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.

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Book Review: Sever by Lauren DeStefano

February 11, 2013 by 6 Comments

Sever by Lauren DeStefano Sever by Lauren DeStefano
Release Date: February 12, 2013
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers
Source: Borrowed ARC from Lindsey (thanks!)
Rating: ★★★½☆ 
Buy It: Amazon | Book Depository

With the clock ticking until the virus takes its toll, Rhine is desperate for answers. After enduring Vaughn’s worst, Rhine finds an unlikely ally in his brother, an eccentric inventor named Reed. She takes refuge in his dilapidated house, though the people she left behind refuse to stay in the past. While Gabriel haunts Rhine’s memories, Cecily is determined to be at Rhine’s side, even if Linden’s feelings are still caught between them.

Meanwhile, Rowan’s growing involvement in an underground resistance compels Rhine to reach him before he does something that cannot be undone. But what she discovers along the way has alarming implications for her future—and about the past her parents never had the chance to explain.

In this breathtaking conclusion to Lauren DeStefano’s Chemical Garden trilogy, everything Rhine knows to be true will be irrevocably shattered. – Goodreads

Review:
It’s always hard to write reviews for the final book in a series because I want to SCREAM about specific things, but I obviously can’t do that without ruining things for others. As such, this review will probably be a short one. Here’s what you need to know:

As you may or may not recall, Fever was not my type of book. Like, at all. Lauren DeStefano’s prose was beautiful, but I felt that the plot itself lacked direction and I was definitely disappointed by it since I had loved Wither so much. I can’t say that I enjoyed Sever as much as the first book, but it picked up steam in a major way and the entire time I was reading it I was like, “Yes, HERE is the emotion that I missed from book two.”

Because, for better or for worse, there was plenty of emotion to be had in Sever. Lauren DeStefano reminded me of the strength between the sister wives: how far their bond went and their place in each other’s lives. I was able to get back into Rhine’s mindset and feel her determination to reunite with her brother. Lauren DeStefano allowed me to have a better grasp on several characters: to understand their motivations, their fears, and their realizations about the world. I was left staring at the book in shock when certain developments arose and, right now, days after having turned the last page, I’m still remembering the “Noooooooo” moment I had. I HAVE A LOT OF FEELINGS ABOUT THAT MOMENT.

There are a few issues I had with Sever, namely that one particular character remained too underdeveloped for my liking and that ending could have been expanded on, but I definitely feel that this book made up for what I felt was lacking in Fever. Lauren DeStefano filled in the gaps, allowed her characters to grow and, overall, delivered a satisfying conclusion. I’m looking forward to getting to know the characters in her next series.

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Book Review: Prodigy by Marie Lu

January 28, 2013 by 4 Comments

Prodigy by Marie Lu Prodigy by Marie Lu
Release Date: January 29, 2013
Publisher: Putnam Juvenile
Source: BEA 2012
Rating: ★★★★★ 
Buy It: Amazon | Book Depository

June and Day arrive in Vegas just as the unthinkable happens: the Elector Primo dies, and his son Anden takes his place. With the Republic edging closer to chaos, the two join a group of Patriot rebels eager to help Day rescue his brother and offer passage to the Colonies. They have only one request—June and Day must assassinate the new Elector.

It’s their chance to change the nation, to give voice to a people silenced for too long.

But as June realizes this Elector is nothing like his father, she’s haunted by the choice ahead. What if Anden is a new beginning? What if revolution must be more than loss and vengeance, anger and blood—what if the Patriots are wrong?

In this highly-anticipated sequel, Lu delivers a breathtaking thriller with high stakes and cinematic action – Goodreads

Review:
Alright, so while I think I preferred Legend to this one, Prodigy wasn’t lacking in any way. Marie Lu easily allowed me to slip back into June and Day’s world and, wow, it was such a journey with them as they had to make difficult decisions and reaffirm their trust for one another.

June and Day are apart for most of the book, but it didn’t really feel that way to me because they have such a strong presence in each other’s lives that they always think about the other in a team mentality (and as more, too, of course). Their separate journeys are meant to lead to the common goal of assassinating the new Elector, Anden, but they couldn’t be more different. While June finds herself in the familiarity of the Republic, Day learns more about the ins and outs of the Patriots and their rebel operations.

Marie Lu continued to effortlessly switch between Day and June’s POVs and did a great job keeping me invested in both characters. While I’m usually so against POV changes, it actually works well for this series. In Prodigy, the narration switch moved the story forward and added urgency because they were both experiencing very different situations. Not only were the political aspects a contrast to each other, but it allowed me to be privy to what the other character wasn’t which, in turn, had me going “!!!!!!!” inside.

The romantic developments in Prodigy are…interesting. As mentioned, Day and June spend a lot of the book separated, but their scenes together had me loving them all over again. However, they did have other people step into the picture. I won’t get into specific spoilers, but I will say this: I could understand the romantic interest that June had, but Day’s? Ehhh, not into it and seemed to come out of nowhere for me.

Overall, Prodigy is a must-read and the ending had me going, “WOAHHH.” I fear Marie Lu will break my heart in the final installment of the series, but I’m sure I’ll love every word of it.

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Book Review: Crewel by Gennifer Albin

January 21, 2013 by 4 Comments

Title by Author Crewel by Gennifer Albin
Release Date: October 16, 2012
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR)
Source: BEA 2012
Rating: ★★★☆☆ 
Buy It: Amazon | Book Depository

Enter a tangled world of secrets and intrigue where a girl is in charge of other’s destinies, but not her own.

Sixteen-year-old Adelice Lewys has always been special. When her parents discover her gift—the ability to weave the very fabric of reality—they train her to hide it. For good reason, they don’t want her to become a Spinster — one of the elite, beautiful, and deadly women who determine what people eat, where they live, how many children they have, and even when they die.

Thrust into the opulent Western Coventry, Adelice will be tried, tested and tempted as she navigates the deadly politics at play behind its walls. Now caught in a web of lies and forbidden romance, she must unravel the sinister truth behind her own unspeakable power. Her world is hanging by a thread, and Adelice, alone, can decide to save it — or destroy it. – Goodreads

Review:
Like many others, I was so eager to dive into Crewel because it sounded unlike anything else in YA. The ability to weave time with matter? Embroider the fabric of life? Yes, please! I was all for learning about a new world, especially with the main character, Adelice, in a position of power as a Spinster. Although I was somewhat confused about what everything meant, I was definitely pulled into the story when Adelice endured a lot in the first few pages. I enjoyed finding out what being a Spinster entailed, finding out who the major players were, and discovering how Adelice fit into the bigger picture. Unfortunately, the book lagged in the middle for me and I think it sort of fell into the contrived plot lines of many other YA dystopian novels.

If you hate love triangles, well, Crewel does have one and I felt pretty blah about it. I feel that Adelice and her main guy rushed too quickly into their feelings. Gennifer Albin didn’t quite develop them and I was definitely left puzzled when they were proclaiming their love for another; it didn’t add up for me.

Adelice herself was fairly likable. I do think she settled too quickly into her new life, and that she didn’t properly mourn for all that she lost, but I did admire her feistiness. I do wish I had been able to better understand her motivations, though, as I felt a lot of that was just told instead of shown.

While perhaps not the read I was hoping it would be, Gennifer Albin’s Crewel offers plenty for other readers to enjoy in its premise.

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Book Review: The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken

December 17, 2012 by 8 Comments

The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken
Release Date: December 18, 2012
Publisher: Disney Hyperion
Source: BEA 2012
Rating: ★★★★★ 
Buy It: Amazon | Book Depository

When Ruby woke up on her tenth birthday, something about her had changed. Something alarming enough to make her parents lock her in the garage and call the police. Something that gets her sent to Thurmond, a brutal government “rehabilitation camp.” She might have survived the mysterious disease that’s killed most of America’s children, but she and the others have emerged with something far worse: frightening abilities they cannot control.

Now sixteen, Ruby is one of the dangerous ones.

When the truth comes out, Ruby barely escapes Thurmond with her life. Now she’s on the run, desperate to find the one safe haven left for kids like her—East River. She joins a group of kids who escaped their own camp. Liam, their brave leader, is falling hard for Ruby. But no matter how much she aches for him, Ruby can’t risk getting close. Not after what happened to her parents.

When they arrive at East River, nothing is as it seems, least of all its mysterious leader. But there are other forces at work, people who will stop at nothing to use Ruby in their fight against the government. Ruby will be faced with a terrible choice, one that may mean giving up her only chance at a life worth living. – Goodreads

Review:
Haunting. Bleak. Devastating. I think it’s safe to say that I’ve grown too used to a lot of the lighter “dystopian” books out there because I was unprepared for the heartbreak contained inside the pages of Alexandra Bracken’s The Darkest Minds. In this world, children either die from a mysterious disease, or they survive but evolve with unexplainable abilities. The unexplainable is always accompanied by fear and, in this case, the children are rounded up and locked up in “rehabilitation” camps. From the first page, Alexandra Bracken offered a tense — and often draining — reading experience but I must say it was a welcome departure from a lot of the fluffier dystopian fare I’ve read.

Just as her world was richly detailed, Alexandra Bracken’s characters were also layered and multidimensional. It would have been so easy to make Ruby such a miserable character to read about, but instead she grew throughout the course of the novel. She endured a lot, struggled with herself and what she could do (and did do), but she was also admirably resilient. Liam, Chubs, and Suzume are the three other core characters and it was so interesting to learn their backstories and abilities. I must say that the bond that Ruby forms with them was the highlight of The Darkest Minds for me. It was so organic, from the initial mistrust to the gradual acceptance, and I loved the heavy focus on their dynamic.

As I reached the conclusion for the book I was pretty much this in real life, no joke. HOW COULD YOU DO THIS, ALEXANDRA BRACKEN?! The sequel is now easily one of my most anticipated titles for the new year. The Darkest Minds will make you sad and break your heart, but it’s so perfectly paced and you will grow so attached to the Black Betty gang. This is definitely a book worth your time.

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