RSVP: Pemberley Ball Invitation 2010

Lady Vee,

I am delighted to accept your invitation to attend the Pemberley Ball. My mother and father will travel with me to Derbyshire; my father has business in the area and my mother shall be acting as chaperone. I feel that it shall be a most pleasant and auspicious occasion where I shall be able to showcase the numerous talents I have acquired in front of polite society.

I shall be very happy to see you there and to learn of what you think of my gowns, especially this one. I am both nervous and excited. Oh, I shall need Mother's smelling salts if I continue in this way. I cannot contain my excitement at the thought of meeting Mr Darcy once more! Mrs Darcy is a very lucky lady indeed.

Yours affectionately,

Araminta Lovelace

Postscript: Click here to learn more details on how you can go to the Pemberley Ball as well! Join the fun!

Review: Hunger by Jackie Morse Kessler

Synopsis from Goodreads:

“Thou art the Black Rider. Go thee out unto the world.”

Lisabeth Lewis has a black steed, a set of scales, and a new job: she’s been appointed Famine. How will an anorexic seventeen-year-old girl from the suburbs fare as one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse?

Traveling the world on her steed gives Lisa freedom from her troubles at home: her constant battle with hunger, and her struggle to hide it from the people who care about her. But being Famine forces her to go places where hunger is a painful part of everyday life, and to face the horrifying effects of her phenomenal power. Can Lisa find a way to harness that power — and the courage to battle her own inner demons?

 

Review:

 
Hunger pleasantly surprised me. It was clever, intriguing and offered an important message to contemporary young people. Hunger is about one girl's struggle against anorexia and Kessler has realistically and seriously shown what young people today are going through.

The characters are relatable and complex. I empathised with both Lisa and Tammy's (Lisa's new best friend) conditions and wished that they would go through an epiphany and realise the error of their ways.

I was already familiar with some of the information and habits that anorexia and bulimia consist of as I studied it in school, but it was shocking to read about this in Hunger, which made it into much more of a reality. 

I loved the fact that though the synopsis hinted at a very strange story inside, it was actually one of the most down-to-earth and emotional novels I've read this year. Kessler superbly balanced (balance being a key word in the book) Lisa's problems; friends, family, her love life and of course, most importantly, her anorexia.

While reading Hunger, I had a very strong feeling that the author must have gone through something similar because she could describe Lisa's feelings so well and so realistically. The emotional and heartfelt note at the end of the book supported this.

There were so many scenes that moved me in Hunger, but the two scenes that are engraved in my mind are when Lisa (as a Horseman) watches Tammy making herself sick in the bathroom. I thought this scene was perfect in its vividness and truth. The reader can feel everything Tammy goes through, but through Lisa's eyes. It was a strange and surreal passage.

The other scene is when Lisa is angry at her mother and uses her powers on her. The description was very vivid and graphic. I really liked the ways in which Lisa could use her power and this was a very unique aspect of the novel. While I have been saying that Hunger is very realistic, at the same time, it also felt like a moral story or a fable.

I believe this is because the story was on the short side length wise (180 pages) and because some of the characters weren't as developed as I would have liked them to be. Characters such as Death and War played their roles but the novel didn't explore them further and to the extent that it could have. While I liked the character of Death, he used the expressions 'Do you now?' and 'Well now' too much, however this is a small criticism.

Also, though Hunger ended satisfactorily, I would have liked  a more detailed ending in regards to Lisa's situation. Also, what ever happened to Tammy? This wasn't resolved.

Also, in my experience of YA books, parents are usually absent/dead/useless, so it was nice to see that Lisa's parents were actually 3D and though not the perfect parents, they developed well throughout the novel.

Overall, Hunger is a very exciting and important novel and I would definitely recommend this novel to everyone. I believe it reflects on important, sensitive and serious subjects yet at the same time, it is a very fun book to read. I am looking forward to reading the next book in the series, Rage.

Book Rating: 4/5

Cover: 5/5

Concept: 4/5

Author: Jackie Morse Kessler

I received this book from Netgalley for review.

Nightwalker Cover re-creation entry

Recreate the cover of Nightwalker by Jocelynn Drake and/or make a button for the series and you could get 20 dollars to The Book Depository at Paper Cut Reviews. It's international and ends on the 19th of October. Everyone should enter!

Here's the original cover:



And mine:


Not totally pleased with it, but hey, it was fun to do:)

Nightshade Cover Contest Entry

Over at The Book Vixen, you can recreate the cover of Nightshade and have a chance of winning a signed copy of Nightshade. It will be judged by Andrea Cremer herself. Also, it's international! Go and enter!

Synopsis from Goodreads: Calla Tor has always known her destiny: After graduating from the Mountain School, she'll be the mate of sexy alpha wolf Ren Laroche and fight with him, side by side, ruling their pack and guarding sacred sites for the Keepers. But when she violates her masters' laws by saving a beautiful human boy out for a hike, Calla begins to question her fate, her existence, and the very essence of the world she has known. By following her heart, she might lose everything--including her own life. Is forbidden love worth the ultimate sacrifice?

Original Cover:

My Cover:

What do you think?

Review: The Peculiar Superpowers of Eleanor Armstrong: A Zombie Love Story by K. A. Schloegel

Synopsis from Goodreads:

Teenage writer Eleanor Armstrong tells the story of her life as a collection of Facebook-esque entries interspersed with the chapters of the novel she is writing. She starts out writing a nice, quiet high school romance, depicting the love triangle between ultra-hip and smart Sarah – who is really just Eleanor with great hair, her geeky pal Marky – who is Eleanor’s pal in real life too, and popular jock Brandon – a character based on a boy who once spoke to Eleanor. But to her dismay, the novel turns to horror after zombies attack the school and kill Brandon. You know, just the usual “Boy meets girl. Boy turns into zombie. Zombie-boy loses girl. Zombie-boy gets girl.”

Huh?

Write what you know, Eleanor’s teacher tells her. And what she knows is a high school teeming with bored kids who will prey upon each other, can be kind, cruel, fall in love, or anything in between just to relieve the tedium of their existence. In other words, a school full of zombies. So Eleanor goes with it. Zombie attacks abound, both in her novel and her real life as an overlooked teenager with peculiar superpowers.

Goodreads~Amazon UK~Amazon US~Barnes&Noble

Review:

The Peculiar Superpowers of Eleanor Armstrong is humorous, action-packed and memorable. The main character, Eleanor, describes herself as a ‘plain-unusual’ girl; however, similarly to the character of Sarah that she creates in her story, she can be witty and spunky. Eleanor created the character of Sarah to project the traits that she wanted in herself, but thought she was lacking. I believe that by the end of the novel, Eleanor accepts herself for who she is.

The novel is laid out in such a way so that there is a chapter from Eleanor’s zombie story first and then Eleanor’s blog entries detailing events in her life, such as her feelings on the breakdown in the relationship between her friend Marky and herself, questions about her father’s safe and her feelings for a boy named Elijah- who spoke to her once. Interspersed with these are comments on the criticisms her teacher gave her story and a glimpse into the shocking relationship between her brother and a teacher.

The Peculiar Superpowers of Eleanor Armstrong was interesting as it depicted how Eleanor wanted to be in her ‘alter-ego’ Sarah. Therefore, the novel has a lot to do with the struggle to find an identity. This is mostly evident towards the end where Eleanor confronts her father about the reasons why her mother really left them and blames herself. I found this scene highly emotional as it expressed her vulnerabilities along with the scene where Elijah talks to her for the second time:

“Oh. Fat girl in the weight room,” he said. In the exact same tone of voice he had said, “What do you think of the assignment?”

The other boys laughed.

And I almost cried... because it was the second thing Elijah had said to me. What do you think of the assignment? And then fat girl in the weight room. (P.100)

The zombie story she writes is always fun and constantly moving. It was in total juxtaposition to Eleanor’s real life which, though interesting, was mostly ordinary. I thought that Eleanor could have explained the finer details of her zombie story more. In some instances, Sarah would know certain facts without anyone telling her and would act upon it and it wasn’t until the end of the story that I was told how she knew.

Additionally, Sarah told me how she knew certain facts (like where another character was) instead of showing me. Therefore, the revelation of how she had known a lot of things wasn’t as strong as it could have been as there was a lack of foreshadowing in the zombie story that Eleanor wrote and the explanation for it was somewhat complex. A last criticism was that there were a few spelling and grammar mistakes in the novel.

The Peculiar Superpowers of Eleanor Armstrong is well-paced and easy to read. There were times I was laughing out loud at the visual images formed. Most of the characters felt believable but the weakest were Doctor Who and the Zombie Queen from Eleanor’s story.

The story Eleanor wrote was highly entertaining and it certainly played on stereotypes of what a hero should be like and what a villain should be like. Eleanor went through a series of epiphanies throughout the novel and finally leaves us with some words of wisdom. The zombie story she wrote also concludes in a satisfying way.

Overall, I highly enjoyed The Peculiar Superpowers of Eleanor Armstrong and would recommend it to anyone who is interested in zombies, identity and lots of humour.

Read a preview here.

Book Rating: 4/5

Cover: 3/5

Concept: 4/5

Author: K. A. Schloegel

-Received from author.

In My Mailbox (2)

In My Mailbox is hosted by The Story Siren so we can share what came in the post this week!

This is what I got in the last two/three weeks:) Sadly, no pictures this week because I have no camera (Boo!)

Review book:

My first book for review! Yippee!! It's The Peculiar Superpowers of Eleanor Armstrong: A Zombie Love Story by K. A. Schloegel *signed! (Review coming up straight after this!)

Bought:

Lord of the Rings Box Set by J. R. R. Tolkein- I needed this! It's classic, come on.

The Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis (Bound)- Love. It.

Uglies Box Set by Scott Westerfeld- Mostly loved the series so had to have it! Can't wait to read more from him. Read my reviews for it!

Turnabout by Margaret P Haddix- I loved this book when I was younger so I got it. Ah, childhood. Plus, I love this new cover.

Some books for school: Yeah, I have to read them. 13 Ways of Looking at The Novel by Jane Smiley and How Novels Work by John Mullan

Won:

Angel by L. A. Weatherly from Girls without a Bookshelf- I went on this treasure hunt in London. I recognised both locations but went to the first and was able to make it there at the allotted time! It was pouring down with rain! lol, still, it was very exciting to go on a treasure hunt. I felt like a spy. I had to go up to the ladies standing outside the shop with the GOODIE BAGS and who were wearing wings and say the password which was angel fever, answer three questions and that was it!:D There were also teaser chapters, an Angel poster and ANGEL CAKE in the goodie bag which was supremely delicious! :D

Saltwater Vampires by Kirsty Eagar, Beautiful Malice by Rebecca James, The Other Countess by Eve Edwards, Numbers by Rachel Ward and a Spellbound by Books bookmark from Melissa at Spellbound by Books! So, so happy! Can't wait to read them! They're all great! Thank youuuu! All the way from Australia too <3

Twenty Boy Summer by Sarah Ockler from the 2009 Debutantes!

Blood and Chocolate by Annette Curtis Klause from Bea's Book Nook!

Unicorn Pin from Cecilia, The Epic Rat!

-That's a wrap. I am one happy girl.

What did you get in your mailbox?

My entry for the Minder Recreate a Cover contest at Blkosiner's Book Blog

Brandi at Blkosiner's Book Blog is holding a recreate a cover contest! We have to recreate the cover of Minder by Kate Kaynak! It's international, so go ahead and enter!

Synopsis: Sixteen-year-old Maddie Dunn is special, but she needs to figure out how to use her new abilities before somebody else gets hurt. Ganzfield is a secret training facility full of people like her, but it's not exactly a nurturing place. Every social interaction carries the threat of mind-control. A stray thought can burn a building to the ground. And people's nightmares don't always stay in their own heads. But it's still better than New Jersey--especially once she meets the man of her dreams...

Original Cover:

My Cover:

Yeah, I'm not sure about it.

Let me know what you think.

Review: H.I.V.E by Mark Walden

Summary from Goodreads:

HIGHER INSTITUTE OF VILLAINOUS EDUCATION

Otto Malpense may only be thirteen years old, but so far he has managed to run the orphanage where he lives, and he has come up with a plan clever enough to trick the most powerful man in the country. He is the perfect candidate to become the world's next supervillain.

That is why he ends up at H.I.V.E., handpicked to become a member of the incoming class. The students have been kidnapped and brought to a secluded island inside a seemingly active volcano, where the school has resided for decades. All the kids are elite; they are the most athletic, the most technically advanced, and the smartest in the country. Inside the cavernous marble rooms, floodlit hangars, and steel doors, the students are enrolled in Villainy Studies and Stealth and Evasion 101. But what Otto soon comes to realize is that this is a six-year program, and leaving is not an option.

With the help of his new friends: an athletic martial-arts expert; a world-famous, beautiful diamond thief; and a spunky computer genius -- the only other people who seem to want to leave -- can Otto achieve what has never been done before and break out of H.I.V.E.?
 
~~~~~~
 
Review:
 
H.I.V.E was a highly enjoyable book to read. The first in a six book series, it promises to make good reading. After reading the blurb of the book I was worried that the main character Otto Malpense would be a real villain who would thoroughly enjoy and thrive on evil.

However, the book was highly interesting to read as it relates the story of an unwilling inmate of the Higher Institute of Villainous Education and his attempts to escape the school with his newly made friends Wing, Laura and Shelby.


This is all complicated by his realisation that he is beginning to enjoy the lessons taught at H.I.V.E. The story begins with Otto’s arrival at H.I.V.E and his first impression of the school before detailing the key moments of his life and the momentous events leading to his sudden abduction to H.I.V.E in the form of a flashback.


I believe that this was a very effective device utillised by Walden as up until the very end of the flashback I was intrigued to know what Otto could have possibly done to end up at H.I.V.E.


H.I.V.E is fast-paced, action packed and gripping. The characters are well developed and 3d. Over the course of the book we learn a great deal about some of the characters such as the exploits which earnt them a place in H.I.V.E and the history of Otto Malpense as he is the central character.


However, the pasts of other equally interesting characters are shrouded in mistery which only makes me eager to read more. At the beginning of the book the most dangerous character which seems to pose a threat to Otto’s plans is Maximillian Nero, the headmaster of H.I.V.E who immediately recognises Otto as trouble and someone who will be difficult to control. Surprisingly, we find out that Otto’s real enemy is Nero’s boss, a mysterious character known by the codename Number 1.


Although the book was entertaining, one criticism is that Otto’s plan to put the Prime Minister under hypnosis and to make him recite a false and incriminating speech which was broadcast to the nation on television was unrealistic. Also, Otto’s power to soak in any information he reads almost instantaneously is robot-like.


Most of the action takes place in a top secret school on an island in an undisclosed location. The school complex is mainly underground and is very impressive. The pupils are taught a wide range of classes such as the best ways to avoid detection, how to assemble all sorts of villainous devices and how to use plants with highly unusual properties in their dastardly schemes.


There are various types of technology featured in the book. H.I.V.E Mind is an extremely complex artificial intelligence computer system that has the ability to experience emotion and has the task of running the school’s many systems smoothly. Some of H.I.V.E Mind’s duties include providing and monitoring security for the school and establishing personal interfaces for students and staff at the school to give them whatever information they require.


There were grapplers reminiscent of Batman which provided the students with the means to navigate the ceiling. One staff member managed to develop a mind transferring procedure which moved the consciousness of another teacher into the body of a cat. As well as this, there was the development of a gigantic bloodthirsty plant which had the characteristics of a voracious carnivore.


I really enjoyed reading H.I.V.E and I will definitely be reading the rest of the series. I would recommend this book to people who like the Alex Rider series , the Harry Potter series and the Young Bond series.


Book Rating: 4/5


Cover: 3/5


Concept: 4.5/5


Author: Mark Walden

-Reviewed by Loralin, a new contributor to the blog.

In My Mailbox (1)

In My Mailbox is hosted by The Story Siren and was created to share new books we receive. 

Won:
Torment by Lauren Kate (Fallen, Book 2) from Kara @ Reading Cause I'm Addicted

Beautiful Darkness by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl (Caster Chronicles, Book 2) from Jenny @ Wondrous Reads (I think I was meant to get The Eternal Ones but I received this instead!) Woohoo!!!

Buffy The Vampire Slayer 1 + 2 (First one not pictured) by Christopher Golden, Nancy Holder, Diana G. Gallagher and Pierce Askegren from Jo @ Once Upon a Bookcase

Thank you!:)

What did you get?

Review: Mockingjay (Contains Spoilers)

Summary from Goodreads:

"My name is Katniss Everdeen. Why am I not dead? I should be dead."

Katniss Everdeen, girl on fire, has survived, even though her home has been destroyed. Gale has escaped. Katniss's family is safe. Peeta has been captured by the Capitol. District 13 really does exist. There are rebels. There are new leaders. A revolution is unfolding.

It is by design that Katniss was rescued from the arena in the cruel and haunting Quarter Quell, and it is by design that she has long been part of the revolution without knowing it. District 13 has come out of the shadows and is plotting to overthrow the Capitol. Everyone, it seems, has had a hand in the carefully laid plans -- except Katniss.

The success of the rebellion hinges on Katniss's willingness to be a pawn, to accept responsibility for countless lives, and to change the course of the future of Panem. To do this, she must put aside her feelings of anger and distrust. She must become the rebels' Mockingjay -- no matter what the personal cost.



Review:

WARNING: THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS.

OVERVIEW:

Mockingjay, the final part of the Hunger Games trilogy did live up to most of my expectations. I was very keen to read the final instalment after I finished the previous two books, however I did not want to raise my expectations and then be disappointed when I finished the book. Luckily, for the most part, Mockingjay was a satisfying end to the trilogy.

CHARACTERS:

KATNISS:

Katniss remained a strong, unique and memorable character. I loved being able to see things from her point of view. Mockingjay had time for Katniss to reflect on and absorb everything that had happened to her and those surrounding her in the past two books. Once again, Katniss is used as a pawn in other people’s power games.

Katniss is perhaps one of the strongest heroines I’ve had the pleasure to read about. I really appreciated the fact that the love triangle was somewhat low key and that she had time to reflect on all that had happened. I really would like to read more about characters like this one. Recommendations?

There were times that I was annoyed with Katniss’s perspective. She didn’t get to witness some major events that were catalysts for the plot and we as readers missed out on a lot because of that. Katniss was told about certain events after they’d happened and this disappointed me because she was usually in the centre of action in previous books.

PEETA:

Peeta was the character who shocked me the most. I was not expecting the dramatic change in his character and I was very surprised in the twist of events that Collins inflicted upon us. I felt so sorry for Peeta and I really sympathised with him. He had been used just as much as Katniss. The trauma he went through sounded appalling-however, this was mostly told about and not shown. However, that was gruesome enough.

I did like the fact that there was a change in Peeta’s character. For the past two books, he was always there for Katniss and was strong. However, now we got to see the effects that the Hunger Games had on him and see him reacting to Katniss in a totally different way. It was shocking, scary and horrifying. I would have liked to have seen more on how he got better but for a long time Katniss stayed away from him so we didn’t see him as much as we could have.

GALE:

Gale was okay. I can’t say I cared much about Gale throughout the trilogy, I’d say I’m indifferent. However, the ending left me miffed. Was he the one that caused Prim’s death or not? I know you can’t have all the answers, but this is one that I think Katniss should have tried to find the answer to. Katniss and Gale talk very briefly at the end of the book and I didn’t think it was enough for two people who had been lifelong friends and looked after each other’s family.

PRIM:

Prim had a bigger role in Mockingjay. I didn't really care that much about her in the Hunger Games or Catching Fire, but in Mockingjay I finally got to see more of her- which is because Katniss didn’t have to go into the arena again. Prim was a good character. She was nice, nursing and wise. She offered Katniss words of wisdom. I was surprised that Prim died.

DEATHS:

There were a lot of deaths in Mockingjay. This was a given I suppose as a war was taking place. I was expecting one of the three main characters to die: Katniss (it could’ve happened as the book was in the present tense and she could’ve died at the end), Peeta or Gale.

PRIM: I really wasn’t expecting Prim’s death. However, it really did show how cold-blooded both District 13 and the Capitol were. Coin probably ordered Prim to go and Prim, being so good-natured did and of course she was also just a pawn in the game.

SNOW: I really wished that Katniss had killed President Snow herself. This was a letdown. He either choked on his own blood or was crushed by the crowd. We’ll never know. Katniss should have had two arrows-instead of one- and done the job properly for reader satisfaction! Nothing by halves, please.

COIN: Katniss did kill Coin who was just another power-hungry villain! This was good!

BOGGS: He was a really nice character and of course it was sad that he died but it just shows the brutality and uncertainty of war.

FINNICK: I didn’t know Finnick was going to die when he did. I mean, I knew he might, this was a war after all, but he died earlier than I expected to and by the end I realised it was because there wasn’t a huge battle at the end where there would be a storming of the President’s mansion. Finnick had such a sad life and it had only just got a bit better as he married Annie-but alas, it was not to be.

CINNA: In Catching Fire, I was quite sad that Cinna was beaten up and, in all probability, dead. However, I was never certain that he really HAD died and wasn’t just locked up somewhere and being tortured. I guess he did get killed as he didn’t appear in Mockingjay, but I would have liked this to have been confirmed through the characters’ dialogue.

DARIUS AND THE AVOX GIRL- LAVINIA: Horrific. Even hearing it second hand, the description of what happened to them was enough to disgust me. Perhaps this was a reason that Collins didn’t show it through Katniss’ own eyes. The brutality and reality of it was really shocking. I don’t think they’ll show it in the movie either if they want it to be certified 12.

LOADS MORE: There were so many more deaths. The list includes but is not limited to the patients and the medics at the hospitals, the children at the end, the citizens of the Capitol, most of District 12, the others that were in Katniss’ team.

PACE:

The beginning and the middle were quite slow and the ending was where things really speeded up; this was both good and bad. It was good because there was a lot of action and because of the rapidity of events. But it was bad because this should have happened sooner. I really wanted more to have happened at the beginning.

The ending felt rather abrupt, abstract and open-ended. Many questions that I really wanted answers to were not answered. Katniss also missed out on a lot of the action so I felt like I missed out on some of the book.

There were a few times when I got annoyed that Katniss didn’t know about something until after it had happened. Scenes such as when they rescued Peeta- although in retrospect, I can understand why this had to be this way.

While I was pleased by the final instalment, it could have been better. I wanted more HOPE for the future at the end of Mockingjay and while I did get a little bit, the uncertainty was the overriding factor.

DISAPPOINTMENTS:

The biggest disappointment was the epilogue. It just felt too general and sketchy. Perhaps Collins wanted to leave it up to us to decide what happens next, but the information was not enough to satisfy me and I wanted answers. Come on, I got answers in Lord of the Rings!

The questions that I wanted answers to were:

1. Why did Katniss say ‘yes’ to there being another Hunger Games after all she’d been through?

I really thought she would say no so I was shocked. I can understand why she said yes, because it really is human nature to want the people that inflicted you with so much pain to go through what you went through- losing a loved one and participating in the Hunger Games-but I wanted Katniss to tell me this herself and not assume it.

2. What does Katniss DO for the rest of her life?

I know she has two children-the boy and the girl- but as stated in the epilogue, this wasn’t until a long time later. I really thought it would have been great if Katniss and Peeta ended up being advisors to the government or something of that sort.

3. Also, what were her children’s names?

This is a small qualm but when Katniss talks about ‘the boy’ and ‘the girl’ it sounded really awkward. Why wouldn’t you call your children by their names? Strange.

4. Paylor was the new President. What do we know about her?

She could be just another Snow, just another Coin. There was no character development of this character that holds the most important office- so readers are left ignorant of what will happen in the future. Will the future be full of hope or bloodshed? We’ll never know. I need answers.

5. What happened to Gale?

Seeing as he was a main character, I wanted more details as to what happened to him after the ending. Does he ever see Katniss again? What does he do with the rest of his life?

6. Does Peeta recover fully or does he have trouble with his condition?

7. Was there another Hunger Games for the Capitol's children?

8.I'm sure there are more. I'll add them here when they come to mind.

WRITING STYLE:

Collins wrote beautifully in Mockingjay, as she did in the Hunger Games and Catching Fire. There were times I was really sad and because I was reading aloud, my voice shook. I’m really impressed with the way that Collins has managed to stay in character and not go off course.

Previous to reading the book, this had been a big fear of mine. I put off reading it due to the fact that I don’t like to finish off series' that I really enjoy because then it WILL DEFINITELY be over and also, because I don’t want to be disappointed. It even happened with Harry Potter- but that’s a whole other story.

CONCLUSION:

I enjoyed Mockingjay a lot and would recommend this trilogy to anyone. It really is the cream of the crop of both dystopian fiction and YA fiction. Though there were some qualms (which are stated above) that I had with the book, I liked it very much overall and was sad to have finished. I hope to read more from Suzanne Collins soon!

Book Rating: 4.5/5

Cover: 4/5

Concept: 5/5

Author: Suzanne Collins

Review: Clockwork Angel

Summary from Goodreads:

Magic is dangerous—but love is more dangerous still.

When sixteen-year-old Tessa Gray crosses the ocean to find her brother, her destination is England, the time is the reign of Queen Victoria, and something terrifying is waiting for her in London's Downworld, where vampires, warlocks and other supernatural folk stalk the gaslit streets. Only the Shadowhunters, warriors dedicated to ridding the world of demons, keep order amidst the chaos.

Kidnapped by the mysterious Dark Sisters, members of a secret organization called The Pandemonium Club, Tessa soon learns that she herself is a Downworlder with a rare ability: the power to transform, at will, into another person. What's more, the Magister, the shadowy figure who runs the Club, will stop at nothing to claim Tessa's power for his own.

Friendless and hunted, Tessa takes refuge with the Shadowhunters of the London Institute, who swear to find her brother if she will use her power to help them. She soon finds herself fascinated by—and torn between—two best friends: Jem, whose fragile beauty hides a deadly secret, and blue-eyed Will, whose caustic wit and volatile moods keep everyone in his life at arm's length...everyone, that is, but Tessa.

As their search draws them deep into the heart of an arcane plot that threatens to destroy the Shadowhunters, Tessa realizes that she may need to choose between saving her brother and helping her new friends save the world...and that love may be the most dangerous magic of all.



Review:

Clockwork Angel was an exciting and well-written story. Clare had researched her facts very carefully and I appreciated the effort she put into Clockwork Angel. The novel was mysterious and kept me on my toes for the most part. The characters were mostly well-developed and interesting.

I haven’t read Clare’s other series, The Mortal Instruments, so I did not know what to expect from this author. I had heard a lot of praise for her books though, so my expectations were high. I was not disappointed. Clare’s writing is solid, active and descriptive. She writes with flair and passion. I could visualise the streets of London that were sculpted with her artful words.

I liked Tessa Gray. She was a strong, somewhat fierce heroine. I don’t think Tessa was as great as she could have been though and this is chiefly for the reason that there was a big gap in the middle of the book where she did not use her powers. Because of this, I did not feel that Tessa was used successfully in the novel and it was down to other characters to move the story along. Therefore, Tessa’s character let the story down. She had such a unique and interesting power but I just did not see enough of it in use to understand the extent of her powers.

The two love interests-Will and Jem- were both very fun characters. Will was more of a dark, rogue-like character whereas Jem was more patient and kind-however he does have a secret. They felt like two sides of the same coin.

Furthermore, I do not feel like Jem had a real chance in this book for Tessa's affections as Tessa was very much focussed on Will. However, after Will’s gross misconduct at the end of the book towards Tessa, I feel like Jem will have a stronger chance in the next book. Will surprised me at the end of the book because of the way he treated Tessa.

Also, I didn’t feel that the clockwork angel was important enough in the story for the book to be titled that. However, that is a very minor complaint. The plot of the story was very interesting and Clare managed to keep me on my toes and keep me guessing which I enjoyed very much. I particularly liked her take on vampires.

The other characters, such as Jessamine, Charlotte and Henry, were good. I can’t say I loved them, I can’t say I hated them. I felt indifferent to them as they weren't that well-developed. I was surprised at the twists and turns in the novel, mostly that of Tessa’s brother, Nate. For a long time, Nate was a character who was spoken about but does not appear in the book. I found Tessa’s constant worry and devotion to him expected but I didn't feel the same way because I didn’t ever see Nate first hand until the end.

At the end of the book there was an epilogue. The epilogue wasn’t what I expect of epilogues because it ended halfway through a scene-which is never a good thing in my opinion. I’m jaded as to what could be the matter with Will because Jem’s secret did not feel so taboo to me. Perhaps, this will be a repeat performance.

I would have liked to see more Shadowhunters and more of the Downworlders. I heard more about it than I saw of it. However, what I did see, I liked very much!

Overall, I very much look forward to reading more by Cassandra Clare because she is a great author and Clockwork Angel was fantastic. I would recommend this novel to everyone.

Book Rating: 4.5/5

Cover: 4/5

Concept: 5/5

Author: Cassandra Clare

Here's the cover that won me an ARC of Clockwork Angel from Tales of a Ravenous Reader (whose blog is awesome!):

Recreate a Cover Contest @ Love Reading X

Go to Love Reading X to enter a re-create a cover contest. You can re-create one out of three book covers; Thirteen Reasons Why, The Thirteenth Chime and 13 to Life.



Here's my cover for Thirteen Reasons Why:



Ends: Sep 20.

Review: Poison Study by Maria V Snyder

Summary from Goodreads:

Choose: A quick death and hell or slow poison and hell.

About to be executed for murder, Yelena is offered an extraordinary reprieve. She'll eat the best meals, have rooms in the palace and risk assassination by anyone trying to kill the Commander of Ixia.

And so Yelena chooses to become a food taster. But the chief of security, leaving nothing to chance, deliberately feeds her Butterfly's Dust and only by appearing for her daily antidote will she delay an agonizing death from the poison.

As Yelena tries to escape her new dilemma, disasters keep mounting. Rebels plot to seize Ixia and Yelena develops magical powers she can't control. Her life is threatened again and choices must be made. But this time the outcomes aren't so clear.



Review:

The synopsis of Poison Study intrigued me and it was this that made me want to read the book. Poison Study started off really well. The characters were interesting and seemed to have a lot of history that I wanted to know more about. Unfortunately, this didn't happen.

As the title of the book was 'Poison Study' I would have liked a deeper focus on poison and the study of poison. I enjoyed the moments when it was discussed, unfortunately, there weren't that many moments. I wouldn't have carried on reading the book if I hadn't enjoyed it. At first Yelena was a character I wanted to know about.

However, Poison Study was more than 400 pages long and I believe some of the scenes could have been cut out as they added nothing to the story. The plot became unfocussed in the middle and this was a continuing theme.

Also, a criticism of Poison Study is that the characters never seemed to sleep. This may seem like a small thing but it made the story very unrealistic. How was I meant to believe that Yelena couldn't sleep most nights due to bad dreams and could still function very well in the day? Actually, this is true of Valek too.

Valek, Yelena's mentor and later, lover, was a good character. However, I didn't know why he suddenly fell in love with Yelena. It all seemed pretty cliche by the end. I didn't like the fact that they made love in a prison cell either and it was just after Yelena had vomitted too (even if she did wash her mouth once).

Their declaration of love to each other was so quick and for me, unexpected and unrealistic. I don't think they could have realistically fallen in love that quickly. Especially as both Yelena and Valek (especially Valek) were closed off characters.

The secondary characters were very flat. The villains were 2 dimensional. They were all quite easy to work out. The only character that gave me pause for thought was the Commander-who was in actual fact a woman pretending to be a man? And Yelena found out about this and kept it to herself? And Valek, the Commander's bodyguard/foodtaster/adviser doesn't know...? This was all very hard to believe. I wondered what purpose this storyline added to the plot but I really couldn't find any answers in Poison Study as the author remained very vague about this.

Overall, the opening held a lot of potential, however the plot wasn't gripping enough to maintain my attention. I would have liked to learn more about poisons and magic. Synder did not focus on it enough in my opinion. The pace of the story was okay, not too bad. The ending was somewhat average and set itself up for the next in the trilogy. However, there were plot holes and some questions were not answered in Poison Study. I am expecting more of the next books and hopefully they will meet my expectations.

Book Rating: 3/5
Concept: 3/5

Author: Maria V Snyder

Review: Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater

Summary from Goodreads:

For years, Grace has watched the wolves in the woods behind her house. One yellow-eyed wolf—her wolf—is a chilling presence she can't seem to live without. Meanwhile, Sam has lived two lives: In winter, the frozen woods, the protection of the pack, and the silent company of a fearless girl. In summer, a few precious months of being human ... until the cold makes him shift back again.

Now, Grace meets a yellow-eyed boy whose familiarity takes her breath away. It's her wolf. It has to be. But as winter nears, Sam must fight to stay human--or risk losing himself, and Grace, forever.

Review:

I really wanted to like Shiver. I came across so many great reviews for it so when I began reading it, I went in with high expectations. I don’t think it’s a bad thing to start reading a book with high expectations, whether or not the author can deliver it is the question. In short, I did not like Shiver at all. I found it dull, waffling and monotonous.

Grace, the heroine, is obsessed with a wolf she first saw when she was being attacked when she was eleven. Before Grace realises that her wolf is actually a human being- I couldn’t understand why she would have so much love for a wolf. Grace’s emotions upon finding out that Sam was in actual fact a human didn’t feel very realistic to me- she would have been much more shocked/scared/angry/confused than she was.

Shiver made me very frustrated. One of the major reasons was that Grace’s parents were very unrealistic in my opinion. I know there must be parents out there who don’t take interest in their children’s lives, but come on- not noticing a strange boy sleeping in the same bed as their daughter (in their house) for weeks on end? That takes a lot of ignorance and stupidity.

Furthermore, when her parents do find out that she has a boyfriend; they didn’t even ask anything about him as normal parents would. For example, they didn’t ask what school he goes, how old he is, where he works, anything. That was totally ridiculous.

Also, one of the worst things was how disrespectful Grace was to her parents. The author went a long way to present Grace’s parents as dumb (not knowing about Sam) and forgetful (leaving Grace locked in a car when she was really young). The second one cannot be excused.

The way Grace was so condescending to her parents really annoyed me. She ranted on and on about how she did all the cooking, how her parents wouldn’t be able to function without her, how they were so stupid. Actually, it was very reminiscent of Bella from Twilight. But what about Grace? I think Grace needs to take a long, hard look in the mirror. All she ever cared about in the book was Sam.

I’m seeing a trend in YA books where the parents are shown as ignorant/stupid. As I mentioned previously, I noticed it in Twilight. I have no idea why this is happening. Is it a reflection of society?

I didn’t feel any emotional attachment to Grace. I found her cold, hard and unemotional. I didn’t get any real clue as to why Sam was so enraptured with her and I didn’t know why Grace was so obsessed with someone who was very opposite to her.

Grace was very stoic, closed off and robotic whereas Sam was somewhat more open about his feelings and was very emotional. Sam kept remembering things that happened in the past, whereas I wanted to know what was going to happen now-in the story. When I was reading it, I kept imagining that Sam was a girl. His narrating voice sounded exactly like Grace’s which put me off.

The constant swapping of POVs annoyed me. I think only a few authors can do it very well. Instead of speeding along the plot, it slowed it down. Not much happened in Shiver. There was a lack of plot. 400 pages were filled with waffle, repetition and changes in narrator.

In most of the book what happened was: Grace mooned over Sam, Sam mooned over Grace, Grace and Sam slept in Grace’s bed, Grace was angry at her parents for an unknown reason, Grace and Sam slept, Grace smelt Sam’s armpit and proclaimed it smelt very Sam-like in there!, Grace and Sam read, Sam drove Grace to school Grace and Sam slept. Her parents didn’t know.

I wanted to know more about wolves.

I didn’t find it sweet that Sam drove Grace through freezing temperatures to go to a sweet shop for their date. I was expecting something amazing, not a sweet shop. I didn’t find Grace and Sam at all interesting. I willed myself to finish off the book. Most of the interesting action happened to secondary characters like Jack and Grace’s friend. I would have been more interested in reading about them as some action would have happened.

At the end, Jack died very abruptly and I didn’t even get a reason why he died and Sam didn’t. The ending was a bit of a cheat in that respect and I won’t be reading the next book to find out if there was an explanation for it because I don’t want to wade through 400 more pages of sleeping, eating and driving to get what will most likely be a half-explanation. There were just too many unanswered questions in Shiver. Why hasn't Grace changed? Why did Jack die? Why didn't Sam?

Overall, I did not like Shiver at all and will not be reading the sequel, Linger, which is already out.

Book Rating: 1/5

Cover: 4/5

Concept: 1/5

This review is part of September Spectacular Reading Challenge at The Thoughts of a Book Junky.

September Spectacular Reading Challenge and Giveaway

I'm taking the challenge (hopefully).

How does it work:

•It will start September 1st and go on through September 30th.

•There will be a 5 book reading challenge, ( one book a week) that you will have to read. Which books? Any 5 you want. It's your choice... Easy huh. At the end of that week you will post your review on your blog and add your link to the Mr. Linky at the bottom. ( If you don't have a blog you can either post a comment, letting everyone know what you think about the book or sent me an email with your review) * Sep first starts on a Wednesday so you can start your first book on Sunday the 29th if you want.

•At the end of each week a giveaway will be posted. That's 5 giveaways!! The only thing you have to do to enter is, link your review on that weeks Mr. Linky. Plus get an extra entry if you add the September Spectacular button to your post or sidebar! ( Open Internationally)---Info taken from The Thoughts of a Book Junky.

Want to take part? Click here.

My five books will be: (Subject to change)

Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins
The Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare
Poison Study by Maria V Snyder
Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater
and
Matched by Allie Condie

Review: Catching Fire By Suzanne Collins

Summary from Goodreads:

Against all odds, Katniss Everdeen has won the annual Hunger Games with fellow district tribute Peeta Mellark. But it was a victory won by defiance of the Capitol and their harsh rules. Katniss and Peeta should be happy. After all, they have just won for themselves and their families a life of safety and plenty. But there are rumors of rebellion among the subjects, and Katniss and Peeta, to their horror, are the faces of that rebellion. The Capitol is angry. The Capitol wants revenge.

Review:

Catching Fire is an excellent sequel to The Hunger Games as it explores the consequences of defying a vengeful, totalitarian regime. The readers are given a chance to view the eleven other districts quite briefly. More time could have been spent on exploring them in detail as I was very interested in learning more about the geography and culture of Panem.

When I found at that Katniss and Peeta were forced to enter the arena again, I was quite annoyed as I thought it would be a repetition of the first book. However, different events occurred this time around which made it exciting. Catching Fire delved more into the supposedly luxury lifestyles of the Capitol’s citizens.

Despite their exquisite lifestyle, abundant food and wacky body alterations, they are just as oppressed as the people of the Districts in their own way. This was most appallingly demonstrated by the way in which Capitol partygoers would take purging drinks after over-indulging in food so that they could carry on eating. They also spend their time carrying out different types of body surgery and trying out new hairstyles due to their boredom.

I liked the fact that new characters were introduced, such as Champions from previous years, as it added a different aspect to the impact of the Hunger Games. Catching Fire showed the growing unrest among the greater population which was good.

Collins did not shy from illustrating the brutality of the regime with a graphical description of the way in which a man was so casually executed for whistling and the way in which Gale was mercilessly whipped for hunting for food.

In addition, more light was shed upon Haymitch’s intriguing past which I was eager to learn about as it explained why he became the way he is (a drunkard). Although Catching Fire was really good, Collins failed to show how Katniss’ mother and sister dealt with losing her for a second time when they were all so certain that she was safe as a Champion, as it must have been devastating.

Although the book did contain violence, it also had deeply moving scenes which demonstrated self sacrifice for the sake of love. These scenes made me extremely sad but I am glad that they were included as it shows that the characters can think about more than just their own survival and the power of love.

The romance thread still continued in this book and has not yet been resolved. The presence of romance adds to the feel of the story but will hopefully be resolved in the next book to the satisfaction of the majority. The novel was well-paced and the characters were well-developed although more time could have been spent in showcasing the Districts.

I really enjoyed Catching Fire and eagerly read the whole book. It’s exciting, gripping and unputdownable. I would recommend this trilogy to everyone.

Book Rating: 5/5

Cover: 5/5

Concept: 5/5

I wrote this review as part of Dystopian August which is taking place over at Presenting Lenore. Check it out!

Review: The Declaration by Gemma Malley

Summary from Goodreads:

In the year 2140, it is illegal to be young.

Children are all but extinct.

The world is a better place.

Longevity drugs are a fountain of youth. Sign the Declaration, agree not to have children and you too can live forever. Refuse, and you will live as an outcast. For the children born outside the law, it only gets worse – Surplus status.

Not everyone thinks Longevity is a good thing, but you better be clear what side you’re on. . . . Surplus Anna is about to find out what happens when you can’t decide if you should cheat the law or cheat death.

Review:

The Declaration was a great, dystopian novel which offered valuable insight to what would happen if people could live longer-centuries longer. Malley’s writing style was easy to understand, non-convoluted and always included me, the reader. In short, I enjoyed her writing and the concept of the story.

At first, I didn’t like Anna because I knew that her writing everything down in her journal and hiding it away would lead to trouble for her. I knew she would be caught. However, as time passed and she became less stubborn and more accepting towards Peter, I liked her slightly more. For the most part, Anna was a good character.

Anna was known as 'Surplus Anna' in the Surplus hall where she lived. Her life's aim was to be a good Surplus, so she can go out and serve a 'Legal'. She was made to feel lower than low.

Peter was an interesting character and throughout the novel, I didn’t know whether I could trust him or not (much like Anna). I liked that Peter kept me guessing as to his true loyalties as it made the story much more interesting. Peter felt like a wonderful contrast to Anna-he was much more rebellious while she was much more rule-abiding, owing to the way she was brought up.

The plot was mostly fast-paced for which I was glad. Anna’s road to discovery was interesting to observe and I felt sorry for what had happened to her and those like her at the hands of greedy adults.

Mrs Pincent was the most horrible, evil character I came across and I was happy with what happened to her in the end. However, this was tinged with a slight sadness at what others had done to her. The more my hate grew for her, the more sympathy I felt for both Peter and Anna.

The ending was very rushed-all the concluding events occurred in a rush. Anna only knew her parents for a few days before they killed themselves to make her and her young brother ‘legal’. Her parents weren’t that well-developed as characters for me to have felt sorry for them.

The savagery of what Anna's parents had to do in contrast to what a civilised society everyone else thought themselves to be living in really shocked me. As a young person myself, I felt very sad about what happened in this book, but know that it could be a very real possibility one day.

Overall, The Declaration was well executed and I enjoyed it. The novel asks questions that society may be afraid to answer. What would we do if we could all live hundreds of years longer? Would we still have children? And if so, what would we do with them? In this age of constantly developing science, it may not be too long before we really do have to answer these questions.

I really enjoyed The Declaration and was eager to read the next book, The Resistance.

Book Rating: 4/5

Cover: 4/5

Concept: 5/5

Author: Gemma Malley

I wrote this review as part of Dystopian August which is taking place at Presenting Lenore.

Review: The People of Sparks

*Second Book in the series*

Summary from Goodreads:

The People of Sparks picks up where The City of Ember leaves off. Lina and Doon have emerged from the underground city to the exciting new world above, and it isn’t long before they are followed by the other inhabitants of Ember. The Emberites soon come across a town where they are welcomed, fed, and given places to sleep. But the town’s resources are limited and it isn’t long before resentment begins to grow between the two groups. When anonymous acts of vandalism push them toward violence, it’s up to Lina and Doon to discover who’s behind the vandalism and why, before it’s too late.

Review:

The People of Sparks is the post-apocalyptic continuation of the first in the series, The City of Ember. I highly enjoyed The People of Sparks as I really wanted to know what happened to the Emberites after they left their underground home and this book began where the first book left off and for that I was glad as I didn’t miss anything.

Lina and Doon remained strong, independent characters. In this book, they seemed to have their own journeys to take and they grew in different ways. This was different than the first book as Lina and Doon figured more of the mystery out together, but in this book, they were physically apart for longer lengths of time. I missed them working together. Also, I figured out the mystery of who was causing strife between the two groups before it was discovered in the book.

Of course, all the Emberites had to acclimatise to their new surroundings and I believe that DuPrau achieved this realistically. They slowly learnt to live on the surface of the world and tried to get along with the people of Sparks, with mostly negative results- until the end.

The new characters, the people of Sparks, were well written and 3D. They acted in ways that I would have expected them to so the story was believable. There seemed to be a lull in the middle of the story and I was waiting for it to pick up. Luckily, it did and the climax of the book was somewhat exciting and resolved nicely. The ending, like the first book, was exciting and filled me with hope as to what would come next.

I liked the message of The People of Sparks. I think the book asks us to all work together and put aside our differences (Not working together will just lead to discord). All the themes, such as learning, friendship, the idea of community and oneness were interesting to observe in The People of Sparks.

Overall, while I enjoyed The People of Sparks, I didn’t feel as though it was as good as it could have been and it wasn’t as good as The City of Ember. However, Lina and Doon did mature and develop as characters and it was exciting to watch them learn about the world.

DuPrau’s style of writing was mostly engaging. The book was good; it ended in such a way that it made me want to know what would happen next. After this, DuPrau wrote The Prophet of Yonwood, the third Book of Ember, which was a prequel to the series and The Diamond of Darkhold, the fourth book which shows what happened to the People of Ember next.

Although I have read The Prophet of Yonwood, I have not read The Diamond of Darkhold yet.

Book Rating: 4/5

Cover: 5/5

Concept: 3.5/5

Author: Jeanne DuPrau

I wrote this review as part of Dystopian August which is going on over at Presenting Lenore. Check it out.

Review: The City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau

The City of Ember: The Ember series, Book 1

Summary from Goodreads:

The city of Ember was built as a last refuge for the human race. Two hundred years later, the great lamps that light the city are beginning to flicker. When Lina finds part of an ancient message, she’s sure it holds a secret that will save the city. She and her friend Doon must decipher the message before the lights go out on Ember forever! This stunning debut novel offers refreshingly clear writing and fascinating, original characters.

Review:

The City of Ember is fantastic. This novel was one of the first books that I read that got me interested in the dystopian/post-apocalyptic genre. The first time I read it I loved it. The idea of an entire society living underground (unbeknownst to them) captivated me. What would they eat? What did they look like? Did they have any knowledge of the outside world? These were questions that ran through my head.

I had many questions on how a society would live like this and they were all answered in the book. The City of Ember was a page turner and didn't disappoint. I constantly wanted to know what was going to happen next and I couldn’t put it down, so I read well into the early hours of the morning.

Lina and Doon were great characters who were in the centre of the action at all times. They were inquisitive, brave and I was able to sympathise with them. When I first read The City of Ember (around the age of fifteen or sixteen) I admired these characters a lot. However, after recently re-reading the book, I realised that I would like more character depth. While DuPrau was very good at characterising Lina and Doon to make them appealing to readers, I would have liked to understand their thoughts and feelings more.

The City of Ember is in the third person and follows the two main characters, Lina and Doon as they try to save their flagging city. I enjoyed the visual descriptions of the city of Ember, however I would have liked more. There were parts of the book that were very sad (such as when the lengths some citizens went to discover what was outside of the city). Working out the clues was also really fun and I appreciated the fact that Lina and Doon worked it out in time.

The pace of the book was great. I didn’t feel bored at all. There were some minor side-stories that became integrated into the main plot so everything in the book fit. One of my favourite parts would have to be the ending which set up the scene perfectly for the next book. The ending was emotional, visual and memorable. I felt sorry for the characters as they didn't know they were living underground and that the world had undergone a disaster.

Overall, The City of Ember was an excellent book that I was very glad to have read. It offered an interesting perspective of what could happen after a worldwide disaster. The characters were rounded and smart.

I believe that the novel can be enjoyed by readers of all ages. A movie has been made of The City of Ember. I liked the movie as it stayed mostly true to the novel. After I read The City of Ember, I was very keen to read the sequel, The People of Sparks. Look out for my review of the sequel coming soon!

Book Rating: 4.5/5

Cover: 5/5

Concept: 5/5

Author: Jeanne DuPrau

I wrote this review as part of Dystopian August which is going on over at Presenting Lenore. Check it out!

Review: Extras by Scott Westerfeld

This is the fourth book in the series.


Reading Order: Uglies, Pretties, Specials and Extras, Bogus to Bubbly:An Insider's Guide to the World of Uglies and Mind-Rain: Your Favorite Authors on Scott Westerfeld's Uglies Series .

Summary from Goodreads:

It's a few years after rebel Tally Youngblood took down the uglies/pretties/specials regime. Without those strict roles and rules, the world is in a complete cultural renaissance. "Tech-heads" flaunt their latest gadgets, "kickers" spread gossip and trends, and "surge monkeys" are hooked on extreme plastic surgery. And it's all monitored on a bazillion different cameras. The world is like a gigantic game of American Idol. Whoever is getting the most buzz gets the most votes. Popularity rules.

As if being fifteen doesn't suck enough, Aya Fuse's rank of 451,369 is so low, she's a total nobody. An extra. But that's just until she gets to kick a good story for herself.

Then Aya meets a clique of girls who pull crazy tricks, yet are deeply secretive of it. Aya wants desperately to kick their story, to show everyone how intensely cool the Sly Girls are. But doing so would propel her out of extra-land and into the world of fame, celebrity...and extreme danger. A world she's not prepared for.

Review:

Extras was a fantastic book. I really enjoyed it. It didn’t let the series down; it was a great addition to the Uglies series. I really appreciated the fact that it was from a new character’s point of view because it was interesting to get a wider and more varied perspective. During the book, events were sometimes viewed from the perspective of Aya’s hovercam, Moggle, which added a new slant to the action.

Extras is set three years after the happenings of Specials and thus, I was able to observe the changes wrought by the cure for ‘prettymindedness’.

Whereas in the earlier three books where Westerfeld focussed on beauty, in Extras the focus was on gaining popularity and a higher reputation. Also, it was set in an unspecified city in Japan which made a change and illustrated to readers the extent that prettymindedness had travelled prior to the cure.

The characters were well rounded, 3-D and had real aspirations that people in our society have. Extras reflects the lengths that people in our society will go to for recognition. It was exciting to watch Aya’s struggle to attain fame and eminence.

Westerfeld’s descriptions were very imaginative, especially of strange body alterations. The themes of the novel were self worth in conjunction with society’s view of an individual. Extras was fast-paced and kept me enthralled. I loved the plot of the story and was surprised by the twists and turns in the novel. I was pleasantly surprised as to the deeper meaning of what it meant to be an 'Extra'.

As expected, Westerfeld thought up some super new technology to be integrated into the futuristic society and to fascinate readers. These new technological advancements included hoverball rigs, hovercams, mag-lev trains and radical honesty surgery among many other weird and wonderful inventions.

As Extras was narrated from a different viewpoint, Tally, the main character from the previous books, came across as harsh, cold and distant. This wasn’t the Tally I was used to as I wasn’t privy to her thoughts. Perhaps it would have been better if Aya had overheard a conversation or two where Tally related her thoughts, feelings and apprehensions about her new role as the enforcer of the conservation of the world.

In addition, Shay and David seemed very out of character and insignificant in comparison to their prior roles in the Uglies series. David only had a few sentences in the whole book and Shay, although disapproving of Tally’s rash behaviour, was placed in a subordinate role, rather than as an equal to Tally such as in the previous books. This may have been because Tally was now the only fully-equipped Special. Nevertheless, it was strange to observe.

One of the major aspects of the story was Aya’s journalistic ambitions and Westerfeld placed great emphasis on reprimanding Aya when she published an inaccurate article about a city-destroying weapon. This shows that people should be sure of their facts before circulating them as scandalous news such as that can result in disastrous consequences. However, as in all good stories, Aya was able to redeem the situation by finding out the truth just in time.

Overall, Extras was awesome and I am very, very glad I read it. Aya’s point of view was refreshing, unique and enjoyable to read about. The society I was introduced to was impressively-depicted and I could visualise the story in my mind’s eye. I was sad to finish the series. Extras is a must read.

I am hoping for another book from Westerfeld for this series. While Extras ended the series very well, I feel that there is more Westerfeld could explore in further novels. There is a guide to this series called Bogus to Bubbly which I will look into and also Mind Rain. I will also check out his other books. There is also a movie being planned for Uglies in 2011 so look out for that.

Uglies Series in Order of My Satisfaction Level:

Uglies

Extras

Pretties

Specials

Book Rating: 5/5

Cover: 5/5

Concept: 5/5

Author: Scott Westerfeld

I reviewed Extras as part of Dystopian August which is going on over at Presenting Lenore. Check it out!