Young Adult

The Thief

/ justbookreading / 4 Comments

The Thief

The Thief

By Megan Whalen Turner

Puffin Books

ISBN: 0-14-038834-6

3.75 stars

Gen is a thief and a good one, with the small exception of getting caught and landing in the King’s prison for stealing and, bragging about, the King’s official seal. When the Magus, the King’s scholar, brings him out of the dungeon to his office he does it with the intention of extracting a promise. Gen can leave the prison and not return as along as he agrees to steal a mythical stone for the King. With no choice, he sets out with the Magus and a small group of travelers who make their way through the neighboring country into Attolia to steal the ancient treasure protected by the gods.

This book moved a little slow for me at first, but then, for whatever reason, I couldn’t put it down. Gen — who is annoying, complains often, and is constantly surly — is hiding something and you want to know what his secret is. He’s over confident but somehow you know he’s more than capable of stealing the stone. One thing I did enjoy were the stories and tales of the gods that Gen and the Magus tell the other travelers along the way. They offer history and ground the story while providing a few hints as to what’s to come.

The Thief is a good quick read and once I got into the story, I kept going without putting the book down. This is the first in a series and luckily my library has the next two: The Queen of Attolia and The King of Attolia. A fourth book, A Conspiracy of Kings, comes out later this year. I can see myself reading the entire series.

Catching Fire

/ justbookreading / 3 Comments

Catching Fire

Catching Fire

By Suzanne Collins

Scholastic Press

ISBN: 978-0-439-02349-8

4.25 stars

Catching Fire is the second book in The Hunger Games trilogy. My review of The Hunger Games is here. I’ve tried to avoid spoilers but if you really don’t want to know anything, you may want to stop reading now.

Katniss and Peeta are back home after winning the Hunger Games attempting to live normal lives. Instead, they spend their days and nights coping with the aftermath of the Games and the affect their actions, in and out of the arena, have on their loved ones. Katniss and Peeta are supposed to be in love and they do their best to pretend in public but her feelings are a jumbled mess and she’s not sure what she feels for Peeta. Her friend Gale is back in the picture and she doesn’t know what to do with him or her feelings for him either.

Talk of rebellion is all around and Katniss constantly wonders if her actions in the arena were the cause. When she and Peeta embark on their Victory Tour of the districts, they end up causing more trouble, some unknowingly and some intentionally. Now Katniss needs to prove to the Capitol that her actions mean nothing before everything comes back to haunt her.

I preferred death match in the area to inciting rebellion. I’m not sure what they says about me but even though I liked The Hunger Games better, I found Catching Fire just as addicting. Some parts of Catching Fire felt like a re-hash of The Hunger Games to some degree since certain events take place all over again. Katniss is still trying to decide between Peeta and Gale. Frankly, I’m almost as frustrated as she is with the choice. She is still sullen, self-centered, and annoying as ever (I must point out though that it works for her and is not the turnoff you think it will be.) and you have to wonder why anyone would love her. Yet, they do.

Catching Fire is a really fast read and really entertaining. It’s brain candy at it’s ultimate with all the addicting qualities you want out of it. It’s just as violent as the first and ends in the same appallingly annoying way: end of book two. Now I have to wait until August to find out what happens next.

The Hunger Games

/ justbookreading / 6 Comments

The Hunger Games

The Hunger Games

By Suzanne Collins

Scholastic Press

ISBN: 978-0-439-02348-1

4.5 stars

In Panem, a dystopian North America racked by years of war, the Capitol is once again choosing tributes, a boy and a girl between the ages of 12 and 18, to compete in the Hunger Games. The Games are a way for the Capitol to keep the 12 surrounding districts in line and remind the residents of the Capitol’s power over them. Katniss Everdeen and her younger sister Prim are both eligible to become tributes. When Prim’s name is chosen, Katniss steps forward and volunteers to take her place. Katniss and the other tribute, Peeta, are then sent off to the Capitol to prepare for the competition.

Having spent most of her life close to death, Katniss knows how to survive but it will take every last bit of courage she can dredge up to make it out of the competition alive. Having to make choices she never thought she would have to about survival, love, and humanity in the process.

This book is like crack. Stick with me here people, I mean this in a good way. This book is so incredibly addicting that you don’t want to put it down and when you finally do, you realize that you’ve actually finished the book and there are no words left and that was the reason why you stopped reading. The final words in this book are: end of book one. What?! I wasn’t ready for it to end and I wanted more. But, no, I was left hanging.

I heard so much about this book and it’s been on my radar but I never got around to picking it up. As soon as I finished The Hunger Games, I quickly put Catching Fire, the second book in the series, on hold at the library. By quickly, I mean as soon as I finished reading I sat down at the computer and logged into the library to add it to my que. It’s been a long time since I’ve been left wondering this much about what would happen to two characters. Katniss and Peeta become so fascinating and you need to know everything, and of course, does she or doesn’t she love him is the big question. And, no, I won’t tell you. I don’t know either.

Yes, this is a violent book but knowing the book is about war and the absolute zero value the Capitol places on the residents of the districts and, especially children, you come to an understanding at the beginning of this story. It’s a hard story about survival and what people will do in those last few moments and I liked the dark edge. It gave you a reason to cheer Katniss and Peeta on. It’s exciting and hooks you right at the start. I’m sorry I waited so long to read this series. Thankfully book 3 will be out in August. Hey Lady! Whatca Readin’? posted the name and cover of the next book recently, Mockingjay. If you want to read her post, click here.  It will be released on August 24, 2010.

Fallen

/ justbookreading / 1 Comment

Fallen

Fallen

By Lauren Kate

Delacourte Press

ISBN: 978-0-385-73893-4

3.75 stars

Luce Price isn’t a normal girl, or at least she doesn’t think so. Since she was a child, she has been able to see unexplained shadows that appear before something bad happens. Medication and psychiatrists have not been able to rid of her them and she’s reluctantly learned to live with the shadows. While away at boarding school, she’s involved in the unexplained death of a classmate. She doesn’t remember what happened and can’t explain the fire that killed him and almost took her life.

A judge orders her to reform school, the Sword & Cross, and the day she checks in she’s drawn to one student, Daniel. He isn’t nice to her, doesn’t want anything to do with her, and she can’t leave him alone or get him out of her head. Strange things happen that shouldn’t when she’s around him and the shadows, which have become more direct and daring, begin to frighten her as never before.

Vampires, werewolves, and now angles. Don’t worry, I’m not giving anything away by telling you angels are involved here. The title and the name of the boarding school give it away.

The story starts out slow and stays that way for the first 100 or so pages. Luce is dreary but understandably so. She’s being dropped at another boarding school which is more like a reform school, she’s coping with the death of a boy she thinks she may have killed, her parents act as if they are afraid of her, and now she has to make friends all over again. That’ s a lot for anyone to deal with. Her obsession with Daniel is a bit much for me, I was never one for reading about teen angst, but when things are explained, the attraction and obsession become less annoying. I just wish I knew some of that up front.

The school, the Sword & Cross, is dark, sad, and somehow a good setting. When the story gets moving, it’s interesting to see what side everyone is on. I liked that the religious element was fairly light here. I’m not one for religion in books but here it was handled well — enough to make the point but not overly pronounced. I’m looking forward to the next book.

Fallen will be released December 8, 2009. It is the first is a series.

This book was sent to me by Random House at my request. It is an advanced reader’s copy.

Shiver

/ justbookreading / 2 Comments

Shiver

Shiver

By Maggie Stiefvater

Scholastic Press

ISBN: 978-0-545-12326-6

4.5 stars

Grace is a normal high school girl. Her parents, while loving, are lax in the parenting department and and she’s learned to raise herself. She’s a good student, has friends, and a thing for the wolves in the backyard — specifically the one with yellow eyes. As a child, she was attacked by a pack of wolves and she’s convinced the yellow-eyed one saved her. Now, she spends many nights in the backyard trying to befriend him. When a student from her class is attacked, the town sets out to destroy the wolves and Grace is determined to stop them fearing her wolf will be hurt or even killed.

After trying to stop the culling, she returns home to find a naked boy on her back porch bleeding. Oddly, he has the same yellow eyes as her wolf. Grace takes him to the hospital, and when he reveals his miraculous healing ability, she takes him home. Sam, her wolf, has been in love with her since the day he saved her and knowing this will be his last year to become human, wants to spend every waking moment with her. Grace, knowing she has finally found her wolf, refuses to let him go even when it might mean death.

Werewolves are now it for me. I don’t know why I haven’t been reading more all along. Or maybe I’ve just been reading the wrong werewolf books.

Either way, while the werewolves were fascinating, the relationship is was what really hooked me. Yes, the boy is a wolf, but somehow when Grace and Sam are together, you believe these two individuals belong together and the rest of the cold, cruel world fades away. You don’t want to see them part and when the inevitable happens, it’s heartbreaking and somehow very real.

I had to remind myself that I was reading a young adult book in a few places. The romance is pretty tempered, they are high school kids, but intimate in many ways I didn’t expect. After I finished the book, I felt I would have liked to know more about the wolves, how they came about, and a little bit more about why they changed. The ending felt a tad out of place for me but that’s really my only criticism here and it didn’t hit me until after I had finished. I was so into the book that at the time it seemed plausible. I plan to check out more of Stiefvater’s books. I really like her style and way with characters.

Century: Book 1 The Ring of Fire

/ justbookreading / Leave a comment

Century: Book 1 The Ring of Fire

Century: Book 1 The Ring of Fire

Century: Book 1 The Ring of Fire

By P.D. Baccalario

Random House Children’s Books

ISBN: 978-0-375-85895-6

2.5 stars

According to legend, every 100 years mankind is tested and, in order to be saved, four children must take on the task of saving the world…

On December 29, thanks to a hotel reservation mix up, four children find themselves thrown together in one room in Rome. Elettra, the hotel owner’s daughter, Harvey from New York, Sheng from Shanghai, and Mistral from Paris. In getting to know each other, they find out they are all Leap Year babies. Suddenly, a freak blackout drowns the city in darkness and the kids decide to take the opportunity to explore.

On the streets of Rome, the kids run into a man who gives them a briefcase. Wearily, they take it back to the hotel and open it. Inside they find a series of clues that make no sense to them at first, but soon they find themselves traversing the city in search of an elusive answer, running from a dangerous hit-man, and being drawn deeper into a centuries old mystery.

This book sounded very interesting to me and I was looking forward to it. I tend to like stories where characters are searching for the unknown with a bit of the paranormal/mysterious element thrown in but this one came up short for me. I am usually very good at suspending disbelief when needed, but here I couldn’t buy that these four kids would automatically bond, roam the street of Rome, and get in that much trouble without anyone noticing. For instance, one of the kids gets kidnapped and no one notices and the other kids say nothing. I had trouble with that. Also, I found Harvey to be very unlikable and wondered why these kids would still want him around. He said no to everything, was moody, and generally mean and annoying. Yes, there is always room for the contrarian but he was the epitome and then some.

I will say this — I have been to Rome and I think the author did a good job of describing the city and it’s little quirks. There are many fantastic things in Rome that can make the imagination run wild. I wish more of that was incorporated here but the story was about these four kids and not the city. Also, it did pick up toward the end and had it’s moments. For 12 year-olds (the ages of the children in this book), I can see the draw here — to be in a big city, without parents butting in, and involved in a centuries old mystery, it could be very thrilling.

This is the first book in the Century series. Four others are planned.

This book was sent to me by Random House at my request.

The Graveyard Book

/ justbookreading / 1 Comment

 

The Graveyard Book

The Graveyard Book

The Graveyard Book

By Neil Gaiman

HarperCollins Publishers

ISBN: 978-0-06-053092-1

4 stars

Nobody Owens lives in the cemetery. He plays with his neighbors, attends classes, and lives just as any other boy — except that he is being raised by ghosts.

Nobody, known affectionately as Bod, came to the cemetery the night his parents and sister were murdered. The only member of his family to escape death that evening, he was saved because of his precocious behavior and penchant for climbing out of his crib. He made his way to the cemetery and, fortunately, the residents were willing to take him in. Mr. and Mrs. Owens offer to raise him as their own and his guardian, Silas, takes on the task of maintaining his safety. Over the years, Bod does his best to test boundaries, as any child will do, with the exception that all his experiences take place in the world of the dead so small scrapes end up being life and death decisions.

As Bod grows, he learns about life outside of the cemetery gates and wishes to become part of the living world once again. Silas agrees and lets him attend school but it doesn’t work out as well as Bod would have liked. He blends in, almost to the point of becoming invisible, which suits Silas, but not Bod. After an incident lands him in trouble, Bod agrees to come back to the safety of the graveyard but he is becoming even more curious about the people who are trying to harm him. Unknown to Bod, Silas is doing his best to make sure he will be able to live a safe, happy life once he leaves the cemetery.

Gaiman creates a fantastic world inside the gates of the cemetery. Bod’s experiences are extraordinary and make you want to explore your local cemetery. Bod’s lessons and the little excursions he takes, in and out of the graves, are wonderful and full of curiosity.

I’ve read a few Gaiman books and always marvel at the way he creates worlds within worlds that you want to explore. You’ll appreciate the depths with which he creates his world in this book.