Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Maze Runner Review


Maze Runner by James Dashner

"shouldn't someone give a pep talk or something?" Minho asked, pulling Thomas's attention away from Alby.
"Go ahead" Newt replied.
Minho nodded and faced the crowd. "Be careful," he said dryly.
"Don't die."
James Dashner (The Maze Runner (Maze Runner, #1))

Maze Runner starts with a boy named Thomas waking up in a black box his memory wiped. Greeted by kids, in a 'community' they call the Glade. A place where they all live and work. They tell him they are trapped there, around their little world is a maze in all directions. They work during daylight hours trying to solve the maze. Once a week they get supplies and once a month a new boy is sent there. No explanation. Until the day after Thomas gets there a GIRL is sent through the box, the first girl any of them has ever seen. She carries a message.

I put this book on the shelf more than once. I read a lot of books with romance and Maze Runner has ZERO romance. A bunch of boys and ONE girl. Sounded like Lord of the Flies to me. It was a really good read. A lot was going on and it spooked me a few times, good suspense and not predictable. The slang they use took me a few chapters to get used. I loved the description of the Glade & maze, James Dashner painted a very fantastic picture.

The next book in the series The Scorch Trials is out already as well as a few prequels to Maze Runner. I am excited to read more about these kids and see what else they are put through. The Epilogue was VERY interesting and raises more questions than it answers. I recommend this for suspense lovers or if you ladies want a break, like I did, from the same old story of "two kids in love saving the world".

Rating: 4/5 - Excellent Puzzle.

Friday, March 9, 2012

Crave Review

Crave be Laura J. Burns & Melinda Metz



I will be honest, I didn't have very high hopes for this book. I read a few bleak reviews but it sounded like a good story and frankly the dude on the cover looked hot. Sue me I am a sucker for a great book cover.

Shay is our resident heroine, she has been sick her whole life, some rare blood disorder which makes her get transfusions more than once a week. Her "new" treatment of blood makes her feel better than ever but gives her these surreal visions of being someone else...a vampire named Gabriel. She falls for him & sets out to see if he is real.

I liked Shay and I liked the connection she has with Gabriel. But the flashes between her "visions" and swapping narrators mid-chapter was confusing. It could have been a lot better. I will read the sequel Sacrifice only because I am an optimist when it comes to books.

Rating 2/5 - Slow Going.

Thursday, March 8, 2012

Shatter Me Review


Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi

"The soldiers stomp stomp stomp through the rain...They dont understand the freedom in feeling the universe on their skin. They dont care. I wish I could stuff my mouth with raindrops and fill my pockets full of snow. I wish I could trace the veins in a fallen leaf and feel the wind pinch my nose"
- Shatter Me #1 by Tahereh Mafi

Shatter Me opens with Juliette in prison, solitary for the past year. We find out she has been locked up since she was 14. Juliette has never been loved or touched in her life because her touch is lethal to humans. Her whole world is the dark cell and the thoughts in her head.

One day they tell her she is getting a cellmate and it turns out to be a boy. He tells her about he world outside how bad it has gotten. She is taken from her small four walled world and throw into the lap of luxury and asked to use her power to torture and kill. If she does not they will throw her back in prison forever. She doesnt know what to do but she knows she needs to find a way to escape.

I loved the style of this author, it felt like poetry and I couldn't get enough. So many quotes stuck with me. Some really great sexy, charged moments in this book too! The characters are written really well and even the "bad guy" I find incredibly sexy!

Give it a go you will love it!

Rating 4.5/5 - Sexy & Dangerous!

Tuesday, March 6, 2012

Pandemonium Review


Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver
Delirium Series #2


"Fire in my legs and lungs; fire tearing through every nerve and cell in my body. That's how I am born again, in pain...
I run, and when I can no longer run, I limp, and when I can't do that, I crawl, inch by inch, digging my fingernails into the soil, like a worm sliding across the overgrown surface of this strange new wilderness. I bleed, too, when I am born"
Lauren Oliver (Pandemonium (Delirium, #2))

I was looking forward to this book for quite a while. I was yet again swept up in the story Delirium began.

Pandemonium is almost the opposite of Delirium. In this story she is on the outside of civilization as an Invalid. She runs from the gory scene that ended Delirium watching Alex die before her eyes and then running into the wild, completely alone in her grief.

Lena runs for a days, lost in her desperation, the feeling of everything she ever loved has been taken from her. She is discovered, nearly dead, by the Invalids in the wild and they nurse her back to health, not back to her old self but as a newer, stronger, braver, hardened version of herself. They become her family. Life on the outside is hard and full of loss. Lena is thrown in with a "uncured" poster boy for the cure, Julian after being kidnapped and they get close. But she is still haunted by her love and loss for Alex. Chaos ensues and you guessed it, they fall in love.

Its a fast paced and it's deeply painful to read Lena's loss of hope. I am such a fan of Lauren Oliver's writing style and this story line I fell in love with after Delirium and now will be counting down the days until her next novel.

Highly recommended! Had a feel of Scott Westerfeld's Pretties . Check it out.

Rating: 4/5 - Fast paced & full of love & loss.