A Thousand Pieces of You

A Thousand Pieces of You

(image from epicreads.com)

Claudia Gray

(Trigger warnings for: Mentioned drug and alcohol use, sex (non-graphic), murder, a lot of water)

Just after his invention of a reality-hopping device, Marguerite's father is murdered. With the help of one of her parent's assistants, Theo, she chases after the man she's convinced killed her father.

The summaries are getting shorter every time I write them, I swear. Also, fun fact! I picked up this book because the title reminded me of that of a fanfiction I like. The more you know.

Sad start to the review, but here goes. I honestly wasn't too interested at first. There were other books to read, and it just wasn't that gripping in the beginning. But... oh my Thoth, once it got good? It got good. The plot heated up outside of some weird revenge-thriller. Not all of it was perfect, but it was mostly pretty great.

I genuinely enjoyed the characters. Even the Love Interest wasn't defined solely by Love Interest-ability (this brings me a weird kind of joy). I don't even know how to describe it. The parents were a little Leave It to Beaver, ruffle your hair type parents, but it didn't really take away from the novel.

Also- ploooottt twiiiiistttsss? I don't think I've read such a twisty novel in a long time. And each twist was pulled off well, with foreshadowing, but not a ridiculous amount of foreshadowing. But (you people are getting so tired of 'but's in my review, huh?) the thing is, it was maybe one twist too many. Getting excited got sort of... boring. And in between twists, it didn't feel as interesting. Which is kind of sad, because they were still good twists.

The universes were great. I mean, I'm not too great (see, there it is again), but 'great' is my version of being one step behind throwing it at people and screaming 'READ IT READ IT READ IT'. The Russia universe seemed kind of like a 'royalty AU' fanfiction at first (it technically was), but once the train scene hit? Ho ho ho, dear reader, it was awesome. [Spoilers of war] But did we need the sex. [Back, spoilers, back]

Okay, I have a question. Is there a sequel? Will there be a sequel? Because the end sort of felt undone. It ended the plot of the story, but there were so many possibilities and outcomes that just need to be addressed in a second book. Or in fanfiction. Heck, the end of the book essentially gave the plot of another! Argh. Now I need to check.

Conclusion: Amazon calls it 'Book One'. So I think we're good.

And, as last paragraphs always are, the romance aspect of things. This entire paragraph is a spoiler, so if you don't want to see it, avert ye virgin eyes. I actually sort of liked the romance. It was a good romance. They both seemed to genuinely like each other, and we weren't slammed with descriptions of Paul every single time she looked at him. It wasn't super sudden either. They had known each other for a while and were friends. The angst over 'Russia Paul is dead' made sense, even if angst isn't my favorite trope in novels.

 So. Good book. Might be a little hard to get into, but worth it once you start.

(Posting on time? Ha. Ha ha ha. Ha. Luckily, I finished a couple books while procrastinating on writing this, so you might get the next one before winter ends.)

 ~Corinne

In the After

In the After

(image from naomibates.blogspot.com)

Demitria Lunetta

Three years ago, They came. Amy was watching TV while it happened, witnessing what looked like a spacecraft in the city center. Since then, They have attacked every human they find, and they attack to kill. Amy has managed to survive and rescue a toddler she named Baby. They both have to work to survive, staying in Amy's (luckily reinforced) house.

When they are captured and taken to a colony called New Hope, they believe they've reached safety.

But did they?

Sorry if this review is short or just weird, it was a while ago that I read it. By a while I mean like a week. Memory capabilities, amirite?

I'm surprised that I actually liked Baby. Usually small children in YA are used as an 'aww he's so cwute don't you wub dem' factor. Which I hate. They don't have a personality beyond being cute. However, Baby was interesting and individual. She was actually likeable, not just a prop. It's sad that's so exciting, but still.

Amy was very close to your typical YA heroine, but had an original streak enough to keep her interesting. She actually can express concern and do things! Wow! Why is this so hard to grasp in other books? Ms. Lunetta, thank you for allowing emotions and actions to coexist. That is important.

[Please properly dispose of all spoilered goods] Sadly, this is another book demonizing science. I hate this for two reasons- for the love of Athena, science is frickn' beneficial to society, and also the target for a lot of YA is girls. You wanna know what career field girls are being pushed out of? Science. Girls need to learn that science is cool and they can be part of it without being terrible plague-monsters. Girls could cure cancer and get us to Mars if we stopped acting like science was a boys-only club. THIS IS SO IMPORTANT TO ME I AM SCREAMING STOP DEMONIZING SCIENCE. [Spoilanger over]

 The pacing was good, though not much seemed immediately important until later in the book. The subtle details from the beginning being huge later was cool, but if the writing style hadn't immediately caught me I might have gotten bored with the lack of plot progression. As I just said, though- the writing style was (waitforitwaitforit) fan. (Okay, if you read the book you'd get it.)

The Florae (just referred to as They in the beginning) were an awesome example of a monster species. The had strengths and weaknesses, and the weaknesses weren't the usual Achilles heel sort of this. They couldn't hunt in the dark, which doesn't seem like it should be big and original, but it is. There's more, I just feel like discussing more would count as spoilers. Anyhow, great monsters.

The format later on with the flashes between the future and the present were cool. It could get a bit confusing with information revealed in the future and not mentioned in the past, but it wasn't what-is-going-on-why-am-I-in-this-dark-room-with-no-windows confusing.

[Spoilered milk] The ending was kind of... eh. I liked the idea of the Florae being alien or plant based. But the zombie thing? Meh. It just felt like a cop-out. No need for more zombie fiction, I swear. [Shh, it's over now... It's alright]

On the romance. It was kind of strange to me, like they weren't really being romantic but they also weren't in the sort-of-friends category? I kind of wish they were either slightly more romantic so it would feel like boyfriend/girlfriend, or slightly less so it was more close friends. 

(Yes, I know it's short)

~Corinne

Silver

Silver

(image from chriswooding.com)

Okay, I'm going to put the actual summary here, but I swear it's not because I'm lazy. You'll see why later.

Paul is the new kid at Mortingham Boarding Academy, and he has a dark secret.
Caitlyn admires Paul from afar and resents that he only has eyes for Erika.
Erika thinks that she and Caitlyn are best friends, but she's wrong.
Adam is a bully with a major chip on his shoulder.
Mark is outgrowing his old friends but doesn't know how to make new ones.

In a few short hours, none of this will matter. Without warning, a horrifying infection will spread across the school grounds, and a group of students with little in common will find themselves barricaded in a classroom, fighting for their lives. Some will live. Some will die. And then it will get even worse.

(Summary EBILLY taken from its amazon page)

Okay, this review has a lot of spoilers. You might as well ignore it if you don't want spoilers.

Silver is a book I'll have trouble describing. I desperately want to say it was good or bad, but it just... wasn't. It felt like it wasn't even there. However, I'll try my best to break it into parts.

The plot screamed "zombies!", but it wasn't a regular zombie book. It had a different take on zombies, making them something new and interesting. It also wasn't a robot-uprising book. Frankly, I hadn't ever thought the two could even come together, much less so well. Anyone know any other genre combining books like this? I'm really getting to like them.

The characters were distinct in their own ways, but I'm going to have to admit their voices didn't seem too different. That might have been just because the narrative was third person (making it, like, a yasreadyas first, I think). At the same time, it was just a little too hard to differentiate them. The boys were much better off than the girls in that respect. They had plenty of development and were active characters. Generally, they were just so much better than the girls. Caitlyn and Erika were nearly indistinguishable if you didn't pay attention to the opinions they were stating. 

Continuing on the last paragraph, I don't even think this book passed the Bechdel test. With two female main characters, I'm not certain if it passed the narrative Bechdel test, if that exists. Caitlyn's thoughts entirely revolve around Paul or being mad at Erika because Paul likes her. Just read the mini descriptions in the summary. The boys all get blurbs of their own. Caitlyn's is about Paul. Erika's is about Caitlyn, and it tracks back to Paul. I don't know, it just made me really uncomfortable how little Caitlyn and Erika acted on their own.

The boys, I'll restate, were really interesting. Paul was an extremely proactive character who's actions were great to follow. Mark was my personal hero, as the socially inept geek trying to look normal. And failing. Miserably. There are probably a few readers on here who can relate to that. Adam's backstory was blurry and a bit generic (bully who's only mean because of a bad home life, thus making them unaccountable for all actions), but his character, present tense, was strong and true.

The descriptions in this book were fantastic. How the Infected were shown was so interesting. It felt like you could really see them. Also, they were painfully creepy. So maybe you don't want to see them. However, if you enjoy being plagued by nightmares for what may be the rest of your natural life, this is your book!

Subtle mentions at the beginning of the book may become very important later on, just warning you. I liked how everything tied together that way.

Since the romance didn't quite exist outside of one-sidedly, I'll give you this mini-rant. Why is science always the bad guy in these books? Why? You are not helping anyone by making science evil. I mean...

(Before I forget, trigger warnings for the book- Suicide, death)

~Corinne

These Broken Stars

These Broken Stars

 

(Image from squigglesreviews.blogspot.com)

Amie Kaufman & Meagan Spooner

Now for the shortest summary in the history of Yas Read Yas:

Space Titanic.

Yeah. Two words. That's all you need to know about the plot for the rest of the review to make sense.

If you want to understand more, the premise is pretty much that the two MCs- Lilac and Tarver- are on a super expensive and big ship that, as you could expect from the shorter summary, crashes. There's some romantic tensions and 49,998 people died. No bueno.

Okay, that longer-but-still-inadequate description doesn't do the book justice, but anyway! Reviewsies!

I hate to say it, but I'm a total reading hipster. The Fault in Our Stars? Psh, too mainstream (I did read it, though). Twilight? Pshhhh, too horrible. So when I read the cover flap of These Broken Stars, I was kind of like 'Wow, this sounds really ordinary. Hm. Probably cliches and glitter.' But, like Pi, human stupidity is infinitely finite, so I picked it up.

I admit now that perhaps reading this wasn't such a lapse into my stupid side.

There are two main characters, whose POVs the book alternates between. Lilac is a wealthy socialite, Tarver is a jaded low-class soldier. I'm going have to say here that I wasn't particularly fond of Tarver. It wasn't the way he was written or what his actions were, he just wasn't... special, I guess? I mean, I understand that if he was a super speshul snowflake, I wouldn't like him, either. At the same time, though, he didn't do anything that really stood out. His personality didn't stand out. His backstory didn't stand out. And when someone does so little to stand out, they begin to fade off. Other than being a soldier, he sounded a lot like the hundred other male MCs and love interests I've read about. He wasn't bad at all, he just had an air of safety, bubble-wrapping his personality to ensure no one would feel either way about him. 

Lilac, however... I liked Lilac. If there's one cliche that really, really gets me in YA books, it's the 'I'm not like the other girls' thing. As far as I could tell, Lilac was like those mysterious 'other girls'. And that is beautiful. She had grit, but could totally waltz into a ball and be 100% comfortable in a dress. She didn't have to take her time stepping on other girls and screaming, 'Me! I'm important! I'm better them, huh, aren't I?! I drink tea and climb trees! I hate the other girls! Aren't I better than them?!' A heroine whose 'good marks' don't require vilifying others or treating them like the enemy is a heroine who deserves to be read.

Despite Lilac being an above-average character, the plot coasted on 'decent' for most of the book. It was roughly what I expected for the first 75%. Some romantic tension, brief fights about class differences, mortal danger that brings them closer together, lots of angst about their respective pasts, blah blah blah. I wasn't really expecting it to get interesting. But it did! In the last 25%, that is. Which is a bit hard to get to unless you have either a sense of dogged determination or too much free time.

The timing and pace, as I think you can assume from the 75/25 thing up there, wasn't too great. If the (SPOILERS, SKIP AHEAD TO THE NEXT PARAGRAPH TO AVOID THEM) energy being/telepath thing had been introduced halfway, not three-quarters of the way, through the book, I think it would have read a little easier.

I loved the survival side of the story, though. I am 100% fu-fu. The idea of having to go weeks without hot water or tea or anything is, frankly, terrifying. Having nothing to eat but ration bars and grasses is also on the 'nope' side of things.

The non-survival plot elements were pretty fab, too. (SPPPOOOOOIIIILLLLEEEERRRRSSSSS) The whispers (Eee! They didn't unnecessarily capitalize 'whispers'! Yay!) were friggn' cool. Also, I must celebrate the fact that this wasn't suspension of disbelief sci-fi (read: The Future of Us). The authors actually explained why there were visions and whispers and such. The backstories seemed to pretty much center around people the MCs loved dying, which felt a little overdone after a while. However, since the entire book had a big thing about lots people dying, per Titanic tradition, it wasn't too bad like that.

Lastly, the romance. I would like to make it clear that I am not a fan of I-hate-you-I-love-you romances. This one, though, at least deserved to be called 'decent' (at most, it deserved to be called 'Fred'). I understand this doesn't sound like a step up, but it is. The only time the romance actually bothered me or got in the way of the plot was for about twenty pages late in the book. And that's because every other scene was them kissing or referencing shirtlessness. Then the kiss-noshirt-kiss-noshirt thing dies down and we go back to dining on the succulent meat of the plot.

(PS: They totally had sex.)

~Corinne

The Future of Us

The Future of Us

(Image from Wired.com)

Jay Asher and Carolyn Mackler

Heya! So, you might recognize the second name on this cover. Carolyn Mackler is the writer of The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big Round Things. You might also recognize Jay Asher's name, for Thirteen Reasons Why, but I'm assuming you have no life outside of this blog.

Okay, onto the description

It's 1996, and Emma got a computer from her dad as a guilt gift for also giving her a stepsister. Josh, her next door neighbor and long time friend (until recently) comes over with an America Online CD-ROM. But when Emma puts it in, it gives her Facebook. One problem, though.

Facebook doesn't exist yet.

Suddenly Josh and Emma are looking at their lives fifteen years in the future. And everything they do changes that page.

I think it's obvious why I would want to read this book.

I love the plot with all my tiny, lead-hard heart. Love it so much it hurts.

The collab sounds like a good fit, but there are some moments when you can see the thin line between who was writing. It isn't particularly bad, so don't worry, though.

A big shout-out for these two for not having the two opposite-gender characters punch you in the face and then strangle you with romance. Cue confetti cannon.

As I sweep up this confetti, I shall tell you about the characters. Emma was generally likeable, if a bit control obsessed. Of course, if I knew what was happening in the future and could at least try to fix it, I would too. Most of her decisions were relationship-driven, however, which wasn't my favorite thing.

Josh was, while flat at times, mostly interesting and well-written. There really isn't much else to say about him.

The writing style was pretty simple. Not in an unintelligent manner, but in a "this is how it is and this is what they're thinking". Also a bad description. Basically, it wasn't flowery and purple. Not beige either. To paraphrase Goldilocks, "The style was juuuuust right."

This book has a way of messing with your mind. Yes, my friends, every action now will change the future. Every. Single. Thing. Besides pouring water on the carpet. But never mind that.

As a sci-fi story, I would have liked a bit more explanation on how things were happening. However, not every book does that, I have to accept it.

Overall, it's worth a read.

~ Corinne

No Safety in Numbers

NO SAFETY IN NUMBERS

DANYA LORENTZ

My second book review started where I'm sure most people's do. I was in the teen section of Barnes and Noble, waiting for something to stand out. Against the background of dark, thick, hardcovers stood a thin, bright yellow paperback. It fit in the same genre as the others (I was in the action and disaster section), but it seemed so different, and not just visually. This was a book about regular people living in modern times, which is a refreshing change in this genre.

The book I am reviewing is No Safety in Numbers by Dayna Lorentz. Like I said before, it has elements of a YA action/disaster novel, but more realistic. The book is told through the eyes of four typical teenagers who were stuck in a shopping mall after a biological contaminate. I personally love that concept.

But did it live up to my expectations? Not really. The characters, for one thing, really didn't. They all had their individual motivation, which I appreciated. But some of them seemed a bit flat, or stereotypical of the genre. Switching perspectives only have us a new story, not a new personal view.

Also, the content itself wasn't too great. You know how when you have bad wifi connection your computer runs really fast, then impossibly slow, then so fast you can't follow where it's going? That is what this book felt like half the time. The slow moments were enjoyable, but felt out of place.

All in all, I would say this book is worth a try. It's a fast read, so I would recommend trying it when you get a chance. But that being said, I would not go out of my way to read it again.

-Caroline