Review: Riot by Sarah Mussi

Freitag, 30. Mai 2014


Riot by Sarah Mussi 
Published: May 1st 2014
Number of pages: 352 (paperback) 
Series: No 

   It is 2018. England has been struggling under a recession that has shown no sign of abating. Years of cuts has devastated Britain: banks are going under, businesses closing, prices soaring, unemployment rising, prisons overflowing. The authorities cannot cope. And the population has maxed out.
   The police are snowed under. Something has to give. Drastic measures need taking.
   The solution: forced sterilisation of all school leavers without secure further education plans or guaranteed employment.
   The country is aghast. Families are distraught, teenagers are in revolt, but the politicians are unshakeable: The population explosion must be curbed. No more free housing for single parents, no more child benefit, no more free school meals, no more children in need. Less means more.
   But it is all so blatantly unfair - the Teen Haves will procreate, the Teen Havenots won't.
   It's time for the young to take to the streets. It's time for them to RIOT: 
   OUR RIGHT TO CHOOSE, OUR BODIES, OUR FUTURE. (goodreads)

   I received a free copy of Riot from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.


   Beware; if the introduction of Riot doesn’t scare you off and you get through it, a unique story awaits you.

   Riot is an action roller-coaster which definitely didn’t disappoint me, despite its rating on goodreads, which discouraged me for just a moment. But, I sat down and read it over a pretty short time span.
   In chapter one the reader finds himself in the middle of a massive protest where the protagonist, Tia Thomson AKA EVE, The Mother of the Future, is participating with her friend. The riot gets out of control and the action kicks off. The storyline had me on the edge of my seat, figuratively speaking, at a lot of times. 


"Shoot on sight. Check that bullet. This is Britain and of course we shoot demonstrators. And how typical of my father! Shoot first, legalise later.” 


   The topic of Riot is one, which scarily enough sounds like something which might just be likely to happen one day, considering the way todays governments are handling things. A new Bill is on the verge of being accepted which would force those without a “good future” to get the Snip which would stop them from being able to become parents one day. Tia and many others are trying to stop this Bill from happening.
   The plotline is as plausible as can be considering the short amount of time over which the story unfolds and the fact that Riot is a standalone novel, which means that there are no sequels during which the whole story could unfold. 

   The characters are likable and interesting. Tia is a ‘rebel’ which still has not lost the fear of consequences and, as I’ve seen many people say, she may or may not be a “spoiled brat” who still has a sense of what is right and wrong. She knows how much her father has wronged her mother and knows that he wouldn’t stop at nothing to get what he wants. I liked her. 
   And Cobain make me both like and doubt him. As we encounter him the first time I had my doubts as to what he really planned as he helped Tia but I soon came to the conclusion that I like him. 


“We are the spark that starts the wildfire. We are the lightning on the horizon.”


   I really liked the writing style of Sarah Mussi, though there were a few places where Tia’s thinking and evaluating was dragged out a bit too much for me, but that’s all right. I think Mussi has created a very intriguing and unique story in Riot which I am very happy that I read. 
   The initial reason why I decided to apply for reading Riot was the cover which I love. It immediately caught my eye and made me curious, which as we all know is the purpose, oftentimes, of a cover. 

   All in all I can honestly say that I enjoyed reading Riot a lot and was intrigued by the story. I can recommend it to anyone who likes action packed stories without the typical cheese love story woven into it.

 

  I give Riot by Sarah Mussi 5 out of 5 stars.


Review: More than This by Jay McLean

Donnerstag, 15. Mai 2014



More than This by Jay McLean
Published: August 20th 2013
Number of pages: 318 (paperback) 
Series: Yes, #1 

*Mikayla*
In one night my fairytale ended. Or it may have begun. This is my story of friendship and love, heartbreak and desire, and the strength to show weakness.
*Jake*
One night I met a girl. A sad and broken girl, but one more beautiful than any other. She laughed through her sadness, while I loved through her heartbreak.
*This is our story of a maybe ever after.*
He was right. It made no difference whether it was 6 months or 6 years.
I couldn’t undo what had been done. I couldn’t change the future.
I couldn’t even predict it.
It was one night.
One night when everything changed.
It was so much more than just the betrayal.
It was the Tragedy. 
The Deaths. 
The Murders.
But it was also that feeling.
The feeling of falling.
 **Mature Reader Advised. Language and Sexual content.** (goodreads)


“When they reach us, they each do that weird, bro code, handshake, fist bump, shoulder slap, half hug greeting”

   This book. No, but seriously, this book.
   When I first saw it on GoodReads, I got really interested in it. Partially because of the cover. So, shortly thereafter I jumped over to amazon and ordered it. 3 days later it got delivered and I dived into it, after finishing the last book in the Vampire Academy-Series. And, in all honesty, I finished reading it within less than 24 hours. I mean, it’s not really long but the beginning was just really funny and I couldn’t stop reading.
   So, the story is very simple and, again, quite unrealistic, but that’s all right. It’s a nice contemporary and thus doesn’t have to be realistic. The beginning is straight out hilarious. I was constantly laughing, so much I’m sure my mom thinks I’m crazy. Sometimes around 30-40% in, I was sure that if it stays this way, I will surely give it 5 Stars because it was just what I expected and it was just what I needed.
   BUT, somewhere around 60-65% in, I started to slowly change my mind. By the time I was done, I was FAR away from giving it 5 Stars. I’m sorry. The situation between Mikayla and Jack got so frustrating, annoying and ridiculous that I was about to put the book down and not finish it, because it ruined the awesomeness of the first half of the book. And I must say, I find it very sad that it somehow went so downhill. I don’t know, maybe it’s just me, or maybe there are more people who think that way, but at some point I was just like “People, just get your shit together or just split up finally!”

   Mikayla is a very funny and likable character and I really felt sorry for her and what she had to go through. Sometimes her reactions to certain things were a little bit weird and her logic was just so far off in the second half of the book, it was simply frustrating. Well, maybe that was the whole point. I don’t know.
   Jack, well, he was a very gentleman like character. Very funny, loving and simply not real. I mean, in the real world there are just no men who would be just this loving and caring, especially not toward a girl they just met. But, maybe that’s exactly why I liked him, and everybody else likes him. But, also he had a few moments where his reactions to certain things were just extremely weird and exaggerated to a point where it was also scary. Like, his jealousy was just WAY over the top.

   Anyways, something that also annoyed me a little, was the fact that the book has no page numbers. I don’t know, maybe that’s just my copy or maybe it was made that was on purpose, however it might be, I found it really annoying.
   I really like the cover. I like the color scheme and the softness of it. It fits the story nicely and it was definitely the first thing that drew me towards buying it. Another thing that stood out were all the references to music, like Justin Bieber or One Direction, but also to books – The Sea of Tranquility by Katja Millay, which I love as you guys know. This was something that I have not seen so often yet, and thus I found it really nice and it was used in a very comical way. Especially the version of J. Biebers “Baby” that her father, I believe, sang on page two of the first chapter. I immediately had to read it to a friend of mine, and so share the laughs with her.

   All in all, the book is funny and a nice, light read. The first half is really amazing, funny and cute, but the second half kind of killed it for me. If you are looking out to read something light, like a nice summer contemporary, then this is definitely a book for you. 


“Apparently some new Nicholas Sparks movie is being filmed here, and that ‘Zac Teflon’ boy from the high school movies is in town.”




I give More than This by Jay McLean 3.5 out of 5 stars.

Mini Book Haul

Samstag, 10. Mai 2014

    Hello!
   So, because I'm currently suffering through the worst 3 weeks that I had ever to suffer through in all my years of school, also known as Finals-season, my mom decided to cheer me up. And, because I am who I am, my mom knew exactly with what to cheer me up: books!
   And these are the books I ended up ordering. 

The Evolution of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin
Published: October 23rd 2012
Number of pages: 527 (Paperback)
Series: Yes, #2

   Mara Dyer once believed she could run from her past.
   She can’t.
   She used to think her problems were all in her head.
   They aren’t.
   She couldn’t imagine that after everything she’s been through, the boy she loves would still be keeping secrets.
   She’s wrong.
   In this gripping sequel to The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer, the truth evolves and choices prove deadly. What will become of Mara Dyer next? (goodreads)


   Yes, I know I already own a copy of this book, but only the Kindle version, so I had to buy the paperback so I could add it to my collection and have it standing on my bookshelf next to The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer. 

Bad Girls Don’t Die by Katie Alender
Published: June 22nd 2010
Number of pages: 346 (Paperback)
Series: Yes, #1 

When Alexis' little sister, Kasey, becomes obsessed with an antique doll, Alexis thinks nothing of it. Kasey is a weird kid. Period. Alexis is considered weird, too, by the kids in her high school, by her parents, even by her own goth friends. Things get weirder, though, when the old house they live in starts changing. Doors open and close by themselves, water boils on the unlit stove, and an unplugged air conditioner turns the house cold enough for the girls to see their breath. Kasey is changing too. Her blue eyes go green, and she uses old-fashioned language, then forgets chunks of time.
Most disturbing of all is the dangerous new chip on Kasey's shoulder. The formerly gentle, doll-loving child is gone, and the new Kasey is angry. Alexis is the only one who can stop her sister -- but what if that green-eyed girl isn't even Kasey anymore? (goodreads) 

   Well, I really like creepy stories so I decided to give this one a try. The last creepy book, which freaked me out more than it should have, was 172 Hours on the Moon, which I read a few months back, so now it’s time for a new freak out story. Dear, Bad Girls Don’t Die, please don’t disappoint me. 

Love Letters to the Dead by Ava Dellaria
Published: May 1st 2014
Number of pages: 327 (paperback) 
Series: No 

   It begins as an assignment for English class: write a letter to a dead person - any dead person. Laurel chooses Kurt Cobain - he died young, and so did Laurel's sister May - so maybe he'll understand a bit of what Laurel is going through. Soon Laurel is writing letters to lots of dead people - Janis Joplin, Heath Ledger, River Phoenix, Amelia Earhart... it's like she can't stop. And she'd certainly never dream of handing them in to her teacher. She writes about what it's like going to a new high school, meeting new friends, falling in love for the first time - and how her family has shattered since May died.
   But much as Laurel might find writing the letters cathartic, she can't keep real life out forever. The ghosts of her past won't be contained between the lines of a page, and she will have to come to terms with growing up, the agony of losing a beloved sister, and the realisation that only you can shape your destiny. A lyrical, haunting and stunning debut from the protégé of Stephen Chbosky (THE PERKS OF BEING A WALLFLOWER). (goodreads) 

   I’ve been waiting to get my hands on this book since it first came out, but, because I already had spent way too much on the complete box set of Vampire Academy, I didn’t have the possibility of buying it. But now, finally, it is mine! 

More Than This by Jay McLean
Published: August 20th 2013
Number of pages: 318 (paperback) 
Series: Yes, #1 

*Mikayla*
In one night my fairytale ended. Or it may have begun. This is my story of friendship and love, heartbreak and desire, and the strength to show weakness.
*Jake*
One night I met a girl. A sad and broken girl, but one more beautiful than any other. She laughed through her sadness, while I loved through her heartbreak.
*This is our story of a maybe ever after.*
He was right. It made no difference whether it was 6 months or 6 years.
I couldn’t undo what had been done. I couldn’t change the future.
I couldn’t even predict it.
It was one night.
One night when everything changed.
It was so much more than just the betrayal.
It was the Tragedy.
The Deaths.
The Murders.
But it was also that feeling.
The feeling of falling.
**Mature Reader Advised. Language and Sexual content.** (goodreads) 

   So, these are the 4 books I ordered. And, I must say I’m really surprised that they are mostly contemporaries and not, which would be more typical for me, some dystopian stuff. I wanted to order After the End by Amy Plum, BUT, I started to read the beginning, which you can read on amazon, and I don’t know, it just didn’t really convince me to buy it. Oh well, maybe next time.
   And this is all for today.
   Cheerio!
 

Review: Ruin by Rachel Van Dyken

Freitag, 9. Mai 2014


Ruin by Rachel Van Dyken
Published: August 11th 2013 
Number of pages: 250 (Kindle edition)
Series: Yes, #1 

   I'm not your typical girl. I've been running away from the memories that haunt me for so long that depression has become my only comfort. I was content in the darkness...until Wes Michals offered to be my light.
   I didn't know that time wasn't my ally -- that every second that ticked past was one step closer to the end of something that was beginning to mean the end of myself. He tried to warn me. He promised me all he was able to offer--each moment as it came--but it would never be enough.
   Sometimes when you think it's the end, it's only the beginning. Wes thought he could save me, but in giving me everything, he ruined me. Because after one kiss, one touch, I couldn't--I wouldn't ever be the same.
   And from that moment on, his heartbeat became my own. (goodreads)

“Goodbye – whoever invented that should burn in Hell.” (Kiersten)

   So basically I was looking for some emotion filled reading material, because it simply was that kind of evening, and I stumbled upon Ruin… Let’s just say, starting to read it around midnight wasn’t the smartest of my ideas, because somehow I ended up reading until 4am, while twice writing a friend of mine an e-mail telling her how much I love this or the other scene and how nicely the song, that was playing from a playlist in the background, fit to it.
Yes, I’m that kind of a friend.
   Anyways, I enjoyed Ruin a lot. I admit, though at times it had me in tears, yet other times I was bursting out laughing, while waking my sleeping dog who shot me a death stare for waking him. The story is more than unrealistic, because things like this simply don’t happen in life. But, at the same time, it’s a beautiful journey filled with raw and heartfelt emotions.
   One thing that I found was great about Ruin was the message it tried to convey to the reader, being that no matter how hard live might be, no matter which curve ball you have to deal with, it all is in your hands as to how you want to deal with it and that life is worth living.

“Maybe the darkness wasn’t closing in like I first assumed. Maybe I just invited it without knowing?” (Weston)

   Kiersten is a young college student who struggles with how to deal with loss of her parents. She is one of those typical innocent, small town girl characters who somehow still manages to make you fall in love with her. She’s said to be really beautiful, which I guess comes as no surprise. 
   Weston, on the other hand is the typical sexy and breathtakingly handsome quarterback with a secret he tries to deal with. I will not spoiler what it is, though one gets to know it very quickly. And, on top of his stunning looks and charm, he is filthy rich. But, as the story unfolds he turned into every girls dream boyfriend. 

Living is hard - dying is easy. You close your eyes and never open them up again. What's so difficult about that? Nothing really - except it hurts like hell to those you leave behind. (Weston)

   I must say that I liked both characters. They surely were nothing that outstandingly different, though both their situations gave the story an interesting twist. They both have different demons to battle, but they help each other to deal with them. Besides that, they gave each other quite cute nicknames – Kiersten, Lamb and Weston, Wolf – which fits their characters.

“And the Mr. Insensitive Award goes to…Weston Michels. I. Am. An. Ass.” (Weston)

   All in all, the story is beautifully written and takes you on a very emotional journey which will reach deep inside your soul and make you think about your own life and how valuable life and time really is. Why you ask? Well, read the book and find it out!
   I’ve read Ruin on my iPad and I ended up highlighting so many lines, passages and quotes which either made me laugh, were really cute, honest or almost ripped my heart out. I must say, that I really love novels like this which are filled with sadness, grief and loss, or sickness with that wonderful splash of romance.

   This novel surprised me. I was sure it’ll be just really cheese and maybe a maximum of 3 stars worth, but it ended up being quite the contrary. The story had me reading while being unable to stop, despite my mind trying to tell me that it’s WAY too late to still be awake. So, if you are looking for an emotional read that will have you on edge, Ruin might be what you are looking for!

I give Ruin by Rachel Van Dyken 5 out of 5 stars.