Zeroes

Title: Zeroes

Series: Zeroes - book 1

Author: Scott Westerfeld, Margo Lanagan, Deborah Biancotti

Rating: 4.5 stars

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Science Fiction

Number of Pages: 496

Publisher: Allen & Unwin

Publication Date: 2015

Summary: Don't call them heroes. But these six Californian teens have powers that 

set them apart.

Ethan aka Scam has a voice inside him that'll say whatever people want to hear, whether it's true or not. Which is handy, except when it isn't - like when the voice starts gabbing in the middle of a bank robbery. The only people who can help are the other Zeroes, who aren't exactly best friends these days.

Enter Nate, aka Bellwether, the group's 'glorious leader.' After Scam's SOS, he pulls the scattered Zeroes back together. But when the rescue blows up in their faces, the Zeroes find themselves propelled into whirlwind encounters with ever more dangerous criminals. At the heart of the chaos they find Kelsie, who can take a crowd in the palm of her hand and tame it or let it loose as she pleases.

Not many author's can make a book about a group of dysfunctional characters and make a story that you will actually enjoy, but this trio have somehow succeeded. With an almost casual efficiency, this trio of authors managed to turn the world upside down, shake it and walk off with a shrug as if to say 'well what did you expect from us, you didn't think we would make it easy for these guys'. These six characters are all connected to each other through the fact that they are all different and have unusual powers. But these powers don't only bring them together but also push them apart. 

Zeroes is told in multiple perspectives which helped to build on the extensive array of characters. Through each perspective you begin to see how difficult the lives of our characters are because of their abilities; these guys are Zeroes, not Heroes for a reason. Scam has the abilities to talk his way out of anything, but that sometimes means he pushes someone else in his path. Anonymous get forgotten by everyone, including his family and Crash, well she can crash any electronic system, so it's best that she stays away from hospitals and airplanes, just in case. 

Based on the other books I have read by Scott Westerfeld I knew to expect an unconventional story and I wasn't disappointed. Ever book I have read by Scott Westerfeld has had a clear and distinctive mark that is clearly his own and despite the fact that this book was co-authored his presence was still there. With two other author's co-writing this book I was worried that there would be a bit of disjointedness to this book, but at no point did I ever feel like there were multiple author's writing styles, I feel like I read a book by Scott Westerfeld alone. 

Carry On

Title: Carry On

Author: Rainbow Rowell

Rating: 4.5 stars

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy

Number of Pages: 517

Publication Date: October 2015

Publisher: Macmillan Press

Summary: Simon Snow is the worst Chosen One who's ever been chosen. That's what his roomate, Baz, says. And Baz might be evil and a vampire and a complete git, but he's probably right.

Half the time Simon can't even make his wand work, and the other half, he sets something on fire. His mentor's avoiding him, his girlfriend broke up with him, and there's a magic-eating monster running around wearing Simon's face. Baz would be having a field day with all this, if he were here - it's their last year at the Watford School of Magicks, and Simon's infuriating nemesis didn't even bother to show up.

Carry On is Rainbow Rowell's version of the Simon Snow fanfiction Cath write in her novel Fangirl. While it is not necessary to have read Fangirl I personally found that by doing so I got that little bit from the story. In Fangirl Simon Snow is in many ways their version of Harry Potter.

Carry On was a hugely refreshing take on the fantasy genre. So many fantasy books are weighed down in deep and emotionally intense plot lines or on the flip side they are cheesy and don't take anything seriously. Carry On finds a nice balance by making sure that the magic is believable and realistic while making the characters fun, devious and a little crazy. The spells were a little on the cheesy but not too much.

The beginning of this book starts off at a relatively medium level then suddenly up and dumping you before taking off full steam ahead for an action packed ending and bringing together the final clues of the mystery of the Watford Tragedy.

One of the things I loved most about this book was the character development, and I don't just mean the bad guy learning to be good. But the fact that the good guys weren't perfect, in fact they were kind of far from it; but learnt to accept this and keep trying any way. This book also showed the importance of over coming differences and how important teamwork and friendship really is.

However, what I loved most was Simon and Baz's relationship. Simon and Baz has perhaps the sweetest relationship ever, despite the fact that they are "nemesis'". As these two grow and the dynamic of their relationship changes you just want to smile and watch all the problems of the world fall away as they realise what their relationship has really been like all along. The relationship of Simon and Baz is progressive and well done, Rainbow Rowell doesn't rush the changes but works it so that it is a seemless and a naturally expected change.

Rainbow Rowell has an incredible ability to write amazing characters that you can't help but love. They are smart, witty and just a little crazy, but they are also deep and so very real.

The Winner's Curse

Title: The Winner's Curse

Series: The Winner's Trilogy - book 1

Author: Marie Rutkoski

Rating: 4.5 stars

Genre: Young Adult

Number of Pages: 355

Publication Date: 2014

Publisher: Square Fish

Summary: As a general's daughter in a vast empire that revels in war and enslaves those it conquers, seventeen-year-old Kestrel has two choices: she can join the military or get married. But Kestrel has other intentions.

One day, she is startled to find a kindred spirit in a young slave up for auction. Arin's eyes seem to defy everything and everyone. Following her instinct, Kestrel buys him - with unexpected consequences. It's not long before she has to hide her growing love for Arin.

But he, too, has a secret, and Kestrel quickly learns that the price she paid for a fellow human is much higher than she ever could have imagined.

I absolutely loved this book! I loved the world, the characters, the plot, all of it.

This book consisted of a world that was a mix of ancient Rome, the Middle Ages and fantasy without the magic. Here the characters live under the rule of an Emperor with generals holdings high powers of authority, there were old fashioned rules for society such as women needing an escort yet at the same time woman could join the army and had the right to then be considered a soldier like any man.Yet despite all these mixing genres the world never felt as if different styles were being forced to co-exist; the world was seemlessly created and easy to imagine existing. The world was very easy to get lost in and it felt as if you were standing right beside the characters in this ingenious world.

The characters of The Winner's Curse are some of the best characters I have ever read about. A large focus of this book is based around the romance between Arin and Kestrel but at no point was there any lines about how they were shockingly good looking, charming, breathtakingly beautiful; instead each of these characters were strong characters who were admired for their talents and actions they took. These characters were each refreshing and made the book so much more.

The main characters were not the only one's who helped to carry the story. Every character that was apart of this book left some kind of impression, both good and bad, but none were forgettable. The characters in this story made impacts on the story line and helped to add depth to both the other characters and to the world itself.

The plot of this book was, however, was what drew me in the most. I picked this book up and I didn't put it down until I realised that I had run out of words...I even read the acknowledgements looking for something extra that continued on the story - no such luck. This book was captivating and well written.

Right from the beginning this book has a story to tell, at no point did I feel like the book dragged or failed to convey its message. The second half of the book seems to appear out of nowhere; suddenly the book picks up and begins to weave an incredible story about fighting for your freedom, the people you love and using your wits to survive.

This book meets so many criteria that anyone who reads it is likely to find some aspect that they like about it. I would have loved to have given this book 5 stars but there is something (no idea what it is) that is missing. From here out the series can surely only get better.

An Ember in the Ashes

Title: An Ember in the Ashes

Series: An Ember in the Ashes - book 1

Author: Sabaa Tahir

Rating: 4.5 stars

Genre: Young Adult Fantasy

Number of Pages: 448

Publication Date: 2015

Publisher: Harper Voyager

Summary: For years Laia has lived in fear. Fear of the Empire, fear of the Martials, fear of truly living at all. Born as a Scholar, she's never had much of a choice.

For Elias it's the opposite. He has seen too much on his path to becoming a Mask, one of the Empire's elite soldiers. With the Masks' help the Empire has conquered a continent and enslaved thousands of Scholars, all in the name of power.

When Laia's brother is taken she must force herself to help the Resistance, the only people who have a chance of saving him. She must spy on the Commandant, ruthless overseer of Blackcliff Academy. Blackcliff is the training ground for Masks, and the very place that Elias is planning to escape. If he succeeds, he will be named deserter. If found, the punishment will be death.

But once Laia and Elias meet, they find that their destinies are intertwined and that their choices will change the fate of the Empire.

I absolutely loved this book. The premise, the world building, the whole thing. This book is set in a Roman Empire type world with magic, betrayals and death around every corner. Everything about this book worked. In fact I found this book so good, I read it all in one sitting. There was always something happening that meant I couldn't put the book down, I just had to keep reading.

Despite the fact that this book is set in a fantasy world with magic and supernatural creatures, you don't get thrust into a new world that is confusing and distant. Sabaa Tahir mixed this strange and magical place in with a Roman Empire feel making it easy to get drawn into.

I loved the idea of the Masks, the soldiers of the Empire, trained from the age of six to twenty, who are taught one thing: obey. Obeying usually involves a horrible death of those that are considered a threat to the Empire. So much detail has been clearly put into creating the Masks and in no way can they be confused as anything other than deadly and dangerous.

This book is told from the perspective of the two main characters Laia and Elias, with alternating perspectives given for each new chapter. At no point in this story did it not work. Despite the constant perspective change, the story flowed in a way that it never would have been able to if only one of them had been narrating.

The characters also contained an unbelievable amount of back story and depth. Just when you think you have the characters all worked out, they get infinitely more complex and well thought out. The pain, the fear and the anger that these two characters feel is so real at times you will feel like its your own. Both Laia and Elias go through an incredible amount of character development. Both, despite being two very different characters, learn to stop letting the world go by and to stand up and fight for what they believe in. 

This book ends at the cusps of a new and dangerous era and I can't wait for the next book to be released in April 2016.

Fangirl

Title: Fangirl

Author: Rainbow Rowell

Rating: 4.5 stars

Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary

Number of Pages: 460

Publication Date: 2013

Publisher: Macmillan

Summary (from the back of the book): Cath and Wren are identical twins and until recently they did absolutely everything together. Now they're off to university and Wren's decided she doesn't want to be one half of a pair any more - she wants to dance, meet boys, go to parties and let loose. It's not so easy for Cath. She would rather bury herself in the fanfiction she writes where there's romance far more intense than anything she's experienced in real life.

Now Cath has to decide whether she's ready to open her heart to new people and new experiences, and she's realising that there's more to learn about love than she ever thought possible...

I absolutely adored this book. If you love living in books and have gone to university, you will really be able to relate to Cath's experiences. This book is very much a coming of age story; finding who you are and more importantly accepting who you are. On top of finding out who she is, Cath also faces the problem of dealing with her social anxiety. Something that I found Rainbow Rowell handled really well.

I found this book to be a fun, light read that is very realistic and for the most part couldn't find any faults with it. But at the same time I can't say I found anything overly amazing about it either. This book just was. Yet despite this I would recommend it to anyone. One of the reasons I personally think it lack the wow factor is that I do prefer fantasy to contemporary.

This probably explains why my favourite parts of the book were the events surrounding Cath writing her fanfiction and the inserts both from the fictional Simon Snow books and the fanfiction that Cath has written. And I must say, I am really interested in reading Carry On after reading the small snippets throughout the book.

This book is very dialogue based, which I personally love. I find that dialogue is what brings any story forward. It is one thing to be able to write and describe a story but to have characters that can talk and communicate between each other and effectively is what I love and more importantly, it's what I remember. Another thing about a good dialogue driven book, is that the things that aren't said have such a greater impact.

This book is one of the best stand alone's that I have read this year and I can't wait to read something else that has been written by Rainbow Rowell.

Vertigo - TBR Challenge

For my August TBR Challenge I had to read a story that is published on Wattpad or Fictionpress. For my challenge I ended up reading Vertigo by Carmel March. I always love it when you find a gem on these websites, that one story that reminds you why keep looking and reading all the different works that people have created. 

Vertigo is one of those gems. The story follows a team of CIA agents who are trying to prevent an arms dealer from causing some major damage. Gemma Hart is the protagonist in this story, she is a smart and talented CIA agent who is pushed to her limits and forced to rise to the challenge when she is pulled from logistics and into the field. Facing not only trouble at a national security level, but also problems with her civilian boyfriends parents...and then there is the fact that she may or may not be developing a close relationship with her CIA partner, Boone.

One of the main things that I liked about this story was that the characters were real. Sure these agents are kickbutt, but at the end of the day you don't end up saying: "if only you could do that in real life" which many of these more action based (and movies) stories tend to go towards. 

The action in this story was another thing that I really loved. The action didn't dominate the plot line, it complimented the story as it was needed. The romance was another factor that I liked in the story for the same reason. Once again it seemed to fit seamlessly into the story without taking over the plot line and throwing it out the window. Everything in this story was one wonderfully woven flow of words.

To add to this amazing story is a sequel: Ricochet. Ricochet is still in the process of being written but Carmel March gets a new chapter up each month.

To this amazing little gem I give it a solid 4.5 stars and I can't wait for the September update.

The Assassin's Blade

Title: The Assassin's Blade

Series: Throne of Glass - prequel novellas

Author: Sarah J. Maas

Rating: 4.5 stars

Genre: Young Adult Fantasy

Number of Pages: 430

Publication Date: 2014

Publisher: Bloomsbury

Summary: Celaena Sardothien owes her reputation to Arobynn Hamel. He gave her a home at the Assassin's Guild and taught her the skills she needed to survive.

Arobynn's enemies stretch far and wide - from Adarlan's rooftops and its filthy dens, to remote islands and hostile deserts. Celaena is duty-bound to hunt them down. But behind her assignments lies a dark truth that will seal her fate - and cut her heart in two forever...

The Assassin's Blade by Sarah J. Maas is a collection of novellas from the Throne of Glass series. These novellas give a back story to how Celaena Sardothien become a prisoner of the Endovier Salt Mines.

Novellas Included:

The Assassin and the Pirate Lord

The Assassin and the Healer

The Assassin and the Desert

The Assassin and the Underworld

The Assassin and the Empire

Sarah has a way of intertwining her stories lines seamlessly; she flawlessly adds scenes throughout this series which later connect to further tell another major plot point, and she even does it all without ruining the surprise. Her writing style is beautiful and unique and she creates a vivid and enthralling world you can't help but love.

If you haven't read the Throne of Glass series, you are missing out. This series which follows the badass assassin Celaena, or Adarlan's Assassin is unique and creative and Celaena as a character makes you feel a wide range of emotions. She suffers through betrayal's, love, friendship and loss. This assassin is no ordinary assassin, she operates in a sphere that is totally her own.

I wasn't as impressed with The Assassin's Blade as I was with the main series but I still was absolutely thrilled to learn more about Celaena. She is a character with a dark and slightly mysterious background and it was nice to get to know who Celaena was before she was sent away to the salt mines.

Because I loved being back in the world of Celaena but wasn't quite as impressed as I was with the actual books of the series, I give The Assassin's Blade 4.5 stars.

Beautiful Creatures

Title: Beautiful Creatures

Series: Caster Chronicles - book 1

Authors: Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl

Rating: 4.5 stars

Genre: Young Adult Paranormal

Number of Pages: 563

Publication Date: 2009

Publisher: Little Brown Books

I have been wanting to read this book since the movie came out in 2013. I saw the trailer for the movie and was hooked, then I found out it was a book and wanted to read the story first. So I FINALLY got round to reading it; it's been a slow at uni, so I also watched the movie.

Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl is the story of boy meets girl. Ethan Wate lives in small town Gatlin where the same boring things happen day in and day out. That is until Lena Duchannes moves to town. Lena is the niece of the town recluse, Macon Ravenwood, and as an outsider to this small community Lena quickly becomes the target of small mindness and is accused of being a devil worshiping witch. But Ethan isn't concerned with what anyone in town has to say about Lena, all he wants to know is why he has been dreaming about her months...when he has never meet her before...

I loved the plot of this book, I found it unique and different. While the story is a little slow to begin with, the writing itself is fluent and easy to get dragged into. Once the story really got going I found this book impossible to put down and the last 100 pages completely flew by. The magic in this book was done in a fantastic way, it was different but not to the point that you got an information dump.

The characters in this book were well done as well and I loved the comparison that were made between the characters in the story and those of To Kill a Mockingbird because some of these characters definitely shared the small mindedness of this classic. The character development of Ethan was well done, he grew and learnt gradually and stumbled along a bit to, which was nice. It's no fun when the character just suddenly knows who they need to be. Ethan and Lena are characters that have definitely been given a lot of thought and filled with the right amount of background depth that all great characters share.

As for the movie adaptation, while parts of the story were different or outright changed, I still thoroughly enjoyed the movie and would recommend it if you liked the book.

I really loved this book so I am giving it 4.5 stars and I can't wait to read the rest of the Caster Chronicles.