Review: Revolution 19

Reviewer: Kelsey
Author: Gregg Rosenblum
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 265
Rating: 4 out of 10
[The ratings have been low lately. I don't know what's up with that. Maybe I finally started reading our review policy. If something seems funny about my rating and you don't believe it, please feel free to check out my goodreads (link on the side) or our review policy here. We try to pride ourselves on having honest reviews but it seems like rating is harder than anything else that we have to do. Our deepest apologies if there has been any confusion.]

Summary (Via the Goodreads revolution): Twenty years ago, the robots designed to fight our wars abandoned the battlefields. Then they turned their weapons on us.

Only a few escaped the robot revolution of 2071. Kevin, Nick, and Cass are lucky —they live with their parents in a secret human community in the woods. Then their village is detected and wiped out. Hopeful that other survivors have been captured by bots, the teens risk everything to save the only people they have left in the world—by infiltrating a city controlled by their greatest enemies.

Revolution 19 is a cinematic thriller unlike anything else. With a dynamic cast of characters, this surefire blockbuster has everything teen readers want—action, drama, mystery, and romance. Written by debut novelist Gregg Rosenblum, this gripping story shouldn’t be missed. 

What I Think: The problem with this novel was not the central plot of the story. It equal parts scared and interested me. I thought that it was unique enough. It wasn't brand-spanking new, sure, but still. It seemed to make enough sense. The problem wasn't in the perspective which allows insights into the minds of most of the characters and also allows the reader to get a rather large picture of what is happening in the world. The problem was not that the main focus of the story was not a love story. It was refreshing to have a story focused on love of family, parents and siblings, over everything else. Actually, that may have been my favourite thing about this novel. I enjoyed the interaction between siblings. 

The problem was that the novel felt incredibly long when it was actually, after thinking on it, too short. The novel should have slowed down and expanded on...well, just about everything. It could have been so much more. I expected it to be so much more. I'd wanted to read this novel for so long and was disappointed that it didn't really get into too much. It could've slowed down a bit and still be alright. Maybe the solution to this problem could have been to put the first two books in this series together. I'll let you know after I read the next one but it probably won't be any time soon since I wasn't really too interested in this novel. 

I found that, due to the strange pace of the novel as well as the many, many characters that seemed thrown at me in the few pages that made up this novel, I was missing and/or ignoring huge hunks of description. This may have just been me. Actually, it's extremely likely that this is my own fault and nothing more but it still bothered me. 

Conclusion: I wish this novel had slowed down and gone into more detail. I liked the sibling interaction; it was different. This novel wasn't my cup of tea. I think that it would be more enjoyed by middle school or high school aged kids, boys in particular. In my mind, it just could have been more and that makes me very sad.

Making Faces

Reviewer: Kelsey
Author: Amy Harmon
Format: eBook
Pages: 405
Rating: 6 out of 10 (I'm being harsh lately)

Summary (from the face of Goodreads): Ambrose Young was beautiful. He was tall and muscular, with hair that touched his shoulders and eyes that burned right through you. The kind of beautiful that graced the covers of romance novels, and Fern Taylor would know. She'd been reading them since she was thirteen. But maybe because he was so beautiful he was never someone Fern thought she could have...until he wasn't beautiful anymore.

Making Faces is the story of a small town where five young men go off to war, and only one comes back. It is the story of loss. Collective loss, individual loss, loss of beauty, loss of life, loss of identity. It is the tale of one girl's love for a broken boy, and a wounded warrior's love for an unremarkable girl. This is a story of friendship that overcomes heartache, heroism that defies the common definitions, and a modern tale of Beauty and the Beast, where we discover that there is a little beauty and a little beast in all of us.

Thoughts: I heard this was like Beauty and the Beast. I think that however said that lied. I didn't really think that it was much like Beauty and the Beast at all. I mean there were some similarities but none that make it stand out as some kind of story based off of it. The similarities were no more than any random book off the shelf. I was excited then torn down. I feel like my thinking it was Beauty and the Beast made me want to love it. I feel like I tried too hard and I may have even let that thinking get to me and stop me from realizing how good this book really was. It makes me sad.

Don't get me wrong. I did really like this book. I enjoyed that characters enough. It was an easy to read and understand story. It was even kind of cute. It was cute but also horribly predictable. I didn't like that I consistently saw where the story was going but I don't think that's how it should be. I think I should be a little surprised because that's half the fun. Maybe I'm too good at noticing foreshadowing. It's too bad that isn't what being an English major consists of or maybe I would have done a lot better. Alas, I digress...

There is a random love letter in the middle of the story from Jesse...I'm still not really sure where that came in. It just confused me a little bit so I didn't think too much about it.

I felt horrible for Rita but saw Bailey as the predictable, loving, helper, fixer friend. It's kind of an archetype. It made me sad but also really happy at the same time. He was great. He was a great friend and super smart. I love that he was insightful. I love that the other character realized what he was and how important he was. I felt the end to his part of the story-line went way too quickly. I think it maybe should have had a bit more story meat.

I am soooooooo tired of girls who think they are ugly getting the guy of their dreams. I'm tired of girls that don't think they are pretty but are actually beautiful. Just once, can the girl just be ugly? Just once, let her be ugly but let it not matter. Let the guy talk about how much he loved her for her. Don't even mention what she looks like. Don't mention her body images. I understand that it is realistic but please, for the love of God, can we care less about what the main character looks like. I'm not sure how we can accomplish this, I just want it done, okay? Thanks.

I thought that the ending for this novel was sufficient but that's the best I can say about it. That's actually kind of harsh. I think that it fairly wrapped everything up. I do, however, feel like there were two ending and that kind of bothered me. I was reading the last chapter thinking it was the epilogue but then I got to the epilogue and it was just weird. I wasn't sure how to take that. One book should only mean one ending.

So: It was quick, easy, painless ( just kidding, that's a bit of a lie ), and insightful. I love how Fern views the world. I love how good friends they all become. I love how it ended because everything was wrapped up and completed. I could see reading this again. Would recommend to those looking for a love story with some action and emotion. 

The Lost Heir

Reviewer: Kelsey
Author: Andi O'Connor
Format: Paperback - The author sent me this book and requested an honest review
Pages: 392
Rating: 6.5 out of 10 (I'm not sure when we started adding .5's but they stand)

Summary (She's a Goodreads author!): Always a meticulous planner, Darrak Hunter leads a dull life until his dreams become plagued with visions of a peculiar and distant world. Waking up to a brilliant purple sun looming ominously in the sky, Darrak is met by a mysterious violet-eyed sorcerer who whisks him away from the struggling Earth.

Thrown into the clutches of a foreign world where magic is reality and not all is as it seems, Darrak embarks on a journey where he is forced to come to terms with his past and do what he can to shape the future. Accompanied by a talented swordswoman, a prince, and a beautiful young sorceress, he must overcome cunning plots of treachery and betrayal to discover the strength to stand against a destructive black magic and an enemy who is a master at deception.

Thoughts: Sooooooo, I'm having a hard time coming up with a good opening sentence for this review; let's just jump in. I love contractions. I'm a big fan of the vernacular. I like when I am able to connect with how the characters are talking. When they are very proper I have a hard time connecting. Of course, when they are supposed to be that way, it's different. In this case however, Darrak grew up on earth. He should talk like every other college student on earth. He distracted me. Also, the dialogue seemed rather forced at times. The dialogue was mostly in large paragraphs. There was lots of explaining. It was necessary but seemed off. The vocabulary, however, was awesome! I say that as mine is terrible, go figure!

The characters were all unique. I love the unique names and personalities. There were a lot of them though and at times it as hard to remember who was who. The only character that I had a problem with was Mionee. She started out true to who she was but as the story progressed I felt that she gave in to the pressure placed on her. Either that or she changed who she was too quickly. It was like character whiplash.

I think that since this was a series the beginning could have moved slower. Time could have been taken to make it seem more realitic. The extra time could have been used for Darrak to believe. He did believe but it was too quickly to be real. The ending made the book seem more like serial than a series. I feel like the next one is more to be continued than one after another. The books in this series will be very connected to one another. This is definitely not a stand alone novel if you begin to care for the characters like I did. 

I love that this took place somewhere not earth. I also love the magic aspect and the language because that shows real dedication to the story and world. This world is worth the read and it was easy and quick so it isn't real a waste of time. It's a fairly simple story to follow though it may turn out to be long.

In Conclusion: This is a quick and easy read. It was fun and I love great other worlds that I can get lost in. Characters in this story are their own people and are each special. I care about a lot of them now. Yay love for fictional characters!

Keep in mind that this isn't necessarily a love story so don't expect one (though there is some).

Fragments (Partials Sequence #2)

Reviewer: Kelsey
Author: Dan Wells
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 564
Rating: 9 out of 10

**Spoiler Alert: Check out Partials First**

Summary (Goodreads version): Kira Walker has found the cure for RM, but the battle for the survival of humans and Partials is just beginning. Kira has left East Meadow in a desperate search for clues to who she is. That the Partials themselves hold the cure for RM in their blood cannot be a coincidence--it must be part of a larger plan, a plan that involves Kira, a plan that could save both races. Her companions are Afa Demoux, an unhinged drifter and former employee of ParaGen, and Samm and Heron, the Partials who betrayed her and saved her life, the only ones who know her secret. But can she trust them?

Meanwhile, back on Long Island, what's left of humanity is gearing up for war with the Partials, and Marcus knows his only hope is to delay them until Kira returns. But Kira's journey will take her deep into the overgrown wasteland of postapocalyptic America, and Kira and Marcus both will discover that their greatest enemy may be one they didn't even know existed.

The second installment in the pulse-pounding Partials saga is the story of the eleventh hour of humanity's time on Earth, a journey deep into places unknown to discover the means--and even more important, a reason--for our survival.

Thoughts: Firstly, I love (and hate/freak out about) the idea behind this story because, as I mentioned in the Partials review, it could really happen. I may have read the this book and really the whole series too fast. I will be reading them again before I read the third in the series.

One of the highlights of this book is that it can go from not a lot of action to the characters running for their lives or to something huge happening to them because they are in a dangerous, unknown place and there is a war going on. Something is always around the next corner. There is always another battle to fight or person to defeat. It makes for a very interesting story that always keeps your attention. 

I was also glad that the reader saw what was happening to more than just Kira, not that her part of the story isn't great. I like knowing what is happening in every part of the story. I like knowing what the other characters are doing when they are not with the main character. I'm just nosy like that.

Also, the science behind RM and the partials is great. It add so much to the story to believe it. Plus, who doesn't love a good conspiracy with all the creators adding secret back-up plans that foil everything. It remind me a bit of the television show Revolution. There are a bunch of secret plots and plans. There is always something new to learn about the story line. The story does however run the risk of becoming too complicated if the author isn't careful but so far Dan Wells hasn't gone overboard. He just keeps you thinking and trying to figure out the solution to the problems that exist. I want to fight just as hard as Kira does. Her strength and courage are amazing throughout the story. I love strong female roles!

Oh my god, the cliff hanger! I hate it so much. Talk about being left hanging...and not just from one point of view but from all of them. Every single part, Kira's, Marcus', and the friends/adoptive sisters' points of view, has a cliff hanger that makes you want to throw the book out the window! I believe that this is fitting:

Final: I really loved this novel! I read it right after the first one before realizing that the third in the series is not yet out. I almost cried when I found that out because now I have to wait to find out how it ends. It's going to kill me. I cannot wait until the third book comes out and I can find out what's happening to the characters. I think that if you like books like The Hunger Games or other dystopian novels, you should take a look at this series.

Dan Wells...Put out the next one!!!

Partials (Partials Sequence #1)

Reviewer: Kelsey
Author: Dan Wells
Format: Paperback
Pages: 468
Rating: 9 out of 10

Summary (via Goodreads): The human race is all but extinct after a war with Partials--engineered organic beings identical to humans--has decimated the population. Reduced to only tens of thousands by RM, a weaponized virus to which only a fraction of humanity is immune, the survivors in North America have huddled together on Long Island while the Partials have mysteriously retreated. The threat of the Partials is still imminent, but, worse, no baby has been born immune to RM in more than a decade. Our time is running out.

Kira, a sixteen-year-old medic-in-training, is on the front lines of this battle, seeing RM ravage the community while mandatory pregnancy laws have pushed what's left of humanity to the brink of civil war, and she's not content to stand by and watch. But as she makes a desperate decision to save the last of her race, she will find that the survival of humans and Partials alike rests in her attempts to uncover the connections between them--connections that humanity has forgotten, or perhaps never even knew were there.

Dan Wells, acclaimed author of I Am Not a Serial Killer, takes readers on a pulsepounding journey into a world where the very concept of what it means to be human is in question--one where our humanity is both our greatest liability and our only hope for survival.

My Thoughts: This is one of those long books that don't feel long once you finish it. I'm glad because it is very long!

It didn't take me long to get into the book and want to help find a way to solve the worlds problems. I was with Kira a 100% of the way. I also loved that she was a medic because we could get background on what was happening that other characters in the story just wouldn't have.

There was enough action to keep me interested, there was enough emotion for it to feel human, enough science to make sense, and enough politics for make me believe it could really happen. There was also a love interest portion which was good again for the human aspect of it.

I thought it was interesting how the two sides thought of each other. There are already so many examples of this in real life that it's not outside the realm of possibility  This story could happen. It could be real. The scariest part is that the dates suggest that it won't happen too far away from right now if it does. Books like this drive me nuts! I don't want the world to go like this. If it does, I want to die in the first wave of people because I won't survive!

In Conclusion: I was too into this novel. I will be reading it again very soon. I read the second one right after and even more quickly than the first. I love this series. It has every genre and every emotion. It's great! I recommend it for sure!

Warning: The third in the series isn't out yet...I found out the hard way!

Crossed (Matched #2)

Reviewer: Kelsey
Author: Ally Condie
Format: Paperback
Pages: 400
Rating: 6 out of 10

Summary (from Goodreads): In search of a future that may not exist and faced with the decision of who to share it with, Cassia journeys to the Outer Provinces in pursuit of Ky - taken by the Society to his certain death - only to find that he has escaped, leaving a series of clues in his wake. Cassia's quest leads her to question much of what she holds dear, even as she finds glimmers of a different life across the border. But as Cassia nears resolve and certainty about her future with Ky, an invitation for rebellion, an unexpected betrayal, and a surprise visit from Xander - who may hold the key to the uprising and, still, to Cassia's heart - change the game once again. Nothing is as expected on the edge of Society, where crosses and double crosses make the path more twisted than ever.

My Thoughts: I really enjoyed the first one in this series and the second one wasn't a let down. That said, it didn't exceed my expectations either. I felt like the middle part kind of dragged and the ending was too sudden. I kept thinking, "Is this it?" I was waiting for more of a wrap up or more of a 'to be continued' but it never came. Right near the end, there was a time jump...I think. I'm not quite sure what happened there but I felt like the ending was a bit lacking in emotion too. I would have been a wreck but they were cool about the whole thing. That bothered me a lot. The whole thing was about feelings and being together but in the end it was just...blah.

I liked that the characters and the plot were both realistic. Nothing happened and made me think that it was unrealistic. Sure, the Society is gross but that's the point. Everything that happens in plausible. 

Closing: This was quick but check out the first in the series for more. I'm going out to buy the final book in this trilogy tomorrow (which is actually April 3 if you are curious since this is sooooo late) and I'm excited. I have high hopes for the conclusion.

If you like this series also check out Delirium; they are very close in both theme and plot.