The Darkest Minds Never Fade

Never Fade (The Darkest Minds #2) by Alexandra Bracken

Rating: 3 out of 5 hearts
507 pages
Released: October 2013
Buy it @ book depository

Ruby never asked for the abilities that almost cost her her life. Now she must call upon them on a daily basis, leading dangerous missions to bring down a corrupt government and breaking into the minds of her enemies. Other kids in the Children’s League call Ruby “Leader”, but she knows what she really is: a monster.

When Ruby is entrusted with an explosive secret, she must embark on her most dangerous mission yet: leaving the Children’s League behind. Crucial information about the disease that killed most of America’s children—and turned Ruby and the others who lived into feared and hated outcasts—has survived every attempt to destroy it. But the truth is only saved in one place: a flashdrive in the hands of Liam Stewart, the boy Ruby once believed was her future—and who now wouldn’t recognize her.

As Ruby sets out across a desperate, lawless country to find Liam—and answers about the catastrophe that has ripped both her life and America apart—she is torn between old friends and the promise she made to serve the League. Ruby will do anything to protect the people she loves. But what if winning the war means losing herself?

Review

 

To be honest I was a little disappointed when I first started reading. I loved the first book so much and it took me until halfway through the book before I started to truly enjoy this. I think this could have been because the first part of the book was Ruby being part of the league. Ruby had been taken by the league and helped them with their missions. She had changed so much since she had been with the league, it's like she had become numb and empty and because of this the story also came across a bit dull.

Once Ruby went on her secret mission and we come across some of those favourites characters from the first book does the pace pick up again. I can look past this slow start because the rest of the book was so good.

I mentioned in my review for the first book that I hope we get a bit more information about why/how the kids got their powers, we don't know exactly why/how but we are given hints and I can't wait to see everything revealed in the last book.

There was a jaw dropping moment at the end of the book (not as much as the first) but it was devastating enough. Those who have read this may know what I'm talking about, I almost cried :(

Thank you to Disney Hyperion and Netgalley for my copy.

On the cover 

 

I read this book on my kindle so I didn't really have a proper cover on this. So I've decided to talk about the above cover because I think it looks wicked! To me this looks like a compass crashing through ice and wire which has a lot do with the story. I think this cover is good for guys or girls and makes it look like an epic book!

What I'm reading next: Graceling by Kristin Cashore

Story was a little dead

The dead and buried by Kim Harrington

Rating: 2 out of 5 hearts

295 pages

Released: January 2013

Buy it @ book depository

A haunted house, a buried mystery, and a very angry ghost make this one unforgettable thriller.

Jade loves the house she's just moved into with her family. She doesn't even mind being the new girl at the high school: It's a fresh start, and there's that one guy with the dreamy blue eyes. . . . But then things begin happening. Strange, otherworldly things. Jade's little brother claims to see a glimmering girl in his room. Jade's jewelry gets moved around, as if by an invisible hand. Kids at school whisper behind her back like they know something she doesn't.

Soon, Jade must face an impossible fact: that her perfect house is haunted. Haunted by a ghost who's seeking not just vengeance, but the truth. The ghost of a girl who ruled Jade's school — until her untimely death last year. It's up to Jade to put the pieces together before her own life is at stake. As Jade investigates the mystery, she discovers that her new friends in town have more than a few deep, dark secrets. But is one of them a murderer?

Review

"And perhaps heavier than the ghosts were the secrets we carried"

Ok, I have to start by saying that this book wasn't horrible, it just wasn't for me. I was expecting a really chilling story and a mystery behind it to boot. It was all a little sub par.

The idea behind the book was really intriguing and I liked how the book was written. The book was written from the main character, Jade's, point of view but every now again there is a diary entry written from the ghost girl back when she was alive. This was cool because we as the reader get a little more insight to maybe what happened to her, while the characters don't know.

I think what did let me down though was the mystery, I had it pegged from very early on who murdered the girl. At one stage though the author did manage to make me second guess myself which was good. Another thing that let the story down a tiny bit was the less than eerie feel. I was hoping for real moments of spookyness but I didn't get that.

On a little side note, something I really loved was that Jade collects jewelry with precious gemstones in them and It was awesome to read the different meanings for each stone whenever Jade would wear one. It got me inspired to want to have a gemstone collection of my own.

The Dead and buried got two stars from me because I was very disappointed and was expecting so much more from this because it had lots of potential.

On the cover

I've read a couple of books recently where girls are lying on the ground. Its a bit weird, is she dead? If so I don't like the idea of showing off a cover with a dead person on the front. I guess a lot of crime/thriller writers have some sort body part on the cover of their book but I really don't think this books warrants a dead body.

What I'm reading next: Just One Day by Gayle Forman

All the puzzle pieces fit together..

Pushing the Limits (Pushing the Limits #1) by Katie McGarry

Rating: 5 out of 5 hearts
392 pages
Released: July 2012
Buy it @ book depository

No one knows what happened the night Echo Emerson went from popular girl with jock boyfriend to gossiped-about outsider with "freaky" scars on her arms. Even Echo can't remember the whole truth of that horrible night. All she knows is that she wants everything to go back to normal.But when Noah Hutchins, the smoking-hot, girl-using loner in the black leather jacket, explodes into her life with his tough attitude and surprising understanding, Echo's world shifts in ways she could never have imagined. They should have nothing in common. And with the secrets they both keep, being together is pretty much impossible.

Yet the crazy attraction between them refuses to go away. And Echo has to ask herself just how far they can push the limits and what she'll risk for the one guy who might teach her how to love again.

Review

“I gazed into her beautiful green eyes and her fear melted. A shy smile tugged at her lips and at my heart. F**k me and the rest of the world, I was in love.”

I have been wanting to read this for so long and once I started I couldn't stop! Another one of those books which is told from two points of view - Noah and Echo. Broken and troubled they meet through the school psychiatrist. Although they are completely different, they come together and help each other overcome their troubles through love, friendship and support.

Katie McGarry did a fantastic job of writing from a young guys point of view, She had some great insight into what guys think and what makes them tick. I liked the way that Noah was such a guy and instantly thinks that Echo is hot, but it's not until he gets to know her that his feelings change into something stronger.

The romance between Noah and Echo sure does sizzle. McGarry has a way of building the sexual tension to make it completely swoon-worthy and steamy! The chemistry between both of them was amazing and I really felt their relationship develop over time and from both of their points of view.

But this isn't just a romance fluff novel, underneath all of that is a story of family, trust and believing in yourself. Echo endured a horrific experience one night and can't remember what happened. Slowly Echo and us as readers have information revealed to us and then towards the end the puzzle pieces all fell into place.

I loved the musical inspirations at the end, in which the author told you some songs that she listened to to help her get in the zone and mind set of each of her characters. Surprisingly I knew quite a few of them and it helped me understand her thought patterns in creating the characters.

This book almost made me cry, which as I've mentioned in other reviews is a hard thing to do. I found myself falling for these characters and all their flaws. I love when a book has not only got the story right but also got the characters oh so right! I can not wait to read the other characters stories in the companion novels.

On the cover

The people on the front depict exactly what Noah and Echo look like. This scene looks like it's taken straight from the book with them up against the school lockers. Looking at it again takes me straight back into the book.

What I'm reading next: Along for the ride by Sarah Dessen

Trilogy? I don't think it's necessary

Amber House (The Amber House Trilogy #1) By Kelly Moore, Tucker Reed & Larkin Reed

Rating: 3 out of 5 hearts

368 pages

Released: October 2012

Buy it @ book depository

"I was sixteen the first time my grandmother died . . ."

"Sarah Parsons has never seen Amber House, the grand Maryland estate that's been in her family for three centuries. She's never walked its hedge maze nor found its secret chambers; she's never glimpsed the shades that haunt it, nor hunted for lost diamonds in its walls.

But all of that is about to change. After her grandmother passes away, Sarah and her friend Jackson decide to search for the diamonds--and the house comes alive. She discovers that she can see visions of the house's past, like the eighteenth-century sea captain who hid the jewels, or the glamorous great-grandmother driven mad by grief. She grows closer to both Jackson and a young man named Richard Hathaway, whose family histories are each deeply entwined with her own. But when the visions start to threaten the person she holds most dear, Sarah must do everything she can to get to the bottom of the house's secrets, and stop the course of history before it is cemented forever."

Review

The whole premise behind this book - an old house full of treasure & memories, maybe even ghosts sounds fantastic and is right up my alley. After reading this though, it wasn't what I was expecting. It started quite slow and I was expecting a spooky, stay up all night kind of book but it wasn't. I'm not saying this was terrible, it just turned into something different.

Sarah, her mum & her autistic brother are staying in her recently deceased grandmother's house (Amber House) because Sarah's mother is getting it ready to be sold. Sarah's mum used to live in Amber House when she was a little girl but something happened and she never really wanted to come back. I didn't pick the reason why the mother wanted to stay away but other things were quite easy to pick up on. I'm pretty bad at picking out what is going to happen next in movies and in books, so for someone like me to get clued in means others will know the ending quite easily too.

Don't get me wrong I really enjoyed reading it once I got halfway through mainly because the mysterious back story to who this little girl in white is and why can she see & interact with Sarah if she isn't a ghost? Of course with any teenage fiction these days there has to be a love triangle, luckily I was really glad with who Sarah picked in the end.

The ending was really good and I don't think there needs to be a trilogy written, I feel this book was great on it's own. I've seen the blurb for the next book and I don't think I'll rush out to read it when it's released mainly because this ended really well.

My final thoughts are that this would make a fantastic teen movie. It has everything in there. Suspense, mystery, romance, rich guy on a boat and a ball party where the main character can dress up in a ball gown.

Thanks to NetGalley & Scholastic Inc. for my kindle edition.

On the cover

You couldn't get a more perfect cover that tells you what happens in the book. A spooky house, a maze and a ball. But as this was a kindle edition I didn't get to close the book to look at the front cover, which I like to do often. 

What I'm reading next: The Happiest Refugee by Ahn Do

Very Unique but something was missing

What's left of me (The Hybrid Chronicles #1) by Kat Zhang

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
352 pages
Buy it @ book depository
Released: September 2012

I should not exist. But I do.

Eva and Addie started out the same way as everyone else—two souls woven together in one body, taking turns controlling their movements as they learned how to walk, how to sing, how to dance. But as they grew, so did the worried whispers. Why aren’t they settling? Why isn’t one of them fading? The doctors ran tests, the neighbors shied away, and their parents begged for more time. Finally Addie was pronounced healthy and Eva was declared gone. Except, she wasn’t . . .

For the past three years, Eva has clung to the remnants of her life. Only Addie knows she’s still there, trapped inside their body. Then one day, they discover there may be a way for Eva to move again. The risks are unimaginable-hybrids are considered a threat to society, so if they are caught, Addie and Eva will be locked away with the others. And yet . . . for a chance to smile, to twirl, to speak, Eva will do anything.

Review

I had high hopes for this book. I was really looking forward to reading it because it sounded so interesting. Unfortunately it wasn't as good as I had hoped. I don't know what it was about this that I didn't like. Maybe it was the worldbuilding, I couldn't get sucked into it because a lot of things weren't really explained. Like why society decided to get rid of their other souls? What's so wrong with having another soul? I know it's picky but neither the mystery behind why or the characters were engaging enough to make me want to gobble it up.

The book is from Eva's point of view even though she is the soul hidden within Addie. It was very easy to get used to the idea of two people living within one body and I think it's very unique. I really liked Eva and I feel bad for rooting for her to take over their body because that meant Addie would be the one stuck inside.

This book felt more sci-fi than dystopian to me, which I have to say I really liked! I don't normally read sci-fi books but this may have opened up a whole new genre for me.

Overall I did like it and will most likely read the next book in the series but the story & characters weren't flawless in my eyes.

*I received my edition of this book from HarperCollins Australia and NetGalley*

On the cover

What a unique cover! It's like an optical illusion with the face inside a face, It reminds me of the rubin vase image. I also really like the colours on this cover, it makes the book seem sterile on the outside but there's something beautiful hidden beneath.

What I'm reading next: Fireproof by Alex Kava