Review: Swans & Klons

Purchase Swans & Klons here.

Synopsis:

What does it take to survive in a world built on lies?

Sixteen-year-old Rubric loves her pampered life in the Academy dormitory. She’s dating Salmon Jo, a brilliant and unpredictable girl. In their all-female world, non-human slaves called Klons do all the work. But when Rubric and Salmon Jo break into the laboratory where human and Klon babies are grown in vats, they uncover a terrifying secret that tears their idyllic world apart.

Their friends won’t believe them, and their teachers won’t help them. The Doctors who rule Society want to silence Rubric and Salmon Jo. The two girls must flee for their lives. As they face the unthinkable, the only thing they have left to believe in is their love for each other.      

Review:

The premise of this novel is incredible. As an English major who takes a lot of classes about gender in literature, a dystopian society comprised entirely of women was too good a storyline to pass up. I was not disappointed. Themes of individuality, humanity, gender, and consent dominate this novel, backed by a unique dystopian storyline. I also love that Swans & Klons includes a sweet romantic storyline that doesn't overpower the story. The love is believable because so many different kinds of love are so integral to the storyline. The idea of the Cretinous Males is fascinating (I was wondering how the novel would explain an all-female society, and they actually did fairly well), and I sincerely hope a sequel is in the works. The ending was a bit rushed for me, but that may just be because I didn't want it to end... All in all, a super fun read.

Until next time, happy reading!
-Amanda

Review: John Dies at the End

Purchase John Dies at the End here.

Synopsis:

STOP.
You should not have touched this book with your bare hands.
NO, don’t put it down. It’s too late.
They’re watching you.
My name is David Wong. My best friend is John. Those names are fake. You might want to change yours.
You may not want to know about the things you’ll read on these pages, about the sauce, about Korrok, about the invasion, and the future. But it’s too late. You touched the book. You’re in the game. You’re under the eye.
The only defense is knowledge. You need to read this book, to the end. Even the part with the bratwurst. Why? You just have to trust me.

The important thing is this:
The drug is called Soy Sauce and it gives users a window into another dimension. 
John and I never had the chance to say no. 
You still do.
Unfortunately for us, if you make the right choice, we’ll have a much harder time explaining how to fight off the otherworldly invasion currently threatening to enslave humanity.
            I’m sorry to have involved you in this, I really am. But as you read about these terrible events and the very dark epoch the world is about to enter as a result, it is crucial you keep one thing in mind:

None of this is was my fault.

Review:

What to even say about this book?  I picked it up a while ago, then decided it was time to review as the movie was recently released here in the US.  Enticed by the severed hand on the cover and the spoilerific title, I thought it would be an interesting read.  What followed was a dark and convoluted (and more than occasionally sickening) tale that I assume is comparable to an acid trip.  Especially if you're ill and tired and dizzy while reading the book.

Favorable reviews of John Dies at the End cite a laugh-out-loud and horror-filled novel.  Less favorable ones call it juvenile.  I fall somewhere in between; I have to admit that I giggled and read some of the lines of the novel aloud to my mother or friends while I was reading.  However, the humor of the novel is juvenile in most places, consisting mainly of poorly-timed penis and diarrhea jokes (although the line "SHIT THE BOMB" will never stop being funny to me, I think). 

All in all, this book is right in the middle to me.  There are a very select few people I would recommend it to, based on content and writing style.  However, it was certainly different than anything I've read before, and it did have its moments of humor.

Until next time, happy reading!
-Amanda

Review: The Bane

Purchase The Bane (The Eden Trilogy) here.

Synopsis:

Before the Evolution there was TorBane: technology that infused human DNA with cybernetic matter. It had the ability to grow new organs and limbs, to heal the world. Until it evolved out of control and spread like the common cold. The machine took over, the soul vanished, and the Bane were born. The Bane won't stop until every last person has been infected. With less than two percent of the human population left, mankind is on the brink of extinction. Eve knows the stories of the Evolution, the time before she wandered into the colony of Eden, unable to recall anything but her name. But she doesn't need memories to know this world is her reality. This is a world that is quickly losing its humanity, one Bane at a time. Fighting to keep one of the last remaining human colonies alive, Eve finds herself torn between her dedication to the colony, and the discovery of love. There is Avian and West – one a soldier, one a keeper of secrets. And in the end, Eve will make a choice that will change the future of mankind. The Bane is The Terminator meets The Walking Dead with a heart-twisting romance.

Review:

Anyone who read my last post or who has talked to me within the past month knows that I've been dying to find new dystopian/post-apocalyptic books to read lately.  Divergent set me off on a kick that I haven't been able to shake since, so when I stumbled across The Bane, I thought it would be the perfect answer to what I was looking for.  Keary Taylor's idea is so innovative, treating the traditional science fiction idea of cyborgs as a virus - a disease that one human can spread to another.  Reading this story was a treat, telling the same kind of story I was looking for in a post-apocalyptic story, but in a surprisingly refreshing way.

The romantic aspect of the book, I was not a huge fan of for the majority of the novel.  Specifically West's parts were excruciatingly uncomfortable, feeling closer to sexual assault than to romance.  In addition, parts of the plot felt too rushed, as if Taylor was trying to fit too much into one volume.  I'm left wondering what could possibly happen in the two remaining volumes of the Eden Trilogy.

However, I enjoyed The Bane.  It was a fun read and a great adventure story.  If you are looking for a good post-apocalyptic novel that manages to maintain a sense of lightness despite the heaviness of the subject matter, The Bane is a perfect option.  I look forward to reading the remainder of the trilogy.

Until next time, happy reading!
-Amanda

Review: The Diviners

Buy The Diviners here.

Synopsis:

Evie O'Neill has been exiled from her boring old hometown and shipped off to the bustling streets of New York City--and she is pos-i-toot-ly thrilled. New York is the city of speakeasies, shopping, and movie palaces! Soon enough, Evie is running with glamorous Ziegfield girls and rakish pickpockets. The only catch is Evie has to live with her Uncle Will, curator of The Museum of American Folklore, Superstition, and the Occult--also known as "The Museum of the Creepy Crawlies."

When a rash of occult-based murders comes to light, Evie and her uncle are right in the thick of the investigation. And through it all, Evie has a secret: a mysterious power that could help catch the killer--if he doesn't catch her first.

 

Review:

 

This book is the perfect book to spend a few days completely lost in.  The language (which will get stuck in your head and you will accidentally try to use in your daily life), the vibrant city, the secrets and characters and intricate plot...  You'll fall down the glitzy and dangerous rabbit hole of Evie's world and not want to come out.  Libba Bray once again creates an amazingly rich, enchanting atmosphere for an engaging story that will have you hooked until the very last page.  This is another one of those books that I will probably get in trouble for not shutting up about, but I don't care.  I think it's the elephant's eyebrows!

Until next time, happy reading!

-Amanda

Reviews: Divergent and Insurgent

Purchase Divergent and Insurgent here.

Divergent Synopsis:

In Beatrice Prior’s dystopian Chicago world, society is divided into five factions, each dedicated to the cultivation of a particular virtue—Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). On an appointed day of every year, all sixteen-year-olds must select the faction to which they will devote the rest of their lives. For Beatrice, the decision is between staying with her family and being who she really is—she can’t have both. So she makes a choice that surprises everyone, including herself.

During the highly competitive initiation that follows, Beatrice renames herself Tris and struggles alongside her fellow initiates to live out the choice they have made. Together they must undergo extreme physical tests of endurance and intense psychological simulations, some with devastating consequences. As initiation transforms them all, Tris must determine who her friends really are—and where, exactly, a romance with a sometimes fascinating, sometimes exasperating boy fits into the life she's chosen. But Tris also has a secret, one she's kept hidden from everyone because she's been warned it can mean death. And as she discovers unrest and growing conflict that threaten to unravel her seemingly perfect society, she also learns that her secret might help her save those she loves . . . or it might destroy her.

Insurgent Synopsis:

One choice can transform you—or it can destroy you. But every choice has consequences, and as unrest surges in the factions all around her, Tris Prior must continue trying to save those she loves—and herself—while grappling with haunting questions of grief and forgiveness, identity and loyalty, politics and love.

Tris's initiation day should have been marked by celebration and victory with her chosen faction; instead, the day ended with unspeakable horrors. War now looms as conflict between the factions and their ideologies grows. And in times of war, sides must be chosen, secrets will emerge, and choices will become even more irrevocable—and even more powerful. Transformed by her own decisions but also by haunting grief and guilt, radical new discoveries, and shifting relationships, Tris must fully embrace her Divergence, even if she does not know what she may lose by doing so.

Review:

I am currently trying to figure out what to do with my life after finishing what has been published of this series so far.  I am in book shock - it's been hard to read anything else because these two books are so great that I don't know what will measure up.  I have my desktop set to a fan-created Divergent image.  I will not stop talking about this series to basically anyone who will listen; I've downloaded both books to my boyfriend's Kindle, I semi-attacked my friend David in the dining hall today over the series, and I swear my mother will hang up on me the next time I bring the books up.  To say I enjoyed the series is an understatement; I've needed a series into which I can completely escape lately, and the Divergent universe gladly delivers. 

Veronica Roth's faction system creates such an interesting set up for this series.  The books are engaging, fast-paced, heart-wrenching, and mind-bending.  One word of warning; this series is not for the faint of heart.  The series takes place in war time, and Roth is certainly not shy of character death.  As someone who seems to only watch shows that involve intense emotional trauma (hello, Fringe, Season Four), this is not an issue for me.  Veronica Roth really delivers: you have a badass heroine with a group of fleshed-out and interesting characters, a complex political system, insane plot twists, a complicated romance that doesn't hinder the story line.  I also love that Tris isn't inhuman, and neither are any of the other characters.  Even the basic training that Dauntless members have to go through is incredibly emotionally traumatizing, and dealing with that is an integral part of the storyline.  When a character dies, it isn't just dealt with, accepted, and then out of the storyline; you see how it affects each character.

All in all, this was an amazing series and I cannot wait until book three is released.

Until next time, happy (or in this case, incredibly emotional) reading!
-Amanda

Once Upon a Blog

Hello!

I am finally back. Sorry for the long absences recently, but I've spent a lot of time being ridiculously ill. One of my favourite pastimes when sick is go through all released episodes of a TV show ridiculously quickly. This time, Once Upon a Time was my show of choice, and after the Season One finale, I, as my friend Juliette would say, "just have a lot of feels."  There's something so endlessly fascinating about the way the characters are so familiar and yet completely alien when they are thrust into a magic-free world and a different side to their character is revealed.  It's especially odd to me after taking a class called Adolescent Literature and writing a thesis paper on how differences in similar fairytales reflect differences and similarities in their countries of origin.  What does Once Upon a Time's portrayal of Snow White, the home-wrecker, say about the United States?

I've noticed a huge trend lately in film and television of re-telling and re-purposing old fairy tales.  There are the two vastly different new Snow White movies, Mirror Mirror and Snow White and the Huntsman.\  Maleficent, which will be out in 2014, continues with Once Upon a Time's MO of turning the stories we know so well inside-out, making the good guys questionable and the bad guys more complicated.  Joining Once Upon a Time on TV is Grimm, also thrusting story book characters into the harsh light of modern day America.

I love these newer retellings because they're so much more detailed.  They ask why the evil characters are evil, then go on to question whether they're really evil at all.  If these newer versions interest you, try reading the original Grimm's Fairy Tales.  The contrast between the original and the newer versions is stark; the bad characters hardly ever have a reason for being bad.  They simply are.  What has spurred this need to know the reason, to blur the line?

What do you think?

Until next time, happy reading!

The Triumphant Return

Ladies and, well, according to Insight, you're pretty much all ladies, I am back!  If any of you are gentlemen (or gentleboys), I am back for you too, I promise.  I missed you.  How's your aunt doing?  Is that a new haircut?  You look good.  SOrry I went on an unannounced hiatus, but I have returned!  Let's talk books.

This semester, I am taking a course entitled "Adolescent Literature."  I was psyched about the course.  I mean, it is pretty much being graded for what I do every day.  Much to my dismay, the class does not contain much of what I would consider current YA novels.  The most recent book on the syllabus is Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (not complaining about getting to analyze HP, by the way).  The more I get into the class and the books, though, the more I like our reading material.  While I'm not sure that every book in the literary canon fully deserves to keep its spot and many contemporary novels deserve a lot more recognition, some classics are classics for a reason.

We started out the year reading Grimm's Fairy Tales.  Now, if you think you know your fairy tales and you haven't read this collection, I urge you to do so.  The version above even has other versions of the tales in the back of the book.  Did you know that, in one version of the story, Red Riding Hood strips for the wolf?  There's way more gore in Cinderella than you might think, and the Virgin Mary is apparently a kidnapper in her spare time.  Enjoy!

Speaking of fantasy tales you thought we read Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass next.  I love these books because, while we were reading them, I was going through a particularly stressful time.  One of my favourite things about these books is that it's nearly impossible to worry about real life while reading them.  These topsy-turvy, completely illogical adventures are a form of pure escapism.

The most recent novel we finished was Treasure Island, a high seas adventure story.  I have mixed feelings about the book, but if you like pirate stories, this book is mandatory.  I remember a girl in the class complaining that the pirates in Treasure Island were too stereotypical.  What she didn't realize was that this book is where the stereotypes come from.  It's interesting, it's action- and gore-filled, and it's worth a read.

I hope you enjoy these, and I'll talk to you all next time!

Happy Reading!