Mia
This was my first Colleen Hoover book, so you could say my expectations were quite high, because everyone on BookTube always raves about her books. For me, it was okay... I mean, I liked it, but it didn't stand out amongst the other books I've read this year. I never felt completely invested in the story and the characters and although the ending was exactly what I wanted, I just didn't really feel it... One day I probably will pick up one of Hoover's other books, but not for a while yet. I have a lot of other books I want to read way more.
This book was so cute and thrilling and wonderful and heartbreaking, all at the same time.
It started off a bit slow, not gonna lie, and the vast majority of the story takes place during a hike, but it didn't feel stagnant. The romance and the sci-fi aspects blended together very well and the last hundred pages, oh god... My heart could barely take it at 2am when I was reading. Can't wait to read the companion novel, which should is out very soon! This world feels like it's regressed back to the 40s but at the same time it's miles ahead of our current society. It's very interesting.
I watch too many horror films to find anything scary anymore, but this book certainly was creepy. Bloody Mary is possibly my favourite urban legend - and the one that scares me the most (I have a thing with mirrors...) - so I looked forward to reading this book and being scared!
It did quite a good job at it, too. I won't be avoiding mirrors any more than I usually do, but I definitely won't risking calling Mary in front of one.
I loved the setting of the book, as I love reading about boarding schools and England, and this had both. Bobbie was an okay main character, if slightly bland - her friend Naya was a lot cooler and more fun to read about (just imagine the book from Naya's perspective, oh my god!)
Satisfying ending, with a twist. It's not horror unless there's a twist at the end. ;)
4.5 stars.
So I really, really enjoyed this book! I had anticipated a slow read, but there was a lot more action than I thought, which was great. The way the characters were written and described was very good, I felt like I got to know all of them, even those who were only with us for a short while. Eve was, you know, definitely like a girl who had never seen a man in her entire life and she seemed a lot younger than 18, which makes sense. Arden was cool and a bit of a BAMF. Caleb was cute.
I look forward to reading Once very soon!
This book (and it's predecessor) are weird as hell, but so entertaining and easy to read. The world in these books is quite terrifying - teen pregnancy has become an industry and is seen as morally right by the majority of people. That is not okay. Melody & Harmony are easy to tell apart while reading, since they are so fundamentally different. The writing isn't spectacular, but the humour and the weird pregnancy-related slang is right up my alley.
The ending satisfied me.
I loved the short chapters and the action-packed story! The multiple (12) POV's were a bit confusing at first, but easier once you get to know the characters and their bloodlines.
I'm kind of obsessed with Endgame right now and working hard to solve all the puzzles (which is very hard and I haven't made much progress yet). My bloodline is Harrapan, but based on location I would think my line would be La Tène.
Wow! I thoroughly enjoyed this book! It was so action-packed and fast-paced. The descriptions were so vivid and clear that the story really sucked me in. There were quite a few “graphic” scenes, which were disgusting, but they just added another dimension to the story. Penryn was a great main character. I loved reading her thoughts and the reasonings behind her actions. She felt very real. I need to read World After as soon as possible!
I was kind of disappointed by this book, actually.
What I liked:
The last few pages were very touching, beautiful and emotional. I also felt like I could understand Cadence's relationship with her cousins, because I'm also one of three cousins born within a few months of each other. I'm not the oldest, but that doesn't matter.
What I didn't like:
The big twist wasn't at all unexpected for me. I didn't know anything about this book or the story before reading it, but I still had it figured out halfway through.
Some people might consider all the repetition poetic, but for me it was just a bit annoying.
I didn't develop feelings for the characters. None of them really stood out, I didn't love them or hate them or anything.
The whole book reminded me of Looking for Alaska, to be honest, and I didn't really love that book either.
So that's why this gets 3 stars from me. It was okay, but nothing more. And way too hyped up.
Ahhhh I'm so pleased with the ending!
I'll write a proper review tomorrow, it's currently past 1am!
Review:
I'm so happy America finally came to her senses and allowed herself to love Maxon! About time! Maxon is such a sweetheart and so kind, and she's treated him like rubbish for ages, but finally she decided to show him how much she cares about him.All the deaths killed me though... First, her father? No, not okay. Then Celeste, and Queen Amberly. The King also died, but good riddance, says I! The sentence where Celeste was killed completely took me by surprise. I had to read it fifteen times before I was able to continue reading.And I can't believe Aspen actually married Lucy (well, they were going to get married anyway)! I think I mentioned them getting married in my review of The Elite, am I a psychic yet? Haha!
Ahhh...
So America really REALLY frustrated me in this book. She's so insensitive, selfish and indecisive. I enjoyed the story and I love Maxon. Aspen annoys me, because he keeps breaking rules to mess with America's head, pretending that he cares about her more than he cares about himself.
It was interesting to read about Gregory Illéa and what a narcissistic bastard he was. Finally getting to “meet” one of the rebels and seeing that not all of them were bloodthirsty savages was also very nice. It added more dimension to the whole story.
Marlee's story was so sad and beautiful at the same time.
The ending pleased me. I'm happy that America has finally decided to trust Maxon and actually fight for him and show him that she appreciates all that he's done for her. Because wow, that man has gone out of his way to make sure she's happy and she just threw everything away in a heartbeat.
I'm going to start “The One” very soon and I hope America decides to stay with Maxon. Aspen can marry Lucy and everyone would get their happily ever after.
The second half of the book was definitely the best. At first I was a little bored to be honest. There were so many descriptions and not much happened. But then, piece by piece, the story revealed itself and every now and then a new revelation would make me go “Oh... OH!”. And that's when I know it's a good book. I can't wait to see what the author does next!
I knew how this book ended before I even started it. I'm online most of the time and constantly on Twitter, so it was inevitable that I would get spoiled. And because of that, I didn't believe the ending would make me cry. But boy, was I wrong.
I just want to share my favourite sentence from the book: “I suppose a fire that burns that bright is not meant to last.”
4.5 stars
I enjoyed this book so much! At first, America annoyed me. I didn't really like Aspen and thought it was so stupid of her to decide to not like Maxon. I would've married him in a heartbeat, just sayin'.
The world in this book was really interesting. I'm guessing it's set somewhere around 300 or 400 years into the future?
I don't watch The Bachelor on TV, but reading about a similar thing was a lot of fun. I just want America to accept Maxon's love ughhhhh!
Yet another dystopian novel that I really enjoyed! This book has three POVs; Alina, Bea and Quinn. It did get a bit confusing at times, especially when the chapters were short, but it was alright most of the time. Sarah Crossan managed to make me develop real emotions while reading the book. I hated certain characters - not because they were badly written but the opposite: they were really well written. I liked Bea a lot. Probably because I could relate to her the most, and she was so kind towards Maude Blue. I loved that this novel was set in Britain instead of America. A world without oxygen is scary.
OH. MY. GOD.
Well, then, that's me terrified of the moon!
I have never read a more thrilling book in my entire life. I finished this book on the plane from London to Norway and I was straight out crying. Yep. I was so scared, so freaked out, so sad and distraught. This book is absolutely terrifying. In some ways, it reminded me of the Doctor Who two-parter The Impossible Planet/The Satan Pit, which scares me to death even after so many years.
I was a bit hesitant about this book being written by a Norwegian author, as I normally don't like Norwegian books at all. That is also why I chose to read this in English rather than Norwegian, which is my native language. The translator has done a brilliant job. The writing is alive and flows well. I loved it.
Definitely read this book if you like creepy, twisted stuff. You won't regret it. You'll never look at the moon the same way again!
This book was weird, but in a good kind of way. Once again I let my education chose my next YA dystopian novel! I really want to work with in vitro fertilisation and fertility treatments, so I thought it was really interesting to read about a future where a virus is making people infertile around the age of 18. Teen pregnancy all over the place and being encouraged - wow, what a scary future!
The main characters, twin sisters Melody and Harmony, were so totally different that it wasn't hard to keep track of whose chapter I was reading. Especially since Melody had the whole pregnancy-related slang going on (which, by the way, deeply amused me, I thought it was hilarious!) and Harmony was basically an Amish girl.
Oh, am I the only one who kept picturing Jondoe as a blond Gaston from Beauty & the Beast? Haha!
I'm excited to read Thumped next!
I loved this book!
I got this as an audiobook because I liked the sound of the plot description. I'm a biomedical scientist (3rd year student) and microbiology & genetics are my favourite areas of study. So reading about a virus that killed 99.99% of the human population really appealed to me. And I was not disappointed at all. This book isn't the kind of book that has a super exciting blurb, but then turns out to be more about the main character's love life. This book had some love (Kira has a boyfriend - not a spoiler), but it was so little compared to the science-y story. I loved reading (hearing) about life after the break, the Voice, the Partials. The big plot twist wasn't a total surprise to me, but I think it was intentional. There were hints along the way.
So yeah, I definitely recommend this book to anyone who loves dystopian. I can't wait to read the second book.
(I actually spent more than a year reading “Insurgent”. Not because it was bad, because it sure as hell wasn't, but because I've been struggling with some pretty shit stuff and haven't been in a reading mood.)
This, folks, is how you do a sequel. Answering questions from the previous book while making new ones. I'm probably the last person in the world to finish “Insurgent”, so I'm not going to write a long review. I'll just say that the ending made me really excited to start reading “Allegiant” and I won't spend a year reading that one! (I've been spoiled though, so I know what happens at the end of “Allegiant”...)
This book was about me. Or at least that what it felt like. I am Cath; Cath is me.
Ok, so it's kind of obvious that Simon Snow in “Fangirl” = Harry Potter in our world and that's how I felt like I could really relate to Cath. I was 8 years old when I became the biggest Harry Potter fan, but I wasn't alone - EVERYONE was a Harry Potter fan. But the other people grew out of Harry Potter while I stayed a superfan. And that's still how it is. And that's how it is for Cath even though she's in college now.
As a fangirl, an Aspie and generally a young woman, I felt like Cath could be my twin. We're so similar. And Rainbow Rowell's writing is so ALIVE. The characters are so life-like, so realistic and just generally, yes, alive. I could see them in my mind so clearly. I could see every facial expression, every surrounding, every scene. It was exactly like watching a movie in my mind and that doesn't happen very often - the book has to be really good for that to happen to me.
“Fangirl” is worth every single one of those five stars and I really can't wait to meet Rainbow Rowell next month and get my book autographed.
PS: Can I have my own Levi, please?
It started out really interesting and I was dying to find out why Jenna was different. But by the time I did find out, it was no longer a surprise and then it all got a bit too philosophical for me. This is a dystopian book, but I like my dystopians a bit more science-fiction-y than this book was, although The Adoration of Jenna Fox wasn't bad by any means.
After the way the story ended, I'm kind of curious to see how the author has managed to turn this into a series though.
At first I thought: “Oh, it will be like the Hunger Games, won't it?”
Then I read it and when I finished it I though “Wow, this was nothing like the Hunger Games!”
The book is written from two POVs: Heather and Dodge. Both are very realistic characters, flawed and struggling in their own way. Then there's Bishop and Natalie, Heather's best friends. Natalie is the kind of girl that I would never get along with in real life, but I found that I sort of liked her in the book.
Panic (the game) was cruel and merciless and very interesting to read about. And wow, do I hate Heather's mother...
Anyway, very rambly review, but read it! This was my first Lauren Oliver book (omg I know) and I definitely want to check out more of her books.
Davy - our heroine - is such a massive Mary Sue, but the story and setting was very cool. As a biomedical scientist, the genetics part of the book intrigued me and I could totally see this scenario happening in the future, if not as severe as in this book. The fact that Davy thinks she's better than everyone else annoyed me so much and that is why I give this book 3 stars instead of 4.
