Book Review: Taken

Taken is about Gray Weathersby, a 17-year old boy who lives in the town of Claysoot.  In this town when boys turn 18 they are Heisted.  This means they disappear forever and no one knows where they go.  The town is surrounded by a wall and any time someone climbs over their charred bodies end up back in town, so people are too afraid to explore.  When Gray's older brother, Blaine, is Heisted he starts revealing secrets and unraveling everything he's ever known with the help of Emma, and later Bree (setting up a love triangle).  Eventually Gray climbs the wall, and that's when his life is changed forever.                                            

 

 

 

This was a pretty good book.  It's no favorite by far, but I must say, it kept me interested.  In the beginning the pacing is a bit to fast and the book's timeline seems a little unrealistic.  After Gray climbs the wall it calms down a bit, which is nice. 

 

The world is unique (it's a dystopian) but there are some things that don't make sense and some complexities that need to be explained better.  This may come in the next book, so I'm not too worried.

 

Now... Gray.  He really made the book for me.  I love him (book crush!!!).  And his brother Blaine... well, if you read the book you'll see.  They look really similar, almost like twins, except for their eye color.  Basically, they're both equally hot.  Did that not just convince you to pick up this book?

 

This is one of those books where after a certain point everything is a spoiler and  I would hate to take that from you as a reader.  Had I known exactly what was going to happen it really wouldn't have been a great read.  This book needs the small surprises it offers up because, while it's worth the read, the writing isn't the greatest and the story seems to need the extra help.

 

The secondary characters were all strong and I wish I could talk about my favorite here.  Unfortunately, he's a bit of a spoiler.

 

The ending is OK.  It certainly sets you up for a sequel while wrapping up most of what happened in this one.  No cliffhangers, which is a nice relief.

 

I did get really into this book.  At one point I started thinking about what I really wanted to happen and doing a little fanfic.  That's only good things guys!  I recommend this one, and the author, Erin Bowman is so nice in real life (yes I got to meet her and she signed my book!).  Definitely a must read for this year.

 

 

Music: Maroon 5

Book Review: The Selection

Oh!  This book....

J'aime Maxon.

Anyways, this is a pretty good book.  For the first 10 chapters (about 100 pages) I couldn't really get into it.  It was slow and the weird dystopian/fantasy setting was throwing me off.  I hated Aspen and America's relationship.  I thought it was built on little more then passion and I didn't get the feeling that he actually really cared about her.  (SPOILER ALERT) Later when she sees him again I felt like the only reason she wanted to be with him was because he was her first love and also because of the "fire" between them. (END SPOILER)

Intro Maxon:

He brightened the book up right away.  And I saw him fall in love with America.  And I saw America fall in love with him.  It was so sweet and I'm totally rooting for his team.  Even though he was "dating" several other girls it didn't really feel that way.  I got the sense that he really only had eyes for America.

Besides the boys, however, there were plenty of girls to take up space in this book.

Each girl had a slightly different personality, which was nice, but we also weren't overwhelmed with extremely different people.  There were 36 girls, which could get to be a busy book.  We knew only what we needed to know about each character.  It was also easy to tell exactly where America stood.  It felt real.  I don't watch the Bachelor, personally, but from reading this book and knowing what I know about the show, I would say they're pretty close, feelings-wise.

I wouldn't go so far to say this was a favorite of mine, but it was a nice read.  In fact, once I got past all the rough patches, I couldn't put the book down.  Even for Star Trek.  So, hopefully, I'll be getting the Elite soon and won't have to wait in agony.

Also, did I mention the cover?

Sooooooo pretty.  Favorite cover of the year, I think.  I've just about fallen in love with the cover.

Book Review: Supernaturally

In order to avoid spoilers this will be a rather vague review.  Basically, not much really happened until the ending, which was rather predictable.  The book retained its “cutesy” atmosphere the whole time, even in the darkest moments which makes it hard to take this book seriously.  Character-wise, I think that Jack was the most interesting and that only Evie really grew.  Lend’s charm wore off since he’s far from the exotic shape shifter he started off as and there are no secrets between him and Evie.  Evie, on the other hand, is good at keeping secrets from him.  Having them in normal situations was rather dull and I wish there had been more time running or hiding or… something.  None-the-less, I really do need a lighter reading load (and this is a light book) because my life has been full of so many stressful heavy things, my brain needs a break.  If it were any other time, I probably wouldn’t be rating this as high.  Again, the story-lines in these books are uber-original, so I can’t complain about that.  Have the next one on my shelf, but I don’t know when I plan on getting to it.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

Book Review: Paranormalcy

So I've been gone for two months.  Really, I'm sorry.  Computer problems have kept me away, but Paranormalcy by Kiersten White.

that shouldn't be a problem much longer.  Anyway, I thought I'd kick off my return with the review of the book I just finished,

This is the first in a trilogy and centers on Evie, the only person who can see past the glamours Paranormals put up to hide from the normal world.  She works for IPCA, a international containment agency for Paranormals.  Evie's always wanted a normal life, but has always been deprived it.  She's also been deprived a lot of knowledge of the IPCA, even as she works there.  Then one day Lend, a mysterious new paranormal, shows up.  He can shape shift into anyone and his kind has never been seen before.  Evie spends time with Lend, falling in love with him, and then something starts killing Paranormals.  This something, or someone, is intrinsically linked to Evie, and she'd like to know how.

Basically, this is one of those books that incorporates a bajillion types of mythical stuff into it.  There are no real "rules" for specific type of creature.  Sometimes this works well, sometimes not so much.  This book is one of those that works out well.  I was unhappy that there was a lot of focus on fairies, though, because I really wanted to explore IPCA and the types of Paranormals that roamed the world.  Neither of those things happened, and I think that crippled the story.

Also, the pacing had a few problems nearing the end of the book, and Lend's character kind of fell apart.  He was all set up to be this deep, mysterious guy, but then it turns out he really is just a two dimensional character.  Maybe I just feel this way because it was a lighter book, in need of lighter characters, but I was a little disappointed.

If White was trying to set up a love triangle between Reth, Evie, and Lend, she failed.  Reth was a jerk, I mean I really, really hated him, so it really wasn't a love triangle.  I would, however, like to get to know his character a bit more, and then maybe I could like him.

Evie herself was fun.  Her obsession with the color pink got on my nerves, but really it was fine.  The way she acted about her favorite TV show, though, that's exactly how I act about my shows.  It was really funny to see it play out on the page like that, but I loved it.  That kind of personal connection is rare, so I'm glad I found it.

Well, I've got the next two books on my shelf and ready to read, so we'll see how they go.  Till next time, Just keep reading one page at a time.