Disney Book Tag!
Hi all!
Since the book I am now reading is taking me a little bit of time, I decided to do a tag!
So here it is, the Disney book tag! *insert disney music of your choice here*
This book tag was made in honor of the release of The Isle of the Lost.
1. The Little Mermaid - a character who is out of their element, a 'fish out of water'.
My choice for this can come across as being quite unexpected, but I promise it will make sense! I chose Eragon from... well... Eragon, by Christopher Paolini. He goes from being just a poor farmer, without any special talents or position (except for hunting), to being a highly-important Dragon Rider, with crazy magical abilities, huge responsibility, and is basically treated like royalty. I think that would make anyone feel out of place!
2. Cinderella - a character who goes through a major transformation.
(OK now I see that Eragon would have also been good for here... oh well). The character I chose for this is Simon from The Mortal Instruments, by Cassandra Clare. It can't get any more literal than what happens to him. He goes from being a high-school geek, (then to a rat), to being a vampire! And not only does he have fangs and lives off blood, but he can survive in the sunlight. This makes him a 'Daylighter' or a type of super-vampire. I know this choice was not as personality-based as many other lists are, but I thought a literal transformation could work just as well :)
3. Snow White - a book with an eclectic cast of characters.
*Looks up eclectic* - Ah okay!
This is hard because so many series have diverse characters!! But I have to go with the Maximum Ride series, by James Patterson. For those of you who haven't read it, let me clarify. The main group of six kids all have 98% human genes and 2% Bird genes, resulting in a pair of wings on each kid. Max, the leader, is very, well, leading. Fang is dark and mysterious. Iggy is blind and very sarcastic. Angel is young and super sweet and cute. Nudge is all about style. Gazzy is a hilarious kid. They are so different its crazy, but together they make an awesome team.
I haven't read these books in ages, makes me want to read them again!
4. Sleeping Beauty - A book that put you to sleep.
To tell you the truth, I have never fallen asleep while reading. BUT one book got me close to that, and it is The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien. Not that its a bad book, I actually love the story! Its just that the constant songs, and super detailed descriptions had a tendency to make me loose my concentration and make me close the book, setting it aside for later.
5. The Lion King - a character that had something traumatic happen to them in their childhood.
For this tag I'll choose Liesel from The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. I would elaborate, but it would be such an awful spoiler! But for those of you who have read it, I hope you agree that she has had one long list of traumatic experiences!
6. Beauty and the Beast - A beast of a book that you were intimidated by, but found the story to beautiful.
Yes, another Mortal Instruments tag, but hey, you have to admit, that City of Heavenly Fire by Cassandra Clare is absolutely massive, yet amazing to read! For scale, The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins, is 374 pages long, and CoHF is... wait for it... 733 pages long, with smaller print! (At least those are my copies). After buying it I kept telling myself 'its going to take aaaages to finish!'
I finished in two days. Yep.
7. Aladdin - A character who gets their wish granted, for the better or the worse.
For this tag, I chose Santiago, the shepherd boy from The Alchemist, by Paulo Coelho. Eventually Santiago wishes to find a treasure near the Egyptian pyramids. This wish is granted at the end, for the better. :)
8. Mulan - A character who pretends to be someone or something they are not.
Mare from Victoria Aveyard's Red Queen fits this category well. She has to pretend that she is a lost Silver princess to hide the peculiar powers she is born with. However, she is a Red, someone low-class who is not meant to have any powers.
9. Toy Story - books with characters you wish could comet to life.
ALL DA BOOKS! BRING THE CHARACTERS TO LIFFEEEEEE!!!! Hehe sorry ^^.
This is an absolutely cruel decision to make! How about a mix of the characters from The Mortal Instruments, Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Wings, Stravaganza, and Harry Potter. Yeah that'd be cool :) I'm sorry if I can't choose >.>
10. Disney Descendants - Your favorite villan or morally ambiguous character.
From Disney or from any book? From Disney I have to choose Hades, from Her-cu-leeees! His sarcasm is amazing, yet he still has great villain attributes! From books I'm choosing Voldemort, from Harry Potter. That guy has some serious dedication, he needs an award for that! I mean splitting your soul in seven pieces to (hopefully) live forever? That's some serious business!
I tag everyone! :)
Tuesday, May 19, 2015
Friday, May 15, 2015
The Shock of the Fall, by Nathan Filer
Hi all!
Today, I also finished The Shock of the Fall, by Nathan Filer.
I'm not going to lie, this book made me cry.
And its going to be very hard to describe.
This book is about a boy, Matt, who lost his brother when he was nine. The story is about him dealing with his loss, growing up, and his mental illness.
This book was difficult yet amazing to read. I say difficult because due to Matt's mental illness, it his hard to follow his thought process, as he tends to jump from the present, to a memory, to his imagination. He also uses a lot of analogies, which often left me wondering weather what was written had actually happened or not.
The descriptions in this book are beautifully written, and certain repeating themes are very interesting to read about. One thing that I really loved about it is that each chapter is written as if a person had really come, sat down a behind a computer, and started writing a kind of diary.
"PLEASE STOP READING OVER MY SHOULDER. She keeps reading over my shoulder. It is hard enough to concentrate in this place without people reading over your shoulder. I had to put that in big letters to drive the message home. It worked, but now I feel bad about it"
"I already told you that" He says this many times throughout the book, when things get repetitive. It's as if he is reminding himself, or us, that he had already said something, to elaborate on it.
Another interesting point about the physical book itself is that there are two different fonts. When the main character moves into his own apartment, he is given a typewriter. Then, the font changes, as Matt is writing on his new typewriter. There are also drawings, letters, and small messages throughout the book, making it seem more like a compilation of printed pages, typed pages, and sketches. Really cool format. And the cover is pretty.
Now about the story itself. Its a definite tear-jerker, especially towards the end. All of sparse bits of information given at the beginning at the story all come together at the end to create one coherent series of events. Quite a few times, I had that feeling where you want to hug a character for them to feel better.
And then you get to the part where the chapter's title says exactly whats going on.
Oh
And then all of the random outbursts of information, imagination, and overall strangeness end up making total sense.
I highly recommend this book to anyone!
This book completed my "A book that made you cry" goal
5/5 stars on goodreads
Yay c:
Hi all!
Today, I also finished The Shock of the Fall, by Nathan Filer.
I'm not going to lie, this book made me cry.
And its going to be very hard to describe.
This book is about a boy, Matt, who lost his brother when he was nine. The story is about him dealing with his loss, growing up, and his mental illness.
This book was difficult yet amazing to read. I say difficult because due to Matt's mental illness, it his hard to follow his thought process, as he tends to jump from the present, to a memory, to his imagination. He also uses a lot of analogies, which often left me wondering weather what was written had actually happened or not.
The descriptions in this book are beautifully written, and certain repeating themes are very interesting to read about. One thing that I really loved about it is that each chapter is written as if a person had really come, sat down a behind a computer, and started writing a kind of diary.
"PLEASE STOP READING OVER MY SHOULDER. She keeps reading over my shoulder. It is hard enough to concentrate in this place without people reading over your shoulder. I had to put that in big letters to drive the message home. It worked, but now I feel bad about it"
"I already told you that" He says this many times throughout the book, when things get repetitive. It's as if he is reminding himself, or us, that he had already said something, to elaborate on it.
Another interesting point about the physical book itself is that there are two different fonts. When the main character moves into his own apartment, he is given a typewriter. Then, the font changes, as Matt is writing on his new typewriter. There are also drawings, letters, and small messages throughout the book, making it seem more like a compilation of printed pages, typed pages, and sketches. Really cool format. And the cover is pretty.
Now about the story itself. Its a definite tear-jerker, especially towards the end. All of sparse bits of information given at the beginning at the story all come together at the end to create one coherent series of events. Quite a few times, I had that feeling where you want to hug a character for them to feel better.
And then you get to the part where the chapter's title says exactly whats going on.
Oh
And then all of the random outbursts of information, imagination, and overall strangeness end up making total sense.
I highly recommend this book to anyone!
This book completed my "A book that made you cry" goal
5/5 stars on goodreads
Yay c:
Four, by Veronica Roth
Hi all!
I'm one of those people who loves the Divergent trilogy. Having finished the series last year, I thought it could be a good time to pick up the side-stories written by Veronica Roth about Four.
I was not disappointed :)
Reading Four brought another side to the series that I had not exactly considered. It is true that in Divergent, Four often mentions his past (which I will not elaborate on due to spoilers) and leaves these facts ambiguous. This book of short stories helps understand his four fears, what his initiation was like, and how he went through Tris's initiation.
I really enjoyed reading the chapter about his initiation. You really see his 'evolution' from being very Abnegation-like to more Dauntless, as well as the development of other secondary characters in the Divergent series, such as Eric, and Shauna. I found it also really easy to understand why his main fear is Marcus through the first chapter, The Transfer. (BTW Marcus is a horrible fictional human being. Just sayin'. He's worse than in the series!)
*SPOILERS*
Through this book, you see Four in such a way that re-reading Divergent will change how you consider him. Whenever Tris describes him as being more ruthless and harsh in Divergent, the mirror created in Four really gives the impression that he is forced to be this way to pass initiation, and to keep his Divergent-ness hidden. For example, in Divergent, when he beats up Drew, he is portrayed as doing so somewhat heroically, menacingly, and harshly. However, in Four, the scene is extended, following him away from the scene, in shock because of what he had just done. I will honestly (re)-read Divergent very differently from now on.
This book, however, does not include any new facts about the series itself, and it should not be read as such. However, it is more of a complementary story to Divergent, which elaborate on many facts about Four. I feel as if this book, or collection of short stories, could have been separate chapters incorporated into the trilogy itself.
This collection was very fast and easy to read :) I do recommend that you read Divergent first though, especially the first book of the series.
I gave it 4/5 stars on Goodreads
This book filled in my "A book of Short Stories" goal
Hi all!
I'm one of those people who loves the Divergent trilogy. Having finished the series last year, I thought it could be a good time to pick up the side-stories written by Veronica Roth about Four.
I was not disappointed :)
Reading Four brought another side to the series that I had not exactly considered. It is true that in Divergent, Four often mentions his past (which I will not elaborate on due to spoilers) and leaves these facts ambiguous. This book of short stories helps understand his four fears, what his initiation was like, and how he went through Tris's initiation.
I really enjoyed reading the chapter about his initiation. You really see his 'evolution' from being very Abnegation-like to more Dauntless, as well as the development of other secondary characters in the Divergent series, such as Eric, and Shauna. I found it also really easy to understand why his main fear is Marcus through the first chapter, The Transfer. (BTW Marcus is a horrible fictional human being. Just sayin'. He's worse than in the series!)
*SPOILERS*
Through this book, you see Four in such a way that re-reading Divergent will change how you consider him. Whenever Tris describes him as being more ruthless and harsh in Divergent, the mirror created in Four really gives the impression that he is forced to be this way to pass initiation, and to keep his Divergent-ness hidden. For example, in Divergent, when he beats up Drew, he is portrayed as doing so somewhat heroically, menacingly, and harshly. However, in Four, the scene is extended, following him away from the scene, in shock because of what he had just done. I will honestly (re)-read Divergent very differently from now on.
This book, however, does not include any new facts about the series itself, and it should not be read as such. However, it is more of a complementary story to Divergent, which elaborate on many facts about Four. I feel as if this book, or collection of short stories, could have been separate chapters incorporated into the trilogy itself.
This collection was very fast and easy to read :) I do recommend that you read Divergent first though, especially the first book of the series.
I gave it 4/5 stars on Goodreads
This book filled in my "A book of Short Stories" goal
Monday, May 11, 2015
Half Bad, by Sally Green
I was really expecting a lot from this book. I was a bit dissappointed. I really didn't want to use this pun, but the book was half bad. But that also mean half good!
Half Bad is about a teenager called Nathan, who is Half Black witch, half White witch. His father is an infamous killer called Marcus. This leads Nathan into a whole world of pain and confusion from the start.
OK let me just say that I feel so bad for him! He's constantly being beat up because of his parentage! The counsil keeps on questioning him and sending him of to various places and people. He's constantly tortured and manipulated. This book was just really immensely violent.
One thing I really enjoyed about the book was the fact that it was an easy and quick read, with interesting character descriptions. :) The whole idea behind the story was amazing - having witches live with yet apart from humans (fains), getting a certain power at 17, the bad father (Who, I must say, reminded me of Valentine from the Mortal Instruments) the somewhat 'utopian' conditions for some, dystopian for others, all while being in modern-day England was a great idea! It just... wasn't done well. Honestly, at times, it felt like I was reading a book based on a video game...
The novel was a mix of predictable events and plot-twists that litterally would make me gasp, especially towards the end. The different characters were all very interesting, yet Nathan, although portrayed as rebellious at the beginning, seemed to just let things happen to him. He has some great half-sibblings and some awful half-sibbling. Everything was half-half. Maybe it was done on purpose to fit the title?
Anyway, I don't have an overall good or bad impression. I'm not sure if I'll read the rest of the series, but I don't regret reading this. :)
I was really expecting a lot from this book. I was a bit dissappointed. I really didn't want to use this pun, but the book was half bad. But that also mean half good!
Half Bad is about a teenager called Nathan, who is Half Black witch, half White witch. His father is an infamous killer called Marcus. This leads Nathan into a whole world of pain and confusion from the start.
OK let me just say that I feel so bad for him! He's constantly being beat up because of his parentage! The counsil keeps on questioning him and sending him of to various places and people. He's constantly tortured and manipulated. This book was just
One thing I really enjoyed about the book was the fact that it was an easy and quick read, with interesting character descriptions. :) The whole idea behind the story was amazing - having witches live with yet apart from humans (fains), getting a certain power at 17, the bad father (Who, I must say, reminded me of Valentine from the Mortal Instruments) the somewhat 'utopian' conditions for some, dystopian for others, all while being in modern-day England was a great idea! It just... wasn't done well. Honestly, at times, it felt like I was reading a book based on a video game...
The novel was a mix of predictable events and plot-twists that litterally would make me gasp, especially towards the end. The different characters were all very interesting, yet Nathan, although portrayed as rebellious at the beginning, seemed to just let things happen to him. He has some great half-sibblings and some awful half-sibbling. Everything was half-half. Maybe it was done on purpose to fit the title?
Anyway, I don't have an overall good or bad impression. I'm not sure if I'll read the rest of the series, but I don't regret reading this. :)
Thursday, May 7, 2015
The Giver - Lois Lowry
Hi everyone!
This book though!
It was one of those books that once I was done reading, I set it down and thought about it for ages...
I, as many other kids, had to read this in 6th grade. At the time, I just thought 'okay, its another schoolbook'. I've recently re-read it, and it is now one of my favorites. There are so many things that I had not noticed at a younger age!
However, I think that classifying this book as a children's book is a bit overconfident. More like YA in my opinion. There are too many things that 10 year olds won't notice when reading it, that change the entire storyline.
Anywho!
I love how it is written, and how simple ideas make the story what it is. Even though it is clearly dystopian to older readers, it is still presented from the point of view of a child, making it seem more gentle and almost 'normal'. (More information on that below)
Its a story about not sticking to societies pre-constructed rules, and about seeing what else is out there, and opining your horizons.
This might be a book from my childhood, but its still definitely one of my favorites, still today :)
I love how easy to read it is, and how it gives a completely plausible idea of the future.
(And yes I found the movie disappointing, but not too awful =p )
**SPOILERS**
(Refer to where I said there would be more information)
For example, the fact that the entire community sees the world in black and white, and that Jonas, the protagonist, notices that he is different because something changes about his surroundings (he starts seeing the color red). We, as readers, do not notice this difference in color until the Giver says 'you are starting to see the color red'. Then, the book takes on a whole new dimension that changes how we read it. This kind of twist happens very often throughout the novel, you just have to notice it!
This is clearly dystopian, but not in the way that many books are today. This seemed more strict in its rules, yet presented in a more gentle way. I found this mix absolutely fascinating. One example of this is when the newchildren, if twins, are weighed. The lightest one would be 'released'. As a more mature reader, we know that this means the newchild would die, yet they way it is written makes it seem, as I said, more gentle, and somewhat innocent.
I gave this book 5/5 stars on Goodreads!
This book filled my 'a book that became a movie' requirement!
Hi everyone!
This book though!
It was one of those books that once I was done reading, I set it down and thought about it for ages...
I, as many other kids, had to read this in 6th grade. At the time, I just thought 'okay, its another schoolbook'. I've recently re-read it, and it is now one of my favorites. There are so many things that I had not noticed at a younger age!
However, I think that classifying this book as a children's book is a bit overconfident. More like YA in my opinion. There are too many things that 10 year olds won't notice when reading it, that change the entire storyline.
Anywho!
I love how it is written, and how simple ideas make the story what it is. Even though it is clearly dystopian to older readers, it is still presented from the point of view of a child, making it seem more gentle and almost 'normal'. (More information on that below)
Its a story about not sticking to societies pre-constructed rules, and about seeing what else is out there, and opining your horizons.
This might be a book from my childhood, but its still definitely one of my favorites, still today :)
I love how easy to read it is, and how it gives a completely plausible idea of the future.
(And yes I found the movie disappointing, but not too awful =p )
**SPOILERS**
(Refer to where I said there would be more information)
For example, the fact that the entire community sees the world in black and white, and that Jonas, the protagonist, notices that he is different because something changes about his surroundings (he starts seeing the color red). We, as readers, do not notice this difference in color until the Giver says 'you are starting to see the color red'. Then, the book takes on a whole new dimension that changes how we read it. This kind of twist happens very often throughout the novel, you just have to notice it!
This is clearly dystopian, but not in the way that many books are today. This seemed more strict in its rules, yet presented in a more gentle way. I found this mix absolutely fascinating. One example of this is when the newchildren, if twins, are weighed. The lightest one would be 'released'. As a more mature reader, we know that this means the newchild would die, yet they way it is written makes it seem, as I said, more gentle, and somewhat innocent.
I gave this book 5/5 stars on Goodreads!
This book filled my 'a book that became a movie' requirement!
Tuesday, May 5, 2015
Bookish Identity Tag
So I've seen this tag quite a few times already, and I thought I could give it a go!
1. What dystopian/fantasy world would you like to live in?
That... is an evil question! Can I have two answers?
Ok yay two answers it is! :D
Camp half-blood. I've loved these books since I was eleven, and I keep thinking how awesome it would be to be the daughter of a greek god or goddess, and have the powers that come with it, going to camp, going on quests... IT SOUNDS SO FUN!!!! Plus all the cool monsters and deities and legends would just be real! Sign me up any day!
Second one would be the world presented in the Mortal Instruments. 'All the stories are true'. It would be a blend of so many different fantasy worlds! Plus living in a cool place, having awesome abilities... YAY!
Graceling, Hogwarts, Eragon, Lord of the Rings, Stravaganza, Divergent, I did not forget about you all =p
2. Who would your partner be?
Ok so which kind of partner? Romantic? Partner-in-crime? And again, these questions are so SO hard to answer!
I do have my favorites though. Peeta from the Hunger Games, Tamani from Wings, and, of course, Jace from The Mortal Instruments :3 (btw I love how all of these names are considered to be written wrong =p )
THESE GUYS THOUGH! Peeta is so sweet and thoughtful, Tamani is always there (but not too clingy like the guy from twilight... ew I did not like those books >.<) and Jace is so cool and sassy but so nice! <3
3. Who would your godly parent be (Percy Jackson Series)
Once a Poseidon, always a Poseidon.
4. Would you rather be a downworlder or a nephilim (Mortal Instruments series)
Nephilim. No question! BUT I must say that some downworlders are really cool!
5. Which house would you be in (Harry Potter)
#RAVENCLAWPRIDE!
6. Which faction would you be in (Divergent)
I honestly don't know. I'm a tad too selfish to be in Abnegation, not Dauntless material, or Candor, or Amity. I guess Erudite? Maybe?
7. What would your daemon be (Northern Lights series)
I've heard of the books, but I don't know what this daemon thing is about, sorry ^^
8. Who do you tag?
Anyone and Everyone! :D
So I've seen this tag quite a few times already, and I thought I could give it a go!
1. What dystopian/fantasy world would you like to live in?
That... is an evil question! Can I have two answers?
Ok yay two answers it is! :D
Camp half-blood. I've loved these books since I was eleven, and I keep thinking how awesome it would be to be the daughter of a greek god or goddess, and have the powers that come with it, going to camp, going on quests... IT SOUNDS SO FUN!!!! Plus all the cool monsters and deities and legends would just be real! Sign me up any day!
Second one would be the world presented in the Mortal Instruments. 'All the stories are true'. It would be a blend of so many different fantasy worlds! Plus living in a cool place, having awesome abilities... YAY!
Graceling, Hogwarts, Eragon, Lord of the Rings, Stravaganza, Divergent, I did not forget about you all =p
2. Who would your partner be?
Ok so which kind of partner? Romantic? Partner-in-crime? And again, these questions are so SO hard to answer!
I do have my favorites though. Peeta from the Hunger Games, Tamani from Wings, and, of course, Jace from The Mortal Instruments :3 (btw I love how all of these names are considered to be written wrong =p )
THESE GUYS THOUGH! Peeta is so sweet and thoughtful, Tamani is always there (but not too clingy like the guy from twilight... ew I did not like those books >.<) and Jace is so cool and sassy but so nice! <3
3. Who would your godly parent be (Percy Jackson Series)
Once a Poseidon, always a Poseidon.
4. Would you rather be a downworlder or a nephilim (Mortal Instruments series)
Nephilim. No question! BUT I must say that some downworlders are really cool!
5. Which house would you be in (Harry Potter)
#RAVENCLAWPRIDE!
6. Which faction would you be in (Divergent)
I honestly don't know. I'm a tad too selfish to be in Abnegation, not Dauntless material, or Candor, or Amity. I guess Erudite? Maybe?
7. What would your daemon be (Northern Lights series)
I've heard of the books, but I don't know what this daemon thing is about, sorry ^^
8. Who do you tag?
Anyone and Everyone! :D
Sunday, May 3, 2015
The Selection - Kiera Cass
The Selection is about America Singer, a girl from a low-caste family, who is fairly poor yet good in the arts, who receives an invitation to be drawn for the Selection. This is when a group of 35 girls are chosen to 'compete' for Prince Maxon's hand in marriage, and to become the next queen. As America is of age, she is eligible to be chosen. However, being secretly in love with Aspen, America wants to refuse. She only signs up when he insists that she does so, and that her parents bribe her with some money. Being selected would help her family financially, as they would be paid compensation.
America is selected, and starts living the palace life to help her family. She doesn't expect it, and, through trying to stay herself, she gradually gains a special interest from Prince Maxon himself...
Hmmm... I'm not entirely sure what it is I think about this book. I didn't adore it, but I didn't hate it... =p
So start with the good or the bad?
Lets start off with what I liked. I liked the way it was written. It was nice and easy to read, and written in a way that flowed with the storyline. The storyline itself was fine, and I enjoyed the idea of the author!
A lot of people say that they didn't like the names because of their strangeness, but that is one of the main reasons that I did like them. ^^
I enjoyed reading it for the most part, and am curious to know what happens next.
However, I felt that it was a bit... disappointing. /:
TO EVERYONE WHO LOVED THE BOOK I'M SORRY IT JUST WASN'T MY THING!
I picked this book up because I've been seeing it everywhere. A lot of booktubers and bloggers have been saying great things about it, so I thought I'd give it a try.
I think that my main problem is that I couldn't help comparing it to other books. The interviews with Gavril constantly brought me back to the interviews in The Hunger Games, the whole castle atmosphere, and America's family atmosphere kept making me think of Red Queen... Its like I was annoying myself while reading it.
Another thing I didn't like so much about it is that the characters were hard to become attached to, or seemed to superficial. Maxon seemed like a really cool guy some of the time, but other times, he just seemed too clueless about humans, and too typically 'stuck-in-a-castle-learning-about-military'-like. Aspen, although a main character since the beginning, just seemed to be.... there. I didn't feel like he had a very important role. America was one of the better characters, but she would quickly change from being herself, to being not-herself when the other Selected girls were around.
Lastly, the book kept referring to things happening outside the castle - the US in an agreement with China, the rebel attacks, and the different social levels of all the castes. I feel like these were too mentioned too briefly, and think that elaborating on these small factors could add some very interesting substance to the story.
Thats it for my part! See you soon! :D
Currently reading Half Bad, by Sally Green
This book completed the "A book with a love triangle" challenge!
The Selection is about America Singer, a girl from a low-caste family, who is fairly poor yet good in the arts, who receives an invitation to be drawn for the Selection. This is when a group of 35 girls are chosen to 'compete' for Prince Maxon's hand in marriage, and to become the next queen. As America is of age, she is eligible to be chosen. However, being secretly in love with Aspen, America wants to refuse. She only signs up when he insists that she does so, and that her parents bribe her with some money. Being selected would help her family financially, as they would be paid compensation.
America is selected, and starts living the palace life to help her family. She doesn't expect it, and, through trying to stay herself, she gradually gains a special interest from Prince Maxon himself...
Hmmm... I'm not entirely sure what it is I think about this book. I didn't adore it, but I didn't hate it... =p
So start with the good or the bad?
Lets start off with what I liked. I liked the way it was written. It was nice and easy to read, and written in a way that flowed with the storyline. The storyline itself was fine, and I enjoyed the idea of the author!
A lot of people say that they didn't like the names because of their strangeness, but that is one of the main reasons that I did like them. ^^
I enjoyed reading it for the most part, and am curious to know what happens next.
However, I felt that it was a bit... disappointing. /:
TO EVERYONE WHO LOVED THE BOOK I'M SORRY IT JUST WASN'T MY THING!
I picked this book up because I've been seeing it everywhere. A lot of booktubers and bloggers have been saying great things about it, so I thought I'd give it a try.
I think that my main problem is that I couldn't help comparing it to other books. The interviews with Gavril constantly brought me back to the interviews in The Hunger Games, the whole castle atmosphere, and America's family atmosphere kept making me think of Red Queen... Its like I was annoying myself while reading it.
Another thing I didn't like so much about it is that the characters were hard to become attached to, or seemed to superficial. Maxon seemed like a really cool guy some of the time, but other times, he just seemed too clueless about humans, and too typically 'stuck-in-a-castle-learning-about-military'-like. Aspen, although a main character since the beginning, just seemed to be.... there. I didn't feel like he had a very important role. America was one of the better characters, but she would quickly change from being herself, to being not-herself when the other Selected girls were around.
Lastly, the book kept referring to things happening outside the castle - the US in an agreement with China, the rebel attacks, and the different social levels of all the castes. I feel like these were too mentioned too briefly, and think that elaborating on these small factors could add some very interesting substance to the story.
Thats it for my part! See you soon! :D
Currently reading Half Bad, by Sally Green
This book completed the "A book with a love triangle" challenge!
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