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!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hades by Alexandra Adornetto

Jake Thorn and his demons have been banished and Xavier and Bethany settle down to resume a normal life. But on the night of Halloween, a childish prank goes terribly wrong and Jake is summoned back to the sleepy town of Venus Cove. Bethany is deceived and like the mythical Persephone she finds herself dragged into the nightmarish underworld of Hades.

While the angels call on higher powers to help rescue Bethany, Jake decides to play dirty and goes after the one thing she loves more than anything. But to spare Xavier's life, Bethany must make the ultimate sacrifice.

Will she make a deal with the Devil?
And what will happen to an angel in Hell?

What a disappointment.

My expectations for this book were at a fair height. The calm, small-town-by-the-seaside feel and orderly, sweet, though fairly uneventful plot of Halo were reasonably enjoyable, and at the time that I was reading it I was in love with it (later reflection has changed my opinion, but c'est la vie).

Hades was original, definitely. I really loved the whole deal with the seance, and the interpretation of Hell (or Hades) was refreshing and horrifying. I literally felt sick and panicky when I read about the tortures in the fiery pit and the demon orgies. Scary. Also, despite how overdone angels are in Young Adult fiction, it's rare to see a novel where the angels are actually a traditional, religious interpretation and on the God-side. It's not as sexy as FALLEN angels or whatever, but refreshing.

Character-wise, this had nothing going for it. Bethany is among the most annoying main characters I've ever read. She is silly and dependant. Her every thought is of Xavier and she always considers him when she makes a decision. She often says she can't live without him. She's an angel, not a human with wings. Yeah, I know the idea is that she is supposed to feel what humans feel and understands them, but she goes one step further than that- she's twice as oblivious as them.

I also hated the fact that she was always assuming that Xavier was thinking of her, like "I knew he was thinking about me...". She talked like she was omniscient, but she wasn't, and it really bugged me. Xavier himself was alright. He talks like a teenage boy. He acts like a teenage boy. But teenage boys usually aren't so deeply committed to their high school girlfriends (not being sexist, it works vice-versa too). I guess he's in too deep with Bethany to just be devastated but useless, like a normal teenage partner when the other goes missing. But still.

I don't understand how Molly could have a crush on Gabriel. He does not sound crush worthy. He sounds really "beautiful" and all, but also too distant to become attached to. I never saw the attraction. Ivy was more bitter this time, it wasn't consistent with the previous book.

Jake was the best character, because he has the most depth. He is unpredictable, selfish and cruel, but truly seems to care for Bethany.

As for the plot...well, it was original but completely ridiculous. It's the kind of plot where complications are solved too easily. There's not much more to say about it than that, not without giving too much away, except that stuff did happen in it. The storyline was never dull or idle, and that was enough to make the book "alright" instead of "not good". The "climax", however, was laughable. Literally, laughable.

Bethany's POV is irritating a lot of the time, because of her naivety and weak character. So, when she is still able to narrate what happens to Gabriel, Ivy, Xavier and Molly while she's in Hades and they're on Earth, you start to get fed up (also a product of "easy-problem-solving" mentioned above). If the book was split perspective, which I usually find annoying, it could have been improved.

All-in-all, I enjoyed the action in the plot, disliked the characters, liked Jake, thought the resolutions were too easy and thought that the whole thing was alright. I'll still read the third title in the series, "Heaven", because I like to finish things.

I would only reccommend this if you have already read Halo.
2/5

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!

The Last Summer (of You and Me) by Ann Brashares

After I fell in love with the Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants, I looked to more of Ann Brashares' books to fill my time. I came across The Last Summerand thought I would be immersed in a story of love, friendship and emotion. The blurb led me to believe so. 

The blurb LIED. 

Certainly, you immediately got the feel of a laid-back beach town. It was sleepy and pleasant in the beginning and seemed the perfect place for the perfect teenage romance. I liked the way that Alice, Riley and Paul each told some of the story. I liked the way that Alice and Paul's relationship started to develop- slow, shy and magnetic. I liked the way that Riley was so self-absorbed and determined. 

After the illness, however, everything was different. The relationships became annoying and taut. The sleepiness of the island started putting ME to sleep. Riley wasn't allowed to be Riley any more. The writing style was dull and the plot was just too uneventful for too long. 

I couldn't finish reading this book. While I had it on loan from my school library, I lost it at least three times. I left it in the school hall, at my lunch seat in the school grounds and in one of my previous classes. I was bored and unmoved. 

I wouldn't recommend this, personally. I didn't feel the story or the characters. I was completely unimpressed. You can do better, Ann.


1/5

Passion by Lauren Kate

Luce has been confused about her relationship with Daniel for long enough. Now, she’s going to delve into their past to get the answers she wants…a past that goes right back to the Fall from Heaven…

The Fallen series has FINALLY changed. This book was a clear stand-out from Fallen and Torment- in these books, Luce and Daniel’s relationship is shrouded in depression, confusion and secrecy- a monument to the love of a girl who’s been left in the dark and a boy who’s afraid and unwilling to show her the light. In Passion, the absence of the dark, soggy mood and the distractions of other guys, we can see the real beauty behind this once never-ending love and let ourselves relax with a soft, sweet read of a mutual, instinctual adoration.

Luce is FINALLY taking control. She knows what she wants and she’s not letting Daniel stop her from running her own life, even if she is and always will be crazy about him. She is still too quick to accept help from other, unfamiliar people, a short-coming that has been seen throughout the series and the one washy quality she retains from her boarding school days. It is good to see that she has grown independent, unique and a little bit special, even if she is stupid.

The really interesting thing here, however, is the variation between her past personalities. We get up close and personal with many different Lucinda’s and see sides of her that we never would connect with her name.

Daniel is FINALLY not presenting himself as overbearing, uncaring, rude, forceful, or a jackass! And just when I thought that he could never redeem himself… This is a place to take a break and watch how Daniel really feels about Luce…how he’s always felt about Luce. He’s totally focused on her now, not on keeping her from blah blah blah and saving her from blah blah blah and not letting her know blah blah blah. This is about him getting her back, just so that he knows for sure that she is safe. He hasn’t grown, necessarily, but he’s different in Passion, and it’s a side of him that I like infinitely better.

The writing style was quaint and low-key- it was a good representation of the mood of the story and the feeling of taking a break from the drama. Until, of course, it becomes evident that we are hopping right back on the Drama Train. The format- a backwards chronology- is good and nicely relevant to the  way this story needed to be played out. The new twist here would have been shocking if a certain someone hadn’t told me what it was and you’ll be surprised to find the evil in this tale that can’t possibly be all sunshine and rainbows.

This is a book that is well-deserving of the 

4/5

that I gave it. If you can find more faults with it, then I’m going to guess you preferred the doom and gloom to the romance and you found it over-whelming and unrealistically soppy. If that is your opinion, then we’ll have to agree to disagree. I loved Passion and most people should as well. (Not that I am implying that my opinion is more important than anyone else’s.)

http://www.goodreads.com/review/list/5255324-jess

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

The Second Summer of the Sisterhood

The Septembers are back for another summer, still bearing the wounds and lessons of the one before and ready to make more memories worthy of the Travelling Pants...

This was one sequel that didn't disappoint. The story continued with the same themes of friendship and with more life-lessons learned. It follows a similar pattern to that of The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants, the first book in the series. Tibby, Lena, Bridget and Carmen encounter problems with love, life and family. It's a great story about finding yourself (again), learning the weight of your actions, the proper place that romance has in young lives and about remembering those that inspired us in the first summer of the Pants.

I enjoyed this book pretty well and think that it's got a lot of great lessons and morals. It had a slow pace that didn't leave you bored and every story was one that you were interested in. It was realistic and an accurate portrayal of the lives of teenagers. I can't wait to read The Third Summer of the Sisterhood!

my rating: 4/5

City of Fallen Angels by Cassandra Clare

It seems that everything has just gone right in the world of Shadowhunters, demons and magical beings, but, in reality, the great triumph for the Shadowhunters against Valentine has opened up a world of even greater evil…

When Valentine was killed, the Downworlders given a place among the Clave and Clary Fray and Jace Lightwood finally got together, everything seemed to turn back to normal. Simon Lewis, however, is feeling anything but normal. His vampire compulsions are getting stronger and his unusual condition forces him into the world of vampire politics, a place he never wanted to be. His two girlfriends and new werewolf friend aren’t helping. Jace is acting very strange and his relationship with Clary is getting dark and noticeably tense. An old girlfriend of Magnus Bane’s pops up and there’s something scary going on with human babies not far away...Can Jace and Clary work out what’s going on with Jace? Will Simon discover and take the right path for his new, vampiric self? Can the whole group stop the evil lurking in all their lives before a new horror arises?

Cassandra Clare has been welcomed lovingly into the arms of the young adult fiction fan base, her Mortal Instruments series thrilling, delighting and ensnaring many young-ish readers. The latest instalment to this series, City of Fallen Angels, was highly anticipated by these readers and is something that I couldn’t wait for!

I wasn’t sure whether I liked C.O.F.A. or not. On the one hand, it was just as exciting as ever and still closely linked to the plot of the previous three books in the series, which I wasn’t expecting- where I thought that the old problem would die down and something new would come up elsewhere, a stronger, more disturbing issue has risen from the ashes of Valentine’s failure and Clary’s mistakes. On the other hand, there is an immense contrast between C.O.F.A. and the first half of the series- the quality of Clare’s characters has been lost, for the best in everyone except Jace. Jace’s problem has robbed him of his wit, sarcastic humour and self-centred attitude. The Mortal Instruments series just seems so much emptier without the humour that Clare had no way to pair with the darkness of her themes.

I think that the book being predominantly in Simon’s point of view was a good thing. Simon has grown as a character and his story is one of the most interesting by far, because he is so unsure of what he’s going to do about almost everything! It was good to wonder what side he would take in the vampire’s political troubles, which girl did he like the most out of the two he was dating and how was he going to cope with the struggles of his bloodlust. People that I spoke to before reading C.O.F.A. were pretty negative about Simon’s point of view and I am happy that they were more or less wrong in their presumptions.

This was a sufficiently exciting story with a strong plot and a good link to the first half of the series. Upset though I was with the absence of Jace’s usual character traits, I am intrigued by the rest of the story and cannot wait until the next book comes out. I recommend this to any teenager seeking an adventurous, action-packed, dark read with watered-down horror (very watered-down, or I wouldn’t have been able to read it).

My Rating: 4/5

Wings/Spells by Aprilynne Pike



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In a small California town, fifteen-year-old Laurel is sent from a sheltered life of home-schooling into a normal high school when her family move house. Already nervous about school and settling in cautiously, there is more stress and tension added to her life when a giant white flower- shaped like a pair of wings- grows out of her back. On a trip back to her old home, which her parents are trying to sell to someone that gives Laurel the creeps, Laurel meets Tamani, someone who tells her that she's a Fall faerie and...something else. Laurel is sucked into the magical world where she belongs, battling trolls and her inexperience to claim ownership of her old house for the good of the faeries.







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The story continues in Spells, where Laurel finds herself off to Avalon to finally learn the ways of the Fall faeires. Her new-found knowledge is put to the test upon her return home to her well-informed human parents and she still hasn't completely won the battle against the trolls...and now, she has to worry about the mysterious humans that have been taking too much of an interest in Laurel's safety. Also, Tamani and Laurel's human boyfriend David are getting jealous of each other and Laurel can't decide who she wants to be with more!

The first two books in this series were a little different to anything I'd ever read. Aprilynne Pike's version of faeries is the most original take on them that I know of. The plot...not so much. It's pretty Twilight-ish, except that it has less focus on romance and more on the weirdness of Laurel's species and how she adjusts to it.

Laurel was a Mary Sue in my opinion- she was quiet, smart, unsociable, too nice and unwittingly caused romantic turmoil. She's one of those people that look nice in the background and is highly reminiscent of Bella Swan. I felt that, as a main character in a book series that was showing some promise in every other area, she could have had some other, more realistic qualities- a genuine bad side, something that made her only human, in every sense that can be applied to her. Somethings that I would have liked to see is vanity, being self-assured and assertive and getting really angry. Main characters need something that makes them stand out- Laurel lacked that.

Tamani and David are a lot better. Tamani's very clever and confident, with a very supportive attitude to the faerie hierarchy system and, from his description, he is very hot. David is perfect boyfriend/best friend material- he's supportive, eager to help out, sweet, smart and, most importantly, he's funny. Both of their relationships with Laurel, however, are not what they could be.

I also feel that the climaxes weren't incredibly interesting, although the idea of trolls isn't something used a lot in YA. A lack of adrenaline coming frfom Laurel was mostly to blame, but the situations themselves were fairly boring as well.

The chronological, third person writing style that Pike adopted in this series made the story easy to follow and understand.

Despite main character issues, I found these books interesting and unique. If I can get my hands on the third book, Illusions, I will continue reading the series, to see how Laurel resolves her issues with the trolls and her boy troubles, as well as to find out if the series will get anymore exciting.

My rating- 3/5



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 Meanwhile, Disney has recently claimed the rights to the film of Wings and are already starting on it. Miley Cyrus has been tipped to play Laurel, although I'm not entirely sure how that will work out.

Thanks!
Ink-Winged713

Beastly by Alex Flinn

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Beastly, a novel written by Alex Flinn is a modern take on the classic fairytale, Beauty and the Beast. It takes the story and tells it to us in a way that most people our age can relate to…except this time, we hear the story from the Beast.

Handsome, popular Kyle Kingsbury angers a witch named Kendra with a tasteless practical joke, causing her to turn him into a beast. The only way he can turn back into himself is if he falls in love with a girl who can love him back despite his ugliness and only if they kiss within two years of the casting of Kyle’s curse. When Kyle, secluded and lonely, is given the opportunity to fall in love with Lindy, who’s father tried to rob Kyle’s house and made a deal with Kyle (he would give Kyle Lindy if Kyle didn’t call the police), Kyle finds himself falling in love and desperately tries to get Lindy to reciprocate the feelings before the two years are up.

This story was one of the most romantic things I’ve ever read. The thoughts of the main character- which are portrayed beautifully by the first person point of view- are sweet and often had me squealing in enchantment. I took delight in the darkness of the depths of Kyle’s mind. The writing style and language used were very relatable for teenagers. I found nothing wrong with it, unless you can count the devastatingly short time it took to read it.

A wonderful story where the prince must earn his princess and where romance is so thick it almost rolls off the page in smoky fumes, I recommend this to any girl over the age of thirteen- there are some adult references in the book and this really is a girls’ book. I enjoyed it immensely and cannot remember ever being more hyped for the main character to get their dream kiss in my life. I’m sure most people will enjoy Beastly.

My rating: 4.5/5