Monday 27 February 2012

The Look review

The Look
Sophia Bennett
March 1st 2012
Chicken House


Ted is fifteen, and...oh yes...tall. When she's spotted by a model agency, she can't believe it. 

At the same time, Ted's fashionista sister, Ava, is diagnosed with cancer. With her world turned upside down, Ted has a lot of growing up to do, some of it in five-inch platforms. Should she be the model sister for Ava? Life in front of the camera is harder than it looks. And will they still be smiling when it’s over?



The Look is a book that I wasn't expecting to enjoy a great deal, mainlt because it's about modelling (and as much as I love ANTM, I'm not that into modelling as a whole) but the down-to-Earth narrative and other side-plots made it really easy to read and to get lost in.


Ted, I think, was a rather lovely character. She's very under-assuming and doesn't appear to have a great amount of confidence in herself at the start, but even when she did start her journey as a model and started having success, she never let it get the better of her. She never lost herself to prospects of fame and success, and her sister was always at the forefront of her mind. And she is a damn good sister! But I think she struggled a lot with trying to find the balance between being a good sister all the time and letting herself do things she wanted to do. She also let herself get bossed about quite a lot by her, and anyone who blames Ted for 'abandoning' Ava is silly because Ava's the main person who encouraged her to go into modelling anyway!


But that being said, I think Ava was wonderful too. She had cancer, true, but she didn't really change that much. Well, I mean, she did, obviously, and there were times when you saw her at her worst (which was also good because I don't like it when people kind of glorify cancer and cancer patients like they're always fine and sparkling and saintly because that's simply not true), but she was just kind of normal. She just kind of wanted to get on with things normally and try not to worry people or stress them out while coming to terms with the fact that she does have cancer, and there is a possibility that she could die. Which is a lot to deal with. But there was this wonderful scene with Ava and Ted that exemplifies their wonderful sisterly relationship (you'll know the bit I'm talking about).


I also actually really enjoyed the bits about modelling too. It was really great to see both sides of the industry, and I think that, although the second half was a bit unrealistic in terms of her instant success (then again, I know jack about modelling), it was all a pretty accurate and realistic portrayal of getting started in modelling with go-sees and failure and dealing with the harshness of it all at such a young age. Even ANTM doesn't take on 16 year olds! 


One thing: I kind of felt that the romance could've been developed more? But perhaps I'm just saying that because I really, really liked Nick and I really wanted to see more of him and find what had happened to him to make him hate models so much from him POV. I don't know, I just wanted to see a bit more of him is all, though I do think it was important to have most of the focus on Ted and Ava.


The Look is a really fab read, and don't be put off by the idea of being about modelling. No doubt you'll be entranced by Ted's snarky, nervous, down-to-Earth narrative and her love for her sister like I was. A really, really, really good book.

Friday 24 February 2012

ABC Reading Challenge February Giveaway!

So as you may or may not know, I'm one of the co-hosts for the ABC reading challenge along with Mia from Gripped Into Books and April from Book Geek Central, and this week I'm hosting the monthly giveaway! Yeah, I know that I probably should've done this at the beginning of February and all, but I'm a bit rubbish at remembering to do things sometimes. So deal with it ;p


This month the giveaway will be for a book of your choice of a value of anything up to £8 (or the equivalent in whichever currency) from The Book Depository!  Giveaway closes on the 5th of March, and is open internationally! I feel like with the few giveaways I do I should try my hardest to make sure everyone's up for a chance :) Though I do think with this giveaway you have to have entered the challenge. Here's the sign-up sheet if you'd like to check it out! I will be checking!


To enter simply fill out the form :)






Good luck and thank you for entering!

Thursday 23 February 2012

Sabriel review

Sabriel
Garth Nix
May 6th 2003
Harper Collins


For many years Sabriel has lived outside the walls of the Old Kingdom, away from the random power of Free Magic, and away from the Dead who won't stay dead. But now her father, the Charter-Mage Abhorsen, is missing, and to find him Sabriel must cross back into that world. 

Though her journey begins alone, she soon finds companions: Mogget, whose seemingly harmless feline form hides a powerful—and perhaps malevolent—spirit, and Touchstone, a Charter-Mage long imprisoned by magic, now free in body but still trapped by painful memories. 

With threats on all sides and only each other to trust, the three of them must travel deep into the Old Kingdom, toward a battle that will pit them against the true forces of life and death—and bring Sabriel face-to-face with her own hidden destiny.



Sabriel is the first high fantasy book I've read in ages, and though I can't read loads of them at the same time, I do really enjoy them, and Sabriel was no exception for me. I found it to be a little bit slow for the first 100 pages or so, but I really got into it when Mogget was in introduced to the story (honestly, what is it with sarcastic cats always being the best characters? Why can't someone write a whole book about Sarcastic Talking Cats? I would read it.) And the world building is just really, really great. I loved reading the scenes set in Death because I could picture it so well in my head and it's really cinematic in that way. I think it'd make a great anime film or something, Just imagine the paperwings!


Sabriel herself is kind of a perfect example of a strong fantasy heroine, and though I was worried she might be a bit flat or boring, she wasn't. She was kind of a bad ass, you know, for a girl who doesn't really know anything about the Old Kingdom or killing freaking scary Dead things. Though I did like that she also wasn't completely clueless. She hadn't been raised in the Old Kingdom but she'd learnt a sufficient amount of Charter Magic (will get to that in a minute) and had been to Death quite a lot in her life. Also, she just kind of got on with it. Like, she was stressed about it and worried and didn't always knew what to do, but most of time she kept her cool regardless. She didn't let it get to her too much, because she knew there wasn't much of a point getting all flustered and whatnot. It won't help her save her father. I kind of admired that in her. So yeah.


Mogget! Mogget has to go on my list of favourite characters ever.  But again, if you're a sarcastic talking cat, you're pretty much guaranteed a place on that list. He is the best of the best though. Not really a cat, but a super powerful force (there is no other way to describe it) of Free Magic. And because of that he really does stay on this kind of amoral line that, really, most cat characters are on. But he really can be quite bad at some points in the book (though I'm not sure if that's really him. I mean, I know it's him, but I don't know if he's wanting to do it or anything.) But he's on Team Abhorsen for most of the book, so that's got to be a good thing! Plus he's just such a great character. I want a pocket Mogget to take home with me please.


I know I've already said this, but I thought that the world building was fabulous, and I know I'm not a fantasy expert or anything, but I could imagine everything really well. It was all just so well described and well written. And the magic was really cool too. I didn't once feel lost or anything in some complicated magic system, it was just Charter Marks and Free Magic, which are quite easy to get the hang of. Like, some books can just be unnecessarily complicated about magic and this was not one of them. Also, I feel like the story went really well considering there were only really three main characters, you know? Apart from the beginning I didn't really feel it dragging much at all. Though I will say that the romance was a bit unconvincing. It was sweet nevertheless, though, so it's all good, I guess!


So, yeah! Sabriel is a really great fantasy novel that I enjoyed more that I thought I would, with a great, albeit small, cast of characters and worldbuilding that you'll fall in love with. Most likely. Well, I did anyway. ;)

Tuesday 21 February 2012

Top Ten Tuesday: Books I'd Save From an Alien Invasions (Or Some Such Awful Eventitude)

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish where bloggers make lists about books and other suitably bookish things. This week we're doing books that we'd save from an alien invasion...

1. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. Of course I would save these books! Where would I be without them :)

2. Matilda by Roald Dahl. One of my favourite books from when I was younger. I don't think I could leave without taking my copy of it.

3. The Mortal Instruments/Infernal Devices books by Cassie Clare. I have them signed. They must come with me, because I don't think I'll be getting more signed any time soon.

4. Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor. I'm not really that sure why, it just feels kind of special, I guess?

5. Sherlock Holmes books by Arthur Conan Doyle. You guys know of my Sherlock thing by now right?

6. Edgar Allen Poe. I wouldn't take Edgar Allen Poe with me, obviously. He's dead. But I think his dark stories would make a great companion for whatever forthcoming apocolypse that happens! ;)

7. Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins. Light and shade, light and shade. That's all I'm saying.

8. The Fault in Our Stars by John Green. Light and shade and cancer. Those are the three kinds of books you need in the apocalypse. Maybe we could get the aliens to read it and they'd be temporarily blinded by their tears!

Um, I'm not very good at these kinds of lists! I don't know if you can tell, but I don't really have 'special' books that I can't live without... I'd rather just heave my whole bookshelf around with me!

Monday 20 February 2012

A Midsummer Tight's Dream review

A Midsummer Tights Dream 
Louise Rennison
February 2nd 2012
HarperCollins


It’s the hotly anticipated sequel to the winner of the Roald Dahl Funny Prize, WITHERING TIGHTS – laugh your tights off as Tallulah Casey and her bonkers mates return for a new term at Dother Hall performing arts college. Boys, snogging and bad acting guaranteed! 

Yaroooo! Tallulah’s triumphant Heathcliff in ‘Wuthering Heights’ the comedy musical was enough to secure her place at Dother Hall performing arts college for another term. She can’t wait to see her pals again, Charlie and the boys from Woolf Academy and maybe even bad boy Cain… 

When an international visitor comes to stay could the bright lights of Broadway be calling? And for who? Find out in the next Misadventures of Tallulah Casey.



Oh, Tallulah Casey and your mad ways and your mad friends, did I miss you! Honestly, I do adore these books. They're just so funny and mental and a bit of fresh air from all of those serious books I read with plain old boring characters with plain old boring boyfriends and plain old boring stories, (just kidding, I love my normal books that I read), but these books are particularly adorable. They're definitely a bit more middgle grade than young adult, and the teens that like to think they're more grown up than they are probably won't enjoy them, but I think most teen and preteen girls will just kind of relate. Amidst her madness, Tallulah is pretty normal.


And on the subject of Tallulah (she is the main character and all), like I previously said, I adore her! I guess that's really all I'm going to be saying in this review, really... Yeah. Honestly, any one who doesn't like her because she's too silly or too weird or too obsessed with her knobbly knees and her random Irish dancing (which if she does do in the middle of another big play to get a laugh again will probably annoy me, but not by much, because it is entertaining to read). Beneath all of the quirks and funny words she makes up and the fact that her and her friends are a bit posh, she's a normal girl with normal girl concerns and normal girl, well, normalness? Yeah...

Also, I think Louise Rennison almost got me to start think Cain was a moderately, dare I say it, decent person. And that really is something I never thought would happen. Though I did think he would start taking a fancy to Tallulah! I just hope that those rough Northern girls with the Northern grit and their crushes on silly Northern bad-boys don't think that it's Tallulah's fault. Sadly, they already do so... Let's just hope there's no violence! Which considering the fact that it's Louise Rennison there probably won't be. Unless Tallulah randomly starts Irish Dancing again and accidentally kicks one of them on the shin, and I think I may be rambling again. See! These, my friends, are the perils of letting me read books like these. I start to channel them. Next thing you know I'LL be the one Irish Dancing and rubbing my corkers with hiking socks and preparing for wearing the golden slippers of success at a performing arts school failing to pay taxes! Well, not really. But still.

These books really are all about the characters. They're all just so vast and vibrant and riduculously exaggerated, but done in such a way and in such an environment that I don't really mind, because they're just so much fun to read! And they're really quick to read too, though I'm not sure if that's because of the font size or the fact that I can't get enough of them! I didn't think I'd be saying this, but I really can't wait to find out what happens! A whole YEAR for the next book?! That's far too long! But I'll just have to deal. I waited a year for this one! Besides, too much Louise Rennison fun and I'd just be plain spoilt. Though I may have to drag out my sister's copies of the Georgia Nicholson books and read those.. Hmm...

A Midsummer Tights Dream is just as much rollicking, drama based fun as the first book, and it is just as, if not more, enjoyable than the first because we know of Tallulah's shall we say unusual ways and the cast of boys that she's been crushing on. I eagerly anticipate more of Tallulah's Misadventures!

Saturday 18 February 2012

In My Mailbox (66)

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by Kristi at The Story Siren :)



For review:
Seraphina by Rachel Hartman (This looks like a really good fantasy! Thank you Random House.)
Wyrmweald: Bloodhoney by Chris Riddell and Paul Stewart (I actually got this a few weeks ago but I kept on forgetting to include it! I haven't got the first one though. Thank you Random House!)
Unravelling by Elizabeth Norris (This book sounds awesome! Thank you Harpercollins.)
A Midsummer Tights Dream by Louise Rennison (Read this already! Super funny and adorable and I cannot wait for the 3rd book! Thanks again to Harper)
A Confusion of Princes by Garth Nix (Really looking forward to this! I've been reading Sabriel and I love it so this should be great! Thanks once more to Harpercollins) 

What did you get in your mailbox? :)

Thursday 16 February 2012

The Catastrophic History of You and Me review

The Catastrophic History of You and Me
Jess Rothenberg
February 2nd 2012
Puffin books/ Razorbill (UK)


Brie's life ends at sixteen: Her boyfriend tells her he doesn't love her, and the news breaks her heart - "literally." But now that she's in heaven, Brie is about to discover that love is way more complicated than she ever imagined. Back in Half Moon Bay, her family has begun to unravel. Her best friend knows a secret about Jacob, the boy she loved and lost - and the truth behind his shattering betrayal. And then there's Patrick, Brie's mysterious new guide and resident Lost Soul who's been D&G (dead and gone) much longer than she? and who just might hold the key to her forever after. With Patrick's help, Brie will have to pass through the five stages of grief before she's ready to move on? but how do you begin again, when your heart is still in pieces?


This book really took me by surprise. I knew that I would like it, but I was fully prepared for it to be one of those afterlife novels where the protag is just sort of looking back on his/her life and it's good but kind of pretentious and doesn't really have a plot and is just realisations about their life and what not. And for a bit it was just a girl looking back on her life, but then, guys, a plot started happening. Like a bonafide, actual, twisty, awesome plot. I KNOW. 


I really liked Brie and Patrick (though the cheese jokes got real old real fast), and I really enjoyed learning more about them, especially Patrick as we didn't really find out anything as to how he'd ended up D&G until like, the last 100 pages. I thought that Brie was really real, and that the stages of grief were done pretty subtly, which impressed me. Because when I see that a book is set out into parts based on the stages of grief I kind of think that it means that the character is just going to go from one to the next without any real basis for it, you know? But it was done really seamlessly and worked perfectly with the book.

Another one of my favourite things, and I know this is kind of insignificant, but I loved the chapter titles! They were all lyrics from different songs (most of them being 80's songs) and they fit really well with all of the chapters and the themes of the different parts and it was just a really nice touch.

This is the first book I've read in a while (bar Sherlock Holmes stories) that I've read in a while that has actually taken me by surprise a bit. I kind of saw some of coming because of the title, but a lot of it did surprise me and I really liked it. I like how it made you think it was one kind of book and it ended up being kind of different from how you thought it would be. Which now that I write it down sounds kind of stupid, but you get my point.

So, yeah. The Catastrophic History of You and Me is a book that I really ended up enjoying for reasons completely different to how I thought I would enjoy, and I really liked it for that. Totally worth picking up if you want a book that will make you laugh quite a lot and maybe cry a little bit too. (C'mon, it's a book about dead people. Of COURSE it's going to be a little bit sad.)

Tuesday 14 February 2012

Top Ten Tuesday: Books That Broke My Heart a Little

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish where bloggers make lists about books and other suitably bookish things. This week we're doing books that broke our hearts a little bit to go against all this Valentine's day nonsense ;p

1. Delirium by Lauren Oliver. This book didn't break my heart a little, this book broke my heart big time. I cried so much at the end it's ridiculous and slightly embarrasing.

2. If I Stay by Gayle Forman. I'm not quite sure if this book broke my heart, though I guess it kinda did? I cried a lot anyhow. One of the most emotional books I've read by any means.

3. Torn by Cat Clarke. You probably weren't expecting this one to be on the list, it's not really reputed for being terribly upsetting, but the ending is heart-breaking in it's own way. Just the last 30 odd pages had my heart falling to pieces by the truth in it all.

4. Frostbite by Richelle Mead. Probably not the most heartbreaking of the VA series. I've heard it's pretty hard going, but this book did break my heart a bit. And I'm more than happy to let the rest of the series break my heart a bit more. Kind of. As long as by heart breaking I mean Rose and Dimitri skipping off into the sunset happily.

5. Naked by Kevin Brooks. Oh my goodness, this book broke my heart. Completely. Just read it and you will understand the depth of my love for this book and the sadness that is the ending.

6. The Fault in Our Stars by John Green. I can't say anything without spoiling the book but it has MY ETERNAL CREYS.

7.  Stolen by Lucy Christopher. I know the ending was for the best, I know that it was 'right', but that doesn't make it any less heart breaking.

8. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. I just felt really bad for Gatsby, okay!

Um, I can't really think of any more that broke my heart a bit. I know that there must be though. My heart breaks at books so darn easily. But this is my list for now!

Monday 13 February 2012

The Agency: The Body at The Tower review

The Agency: The Body at The Tower
Y. S. Lee
August 10th 2010
Candlewick Press


This is another colourful, action-packed Victorian detective novel about the exploits of agent Mary Quinn. At a young age, Mary Quinn is rescued from the gallows and taken to Miss Scrimshaw's Academy for Girls. The school turns out to be a front for a private detective agency. At age 17, Mary takes on her first case (A Spy in the House). In this, the second book of the series, Mary Quinn sets out to uncover the truth behind a suspicious death at St. Stephen's Tower, better known as the clock tower of the Houses of Parliament. The accident occurred after hours in a highly public part of town and despite the presence of night watchmen. Mary, disguised as Mark Quinn, becomes a builder's assistant to find out the truth about the body at the tower.


Guys. GUYS. I love these books. Honestly, I do. I mean, there's only 3 of them, and I've only read 2 of them, but they are GOOD. I've been on a bit of a historical craze lately, and I kind of saw that as an excuse for buying this book, and I'm glad I did! It was just as good as the first one, with more angst and romantic tension and Victorian goodness that everyone can appreciate. Unless you have some kind of ungodly hatred for the Victorians in which case who are you and why are you here? (Just kidding, I love you even if we have differing tastes on the awesomeness of various historical periods) Where was I again...?


The Victorian settings of these books are always so well done and described, and it's obvious she knows her stuff. I love getting engulfed in the time, and also that she refers to things like the smell of the Thames and just little details. I just really, really love accurate historicals. It makes my history geek self very, very happy, because it means I can read Historical fiction and pretend it counts towards like, education and stuff. Then again, I also counted seeing Captain America as homework for Nazi Germany. Hm.


My goodness, Mary Quinn is possibly one of my favourite heroines. And I know I say that about pretty much every heroine ever, but I am seriously serious about this. For a Victorian lady, she's pretty darn strong. And not-fainty. Also, she was a boy for most of the book. But I love her because she doesn't get all putty-kneed at James Easton, and because she can hold her own in a group of builders and lads lads. Yeah. She's pretty great.


And James Easton! Gosh, I love him! He's hardly a perfect gentlemen when around Mary, but their conversation is stellar and even if they don't get along all the time the tension between them is practically leaping off of the pages (cliché, but SO TRUE). I also love that he has this respect for Mary that most men in those times just wouldn't have, and I really hope that one day he'll find out about the Agency so that they can just get together without all the secrets already.


I think I enjoyed the mystery of the first book more, as this book had lot more of her coming to terms with her identity and her fears and prospective relationships and her as a person, as much as it is about the mystery. I guess it kind of felt like it took a back seat, but that's not a criticism because I really enjoyed getting to see different sides of Mary.


All in all, a great addition to what is becoming one of my favourite series's , and I wholly encourage you to start reading these books! I really must get my hands on the third now!

Thursday 9 February 2012

A Northern Light review

A Northern Light
Jennifer Donnelly
March 25th 2003
Bloomsbury (UK)


Sixteen-year-old Mattie Gokey has big dreams but little hope of seeing them come true. Desperate for money, she takes a job at the Glenmore, where hotel guest Grace Brown entrusts her with the task of burning a secret bundle of letters. But when Grace's drowned body is fished from the lake, Mattie discovers that the letters could reveal the grim truth behind a murder. Set in 1906 against the backdrop of the murder that inspired Theodore Dreiser's An American Tragedy, Jennifer Donnelly's astonishing debut novel effortlessly weaves romance, history, and a murder mystery into something moving, and real, and wholly original. Includes a reader's guide and an interview with the author.


I've been having a bit of a historical thing lately, I just can't get enough of them! And A Northern Light is probably one of the best I've read. It didn't feel like I was reading a historical, it felt like I was reading a book that had been written in 1906. I was completely engrossed in Mattie's world and I was rooting for her so much through the novel. It was just such a great coming-of-age novel, mixed in with romance and mystery and it was just brilliantly well done.


Mattie was an amazing heroine. She wasn't particularly physically strong and she didn't carry an impact like the heroines in big series or anything, but she was real and from the heart. She was a clever girl in a time and a place where it didn't pay to be clever (in fact, it cost rather a lot) and where family and farming all kind of took priority. And I found it really fascinating reading all of the parts with her and Royal together, because I've never really got people who fancy people and love people that they don't even share any interests with, and it was good to get a kind of insight into that. But despite her thing with Royal, I was rooting for her to become independent and to go to New York and to live her dream for her. She was just very down to earth and incredibly modern and relateable for a character in a historical novel.


Also, I loved Miss Wilcox, Mattie's teacher. If I was a clever girl stuck in a farm in the middle of nowhere in 1906 America, she would be like my idol. The secret author of a collection of controversial poetry and trying to escape an unhappy marriage, she was just kind of brilliant. I really wanted to see a bit more of her in the book, and I hope all went well for her and that her and Mattie can meet again. They were just so similar, I guess, and she really helped Mattie make her decisions I think.


Although there was a great deal less mystery than I thought there would be (the book is majorly about Mattie and her life and decisions), I still thoroughly enjoyed it (as you could probably tell already). There were times where the pace kind of faltered, and overall it was quite slow, but there were also lots of place, particularly near the end where it was really intense and I was just hooked.


The main thing I was worried about with this was  that it would be a tragedy. I was so prepared for it to end awfully and sadly and that I would just be crying. I wasn't worried that Mattie would die, as such. I was way more worried for Weaver actually, in that respect. But I did think that it would be kind of tragic in that way that you get when you finish a book and just think 'they could've been so much happier'. I was worried it was going to be like that.


A Northern Light is a brilliant book that may not be the quickest of reads, but is totally worth the effort if you like historicals and coming-of-age stories.  

Tuesday 7 February 2012

Top Ten Tuesday: Books I'd Give To Someone Who 'Doesn't Like To Read'

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish where bloggers make lists about books and other suitably bookish things. This week we're doing books that we'd give to someone who claimed that they didn't like to read.

1. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. This is the book that I give to anyone who says they don't like books. They usually take their words back by the time they're finished.

2. The Mortal Instruments by Cassandra Clare. This was the series that got me back into reading, and the few people I have lent them too seemed to be as hooked as I was ;)

3.  Divergent by Veronica Roth. Another book I make sure to give people if they liked THG. They usually like Divergent too. A lot.

4. Any and all John Green books. Because John Green.

5. Harry Potter. Again, no explanation required.

6. Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins. If someone was a bit wary of reading 'girly books', I think I could sway their opinion with this.. Also, it's just a super quick, lovely read.

7. Paranormalcy by Kiersten White. Another super quick, adorable read, that I think most people who claimed not to like books would like.

8. Sarah Dessen books. While some of them can be a little bit difficult to get into, they are all very accessible, relatable books, and I haven't read one that I didn't like (being that I've only read 6)


9.  Torn by Cat Clarke. A taught, engaging read that any reluctant reader would be gripped by.


10. Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead. This is one series I need to force people to read. Fast paced and gripping, with the bonus of Dimitri, who in their right mind would say no? ;)

Monday 6 February 2012

Legend review

Legend
Marie Lu
February 2nd 2012
Puffin/Razorbill


Born into the slums of Los Angeles, fifteen-year old Day is the country's most wanted criminal. A mysterious boy with no recorded image or fingerprints. A boy who should no longer exist. A boy who watches over his family until one evening, when the plague patrols mark his family's door with an X--the sign of plague infection. A death sentence for any family too poor to afford the antidote. Desperate, Day has no choice; he must steal it. 
Born to an elite family in Los Angeles' wealthy Ruby sector, fifteen-year old June is the Republic's most promising prodigy. A superintelligent girl destined for great things in the country's highest military circles. Obedient, passionate, and committed to her country--until the day her brother Metias is murdered while on patrol during a break-in at the plague hospital. 
Only one person could be responsible.
Day. 
And now it's June's mission to hunt him down.
The truth they'll uncover will become legend.



Legend is another really great dystopian that is sure to grip readers with it's fast pace and action, though I will admit that I didn't think it was as amazing as I thought it was going to be.


I was fully prepared to love Legend, and I was pretty certain that it was going to be like, a 5 star AMAZING read, so I am a little disappointed that it came across as being a little forgettable and predictable. It was still immensely enjoyable though, and I really enjoyed the characters, even though I did think that they were pretty much the same people. It was a fairly quick read, and it was fast paced and gripping for the last 1/3 of it, though it did take me a while to actually properly get into it.


I think my favourite parts of the book were when Day and June first met each other, and they weren't anything to each other apart from the boy and the girl. When June didn't have to be all perfect army girl and Day didn't have to be all bad-ass thief, and it was nice for them to get to know each other without their preconceptions.


I did think that both the characters were very, very similar though. And I know that that might be the point, but if Day had been brought up in a military environment, I think he would've been like a male version of June, and vice versa. I did like the fact that they would do anything for their family, and that family came first, and the last bit of the book did make me sad (though not tear-worthy sad because I could kind of tell that was what was going to happen a mile away). I also enjoyed watching June develop as a character, and depending less on the Republic, and being less blinded by their front. My favourite character, though, was probably Metias. And he was dead for 3/4 of the book... What does that say about me, eh? But there were fragments of him everywhere through June's chapters, and I feel like we got to know him really well through June's memories. I really liked all the themes of family through this book, I guess, because so often I read books about people who'd do anything for love and not give their family much of a second thought. And even though the 2 characters didn't really have a deal of family left, they were still their priority in all this. Also, there wasn't loads of romance, though there is quite a bit... But not enough to make you think that it was a book about love or anything. But I think it will take more of a front seat in the next two books.


I didn't think there was a great deal special about the world (that makes me sound awful..) It 's not that it was bad or anything, it's just that I didn't feel there was anything that stuck out about it that I hadn't seen in a dystopia before. I don't think the book itself is as amazing as it has been made out to be, and this isn't a bad review or anything, I genuinely enjoyed it, I just think that I'm still a bit disappointed that it didn't blow me away, y'know?


Legend is a really good, fast-paced, action filled story, with good characters and just the right amount of romantic tension which you should definitely pick up if your a big dystopia fan :)



Saturday 4 February 2012

In My Mailbox (65)

In my mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by Kristi at The Story Siren :)



Hello everyone! I'm BACK! And you would not believe how much I missed this! But I've had sometime to think about the blog and stuff, and with school and everything, I think that I'm just going to post as much as I can and make sure it's quality instead of posting memes all the time. I'm going to stop doing WoW posts, and I think I'll make IMM a fortnightly thing. I'm going to try and post two reviews a week, but I make no promises. I'm thinking Monday and Thurs review days, Tues top ten Tuesday days and then Sat/Sun IMM, with a discussion post thrown in every now again if I can ever thing of anything worth wile to say. So, yeah, on to the actual IMM post!

Bought:
The Agency: The Body at the Tower by Y.S. Lee (I loved the first book and if you couldn't tell I've been in a historcial/Victorian detective/mystery phase at the minute, and I'd been wanting this for a while any way, so why not!)
The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle (Yes, MORE Sherlock... I've kind of made a deal with myself that I'm not allowed to turn 16 unless I've read the canon. It's kind of just an excuse for me to devour them...)
Moriarty: The Hound of The D'urbervilles by Kim Newman (I've heard pretty good things about this, also, I just liked the sound of it. Also, Sherlock.)

Gifted:
Living Dead Girl by Elizabeth Scott (Thanks to Kirsty at The Overflowing Library for this! She sent me an awesome package full of awesome swag along with this and I happy danced a little...) 

What did you get in your mailbox?

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