Top Ten Tuesday | Books I Can't Believe I Read

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature hosted at That Artsy Reader Girl. Each week you compile a list of ten books which coincide with that week's theme. You can find everything you need to know about joining in here!

This week's theme is 'Books I Can’t Believe I Read'.

Most of these are books I had to read for school or university, but they're all books I'm proud I managed to force my way through considering how much I disliked them or had trouble getting through them. I'm now much better at DNFing books I'm not enjoying, particularly as I no longer have to read anything for a piece of coursework.

If you don't like reading negative things about books (which is perfectly understandable - it can be a bit of a bummer!) then I recommend you don't read any more of this post...

Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller: I'm so sorry to American Literature, but other than Of Mice and Men I did not have a good experience with it in school. This story seemed so unnecessarily depressing and I got so bored of talking about the American Dream in my English Lit classes.

The Withered Root by Rhys Davies: I ended up reading this one while helping to format the eBook at my publishing internship. All I can remember is how much I hated it.

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald: I loathe this book. I know it's a favourite of so many people's and I totally respect that, it's just not for me.

Peter Pan by J. M. Barrie: I did a really interesting module on Victorian Popular Fiction at university where we studied detective fiction, adventure fiction and children's fiction. It was a brilliant module but it made me realise just how twisted the original Peter Pan story is, and something about it made me too uncomfortable to enjoy it.

Wise Children by Angela Carter: This one just felt weird for the sake of being weird and I didn't like it at all when I had to read it in school. I wish The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories had been my introduction to Carter and not this strange novel.

The Boy With the Cuckoo-Clock Heart by Mathius Malzieu: If I had to pick the absolute worst book I'd ever read this one might be it. I forced my way through it because it's so short, more of a novella than a novel really, but it's just awful.

Vinegar Girl by Anne Tyler: I forced my way through this retelling of The Taming of the Shrew hoping it would get better. It didn't.

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child by John Tiffany and Jack Thorne: I'm very lucky to have been to see the play in London, which I really enjoyed, but the script and story itself I didn't like at all. This story does such a disservice to some of my favourite characters and for me Scorpius was the only saving grace.

The Gift by Alison Croggon: I didn't dislike this one, I just remember it took me a long time to get through it and that it wasn't particularly memorable so I'm surprised I managed to force my way to the end of it.

Requiem by Lauren Oliver: I loved Delirium, and I think even with that ending it would have been a fantastic standalone, then Pandemonium came along and made Delirium just like every other YA dystopian triloy, then Requiem came along and kicked us all in the teeth. I like to pretend Pandemonium and Requiem never happened.

Which books made your list this week?

Top Ten Tuesday | Give Me Some Space, Man

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature created at The Broke and the Bookish. Each week you compile a list of ten books which coincide with that week's theme. You can find everything you need to know about joining in here!

This week's theme is 'Top Ten Books I Want My Future Children to Read (Or nieces and nephews, Godchildren, etc.)' - I actually kind of did this topic back in May and I don't really want to repeat myself, but I also didn't want to miss another week of TTT!

I have a nephew and four nieces - yes, four! Christmas shopping is a nightmare! - and my oldest niece is a bookworm, too, which is lovely, but there are some things I still definitely need to teach her. I live in South Wales while my older sister lives in North England so I don't see my oldest niece or her brother and sister that often, and when I saw her a few months ago I just so happened to be wearing a Star Wars t-shirt. She told me I shouldn't be wearing it because, and I quote, 'Star Wars is for boys'.

I'm sure you can imagine my horror.

So today I'm going to talk about the sci-fi books I'd like my niece to read when she's a little older to help her learn that Star Wars, and science fiction, is for everyone. She doesn't have to like science fiction, but I don't want her thinking it's a genre she's not allowed to participate in.

(Just as a sidenote, I don't tend to read as much sci-fi as I'd like to so the sci-fi experts amongst you probably have even better recommendations than I do - please feel free to leave them down below!)

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley: When eighteen year old Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley penned this haunting tale she set up the foundations for the genre we now know as science fiction. What better way to realise it's a genre that was never meant for boys alone?

Feed by Mira Grant: One of my favourite books of all time, this book broke my heart into teeny tiny pieces and made me sob. I love this one because it's a zombie story that isn't really about zombies in the way traditional zombie stories are, and when my niece is older I hope she'll enjoy its commentary on politics and the media as much as I did.

The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers: Another one of my favourite books of all time and one I can't praise highly enough. Its discussions of gender, sexuality, race relations, family units and what it means to be human will stay with me for the rest of my life and I think anyone who reads this novel can learn something from it while also enjoying a beautiful story.

The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood: I still haven't read this one myself (I know, I know, the shame!) but I swear I'm going to get to it soon and I think a book like this one would be the ideal story to get my niece thinking about feminism when she's a bit older.

Binti by Nnedi Okorafor: Another sci-fi story that discusses race relations and the validity of cultures both familiar and alien (hurr hurr) to us. As my niece will sadly be growing up in post-Brexit Britain, I hope she reads lots and lots of stories about why it's important not to dismiss another culture simply because it's different to her own.

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins: As much as I got sick of the genre, YA dystopian fiction is such a good starting point into science fiction, at least one strand of science fiction, especially for people like myself and my niece who aren't huge sci-fi people. Katniss Everdeen is one of the fiercest heroines around; my niece will be able to learn a lot from her, I think.

Delirium by Lauren Oliver: On the other end of the scale is a quieter dystopian tale, but an equally powerful one. One of the things I loved most about this book is that the heroine, Lena, is more traditionally feminine than a lot of the YA dystopian heroines out there, and unfortunately I think a lot of heroines were distanced from traditionally feminine things because how can a girl possibly be feminine and kick-ass? Thankfully there are different ways to be 'kick-ass' and Lena and Katniss are both prime examples of that.

Cinder by Marissa Meyer: I think this could be a particularly good starting point for my niece when she's old enough to start reading YA. I love this series, and the fact that all of the books in the series are retellings of fairy tales means that they're accessible for readers who might be familiar with the fairy tales but find sci-fi a little intimidating. It worked for me! (Also can I take the moment to have a mini rant and say that it really annoys me when I see this series being described as a dystopian series - not every YA sci-fi book is dystopian!)

Blood Red Road by Moira Young: More post-apocalyptic than dystopian, this book is just so much fun and yet another book with a very interesting heroine; Saba's even fiercer than Katniss, I think, and I hope it would show my niece just how fun and versatile this genre is.

Ms. Marvel by G. Willow Wilson and Various Artists: Because let's face it, if my niece thinks Star Wars is for boys she probably thinks that about Marvel, too. Who better than Ms. Marvel herself to show her otherwise?

Which books made your list this week?

Top Ten Tuesday | Books I Struggled to Finish

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature created at The Broke and the Bookish. Each week you compile a list of ten books which coincide with that week's theme. You can find everything you need to know about joining in here!

This week's theme is 'Ten Books I Struggled to Get Into But Ended Up Loving or Ten Books That Were A Chore To Get Through or Ten Books I've Most Recently Put Down', so I decided to talk about some of the books I struggled to get through. Some of them I ended up enjoying, some of them I really didn't, and the first five are all books I had to read for school/university.

Hamlet by William Shakespeare: I had to read this at school and at university and I can't stand it. I know Hamlet's a masterpiece, I know it's many people's favourite Shakespeare play, but I loathe it; Hamlet's so whiny and useless and I can't believe I kept having to study it over and over again.

Regeneration by Pat Barker: I didn't completely hate this novel, set during the First World War, but I was 17 when I read it and I definitely found it pretty dull. Having said that, I do remember quite a lot about it so maybe it had more of an impact on me than I realise.

The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins: I made myself read this over the summer before my third year of university, knowing I would be studying it for my module in Victorian Popular Fiction, and I'm really glad I forced myself through it; not only was I well prepared to talk about it for my classes, but it also ended up becoming one of my favourite classics.

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald: I know this book is beloved by a lot of people, and I completely understand why, but I had to read it during sixth form and I hated it. All of the characters are pretty awful and I just didn't like it.

Persuasion by Jane Austen: This is one of the classics I had to read for school that I'd like to revisit, because it's thanks to this book that, at 18, I convinced myself I hated everything Austen. The older I get the more I understand Austen and I'd like to try reading this again because, as beloved as Pride and Prejudice is, a lot of people consider this novel to be her true masterpiece.

Vinegar Girl by Anne Tyler: This is a retelling of The Taming of the Shrew in the Hogarth Shakespeare series and I was really excited for it. I ended up hating it, but I forced my way through it because it's fairly short. Check out my review here.

Requiem by Lauren Oliver: I really, really liked Delirium, the first book in this series, but both Pandemonium and Requiem were such disappointments for me and Requiem in particular I really had to force myself through, only to be given the most disappointing ending I've ever come across in a series. I could see what Oliver was trying to do, but I think she should have wrapped the story up just a little more.

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern: Undoubtedly this is a beautiful book, but I didn't love this one as much as I thought I would because it took me so long to get through it. Morgenstern's writing and her descriptions were beautiful, but I found Celia and Marco's relationship a bit too dull to really be invested in and, looking back, I don't think I ever really cared how the book was going to end.

Uprooted by Naomi Novik: I had a similar problem with this novel, I loved the ideas behind it but something about Novik's writing meant I didn't completely get on with it and it ended up taking me a while to finish it. I enjoyed it, but when I put it down I didn't feel compelled to pick it back up. Check out my review here.

Diving Belles by Lucy Wood: Unfortunately this one is probably my most disappointing read of this year because I so wanted to love it, but I realised fairly early on it wasn't what I was hoping it would be and that meant that, like Uprooted, I just didn't feel compelled to pick it up and read it and I ended up having to force my way through the end just to cross it off my TBR. Check out my review here if you want to know more about why I wasn't a big fan!

Which books made your list this week?

Top Ten Tuesday | A Whole New World

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature created at The Broke and the Bookish. Each week you compile a list of ten books which coincide with that week's theme. You can find everything you need to know about joining in here!

This week's theme is 'Top Ten Historical Settings You Love/ Ten Historical Settings You'd Love To See or Top Futuristic Books You Love/Ten Futuristic Societies I'd Love To Read in Books', but instead of talking about generic settings this week I'm going to talk about some books, five historical fiction and five sci-fi, in which the world building is amazing.

Historical Fiction

The Miniaturist by Jessie Burton: I still can't quite believe this is Burton's debut because it's one of the most stunningly written books I've ever read. Set in 17th century Amsterdam, Burton fills each page with sumptuous detail and lyrical prose. So worth reading!

Burial Rites by Hannah Kent: Set in 19th century Iceland, Hannah Kent's debut novel is the perfect novel for the winter because the bitter cold oozes from the pages. This is also a book that'll break your heart in two. Just so you know.

Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks: Year of Wonders is the novelisation of a true event in which a village called Eyam in Derbyshire closed itself off to the world when its residents began to succumb to the plague, in hopes of preventing the spread of the disease. The village itself almost becomes a character in this novel, and Brooks describes the isolation wonderfully.

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern: I didn't love this novel as much as I'd hoped I would, but there's no denying that Morgenstern's circus is wonderfully fantastical. I want to go to the Night Circus, too.

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak: What I love about this novel is that the setting's unusual. So many historical fiction books set during the Second World War are set in Britain, France or America, so it was so refreshing to read a book set in Germany during the war which painted Germans fairly. It's good to remember that the vast majority of the German and Austrian population hated Hitler more than anyone else did.

Science Fiction

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins: I love dystopian fiction that could be a fathomable reality, and in my opinion Collins succeeded with this trilogy. If we were to broadcast a show like The Hunger Games you can guarantee people would watch it, and that's what makes these books so terrifying.

Feed by Mira Grant: Ah Feed, my love. What I love about Feed is that it's a post-post-apocalyptic novel. Zombies exist but not every single society in the world has collapsed. Grant's world building is so well thought out and thorough. I just love this book!

The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers: I think I'd marry this book if I could. It includes so many things that I'm passionate about and Chambers' world building is astounding. Read this!

Delirium by Lauren Oliver: We all know by now how much of a trainwreck Requiem was, but I thought Delirium was a beautifully written YA dystopia - in all honesty I wish it had been a standalone. When I first heard it was set in a world without love I thought it was going to be really cheesy, but Lauren Oliver has put a lot of thought into what a world without love would really mean and it's so bleak. Wonderful novel, just pretend the latter two don't exist.

The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer: Obviously this series was going to be on the list. I love it and I love Marissa Meyer's futuristic universe. No more need be said.

What did you talk about this week?

Anticipated Autumn Releases!

I'd be lying if I said I was the kind of person who's always on the look out for the latest book releases, because unless there's an author or series I really love I usually won't go looking for books that aren't out yet. There are only three books I'm really looking forward to next year, and two of those - Winter by Marissa Meyer and Lamentation by C.J. Sansom - I only know of because I'm a big fan of their respective series.

That being said, this autumn brings the release of a few books I'm really interested in getting my hands on, so now that it's the last month of summer (already!) I thought I'd share them with you!

Rooms

by Lauren Oliver

Release Date: 23rd September, 2014

Wealthy Richard Walker has just died, leaving behind his country house full of rooms packed with the detritus of a lifetime. His estranged family—bitter ex-wife Caroline, troubled teenage son Trenton, and unforgiving daughter Minna—have arrived for their inheritance. 

But the Walkers are not alone. Prim Alice and the cynical Sandra, long dead former residents bound to the house, linger within its claustrophobic walls. Jostling for space, memory, and supremacy, they observe the family, trading barbs and reminiscences about their past lives. Though their voices cannot be heard, Alice and Sandra speak through the house itself—in the hiss of the radiator, a creak in the stairs, the dimming of a light bulb. 

The living and dead are each haunted by painful truths that will soon surface with explosive force. When a new ghost appears, and Trenton begins to communicate with her, the spirit and human worlds collide—with cataclysmic results.

I'm not sure what it is about this book that interests me, because while I enjoyed Delirium I wasn't a fan of either Pandemonium or Requiem, and I've never been particularly interested in checking out Oliver's other YA books. This book sounds intriguing if nothing else, and I think this kind of story will really suit Oliver's gorgeous writing style.

Clariel

by Garth Nix

Release Date: 14th October, 2014

Clariel is the daughter of the one of the most notable families in the Old Kingdom, with blood relations to the Abhorsen and, most importantly, to the King. When her family moves to the city of Belisaere, there are rumors that her mother is next in line for the throne. However, Clariel wants no part of it—a natural hunter, all she ever thinks about is escaping the city’s confining walls and journeying back to the quiet, green world of the Great Forest.

But many forces conspire against Clariel’s dream. A dangerous Free Magic creature is loose in the city, her parents want to marry her off to a killer, and there is a plot brewing against the old and withdrawn King Orrikan. When Clariel is drawn into the efforts to find and capture the creature, she discovers hidden sorcery within herself, yet it is magic that carries great dangers. Can she rise above the temptation of power, escape the unwanted marriage, and save the King?

You have no idea how excited I've been since this book was finally given a cover and a release date! The Old Kingdom was one of my favourite trilogies during my teen years, in fact it still is. If you're interested in some female dominated fantasy that is focused on action, adventure and character development rather than the usual romantic-heavy plot, then I highly recommend Sabriel, Lirael and Abhorsen if you haven't already read them.

There's been talk of Clariel for years, and it got to the point that I was certain it simply wasn't going to happen, and then all of a sudden, earlier this year, there was a release date. I'm so excited!

Talon

by Julia Kagawa

Release Date: 28th October, 2014

Long ago, dragons were hunted to near extinction by the Order of St. George, a legendary society of dragon slayers. Hiding in human form and growing their numbers in secret, the dragons of Talon have become strong and cunning, and they're positioned to take over the world with humans none the wiser.

Ember and Dante Hill are the only sister and brother known to dragonkind. Trained to infiltrate society, Ember wants to live the teen experience and enjoy a summer of freedom before taking her destined place in Talon. But destiny is a matter of perspective, and a rogue dragon will soon challenge everything Ember has been taught. As Ember struggles to accept her future, she and her brother are hunted by the Order of St. George.

Soldier Garret Xavier Sebastian has a mission to seek and destroy all dragons, and Talon's newest recruits in particular. But he cannot kill unless he is certain he has found his prey: and nothing is certain about Ember Hill. Faced with Ember's bravery, confidence and all-too-human desires, Garret begins to question everything that the Order has ingrained in him: and what he might be willing to give up to find the truth about dragons.

I'm going to be honest with you: while I love fantasy, I've never been that interested in dragons. I didn't like Eragon (I'm sorry Inheritance Cycle fans - I really did try!) and I haven't really read that much dragon fiction in general - I'm much more of a unicorn girl!

That being said, the premise of this book just sounds cool. I always wondered when someone was going to bring St. George into a book about dragons! I'm also eager to read more books featuring a brother and a sister; I seem to own a lot of YA books featuring sisters, and while that's not a bad thing by any means I'd like a little more variety.

Also, I love this cover - it's gorgeous!

Mortal Heart

by Robin LaFevers

Release Date: 4th November, 2014

Annith has watched her gifted sisters at the convent come and go, carrying out their dark dealings in the name of St. Mortain, patiently awaiting her own turn to serve Death. But her worst fears are realized when she discovers she is being groomed by the abbess as a Seeress, to be forever sequestered in the rock and stone womb of the convent. Feeling sorely betrayed, Annith decides to strike out on her own.

She has spent her whole life training to be an assassin. Just because the convent has changed its mind doesn't mean she has.

But across Brittany, the tides of war are drawing ever nearer, with France pressuring the beleaguered duchess from all sides. Annith’s search for answers threatens to rip open an intricate web of lies and deceit that sit at the heart of the convent she serves. Yet to expose them threatens the very fabric of her existence and risks an unforeseen chance at love, one that she can no longer deny. Annith must carefully pick a path and, gods willing, effect a miracle that will see her country—and her heart—to safety.

If you've been following my blog for a while then you'll know I read both Grave Mercy and Dark Triumph back to back in the spring, and I surprised myself when I loved them. Yes they're a little cheesy in places, but they're so fun while still exploring some pretty deep stuff. Therefore, it was only natural that Mortal Heart earned a place on this list.

After the events of Dark Triumph I'm really interested in seeing how Annith is going to fit into the wider story, and I'm also looking forward to seeing Annith finally being given the chance to shine. She's a cutie.

The Sharp Hook of Love

by Sherry Jones

Release Date: 25th November, 2014

He is the most famous philosopher in the world, the arrogant headmaster of the Notre Dame Cloister School, and a poet whose songs and good looks make women swoon. She is Paris’s most brilliant young scholar, beautiful and wry, and his student. Forbidden by the church and society to love each other, Heloise and Abelard defy the rules to follow their hearts, risking everything that matters to them — including each other. An illicit child, a secret marriage, an abusive uncle: nothing, it seems, can come between them — until a vicious attack tears them apart forever. Or does it?

As I'm sure you all know by now I love historical fiction. I've been fascinated by the sad story of Abelard and Heloise since I first learned of them during my teens, and yet I haven't read a single piece of fiction based on their story. This novelisation interests me in particular as it has been written after the discovery of 113 "Lost Love Letters" between the two that were discovered in 1999, and Jones has incorporated some of these letters into her novel.

Needless to say, I'm really looking forward to this one!

Will you be rushing out to buy any of these releases? Are there any books you're looking forward to seeing on the shelves this autumn?

J.

Reading Wrap-Up | June 2013

Unfortunately June was a really bad reading month for me, in fact it was even worse than May. I managed to get through five books in May, but in June I only managed three. I've been in such a slump lately, I've started plenty of books but I've been really struggling to get into any of them. I'd like to say that July will be better, but I'm taking part in Camp NaNoWriMo so there's a chance I'm going to be doing more writing than reading, hopefully that way I'll be out of my slump come August.
     Oh well, on with the wrap-up!

My Rating: 

Lena's been to the very edge. She's questioned love and the life-changing and agonising choices that come with it.

She's made her decision. But can she survive the consequences?

The first book I finished in June was the second installment in Lauren Oliver's Delirium trilogy, Pandemonium.

     I finished Delirium, the first book in the trilogy, back in February and I adored it. Since finishing The Hunger Games trilogy it was the best YA dystopian novel I had read; the narrative voice was gorgeous, the protagonist was relatable and the world-building was magnificent. The ending, though terribly bittersweet, was stunning, so I was rather hesitant to read Pandemonium as I was worried it was never going to be quite as good. Unfortunately, I was right.

     There were definitely elements of Pandemonium that I enjoyed, particularly the chapters which explored Lena's life in the Wilds after her escape, but I felt as though this book focused too much on introducing another love interest and subsequent love triangle rather than on the relationship between Lena and her mother I had hoped it would tackle.

     Ultimately it was an enjoyable enough read, and a fairly decent sequel, but it was nowhere near as good as the first book. If you'd like to see some more of my thoughts on this particular book I have written a review of it which you can find here.

My Rating: 

Battling against a society in which love has been declared a disease, Lena now finds herself at the centre of a fierce revolution. But the Wilds are no longer the haven they once were as the government seeks to stamp out the rebels. And Lena's emotions are in turmoil following the dramatic return of someone she thought was lost forever...

After Pandemonium I was determined to read Requiem, the third book in the trilogy, and finally finish one of the many trilogies waiting to be read on my shelves.

     The good thing about Requiem is that it made Pandemonium seem even better, the bad thing was that it did so by being such an unbelievably disappointing conclusion to what could have been an amazing trilogy. The ending, as far as I'm concerned, was not an ending, it could have benefitted immensely with just the simple addition of an epilogue because, ultimately, we really don't know what happens to any of these characters we have grown to love. We don't know if they succeed in overthrowing the government or if they are caught, tried and executed. Even if it wasn't a happy ending I still would have liked an ending. I don't like it when authors ask me to imagine my own; I expect the author to know what happens to their own characters.

     The book wasn't all bad, of course. Personally I really enjoyed the chapters which followed Hana, Lena's old best friend who has since been cured, while she struggled with feelings she shouldn't still be feeling and awaited her marriage to a man who proved to be abusive. It was interesting to see the world from the point of view of a person who has been cured, but I was again disappointed in that we never really know what happens to Hana either.

     All in all this was a very disappoining read, and possibly one of the worst conclusions to a trilogy/series I have ever read. If you have yet to read the Delirium trilogy then please take my advice: read the first book and only the first book. Even though the ending is sad there is a finality to it that the latter two books lack, and it is by far the best book in the trilogy.

My Rating: 

It's been six weeks since angels of the apocalypse descended to demolish the modern world. Street gangs rule the day while fear and superstition rule the night. When warrior angels fly away with a helpless little girl, her seventeen-year-old sister Penryn will do anything to get her back.

Anything, including making a deal with an enemy angel.

Raffe is a warrior who lies broken and wingless on the street. After eons of fighting his own battles, he finds himself being rescued from a desperate situation by a half-starved teenage girl.

Traveling through a dark and twisted Northern California, they have only each other to rely on for survival. Together, they journey toward the angels' stronghold in San Francisco where she'll risk everything to rescue her sister and he'll put himself at the mercy of his greatest enemies for the chance to be made whole again.

After the disappointment that was the ending of the Delirium trilogy I was in the mood to read something a little more angry. Something post-apocalyptic seemed perfect and, after plenty of recommendations from all over the place, I picked up a copy of Susan Ee's Angelfall. I read it in two days because it was such a fast-paced read, and I certainly enjoyed it a lot more than the other two books I read in June.

     I haven't read a lot of post-apocalyptic fiction, it's a genre that I'm just starting to get into, and I've also never read anything with angels in it, so this book really was quite a new reading adventure for me. I'm not entirely sure why I generally stay away from books involving angels or fallen angels, they're just not mythological/fantastical/theological creatures that I have much interest in. I liked Ee's representation of the angels, however; I was a little worried they were somehow going to be rather preachy and 'better than thou' but they were actually rather brutal themselves, which makes perfect sense given some of the passages in the Bible.

     Penryn was a pretty cool protagonist to follow - I really love her name - and her relationship with Raffe was a lot of fun, too, though there were times when I felt as though the obvious romance that was blossoming between the two of them was blossoming a little too fast. The only thing I was really unsure of was the ending. Why were there weird scorpion people? It seemed as though it had nothing whatsoever to do with the angels other than to make them seem creepy.

     Other than that I did enjoy it and I'll definitely be reading the next book in the series.

Since finishing Angelfall I've been stuck in a reading rut. I'm currently reading about six books, I just haven't really gotten into one and that's sad; I'm really in the mood to get into a new book, so I'll just have to keep persevering. Part of me can't help but think that the conclusion to the Delirium trilogy really got me into the rut; the majority of the books on my shelves are part of a series, because there's a real lack of good standalone books in the genres I enjoy recently, and after reading such a disappointing ending I'm nervous of becoming invested in something else only to be let down. I had intended to read Moira Young's Rebel Heart, the second installment in the Dustlands trilogy, this month but I just couldn't get into it after Requiem. Hopefully I'll get through it this month instead.

     That's it for this month, check back in at the end of July for another monthly wrap-up and keep reading throughout the month; I'm probably going to write a few Camp NaNoWriMo updates and possibly a few personal posts as well as hopefully posting some more reviews very soon.

     Until then, thanks for reading! J.

Review | Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver

My Rating:

Lena's been to the very edge. She's questioned love and the life-changing and agonising choices that come with it.

She's made her decision. But can she survive the consequences?

Pandemonium is the second novel in Lauren Oliver's Delirium trilogy set in a dystopian world in which love  - or the deliria as it is known - has been declared a disease. Closeness between boys and girls is prohibited and when they reach eighteen they go through a prodecure that stops them from feeling love altogether. They are paired off into loveless marriages and live the rest of their lives unable to feel passion.
     At the end of the first novel (now would be a good time for those of you who have yet to start the trilogy to stop reading) our heroine Lena is left to escape to the Wilds alone after Alex is shot. The second novel in the trilogy takes place between two time frames; one from when Lena is discovered by the other Wildlings and another six months later where she is posing as a cured in New York as part of the resistance.
     As it was in Delirium Oliver's writing style is beautiful. Even if you're not a fan of the plot these books are worth a read simply for the way in which they are told. Her way of storytelling is pretty and poetic; to put it simply, they are a joy to read.
     Oliver should also be congratulated on her character development. Lena is not only one of my favourite dystopian heroines but one of my favourite heroines period. When we first begin the trilogy Lena cannot wait to be cured, as a reader would expect from a girl who has been raised to believe that love is a disease - one that tore her mother from her - she whole-heartedly believes that love is dangerous and that it causes people to hurt, maim and kill in its name. She starts out as a rather meek but believable heroine who gradually changes throughout the course of Delirium, when it comes to Pandemonium Lena has run into the Wilds and it becomes necessary for her to grow tougher.
     Unlike many heroines out there Lena's character progression feels natural and real. This is how I would expect a person to develop if they were thrust from a controlled, civilised environment to a wilderness brimming with escapees. It was a delight to read, in fact my favourite chapters in Pandemonium were the ones which focused on Lena's life during her first six months in the Wilds rather than the ones which focused on her in New York city.
     Lena is not the only person in the Wilds, of course, and though she sometimes irritated me I liked Raven - the leader of this particular group of Invalids - a lot. There was something rather Katniss Everdeen about her, possibly to compensate for Lena's innate gentleness as we no longer have Hana to fill such a role, and she complimented Lena nicely; the reader is able to see the difference between someone new to the Wilds and someone who is accustomed to the harsh lifestyle that they face in pursuit of freedom.
     One of the main reasons that this book was a disappointment for me compared with the first book - which was one of my favourite reads last year - was Julian, Lena's new love interest. When reading Delirium I felt real chemistry between Alex and Lena, but the relationship between Lena and Julian felt weak in comparison; it felt forced simply for the sake of bringing in a new love interest, because apparently not enough YA dystopian trilogies have more than one love interest these days. Personally I felt as though they fell in love far too quickly, especially when compared with the romantic relationship we saw develop throughout the first novel.
     I was really hoping that Oliver would forget bringing in a new love interest and instead focus on the relationship between Lena and her mother who, by the end of the first novel, we have discovered is still very much alive. Considering so much of Lena's fear of love and so much of her life has been shaped by her mother's absence I was hoping for a reunion which would allow the book to focus on the love between a mother and her daughter rather than a pair of lovers. After all it isn't only romantic relationships that the cure for the deliria destroys, it also destroys the ways that families and friends interact with one another to the extent that they are no longer the same people. To me that is just as haunting as no longer being able to love your lover and I felt as though familial and platonic love was glossed over more than it should have been.
     All in all Pandemonium is not a bad sequel, but it's not an amazing one either. I chose to continue with the trilogy because I adored the first book so much, however the first book, despite perhaps not having the happiest of endings, does have a beautifully bittersweet finality to it. I would highly suggest reading Delirium and only Delirium, as Pandemonium falls rather flat in comparison.
     Thanks for reading! J.