ya literature has taken over my life!
I love the feeling of having a book suck me in, so that I forget where I am and what the read world is like. Also, the knowledge that I can put the book down and return to my uninteresting (but also not dangerous!) life where no one is trying to kill me/destroy the world.
I've gotten into a big YA kick lately, so I figure I'd do some reviews for everyone, just in case anyone is looking for a good read.
Gone by Michael Grant
In the blink of an eye. Everyone disappears. GONE.
Except for the young. Teens. Middle schoolers. Toddlers. But not one single adult. No teachers, no cops, no doctors, no parents. Just as suddenly, there are no phones, no internet, no television. No way to get help. And no way to figure out what's happened.
This one had been lurking in our browsing collection for a while, and I kept picking it up, and putting it back on the shelf. Then the other day I went to work and decided I didn't like any of the books I brought (and also forgot my Nook) so I grabbed this one.
I LOVED IT!
I wasn't too into it at first. Grant sort of plops us right down into the middle of the story with no introduction or preface, which I suppose is good because it lets us feel the confusion that the characters are feeling. Once I got a grasp on the personalities of the different main characters, I liked it a lot. The plot was very fast-paced, so much so that I ended up staying up way too late last night to finish it. I ended on a good-but-not-perfect note, which makes sense since it's the first book in a trilogy. (I've got Hunger on order from ILL.)
I was quite surprised by how Grant portrayed these kids. All of them are under 14 or under, and yet a good deal of them possess qualities I would expect out of someone my age or older. I certainly didn't picture them as that young in my head. And he certainly doesn't skimp on the gore that comes with a society thrown into chaos. I definitely cringed at several parts. >> Very Lord of the Flies-esque, but without the weird running through the jungle.
I recommend this one! It got 5 stars in my book!!
~~~~~
Uglies by Scott Westerfeld
Tally is about to turn sixteen, and she can't wait. Not for her license-for turning pretty. In Tally's world, your sixteenth birthday brings an operation that turns you from a repellent ugly into a stunningly attractive pretty and catapults you into a high-tech paradise where your only job is to have a really great time. In just a few weeks Tally will be there.
But Tally's new friend Shay isn't sure she wants to be pretty. She'd rather risk life on the outside. When Shay runs away, Tally learns about a whole new side of the pretty world-and it isn't very pretty. The authorities offer Tally the worst choice she can imagine: find her friend and turn her in, or never turn pretty at all. The choice Tally makes changes her world forever.
I just finished this one. It helps that I am super bored at work, but man, I just blazed right through this. I gave it 4 out of 5 stars, because I wasn't instantly hooked, and was a bit confused at first. I'm glad I stuck it out though! It was a very interesting concept, the idea that people get turned "pretty" and then live a life of revelry once they hit 16 but - *gasp!* - there is a dark underbelly to all of it! When I hit the half way point, I still wasn't sure whether or not I wanted Tally (the main character) to remain an Ugly to become a Pretty.
It also made me question myself. Would I want to remain an Ugly (i.e. exactly how I am now) or become a Pretty (i.e. get surgically altered so I was super duper hot like everyone else.) The honest truth is, I'd probably want to be a Pretty. Oops. Guess I missed the point of that book.
Still, I have already snatched the sequel, Pretties off the shelf and am reading it now, because Uglies ended on a bitch of a cliffhanger. I definitely had to stop for a minute when I was finished and go "Okay, Ariel. No one is going to turn you into a Pretty. That is not real."
Like I said. Engaging.
Plus, ummm.... the main love interest seems like kind of a hottie. Which helps.
After those long reviews, I will now go back to reading Pretties. The next YA lit book on my list (if it EVER decides to come in from ILL, and I won't even mention the CLIC copies I ordered, cause those will take forever), is Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. I'll be sure to post a review when I'm done!
Oh! And fun fact? Uglies is supposed to be made into a movie, starring the hot guy from that Taylor Swift music video! I wonder who he'll play? Hmmm.
Anyway, happy reading, f-listers! If any of you have read these, I'd love to hear your thoughts! <3
I've gotten into a big YA kick lately, so I figure I'd do some reviews for everyone, just in case anyone is looking for a good read.
Gone by Michael Grant
In the blink of an eye. Everyone disappears. GONE.
Except for the young. Teens. Middle schoolers. Toddlers. But not one single adult. No teachers, no cops, no doctors, no parents. Just as suddenly, there are no phones, no internet, no television. No way to get help. And no way to figure out what's happened.
This one had been lurking in our browsing collection for a while, and I kept picking it up, and putting it back on the shelf. Then the other day I went to work and decided I didn't like any of the books I brought (and also forgot my Nook) so I grabbed this one.
I LOVED IT!
I wasn't too into it at first. Grant sort of plops us right down into the middle of the story with no introduction or preface, which I suppose is good because it lets us feel the confusion that the characters are feeling. Once I got a grasp on the personalities of the different main characters, I liked it a lot. The plot was very fast-paced, so much so that I ended up staying up way too late last night to finish it. I ended on a good-but-not-perfect note, which makes sense since it's the first book in a trilogy. (I've got Hunger on order from ILL.)
I was quite surprised by how Grant portrayed these kids. All of them are under 14 or under, and yet a good deal of them possess qualities I would expect out of someone my age or older. I certainly didn't picture them as that young in my head. And he certainly doesn't skimp on the gore that comes with a society thrown into chaos. I definitely cringed at several parts. >> Very Lord of the Flies-esque, but without the weird running through the jungle.
I recommend this one! It got 5 stars in my book!!
~~~~~
Uglies by Scott Westerfeld
Tally is about to turn sixteen, and she can't wait. Not for her license-for turning pretty. In Tally's world, your sixteenth birthday brings an operation that turns you from a repellent ugly into a stunningly attractive pretty and catapults you into a high-tech paradise where your only job is to have a really great time. In just a few weeks Tally will be there.
But Tally's new friend Shay isn't sure she wants to be pretty. She'd rather risk life on the outside. When Shay runs away, Tally learns about a whole new side of the pretty world-and it isn't very pretty. The authorities offer Tally the worst choice she can imagine: find her friend and turn her in, or never turn pretty at all. The choice Tally makes changes her world forever.
I just finished this one. It helps that I am super bored at work, but man, I just blazed right through this. I gave it 4 out of 5 stars, because I wasn't instantly hooked, and was a bit confused at first. I'm glad I stuck it out though! It was a very interesting concept, the idea that people get turned "pretty" and then live a life of revelry once they hit 16 but - *gasp!* - there is a dark underbelly to all of it! When I hit the half way point, I still wasn't sure whether or not I wanted Tally (the main character) to remain an Ugly to become a Pretty.
It also made me question myself. Would I want to remain an Ugly (i.e. exactly how I am now) or become a Pretty (i.e. get surgically altered so I was super duper hot like everyone else.) The honest truth is, I'd probably want to be a Pretty. Oops. Guess I missed the point of that book.
Still, I have already snatched the sequel, Pretties off the shelf and am reading it now, because Uglies ended on a bitch of a cliffhanger. I definitely had to stop for a minute when I was finished and go "Okay, Ariel. No one is going to turn you into a Pretty. That is not real."
Like I said. Engaging.
Plus, ummm.... the main love interest seems like kind of a hottie. Which helps.
After those long reviews, I will now go back to reading Pretties. The next YA lit book on my list (if it EVER decides to come in from ILL, and I won't even mention the CLIC copies I ordered, cause those will take forever), is Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. I'll be sure to post a review when I'm done!
Oh! And fun fact? Uglies is supposed to be made into a movie, starring the hot guy from that Taylor Swift music video! I wonder who he'll play? Hmmm.
Anyway, happy reading, f-listers! If any of you have read these, I'd love to hear your thoughts! <3