These Broken Stars by Amie Kaufman & Meagan Spooner (Starbound #1) (Available November 2013) ★★★★★ It’s a night like any other on board the Icarus. Then, catastrophe strikes: the massive luxury spaceliner is yanked out of hyperspace and plummets into the nearest planet. Lilac LaRoux and Tarver Merendsen survive. And they seem to be alone. Lilac is the daughter of the richest man in the universe. Tarver comes from nothing, a young war hero who learned long ago that girls like Lilac are more trouble than they’re worth. But with only each other to rely on, Lilac and Tarver must work together, making a tortuous journey across the eerie, deserted terrain to seek help. Then, against all odds, Lilac and Tarver find a strange blessing in the tragedy that has thrown them into each other’s arms. Without the hope of a future together in their own world, they begin to wonder—would they be better off staying here forever? Everything changes when they uncover the truth behind the chilling whispers that haunt their every step. Lilac and Tarver may find a way off this planet. But they won’t be the same people who landed on it. This book was fantastic, a blend of sci-fi, survival, and creeping horror. I love that it’s told from both Tarver and Lilac’s points of view, keeping in check their strengths and weaknesses, and adding to the suspense. I couldn’t stop reading; I had to know what happened next. And it was never what I expected; These Broken Stars threw me for a dozen loops. Tarver and Lilac face impossible odds, terrifying circumstances, and new problems. Kaufman and Spooner gave them distinct, well-done personalities, and had them fall in love slowly and realistically. Happily, the love story isn’t the main focus of the novel until much later, and it does add to the book. The only thing I found a little bit off about These Broken Stars was that only Tarver and Lilac sruvived, out of the fifty thousand souls on board. I would have liked for them to encounter another survivor or two, but at the same time, the fact that they were utterly and totally alone helped to set the mood for the story. These Broken Stars was a deliciously new, tense science fiction, that had me interested from page one all the way to the end. My advice for you - read it. Read it now.
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Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell ★★★★★ Set over the course of one school year in 1986, Eleanor & Park is the story of two star-crossed misfits – smart enough to know that first love almost never lasts, but brave and desperate enough to try. I couldn’t put this book down. I mean that literally; every time I tried to put it down and go to sleep, I immediately had to pick it up again and keep reading. So I’m here at 3:36 in the morning, telling you that Eleanor & Park is the best book I have read in a long, long time. There were about a thousand times while I was reading that I had to put the book down and bite my lip and try not to melt or squee or some ridiculousness, because it’s just that adorable. But it’s also poignant and heart-racing and makes you think about everything. And I do mean everything. Eleanor’s home situation is a scary, all-too-real undercurrent to the love story, and Park’s family, seemingly the polar opposite, is a great testament to not judging a book by its cover. I don’t think there ever has been, or ever will be, another story quite like this one. I am going to shove this book into the hands of everyone I meet. Edit from 2020: It's been six years since I read Eleanor and Park, and a lot has changed about how I view the book. It's come to my attention that this book has deeply racist (anti-Asian and anti-Black), and fatphobic content. When I read it I wasn't able to fully understand the issues with the book, but I have a much better understanding of them now. There's a great thread by Naomi Giddings explaining some of the problems with this book, so if by some chance this review shows up when you google Eleanor and Park following the release of the movie, may I suggest reading that instead? My Sister’s Keeper by Jodi Picoult ★★★★★ The emotionally riveting story of a family torn apart by conflicting needs and a passionate love that triumphs over human weakness. Anna is not sick, but she might as well be. By age thirteen, she has undergone countless surgeries, transfusions, and shots so that her older sister, Kate, can somehow fight the leukemia that has plagued her since childhood. The product of preimplantation genetic diagnosis, Anna was conceived as a bone marrow match for Kate — a life and a role that she has never challenged…until now. Like most teenagers, Anna is beginning to question who she truly is. But unlike most teenagers, she has always been defined in terms of her sister — and so Anna makes a decision that for most would be unthinkable, a decision that will tear her family apart and have perhaps fatal consequences for the sister she loves. My Sister’s Keeper is the perfect book about what it means to be a family, and a sister. I’m torn between recommending this book to every single person I meet or telling them never to read it, because it will rip them apart. I cried for hours after I read it. Picoult’s writing style and fully developed characters brought the story to life. I never doubted for a second the love Anna had for Kate, or her need for freedom. This book threw me for some loops, some good and some bad, but all handled excellently by Picoult. The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky ★★★★★ Charlie is a freshman. And while he’s not the biggest geek in the school, he is by no means popular. Shy, introspective, intelligent beyond his years yet socially awkward, he is a wallflower, caught between trying to live his life and trying to run from it. Charlie is attempting to navigate his way through uncharted territory: the world of first dates and mix tapes, family dramas and new friends; the world of sex, drugs, and The Rocky Horror Picture Show, when all one requires is that perfect song on that perfect drive to feel infinite. But he can’t stay on the sideline forever. Standing on the fringes of life offers a unique perspective. But there comes a time to see what it looks like from the dance floor. I almost feel like I can’t do this book justice in a review. This is the sort of book you get a hangover from, and you can’t pick up a new book just yet because you’re still thinking about it. While I was reading this, it sort of hit me how real it was. There are thousands of people like Charlie, but sometimes we need reminders like this book so we won't forget. Charlie isn’t the only one with skeletons in his closet. And everyone else’s skeletons keep leaping out at other people. We don’t know where Charlie lives or if that’s even his real name (due to his need to stay anonymous), but while reading this book, I felt really connected to him. Like the letters were for me. The Perks of Being a Wallflower is a special sort of book that can make you feel like it was meant for you.. Insurgent by Veronica Roth (Divergent #2) ★★★★★ One choice can transform you, or destroy you. Every choice has consequences, and as unrest surges in the factions all around her, Tris Prior must continue trying to save those she loves, and herself, while grappling with haunting questions of grief and forgiveness, identity and loyalty, politics and love. I love this series. Roth’s worldbuilding is incredibly detailed and thought through. Her characters are intoxicating and vibrant. The premise of the story is unique, and well done. I hate saying this - but I love who Roth decides to kill. Not because I wanted them to die, or they were minor characters. God knows I nearly dropped the book every time a character bit it. But in real life, war is messy, and the people you want to survive it don’t always make it. I like that Roth keeps it realistic that way, and she lets Tris deal with their deaths realistically. The ending of the book was a little confusing, but then again there’s a third book set to be released, so I hold out hope that my questions will be answered. I can’t wait to read the third book in the trilogy. Paper Towns by John Green ★★★★★ Quentin Jacobsen has spent a lifetime loving the magnificently adventurous Margo Roth Spiegelman from afar. So when she cracks open a window and climbs back into his life—dressed like a ninja and summoning him for an ingenious campaign of revenge—he follows. After their all-nighter ends and a new day breaks, Q arrives at school to discover that Margo, always an enigma, has now become a mystery. But Q soon learns that there are clues—and they’re for him. Urged down a disconnected path, the closer he gets, the less Q sees of the girl he thought he knew… This book is the closest thing I have to a Bible. The first time I read it, I liked it well enough. I thought it was a good story. The second time I read, it I fell in love with it. I understood it better, and the ambiguous ending felt right. Some parts of the book are highly metaphorical, and at times I just wished the story would get on with it - but at the same time, the philosophy in it is one of the things I love. Even though I will never be able to correctly imagine Margo or Q, they feel real. And they have a lot to say. John Green's characters are relatable and lovable for all their imperfections. Paper Towns made me giggle like an idiot, and it always cheers me up. UnWholly by Neil Shusterman (Unwind #2) ★★★★★ Thanks to Connor, Lev, and Risa—and their high-profile revolt at Happy Jack Harvest Camp—people can no longer turn a blind eye to unwinding. Ridding society of troublesome teens while simultaneously providing much-needed tissues for transplant might be convenient, but its morality has finally been brought into question. However, unwinding has become big business, and there are powerful political and corporate interests that want to see it not only continue, but also expand to the unwinding of prisoners and the impoverished. Cam is a product of unwinding; made entirely out of the parts of other unwinds, he is a teen who does not technically exist. A futuristic Frankenstein, Cam struggles with a search for identity and meaning and wonders if a rewound being can have a soul. And when the actions of a sadistic bounty hunter cause Cam’s fate to become inextricably bound with the fates of Connor, Risa, and Lev, he’ll have to question humanity itself. Most sequels to great books contract Second Book Syndrome. They lack the depth and character of the first books, aren’t plotted as well, or aren’t really needed. Needless to say, I was a little worried that UnWholly wouldn’t live up to its predecessor. But my doubt was squashed as soon as I started reading. If anything, UnWholly is even more thought-provoking and developed than Unwind. Whereas Unwindtackled the idea of death, UnWholly tackles the idea of life. While Conor, Lev, and Risa are running for their lives from the Juvey cops and harvest camps, you have to ask if unwinding is really death or just a ‘divided state’ and if unwinding is ethical or not. In the continuation of their story, those questions are still relevant, but you also have to ask if Cam is even alive, if he has a soul, if he’s a new person or not. Just as rife with philosophy, plot twists, and incredible writing as ever, UnWholly makes a fantastic addition to the Unwind trilogy. Unwind by Neil Shusterman (Unwind #1) ★★★★★ The Second Civil War was fought over reproductive rights. The chilling resolution: Life is inviolable from the moment of conception until age thirteen. Between the ages of thirteen and eighteen, however, parents can have their child “unwound,” whereby all of the child’s organs are transplanted into different donors, so life doesn’t technically end. Connor is too difficult for his parents to control. Risa, a ward of the state is not important enough to be kept alive. And Lev is a tithe, a child conceived and raised to be unwound. Together, they may have a chance to escape and to survive. On the surface, Unwind is a fast-paced adventure story, kids running for their lives. And when you stop to think about why they’re running for their lives, it throws you for a loop. When I first read Unwind, I didn’t want to believe that such a world could exist, but either because Shusterman thought of every detail in creating this world, or because it was so believable, I felt like I was living in that world. The ideas behind the book are also big issues in society today. Shusterman’s characters live and breathe right next to you, pulling you into their wild escape. You will bite your nails in suspense and your breath will catch at every turn with Unwind. I highly recommend it; this is probably my favorite dystopian series. Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion ★★★★★ R is a young man with an existential crisis—he is a zombie. He shuffles through an America destroyed by war, social collapse, and the mindless hunger of his undead comrades, but he craves something more than blood and brains. He can speak just a few grunted syllables, but his inner life is deep, full of wonder and longing. He has no memories, no identity, and no pulse, but he has dreams.After experiencing a teenage boy’s memories while consuming his brain, R makes an unexpected choice that begins a tense, awkward, and strangely sweet relationship with the victim’s human girlfriend. Julie is a blast of color in the otherwise dreary and gray landscape that surrounds R. His decision to protect her will transform not only R, but his fellow Dead, and perhaps their whole lifeless world. I loved this book. It was practically glued to my hands; I barely paused to eat while I was reading it. There are a thousand reasons I love Warm Bodies, but one of the biggest is that it’s so different. I’ve read a few zombie stories in my day, and this one took the cake. R isn’t a thoughtless killing machine. There’s no sense of hopelessness and defeatism in him or Julie - they acknowledge that their world’s gone to shit, but they hope it will get better. I was skeptical at first; sure that R’s “recovery” would be some miraculous, cliched cure from love. But R starts to become human and live again because he wants to. And it’s infectious. The amount of character development in this book is staggering. The amount of thought Marion put into his world-building and the plague itself is wonderful. I do wish that the battle against the Boneys had gone slightly different, at least at the end, when they all just walked away. But overall,Warm Bodies completely transported me into R and Julie’s world, had me sitting on the edge of my seat, and made me fall totally in love with it. I never thought I would care so much about a zombie. Clockwork Princess by Cassandra Clare (The Infernal Devices #3) ★★★★★ Tessa Gray should be happy - aren’t all brides happy? Yet as she prepares for her wedding, a net of shadows begins to tighten around the Shadowhunters of the London Institute. A new demon appears, one linked by blood and secrecy to Mortmain, the man who plans to use his army of pitiless automatons, the Infernal Devices, to destroy the Shadowhunters. Mortmain needs only one last item to complete his plan. He needs Tessa. And Jem and Will, the boys who lay equal claim to Tessa’s heart, will do anything to save her. If I had to describe this book in three words, they would be these: holy plot twist. Clare has outdone herself with the finale of The Infernal Devices. Despite the book’s having begun with a giant demonic worm, it’s truly incredible. Beginning this book, I was really nervous, because I knew we’d finally figure out exactly what Tessa was, who would win her heart, and whether or not Mortmain would be stopped. Clare did a wonderful job of answering these questions. And her plot twists - of which there were several - knocked me completely off my feet. (There will be spoilers beyond this point. You have been warned). One of the things I absolutely loved about this book was Charlotte’s role. In the 19th century, women weren’t seen as capable of taking on the kind of responsibilities Charlotte does. I love that although the Consul is extremely sexist and makes many insulting remarks about the “fairer sex,” Clare also makes it clear that she doesn’t share that view and goes so far as to make Charlotte the new Consul, a huge victory for any woman in that time period. A problem I had with the book was the ending - everything seemed too neatly wrapped up. Everyone marries who they’ve fallen in love with, and even Jem, eventually, gets the girl. But at the same time, if the book had ended any other way, I probably would’ve thrown it against a wall. This series has put me through enough pain, I think we deserved a bow-tied ending. |
Once Upon a Time...As a longtime lover of stories and a believer in the power and magic of books, I've spent my life seeking out the best reads. This blog is dedicated to reviewing the books I read - good, bad, or magnificent - to help other readers find their next favorite books. Currently ReadingKing Zeno
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