Well, Now I Know How To Survive That.

Hey world! Welcome to this week's only post! That's a little bit sad, only one post this whole week. But oh well, I can't review a book I haven't finished yet, now can I? Nope, that would be dishonest. But you probably wouldn't mind. You probably don't even exist...you're just some robot...maybe I'm the only real person in the universe. Maybe this is all a dream, and I'm sleeping. Or your sleeping, and when you wake up, I will cease to exist, but I won't mind because I never did in the first place, it's just your brain reflecting some arbitrary personality on me...but enough of that.

So, I recently read a book called Quarantine: The Loners by Lex Thomas, which is actually just the first names of two authors who like to work together. This is the first book in a who-knows-how-long series. Okay, I just spent an unjustifiable amount of time reading their blog. Anyways, there are at least two other books in the series, but I'm not sure if there's going to be more or not. I guess I'll find out (foreshadowing the review a little there, way to go me). 

Summaryish: A deadly plague that kills only adults, a quarantine on a high school. What could go wrong? Naturally, everything. Quickly after the quarantine is initiated, gangs form based on people's social cliques - with one exception. What about those people who didn't have a group of friends? The loners are the lowest of the low, the untouchables, who don't get to eat unless they fight for food. And those fights can get pretty nasty. All alone in a locked building until they graduate, the horrors they experience inside will no doubt scar them for life, but these teens have no choice but to fight for their survival. Oh my goodness, what a terrible disorganized summaryish. It was pretty much just back story. 

Review: I figured I would like this book when I picked it up - I mean, I picked it up, didn't I? So when I didn't, I was surprised. No, I didn't like this book...I loved it! It had just the exact right balance of suspense and action. There were no boring unnecessary bits of well-written but useless scenes. The characters and the world were wonderfully imagined, and I fell right into the middle of this story. It was kind of scary, but in a way that doesn't produce nightmares, which is the best kind of scary. It was very reminiscent of Michael Grant's Gone series, but without the superpowers. Instead, the kids have to depend on their own strengths and smarts, which make the series even better! I've already picked up the sequel, it's in my book pile now. So go get it, because it's great.  

Words to the Characters:

Everyone: Hair doesn't grow that fast. 

See you next week!

-Xxxxxx

I Cheated.

Hey world! Second and last post today! Wow, I have been sitting here for the past while, just trying to think of something else to say in this paragraph, but I can't. Welcome.

So, a little bit ago I finished this book called Double Helix by Nancy Werlin. She has many many books out, actually only nine or so, but they span genres, which is nice. I think she might even be an award winner. Anyways, I'm pretty sure this is a standalone since it had a closed ending, and there's no another one yet. I feel like I remember being surprised that this was written in 2004, but now I can't be sure. Oh well.


Summaryish: I copy/pasted this because I don't want to summarize:

Eighteen year old Eli Samuels has just graduated from high school and lucked into a job at Wyatt Transgenics — offered to him by Dr. Quincy Wyatt, the legendary molecular biologist. The salary is substantial, the work is interesting, and Dr. Wyatt seems to be paying special attention to Eli. It's almost too good to be true. Is there a catch?

Eli's smart girlfriend Viv doesn't think so, but his father is vehemently against his taking the job and won't explain why. Eli knows that there's some connection between Dr. Wyatt and his parents—something too painful for his father to discuss. Something to do with his mother, who is now debilitated by Huntington's disease. As Eli works at the lab, and spends time with Dr. Wyatt, he begins to uncover some disconcerting information—about himself.

Review: Okay, so I thought this was going to be - whoa, the copy/paste changed my font - science fiction, but it turned into realism. For realism, it was a fantastic book! For science fiction, there was much to be desired. Which is great news because it wasn't science fiction. My enjoyment was limited by the lack of explosions, but there was enough of an interesting plot line to keep me reading. It's a really quick book to read, and it would be great to pick it up if you have a few other really big books in your library bag. So, this is conditionally recommended. 

Words to the Characters:

Eli: Wow, I think you're one of the few characters who actually had real sense-making motivation. I applaud you for not being an over reactor, like some people. (I'm looking at you Celaena).

-Xxxxxx

Eh.

Hey world! It is time yet again to review books, and I have two of them today! There's a bird flying around me as I type. It's very distracting, but in a cute way. Hopefully he won't land on my fingers and cause more than the usual amount of typos. He's certainly going to make this take longer with his demands for attention every few seconds! Okay, it's me demanding attention from him. Semantics!

So, a little while ago, almost a week but not quite, I finished this book called Illusive by someone with a hyphenated last name that I can't remember and now have to look up. Emily Lloyd-Jones is her name, and series books are her game. And by that I mean that this is book one in a series which I know has a sequel coming out in July, but I'm not sure about anything else. Maybe it's just a duology. Maybe I'll never know. 

Summaryish: Gosh, do I have to summarize? I really want to get to the review part. After a deadly virus kills a bunch of people (what is it with me and deadly viruses lately?), a cure is eventually found. But it has life-changing side-effects. A very small percentage of people with the cure develop talents no human should have, such as inescapable hypnotism and mind reading. The government, in an effort to both control these people and take advantage of them, gave them all a choice - go to a special prison, or work for them. But many people, including Ciere, took the third option - a life of crime and thievery. She and her crew are then hired to steal something people thought was gone for good - the formula to the recalled cure.

Review: I keep telling myself over and over again to have grace because it was a debut. But still, as far as debuts go, this was disappointing. First of all, there was the tense issue - maybe I've just never read something third person present tense before, but something about it felt wrong. I guess I'm just one of those people who thinks that if you're going to write in present tense, it needs to be first person. It's just logical. In addition, there was so much information dump - I like my back story effortlessly woven into the story in a way that doesn't disrupt the narrative and keeps things moving. I have no complaints about the characters, and the plot was fine, especially after that halfway mark. Last time I didn't like a book, especially that first two hundred pages, the second book was pretty good, so maybe I'll keep going. But at this point, I'm not exactly itching for the sequel.

About the Title:

I do like the play on the words...

Okay, see you in a few minutes.

-Xxxxxx

Gosh, I Had A Title Planned For This, but I Can't Remember Now.

Hey world! It's Wednesday again! Why do I always say it's Wednesday? If I only blog on Wednesdays, unless it's my anniversary, then it follows that if I am posting, it is Wednesday or my anniversary. And since my anniversary is in October, and it's May now, that means it must be a Wednesday or I would be blogging. That does not, however, mean that if it is Wednesday, I will blog. Blogging is dependent on Wednesdays, with one exception, but Wednesday is independent of blogging. You must remember these things when calculating probability. But I'm not, it's just Wednesday and now I'm blogging.

So, about two days ago I finished the book Fragments by Dan Wells. If you'll recall, about three or four books ago I read something called Partials, and said that it wasn't fantastic, but I'll keep going. This is that prediction coming to pass. Yes, this book is the second in the Partials Sequence, in case I wasn't clear. This series - excuse me, sequence has a total of three books and a novella, that I think might be in print and everything! 

Summaryish: After (and here's a REALLY BIG spoiler for book one, read at your own risk) Kira discovers she's a Partial and how to cure RM, she sets out on a weeks long journey to track down the secrets of ParaGen to hopefully fix both the plague and the Partial expiration date. But she has to cross a barren wasteland first. Meanwhile, back in East Meadow (I think that's what it's called) Marcus is trying to figure out something of his own - while Partials invade, of course.

Review: Much better. To recap the Partials review: The first book had about 200 pages of boring nothingness and slowly building suspense, but the other half was fine, great even. This book was much better - the pace was faster from start to finish, and the secrets and theories and everything kept me interested. And, yes, I'll admit it, now I'm possibly even grateful for the dreadful backstory with which this sequence began, because this book had a detailed foundation to grow on. And grow it did! It's probably half a skyscraper by now! I enjoyed this read from start to finish, which is more than I can say for the first book. So maybe, hopefully, it will get even better. 

About the Title:

Okay, this is about all the titles really. But I just had to point it out because it's cool: Fragments is a word closely related to Partials. Part of something broken is a fragment. And a fragment is close to ruins (book three), because something fragmented is often ruined. But ruins is not that close to partials. I just thought that was neat.

See you next week!

-Xxxxxx

I'm Almost Late, So No Title.

Hey world! Second post today. Good times, good books, and happiness....I don't know where I'm going with this. Wow, I just realized I can type super fast. I wonder how quickly I'm typing, like words per minute. But that has nothing to do with books, now, does it? 

So, like, yesterday I finished this book called The Well of Lost Plots by Jasper Fforde. He has a very extensive website that could be a lot of fun to explore. In fact, I just did for 7 minutes, but you'll never know about that because this post isn't posted continuously, but all at once. But I will let you know that this is the third book in the Thursday Next series. There's a bunch in all, I'm not even sure how many. Like, six? Give or take. 

Summaryish: Thursday Next - pregnant, but sadly without a husband due to his sudden nonexistence, is hiding out in the Well of Lost Plots to avoid conflict with the evil Goliath Corporation (I'm actually not sure if that's the reason she's there, it's been a while, but it sounds plausible.) This magical place is contained inside of Fiction - where all fiction books are put together (and you thought it was the author - ha!). She works with Jurisfiction, but also must deal with the release of a new version of BOOK coming out - UltraWord, what some people claim is the ultimate reading experience. But does it have hidden flaws? Lousy lousy summaryish. Oh well, I did my best.

Review: This book is a lot of fun to read, despite its lack of...shall we say...substance. It's a comedy book, and you have to keep that in mind while reading, or you'll definitely sink into boredom. This book does well to remind you about the beauty of reading - and all the hard work that goes into writing something worth your time, and the problems that fiction still has despite all that hard work. It's an enjoyable read that will make you laugh, and maybe look at fiction in a new way, but it definitely won't change your life forever. This is a book to have fun with. So have fun reading this, because I highly recommend it.

Words to the Characters:

Thursday: I'll bet your name is really fun during roll call...Have I said that before? I feel like I have.

Pickwick: I'm reading the Pickwick Papers next library visit!

Until we meet again, fellow reader...

-Xxxxxx

When Life Gives You Fantasy...Read It?

Hey world! Are you ready for some reviews!? (Read that as if saying "let's get ready to rumble.") I have two books ready for reviews - I know, I know, two reviews in two weeks (my goodness, this is a lot of Ws)? Seems kind of low...but I've had a very busy last-while. So only two books it is. You know, we haven't had a Series Review in quite a while...remember those? When I'd have all science fiction, or all classics, or all something or other for a period of time. Hmm...Any recommendations for one of those?

So, a while ago I finished this book called Sabriel by Garth Nix, you know, that guy with the awesome fantasy name and pretty book covers? This is the first book in the Abhorsen trilogy, but there is a prequel book, and I have read it and reviewed it. Not too long ago, actually. I'm not saying I remember the ending or anything, but the memory feels fresh...I actually rarely remember endings to anything...I think there's a switch in my brain to protect rereads or something.

Summaryish: Young Sabriel has been living in a boarding school most of her life, due to her father being a powerful necromancer whose job it is to keep the Dead in Death. Capital letters - take note of that. Of course, inciting incidents take place - namely, her father's disappearance - and she is sent on a journey through the Old Kingdom to try to locate and hopefully rescue him before he is trapped in Death too long, and dies in the living world, too. Complications include: Dead things, a feisty talking cat, and a boy about her age struggling with painful memories.

Review: So, this book took a while for me to read - not because it was boring, and not because I particularly wanted to savor it, but because, as aforementioned, I was busy. Reading in a car, while possible, is not recommended for long periods of time. If I could, I would have torn through this book - because it was really good. The characters are well defined and the world and story are also fabulous. I can't think of a single complaint - it was fresh and exciting, and I'm looking forward to reading the next book in the series!

 Words to the Characters:

Touchstone: Did we ever figure out your real name? I'm so curious.

Sabriel: I admire your dedication, and I like how, unlike most heroines, you're not gag-worthily emotional. Way to go.

So you next post!

-Xxxxxx