All Fall Down by Ally Carter
Genre: Adventure, Mystery
Published by: Orchard Books
Pages: 320
Format: ARC E-book
Rating: ★★★★★
Where to Find: Goodreads | Amazon
I cannot contain my excitement over this book. Ally Carter is one of my favourite authors, the Gallagher girls is one of my favourite series, I couldn’t wait to get my hands on the first book in her new series ‘Embassy Row’, starring Grace, a girl prone to injury and jumping off things from a height.
The Elite by Kiera Cass
Genre: Romance, Dystopian
Published by: HarperTeen
Pages: 311
Format: ebook
Rating: ★★★.5
Series: The Selection (#1) | The One (#3)
Where to Find: Goodreads | Amazon
I was pleasantly surprised by The Selection and I was pleasantly surprised by The Elite! Who knows what’s going to happen in The One but I am so excited to read it!
I’d heard plenty of bad things about America as a character, normally in reviews you never see America without ‘was really annoying’ straight after, and yes, I thought she was a little whinge-y at times, but she was far less annoying than I thought she’d be. Good. Now that’s out the way, onto the review.
Eve and Adam by Katherine Applegate and Michael Grant
Genre: Sci-fi, Contemporary
Published By: Egmont Books
Pages: 312
Format: Paperback
Rating: ★★
Where to Find: Goodreads | Amazon
‘Eve and Adam’ was one of my library reads of the Christmas break. I didn’t really know what to expect with this book, as the tagline was ‘and girl creates boy’. When I researched other reviews of this content, a lot of people were surprised that the book didn’t take place in the future and was instead a 21st Century setting. I guess this was because the technology for creating human life was quite advanced, so not expected in 2013, when this book was published.
Continue reading “Review: Eve and Adam by Katherine Applegate and Michael Grant”
The Winner’s Crime by Marie Rutkoski
Genre: Fantasy, Romance
Published by: Bloomsbury (Released 12th March 2015)
Format: ARC E-Book
Rating: ★★★★
Series: The Winner’s Curse (#1)
Where to Find: Goodreads | Amazon
I am extremely pleased that this sequel has the same rating as the debut. It’s not often this happens, but I thought that Marie Rutkoski’s world was better developed, the plot was made clear and my level of enjoyment was continuous throughout.
Continue reading “Review: The Winner’s Crime by Marie Rutkoski”
Reached by Ally Condie
Genre: Dystopian, Romance
Published by: Penguin
Pages: 512
Format: Paperback
Rating: ★★
Series: Matched (#1) | Crossed (#2)
Where to Find: Goodreads | Amazon
‘Reached’ is the third and final book in the ‘Matched’ trilogy. The first two books felt like they were building up to this finale, and all the questions were going to be answered. Well, ‘Reached’ followed through on the answers thing, but it was safe to say this book was less than spectacular.
The Winner’s Curse by Marie Rutkoski
Genre: Fantasy, Historical, Romance
Published by: Bloomsbury
Pages: 359
Format: E-Book
Rating: ★★★★
Series: The Winner’s Crime (#2)
Where to Find: Goodreads | Amazon
First of all, the cover is beautiful. Whoever designed it deserves a medal. This book has been sat on my Kindle bookshelf for a while, and since it’s 2015, I thought I’d clear out my shelves and start reading books I bought six months ago. When I clicked on to ‘The Winner’s Curse’, I had no idea what to expect. What I got was an odd mixture of fantasy and historical fiction.
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Kitty Hawk and the Curse of the Yukon Gold by Iain Reading
Genre: Adventure, Mystery, Contemporary
Published By: Amazon
Pages: 298
Format: Paperback
Rating: ★★★
Where to Find: Goodreads | Amazon
‘The Curse of the Yukon Gold’ is the first in the Kitty Hawk Flying Detective series. I read the fourth book first, which, I know, makes little sense, so I was really excited to get the opportunity to read the other three books in the series, that’s apparently scheduled to be 13 books long! Wow!
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Love Hurts by Malorie Blackman
Genre: Anthology, Romance
Published by: Corgi Childrens
Pages: 576
Format: ebook
Rating: ★★★
Where to Find: Goodreads | Amazon
Love Hurts is a collection of excerpts and short stories from popular authors that you’ve probably heard of before!
Here’s the list: Malorie Blackman, Maureen Johnson, Catherine Johnson, Philip Pullman, James Dawson, Jenny Downham, Patrick Ness, E. Lockhart, Lauren Myracle, Laura Dockrill, Gayle Forman, Markus Zusak, Susie Day, David Levithan, Lauren Kate, Tabitha Suzuma, Andrew Smith, Marcus Sedgwick, Bali Rai, Non Prat, Matt Haig, Phil Earle and Melvin Burgess.
Crossed by Ally Condie
Genre: Dystopian, Romance
Published by: Speak
Pages: 367
Format: Paperback
Rating: ★★
Series: Matched (#1) | Reached (#3)
Where to Find: Goodreads | Amazon
The second book in the ‘Matched’ series starts with Ky digging a grave. Not exactly the happiest way to begin, but I rolled with it. I was also going to roll with the fact there were two perspectives. Both Ky and Cassia got their say: in the end, I preferred neither. (That’s probably a good thing.) (At least I could tell them apart, unlike Four and Tris in Allegiant.)
The rebellion has well and truly kicked off. The transition between ‘Matched’ and ‘Crossed’ was not as smooth as I would have liked, but we were caught up with what had happened pretty quickly. Not much to complain about their. However, as the book progressed, issues started to arise.
First, Cassia and Ky were trying to find a way back to each other. This seemed a lot easier than I thought it would be and they were reunited 200 pages in. I didn’t really understand the landscapes their groups were travelling through – thank goodness there was a map at the beginning!
Some things, although not a lot, were revealed about Xander. (Psst, he’s part of the rebellion!) I was pleased to see that he wasn’t trying to battle Ky for Cassia’s love, but we still have one book left. I bet you three chocolate coins the love triangle plot will rear it’s cliched head within ‘Reached’.
I understand why the book was called ‘Crossed’. There was a lot of crossing over landscapes to be done. There were caverns and canyons and rivers and desserts. Kind of ‘Fire and Flood’-y, without the intense survival skills. The one thing Cassia did have to survive was the elusive blue pill (hence the blue cover.) After the menacing motive of the red pill was revealed, I had my suspicions about blue. (Even though Percy Jackson has taught me that anything blue is amazing.) It turns out, the blue pill is poison, just like the food they feed to old people. Two pills will kill you. Excellent.
Basically, the end goal of this book was to join the Rebellion. Another ‘Delirium’ trilogy parallel emerged when we discovered Cassia was going to have to infiltrate the Society from the inside in ‘Reached’. I look forward to it. But, it took them 370 pages to find the Rebellion. I can’t even explain went on in the middle of the book, I felt kind of lost as I skimmed through the pages. Some of the events just seemed completely irrelevant. What was the purpose of that cave with all the tissue samples? Why did they have to go there?! I don’t know, it was all just general confusion.
Overall, I liked ‘Matched’ better, hence why I give ‘Crossed’ only 2 stars. Even with this rating, I’m intrigued to know how it all ends – it feels like the first two books in the series were really just building up to this finale. I’ve got some expectations! Is that a good thing?
Let It Snow by John Green, Maureen Johnson and Lauren Myracle
Genre: romance, contemporary
Published by: Speak
Pages: 352
Format: Paperback
Rating: ★★.5
Where To Find: Goodreads | Amazon
Let It Snow is the perfect wintery read to read during a snow filled pyjama day. The three stories are cleverly woven together through the character’s mutual friends. Not only that, but they are full of fun and they’re quick to read.
I’d say that I liked them in the order they appeared, first Maureen Johnson’s then John Green’s then Lauren Myracle’s. So I shall review each story individually.
The Jubilee Express was my favourite because although like the other it took place within a short amount of time the pacing was fast. I just wanted to find out what happened next, I couldn’t help myself from reading it quickly. Jubilee was my favourite of the three protagonists because she was believable and her story was humorous. Stuart was probably my favourite of the love interests too, because he was so dang nice, and his mother is the physical embodiment of Christmas spirit. I loved every second of this sweet romance! It set a very high standard for the other two stories, and I was perhaps a little disappointed with them because of this.
A Cheertastic Christmas Miracle was easily identifiable as a John Green creation. (See How To: Write a John Green novel) All the classic John Green elements were in there, and although I loved the writing style, and thought the (stock) characters were engaging, exaggerated, and hilarious. I couldn’t picture them as actual human beings. If there are people in the world like John Green’s characters then I would very much like to meet them, because they way they talk is enchanting and the construction of their humour is ingenious! I really liked the development of Tobin and the Duke’s relationship, it was heart-warmingly adorable. However, I didn’t really enjoy the actual plot of the story. The majority of it is a race to the Waffle House which last an indeterminable amount of time, if I’m honest, I was quite bored. JP’s reaction of the couple’s relationship redeemed my opinion by the end of the story, but I still think the middle was weaker than the rest of the novel thus far.
I really could not connect with the protagonist, Addie in The Patron Saint of Pigs. I appreciated Jeb as the character that linked the stories effortlessly, but whereas I appreciated him, I don’t think Addie did. The dramatic irony was entertaining, but I was unsympathetic towards Addie’s whinging, and felt that she didn’t deserve Jeb in the end! That may be slightly harsh, because by the end of the story I suppose she’d learned her lesson, but the first half was rather hard to read, because I didn’t want to put myself through the narrative. (Addie was incredibly self absorbed to begin with.) My favourite bit of the story was the end, where all the characters were reunited! It was so lovely to see Jubilee and Stuart again!
Overall, I’m giving Let It Snow 2.5 stars! If you’re in the mood for a festive read next year, definitely give this one a go!
Heart Full of Books 