"Hunger" (Gone, #2) by Michael Grant

(The summary for this book is spoiler-y for the first book in the series, "Gone". If you'd like to view it anyway and find out more information about the book, here's the goodreads page for it. As usual with sequel reviews, though I try to keep them spoiler free, it's possible there will be minor spoilers for the first book. YOU ARE WARNED.)

With the same gripping plot style and breakneck fast pace as "Gone", "Hunger" is a really great sequel. It met my expectations, which "Gone" set very high. A lot of the best aspects of the first book were continued in the second, besides the incredible plot and pacing. However, I didn't enjoy Hunger QUITE as much as its predecessor. For example, Sam's humility left me feeling conflicted. While I was glad that he was humble, he was feeling pressures, and he wasn't perfect, like I felt in the first book, too much is well... too much. His tendency throughout the book for self pity got kind of annoying after a while. Then, at the same time, it made sense-- he was grasping for solutions to really difficult problems and searching for answers where there seemed to be none, and that was frustrating for him. Then all these kids have adopted him as their leader and when he starts not being able to fix everything, obviously he felt a little lost. Another thing that left me feeling that way is that a lot of questions were asked, more sub-plots started, which is all fine but then nothing seemed to be getting answered and at times that was just really frustrating to deal with. HOWEVER, these two problems did not really damage my overall impression of the book.

The characters continue to be great for the most part. The setting is so developed, so clear I can imagine the whole FAYZ, and I love that about these books. The continuing developments and the worsening of the situation in the FAYZ were both fascinating and horrifying. Then the problem of 'Freaks' vs. 'Normals', as they started to conflict was obviously intense but also interesting because of the psychology of it all, for me.

Overall, a good sequel! Continued awesome pace, plot, and characters; even if a few elements left me feeling a tad conflicted at times.

"Supernaturally" (Paranormalcy, #2) by Kiersten White

(The description for this book is spoiler-y for the first book. If you wish to view it anyway and find out more information, check out the goodreads page here. This review might also contain spoilers for the first book, "Paranormalcy". I suggest you read that review (linked) instead if you haven't yet read it. YOU ARE WARNED.)

"Paranormalcy" was SO fun and awesome-mazing (that is not a word, that is my, er... creative license?). Obviously, any book that practically makes fun of the paranormal creatures and their stereotypes that we love (and love to hate) and has a main character that dreams of having a locker rather than paranormal butt-kicking, with a pink taser affectionately named Tasey as a side-kick MUST be awesome, and so Paranormalcy was.

Needless to say (but bam, I just did) I was VERY EXCITED for the sequel, "Supernaturally". It was also awesome. Ohhhh and remember that time I thought there were only going to be two books in this series and then Supernaturally ended and I was like 'WHAT? WHAT? WHAT? THIS IS THE END? NOOOOO.' Fortunately, I looked it up, and I must have been miss-informed. There's another! Endlessly (due out 2012). Anyway, back to the reviewing thing. I was surprised that it didn't start right after Paranormalcy left off but a few months later, however, I didn't mind. It was nice to see how Evie was doing, more acclimated in the 'normal' life that she wanted so badly ('How IS she taking to that?', you ask. Read and find out, why don't you?!?). All of the characters we love are back. Evie and Lend are still all awwwww (with maybe a few bumps in the road...). Emotions ARE running high and there are difficult decisions all over and standing in Evie and other's path. We're also introduced to a hyper-crazy new character, Jack. All I can say is my first impression of him was RIGHT. (Not saying whether that impression was good or bad.) But I was still pretty surprised, well, when I turned out to actually BE right. Very importantly, the sarcasm and sparkles in the epic writing is back-- my favorite part. :)

The bottom line: An epic, shiny, surprising sequel! Readdd ittttt (or Paranormalcy, if you haven't)!!!

Mini Review: "Summer's Crossing" (Iron Fey, 3.5) by Julie Kagawa

(This review is of the 3.5th book in a series, its predecessors are The Iron King, The Iron Daughter, Winter's Passage (2.5) and The Iron Queen. My reviews for those are linked. As always with sequel reviews, minor spoilers might be revealed. YOU ARE WARNED.)
"A Midsummer's Nightmare? Robin Goodfellow. Puck. Summer Court prankster, King Oberon's right hand, bane of many a faery queen's existence—and secret friend to Prince Ash of the Winter Court. Until one girl's death came between them, and another girl stole both their hearts.
Now Ash has granted one favor too many and someone's come to collect, forcing the prince to a place he cannot go without Puck's help—into the heart of the Summer Court. And Puck faces the ultimate choice—betray Ash and possibly win the girl they both love, or help his former friend turned bitter enemy pull off a deception that no true faery prankster could possibly resist.
An ebook exclusive novella from Julie Kagawa's Iron Fey series."-goodreads


I love these mini-adventures between books. As in "Winter's Passage" the adventure isn't necessary to understand the next book (I imagine, I mean, the Iron Knight isn't out yet, so I don't know for sure) but is a little extra bit for anyone who really likes the series. In this one, rather than spending time with Meghan and Ash, we're with Puck and Ash. That was really interesting because although it's been getting better over the course of the books, they kind of hated each other (for understandable reasons, once we know the story). It's from Puck's point of view, which was different. I enjoy Puck's sense of humor and wit, although I'm still firmly Team Ash. Yes, the ice prince. This novella was really good, but at the same time a bit too much of a tease! I can't wait for the Iron Knight to come out, especially now that I've been back to the world of the Iron Fey for a bit. I love Julie Kagawa's writing!
If you've read the rest of the Iron Fey and want to read Summer's Crossing it's a free novella (like was done with Winter's Passage). You can download it for your respective E-Reader or read it online a the website here.

"Gone" by Michael Grant

"In the blink of an eye. Everyone disappears. GONE.
Except for the young. Teens. Middle schoolers. Toddlers. But not one single adult. No teachers, no cops, no doctors, no parents. Just as suddenly, there are no phones, no internet, no television. No way to get help. And no way to figure out what's happened.
Hunger threatens. Bullies rule. A sinister creature lurks. Animals are mutating. And the teens themselves are changing, developing new talents—unimaginable, dangerous, deadly powers—that grow stronger by the day.
It's a terrifying new world. Sides are being chosen, a fight is shaping up. Townies against rich kids. Bullies against the weak. Powerful against powerless. And time is running out: On your birthday, you disappear just like everyone else..."-goodreads

There are some books that just suck you into the pages, make you want to find the whole story, figure it out NOW, but at the same time, never have it end. They keep you turning the pages and the suspense can become almost unbearable. If you had a day where you didn't have to do anything else those are the type of books that you'd want to just tear through and not WANT to do anything else. "Gone" is most definitely one of those. I mean, just read the description. CAN YOU FLIPPING IMAGINE THAT? Everyone 15&over suddenly disappearing. *Something* cutting you off completely from the outside world?! Kids and teenagers running the town, trying to prevent chaos as all kinds of it presses in on them? (Has anyone read Lord of the Flies? Hello!? Yeah, I think we all know the whole situation is going to turn to heck eventually.) And each of the characters are still battling their own problems, too. Sometimes in post-apocalyptic and dystopian fiction, it seems like the characters are all perfectly content people living in their perfect little world until disaster strikes, but in "Gone", much more realistically, the characters were never living perfect lives and they deal with that as well.

Michael Grant's storytelling is amazing. There was never a dull moment and constantly questions were raised, and surprises thrown in. It's filled with action and suspense, and I could see everything vividly in my mind. The characters were great too, a grand cast of them ranging from likable, and hatred like the type everyone has toward Voldemort. I really liked Sam. While still seeming like how a teenager (albeit a natural born leader type of person) would deal with a crisis, he was complex, thoughtful, and dealt with the situation admirably. Astrid was very cool too, the brains of the situation, but not overly so. All of the characters were realistic in that none of them were able to stay strong ALL the time. They all had their emotional moments that they needed to make them seem human, and not magically immune to their surroundings and conditions.

An awesome book all-together. I see there are four more out in the series and a sixth due next year. I must say, these books are kind of long and I'm not quite sure how the story to span six books, but I could be wrong about that, it is pretty complicated. Looking forward to seeing how the story continues!

"Leviathan" by Scott Westerfeld

"Prince Aleksander, would-be heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, is on the run. His own people have turned on him. His title is worthless. All he has is a battletorn war machine and a loyal crew of men.
Deryn Sharp is a commoner, disguised as a boy in the British Air Service. She's a brilliant airman. But her secret is in constant danger of being discovered.
With World War I brewing, Alek and Deryn's paths cross in the most unexpected way…taking them on a fantastical, around-the-world adventure that will change both their lives forever"-goodreads

Leviathan is the first steampunk book I've read. (Note: I still wouldn't understand what steampunk IS if it weren't for: a) Angela who is awesome and kind of a steampunk specialist, b) to some extent, google, and c) this book.) I now understand the appeal. It's also the first novel by Scott Westerfeld that I've read besides Uglies, Pretties, and Specials (which was ages ago and I REALLY need to re-read them as I hardly remember anything except that they were amazing). If they hadn't proved his genius-- Leviathan would have!

First off, oh my gosh I need to talk about the illustrations. There are these really intricate, awesome, brilliant full page and half page illustrations throughout the book. These were both great to look at and good at explaining things. The 'clanker' machinery and the 'Darwinist' creatures were so bizarre that I couldn't quite picture them, but then the illustrations had me seeing them perfectly. So cool. Then another favorite bit for me was how it's both historical fiction and futuristic fiction seamlessly put together, which is the steampunk element, but it was so interesting to read about a World War II world in an alternate society and universe sort of way. I can't wait for those things to be explored more in Behemouth and Goliath, the other two books in the series (although Goliath hasn't come out yet). 

The only negative thing I have to say about this book is while Alek and Deryn are obviously different characters, genders, and very different personalities their thought processes seemed TOO similar sometimes. Also, something to note, although Leviathan seems to have been marketed as a YA book I'd say it could just as easily be enjoyed by a more middle-grade and younger audience-- it has something for pretty much everyone in a broad age range!

"Fahrenheit 451" by Ray Bradbury

"The system was simple. Everyone understood it. Books were for burning, along with the houses in which they were hidden.
Guy Montag was a fireman whose job it was to start fires. And he enjoyed his job. He had been a fireman for ten years, and he had never questioned the pleasure of the midnight runs or the joy of watching pages consumed by flames, never questioned anything until he met a seventeen-year-old girl who told him of a past when people were not afraid. Then Guy met a professor who told him of a future in which people could think. And Guy Montag suddenly realized what he had to do..."-goodreads

Sure, largely thanks to The Hunger Games, dystopian novels are the craze right now. However, there were many novels that depicted dystopian/utopian societies long before Suzanne Collins put her (albeit brilliant) trilogy out into the world.  Classic literature such as "1984" by George Orwell, "A Brave New World" by Aldous Huxley, and this one, "Fahrenheit 451" were some of the original books with that sort of theme. I enjoy classic literature and I dig dystopias so I knew I should try these out.


Fahrenheit 451 was a great book. It was a little hard to get into at first, at the beginning of the book, you're kind of plunged into the story with no warning and you just have to get used to the odd developments and practices of the Bradbury's world as you go on. Once you start getting accustomed to his writing style and the unusual and grim future world, it's excellent. Guy Montag is an average (almost to the point of dull) seeming character but as it goes on he gets more complex, as he questions his job as a fireman and whether books are so bad (or are they even good, possibly important!?). His relationship with his wife is peculiar and unfortunate, as is their relationship with their 'family' aka, characters on a some kind of high-tech television screen that interacts in their everyday lives as though they're living in the house. Clarisse was an interesting character.. and then, you know, if you've read the book: the way her character disappeared from the story was... sudden. I wasn't a fan of that. It just didn't seem... right. I mean, obviously it didn't seem right, but it just seemed unfitting, so I guess I had a problem with that. Regardless, as the story develops, the plot twists in interesting and unexpecting ways, with an end I didn't particularly see coming. A lot of times there's more obvious-see-it-from-a-mile-away sort of foreshadowing in classic novels but that wasn't necessarily the case. 

Bottom line: An important book that should be on your reading list (and probably is on your required list if you're in school) that's more complex than it seems at first and well-worth the read.