REVIEW: Unwind

Book: Unwind by Neal Shusterman
Release Date: November 6th 2007 by Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Pages: 335
Source: Library Copy

Connor, Risa, and Lev are running for their lives.

The Second Civil War was fought over reproductive rights. The chilling resolution: Life is inviolable from the moment of conception until age thirteen. Between the ages of thirteen and eighteen, however, parents can have their child "unwound," whereby all of the child's organs are transplanted into different donors, so life doesn't technically end. Connor is too difficult for his parents to control. Risa, a ward of the state is not enough to be kept alive. And Lev is a tithe, a child conceived and raised to be unwound. Together, they may have a chance to escape and to survive.

The Romance:

1     2     3     4     5

This scale is different than most. 1 means that there is no romance at all. 5 means this book was a very, very romantic based book. A 3 will be the most common, as YA books surround another plot while dealing with romance too. Below are my thoughts on the romance.

Not a lot, but some. There always has to be that one romance between two characters. It kind of bothers me because in reality, if two people were running for their life I do not think they would have time to fall in love.

The Action/ The Adventure:

1     2     3     4     5

The action scale is pretty obvious and it is just like the romance scale. 1 means there was no action. 5 means there was a lot of action. Whether or not the action was good, I'll tell you below.

The action and adventure is pretty good. There was a lot in my opinion. Although a good chunk of the book was them just surviving, action and adventure was included making the story exciting.

The Speed:

1     2     3     4     5

The speed scale tells how fast the story goes. For example, if the introduction is boring and the whole book is going at snail pace, it'll probably be a ranking of 1.

The speed was perfect. Not too fast that I don't know whats going on but not too slow to make me bored. It was on the faster side and it is one of those books that you can't put down once you start.

 The Plot/ The Perspective/ The Storytelling:

1     2     3     4     5

This isn't based on how much action shows up as the book progresses. It is based on the quality of the plot. Sometimes the plot is just unentertaining while others are the on-the-end-of-your-seat suspenseful. This is probably the scale that you should pay the most attention to.

The perspective comes from 3 points of views: Connor, Risa and Lev. I didn't like Lev. He was a spoiled, bratty, snob of a person but I understood why the author made him like that. It says in the beginning of the book that unwinding (the act of dissecting kids but them still technically living) was accepted in society. If a kid grew up with it being normal and knowing that was going to happen to him anyway, why shouldn't he think he's above everyone else? Connor and Risa's personalities match their background well. Connor was the pushed aside and was unfavored- he had a bad attitude but also a longing for some attention and for the good old days. Risa was just another extra, she learned how to be tough and survive.

The plot was EXCELLENT. It's creepy and it brings chills whenever I think about it too much. I have read other reviews about this book and they don't seem satisfied with the background because of the lack of information. I think it was enough because if the author put in everything about those times, it would make the story uninteresting. You can use your head to figure out what it might be like. He gives us enough information to understand the book, no more, no less.

The End:

1     2     3     4     5

This is going to be a limited scale as I don't want to spoil the ending. I promise I won't reveal any secrets, but if you want it to be a complete surprise,  STOP READING.

Great, I liked it a lot. Ending is creepy and yet satisfying making you anticipate for another book but not making you rip out your hair because of the cliff-hangar. If I had to say something bad about this, it would be that the ending is kind of cliche.

Final Rank: 

1     2     3     4     5

Summary:

Creepy and enchanting at the same time. I LOVED IT. I have waited a very long time for a good book like this and it seems as though every single detail was planned ahead and so nothing was left out. There was one specific chapter which I found really chilling and kind of scary. This book makes me think a lot and is great for people who want some thrills.

 *Hall of Fame

REVIEW: Delirium

Book: Delirium by Lauren Oliver
Release Date:  August 2nd, 2011 by HarperCollins Children's Books
Pages: 441 Pages
Source: Library Copy

Ninety-five days, and then I’ll be safe.
I wonder whether the procedure will hurt.
I want to get it over with.
It’s hard to be patient.
It’s hard not to be afraid while I’m still uncured, though so far the deliria hasn’t touched me yet.
Still, I worry.
They say that in the old days, love drove people to madness.
The deadliest of all deadly things: It kills you both when you have it and when you don’t.

Delirium has 441 pages, but I finished it all in just a few hours. That should prove how powerful it is. But the funny thing is: I hadn't expect for this book to be this good. I had worried it might be cliche, but that wasn't the case at all. I ended up falling in love (bad pun if you've read the book) with Lauren Oliver's writing skills. The way she described things were so vivid and her characters were fantastic. Especially Hana, one of the greatest best friends I've encountered in all the YA books I've read.

Nicole's Review:

Firstly, I want to say that the plot is amazing. It's frightening realistic, because I've heard of some people who go into a depression because of a bad break-up. And though I've never really experienced it, love is probably a dangerous thing. Kudos to Lauren Oliver who has thoughtfully created this world.

Secondly, Alex is a great guy. He's the love interest of the main character, Lena, and I found him as great as Four in Divergent, which is probably the highest compliment I can give to a fictional guy. Alex is officially on the list of  "Top Fictional Love Interests" along with Four in Divergent and Cole/Jack in Everneath.

So, I guess I'll start my review with Lena and Alex's romance, since we're talking about Alex anyways. I, personally, thought the romance was perfect. Like utterly, completely perfect. I cannot express how sweet Alex was, and I cannot deny how perfect he is for Lena. 

I think that paragraph pretty much sums up their relationship. But thinking back, I realize that Delirium pretty much has a lot of romance (though I think non-romance fans might like it too, depending on their tastes). The reason why I think that is because Delirium has a really good writing style, which captivates readers (sounds cheesy, I know, but it's true).

Not to mention, Lena is a good main character to read about. At times, she can sound slightly stuck-up (example: in the beginning, she kept reminding her friend Hana to not defy the goverment's rules), but she has a reason for it. She's one of those deeper characters with secrets too. Stick with her through the whole book and you can see her character growth of meeting Alex.

In Delirium, I feel like only Lena, Alex, and Hana are really taken time to be developed though. I don't know much about Lena's family (just that they believe strongly in their government). One improvement in this story I'd like to see is Rachel, Lena's sister. Rachel has this "detached" feel to her (it's probably the cure's fault), which almost everyone in Lena's world is like (again, because of the cure). However, I wish Rachel was on Lena's side, instead of being brainwashed by their government. Like maybe she could have been a secret sympathizer.

The other slight problem I had was with the world building. We were told a lot of stuff about this dystopian world but I'm still curious with some questions. Who declared love as a disease? How do they do know it's love that makes people go crazy? Some people don't go crazy for love, so why do all people act like that in Lena's world?

But nonetheless, I still enjoyed this book greatly.

At the end, I literally cried. You may think that sounds stupid, but what happens in the ending is a big twist. And you wouldn't even expect it. When the book finally ends on the last sentence, the sadness of what truly happened hits. I really sincerely felt tears in my eyes.

So yes, if me crying isn't a reason for you to read this book, I don't really know what is. This is a great book and deserves to be read.

*It's in the hall of fame!  

The Summary:

The Good Points: excellent main characters (Alex, Lena), Hana is a really good character, realistic world, the ending (so sad, but it makes you feel something), Lauren Oliver's writing, very good beginning to hook you on the story

The Bad Points: provokes some questions about the world-building, would like to see more character development from Lena's family (both are minor problems)

Final Rank:

 1     2     3     4     5

I'm usually really picky about books. The slightest problems (such as world-building or character development) usually bring down a book's ranking. For a book to be five stars for me, it has to be like absolutely perfect. So when I did notice the world-building/lack of character information, I pondered over a lot of things. Should I give it a 4, 4 and a half for that problem? In the end, I couldn't give it anything less than a 5 even though there were some world-building flaws. I really thought the ending bumped up the ranking, because the ending did make me want to cry. The courage was rare and spectacular. So I'm giving this book a five, because yes, I did love it, flaws and all.

REVIEW: Everneath

Book: Everneath by Brodi Ashton

Release Date: January 24th 2012 by HarperCollins/ Balzer + Bray

Pages: 370

Source: Library (Get used to seeing library here)
Goodreads Page: Click here

Last spring, Nikki Beckett vanished, sucked into an underworld known as the Everneath. Now she's returned--to her old life, her family, her boyfriend--before she's banished back to the underworld . . . this time forever. She has six months before the Everneath comes to claim her, six months for good-byes she can't find the words for, six months to find redemption, if it exists.

Nikki longs to spend these precious months forgetting the Everneath and trying to reconnect with her boyfriend, Jack, the person most devastated by her disappearance--and the one person she loves more than anything. But there's just one problem: Cole, the smoldering immortal who enticed her to the Everneath in the first place, has followed Nikki home. Cole wants to take over the throne in the underworld and is convinced Nikki is the key to making it happen. And he'll do whatever it takes to bring her back, this time as his queen.

As Nikki's time on the Surface draws to a close and her relationships begin slipping from her grasp, she is forced to make the hardest decision of her life: find a way to cheat fate and remain on the Surface with Jack or return to the Everneath and become Cole's queen.

"Everneath" is a captivating story of love, loss, and immortality from debut author Brodi Ashton.

A quick list of stuff I have to type before I write the review:
-The cover looks kind of weird if you look at it closely (The legs crossing over)
-Yeah, its another Sarah review. Your probably sad that I'm not typing in third person. Whatever. Nicole is still behind. So hopefully if she stops procrastinating she'll start catching up. :\  I'm just kidding. :P
-The font and size of the texts will be a bit wacky as for some reason the font thing won't work with me
- I AM NOT THE DRAMATIC TYPE SO I AM NOT BEING BIASED RIGHT NOW

The Romance:

1     2     3     4     5

This scale is different than most. 1 means that there is no romance at all. 5 means this book was a very, very romantic based book. A 3 will be the most common, as YA books surround another plot while dealing with romance too. Below are my thoughts on the romance.

Fortunately and unfortunately there is quite some romance. And by romance I mean drama. And by drama I mean love triangles. And by love triangles, I mean a whole bunch of crazy love things that will probably never happen in real life. But the plot isn't realistic anyway, so I guess it doesn't really matter. But a warning: Be prepared for some frustrating moments 

The Action/ The Adventure:

1     2     3     4     5

The action scale is pretty obvious and it is just like the romance scale. 1 means there was no action. 5 means there was a lot of action. Whether or not the action was good, I'll tell you below.

Surprisingly, there was some action, but it was mostly adventure. And it was some GOOD adventure too. Not just some add-ons that the author felt were necessary to the story but actually just drags the plot. I liked it, and it kept you reading while you were reading (I don't think that makes very much sense, or maybe it does make sense. I don't know, it kind of looks wrong).

The Speed:

1     2     3     4     5

The speed scale tells how fast the story goes. For example, if the introduction is boring and the whole book is going at snail pace, it'll probably be a ranking of 1.

This was surprisingly fast. At least in my head. This was one of those stories where I couldn't stop reading because I was deep into the book. Everneath was one of those rare stories that I can't put down and read until midnight. I absolutely loved how it was fast-paced even though there wasn't action on every corner.

The Plot/ The Perspective/ The Storytelling:

1     2     3     4     5

This isn't based on how much action shows up as the book progresses. It is based on the quality of the plot. Sometimes the plot is just unentertaining while others are the on-the-end-of-your-seat suspenseful. This is probably the scale that you should pay the most attention to.

You already know the plot if you read the summary, so nothing much to say about that. It was a very good idea to use a Persephone story. The layout of the story was absolutely AMAZING. I loved how it went back and forth from present time to the past and how the story just kind of GREW from that point on. It was absolutely beautiful. The perspective came from a girl who, in a way, plays out the role of Persephone. Like other people said, they couldn't really connect with the girl but in my opinion (or excuse) I think to make it more realistic, since the girl is obviously traumatized, they made her very distant.

The End:

1     2     3     4     5

This is going to be a limited scale as I don't want to spoil the ending. I promise I won't reveal any secrets, but if you want it to be a complete surprise,  STOP READING.

I can't say much about this because I'll spoil it. But it is actually quite obvious how its going to end. But it was still absolutely beautiful. And sad. Be prepared for some light crying.

Final Rank: 

1     2     3     4     5

*Hall of Fame!

REVIEW: Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief

Percy Jackson is about to be kicked out of boarding school... again. And that's the least of his troubles. Lately, mythological monsters and the gods of Mount Olympus seem to be walking straight out of the pages of Percy's Greek mythology textbook and into his life. And worse, he's angered a few of them. Zeus' master lightning bolt has been stolen, and Percy is the prime suspect.

Now Percy and his friends have just ten days to find and return Zeus' stolen property and bring peace to a warring Mount Olympus. But to succeed on his quest, Percy will have to do more than catch the true thief: he must come to terms with the father who abandoned him; solve the riddle of the Oracle, which warns him of betrayal by a friend; and unravel a treachery more powerful than the gods themselves.

Percy Jackson is a fantastic book, and a must read. You'll be surprised.

The Romance:

1     2     3     4     5

This scale is going to be a bit weird. 1 will show the lowest and 5 will be the highest as usual. But this will be how much it pops up. There probably is rarely ever going to be a 5, but a 3 will pretty much be expected for all the books I read.

This is an anti-romance book, but if you read into the further books, you might be able to see something. Since this book focuses mainly on the action and adventure, it makes sense to leave it as a non-romance book. So for those Romance Fans and Forever Alone this probably will go well with your taste of books.

The Action/ The Adventure:

1     2     3     4     5

The Action scale is pretty obvious, how much action there is. If the action is good or if the action is bad, I'll tell you in my summary below. An expected rating is around 4 as I tend to read action and adventure books. 

This book is the perfect book for those of you who are looking for an action-packed adventure book. It entertains you and fills all of your needs. This is an epic book, and a must read.

The Speed:

1     2     3     4     5

The Speed scale tells you how fast the story goes. For example, if the introduction is boring and the whole book is going at snail pace, it'll probably be a ranking of 1.

This is a fast-paced book. It goes straight into the action and pretty much never stops. Those of you who are not patient at all, or don't have a long have a long attention span, this book is prefect for you. The Lightning Thief is the edge-of-your seat, read-as-fast-as-humanly-possible type of book, and I'm sure you'll love it.

The Plot/ The Perspective/ The Storytelling:

1     2     3     4     5

This isn't based how much of something shows up as the book progresses, its based on the quality of the plot. Sometimes the plot is just unentertaining while others are the on-the-end-of-your-seat. This is probably the scale that you should pay the most attention to.

The perspective of this book is from Percy Jackson and his storytelling skills are fantastic. Rick Riordan  has created a funny character that perfectly matches with the plot of the story. The plot of the story is great, and is the type that I love: The perfect plot twist.

The End:

1     2     3     4     5

This is going to be a limited scale as I don't want to spoil it. I promise I won't reveal any secrets, but if you want it to be a surprise,  STOP READING.

This has a good wrap up, and says that there is going to be another book. Those types of endings aren't in my favorites and that's pretty much the only reason I gave it a 4. 

The Summary:

Percy Jackson is a great character with a funny sense of humor. The plot is excellent. The end doesn't end in a cliffhanger. This is a perfect book for people who love their adventure and action book. This is a mind-blowingly epic book, and I definitely recommend it. 

*It's in the Hall Of Fame

Final Rank: 

1     2     3     4     5