Tag: YA

Review: Lobsters by Tom Ellen and Lucy Ivision

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lobstersLobsters by Tom Ellen and Lucy Vision
Genre: Contemporary, Romance
Published by: Chicken House
Pages: 307
Format: Paperback
Rating: ★★
Where to Find: GoodReads | Amazon

Lobsters was subtitled ‘A Socially Awkward Love Story’. Because of this, I was expecting ‘Lobsters’ to be the tale of two socially awkward people finding love and happiness and feeling better about having social anxiety. Unfortunately, ‘socially awkward’ is being used in it’s derogatory form, claiming something that isn’t really ‘socially awkward’, just an embarrassing situation, and unintentionally making light of legitimate social anxiety.

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Review: Emerald Green by Kerstin Geir

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14759651Emerald Green by Kerstin Geir
Genre: Historical fiction, Romance
Published by: Sqaure Fish
Format: Paperback
Pages: 447
Series: Ruby Red | Sapphire Blue
Rating: ★★.5
Where to Find: Goodreads | Amazon

Emerald Green is the final book in the Girl About Time / Ruby Red trilogy, and that means my expectations were quite high! Although I enjoyed Ruby Red , I thought the sequel was better, and on this projection I was hoping Emerald Green was going to be even better! I wouldn’t say I was disappointed with the ending, because there was plenty of plot twists, but at over 400 pages this book is significantly longer than the others, which made it very slow paced. Therefore, it read as less action packed than it actually was.

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(Mild Spoiler) Review: Homecoming by Kass Morgan

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23264825Homecoming by Kass Morgan
Genre: Dystopian, Sci-Fi, Romance
Published by: Little, Brown Books
Pages: 340
Format: Paperback
Rating: ★★
Series: The 100 (#1) | Day 21 (#2)
Where to Find: Goodreads | Amazon

Homecoming is the final book in The 100 trilogy – or at least, I assume it’s a trilogy. I was interested to see how this series wrapped up, but I wasn’t very invested in any of the characters’ stories to really care about what happened to them. The relationships that these characters have are basically all built on lies, but thank goodness, because everyone is just so forgiving. *rolls eyes* This book wrapped up everyone’s story lines in a cute pink bow, but what I really want to know if what happens next! I guess I’ll just have to watch the TV show and see what changes are made.

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Review: Cress by Marissa Meyer

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cressCress by Marissa Meyer
Genre: Sci-Fi, Adventure, Romance
Published by: Puffin
Pages: 550
Format: Paperback
Rating: ★★★
Series: Cinder (#1) | Scarlet (#2)
Where to Find: Goodreads | Amazon

I was expecting a lot for Cress. 550 pages? I could do this! Except…I couldn’t. Cress put me in one of the longest reading slumps. It took me over a week to read, which is strange since I normally manage to finish a book every two or three days. I think I struggled with this story because Maddie had hyped it up so much (it’s one of her favourite books of all time!) so of course I was under quite a bit of pressure to enjoy the story. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed it! But the middle was rather slow and I was sad that the characters didn’t become a proper team until the very end! Cress was an adorable character, and I loved that we got more Thorne, but I think the book could’ve been at least 100 pages shorter. Continue reading “Review: Cress by Marissa Meyer” →

Review: Scarlet by Marissa Meyer

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13206760Scarlet by Marissa Meyer
Genre: Sci-Fi, Adventure, Romance
Published by: Puffin
Pages: 452
Format: Paperback
Rating: ★★★
Series: Cinder (#1) | Cress (#3)
Where to Find: Goodreads | Amazon

I read Cinder quite a while ago, and Maddie had been encouraging me to continue the series for ages, so I thought it was about time I did! She’s always said that Scarlet and Wolf were her least favourite pairing, but let me tell you they were my FAVOURITE. They have all the elements that I love in a good YA romance, so yay! Although I didn’t enjoy Scarlet as much as I did the first book in the series, it was still a page-turner and definitely worth a read! Continue reading “Review: Scarlet by Marissa Meyer” →

Review: In Bloom by Matthew Crow

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in bloomIn Bloom by Matthew Crow
Genre: Contemporary, Romance
Published by: Much-in-Little (Corsair)
Pages: 235
Format: Paperback
Rating: ★★
Where to Find: GoodReads | Amazon

(Warning: The blurb of this book is misleading.) On the back cover, this book is compared to ‘The Fault in Our Stars’. Normally, comparing a contemporary book with John Green is a risky business, as A LOT of people in the world love TFIOS. However, I’d say the only similarity with John Green’s most famous novel is that the two main characters have cancer. That’s like comparing Shadow and Bone with The Selection, because they both have a female protagonist!

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(Spoiler) Review: The Death Cure by James Dashner

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the death cureThe Death Cure by James Dashner
Genre: Dystopian
Published by: Chicken House
Pages: 325
Format: E-Book
Rating: ★
Series: The Maze Runner (#1) | The Scorch Trials (#2)
Where to Find: Goodreads | Amazon

All was for nought, my friends. I have finished the trilogy in exactly the same place as where I started: knowing nothing about anything. After ‘The Scorch Trials’ ended, probably with Thomas being knocked out because that’s his favourite state of consciousness, I thought: ‘Am I finally going to get some answers?!’ Turns out, the answer was no. So, here I go, with my one star review. There WILL be spoilers from here on out.

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Review: The Scorch Trials by James Dashner

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the scorch trialsThe Scorch Trials by James Dashner
Genre: Dystopian
Published by: Chicken House
Pages: 360
Format: E-Book
Rating: ★★
Series: The Maze Runner (#1) | The Death Cure (#3)
Where to Find: Goodreads | Amazon

I was a little bit worried to begin this book, because it meant venturing into new, unchartered territory. I knew what to expect with ‘The Maze Runner’ and wasn’t that surprised with the changes the movie made. With ‘The Scorch Trials’, the fate of my reading enjoyment was left solely in the hands of James Dashner. Unfortunately, I was disappointed. Here’s why…

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Review: Goddess by Josephine Angelini

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goddessGoddess by Josephine Angelini
Genre: Romance, Mythological, Adventure
Published by: Pan Macmillan
Pages: 450
Format: Paperback
Rating: ★★★.5
Series: Starcrossed (#1) | Dreamless (#2) 
Where to Find: GoodReads | Amazon

The final instalment to the ‘Starcrossed’ trilogy – Josephine Angelini came at this book with all guns blazing. Her protagonist has transformed from ditzy school girl to deity superhero. Who saw that one coming? Being honest, I found this finale to be borderline ridiculous, as in, Helen’s powers went to new heights, almost literally, that it was hard to read without laughing at the outcome. How can one girl bring down all of Olympus? Percy Jackson didn’t manage it and he’s the best man for the job, by far. So, what are my true thoughts on ‘Goddess’…

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Review: The Maze Runner by James Dashner

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the maze runnerThe Maze Runner by James Dasher
Genre: Action/Adventure, Dystopian
Published by: Chicken House
Pages: 384
Format: E-Book
Rating: ★★★
Series: The Scorch Trials (#2) | The Death Cure (#3)
Where to Find: GoodReads | Amazon

I have a confession to make. It’s terrible, I know, but….I saw the movie first. But after I saw the movie, I was filled with the best feeling ever. MOTIVATION! I could not leave ‘The Maze Runner’ where the movie did – that epilogue section was too much. I needed to know what happened next. So, I decided I would read the book, experience everything as the author intended and then continue the series. So, now that I’ve witnessed both the book and the movie, I can say: the movie was better. (Book-to-movie review coming soon.)

Plot and Pacing
The Maze Runner is your classic dystopian. Some kids are chucked in an arena and have to try and survive. Unlike ‘The Hunger Games’, all the kids co-operate. Order is everything. The aim of the game is simple: escape the maze. Well, we weren’t really excepting them to stay in the maze, right? Wrong. Over fifty kids have been stuck in this maze for two whole years. UNTIL our protagonist Thomas arrives.  Continue reading “Review: The Maze Runner by James Dashner” →