Review: Exile

Title: Exile
Author: Anne Osterlund
Published: 2011 by Speak, an imprint of Penguin Group
Obtained: Bought

Crown princess Aurelia is a survivor. She survived attempted assassination. She survived the king's rejection. She survived her mother's abandonment. And now, in exile, she must survive her kingdom-from hostile crowds to raw frontier to desert sands. But even as unknown assailants track Aurelia and expedition guide Robert, she knows what her greatest risk is: falling love...

First Sentence:”Hoofbeats thundered from behind.”

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TIP: If you didn’t read Aurelia yet, you might want to consider doing that, and not consider reading this review.

Anne Osterlund doesn’t let her readers down with this sequel to her wonderful book Aurelia.

In this book, Aurelia is forced to survive pretty much on her own, due to her sister’s and mother’s continual betrayals. She still has Robert to count on, which means the world to her. However, the main issue in this novel is whether or not she can love him. Her being the crown princess and all makes everything complicated. Could it ever work out, or would is she basically just stringing him along in expectation of something that can never happen?
So, as they race through forests, sand dunes, and fields, trying to escape death, they also deal with their hearts.

This story was romantic, exciting, mysterious, and moving, everything a good book should have. The only thing I didn’t like was the ending, but that’s because the sequel is far from coming out. Also, the book was a bit cheesy, but what book isn’t?

Rating:

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Content Warning: Kissing, maybe some language (I forget).

Review: Sorcery & Cecelia

Title: Sorcery & Cecelia OR The Enchanted Chocolate Pot
Author: Patricia C. Wrede & Caroline Stevermer
Published: 2003 by Harcourt Books
Obtained: Bought

A great deal is happening in London this Season.

For starters, there’s the witch who tried to poison Kate at the Royal College of Wizards. She must have mistaken Kate for the Mysterious Marquis (which is curious, since they look nothing alike). And a handsome man seems to be spying on Cecelia, though he’s not doing a very good job of it – so just what are his intentions?

Then there’s the strange spell that has made our friend Dorothea the toast of the town. Could it possibly have something to do with the charm-bag under Oliver’s bed? (Speaking of Oliver, how long can we make excuses for him? Ever since he was turned into a tree, he hasn’t bothered to tell anyone where he is.)

Clearly, magic is a deadly and dangerous business. And we might be in fear for our lives . . . if only we weren’t having so much fun!

First Sentence:”It is dreadfully flat here since you have been gone, and it only makes it worse to imagine all the things I shall be missing.”

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These two lovely women have written a marvelous novel reminiscent of Jane Austen books because of the style of language. It’s so believable in its regency London setting because of the writing style and the plot details. This story is like a Jane Austen novel mixed with Bewitching Season (by Marissa Doyle).

The letter format takes getting used to but once the plot really catches on it’s easy to read. I think that the author’s each wrote for one of the characters, one for Cecelia and one for Kate, which gives the girls more distinctive voices.

Alright, the men in this story. I totally called the romances before they happened but that didn’t make them any less amazing. Both men were completely perfect for the girl they ended up with, and it was just so fun watching that progress. In typical regency-era books the girls are so hindered by social rules and can’t express their thoughts but because they were writing to each other they could speak their mind. They still remained very proper about everything though.

As for the magic element of the story, it worked very well, just like in Bewitching Season. While the girls themselves didn’t have a lot to do with the magic (at least Kate didn’t, Cecelia was a bit magic talented), the main plot surrounds the Marquis and his magic, so there a lot of the climatic moments involve magical forces.

Long story short, I loved this book and I can’t wait to read the rest of the series!

Rating: 

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Content Warnings: Kissing, some mild language from the men.

New Rating System

You might have noticed my complaints about my rating system in a few of the past reviews, and even if you did, you still probably want to know why I’m upset. What’s wrong with a 10 point system?

It gives me entirely too many options. I can’t choose when I have so many levels to choose from.(Hence my 7.09-like ratings) So I am trying that other famous system, the 5 point system. However, I’m throwing my own twist on it.

I’m a “thumbs-up girl”. I always give people thumbs-up. Who knows why. But anyway, I decided that’s a “unique” way of rating things, in how many thumbs-up it gets. I had to tweak it a bit to make it look right, but this is my new system. Regardless of the fact that the highest rating a book can receive is 4 thumbs-up, it’s still a 5 point system.

There it is, in all its fancy-text-box glory.

Well, as you can see this gives me less choices and I shall try hard to not give anything half points, as that defeats the purpose of the 5 point scale.

I really don’t feel like going back to change all the old ratings, so as long as everybody can still understand a 10 point system, we’re good.

Awesome, I can’t wait to rate books with this!

DNF–Life As We Knew It

Title: Life As We Knew It
Author: Susan Beth Pfeffer
Published: 2006 by Harcourt Books
Obtained: Library

Miranda's disbelief turns to fear in a split second when an asteroid knocks the moon closer to the earth. How should her family prepare for the future when worldwide tsunamis wipe out the coasts, earthquakes rock the continents, and volcanic ash blocks out the sun? As summer turns to Arctic winter, Miranda, her two brothers, and their mother retreat to the unexpected safe haven of their sunroom, where they subsist on stockpiled food and limited water in the warmth of a wood-burning stove. In her journal, Miranda records the events of each desperate day, while she and her family struggle to hold on to their most priceless resource—hope.

It’s always a bad sign when I start to look ahead in a book for any interesting parts. Not that this wasn’t a kind of interesting book, it was. Really. But it read more like an essay entitled “what would happen if the moon’s orbit got messed up”, and wasn’t very fun to read. So I stopped reading.

I didn’t like any of the characters, they were boring and all annoyed me in different ways. Miranda’s obsession with Brandon the figure-skater is pointless (at least in this book) once she ends up with another boy who then leaves. Yeah, I might be spoiling some things if you haven’t read it yet, but honestly, it doesn’t matter. The only reason I can see that this book is considered good is because of the possibilities it illuminates.

I was rather impressed with Pfeffer’s details and the horrors she shows can come through something as seemingly simple as the moon getting closer to Earth. The tides start killing everyone on the coast, the electricity goes out constantly, food is scarce, etc. She definitely thought through this story and knew what would go wrong.

As lovely as her research is, it doesn’t mask the boring characters and their family/friend struggles. So I didn’t finish it because I just couldn’t take the diary format (I’ve never been a fan of books written like diary entries) and the tediousness anymore. Also I couldn’t imagine this story needing two other books!

Anyways, you might like this if you enjoy thinking about the various ways in which random events can change life on Earth. Otherwise, you’ll probably think like me.

Review: Divergent

Title: Divergent
Author: Veronica Roth
Published: 2011 by Katherine Tegen Books, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers
Obtained: Bought

In Beatrice Prior’s dystopian Chicago, society is divided into five factions, each dedicated to the cultivation of a particular virtue – Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). On an appointed day of every year, all sixteen-year-olds must select the faction to which they will devote the rest of their lives. For Beatrice, the decision is between staying with her family and being who she really is – she can’t have both. So she makes a choice that surprises everyone, including herself.

During the highly competitive initiation that follows, Beatrice renames herself Tris and struggles to determine who her friends really are – and where, exactly, a romance with a sometimes fascinating, sometimes infuriating boy fits into the life she’s chosen. But Tris also has a secret, one she’s kept hidden from everyone because she’s been warned it can mean death. And as she discovers a growing conflict that threatens to unravel her seemingly perfect society, she also learns that her secret might help her save those she loves . . . or it might destroy her.

I bought this purely because of all the hype surrounding it. And let me tell you, I was not let down. Let this be a lesson to you, when every book reviewer is clamoring to say how amazing a book is, it sounds interesting, and some people are saying it’s better than The Hunger Games, walk to a bookstore and buy it. Because seriously, this book is stinkin’ amazing.

I can’t begin to express my feelings towards this book in typed form, because there’s too much to say. However, I do not want to say too much because a lot of the joy I had reading this book was from the fact that I knew nothing about it aside from the above synopsis (which I have to say, does a fantastic job at being interesting and yet not revealing too much).

Everyone who knows me knows I LOVE The Hunger Games. All three are my top favorite books (in order). Okay so, Divergent, made fourth place. Or maybe even third. Basically, it’s right up there, not quite surpassing, but almost being equal with, The Hunger Games.
The problem with all these dystopian books lately is that many are similar. Divergent has some similarities to The Hunger Games, but it’s also very opposite. I don’t want to explain all the details about this society, but they are split up (like the districts) but the rebellion (all dystopian books have rebellion) is sort of opposite. In a way.

Tris is similar to Katniss in many ways, but she is also incredibly different. While Katniss restrains her emotions so often it’s aggravating, Tris relates her emotions and knows them, but fears them at the same time. Blargh, I just tried to explain more of this, but deleted it all. I can’t really explain it.

And Four…is simply amazing. :)

Ending words: Go. Read. This. Now.

Thanks.

Rating: 10/10

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Content Warning: Kissing, mild language

Review: Enclave

Title: Enclave

Author: Ann Aguirre

Published: 2011 by Feiwel and Friends, an imprint of Macmillan

Obtained: Library

In Deuce’s world, an enclave deep underground, people earn the right to a name only if they survive their first fifteen years. By that point, each unnamed “brat” has trained to join one of three groups – Breeders, Builders, or Hunters, identifiable by the number of scars they bear on their arms. Deuce has wanted to be a Huntress for as long as she can remember.

As a Huntress, her purpose is clear – to brave the dangerous tunnels outside the enclave and bring back meat to feed the group while evading the ferocious monsters known as Freaks. She’s worked toward this goal her whole life, and nothing’s going to stop her, not even a brooding Hunter named Fade. When the mysterious boy becomes her partner, Deuce’s troubles are just beginning.

Fade doesn’t like following orders. Deuce has never known a boy like him before, someone as likely to touch her gently as use his knives with feral grace.

As Deuce’s perception shifts, so does the balance in the battle for survival. The mindless Freaks, once considered a threat due to their sheer numbers, now show signs of cunning and even strategy … but the elders refuse to heed any warnings. No matter how hard she tries, Deuce cannot stem the dark tide that carries her far from the only world she’s ever known.

I kind of adored this book.

 

At first I was slightly put off by the knives, creepy hands, and drops of blood, that decorate the book jacket in various places. I’m not big into really creepy and gory books. However, this book was definitely more than it’s cover, and I loved it.

 

The whole premise is futuristic/dystopian set in a future after humans destroyed the Earth. Deuce is raised underground, which is basically subway tunnels, sewers, and the like. Her “enclave” is one of many in the ground. The enclaves trade supplies and generally just try to stay alive. As the story is told through Deuce’s perspective, it’s fascinating to piece together the items she finds from our world, and try to put the puzzle together of what she sees as old artifacts of past life, and we see as normal everyday things. Her society is no way more advanced than ours. It’s almost like a Dark Age after our thriving environment.

 

The Freaks are strange. They’re creepy, but not “I can’t read anymore, I’m going to freak out” creepy. When Fade and Deuce fight them, it’s not gory or gross, it’s survival and action. My only problem with these monsters is their name. I mean, “freaks"? Seriously? She couldn’t have come up with a bit of a better name for them? (Also the name for children, “brats”, was rather annoying.) Regardless, they were pretty convincing in the threat they posed.

 

The whole romantic angle of this book is not major. It’s definitely there, but only the romantics who care deeply about that aspect (ME!) are going to be reading mostly to find out what happens in their relationship. The book was mainly about surviving, learning to deal with corrupt leadership, and leaving behind the only world you’ve known. (Yeah, she goes “topside”.)

 

Every character in this book is amazing. Seriously. Whether you hate them or love them, they stay true to their personality, and stay crazy complex.

 

I CAN NOT WAIT for the sequel. But it’s not going to come out until 2012, which stinks.

Not sure if this review totally expressed my feelings about the book, so let me sum it up: This is an adrenaline-pumped book with amazing characters and it’s just basically awesome. So read it. :) Unless you’re SUPER squeamish and can’t handle any violence.

 

Ratings: 10/10
(I gotta work on my rating scale. Ugh)

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Content Warnings: Kissing.
Also, females are not treated very well “topside”, so there are references to the mistreatment.