Finding North by Allyson Gottlieb

       
Author: Allyson Gottlieb
Author website 
Publication date: January 29 2015


Introduction 

       Kathrine "Kat" Zova, joined the war as a medic on the side of the Alliance to stay with her boyfriend, Tyler. Now, with Tyler dead after being shot, Kat is living with crushing grief. She walks with haunted eyes during the day, at sleep offers no escape from her despair. While she and a small team of soldiers are out in the field, they get captured by the enemy, all of them hauled off to prison. Except her. The leader of the group that attacked them has requested that Kat be taken to his room. The leader of the small group that attacked them, is the son of Alistar Craverly, the head of the enemy army. Now, Kat lives in a mansion inhabited by the Craverlys. They have a reputation for being cruel, but as Kat spends time with Reynan, she learns that like-father-like-son may not always be true. With Kat battling demons, it's possible that Reynan is too.

Kat
       
       Kat is dealing with the death of her boyfriend, Tyler, one day at a time. I didn't mind Kat. Much. Sometimes she just decided that she wanted to be alone, which I can totally understand and sympathize with until she decides to wander through the Vegas strip. Alone. At night. Most of Vegas is uninhabited, but sometime soldiers can be found wandering, visiting some of the few operational casinos, or doing something slightly more sinister in "abandoned" hotels. It was in which, that Kat got herself into a few dangerous  situations. I'm sure you can figure it out...She's a girl...she ran into some to some boys...in abandon hotel...You would think after a situation like that, you wouldn't just run away from the mansion and not go wandering alone at night again, right? Wrong. It was slightly aggravating that she didn't lean the first time.
        Kat is living in a mansion. Alistar's masion, but a mansion, nonetheless. In the book she mentions feeling guilty about how she's safe with Reynan in a mansion with pretty much everything she could need while her friends are in prison, but I wasn't quite sold on the fact that she felt guilty. Every time it was mentioned it was so fleeting. She would feel guilty for about two seconds, and then go back to thinking about Reynan.


Reynan
       
       Finding North is told in dual first person. I liked Reynan's point of view more than I liked Kat's. Reynan doesn't truly believe in what he fights for, and he doesn't have the best relationship with his father. He's sick of people judging him because of who hi father is, who he really isn't anything like. Reynan kind of reminds me slightly of Four from Divergent by Veronica Roth and a little like Warner from Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi.He seems kind of mean, kind of spoiled, kind of an asshole, but he's really just misunderstood, and the kind of life he has isn't one that would be chosen deliberately.


Oliver
      
       Oliver is one of the few friends that Reynan has that gets introduced in Finding North. He usually fights alongside Reynan in the field and he offers some comic relief, which I enjoyed.


Helena
      
       Helena is another one of Reynan's friends who quickly becomes Kat's friend as well. Helena works as Reynan's maid/cook and lives in the mansion as well. Helena has a history that I found interesting, the story of where she was before Reynan took her in was fun to uncover.


Story progress
       
       I found that the story progressed at a slow pace, and at some points, nothing was really happening at all, sometimes it was entire chapters where nothing was happening. I never felt that I wanted to put the book down and take a break from reading it for a few days but there were times when I wasn't really interested.


Ending (I'm going to try not to spoil things here.)
       
       The decision that Reynan made regarding Kat was very abrupt. He didn't really think about what he was about to do. He just woke up and acted. There as nothing leading up to it. It was so abrupt that I was almost doubting that it was really happening. It didn't even feel like a plot twist. It was too quick. Poorly thought out, in my opinion.


Conclusion
       
       Despite the ending. I did enjoy reading this book and would like to read the second installment. Originally thought that Finding North would be more of a dystopian, but it was mostly romance. So if your looking for a YA romance with hints of dystopian aspects here and there, I would recommend this book to you.

Legend by Marie Lu

Author: Marie Lu
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 305
Date Published: November 29 2011
Publisher: Putnam Juvenile 

Introduction
       
        This book is told in two different POVs, Day, a street criminal, has broken the law many times. If he has to break the law to keep his family safe and healthy, he will. He has stolen many times, and is quite comfortable with it. One thing he is not comfortable with, is killing, He has never killed a single soul. Hurt, yes. But never killed. Day is not a murderer. When he went to steal some plague cures for his sick brother, it shouldn't have been any different. But it was, because now he is the prime suspect for killing Metias, a young army captain.
     
       June, the second POV, is Metias little sister. From the death of her brother, she has taken on a very high ranking in her army, and has sworn revenge on Day for making her lose the last family member she has left. But what happens when Day has a totally different side, besides the criminal that is constantly making the headlines, and what if, he makes her question everything that she knows about her government. The one that she is supposed to trust?

Cover
       
       I think that the cover looks cool, I just wished I knew exactly what was on it. With my luck, it it's probably something stupidly obvious, and after reading this, everybody is going to laugh at me, but hey, what can you do?


Day
     
     I love Day so much. He's only fifteen, but he knows how to take care of himself after years on the streets. I can't even really explain why I love Day, and before people say that I only like him because he's a bad--boy--type thing and he does bad--boy-ish things, that's not it. He has so many different sides of him. He can be caring, and sweet, and gentle, but he has no trouble throwing knives at people or shooting people when he has to. I also find it super interesting that he has gone out of his way many times not to kill people. He doesn't want to known as a murderer. Just a con.

June
       
       June's a hard one for me. I like her, but I like Day so much too, and because June is trying to capture him, I spent most of the book going back and forth between,

       "JUNE DON'T YOU FREAKING DARE"
     
         and
     
       "YAY JUNE. YOU ARE DOING SO WELL!"
     
       And when Day and June start to fall for each other, I went back in forth between
     
       "DAY! THIS IS NOT GOOD FOR YOU"
     
       and
     
       "YAY JUNE AND DAY!"

       The one thing that I didn't like about June is that she knows things that you can't possibly know. Like what hand Day through a knife with. Or that he is ambidextrous. That's really my only complaint about her, at times she is a little unrealistic.

Tess
       
       A living example of Day being kind. Tess is Day's partner. He found her years ago. Orphaned and alone and decided to take her in. I enjoyed learning about Tess, even though she wasn't in the story a whole heck of a lot.

Metias 
       
       Metias was June's older brother/guardian. In the short time that he was in the book, I thought he was really awesome. Even though he is only alive through give or take 40 pages, you could really tell that he loved June. On the inside cover it tells you that Metias is going to die, so I tried not to get to attached to him even though he was awesome.

Dislikes
       
       Well, really I can only mention one thing that I dislike right now, so here I go.
     
       I found that this book was missing a lot of the... history? I guess. When you are 10, you have to take a test called the Trial. Featuring a written portion, an interview portion, and a physical portion. If you fail, you go off to work at a labor camp, and if you pass I guess you...just don't. It doesn't really say that you have to join the military, but I guess many do. Anyway, what I would like to know is how the Trial came about. How long has it been going on? Do you have to join the military if you pass?
     
        Another thing that I would like to know is what exactly is the plague? I know that you lose weight and you get super sick and such, and your irises bleed, but uh...how long has the plague been a problem? How long did it take for people to develop a cure? These questions need to be answered.

Conclusion
     
       I loved this book despite the missing facts that I think should be included. Either gender would enjoy this book, and I will be recommending it to many of my friends. I am very excited to get my hands on the second one in the trilogy.

Sever by Lauren DeStafano

Author: Lauren DeStafano
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 371
Published: February 20 2013
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers

       Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! I reviewed the whole trilogy (Review of Wither here, review of Sever here, and obviously, this is my review of Sever)

       (I've decided to use the synopsis of this book for the introduction. I just can't write one of my own without spoiling it too much. This is probably going to be the only review that I will use the whole synopsis :D)


Introduction
       After enduring Vaughn's worst, Rhine finds an unlikely ally in his brother, and eccentric inventor named Reed. She takes refuge in his dilapidated house, though the people she left refuse to stay in the past. While Gabriel haunts Rhine's memories Cecily is determined to stay 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 can not be undone. But what she discovers along the way has alarming implications for her future--and about the past that her parents never had the chance to explain.

Cover
       I really like the cover for this book. It's weird though, on this cover, Rhine's hair is brushed. Not that I'm complaining, but on the covers of Wither, and Sever, she had ratsnest hair. What's going on with her hair being brushed. I thought we had a thing going here--No? Okay...

Cecily
       I liked Cecily much better in this book than I did in the others. She has matured, which was to be expected. She is getting older, and she has a kid. Although her personality did noticeably change, she isn't a completely different person. Which is really realistic, because nobody can wake up one day and have a completely different personality


Linden       Linden. My. God. Are you trying to get me to bang my head against a wall? I hated how Linden kept on going back and forth between kind of believing Rhine, and then denying everything that she says.
       On a brighter note, Linden showed a lot of character development in this book. You know, when he isn't being a complete idiot.

Death
       Yes, people die in this book. One HUGE person dies in this book. The way this person dies doesn't make sense to me. I've re-read and re-read the scene where the person dies and I don't understand it. I think the author was going for a dramatic death for the character, but the way it happened wasn't clear.

I Just Have One Question...*SPOILER*
       So...everybody knows what Rowen is doing, and when he is going to do it right? HOW COME NOBODY IS TRYING TO STOP HIM????? You have to have some form of police, or at the very least, protesters? Don't even try to tell me that everybody agrees with what he is doing. It's just not possible.

Conclusion
       I loved this book. I was never bored with it at all. The characters and the plot was absolutely stunning. The Chemical Garden Trilogy got better and better with each book, and I loved every minute of every book.


One Last Thing.
       I was talking about the Chemical Garden Trilogy with somebody I know, and we discoverd how hard it is to say 'Rhine' without it sounding like the name 'Ryan.' I'm serious. Try it, I dare you.

The Fall Of Venus by Daelynn Quinn

Very sorry about the blurriness of this cover. If your wondering it says 'The Fall Of Venus and it has an infinity fly on it. :) 

Author: Daelynn Quinn
Format: Paperback
Date published: July 19 2013
Publisher: Createspace independent Publishing Platform

Introduction

       After a virus that has wiped out 93% of the population, Pollen wakes up in the woods  and doesn't remember much of the past few weeks. Pollen has no idea why she is in the woods nor does she know why she has a tattoo on the side of her face, but she is determined to stay alive and away from bounty the bounty hunters that will stop at nothing to capture her. She soon meets Marcus, a boy in the same situation as her, and together they try to come up with a plan to rescue her niece, Evie from a refugee camp that different intentions then they let everybody know

Cover

       OHHHHH so that's what an infinity fly looks like.  It was described pretty well in the book, I was just trying to figure out how the eyes form the infinity symbol, but yeah, it makes sense now.

Pollen and Marcus
       I knew this was going to happen. Regardless of the fact that Pollen is engaged. I knew it. I am quite happy with the fact that although Pollen feels as though she knows Marcus, they don't just start being all couple-y. I extremely liked the fact that for a little while Marcus refused to become involved with her because he didn't want to be used an thrown away.

Glenn
       Oh Glenn, such mixed feelings I have about you. One minute he is doing something completely stupid and betraying people, the next minute he's like:
       "Oh Pollen! I know I crossed the line (Again) but I want you to know that I will always care about you."
       Alright cool Glenn, you know what you should do? pick a side and stick to it. Thanks.

Crimson
        I loved learning about Crimson it was really interesting. Also, while you are learning about Crimson, the author makes everything relatively easy to follow, which is always good.

Conclusion
       I really liked the concept of this book, and the story is easy to follow and really interesting to read .

Fever by Lauren DeStafeno

Author: Lauren DeStafanoFormat: Hardcover
Pages 371
Date Published: March 22, 2011
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers

*I tried as hard as I could to keep spoilers out, but it was difficult!

Introduction
       Rhine and Gabriel have escaped from the mansion and have hit shore. Rhine remembers something that she seems to have forgotten while being confined at the mansion: This world is cruel, and it is not going to change. All Rhine knows, is that she needs to find her brother Rowan. She needs to know that he is safe. When they reach Manhattan, everything is going as well as it could be, and then out of nowhere, Rhine gets sick with a high fever, that shows no sign of breaking. Medication isn't helping. Sleep isn't doing anything for her pain. No body has any answers. The one word on everybody's mind is: Why?

Characters
       Other than Rhine, Gabriel, and Maddie (A little girl that they unintentionally brought with them, on the way to Manhattan.) the characters roles in the book are short and fleeting, because the Rhine and Gabriel don't stay anywhere long. I liked most of them, but they are all more or less the same. I missed the different personalities that are in Wither (Review of Wither here)
       I liked how Jenna, Rhine's dead sister wife, still plays a part in this story, you learn a lot about the secrets that died with her, and that was really cool.

Scarlet District
       The Scarlet District is the first place they end up stopping on the way to Manhattan. It is an old circus, now inhabited by young girls who have become prostitutes. The leader of this is known as Madame. A first generation covered in jewels and perfume. All the girls that are being sold are worn and tattered. So of course Madame jumps at the chance to have a new girl, that is fresh and beautiful. I was confused as to why Rhine was so surprised when Madame told her that she would have to "perform." I mean, did Rhine truly think that she was going to be allowed to stay if she didn't do anything?

Ending
        This ending was great. It will leave you wanting so much more! I am so excited to read Sever. The final installment!!!

Conclusion
       I really liked this book. I was never really bored while reading it, and the ending tied it all together. In fact, in a lot of ways, I enjoyed this book more than I enjoyed the first installment.

Matched by Ally Condie

Author: Allie Condie
Format: Paperback
Pages: 369
Date Published: November 30, 2010
Publisher: Dutton Juvenile
Book Website: Trilogy Website

Introduction
       You don't get to choose who you marry. The Society does that for you. When you are 17, you go to your matching ceremony and get matched with anybody. The matches are always perfect. When Cassia goes to her Matching Ceremony, her match turns out to be her best friend Xander, Cassia couldn't be happier. She is going to marry somebody that she has known for her entire life. It was Xander's face on the screen. It couldn't be anymore prefect. Then for a split second, another boy's face appears. The face of Ky Markham. Officials tell her not to worry. Just a mistake. Some kind of cruel joke. Now Cassia can't help but wonder, who was she meant to be with? Her best friend, or the boy that has a life full of secrets?

Cover
       So...Cassia is in her green dress that she wore to the match ceremony, in a bubble. I wonder what the bubble represents? maybe that she is trapped? What I do like about the cover: They didn't show her face, also, in the background, the green colour fades. It looks pretty cool.

Xander
       Xander wasn't really that interesting. Despite him and Cassia being matched together, he wasn't in the book a lot. The scenes he was in, he was boring. He didn't talk much, and you never really learn anything particularly interesting about him.

Ky
       Ky was more interesting than Xander. He had a story. He had secrets that he has never shared with anybody but Cassia. Learning is story was cool, I liked the way he told Cassia his story through pictures instead of words.

Love Triangle
       Alright, let me first just say that I do not mind love triangles, but they have to be done right.
 It was so blatantly obvious who Cassie was going to choose. Which is disappointing, since the whole question was who she was going to end up with.

Movie
       I litterally just found out about the movie that is being made. I think that Disney has the film rights. I can't seem to get any details on the cast, but apperantly the movie is already in production.
       I myself, am not interested in the movie. If I do end up seeing it  I'll watch it on TV, or rent it when it comes on DVD.

Conclusion
       I guess, If you want a light read, this might be a good choice. No huge action scenes, no fights or anything like that. It's basiclly Cassia going through life, while being faced with some pretty hard decisions.

Unravel Me by Tahereh Mafi

Author: Tahereh Mafi
Format: Paperback
Pages: 461
Date Published: February 5, 2013
Publisher: HarperCollins

Introduction
       
       Juliette finally feels somewhat safe at Omega Point. She is no longer seen as a weapon, no longer being forced to kill. Instead she is seen as another person with extraordinary power, another person who is going to help the world get a little better. Unfortunately, Juliette knows that being safe is never going to be permeate, for her, or anyone of her friends. Warner needs her in a way that Juliette just can't comprehend, and soon, The Reestablishment will find her. Unless Adam, Kenji, and her can figure out a plan before The Reestablishment finds them first.

Cover
     
       Yet another eye on a cover. Like Shatter me, this one is unique, with the snow covered tree branches as eyelashes. I think it is very beautiful.

Characters/Relationships
     
       Juliette is once again a stunning protagonist. I can will never be able to get enough of what goes on in her mind.
       In the Shatter Me I didn't really have an opinion of Kenji, since he came in near the end. But he is in Unravel me much more than the first book. He adds such great humor to the story and is always ready to lighten up an intense situation.
       Juliette and Adam, the relationship that they have now almost brought a tear to my eye...it was so full of emotion.

Team Warner or Adam
        
       It has come to my attention that Team Adam/Team Warner is a thing. I don't know, I don't know, I don't know, who to choose. I guess that I like Adam a little more. When Juliette and Adam are together, it's so sweet. Adam loves Juliette so much and is willing to do anything for her. On the other hand, Warner is becoming pretty interesting too. Behind the mean and terrible side of Warner, he loves Juliette too. Although, I think I will always want Adam and Juliette to be together a little more.

Conclusion
       
       While I was reading this book, I swear I forgot how to breathe. Then, when I remembered, it got caught in my throat and only managed to come out a sharp gasp. I promise you, this book will have you sqeeing from happiness. It will shatter your heart all over the floor and then slowly mend it back together, and I just could never get enough. I am so excited for the third and final installment. Even though I am fairly certain that this book doesn't even have a title yet. I really wish I could read Destroy Me, a book that is in Warner's POV but I can't because it is only available in e-book format. That, just so you know, is totally and completely destroying me.

The Maze Runner by James Dashner

Author: James Dashner
Format: Paperback
Pages: 384
Date Published: October 6, 2009
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Author's Website: www.jamesdashner.com


Introduction
        Thomas can't remember anything other than his first name when he finds himself in the Glade. A big space surrounded by stone walls. Many other boys are in the Glade, and like him, they don't remember anything before arriving. All Thomas wants is some answers, unfortunately the other boys in the Glade don't have all the answers. All they know is that:

1. A new boy comes to the Glade every month.

2. Outside the Glade is a maze

3. The walls that lead inside the Maze open every morning and close every night

4. Nobody has ever survived the Maze overnight.

       Just a day after Thomas' arrival, something extraordinary happens. A girl comes to the Glade and she delivers a mysterious message. Then suddenly, nothing is as it seems, and everything is different. So different in fact that the all the boys are starting to lose hope that an exit inside the Maze exists.

Cover
      I really dislike this cover. I can't put my finger on why, but I can't bring myself to like it.

Characters/Relationship
      All of the characters in this book are boys except for one. I didn't mind that at all. Sadly, I couldn't bring myself to like the protagonist. Throughout the whole story he didn't really show a lot development. Overall he just wasn't very interesting.
       A character I did like in the book was Newt. He had a good personality and was fun to read about.
       Then of course, I have to mention Chuck. He is the first person that Thomas befriends and they stay friends throughout the entire book. He can get a little annoying at times but most of the time he is really sweet.
       No real love story in this book, though I suspect that something might happen between Thomas and Teresa in the next book.

Dislikes
       I just have one thing to mention that really bugged me about the book. The beginning is really slow. I mean for the longest time nothing really happens. I went through about 100 pages being bored with the book.

Conclusion
        I had really high hopes for this book. When you read the blurb on the back it seems quite interesting. Also after seeing all the hype that this book was getting, I decided that I better read it before the movie comes out. (Read on for details on the movie.) But yeah, I haven't really decided if I am going to continue with the series, but maybe If I find out a little more about it       
       






Movie
        The movie is scheduled to be released on February 14, 2014. (So many movies are going to be released around Valentines Day!)

Cast

      Dylan O'Brien as Thomas

       

       Kaya Scodelario as Teresa

       Aml Ameen as Alby

       Thomas Brodie-Sangster as Newt

       Blake Cooper as Chuck

       

       Will Poulter as Gally

       Ki Hong as Minho

       I think some of the actors look a little old to be playing teenagers, but overall it's an alright cast n my opinion.

      

       Hey look, pictures! YAY!

 

Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi

Author: Tahereh Mafi
Format: Paperback
Pages: 338
Date Published: November 15 2011
Publisher: Harper

Introduction

       
       "Stay away from Juliette."

       "I heard that she got kicked out of her old school."

       "What a freak."

       These words are burned into Juliette's mind. Her touch is lethal, so nobody wants to risk getting close to her. She has spent her entire life believing that she is a monster. After one accident she is taken away to live in an asylum (basically). She hasn't made contact with anybody in exactly 264. Then out of the blue she is taken away by The Reestablishment. A group that is supposed to be fixing the dying world. They want to use  Juliette as a weapon. Juliette doesn't want to hurt anybody, but this is Juliette's first chance at freedom in almost a year. If she could just get away from the Reestablishment, then maybe she could hope for a better future. With a guy she never thought she would see again. Only one problem, guards are always near, and the leader of this project, Warner, never leaves her side. Even though Juliette doesn't want to, she's going to have to learn that sometimes people have to get hurt. 

Cover

     
       This cover is nice I guess, but I must say that I, have seen so many covers with eyes on them. Don't get me wrong, most of the are nice but it's getting sort of old don't ya think? At least this one is a little memorable, you know with the eyelashes being trees and such.

Characters/Relationships
        
        I liked all of the characters in this book, they were all pretty cool. I have absolutely no complaints. Can I just take a moment to mention Juliette's name? I have never seen it spelled like that before. I have only ever seen it as the classic Juliet. Anyway, I just love it. Almost as much as I love the name Ophelia. :)
       As for Adam and Juliette I really liked there relationship. I liked it because Juliette and Adam actually have some sort of history together, it's not like they just met each other, then  BAM the're being all cute and couple-y. They knew each other before all this happened.

Writing
       
       On Goodreads, When I read some reviews on this, I noticed that some people have a huge problem with the way that Tahereh Mafi writes. She uses strikeout text and many metaphors and similes, many people couldn't stand it, but I loved it with every fiber of my being. Every sentence was beautiful and flowing gracefully. I can't get enough

Genre
     
       Another thing that people argue about on Goodreads is the genre. They disagree that this book could be classified as a dystopia. They believe that it is just a romance. This book is more than just a romance. It has romance in it, However, that's not all. Okay, I'm just going to quickly list some of the obvious things that make a dystopian novel what it is. (I am aware that the're more, like I said, I am listing the obvious ones.)

#1. This novel takes place in the future.

#2. The people of this futuristic world are pretty controlled

#3. The world is no longer what it used to be, and everything is pretty much going to garbage.

Conclusion
     
       This is one of those books that you either like it, or hate it. I absolutely LOVED it. As soon as I can I am going to pay yet another visit to the bookstore and buy Unravel Me.