Book Review: The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey

Now reviewing...The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey

I decided to give this book 4 stars!!

This was an awesome book! The story is very original (unless apparently you have read The Host by Stephanie Meyers, which I haven't...so I thought it was neat!) and the characters are interesting! Here is a blurb about the the book:

"After the 1st wave, only darkness remains. After the 2nd, only the lucky escape. And after the 3rd, only the unlucky survive. After the 4th wave, only one rule applies: trust no one.

Now, it's the dawn of the 5th wave, and on a lonely stretch of highway, Cassie runs from Them. The beings who only look human, who roam the countryside killing anyone they see. Who have scattered Earth's last survivors. To stay alone is to stay alive, Cassie believes, until she meets Evan Walker. Beguiling and mysterious, Evan Walker may be Cassie's only hope for rescuing her brother--or even saving herself. But Cassie must choose: between trust and despair, between defiance and surrender, between life and death. To give up or to get up."

Sounds interesting, right? I thought so! Through my "bookstagram", I had heard so many good things about this book and many people seemed to genuinely enjoy it so I thought I would give it a shot. Most of my opinions on this book are good, with only one or two things I didn't enjoy. I would definitely suggest this book to anyone who likes supernatural, YA books! Without further adieu, what I did and didn't like about this book.


SPOILERS AHEAD!!!!

Things I did like:

I really liked Cassie, the main character. You might be thinking, "Oh, Cassie for Cassandra" but as stated in the book, it is "Cassie for Cassieopia." I thought that Cassie was a very strong character and had a very unique train of thought in regards to other characters I have read about in other YA novels. Even when she is faced with hardship, she pushes through and does what needs to be done which is very admirable. Aside from her, I also like Evan and Ben. First, let's talk about Evan Walker. He seems like a very genuine guy and legitimately seems to care for Cassie. I was a little confused about him at first, but then I thought, "Well, he must just be kind of weird." Then we find out that he is a SILENCER. WHAT?! I am not going to downplay this any, but I was seriously sad when I thought that she was going to leave him and their relationship couldn't move forward since, you know, he is one of the aliens that invaded the Earth. However, she sees past that and then they work together to save her brother, Sammy. Seems like a happily ever after, except we have no idea what happened to Evan at the end of the book :,( Regardless of how the plot went, I liked the fact that Evan was trying to overcome his natural state because of love. I approve of him. Then there was Ben (Zombie). I know that he was brainwashed to be one of the bad guys, but I believe that he is really good at heart. Otherwise, he wouldn't have gone through all of the trouble to also go back and save Sammy (Nugget). At the end of the book, it seemed like maybe him and Cassie will have a potential romantic relationship in the future? Until I read The Infinite Sea, I won't know. Regardless, Ben is a good guy turned bad, then turned good again after his and Ringer's realization. Good for them.

Aside from the characters, I thought that the concept/plot was great and kept me wanting more! I cannot wait to begin TIS when I get it, hopefully sometime next week.

Things I didn't like:

Okay, so I have read plenty of books where the POV alternates between two characters. I have really come to enjoy that style of writing, it has definitely grown on me. This book was setup in a similar fashion, however, it was between more than just two characters. Here, we are looking at two main POV's and then two sub-POV's. Cassie and Ben are the biggest portions of the book, while Evan/Silencer and Sammy take up a small sliver of it. Don't get me wrong, I liked the style of bouncing between characters, however it drove me crazy that they were not labeled as to who it was. When I first started reading and finished the first section (Cassie) I moved on to the next one and it took me about 4 pages to realize that it was:

1. Not Cassie anymore

2. A male character with no name

Then, you don't find out this guys name until the end of his first section! It was super confusing for awhile which is the main reason I gave this book 4 stars. Even once you knew who the characters were, you would have to read a page or two usually to realize whose POV it was at that time since it didn't clearly state it at the beginning. All-in-all, I found the style good, but didn't like the lack of information on the character speaking.

Otherwise, I still really enjoyed this book and look forward to reading The Infinite Sea. I hope you found this review useful!


Happy reading! :)

Book Review: Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver

Now Reviewing...Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver

I gave this book 4 stars!

I really enjoyed this book, as I have all of Lauren Oliver's other books that I have read. If you haven't read any of her books, I highly suggest you do and I especially suggest this one! Aside from Before I Fall, she has also written the Delirium trilogy (Delirium, Pandemonium, and Requiem) as well as her latest novel, Panic.

Anyways, here is the basic plot: Samantha (Sam) is a high school senior who has it all. She is popular, her boyfriend is the boy she has had a crush on for years, and she has three amazing friends who are as thick as thieves. Today is February 12th and also Cupid Day, a popular Valentine's Day ritual at Sam's high school that is one of her favorite days. It is also the day that she is supposed to lose her virginity to her boyfriend, Rob. Among all of these special events, an old friend of Sam's is having a party that evening that everyone is going to, how fun! Long story short, Sam and her friends go to this party and when they leave (with no DD), they end up getting in a car accident where Sam dies. The next morning Sam wakes up not realizing what happened the day before, and comes to find that it is February 12th AGAIN. From this point on, Sam lives February 12th every single day for a week. Every time she relives the day, she tries to do different things in an effort to reverse her death and to ultimately improve the lives of everyone around her. 

Now I have never read a book that had a story like this, so this was a great idea! I am sure there are similar books, but for me this was new! I am now going to highlight the things I did and didn't like, as always:

SPOILERS AHEAD!!!

Things I did like:

I loved this storyline as I mentioned before. It was very unique and it was constantly reeling you in as you neared the end of one day and were heading into the next one. What things would she change? How would she act on day X? Will she find a way out of death? These were all things that I thought of at the end of each day and I think provoking thought in the reader is a great thing to do. 

I also really liked Sam as a character. Although I did not party and was not as popular as her when I was in High School, I felt that she really had a good heart and I could relate to her, as well as the other characters, in many different ways. This made me feel for them when things went wrong or felt enlightened when they took part in certain things. 

Lastly, the idea of trying to improve the lives of the people around you and trying to live your last day as fully as you can is beautiful. It was great to see Sam come full-circle and see how she evolved as a person from day one to day seven. Oliver did a beautiful job writing this book and I believe that it is an extremely strong first novel for her. 

Things I didn't like:

It seemed as though that Oliver wrote the characters as "All popular kids drink and party every weekend" which is definitely not true. That slightly bugged me, but it wasn't a big issue. 

I also was so sad that she discovered her true feelings for Kent but it was too late. I am a sucker for good love stories and that one was completely destroyed. I was quite sad about this, but I suppose it is better than her ending with an unhappy relationship. All in all, there weren't many things that I disliked about this book, so yay!

Overall, I loved this book and love Lauren Oliver! I had already read the Delirium trilogy, but look forward to reading her most recent YA book, Panic.

Happy reading! :)

Book Review: Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

Now reviewing...Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

So I gave this book 3 stars...

I had heard many people who raved about how amazing this book was and really, thoroughly enjoyed reading it. With this is mind, I purchased it from Amazon about a month and a half ago and just now got around to reading it. I was very excited to start it due to its stellar reviews, so when I began it a few days ago, I had very high hopes. However, my hopes were quickly shattered as I did not find the book nearly as amazing and encapsulating as people had noted it was.

For those of you who don't know what this book is about, here is an idea. There is a boy named Jacob who is very close with his "crazy" grandfather, Abe. Growing up, Abe tells Jacob many stories about peculiar children that he encountered at a children's home that he had taken refuge at during WWII. However, they involve children that can levitate, lift tons worth of items, and are completely invisible! Jacob grows up thinking that his grandfather is just stretching the truth and is crazy, because these types of people could not truly exist. When his grandfather dies, Jacob is labeled as "crazy" for beginning to believe the stories he had heard as a child and is encouraged be his therapist to go to this almost deserted island to learn the truth about his grandfather's past. Sounds interesting, doesn't it? I thought so too but as I continued to read, I found my interest dwindling by the page.


SPOILERS AHEAD!!!

So the things that I did enjoy in this book:


The pictures were quite cool. I read an interview at the end of the book with the author and learned that these photos were all real (minus a few photoshop changes) which is super awesome! I think the pictures also really help the reader gain a better visual of what some of the characters in the children's home look like, especially since sometimes it is hard to visual what an invisible boy might look like ;) I also appreciated the relationship that Jacob had with his grandfather. I have only really been able to meet 1/4 grandparents so it was heartwarming to learn more about their close relationship. The things I enjoy pretty much ended there. That is not to say that the rest was horrible, but it just did not catch my attention too well.


The things I did not enjoy:


The book did not keep my attention. Obviously, I continued reading and did finish the book, but at no point did I feel like I just had to keep reading. I have read plenty of books that suck me in like that, so I know that this book just wasn't as exciting. I also felt like there could have been a more intriguing intro, as it picked up very very slowly and felt like it took awhile to get to anything exciting. Lastly, towards the end of the book, I had no urge to go and pick up the next book. I felt like the ending was very anticlimactic. I know that they were all headed off to go find a new loop so they can avoid the hollowgasts, but I felt like them going off into the sunset left no feeling of continuation. I don't know, maybe it was just me, but I thought it could have been better.


Overall, it was an OK book. It was a unique story, but I felt no draw to keep reading and felt no connection to the characters in the book. I wouldn't go as far as to recommend it, but that is just me, as obviously many other people have suggested it. Take a crack at it and see if it's something you enjoy.


I hope this review was helpful, happy reading! :)

Book Review: Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

HELLO! First off, I'd like to thank you for checking out my blog! I have never done book reviews before, so I hope I do not disappoint anyone! Now, without further adieu, I am going to write my first review on....GONE GIRL by Gillian Flynn.

So, I had an idea of what this book was about before I began reading it. It was difficult to avoid all of the hype about it, how amazing it was, and the fact that it is coming out on the big screen this October. However, I did my best to read this book without keeping in mind how amazing everyone I knew seemed to think it was. Once I finished the book, I decided that for me, it was worth 4 stars. Let's look at the good and the bad about this book that I found while reading.

HUGE SPOILERS AHEAD!!!


The Good:
For starters, I really enjoy the writing style of alternating viewpoints in every other chapter. Although this can become frustrating when one of the chapters ends on a climax, it was definitely a plus to me. I had never had much experience with this alternating style until I read Allegiant by Veronica Roth, but I have read more of this type since then and have really come to like it! Also, Flynn has a great way of really sucking you into the character's lives and exposing their true colors. This was VERY important to this story and I think she did a great job.

In terms of the story itself, I loved the fact that you are lead to believe that Nick had murdered his wife up until the middle of the book where the huge plot twist is thrown in! Turns out that Amy is just a psycho...who would have thought?! I definitely didn't see that coming so kudos to Flynn. It made it so that the story was somewhat revived and brought back to life as we got to see a whole different side of what happened (since it actually wasn't Nick in the first place). She also did a good job of creating Amy's past in which we get to see why she turned out the way she did (crazy) and why she had to do all of the horrible things that she did just to punish her husband.

The Bad:
I felt like the beginning of this book was a tad slow. I mean, I know there needs to be background for the reader to understand what is going on, but I felt like the beginning was a little dry and hard to get into. Maybe that was just me, but it did get better (obviously) so that isn't a big deal. I also almost couldn't get over how much I absolutely loathed Amy...I really just wanted to throw my Kindle at the wall sometimes and stop reading. I know that is a stupid reason to not want to keep reading, but at the twist point, she just drove me crazy! I suppose she is meant to be that way so it's not necessarily bad, just something that bothered me. Otherwise, there wasn't much that I found bad about this book.

Overall, this book was very well written and tells a great, chilling story of a conniving wife who holds on to grudges for way too long. Typical story with a new twist. I really hope that the movie does the book justice because I am definitely going to go see it when it comes out!

I hope this review was good enough for everyone, thanks for reading! :)