Sunday, 15 March 2015

Sunday Post #12


"The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Caffeinated Book Reviewer. It’s a chance to share news~ A post to recap the past week on your blog, showcase books and things we have received and share news about what is coming up on our blog for the week ahead." 

✿ What I read this week ✿

❄ The Duff by Kody Keplinger
❄ Red Queen (Red Queen #1) by Victoria Aveyard
❄ Seed by Lisa Heathfield
✿ Reviews ✿

❄ Heir of Fire (Throne of Glass #3) by Sarah J. Maas
❄ Extraction (Extraction #1) by Stephanie Diaz
❄ Pivot Point (Pivot Point #1) by Kasie West

✿ Memes ✿

❄ Top Ten Tuesday
❄ Waiting on Wednesday
❄ Stacking the Shelves


✿ Around the blogosphere and elsewhere ✿

❄ Cover reveal of Queen of Shadows (Throne of Glass #4) 
❄ First Images of 'The Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials' 
❄ Paper Towns Movie Poster

✿ What else I've been up to this week ✿

1. Decision about reading classics. Do you ever get the feeling that you should be reading more classics? Well, I do. I know that I shouldn't feel any pressure, but I have to admit that occasionally, I do. After all, classics are classics for a reason. And besides, some of my favourites novels are classics like Pride and Prejudice and Frankenstein. So, I thought I'd challenge myself a bit - I'm planning to read at least one classic per month. This month: A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess (this is more of a modern classic though). 

2. More diverse posts. At the moment, my blog mainly consists of reviews and weekly memes. I've been thinking it quite often now, that I should write more posts that aren't just about reviews or TBR lists, but are book-related some other way. For example, about what are my thoughts on audiobooks, fan fiction, blogging-related things, etc. It would actually be pretty to write a bit different kind of posts for a change. Of course, I have big plans for that now, but hopefully I actually manage to write down some of those ideas.

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✿ Have a lovely Sunday! ✿

Saturday, 14 March 2015

Stacking the Shelves (#18)



It's Saturday and so it's time for Stacking the Shelves!
Here is my haul from this week:

❄ NetGalley ❄

 Seed  by Lisa Heathfield

Description from Goodreads

Seed loves you. Seed will never let you go.


Fifteen-year-old Pearl has lived her whole life protected within the small community at Seed, where they worship Nature and idolise their leader, Papa S. When some outsiders arrive, everything changes. Pearl experiences feelings that she never knew existed and begins to realise that there is darkness at the heart of Seed. A darkness from which she must escape, before it's too late.


❄ Edelweiss ❄

Challenger Deep by Neal Shusterman


Description from Goodreads

Caden Bosch is on a ship that's headed for the deepest point on Earth: Challenger Deep, the southern part of the Marianas Trench.

Caden Bosch is a brilliant high school student whose friends are starting to notice his odd behavior.

Caden Bosch is designated the ship's artist in residence, to document the journey with images.

Caden Bosch pretends to join the school track team but spends his days walking for miles, absorbed by the thoughts in his head.

Caden Bosch is split between his allegiance to the captain and the allure of mutiny.

Caden Bosch is torn.

A captivating and powerful novel that lingers long beyond the last page, Challenger Deep is a heartfelt tour de force by one of today's most admired writers for teens. 


❄❄❄


Sometimes quality triumphs over quantity! 

Friday, 13 March 2015

Pivot Point (Pivot Point #1) by Kasie West



Description from Goodreads:

Knowing the outcome doesn’t always make a choice easier . . .


Addison Coleman’s life is one big “What if?” As a Searcher, whenever Addie is faced with a choice, she can look into the future and see both outcomes. It’s the ultimate insurance plan against disaster. Or so she thought. When Addie’s parents ambush her with the news of their divorce, she has to pick who she wants to live with—her father, who is leaving the paranormal compound to live among the “Norms,” or her mother, who is staying in the life Addie has always known. Addie loves her life just as it is, so her answer should be easy. One Search six weeks into the future proves it’s not.


In one potential future, Addie is adjusting to life outside the Compound as the new girl in a Norm high school where she meets Trevor, a cute, sensitive artist who understands her. In the other path, Addie is being pursued by the hottest guy in school—but she never wanted to be a quarterback’s girlfriend. When Addie’s father is asked to consult on a murder in the Compound, she’s unwittingly drawn into a dangerous game that threatens everything she holds dear. With love and loss in both lives, it all comes down to which reality she’s willing to live through . . . and who she can’t live without.


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I remember that Pivot Point was first published in 2013 by HarperTeen, because I was just dying to read  it the minute it was shipped to the bookstores. The premise just sounded so exciting - mind powers, alternative universes, romance! Unfortunately, I never got the chance to read it back then, and I kind of forgot about it as other books came along. Luckily, I got the e-copy of Pivot Point recently and I was finally able to read it! While the book wasn't exactly a life-changing, it was very entertaining and exactly what I needed at that moment - a fast-paced love story with a supernatural twist to it.

I really liked the idea of parallel stories. The view points alternated between the life Addie chose to spent with her dad and spent with her mom. I really couldn't decide which reality I liked better, because there was always something happening with both view points. You know the feeling when your reading "one more chapter, and then I'll stop"? Well, that's exactly the kind of feeling you get while reading Pivot Point.  You get attached to the characters from both worlds, and at least I felt very torn at one point when I was thinking about what will Addie choose in the end. And I'm not saying this only because of the romance, but there will be dire consequences depending on what Addie will decide to do. And ugh, the ending! That finale makes you want to read the second book as soon as possible. You just need to know what happens next. 

The mind powers were a pretty cool thing, and I liked how those abilities gave insight about the personalities of the characters themselves. For example, Addie is able to see the future when in front of a specific choice, which ultimately makes her a very careful and even a reserved character. Laila on the other hand, who is Addie's best friend, is able to erase memories so she appears to be very care-free and doesn't seem to have any limits - she does what she wants because she is able erase the memories if needed to be so. The things is this though: at times I felt like there wasn't enough exploration of those abilities. Maybe this was exactly what the author wanted, a contemporary novel with a scifi twist, but I really liked the abilities and I deeply wished that the author would have told more about the origins of the powers (and of course  showing off with them). That would have been cool. 

Even though there's isn't exactly a love triangle going on, there still are two very eligible contenders for Addie's affections. I'm usually very quick to set my mind on one certain guy whom I'll root until the end of the book/series, but Pivot Point made me question my choice every once in a while. "Oh Duke, I'll love you forever", "Oh no no, Trevor I think I'm in love with you instead", "But Duke, y u so sweet", "TREVOR!" . Yeah.. That was basically me while reading the novel. However, by the end of the book it was pretty obvious which one I prefered the best, and I really hope that I'm not cheering for the underdog this time (that tends to happen and then I get all depressed because the girl didn't choose the guy I liked better). 


Pivot Point was a fun, quick read which is something I definitely need from time to time. However, I'm afraid that Pivot Point is going to be one of those novels which you read and even though you really liked it, it will be forgotten in about a week (I hope not though). There's no doubt in my mind that I'm going to read the next book, Split Second, as it is highly important for me to found out how the story ends (read: which guy Addie picks). I've also noticed that Split Second has higher ratings than Pivot Point on Goodreads, so that's pretty encouraging too! Actual rating 3.5.

☆☆☆

Thursday, 12 March 2015

Extraction (Extraction #1) by Stephanie Diaz



Goodreads Description

"Welcome to Extraction testing."

Clementine has spent her whole life preparing for her sixteenth birthday, when she’ll be tested for Extraction in the hopes of being sent from the planet Kiel’s toxic Surface to the much safer Core, where people live without fear or starvation. When she proves promising enough to be “Extracted,” she must leave without Logan, the boy she loves. Torn apart from her only sense of family, Clem promises to come back and save him from brutal Surface life.

What she finds initially in the Core is a utopia compared to the Surface—it’s free of hard labor, gun-wielding officials, and the moon's lethal acid. But life is anything but safe, and Clementine learns that the planet's leaders are planning to exterminate Surface dwellers—and that means Logan, too. 

Trapped by the steel walls of the underground and the lies that keep her safe, Clementine must find a way to escape and rescue Logan and the rest of the planet. But the planet leaders don't want her running—they want her subdued.

With intense action scenes and a cast of unforgettable characters, Extraction is a page-turning, gripping read, sure to entertain lovers of Hunger Games and Ender's Game and leave them breathless for more.

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I really wanted to like Extraction. It had been almost a year since I last read a dystopian book and I was really pulled in by the setting - Kiel, the imaginary planet somewhere far away in a distant galaxy. Unfortunately, I was slightly disappointed, from early on if I’m being completely honest. Even though I can understand why some reviewers have given high ratings for Extraction, all I could see was the combination of The Hunger Games, Ender’s Game, and Divergent. It has been said that great art combines all the best qualities from various sources, but it just didn’t work in this case. I felt like I was rereading the book even though I had never read it before – Extraction was slightly too generic dystopian novel for me.

For some people, the striking similarities with other popular YA books might be a plus, but I’m one of those readers who demand originality, especially when it comes to young adult books. Sure, that might make me a very difficult reader and a harsh reviewer, but I feel like there are so many YA books out there, that in order to stand out, an original plot is crucial. The planet Kiel and the acid pouring moon were really unexpected elements, and they ended up being my favourite things in the book. I think the main reason why I couldn’t get over the feeling why the book felt a bit flat to me was because the author hadn’t crossed the threshold of originality enough for my liking. I didn’t like the grooming of Clementine so similar to Katniss’s when arriving to the high society, or Clemenetine’s specialness which remined me of Tris. Others may well disagree with me. 

I'm not sure if it's because I have literally read dozens and dozens of YA dystopian novels, or because I'm simply getting older, but all the dystopian novels seem very similar to me these days. Extraction is a good example one of these generic dystopian novels: there is a single authority/dictator making everyone miserable except for the upper class people, the main character is somehow selected for her specialness, the main character's parents are either absent or otherwise emotionally unavailable, the main character starts an uprising (sorry for the spoiler, I think it was pretty obvious that it would come eventually), the dictator is determined to mess up the main character's love life. I'm not saying that the predictability was the major downfall of the book, but it definitely made me like the novel less. On the flip side, others may quite enjoy reading these kind of books if they know exactly what it is that they want to read and experience. I personally like to be surprised. 

I think Diaz could have also explored some of the themes in more detail (which might come later in the series, but I felt like I needed more right away) like the ostracising of Clementine on the Surface and the loyalty between Clementine and Logan. I wish I could have read more about the villain of the story, Charlie, who seemed to lurk in the corners but I never got the feeling of horror emanating from him. He simply seemed a lunatic in charge, but never this omnipresent dictator who yields terror that he probably was supposed to come across as. 

I'm not saying that the book was all bad because like I already mentioned before, there were things in the novel that I enjoyed as well. The setting was something that I can’t remember reading about before, and I liked most of the characters like Logan and Beechy (but then again, there was not much about them in the first novel which was a shame). I’ve realised with quite many YA novels that if I haven been entirely in love with the first book of the series, I have often liked the sequel better as the storyline and the characters have more room to develop. I really hope that this is the case with Extraction as well – the series has so much potential. 


I really used to love dystopian novels, so much. They were the salt of life when it came down to YA books. However, then the boom of fantasy YA books came and I was swiped away with it and almost forgot how much I used to love dystopian novels. So when I saw that Extraction was requestable on NetGalley, I decided to give my old lover, the dystopian genre, a new shot to rekindle my love for it. Unfortunately, Extraction wasn't able to do it. 


☆☆

Wednesday, 11 March 2015

Waiting on Wednesday (#22): Six of Crows






Waiting on Wednesday is about sharing a book every week you cannot wait to be published. This week, I'm waiting on

Six of Crows
(The Dregs, #1)
by Leigh Bardugo



Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy

Pages: 320

Expected Publication: October 6, 2015

Publisher: Henry Holt and Company

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Description from Goodreads

Game of Thrones meets Ocean's Eleven in this brand-new book in the world of the Grisha by New York Times-bestselling author Leigh Bardugo.

Ketterdam: a bustling hub of international trade where anything can be had for the right price—and no one knows that better than criminal prodigy Kaz Brekker. Kaz is offered a chance at a deadly heist that could make him rich beyond his wildest dreams. But he can't pull it off alone...


A convict with a thirst for revenge.



A sharpshooter who can't walk away from a wager.



A runaway with a privileged past.



A spy known as the Wraith.



A Heartrender using her magic to survive the slums. 



A thief with a gift for unlikely escapes. 


Six dangerous outcasts. One impossible heist. Kaz's crew is the only thing that might stand between the world and destruction—if they don't kill each other first. 

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A NEW SERIES FROM MS. LEIGH BARDUGO!! AND HOW AMAZING DOES IT SOUND? SPLENDID? EXCELLENT? FLAWLESS? PERFECT?? (PARDON ME FOR THE CAPS LOCK BUT I'M SO EXCITED)