Holiday Reading - A Collection of Reviews

Over the past two weeks, my Easter holidays, I have read four books and I thought that instead of posting individual reviews on them, I should combine them into one post.

Scarlet -Marissa Meyer

Upon seeing that this book was not focused on Cinder, I became worried that we would leave her storyline completely and after the end of the first book, I was utterly devastated and confused by that. Thankfully, though this book did have focus on Scarlet, it also had focus on Cinder as well.

This book picked up the story very soon after Cinder had finished and that really reminded me of how little time this book actually covers. The number of events and depth of this book makes it seems as if weeks or months could have passed, but in reality it was only a few days.

The story of Scarlet I could instantly link to the fairytale of Little Red Riding Hood from the disappearance of her grandmother and her red hoodie. I do love how this series links into different fairytales and adapts them so that they can fit in with a more complex universe. As a person, I liked Scarlet for her passion and how she was not always wanting to rely on others. However, I did feel that she started to trust Wolf too soon and that meant that I wasn't totally on board with their relationship until she managed to stop him from attacking her.  As well as that, I could tell that he hadn't betrayed her and actually had feelings for her when they went into the old theatre from the way he was acting beforehand and though that may have been part of Meyer's plan as an author, to me, I would have preferred to be surprised and experience Scarlet's way of thinking.

Exploring Cinder's powers was something that I was hoping would happen in this book. I think that the phrase 'power is addictive' fits in well with what Cinder was struggling with and I am actually quite scared for how it will influence her in the future. We have already seen her break down because of her actions, but will the consequences in later books be more severe? As well as that, learning what Kai was having to do to try and keep the peace was also heartbreaking. It was good to hear that he was not repulsed by Cinder being a cyborg because after the ending of the first book, I was willing to cast him aside completely for what he had done. Finally the return of Iko and introduction of Thorne was something that really drew me into the book; I can't wait to see how their storylines will continue.

Overall this book was sublime and I can't wait to get my hands on Cress!

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I'll Give You The Sun - Jandy Nelson

I wasn't sure what to expect when I started this book. However, I was soon caught up in the parallel storylines that took place at different times and fell in love with both of the twins for different reasons. I liked Jude for her quirkiness and seeming rebellion from what she was expected to be and act like. I loved how Noah would imagine situations as paintings and how he wanted a life that he was never going to have because I think that can be applied to a lot of people's lives.

Noah at thirteen was someone who I admired for his talent and love of art and also someone who I felt sorry for as he couldn't express himself as he really wanted to, especially with Brian. There was the competition of sibling rivalry on top of that, which Jude experienced as well, and wanting something so much that he focused so much of his time and effort on. Then a few things started to change and I was very happy for Brian and Noah, but I knew from Jude's perspective that something must have gone wrong, which only made the end of their relationship more terrible.

Jude at sixteen was someone who was living with a lot of regret and shame, who instead of sharing it, was letting it all pile up on her shoulders when screaming it out would have probably been better for her mind and soul. Carving her sculptures was a way for her to scream it out and her relationship with Oscar was something that she was not prepared for because at that point she hadn't yet learning to let go of the past. As a character, I loved her immensely because I could feel the weight she carried as if it were my own and I was pleased that she tried to make up for her past mistakes.

I especially loved this book because of how all the events interlinked and how all the characters were involved in each other's lives. The realisation of those connections really left me in a state and I can't thank my friends enough so listening to my ramblings on this book that probably made no sense because I was so emotionally invested in the story.

After reading this book, I would highly recommend it and I think I will have to go on a search for more Jandy Nelson books as a result of how this book made me feel.

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Isla and the Happily Ever After - Stephanie Perkins

I have been told by numerous people that Isla is their favourite book in the series that started with Anna. I cannot agree with that opinion and think that this is more a 4.5 star book, though I think I prefer it to Lola.

Having the first small section of the book months before the rest of it started was a really nice ease into the book as it introduced Isla to us in a simple way and also let us in on her crush on Josh without taking away from the aspect of her going back to school, which it would have done otherwise.

As a character, I did quite like Isla. She was hard-working and quite self-sufficient as she only really had one friend. That one friend, Kurt, I ended up feeling quite sorry for because it became plain that as soon as Josh started taking an interest in Isla that their relationship would change. As well as that, the fact that he had autism reminded me that this book was not supposed to be about perfect people living a perfect life. It didn't overly restrict him, but it made the book feel more real.

Josh was a main character in Anna's book, though I have to admit that I didn't pay as much attention to him as I should have. So, for me it was really interesting to get a deeper look into his life, his love of art and how he dealt with certain situations. All his friends had left the year before and he was struggling with his school life, which I had got from the first book, but I barely knew anything about Josh then - it was nice to see more into who he really is in this book.

This book was different in its set up to the others. It didn't focus on the characters getting together as much, but rather what happened once they were together. It felt odd to have a teen romance book set up in that way and though I am not against it (I liked how this book got to focus on the actual relationship rather than some 'friendship' that could be put into question), but to have Isla and Josh go on a trip to Barcelona to have sex less than halfway through the book did feel a bit soon. I think that it made me question their relationship more than I did the other couples, but also made their relationship feel like it was closer to what would happen in real life because not all couples spend ages pining after each other, they get together and then things progress from there.

I was happy that we got to see the other characters again, though in a way their introduction in this book did feel a bit like it was pinned on the end. I think I preferred it to Anna's constant involvement in Lola's book though as I want them to be able to be read as separate stories.

Overall this was a good read, but definitely not Perkins' best. Maybe I set my expectations too high after hearing so many amazing things about it.

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To All The Boys I've Loved Before - Jenny Han

Even though I have given this book five stars, I would say that it is more accurately 4.5 stars. The concept of this book was something totally different to romance books that I have read before and that really made it so much more interesting. The idea of writing someone a love letter to get over them is not something that I would have ever thought about before, but thinking over it, it actually makes sense. This book was not based off something that would never happen, just something that was unlikely to happen and that is what made it special.

I also love that this book wasn't your typical 'white girl' romance book. The infusion of slight differences in culture made this book stand out as well and though we don't learn much about the girl's deceased mother, her absence was felt throughout the whole book by the girl's having to be a lot more mature than anyone would expect someone of their age to be.

In terms of the romance, I am left totally confused. We are presented with two boys, one of whom Lara Jean thinks she fancies and the other she used to fancy but no longer feels that way. Then there is the concept of fake dating from which a true romance blossoms, but because of lasting ties and other people's views, it is a romance that doesn't work out the way that both parties would want it to. At the beginning, I was thinking that Josh had it in the bag, but now I am utterly on Peter's side.

My criticisms of this book are that, for a nine year old, Kitty seemed far to mature. I have a nine year old sister myself and feel like sometimes the language she was using and way she was acting reminded me more of an eleven or twelve year old. As well as that, the fact that Lara Jean  was never questioning of her elder sister put me on edge a bit. Real sisters never seem to me to be as perfect as they are and it made the words on the page feel more like a story than I would have liked.

Overall, I really liked this book and cannot wait for the next book to come out! The cliff-hanger we're left on may not be as dramatic as in some action novels, but it is raising my heart rate just as much.

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Review: Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard

It is fair to say that there has been a lot of hype around this book and after reading it I can definitely see why. Even though I have given this book four out of five stars, I would probably say that it is more like four and a half stars out of five. However, I do not think I could give this book a five star rating because to me, it is not worthy of that.

The beginning of this book had a very 'Shadow and Bone' feel to it, which I liked because I really like that book and universe, but I also felt like it seemed to be drawing too much from that universe. I don't know if that series was any sort of inspiration for this book, but the Silvers having powers and the Reds being kept out of high society really linked the two books for me.

The world that was created in this book is definitely an amazing thing. I could really tell from this book the amount of effort that had gone into making the world work so that each place fit together and everything made sense. I kept on wishing that there was some sort of map that I could refer to so I could identify this world to a visual image, but it was also nice to have my imagination run wild with the ideas of what it could look like.

The idea of the world being separated by the colour of the people's blood was something very new and it interested me greatly. It was great to not only have the difference of the Silvers having powers, but also having the difference of the colour of their blood really added to the story as there was a definite physical difference for me to identify with. The science side of me wonders what they would have instead of red blood cells to make their blood that colour and the history of the Silvers and Reds is something that I would like to explore more in the coming books.

As a character, I liked and disliked Mare. This story was told from her perspective so I felt like I should know her and her feelings, but I felt like I couldn't link what the text told me her feelings were to her actions. She was very passionate and wanted to stand up for what she believed in, which I admired greatly, yet I did not like her seeming disassociation with her feelings and thinking that she could toy around with other people's feelings - I don't really believe that that's the right way to go about things.

One aspect of this book that I really liked was the lessons and training that the Silvers went through. It was a good thing to see them being prepared and ready to fight rather than just sitting around and relying on others to do everything for them. As well as that, the fact that their training was not just focused on them using their powers was a very important thing as it meant that they recognise that their powers couldn't do everything for them. That side of this, and them knowing that their powers were not for all to end all, was something likably different about this book.

The Scarlet Guard reminded me greatly of other revolutionary groups - they set out with good intentions, but that eventually leads to people being killed when they have not necessarily done anything wrong and the group itself can become as corrupt as the people they're trying to throw out are because of differing opinions. Though this book didn't really cover the second point, it did really look into the first point. Above everything else, we look after ourselves first and everyone else is just collateral damage so we can achieve our aim. I wonder how many more will have to die for a supposed equality to be achieved?

The actual storyline of this book captured my imagination immensely. I was constantly interested in what would happen to Mare, Cal, Maven and all the other characters next. That was helped by the level of description Aveyard went into (I do love lots of description) and how well she created this world. The plot twist at the end really caught me out and though I had been warned through the whole book about it, I was still not prepared for it. I just wanted to scream and throw the book against the wall because I felt so hurt and betrayed, but that is also a good thing because this book made me able to feel those emotions.

Though there were parts of this book that I didn't like, overall this book is absolutely amazing and I would definitely recommend it. I cannot wait for the next book in the series now!

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