Review: The Ask and the Answer by Patrick Ness

{Synopsis}

We were in the square, in the square where I'd run, holding her, carrying her, telling her to stay alive, stay alive till we got safe, till we got to Haven so I could save her - But there weren't no safety, no safety at all, there was just him and his men...Fleeing before a relentless army, Todd has carried a desperately wounded Viola right into the hands of their worst enemy, Mayor Prentiss. Immediately separated from Viola and imprisoned, Todd is forced to learn the ways of the Mayor's new order. But what secrets are hiding just outside of town? And where is Viola? Is she even still alive? And who are the mysterious Answer? And then, one day, the bombs begin to explode...

{My Thoughts}

Viola and Todd lose each other in the town called Haven, thinking that they would be safe. In this book they find each other, lose each other and doubt each other. You will find Todd more mature than in the first book, more controlled, and does not allow himself to falter in front of his enemies. Viola, still as stubborn as ever, but matures in her faith in Todd.

If I said that The Knife of Never Letting go is action packed...this one is a bagillion times more action packed. I realized how fitting that this was book two! Although The Knife of Never Letting go had it's own exciting parts, this book in particular holds so much more. It's one thing after another after another, the characters are more complex there are more twists, and the plot gets so much more interesting. Davy and Wilf are my personal favorites in this book. Davy is the son of the Mayor of Prentisstown the town where Todd grew up, he goes from total jackass to someone more humane. And Wilf, I really didn't think I'd see this character in book two but I certainly hope I see him in book three. 

It's two days after I finished this book and I'm still hung over. I love the way the story is going but even if I can't wait to find out what happens next, I still need a break. Like I've mentioned before I'm a total weakling when it comes to fight scenes of any form (if that made any sense at all). I still feel all the struggle, pain and excitement that this book has, so I'm off to a bit of light reading! :D

{My Rating}

 ★★★★★ : I SUPER LOVE THIS BOOK - It is oozing with awesomeness :D

You. Must. Read. It.

The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness

{Synopsis}

Todd Hewitt is the last boy in Prentisstown.

But Prentisstown isn't like other towns. Everyone can hear everyone else's thoughts in a constant, overwhelming, never-ending Noise. There is no privacy. There are no secrets.

Or are there?

Just one month away from the birthday that will make him a man, Todd unexpectedly stumbles upon a spot of complete silence.

Which is impossible.

Prentisstown has been lying to him.

And now he's going to have to run...

{My Thoughts}

When I first encountered this book I thought it wasn't something I would read. I'm such a weakling when it comes to fighting scenes, strangely sympathetic, I start to feel weak and try to either skip or look away from fight scenes. But after reading a sample, and browsing through reviews online I thought I should give this a try. 


Todd Hewitt, is the last boy in a town of all men, but in a month's time he becomes a boy. He grew up in a community of men, yes my friends ALL men (testosterone overload!!!), everything man or animal who are in this town/community have something called Noise which causes every thought in words, images even colors, to be seen by others (which really sucks). As he awaits his birthday Todd happens upon a hole in the Noise, a silence that changes his life.

I couldn't believe everything that happened in this book, even if I winced during so many parts and would constantly yell "WHY?!?!!" (in the privacy of my room, of course) at almost every turn of events, I really really liked this first book. You could almost hear the different accents and voices  of each character most especially their Noise, because of the way it was written. When it ended I stared, mouth opened at my bedroom ceiling and wished I could grab the second book on my night stand and continue, thankfully I was able to get a copy sooner than expected! 

There's nothing about this book that said YA to me except, that the characters are teenagers. I had to remind myself after a few pages that Todd is a boy and not a man just yet, which of course isn't a bad thing. My most favorite character is Manchee, mostly because I'm a dog lover and can just imagine how much fun it would be if my own dog could speak his/her thoughts to me! :D So come meet him and all the others and READ THIS BOOK!

{My Rating}

★★★★☆ : FANTABULOUS! - Such a great read!

Go forth and read! Go! Go! Go! :D

Eyes Like Stars by Lisa Mantchev

{Synopsis}

Enter Stage Right

All her world's a stage.
Beatrice Shakespeare Smith is not an actress, yet she lives in a theater.
She is not...more Enter Stage Right

All her world's a stage.
Beatrice Shakespeare Smith is not an actress, yet she lives in a theater.
She is not an orphan, but she has no parents.
She knows every part, but has no lines of her own.
Until now.

Welcome to the Théâtre Illuminata, where the characters of every place ever written can be found behind the curtain. They were born to play their parts, and are bound to the Théâtre by The Book—an ancient and magical tome of scripts. Bertie is not one of them, but they are her family—and she is about to lose them all and the only home she has ever known.

  

{My thoughts}

What I loved about this book was that it was placed in a theater. I have performed myself when I was younger and it was nice to be able to relate to the love for plays. The entire theater is controlled by The Book, characters from real plays come and go as they please, their pages are written and their set designs are described and magically appear and disappear. When I picked it up and read it's synopsis I thought maybe it would be a good book to read since I could relate to being a thespian, but in truth I didn't enjoy it as much as I thought I would, and I really wanted to.

A lot of the characters in this book were interesting, Bertie was always the misfit, but proved to be too difficult to handle. I loved Nate, and how he always tried to save her every time she was in trouble. Ariel on the other hand just plainly bothered me his twisted character was confusing, I suppose that's what he was supposed to be...confusion. Her four fairy friends were hilarious, always making the scene better, I even wanted a few of my own after I read the book. But at some point, I really didn't know what this book was about. What was the real conflict, there was so many of them put into the table that you don't really know what's going on and hope it all ends well. I couldn't understand if everything happened in a day, how it all happened? Where was what going? Although the setting was magical to say the least and the characters were interesting, the storyline was kind of scattered.

{My Rating}

★★☆☆☆ : OKAY - Just to pass the time.

Maybe someone younger will enjoy it more.

My Name is Memory by Ann Brashares (CONTAINS SPOILERS)

Warning: This post contains SPOILERS, read at your own risk!

{Synopsis}

Daniel has spent centuries falling in love with the same girl. Life after life, crossing continents and dynasties, he and Sophia (despite her changing name and form) have been drawn together-and he remembers it all. Daniel has "the memory", the ability to recall past lives and recognize souls of those he's previously known. It is a gift and a curse. For all the times that he and Sophia have been drawn together throughout history, they have also been torn painfully, fatally, apart. A love always too short.

Interwoven through Sophia and Daniel's unfolding present day relationship are glimpses of their expansive history together. From 552 Asia Minor to 1918 England and 1972 Virginia, the two souls share a long and sometimes torturous path of seeking each other time and time again. But just when young Sophia (now "Lucy" in the present) finally begins to awaken to the secret of their shared past, to understand the true reason for the strength of their attraction, the mysterious force that has always torn them apart reappears. Ultimately, they must come to understand what stands in the way of their love if they are ever to spend a lifetime together.

A magical, suspenseful, heartbreaking story of true love, "My Name is Memory" proves the power and endurance of a union that was meant to be.

{My thoughts}

When I walked in the local bookstore I caught a glimpse of this book, I thought the title was interesting so I picked it up and read the synopsis. I was in the mood to read something like this, I waited it out a little looking for online reviews before I bought it but a few days later I decided I should.

There are a few parts in this story that I really really liked the very first one was the letter, it was so well written and served such a great purpose. I liked this part of the book because I would do the same thing if I was in the place of Constance. Try really hard to get to my present self, whoever I was going to be. To tell her about the wonderful man that I love and hope that she will at least remember how it felt, if dreams won't work then maybe the letter will make her remember. I wanted Constance to be the present character and not Lucy. I saw that Constance had so much fight in her, she tried to show Lucy through her dreams and through that letter, she fought hard for the love that she felt and for that I really admired this character. Obviously if I were in Lucy's shoes, or if any of us were in her shoes we'd all be running around confused as well. But I couldn't ignore the fact that Constance handled Daniel's ability better than any one of the girls that she became. Her love poured out of this letter and I love every word of it.

{Exerpt}

I don't know who you are, but I pray this letter will have gotten into the right hands. I pray that you will not scorn it for the strange notions it contains and will understand the ardent sincerity with which I have written it. I am Constance Rowe of Hastonbury Hall in Kent, near the village of Hythe. I am two weeks short of my nineteenth birthday. I was once called Sophia, and many other names too. If this letter had reached its intended reader, than I am you, I believe, your past, an older incarnation of your soul. I know that sounds ridiculous and impossible to believe. I felt the same way. But please try to believe it.

Daniel told me some of the ways his works living and dying and living again, but I don't understand it at all well. I know there are things about you/me that seem to survive every death. I would suspect that you have a birthmark on your upper-left arm. You probably have problems with your throat. You dream about the desert, and your nightmares are almost always about fire. Maybe you even dream about me and this house. I am hoping that you do.

I encountered Daniel here in the big house. During the war it's been turned into a hospital, though it belongs to my family. He was wounded a the Somme-the second, not the first-and I am a nurse's aide, and I cared for him. He died eleven days ago. I wanted to die with him.

Daniel knew me/you before, over many lives. He remembers everything. I don't know how he'll be when you see him, where he'll be from or what he'll look like, but he will be called Daniel. He will remember you if he finds you, and God, how I hope he will. He will want to call you Sophia and tell you extraordinary stories. You will be irritated, confused, perhaps even frightened at first. Get him to prove himself to you if you must. He's not mush for showing off, but he can speak and read an impossible number of languages, and he knows how to work every kind of ancient instrument, whether musical or scientific. His mind is better than a full encyclopedia. He will know things about you: what you dream and how you thin, and it will haunt you.

Please believe him. Keep your heart open to him. He can make you happy. He has always loved you, and you once loved him with all your heart.

 I believe that in all those times that he has come in and out of his different lives, Constance was the one closest to him. It really frustrated me that he constantly called her  Sophia when he encounters her, His love for her may have been started by Sophia, but she wasn't really the one who was able to love him back as much as Constance did.

The second part I loved in this book was when Lucy made Daniel realize that what is important is the present. It was a comfort when he finally called her Lucy and acknowledged who Lucy was. He realized the importance of the present and called her by her name, Lucy. Daniel held on to all her pasts so tight that he forgot to really appreciate the person she is the moment they meet again. It was nice to see him change.

I can't say that I really loved this book, probably because through the years I think I have finally made up my mind which kinds of stories I enjoyed the most. When I was a bit younger I really enjoyed novel's like this one, about love, about forever, about soulmates and a man or a woman's effort to find love or stay with the one they love. I loved watching relationships unfold and love grow in a story. But I found myself looking for something more magical in this book, something more, I was hoping that there would be more to Daniel's brother. A bit more into his character, but I suppose he was left as a mystery for a reason. 

{My Rating}

★★★☆☆ : GENERALLY OK - Not bad, but not life-changing.

If you enjoy being swept off your feet, being chased by a man who loves everything about you, if you want your heart tickled and go through the motions of love, the hurt and the hardships...you'd like this book. But I just needed a bit more.

Review: Feed by Mira Grant

{Synopsis}

The year was 2014. We had cured cancer. We had beat the common cold. But in doing so we created something new, something terrible that no one could stop. The infection spread, virus blocks taking over bodies and minds with one, unstoppable command: FEED.

NOW, twenty years after the Rising, Georgia and Shaun Mason are on the trail of the biggest story of their lives-the dark conspiracy behind the infected. The truth will out, even if it kills them.

{My thoughts}

I literally could not put this book down, it was shock after shock after shock. I mean come on! This was the only book I have read that had a lot of my favorite things crammed in its pages...blogging, zombies and politics!!! It's plot, characters and storyline leaves me dumbfounded I wish I knew how to cook up this kind of story!

I loved the detailing of the book, from security system and procedures to blog ratings. I liked the way I felt like it was all possible, why not? It all began with an infection, and it's human nature for us to want to survive. And that's pretty much what everyone did in this book...survive, make sure they're safe. Feed hit the ground running, not a boring moment in sight, and just when you think you can settle down there's more excitement, more chases, more twists and turns than you can handle in one sitting.

The three main characters complimented each other perfectly, making up for what the other lacks. One of my favorites is Buffy, although I'm not as tech-savy as she is I really related to her ability to work with computers. Georgia on the other hand is just kickass, she leads the pack with great knowledge of her team members, and the quest for blogging the truth. And Shaun, the book would lose it's thrill without him. The author wrote these characters with one thing about each of them that made them human, something that made them easy to relate to, even if the plot was set in the future. I believe that's something that every author tries to do, but it's still really easy for an author to make their characters flawless or filled with flaws.

When I was done with Feed, despite the fact that there were moments where I had to pause and take in the events that unfold, I wanted more. I can not wait to see what happens in the sequel!  This is my very first trilogy, obviously I haven't collected that much books yet, but I have enough to know that there are some trilogies or book series' that aren't worth following but this one is a sure win!

{My Rating}

★★★★★ : I SUPER LOVE THIS BOOK - It is oozing with awesomeness :D

...because awesomeness needs to be recognized!

Review: Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman

{Synopsis}

When Richard Mayhew stops one day to help a girl he finds bleeding on a London sidewalk, his life is forever altered, for he finds himself propelled into an alternate reality that exists in a subterranean labyrinth of sewer canals and abandoned subway stations. He has fallen through the cracks of reality and has landed somewhere different, somewhere that is Neverwhere.

{My thoughts}

I was in college when I got this book, it was my second Neil Gaiman novel and because of my horrible schedule I never had the time to finish this novel. It was nice to look through my old books, specially the ones I never finished and find this one waiting for me to read.

I really loved this book, despite it's dark, dreary feel placed in the world of sewers and underground tunnels. I really liked the way London Above and Below intertwine, how eccentric all the characters there were. Silly, but it made me wanted an "Underworld" as well, where normal shopping malls become something else at night, where people can barter things for important trinkets or even a corpse. But despite all it's Fantasy-goodness, I still saw the real English humor and reality in Richard. Neil Gaiman was able to fuse the world of fantasy and reality so well in this book that you actually think it might really exist.

What I have learned is something that a lot of people have learned and re-learned, something that I still keep having to remind myself as well everyday....appreciating things/people more when they are gone.  In the end, Richard finds out what he really wants, and actually gets a chance at it.

{My Rating}

★★★★☆ : FANTABULOUS! - Such a great read!

Tell Me a Story

So here I am. I didn't really think I'd even attempt a book blog, a have a few friends who are doing it, and a few who have done it for a long time now. I decided to jump in along with the others for only one reason, I love stories. I don't have a tale about my dad reading me books everynight, although I did ask him to occasionally and he never failed to make it entertaining. I can not claim to have read books since I was a little girl and found my love for them then. I can not claim that have a bagillion books, or that I even have a bookshelf. I can however; claim that I have rediscovered my love for books since my career change. I finally have more time to read and write about the books I've read or want to read. And all I really want to achieve with this blog is to share my opinion and experiences with the stories I will/have encountered and how book characters are like friends for life.