Review - Splintered (A.G. Howard)

   Synopsis

This stunning debut captures the grotesque madness of a mystical under-land, as well as a girl’s pangs of first love and independence. Alyssa Gardner hears the whispers of bugs and flowers—precisely the affliction that landed her mother in a mental hospital years before. This family curse stretches back to her ancestor Alice Liddell, the real-life inspiration for Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Alyssa might be crazy, but she manages to keep it together. For now.

When her mother’s mental health takes a turn for the worse, Alyssa learns that what she thought was fiction is based in terrifying reality. The real Wonderland is a place far darker and more twisted than Lewis Carroll ever let on. There, Alyssa must pass a series of tests, including draining an ocean of Alice’s tears, waking the slumbering tea party, and subduing a vicious bandersnatch, to fix Alice’s mistakes and save her family. She must also decide whom to trust: Jeb, her gorgeous best friend and secret crush, or the sexy but suspicious Morpheus, her guide through Wonderland, who may have dark motives of his own.                                                             -Goodreads.com

 My Review

So I had a hard time with this one. I just really couldn’t get into it, I don’t know if it was because I’ve been so busy lately that I’ve only been able to read 15 pages at a time. So the story seems really slow, or if the story really is. Just. That. Slow. 

So anyway after about 120 pages I was about ready to give up. I really didn’t want to though; I had had such high hopes for this book. It promised everything that I was expecting but didn’t receive in Tim Burtons version of Alice in Wonderland. So I persevered, trudging along, while finding a cure for my incessant insomnia... enter Morpheus.  My interest was instantly peeked. Why hello, there dark, mysterious young man in black, how do you do? 

Unfortunately, this dashing young vixen was not enough to keep me entertained. After having the book on loan for almost 2 months, I was still yet to finish yet. It was time to throw in the towel on this one. 

There were some redeeming features of the book, and I can’t act as if I didn’t get some entertainment from it. But the story just felt like it was moving too slow in parts, and then suddenly everything would happen at once, and I’d be lost (in wonderland) again. I did particularly like the macabre setting and description of characters especially Rabid White and his flesh eating disease, and the cover was a absolutely gorgeous.

I will try and go back to this one and finish it at some point, after all I do have a morbid fascination with Alice in Wonderland. But for now I think I’ll just stick to playing Alice, The madness Returns.to get my fix.

My rating: 2/5

Review - The Duff (Kody Keplinger)

  Synopsis

Seventeen-year-old Bianca Piper is cynical and loyal, and she doesn’t think she’s the prettiest of her friends by a long shot. She’s also way too smart to fall for the charms of man-slut and slimy school hottie Wesley Rush. In fact, Bianca hates him. And when he nicknames her “the Duff,” she throws her Coke in his face.

But things aren’t so great at home right now, and Bianca is desperate for a distraction. She ends up kissing Wesley. Worse, she likes it. Eager for escape, Bianca throws herself into a closeted enemies-with-benefits relationship with him.

Until it all goes horribly awry. It turns out Wesley isn’t such a bad listener, and his life is pretty screwed up, too. Suddenly Bianca realizes with absolute horror that she’s falling for the guy she thought she hated more than anyone.  

-Goodreads.com

  My Review

It wasn’t till after finishing the book that I realised it was written by an 18 year old, but it honestly didn’t feel like it. A) Because the writing reflected maturity, unlike other books written by young authors ie Halo by Alexandra Adornetto (Which I personally hated). And B) because of the number of times the F* Bomb was dropped.

The whole idea surrounding the book, is that in each group of girls there is a Duff. While reading the book, you start to understand the point of view the author is trying to get across. The book is not simply a ‘woe is me’ story about a self-conscious girl and all her body issues, but rather a story about the self consciousness that all woman posses at some point in time... even the drop dead gorgeous ones.  At some point in their life, everyone feels like the duff. A designated ugly fat friend; the one who is not necessarily less pretty but feels less pretty than the rest of her cohort. I know that I’ve definitely felt like the duff of my group, but there have been times I know my friends have felt the same way also. 

As the book progresses I, along with the main character Bianca, go from hating the word (purely because it makes me think of my ugly duckling days) to accepting it, as a way of feeling rather than a way of being. I think this is a great book for young girls (Despite the large scale amount of swearing), as it deals with the insecurities that all of us have at some point or another. The book was simple, yet heartfelt and I found myself getting very attached to the characters which oozed personality. 

My rating: 4/5

 

Blog Update + 4x Reviews

 No I’m not dead... but I had you fooled didn’t I? Sorry for the recent AWOL status. The last couple weeks have been madly hectic. I’ve been travelling, both on Holiday and also to visit relatives, moved house, and been applying to go back to school (and all the nuisances that go along with that).No need to mention it’s been pretty stressful, but hopefully things are back on track :)

So anyway I thought since I’ve read quite a few books over the last couple weeks and I’m too lazy to go writing full reviews of each, I’d do a catch-up post with a few short paragraphs covering the highs and lows of the books that have graced my presence recently. So here it goes....

FOREVER                                                             My Rating:4/5                     

I thought this was the perfect ending to the series. I like that the author didn’t try and drag it out into more books like many authors do today. My one pet peeve for this book is the last line. I actually thought there had been a page ripped out for about 30 seconds until I realised that what I had read was the actual ending. It is very much left up to interpretation about what may happen from there. There is no cut and dry, happy or sad ending. You can imagine it how you want, which was a nice touch (although a little frustrating). 

                                           

                  NAOMI and ELY’s NO KISS LIST   

                My rating: 5/5                                                        

This book contains a crap-load of POV from many different characters, which I didn’t know going into it. I felt that some of the POV’s really weren’t worth the time, since they didn’t add much to the overall plot and detracted away from the story of the main characters. (I also really HATED they way NAOMI wrote in her chapters, that shit pisses me off!) However, despite my grumblings. I liked the fact that both Naomi and Ely’s characters developed and matured by the end of the story. Naomi realised that regardless of her fantasies her and Ely would never be together, and accepted this moving on with her life. And Ely, learnt how to sustain an adult relationship.                                                                     

THE FUTURE OF US                                                      My rating: 5/5

I completely fell in love with this book! It was a little on the junior side, and the idea could have been executed a little better, but something about it just drew me in. I’ve always wondered about my own future and how it will turn out and secretly I think everyone wishes they could just log on and find out, altering aspects they wanted to change. I found it fascinating how small choices the characters made in the book, transformed their futures dramatically, and it brings to mind how in the real world every decision you make affects your future in some way. The 90’s references were a nice touch and I got a kick out of them, being a 90’s baby myself. Overall a fun, enjoyable read, which makes me think about the choices I make.  

       

CROAK                                    

             My rating: 3/5

It was nice to read a YA supernatural book without vampires and werewolves for once. Having Reapers as the main race (?) was very refreshing. I did have some issues with the pacing of the book. However being the first book in the series, there was a lot of world building involved along with character relationships, and a structured plot didn’t really develop until the last half. For many this would be a deal breaker, but the book managed to hold my attention till the very end. I look forward to reading the next in the series.