Review: The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin

The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin

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Publisher: Simon & Schuester Children's (September 27, 2011)
Age Group: Young Adult (Sug. 18+)
Pages (Hardcover):  452
Series: Mara Dyer
Read Next: Evolution of Mara Dyer (Oct. 2012)
Source: Library
ISBN-13: 9781442421769
Genre: Urban Fantasy/Suspense

Mara Dyer doesn't think life can get any stranger than waking up in a hospital with no memory of how she got there.

It can.

She believes there must be more to the accident she can't remember that killed her friends and left her mysteriously unharmed.

There is.

She doesn't believe that after everything she's been through, she can fall in love.

She's wrong.

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Overview:

This book had me hooked. I thought it was suspensful, horrifying, and full of mystery. What in the world could possibly be happening to Mara? There were times that I was sufficiently creeped out while reading. That is the good stuff; however, this book fell into some of the more cliche pitfalls of YA books and love stories. I couldn't stop the images of Bella and Edward that came forth in the struggled romance, and that was not a good feeling.

Review:

I can't deny that this book was brilliant. It is the plot that pulls you in hook-line-and-sinker. As a debut, Michelle Hodkin has really hit home with a unique plot and a solid suspenseful feel to a haunting story. There were times in this book that I couldn't put it down because I had to know what was happening. During an episode or a flash to what happened in the accident, I felt the chill of the story deep within where the idea of entertainment really hits us.

But there is still a reason that this book gets only three stars. The character development and love facets of this book stumbled into a pitfall. Mara was exceedingly independent, hiding her problems while they were essentially drowning her in herself. She was attracted to the bad-boy-man-whore that had the "Something is wrong with me" mentality. Then these two characters were wrapped up in the weird yet destined idea of love. Essentially it was overdone and cliché in comparison.

I also thought it was disappointing with the build up the trailer and the small introduction that the book had with her lawyers and Mara Dyer not being her real name, etc. This, as far as this first book goes, had no relevance because we don't even essentially know what happened, only that it has left Mara in a fragile mental state, not in the troubles of legalities. I was possible for it to have been a series setup but it resulted in a let down for book one.

I was impressed with the intricacies and the balance that the author maintained when implementing so many subplots. Again, I go back to the idea that the actual story of this book is remarkable. How interwoven is the entire story? Mara is a mystery in and of herself but what about the case her dad is on; why is this case so important? I have to know.

It is always hard to point out of the aspects of the negative aspects of a book but it fell short in my expectations. I would have loved to have experienced strong and unique characters to match such a powerful and fresh plot line. For the sake of the story, I can't wait to continue the unraveling mind and mystery that is Mara Dyer.

Rating out of 5:

Review: Eve by Anna Carey

Eve by Anna Carey

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Publisher: HarperTeen (October 4, 2011)
Age Group: Young Adult
Pages (Hardcover): 3
Series:  The Eve Trilogoy (Book 1)
Source: NetGalley
ISBN-13: 9780062048509
Genre: Dystopia

The year is 2032, sixteen years after a deadly virus—and the vaccine intended to protect against it—wiped out most of the earth’s population. The night before eighteen-year-old Eve’s graduation from her all-girls school she discovers what really happens to new graduates, and the horrifying fate that awaits her.

Fleeing the only home she’s ever known, Eve sets off on a long, treacherous journey, searching for a place she can survive. Along the way she encounters Caleb, a rough, rebellious boy living in the wild. Separated from men her whole life, Eve has been taught to fear them, but Caleb slowly wins her trust...and her heart. He promises to protect her, but when soldiers begin hunting them, Eve must choose between true love and her life.

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Overview:

This book takes some digesting; with ideas and realism, the concept of survival is wonderfully crafted. Eve is a wonderful, true heroine and we watch as the whole idea of truth begins to unravel as she experiences the world with us. A great dystopian society set in America in Anna Carey's new novel!

Review:

This book is thick and heavy with realistic ideas and concepts that could face the world's population someday. In a dystopian environment, in a world where the government sets such beautiful imagery, the truth behind such ecstasy is ugly and harsh.

In this world, one of the ugly truths is that children are squandered into the unknowing labor to the King. Eve is one of these bright young girls to whom we travel through this story with. What we see about Eve is that she is unique in this world; her determination, her intelligence, her truth, her cowardice, and her hidden strength. Eve is an amazingly true heroine for teens reading Young Adult literature right now. She is well structured, entirely not prepared, and begins to question the reality of the world and the truths that she has always known.

The pace of this book is steady, even if the idea of staying on the run to merely survive is a little overdone. Books like this, regardless of the expertise in its crafting, can tend to lean the reader towards the hopeless side. The same struggles that cycle repetitiouslyare there and in this way, Eve isn't perfect; she doesn't have all the answers. That is what makes her realistic and true in my eyes.

Anna Carey has set us into a world of chilling truths and suspenseful possibilities. With a character as individually unique is Eve, it will continue to be interesting to see this fight for survival. Will Eve grow into a strong, defined heroine? Will she continue to be a budding but utterly confused by the truth teenager? What will book two in this trilogy hold? I'm interested to find out.

Rating out of 5:

Review: The Dark and Hollow Places by Carrie Ryan

The Dark and Hollow Places by Carrie Ryan

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Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers (March 22, 2011)
Age Group: Young Adult
Pages (Hardcover): 407
Series: The Forest of Hands & Teeth (Book 3)
Source: Library
ISBN-13: 9780385736848
Genre: Dystopia/Survival Horror
Series Reviews: Book 1 (2.5★) Book 2 (5★)

There are many things that Annah would like to forget: the look on her sister's face before Annah left her behind in the Forest of Hands and Teeth, her first glimpse of the Horde as they swarmed the Dark City, the sear of the barbed wire that would scar her for life. But most of all, Annah would like to forget the morning Elias left her for the Recruiters.
Annah's world stopped that day, and she's been waiting for Elias to come home ever since. Somehow, without him, her life doesn't feel much different than the dead that roam the wasted city around her. Until she meets Catcher, and everything feels alive again. 

But Catcher has his own secrets. Dark, terrifying truths that link him to a past Annah has longed to forget, and to a future too deadly to consider. And now it's up to Annah: can she continue to live in a world covered in the blood of the living? Or is death the only escape from the Return's destruction?

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Overview:

The female protagonist, Annah, did not connect to me at all. I understand her pain and her insecurities but she came across as very shallow from her scars to blaming her sister for her mistakes. I felt that until the very end, the plot volleyed back and forth with the same message over and over that Annah would get in trouble, Catcher would withdraw, she would feel ugly. Then the end of the book just ended. It wasn't a tragic ending like you would expect from this series, but was rushed and simple.

Review:

This series has been a roller coaster of instability; I didn't enjoy the first book, it didn't grasp me and I had no empathy for Mary. But then, the second book suprised me and I loved it. I thought that the series was going to take an upturn and that the remaining book(s) would be just as spectacular. Then I read The Dark and Hollow Places and my book high was over. That isn't to say this book was terrible, in fact I did like it, but it let me down in some ways.

Annah, for one, was not a character that I seemed to have any connection to or empathy for. Regardless of the situation, she found away to turn the emotions negative, therefore dampening the entire idea of hope that Gabry is still trying to instill. Whether it was her twisting Catcher's words and going back to her scars and her brutal looks or she was taking the time to blame Gabry for her mistakes, her thought processes kept reverting to redundant remarks and she never grew past them.

This book hints at betrayal and character assassination, but aside from Annah, I still had a very warm spot in my heart for all of the remaining characters: Gabry, Elias, and Catcher. They were all still very integral to the story in their own way, and I was happy at the continuation between the two books.

The remaining aspects of the book kind of tainted my hopefulness a little bit. In survival horror, the aspect of hope is a very fragile being, and there is hope that these teens can survive and that we won't have to suffer any more tragedy, but the more we find out about the infection (and we find out quite a bit) the less we feel we can believe. But all hope is not lost yet...

If this is the conclusion to the series, it doesn't leave any sense of resolution for a happy ending, tragic, or even just surviving.

Rating out of 5:

Review: Silver Phoenix by Cindy Pon

Silver Phoenix by Cindy Pon

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Publisher: HarperTeen (April 28, 2009)
Age Group: Young Adult
Pages (Hardcover): 338
Series: Beyond the Kingdom of Xia (Book 1)
Source: Library
ISBN-13: 9780061730214
Genre: Historical/Fantasy

No one wanted Ai Ling. And deep down she is relieved—despite the dishonor she has brought upon her family—to be unbetrothed and free, not some stranger's subservient bride banished to the inner quarters.

But now, something is after her. Something terrifying—a force she cannot comprehend. And as pieces of the puzzle start to fit together, Ai Ling begins to understand that her journey to the Palace of Fragrant Dreams isn't only a quest to find her beloved father but a venture with stakes larger than she could have imagined.

Bravery, intelligence, the will to fight and fight hard . . . she will need all of these things. Just as she will need the new and mysterious power growing within her. She will also need help.

It is Chen Yong who finds her partly submerged and barely breathing at the edge of a deep lake. There is something of unspeakable evil trying to drag her under. On a quest of his own, Chen Yong offers that help . . . and perhaps more.

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Overview:

This book provided a great setting with accurate historical lore for China. The setting was flawless and the realism allowed you to be pulled into the story with all the rich details Pon provides. The characters are well rounded and Ai Ling shows a level of bravery that is deep within herself throughout the whole book with or without Chen Yong. While all of this provided a strong base for the story, and the supernatural element was tastefully added, something was missing from this book. I enjoyed the story and the plot but it wasn't gripping but the battles were close in timeline and always plain when considering the epic fantasy tendency this book is given.

Review:

This book is beautiful. From the cover to the concept to the writing, it is absolutely lovely. Pon does an amazing job at setting the historical stage for the setting we find ourselves in. The facts of this book and its historical context is so accurate and breath taking; it is easily my favorite part of the book. I would love to delve more into what life is like for Ai Ling in the time period. The intricacies of something as simple as her bound hair give a dynamic and life to the book that the characters and plot alone could not accomplish.

In turn, the setting is nothing without the story. Ai Ling is such a fierce female. She is strong and determined and it is easy to feel and revel in her determination to find her father. In her journey, she struggles and faces great adversity but understands the importance of the mission she set upon and never wavers in her strength to continue. Chen Yong, the male lead, is an easily likeable character as well. Strong, chilvarous, and handsome, he is hardy and worth all the interest Ai Ling can manage to give him.

Though the setting, plot and characters were strong, something kept throwing me off while I was reading this. I was not hooked into the story by the throat and was easily able to set it down for a reading break. This may be in part to the way that battles were written in this book. Pon threw Ai Ling up against some of the most unimaginable evil and yet in the span of moments the battle was over. After the first two or three occurrences, I felt the idea of battle was monotonous and lacked appropriate plot manifestations.

This book is preceded by the sequel, Fury of the Phoenix. I hope for more information on Silver Phoenix to be revealed and more interaction and development of what could be between Ai Leng and Chen Yong. I would recommend this book to lovers of historical fiction or epic fantasy. It has characteristics that most fantasy lovers will thoroughly enjoy.

Rating out of 5:

Review: Marked by PC Cast

Marked by P.C. Cast + Kristin Cast

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Rating: ★ ★ ★

Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin (May 1, 2007)
Age Group: Young Adult
Pages (Paperback): 306
Series: House of Night (Book 1)
Source: Library
ISBN-13: 978-0-312-36026-9
Genre: Paranormal (Vampire)

Enter the dark, magical world of The House of Night, a world very much like our own, except here vampyres have always existed. Sixteen-year-old Zoey Redbird has just been Marked as a fledgling vampyre and joins the House of Night, a school where she will train to become an adult vampire. That is, if she makes it through the Change—and not all of those who are Marked do. It sucks to begin a new life, especially away from her friends, and on top of that, Zoey is no average fledgling. She has been chosen as special by the vampyre Goddess Nyx. Zoey discovers she has amazing powers, but along with her powers come bloodlust and an unfortunate ability to Imprint her human ex-boyfriend. To add to her stress, she is not the only fledgling at the House of Night with special powers: When she discovers that the leader of the Dark Daughters, the school's most elite group, is misusing her Goddess-given gifts, Zoey must look deep within herself for the courage to embrace her destiny—with a little help from her new vampyre friends.

The first person point of view in this book is considerably easy to read; it wasn't hard getting into the mind of Zoey as the parenthetical inserts allow her to interject on her thoughts, she really does have some humorous side comments.

The Casts also did a great job in conveying the spiritual aspect of being a "vampyre" in this series; spirituality is a constant theme throughout this book and the aspects of it were beautifully written. They also do a very good job and suspending information that leaves you turning the pages.

However, I feel that it left me turning the pages for all the wrong reasons at some points.. Being 306 pages long, for the most part I felt like I was just reading the mundane life of your average teenage girl who just happens to be a vampire. For roughly 80% of this book, I felt like there was no direction that this book was going to take; it was overwhelmingly plotless. Even at towards the end, you get the spark of a climax and then the book ends. There is a great setup for the next book and/or rest of the series but in turn, this book left with a certain level of disappointment with its lack of action and rushed ending.