Starcrossed by Josephine Angelini

Release Date: May 31^st 2011

Publisher: HarperTeen

Age Group: Young Adult

Pages: 514 pages

Source: Library

Series: Book 1

How do you defy destiny?

Helen Hamilton has spent her entire sixteen years trying to hide how different she is—no easy task on an island as small and sheltered as Nantucket. And it's getting harder. Nightmares of a desperate desert journey have Helen waking parched, only to find her sheets damaged by dirt and dust. At school she's haunted by hallucinations of three women weeping tears of blood . . . and when Helen first crosses paths with Lucas Delos, she has no way of knowing they're destined to play the leading roles in a tragedy the Fates insist on repeating throughout history.

As Helen unlocks the secrets of her ancestry, she realizes that some myths are more than just legend. But even demigod powers might not be enough to defy the forces that are both drawing her and Lucas together—and trying to tear them apart.

This book was great. Fantastic. Unique plot and characters. But I didn’t like it. It wasn’t for me. At first it sounded so interesting. It kept me on going and flipping through the pages quickly. But later I was bored. Really. I felt the book was too wordy. Full of details. And yes usually when a book is full of details is considered to be great and placed in my favourite bookshelf. But this book was too wordy to the point I had to skip parts of it. I guess I didn’t care much about the characters .Or maybe I'm not into Greek Mythology. I don’t know.

The love story between Helen and Lucas was fine. But I wanted more. I was waiting till the last page to get more but there was nothing.

Basically, I had high hopes for this book but it let me down. Sadly. And not because of writing or anything. No, the writing was excellent. I guess I'm not into that sort of lengthy book. 

Across the Universe by Beth Revis

Release Date: January 11st 2011

Publisher: RazorBill

Age Group: Young Adult

Pages: 398 pages

Source: Won from a contest

Series: Book 1

Seventeen-year-old Amy joins her parents as frozen cargo aboard the vast spaceship Godspeed and expects to awaken on a new planet, three hundred years in the future. Never could she have known that her frozen slumber would come to an end fifty years too soon and that she would be thrust into the brave new world of a spaceship that lives by its own rules.

Amy quickly realizes that her awakening was no mere computer malfunction. Someone - one of the few thousand inhabitants of the spaceship - tried to kill her. And if Amy doesn't do something soon, her parents will be next.

Now, Amy must race to unlock Godspeed's hidden secrets. But out of her list of murder suspects, there's only one who matters: Elder, the future leader of the ship and the love she could never have seen coming.

So I was kind of scared to start this book. It had been on my shelves since February and I only picked it up in August. But I guess this fear came out from the fact that I never read sci-fi books and always thought of this genre that it is more boyish. But really this book was amazing. See how huge it is but it was still fast paced. Chapters were very small which is something I really love in books. I feel good when I finish a chapter and there were 81 chapters in that book so imagine how I felt. Each chapter was narrated by Amy or Elder. Its really good to have two narrators in a book because it gives you more scoop. Also, you get to know how these two characters feel for each other which is pretty amazing in that book.

For the characters, I loved them all. Amy was brilliant, this earth human. Elder was this confused, soon-to-be a leader of a spaceship. Eldest the novels' current elder was just crazy and a dictator.

For the book's plot, I never read anything like this. It was so unique, so unique(again). like I never read a book that takes place in a spaceship. And really I was never bored …just like I said, it was fast paced. Within each chapter there was something going on and a new secret revealed. It was just perfect.

And I must say that when the publisher (or whomever thought of this) had two covers for this book; one girly and the other boyish it was a smart idea because the book could appeal to both males and females. And I don’t usually say that on books I read.

Also, this book makes me thankful of all the things we have on Sol-Earth. Really stuff like the stars and the sun. Be thankful, readers.

If you have this book around, go and pick it up. It's amazing.   

Egypt: The Uprising by Amira Aly

Egypt: The Uprising by Amira Aly

Release Date: June 1^st 2011

Age Group: Young Adult

Page: 125 pages

Source: E-arc for author

Series: Book 1

A debut novel like no other-- touches on the apocalyptic flavors of the times and tells of a history that transcends the past. 

Why is the Arab world in turmoil? What instigated the Spring of Freedom? 
There is more to the story than meets the eye... 
The very fabric of the world is at stake. 

And , believe it or not, your fate lies in the hands of one book-loving Egyptian teen with an extraordinary heritage . 

Aya is an Egyptian teenage girl trying to mind her own business and take care of her brother. As their country is swept by the tides of a revolution against a tyrant nicknamed the vile pharaoh, Aya tries to stay adrift. But her blood has something different in store for her. 

Learning what the Ancients have always known, She joins a battle for truth and freedom-- a battle for Ma'at. 

It is not just a story, however, it is a world-within-world, and a fresh tantalizing outlook on the events in our modern events. 

This elegant novella is an introduction to a multi-volume series... The Battle for Maat.

The present and the past collide in this book.

The Uprising takes place in Egypt during the January 25^th revolution. Aya's brother had disappeared. Now its Aya's role to get him back. Aya goes through series of adventure through the past.

This was my first time reading a book that is full of Egyptian mythology. I mean, I studied Greek mythology but seriously, Amira opened my eyes to the Egyptian mythology. And of course, because of Amira's beautiful writing, I had to like it so much.

The writing style of Amira was amazing. I felt like each word was placed perfectly and with great meaning within each sentence. I think the writing was my 2^nd favorite.

My 1^st favorite though was the brilliance of attaching what's happening currently in Egypt with the past and the Egyptian mythology.

I was also taken on a trip to the nowadays atmosphere in Egypt and also to the pyramids and sphinx area. How epic is that?

Instead of travelling all the way to Egypt, you just have to simply read this book. Because it delivers vivid scenes which help feel like 1) in Egypt 2) part of history that is being written.

Hereafter by Tara Hudson

Hereafter by Tara Hudson

Release Date: June 7^st 2011

Publisher: HarperCollins

Age Group: Young Adult

Page: 404 pages

Source: Library

Drifting in the dark waters of a mysterious river, the only thing Amelia knows for sure is that she's dead. With no recollection of her past life—or her actual death—she's trapped alone in a nightmarish existence. All of this changes when she tries to rescue a boy, Joshua, from drowning in her river. As a ghost, she can do nothing but will him to live. Yet in an unforgettable moment of connection, she helps him survive.

Amelia and Joshua grow ever closer as they begin to uncover the strange circumstances of her death and the secrets of the dark river that held her captive for so long. But even while they struggle to keep their bond hidden from the living world, a frightening spirit named Eli is doing everything in his power to destroy their newfound happiness and drag Amelia back into the ghost world . . . forever.

Thrilling and evocative, with moments of pure pleasure, Hereafter is a sensation you won't want to miss.

Hereafter is a ghost story. It is about Amelia who becomes a ghost and the only person who can see her is Joshua. A relationship is formed between them. And from here we are taken on a detour of what Amelia's life was back in the day and what her future will be like.

Now if we are talking about the originality of a book, the book was unique (at least to me since I am just starting to read ghost stories). It was a fun world to get into, miserable too since we are talking about death.

The thing I didn’t like about the book was how wordy it was and how it turned out to be such a long book. I mean, 404 pages was too much for me. It should've been less than that.

The relationship between Amelia and Joshua was uninteresting to me. It's all because I am so tired of un-forbidden love or love that shouldn’t exist.

Overall, I give this book 3/5 stars  

Imaginary Girls by Nova Ren Suma

Imaginary Girls by Nova Ren Suma

Release Date: June 14^th 2011

Publisher: Dutton

Age Group: Young Adult

Page: 352 pages

Source: Library

Chloe's older sister, Ruby, is the girl everyone looks to and longs for, who can't be captured or caged. When a night with Ruby's friends goes horribly wrong and Chloe discovers the dead body of her classmate London Hayes left floating in the reservoir, Chloe is sent away from town and away from Ruby.

But Ruby will do anything to get her sister back, and when Chloe returns to town two years later, deadly surprises await. As Chloe flirts with the truth that Ruby has hidden deeply away, the fragile line between life and death is redrawn by the complex bonds of sisterhood.

With palpable drama and delicious craft, Nova Ren Suma bursts onto the YA scene with the story that everyone will be talking about.

First of all, look at the cover. It's just beautiful. You have to agree with that.

Second of all, the writing was so good. It was almost poetic. Nova's writing captured everything elegantly (the moments, thoughts of the main character, Chole herself). The writing style was one of the things that I liked about this book.

This book kept me guessing. I was tempted several times to read the final page but I was also eager to read how Nova will build up the story. It was mysterious, creepy and eerie. The story itself was unique and its mainly focus was on the bonds between sisters. So the main focus of the book wasn’t on a boy and a girl falling in love. But don’t worry there was that too. Usually, the romance in a book is thing that keeps me reading it, but in Imaginary Girls there was a lack of that aspect but it was still amazing. You know, a great book doesn’t need a romance to make it perfect.

I liked the characters, of course. They were so real.

With all positives I had mentioned above, there is one negative…  I don’t get it. I don’t get the imaginary girls concept. I don’t want to spoil so all I'm going to say is that it was a bit confusing. Especially towards the end. Like I don’t know who is real or imaginary anymore. Well, I guess that’s the point of it.

Overall, this book was awesome and one of my favorite reads in 2011.

    

Wake Unto Me by Lisa Cach

Wake Unto Me by Lisa Cach

Release Date: March 31^st 2011

Publisher: Speak

Age Group: Young Adult

Page: 304 pages

Source: Library

A haunted castle, a handsome young man dead for four hundred years, one heck of a scary portrait of a witch, and a treasure hunt -- not to mention a princess for a roommate! -- all await 15 year old American girl Caitlyn Monahan when she earns a scholarship to a French boarding school. 

There are secrets behind the stone walls of Chateau de la Fortune, buried for centuries along with the mystery of who killed Raphael, the charming ghost who visits Caitlyn at night. But as Caitlyn unearths the history of the castle, nothing scares her as badly as the secret she learns about herself, and the reason she was chosen to come to the Fortune School. 

And nothing breaks her heart as badly as falling in love with a dead guy.

A girl who could only meet her soul mate while she is asleep

What I really liked about this book is the writing style. It felt like it was a historical fiction because of the great, deep description. It helped me sink into the book and into the character's mind; even though it was written in third person point of view. I also, liked the fact that the book took place in France and to be specific it took place in Southwest France. There were French words which added to the richness of the dialogue and the description.

The pacing of the book was slow and boring sometimes. I did make me lose connection with the main characters. I just felt it was so too wordy but I liked the style of it (as I mentioned before), so I am not really sure how I feel about this. I am basically mixed. I liked the writing style but I felt it was so wordy. So you decide, what I exactly mean!

The storyline wasn’t engaging at all. It got me confused a little bit. I mean there were so many little details that I had to follow in order to get the big picture.

But overall, this book was beautifully written in a sophisticated way. 

Die For Me by Amy Plum

Die For Me by Amy Plum

Release Date: May 10^th 2011

Publisher: HarperTeen

Age Group: Young Adult

Page: 341pages

Source: Library

Series: Book 1

In the City of Lights, two star-crossed lovers battle a fate that is destined to tear them apart again and again for eternity.

When Kate Mercier's parents die in a tragic car accident, she leaves her life--and memories--behind to live with her grandparents in Paris. For Kate, the only way to survive her pain is escaping into the world of books and Parisian art. Until she meets Vincent.

Mysterious, charming, and devastatingly handsome, Vincent threatens to melt the ice around Kate's guarded heart with just his smile. As she begins to fall in love with Vincent, Kate discovers that he's a revenant--an undead being whose fate forces him to sacrifice himself over and over again to save the lives of others. Vincent and those like him are bound in a centuries-old war against a group of evil revenants who exist only to murder and betray. Kate soon realizes that if she follows her heart, she may never be safe again.

When I first heard that this book would be set in paris, I got super excited. I mean, I love reading about France and knowing more their culture, language, etc.

To be honest with you,  I didn’t like the book much, it was good but not to the point where I was awed by it. but please do not take this review as a negative review. The book just didn’t captivate me into its world.

Now I will give it to you, it has a unique concept. I never read anything like that but the problems were in the characters. They were pretty much flat characters. I liked Amy at first because she does nothing in her life but read and read and read. But then she became irritating all the time. Vincent was boring and dull to me. He was mysterious, hot but the way he loved Amy all of sudden wasn’t realistic to me. I like things to come slow. Not OMG, I think I love you. It's just me!

The storyline was twilight themed. There were no vampires in this book but I felt like I was reading one of the twilight books all the time.  I don’t know why, really (Insert a sad face!).

What I liked about this book was the world that Amy had created. It was original as I mentioned and people will like it, but it wasn’t for me.

Tata for now

Unearthly by Cynthia Hand

Unearthly by Cynthia Hand

Release Date: January 4^th  2011

Publisher: HarperTeen

Age Group: Young Adult

Page: 435 pages

Source: Library

In the beginning, there's a boy standing in the trees . . . .

Clara Gardner has recently learned that she's part angel. Having angel blood run through her veins not only makes her smarter, stronger, and faster than humans (a word, she realizes, that no longer applies to her), but it means she has a purpose, something she was put on this earth to do. Figuring out what that is, though, isn't easy.

Her visions of a raging forest fire and an alluring stranger lead her to a new school in a new town. When she meets Christian, who turns out to be the boy of her dreams (literally), everything seems to fall into place—and out of place at the same time. Because there's another guy, Tucker, who appeals to Clara's less angelic side.

As Clara tries to find her way in a world she no longer understands, she encounters unseen dangers and choices she never thought she'd have to make—between honesty and deceit, love and duty, good and evil. When the fire from her vision finally ignites, will Clara be ready to face her destiny?

Unearthly is a moving tale of love and fate, and the struggle between following the rules and following your heart.

Could debut books of 2011 get any better? I doubt that!

Unearthly starts with so many questions, wonders and a great intro to a whole new mysterious world. We are introduced to Clara who finds out that she is an angel who has a purpose in life. She moves out to get closer to her purpose who turns out to be "saving Christian" from fire. But things don’t go the way it's planned.

This book had a gripping, addictive storyline. Maybe the book was glued to my hands, so that would explain why I found it hard to put the book down? Maybe? The writing is unique and beautiful. The "clean romance" is just attractive and incomparable. So like, when Tucker falls in love with Clara from first sight, isn’t that great? Well, I don’t see that often in books I read. For most of the time, I wanted to be Clara because she had so much fun this summer and talked to bears(the summer in the book).

BUT, I didn’t like the ending that much. It wasn’t on the same level as the rest of the book. Or maybe I didn’t want the book to end.

Finally, I want to say this book was UNEARTHLY.

Tata for now 

Flip by Martyn Bedford

Flip by Martyn Bedford

Release Date: April 5^th 2011

Publisher: DoubleDay Canada

Age Group: Young Adults

Pages: 272 pages

Source: Library

One December night, 14-year-old Alex goes to  bed. He wakes up to  find himself in the wrong bedroom, in an unfamiliar house, in a different part of the country, and it's the middle of June. Six months have disappeared overnight. The family at the breakfast table are total strangers.And when he looks in the mirror, another boy's face stares back at him.  A boy named Flip. Unless Alex finds out what's happened and how to get back to his own life,  he may be trapped forever inside a body that belongs to someone else.  Questions of identity, the will to survive, and what you're willing to sacrifice to be alive make this extraordinary book impossible to put down.

Could you imagine yourself, waking up one morning to find yourself in somebody else's body? Yea, well, this is what happened to Alex who woke up in a different body, different family and different life. The book starts with Alex trying to figure what is happening to him. He tried to solve this problem but how could he? What happened to the night before the transformation took place? Who knows?

This book had a new concept to it. All the time I was thinking about the ending. Well, it was nothing like I expected. However, I found the book to be very wordy. Too "much" words and too "less" action à not my type of books I really enjoy.

The book also was about how someone could think that they are in love with someone because of their looks but it is actually the personality that hides underneath the looks that counts.

It was a great read but too wordy for me.

Tata for now  

Wither by Lauren DeStefano

Wither by Lauren DeStefano

Release Date: March 22^nd  2011
Publisher: Simon Schuster 
Age Group: Young Adult
Pages: 358
Source: Purchased
Series: Book 1 

Thanks to modern science, every human being has become a ticking genetic time bomb—males only live to age twenty-five, and females only live to age twenty. In this bleak landscape, young girls are kidnapped and forced into polygamous marriages to keep the population from dying out.

When sixteen-year-old Rhine Ellery is taken by the Gatherers to become a bride, she enters a world of wealth and privilege. Despite her husband Linden's genuine love for her, and a tenuous trust among her sister wives, Rhine has one purpose: to escape—to find her twin brother and go home.

But Rhine has more to contend with than losing her freedom. Linden's eccentric father is bent on finding an antidote to the genetic virus that is getting closer to taking his son, even if it means collecting corpses in order to test his experiments. With the help of Gabriel, a servant Rhine is growing dangerously attracted to, Rhine attempts to break free, in the limited time she has left.

I will be straight right away and tell you the following:

·         Wither is my favorite debut in 2011 (so far)

·         Wither is considered one of my favorite books of all time

·         Wither is my favorite dystopian

I read Wither based on twitter recommendations but seriously, I wasn’t really excited for it because it is a dystopian. Don’t get me wrong, but I've read dystopian books from before and they were the same. But I was wrong, in fact, I regret waiting that long to start reading Wither.

Wither made me travel… to where might be the future be like. I was introduced to Rhine who was kidnapped to get married to Linden to have babies.

The plot and setting of the novel was unique on its own. I know how it looks. I know every detail of the house, of her room. The writing is nothing like I've read from before. It was so rich of exquisite words. The fact that the book's storyline took place on over a year without me realizing, shows how the pacing was so fast and so delicate.

Each character in this book was fantastic. Even the "bad guy" who destroyed Rhine's life was so real and genuine.  

Hopefully, the world doesn’t turn that ugly in the future. Keep us safe, government.

And please have a look at the cover. Beautiful!

Overall, Lauren DeStefano is a great writer. I will be reading every book written by her. I even read every tweet she tweets. She is fun to follow on twitter. I could see myself reading Wither over and over again and that why I considered it my favorite debut.

Tata for now

P.S. No matter what I say, I will never do this book any justice. Go pick up your copy and you will know why.    

Book Review: Between Shades of Gray

Heyhihello

I shall review a book titled "Between Shade of Gray" by Ruta Sepetys.

Release Date: March 22^nd 2011
Publisher: Philomel Books
Source: Library
The description of the book: 

Lina is just like any other fifteen-year-old Lithuanian girl in 1941. She paints, she draws, she gets crushes on boys. Until one night when Soviet officers barge into her home, tearing her family from the comfortable life they've known. Separated from her father, forced onto a crowded and dirty train car, Lina, her mother, and her young brother slowly make their way north, crossing the Arctic Circle, to a work camp in the coldest reaches of Siberia. Here they are forced, under Stalin's orders, to dig for beets and fight for their lives under the cruelest of conditions.
Lina finds solace in her art, meticulously—and at great risk—documenting events by drawing, hoping these messages will make their way to her father's prison camp to let him know they are still alive. It is a long and harrowing journey, spanning years and covering 6,500 miles, but it is through incredible strength, love, and hope that Lina ultimately survives. Between Shades of Gray is a novel that will steal your breath and capture your heart.

My review:

The length of the journey that a reader has to go through in this book is just exhausting and heart breaking. "Between Shade of Gray" put a spotlight on a part of history that went missing. A part that kept hidden from 1941 to 1990.

The book takes place during the Second World War in Lithuania and how people were treated like animals. The book is narrated by Lina who is 15 years old and who loves drawing. She was taken by the NKVD along with her mother and brother. Lina kept drawing as a way to communicate with her dad.

From the first moment, you start feeling sorry for Lina. How she had to face all these hardships in order to survive. How she was too young compared to the challenges she had to face. Lina and her family would work so hard for some bread to eat. But I loved her sprit. She knew the ending of this torture was coming soon. Even if it took her 12 years. Lina's mother was my favorite character. She was strong in front of her children and sacrificed a lot for them.

It wouldn’t be a YA if there was no love interest. The relationship between Lina and Andrius was a beautiful thing. Under all these conditions that they had to live through, there were able to love and help each other.

Reading a YA that is full of historical events and facts is just so amazing because you are teaching readers about history in the way they like it. Because otherwise who would want to know who died and who survived unless it was written well.  

Overall, I think Ruta's book was very informative and educational. Not to mention that it was heartbreaking but also it strengthens your soul at the same time. It makes you think about current events and makes you wonder where on earth the-treatments-of-humans-like-animals is happening. It takes YA genre to a whole new level.  

Tata for now

Book Review: Born at Midnight

Heyhihello

Today I shall review a book titled "Born at Midnight" by C.C. Hunter.

Release Date: March 29^th 2011

Publisher: St.Martin's Griffin

Source:ARC

Book Series: Book 1

Interest: 2011 debut author

The description of the book:

One night Kylie Galen finds herself at the wrong party, with the wrong people, and it changes her life forever.  Her mother ships her off to Shadow Falls—a camp for troubled teens, and within hours of arriving, it becomes painfully clear that her fellow campers aren’t just “troubled.”  Here at Shadow Falls, vampires, werewolves, shapshifters, witches and fairies train side by side—learning to harness their powers, control their magic and live in the normal world. 

Kylie’s never felt normal, but surely she doesn’t belong here with a bunch of paranormal freaks either.  Or does she?  They insist Kylie is one of them, and that she was brought here for a reason.  As if life wasn’t complicated enough, enter Derek and Lucas.  Derek’s a half-fae who’s determined to be her boyfriend, and Lucas is a smokin’ hot werewolf with whom Kylie shares a secret past.  Both Derek and Lucas couldn’t be more different, but they both have a powerful hold on her heart.  

Even though Kylie feels deeply uncertain about everything, one thing is becoming painfully clear—Shadow Falls is exactly where she belongs…

My review:

This book was different from all of the other books that I've ever read for so many reasons.

First off: readers sometimes hate reading books from 3^rd person narration because it doesn’t connect them with the main character. Well, that’s true but it wasn’t the case for "Born at Midnight". The narration was in 3^rd person but it was written differently in a way that would make you forget that it was in 3^rd person. Therefore, it was like narrated by Kylie (the main character) so I mean it was an incredibly smart from the author to do that.

The addiction element wasn’t missing from this book. I couldn’t get enough from it. It was so good and I liked all the characters and the setting too. You get to read about young vampires, fairies and werewolf. I mean, most of the time vampires are century old but in this book the vampires are young and new to the supernatural world.

Each character had a unique voice. Kylie was cute, innocent and confused character. She seemed so real to me. Hunter did a great job in creating a dynamic character that will be useful for the next book in the series.

And please let's take a second to mention the guys in this book. For the first time ever, I was confused on which team I should be on.

Team Derek or Team Lucas

Ok so they both like Kylie and they want her so much but both of us...er… I mean Kylie doesn’t know who she likes more.  Derek is just so nice and patient and loveable. While Lucas has this mysterious side to him and she knew him since they were kids. Maybe book 2 will help pick a team.

There are so many twists in this book and each chapter ends with a cliffhanger.

Overall, this book was amazing and I seriously can't wait for book 2. And I can't for book 1 to become a bestseller.   

Tata for now