book Depository

In the aftermath of a forbidden moment that rocked Sydney to her core, she finds herself struggling to draw the line between her Alchemist teachings and what her heart is urging her to do. Then she meets alluring, rebellious Marcus Finch–a former Alchemist who escaped against all odds, and is now on the run. Marcus wants to teach Sydney the secrets he claims the Alchemists are hiding from her. But as he pushes her to rebel against the people who raised her, Sydney finds that breaking free is harder than she thought. There is an old and mysterious magic rooted deeply within her. And as she searches for an evil magic user targeting powerful young witches, she realizes that her only hope is to embrace her magical blood–or else she might be next.
– Goodreads

Review:
Hello everyone, this review is from me as a ghost because I DIED when reading The Indigo Spell. While Richelle Mead is no stranger to evoking strong feelings from me (seriously, have you read Shadow Kiss?!), this latest installment of the Bloodlines series was a different type of monster. Don’t be surprised if this review is even more of rambling mess than usual because where to even start?! Paragraphs won’t suffice so here are some bullet points:

• Richelle Mead wasted no time in delivering the fun. I certainly did not expect to be grinning from ear to ear, as big as I was, within the first thirty pages, but there I was. This was a recurring theme throughout the rest of the book, too. Although Richelle Mead definitely knows how to write drama, what I love the most about her books is how she effortlessly infuses humor into them. I’ve felt sucker punched while reading her books, so I always go in with some trepidation, but I was basically a giddy mess reading The Indigo Spell.

• FAMILIAR FACES. As brief as their scenes may have been, I LOVED seeing favorites from Vampire Academy make a cameo. I love the current cast of characters so much, but the VA group definitely brings the fuzzy feeling of nostalgia.

• The mystery storyline had my suspicions all over the place. While some things played out like I thought they would, other directions took me by surprise. I must admit that the mysteries aren’t usually a highlight for me, but I actually enjoyed this one a lot because Sydney stepped up to the plate and is becoming quite the bad ass in her own way.

• Sydney’s character has grown so much and I love her more with each book. Beliefs that were once deeply rooted in her have evolved and, though she continues to struggle with what she was taught versus what she knows now, Sydney has become her own person away from the Alchemist teachings. At this point I fear re-education SO much, but I guess I’ll freak out more when (and if) that happens.

• The swoon! THE SWOON. I’ve been known to slam books shut when they fill me with rage, but Richelle Mead had me doing that with the tension between Adrian and Sydney. TOO HOT TO HANDLE. They make such a fantastic team, their banter was ridiculously good, and…THE KISSING. It was the stuff dreams are made of (for sure in Adrian’s case). They are the reason I am dead.

The Indigo Spell has it all AND THEN SOME. Drama, romance, mystery, the usual, and then also: new fraternities, dragons, pie, the return of the pirate skeleton and much, much more. This is my new favorite from Richelle Mead and I can’t wait to see how she tops this one when The Fiery Heart is released.

Filed Under: 2013, Book Reviews Tagged With: , , ,

Blog Tour: Legacy of the Clockwork Key by Kristin Bailey

February 28, 2013 by 4 Comments

I’m participating in the blog tour for Kristin Bailey’s debut novel, Legacy of the Clockwork Key. Be sure to check out the giveaway at the end of the post!

Legacy of the Clockwork Key by Kristin Bailey Legacy of the Clockwork Key by Kristin Bailey
Release Date: March 5, 2013
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Source: Galley for blog tour
Rating: ★★★☆☆ 
Buy It: Amazon | Book Depository

A teen girl unravels the mysteries of a secret society and their most dangerous invention in this adventure-swept romance set in Victorian London.

When a fire consumes Meg’s home, killing her parents and destroying both her fortune and her future, all she has left is the tarnished pocket watch she rescued from the ashes. But this is no ordinary timepiece. The clock turns out to be a mechanical key—a key that only Meg can use—that unlocks a series of deadly secrets and intricate clues that Meg is compelled to follow.

Meg has uncovered evidence of an elite secret society and a dangerous invention that some will stop at nothing to protect—and that Meg alone can destroy. Together with the handsome stable hand she barely knows but hopes she can trust, Meg is swept into a hidden world of deception, betrayal, and revenge. The clockwork key has unlocked her destiny in this captivating start to a trilogy. – Goodreads

Review:
Prior to Kristin Bailey’s Legacy of the Clockwork Key, I think there was only one other book that I had read that had steampunk elements. I had several issues with that book — so much that it got to the point that whenever I thought of picking up another book in the genre I was like, “Nope!” because I was reminded of how much I disliked it. It’s quite some time later now and I’m glad I finally gave steampunk another try because I think Kristin Bailey’s debut novel was a solid re-introduction.

While, yes, there are different inventions and technology in Legacy of the Clockwork Key, I felt that Kristin Bailey made it all very accessible. I wasn’t overwhelmed by details and instead found myself going, “Okay, that’s pretty cool.” Descriptions of these types of things usually go right over my head, but I actually found myself trying to understand the mechanics and look forward to what would be introduced next.

As far as the main character, I have mixed feelings about Meg. On one hand, I wanted more growth from her throughout the book and I wish I had been able to feel the loss of her family and status. She was very stubborn, and during some of the more intense scenes, spent too much time wondering what Will, her love interest, thought of her. That said, she’s young and I know how consuming those feelings can be so I think Kristin Bailey wrote that realistically. Her stubbornness was also a highlight in some ways because persistence and determination are always great qualities to have and, considering all the circumstances of the situation, I would be motivated to uncover all the secrets, too. Though Meg’s infatuation-filled thoughts did get annoying at times, the romance between her and Will was actually really nicely paced and had some great buildup along the way.

Legacy of the Clockwork Key has secret societies, a great setting in Victorian London, really interesting gadgets and technology, and a romantic storyline I’m sure many will enjoy. If this had been the first steampunk book I had read, I think I would have been a lot more open to the genre a long time ago.

Playlist

Here are four songs I listened to while reading Legacy of the Clockwork Key! I wouldn’t say the songs lyrically apply to the book, but parts of their sound really reminded of the steampunk elements and how I imagined them (if that makes any sense!).
La Roux – Reflections Are Protection
Bloc Party – Halo (We Have Band Dub)
The Knife – We Share Our Mother’s Health (Ratatat Remix)
Santigold – The Riot’s Gone

Kristin Bailey About the Author
Kristin Bailey grew up in the middle of the San Joaquin Valley in California. As a kid she enjoyed visiting the beach, camping and skiing with her two brothers. Now she is a military wife and mother of two young children. She is also terrible about spoiling her pets. She has one fluffy mutt, two cats who think they own the world, and a fish tank with a quartet of fat fish, and two secretive striped ninja-assassin snails. In the course of her adventures, she has worked as a zookeeper, balloon artist, and substitute teacher. Now she enjoys writing books for teens who enjoy mystery and adventure as much as she does.
www.kristinbailey.com | @KBaileyBooks

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