Review Wednesday: The Departed by Chase McCown

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Standalone to date

Goodreads Blurb:

"The United States is under siege!
A devastating new bacterial disease sweeps across the states on the west coast and saps its victims of their own free will. Four strangers must work together to survive a mad dash across the United States to find safety in the nation’s capital. The outbreak chases them from their homes on the west coast, and they struggle to reach the capital before the disease does. When they arrive, danger rears its ugly head again, and the four must race against time to save not only themselves, but the entire country from destruction. The Departed is a story filled with the unlikeliest of heroes, who must find hope even when things look hopeless."

R&R Review and Giveaway Sunday: Fractured Memories by Jo Schneider

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Jagged Scars #1

Goodreads Blurb:

"Sixteen year old Wendy never knew the world before the Starvation. She’s learned to put her trust in her knives, and her confidence in her fighting ability. When the Skinnies attack her compound, she's the lone survivor.

Injured and near death, Wendy is rescued and nursed back to health by mysterious strangers. Her saviors offer her a place among them, but trust has never been one of Wendy's strengths, and suspicion soon leads to evidence that these people might be the group who killed her family.

The decision to get her revenge, and take the settlement down from the inside out is easy. Keeping her distance from those she must befriend in order to make it happen proves to be much more difficult."

R&R Review Sunday: Meritorium by Joel Ohman

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Meritropolis #2

Goodreads Blurb:

"Charley has escaped from Meritropolis…

but in his quest to take down the System that has taken his brother from him, he must go through Meritorium, a city where gladiatorial games of life or death combat are waged between High Scores and Low Scores, man and beast.

Charley and Sandy must face man-eating plants, religious zealots, slave traders, and the ever present mutant animal combinations that roam a dystopian Coliseum presided over by Emperor Titus, the one man standing between Charley and the answers he seeks. Man is not an animal, but if they are to make it through Meritorium, will they even be able to tell the difference?

The lines between man and beast, friend and foe, will blur in Meritorium, the riveting sequel to the bestselling Meritropolis."

R&R Review Wednesday: Escaping the Rainfield by Eliza Rich

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Standalone to date

Goodreads Blurb:

"“April 12, 2003. “Beep. Beep. We interrupt your radio station to bring you this important message. The counties of… no. The states of Alabama, Arkansas, Illinois, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas, and southern portions of Iowa and Nebraska are in a Flood Warning.””

This was no typical flood warning. With eleven states expecting three to ten inches of rain for an unprecedented number of days, the United States was in a frenzy. Families were evacuating their hometowns in hopes of locating refuge on dry land, but Hannah Davis’ family thought that they could out wait the storm. When their panicked Grandmother reaches out to them, requesting help, they find themselves fighting the weather and time to rescue her. As if that wasn’t enough, shortly after joining forces with two of Hannah’s classmates, Adrian and Ophelia, they come face to face with a gang that wants Adrian dead. As the days go by the family grows increasingly wary whether or not they will reach their Grandmother in time. Will the Davis’ be able to come together to outwit the storm and its surrounding catastrophes? Or will Hannah’s affection for Adrian put her family in more danger than it is worth?"

R&R Review Friday: Meritropolis by Joel Ohman

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Meritropolis #1

Goodreads Blurb:

"The year is AE3, 3 years after the Event. Within the walls of Meritropolis, 50,000 inhabitants live in fear, ruled by the brutal System that assigns each citizen a merit score that dictates whether they live or die. Those with the highest scores thrive, while those with the lowest are subject to the most unforgiving punishment--to be thrust outside the city gates, thrown to the terrifying hybrid creatures that exist beyond.

But for one High Score, conforming to the System just isn't an option. Seventeen-year-old Charley has a brother to avenge. And nothing--not even a totalitarian military or dangerous science--is going to stop him.

Where humankind has pushed nature and morals to the extreme, Charley is amongst the chosen few tasked with exploring the boundaries, forcing him to look deep into his very being to discern right from wrong. But as he and his friends learn more about the frightening forces that threaten destruction both without and within the gates, Meritropolis reveals complexities they couldn't possibly have bargained for..."

Review Friday: Glow by Kathleen Ryan

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Sky Chasers #1

Goodreads Blurb:

"What if you were bound for a new world, about to pledge your life to someone you'd been promised to since birth, and one unexpected violent attack made survival—not love—the issue?

Out in the murky nebula lurks an unseen enemy: the New Horizon. On its way to populate a distant planet in the wake of Earth's collapse, the ship's crew has been unable to conceive a generation to continue its mission. They need young girls desperately, or their zealous leader's efforts will fail. Onboard their sister ship, the Empyrean, the unsuspecting families don't know an attack is being mounted that could claim the most important among them...

Fifteen-year-old Waverly is part of the first generation to be successfully conceived in deep space; she was born on the Empyrean, and the large farming vessel is all she knows. Her concerns are those of any teenager—until Kieran Alden proposes to her. The handsome captain-to-be has everything Waverly could ever want in a husband, and with the pressure to start having children, everyone is sure he's the best choice. Except for Waverly, who wants more from life than marriage—and is secretly intrigued by the shy, darkly brilliant Seth.

But when the Empyrean faces sudden attack by their assumed allies, they quickly find out that the enemies aren't all from the outside."

Review Monday: The Waste Lands by Stephen King

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The Dark Tower #3

Goodreads Blurb:

"In 1978, Stephen King introduced the world to the last gunslinger, Roland of Gilead.  Nothing has been the same since. More than twenty years later, the quest for the Dark Tower continues to take readers on a wildly epic ride. Through parallel worlds and across time, Roland must brave desolate wastelands and endless deserts, drifting into the unimaginable and the familiar. A classic tale of colossal scope—crossing over terrain from The Stand, The Eyes of the Dragon, Insomnia, The Talisman, Black House, Hearts in Atlantis, ’Salem’s Lot, and other familiar King haunts—the adventure takes hold with the turn of each page.

And the tower awaits....

Roland, The Last Gunslinger, moves ever closer to The Dark Tower of his dreams and nightmares—as he crosses a desert of damnation in a macabre world that is a twisted image of our own. With him are those he has drawn to this world: street-smart Eddie Dean and courageous wheelchair-bound Susannah.

Ahead of him are mind-rending revelations about who and what is driving him. Against him is arrayed a swelling legion of foes—both more and less than human..."

Review Sunday: The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey

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The 5th Wave #1

Goodreads Blurb:

"After the 1st wave, only darkness remains. After the 2nd, only the lucky escape. And after the 3rd, only the unlucky survive. After the 4th wave, only one rule applies: trust no one.

Now, it's the dawn of the 5th wave, and on a lonely stretch of highway, Cassie runs from Them. The beings who only look human, who roam the countryside killing anyone they see. Who have scattered Earth's last survivors. To stay alone is to stay alive, Cassie believes, until she meets Evan Walker. Beguiling and mysterious, Evan Walker may be Cassie's only hope for rescuing her brother--or even saving herself. But Cassie must choose: between trust and despair, between defiance and surrender, between life and death. To give up or to get up."

Review Sunday: The 100 by Kass Morgan

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Goodreads Blurb:

"No one has set foot on Earth in centuries -- until now.

Ever since a devastating nuclear war, humanity has lived on spaceships far above Earth's radioactive surface. Now, one hundred juvenile delinquents -- considered expendable by society -- are being sent on a dangerous mission: to recolonize the planet. It could be their second chance at life...or it could be a suicide mission.

CLARKE was arrested for treason, though she's haunted by the memory of what she really did. WELLS, the chancellor's son, came to Earth for the girl he loves -- but will she ever forgive him? Reckless BELLAMY fought his way onto the transport pod to protect his sister, the other half of the only pair of siblings in the universe. And GLASS managed to escape back onto the ship, only to find that life there is just as dangerous as she feared it would be on Earth.

Confronted with a savage land and haunted by secrets from their pasts, the hundred must fight to survive. They were never meant to be heroes, but they may be mankind's last hope."

Book Review Friday: The Forever Song by Julie Kagawa

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Goodreads Blurb:

"Vengeance will be hers.

Allison Sekemoto once struggled with the question: human or monster? With the death of her love, Zeke, she has her answer.

Monster.

Allie will embrace her cold vampire side to hunt down and end Sarren, the psychopathic vampire who murdered Zeke. But the trail is bloody and long, and Sarren has left many surprises for Allie and her companions - her creator Kanin, and her blood brother, Jackal. The trail is leading straight to the one place they must protect at any cost - the last vampire-free zone on Earth, Eden. And Sarren has one final, brutal shock in store for Allie. 

In a ruined world where no life is sacred and former allies can turn on you in one heartbeat, Allie will face her darkest days. And if she succeeds, her triumph will be short-lived in the face of surviving forever alone.

THE FINAL HUNT IS ON."

Book Review Monday: Allegiant by Veronica Roth

On my A-Z Review page, I promised I would get around to eventually posting all of my reviews on Goodreads, here on my blog.  This is one of the first reviews I ever wrote back in 2013 (I know, SUCH a long time ago right??).  Hopefully, my review writing skills have improved since then...  Enjoy!

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Goodreads Blurb:

"The faction-based society that Tris Prior once believed in is shattered--fractured by violence and power struggles and scarred by loss and betrayal. So when offered a chance to explore the world past the limits she’s known, Tris is ready. Perhaps beyond the fence, she and Tobias will find a simple new life together, free from complicated lies, tangled loyalties, and painful memories. 

But Tris’s new reality is even more alarming than the one she left behind. Old discoveries are quickly rendered meaningless. Explosive new truths change the hearts of those she loves. And once again, Tris must battle to comprehend the complexities of human nature--and of herself--while facing impossible choices about courage, allegiance, sacrifice, and love. 

Told from a riveting dual perspective, Allegiant, by #1 New York Timesbest-selling author Veronica Roth, brings the Divergent series to a powerful conclusion while revealing the secrets of the dystopian world that has captivated millions of readers in Divergent and Insurgent."

Review:

Update 12/1/13
Ok so I've been thinking about the ending of this book and why the author could do such a thing. This review was written literally the second I finished the book so my thoughts about the book were ALL over the place. Anyway. I've sort of changed my mind about the ending in a way. I think it was a very mature way to end the book and not a lot of authors would go so far as to kill the main character. It separated this series from other novels in the YA category that may seem to have almost childish 'fairy-tale' endings. Ms. Roth added a whole new layer to this book and the series in general. So my final decision is that I actually loved the ending, even though it was crazy and made me crabby for the week after I finished it. So... five stars :).

Original review
Noooooooooooo! It can't end like this!! It was five stars in the beginning 3/4 of the book. It was different than all the other books in the series but it was a good kind of different. How Tris and Tobias had that fight and almost didn't get back together was a true test of their relationship that wasn't like any of the other tests.  It was a bit confusing but that was probably because of me reading too fast trying to get to the end. I definitely shouldn't have done that. It was a good ending but I also hated it. I cried and cried and almost threw the book against the wall. Tris... dies. She sacrifices herself and forgives everyone but I was counting on her and Tobias being together in the end. It was definitely unpredictable which is why I liked it but still. I hate it when the main character dies. Tris was so strong and just plain amazing and together with Tobias it was just fabulous. But then she goes and leaves Tobias all alone. I couldn't believe Ms. Roth could do that to me. I started reading this on a friends recommendation and it was really good but the last 5 chapters just ripped my heart out. This is why I docked a star. I would've been fine if Tris was just unconscious for a few days/weeks from the bullet wounds and the death serum but nooo. That would have been too predictable.  So I guess it was an amazing ending and it really brought the series to a close but still. Nevertheless I loved the last chapter. Tobias goes on the zip line off of the Hancock building to scatter Tris' ashes. I loved him for that since he is deathly afraid of heights. And even though I couldn't bear to think of it, Tobias actually starts to move on and accept Tris' death.  I hated that part but loved it at the same time.

So it was a great book... it just ripped my heart out. If you get to the end be prepared to start bawling. The ending sort of left the whole experiment thing with the other cities  open ended but I actually wasn't as bothered by that as I should have been but maybe I was just numb from Tris' death.  Goodness I can't stop mentioning it. I'm just in shock here so pardon the disbelief as it sinks in.

As a side note: Sorry for the review that is basically all spoilers or at least half of it is... I'm a little freaked out at the moment :).

Quotes:

“I just wanted to thank you' he says, his voice low.
'A group of scientists told you that my genes were damaged, that there was something wrong with me - they showed you the test results that proved it. And even I started to believe it.' 
He touches my face, his thumb skimming my cheekbone, and his eyes are on mine, intense and insistent.
'You never believed it,' he says 'Not for a second. You always insisted I was... I don't know, whole.” 

“She said that everyone has some evil inside them, and the first step to loving anyone is to recognize the same evil inside ourselves,so we're able to forgive them.” 

“Caleb," I say, "I love you."
His eyes gleam with tear as he says, "I love you, too, Beatrice.” 

“I love you" I say.
"I love you, too" he says. "I'll see you soon.” 

“She taught me all about real sacrifice. That it should be done from love... That it should be done from necessity, not without exhausting all other options. That it should be done for people who need your strength because they don't have enough of their own.”

“The Stiff had jumped first.
Even I didn't jump first.
Her eyes were so stern, so insistent.
Beautiful.”

“The person you became with her is worth being.” 

“I suppose a fire that burns that bright is not meant to last.” 

Mashup Book Review: The Immortal Rules and The Eternity Cure by Julie Kagawa

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Goodreads Blurb:

The Immortal Rules:

"To survive in a ruined world, she must embrace the darkness…

Allison Sekemoto survives in the Fringe, the outermost circle of a walled-in city. By day, she and her crew scavenge for food. By night, any one of them could be eaten. Some days, all that drives Allie is her hatred of them—the vampires who keep humans as blood cattle. Until the night Allie herself dies and becomes one of the monsters.

Forced to flee her city, Allie must pass for human as she joins a ragged group of pilgrims seeking a legend—a place that might have a cure for the disease that killed off most of civilization and created the rabids, the bloodthirsty creatures who threaten human and vampire alike. And soon Allie will have to decide what and who is worth dying for… again.

Enter Julie Kagawa's dark and twisted world as an unforgettable journey begins."

The Eternity Cure:

"In Allison Sekemoto's world, there is one rule left: Blood calls to blood 

She has done the unthinkable: died so that she might continue to live. Cast out of Eden and separated from the boy she dared to love, Allie will follow the call of blood to save her creator, Kanin, from the psychotic vampire Sarren. But when the trail leads to Allie's birthplace in New Covington, what Allie finds there will change the world forever—and possibly end human and vampire existence. 

There's a new plague on the rise, a strain of the Red Lung virus that wiped out most of humanity generations ago—and this strain is deadly to humans and vampires alike. The only hope for a cure lies in the secrets Kanin carries, if Allie can get to him in time. 

Allison thought that immortality was forever. But now, with eternity itself hanging in the balance, the lines between human and monster will blur even further, and Allie must face another choice she could never have imagined having to make."

Review:

I'm doing a mashup review for these two books mainly because I read them one after another so I really have no idea where one ends and the other begins.  Oops?  I didn't even take new notes on The Eternity Cure! *shakes head*

So let's get on with it shall we?

I really loved this book and just the whole idea of the disease and vampires controlling everyone.  It's a new spin on an old idea and I think Ms. Kagawa did it brilliantly.

This book also contained excellent moral dilemmas about the whole question of drinking blood only from certain people and what not.  It really makes you think.  Allison did choose to be a vampire but she also is having a really hard time adapting her morals to her new lifestyle.  I loved Kanin's role in the story - how he tried to help her realize that eventually she was going to kill someone.  He is really depressed and all that but he is right.  His role is so crucial.

They both have brilliant storylines that had me reading well past 2 in the morning - not stopping until I finished.  I actually finished both books in one night!

The world building was also wonderful.  I could picture in my mind all the scenery and how decimated the earth is after the disease tore through city after city.

The Final Verdict:

I couldn't find anything wrong with this book - it's so amazing and addicting.  I can't wait to read the third book in the series (The Forever Song)!  These two books were utter perfection in my eyes.

5 stars

Quotes:

The Immortal Rules:

“You don't dwell on what you've lost, you just move on."-Allison”

“The closer you got to someone, the more it would destroy you when they were inevitably gone.” 

“We are vampires, Kanin had told me, on one of our last nights together. It makes no difference who we are, where we came from. Princes, Masters and rabids alike, we are monsters, cut off from humanity. They will never trust us. They will never accept us. We hide in their midst and walk among them, but we are forever separate.
Damned. Alone. You don’t understand now, but you will. There will come a time when the road before you splits, and you must decide your path. Will you choose to become a demon with a human face, or will you fight your demon until the end of time, knowing you will forever struggle alone?” 

“Hunger flickered, always there, but I pushed it down. I was a vampire. Nothing would change that. But I didn't have to be a monster.” 

“Words define us,' Mom continued, as I struggled to make my clumsy marks look like her elegant script. 'We must protect our knowledge and pass it on whenever we can. If we are ever to become a society again, we must teach others how to remain human.” 

“Sometime in your life, Alison Sekemoto, you will kill a human being. Accidentally or as a conscious, deliberate act. It is unavoidable. The question is not if it will happen, but when.”

 “You are a monster.” Kanin’s deep voice droned in my head again, as I forced myself to move, to walk away. “You will always be a monster, there is no turning back from it. But what type of monster you become is entirely up to you.” 

The Eternity Cure:

“I have good news and bad news The good news is that the jeep is still where we left it, and I got the damned thing working again."
"What's the bad news?"
"Something took my fuzzy dice.” 

“Oh, don't mind me," came an extremely sarcastic voice near the wall. “You two go ahead and make out–I'll just sit here and bleed quietly.” 

“Only death will take me away from you, vampire girl," he whispered. "And even then, I'll watch over you from wherever I end up.” 

“Next time you two decide to go on a bloody killing spree, at least send me an invitation so I know that you care.” 

“What's the matter? Scared? Need your big vampire brother to go down first.” 

“You're not a saint. You're a demon. Own up to it.” 

“There are no good choices, Allison," Kanin offered in a quiet voice. "There are only those you can live with, and those you can work to change.”

The Gunslinger by Stephen King

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This is actually a 3.5 book for me, following GR's rating system (and mine too people!). I liked this book and I sort of really liked this book. Therefore, a 3.5!

Stephen King has a very different writing style that has evolved over his years of writing. In this stage of his career, he took on a mysterious, metaphorical style/theme. So much is left to the reader to reason out on their own. Everything about this book is covered in shadow.

This is also one of those onion books. You can read it and say "Omg SO confusing! I don't get it! What's the dude's name again??" or you can say "I just looked into a never ending pool of unspoken wisdom. Mind-blown.". I had a little of both actually. Which is why I loved and hated it at the same time. When I first started reading, I was beyond confused. I haven't read many books that are mysterious as this one so it was difficult to get into the right mindset. However, once I read this passage:

"The greatest mystery the universe offers is not life but Size. Size encompasses life, and the Tower encompasses Size. The child, who is most at home with wonder, says: Daddy, what is above the sky? And the father says: The darkness of space. The child: What is beyond space? The father: the galaxy. The child: Beyond the galaxy? The father: Another galaxy. The child: Beyond the other galaxies? The father: No one knows. You see? Size defeats us."

It just struck me then what I hadn't grasped throughout the entire book. This concept of the universe moving on. That life is a concept of thought. That our world is always temporary. Nothing is ever really permanent. Just as everything must have a beginning, it also must have an end. Now different people may perceive this book and it's message in different ways, my way being one of billions. The point is that it isn't a flippant book.

It's because of all that that I'm giving this book 3.5 stars. It was very well written with a fairly good plot. By fairly good I mean I loved it but in some places, the timeline skipped in weird places or went to fast or too slow for my tastes. Anyway, I'm not rating it 3.5 stars for some ulterior motive or because I'm 'deducting stars' or anything. I just liked it. That's it. I will be reading the next one to see what happens to the gunslinger on his quest.

Ignite Me by Tahereh Mafi

Yeah. Ok. So it took me a while to figure out my feelings for this book. The first time I read it, I absolutely loved it and I couldn't get past my own feelings to actually accurately rate the plot, characters and just the overall writing. So I read it again. And again. And again. This time, I think I know what to say.

After finishing this series in it's entirety, I felt so incredibly sad because I wouldn't get to see all the different relationships in the book progress. The plot of this book was focused differently than other dystopian's I've read. The others focus on the rebellions and the overall movements of the people. This book focused on Juliette's personal journey from scared little girl to a strong and independent woman. I actually really liked that however I think I would have liked an epilogue just to see if they win the overall rebellion and what happens after that. But the way it ended (the last sentence - OMG) was amazing too.

I love 3 main things about Tahereh Mafi's writing. 1) Her characters are so fluid. Just like real people. She doesn't have to force them to become real, they just are because she writes them that way. It's like she isn't even aware that their fictional characters because they are real in her mind. 2) She is the QUEEN of metaphors. I didn't think so many things could be comparable but the way she writes her metaphors just paint beautiful pictures in my mind. 3) Just her writing style. She doesn't worry about fragments or run-on sentences. For example, when Juliette is frantic and panicking, her sentences are run-on's showing Juliette's train of thought that doesn't stop. Or when she's in shock or speechless, all the sentences are short. It's in this way that the book is perfectly paced so you feel like you're in Juliette's head and seeing everything truly from her eyes.

Oh, and I LOVE the cover's for all 5 books!! So gorgeous!

This book is truly a work of art, full of mind-blowing metaphors, beyond real characters, riveting plot, and phenomenal pacing. I absolutely loved it and wouldn't take it any other way. 5 perfect stars!

Now for some quotes I adored:

“I can do anything I want. 
Be with anyone I want. 
And it'll be my choice.”

“Why do you call her 'love'?" James asks. "I've heard you say that before, too. A lot. Are you in love with her? I think Adam's in love with her. Kenji's not in love with her, though. I already asked him." 
Warner blinks at him. 
"Well?" James asks. 
"Well what?" 
"Are you in love with her?" 
"Are you in love with her?" 
"What?" James blushes. "No. She's like a million years older than me." 
"Would anyone else like to take over this conversation?" Warner asks, looking around the group.”

“I’m not sure. But there’s something about the darkness, the stillness of this hour, I think, that creates a language of its own. There’s a strange kind of freedom in the dark; a terrifying vulnerability we allow ourselves at exactly the wrong moment, tricked by the darkness into thinking it will keep our secrets. We forget that the blackness is not a blanket; we forget that the sun will soon rise. But in the moment, at least, we feel brave enough to say things we’d never say in the light.”

“Words, I think, are such unpredictable creatures.
No gun, no sword, no army or king will ever be more powerful than a sentence. Swords may cut and kill, but words will stab and stay, burying themselves in our bones to become corpses we carry into the future, all the time digging and failing to rip their skeletons from our flesh.”

“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.” 

“Water that never moves." I say to him. "Its fine for a little while. You can drink from it and it'll sustain you. But if it sits too long it goes bad. It grows stale. It becomes toxic." I shake my head. "I need waves. I need waterfalls. I want rushing currents.” 

“I promise myself then, in that moment, that I will hold him forever, just like this, until all the pain and torture and suffering is gone, until he's given a chance to live the kind of life where no one can wound him this deeply ever again.” 

“He looks up, so slowly, gold lashes lifting to reveal more sadness and beauty that I've ever seen in the same moment. I didn't know a person could convey so much with just one look. There's extraordinary pain in him. Extraordinary passion.”

“I'm not falling for Warner," I say quietly.
"Sure you aren't."
"I'm not," I insist. "I'm just-- I don't know." I sigh. "I don't know what's happening to me."
"They're called hormones.”

“Damn,” Kenji says after a moment. “Damn damn damn. This shit is bananas” 

“Hanging out with you has made me weird, J. All I do is sit around thinking about my feelings these days. Thanks for that.” 

“But I'm also strong enough to break through just about anything," I tell them, "and without even injuring myself. Concrete. Brick. Glass-"
"The earth," Kenji adds.” 

“Ignite, my love. Ignite.”