I'm not going to lie: I've been avoiding Lauren Oliver since Delirium.
She single-handedly made a mess of many social situations over the past few yeaI'm not going to lie: I've been avoiding Lauren Oliver since Delirium.
She single-handedly made a mess of many social situations over the past few years. Every time a well-meaning friend suggested the Delirium series to me, adding an explanation as to why they think I'd totally love it, I had to pretend everything was still good between me and Ms. Oliver and thank the friend for the recommendation. There were a few times when I couldn't hold my tongue and I'd go off on some crazy rant about how the whole premise of the series was probably the dumbest I've ever heard of. I'd tell them that I already wasted some of my time and money on the first book in the series and I couldn't even force myself to get past the second chapter.
What's worse is I'd silently judge these people, question why I'm even friends with them. I mean, they clearly don't even know me if they think I'd be into a series about a dystopian society that decided 'Love' was the cause of all society's problems. And anyway, why is anyone even attempting to write dystopian? Pretty much every single offering to the YA dystopian genre is so awful I can't even. That's how bad it is.
So, yeah, Ms. Oliver and I haven't been on speaking terms. She started it.
That said, Before I Fall, Ms. Oliver's first published book, was so good I couldn't erase her from my life completely. I love that book so much that I've read it several times.
Anyway, when I saw that she had a new book out, a contemporary YA fiction novel with an intriguing premise, I had to give it a shot.
To be honest, Panic is good. Is it 4-stars good? Not exactly. I mean, yeah, there is much to like in this story but it's not something I 'really like'. That said, I like it well enough to round the the 3.7 stars up to a solid 4.
Lauren Oliver should stick to contemporary lit, she's quite good at it. I cannot wait to see what's up next for Ms. Oliver. ...more
Karen Chance really put me through an ordeal with this book. I was all sad for an entire day, not wanting to pick up the book for several hours, all tKaren Chance really put me through an ordeal with this book. I was all sad for an entire day, not wanting to pick up the book for several hours, all the while hating Karen Chance's guts. And somehow she totally redeemed herself.
Anxiously waiting the release of the next book (please don't let it take another two-and-a-half-years). Five stars. ...more
I am so glad I gave this series a second look! This series is actually a lot smarter than I remember it being. Although, yeah, it's this book, FragmenI am so glad I gave this series a second look! This series is actually a lot smarter than I remember it being. Although, yeah, it's this book, Fragments, that really brings something new to the Oh-noes-we-can't-make-babiez-cuz-there-is-a-cray-cray-disease-and-now-civilization-rests-on-the-shoulders-of-a-group-of-scrappy-teenagers-with-a-can-do-attitude table.
There are a lot of dystopian books about the subject of forced procreation, and I could never force myself to read any of them. But the premise of Partials, book #1, is just different enough, smart enough, that it caught my attention. I remember that while it wasn't my favorite, not even close, I did seem to like it well enough that I planned on reading the next book in the series.
Fast-forward to this past week: I was in the middle of forcing myself to finish reading Fused (Pure, book #2), thinking that YA dystopia/post-apacalyptic books are probably the soul-sucking worst. I needed something else to read so I switched to reading...another post-apocalyptic book: Fragments. Don't get me wrong, I was mentally kicking myself, thinking Dan Wells probably was going to take the few truly likable and original aspects in the first book and ruin them, because that's what writers of this genre tend to do.
All that said, I have to admit Dan Wells proved me wrong.
Not only did he keep all the good bits from the first book but he somehow improved them.
The characters? I liked them so much more this time around. The premise? So much more believable and interesting. And I absolutely love how Wells poses some very interesting, not necessarily easy to answer questions. I love when authors challenge their readers to think in-depth about important subjects.
And sure, I've got a few issues with Fragments, like the story is suddenly being told by multiple points of view instead of just the one, as it is in the first book. Though, admittedly, all of my gripes are so minor that I really cannot remember any of them now, except for the POV thing and the overuse of the word 'kudzu'.
Overall Fragments is a very satisfying read. Highly recommend. 4-stars. ...more
When I was nearly three-quarters of the way through Iced I was fairly certain I would never read another of Moning's books ever again. This book got mWhen I was nearly three-quarters of the way through Iced I was fairly certain I would never read another of Moning's books ever again. This book got my skin crawling and my stomach weak and just pissed me off far too often. Like all the reviewers who don't quite love this book, I'd have to say my main complaint is the vile old men chasing after the 14-year-old jailbait that is Dani O'Malley. And no matter what she's capable of doing, or what world she lives in, or that she's getting some curves, Dani is still very much a girl. I wouldn't even say she's close to being a woman, because she's such a kid it's ridiculous. Dani might have hips and breasts but she's not ready for any sort of adult relationship. This girl has never even had a boyfriend, and the last two guys she's had a crush on were Barrons and Vlaine.
So, yeah, she's not ready for the sort of adult attention she's getting from two grown men, nor do I imagine she will be for at least 4-5 years. The fact that it's happening within the pages of this book creeps me the hell out.
That said, I'm starting to get the feeling one of the adult men giving her way too much attention starts to become more of a mentor or possibly even a father-figure in Dani's mind, which set me at ease quite a bit. I totally don't mind that sort of relationship between the two of them so long as it doesn't develop into a sexual relationship down the road, because EW! I'm never going to be into the whole adult male grooming his future lover thing. Too gross for words.
I have so much to say here but I'll have to finish it up later (and I fully intend to do so because I have so much to say about this book). ...more
I guess I'll just start by saying this book is sWow. I don't even...
I mean, there's just so much to...
I don't even know where to begin, seriously.
I guess I'll just start by saying this book is so...gross. That's it, this book is gross. And frightening. It's everything Anna Dressed in Blood wishes it was—disgusting and terrifying. I mean, homicidal ghosts? Pshh. That's child's play. But post-apocalyptic life with all the food shortages, diseases, no order, no normalcy, mutants—like really nasty looking mutant-y mutants—and horrible ways to die around every corner? Now that's what I call pants-peeing, nightmare-inducing, huddle-in-corner-crying-out-for-your-momma scary. As far as I'm concerned that's not a bad thing.
Funny thing is, this cover did not in any way prepare me for the demented, never-ending county fair Fun House I entered. I mean, it looks so innocent, doesn't it? All pretty-like with a sophisticated font and gorgeous sapphire-blue butterfly. It looks like a fairly tame book about something fresh and...pure, am I right? Probably something about Soul Mates and rainbows and unicorns. You know, the sort of cutesy idealized thing that typically makes me want to chuck a book across a room.
But it's so not the sort of book I'd end up throwing at a wall.
(I figured out there is a reason for that, by the way, the whole innocent-looking-on-the-outside-but-jacked-up-on-the-inside thing this book has going for it, but that's not something I'm going to discuss right now.)
I want to give Pure more stars because, story-wise, it is pretty enjoyable, for the most part. And the gross-out factor is off the charts aaaaa-mazing, same goes for the scare factor. But did Julianna Baggott write a five-star worthy read? Not so much. I mean, sure, when it comes to recent YA genre dystopias/post-apocalyptic books Pure is sort of up there with The Hunger Games and Ship Breaker, beating out all of the other competition.
But...truthfully? I wasn't so wholly invested that I was able to overlook all the sciencefail! and believabilityfail! And it's not like I'm one of those people who find it difficult to suspend disbelief. I read plenty of books with ridiculous and often impossible story lines and I'm able to believe those just fine. It's just, for whatever reason, there was much that didn't work for me because the author didn't sell it correctly, or whatever.
For example there is this one character that somehow knows everything about everything, even taught himself how to read Japanese. Keep in mind said character raised himself in a post-apocalyptic hellhole from the time he was nine years old. I mean, come on! The world as we know it has ended, death and destruction and scary mutants are everywhere. And you want me to believe some little kid who is taking care of himself is like "Gee, I sure miss everything. I think I'll teach myself how to read Japanese because it might actually come in handy some day. You know, since Japanese, above all other languages, is the one I'm most-likely going to need to know how to read." No! I don't buy it. Orphan boy be learning how to fend for himself in a cruel every-mutant-for-himself world, not teaching himself how to read Japanese OR study nanotechnology in-depth.
And at no point during this book does the reader learn how our world got from how things are currently to some crazy-go-nuts über-religious society that shuns modern feminism in favor of some brand of not-feminist feminism and eventually blows itself to high hell. This bugs me.
If I were to be completely honest, for whatever reason I couldn't stop thinking about one of my favorite children's books of all time while I was reading Pure. It's called Everyone is Different written by Strong Bad. If you don't know what book I'm talking about go read it, I'll wait right here.
Are you done? Great book, right?
Anyway, Pure is pretty much the same as Everyone is Different. I mean, you know, basically. Maybe there isn't any squirrel-handedness going on in Pure but there sure is a lot of doll-head-handedness and bird-backedness going on. Instead of characters being fangoriously devoured by a gelatinous beast there's a lot of characters being fangoriously devoured by dust-beasts and other such mutants. There are weird names, like Partridge and Pressia and El Capitan. Some characters are tall and merciless. Some characters are about to be hit by cars, and other characters who have rigged the "enemy base" with explosives. There may even be a point in which no two characters are NOT on fire.
I wish I could give this book four or five stars, but I can't. That said, I still do like it and I'm going to recommend it to anyone looking for a disgusting post-apocalyptic read. Three stars.
Fever Crumb's adventures are over. I cannot help but feel sad about this, especially since this last book ended on such a bittersweet note. I'm wantinFever Crumb's adventures are over. I cannot help but feel sad about this, especially since this last book ended on such a bittersweet note. I'm wanting to write a full review but I'm gonna need to think on it for a bit. Three stars. ...more
Loading...
