Cinder (Lunar Chronicles #1) by Marissa Meyer

SPOILER FREE!

Date released: 3rd January 2012

Pages: 387

Author: Marissa Meyer

Blurb: Humans and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. A deadly plague ravages the population. From space, a ruthless lunar people watch, waiting to make their move. No one knows that Earth’s fate hinges on one girl. 

Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg. She’s a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister’s illness. But when her life becomes intertwined with the handsome Prince Kai’s, she suddenly finds herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle, and a forbidden attraction. Caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal, she must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect her world’s future.

Hi

My name is Jade and I am a new blogger on this blog. I don't read as quick as Katherine does but I will do my best to give you reviews and suggestions of brilliant books!

So as my first post I am going review two of my favourite books from an absolutely fantastic series...

The first book in The Lunar Chronicles is Cinder, a gripping brilliant beginning,  perfect to get you hooked for the rest of the series. Cinder is a mechanic living in New Beijing, working for her stepmother and trying to avoid the life threatening disease spreading quickly through the city. However her story takes a dramatic twist when she finds herself caught between a debate from one to planet to this....!
This story is gripping from the very beginning and with perfectly relatable characters - even if their world is completly different to ours! Myself and my friends were very lucky to be able to meet Marissa Meyer at a book signing of whome is really lovely!

This is a brilliant book and I hope you give it a try. Thank you for reading my first review and I hope you enjoyed it :) 
Jade

Shatter Me (Shatter Me #1) by Tahereh Mafi

SPOILER FREE!

4 Stars.

Date Released: 2nd October 2012 (First published 15th November 2011)
Pages: 340
Blurb: Juliette hasn't touched anyone in exactly 264 days.

The last time she did, it was an accident, but The Reestablishment locked her up for murder. No one knows why Juliette’s touch is fatal. As long as she doesn't hurt anyone else, no one really cares. The world is too busy crumbling to pieces to pay attention to a 17-year-old girl. Diseases are destroying the population, food is hard to find, birds don’t fly anymore, and the clouds are the wrong color.

The Reestablishment said their way was the only way to fix things, so they threw Juliette in a cell. Now so many people are dead that the survivors are whispering war – and The Reestablishment has changed its mind. Maybe Juliette is more than a tortured soul stuffed into a poisonous body. Maybe she’s exactly what they need right now.

Juliette has to make a choice: Be a weapon. Or be a warrior.

I spent absolutely AGES looking for a certain copy of this book. For some reason, they don't sell Shatter Me in UK bookshops, well not in any of the ones I checked. And then when I realized I could just buy it on Amazon, they didn't have the beautiful book cover they use in America. Look at it! Look at it in all of its amazing-ness (yes, that is a word now)! 

 In fact, the blurb on this review is actually the blurb from the American copy of Shatter Me. Because it is better. Again.

But seriously, the UK cover is a hint about how obsessed Juliette is over eyes. If I were to go back and check, I bet that at least half the book would be about how wonderful Adam`s eyes are.

However, I was pleasantly surprised over how much I enjoyed this book. Considering how many negative reviews I had seen about Shatter Me , mainly about the writing style, I didn't really expect to enjoy it so much. Dont get me wrong, there were so many random metaphors and similes where I was like: 

But I tried to ignore the really weird ones, and read on. 

Be warned! If you do not like romance, and are hoping for a dystopian/science fiction book, then do not read this. Sure, it is classed as a dystopian, but it is more of a romance book. 

On that note; Team Warner!

Goodreads: Want to read?

Through the Ever Night (Under the Never Sky #2) by Veronica Rossi

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3.5 Stars

Date Released: 8th January 2013
Pages: 341
Blurb: Aria has struggled to build a life for herself outside Reverie. It hasn't been easy adjusting to life in the wilderness but that struggle has been worth it with Perry by her side.

But Perry has other challenges. His people are looking to him for answers. Answers about what happened to his nephew and what's happening to their world. And they don't trust the priviledged Aria, one of the enemy, in their midst.

Soon he'll be forced to chose between the tribe that looks to him for leadership and the girl that looks to him for love.

The start of Through the Ever Night drew me in immediately, as it started almost exactly where Under the Never sky ended. However after the beginning, it took me a while to get into again. I found a big chunk of this book very dull, and there wasn't very much action.

I understand that there cant be action on every page, there has to be balance, but it was just SO SLOW. 

Of course, there has to be a (short and verbal) fight over Perry between Aria and Brooke.

So that made me want to scream as well. 

Also, if you were confused about Aether, and what the hell it is, in the last book, then fear not, because it is explained a little bit. I mean, I still don't understand it, but maybe i'm just...slow. 

Don`t worry though, it does pick up again (hurray)! Just when I was starting to want to punch Perry (who am I kidding, I always want to punch Perry) ... something happened! I wont say what, because I don't want to ruin the book, but it was very exciting! 

To be honest, I was already sick of Perry and Aria`s relationship by the first page of Through the Ever Night,  I just find them so unrealistic, and Perry really creepy, so I was pleased that Aria starts to take matters into her own hands...

Thankfully, Roar was still a main character in this book, because he is amazing! I know i shouldn't, but I am secretly hoping that Roar and Aria will get together...somehow. I cant help it, i`m just that much of a rebel!

Goodreads Link: Want to read?

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Under the Never Sky (Under the Never Sky #1) by Veronica Rossi

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3 stars.

Date Released: 7th February 2012
Pages: 384
Blurb: Aria is a teenager in the enclosed city of Reverie. Like all Dwellers, she spends her time with friends in virtual environments, called Realms, accessed through an eyepiece called a Smarteye. Aria enjoys the Realms and the easy life in Reverie. When she is forced out of the pod for a crime she did not commit, she believes her death is imminent. The outside world is known as The Death Shop, with danger in every direction.

As an Outsider, Perry has always known hunger, vicious predators, and violent energy storms from the swirling electrified atmosphere called the Aether. A bit of an outcast even among his hunting tribe, Perry withstands these daily tests with his exceptional abilities, as he is gifted with powerful senses that enable him to scent danger, food and even human emotions.

They come together reluctantly, for Aria must depend on Perry, whom she considers abarbarian, to help her get back to Reverie, while Perry needs Aria to help unravel the mystery of his beloved nephew’s abduction by the Dwellers. Together they embark on a journey challenged as much by their prejudices as by encounters with cannibals and wolves. But to their surprise, Aria and Perry forge an unlikely love - one that will forever change the fate of all who live UNDER THE NEVER SKY

I was reluctant at first to read this, despite the many positive reviews of it on Goodreads, partly because it sounded a bit... samey, with all the other dystopian novels going around at the moment and partly because Kami Garcia, co-author of  Beautiful Creatures (which i hated), liked it.

But in the end i was convinced to read to this by three things: the beautiful cover, the cool title and the fact that i could borrow it from my friend who assured me it wasn't "that bad".

The first 60 pages alone made me want to stop reading. Aria was annoying. Perry was annoying. Talon was annoying.You get the gist of it. But then it just stopped - well, kind of, i still find Perry extremely irritating but i just had no opinion on Aria. I didn't like her, or hate her. She was just there.

There was action, romance and... cannibals.

Whether you liked this book or hated it, the ending will almost certainly make you want to read the next book.

Goodreads Link: Want to read?