Stephanie Perkins - Anna and the French Kiss

Now for a more normal book out of my collection with Anna and the French Kiss.  This is more of a young adult book, aimed at older teens but also can appeal to those in their early twenties.

Anna and the French Kiss is Stephanie Perkins's debut in the book world and has subsequently written two companion books for this one, creating a series containing characters that are interlinked but each book focuses on separate couples.  Anna and the French Kiss focuses on Anna Oliphant and her new life in Paris at school and her developing relationship with Étienne St. Clair.

Rating: 8

Recommended To: A young female audience, late teens/early twenties

Favourite Characters: St. Clair - the way he is with Anna and what he goes through

Favourite Part: St. Clair wanders around, picking up things and examining them like I did in Meredith's room.  He inspects the collection of banana and elephant figurines lined up on my dresser.  He holds up a glass elephant and raises his dark eyebrows in question. - Page 64

Good Points: Anna loves her films; the use of emails

Bad Points: Time goes very quickly; not a good use of the friends Anna makes at school

Moira J. Moore - Resenting the Hero

So now for a book from my fantasy collection with Resenting the Hero by Moira J. Moore that focuses on someone of the same age as me roughly.

Resenting the Hero by Moira J. Moore is the first book in her Hero series which focuses on a world far in the future where the population are protected by a group of talented individuals, defined as Shields and Sources; Resenting the Hero focuses on Dunleavy "Lee" Mallorough, a Shield, and her Source, Lord Shintaro "Taro" Karish.  Sources have control over various forces of nature that threaten the general populace such as wind, water, and other disasters by opening their mind and manipulating them with it while Shields quite literally shield the Source's mind so that they don't die.

Rating: 10

Recommended To: Those that like fantasy books; more female orientated audience in my opinion

Favourite Characters: Lee - strong willed young woman who is discovering the world; Taro - he isn't what I expected

Favourite Part: In time I could move, though my body wasn't thrilled about it.  I moved from the floor to the sofa I had fallen off of, which was all the progress I was going to demand from myself right then.  Karish was much more ambitious, moving from the floor by the table to the sofa.  He sat beside me and without the slightest hesitation or diffidence wrapped his arms around me and pulled me close, and I bonelessly complied.  Pain eased, muscles loosened, and the beating of his heart helped to drive disturbing images from my mind.  For the moment not giving a damn about how it looked or whether it was a bad idea, I curled around him and flattened my palm against his chest so I could feel the blood pulsing around him. - Page 82

Good Points: Lee and Taro together; the concept

Bad Points: Aiden seemed like a pointless character in a way; the cover

Moira Young - Rebel Heart

Here's another dystopia book from a series I've already started reading. This book has a different writing style to the other books that fall in this genre with the words being written down phonetically depending on who is speaking.

Rebel Heart by Moira Young is the second book in her Dust Lands series which is told mainly from the point of view of Saba, an eighteen year old girl. Saba is the twin sister of Lugh and they are complete opposites; he is bright and strong while she is dark and scrawny. They have grown up and lived together with their father and sister until Lugh is kidnapped by the Tonton, a group of dark robed men who work for the deranged ruler of their land. Rebel Heart follows Blood Red Road where Saba has chased after the Tonton to find her brother, meeting Jack, a mysterious young man who Saba saves, and becomes a symbol when she overthrows the tyrant ruler and his family.

Rating: 9

Recommended To: Those who like dystopia fiction, though you need to read the first one so this one makes sense

Favourite Characters: Jack - he's always thinking about Saba and fights for her; Saba - she thinks of everyone else before herself

Favourite Part: The heartstone burns, fierce an true. I bin missin him so deep. It hurts my heart to see him agin. I open my mouth to call his name. I stop myself. His head snaps in my direction. Like he knows I'm here. - Page 282

Good Points: The writing style; the constant separation of Jack and Saba as it's different; the development of Jack and Saba individually as well as together

Bad Points: The way Lugh is with everyone; love fricking square

Marie Lu - Prodigy

So now I'm back to the dystopia fiction again and back to another series I've already started. I know I've already done some dystopia fiction but I really enjoyed this one. Though it falls into the same genre as two of my recent reviews, it differs as it focuses on two prodigal teens that are on the run from the government that have deemed them as criminals.

Marie Lu's Prodigy picks up just after where Legend left off with June and Day running away from the Republic. In Legend, June was the prodigal child of the Republic while Day was the most wanted criminal in society and highly desired by the Patriots, the rebels in this society. Over the course of the first book, June pursues Day, a young man who she believes killed her brother; however, she discovers along the way who he really is and how the Republic have manipulated his life as well as others in society. When she discovers that Day did not kill her brother, June arranges his escape before his execution. When she saves Day before his execution, losing Day's older brother, John, in Day's place, June and Day escape, wanting to find the rebels, the Patriots.

Rating: 9

Recommended To: Those who like dystopia fiction, though you need to read the first one so this one makes sense

Favourite Characters: Day - he's cheeky, he's adorable; Kaede - she's spunky and cares for Day on about the same level as June

Favourite Part: Day appears again. This time he leans in close enough for his hair to brush, light as silk, against my cheeks. He pulls me towards for a long kiss. The scene vanishes, replaced abruptly by a stormy night and Day struggling through the rain, blood dripping from his leg and leaving a trail behind him. He collapses onto his knees in front of Razor before the whole scene disappears again. - Page 166

Good Points: The plot, if you ignore the love triangle; the twists; June and Day together

Bad Points: WHY THE LOVE TRIANGLE?!!! (Square or something)

Gena Showalter - The Darkest Night

So now I'm on to the more grown up and paranormal side of my book collection and keeping away from the dystopia fiction this time.

The Darkest Night by Gena Showalter is the first in her Lords of the Underworld series, following a group of men who have been cursed by the gods.  Their curse is to be possessed by unique demons that were released from Pandora's Box.  The Darkest Night tells the story of Maddox who shares his body with the demon of violence.  Not only is Maddox cursed with this demon in his body but Zeus cursed him a second time: to be murdered every night at midnight.  So for over a thousand years, Maddox has died at night and taken to hell only to be resurrected again in the morning to relive this horror again and again.

Rating: 10

Recommended To: Those that like paranormal novels, though definitely for an adult audience.

Favourite Character: I have a few. It's a toss-up between Paris, Maddox, Torin and Ashlyn. Paris makes me laugh; Maddox and Torin intrigue me; and I connect with Ashlyn as she's pretty much the only woman in the book.

Favourite Part: Maddox held Ashlyn for several hours as she napped, hopefully reviving body and soul. Time was his enemy, midnight fast sneaking up on him, but he didn't wake her. - Page 186

Good Points: The concept; the characters are engaging

Bad Points: There's a lot of men possessed by demons, hard to keep track of them

Gemma Malley - The Declaration

Though most people I know describe my book collection eclectic with a slight deviation to urban fantasy books, my next review is on The Declaration by Gemma Malley, another dystopia fiction book.

The Declaration is the first of a trilogy set in Bloomsbury, Britain in the 22nd century where no one ages or dies but there is a price, no more children.

Overall Rating: 6

Recommended To: Those that like dystopia fiction, aimed more towards a female audience.

Favourite Character: Peter - forces Anna to see the truth of her situation

Favourite Part: He said that we belonged together because he was born with a flower and I was born with a butterfly and that flowers and butterflies need each other for survival. - Page 136

Good Points: The concept; Peter and Anna as a couple

Bad Points: Became predictable by the end; Anna frustrated me for a while

Lauren Oliver - Pandemonium

The second in the Delirium trilogy by Lauren Oliver, Pandemonium picks up from where Delirium left off with Lena alone in the Wilds having left Alex behind in Portland after they have fallen in love, where they are seen as contracting the disease deliria.

Overall Rating: 9

Recommend To: Anyone who likes the dystopia fiction like The Hunger Games etc.

Favourite Character: I have two. Non spoiler one - Julian as he tugs at my heart strings which has proven to be difficult over the years. Spoiler - Alex as his line makes me smile right at the end.

Favourite Part: When he speaks again, I can tell he's smiling. 'So I guess we saved each other.' - Page 272

Good Points: Engaging, couldn't put it down, new characters in a new world allowing further expansion on the already defined world from the first of the trilogy

Bad Points (or frustrating points really): Cliffhanger, love triangle