26 Jun 2014

The one - Review


The selection book three.
Available now 

What's it about?

THE SELECTION changed the lives of thirty-five girls forever. Now, only one will claim Prince Maxon’s heart.
For the four girls who remain at the palace, the friendships they’ve formed, rivalries they’ve struggled with and dangers they’ve faced have bound them to each other for the rest of their lives.
Now, the time has come for one winner to be chosen.
America never dreamed she would find herself anywhere close to the crown – or to Prince Maxon’s heart. But as the competition approaches its end and the threats outside the palace walls grow more vicious, America realises just how much she stands to lose – and how hard she’ll have to fight for the future she wants.
My review
A great end to a great series, The one was another enjoyable read from Kiera Cass.
Whilst I think the ending was always obvious, it was still a great journey getting there and meeting all the great characters in the world of The selection. The final book still sees twists like the others as the tension ramps up in both the competition and with the rebels. America is still making herself stand out by sticking to her beliefs, a trait I've always admired in her, she's willing to risk herself and her place in the competition rather than go against her morals which in the end, I think only endears her more to Maxon and the public. I've really enjoyed the story as a trilogy and each book individually as I felt they all had something to add. By the end of The one I found everything was wrapped up nicely, I wasn't left with any niggling questions and personally I was happy with how things ended for everyone. I also found The one to be a more emotional read than the previous two books as well, maybe because I was feeling the end of a series loss but there really are some big moments that will bring a tear to your eye or having you saying 'awww' and by the last pages I was happy for everyone but sad to say goodbye at the same time. The selection has been a wonderful series to read and was written beautifully, I enjoyed the competition, the emotions and of course, the pretty dresses. I hope whatever Kiera Cass creates next will be just as wonderful as this trilogy was.

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10 Jun 2014

Take back the skies - Review

Take back the skies book one
Available now 
What's it about?
Catherine Hunter is the daughter of a senior government official on the island of Anglya. She’s one of the privileged – she has luxurious clothes, plenty to eat, and is protected from the Collections which have ravaged families throughout the land. But Catherine longs to escape the confines of her life, before her dad can marry her off to a government brat and trap her forever.
So Catherine becomes Cat, pretends to be a kid escaping the Collections, and stows away on the skyship Stormdancer. As they leave Anglya behind and brave the storms that fill the skies around the islands of Tellus, Cat’s world becomes more turbulent than she could ever have imagined, and dangerous secrets unravel her old life once and for all . . .
My review
I was so excited to read Take back the skies so its extra saddening that I was disappointed by this book. It really was the story that saved it for me, had the book gone through a couple more rounds of edits to better polish up the writing, it could have been a brilliant novel. But unfortunately it came off glaringly obvious that this was someone's first attempt at writing a book, all the characters spoke exactly the same and overuse of the words 'murmured' and 'queried' drove me to insanity, sometimes its okay to just use 'said' or 'asked'. There was also a pretty lacklustre love story, I couldn't buy the whole hot and cold angle the author was trying to work because most of their exchanges were the same argument, they hardly actually talked and got to know each other so it was particularly hard to swallow when, after only knowing him for about two weeks, Cat quite literally described Fox as the love of her life, she barely even knew him.
So many times I came close to abandoning this book but at the same time I was compelled with a need to find out what the hell was going on and see what was going to happen next because writing aside, the author came up with a damn good plot, honestly I in no way guessed what was really happening and was just as shocked as Cat when we found out and the ending was another shock too. Although things often seemed to be a bit too easy or coincidental for our little gang, I did enjoy watching them try to uncover and end a government conspiracy, they were good people with their hearts in the right places and I liked them all a lot. Boy drama aside, Cat is one tough girl with a lot of bravery.
So despite my disappointment I came away intrigued enough to carry on reading the series with the hope that the authors writing will mature with more practice. I'm interested to see more of the world that Lucy Saxon has created as I feel we've only scratched the surface on all the places in Tellus.

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9 Jun 2014

Nail your books (14)

'Nail your books' is a feature where I share book inspired manicures that I have done.

It has been so long since I've done some book inspired nail art but here's a mani I did last week based on the cover art for Lucy Saxon's Take back the skies


What do you think?

5 Jun 2014

The giver - Review

The giver quartet book one
Available now
www.harpercollins.co.uk 
What's it about?
Jonas's world is perfect. Everything is under control. There is no war or fear of pain. There are no choices. Every person is assigned a role in the community. When Jonas turns 12 he is singled out to receive special training from The Giver. The Giver alone holds the memories of the true pain and pleasure of life. Now, it is time for Jonas to receive the truth. There is no turning back.
My review
The Giver was actually first bought to my attention when I saw the trailer for the movie as soon as I saw it was based on a book, I knew I had to read it, even more so when I found out it was being described as the first dystopia book, a genre that I love!
Considering the book was originally published in 1993, because of the setting, it doesn't feel dated at all, I really enjoyed it. Jonas lives in a seemingly perfect world, where everyone gets on and is happy, or so it seems until it occurs to him to look closer and he realises that actually, no one has a choice, there's no colour or feelings to his world, people almost act like robots in the way they are controlled without realising it. I really felt connected to Jonas as we see the world as he first perceives it when the story starts and then as he discovers the hidden depths and what could be, I felt his outrage and dismay at feeling like he couldn't do anything about it but needed to.
While I enjoyed delving into this world, I wish the book had been longer because there was room for more, particularly when Jonas starts his training with The Giver, I'd really have liked to have seen some more of that and had a bit more explanation on how its possible, but a year is passed along in a few chapters, presumably to hurry the book along to its exciting ending.
That aside though, The giver was a gripping read with some great world building, a lead character I'm looking forward to seeing more of as I feel he has a lot more growing to do and its started off a series with promise, thankfully the other three books are out for me to get my hands on as soon as possible so I can find out what Jonas does next.

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1 Jun 2014

Showcase Sunday


Hello all! So it's the end of another month and here are all the books I got in May! I was going to vlog but I'm just not feeling up to it today so here's a picture.


For review
Take back the skies by Lucy Saxon
The rain by Virginia Bergin
Dangerous creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl
Breakable by Tammara Webber
The winners curse by Marie Rutkoski
Trust games by Simon Packham
Afterworlds by Scott Westerfeld and 
Right click by Lisa Becker
Bought
Half bad by Sally Green
The silver linings playbook by Matthew Quick
Prince of shadows by Rachel Caine
The accidental life of Jesse Jefferson by Paige Toon
Two boys kissing by David Levithan
Raginginstar by Moira Young
Judgement day by Terry Pratchett, Ian Stewart and Jack Cohen
After the end by Amy Plum
The taking by Kimberley Derting and 
Salvage by Alexandra Duncan
Gift
The giver by Lois Lowry
Won
Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell

What did you get?

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