This review WILL contain spoilers for previous books in the series, so if you haven’t yet begun this series I urge you not to continue.
It MAY/WILL contain spoilers for LIGHT.

BEWARE OF EMOTIONAL OUTBURSTS, TOO.

‘Turn out the light, Sam.’
Sam reached for the switch and turned out the light.

Title: Light, Gone #6
Author: Michael Grant
Publication: April 1st, 2013 by Egmont Books
Format, pages: Hardcover, 576
Age Group: Young Adult
Genre: Science Fiction, Apocalyptic
My Rating:  

IT’S THE END OF ONE OF MY FAVOURITE SERIES!

From Goodreads:

It’s been more than a year since every person over the age of fifteen disappeared from the town of Perdido Beach, California. In that time, countless battles have been fought: Battles against hunger and lies and plagues and worse, battles of good against evil, and kid against kid. Allegiances have been won, lost, betrayed, and won again; ideologies have been shattered and created anew, and the kids of the FAYZ have begun to believe that their new society is the only life they’ll ever know. But now that the Darkness has found a way to be reborn, the tenuous existence they‘ve established is likely to be shattered for good. Will the kids of Perdido Beach even survive?

Light, the sixth and final book in the New York Times bestselling Gone series (which has spanned more than 3,000 pages!) asks as many profound and provocative questions as it answers, while bestselling mastermind and author Michael Grant creates an unforgettable, arresting conclusion that readers won’t able to stop talking about.

For the past four years I’ve followed Michael Grant’s Gone series. I’ll admit I came to this party almost three years late. One day browsing Borders I stumbled upon this book with blue-edged pages. That book was, of course, the UK hardcover of Lies, the third book in the series, which had just been released. On impulse, and being ignorant of the fact that it was the third in a series, I bought it. I liked the blue. But I had no idea that that impulse buy, sheerly on the colour and design of the book, would introduce me to a series of impressively written teenage characters, many whom to fall in love with, a series to follow and be apart of until the end in years to come (e.g., now), and a series to call one of my favourites.

This series also made me a fan of Michael Grant, an author who consistently pushes the boundaries of reality, of fiction for teens and young adult, producing a world such as the FAYZ that could very well happen, and a diverse range of characters, of young people, that could very well attend your school, or even be in your class, with crippling secrets and haunting pasts, with feelings and fears and desires that you would otherwise never had known they possessed if you did not take the chance to meet them, follow their stories, experience what they experienced, how they changed, for the better or for the worst. For the past six years, six books, three thousand pages, from Gone all the way to Light, that is exactly what we, the readers, did. We took a chance and met Michael Grant’s characters – Sam, Caine, Astrid, Diana, Pete, Quinn, Edilio, Lana, Brianna, Jack and all those others. Even Drake and Brittany and the gaiaphage/Gaia. We took the plunge into Michael Grant’s story, followed it from beginning to end, because we found something special within it, grew an attachment to it – whatever ‘it’ was. For me it definitely was the characters, their struggles and triumphs, their fears and doubts, their beginnings and ends, that made me keep returning. After reading the conclusion, the finale, the endgame, it was sad to say goodbye. It truly was.

So thank you Michael Grant. For this series. For these characters. For a story and message(s) that will linger, forever, deep within, and whenever I look upon my shelf and see those books I will remember what they hold: the power to choose – the power to choose good, be good, wield good. To not be afraid. To be someone that chooses wisely, someone who uses their power – whatever that power may be – for good in changing and making the world a much better place to live in. Every teenager that reads these books will understand, despite whatever they’re battling – depression, illness, failure, suicide, heartbreak, loss, addiction, sexuality, among others – that the power lies in their hands, and we can only hope that they discover that power and use it to emit light, guidance, strength – a future to look forward to. And just like what I deduced from Fear, it’s up to ourselves to transcend our deepest and darkest fears.

Michael Grant understands his readers, the modern teenager, and enhances his stories with this understanding. After all, we need to battle through darkness to discover a world of light. Adults censoring or banning such works like Michael Grant’s from their children could learn a thing or two, with the adults doing much more harm to those their “protecting” than these books could ever do: none and quite the opposite.

It’s not easy ending a series and Michael Grant ended it with integrity and intrepidity, both of those things I love to see in what I read. There was a lot of horror and pain, torment and loss in Light – all of that belongs to be in the book, rightfully, dutifully. Because, after all, we are human; there’s good and evil in each and every one of us, chances for redemption and atonement if we allow ourselves change in our lives, a chance to love and respect, a chance to live and survive. We have that right if we choose to accept it. There are other times when we are far beyond being given the right to choose, clouded too heavily in darkness. That the choice, if there ever was one, was made without us even knowing, subconsciously, predetermined. This was the case with Drake. He was predetermined to take on a dark role within the FAYZ, and there really was no change in him since the first book other than physically and in his thirst for more power.

February was a pretty great month in terms of reading. I read two novellas and 11 novels – give or take considering I finished a couple I had begun either last month or last year – which put me 7-8 books ahead of my Goodreads Reading Challenge.

Let’s see with uni beginning today that I can uphold my reading challenge and stay ahead this month in March.

Oh. Em. Gee. It’s March already?

To read the Praying For Rain novella, visit Jay Kristoff’s site here and then click on ‘Bonus Stage’ in the top right.

Reviews:

When We Wake by Karen Healey
What the Raven Saw by Samantha-Ellen Bound
Shades of Earth by Beth Revis
Song in the Dark by Christine Howe
Praying For Rain by Jay Kristoff - Novella
Cinder by Marissa Meyer – Review Yet to be Posted
The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken
Aftermath by Andrea Cremer - Novella
Shadow Kiss by Richelle Mead
Light by Michael Grant – Review Yet to be Posted
Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver
The Mirrored Shard by Caitlin Kittredge - Review Yet to be Posted
The Ask and the Answer by Patrick Ness – No Review to Come

Title: The Darkest Minds
Author: Alexandra Bracken
Publication: December 18th, 2012 by Disney Hyperion // December 11th, 2012 by HarperCollins Australia
Format, pages: Hardcover, 488 // Paperback, 496
Age Group: Young Adult
Genre: Science Fiction, Dystopia
My Rating:  

From Goodreads:

When Ruby woke up on her tenth birthday, something about her had changed. Something alarming enough to make her parents lock her in the garage and call the police. Something that gets her sent to Thurmond, a brutal government “rehabilitation camp.” She might have survived the mysterious disease that’s killed most of America’s children, but she and the others have emerged with something far worse: frightening abilities they cannot control.

Now sixteen, Ruby is one of the dangerous ones.

When the truth comes out, Ruby barely escapes Thurmond with her life. Now she’s on the run, desperate to find the one safe haven left for kids like her—East River. She joins a group of kids who escaped their own camp. Liam, their brave leader, is falling hard for Ruby. But no matter how much she aches for him, Ruby can’t risk getting close. Not after what happened to her parents.

When they arrive at East River, nothing is as it seems, least of all its mysterious leader. But there are other forces at work, people who will stop at nothing to use Ruby in their fight against the government. Ruby will be faced with a terrible choice, one that may mean giving up her only chance at a life worth living.

The Darkest Minds was my first Alexandra Bracken book and I was pleasantly surprised. Despite the length of the book, which did cause a few difficulties while reading, The Darkest Minds had characters that you couldn’t help to fall in love with. This book took me over a month to get through and that was solely because of the length. I felt it didn’t need to be that long and some things could’ve been cut out. It was about halfway in which my interest was fading, so I took a break, and then after a few weeks I returned full force, determined to finish it. Surprisingly, I jumped back into Ruby’s story with ease and swept all the way to the end without any struggles. The outcome of this book was satisfying, so I’m eager to see where Ruby’s and Liam’s journeys continue and where Bracken develops this society next in the series.

Children in America are becoming affected with the Idiopathic Adolescent Acute Neurodegeneration (IAAN) disease from the age of 10. There is no cure yet for this disease, which triggers a number of symptoms, and the cause of it is unknown. Families do not know what to do so they turn their kids towards rehabilitation camps – if they haven’t already died – in large numbers. Ruby was one of those kids, who, upon learning that she was not immune when she turned 10, frightens her parents and is sent to a rehabilitation camp, Thurmond, joining a multitude of other children in the same circumstance with similar symptoms of the disease. Families and the government is so against this disease because when children discover they’re affected with IAAN they also discover they have abilities, special abilities – abilities that are a hazard to the running of the world that the adults knew before. These kids do not know how to control these abilities that they now possess.

Six years on and things are slowly evolving, becoming different, changing in this society regarding the government, the camps, and the world at large. For six years at Thurmond Ruby manages to keep in check, but when the chance of escape presents itself with the help of an secretive agency called The League, Ruby takes it and soon after a few revelations, finds herself on the run from anybody that would stop her. In the process she finds company in a small group of Psi generation kids still learning to control their powers and trying to survive in their bleak present world on their own. Along with Chubs, Suzume, and Liam, they search for a camp that was everything they could ever need at this time in their lives, where everything was a struggle and protection was what they sought, no matter the cost to get there. Was it all that it was rumoured to be once they got there? Surely not. Ruby learns the hard way whether trust or secrecy is the only option to stand by in order to survive.

If anything, The Darkest Minds is a character driven book. It was not the society and Bracken’s world building that struck a chord with me to make me return but the characters. The characters of Ruby, Liam, Chubs, and Suzumi would be the main reasons to return if you didn’t enjoy The Darkest Minds as a whole. Their characterisations are blissful individually as well as their dynamics together. The relationship between Ruby and Liam was enticing and full of colours – like the colours to categorise the different symptoms and abilities of IAAN. I found no flaw in the development of their connection as friends and their relationship as young teens in love. And the protectiveness that builds between Ruby and Liam over Suzume and Chubs with whatever threats came their way was endearing. I have so much admiration for Ruby and Liam; they remain themselves throughout everything. I looked up to Liam, confident in his ability to help those around him – with zero help from his powers – and his understanding of others, especially of Ruby. Chubs was a modern-day Piggy from The Lord of the Flies, who will win readers’ hearts, and so will Suzume, our mute little Japanese girl, so scared of her ‘shocking’ powers that it has dominated her ability to connect and express with those around her.

I say: pick up The Darkest Minds and make your own judgement about it. Alexandra Bracken has written something that contributes to the number of books and series, such as William Golding’s classic The Lord of the Flies and Michael Grant’s Gone series, in a way that expresses the true nature of human beings, and especially teens, when put in harsh circumstances of survival, where a battle for life and the imminence of death is present, whether set in the real world or in a fantasy and sci-fi set society. These are my favourite types of stories, where humanity is stretched to impossible ends, where innocence is lost, and where self-preservation fights against self-corruption in a raw battle of good and evil.

Thank you to HarperCollins Australia via NetGalley for providing a copy to review.

What others said about this book:

Anna @ Literary Exploration:

I can’t tell you how much I needed a hug by the time it was over, and how badly I want to get my hands on whatever Bracken has in store for me next. If you haven’t already considered reading Darkest Minds you’ll definitely want to add this one to your TBR.

Erin @ Tales of an Inner Book Fanatic:

…The Darkest Minds sets up a fantastic start to a YA trilogy. Containing all of the right elements including action-oriented sequences, an intriguing set of characters and some pretty cool superpowers that all readers will love to have themselves…

Others books in this series:

1. Darkest Minds (December, 2012)
2. Never Fade (November, 2013)
3. Untitled (December, 2014)

Title: Song in the Dark
Author: Christine Howe
Publication: February 21, 2013 by Penguin Australia
Format, pages: Paperback, 216
Age Group: Young Adult
Genre: Contemporary
My Rating:  

From Goodreads:

Where do you end up when you have nowhere to go, and no one to turn to?

Paul isn’t thinking clearly. After destroying a series of relationships – with his friends, his flatmates, his mum – he finally hurts the one person he cares about most of all. And then he runs away.

An extraordinary and heartrending story of love, betrayal, addiction and hope.

Christine Howe’s debut novel Song in the Dark is a book of tough and mature themes definitely written for a mature young adult audience. It’s nice to know that some authors write to not squeeze into what’s popular within the age group such as young protagonists, cliched romances, and genre trends, but write matters that have meaning and levels of emotionality that you wouldn’t see elsewhere. Song in the Dark is one of those, but sadly for me, I didn’t quite connect with the book. I mean, it was good. But as it was written in third perspective it was hard to connect with our main character Paul as he hurts people he loves, family and friends, and runs away to recover at a rehab treatment centre for his marijuana addiction. I felt incredibly distant from him because of it; maybe it’s because I’m the polar opposite. If it were written in first there might’ve been a difference in the way I felt about this book. Despite it being short and a quick read I had skimmed about 30% of it and that’s really a shame.

Thanks to Penguin Australia via NetGalley for the egalley to review.

• • •

Title: Shadow Kiss, Vampire Academy #3
Author: Richelle Mead
Publication: November 13th, 2008 by Razorbill
Format, pages: Paperback, 348
Age Group: Young Adult
Genre: Paranormal, Romance
My Rating:  

From Goodreads:

It’s springtime at St. Vladimir’s Academy, and Rose Hathaway is this close to graduation. Since making her first Strigoi kills, Rose hasn’t been feeling quite right. She’s having dark thoughts, behaving erratically, and worst of all… might be seeing ghosts.

As Rose questions her sanity, new complications arise. Lissa has begun experimenting with her magic once more, their enemy Victor Dashkov might be set free, and Rose’s forbidden relationship with Dimitri is starting to heat up again. But when a deadly threat no one saw coming changes their entire world, Rose must put her own life on the line – and choose between the two people she loves most.

Richelle Mead has soooo many passionate fans the world over for her Vampire Academy series and I think I slowly am becoming one. I’ve taken my time – even if poorly – with this series and it’s a goal to finish the series this year. Shadow Kiss, the third instalment in the series, was packed with thrilling if not emotional moments, especially the ending between Lissa and Rose. It’s such a genuinely complex relationship between friends and one of the best I’ve read; there’s a lot of depth and history to their friendship that you don’t see anywhere else. It’s at that ending that it explodes and Rose and Lissa ricochet their own ways, and it’s funny how it’s both their faults. I look forward to reading the next three in this series following Rose and the path she takes to find Dimitri. This was a great instalment and the next books seem like they’re just going to cascade down on me.

• • •

Title: Pandemonium, Delirium #2
Author: Lauren Oliver
Publication: February 28th, 2012 by HarperCollins Children’s Books
Format, pages: Hardcover, 375
Age Group: Young Adult
Genre: Dystopia, Science Fiction, Romance
My Rating:  

“So what was your name before?” I say, and she freezes, her back to me. “Before you came to the Wilds, I mean.”For a moment she stands there.

Then she turns around.

“You might as well get used to it now,” she says with quite intensity.

“Everything you were, the life you had, the people you knew… dust.”

She shakes her head and says, a little more firmly, “There is no before. There is only now, and what comes next.”

After falling in love, Lena and Alex flee their oppressive society where love is outlawed and everyone must receive the “cure” – an operation that makes them immune to the delirium of love – but Lena alone manages to find her way to a community of resistance fighters. Although she is bereft without the boy she loves, her struggles seem to be leading her toward a new love.

Title: Dualed
Author: Elsie Chapman
Publication: February 26th, 2013 by Random House Books for Young Readers
Format, pages: Hardcover, 304
Age Group: Young Adult
Genre: Science Fiction, Dystopia, Thriller
My Rating:  

From Goodreads:

You or your Alt? Only one will survive.

The city of Kersh is a safe haven, but the price of safety is high. Everyone has a genetic Alternate—a twin raised by another family—and citizens must prove their worth by eliminating their Alts before their twentieth birthday. Survival means advanced schooling, a good job, marriage—life.

Fifteen-year-old West Grayer has trained as a fighter, preparing for the day when her assignment arrives and she will have one month to hunt down and kill her Alt. But then a tragic misstep shakes West’s confidence. Stricken with grief and guilt, she’s no longer certain that she’s the best version of herself, the version worthy of a future. If she is to have any chance of winning, she must stop running not only from her Alt, but also from love . . . though both have the power to destroy her.

Elsie Chapman’s suspenseful YA debut weaves unexpected romance into a novel full of fast-paced action and thought-provoking philosophy. When the story ends, discussions will begin about this future society where every adult is a murderer and every child knows there is another out there who just might be better.

Elsie Chapman’s young adult debut Dualed at first looks like it could roundhouse kick every other book near it off the shelf and crashing to the floor, but upon reading and closer inspection, Dualed may just trip over its own feet. Don’t get me wrong, Dualed was an action filled, pulse thumping read and I relished in the story and the protagonist of West, but this book and the execution of this idea was heavily skewed, that it ran with a one-minded approach, that no matter how much I wanted to cheer and get behind our characters West and Chord, I couldn’t help thinking about the Alts that have fallen, the “foes” that I did not get to know.

Dualed brandishes the saying ‘Survival of the Fittest’ with the city of Kersh using it as a way for conformity, for honour, for advancement in its citizens. Every individual has a genetically identical twin – known as an Alternate (Alt for short) – with a different family, way of living, etc. At fifteen, each person is given an assignment of killing their Alt, and the one to survive acquires life benefits that they wouldn’t have gotten previously – better everything. West Grayer, our protagonist, aids forbiddingly her boyfriend with terminating his Alt, but in the process her brother is killed (no spoiling, this is within the first chapter). West then joins the Strikers, a hidden organisation that targets Alts before assignments even begin and hired by the wealthy, to find strength in herself and some vengeance for her brother’s premature death. But while she does she gets her own assignment, given information to her Alt’s whereabouts, and must bring down her Alt if she is to survive in the end.

Like I said, Dualed is very much one-sided. We only get this story through the point of view of West, so by the time it comes to her facing her Alt all we understand and told about is West’s drive to come out of this dual alive. The Alts are one-sided, only ever seen as the enemy (besides Kersh to the Strikers), and it is only here and there that we can piece together the life of the Alt through West visiting her Alt’s home, spying on her Alt, seeing how her Alt does things. This novel could have been well executed if we were given the point of view of West’s Alt as well. We hardly got to know her. We actually knew really nothing about her except her parents care for her and are, how it always go, on her side. It’s a very flat society – one-sided. I would have enjoyed it more if the ending was also quite different. Again, the ending was very one-sided, not budging that flatline up or down; it frustrated me to no end because I wanted there to be something, a change in our characters, a change in the way this book ended.

Also, the Alts barely said a single word, such as in the confrontation between West and her Alt, the climax of the book. Poor.

West, however, was a character I did like. She was stubborn to the point that stubbornness was tolerable because it showed that she would rather go into a fight with the first swing than stand back, cowering in the corner, waiting to be hit first. After all, look at the society that she lives in. Her protectiveness and sort of maternal trait comes out when she refrains from killing a boy for her Striker assignment but rather protects him from others, teaching him to fight, teaching him to protect himself. I liked her until the end, until the end where I thought something – something like realisation, or defiance (like she showed previously) – was going to make her drop her weapons and walk away, possibly hand in hand with her Alt to start a rebellion and bring down the higher powers of Kersh. But no.

The book on a whole, without thinking about what I would’ve like to have been done differently on Chapman’s part and getting all philosophical and humanitarian-like, was solid. Not the best. But solid. It was enjoyable, tense, suspenseful. If you’re after heavy, well developed and thought out science fiction or dystopians than you might want to look elsewhere. Dualed will spike your blood pressure; as well as your inner critic. But Elsie Chapman is surely an author to watch out for in years to come; she can write pretty great action scenes.

Thanks to Random House for Young Readers via NetGalley for the egalley to review.

What others said about this book:

Wendy @ The Midnight Garden:

All that said, this one definitely satisfies if you’re looking for a fast-paced, suspenseful read. I literally read it in a day, which is a statement in itself of its high entertainment factor!

Other books in this series:

1. Dualed (February, 2013)
2. Divided (February, 2014)

This review may contain spoilers for the previous two books in the trilogy.

*

Title: Shades of Earth, Across the Universe #3
Author: Beth Revis
Publication: January 15th, 2013 by Razorbill 
Format, pages: Hardcover, 369
Age Group: Young Adult
Genre: Science Fiction
My Rating:  

From Goodreads:

Amy and Elder have finally left the oppressive walls of the spaceshipGodspeed behind. They’re ready to start life afresh–to build a home–on Centauri-Earth, the planet that Amy has traveled 25 trillion miles across the universe to experience.

But this new Earth isn’t the paradise Amy had been hoping for. There are giant pterodactyl-like birds, purple flowers with mind-numbing toxins, and mysterious, unexplained ruins that hold more secrets than their stone walls first let on. The biggest secret of all? Godspeed‘s former passengers aren’t alone on this planet. And if they’re going to stay, they’ll have to fight.

Amy and Elder must race to discover who–or what–else is out there if they are to have any hope of saving their struggling colony and building a future together. They will have to look inward to the very core of what makes them human on this, their most harrowing journey yet. Because if the colony collapses? Then everything they have sacrificed–friends, family, life on Earth–will have been for nothing.

FUELED BY LIES.
RULED BY CHAOS.
ALMOST HOME.

WHY DID I PUT Shades of Earth OFF FOR FIFTEEN DAYS?!!! ARGHHH! Yes. Fifteen days is a long time to put off a book that was number five on your ten most anticipated books of the year. And a book that. Was. Just. Soooooooo. Good. And evil! And Good! No… IT WAS AWESOME!

‘What is in our hearts is real whether we name it or let it exist only in darkness or silence.’

Okay. So. Beth Revis is evil … a genius … an evil genius. Why can’t all YA authors be like her? Seriously. All those other authors need to step up to the plate and show some true bravery and release their inner mad[wo]man. It’s the words written by the psychopath side of you that will surprise whoever reads your book. It’s true. That’s something that will make me buy and read a book immediately. Speculating about what might happen would just be a huge waste of time and preparing yourself is the best that you can do – I knew since Across the Universe that Beth Revis’s books are just those you have to prepare for. But in Shades of Earth, I didn’t even think to prepare myself – there was no time to. Revis – literally – blew my mind before I had time to prepare my fortifications and protect what little innocence I had left. Her fiery barrages of surprises, twists and turns, smouldered that innocence to ash.

Across the Universe introduced us to Godspeed, to its functioning and purpose, to Amy and Elder, and to a mysterious and thrilling new story in space. A Million Suns raised the stakes aboard Godspeed higher, tearing the civilians in two, while more revelations about Godspeed came to light. Shades of Earth raises the stakes even higher, as high as they can possibly go, as high as the tallest building in the world. Yeah, that’s high. In Shades of Earth we see the shuttle with Amy and Elder, the thousand-and-something other Godspeedians, and the eighty-or-so cryogenically frozen people land on Centauri-Earth despite a few malfunctions. Once they land a number of events occur… And that’s where I’ll stop… Shades of Earth is no happily ever after.

What I would’ve liked to have seen is much more of Centauri Earth and the creatures that inhabit it. There certainly was quite a few twists in what little we did see of it, but just more of it would’ve been nice. Despite that, the world building is pretty incredible. Amy and Elder, the shipborns and the Earthborns, had no idea what they were getting into, had no idea what Centauri Earth is like. So Shades of Earth was quite an absorbing book as we discovered this new planet – or like I said, this corner of it – at the same time the characters did. Revis instills fear in the reader just as she instills fear in her characters, experiencing things together at the same time.

So much has happened to these characters we’ve grown to love or despise since Across the Universe to the end of Shades of Earth. I feel like there’s much more that can happen in this universe, on this planet, with how the trilogy concluded. Beth Revis could write another trilogy or other books, further expanding, further developing, further exploring the entirety of Centauri-Earth. I have already in my dreams thought about story lines that could be written post-Shades of Earth, story lines that a season 4, a season 5, a season 6 could possibly use if these books were ever adapted for the TV. I’d even alter the very ending of Shades of Earth so that the story would further develop and continually roll out the surprises that Beth Revis is known for. If I’m given the opportunity to adapt these books to the TV I would do it with dignity, with respect, with a love for the source material. But I digress.

The plot in Shades of Earth continually evolved, continually kept you questioning, on your feet, running, hiding, gasping for air, in astonishment, in terror, in shock. BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! this book went, the explosions galore helping me since I did not have to shave before work the next day. The trilogy arc is something I’ve been quite impressed with – one of the best I’ve ever had the pleasure of reading. Whoever at Razorbill/Penguin told Beth Revis that the story could develop after Across the Universe, whoever pushed Beth Revis to write another two books, whoever believed in Beth Revis and her divine storytelling and the potential in life after Across the Universe should be awarded a medal of some kind. Seriously. Revis had a plan since the start and it ended in ways I did not expect. Shades of Earth was an explosive conclusion, raining down revelations and debris all around.

I must add something that I took notice of and must spotlight. There was this new character Adam. He was made to be a new love interest for Amy, someone to cause tension and conflict between Amy and Elder. But to be honest, whoever calls that a love triangle is seriously mistaken. Yes, she was attracted to his looks. Yes, she flirted. Yes, they spent some time together. But there was a moment where Adam leaned in towards Amy to give her a kiss. But Amy refused it, turning her head away. I had always loved Amy since the beginning, but this moment proved that she was mature, not constantly seeking attention, not wanting to make out and be with every guy she finds attractive under the sun. Because she is with Elder. And Elder is with her. This shows that she’s head-strong. This shows that she’s loyal – to Elder, as well as to others. It was a trait of hers that I found to be the most memorable. I guess I have to talk about Elder now too? Well, Elder was great. He was loyal, driven, brave, and determined to protect Amy and everyone, even those he had rivalled with in the past, putting himself in harm’s way for the betterment of everybody else. He was a hero; she was a heroine. Together they were gold.

‘I learned that life is so, so fragile. I learned that you can know someone for just days and never forget the impression he left on you. I learned that art can be beautiful and sad at the same time. I learned that if someone loves you, he’ll wait for you to love him back. I learned that how much you want something doesn’t determine whether you get it or not, that “no” might not be enough, that life isn’t fair, that my parents can’t save me, that maybe no one can.’

The conclusion to this trilogy is one not be missed. Although it might leave you with post traumatic stress disorder for the rest of your life, Shades of Earth is worth it. Whatever other book Beth Revis comes out with will be worth it. Being Beth Revis right at this moment would be a pretty good feeling. If I ever meet Beth… When I meet Beth… oh, man, I cannot fathom not meeting Beth and not being able to stroke the head that holds that brain built from epicness, the brain that produced such an awesome trilogy that is the Across the Universe trilogy.

Hi, Beth! … … … … *flails*

What others have said about this book:

Author Amie Kaufman:

I just… I loved this book. The author was brave. She went places. Get it, read it. Gosh, just read it.

Other books in this series:

1. Across the Universe (January, 2011)
2. A Million Suns (January, 2012)
3. Shades of Earth (January, 2013)

Title: When We Wake
Author: Karen Healey
Publication: January 27th, 2013 by Allen & Unwin
Format, pages: Paperback, 291
Age Group: Young Adult
Genre: Science Fiction, Speculative Fiction, Dystopia
My Rating:  

From Goodreads:

The last thing Tegan remembers is the crack as the gun went off, intense pain, and everything fading to black. One hundred years later, she wakes up. A fast-paced near-future romance. 

Sixteen-year-old Tegan is just like every other girl living in 2027 – she’s happiest when playing the guitar, she’s falling in love for the first time, and she’s joining her friends to protest the wrongs of the world: environmental collapse, social discrimination, and political injustice.

But on what should have been the best day of Tegan’s life, she dies – and wakes up a hundred years in the future, locked in a government facility with no idea what happened.

Tegan is the first person to be cryonically frozen and successfully revived, which makes her an instant celebrity – though all she wants is to rebuild some semblance of a normal life …
including spending as much time as possible with musically gifted Abdi, even if he does seem to hate the sight of her. But the future isn’t all she hoped it would be, and when appalling secrets come to light, Tegan must make a choice: Does she keep her head down and survive, or fight for a better future.

Award-winning author Karen Healey has created a gripping tale of an inspiring heroine living in a not-so-distant future that could easily be our own.

At first sight When We Wake will call out for you, its bright, sharp, and almost white cover standing out on the shelf amongst the other covers, too dark in comparison. What the cover of When We Wake achieves is a sense of questioning already in the reader, and once the words ‘cryogenically frozen’ in the synopsis are read and connected to the cover, there would be no going back, no putting Karen Healey’s new science fiction offering back on the bookshop shelf. When We Wake provides a quite different future from today’s world, from today’s Australia, packed with political, global, and humanitarian themes involving activism, social justice, distribution of propaganda, corruption, and deceit. Whatever it is that you enjoy, either the science fiction or speculative fiction elements, When We Wake will fascinate you to no end.

It was the year 2027 when sixteen-year-old Tegan Oglietti joined a rally about climate change on the steps of Melbourne’s parliament house with her boyfriend Dalmar and was killed by a sniper. Thanks to her humanitarian beliefs of signing up to be an organ donor, Tegan wakes up 100 years later, the first to wake up after being cryogenically frozen. Tegan had become a major part of a government program to bring soldiers and casualties of war back to life due to the progress of science, but Tegan seeks out the truth in this changed world, much different to the one she knew. Because of the cryogenic freezing Tegan has become the newest celebrity, bringing fame but then also hate from religious and extremist groups who want to see her dead. Among all this, staying true to herself becomes her greatest test.

Tegan is quite a likeable and relatable character. Dealing with change, almost instantly in her case, isn’t easy, but Tegan deals with it with maturity and modesty, thankful that she gets to live a second life, but dejected it won’t be with her parents, brother, her friend Alex, and boyfriend Dalmar. Her predicament proves her fighting strength to adapt and make change with her longing for the past and the desolation that resides inside her. She never stops questioning, never forgets who she was before she was shot, always determined to protect the memories of her old life and the friends she makes in her new life.

How the future in 2127 is described will make you tremble at the terror of how our very own future may look like (e.g., Australia’s no-migrant policy and denigration of third-world countries) or cry in delight at things like marriage equality, diversity, and if you are vegetarian or vegan, the way the future may lean to your advantage. The setting on a global scale was well detailed. I’m looking forward to exploring Karen Healey’s futuristic world in the next books. As a bonus, if there is a possible space setting in them, then Healey will hit the nail on the head in terms of setting execution.

There was much to enjoy about When We Wake. I found there to be a sort of The Hunger Games in there with Tegan attracting fame and attention and therefore must act like a token figure the government wants her to be. She’d get dressed up, outfit, make up and all, and have to participate in media interviews. Very The Hunger Games-esque, but Healey adds her own ingredients to make it distinctly different. I also loved that it was set in Melbourne, and since this is my home city, it instilled some pessimism in me, a trait which I never want to possess. If someone can do that then you’ve got a winner on your hands. When We Wake did have its moments where I lost interest, but that’s nothing in comparison to all the positives.

Karen Healey has written a strikingly fresh new future through the eyes of Tegan Oglietti. While We Run: come at me!

Thanks to Allen & Unwin for a copy to review.

What others thought about this book:

Mandee @ Vegan YA Nerds:

When We Wake is a unique look at a futuristic world, featuring a solid cast of characters, and an intriguing and action-packed plot. It’s ahead of the pack when it comes to dystopian YA.

Tez @ Tez Says:

I haven’t read anything by Karen Healey before, but I’m glad to have started with the best.

Other books in this series:

1. When We Wake (February, 2013)
2. While We Run (February, 2014)

Title: Pivot Point
Author: Kasie West
Publication: February 12th, 2013 by HarperTeen
Format, pages: Hardcover, 352
Age Group: Young Adult
Genre: Science Fiction, Romance
My Rating:  

From Goodreads:

Knowing the outcome doesn’t always make a choice easier . . .

Addison Coleman’s life is one big “What if?” As a Searcher, whenever Addie is faced with a choice, she can look into the future and see both outcomes. It’s the ultimate insurance plan against disaster. Or so she thought. When Addie’s parents ambush her with the news of their divorce, she has to pick who she wants to live with—her father, who is leaving the paranormal compound to live among the “Norms,” or her mother, who is staying in the life Addie has always known. Addie loves her life just as it is, so her answer should be easy. One Search six weeks into the future proves it’s not.

In one potential future, Addie is adjusting to life outside the Compound as the new girl in a Norm high school where she meets Trevor, a cute, sensitive artist who understands her. In the other path, Addie is being pursued by the hottest guy in school—but she never wanted to be a quarterback’s girlfriend. When Addie’s father is asked to consult on a murder in the Compound, she’s unwittingly drawn into a dangerous game that threatens everything she holds dear. With love and loss in both lives, it all comes down to which reality she’s willing to live through . . . and who she can’t live without.

Kasie West’s young adult debut novel Pivot Point is a great example of an interesting and fresh idea turned into a compulsively readable and well executed book. What West excels at is her ability in weaving two timelines of two separate futures together seamlessly, each with its own events, characters, mysteries, and romances. With this we see Addie’s two juxtaposing worlds, her Para life in the Compound surrounded by others with high intellectual and mind powers like her, as well as her Norm life outside the Compound in Dallas, Texas where she must keep her abilities a secret and pretend to be a Norm – normal human.

Addie is able to see into the future because she is a Searcher, which means that whenever she must make a choice she is able to experience and look at the two futures and their consequences, making her choice that much easier to make. What forces Addie to Search and which springs the novel’s plot(s) into motion is the decision she must make when her parents announce they’re divorcing: to stay with her mother in the Compound, with her friends, or go with her father to live in the outside world, someplace much different to the one she knows.

What makes Addie such a great character is her innate intuition at knowing what she must do and the fine line between right and wrong; her ability to Search may be the reason for this. Whether it’d be helping her friend Laila with the trouble she is in in relation to this guy called Poison and Laila’s father, to her friendship and eventual fondness with Trevor whom I really liked as a male love interest for Addie (and really… ever!), to her struggling relationship with Duke, her mother, and her father, Addie’s attempts to put things right even within her Searches proves her greatest strength.

West’s dialogue shines bright throughout the book. But what I believed needed a little more explanation was the Compound, its conception and its politics, decision-makers and workings as a society consisting of people with mind abilities. I did not know that there was going to be a sequel when reading this, but now that I know, hopefully a greater understanding for the Compound and it relation to the outside world will be given.

I’m glad I listened to Amber‘s advice to read Pivot Point because I was not let down by it and what was promised. Kasie West is a new author that I’ll be keeping my eye on for years to come in the young adult world.

Thank you to HarperCollins via Edelweiss for the galley to review.

What others said about this book:

Amber @ Books of Amber:

There is literally NOTHING I didn’t like about this book. Definitely check it out when you get the chance, because it’s brilliant. Almost good enough to be rated an All Time Favourite!

Judith @ Paper Riot:

The concept itself (a so-called sliding doors effect) is so unique and unlike anything I’ve ever read before, that I was intrigued by it from the start.

Books in this series:

1. Pivot Point (February, 2013)
2. Untitled (February, 2014)

Title: Unravel Me, The Juliette Chronicles #2
Author: Tahereh Mafi
Publication: February 1, 2013 by Allen & Unwin
Format, pages: Paperback, 480
Age Group: Young Adult
Genre: Science Fiction, Post-Apocalyptic, Dystopia, Romance
My Rating:  

From Goodreads:

Our lips touch and I know I’m going to split at the seams. He kisses me softly then strongly like he’s lost me and he’s found me and I’m slipping away and he’s never going to let me go.

Juliette has escaped to Omega Point. A place for people like her – people with gifts – and it is also the headquarters of the rebel resistance.

She’s finally free from the Reestablishment, free from their plan to use her as a weapon, and free to love Adam. But Juliette will never be free from her lethal touch. Or from Warner, who wants Juliette more than she ever thought possible.

Haunted by her past, terrified of her future, Juliette knows that in her present, she will have to make some life-changing choices.
Choices that may include choosing between her heart – and Adam’s life.

The sequel to Shatter Me explodes with Tahereh Mafi’s signature prose – beautiful, exotic, addictive, raw and oh so good! (Yep, this review is filled with quotes… take caution.) Returning to Mafi’s futuristic society and the brewing war between the Reestablishment and Omega Point, as well as Juliette’s tale of self-acceptance, -discovery, choice and love was no difficult operation. Of course! I went into Unravel Me on the back of Shatter Me, immediately having four-hundred-and-eighty pages more to be completely immersed in Juliette’s story. Despite how I returned to Mafi’s second book, those who read Shatter Me around the time that it came out to months before now will have no trouble as well. Juliette welcomes you back with open arms… Just watch out for her deadly touch and powerful strength. And that’s what Unravel Me is: deadly and powerful, more so with Juliette’s alluring voice and struggle of self-acceptance than the book’s plot.

As I commented about in my Shatter Me review, Juliette’s voice is distinct due to the way she uses her words – or the way Mafi uses her words – caused by Juliette’s previous isolation in which she had generated her own individual style with the journal she had as her only company. With this comes a lot of metaphors and similes. Although it may be irritating and feel like an electric saw is gyrating through the spongey mass of your straight-thinking brain for much of the time (it was not like that for me though), Mafi presents a creative way for Juliette to communicate about and to describe the world around her. In most cases, like the passage beneath, Juliette develops her own stories to explain what she’s thinking, what she means, and what she wants you, as the reader, to understand.

So I have to keep remembering that Warner and I are 2 different words.
We are synonyms but not the same.
Synonyms know each other like old colleagues, like a set of friends who’ve seen the world together. They swap stories, reminisce about their origins and forget that though they are similar, they are entirely different, and though they share a certain set of attributes, one cannot be the other. Because a quiet night is not the same as a silent one, a firm man is not the same as a steady one, and a bright light is not the same as brilliant one because the way they wedge themselves into a sentence changes everything.

Why yes, Warner does play a major role somewhat in the plot of Unravel Me. Be afraid! Be very afraid! Maybe I should talk about what happens in Unravel Me first before I discuss… uhh… Warner.

Two weeks after the events of Shatter Me shows Juliette still trying to blend in with the crowd below in Omega Point, almost like she’s a flashing red beacon with a siren that wails ‘Danger! Danger! Danger!’ to everyone that passes her. On top of that, Juliette’s relationship with Adam – a relationship that I want continued until the end of the trilogy and beyond – hits some rocky seas and is unable to stay afloat, with the combination of Juliette’s inability to trust anyone, including herself, and controlling her power as well as Adam’s inability to accept his newfound abilities and the new person he has become being contributing factors to the damage to their love. In the mix add that certain antagonist from Shatter Me, Warner, who we learn along with Juliette and Adam much more about. Warner’s father enters the picture and then Omega Point trains and prepares to defend and fight their imminent and closing in threat.

I’ll just come out and say it now: Warner still does nothing to me even after everything we saw, the different side to him and the knowledge about his past and upbringing, in Unravel Me. And no that chapter sixty-two sixty-two sixty-two sixty-two did not sway me at all. I felt that that part of the book was too forced, too this-is-only-happening-to-satisfy-Warner-admirers. Maybe it was because I thought he was a psycho and megalomaniac in Shatter Me and nothing could redeem him. I do have a change of heart for Warner… but just overall, as someone for Juliette, no. He continued to be too brash when with others, most possibly a defence mechanism to hide his true self. At least tension was built throughout Unravel Me due to the unexpected turns in relationship between the characters.

I’m really not sure what else to write in regards to Unravel Me. I found it to be absorbing and I wonder how the third book will turn out and how it will end. Juliette has become stronger, more independent, able to make her own decisions, and although she is impulsive as her confidence and abilities grow she does it to protect those she cares about. Throughout Unravel Me Juliette reveals more about her longings and dreams, pouring out her emotions, served raw on a plate. The most delicious parts of Mafi’s meal are below to end this review.

1.

It’s like a button in my brain is broken, like I’ve developed a disease that forces me to apologise for everything, for existing, for wanting more than what I’ve been given, and I can’t stop.
It’s what I do.
I’m always apologising. Forever apologising. For who I am and what I never meant to be and for this body I was born into, this DNA I never asked for, this person I can’t unbecome. 17 years I’ve spent trying to be different. Every single day. Trying to be someone else for someone else.
And it never seems to matter.

2.

I always dared to identify with the princess, the one who runs away and finds a fairy godmother to transform her into a beautiful girl with a bright future. I clung to something like hope, to a thread of maybes and possiblys and perhapses. But I should’ve listened when my parents told me that things like me aren’t allowed to have dreams. Things like me are better off destroyed, is what my mother said to me.
And I’m beginning to think they were right.

3.

It’s like my face is pressed up against the glass, watching a scene from far, far away, wishing and wanting to be a part of something I know I’ll never really be a part of. I forget sometimes, that they are people out there who still manage to smile every day, despite everything.
They haven’t lost hope yet.
Suddenly I feel sheepish, ashamed, even. Daylight makes my thoughts look dark and sad and I want to pretend I’m still optimistic, I want to believe that I’ll find a way to live. That maybe, somehow, there’s still a chance for me somewhere.

4.

Because sometime you see yourself – you see yourself the way you could be – the way you might be if things were different. And if you look too closely, what you see will scare you, it’ll make you wonder what you might do if given the opportunity. You know there’s a different side of yourself you don’t want to recognise, a side you don’t want to see in the daylight. You spend your whole life doing everything to push it down and away, out of sight, out of mind. You pretend that a piece of yourself doesn’t exist.
You live like that for a long time.
For a long time, you’re safe.

And then you’re not.

Thanks to Allen & Unwin for the copy to review.

What others thought about this book:

Sarah @ Saz101:

Unravel Me sizzles with passion and chemistry, and offers surprise twists to keep those pages turning well into the wee hours. Fans will delight in Unravel Me as it unravels its spectacular heroine just in time to leave them desperate for more.

Jen @ Shortie Says:

I can’t even… Just wow.

Books in the series:

1. Shatter Me (November, 2011)
2. Unravel Me (February, 2013)
3. Untitled (February, 2014)

Title: The Prey, The Hunt #2
Author: Andrew Fukuda
Publication: February 1st, 2013 by Simon & Schuster Australia
Format, pages: Paperback, 336
Age Group: Young Adult
Genre: Science Fiction, Post Apocalyptic
My Rating:  

From Goodreads:

For Gene and the remaining humans—or hepers—death is just a heartbeat away. On the run and hunted by society, they must find a way to survive in The Vast… and avoid the hungry predators tracking them in the dark. But they’re not the only things following Gene. He’s haunted by the girl he left behind and his burgeoning feelings for Sissy, the human girl at his side.

When they discover a refuge of exiled humans living high in the mountains, Gene and his friends think they’re finally safe. Led by a group of intensely secretive elders, the civilisation begins to raise more questions than answers. A strict code of behaviour is the rule, harsh punishments are meted out, young men are nowhere to be found—and Gene begins to wonder if the world they’ve entered is just as evil as the one they left behind. As life at the refuge grows more perilous, he and Sissy only grow closer. In an increasingly violent world, all they have is each other… if they can only stay alive.

Andrew Fukuda returns full force with a sequel that grapples you as soon as you begin reading, as if you were the book’s prey. The Prey picks up where we left Gene, Sissy, Epap, Ben, Jacob, and David at the end of The Hunt as they escape the Duskers, the vampire/zombie-esque race that dominates Fukuda’s post-apocalytpic world. In The Prey Gene and the hepers are in search for the Land of Milk and Honey, Fruit, and Sunshine that the Scientist – who we learn is Gene’s father at the end of The Hunt – spoke of in his journals and teachings at the Heper Institute while escaping the Duskers. On the way to discovering this mysterious paradise that was spoken so highly of they come across a compound village, The Mission, that at first seems safe and inviting but really is a prison, a misogynistic and prejudiced little society under the surface, full of lies and secrecy. While at this remote but thriving village Gene, Sissy and the other surviving “hepers” learn more about their world’s history, about the whereabouts of Gene’s father, about the cure for the Duskers, and if there really is a paradise called the Civilisation at all.

The thing with The Hunt and The Prey is that it’s pretty easy to not be fooled. Early on, you can guess who is who, what is what, etc., because everything really is in plain sight. If you read these books knowing how Fukuda writes them and sets up his twists early your premature guesses may be correct 95% of the time as there is a lot of foreshadowing throughout. I know my assumptions were correct, which did sort of add a guessing game element to the story when reading. However, despite that, Fukuda’s writing, storytelling and world building are the strongest elements of The Prey, mature and effortless at the same time. From the first chapter Fukuda throws a ton of action in your face, and the story flows like a raging torrent from then, full of action, full of conflict, sweeping you up in Gene’s struggles until the end presents itself.

Gene has become ever more realistic in The Prey with him struggling to identify who he was in the past to who he is in the present through memories and inner conflicting thoughts, as well as identifying the father he knew before to the proclaimed “Scientist” he is known by the other hepers and people of The Mission and the secret identity Gene’s father had hidden from him. Not only is The Prey a story about physical survival, it is a story about emotional struggles. This struggle is seen in Gene for most of the book, as well as in his band of Heper Institute-survivors while living in The Mission. Each of the characters besides Gene, particularly that of Sissy and Epap, are further developed, with trust, leadership, and uncertainty being influences for the conflicting dynamics between them. Fukuda’s story has evolved tremendously since the first book, much more visual, much more realised.

There was a lot to take in in The Prey, from the expansion of this Dusker-dominated world, to The Mission, to the importance of Gene as the protagonist, to Gene’s father, to the mysterious Civilisation. Due to the intensity filled, fear inducing, heart thumping, action packed story, this series is one that will have boys thoroughly entertained, and just like me, clamouring for the third book now.

Thanks to Simon & Schuster for the copy to review.

Books in this series:

1. The Hunt (May, 2012)
2. The Prey (February, 2013)
3. Untitled