GUEST REVIEW: The Mara Dyer Series - Michelle Hodkin

  

 

Summary

Mara Dyer doesn't think life can get any stranger. She wakes from a coma in hospital with no memory of how she got there or of the bizarre accident that caused the deaths of her best friends and her boyfriend, yet left her mysteriously unharmed. The doctors suggest that starting over in a new city, a new school, would be good for her and just to let the memories gradually come back on their own. But Mara's new start is anything but comforting. She sees the faces of her dead friends everywhere, and when she suddenly begins to see other people's deaths right before they happen, Mara wonders whether she's going crazy! And if dealing with all this wasn't enough, Noah Shaw, the most beautiful boy she has ever seen can't seem to leave her alone...but as her life unravels around her, Mara can't help but wonder if Noah has another agenda altogether...

 

This book trilogy is one of my favourites purely because I fell in love with three things:

• The Plot
• The Characters
• The Endings (even though the second one wanted me to cry for ages)

 

The plot:

 The plot of the three books of course are an after effect of what happened in the previous book (except for Unbecoming as it was the beginning which caused the after effects). The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer is about a 16 year old girl called Mara who discovers she is an only survivor a terrible accident. And she is terrified. To make this even harder for Mara she cannot remember anything from the accident, which killed her three closest friends is very traumatic for her. To try and escape from the relentless guilt, she convinces her family to move the Florida. However, Mara’s misfortunes soon catch up to her and she finds herself finding it hard to run away from her problems. In the midst of all of her problems…she falls in love. What eventually happens to Mara? Does she defeat all the odds and comes standing tall with her lover by her side? Or does she have a reoccurring person from her past who is set in destroying everything she loves?

 

GUEST REVIEW: Requiem - Lauren Oliver

GENRE: Dystopia

PAGES: 352

PUBLISHER: Hodder

FORMAT: Paperback

BUY IT: Waterstones

RATING: 4 Stars

SUMMARY

It is the rule of the Wilds You must be bigger, and stronger, and tougher. A coldness radiates through me, a solid wall that is growing, piece by piece, in my chest. He doesn't love me He never loved me. It was all a lie. 'The old Lena is dead', I say, and then push past him. Each step is more difficult than the last; the heaviness fills me and turns my limbs to stone. You must hurt, or be hurt. Lena can build the walls, but what if there's no one left to take them down?

REVIEW

Requiem is the third and final book for the Delirium series by Lauren Oliver. If you haven’t read the first two books of the series, I suggest that you do not read this review as THERE ARE SPOILERS FOR THE FIRST TWO BOOKS. (If you are unsure about reading the series, check out my review for Delirium and Pandemonium). Lauren Oliver writes this book in the same way as she has done in the previous books; gripping

So Requiem is written differently from the previous books as it is in the perspective of Lena and Hana which I really like as it shows that the book series goes in a full circle and we get to see the girls reunited again. It also gives the story extra depth as we get to compare a life with love and a life without love.

Lena’s POV: In Pandemonium, we see the rebellion underway and in Requiem, we see it turn into a full out revolution with Lena (of course) being in the centre of it. As you know, in Pandemonium, Alex returns and he is angry and cold at the fact that Lena has moved on from him, when Lena was only trying to forget him as she thought he was killed when he got captured (*sighs due to feelings*). Even though Lena does love Julian, the more she interacts with Alex, the feelings and memories are resurfaced and the guilt and pain of moving on gets to her, especially she sees Alex moving on himself with a a girl called Carol (WHY CANT REAL LOVE PREVAIL?). Trying not to show her jealously, Lena pushes her feelings to one side and tries to keep her family safe and also develops her romantic relationship with Julian.

Hana’s POV: In Portland, Hana has been cured and is planning her wedding with Fred Hargove, her pairing. Even though she is cured, and in the government’s eyes, her life is now ‘perfect’, she is afraid as new feelings are developed, and she relives her memories, she thinks of; Lena, her old life, how she resisted to be normal, being her own person and the feelings of regret, guilt and unhappiness of not doing something hits her hard. She is surprised when she sees Lena, part of the resistance and even more shocked when she finds out that she ran away from Portland, to fight the DFA. Hana also see a different side to her fiancé, which is very frightening and she feels that her life is in danger. She finds out that her fiancé had a wife called Mealana who was sent to prison for being ‘psychotic’, when actually Fred tried to kill her. When Hana and Lena do meet and Hana reveals something which takes this book into a whole new level.

Main Characters:

Lena Haloway: I love her character. Honestly. She gets put under so much guilt by Alex (I love you Alex but sorry you are stupid) and I feel so bad for because she has been told, once you’ve been captured by the government, the chances of you surviving (and escaping) are next to nothing, so of course she automatically thought that Alex and her were never going to meet again. she may have got over him a lot quicker if she fell in love with someone else so she seemed determined not to put herself through the misery she would have faced grieving Alex, so she was going to find some happiness so she moved on to Julian. I love the fact that she is so strong and so willing to put herself in front to defend in what she believes in.

Alex Sheathes: ALEX IS BACK, YAY!! I love Alex, I honestly do but he is a big, fat douche. When he was going out with Carol, all I kept thinking was, it should of been Lena (I am a Alena/Lenex shipper). I am upset in a way because I don’t like how his character develops.

Julian Fineman: JULIAN OMG!! I feel so sorry for him, I honestly do. He is an absolute cutie and he gets heartbroken. I don’t like what happens to his character so I prefer Alex over him.

Hana Tate: I don’t like Hana. I do feel sorry for her but she does something that disturbs my happiness (that’s not cool).

Overall I was disappointed with the ending (The ending was meh) because it didn’t live up to the hype and expectation I thought it to be. This book is my least favourite in the series however it is still beautifully written.

- Ambi.

GUEST REVIEW: The Best Thing That Never Happened To Me - Laura Tait & Jimmy Rice

GENRE: Contemporary/ Romance
PAGES: 368
PUBLISHER: Corgi
FORMAT: Paperback
BUY IT: Waterstones
RATING: 5 Stars

SUMMARY

Everyone remembers their first love. Holly certainly remembers Alex. But she decided ten years ago that love wasn't about mix tapes and seizing the moment - though she's not exactly sure it's about secret dates with your boss, either. But what if the feelings never really went away? Alex wants to make every moment of his new job count. It's a fresh start in a big city, and he's almost certain that moving to London has nothing to do with Holly. Almost. How do you know if it was meant to be ...or never meant to happen at all?

REVIEW

I recently got a copy of The Best Thing That Never Happened To Me by Laura Tait and Jimmy Rice and I knew that this book will be amazing (I got a feeling). The only book that I have read that two authors writing one book is Will Grayson, Will Grayson (by David Levithan and John Green) so the format is similar to that.

This book is about Alex and Holly who had a teenage friendship but they lose contact with each other and do not rekindle their relationship until they are nearly thirty. Holly doesn’t really know what love is. She doesn’t think that it is about giving each other mix tapes to remind them of you or living in the now and forgetting about the future. She doesn’t think having a secret relationship with her boss is what love is really about. Alex, however knew what love is. He has always loved Holly, however when they started to drift apart and stopped talking to each other, he had doubts about whether he actually did love Holly in the first place. However, when he moves to London (where Holly lives) he thinks that he is moving for himself, not for Holly but he has his own doubts about this theory.

Main Characters:

Alex: Alex is a babe. Honestly. His character is very interesting because he has tried to convince himself that he doesn’t like Holly anymore but really his feelings for her grow stronger as the book continues. What I also love about his character is that the humour is lacking but for me that makes Alex hilarious. He never forgot about Holly (which is really sweet), she was always that friend that got away and never came back.

Holly: Holly is such an amazing character. She is ambitious, hard-working and determined to be successful in life, which is what we all strive to be, she is just a regular person (with a irregular relationship with her boss). Due to her personality, she wants her boss to announce that they are a couple but he doesn’t, which really annoys her. I love her character because regardless of what happens, she sticks to what she believes in.

I love this book because it jumps from present day, back to the past and then back to the present so you get to see how the characters have developed without having to read masses of paper. This book is also very funny and it is very enjoyable. THE ENDING WAS AMAZING.

This book is such a good read, when you are feeling down, it will honestly warm your heart.

- Ambi.

GUEST REVIEW: Eleanor And Park - Rainbow Rowell

GENRE: Contemporary
PAGES: 336
PUBLISHER: Orion
FORMAT: Paperback
BUY IT: Waterstones
RATING: 5 Stars

SUMMARY

Eleanor is the new girl in town, and she's never felt more alone. All mismatched clothes, mad red hair and chaotic home life, she couldn't stick out more if she tried. Then she takes the seat on the bus next to Park. Quiet, careful and - in Eleanor's eyes - impossibly cool, Park's worked out that flying under the radar is the best way to get by. Slowly, steadily, through late-night conversations and an ever-growing stack of mix tapes, Eleanor and Park fall in love. They fall in love the way you do the first time, when you're 16, and you have nothing and everything to lose. Set over the course of one school year in 1986, Eleanor & Park is funny, sad, shocking and true - an exquisite nostalgia trip for anyone who has never forgotten their first love.

REVIEWSo Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell is one of my favourite books so, why not tell you guys why you should read one of the best books known to the YA universe. I love Eleanor and Park, the whole is book beautiful from the first letter to the last, I loved it.

Eleanor and Park is about a girl called Eleanor and her difficulties at home from her abusive stepfather and her almost absent mother (her mother is always there but never for her daughter). She doesn’t have proper clothes so she has to do with what she got. She sits next to a boy called Park. In a normal situation, you think they will talk, seeing they go to the same school, but no, not for while that is. They soon develop their relationship by Park lending his comics that he reads, then his mix tapes and then finally they TALKED. Even though their relationship started in an ordinary way, it became an extraordinary romance (Eleanark FOR LIFE). However Eleanor, throughout this book, has so many tough experiences from being bullied, to be fearful from her stepfather. Park is to be part of the popular crew (due to him being the only Asian at the school, ASIANS ARE AMAZING) however he is also judged as his father doesn’t think he is masculine enough.

Main Characters:

Eleanor Douglas: Eleanor is amazing. She is strong, beautiful, amazing and just so warming to read about her, shes just awesome. I love her amazing red hair, that gives her character that extra depth. Eleanor kept her head up throughout all the hard times she faced and she never thought the worst in people. Eleanor goes through so many difficult experiences, which is so unfair to her because she is portrayed as such a lovely person like how can you harm a hair on her body, like how?

Park Sheridan: Park is perfect. I love him, I love him, I LOVE HIM. Anyone who knows me, I love PARK. I even have a T-Shirt with his name on it (look at bottom for pics). He is just an amazing character, he always made Eleanor smile (which made me smile) through her bad times, and he always was her comfort blanket (and became mine).

What does Eleanor and Park teaches us?

It is so easy to judge someone so easy and we should never judge anyone. Never ever EVER. It makes the person feel like crap, and we shouldn’t judge someone by the way they look. Eleanor dressed they way she looked because she couldn’t afford to dress in the latest trends. Park doesn’t want to be muscular like his dad wants to him to be. That’s because he doesn’t want to, he feels different. That’s okay. It is okay to be different because it is our life, and we can do whatever we want, and other people shouldn’t judge because we don’t know the full story about why they look like the way they do, or why they act the way they do.

Eleanor and Park is such an amazing book because you get such feeling reading the book, that it just warms your heart and feels with such comfort that undescribeable. It has the teenage awkwardness that we get everyday yet it is prosed so beautifully that if you feel that you are actually living in that moment, and that is what any book should be about; living in the moment of the book.

Eleanor and Park (like Rainbow’s other books) is written beautifully and it is just perfect, honestly. Perfect. However, there is one thing I don’t like; the ending. (You’ll see why).

 

- Ambi.

GUEST REVIEW: Delirium - Lauren Oliver

PAGES: 336
PUBLISHER: HarperCollins
FORMAT: Paperback
BUY IT: Waterstones
RATING: 5 Stars

SUMMARY

They say that the cure for love will make me happy and safe forever. And I've always believed them. Until now. Now everything has changed. Now, I'd rather be infected with love for the tiniest sliver of a second than live a hundred years suffocated by a lie. There was a time when love was the most important thing in the world. People would go to the end of the earth to find it. They would tell lies for it. Even kill for it. Then, at last, they found the cure.

REVIEW

I read Delirium by the talented Lauren Oliver, (Lauren also wrote the book Panic; read the fabulous review by my talented friend Sofia) and this wasn’t a book I would expect myself to read and it isn’t a book that I would particularly enjoy however, I really did enjoy this book.

This book is about a girl called Lena Haloway and in her society, amor delirium nervosa (love) is forbidden. The government thinks that love is a deadly disease which destroys a person and takes over them. However there is a cure. When you turn 18, you undergo an operation which destroys the feelings of love. Lena is 95 days away from being cured from amor delirium nervosa. In the book, The Safety, Health, and Happiness Handbook (written by the government, also known as The Book of Shhh) it states that this operation is necessary so that people do not catch the symptoms of amor delirium nervosa. Lena thinks that she will be happy once she is cured however this changes when she meets Alex and suddenly she is feeling vulnerable and now she is developing the symptoms of amor delirium nervosa (mentioned in The Book of Shh). Suddenly, all the lies have been revealed and with her new found love for Alex, she is finding it very difficult to make the decisions. Will she go ahead and undergo the operations or will she and Alex make the daring and illegal choice and escape?

Main characters

Lena Haloway: Lena’s character changes throughout this book. At the beginning of the book, she is a goody two shoes. She never missed curfew, she never went against The Book of Shh, she always did what she was told. However once she meets Alex, she slowly becomes more rebellious which has a massive play on the ending and the rest of the series. I absolutely love Lena as later on she becomes braver and Lauren Oliver really lets her character develop and unfold.

Alex Sheathes: Alex.Oh.My.God. The love I have for him is substantial. I love him to the end of existence. His cuteness with Lena just kills me, he is just perfect and I love him. He is strong, beautiful and just amazing. The love that he shares with Lena is real and raw. Alex is just amazing you will fall in love with him.

The reason why I really enjoyed this book was the fact that it showed me that even a world with misery and corruption, you can find love and once you are in love, it becomes your whole life. The way Lauren writes this book makes you feel all the emotions that the character is feeling. She allows you to create a vivid image in your mind when you are reading and this book is just amazing.

This is book is part of a trilogy, where the story continues of Lena. The second book is Pandemonium and the third Requiem. There are also short stories. For me the order you should read this series, including the short stories is; Annabel, Delirium, Hana, Pandemonium, Raven, Requiem, Alex.

- Ambi.

(http://anahal.wordpress.com)