Pure, by Julianna Baggott

We know you are here, our brothers and sisters . . . 
Pressia barely remembers the Detonations or much about life during the Before. In her sleeping cabinet behind the rubble of an old barbershop where she lives with her grandfather, she thinks about what is lost-how the world went from amusement parks, movie theaters, birthday parties, fathers and mothers . . . to ash and dust, scars, permanent burns, and fused, damaged bodies. And now, at an age when everyone is required to turn themselves over to the militia to either be trained as a soldier or, if they are too damaged and weak, to be used as live targets, Pressia can no longer pretend to be small. Pressia is on the run.

Burn a Pure and Breathe the Ash . . . 
There are those who escaped the apocalypse unmarked. Pures. They are tucked safely inside the Dome that protects their healthy, superior bodies. Yet Partridge, whose father is one of the most influential men in the Dome, feels isolated and lonely. Different. He thinks about loss-maybe just because his family is broken; his father is emotionally distant; his brother killed himself; and his mother never made it inside their shelter. Or maybe it's his claustrophobia: his feeling that this Dome has become a swaddling of intensely rigid order. So when a slipped phrase suggests his mother might still be alive, Partridge risks his life to leave the Dome to find her. 

When Pressia meets Partridge, their worlds shatter all over again.

Le Interviewer: On a scale of one to ten, with one being ridiculous and boring and ten being simply MIND-

BLOWING, what would you give to Pure?

Le Me: TEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! *screams and dances as streamers and confetti fall from the sky and fireworks light up the world*

Essentially, that little thing sums it up. This book was AH-mazing!

When I first heard of Pure, it was being compared to Hunger Games. The review said that Pure made Hunger Games look tame, that it was totally more hard core and horrifying, pretty much saying that it was the far superior dystopia.

“How dare they!” you say? “Hunger Games BUILT ALL EXPECTATIONS for young adult dystopia!” you say?

That is true. However, Pure redefines dystopia for teenage readers, putting the concept into a whole new, far more terrifying context. You could call that context “Post-Apocalyptic” or, in more specific terms, “After the Nuclear Bomb”.

Pure uses descriptive writing really well, and Julianna Baggott’s Dust creatures, mutants and scenery will make you feel absolutely, amazingly SICK TO YOUR STOMACH. Plus, she actually pulled off split perspective, which I ALWAYS seem to hate. Pressia was interesting. Partridge was interesting. El Capitan was interesting. Lyda was interesting. Anyone who narrated the story was interesting! And each of them was different! Usually with split perspective, you have one character who you want to listen to throughout the whole book. You won’t be thinking about that whilst reading Pure.

This is a book that will move you, make you scared and horrified and happy and sad and angry. It might make you vomit, which does not mean anything bad, just that it was really good at making you disgusted. But not because of the bad writing (*vampires of sparkly doom*). Because of the story, and intentionally.

Also, look at the picture of the cover. Look at it! Can you not see how amazing this story will be from the fact that the cover is completely BLACK? Isn’t that so cool!?

I recommend to any teenager and older, though maybe not at bedtime as it is quite disturbing sometimes. Read and enjoy! Especially if you want to read a serious book with minimal romance and lots of mutants and revolutions and governments whose arses need kicking!

I rate it:

5/5!!!!!!!!!

Touch of Power

Laying hands upon the injured and dying, Avry of Kazan assumes their wounds and diseases into herself. But rather than being honored for her skills, she is hunted. Healers like Avry are accused of spreading the plague that has decimated the Territories, leaving the survivors in a state of chaos. 

Stressed and tired from hiding, Avry is abducted by a band of rogues who, shockingly, value her gift above the golden bounty offered for her capture. Their leader, an enigmatic captor-protector with powers of his own, is unequivocal in his demands: Avry must heal a plague-stricken prince—leader of a campaign against her people. As they traverse the daunting Nine Mountains, beset by mercenaries and magical dangers, Avry must decide who is worth healing and what is worth dying for. Because the price of peace may well be her life...

Touch of Power follows the fantasy adventure of a girl with a duty to humanity and a huge role in the political future of her world. It…

Ok, I’m lost. It’s so hard to review this book!

The important characters were developed beautifully, the context of the story was well thought-out and the dialogue was actually sort of believable! Isn’t that a rare find!

Reading this book, I feel like I’ve finally found the perfect female main character.

Note: Unlike this one…

Avry is smart and independent, with an instinct for escape and excellent powers of deductive reasoning, plus she can defend herself and has a romantic relationship based on way more than physical attraction.

One thing that stood out to me about this book was how not-boring it was. If you like action, this had sword fights, knife throwing and covert operations every chapter. Another thing was the thought that went into creating the villain, a psychopath with a back story that explains why he’s a psychopath. He also fits into the modern villain stereotype of having a likeable façade but something depraved about him that cancels it out, making him simultaneously attractive and repulsive.

Villain is kind of sexy. Romantic interest is too.

Anyway, if you like fantasy, LURRVE adventure and action and are looking for a read that delights your soul and practically turns its own pages (not to mention sexy villains and love interests), GET THIS BOOK IN YOUR HANDS.

I rate it 5/5!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Daughter of Smoke and Bone

In general, Karou has managed to keep her two lives in balance. On the one hand, she's a seventeen-year-old art student in Prague; on the other, errand girl to a monstrous creature who is the closest thing she has to family. Raised half in our world, half in 'Elsewhere', she has never understood Brimstone's dark work- buying teeth from hunters and murderers- nor how she came into his keeping. She is a secret even to herself, plagued by the sensation that she isn't whole.

Now the doors to Elsewhere are closing and Karou must choose between the safety of her human life and the dangers of a war-ravaged world that may hold the answers she has always sought.

W-O-W

This book is totally different to anything I've ever read. I first heard about it when I watched a video recording of an editors' convention, where people from different publishing houses talked about books they were editing. Daughter of Smoke and Bone was one of these and I was absolutely ready to jump into it when the presentation had finished. Alas, I had to wait many months, but I have read it now and can tell you all about it.

Karou, the protagonist, is an amazing main character. She has a personality that definitely stands out from the Mary Sues and depressed girls that dominate the romantic young adult fiction scene. She's so independent and strong. She's good with knives and combat but isn't just a fighter girl. She's beautiful, but isn't incredibly shallow or vain. She wished for blue hair and the disappearance of skin afflictions, but we never really hear about her clothes. Her loyalty to Brimstone, the chimaera (more on that later) who raised her, is remarkable, though she still has the natural urge to disobey his orders so that she can satisfy her curiosity. Her background story is interesting and heart-breaking and makes perfect sense.

Akiva is not as good as Karou, character-wise. He's the typical guy-with-wings that you have to fall in love with because he's gorgeous and shows the ideal boyfriend material with his deep, brooding thoughts and amazing love for his girl. However, his story with Karou and his history with a girl called Madrigal are soulful and very non-boring.

Plot-wise, it was incredibly original. Apart from the fact that there were ANGELS, which we know are somewhat overused in young adult fiction these days, the mythology was basic but unique. Pretty much, there are the chimaeras- creatures that are a mixture of animal and sometimes human body parts- and the angels- who are simply winged people with great combat skill and some magic. These two races are at war in their world, Eretz. Humans aren't really essential to the story, except for the fact that Karou lives among them and Brimstone has portals leading from the human world to his magical shop of wishes. The wishes are the main part of the story, along with the fact that Brimstone buys teeth of all sorts from people in exchange for wishes. We don't find out a lot about the trades until the end. It follows Karou's search to discover who she is and to find her loved ones.

This story focuses on the idea that "magic" is dangerous and painful and that the real magic is in human will and hope. This theme is reiterated at regular intervals through the book, the power being demonstrated more and more as it occurs. It's incredible how characters can solve their problems through hope. Romance is explored, particularly the idea of love and fate being intertwined, but the good thing is that the plot doesn't focus on love entirely. It's sort of a secondary theme, in between the foreground and the background where it looks really quite nice. The lovers in the book have a beautiful chemistry and are pleasant to read.

This is an amazing read for teenagers and older. It hasn't got any flaws that I can conjure from the top of my head. There isn't really a lot that happens in this first book, except in some flashbacks, but you don't notice because of how engaged you are. If you like books with magic, romance and mythological creatures, this is a perfect addition to your "To Read" list. 


I rate it: 


5/5 


Laini Taylor is epic!

Shiver by Maggie Steifvater

The town of Mercy Falls is small, quiet and uneventful- until a boy is supposedly killed by the wolves of the forest. Grace feels a connection to these wolves and needs to find out more about what's happening, to help save them. She would risk anything to keep HER wolf out of harm's way...

This was an amazing read! Just like the town where the story takes place, the pace is slow and mostly uneventful, but what does happen in between combines teenage romance with paranormal mystery in a beautiful way.

Grace and Sam are both well-written, unique characters who really do have an air of true love about them. Grace is strong and independent, with an apathy towards her parents and Sam is poetic and decent, wanting to find his way in the normal world without leaving his own behind.

The quality of Maggie Stiefvater's writing is magical- it is slow and descriptive, not leaving any details behind while still just keeping it simple. It doesn't bore at all- it moves you and you will put the book down at the end feeling hungry for more.

My Rating: 5/5