Review: Insurgent

    

Title: Insurgent
Author: Veronica Roth

Series: Divergent #2
Pages: 525

Publisher: Harper Collins
Release Date: May 1st 2012 (UK)
Source: For Review
Rating: 5 stars
100 Book challenge: #41

War looms in sixteen-year-old Tris’s dark dystopian world as disputes between the factions grow. Tris must now fight against all odds to discover the truth that can save her and the people she loves. Sides must be chosen, secrets will emerge – and the choices she makes will have devastating and unexpected consequences.

Divergent spoilers guys so go read Divergent then come back :)

I have been PINING for Insurgent since I finished Divergent last year and I have been doing so incredibly impatiently. Divergent is by far the best book I read last year and I'm pretty sure it is one of the best books I have ever read. Insurgent most definitely did not disappoint.

Insurgent starts where Divergent finishes off and you are thrown right into the midst of the drama. Insurgent is filled with secrets: some discovered, some created. A lot is learnt about the factions, especially Candor and Amity. It was something that I really hoped Roth would explore so I was really pleased.

You guys, THERE IS NO LOVE TRIANGLE!!!!!!! I am so insanely happy. It would have ruined everything. Things are not easy for Tris and Four though. They are like a normal couple, with normal issues, except there is a war raging on between factions. SO MUCH LOVE FOR THEM.

We also saw a new side to Tris. Divergent presented her as this badass girl who can kick butt like no other but Insurgent shows her vulnerability and that she can be fragile like everyone else. You know why? Because she is human. She is not perfect, she makes mistakes, but this is why I love her so much.

Lots of unexpected happenings went down. I'm serious. I was like WHAT? so many times that I can't count. Veronica Roth sure knows how to surprise us. And that ending??? Where is the next book? Let it be here soon. I need it now.

As you can see I have so much love for Insurgent. SO MUCH LOVE. I will admit that Divergent just pipped it to the post for me but it is was still damn close to perfection. Veronica Roth has a writing style that I read for days, it is so effortless. Just buy it and read it and love it because I know you will!

Book Haul

For Review:

Chain Reaction by Simone Elkeles

The Immortal Rules by Julie Kagawa

Deadly Hemlock by Kathleen Peacock

Adorkable by Sara Manning

Until I Die by Amy Plum

Insurgent by Veronica Roth

Poison Princess by Kresley Cole

Review: Bunheads

   

Title: Bunheads
Author: Sophie Flack

Series: None
Pages: 294

Publisher: Atom
Release Date: Released
Source: For Review
Rating: 4 stars
100 Book challenge: #22

As a dancer with the Manhattan Ballet Company, nineteen-year-old Hannah Ward is living her childhood dream. She gets to be up on stage in front of adoring crowds every night. And while she might not be a prima ballerina yet, she's moving up the ranks and surely if she works hard enough she can make it happen.

But devoting her whole life to ballet leaves very little time for anything else: friends, family, school have all fallen by the wayside. Hannah doesn't mind, until a chance encounter in a restaurant brings Jacob into her life. He's cute, he plays guitar and he's offering a whole future that Hannah never considered. And now she must choose between her lifelong dream or what could be the love of her life...

I am fascinated with ballerinas. I have so much admiration for what they do. I cannot comprehend how ballet can be so elegant and graceful yet be so gruelling and challenging. Bunheads gave a behind the scenes look at how ballet companies can be and I must say I really enjoyed discovering about it.

Flack dealt with the balance of ballet and life really really well. With anything at such a high level it can be overwhelming and take over your whole life and at 19, it much be challenging to give up everything to do this one thing. The conflict Hannah felt was conveyed really well and I really empathised with her.

I liked Jacob. He was a nice guy and he was a nice romantic protagonist but the story was about so much more than the romance. I'm not saying it wasn't well placed, important and entertaining because it was all those things. Bunheads, however, shouldn't be tagged a "romance" book. It is about self-discovery, growth and the question of how much you should give up to succeed at something.

Bunheads is a fascinating read that sheds some light on the speculations surrounding ballet. If you like contemporaries or dance I think you'd enjoy this one!

Review: When You Were Mine

    

Title: When You Were Mine
Author: Rebecca Serle

Series: None
Pages: 352

Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Release Date: April 26th 2012 (UK)
Source: For Review
Rating: 4 stars
100 Book challenge: #28

Rosie knows that she and Rob are destined to be together. They are best friends, next door neighbors, and the soon-to-be cutest couple in their senior class. Rosie has been waiting for years for Rob to kiss her--and when he finally does, it's perfect. But just before their relationship becomes completely official, Rosie's cousin Juliet moves back into town. Juliet, who used to be Rosie's best friend. Juliet, who now inexplicably hates her. Juliet, who is gorgeous, vindictive, and a little bit crazy...and who has set her sights on Rob. He doesn't even stand a chance. 

Rosie is devastated over losing Rob to Juliet. This is not how the story was supposed to go. And when rumors start swirling about Juliet's instability, her neediness, and her threats of suicide, Rosie starts to fear not only for Rob's heart, but also for his life. Because Shakespeare may have gotten the story wrong, but we all still know how it ends.

When You Were Mine is a fresh, interesting take on the classic that is Romeo and Juliet. It was the perfect balance of romance, conflict, heartbreak and self discovery.

I liked Rosaline as a character. Some people have described her as annoying but I really like her. At the start of the novel, yes, she only has eyes for Rob and she constantly thinks about him and what that touch meant and whether they were just friends BUT that is how teenagers are sometimes. There is all that awkwardness and the not knowing what the only person is thinking and it KILLING you because you wonder if it is all in your head. Totally happens (at least to me!). I found it to be a very realistic portrayal of young 'love'.

GRRRR. Rob. Juliet. Anger. Dislike. Fury. Anger. Hate. This is how I feel about them. SO MUCH ANGER. This did not ease for me in the way that it may do for  some others. Nope. It definitely made me feel closer to Rosaline though so yay!

The romance aspect was really lovely and definitely a favourite part of the book but her friends stole the show for me. SO MUCH LOVE THERE. I want her friends. Charlie and Olivia (but especially Charlie). They have so much compassion in their hearts that, and despite their seemingly shallow and preconscious ways, I couldn't help but love them. Props to the love interest though, he definitely melted my heart a little.

The ending surprised me, though it probably shouldn't have. Sometimes I can be so dense. Alas, I really enjoyed When You Were Mine. It was a nice, quick romance that is a really fun retelling. Not all hearts and daisies though, quite a bit of sadness within the pages so beware.

Review: The Alchemy of Forever

   

Title: The Alchemy of Forever
Author: Avery Williams

Series: Incarnation #1
Pages: 256

Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Release Date: April 26th 2012 (UK)
Source: For Review
Rating: 3.5 stars
100 Book challenge: #27

After spending six hundred years on Earth, Seraphina Ames has seen it all. Eternal life provides her with the world's riches but at a very high price: innocent lives. Centuries ago, her boyfriend, Cyrus, discovered a method of alchemy that allows them to take the bodies of other humans from jumping from one vessel to the next, ending the human's life in the process. No longer able to bear the guilt of what she's done, Sera escapes from Cyrus and vows to never kill again. 

Then sixteen-year old Kailey Morgan gets into a horrific car accident right in front of her, and Sera accidentally takes over her body while trying to save her. For the first time, Sera finds herself enjoying the life of the person she's inhabiting--and falling in love with the boy who lives next door. But Cyrus will stop at nothing until she's his again, and every moment she stays, she's putting herself and the people she's grown to care about in danger. Will Sera have to give up the one thing that's eluded her for centuries: true love?

The Alchemy of Forever is an interesting, fast paced story about a girl dealing with the struggles of immortality and the price she (or others) have to pay for it.

Seraphina takes over Kailey's body accidentally whilst trying to save her life. She then has to take over Kailey's life to stay hidden from Cyrus who is trying to find her. I liked Seraphina. She had a good heart and she really wanted to do the right thing which was admirable.

Noah, the love interest, was rather nice if I don't mind saying so. Sweet and sensitive and the typical boy next door. I thought their romance was sweet, if not a little fast moving. With these immortal style books I do find it a little hard to fully back the romance as she is about 600 years and he is a teenager. Despite being this old, her maturity was that of a teenager which I didn't feel was necessarily how someone would stay after living that long, but hey-ho.

Cyrus, the villain, creeps me out. He was possessive and stalkerish and just overly creepy. I definitely wasn't swooning over him in this kind-of-not-really love triangle!

The ending was a shocker! I was all "WHAT!" at the end. It was unexpected and I feel I must pick up the next book to find out how things go down!

In My Mailbox {37}

For Review:

We'll Always Have Summer by Jenny Han
Between The Lines by Jodi Picoult and Samantha Van Leer

Shooting Stars by Allison Rushby

Rules of Attraction by Simone Elkeles

Dying to Know You by Aidan Chambers
Now is the Time for Running by Michael Williams

Changeling by Philippa Gregory 

Scarlet A.C. Gaughen

Fire City by Bali Rai

What did you get in your mailbox?

Review: Fins are Forever

     

Title: Fins are Forever
Author: Tera Lynn Childa

Series: Fins #2
Pages: 304

Publisher: Templar publishing
Release Date: April 1st 2012 (UK)
Source: For Review
Rating: 4 stars
100 Book challenge: #28

On Lily Sanderson’s eighteenth birthday she’ll become just a girl—still a mer girl, true, but signing the renunciation paperwork will ink Princess Waterlily of Thalassinia out of existence. That leaves plain old Lily living on land, dating the boy she loves, and trying to master this being human thing once and for all. 

Now that Lily and Quince are together, mer-bond or not, she’s almost content to give up her place in the royal succession of Thalassinia. But just when she thinks she has everything figured out, Lily’s father sends a certain whirlpool-stirring cousin to stay with her on land. What did Doe do to get herself exiled from Thalassinia and stuck in terraped form, when everyone knows how much she hates humans? And why why why is she batting her eyelashes at Lily’s former crush, Brody? 

The seafoam on the surf comes when a merboy from Lily’s past shows up. Tellin asks Lily for something that clouds her view of the horizon. There’s a future with Quince on land, her loyalty to the kingdom in the sea, and Lily tossing on the waves in the middle. Will she find a way to reconcile her love, her duty, and her dreams?

There will be spoilers for Forgive My Fins

Fins are Forever as well as the first in the series, Forgive My Fins, is a really fun, light read that shouldn't be taken too seriously. It is like watching a Disney movie. It is not deeply life-changing and doesn't make you come away a better person but who cares? It is just so much fun. Fins are Forever didn't quite live up to Forgive My Fins but it was still an enjoyable read.


One word I would use to sum up Fins are Forever is DRAMA. There was a lot going on so the plot never got boring. There are trials and tribulations. There are annoying cousins to contend with (annoying cousins that want to screw you over). Life is most certainly not easy for dear old Lily.

Lily and Quince were still very cute. Quince is so sweet and sensitive and it obvious how much he cares for Lily. Lily is obviously smitten with Quince but she has a lot on her plate and that can make things a little shaky. I really liked Lily in this book and found her to have matured a lot since Forgive my Fins.

I really enjoyed reading Fins are Forever and I cannot wait to see how the series ends. If you are looking for something light, quick and fun make sure you pick this one up.