Neverland by Shari Arnold

Neverland by Shari Arnold:

Rating: 5/5 stars

Genres: YA, Contemporary, Adventure

Summary (from Goodreads):

It’s been four months since seventeen-year-old Livy Cloud lost her younger sister, but she isn’t quite ready to move on with her life — not even close. She’d rather spend her time at the Seattle Children’s hospital, reading to the patients and holding onto memories of the sister who was everything to her and more.

But when she meets the mysterious and illusive Meyer she is drawn into a world of adventure, a world where questions abound.

Is she ready to live life without her sister? Or more importantly, is she brave enough to love again?

In this modern reimagining of Peter Pan, will Livy lose herself to Neverland or will she find what she’s been searching for?

Review:

THIS BOOK WAS AMAZING. I loved it with all of my heart. I’ve never even been the biggest of Peter Pan fans, but I still thought this book was awesome. I love retellings, so that’s probably why.

I feel like this was a very different retelling, and if you read it, you’ll find out why. It’s not just modern people in the same roles, but a little bit more than that. I was drawn in by the plot structure of this book and it’s storytelling effect. It was an easy and relaxing read, but there were a lot of emotions. I mean, half the book is spent at a children’s hospital, so what are you expecting? But the author pulled it off and didn’t make it a sob story, but rather used the emotions of the setting to help develop her book.

Livy was a really great character. Sometimes, she was a little frustrating, but then I had to remember that she was still getting over the death of her little sister. It was only four months ago that she died, so Livy was still kind of in the early stages of grief. This was a great development spot, though. The author did a great job of getting Livy to accept her sister’s death and keep moving forward in her life. I really liked how she progressed.

Meyer is my new book boyfriend. He’s mysterious, cute, artsy, and has green eyes. Like, what more can you ask for?

Most of the time, I don’t like mysterious characters because I think it’s overdone and usually not even done that well, but I loved it in this book. I was intrigued by Meyer from the first time I met him. There were so many unanswered questions, that it was honestly hard to stop reading. And personally, when that happens, I know I’m reading a good book. I also loved how Meyer interacted with Livy. They were just adorable and they are perfect together. Meyer pushed Livy out of her comfort zone, and Livy pulled Meyer back to reality. The perfect balance.

The book is split into three parts. The second part is when they actually go to Neverland, but I loved all the parts. The Neverland part was really creative and well written, but the other two kept the book modern. Without those two parts, it would just be Peter Pan, and not the book that it is.

This is going to sound horrible, but I liked the parts in the children’s hospital. Both Meyer’s and Livy’s interactions with the kids there were cute. I loved how they each had a different style of interacting with the kids, but they both showed how much they cared for them. I thought it was really interesting as to why Livy kept visiting the children’s hospital, and I think it was an important part of the story and Livy’s character. I feel like that is where the book focuses a lot on the grief and overcoming death parts. But with those emotions and the fairy tale, I found that Neverland was an extremely original book.

I would recommend Neverland to anyone who liked Peter Pan, retellings, or just a good fairy tale. It’s a sweet book. I would love to have a sequel to this book, but then again I always want sequels. I have trouble with the whole ending thing. But really, check out this book, because Shari Arnold did an amazing job.

*** e-ARC kindly provided by Net-Galley ***

Hey guys one more thing! I’m going to have to cut my frequency of reviews down to once a week for the time being. I’m on the busy side right now, and I just don’t have time to read as much as I would like. I know, quite the unfortunate situation, but I hope this won’t be a forever thing.

Top Ten Books Which Feature Characters Who Are Going Against Society

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by the Broke and the Bookish

HAPPY TUESDAY! So this prompt was “Top Ten Books Which Feature Characters Who Are ______” which I didn’t really know where to go with. So I looked through my favorite books and I picked out a theme from some awesome characters. I came up with “Defying Society” and I thought it was good. To all you lovelies who hate societal expectations, I present to you my Top Ten Tuesday.

1. Audacious by Gabrielle Prendergast: This book is what got my hooked on verse. I loved the writing, and I think that the main character, Raphaelle, is a very powerful girl. She’s going places. It’s a quick read, but it doesn’t fail to knock your socks off.

2. Legend by Marie Lu: I can’t stop talking about Legend. It’s one of my favorites and I won’t stop until everyone on this planet reads it. June and Day are so done with just about everything and they want to do something about it. And let’s just say, they’re pretty good at doing something about it.

3. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak: Nothing like a girl in Nazi Germany to go against everyone’s expectations. Just a nice reminder that there’s not an age requirement to do the right thing.

4. Article 5 by Kristen Simmons: Pretty much the same situation as Legend. Excellent book.

5. Crash into You by Katie McGarry: This is the third in the Pushing the Limits series, but I think that Rachel is a great example of someone who is just trying to be themselves. She is a rich, blonde girl, but all she really wants is to drive fast and fix her car. Not what anyone would expect, and usually not what most approve of (really just in the book). Check out the series because it’s great stuff.

6. 5 to 1 by Holly Bodger: I recently reviewed this book here, and I have found that the more I think about this book, the more powerful it gets. I highly recommend it, especially to anyone interested in gender equality.

7. The Pledge by Kimberly Derting: This was such a fascinating book to read. I loved the concept behind it, and I think the characters are too cool. Charlie is awesome. Check it out because I can’t keep talking about it without giving anything away.

8. For the Darkness Shows the Stars by Diana Peterfreund: So this is a super duper cool book and pretty much the only reason I read it was because of the cover. But then I loved it. Elliot makes decisions for herself and no one else and I love it.

9. The Distance Between Us by Kasie West: This is a super light book, but it does touch on wealth and social classes. I think it approaches the topic in a cute way, but I enjoyed this book. Legit warning: this will probably not inspire you to go and change the world, but it might be nice at the beach.

10. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee: Nice transition here, oh wait there is none. This is one of the all time best books written, not only one of the best about social change. Harper Lee writes a story that changes the way you think about everything. Atticus Finch is a role model for pretty much everyone. If you haven’t read this book, you need to. It’s an absolutely amazing piece of literature.

What are any of your favorite books with characters who don’t care what anyone thinks or expects of them? Let me know in the comments!

Have a great rest of your Tuesday! 🙂

Down From the Mountain by Elizabeth Fixmer

Down From the Mountain by Elizabeth Fixmer:

Rating: 4/5

Genres: YA, Contemporary

Summary:

Eva just wants to be a good disciple of the Righteous Path. She grew up knowing that she and her mother are among the chosen few to be saved from Armageddon. Lately, though, being saved feels awfully treacherous. Ever since they moved to the compound in Colorado, their food supplies have dwindled even while their leader, Ezekial, has stockpiled weapons. The only money comes from the jewelry Eva makes and sells down in Boulder–a purpose she’ll serve until she becomes one of Ezekial’s wives.
But a college student named Trevor and the other “heathens” she meets on her trips beyond the compound are different from what she’s been led to believe. Now Eva doesn’t know which is more dangerous–the outside world or Brother Ezekial’s plans.

Review: Wow. That’s all I have to say. The book pretty much blew my mind. It wasn’t conceptually challenging, it was just so out there that I still don’t even know how to react.

So the fact that someone wrote a fictional book revolving around a religious cult is pretty cool. I mean it’s been done before, but not in a YA setting or quite like this (as far as I know). I mean I’ve never read a book about a cult, and I read a lot, so just saying. Besides the fact that it was a super original concept, it was really well written. I mean, I don’t know about you, but I’m not super familiar with the inner workings of a cult. Not exactly common knowledge. So, with that being said, the author managed to write an extremely realistic story, and it all made sense. She clearly did her research, and it paid off. Like it was impressive.

Eva was a really likable character. She is very young, only fourteen, but she acts very mature. Yet she is also extremely naive. And when I say naive, I mean things like, she has no idea how to use a computer, and lacks a lot of other basic knowledge. This is all because she was raised in the Righteous Path since she was four, so what was she supposed to do, but I thought it was a fascinating contrast. She managed to speak like an adult, but she would be considered less intelligent than most children in society. I loved her development: she goes from being an obedient disciple to a rebellious teenager and it’s awesome. And the things that she puts up with are crazy. Granted, she doesn’t know otherwise, but Ezekial is a psycho. Like creep alert. Eva just goes along with it, all while plotting against him.

I loved Eva’s relationship with her mom. So her mom is pregnant with Ezekial’s child, but the people at the compound don’t have much food, so no one is properly nourished. Btw: these aren’t really spoilers, like this happens at the very beginning of the book. Anyway, you can see how Eva’s mom is not doing so well, but Eva does everything she can to help her mother. They aren’t allowed to have a “special relationship”, but they do anyway. I personally love reading about mother-daughter relationships, and this one was one of my favorites.

I think everyone can take something away from this book. Don’t be scared away by the fact that it revolves around religion, because there’s so much more to it. As Eva starts to realize the lies she has been told, we see her starting to question everything. I think that as a reader, it’s important to take away that message. Look beyond what you are being told. Like blind obedience is rarely the answer to all of your problems. I would honestly consider Eva to be a role model.

This is a fairly quick read, but it is still amazing. It wasn’t five stars amazing, but it was definitely good. There weren’t really any drawbacks for me, which is impressive. I highly recommend this book, especially to anyone looking for something a little different. This definitely is not your everyday YA novel, but I appreciated it. The author did a fantastic job writing this. All I have are praises!

*** e-ARC kindly provided by Net-Galley ***

Top Ten All Time Favorite Authors

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish

1. Fisher Amelie– I mention her a lot, and literally if you have not checked out her books yet, please do. Everything she writes is pure gold. She is #1 for a reason. I won’t even get started on how excited I am for her next book. If you like NA/YA contemporary romance, she’s your girl.

2. J.K. Rowling– Obviously, one of the best writers of our time. Harry Potter (and everyone else in those books) are such great characters that J.K. Rowling created. She is a literary genius and probably deserves a shrine in every library household public place just everywhere.

3. Laurie Halse Anderson– She’s a pretty well known YA author, but I don’t think she gets recognized outside of YA enough. Her writing is so beautiful and powerful. This woman should have a Nobel Peace Prize with the books she’s written so far.

4.  Marie Lu– Her ideas for the Legend and The Young Elites series were amazing. She’s so creative and original, I love her work. I like her writing a lot, too. It isn’t the all time best or really memorable, but she makes up for it with her plot and characters.

5. Kristen Simmons– The Article 5 series is great. Another original dystopian (really, trust me on this one), with beautiful characters and she managed to write a whole trilogy without a love triangle. That’s literature at it’s finest write there.

6. Katie McGarry– I just love reading anything she writes. Something about her characters just pulls you in and I can never stop reading her books once I start. Her writing itself isn’t outstanding, but her stories are.

7. Markus Zusak– The Book Thief is a fantastic book. His creativity in the writing (ex: Death’s perspective) is genius. Literally, I wish I had this man’s brain. He is absolutely brilliant. And not only is his writing THE BEST, but he also makes decent plots. And when I say decent, I mean OMG THIS IS THE BEST BOOK I EVER READ level plots. So, yeah, he’s not bad.

8. Miranda Kenneally– She’s a fun author with a knack for sports. If you’re into sports, check out her books. She definitely is original. Her books are all very light hearted (side note: I feel like this tends to discredit an author’s writing capabilities for some reason. Agree? Disagree?), but they are super cute and honestly just fun.

9. George R.R. Martin– Game of Thrones. That’s all you really need to say. I mean, let’s be honest here. There aren’t a lot of authors who can successfully kill off a side character, much less half the characters in their entire series. Just thinking about it kind of blows my mind. Like HOW DO YOU DO IT? AND WHY DO I ENJOY IT?

10. Kimberly Derting– Another one similar to Miranda Kenneally, but a little darker. The Body Finder was a pretty good series. I loved the idea behind it though. I also loved The Pledge series, so between the two, she deserves a spot up here.

Who is your all time favorite author? Let me know in the comments! 🙂

Disappear Home by Laura Hurwitz

Disappear Home by Laura Hurwitz:

Rating: 4.5/5 stars

Genres: Historical Fiction, YA

Summary (from Goodreads):

In 1970, as the hippie movement is losing its innocence, Shoshanna and her six-year-old sister, Mara, escape from Sweet Earth Farm, a declining commune, run by their tyrannical and abusive father, Adam. Their mother, Ella, takes them to San Francisco, where they meet one of her old friends, Judy, and the four of them decide to head off and try to make a life together. Finding a safe haven at the farm of kind, elderly Avery Elliot, the four of them find some measure of peace and stability. Then their mother’s crippling depression returns. Confused and paranoid, Ella is convinced that she and the girls must leave before Adam finds them and extracts revenge. The girls don’t wish to leave the only stable home they’ve ever had. But as Ella grows worse and worse, events conspire to leave them to face a choice they never could have imagined. Shoshanna has always watched over her sister and once again she has to watch over her ailing mother. Will she ever live a “normal” life?

Review:

I loved this book. It’s not what I normally go for, but it’s so original that I couldn’t not like it. And the fact that it’s set in California in the 70’s. So groovy. The hippie theme definitely grows on you. By the end of the book I was like can I go back in time? But then I realized I’m pretty cool with 2015. Does that mean Disappear Home was thought provoking? Not necessarily, but it was still a fantastic book.

So, it’s hard for me to identify the main characters. Maybe Shoshanna? I don’t know, but all of the characters were amazing. I think it takes a special author to develop so many characters as well as she did. There were a lot of people involved in the story, but it never felt like it was too much. It was easy to keep track of and I never felt confused.

Shoshanna was a really awesome girl. She was fourteen and honestly way more impressive than most adults. She dealt with a lot from everyone. She took care of her younger sister because her mother, who was depressed, couldn’t take care of either of them. Oh and she survived an abusive father while living on a commune where everyone just did drugs and tried to “support each other”. I would love to see another book of her like twenty years later. She developed in this book, not becoming a completely different character, but just a little more mature. She was already a strong girl, but she grew up very quickly with all her family had to go through. I’d love to see even more of her progression later in life.

Ella, Shoshanna’s mom, was a little crazy. More like really crazy. It was hard with her because at the beginning, I was rooting for her all the way. I mean, she saved her kids by risking herself and running away. That takes some guts and shows that she cares a lot about her children. But by the end, she wasn’t herself. This is where we get into the mental illness part of the book. I think Ella’s depression was really well written. It was a great way to see directly what it was like for not only the person suffering from depression, but how it impacted the people around them.

I loved Judy. I think that it was great to see a mother figure in this book. Without her, the plot, and pretty much the entire book, would have lost it’s structure. She was the glue that kept everything together. And she just seemed like such a nice person. I want a Judy in my life.

I could honestly go on and on about this book, but I feel like this was a good place to leave it. It was a simple story, yet it didn’t feel like it. There wasn’t anything spectacular about it either, but I am in love with this book. It’s hard to describe, so all I can say is check it out, because it’s definitely worth your time. It’s not necessarily a beach read (even though that beautiful cover may give you that idea), but it’s also not too dark that you’re going to lose sleep over it. Even if you aren’t into historical fiction, give this book a try because I thought it was a really fascinating read.

*** e-ARC kindly provided by Net-Galley ***

Righteous by Kim Lehman

Righteous by Kim Lehman:

Rating: 3/5 stars

Genres: YA, Contemporary

Summary (from Goodreads):

A story about a troubled girl and her effed up, going-nowhere life.

Quick witted, sharp-tongued Righteous Andrews is troubled by a broken past, fed up with her present circumstances, and resolved to a hopeless future.

On the first day of her senior year of high school she gets in trouble, landing in the principal’s office . . . again. There she meets Colt Jackson, the new kid with a troubled past of his own. Despite her attempts to avoid him, Colt seems to show up everywhere she doesn’t want him to be, and soon they strike up an unexpected friendship. Righteous is wary. Friendships aren’t her thing. But something about Colt is different; something about him makes her curious, makes her wonder . . .

Is Colt Jackson really different from everyone else? Does happiness and love truly exist? Or will every relationship in her life always end in lies and heartache?

Review:

The plot and idea of this book were really great. It was a good contemporary novel that discussed real issues that people face. It didn’t shy around sensitive topics, and I liked that. Btw: I loved the cover. I think it fits perfectly for this book.

However, I had a lot of issues with Righteous. I didn’t really like her. I thought she was immature and whiny. Granted, she had a lot of issues in her life, but I don’t want to listen to someone complain. That’s not why I read books. I think she wasn’t all that mature even though she was eighteen, so it was a little awkward. She did develop through the book, so by the end, I had grown in my respect for her. At the beginning of the book, she was just no fun. She was one of those characters that you just want to slap and say get over yourself.

I also felt like the author didn’t really write the characters realistically. It felt very cliché high school, and it was a little annoying. Like can someone write a book where the characters act like normal teenagers? Like where is this notion that all teenagers don’t care about their future and have no ounce of respect in their body coming from? I DON’T UNDERSTAND.

Other than those two issues, I really liked the book. Colt was really cool. There was some depth to his character, which was nice. He was emotional at some points, and it felt good to be able to relate to a male lead. Also, he didn’t hold his feelings back. Ria did this a lot and it got annoying. Colt was really upfront about everything that he dealt with and he trusted people, even when he didn’t have a reason too. That’s what made me like him so much, he was such a change in pace from the usual “I can’t tell you that yet, you have to earn my trust blah blah blah.”

I have to point out that this book was not what I expected from the blurb. I think it focuses much more on Ria’s personal development, rather than her relationship with Colt. I think that’s fine, either would probably work, but when I came back to write this review, I realized from reading the summary, I wouldn’t have thought the book would be what it was. I did like that it focused more on Ria, because she had a lot to change about herself. As I mentioned before, she started out really rough. Like really really rough. But she “developed” and by the end, she was a significantly better person.

This book touches on a lot of issues that most tend to avoid. It talks about bullying, tough home life, single parenting, poverty, suicide, trouble with school, and losing a loved one. I know that seems like a lot, and it is. There are tons of emotions in this book. Like enough tears to fill up the Hoover Dam. No joke. But it was really nicely done by the author, and it was very respectful. It never belittled anyone’s problems, and all in all, it was an impressive feat by the author. Good job. 🙂

I definitely would recommend this book to anyone that is looking for a book on the darker side. There’s a lot of good content, so give it a shot. Personally, I didn’t enjoy Ria, but you might, so check it out. The rest of the book was amazing, in my opinion. Just be prepared for a lot to go down.

*** e-ARC kindly provided by Net-Galley ***

Top Ten Inspiring Quotes from Books

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and The Bookish

i love quotes. This is literally my favorite thing. I’M SO EXCITED.

1. “We believe in ordinary acts of bravery, in the courage that drives one person to stand up for another.” 

– Veronica Roth, Divergent

Inspiration. Gotta love it.

2. “You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view… Until you climb inside of his skin and walk around in it.”

– Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird

One of my all time favorites from an all time great book. Applicable to every situation.

3. “The only thing worse than a boy who hates you: a boy that loves you.”

– Markus Zusak, The Book Thief

Teenage angsty love. Classic.

4. “What you do, the way you think, makes you beautiful.”

– Scott Westerfield, Uglies

Didn’t like the book, but I think it’s a really powerful quote.

5. “Be careful what you wish for. There’s always a catch.”

– Laurie Halse Anderson, Wintergirls

This book is so powerful. Highly recommend.

6. “Each day means a new twenty-four hours. Each day means everything’s possible again. You live in the moment, you die in the moment, you take it all one day at a time.”

Marie Lu, Legend

If you ever need a little pep talk. Here it is.

7. “The best discoveries always happened to the people who weren’t looking for them.”

Morgan Matson, Amy and Rodger’s Epic Detour

Self explanatory. I hope.

8. “Discover why you’re important, then refuse to settle for anyone who doesn’t completely agree.”

– Fisher Amelie, Thomas & January

LOVE YOURSELF.

9. “It is our choices that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.”

J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter

I’ve decided J.K. Rowling is the wisest person alive because she wrote everything Dumbledore has ever said and more. That’s pretty impressive.

10. “Winter is coming.”

George R.R. Martin, Game of Thrones

In honor of the return of GoT (I actually don’t watch the TV show sorry not sorry).

That’s it for now guys! Have a great rest of your Tuesday.

Share any of your favorite literary quotes in the comments!

Earth & Sky by Megan Crewe

Earth & Sky by Megan Crewe:

Rating: 2.5/5 stars

Genres: Science Fiction, Dystopian, YA

Summary (from Goodreads):

Seventeen-year-old Skylar has been haunted for as long as she can remember by fleeting yet powerful sensations that something is horribly wrong. But despite the panic attacks tormenting her, nothing ever happens, and Sky’s beginning to think she’s crazy. Then she meets a mysterious, otherworldly boy named Win and discovers the shocking truth her premonitions have tapped into: our world no longer belongs to us. For thousands of years, Earth has been at the mercy of alien scientists who care nothing for its inhabitants and are using us as the unwitting subjects of their time-manipulating experiments. Win belongs to a rebel faction seeking to put a stop to it, and he needs Skylar’s help–but with each shift in the past, the very fabric of reality is unraveling, and soon there may be no Earth left to save.

Review:

There was a lot of potential here. Like a ton. It just wasn’t very well executed. Unfortunately.

I loved the idea behind this story. The aliens, the time travel, saving the world, it was great. But for me, the characters were very very bland. I felt like there could have been a lot more expansion on why certain things were happening. And sometimes the writing was just boring.

Skylar was definitely not one of my favorite characters. There wasn’t much to her. What I learned about Skylar: she runs cross country, her brother went missing, she has like four friends, and she can get a feeling of “wrongness”. SHE’S THE MAIN CHARACTER. I SHOULD KNOW EVERYTHING ABOUT HER. I’m not joking when I say that is all I know. There can’t be any character development when there’s barely a character. It made it really hard to read because there was no connection with Skylar. Zero. Zilch. None.

Win wasn’t much different. Side note: at first I thought his name was stupid but later in the book it all comes together and it’s kind of cute. Anyway, I liked and related to Win a little more, but not much. He was pretty dull and I never really saw any emotions from him. It was a little weird. Like nothing caused any reaction. But he wasn’t a stoic tough guy either. He was just there.

Win and Skylar’s relationship was also really weird. It felt pretty forced and I just didn’t get it. I think that YA author’s assume that you need to have romance to make the book successful, but in this book I would’ve been fine without it. There wasn’t really time for it and it didn’t make sense in any of the situations.

Weird thing that I noticed: either the book only takes place over the course of one day, or the main characters never sleep and barely eat or drink. Things like this kind of took away from the adventure part of the book because it seemed too unrealistic. I mean I don’t need to read a story that is real life, but I want it to be believable.

The only thing that saved this book was the plot. I enjoyed the story slightly because it was fairly interesting. I liked the whole traveling around the world to different time periods and places. It was pretty neat. Unfortunately, the lack of characterization was just too much. I think with better characters, this book would’ve been significantly better. It had the potential to be a fantastic book, actually. No follow through though. 😦

The writing was also sub-par. Not in terms of grammar and spelling (that was really kind of surprisingly good) but the style. I felt like the author didn’t make the reader interested with her writing. I don’t know what can fix it, because changing someone’s writing style is a little complicated, but I think there needed to be a little more something.

There isn’t much more to say about this book. I wasn’t really angered by it, but I wasn’t pleased. If you really like science fiction and time travel and all that, maybe check it out. Maybe it just wasn’t a fit for me. Who knows. Also the ending is pretty good to get you ready for the next book. I probably won’t be continuing this series, but the ending did make me a little more interested in following up.

*** e-ARC kindly provided by Net-Galley. ***

5 to 1 by Holly Bodger

5 to 1 by Holly Bodger: 

Rating: 4/5 stars

Genres: YA, Dystopian, Poetry

Summary (from Goodreads):

In the year 2054, after decades of gender selection, India now has a ratio of five boys for every girl, making women an incredibly valuable commodity. Tired of marrying off their daughters to the highest bidder and determined to finally make marriage fair, the women who form the country of Koyanagar have instituted a series of tests so that every boy has the chance to win a wife.

Sudasa, though, doesn’t want to be a wife, and Kiran, a boy forced to compete in the test to become her husband, has other plans as well. As the tests advance, Sudasa and Kiran thwart each other at every turn until they slowly realize that they just might want the same thing.

This beautiful, unique novel is told from alternating points of view-Sudasa’s in verse and Kiran’s in prose-allowing readers to experience both characters’ pain and their brave struggle for hope.

Review:

So real talk: I love novels that are in verse. I haven’t read many, but the few that I have are amazing. And 5 to 1 is no exception. I think that it’s an extremely powerful book, and also beautifully written. The author clearly knew what they were doing with this book.

If you’re a feminist, you have to read this book. Absolutely must read it, because IT WILL CHANGE YOU. Essentially, this book is a role reversal of males and females in India. It’s set in a “dystopian” world, even though it’s not really dystopian. It’s pretty much the world we live in today, just with male oppression and female dominance. I’m really fascinated by gender roles and how genders are viewed in a society, and this book gives so much insight into that. When you flip the situation, the inequalities of a society become so obvious it hurts. And honestly: this book hurts to read sometimes. It’s not easy to go through this and think about how horribly women can be treated in other parts of the world. Like, it’s a mentally exhausting book, but it’s so worth it.

I loved how the book was set up. Sudasa’s narration is in verse, while Kiran, or as we know him for most of the book, Five, writes in prose. The dual perspective was perfect for this novel. Because it focuses so much on male vs. female, having a male and female narration made it even more powerful. The author made an EXCELLENT choice here.

Sudasa was an awesome character. She was independent and didn’t want to be told by her powerful grandmother, or Nani, what to do. She was very aware of the injustice present in her society, and not naive at all. I felt like she was a selfless person, mostly because she really did want the best for all the boys in the Tests, yet she remained assertive. I really don’t share any similarities with Sudasa, but somehow I felt connected to her while reading. She seemed like a real person and I just got her. I understood her frustrations and anger and confusion. I could relate to her throughout the entire book, which was pretty cool.

Five or Kiran was very interesting. I liked him a lot. He fit the book perfectly. I think that him and Sudasa would make one of the greatest power couples in all of literature. No joke. He was very similar to Sudasa in that he carried himself with pride, but he never believed he was better than anyone around him. At the beginning of the book, it was very difficult to understand his actions and personality. By the end, you get a lot of insight into his past and where his thoughts come from, and everything starts to make sense.

Before I read the book, i saw on the author’s Twitter something about a documentary called It’s a Girl. I watched it before I read the book, just for the heck of it (it’s on Hulu for free btw). I think that watching it first was a really good idea because it provides a lot of background and insight into the issues of gender inequality in India and China going on right now. The book is very powerful on its own, but I think with the documentary, the issues in our current society are even more prominent. I highly recommend watching it before reading, or honestly just watching it whenever. It’s an amazing documentary.

The story itself was why I gave the book four stars. I didn’t really like where the book ended. I was hoping for just a little more. Not much, maybe an epilogue? That would’ve wrapped things up a lot better. I mean I understand that this book doesn’t hold it’s value in the plot, rather it’s message, but I would’ve liked to have seen just a little more. We don’t get any glimpse into what it’s like outside of the Tests. That was a little disappointing for me, because I think even just one scene with Sudasa in the local market or something along those lines would have added a lot more to the story. And maybe just make it more interesting.

The book was definitely fantastic. It’s one of those books that everyone should read once. It would be a great book to put into curriculums as well. Even if you don’t like verse or are in any way hesitant, I’m sure you’ll end up loving it. 5 to 1 will be released May 12, so definitely check it out then!

Btw: That cover is GORGEOUS. YES PLEASE.

*** e-ARC kindly provided by NetGalley ***

Branded (Sinners #1) by Abi Ketner and Missy Kalicicki

Branded (Sinners #1) by Abi Ketner and Missy Kalicicki:

Rating: 3.5/5 stars

Genres: Dystopian, YA, NA

Summary (from Goodreads): Fifty years ago The Commander came into power and murdered all who opposed him. In his warped mind, the seven deadly sins were the downfall of society.

To punish the guilty, he created the Hole, a place where sinners are branded according to their sins. Sinners are forced to live a less than human existence in deplorable conditions, under the watchful eye of guards who are ready to kill anyone who steps out of line.

Now, LUST wraps around my neck like thick, blue fingers, threatening to choke the life out of me. I’ve been accused of a crime I didn’t commit, and the Hole is my new home.

Constant darkness.

Brutal and savage violence.

Excruciating pain.

Every day is a fight for survival.

But I won’t let them win. I will not die in the Hole.

I am more than my brand. I’m a fighter. My name is Lexi Hamilton, and this is my story.

Review:

This book just fell a little short for me. I was expecting more and I just didn’t get it. I’ll be honest and say the rating is probably 3.75 stars, but I’m not that kind of girl. It wasn’t a 4 star, so it’s gonna be 3.5. Too bad.

The best part of the book was its originality. I’ve never really read a book quite like this one. I mean it had every necessary component of a YA dystopian novel: corrupt ruler, government interfering with romance between main characters, crimes that aren’t really crimes, etc. AKA if it didn’t have the world building accompanying it, this book would be sub-par.

Lucky us, it did have PHENOMENAL world building. I think that in a setting like The Hole, you have to make it awesome. Otherwise, no one cares. And your book will suck.

The Hole was pretty brutal. The descriptions weren’t extremely graphic or anything, but you’ll get the idea. At the beginning of the book, we jump right into Lexi’s arrest. There isn’t any introduction or tour of the rest of the world. When I started reading, I was like hey are we going to get anything about where she lived before The Hole? But, as I continued on with the book, we slowly start to pick up the pieces of Lexi’s past and how she experienced her society outside of The Hole through flashback moments.

Straight up: I hate flashbacks. Most of the time. I think they’re stupid and a waste of time. I want to know what’s happening now, not what happened when he was four years old and had no idea what was going on. I really don’t care. That being said, I liked it in this book. I think that because of how the story started, it was important to include flashbacks. I actually learned about Lexi, and I didn’t just get weird moments of her childhood that meant nothing to the plot. Like they were placed where they were for a reason and I could see the reason. Great writing by the author, because most YA authors screw that up and it ruins the book. But it OPENED MY EYES.

 

Lexi was pretty cool. She’s put up with a lot of crap. Therefore, she has gained my respect. She never really had one of those over emotional breakdown deals where everyone is like dude get over it and she’s like omg i just want starbucks lol i can’t even. Yeah thank goodness that’s an exaggeration because if that actually happened in a book I would probably quit right there. But really, she’s pretty chill. The one time she cried, it was for a real reason and if she didn’t cry she would’ve had no emotions and no one would like her.

Then there’s Cole. Great work Cole. You are the highlight of this book. Forbidden romance at its finest. Cole was the perfect guy for this. He did everything right. He wasn’t obnoxious. He didn’t make hypocritical demands. He really only made demands of Lexi because he was her guard and he had to. Otherwise, he was so sweet and cute and all around a great guy. I mean he could kill anyone about 51348 different ways, but he was still a great guy to Lexi, so what else really matters?

So my issues with this book mainly were with what wasn’t there, rather than what was there. The only problem I had with the writing was some of the language used by the author. Sometimes it was just awkward and didn’t really fit the scene. “Dude” was used way too many times for my liking, get a new word, or at least words outside of a sixth grade boy’s vocabulary. Please. That would be nice.

The rest of the book was just not enough. The ending felt a little abrupt. I would’ve liked to see a little more. Just a little. I mean I know that there is a second book, but I think the author could’ve written the ending to get me even more pumped for the next one. I mean I’m going to read it, but there isn’t that OMG I NEED IT NOW I NEED TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENS NEXT feeling. I won’t ask if that makes sense, because it guaranteed does.

Also, some parts just felt a little rushed over. It was a fairly long book, but there was a lot of content. So while it felt like a lot happened, at some points, I don’t actually feel like I know what happened. Weird but true.

Overall, it was a good book, but I had higher expectations. If you’re looking for something different, give it a shot. It doesn’t feel like your everyday dystopian, so even if you aren’t a fan of dystopians, this would be a good book to try to step out of your comfort zone.

Question of the day: What makes a dystopian novel “good”?