Review: The Maze Runner

Purchase The Maze Runner here.

Synopsis:

When Thomas wakes up in the lift, the only thing he can remember is his first name. His memory is blank. But he’s not alone. When the lift’s doors open, Thomas finds himself surrounded by kids who welcome him to the Glade—a large, open expanse surrounded by stone walls.

Just like Thomas, the Gladers don’t know why or how they got to the Glade. All they know is that every morning the stone doors to the maze that surrounds them have opened. Every night they’ve closed tight. And every thirty days a new boy has been delivered in the lift.

Thomas was expected. But the next day, a girl is sent up—the first girl to ever arrive in the Glade. And more surprising yet is the message she delivers. 

Thomas might be more important than he could ever guess. If only he could unlock the dark secrets buried within his mind.

Review:

Okay, so I know I am waaaay behind on reading the Maze Runner series.  To be fair, the books had sounded a bit young for me (and also a bit too Lord of the Flies).  The descriptions I'd gotten had been along the lines of "the dude runs through the maze and tries to figure out the thing."  Not exactly a stunning review.

My expectations were completely exceeded.  As frustrating as it can be, I loved the way readers were kept in the dark for most of the book.  I usually feel that particular mechanic is taken further than it needs to be and is used only to drag readers along to the bitter end, despite a fair to poor storyline.  In this case, however, it allows us as readers to sympathize with the Gladers.  The reader knows as much as they do, and we race along with the Gladers to find a way out of the Maze.

I haven't read the rest of the series, but in my mind, the next few books will make or break my feelings on The Maze Runner.  If the no-information mechanic is run into the ground and we still get absolutely no explanation, I probably won't be as kind in future.  However, for now, I am pleasantly surprised by the opening of the series.

Until next time, happy reading!
-Amanda

Review: The Registry

Purchase The Registry here.

Synopsis:

Welcome to a safe and secure new world, where beauty is bought and sold, and freedom is the ultimate crime.

The Registry saved the country from collapse, but stability has come at a price. In this patriotic new America, girls are raised to be brides, sold at auction to the highest bidder. Boys are raised to be soldiers, trained to fight and never question orders.

Nearly eighteen, beautiful Mia Morrissey excitedly awaits the beginning of her auction year. But a warning from her married older sister raises dangerous questions. Now, instead of going up on the block, Mia is going to escape to Mexico—and the promise of freedom.

All Mia wants is to control her own destiny—a brave and daring choice that will transform her into an enemy of the state, pursued by powerful government agents, ruthless bounty hunters, and a cunning man determined to own her . . . a man who will stop at nothing to get her back.

Review:

I found the holy grail of dystopians: a stand-alone novel.  And I wanted to like it, I really did.  I made it all the way through, trying my very best to focus on the book's redeeming qualities.  After all, the set-up is intensely interesting and particularly appealing to feminist critique.  Women, literally priced by their beauty?  Told to take tests to make sure they are not smart enough to pass?  A patriarchal society where daughters literally belong to their fathers until marriage, and then belong to their husbands (enforced by a rather large number of agents)?  I am all over deconstructing that.

Unfortunately, The Registry was just too poorly written to overlook.  There was no build-up and release of tension.  Instead, the book started off tense and never stopped (aside from breaks to describe what colour polos the characters were wearing).  Everything felt incredibly rushed and unplanned; I felt physically and mentally exhausted while reading.  I would love to see this novel better-executed.

Oh, and we all know how I feel about love triangles.

Until next time, happy reading!
-Amanda

Review: Wither

Purchase Wither (Chemical Garden Trilogy) here.

Synopsis:

By age sixteen, Rhine Ellery has four years left to live. A botched effort to create a perfect race has left all males born with a lifespan of 25 years, and females a lifespan of 20 years--leaving the world in a state of panic. Geneticists seek a miracle antidote to restore the human race, desperate orphans crowd the population, crime and poverty have skyrocketed, and young girls are being kidnapped and sold as polygamous brides to bear more children. 

When Rhine is sold as a bride, she vows to do all she can to escape. Yet her husband, Linden, is hopelessly in love with her, and Rhine can’t bring herself to hate him as much as she’d like to. He opens her to a magical world of wealth and illusion she never thought existed, and it almost makes it possible to ignore the clock ticking away her short life. But Rhine quickly learns that not everything in her new husband’s strange world is what it seems. Her father-in-law, an eccentric doctor bent on finding the antidote, is hoarding corpses in the basement; her fellow sister wives are to be trusted one day and feared the next; and Rhine has no way to communicate to her twin brother that she is safe and alive. 

Together with one of Linden's servants, Gabriel, Rhine attempts to escape just before her seventeenth birthday. But in a world that continues to spiral into anarchy, is there any hope for freedom?

Review:

The Handmaid's Tale is one of those books that makes you want to scour the library to find something else like it to read.  Lucky for me, one of my best friends had just recommended this series.  Also lucky for me, this is one of very few YA dystopian series I've read where ALL OF THE BOOKS were out before I began reading.  

Imagine a world where modern medecine has gone too far.  Where generations live and die in under a century.   How far would the rich go to continue on their genetic line?  This is much less political than the last dystopian novel I reviewed, but it's still weighty - portraying an America that is fast approaching a world without "grown ups".  Add to that themes of lost innocence masked by false glamour that echo throughout the novel and its characters, and you have an intriguing, layered novel that will draw you in and allow you to get lost.  

This book is not an intense political statement, nor is it high literature.  It's not an inspiring romance, but it is a good story and a fun read.

Until next time, happy reading!
-Amanda

Review: The Handmaid's Tale

Purchase The Handmaid's Tale here.

Synopsis:

In the world of the near future, who will control women's bodies?

Offred is a Handmaid in the Republic of Gilead. She may leave the home of the Commander and his wife once a day to walk to food markets whose signs are now pictures instead of words because women are no longer allowed to read. She must lie on her back once a month and pray that the Commander makes her pregnant, because in an age of declining births, Offred and the other Handmaids are only valued if their ovaries are viable.

Offred can remember the days before, when she lived and made love with her husband Luke; when she played with and protected her daughter; when she had a job, money of her own, and access to knowledge. But all of that is gone now....

Funny, unexpected, horrifying, and altogether convincing, The Handmaid's Tale is at once scathing satire, dire warning, and tour de force.

Review:

Another day, another dystopian novel for me to fall in love with.  The Handmaid's Tale, though, is in an entirely different experience than any possible future I have heretofore delved into.  Perhaps it is how immediate the novel is, how swift and plausible the overthrow of the state by the church is.  With the ongoing discussion of the control over women's bodies, The Handmaid's Tale becomes more and more relevant with each passing day.  Margaret Atwood seamlessly blends a horrifying dystopia with a religious critique and a resonating political statement.  If you haven't read Atwood before, now would be the time to start.

Until next time, happy reading!
-Amanda

Review: The Selection

Purchase The Selection here.

Synopsis:

For thirty-five girls, the Selection is the chance of a lifetime. The opportunity to escape the life laid out for them since birth. To be swept up in a world of glittering gowns and priceless jewels. To live in a palace and compete for the heart of gorgeous Prince Maxon.

But for America Singer, being Selected is a nightmare. It means turning her back on her secret love with Aspen, who is a caste below her. Leaving her home to enter a fierce competition for a crown she doesn't want. Living in a palace that is constantly threatened by violent rebel attacks.

Then America meets Prince Maxon. Gradually, she starts to question all the plans she's made for herself—and realizes that the life she's always dreamed of may not compare to a future she never imagined.

Review:

Okay, so by now we all know that I have a massive soft spot for dystopians.  There's just something about a world that's ours, but gone slightly...wrong that draws me in.  So how could I resist an America with royalty and a The Bachelor-type set up?  I devoured The Selection in an afternoon, wrapped up in the world and politics of the palace.

Let's be straight here.  This is not an incredible work of literature.  The writing isn't always the best, and there is YET ANOTHER LOVE TRIANGLE (guys please come up with a new plot device this is boring).  However, it's a lot of fun.  I liked getting whisked off to be treated like royalty and I liked the royal intrigue.  It was a fun read to escape into, and we all need a book like that sometimes.  Also, when America said "I'm choosing me," I cheered almost as hard as when the Khaleesi threatened to cut her brother's hands off in Game of Thrones.  You go girl.

Seriously, this book is fun and a super quick read.  If you have an afternoon to spare, go for it. 

Until next time, happy reading!
-Amanda

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: 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

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

Review: Fahrenheit 451

Purchase Fahrenheit 451 here.

Synopsis:

Guy Montag is a fireman. In his world, where television rules and literature is on the brink of extinction, firemen start fires rather than put them out. His job is to destroy the most illegal of commodities, the printed book, along with the houses in which they are hidden.
Montag never questions the destruction and ruin his actions produce, returning each day to his bland life and wife, Mildred, who spends all day with her television “family.” But then he meets an eccentric young neighbor, Clarisse, who introduces him to a past where people didn’t live in fear and to a present where one sees the world through the ideas in books instead of the mindless chatter of television.
When Mildred attempts suicide and Clarisse suddenly disappears, Montag begins to question everything he has ever known. He starts hiding books in his home, and when his pilfering is discovered, the fireman has to run for his life.

Review:

I've been kind of devouring dystopian novels lately (many more reviews to come, so brace yourselves), and I thought it high time to read one of the classics.  I've been told I would enjoy Fahrenheit 451 multiple times, and I've owned a copy for some time now.  The set-up for this book is intriguing, and it's recently become more and more of a cautionary tale as authors battle censorship and book bans for the smallest of reasons.  In addition,  as someone who's often absorbed in Tumblr and has spent the majority of the past 6 or so years immersed in social media, Mildred's character is incredibly relevant.  In addition, this novel had some of the most poetic prose out of any dystopians I've ever read.  To be fair, I did occasionally get lost in it, and I was left hoping for much more at the end of the novel.  And Clarisse!  I was expecting her to be such a big character, and I wanted her to be so badly!  Despite a few misgivings, this is an incredibly important book and I'm glad I included it in my list of dystopian novels to read.

Until next time, happy reading!
-Amanda