Review: The Unidentified

The Unidentified by Rae Mariz

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



It's unfortunate that I could imagine the world described in the book. High schoolers banned from public gathering, school being all about popularity and friends, betrayals in teen friendships - all of it is completely possible. And when schools already receive things in exchange for pop machines in cafeterias or branded scoreboards in stadiums, how different would this be?

I also liked the trademarks on everything. It supported the book's idea of branding and the value of being 'it' in a world crowded with corporations. My only question is why companies would fight for teen interest because they clearly have little spending control - they don't work, they can't access cars, trains are only available during school hours and the mall has been converted to a school. Everything at the school is given away...so where are they making the money?



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Review: Awaken

Awaken by Katie Kacvinsky

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



I was surprised to see a young adult book that shares my view of the dismal public school system and the likelihood that virtual schools will replace them. In this case, the schools have become targets and children are dying so the government backs a digital school where all learning happens at home. The propaganda about the dangers of the world become so accepted that few people involve themselves in face to face human interaction. As with anything, there are two sides to the story and a group of people are fighting the digital school and digitized society.

I like the fake, sterile world created and I like the fighters, regardless of how unrealistic both sides are. Good battle, well drawn lines between groups and the ending also has the potential to be a beginning if the book turns into a series.



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Review: The Compound

The Compound by S.A. Bodeen

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



Intriguing book. There is so much post-apocalyptic literature out there but this book takes an opposite stand - what if you had a safe haven and planned to wait out 15 years of nuclear fallout, the walking dead, radiation poisoning and other threatened events? What if you could spend 15 years in an underground, protected compound?

I would like to see this as a more in-depth book. More info on the supplies and the design....explanations of air and water systems...understanding of supplements. As it's lacking these details, it's a quick read and one that gives enough information to make you think about the what-ifs. I loved the ending and am happy to see that this isn't yet another trilogy but instead wraps up nicely.



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Review: The Knife of Never Letting Go

The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness

My rating: 1 of 5 stars



Perhaps this is a better book in written form but it's audio version is horrible. It's a 10 disc book and I listened to the first 6. The entire first disc (a little over an hour) is nothing but Todd whining. Most of the second disc (another hour) was mostly dedicated to his stupid decisions, his incapability to form an independent thought and his temper. Oh, and I then endured an entire section of a book where the primary female character refuses to speak. It. Was. Terrible.

I'll be honest, the local dialect was annoyingly filled with 'ain't's and double negatives. Again, maybe in written form you can adapt but in audio it was a constant stream of bad language. And don't even get me started on "effing." Either get up the nerve to actually swear or leave it alone but to make every tenth word be "effing" was annoying. It's not a word. It's a pronunciation of an abbreviation for people that don't want to use real words. F---ing converted to "effing."

This book has 8,114 ratings and over a 4 point average so I tried to stick it out, convinced that I would eventually get to something that made it worthy of reading. Never happened. I quit and never finished it.



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Review: Birthmarked

Birthmarked by Caragh M. O'Brien

My rating: 2 of 5 stars



There are books with great cover summaries but poorly planned plots. This is one of them. The idea - a walled society where the insiders adopt the children of outsiders and a midwife rebels against the society - was interesting. Gaia and all of her supporters made a never-ending series of decisions that showed consistent lack of planning or understanding. And the number of coincidences required to make everything turn out was ludicrous. I also fail to understand the people. I have a sense that the insiders were supposed to be a cruel, uncaring, living-it-up group but they raised children, educated them, married, worked, loved. The leader was intended to be cruel but except for behavior related to the loss of a child, it wasn't obvious. There were public hangings on a regular basis but the apathy of the public and the bizarreness of the crimes was unexplained. The society has DNA testing and an ability to track births which makes the premise of finding a coded list to be completely unnecessary. I read the book...it was okay...nothing that I'd read again.



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Review: The Nature of Jade

The Nature of Jade by Deb Caletti

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



This was clearly a teen book, yet different from so many. The main character, Jade, is 18 and a senior. She is an excellent student, volunteers at a zoo...and has panic attacks and fears. I liked the elephants, the boyfriend's family, the insight into friends getting ready to separate, and her relationship with her family.

The writing is beautiful and descriptive and the words paint an image in your mind as you read. I'm a Sarah Dessen fan and feel that this book is a strong competitor for hers.

In the book, I wish things were better for Oliver, though. Poor kid never got a break. I would like a second book that explores Sebastian's life and learn what happens to everyone in the next year. Her parents' lives are changing, Oliver's world is turning upside down, Jade is starting a new life - there's so much left to say.




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Review: Enclave

Enclave by Ann Aguirre

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



There's a book out there about the Mole People that live underground in New York's subway tunnels and sewers. Enclave gave me a taste of what life would be like if it were even remotely true. In fact, the Burrowers seemed like the elusive Moles.

Darkness, cramped spaces, abandoned stations and trains, fighting for each meal, living in small communities, life expectancy of 20...Girl15 only knows that existence until she becomes a huntress for her enclave. Raised to fight and kill, she ends up topside and has to deal with a world she never expected to see.

I liked it for its novelty and it's approach to revealing the world as it would appear to someone who has never even seen the sun. It was interesting and the main characters (who I won't name since it would be a bit spoilerish) have different lives and understanding of the world. I liked the ending and will likely read the next book in the series.



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Review: Rot & Ruin

Rot & Ruin by Jonathan Maberry

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



I've never read a zombie book. I've watched a few zombie movies but none really impressed me. I watched the Walking Dead on tv but it was too gory. So why did I read it? Well, I've been trying to force myself into new genres this year and this came up on Recommendations because of my recent foray into teen dystopian.

I didn't expect to like it but I loved it from the first page. In fact, the part about zombie killing simulations at scouts hooked me. I read it twice and had my husband read it. He was not interested at all...but it was too late for me.

The zombies in this post-apocalyptic book are not the zombies of the movies. They are gravity-driven, stay-at-home types of beings, only driven to eat the living when they stumble into them. Easily distracted by fluttering flags and unable to open a door, they are mindless forms that used to be human.

I'm glad this is a series - I'm ready to see where Benny goes next!



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Review: Gone

Gone by Michael Grant

My rating: 2 of 5 stars



I'm disappointed. I realized when I got the book that it was the start of a new series because the GoodReads page lists it as Gone #1. I read all 558 pages of it, knowing that it would end and start again in another book. It doesn't, however. Instead, the book merely pauses and then waits expectantly for the reader to go buy the next book.

I love series. I love dystopian/changing reality books. I love teen fiction. I was ready to absolutely love this book.

I didn't like all of the characters (Quinn and Astrid in particular) but that's fine. Any book with nothing but agreeable people would be boring. I didn't like the speed and danger that happened, but again, it's the style of the book. I really didn't like all the baby and toddler deaths. Honestly, poofing everyone over 14 and under 4 would have been a great choice.

My biggest issue is that the book didn't end. Sam made one of the worst decisions I've ever seen made in a book and left the series ready for future epic battles. I simply prefer closure. I want the storyline and the current problem to be resolved and understood by the end of the book. Book 2 can have new situations, new dangers, new adventures, etc...but let Book 1 actually end. I wanted the closure. My 4 star rating dropped to 2 stars in the last five pages. At the same time, I decided I wouldn't continue the series. Six books (time-consuming books, by the way) to get to an ending that I might not even like? Not for me. I'll bow out now.



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Review: The Death Cure

The Death Cure by James Dashner

My rating: 1 of 5 stars



Really?? It's really going to end like this??? I feel cheated. I have loved this trilogy and have waited excitedly for book three. The first, with the Gladers, was amazing. The second, with the Scorch was crazy exciting. And then there is this...no enemy except WICKED?

More lies but enough truths. And I can't even begin to describe how irritated I am that I read three books and never learned anything. I want to know how the trials began and how average kids became involved. I want to know how on earth reactions to WICKED-made monsters would even remotely lead to a cure. I want to know what the point of a Griever was. Or the maze. Or two groups. Or cities for the afflicted.

**spoilers after this point**

And what did I learn? Nothing except Rat Man's real name, which is completely meaningless. Oh, and that WICKED was involved in the disease. Not exactly a surprise.

All of those Gladers get their memories back and we get nothing. No details, no emotions, no memories, no information on how they were selected. We're left with a hero that spent more time arguing and debating and a sidekick with serious temper problems.

Honestly, I think Dashner wrote two great books and hadn't figured out the answers to the questions he created. Maybe writer's block and a deadline created this story?



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Review: Genesis

Genesis by Bernard Beckett

My rating: 2 of 5 stars



I read other reviews before posting mine and I'm surprised by the love and amazement heaped on this book. Anax is participating in a 4 hour interview and the book feels like it's written in real-time as a description of occurrences. In fact, it's so close to real-time that I think it took me about 4 hours to finish.

I don't see any connection to 1984. At all. The only thing they share, in my opinion, is that neither book was entertaining or thought-provoking. I'm also curious about the reviewers' opinions about this not being YA because I am completely unable to see this as any level beyond teen.

GoodReads recommendations failed on this one - definitely not a great book for me.



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Review: The Other Side of the Island

The Other Side of the Island by Allegra Goodman

My rating: 2 of 5 stars



None of it worked for me. The wilds, the orderlies, the schools, the enclosures, the watchers. I was never pulled into the story and feel that I was reading an outline of a book because it lacked details and logic. I don't even see this as dystopia because there really isn't much to link it to current day except for a few lines about arctic animals. Just like 2 stars says, it was okay.



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Review: Life As We Knew It

Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



My daughter was diagnosed with diabetes five years ago and depends on insulin to live. With that diagnosis, I lost all ability to read any 'end of world' stories as the possibility was simply too overwhelming to consider. This book came up on the GoodReads Recommendations and I debated for awhile and then decided to read it, hoping that as a teen book it would be less intense and perhaps help me get over my fear of the genre.

It was less intense, definitely. The cruel gangs that rape, kill and loot were barely included. Schools continued to exist. People were able to get cash and find food in the beginning. Hospitals stayed open. Less fearsome, however, it was not.

Choosing a teen heroine was an interesting choice. At an age when I would expect a teen to grow up and help deal with the situation, she was selfish and prone to make bad decisions. There were moments, though, when her fears and confusion were clearly age-related and explained her behavior. I gradually realized that this is probably a very realistic response of a teen to such a serious situation. I give the author a lot of credit for finding that balance and doing such a good job of weaving a story around it.

I've already requested the second book in the story and I'm interested in seeing what happens in book 3 when this family comes back to the story again.

Oh, and I've rededicated myself to emergency food storage. I imagine that's a common response to any mom that reads this story and feels for the mother fighting for her children's lives!



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Review: Just One Wish

Just One Wish by Janette Rallison

My rating: 1 of 5 stars



In reading through the other reviews, I'm wondering if there is an alternate version out there that is good. The book I read featured an obnoxious and foolhardy girl that needed a therapist. Instead, this teenager arranges to follow a whim to grant a wish and the book is the story of her irresponsible and stupid attempt. I was curious to see the outcome of the surgery so I read/skimmed until the end. Otherwise, I would have given up when she bought snakes to fake an animal handling job.



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Review: The Journal of Curious Letters

The Journal of Curious Letters by James Dashner

My rating: 2 of 5 stars



This was a tough book. The language, style, characters - all of it was well-suited for a younger audience. The book itself, though, was long. Much, much longer than the attention span of my 7 and 9 year old children. It was interesting and easy to follow in the beginning but as the story continued, it was harder and harder to keep reading. After the cemetery and the entrance to the alternate reality, we fizzled out. The book sat around for awhile and never got picked back up. It wasn't a bad book...but it wasn't really readable for us.



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Review: Matched

Matched by Ally Condie

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



This story felt so similar to me. It was a little like Hunger Games, a little bit of The Giver, a shadow of The Declaration, and a huge taste of 1984. Luckily, the young adult version of Big Brother is more enjoyable than the classic version.

I seem to be in a dystopian mood lately, which means I'll likely read book #2. It has potential - I just hopes it rises above other books in the genre in the next one.



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Review: Septimus Heap: The Magykal Papers

Septimus Heap: The Magykal Papers by Angie Sage

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



Sometimes a series can lead to fun, entertaining or informational add-on books. Sometimes they can't. The Septimus Heap series is definitely one that could! The book design was awesome and everything was written in the same tone as the books so that if you read the books, you can recognize the characters because they are exactly as you have come to expect them to be. It's not a book that can be read in one sitting, though. Because there isn't a storyline, it's most enjoyed when read a page or two at a time. My only complaint is that this book had to change my mental images of the Heap family. The only one that was drawn as I picture him is Simon! It's funny how we can all read the same story but imagine it so differently. My favorite part focused on the Ramblings. I loved it!



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Review: She's So Dead to Us

She's So Dead to Us by Kieran Scott

My rating: 1 of 5 stars



Wow. There is so much I dislike about this book that I'm not sure where to start.

Let's see... Maybe the bullying that Ally is apparently too stupid to recognize? Or believe? And that Jake is too stupid to stop? Or the fact the book is filled with with F*** (sorry...not sure what GoodReads policy is on swearing and don't want to get booted!) from characters that don't even say h*** or d*** or even b****? And I can't forget about the supporting characters - a girl that stalks the popular crowd, writes down their conversations and memorizes meaningless details about them; a girl that is so over the top crazy and obsessed that a movie version of her would be pulling out a machete at prom and end up as the unsuspected serial killer; the kids in school that are invented so that the author can insert texts rather than give the actual characters any depth; or the mom that moves back to a town but can't see her daughter's shunning even though she works at the school?

No. I think what really did me in was the ending. Or, actually, the non-ending. Big party. Huge scene. Dramatic announcement. Turn the page and see acknowledgments. We finally get to a part of the story worth reading and it's not there. Reading this was a complete waste of my time.

GoodReads recommendations, you let me down!!



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Review: The Artemis Fowl Files

The Artemis Fowl Files by Eoin Colfer

My rating: 2 of 5 stars



I've liked all of the Artemis Fowl books but this companion piece didn't feel like an Artemis Fowl story. I enjoyed the Seventh Dwarf, mainly because Mulch Diggums is always entertaining. Everything else felt flat and forced, however. The interviews, the diagrams...it wasn't anything that couldn't be included in or explained by one of the main stories. I'd much rather have a new Artemis Fowl book to read!



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Review: Raven's Gate

Raven's Gate by Anthony Horowitz

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



I listened to this book because my kids and I liked the Alex Rider series so much. I listened first and it's a little too old for them but we'll check it out again in a few years. I liked the story and feel it will build up to something interesting but it made this book less exciting because I feel like I put a book down mid-story.



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