Review: Pandemonium

Book: Pandemonium
Author: Lauren Oliver
Publication Date: February 2012
Pages: 375

Summary (From Good Reads):

I’m pushing aside the memory of my nightmare,

pushing aside thoughts of Alex,
pushing aside thoughts of Hana and my old school,
push,
push,
push,
like Raven taught me to do.
The old life is dead.
But the old Lena is dead too.
I buried her.
I left her beyond a fence,
behind a wall of smoke and flame.

Lauren Oliver delivers an electrifying follow-up to her acclaimed New York Times bestseller, Delirium. This riveting, brilliant novel crackles with the fire of fierce defiance, forbidden romance, and the sparks of a revolution about to ignite.

My Thoughts:

Now my review is FULL of spoilers so I have posted it here on Good Reads so that I won't unintentionally ruin it for people who haven't read the book yet!

Food Rating: 3/5
Page Rating: 4/8

In My Fridge

More Library Reservations!



1) Code Name Verity- Elizabeth Wein

It seems amazing I am so excited to read it! I love the other cover the most.









2) Run Rabbit Run- Barbara Mitchelhill

Good reviews on Good Reads and I love the cover.






I have so many books to read and the Easter Holidays are coming up! The books will serve as a (well deserved) break from revision :)

Review: Angel Fury

Book: Angel Fury
Author: Bryony Pearce
Publication Date: July 2011
Pages: 340

Summary: 

In the tradition of The Book Thief and The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, a tale of sleepless nights and present day haunting, giving voice to the horrors of the Holocaust and the nature of persecution I've started to have dreams while I'm awake. I remember music I've never heard. . . . I've got all this extra stuff in my head, but I'm forgetting things from my own life. I feel like I'm being taken over. One fallen angel walks the earth to bring mankind to its destruction, turning love into hate, forgiveness into blame, and hope into despair. Through the fires of hell he will come to torment one girl's dreams. Every time Cassie Farrier tries to sleep, she is plagued by visions of a death: A little girl called Zillah. A victim of the holocaust. In desperation Cassie is sent for treatment in an old manor house. There she meets other children just like her. Including Seth, who looks so familiar. Her dream becomes a nightmare—and then reality. This stunning debut from a talented young author contains controversial and thoughtful themes that teenagers can relate to, including bullying and victimization in a contemporary and historical context. With its mix of mythology, fantasy, and real-life terror, this is a book unlike any other.

My Thoughts:

As soon as I saw this book was "In the tradition of The Book Thief" I reserved it in a second! When I went to the library and saw it was available for collection I was really excited to begin reading.
I am disappointed.

This book had so much potenntial! The idea of a girl having a memories, nightmares of  a past life is in my opinion a really unique idea. For me, the writing was rather distant and boring at points. I didn't think the parents were realistic, like I understood that they were desperate to help their daughter, but some of the choices they made were plain silly. Don't get me wrong the book was all right but it was nothing to scream about and I felt like it COULD have been. It's so frustrating to see an amazing premise overshadowed by unemotional writing. Cassie's thoughts in italics drove me nearly crazy. There was no need for it to be in italics. Cassie and Seth's sexual frustration made me laugh, it was so random. Also Cassie seem to do a lot of things 'unthinkingly' like putting her hand on his pyjama trousers. The epilogue was pointless, I thought It should have ended with the last line of the last chapter. What happened in the epilogue was irrelevant.

 I'm really annoyed I feel like the book was missing something, I was waiting and waiting for something fun to happen and my waiting only came to an end when I realised the book was finished. I feel so unsatisfied. The language  The bits I did like was that I could see how having no sleep was deeply affecting Cassie. Also I thought the Doctor was one hell of a strange woman which was no doubt what the Author had intended. Apart from that, I felt like I didn't even read the book because nothing has hooked itself into my mind. To conclude I, myself wouldn't recommend the book but as their are a lot of good reviews on Good Reads maybe it would be worth reading to see what you would gain from the book.

Food Rating: 3/5
Page Rating: 4/8

Review: Delirium

Book: Delirium
Author: Lauren Oliver
Publication Date: February 2011
Pages: 441


Summary (From Good Reads) :

Before scientists found the cure, people thought love was a good thing. They didn’t understand that once love -- the deliria -- blooms in your blood, there is no escaping its hold. Things are different now. Scientists are able to eradicate love, and the government demands that all citizens receive the cure upon turning eighteen. Lena Holoway has always looked forward to the day when she’ll be cured. A life without love is a life without pain: safe, measured, predictable, and happy. 

But with ninety-five days left until her treatment, Lena does the unthinkable: She falls in love.

My Thoughts:

First of all I must say: My Goodness the ending of this book.
I rated Delirium 5 stars on Good Reads just for the ending. The last 20 pages were amazing none stop action, the last two pages of the book was some of the best writing I have ever read in my whole entire life. It made me cry all of a sudden I was so shocked by the ending and the beautiful reading that I burst into tears. My Mum was laughing at me!

HOWEVER. I thought that the rest of the book was quite boring. Like it lacked pace. Maybe Lauren Oliver did that so the ending would smack you in the face but there was many times when I was reading it that I nearly gave up. And there were bits that reminded me of Twilight which in my opinion is NOT A GOOD THING! I thought Alex was a really cute character and Lena was kinda sweet, but she thought too much. There was never a point in the conversation where it was just dialogue. Like there is a point when Lena is talking to Alex and she is literally moving all the time. Running her hand through her hair,licking her lips nervously, pawing the ground and she analyses Alex's movements like a bloody psychologist. Also the descriptions lagged on a bit; I admit they were beautifully executed and some of the metaphors were lovely but I found it dragged on.


But the whole concept, the premise of the book really grabbed me. I really felt utter despair for Lena with the procedure looming ahead and her trapped. I kept thinking imagine if this was real, what on earth would I do.


All in all I think that the book was written beautifully but it lacked the necessary pace to grab me until like the last 20 pages. 


Food Rating: 3/5
Page Rating: 6.5/8

YA Historical Fiction Book 2: Daughter of the Forest

Book: Daughter of the Forest

Author: Juliet Marillier

Publication: May 2000
Pages: 411

Summary (from Good Reads):

A beautiful retelling of the Celtic "Swans" myth, Daughter of the Forest is a mixture of history and fantasy, myth and magic, legend and love... To reclaim the lives of her brothers, Sorcha leaves the only safe place she has ever known and embarks on a journey filled with pain, loss and terror. When she is kidnapped by enemy forces and taken to a foreign land, it seems that there will be no way for Sorcha to break the spell that condemns all that she loves. But magic knows no boundaries, and Sorcha will have to choose between the life she has always known and a love that comes only once. 

My Thoughts:

Now I will admit that at first, I thought the book was a bit slow going. It was filled with lots of description and getting to know the setting and the characters but the plot sounded so good I persisted in reading it. I am super glad I did. This book had me reading until twelve minutes past five in the morning! I'm not even kidding. After the first hundred pages it got seriously good. It had me nearly crying laughing and screaming with happiness! There was a part that really effected me to the the point where I was nearly in tears! I thought Sorcha's relationship with her brothers (who all sounded hot) was so special! It made me want a brother! They cared about her so much it was amazing. In fact I think that's what I liked so much about the book; Sorcha's relationship with different characters. Because the book was so long I thought that Marillier was able to develop the characters a lot so we saw their progression. Although I think that a hundred pages could have been cut from that book and it wouldn't have made any difference; the book didn't really need to be that long but once I got into it I didn't notice the length. Also the moral tales that Sorcha told went on a bit and by the end of the book I found myself skipping them. I think the best part of the book was Sorcha's reaction after an awful event. I read 350 pages in around 4 hours after that event. I empathised with her so much! Daughter of the Forest is the first book in the trilogy and even though I enjoyed it a lot, I won't be rushing to read the second book at this moment. Partly because of the length and partly because I've heard that it isn't as good as the first book and I don't want to be disappointed. All in all I would definately recommend this book!

Food Rating: 4/5

Page Rating: 6/8

In my Fridge

 

My friend gave me Delirium to borrow, which I was really excited about.

1) Delirium

And also I picked up two books from the library today

2) I am the messenger- Markus Zusak

3) Angel's Fury- Bryony Pearce

Hello!

Hello to my new follower The Book Parade ! Thanks ever so much for following :')