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057. The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness
Publication: Candlewick; Reprint edition (October 18, 2010), ebook, 479pp / ISBN 0763645761
Genre: YA Sci-fi, Horror

Read: March 27, 2012
Source: Bought

Series: The Knife of Never Letting Go (you’re here!) | The Ask and the Answer | Monsters of Men

Summary from Amazon:

Todd Hewitt is the only boy in a town of men. Ever since the settlers were infected with the Noise germ, Todd can hear everything the men think, and they hear everything he thinks. Todd is just a month away from becoming a man, but in the midst of the cacophony, he knows that the town is hiding something from him — something so awful Todd is forced to flee with only his dog, whose simple, loyal voice he hears too. With hostile men from the town in pursuit, the two stumble upon a strange and eerily silent creature: a girl. Who is she? Why wasn’t she killed by the germ like all the females on New World? Propelled by Todd’s gritty narration, readers are in for a white-knuckle journey in which a boy on the cusp of manhood must unlearn everything he knows in order to figure out who he truly is.

Review

Don’t you just love it when the stars align and you’re finally able to get a book that you’ve been wanting to read (and that other people have been telling you to read) for ages and then you read it and it’s amazing? I do! And that’s what happened with The Knife of Never Letting Go. Continue reading »

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041. Haint Misbehavin’ by Maureen Hardegree
Publication: Bell Bridge Books (June 6, 2010), ebook, 206pp / ISBN 1935661930
Genre: MG (maybe young YA?) Urban Fantasy

Read: February 28, 2012
Source: Freebie

Mini-Review

I liked this one a LOT more than I thought I would, based on that horrible cover. It reminds me a lot of a Judy Blume book for some reason (maybe the fighting siblings/bullying aspect?) only there are ghosts and hauntings and it’s set in the South. Heather is a tough character to like– she’s sympathetic because her sister is so horrible to her and because of the whole “this ghost kid is ruining my life” thing, but she’s also really whiny and awkward in a way that makes you want to cringe. She spends a lot of the book running around denying who she is, hiding from the bullies, and being basically completely clueless. So I can understand why some people didn’t like her! Continue reading »

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The Sunday Salon.com Okay, so here’s the deal: I’m getting a little tired of my usual blogging practices. Normally I write 3-10 reviews a week, depending on how far behind I am. Keeping up with that? Is kind of tiring. Especially since I want to try doing other, non-review posts sometimes. Writing the reviews, though, takes up most of my blogging time and that’s annoying.

What I’m going to try to do instead is sort of like what I did back in November/December when I was trying to read a book a day: I’ll do tiny reviews of the books I’ve read in the previous week for my Salon post. Longer reviews (and therefor separate review posts) will be saved for review books and books that I just have a lot of feelings for. And then hopefully I’ll have more time/energy to write other blog posts! Like, say, more tips for blogger newbies posts. Or reading journal-y posts! Or other exciting stuff!

Basically I guess I just don’t want to be trapped into doing a million review posts a week. Because feeling trapped is not fun, and I want to have fun! Continue reading »

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037. Who What Wear: The Allegra Biscotti Collection by Olivia Bennett
Publication: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky (November 1, 2010), ebook, 258pp / ISBN 140224391X
Genre: MG Fiction

Read: February 25, 2012
Source: Freebie

Mini-Review

I wasn’t sure if I’d like this book at first, because the first chapter is kind of boring. But! It gets better, and by the end I thought it was really cute. Fashion is always a tricky subject to write about because it changes so rapidly, but Who What Wear was still current enough to not be completely distracting. Emma, the protagonist, reminds me of all those adorable teenage bloggers/fashion designers who have big dreams and aren’t afraid to make them happen, and since I know of a few teenage bloggers who’ve actually made some of those dreams happen I didn’t think the plot was all that implausible, either. And like I said: it’s just darned cute. Continue reading »

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017. The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants by Ann Brashares
Publication: Dell Books for Young Readers (April 26, 2005), Paperback, 352pp / ISBN 0553494791
Genre: YA Fiction

Read: January 26-27, 2012
Source: Bought

Mini-Review

I’ve been meaning to read this book for forever, mainly because it’s one of those generation-defining books that’re so important. I’ve seen bits of the movie and I know vaguely what it/the book is about, so I was expecting something cute and touching and possibly melodramatic. There’s actually not that much melodrama in it, but it IS cute and touching. And kind of boring, to be honest. Continue reading »

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REVIEW: Hunted by Cheryl Rainfield

 Posted by Anastasia on December 23, 2011  No Responses »
Dec 232011
 
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163. Hunted by Cheryl Rainfield
Publication: WestSide Books (December 15, 2011), eArc, 370pp / ISBN 1934813621
Genre: YA Sci-fi/Paranormal

Read: December 6-8, 2011
Source: Author (thank you!)

Summary from Goodreads:

Caitlyn, a telepath, lives in a world where all paranormal talents are illegal. She is on the run from government ParaTroopers. When Caitlyn falls for Alex, a Normal, and discovers dangerous renegade Paranormals, she must choose between staying in hiding to protect herself or taking a stand to save the world.

Review

Hunted is a somewhat atypical paranormal/dystopian book. It’s set sometime in the future, though I don’t think we’re ever told exactly how far in the future it is. It’s sort of dystopian, but only for the “paras,” really. It’s an exciting story, with some conspiracy things going on and a lot of omg-what’s-going-to-happen moments. The characters were pretty good, especially Caitlyn, who doesn’t really waste any time getting in the action. She’s a very active paranormal/dystopian heroine, which is great because normally I think the typical p-heroine is passive for at least the first half of the book. Continue reading »

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Book cover of Act of Will by AJ Hartley 105. Act of Will by A. J. Hartley
Publication: Tor Books; Reprint edition (April 1, 2010), ebook, 384pp / ISBN 0765360888
Genre: Fantasy/Adventure/Action

Read: August 26-30, 2011
Source: Bought

Mini-Review

I was pleasantly surprised by this book. At first I thought it was a comedy story, something like a Terry Pratchett book. Then it turned into something else, something more like…I don’t know. A Megan Whalen Turner book? (Only not YA.) And then I stopped trying to compare it to other books and just enjoyed the story.

It’s a great story, very entertaining and yet also kind of heartbreaking. Will’s an interesting protagonist. If this were a different kind of book, I’m pretty sure Will would be the sidekick character that dies a manly death somewhere in the second act which then spurs on everyone else to kick butt and save the day. He’s clever, but in the stupid way that unwordly people tend to be. He’s funny, but also kind of sleazy and gross. He’s more brains than brawn and should by all rights be a dead man walking in a swords-and-sorcery fantasy book, but he’s NOT dead. And best of all? He actually starts to use his brains in such a way that makes him a) less annoying and b) less likely to die a cowardly death. (Although he’s still a coward.)

Anyway. Act of Will: a great book with an unusual, near-unlikable protagonist and some fantastic secondary characters. I really enjoyed it.

Rating


I really like unusual protagonists, what can I say?

Book cover of Virus on Orbis 1 by PJ Haarsma111. The Softwire: Virus on Orbis 1 by PJ Haarsma
Publication: Candlewick (April 6, 2010), ebook, 262pp / ISBN 076363638X
Genre: MG/YA Sci-fi

Read: September 5, 2011
Source: Freebie

Mini-Review

This started off somewhat rocky, with a scenario that seriously reminded me of some other YA sci-fi books I’ve read before (hello). And yeah, it’s kind of unimaginative in that regard. But! The rest of it was pretty good. I like sci-fi novels with actual aliens in them, and I like YA novels with kids that save the world (or a world) against all odds. It makes for an entertaining book, you know?

And the last half of the book was really good. It was exciting, and scary, and there were computer-y things which were really fun. The alien world was scary and weird, but also pretty fascinating. I do wish there had been more secondary characters that weren’t humans, but I’m hoping there’s more aliens in the next book. I just really like aliens, you guys.

Rating


Starts off a bit boring, gets more interesting pretty quick.

Book cover of Someone Like You by Sarah Dessen114. Someone Like You by Sarah Dessen
Publication: Puffin (April 1, 2002), originally published 1998, ?pp / ISBN 0142301655
Genre: YA Fiction

Read: September 18, 2011
Source: Library Book Sale

Mini-Review

I feel like I’ve read quite a few books with pregnant teens in them this year. Anyway– this is the second Sarah Dessen book I’ve ever read, my first being Keeping the Moon. I like Keeping the Moon better than this one, but Someone Like You was still pretty good.

The characters were a bit cliched, yeah. I mean, can’t there ever be a redheaded person who ISN’T named Scarlett who is really popular and also a firecracker and so on? You know? But for all that Scarlett plays a big part in SLY, it’s really Halley who’s the protagonist and who does all the growing up.

I really like coming-of-age novels, even if they almost always happen because of sex/dating/etc. I kind of wish there were more where romance wasn’t involved, just for something different, but I can understand why romance plays such a big part. The romance in Someone Like You was pretty good, too– understated, but exciting/important, and a bit scary. And, even though I had to read about it on Wikipedia because I forgot about it, I really liked the ending. It’s happy, but not cliched happy, if you know what I mean.

Rating


I really liked it at the time, but now I can’t even remember the ending. So it’s 4 birds, but with a caveat: good, but forgettable.

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