The Musings of ALMYBNENR

Shatter Me

Juliette’s touch is lethal and powerful, but to her, it is just a horrible curse, one that got her locked up in a tiny cell in an asylum. She is extremely lonely, lacking parental love and the ability for human touch. She feels forgotten. It seems as if though as long as she is locked up, no one cares to give a second thought to how she is doing. Now, The Reestablishment that destroyed everything under the guise of making it better wants to use Juliette as a weapon.

Tahereh Mafi did not provide too much detail on The Reestablishment, which was fine with me because getting into the nitty gritty can sometimes be distracting and superfluous. Basically, society went down hill and The Reestablishment said they could fix it when in fact, they made it worse. What Juliette does not know is that there are rebel groups that are very organized and are waiting for the opportune moment to strike back. It was obviously a dystopian society, but the book did have some paranormal elements with Juliette’s ability.

The plot was good and I loved Adam, Kenji, and I even had a cautious fascination and hate of Warner, like Juliette did. It was really hard to just dismiss the guy as an evildoer, which he was, but he was so charismatic. Go Tahereh!

Where was I? Oh, plot. A teenage girl who can kill with her touch is just fodder for a good story and there was so much more to her than that. I believe Shatter Me was a good introduction to the characters, story, and trilogy, but there were a few things that bothered me.

The incessant strike-throughs (you know, these) drove me a bit crazy. I thought the were superfluous rather than clever even though I know they were meant to demonstrate Juliette’s thought process, as well as the lack of commas where needed. And honestly, the first twelve chapters were not as exciting as I had hoped them to be and I was beginning to despair as I read. Around chapter thirteen, Shatter Me became more interesting to me and by chapter nineteen I was definitely more into it.

So to sum it up, Shatter Me started too slowly for my liking but it picked up and I ended up enjoying the story. The grammar evened out as I read on (or maybe I did not notice it as much anymore) and the characters really interested me, especially the boys because each of them was so different, all wanted Juliette for different reasons, and I just wanted to dig deeper and learn their motives.

Recommended for young adult readers sixteen and older who are fans of dystopian fiction like Awaken by Katie Kacvinsky and Possession by Elana Johnson.

—-

Tahereh Mafi was born in Connecticut. She loves caffeine and will read almost anything (receipts, wrappers). Shatter Me is her first novel and the second novel in her trilogy, Unravel Me, will be published on 5 February 2013. The film rights to Shatter Me have been optioned by 20th Century Fox. She lives in Orange County, California.

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Fever

Disclaimer: No spoilers from Fever, but read with caution if you have not read Wither.

Rhine and Gabriel escaped the mansion only to run straight into another trap in the form of a decrepit carnival run by a first generation woman. Rhine is not the type to give up and she is determined to get to Manhattan and to her twin brother, Rowan.

This story has lost some of its charm for me since Wither despite my excitement for the second installment. Fever began with an old carnival and it seemed like it would slowly take up the whole book. I found myself hoping that Rhine and Gabriel would be wandering around more and moving forward rather than being caught stagnant again.

“‘You children are flies. You are roses. You multiply and die.’ I open my mouth, but no words come. What she says is horrible and true.” (44)

But as Rhine worked to gain Madame’s (the woman in charge of the twisted carnival) trust and the old woman’s fantasies played out, I became more interested in the world Madame built around herself. Just as that happened, though, was when things changed.

Also, I do not know if others have or will notice this, but I felt like the many variations of the word “wither” seemed forced. I kept noticing it throughout Fever.

Something that may seem weird but that I liked was the feeling that I was trapped in some half nightmare, half dream. I hope that was what Lauren DeStefano intended, but I do not know for sure.

The end of Fever was very exciting and closed on a bit of a cliffhanger that might make readers shriek a little bit, but which will also make readers want more immediately.

Recommended for young adult readers who are fans of dystopia and of Wither.

—-

Lauren DeStefano has a B.A. in English from Albertus Magnus College. Previous jobs include barista, receptionist, and tutor. Her debut novel,Wither, is the first book in The Chemical Garden trilogy. The second, Fever, is currently available.

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Wither

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Warm Bodies

R is a zombie in an America ravaged by war, collapse, and the walking Dead. Blood and brains are the highlights of his seemingly timeless “life”, but although he cannot remember who he was, he has a more meaningful existence than other zombies. He is one of the few who can speak, albeit haltingly, but within his mind he is an eloquent philosopher.

Then one event allows R’s inner eloquence shine through - as he consumes a teenage boy’s brain, he gains access to the boy’s memories. The experience jolts him and he ends up rescuing Perry’s (the boy’s) girlfriend, Julie, and vows to keep her safe. Perry’s brain - and Julie - change R and his fellow Dead and prove that if you want something bad enough, you can get it.

Wow. What an excellent zombie novel. It was so unexpected. I mean, I had read the synopsis and I was interested in reading it, but I did not think it would be this good. This original.

For one, it starts off like most zombie novels with the post-apocalyptic landscape, the Living holed up in a reinforced community, and the rest overrun by the Dead. The difference was that the narrator, who should have been the typical zombie, instead had thoughts of his own. He was not just the brain-dead monster zombies were supposed to be.

I also found it interesting how similar the Dead and the Living were to each other. Both sides were just doing what they had to do to survive, but there was a Dead scene and a Living scene that were inverses of each other. Adult zombies were teaching adolescent zombies how to kill people, indicating that tearing out the throat was optimal. Later, Living adults were teaching Living adolescents how to effectively kill zombies with a bullet to the head. The scenes were so similar and poignant.

Warm Bodies also had a sweet love story that seemed unlikely, but really worked for the novel and helped along the change. R, Julie, and even Perry were catalysts for this huge change.

Warm Bodies is a zombie novel that is beautiful in its philosophies and appreciation of life. Despite a dying world overrun with Dead, despite the inevitability of any death, life goes on and people must live it to its fullest. The messages I took from this book were to appreciate the little things and know that life is within reach if you want it badly enough.

Recommended for anyone who is a fan of zombie novels. Some death and gore, some language, but a beautiful zombie novel with a great message.

—-

Isaac Marion was born and raised in Washington around the Seattle area and has worked delivering deathbeds to hospice patients and supervising parental visits for foster children. He did not attend college, he is single, and Warm Bodies is his first novel.

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A Million Suns

Disclaimer: No spoilers from A Million Suns, but read with caution if you have not read Across the Universe.

Three months have passed since the action that took place in Across the Universe. Elder has assumed leadership of Godspeed and although Amy feels like the walls are closing in, she has hope that things will be better, especially since the Phydus drug has been banished from the ship and its people are no longer brainwashed.

But now that the ship’s residents are off of Phydus, they are violent and rebellious. It also turns out that there are still many secrets about the ship and its journey. Through it all the feelings between Amy and Elder build as they decipher clues about the ship’s mysteries.

Like in Across the Universe, A Million Suns alternates between Amy’s and Elder’s points-of-view, which I think is a good device that allows the reader to know what both are thinking and feeling. It gives the reader a fuller view of what is going on. Not too much time has passed, but enough that readers can immediately pick up on the changes on Godspeed. Dissent, laziness, and violence are rampant, causing decreases in the food supply and other materials. When murder is added to the mix, things really get out of control.

I was really impressed with A Million Suns. Across the Universe was really good and A Million Suns was even better. It is part murder mystery and part scavenger hunt. Clues were left specifically for Amy because she has known life both on Earth and on Godspeed. The first clues include literary quotes that added that extra “oomph” for me. In fact, the whole hunt for the clues really drove the story for me and they led to even more twists and “gasp” moments.

Elder had to grow up a lot in this book and although I really admired him, I was more focused on Amy and actions. I liked that Amy has very real emotions. I liked how she was not impenetrable. I liked that she did not try to force things with Elder even though they were the only ones their age on the ship.

There was a moment (my favorite) in chapter 34 when Amy was so bad ass that I would have cheered if the whole house was not sleeping. I was so proud of her.

Wow. A Million Suns is a very good young adult science fiction novel. I enjoyed it even more than the previous one and I am really looking forward to the conclusion next January.

Recommended for young adult readers sixteen and older, especially those who are already fans of Across the Universe. No blatant sexual content in this one, but there is implied rape and more violence (of the mob mentality type). No language - just the clever substitutes Beth Revis came up with.

—-

Beth Revis graduated from NC State University with a BA in English and a minor in history. She also has a MA in English Literature with a concentration in fantasy literature. She worked as a high school English teacher before deciding to write full-time. It paid off with her debut novel,Across the Universe, in 2011. The second novel in the trilogy, A Million Suns, is currently available and the third, Shades of Earth, will be out in January 2012. She currently lives in rural North Carolina with her husband and dog.

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Across the Universe

Across the Universe

Seventeen-year-old Amy Martin is about to embark on a journey that will take her to a whole new world. Literally.

Along with her parents, she is cryogenically frozen and placed upon the spaceship Godspeed with ninety-seven other frozen people from Earth. The ship is traveling to a new Earth-like planet on an exploratory mission and it will take three hundred years to get there - hence, the freezing.

But Amy is unfrozen fifty years too early, by an inhabitant of the ship intent on killing the frozens. Not only has she lost the chance to be with her parents again, but she also has a murder mystery on her hands that Elder, the sixteen-year-old future leader of the ship (and boy she develops complicated feelings for), may be involved in.

The first chapter of Across the Universe is horrifying. It is not that anything bad happens, but that the whole process described is just scary and nothing I would ever want to go through, except for maybe…maybe if I were in Amy’s position.

I feel like Across the Universe is very character-driven (which is not a bad thing) and I say that because I did not find myself taking many notes on the plot. I felt like this 2011 debut was all about introducing readers to the characters and life on the ship. There are a lot of characters, but only a few sentient ones that really drove the action: Elder, Eldest, Amy, Harley, Orion, and Doc. Elder is the indecisive, inexperienced future leader and Eldest is the tyrant who still manages to keep things from falling apart. Orion is the mysterious record-keeper and Doc is the doctor with no bedside manner. Harley is the creative artist with a different way of seeing the ship and he was probably the coolest and my favorite character. Amy is the one from Earth who sticks out like a sore thumb and who often came off as child-like despite her seventeen years.

As for the story, it was good. I really enjoyed it. There were a lot of twists that kept me on my toes as well as lots of horrifying revelations. It was like thing after thing happened or was revealed and just when I thought there could not possibly be anything else to throw me a loop, there was - and I loved it.

I really felt for Amy. Even though she seemed very young at times, she still handled herself rather well. I would probably have gone off my rocker if I were in her situation.

Across the Universe is the beginning of a twisty, mysterious, imaginative science fiction trilogy.

Recommended for those sixteen and older who enjoy young adult fiction, particularly science fiction and dystopia. There is a lot of sex in the book that is not super graphic but graphic enough. There is also attempted rape, some violence, and no language but in context it is not gratuitous. For mature readers.

—-

Beth Revis graduated from NC State University with a BA in English and a minor in history. She also has a MA in English Literature with a concentration in fantasy literature. She worked as a high school English teacher before deciding to write full-time. It paid off with her debut novel, Across the Universe, in 2011. The second novel in the trilogy, A Million Suns, is currently available and the third, Shades of Earth, will be out in January 2012. She currently lives in rural North Carolina with her husband and dog.

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Crossed

Disclaimer: No spoilers from Crossed, but read with caution if you have not read Matched.

Cassia and her family have fallen out of the Society’s good graces. Cassia has been placed in a work camp in the Outer Provinces and her family has been relocated. At the camp, Cassia bides her time as she waits for the opportune moment to escape and go after Ky, who has been taken to the border with other male Aberrations to act as decoys for the Enemy. The boys are sitting ducks and their purpose is to die.

When Cassia finally gets word of Ky, it is only to find out that he has escaped, but at least he left clues as to where he went. Her days in the wild make her more confident in choosing Ky, but the game is not over for Xander, who may be more like Ky than Cassia thinks.

The story of Matched has evolved into something with more depth and dimension with the addition of Crossed. Ally Condie introduces new characters who may or may not have ulterior motives and reveals hidden depths in the main cast of characters of Cassia, Ky, and Xander, especially by adding Ky’s voice to the narrative. Matched was Cassia’s story, but Crossed is as much of Ky’s story as it is hers. Their lives are intertwined. I wonder (read: hope) if Xander’s voice will be added to the third and final installment. The reader needs to know his story in his own words and it would add to the continuity of the work as a whole.

The mood has also evolved between the two books into something more mature and serious. There is no Society to make decisions for Cassia and she gets a thorough taste of the death and destruction in Ky’s world and the underbelly of the Society.

The new characters in Crossed served to show Ky’s compassion and the loss of Cassia’s naïveté about the people on the fringes of the Society. Out of Indie, Eli, Vick, and Hunter, I enjoyed Indie and Vick the most. They were the strongest of the new characters.

I enjoyed Crossed much more than its predecessor. Crossed has ensured that I will read the third installment. There was a big twist (at least for me) on page 285 and chapters 21 and 22 were absolutely beautiful and moved me. If you have not read this series, go for it. If you read Matched, and like me, thought it was okay, read Crossed - it will turn you around. Crossed still leaves some questions unanswered: I have no greater sense of who the Enemy is and I know little more about the Rising, which may or may not be a good “organization”. But Ally Condie definitely improved her writing and story with Crossed. It has a lyrical, poetic feel that reminds me of Maggie Stiefvater’s work. Do not discount this trilogy until you have read Crossed!

For YA fans of dystopian fiction fourteen and older. Also for fans of Maggie Stiefvater’s work.

Ally Condie used to be a high school English teacher. She enjoys eating, running, listening to her husband play guitar, and of course, reading. She lives with her husband and three sons just outside of Salt Lake City, Utah.

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Witches of East End

Witches of East End is the debut in Melissa de la Cruz’s newest adult fantasy series. If you are a fan of her Blue Bloods series, as I am, you will enjoy following the witchy Beauchamp family (as well as a few cameo appearances). Readers have previously mean Freya Beauchamp in the novella, Bloody Valentine, when she uses her magic to help Oliver get over Schuyler. Now we get to see what Freya is really like as an individual and in the context of her family which consists of sister Ingrid and mother Joanna. The three witches live in North Hampton relatively under the radar since they were banned from practicing magic centuries before.

Freya, whose talent is in seeing relationships, is about to get married but feels uneasy which negatively affects her surroundings. Joanna finds three dead ospreys on their beach and takes it for an ill omen but does not immediately act. Ingrid’s immediate problems include saving the library in which she works and considering breaking the magic ban to help her friend and coworker, Tabitha, conceive the child she has always wanted.

In fact, all three of the Beauchamp women consider breaking the rules (although Freya never had much regard for those) and using their magic to help others again. And when they do, sinister things come to light. Ingrid notices that all of the women who come to her for help are barren or have various parts of their body blocked by a silvery substance that only she can find. Freya is caught up in her own tumultuous love life which presents a problem of its own and when Joanna attempts to resurrect a local, she finds the same odd silvery substance on the man when she leads him out of the glom. Around the same time, a seemingly infinite amount of the silvery stuff shows up off the coast of North Hampton, poisoning the water and everything in it.

Witches of East End is part mystery, part fantasy, and part something a whole lot bigger which will probably be identified in further books. I have to admit, it was a tad difficult to change gears from fallen-angels-resurrected-as-vampires in the Blue Bloods series to the witches-who-may-be-goddesses in this series. Although all of them live in the same “universe”, their priorities differ. The book has an overall introductory tone in order to introduce readers to the Beauchamp family and to the way that they are living which slowed the pacing a bit. Then, in the last fifty pages or so, everything sped up as Joanna, Ingrid, and Freya came closer to figuring out the cause of all the town’s hardships. I found it to be rushed from that point on and the story became more confusing as there suddenly seemed to be more to the Beauchamps than I originally thought. I guess I could employ the benefit of the doubt and say that de la Cruz purposefully rushed the pacing at the end to better demonstrate that the Beauchamps were quickly unraveling the mystery of what befell the town. But I cannot explain the information overload that occurred in those last few pages. I am still reeling from the revelations and I am not sure that I understand them. It would mean that in this universe, not only do fallen angels and everything that entails exists, but also that various gods and goddesses (specifically of Norse mythology) exist which really makes for a confusing theology, if de la Cruz ever goes deeper into all of that. I have to say, this is really my first brush with Norse mythology but it is extremely interesting (as I am writing this, I am searching the web for some of the names of the characters in the novel and it is a slightly enlightening). Anyway, Witches of East End is the beginning of an intriguing new series and I am a fan of Melissa’s and of the Blue Bloods series, so I will definitely continue reading her work.

Melissa de la Cruz is a prolific author who wroteThe Au Pairs series and The Ashleys series as well as novels for adults in addition to the Blue Bloods series. She has previously worked as a fashion and beauty editor and she has written for numerous magazines. Melissa majored in art history and English at Columbia University and currently divides her time between New York and Los Angeles, where she lives with her husband and daughter. The sixth installment of the Blue Bloods series, Lost in Time is scheduled to be published on September 27, 2011. Wolf Pact, the first book in the Blue Bloods spinoff series that features Bliss Llewellyn, is set to be released in September 2012. Witches 101: A Witches of East End Primer is currently available for free for Amazon Kindle.

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From Bad to Cursed

Everything is going fairly great for Alexis. She has an absolutely adorable boyfriend, an awesome best friend, and mad photography skills. She has also stopped being so much of an outsider. Not bad for a girl whose sister tried to kill her and their parents and set their house on fire almost a year ago.

Yes, everything is as normal as it can be until Alexis’s younger sister Kasey returns home. It seems as though Kasey has given up her obsession of dolls, especially the possessed ones, but she is still inexplicably drawn to the paranormal. When Kasey starts hanging out with Alexis’s nemesis, Lydia, and some other girls who all suddenly become beautiful and poised, Alexis becomes suspicious. With her best friend Megan’s help, Alexis plans to infiltrate this new bubbly girl group and keep Kasey from getting in too deep.

What would you do if there was some kind of spirit who seemed to only want to provide his followers beauty, wisdom, luck, and elegance? It is really tempting to easily get everything that you want. But Alexis and Kasey soon learn that things are a lot more difficult and deadly than they seem.

From Bad to Cursed is a fantastic follow-up that can stand alone just like its predecessor. In the first novel, Kasey majorly screwed up and Alexis was there to save her and help pick up the pieces. In the sequel, Kasey is vulnerable at first, but quickly blends back into the real world…at least until the whole Sunshine Club business begins. Alexis, however, seems secure with herself until she and Megan get mixed up into the Club. She goes from being her own person to being part of a group from which see seeks and needs approval for her appearance and actions. The change is so subtle that it is difficult to tell exactly when Alexis begins to change. She literally becomes unrecognizable and she tries to recapture her identity throughout the entire ordeal. Interestingly, it is Kasey becomes the strong one of the two sisters, but the mess they are in is too big for them to solve without serious repercussions.

With the same thrilling tone as Bad Girls Don’t Die, From Bad to Cursed takes the supernatural to the next level with a lot more mystery and unpredictable twists and turns that keep the pages flying. Fans of the first novel will not be disappointed and I urge readers to try out both books.

Katie Alender wears many hats. She attended the Florida State University Film School before moving to her current abode of Los Angeles, California where she works as a writer/producer as well as a novelist. Her favorite activities include writing, sewing, reading, photography, and hanging out with her husband and her super cute Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, Winston. From Bad to Cursed is the second installment in the Bad Girls Don’t Die series and the third book is tentatively scheduled for June 2012.

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Wither

Wither by Lauren DeStefano

How I got my hands on this book: Won personalized signed copy from author’s eBay auction

Genre: Young Adult, Dystopia, Post-Apocalyptic

First Sentence:

I wait.

Imagine it. A day when cancer can no longer claim us. There is a cure for everything. People live longer and they are completely healthy. Then this golden generation has their own children who are perfectly healthy. There is just one problem: the girls die at age twenty and the boys die at age twenty-five. There is absolutely no explanation for it.

I love dystopia because it explores situations in which the human race have tried to make their lot better and it has failed in some way. No matter how near- or far-fetched some dystopia novels are, they encourage us to think, not just about the world within the book, but also about our own world and what may or may not become of it.

Back to Wither. It follows Rhine Ellery, whose situation is unclear right at the start, but as the haze begins to clear, the reader learns more about her current situation and about her past. She is sixteen years old, so she has only four more years left to live, while her twin brother, Rowan, has nine. The world has been destroyed except for North America and most places are destitute. Orphans run the streets and the very few first generations who have surpassed the ages of twenty and twenty-five are holed up looking for a cure to whatever it is that kills the younger generations. However, there are some more affluent places where richer people live in grand houses and spare no expenses and for the most part, act like their lives are not ticking time bombs. But these people or people they know are up to something dark. All over the poorer cities, girls are kidnapped and then sold to men as wives. The men have multiple wives, one of the reasons being because they outlive them.

Rhine is snatched from her twin brother and the destitute world that she calls home and taken to a beautiful, affluent home to be one of three wives to a man who is his father’s puppet. She quickly discerns how fake her surroundings are and how everything is built upon lies. She analyzes her sister wives to try to find out what qualities brought each of them to this place. Rhine believes her eyes saved her but she cannot figure out if that is a good or a bad thing. Her one goal is to escape and get back to her brother but she is surprised to care for her sister wives and to even care a bit for their shared husband.

I found Wither to be a very thought-provoking novel. I wondered how different my life would be if I lived in Rhine’s world. Obviously, everything would be over at twenty, but where would I begin? In an affluent city, scrambling to be a bride? In a poor city, orphaned, yet hoping to keep to my routine or would I want to have a chance at being a bride then, as well? There would not be any things to be attached to, really, since all life would be fleeting. Would I even want to be close to anyone, knowing that it would all be over so soon? I cannot answer a lot of those questions.

I admired Rhine’s resolve to bide her time and do whatever she could to get away from her captors and to be free again. I also admired her relationships with the other two girls. Though she did not want it, a natural sort of camaraderie just developed between them. She also found that she could not completely hate Linden, their husband. It made Rhine more human and it gave the entire story more depth. I really liked Wither as a debut author novel and I look forward to the rest of The Chemical Garden trilogy.

Lauren DeStefano has a B.A. in English from Albertus Magnus College. Wither is the first in The Chemical Garden trilogy and her debut novel.

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Crazy Beautiful

Crazy Beautiful by Lauren Baratz-Logsted

How I got my hands on this book: Received complimentary copy from author

Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary

First Sentence:

My arm rises toward my face and the pincer touch of cold steel rubs against my jaw.

Lucius has no hands. He lost them in an explosion and as hard and frustrating as it is, the explosion might just have been what he needed to get his life back on track and ensure a brighter future than he could ever have expected for himself. As the new kid in school, he expects less than stellar treatment, but a couple of people surprise him…the other happens to be a new kid at school as well.

Aurora is a positive person and on her first day at the new school, the other students instantly gravitate towards her, while the dark-haired boy (who she instantly can tell is new too) remains secluded through a mixture his own intentional design and the wariness of the other students towards him. She is the only student who makes an effort to speak to Lucius as just another student rather than a pariah and he finds himself wanting to become a better person because of her.

I loved this book. It was a quick read but chock full of character development and a bit of a mysterious subplot which brought out everyone’s truth by the end. The narrative alternates chapter by chapter between Lucius and Aurora and I felt that was a great way to learn what was going on in both of the characters’s minds without the changing voices becoming discombobulated or overbearing. I also love how concise the story is. Do not get me wrong; I love a good, long book but I also know how hard it is to be concise in one’s writing and the author really mastered it. I feel that the narrative is woven together in such a way that every word matters and not one bit of the book felt superfluous or gratuitous. It is a tale of conquering one’s past, a tale of self-discovery, and a tale of redemption.

What I also love about this book is that it really has the potential for opening up discussion with other readers about being different and about peer pressure.

There is a hint of controversy in this book. Maybe more than a hint. It did not bother me, but it did make me think. It is no spoiler that the explosion in which Lucius lost his hands was of his own making. With all of the extra stress and pressure put on today’s young people by society (and even us older ones), it is really scary what some people end up doing. I would like to open up a discussion in the comments. Even if you have not read the book, you may be able to join in.

Do you think Lucius could have been “saved” before he got to the point of testing explosives and blowing off his hands? How? By his parents? Teachers? Or do you think he had to end up losing his hands in such a destructive way for him to open his eyes and realize the gravity of his actions and potential actions? What do you think are some ways to deter young people from seeking attention in violent ways such as this?

Lauren Baratz-Logsted is the author of The Education of Bet and The Twin’s Daughter. She does it all - writing for adults, teens, and kids. She lives in Danbury, Connecticut with her husband and her daughter.

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