Snowglobe

Snowglobe

by Soyoung Park

translated by Joungmin Lee Comfort

Eww. AVOID!

Chosen

 

Chosen

by Shade Owens

 

TL;DL: Avoid this book. It's a blender version of Hunger Games, The Handmaid's Tale, 1984, Brave New World, etc... and it's only the stuff that floated to the top after the blender was off for a day or two. 

Rating: 1/5

The Last She

The Last She

by H.J. Nelson

(I can't write about this... I had to rant instead)

Scythe

Scythe

by Neal Shusterman

When Scythe Faraday walks into the lives of Citra and Rowan, they have no idea how their lives will change. 

They live in a time of immortality and perfect living. No one has pain. No one has hunger. No one has to suffer any longer. The AI takes care of everything and everyone knows that. 

But with immortality comes the possibility of future overpopulation, so the Scythes were created to "glean" the people and keep the numbers from becoming overwhelming.

Some Scythes are thoughtful and methodical, taking only those whose may harm others in the future, even if only accidentally. Others are more merciful, seeking out those who look to be tired of their permanency. 

And other Scythes feel the power too much, seeking to cause as much chaos, fear, and even pain as they go about their "duty".

Now Citra and Rowan are being trained to be future Scythes and their views of everything they thought to be true will be challenged like never before.

Final thoughts: Decent read. I'd give the story itself a 4 for the plot, but the missing expository elements like how are people entertained and kept physically/mentally challenged? Why do people not know all of their history if they have so much time to study it? Where is the darn speech-to-text feature so that people know how to pronounce old words correctly?

Rating: 3/5

The Princess Trials

The Princess Trials

by Cordelia K. Castel

Zea-Mays Calico has lived her life as a Harvester and dreamed of a day with the Red Runners will finally take over Phangloria and make all things equal across the land. For years, she has watched the Nobles and the other higher Echelons reap the rewards of the work of the lower groups and she wants to share all the wealth equally.

When Zea finally steps up and takes action against a Guardian who threatens another Harvester, the head of the local Red Runner league really notices Zea and recruits her for a new mission.

Join the Princess Trials, get close to the Prince, explore the castle, and find all the hidden passageways so that the Red Runners can attack and take over the kingdom.

But things don't go as planned and everything turns topsy-turvy as Zea makes her way to the Oasis and then has to survive something much more dangerous than the Guardians... The other girls in the competition.

Final thoughts: This has moments of decent scattered among a LOT of copying from The Hunger Games and The Selection. It's hard to read this with any sense of joy once you see all of the parallels and almost point for point plot theft at some points. I wanted to like it more but I just can see past the duplicate story lines.

Rating: 3/5 (barely)

Podcast of my rant here: https://www.podomatic.com/podcasts/shayanasls/episodes/2020-05-27T15_20_56-07_00

Until Midnight

Until Midnight

by Erin R. Bedford

Clara has always been out of place. As the overseer's daughter, she worked alongside the farmers but they would never trust to her or talk much with her. As the stepdaughter to a wealthy seamstress in the Inner Circle, she's always been too dirty, too unkempt, and too close to common people around.

But now Clara has the chance to change everything. She's been selected for the Election, an annual event to choose people to work for and with The Fold to run the land of Alban. 

Maybe Clara is the breath of fresh air they need to make Alban the place it should always have been.

Final thoughts: This is billed as Hunger Games meets Cinderella. There's also some Selection in here, too. But it's just all too obvious and annoying. None of the characters are built well; they are all shallow and empty. There is no real connection for any of them and people come and go as necessary for the story instead of organically through the story. It's all over the place and things just keep being brought in and then tossed out whenever it's convenient. This is just bad overall. The ending is both obvious and annoying. The revelations made me just so angry and dropped in from nowhere. It is written more like stream-of-consciousness or like a kid telling a story out loud. Nope. Not going to read the next one.

Rating: 2/5

The Program

The Program

by Suzanne Young

In the not-too-distant future, suicide breaks out among teens around the world. Teens are literally killing themselves left and right. 

In a panic to save the next generation, the government creates The Program. Each day, students fill out a survey to determine their mental state. Each day, handlers walk the schools and streets, looking for tell-tale signs of depression. Each day, parents and friends report people to The Program. And each day, those people are forcefully taken to be "cured" before they too submit to suicidal thoughts.

Sloane has every good reason to be sad but she's not allowed to show any of it. One tear and she'll be the next to go to The Program. People enter The Program as one person, but leave as someone completely blank. All of their memories are taken. All of their personalities are wiped. They are blank slates, no longer depressed but no longer themselves, either.

After Sloane's brother kills himself and her best friend is taken to The Program, Sloane knows that they are watching her. They are looking for a sign, a moment of weakness, anything that will justify taking her away. Sloane's only comfort and the only person she can trust is her boyfriend, James.

But when James succumbs to the thoughts, Sloane is truly alone and The Program is watching.

Final thoughts: Good dystopian novel with some interesting ideas. I've been seeing this on bookstore shelves for a while and kept thinking that I must have already purchased it and had it in my TBR pile because it's definitely up my alley. When I finally read it, I was not disappointed. It's realistic and dark with some chilling content and predictions of the future. Can suicide become contagious? Some of this also reminded me of Uglies mixed with a little Hunger Games and some 1984 for good measure. It was a good read but I'm not sure how much I want to read the sequels; this may be too dark a path for me.

Rating: 4/5

H2O

H2O

by Virginia Bergin

 

On a hot day in England, people all go outside to hang out with friends and try to cool down. When the rain comes, they are happy to see it.

Until it starts falling on them.

Previously the giver of life, this new rain is a killer... literally.

A bacterium that had been hidden in an asteroid that was destroyed before it could hit the earth has finally reached the atmosphere. It loves water. It thrives in water. And it's raining down on every human on earth.

As the bodies of the people she knew start falling along with the bodies of all of the strangers around her, Ruby manages to survive. She's running out of food and she can't trust the water to drink it, so she's also running out of options.

Now Ruby has to figure out where to go, how to get there, and who to trust on the way.

Final thoughts: This book had some great moments, but that's really what it was; it was a series of moments. Ruby is not very likeable and she never seems to learn. She keeps making the same mistakes over and over. She keeps making the same poor choices over and over. How she manages to live as long as she does is completely coincidental and senseless. Maybe the next book will be better, but I'm not sure if I'll rush out to read it.

Rating: 3/5

Ready Player One

Ready Player One

by Ernest Cline

Twenty-eight years from now, in the year 2044, the world is falling apart. Things have gone so crazy that most people choose to spend their lives online in OASIS, the ultimate MMORPG where pretty much anything is possible.

Designed by eccentric gamer James Halliday, a fan of all things 80s, OASIS provides a home away from chaos. People can live and work in OASIS as long as they have the stamina and credits to do so. Kids can go to school there. Quests can be undertaken. Ultimate rewards await anyone who can figure out the clues.

And the ultimate quest on OASIS comes when James Halliday dies. As his last wish, he wills his entire multi-billion dollar fortune to anyone who can solve the clues, find the keys, and defeat the bosses first. The moment his quest is announced, the world goes crazy trying to solve the first clue. But as the years go by, people begin to think it's either impossible or fake.

Then Wade Watts stumbles upon the first key and everyone in the world finds out at almost the exact same time. Wade is now followed and adored; he's also wanted by some very dangerous people who will do almost anything to win the prize, including kill.

It's time for Wade to face the real world and the real consequences of living if he wants to solve the virtual puzzles hidden in OASIS.

Final thoughts: This is a gamer's dream book. It's addictive to anyone who's ever been addicted to games and/or was raised in the 80's. Obscure references are everywhere, as are pop-culture ones. I have a few questions about the legitimacy of Wade's hacking abilities considering the nearly 180 turn they take from the beginning to the end, but I'm willing to overlook them just because this is so well done.

Rating: 4/5

Glass Sword

 

Glass Sword

by Victoria Aveyard

Mare, Cal, and the rest of the Scarlet Guard are on the run from the Silvers who are after them.

There isn't time to think.

There's barely time to breathe.

There's almost to time to run.

Maven is after them, after Mare, and he will do anything to destroy all that Mare loves.

Final thoughts: I LOVED Red Queen. I have given it high praise to everyone who asks. But this is really, really, really not even close to it in quality. It's repetitive and banal. Mare is completely unrelatable throughout. There are the annoying things like the first chapter or two in which Mare repeatedly thinks about Julian and Sara probably being dead. Over and over it comes up, to the point where it's like a blaring sign saying, "It's a setup! He's NOT dead!!!" And that kind of thing happens so often, it becomes dull to read. I had to fight to finish this one. The changing of city/location names was a little distracting, as well. The country is Norta (North America), they are leaving Naercy (New York City), they visit Delphie (Philadelphia), and they talk about Wash (Washington, D.C.).
What I hate most though is Mare's self-awareness. She is overly aware of everything and keeps talking about how no one can be trusted, how important she is the cause, and how she must remain safe, sacrificing others for herself. It's a high level of ego that is not pretty to watch/read. What made characters like Katniss and Tris pretty dang amazing is that they never thought of themselves as indispensable; they were protagonists who just wanted to keep those that they loved safe and get rid of those who would put them in harm's way. Mare is not like that at all. She's vain and self-serving, leaving even her own brother behind because she can't risk exposure and she's too important to lose.
There were a few decent moments, but it was just not as good.

Rating: 2/5

The End of FUN

The End of FUN

by Sean McGinty

In the future, nearly everyone is having FUN. 

Aaron is one of the first to have FUN installed as a beta tester and his days are filled with FUN. Every day, Homie pops up right in front of his eyes to help him have FUN with everything around him. He plays virtual games, rates friends and parties, and spends quite a bit of money online.

Of course, it's the spending that really gets him in trouble. Soon, Aaron is in FAIL and he's not having much FUN at all. On top of that, his grandfather dies and leaves all his property to Aaron, which doesn't make Aaron's dad or sister very happy. There are also rumors of buried treasure hidden on his grandfather's property, which could be exactly what Aaron needs to pay his bills, get out of FAIL, and permanently end FUN.

If only real life wasn't so very difficult.

Final thoughts: Too many messages. Too many existential thoughts. Too esoteric. There's the constant theme of cyber reality vs. actual reality. There's a hint of environmentalism with the deaths of millions of birds being blamed on technology. And there's the never subtle message about how much better and more lasting face-to-face interactions are to virtual ones. It's far too pushy with the messages and not very well written overall. I've given up on a number of books in the past, more than I ever have before, so when I started this, I was determined to finish. Unfortunately, this one took weeks to read and days to process. I couldn't help but constantly put this book down and then delay picking it back up again. Even when I finished, I had to wait a few days (and even read another book) before I could write about it. Dullsville.

Rating: 1/5 

ARC Received from NetGalley

Project ELE

Project ELE

by Rebecca Gober and Courtney Nuckels

Sometime in our future, Global Warming will force the nations to install patches to the ozone to protect the population from the heat and UV rays.

Sometime in our future, the C.U.R.E. for all diseases will be created, which will end everything from cancer to the common cold.

Sometime in our future, a super virus will develop that will begin killing off people by the millions, leading to the possible destruction of the human race.

Sometime in our future, the ozone patches will be removed, the uninfected will be moved to mountain sanctuaries, and everyone else will be left to fend for themselves.

Sometime in our future, the vaccinations created to try and save humanity will end up changing it forever.

Final thoughts: Ugh! Another great idea that suffers from poor execution. Why do people refuse to get good copy editors!?!?!  Looser vs. loser is an obvious issue. The lack of proper punctuation was horrendous. You always put a comma before a name or appellation when talking to someone. ALL CAPS IS YELLING! If the whites of her eyes are developing little circles of color, how does a contact help to cover that up? Let's just completely forget/ignore the family members left out to die. Let's fall in love with the first cute guy to be seen and let's make that a near insta-love. Yeah. Let's not.

Rating: 1/5

Just One Friend

Just One Friend

by June Shaw, Brooke and Caroline Naquin

In This Place, you are allowed one friend and one friend only. Girls are forced to perform physical feats for the entertainment of the older women in order to determine if they will be good matches for sons. Fail at your demonstration and you will probably never be seen again.

Alabama Long is the best at what she does. She also has a dog who follows her everywhere, which helps when the women are watching her. Each evening, she goes home to her one friend: her grandmother.

When the Ruler calls Alabama in, it can't be good.

She's accused of having a second friend and she's forced to run with her grandmother to the land beyond the warning signs. A land that has far too many dangers, but none as dangerous as what she's leaving behind.

Can Alabama have everything she wants? Will she survive getting it?

Final thoughts:  What the heck!?!?! This is so poorly written! When I noticed that there were three authors, it actually made a little sense. It reads like a few people got on an online chat and took turns writing line after line. The whole thing is poorly paced, confusing, and lacks any kind of description. The Teller Boy has gray eyes. That's it. That's all we know. Seriously. Would it kill to have more than one adjective for people and things? Half the time, I had no idea what was going on because I'm one of those movie-maker readers and I couldn't make the movie because I had no descriptions to use to paint the images in my brain. The timeline was pretty horrid, too. They run for days, but it only takes hours to get back when they need to? Were they just running in tiny circles? What's going on with the desert and then the killing valley? WHY IS IT LIKE THIS?!?!!  Is this an alternate reality or a crazy dystopia? No fun. No sense. And definitely no recommendation.

Rating: 1/5

An Inheritance of Ashes

An Inheritance of Ashes

by Leah Bobet

The war is finally over and it appears that most of the soldiers have come home.  Except for Hal's brother-in-law and the father of her future niece. Hal and her sister, Marthe, wait each day for him to come down the road, and each day they are disappointed. 

Not only do they miss him terribly, but they miss the manpower he brings to their failing farm. It is all that the two girls have after their abusive father finally died, and they are struggling to hold on to it.

When a stranger with strange tales of the war appears at the farm, looking for a place to hole up for the winter, Hal accepts him and all of the secrets he holds.

But he brings more than secrets with him. He brings back the Twisted Things that were thought to be destroyed with the Wicked God at the end of the war. 

And he brings back something else... 

Final thoughts:

This was a confused mess. It started as a new world built that seemed pretty decent, but it feels like Bobet realized about halfway through that she was using terms that were more earth bound, so she kind of tacked on a dystopian element. Suddenly it wasn't a new world, but rather our world a hundred or so years in the future with the occasional curse word, gun, or even failing bridge to mention. That element was so poorly thrown in that it really hurt the whole book. I liked some of the ideas, but the overall effect was not done well.

Rating: 2/5

Received an ARC from NetGalley for an honest review.

The Red Queen

The Red Queen

by Victoria Aveyard

Many years ago, mutations happened that changed the blood of people. Those whose blood changed to silver became more powerful than anyone could ever have imagined. Suddenly, the Silvers could manipulate the world with abilities to force thoughts, move mountains, rain fire, and so much more.

Those whose blood stayed red were left behind and forced to take on the menial tasks that the Silvers refuse to do.

Now it's the Reds vs. the Silvers and the Silvers are winning.

After a chance encounter, Mare Barrow is hired to work at the palace. A palace filled with Silvers. And these Silvers are there for the selection of the next queen.

The Prince is eligible for marriage and he needs the strongest Silver to be his future queen.

During the competition for the Prince, something goes horribly wrong and Mare is put into a position she never could have dreamed of.

Her blood is Red.

Her power is Silver.

Now Mare must pretend to be something she's not and she must decide what is more important: her life or her people's freedom.

Final thoughts: The Hunger Games meets X-Men and it's fantastic! It's not perfect and there are a few off moments, but I like the overall effect. This book had some moments where I could predict plot points, but rather than be disappointed by the prediction coming true, I celebrated. My only real complaint is that Mare is gullible. Really, really gullible. Otherwise, it's a good story and there are some amazing high points. I'm really looking forward to the sequel.

Rating: 4/5

Frozen

Frozen

by Melissa de la Cruz and Michael Johnston

The world has fallen apart. It's all ice, snow, and cold.

Nat is one of the Marked. She is among those who the government has deemed dangerous. Because of this, her life in on the line. If she is discovered, she'll be locked away for the good of the people and forced to do jobs for the very government that despises her.

To get away, she hires Wes, a runner, to get her as far from the ice as possible, to the mythical land known as The Blue. She has a map, some money, and voice in her head guiding her.

But she's not the only one heading to The Blue and the way there is less than safe.

Final thoughts: Messy. So very messy. This could have been amazing! But it's just a letdown. The premise is on the scale of Game of Thrones, but it's all handled badly. It's more like a really poorly edited epic story, shortened and abridged to take out all the details. It's a shorthand version of something that had the potential for greatness. Moments that could have been meaningful end up being chopped up and nearly impossible to understand. Ideas are made up and jammed in to explain the unexplainable and then are never mentioned again. So, while the basic plot is decent, the overall follow-through is horrendous.

Rating: 2/5

The One

The One

by Kiera Cass

It's down to the final four. America knows that Maxon loves her and that he wants her to be his queen... or does he?  Every time she thinks they are truly meant to be together, something happens to tear them apart.

The rebels are getting more rebellious. The king is pushing to get her out of the competition as soon as possible. And the other girls are spending more and more time with Maxon.

With everything going on, can America turn the tide of the polling that shows her in last place, prove to the king that she'd be good for the country, and finally get the proof she needs that she and Maxon are meant to be?

Final thoughts: The first was good. The second was decent. This third book just got to be annoying. The only thing stopping America from being happy is her own stubbornness regarding admitting her love to Maxon.  They are both idiots in this book by both insisting the other one declare love first. While the conclusion is foregone, it's also a bit too easy.  The last couple of chapters fly by and are filled with all the right deaths to make America's ascension quick and pretty painless.

Rating: 3/5

The Maze Runner

The Maze Runner

by James Dashner

After waking in a dark, metal box, Thomas rises from the ground into The Glade, where dozens of boys have spent the last two years just trying to survive.

All Thomas knows is his name.  

All any of the boys really know is their names.

Surrounding the Glade is The Maze.  Every day, select boys go out in the morning to run and map the maze and then return before the doors close at night.

And it's very important that the doors close at night because the Grievers come out then.  Get stung by a Griever, and you may not survive.

Just as Thomas thinks he might be able to fit in, someone new comes to change everything that all the Gladers have ever known.

Now Thomas may be the one person who can solve the maze and they are running out of time for him to figure it all out.

Final thoughts:  I think I'm now out of love with dystopias, and it's not because of this particular book, but more because of the formula, especially when it comes to cliffhanger type endings and conspiracies.  I also think this is definitely a book for boys so I think middle school and early high school boys would really appreciate this book a lot more than I do.

Rating: 3/5

Proxy

Proxy

by Alex London

Knox is constantly getting into trouble.  He's been in trouble regularly since he was five.  But he's never been punished.

Syd has never been a troublemaker.  He's always tried to stay on the right side of things.  But he's always been punished.

Syd is Knox's proxy and Knox is Syd's patron.  When Knox does something wrong, Syd gets punished for it.  In turn, Knox's family pays for Syd's education and basic medical care.

Knox sees Syd get punished, but he doesn't stop it because he knows that's the system.  That's the way things are.

Syd has never seen Knox, but he knows that's the system.  He's just waiting for his debt to clear and his time to be served.

When Knox goes too far and Syd must suddenly take on a debt that's far too large, Syd makes the decision to leave the system.  He won't take this punishment for his patron.

He'll just take his patron.

Final thoughts:  This has a very interesting premise.  I enjoyed the ideas and the basic plot.  However, the point of view drove me nuts.  It didn't really fit any mode like third person limited or omniscient.  From paragraph to paragraph, the reader is shown one person's view and feelings and then the next person's with no warning or consideration.  I kept having to readjust throughout the entire book, which just frustrated me to no end.  So while the plot and ideas were original and interesting, the writing was just annoying.

Rating: 3/5

Allegiant

Allegiant

by Veronica Roth

With the truth about their city finally revealed, Tobias and Tris now make the difficult decision to go past the fence that surrounds Chicago and find out what the world is really like.

And it's nothing they could have ever prepared themselves for.

Not only is Chicago not the only city, it's not even the only city that's being used as an experiment.  It turns out that genetic testing created a new breed of haves and have-nots: Genetically Pure (GP) and Genetically Damaged (GD).

Chicago was the first truly successful experiment to try and manipulate the GDs to eventually become GPs.  What are known in the city as Divergent are really the genetics of the GDs finally mutating back to GP.  Tris is the most pure of the GPs and is considered by many outside the fence to be the best hope for the future.

However, Tris doesn't really like the future that is planned, where GDs are subjugated and considered to be inferior to GPs.  

She knows she's got to change the future at any cost.

Final thoughts:  Wow.  That was not how I saw the series going.  This is a complete 180 from what I thought was going to happen and I'm not sure how I feel about it, esp. the not so subtle race metaphors.  Also, there's been a tendency recently in YA Lit to present the love interest's point of view (I blame Stephenie Meyer and the unfinished "Midnight Sun" for that), and this book continues that trend with Tobias having at least half of the book told from his point of view.  I'm not sure I like it.  I missed Tris.  Though there is a good reason for the need by the end of the book, I wish that change in format wasn't there.  I'm good with the book but disappointed with the series overall.

Rating: 3/5