Sha-tter Me. Easy as 1, 2, 3...

Book Review for Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi

"You can't touch me," 

I whisper. 

I'm lying, 

is what I don't tell him. 

He can touch me, 

is what I'll never tell him. 

Please touch me,

is what I want to tell him.

But things happen when people touch me. 

Strange things.

Bad things.

Dead things.

Nathan Bransford first introduced Tahereh Mafi to my little word. He picked her up as a debut novelist and told the world of her glory. This amazing book. This supremely talented author. Even though Nathan moved on from agent-ing, Tahereh found another, and Shatter Me found the world.

I’ve heard about this book so many, many, many times. I’ve seen the cover and hated it wondered if I could read a book like that.

Honestly, I didn’t think I could get past the supermodel/runway-type cover that just screams LOOK AT ME; I’M A YOUNG ADULT IN A PRETTY DRESS. Blah. No thanks. But I did. 1, 2, 49 chapters and my mind

was

blown.

Good Lord.

At Face Value: I think I’ve said enough. This cover has nothing to do with anything and its lameness is only beaten by Vampire Academy. ALL SIX BOOKS. If Nathan Bransford hadn’t been all over this book, well, the cover would had been a MASSIVE deal breaker for me. (Blog pic is courtesy of Sweden FYI :P).

Immediate Reaction: I put the book down. The ending was final. I was okay. I could go on. That is not a good thing.

High Five: Gah! From the first page I was so sure I’d get my high five. That makes it even harder for me to do this. FOUR! Shatter Me only gets a FOUR, okay? Now stop judging so I can crawl back under that dystopian rock I’ve been clinging to.

Favourite Quote: So. Many. I know I say that a lot but Tahereh’s writing is. Just. Just. WOAH! So I’m giving you two.

“ Hope in this world bleeds out of the barrel of a gun. ”

“ She is a walking weapon in this society, is what the teachers said. We’ve never seen anything like it, is what the doctors said. She should be removed from your home, is what the police officers said.

No problem at all, is what my parents said. I was 14 years old when they finally got rid of me. When they stood back and watched as I was dragged away for a murder I didn’t know I could commit. ”

The first thing that anyone who opens Shatter Me would notice is the prose. Mafi has such a unique style it’s mind blowing. There is no way her writing could get mixed up with that of another YA author because I HAVE NEVER read anything like it, you guys. After the first chapter or so I was in love with Mafi’s writing. I cannot possibly convince you enough that she is one talented woman. I remember thinking at one point that the writing would exhaust me by the time the book finished, but it didn’t. It. Just. Didn’t.

From the very first page you can tell there is something seriously up in Juliette’s head. The way Shatter Me has been written makes it almost read like Juliette is writing everything that happens to her down. But it goes deeper than that. Juliette’s true thoughts and feelings are the things she strikes out. She lies to herself completely. She hides in her head. She is so crazy-afraid of herself that she won’t open up. Fear of herself drives her every emotion. YOU GUYS, Juliette is DEEP, okay? And then there’s her obsession with numbers which adds another layer to everything Juliette does. This character trait could have so easily been a gimmick but Mafi is better than that. Way, way, better. So talented so talented, this woman is just so talented.

And then along came Adam. Gorgeous, tough, and COMPLETELY AND UTTERLY SWOONWORTHLY! This is how to write a deep love interest for a young adult novel. So don’t say you haven’t been warned. Adam is tough, he kicks arse, and he brings out a strength and confidence in Juliette that really lights up the page. Add in Mafi’s AWESOME writing skillz and I was sold from the moment they were thrown in the cell together.

Other characters of note are James, Adam’s massively adorable little brother. WARNER, my new fav. psychopath! Seriously, this dude is even more messed in the head than Mara Dyer. And that’s saying something. Gah! Warner! I love him I love him I love him I hate him. And finally, there’s Kenji. This character literally leaps from the page and demands attention in his own right. Kenji is so amazingly well developed and I WANT HIM AS A PET!

To add to this stellar cast, the awesome writing, and fabulous main characters, are some scenes that ignited my blood. There was a whole heap of heavy petting, some intense convos on feelings and shiz, and a whole heap of screwed up situations that Juliette is forced into by my new love Warner.

SO WHY DIDN’T THIS BOOK GET A HIGH FIVE? ARE YOU REALLY THE CRAZY PSYCOPATH? I hear you guys ask. Umm… no. At least, not when I last checked…

The nitty gritty of the matter is that Shatter Me didn’t blow my mind. The writing did. Juliette’s mental state and vulnerability did. But the things that happened, the scenes that should have had me on the end of my seat didn’t. They kept my attention. They made me want more. But I didn’t feel that kind of desperate NEED to tear through the remaining pages because the end of the book was tame. It ended nicely. This book could stand-alone. Basically, the ending pattered off into the ambiguity of fairytale land.

THAT SAID, Unravel Me IS going to get a five. I can feel it in the air. The ending of this book may have been tame but to me, it kind of feels like the calm before the storm. Juliette has been given a reprieve before shit seriously goes flying. And my God, will I be there when it does. Release day. I literally

CAN

NOT

wait.

354 days remaining. 354 days until I get to experience Tahereh Mafi’s writing again. 

I'm-a, I'm-a, Deviant

Book review for Divergent

 

One choice decides your friends, defines your beliefs and determines your loyalties... forever.

When sixteen-year-old Tris makes her choice, she cannot foresee how drastically her life will change. Or that the perfect society in which she lives is about to unfold into a dystopian world of electrifying decisions, stunning consequences, heartbreaking betrayals and unexpected romance. 

One Choice can transform you.

To be honest, I saw this book non-stop on shelves a few months back but it never piqued my interest. The blurb was kind of vague, the cover was overly dystopian, which I love now, but really wasn’t into back then.

Then I started to read on quite a few blogs about a book with five factions, a hero called Tris and a schmexy teacher dude called Four and you couldn’t keep me away from the shops for long enough.

Too bad when I finally went to buy it, the book was nowhere to be found.

Well, Amazon delivered last week after a fortnight of waiting and then… Veronica Roth happened. And ho-ly cow. I’m so glad I read those blogs.

My Review: 

At face value: The Dauntless symbol on the front is pretty cool however the city across the bottom and two people in the corner screamed MG for me.

Immediate Reaction: I can wait for the next one only because it comes out this year. Until then, bring on more dystopians.

High Five: Had to give it a four. No thumb. Everything just measures up to Cinder now.

Favourite Quote:

“Four! Three!”

What did Tobias tell me? Selflessness and bravery aren’t that different.

“Two!”

I release the trigger of my gun and drop it. Before I can lose my nerve, I turn and press my forehead to the barrel of the gun behind me.

Shoot me instead.

“One!”

I hear a click, and a bang.

Divergent is so obviously, OTT, dystopic. There is no way Roth had a problem trying to place it in a genre. The characters, whilst maintaining the strength of most dystopic characters, are what really drives this story. Tris, coming from Abnegation, keeps her morals and even though she is tough to the maximus, she still feels human emotions and knows the difference between right and wrong. I heart her for that.

Now, because the blurb gives practically nothing to go on, I’ll do my own little recap of the book. Tris, or Beatrice (blah!) as she’s originally known, has been born into Abnegation, one of the five factions of Chicago. The other four are Dauntless, Amity, Erudite and Candor. These all stand for different personality traits. Everyone at the age of sixteen takes a test, the test tells them where they fit best and then, they get to choose anyway. SPOILER. (Like you didn’t already know it was coming) Tris chooses Dauntless. These guys are the badass fighting league of the factions who have very little-to-no people skills in my opinion. There is a lot of power and greed in this faction and more than one person ends up getting a boo-boo. MOVING ON, in comes Four, or should I say, Phaw, to distract me with his ‘I’m so badass, I’m really good’ type of thing that he does. And then, like all dystopians, we jump ahead a little and there’s fighting and rebellion and what-not. Sound good? Mmk, moving on.

Roth has developed this futuristic view of Chicago so deeply it’s hard to believe it doesn’t exist already. The five factions are so completely devoid of any human deviance from the norm that you pretty much start to doubt these people are humans at all. The belief systems are established early on, but the way each faction holds its citizens to these beliefs so completely, feels forced. I’m glad Roth brought in the factionless because otherwise, I may not have been able to get past the idea that with only five factions, there really should be more Divergents. 

 

THAT SAID, the end comes along and I’m proved right. So there.

The characters I’d like to give a little mention to are Christina, who I really liked in the beginning and then not-so-much at the end, Al, poor, poor Al. Will, who was all kinds of cute. And Eric. This guy was like a five year old playing grown up. Dang he was annoying, and played his part perfectly. As for what happened between Tris and Will, holy moly I wanted to TEAR THAT DAMN PAGE OUT AND PRETEND IT NEVER HAPPENED. Ahem.

 I loved (and at the same time hated) the parts with Peter. To me, he was the one I really felt sorry for. What he did to Edward was just… And then what he did to Al and Tris… That is one screwed up character. And man, did he make things interesting! I loved that Four was a deep character and not just someone dancing about on the sidelines. I loved the part where he threw knives and Tris’s head. I loved when they climbed the Ferris wheel together. But mostly, I loved the two parts in the simulation room. They were AWESOME!

 Now, the nitty gritty stuff that stopped this book from getting a high five really weren’t that big of a deal. Firstly, the OMIGOD moment that was supposed to happen with her brother (I don’t even remember that kid’s name) really wasn’t very shocking. I think I saw it coming in the second chapter and was positive by the third.

 A few times there were scared people mentioned and I still have no idea what that was about. And the part with TRIS and WILL that I cannot mention and am still pretending DIDN’T HAPPEN, also made me not like this book, although I appreciate that Roth went there.

 Mostly though, it was the ‘climax’ so to speak. Whilst reading it, I enjoyed it. But it didn’t get my heart rate going. It didn’t make me never want to put the book down again. I guess, in a sense, I didn’t feel the danger. And that’s a big problem for me. Looking back on it, it seemed too easy. What happens with Four could have been taken into the realms of so damn disturbing but it was like Roth just wanted to get to that last chapter. Don’t get me wrong, I still enjoyed reading it, but it really had the potential to be that much more.

 Still, this book got a Four off me. I loved it, I loved the concept and I especially loved Tris. There are plenty of people out there that have given it a five but for me, a five is a massively high honour, and I refuse to give it out until I find a book I deem perfect. Divergent was close. Bring on Insurgent!

Legen-wait for it-dary!

Book review for Legend by Marie Lu

Once known as the western coast of the United States, the Republic is now a nation perpetually at war with its neighbors, the Colonies.

Born into an elite family in one of the Republic's wealthiest districts, fifteen-year-old June is a military prodigy. Obedient, passionate, and committed to her country, she is being groomed for success in the Republic's highest circles.
Born into the slums of the Republic's Lake Sector, fifteen-year-old Day is the country's most wanted criminal. But his motivations may not be as malicious as they seem.
From very different worlds, June and Day have no reason to cross paths - until the day June's brother, Metias, is murdered, and Day becomes the prime suspect. Now, caught in the ultimate game of cat and mouse, Day is in a race for his family's survival, while June tries desperately to avenge Metias's death.
But in a shocking turn of events, the two uncover the truth of what has really brought them together, and the sinister lengths to which their country will go to keep its secrets.

So by now if you haven't heard of this book, you're pretty much living with your head shoved in the sand. Or in the cloud of a dust bomb. Way before the paperback even hit the shelves, there was so much hype I have no idea how Marie Lu is still sane (obviously based on the assumption she is). The movies rights have already been sold to CBS (one of the top ranking television networks), and Penguin had practically sold the SHIZ out of this book already.

And to be honest, when a book has this much hype, I'm determined to hate it. I don't know why but when someone recommends a book to me saying 'this book is the ultimate awesomeness' and 'I've never laughed/cried/loved/*insert adjective here* a book as much as this one', and worse still 'you have to buy this' (cue shoving in hands and nudging towards the registers), I do everything in my power to avoid the damn thing. I get this certain stubborn streak that IS GOOD FOR NOTHING, but I just can't help it. So, with all this in mind, I dragged my feet through BIG W, feeling as though everyone was waiting for me to pick up the book so they could point, judge, laugh at me, and bought it. 

On release day.

And... I didn't hate it.

My Review...

At Face Value: I probably would've picked it up based on the cover alone, but it would have ended up unread, on my shelf with countless others. 

Immediate Reaction: Like most 'first' books, the ending wrapped up nicely. But it didn't leave me wanting more. I can wait for the next book.

High Five: First half, a four. Second, a three.


 Let me start off by saying this book's premise is no where near original; it was inspired by Les Miserables and contains a very Romeo and Juliet love story. That said, no story is original these days and Lu develops her characters and world to a height that makes Legend stand alone.

 Legend is told from the perspectives of both main characters, June and Day in alternating chapters but instead of letting her character's voice come through, either Lu or Razorbill decided to give them different fonts. This helps simplify who's who but was bloody annoying to begin with (mainly because I'm just a little picky and seriously didn't like Day's font. It made me want to punch him for looking like a Goosebumps novel). 
June is tough, stoic, and at times, annoyed me with her 'I'm so much smarter than everyone else' mentality that the Republic has basically stamped her with. But she becomes more emotionally driven towards the end. And she kicks arse. Day is a 'rebel' but to be honest, the crimes everyone is in a tizzy about are pretty underwhelming. At first, I didn't understand why they were so crazed to catch a fifteen-year-old that had gone a little wild with the spray paint but Lu makes it work. And suddenly there is a REASON I can go with.
 
 As I was reading this book, I put it down a couple of times for ridiculous things like work, food, coffee but where ever I went the characters followed me so I have to give Lu kudos for that. It's not often another author's characters push my own out of the way but the struggles June and Day are put through (I love when authors don't baby their characters), were enough to keep me wondering. There was emotional connection with the characters which I haven't found in a few books I've read lately and I fell in love with Metias (June's wicked cool big brother) who literally existed for all of about one chapter. DEVASTATED. MUCH.


I loved Day's break in to the hospital, I loved little Tess (can I have a baby sister like her, please?) and I loved Kaede whose vine tattoo sounds seriously awesome. I think Thomas could have been developed more and I well and truly loathed Commander Jameson (which was pretty much the point); really though, someone needs to sword-blade that woman's eye. The idea of the Elector Primo was also awesome and his son, mentioned way briefly was actually someone I remembered and hope will play a bigger part in the sequel.


 My main complaint though, and the reason the book didn't get a high five (especially in the second half), was things seemed a little too coincidental. Now, I get that there are coincidences in all books - mostly they're the catalyst or a way for the plot to move forward - but some of the things were a little too easy. Like, I can buy into how Day was at the same Skiz fight June was, but I don't buy into the 'numbers' he finds in places he's been at a gazillion times before. My first thought was "some high-risk criminal, his observation skills clearly need work" and I'm pretty sure that wasn't the reaction Lu intended. I can also buy into June being some super-smart freak of a girl, but I don't care how many times I read it, her figuring out the anagram that leads her to a super secret website will never make sense to me. NEVER.


 Overall, if you can get past these little nuances that my picky brain just won't move on from, and you like Dystopian novels, you'll love the shiz out of Legend. It's crazy-fast paced, has some hotter than hot characters and gives the sense of danger in just about every choice. Throw in some OMG shocks, a little bit of loving, and someone getting their head blasted off and I'm pretty sure it covers all bases. 


 It also makes me really want to write a Dystopian novel.