Showing posts with label dystopian. Show all posts
Showing posts with label dystopian. Show all posts
Wednesday, July 16, 2014
A Confederacy of DNFs
It's been all quiet on the blogging front this week, but for good reason: I'm on vacation! In Africa! My extended family and I are in South Africa right now and head to Botswana today and to say this trip has been one of the best of my life would be an UNDERSTATEMENT. Anyway, I'm getting time for reading, but not much time for blogging. So let's do this the quick and dirty way, shall we?
Monday, June 16, 2014
"Review": Rebels: City of Indra: The Story of Lex and Livia "by" Kendall and Kylie Jenner
Review: Krap: Krappy of Krap: The Krap of Krap and Krapia by Kendall and Kylie Jenner
Goodreads
Release date: The Apocalypse
Publisher: Satan
Series: I don't even want to answer this
Source: Hell's minions
Length: Interminable
Rating:
Kendall and Kylie Jenner, stars on the hit reality show Keeping Up with the Kardashians, present their debut novel—a thrilling dystopian story about two super-powered girls who embark on a journey together.
Two cities… Two girls… A shared destiny…
In a world of the far future, the great city of Indra has two faces: a beautiful paradise floating high in the sky, and a nightmare world of poverty carved into tunnels beneath the surface of the earth.
Kendall and Kylie Jenner, the youngest sisters in the Kardashian dynasty, have written a gripping tale of air, fire, and a bond of blood
Rebels: City of Indra: The Story of Lex and Livia: Written by Kendall and Kylie: But Not Really: But Not At All
(Kendall and Kylie Jenner, dressed in artfully tattered jeans, artfully tattered t-shirts, and artfully tattered souls, lounge in their third bedroom. Kylie thumbs though a magazine, trying to find pictures of herself. Kendall lowers her Prada sunglasses and sighs a sigh of deepest existential ennui.)
Kendall: I'm, like, soooooo bored.
Kylie: OMK, like, me too.
Kendall: We should, like, do something. You know? Like with our lives.
Thursday, May 15, 2014
Review: Rebel by Amy Tintera
Review: Rebel by Amy Tintera
Goodreads
Release date: May 13th, 2014
Publisher: HarperTeen
Series: #2 in the Reboot duology
Source: e-ARC via Edelweiss
Length: 352 pages
Rating: A pretty solid, fast-paced ending to a fun duology. Oh, and a lovely ship.
The sequel to the action-packed Reboot is a can't-miss thrill ride, perfect for fans of James Patterson, Veronica Roth, and Marie Lu.
After coming back from death as Reboots and being trained by HARC as soldiers, Wren and Callum have finally escaped north, where they hope to find a life of freedom. But when they arrive at the Reboot Reservation, it isn't what they expected. Under the rule of a bloodthirsty leader, Micah, the Reboots are about to wage an all-out war on the humans. Although Wren's instincts are telling her to set off into the wilderness on their own and leave the battle far behind, Callum is unwilling to let his human family be murdered. When Micah commits the ultimate betrayal, the choice is made for them. But Micah has also made a fatal mistake . . . he's underestimated Wren and Callum.
The explosive finale to the Reboot duology is full of riveting action and steamy love scenes as Wren and Callum become rebels against their own kind.
My review of Reboot
Spoilers for book one below
I really hate when I start a sequel, and I'm back with all these characters talking about all these things, and I look around me and realize
Thursday, May 8, 2014
Review: The One by Kiera Cass
Review: The One by Kiera Cass
Goodreads
Release date: May 6th, 2014
Publisher: HarperTeen
Series: Yes, #3 in The Selection series
Source: Purchased
Length: 323 pages
Rating: Is this a real book?
The Selection changed the lives of thirty-five girls forever. And now, the time has come for one winner to be chosen.
America never dreamed she would find herself anywhere close to the crown—or to Prince Maxon's heart. But as the competition approaches its end and the threats outside the palace walls grow more vicious, America realizes just how much she stands to lose—and how hard she'll have to fight for the future she wants.
From the very first page of The Selection, this #1 New York Times bestselling series has captured readers' hearts and swept them away on a captivating journey... Now, in The One, Kiera Cass delivers a satisfying and unforgettable conclusion that will keep readers sighing over this electrifying fairy-tale long after the final page is turned.
The Selection changed the lives of thirty-five girls forever. And now, the time has come for one winner to be chosen.
America never dreamed she would find herself anywhere close to the crown—or to Prince Maxon's heart. But as the competition approaches its end and the threats outside the palace walls grow more vicious, America realizes just how much she stands to lose—and how hard she'll have to fight for the future she wants.
From the very first page of The Selection, this #1 New York Times bestselling series has captured readers' hearts and swept them away on a captivating journey... Now, in The One, Kiera Cass delivers a satisfying and unforgettable conclusion that will keep readers sighing over this electrifying fairy-tale long after the final page is turned.
The Selection | The Prince (The Selection #1.5) | The Elite (The Selection #2) | The Guard (The Selection 2.5)
Gillian: Hey, Gillian. How are you doing today? You look nice.
Gillian: You don't.
Gillian: We're the same person, so you kind of just insulted yourself.
Gillian: I need to talk to you about The One. You're the only one who understands me.
Gillian: Well, yeah, that's because I am y--
Gillian: I REALLY NEED TO TALK TO YOU CAN YOU PLEASE JUST FOCUS.
Gillian: Sorry. Proceed.
Gillian: So, that was a book. A book that happened.
Monday, April 14, 2014
Review: The Guard by Kiera Cass
Review: The Guard by Kiera Cass
Goodreads
Release date: February 4th, 2014
Publisher: HarperTeen
Series: #2.5 in The Selection series
Source: Library
Length: 64 pages
Rating: No, seriously, why do I hate myself?
Before America Singer met Prince Maxon . . .
Before she entered the Selection . . .
She was in love with a boy named Aspen Leger.
Don't miss this digital original novella set in the captivating world of Kiera Cass's #1 New York Times bestselling Selection trilogy. This brand new 64-page story begins just after the group of Selected girls is narrowed down to the Elite and is told from Aspen's point of view. The Guard also features a teaser to The One, the thrilling conclusion to The Selection trilogy.
My reviews of | The Selection | The Prince | The Elite |
Full disclosure: I went into this novella fully expecting to hate it. And... SURPRISE! I hated it! It's nice when the universe makes sense.
Monday, March 31, 2014
Mini Reviews: Roar and Liv by Veronica Rossi and Brooke by Veronica Rossi
Review: Roar and Liv by Veronica Rossi
Goodreads
Release date: October 30, 2012
Publisher: HarperCollins
Series: Yes, #0.5 in the Under the Never Sky series
Source: Purchased
Length: 68 pages
Rating: ROAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAR.
Before Perry and Aria, there was Roar and Liv.
After a childhood spent wandering the borderlands, Roar finally feels like he has a home with the Tides. His best friend Perry is like a brother to him, and Perry's sister, Liv, is the love of his life. But Perry and Liv's unpredictable older brother, Vale, is the Blood Lord of the Tides, and he has never looked kindly on Roar and Liv's union. Normally, Roar couldn't care less about Vale's opinion. But with food running low and conditions worsening every day, Vale's leadership is more vital—and more brutal—than ever. Desperate to protect his tribe, Vale makes a decision that will shatter the life Roar knew and change the fate of the Tides forever.
Set in the harsh but often beautiful world of Veronica Rossi's "unforgettable" Under the Never Sky (Examiner.com), this captivating prequel novella stands on its own for new readers and offers series fans a fascinating look into the character of Roar. Poignant and powerful, Roar and Liv is a love story that will "capture your imagination and your heart."
My reviews of Under the Never Sky | Through the Ever Night | Into the Still Blue
You may or may not know this, but I binge-read the entire Under the Never Sky trilogy in under five days, novellas included, which was one of my better life decisions. I STRONGLY recommend you ignore that #.05 designation up at the top and read this after you've read Under the Never Sky and before you read Through the Ever Night. I think the reading experience is much enhanced after you know a little bit about the world and have had a chance to become
Sunday, March 30, 2014
Legend and Prodigy by Marie Lu Paperback Giveaway!
I really love the Legend series by Marie Lu, and I especially love having the chance to let others read it, too! The wonderful people at Penguin have decided to go for the gold in wonderfulness and asked me to host a giveaway for the paperback versions of Legend and Prodigy which, I am told, are very gorgeous and strokable in person.
Sunday, March 23, 2014
Reader's Choice Review: Eve by Anna Carey
Review: Eve by Anna Carey
Goodreads
Release date: October 4th, 2011
Publisher: HarperCollins
Series: Yes, #1 in the Eve trilogy
Source: Purchased
Length: 336 pages
Rating: I think I liked that more than I should have.
Sixteen years after a deadly virus wiped out most of Earth's population, the world is a perilous place. Eighteen-year-old Eve has never been beyond the heavily guarded perimeter of her school, where she and two hundred other orphaned girls have been promised a future as the teachers and artists of the New America. But the night before graduation, Eve learns the shocking truth about her school's real purpose and the horrifying fate that awaits her.
Fleeing the only home she's ever known, Eve sets off on a long, treacherous journey, searching for a place she can survive. Along the way she encounters Arden, her former rival from school, and Caleb, a rough, rebellious boy living in the wild. Separated from men her whole life, Eve has been taught to fear them, but Caleb slowly wins her trust... and her heart. He promises to protect her, but when soldiers begin hunting them, Eve must choose between true love and her life.
In this epic new series, Anna Carey imagines a future that is both beautiful and terrifying.
Eve by Anna Carey, book one in the Eve trilogy:
A Reading Experience
Me: So Eve is a girl kept in this School (they always says School) for girls where they teach them that boys are all meanie evil rapists and Not To Be Trusted, and that when they graduate they will go on to Do Great Things, but obviously this is A Lie.
Me: Okay, well, that's all highly improbable.
Me: Let's roll with it for reasons, mostly because this isn't horrible yet, despite its lack of logic. Not-so-fathomable future indeed.
Me: YOUR LIFE IS A LIE! YOU ARE BEING TRAINED TO BECOME PROFESSIONAL BABY MAKERS! THAT'S APPALLING.
Me: Any time you'd like to start showing a personality, Eve, that would be lovely.
Me: THIS IS HIGHLY GRAPHIC AND DISTURBING. I WAS NOT EXPECTING THAT. This whole breeding house, young-girls-forced-to-procreate business is appropriately effed up.
Me: Aw, Eve. You're kind of cute when you're being too-stupid-to-live.
Me: OH MY GOD EVE STOP PETTING THE BABY BEAR CUB
Me: YOU ARE QUITE POSSIBLY THE DUMBEST HUMAN IN CREATION
Me: HOW DID YOU NOT DIE EVERY DAY OF YOUR LIFE
Tell me. Does this:
look at all like this:
I thought not.
Me: Dirtcaked manboy to the rescue.
Me: This is basically Eve right now:
 |
| "Is it ruffians? Thugs? Have they come for me?!" |
Me: Eve, you were just utterly adorable and utterly punch-worthy in the same paragraph. You are a talented narrator.
Eve: "Eh? I was intelligent, I worked hard."
Me: Then why the comma splice, Skeevy Evie?
Eve: "I was told I was beautiful. I was Eve, the valedictorian of School. And all he could say was, Eh?"
Me: Part of me thinks this book would be better from Arden's point of view, aka the tough girl with Much Knowledge and a cranky attitude.
Me: But Eve can be a bit endearingly stupid and priggish, which is pretty funny.
Me: WAIT. Eve has BROWN hair?!?! *looks at cover* Chicka whaaaaat?
Me: OH SHEEET. A ROYAL TWEEEST! J'APPROVE.
Me: I friendship Eve and Arden.
Me: They call the girls sent to the breeding houses sows? That is awful.
Me: Eve is back to being hilariously naive. "Why is that funny? What are 'balls'? Like the ball of your foot?" TROLOLOLOLOL
Me: There is a lot of deer murder in this book.
Me: So Eve and Arden and Manboy (aka Caleb) are with this group of Lost Boys and Eve is their Wendy Mother. Okay then.
Me: This is a bit instra-trust-y here with Eve and Caleb, but Caleb's a sweetheart, so let's roll with it.
Eve: What are you doing with all these books?
Caleb: I do this funny thing sometimes. I open a book, and I look at each page. It's called reading.
Me: HA! My fondness is reaffirmed.
Me: They're bonding over reading. And Eve being sad that she slaved away at School only to fill her head with LIES. Awww. It must be tough to realize the only goal you ever had is worthless, and that all the information you have is skewed.
Me: (It's still kinda insta-love though.)
Me: *looks around for plot* *cannot uncover plot*
Me: I don't understand why only the "eighteen-year-old broodmares" have the babies. Why don't the wealthy adults in the cities have their own babies, too?
Me: TWUE LOVE BLOOMS! Too bad plausible world-building does not
Me: Like, post-plague, America is in ruins, how did Canada not come swooping in to save our sorry asses and prevent this royal dictatorship from starting? People over in England must be looking over at America and thinking, "America, you craaaazy". (So, just like they do today.)
Me: Then again, you could say that about every dystopian ever so carry on.
Me: Arden is the best.
Me: Oh, plooooooot, where aaaaaaare you?
Me: Eve, you idiot. That is not what he said.
Me: Oh, of COURSE. I knew that was going to happen. DO NOT LIKE. Or maybe... ARGH. Confused. #vagueyvagueness
Me: What
Me: Come on you have brains utilize them
Me:
Me: OH SHIT that was actually a good twist right there. I wish it hadn't been born of...that, though. Or that that had been done differently. #thevagueyvaguenesscontinues
Me: I'm back to loving this book. My brain is a complex creature. ACTION HIGH STAKES THINGS HAPPENING BAD THINGS
Me: Oh, it's like the Underground Railroad!
Me: I wish not everyone in this book was white, though.
Me: Every now and then Eve reveals a really sad, human, heartbreaking detail from her childhood in the School, and it just adds so much. And now she and the girls are learning about history and the world and my feeeeels.
Me: They watched the movie Ghost?! OF ALL THE MOVIES IN THE WORLD. "Hi, welcome to pop culture, here is Patrick Swayze's face, enjoy"
Me: Oh, Eve. This is why you can't have nice things.
Me: NOOOOOOO THAT WAS THE WORST
Me: Everything is terrible and it hurts
Me: Awesome actionnnnn yessss bad-ass Eve!
Me: Oh nooooooo
Me: Whyyyyyy
Me: Caleb, my baaaaaaby
Me: *sobbity sob sob*
End scene
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Monday, March 17, 2014
Reviews: Panic by Lauren Oliver and Landry Park by Bethany Hagen
Pandry Park. Landry Parnic.
Review: Panic by Lauren Oliver
Goodreads
Release date: March 4th, 2014
Publisher: HarperCollins
Series: No
Source: e-ARC
Length: 408 pages
Rating: An action-packed page-turner.
Panic began as so many things do in Carp, a dead-end town of 12,000 people in the middle of nowhere: because it was summer, and there was nothing else to do.
Heather never thought she would compete in Panic, a legendary game played by graduating seniors, where the stakes are high and the payoff is even higher. She’d never thought of herself as fearless, the kind of person who would fight to stand out. But when she finds something, and someone, to fight for, she will discover that she is braver than she ever thought.
Dodge has never been afraid of Panic. His secret will fuel him, and get him all the way through the game, he’s sure of it. But what he doesn't know is that he’s not the only one with a secret. Everyone has something to play for.
For Heather and Dodge, the game will bring new alliances, unexpected revelations, and the possibility of first love for each of them—and the knowledge that sometimes the very things we fear are those we need the most.
For my very first Lauren Oliver book, Panic was a very pleasurable reading experience. While not perfect, it was engaging, fast-paced, and never let up. While you have to stretch your belief to breaking points at times to accept the mechanics of the adrenaline-fueled idiocy Olympics that is the game Panic, once you do, it's nothing but fun. Well, fun for us. Nobody's making us jump off cliffs or walk on planks or any of the other sundry death-defying acts forced upon Panic's participants.
Oooo, did I LOVE the challenges. Oliver's conception of the game itself is masterful. The twists she put on each event, the way she made my skin crawl--it was so enjoyable. It you're a total marshmallow, like me, you'll get a kind of thrill reading aobut people doing the things you'd never in a million years ever do (I am petrified of heights, and no amount of money could convince me to walk a narrow beam of wood above a fifty foot drop). While I did guess the major twist about 30% of the way before it was revealed, I still loved the way it fit together and fleshed out a few of the characters.
Sometimes the language went a bit off the rails--there were a few positively murderous metaphors--but mostly Oliver's prose is beautiful. From the bits of Delirium I've read, I know she leans towards lyrical, visual writing, but in Panic she manages to infuse the atmosphere with a dirty, scrubby, tenseness, the kind of beautiful you find in broken, cheap things and strong, bare characters.
Speaking of the characters, it took me a little while to connect with them fully, but Oliver gives you reasons to care about all of them (except, really, Natalie. I never really got her, nor her connection with Dodge). Heather and Bishop I loved in particular. Bishop is adorable, and Heather rocks. My chief issue with this book is the TIGERS. Yes, tigers. I loved them because a) one of my deepest fears is BEING EATEN BY THINGS and b) ARRRRRRGH, and yet I disliked, mostly, how they were employed. The resolution of the tiger storyline was half sickening, half eye-rolling. The way the finale builds is wonderful and awful because OMG so much dramatic irony and nonono stupid decisions and then... well, I rolled my eyes.
However, Panic is a super fun read, even with the tigers, and if you're looking for something action-packed and gritty, you should give it a try. Don't be scared by the length.
Review: Landry Park by Bethany Hagen
Goodreads
Release date: January 21st, 2014
Publisher: Dial (Penguin)
Series:#1 in the Landry Park series
Source: Purchased
Length: 384 pages
Rating: A surprisingly solid and enjoyable, though imperfect, science fiction debut.
Downton Abbey meets The Selection in this dystopian tale of love and betrayal
In a fragmented future United States ruled by the lavish gentry, seventeen-year-old Madeline Landry dreams of going to the university. Unfortunately, gentry decorum and her domineering father won't allow that. Madeline must marry, like a good Landry woman, and run the family estate. But her world is turned upside down when she discovers the devastating consequences her lifestyle is having on those less fortunate. As Madeline begins to question everything she has ever learned, she finds herself increasingly drawn to handsome, beguiling David Dana. Soon, rumors of war and rebellion start to spread, and Madeline finds herself and David at the center of it all. Ultimately, she must make a choice between duty - her family and the estate she loves dearly - and desire.
Honestly, I was wary of Landry Park, though I knew I'd give it a try. I'm a sucker for anything with gentry and pretty dresses, and I found the idea of a dystopian, Neo-Edwardian world pretty fascinating. But then again, I've been burned by "pretty dress" dystopians before, namely their lack of world-building. Color me surprised when Landry Park actually puts the time and effort into constructing a mostly believable future society.
This book actually is a bit Downton Abbey, dystopian style. The focus is on class warfare and inequality and social change. At the center of our story is Madeline Landry, heiress to t he Landry estate. She's expected to marry well and carry on her family's legacy, which stretches all the way back to the invention that changed the course of history and the establishment of the gentry. Madeline, however, is more of a grumpy, asocial bookworm, so I felt a certain amount of kinship with her right off the bat. She's also very clever and strives to become more socially aware. She'd be Sybil in Downton Abbey, wanted to change and help the world, though perhaps less winsome and charming. A bit more prone to hide behind plants at parties. (This is why I like her.)
I enjoyed Madeline as a character quite a lot, which kept me fully grounded even as some of the plot and worldbuilding became a bit hazy. Landry Park doesn't reinvent the dystopian wheel, though it also feels very different from most of the ones I've read. We're reading form the point of view of the priveledges. We get to attend fancy balls, comings out, dinner parties, and teas. Of course, we also get to meet with the Rootless, go to hospitals, watch battles, and incite riots.
The romance... well, I initially really liked it, and sort of gently shipped our central ship, and rooted for them to get together. I thought the inclusion of a second potential suitor for Madeline's hand to be a bit unnecessary, mostly because he as a character was unnecessary. Props to Hagen for quite a bit of diversity, with quite a few of the gentry being people of color or LGBT. I didn't realize this was the first in a series until after I finished (curses!), but I'm actually glad. I'd like to see what comes next.
Thursday, February 6, 2014
Review: Ignite Me by Taherah Mafi
Review: Ignite Me by Taherah Mafi
Goodreads
Release date: February 4th, 2014
Publisher: HarperCollins
Series: #3 in the Shatter Me series
Source: purchased
Rating: An enormously emotionally satisfying series ender, despite a few technical flaws. I want to hug this book.
The heart-stopping conclusion to the New York Times bestselling Shatter Me series, which Ransom Riggs, bestselling author of Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, called "a thrilling, high-stakes saga of self-discovery and forbidden love"
Juliette now knows she may be the only one who can stop the Reestablishment. But to take them down, she'll need the help of the one person she never thought she could trust: Warner. And as they work together, Juliette will discover that everything she thought she knew-about Warner, her abilities, and even Adam-was wrong.
In Shatter Me, Tahereh Mafi created a captivating and original story that combined the best of dystopian and paranormal and was praised by Publishers Weekly as "a gripping read from an author who's not afraid to take risks." The sequel, Unravel Me, blew readers away with heart-racing twists and turns, and New York Times bestselling author Kami Garcia said it was "dangerous, sexy, romantic, and intense." Now this final book brings the series to a shocking and climactic end.
This review contains spoilers for Shatter Me and Unravel Me, books 1 and 2 in the series.
This book is a TOUGHIE to review. So much of it hinges on MEGA SPOILERS that I'm not entirely sure what to say. Ignite Me begins right where Unravel Me left off, which Juliette freshly healed by Warner after Anderson shot her in the chest and with Omega Point and everyone in it blown to smithereens. Basically, happy times.
The thing about this book is that it has no plot. Juliette, Warner, Kenji, Adam, and company make a PLAN. There are secrets revealed, and I changed my mind drastically about both of the love interests. Seriously, Mafi made me think completely differently than I did before. (Or did she? YOU'LL HAVE TO READ TO FIND OUT.) There are sexytimes, and Juliette overdoses on awesome pills and grows a spine of steel and bitchslaps the shit out of all the people who stand in her way. if you're looking for an installment with action or world-building, your out of luck. If you're looking for feels, emotional growth, emotional pain, broken hearts, mended hearts, and sexytimes, then you are in luck.
Especially if you are looking for sexytimes, because holy crapola. Taherah. Girl.
There is no "fade to black" here, ladies and gentlemen. There are... I mean, they're completely.. wait, words...
The heart of this book is Juliette's growth. Her transformation from a timid, broken girl in a cage that is mostly self-imposed to a strong superhero who won't take none of yo shit. Basically, Juliette becomes the honey badger, and it's brilliant to see. There are no strikeouts in this book. The language is more direct, less rambly, less metaphorical. Juliette is strong and vocal and in control of herself and the situation. She is FUNNY. Perhaps this change was a bit abrupt, but I was so HAPPY to see kick ass Juliette that I didn't even care. I could still see where it came from, and which reveals and character changes (vague!) inspired it.
Kenji. Kenji. You know, I loved Kenji before, for being stuffed full of personality, for being the comic relief, for being Kenji. I didn't know it was possible for me to love him even more, and yet Mafi accomplished that. He and Juliette have a male-female platonic friendship to rival that of Aria and Roar. I wishhhh he'd had a bit more of a storyline of his own, but I guess his awesomeness is a pretty good storyline. I call for a Kenji spinoff series. Kenji Me. Let's make this happen, world.
Now. Let's talk boys.
I can't talk boys!!! This is obviously where all the spoilers lurk and I don't want to spoil anybody.
Going into Shatter Me, I was
Like I said, this book hit it out of the park when it came to my heart (that sounds like a really terrible country song). I was satisfied on every emotional level, and gave a happy, sad sigh upon finishing. But this book isn't perfect, since no book is. The plot is mostly planning and preparing for a big THING at the end, and then the big thing happens really quickly and then just like that it's over. I love the place all the characters go to, but I wish more have been done with the journey and the execution. The worldbuilding is quite thin and probably not plausible, but you know what? My feels. The characters. This is a rare instance where I really don't care, because I loved everything else about the book so fiercely.
And now, quotes, because there was so much I couldn't talk about!
My eyes are filling fast with tears...I want to laugh because all I can think is how horrible and beautiful it is, that our eyes blur the truth when we can't bear to see it.
I am no longer afraid of fear, and I will not let it rule me.
Fear will learn to fear me.
"You're like a freaking beast," (Kenji) says. Then adds, "I mean, you know--like, a cute beast. A little beast that tears shit up and breaks the earth and sucks the life out of people."
And we are quotation marks, inverted and upside down, clinging to one another at the end of this life sentence. Trapped by lives we did not choose.
It's the kind of kiss that inspires stars to climb into the sky and light up the world.
I taste something cold and hard in my mouth and spit it into my hand. It looks like a broken, mangled piece of metal. Like it was too flimsy to stand against me.
Smart little bullet, I think.
Friday, January 17, 2014
Review: Into the Still Blue by Veronica Rossi
Review: Into the Still Blue by Veronica Rossi
Goodreads
Release date: January 28th, 2014
Publisher: HarperCollins
Series: #3 in the Under the Never Sky trilogy
Source: E-ARC
Rating: A satisfying, intense series ender!
The earth-shattering conclusion to Veronica Rossi's "masterpiece" Under the Never Sky trilogy and sequel to the New York Times bestselling Through the Ever Night (Examiner.com).
Their love and their leadership have been tested. Now it's time for Perry and Aria to unite the Dwellers and the Outsiders in one last desperate attempt to bring balance to their world.
The race to the Still Blue has reached a stalemate. Aria and Perry are determined to find this last safe-haven from the Aether storms before Sable and Hess do-and they are just as determined to stay together.
Meanwhile, time is running out to rescue Cinder, who was abducted by Hess and Sable for his unique abilities. And when Roar returns to camp, he is so furious with Perry that he won't even look at him, and Perry begins to feel like they have already lost.
Out of options, Perry and Aria assemble a team to mount an impossible rescue mission-because Cinder isn't just the key to unlocking the Still Blue and their only hope for survival, he's also their friend. And in a dying world, the bonds between people are what matter most.
In this final book in her stunning Under the Never Sky trilogy, Veronica Rossi raises the stakes to their absolute limit and brings her epic love story to an unforgettable close.
This review contains spoilers for Under the Never Sky and Through the Ever Night.
Series enders are a strange mix of exciting and scary. You go into them so ready, so in love with the characters, so invested in the plot. You're ready for them to break your heart. You want SO MUCH for your characters to end up happy, but you also don't want it to end at all.
My experience with the Under the Never Sky was unique, considering I binge-read the entire thing (novellas included) in about three days. Honestly, I couldn't recommend going about it like that more, but I can understand that most people haven't got that kind of reading stamina or the time (seriously, that was intense and exhausting and amazing, but I was destroyed afterwards). But reading them close together was amazing.
UtNS posed a lot of questions, TtEN answered them while setting up a whole bunch of tense situations, and then ItSB delivered on every front. I got to watch the characters develop closely, and I never lost my investment or forgot worldbuilding details. And coming fresh off the disasters at the end of TtEN--Reverie destroyed, the Tides seeking refuge from the ever-worsening Aether storms in the caves--makes the stakes in ItSB feel very high.
Things are not great for our heroes. Cinder has been captured by the combined forces of Hess and Sable (the evillest evil to ever evil), Aria is badly wounded, the rescued Dwellers are sick, Roar is still lost in grief, and Perry is stressing over how to save the Tides. Their cave sanctuary is only temporary. To survive, they need to find the Still Blue, aka the area of the world beyond the sea that is free of Aether storms. For that they need hovers, and they need Cinder. So they decide to go and get both things.
What I loved about ItSB was the action. There's heaps of it. The book moves along, gaining in intensity (always managing to find time for swoony scenes though, thank goodness). I love series enders where people die (no, I'm not psychotic. I just like drama), and people do die. There is heartbreak, betrayal, torture, loss, victory, pain, grief. This book is such an emotional experience, and yet it felt so satisfying at the end. Like, I just lay down on my bed and held my kindle and sort of moaned in pain and happiness and mostly pain. BECAUSE OVER, you know? Whyyyyyy?
I love how much this book focused on love and friendship. Aria and Roar, my favoritest relationship in all the world, is still magnificent to behold. Roar and Perry, however, have some patching up to do, and ow my feels owwwwww. ROAR. MY POOR GRIEVING BABY. Then there's Perry's love for Roar, Brooke finally coming into her own
We also get more focus on Soren, who surprisingly became my new favorite character--who knew, right?--on Hess, and on Cinder. And Sable, may he choke on his own vomit and die. What a fabulous, horrific villain he is. I mean, he cemented himself as, like I said, the evillest evil to ever evil in the last book, but he's really a fearsome adversary in this one. He wants the Still Blue, and he does not want anybody else to get it. He's not afraid to strike down anyone in his way. This made me a little bit stressed and a lot a bit terrified for my babies.
My inner monologue while reading was basically, "Don't hurt Roar, don't hurt Roar, OH MY GOD IF YOU HURT ARIA, don't hurt Roar, PERRY!!!!!, NO SERIOUSLY DON'T HURT ROAR."
I don't really want to talk plot specifics, because this book is best if you're going along with all the madness totally unprepared. Rossi does an amazing job of balancing forward motion with relationship development. Aria and Perry are such a strong, loving, healthy couple. A few of their scenes are just gorgeous, and they'll completely break your heart.
(While explaining why he hasn't given Aria a silly nickname)
"What I was trying to say,” (Perry) whispered, “is that I see you in everything. There isn’t a word for you that means enough, because you’re everything to me.”
Swoooooooon.
If I could leverage any one tiny complaint about the series, it was that I wanted to know the Dwellers (besides Soren, who we got to know quite well) better. Caleb was a bit of a nonentity to me, despite the fact that Aria kept mentioning how important he was to her. Also, though the book surprised me in places, it did follow the general arc I was expecting, but it was so enjoyable and felt so right that I didn't really have a problem with it. I like that Aria and Perry's plans succeed and fail realistically (there's a lot of failure that creates a lot of complications and I LOVE IT because that's drama).
One fun quote to tease Aria's awesomeness:
Aria rammed her elbow into (spoiler's) throat.
She spun away, grabbin (spoiler's) arm and twisting it behind her. She forced (spoiler) down with an arm lock, sending her face smashing into the dirt. Snatching the pistol from the ground, Aria slammed the butt into the back of (spoiler's) head. (Spoiler) went limp, knocked unconscious.
Aria jumped to her feet and ran over. "I hate that girl."
Oh, man. I don't want this series to be over! No! What am i supposed to do with my life? How am I supposed to go on? Can I have a Roar series, maybe? Maybe I can go all Eternal Sunshine, erase my reading experience from my memory banks, and then read the whole series anew once more? Because I... I feel... directionless. How can there not be moooooorrrre?? I am so sad and so satisfied all at the same time. I feel exactly the way you should feel upon finishing a beloved series.
Thursday, January 9, 2014
Review: Through the Ever Night by Veronica Rossi
Review: Through the Ever Night by Veronica Rossi
Goodreads
Release date: January 8th, 2013
Publisher: HarperCollins
Series: #2 in the Under the Never Sky trilogy
Source: Purchased
Rating: One of the best sequels I've ever read. Second Book Syndrome, Shmecond Book Syndrome.
It's been months since Aria learned of her mother's death.
Months since Perry became Blood Lord of the Tides, and months since Aria last saw him.
Now Aria and Perry are about to be reunited. It's a moment they've been longing for with countless expectations. And it's a moment that lives up to all of them. At least, at first.
Then it slips away. The Tides don't take kindly to former Dwellers like Aria. And the tribe is swirling out of Perry's control. With the Aether storms worsening every day, the only remaining hope for peace and safety is the Still Blue. But does this haven truly exist?
Threatened by false friends and powerful temptations, Aria and Perry wonder, Can their love survive through the ever night?
In this second book in her spellbinding Under the Never Sky trilogy, Veronica Rossi combines fantasy and sci-fi elements to create a captivating adventure-and a love story as perilous as it is unforgettable.
My review for Under the Never Sky
The post about the time I binge read this whole series in three days
Warning: this review contains spoilers for Under the Never Sky
Book two in the Under the Never Sky series marked the moment I truly understood why this series is so rabidly beloved. Don't get me wrong, I loved book one. But book two? Book two wended its way inside me. Book two hurt me in ways only my favorite books can. TTEN marked the moment these characters because real people to me, and I shed actual real people tears over the things that happened to them (you know what you did, Rossi). Through The Ever Night will now occupy a very special place on my shelf, somewhere within easy access so I can stroke it and cry over it whenever the urge strikes me.
For me, the first book dragged in places, and the end fizzled out a bit. But in TTEN, I loved the plot, and the end is action-packed and intense, as it should be. Aria and Perry are separated for a good chunk of this, and while this might seem like bad news to the shippers, this actually leads to a better, tenser plot. Perry's struggling ruling the Tides, who don't accept Aria or his leadership as the Aether storms get worse. (We also get really good world building sections explaining what the Aether and the Unity are. HUZZAH! What's more, we get to see more of what life for Aria was like, or would have been like, in the pods, which was a primary complaint of mine in UtNS.)
A grieving Aria, after some struggly things happen (awful struggly things that make me gasp and moan), goes off on an adventure with
And besides, it's through this adventure that my favorite relationship of all evolves into... well, my favorite relationship of all. Roar and Aria. Oh, I've never shipped a friendship like this one. Roar and Aria. Excuse me while I go cry somewhere over how much I adore them. They go through some tremendous crap in this book, but my god, is their (TOTALLY PLATONIC NO REALLY PLATONIC) friendship absolutely beautiful. And somehow their (TOTALLY PLATONIC I PROMISE I REALLY PROMISE) love strengthens Aria's relationship with Perry, which is also deepened and developed in this installment.
And then of course Rossi personally victimizes you and reaches into your chest with her authorial claws and pulls your our soul and feeds it to the sharks with laser beams on their heads and pulls out your heartstrings and chops them into bit and WHYYYYYYYYYYYYY.
(Oh, but it's so good. But still whyyyyyy.)
Generally in trilogies, the second book pales a bit compared to the first. The reader somehow loses momentum, or the plots slow down, or the shine wears off. Not so at all in this one. The stakes get higher, the characters develop, and you become so much more invested. I think I would have lost my mind if I didn't have the chance to jump right into Into the Still Blue upon finishing this. It left me hungry and desperate for me. I had to see if my babies were all right after all that went down in TTEN and all that was set up to come.
Oh, and really do read Roar + Liv first. It just might be the best thing Veronica Rossi's ever written,--which, considering how incredible Through the Ever Night is, is really saying something.
Sunday, December 29, 2013
Mini Review: Fracture Me by Taherah Mafi
Review: Fracture Me by Taherah Mafi
Goodreads
Release date: December 17th, 2013
Publisher: HarperCollins
Series: #2.5 in the Shatter Me series
Source: Purchased
Rating: Still Team Warner. Sorry, Adam!
In this electrifying sixty-page companion novella to the New York Times bestselling Shatter Me series, discover the fate of the Omega Point rebels as they go up against The Reestablishment. Set during and soon after the final moments of Unravel Me, Fracture Me is told from Adam's perspective.
As Omega Point prepares to launch an all-out assault on The Reestablishment soldiers stationed in Sector 45, Adam's focus couldn't be further from the upcoming battle. He's reeling from his breakup with Juliette, scared for his best friend's life, and as concerned as ever for his brother James's safety. And just as Adam begins to wonder if this life is really for him, the alarms sound. It's time for war.
On the battlefield, it seems like the odds are in their favor—but taking down Warner, Adam's newly discovered half brother, won't be that easy. The Reestablishment can't tolerate a rebellion, and they'll do anything to crush the resistance . . . including killing everyone Adam has ever cared about.
Fracture Me sets the stage for Ignite Me, the explosive finale in Tahereh Mafi's epic dystopian series. It's a novella not to be missed by fans who crave action-packed stories with tantalizing romance like Divergent by Veronica Roth, The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, and Legend by Marie Lu.
Note: this novella shouldn't be read until after you've finished Unravel Me (which obviously shouldn't be read until you finish Shatter Me, because that's how series work and stuff). It contains spoilers for the ending of Unravel Me.
First of all, this is not a novella. It's a short story, and it's certainly no Destroy Me, which might be the best thing Mafi's ever written. This can easily be read in one quick sitting. However, I definitely think it's worth reading whether you're Team Adam or Team Warner. I'll admit to being pretty staunchly Team Warner (yes, I know this is unhealthy, I don't care, Chapter 62 is very persuasive and I find him much more compelling than Adam. SUE ME.). So I liked the chance to go into Adam's head and see what makes him tick. Win me over, Adam! Pull yourself out of the emo coma you were thoroughly entrenched in in Unravel Me and wow me.
While I've still got my Team Warner badge firmly in place, I will say that I understand Adam more now, particularly his intense devotion to his little brother, James. They were toothache sweet together. I've always loved James, and he and Adam (or "Addie", as he calls him, to Adam's horror), are heart-warmingly adorable. The "fracture" in the title comes from Adam's strong emotional commitments to both James and Juliette, and how he feels split between them. When it comes right down to it, which one is the one he'll give everything go? If he can only save one, which will it be?
I loved Adam when he was caught up in the dilemma, with really tough choices to make and a whole lot of heart ache. I did not love him so much when he continually thought of Juliette as a child who needed to be protected. I get it's coming from a place of love, but it's part of why I prefer her interactions with Warner. He, at least, sees her as someone powerful and capable (even if that might be stretching the truth a bit.)
The writing in this one? Not remotely Juliette-esque. Very straightforward and Adam-like. Hardly a metaphor to be found. Well, I'm sure there were metaphors, but you know what I mean. Also, seeing Juliette from Adam's perspective lets you see how truly nuts the girl is. It makes me very fond of her. We also get to see a lot of Kenji (I wanted to smack in the beginning of the story and hug his face off at the end). This is right after he's been nearly mortally wounded by Juliette, so he's kind of a mess, too. The rest of the characters? Eh. I've always thought the background characters in this series (ie, not Juliette, Warner, Adam, Kenji, James, and Anderson) were pretty blank. Also, whenever they talk about Castle, I think of Richard Castle, and that just confuses me.
The ending was funny. I mean, not intentionally. I loved it. it's one of my favorite silly, melodramatic tropes. I AM EXCITED FOR IGNITE ME NOW THOUGH I'M SURE ALL MY FAVORITE CHARACTERS DIE.
I will not lose her. Um, sorry, buddy, but you kind of did. Quite spectacularly. Didn't you read Unravel Me?
Wednesday, December 11, 2013
The One Where I Have Lunch with Marie Lu and Celebrate With a Giveaway!
Sometimes, being a book blogger can have serious added benefits. I mean, mostly we stay at home and read a lot and stress a lot and panic about never-ending TBR lists a lot, but sometimes? Sometimes, amazingly awesome things can happen. This past weekend, one of those things happened. I was invited by Penguin Teen to have lunch with the one and only Marie Lu, author of the amazing, brilliant, and heartbreaking Legend trilogy, along with the fabulous Kate from The Midnight Garden. Marie was in town for a signing at Mysterious Galaxy bookstore--the last stop on her Champion tour, I believe-- so Kate and I met her for lunch a couple hours before.
Considering this is one of the coolest things I've ever been invited to do, it was not without its difficulties. The first question, of course, is how do I behave like a normal human person? That particular ability is dramatically outside of my range of talents. Whenever I meet authors, I tend to stammer. "How you books I like thank you yes" is how it tends to go. There were also some planning... inconsistencies, which I won't get into. Also, the weather. You hardened folks may scoff, but by Southern California standards, Saturday was FREEZING. And there was actual moisture falling from the sky, which usually causes me to melt like the Wicked Witch of the West (Coast). My car battery also died the moment it deposited me safely at the agreed-upon lunch location, which... at least it waited until I got off the 405, right?
So ends the complaining portion of this write-up. Marie Lu is awesome with an extra side of awesomeness. Kate and I were standing all cold and awkward outside the restaurant when Marie comes striding up in what Kate described in her post as "a badass schoolgirl/assassin/supermodel/soldier". Seriously. Her outfit was incredible. She was wearing EPAULETS, for crying out loud!
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| That's my face. Sharing space with Marie Lu's face. We have shared facespace. |
We sat down, ordered food, and got chatting about all kinds of things. We talked about the Legend trilogy a bit, and she told us the inspiration for it came from the Valjean/Javert relationship in Les Miserables! She also admitted she's a serious pantser, which means she didn't know how Champion was going to end until she got to the end of Prodigy. That got us talking about crippling endings to series, and whether or not she was afraid of how fans would react to hers. Apparently the enormous fallout from Allegiant (which released precisely two weeks before Champion) totally terrified her, but it a way, it would take the heat and focus of her (not so cruel but still painful) ending.
Kate and I also asked about her new and upcoming series, The Young Elites. Marie confided that the inspiration for it is far less distinct than the one for Legend, but that it's set in a Renaissance-esque world where magic is new, and that she's billing it as X-Men meets Assassin's Creed, which... well, Kate and I were basically drooling. Also, it went through tons of revisions (she started off with the WRONG MAIN CHARACTER!) and almost never made it past her editor, who was not a fan of it in its earliest incarnation. (Marie: "She actually told me, 'Maybe you're not meant to write fantasy.'")
We also chatted about fun things (what we're reading, the fact that there should TOTALLY be a contemporary romance novel based on The Sound of Music, shipping). Travel, too. Marie had just been in London, and was telling us about all the amazing things she did there despite the COLD. We all commiserated on the fact that we are biologically unable to handle cold. Then we traded travel stories, with Marie telling us about her trip to Tibet, which was very transformative and spiritual, up until she got altitude sickness and vomited on the floor of a holy temple. And then I told the story about the time I got altitude sickness in the Himalayas, and the other time I got food poisoning and vomited in the check-in area of the massive and crowded Bangkok airport.
Vomiting in exotic Asian locales is what all the cool kids are doing these days. You are jealous.
After lunch, Marie headed off to her signing, and I wished her luck and everlasting hand-strength so she didn't hurt herself scribbling on all those books. Kate headed over there, too, while I pondered what to do with the heap of scrap metal formerly known as my car. When Kate returned, we got coffee and talked about all sorts of life- and blog-related things, warming our frozen icicle hands with gigantic cups of coffee. Then Kate and I parted, I called AAA, read a good chunk of Into the Still Blue while hiding from the cold inside my car. Half an hour later, an obliging old Russian man, who told me I looked like his daughter, came to fix my car and dispense some unnecessary but still appreciated wisdom ("Never let your tank get lower than quarter full! Reading is good for your brain!" Thanks, Mikhail).
Saturday was a truly amazing day, and I'm so thankful to have been able to meet an author whose work I love so much (not to mention one of my favorite online blogger buddies). And not only that, but for it to be just the three of us, chatting away about books and life and cool stuff? Pretty darn incredible.
To celebrate, I'm giving away one book of your choice from the trilogy: Legend, Prodigy, or Champion. Open internationally!
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Monday, December 9, 2013
Review: Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi
Review: Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi
Goodreads
Release date: January 3rd, 2012
Publisher: HarperCollins
Series: #1 in the Under the Never Sky trilogy
Source: Purchased
Rating: It took me a bit to get into it, but once I was, OH BOY. I binge-read the ENTIRE series in a couple of days.
Since she'd been on the outside, she'd survived an Aether storm, she'd had a knife held to her throat, and she'd seen men murdered.
This was worse.
Exiled from her home, the enclosed city of Reverie, Aria knows her chances of surviving in the outer wasteland--known as The Death Shop--are slim. If the cannibals don't get her, the violent, electrified energy storms will. She's been taught that the very air she breathes can kill her. Then Aria meets an Outsider named Perry. He's wild--a savage--and her only hope of staying alive.
A hunter for his tribe in a merciless landscape, Perry views Aria as sheltered and fragile--everything he would expect from a Dweller. But he needs Aria's help too; she alone holds the key to his redemption. Opposites in nearly every way, Aria and Perry must accept each other to survive. Their unlikely alliance forges a bond that will determine the fate of all who live under the never sky.
I can't believe I waited so long to star this series. The vast majority of my close bloggers friends have been screaming at me about this book. "OH MY GOD THIS SERIES! Just wait until you meet Roar! Book Two is even better! DID I MENTION ROAR??"
Well, I'm glad to say that my close blogger friends were right. While this, the first book in the series, is the weakest of the trilogy, it is still overflowing with danger, lush and evocative writing, tremendous characters, romance, and Roar. Especially Roar. Extra points for Roar.
We first meet Aria in the worst moment of her life so far--the day disaster strikes and she's banished from her enclosed, protective pod. I though the book should have started earlier. I wanted a little bit of a sense of Aria's life in the Realms--virtual realities where you can go anywhere, anyplace, anytime--and her personality when she's not on the run for her life, and a sense of her friendships. Her best friend dies in the opening scene (not a spoiler--it's the opening scene) and I didn't care, because I didn't have a connection to any of these people. Then we switch over to Perry's world, and they're tossing around terminology (Auds and Scires and Blood Lords and whaaaa my braaaain) like you totally know what's going on, and I was like, "I DO NOT GET."
It's as the story progressed that I became invested. The duplicitous Hess, councilman of Reverie, pins the blame on Aria and boots her out into a harsh and brutal wasteland where she's certain to die. Until she meets Perry, who... well, let's all have a moment of silence in which we appreciate Perry. Mmmm. I love Perry. He has a lot of growing up to do, but he's so strong and loyal and brave. He has a butt of a brother, Vale, who is the leader of their tribe, even though Perry wants to be the leader, and a nephew he loves more than anything. I want to cuddle Perry.
The Outside world is about as different from cushy, technologically advanced Reverie as you can get. It's a kill or be killed world wholly at the mercy of the tempestuous, Aether-filled skies. The Outsiders have banded into tribes and are led by Blood Lords. Some have developed special abilities: to hear, smell, or see better than other, to an almost supernatural degree. Perry can see in the dark, but he can also scent people's tempers and emotions, which was WAY COOL to read about. The way Rossi describes the scent of hope, fear, longing, or anger... it was so visceral, it was almost like I could smell it.
The plot was very different than I was expecting, though honestly, I didn't know what I was expecting. Told in alternating (and successful) 3rd person POVs, Under the Never Sky is mostly about Aria and Perry learning to set aside their difference so they can work together to find Aria's mother and Perry's kidnapped nephew. Of course, romance blossoms, cannibals try to eat them, and they run into the mysterious boy Cinder and my future husband Roar, Perry's best friend who's in love with Perry's sister, Liv (damn!).
Where Rossi hooked me was the characters, particularly the main three. Aria is sheltered and judgmental to begin, but she blossoms and strengthens in the Outside. Perry both softens and grows into his own, and, well... Roar? Handsome, witty, boisterous Roar? BE STILL MY HEART. His iron friendship with Perry is adorable, and I especially love how he comes to bond with Aria, too. I ship their friendship intensely.
SWOONS, THEY ARE BROUGHT. While this hate-to-love story might have turned to love a litttle too quickly, it's not insta-love, and I totally get it. There's a scene on a roof where I literally clutched the book to my chest and sighed dramatically, because I was swooning so. Swooooon. I'd heard much talk of the "Perry's berries" (un-clutch those pearls, it's quite PG), but I swooned the hardest on the roof. Both roofs. ROOFS FOR THE WIN.
The end is a bit of a fizzle, honestly, but I was so invested in the characters that I was happy to move right along into the sequel--while stopping to read the novella Roar and Liv first, which you should ABSOLUTELY DO. It's not necessary, but you will want to, because it's actually the best piece of writing Rossi has produced, and you get to live inside Roar's head! And you trust me, you want that.
While Under the Never Sky was a solid if not exemplary read, I beg you to get to it anyway just so you can read the sequel, which I'll be reviewing soon(ish) and which is exemplary.
Monday, November 11, 2013
Review: Pawn by Aimee Carter
Review: Pawn by Aimee Carter
Goodreads
Release date: November 26th, 2013
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Series: #1 in the Blackcoat Rebellion
Source: ARC traded by Kelly/ e-galley from Edelweiss
Rating: A surprisingly entertaining, unsettling read, full of mysteries, surprise reveals, and dystopian delights.
YOU CAN BE A VII. IF YOU GIVE UP EVERYTHING.
For Kitty Doe, it seems like an easy choice. She can either spend her life as a III in misery, looked down upon by the higher ranks and forced to leave the people she loves, or she can become a VII and join the most powerful family in the country.
If she says yes, Kitty will be Masked—surgically transformed into Lila Hart, the Prime Minister's niece, who died under mysterious circumstances. As a member of the Hart family, she will be famous. She will be adored. And for the first time, she will matter.
There's only one catch. She must also stop the rebellion that Lila secretly fostered, the same one that got her killed …and one Kitty believes in. Faced with threats, conspiracies and a life that's not her own, she must decide which path to choose—and learn how to become more than a pawn in a twisted game she's only beginning to understand.
Most book bloggers (me included, sometimes) will readily inform you that on the whole, they are most decidedly dystopia-ed out. It seems like one out of every five books is a dystopian these days, and, worse, they're dystopians we've read before. It's The Giver. It's The Hunger Games. It's Divergent or Matched or etc. etc. etc.
The thing about Pawn is, it doesn't really reinvent the dystopian wheel. And yet for some odd reason, it feels fresh. I truly love dystopians and am so not ready to declare a moratorium on them, and Pawn is proof that you shouldn't, either.
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| I will NEVER give up on dystopians! |
Why? I'm not sure. The world building is pretty typical, with the world divided into castes, an aptitude test on your seventeenth birthday that determines your your career and your position in society, and an all-powerful ruling family who control politics, the media, and every aspect of life. Enter orphan Kitty Doe, our feisty, stubborn, and pretty darn sympathetic heroine has the supreme misfortune to be earn a III on her aptitude exam, meaning she's relegated to a life of cleaning sewers. naturally, she is less than thrilled about this, and decides to do whatever she can to change her fate and stay in the city with the boy she loves, Benjy.
Obviously THE FATES HAVE DIFFERENT PLANS. And by the fates, I mean the Harts, who are the evillest evils to ever evil. They're that aforementioned family in charge of everything, and they need Kitty to become Lila Hart, the most famous girl in the country... or else. Basically, it's like the dystopian version of Airhead by Meg Cabot, a book I found equal measures absurd and entertaining. Carter takes the concept of having to take over a dead girl's life--a girl whose life, on the surface, seems a thousand times better and more luxurious and easier than yours--and makes it grim, gritty, and all kinds of disturbing (ELSEWHERE!!!!!!!!! HOLY CRAP ELSEWHERE).
I haven't read Carter's first series, so I can't say how the characters in Pawn compare to the ones in those books, but I was surprised by how much I loved Kitty. Are her motivations a bit too (read: a lot too) Benjy-motivated for my taste? Sure. But still, I found her relatable and not at all lacking in personality and really great flaws and strengths.
"Would you like to dance?"
I would rather have banged my head against the table repeatedly, but when the alternative was listening to a dozen people talk at once, dancing didn't seem so bad after all.
Kitty, this is why I like you.
So Kitty becomes Lila, and not only does she have have to convince people that she's her, but she has to stop the rebellion Lila encouraged, she has to become betrothed to Lila's fiance, Knox, and she needs to make sure that Benjy stays safe. Kitty has to deal with being this pawn that's under the control of two opposing forces, and she struggles with regaining power over her own life. What I love about this book is that it's full of tension throughout. Nobody is who they say they are, motives are murky (though I figured out a few characters pretty quickly), and it's full of bad choices. What I mean is that characters are constantly having to pick between a rock and a hard place, between a worse thing and a WORSER thing, and to me that's the cornerstone of really good drama. Or the cornerrock. I guess.
Besides Kitty, the other characters are... okay. My love triangle alarm bells were ringing, but they were false alarm bells, which was nice. (I worry for the future books a bit). Much of the dialogue from the "villains" is a bit on the nose, but not terribly so. They are still effectively evil and underhanded and whatnot. Augusta, though. MAN. SHE GAVE ME THE HEEBY JEEBIES AT THE END. Augusta is stone cold evil SCARY. She's a twisted woman with twisted motivations, but I get her. She's a great villain in that sense. The Masking business is also exceptionally creepy, and Carter isn't afraid to make our skins crawl due to this body snatcher-esque business.
The book, while being massively entertaining and highly engaging, isn't perfect. I was dying for more Benjy development--he's the main love interest, after all, and all I really know about him is that he's redhaired, smart, and Kitty loves him. Oo, and also a bit more Benjy-Kitty development, because what we did know about them together was pretty cute. I wanted to understand more about them. Also, I'm a very visual reader, and Carter I wouldn't say is an extremely visual writer, so I ended up supplying most of those details myself. A couple reveals are like, "No duh," and a couple others are like, "Say whaaaaaat?!"
I wanted a few more world-building explanations, but the things we did learn? HARD. CORE. Elsewhere, you guys. ELSEWHERE.
I haven't been so horrified and shocked by a book in a while. If you do not gasp audibly, you are made of stronger stuff than I am.
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