Perfect Ruin

Reviewer: Kelsey

Author: Lauren DeStefano

Format: ARC Paperback (Publisher requested review)

Pages: 358

Rating: 7 out of 10

Summary (Goodreads is my life): On Internment, the floating island in the clouds where 15-year-old Morgan Stockhour lives, getting too close to the edge can lead to madness. Even though Morgan's older brother, Lex, was a Jumper, Morgan vows never to end up like him. She tries her best not to mind that her life is orderly and boring, and if she ever wonders about the ground, and why it is forbidden, she takes solace in best friend Pen and her betrothed, Basil.

Then a murder, the first in a generation, rocks the city. With whispers swirling and fear on the wind, Morgan can no longer stop herself from investigating, especially when she meets Judas. He is the boy being blamed for the murder — betrothed to the victim — but Morgan is convinced of his innocence. Secrets lay at the heart of Internment, but nothing can prepare Morgan for what she will find — or who she will lose.

My Thoughts: I was pretty pumped to be able to read this novel. I’ve read novels by this author before and I enjoyed them so much that I felt the need to buy the rest of the series while I was on vacation. I think that this author has an incredible imagination and is a great storyteller. She can get you into a story. Also, I love that she uses “English Major Words” or for our American friends maybe we can call them SAT words? I love learning new words and I could with this novel; not that I was forced to look any up, context is so helpful.

Hopefully, this won’t become a love triangle. At one point during the novel it felt like that was where we were headed but a part of the novel changed that for me, I’m just holding out hope for the second one. I don’t want a love triangle because I hate them but also, in this case, I love Basil. I think he’s great. It’s a little odd that they actually cared about each other. In other novels where they are forced to be with people, the main character ends up hating that person. Matched may be an exception. If your experience with this type of plot line is different than mine, I need to point out how weird and stupid that is. I wouldn’t love someone that I was told to love. I would question every interaction with them and wonder why I do what I do. Do I actually love them or have I been convinced that I have to love them and therefore act differently. Yes, these are the things that I think about in my spare time.

There are essay excerpts at the beginning of each chapter and, while they make little sense at the beginning of the novel, as the story goes on they explain a lot about the world in which Morgan lives as well as some of the character’s motivations.

I really feel bad for Lex. I hope that the next novel explains why people get hurt when they jump. I think I might have missed that explanation. It all seemed a little confused for me. It was almost like a full explanation was avoided. I can understand why, it would give the author a lot more work but I would like some answers just the same. Plus, I need a real not mythological or guess reason for why they are in the sky. Yes, I want the author to come out and flat out say where we are and why. I hate guessing AND unanswered questions. I guess I’ll just have to read the whole series.

The concept for this novel was very interesting though I think it needs to be a bit more developed. It was a good length and a fairly quick read but it wasn’t speedy. Now, I’m being confusing. How do I explain this? It didn’t feel like a quick read until I looked back and saw how fast I finished it. Close to the end still feels like the middle. It may have been that I confused the climax a bit. There are two highish points in this novel. Upon completing it, I realized that the very end is actually the climax and leads up to another novel but while at the first high point, I thought it would be the most important part. I’m going to explain this away as just being the first in the series and needing to set everything up. I hope that’s just it.

The characters in this were great. I want a Basil, Lex was a typical older brother (at least in my world anyway), and Pen was a great best friend. Each had faults, like they would if they were real people. I like characters that could be real people. Beware though, this author has never been afraid to kill off character. It’s one of the things I love about her!

Final Thoughts: I enjoyed this novel and love this author. In the future, I will continue to read her works. I am also looking forward to reading the rest of this series to get the answers I’m looking for. I’m just really sad that I’m going to have to wait for the next book! If you enjoyed Matched, Delirium, or The Chemical Garden Series than as soon as this book is released, you should go buy it.

Wither (The Chemical Garden #1)

Reviewer: Kelsey
Author: Lauren DeStefano
Format: Paperback
Pages: 358
Rating: 8 out of 10

Summary (via Goodreads): By age sixteen, Rhine Ellery has four years left to live. She can thank modern science for this genetic time bomb. A botched effort to create a perfect race has left all males with a lifespan of 25 years, and females with a lifespan of 20 years. Geneticists are seeking a miracle antidote to restore the human race, desperate orphans crowd the population, crime and poverty have skyrocketed, and young girls are being kidnapped and sold as polygamous brides to bear more children. When Rhine is kidnapped and sold as a bride, she vows to do all she can to escape. Her husband, Linden, is hopelessly in love with her, and Rhine can’t bring herself to hate him as much as she’d like to. He opens her to a magical world of wealth and illusion she never thought existed, and it almost makes it possible to ignore the clock ticking away her short life. But Rhine quickly learns that not everything in her new husband’s strange world is what it seems. Her father-in-law, an eccentric doctor bent on finding the antidote, is hoarding corpses in the basement. Her fellow sister wives are to be trusted one day and feared the next, and Rhine is desperate to communicate to her twin brother that she is safe and alive. Will Rhine be able to escape--before her time runs out?

Together with one of Linden's servants, Gabriel, Rhine attempts to escape just before her seventeenth birthday. But in a world that continues to spiral into anarchy, is there any hope for freedom?

My Thoughts: I was originally told that this was an awful book but, for some strange reason, I felt that I needed to read it anyway. I went against what this person told me and bought the book. This was partly because Kristen wouldn't let me leave the store without a book and partly because I hate waited so long to read this book that it was just time to buy it. I wasn't disappointing with my choice. I'm so glad that I did it.

This novel jumps right into the action. It doesn't throw the reader so far into the story that the reader cannot catch up with what is going on. Everything was explained clearly, thank goodness! 

I found myself caring deeply for Rhine. Whenever she made a choice to do or not do something, I was freaking out! Then I had this massively inner turmoil whenever it came to Linden and/or Gabriel. I couldn't choose what I wanted. I didn't understand how she could know. I had to remind myself that I was not her. I'm not sure how I ever got myself confused that I was since I would have given up for sure but Rhine never did.

I also found that this book was really good for using a variety of words. There wasn't the same word over and over. That drives me nuts!

Final Thoughts: I would recommend this novel to anybody who likes YA romance or dystopian. I found that I could figure things out in advance so if that bothers you, beware. Don't worry, there are still some surprises! Check this book out and let me know what you think!

The Taker

Reviewer: Kelsey
Author: Alma Katsu
Format: Paperback
Pages: 436
Rating: 9 out of 10

Summary (from Goodreads): True love can last an eternity . . . but immortality comes at a price. On the midnight shift at a hospital in rural St. Andrew, Maine, Dr. Luke Findley is expecting a quiet evening. Until a mysterious woman arrives in his ER, escorted by police—Lanore McIlvrae is a murder suspect—and Luke is inexplicably drawn to her. As Lanny tells him her story, an impassioned account of love and betrayal that transcends time and mortality, she changes his life forever. . . . At the turn of the nineteenth century, when St. Andrew was a Puritan settlement, Lanny was consumed as a child by her love for the son of the town’s founder, and she will do anything to be with him forever. But the price she pays is steep—an immortal bond that chains her to a terrible fate for eternity.

My Thoughts: I feel it is necessary to start off by saying that this is definitely not a children's story. There is murder, mystery, intrigue, rape, immortal beings, and the police. When I picked up with book, from the amazing Wal-mart discount shelf (my first love), I choose it purely based on the cover. Okay, sure, 'don't judge a book by its cover', but I just love those masquerade masks...Anyway, I had no idea what I was getting myself into. 

First of all, this book is strange. Like Wuthering Heights, this story is a story inside a story during a large portion of the novel. I managed to follow this one better than Wuthering Heights. 

Then, of course, there is the fact that you are thrown right into the story. After that, a lot of what we read is the main character backtracking. What I can't understand is why Luke helps her. I mean, this chick shows up in the ER and asks for help escaping, are you just going to help her out? The police were the ones that bring her in. That would give me pause...

Next, the author tries to get us to believe in this world, which is our world, where there are, in fact, people that live forever but that also hang around each other. One is 'in charge' but it's kind of more of an 'I own you' kind of way. He's a bit of a wacko. Then again, this whole concept is nuts right. Sure but then why does it seem so real.

I found myself feeling sorry for the main character. What had she ever done? All she really wanted was love. Sadly, it came at a higher price then she would have thought. 

It leaves us wondering what is going to happen to Lanny. We think she is safe but is she really? She might be able to get herself out of this mess but does she? What will happen to her and Luke? We don't know. We are left completely stranded in this story. I found myself stuck, wondering what was going to happen. I super excited to read book two! I really want to find out what happens in the end.

Final Thoughts: I read this book while Kristen and I were on our break but kept an eye out for the second novel. I waited and waited until I could wait no more. I couldn't wait very long for the next book. Now that it's on my shelf I figured I would go back and review this so that I can gush about how awesome I hope the next one it. I'm going to start reading it right now. You should too.

Seriously though, this is not for children or people that are sensitive. There is murder, rape, torture, plain old capturing and locking up. At times, I found myself uncomfortable. Also, I told my one friend that she couldn't borrow my copy because she was simply too immature. Then again, I could be the sensitive one here... Let me know what you think about it.

Thirteen Reasons Why

Reviewer: Kelsey
Author: Jay Asher
Pages: 288
Format: Paperback
Rating: 9 out of 10

Summary (Thank you GoodReads): Clay Jensen returns home from school to find a mysterious box with his name on it lying on his porch. Inside he discovers thirteen cassette tapes recorded by Hannah Baker, his classmate and crush who committed suicide two weeks earlier.

On tape, Hannah explains that there are thirteen reasons why she decided to end her life. Clay is one of them. If he listens, he'll find out how he made the list.

Through Hannah and Clay's dual narratives, debut author Jay Asher weaves an intricate and heartrending story of confusion and desperation that will deeply affect teen readers.

My Take: I loved this book! I read it in less than 24 hours. I couldn't put it down and stayed up late to read it. I would have been done so much faster if I didn't have a life. I would have given up my life to read this book faster. I was so amazed at how all the stories fit together. It is simply incredible writing. The characters are totally understandable. I felt bad for Clay. I felt worse for him than any other character I've ever read about. It was amazing. I loved how he travelled around with the map he was given. Even the time span of the book, one night, added to the story. I felt the same urgency to know what happened to Hannah that Clay did.

This story really makes you think about what you do to people and how you treat them. Since I read this (three days ago) I have been much more careful about what I say to people and I think about how it might be taken. I try to remember that I don't always know what other people are going through and I must be sensitive to that always.

Final Thoughts: I would recommend this book to anyone who is okay with a lot of emotion and a bit of crying. I do not recommend this book if you are thinking about suicide. I know that the back says that it is uplifting but I was left upset, depressed, and with unanswered questions. It never gives a reason why should could fight to stay alive but it more about the reasons she did it. It forces you to look at how you treat people but not at how you deal with hardships that you will face in your life. You can't help but draw parallels and wonder why you and her are so different.

I really did love this novel.