All Things Halloween Review - The Last Star

The Last Star (The 5th Wave, # 3)

By: Rick Yancey

Published: May 24th 2016 by G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers

338 pages

Genre: Young Adult, Science Fiction, Post-Apocalyptic, Dystopian

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*Note: The above links to Amazon and Book Depository are affiliate links. Affiliate links support giveaways for Somewhere Only We Know readers.

Goodreads description--The enemy is Other. The enemy is us.

They’re down here, they’re up there, they’re nowhere. They want the Earth, they want us to have it. They came to wipe us out, they came to save us.

But beneath these riddles lies one truth: Cassie has been betrayed. So has Ringer. Zombie. Nugget. And all 7.5 billion people who used to live on our planet. Betrayed first by the Others, and now by ourselves.

In these last days, Earth’s remaining survivors will need to decide what’s more important: saving themselves…or saving what makes us human.

I've had The Last Star in my possession for about two years. Well...a year and a half at least. Regardless. I've put off reading it until just now because I'd seen ratings start to come in shortly after release date that were only mediocre. And this was so disheartening for me. I loved The 5th Wave and while The Infinite Sea had a slow start for me, I still really enjoyed it. Often when I see a book have mediocre ratings it lowers my expectations and then I end up enjoying it more than I expected to, but that's not always how things happen. Of course, sometimes the mediocre ratings lower my expectations and I only end up agreeing with everyone else. And unfortunately that's what happened with The Last Star for me.

A large part of my frustration with this book is my own fault. Due to the amount of time between when I read The Infinite Sea and when I read The Last Star, I'd forgotten so much of what happened that I felt utterly lost when I started this book. Unfortunately I never ended up feeling like I fully knew what was going on. I mean obviously by the end I knew but there were things that characters did or said where it was as if the reader should just know what they were talking about and I couldn't figure out if this was because I'd forgotten so much information from the previous book or if it was due to the author just not doing the best job fleshing everything out in a way that made the most sense.

I'd say the overall theme of The Last Star was self-sacrifice. I was initially hesitant to bring this up because I didn't want anyone to feel like I was ruining the ending of the book, but truly this theme runs from action to action throughout the entire book. While I love my happily-ever-afters, I don't immediately hate a book when a character goes self-sacrifice as long as it is legitimate and not self-sabotage. I mean I didn't rage against Allegiant because Tris died in the end. I hated that it had to happen, but to me, it actually made sense. And that's essentially how I felt with all of the self-sacrificing acts throughout The Last Star.

I didn't love how Cassie suddenly seemed to question Evan and his feelings for her despite everything that he's done for her in the past. Yet I almost feel like this was needed for all of those readers who were completely grossed out by the idea of Cassie and Evan considering he's an alien at all. And how that played out ended up feeling predictable to me.

I struggled a bit with Ringer and her story line as some things were just hard for me to comprehend. Sam got on my nerves. Probably mostly because I understand a 9 year old boy who has been through this level of trauma about as much I understand quantum physics. Ben was likable, but for some reason I felt a distance with him compared to how I've felt in the previous two books.

I'm not exactly sure what I would have wanted Rick Yancey to do differently in ending this story, but overall it just felt a bit anti-climatic to me. I'd read some sections quickly and be anxious to get back to them when I had to put them down and other sections felt as if they dragged on and had me trudging through.

In the end, I guess that's how I'd sum up The Last Star...anti-climatic. Again, I'm not sure if this was more my fault for forgetting so much of the previous story or because things felt too predictable to me. The characters felt a bit more flat than they have in the past, and even though I typically appreciate stories that delve into true self-sacrifice, I guess I wasn't connected enough to anyone or the story to care adequately about their sacrifices. The Last Star was a bit disappointing to me, and for that reason it gets 3 Stars. Have you read The Last Star? What did you think? Let me know!

This review is part of my All Things Halloween event--a month of paranormal, supernatural, mystery/thriller, etc reviews and books.

Ruins - Review

Ruins (Partials, # 3)

By: Dan Wells

Expected Publication: March 11th 2014 by Balzer + Bray

352 pages

Genre: YA, Science Fiction, Dystopian

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Goodreads description--Kira, Samm, and Marcus fight to prevent a final war between Partials and humans in the gripping final installment of the blockbuster Partials Sequence.

Our time is almost up.

As the clock ticks closer and closer to the final Partial expiration date, humans and Partials stand on the brink of war. Caught in the middle, thousands of miles apart, are Samm and Kira: Samm, who is trapped on the far side of the continent beyond the vast toxic wasteland of the American Midwest; and Kira, now in the hands of Dr. Morgan, who is hell-bent on saving what's left of the Partials, even if she has to destroy Kira to do it.

The only hope lies in the hands of the scattered people of both races who seek a way to prevent the rapidly escalating conflict. But in their midst appears a mysterious figure, neither human nor Partial, with solemn warnings of the new apocalypse-one that none of them may be able to avert.

The last book in the Partials Sequence is a thrill ride of epic proportions, as the last remnants of life on our planet fight to determine its final fate.

I started Ruins 4!!!! years ago. I read 10% and put it down. I'd finished Fragments over a year before that. The more time that went by between finishing Fragments and starting Ruins the harder it was to pick back up. The series is heavy on details, but my favorite part (the relationships) aren't driving the story.

That leads me to my first point about Ruins...Samm and Kira are separated for the majority of the book. As a matter of fact, I felt like there were really too many narrators because of the separation between all of the major characters.

Speaking of the characters, I had a harder time keeping up with all of the characters in Ruins. Considering there really aren't a large number of new characters in this book that haven't been in the prior books I'd say this is probably my own fault for letting nearly 5 years go by since finishing book 2. And the number of narrators was a bit distracting even though they all served a purpose. Marcus wasn't quite as funny in Ruins to me as he has been in the prior books.

I think this series likely has some "hidden" commentary on racism (or more how things should be) and how we all need each other no matter our background. But I'll save that for the reader to get out of it what they will. Even though this normally really bugs me, the commentary wasn't obnoxious so I didn't feel as if the author was trying so hard to preach at me or push an agenda which can often happen.

Truthfully I'm disappointed in myself for not doing a better job on this review. I feel like this book and the series ending deserved better from me as far as my attention goes. I truly blame myself for letting so much time go by between books. Unfortunately this definitely affected my overall feelings and enjoyment of Ruins.

I'm not 100% sure how I feel about this quote. I'll share it with you while I ponder on it a little longer:

-You don’t apologize for this, Samm. It’s love, and love doesn’t weigh its options and pick the best one—love just wants things, and it doesn’t know why, and it doesn’t matter why, because love is the only explanation love needs."

Ruins gets 3.5 Stars. I feel like it deserves better but the length of time between books caused me to forget too much of the prior story and thus lessened my experience of the story. That isn't Ruins fault, but it also doesn't change how I enjoyed the book. I was overall happy with the ending of the series, and I'm glad to finally be able to mark this series as complete. Have you read Ruins? What did you think? Let me know!

Can't Wait for Trail of Lightning

Can't-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Wishful Endings to spotlight and talk about the books we're excited about that we have yet to read. Generally they're books that have yet to be released as well. It's based on Waiting on Wednesday, hosted by the fabulous Jill at Breaking the Spine. Find out more here.

Trail of Lightning (The Sixth World, # 1)

By: Rebecca Roanhorse

Expected Publication: June 26th 2018 by Saga Press

304 pages

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Post Apocalyptic

( Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository )

*Note: The above links to Amazon and Book Depository are affiliate links. Affiliate links support giveaways for Somewhere Only We Know readers.

Goodreads description--While most of the world has drowned beneath the sudden rising waters of a climate apocalypse, Dinétah (formerly the Navajo reservation) has been reborn. The gods and heroes of legend walk the land, but so do monsters.

Maggie Hoskie is a Dinétah monster hunter, a supernaturally gifted killer. When a small town needs help finding a missing girl, Maggie is their last—and best—hope. But what Maggie uncovers about the monster is much larger and more terrifying than anything she could imagine.

Maggie reluctantly enlists the aid of Kai Arviso, an unconventional medicine man, and together they travel to the rez to unravel clues from ancient legends, trade favors with tricksters, and battle dark witchcraft in a patchwork world of deteriorating technology.

As Maggie discovers the truth behind the disappearances, she will have to confront her past—if she wants to survive.

Welcome to the Sixth World.

What are you guys waiting on this week? Let me know!

Waiting on Unknown

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

Unknown (Unknown, # )

By: Wendy Higgins

Expected Publication: August 16th 2016 by Wendy Higgins

342 pages

Genre: New Adult, Science Fiction, Post Apocalyptic

( Goodreads | Amazon )

*Note: The above link to Amazon is an affiliate link. Affiliate links support giveaways for Somewhere Only We Know readers.

Goodreads description--Amber Tate believes the worst thing she’ll suffer in life is dealing with the unrequited love she feels for her brother’s best friend, Rylen Fite. She also believes war is something unfortunate that happens places far, far away from her rural Nevada town. She’s wrong on both counts.

When an unknown organization meticulously bombs major cities in the United States and across the globe, a trickle-down effect spreads to remaining towns at an alarming speed—everything from food and water sources to technology and communications are compromised. Without leadership, the nation is split between paralysis and panic, but Amber isn’t one to hide or watch helplessly. She’s determined to put her nursing skills to use, despite the danger, even if it means working alongside the man she can never have.

In this first installment of NY Times bestselling author, Wendy Higgins’s debut New Adult series, a frighteningly realistic apocalyptic America is brought to life, entwined with searing romantic tension that will leave you eager for more.

I still need to read The Great Hunt by Wendy Higgins, but this one sounds really good to me too. What are you waiting on this week? Let me know!

Waiting on The Last Star

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

The Last Star (The 5th Wave, # 3)

By: Rick Yancey

Expected Publication: May 24th 2016 by G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers

Genre:

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*Note: The above links to Amazon and Book Depository are affiliate links. Affiliate links support giveaways for Somewhere Only We Know readers.

Goodreads description--We’re here, then we’re gone, and that was true before they came. That’s always been true. The Others didn’t invent death; they just perfected it. Gave death a face to put back in our face, because they knew that was the only way to crush us. It won’t end on any continent or ocean, no mountain or plain, jungle or desert. It will end where it began, where it had been from the beginning, on the battlefield of the last beating human heart.

Master storyteller Rick Yancey invokes triumph, loss, and unrelenting action as the fate of the planet is decided in the conclusion to this epic series.

I've so enjoyed this series, and I can't wait to see how it wraps up. What are you waiting on this week? Let me know!

Also, have you guys seen the trailer for The 5th Wave movie? Here it is:

Unravel Me - Review

Unravel Me (Shatter Me, # 2)

By: Tahereh Mafi

Published: February 5th 2013 by HarperCollins

461 pages

Genre: Young Adult, Science Fiction, Dystopian, Post-Apocalyptic, Fantasy, Paranormal

Source: Personal Kindle Library

( Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository )

*Note: The above links to Amazon and Book Depository are affiliate links. Affiliate links support giveaways for Somewhere Only We Know readers.

Goodreads description--tick
tick
tick
tick
tick
it's almost
time for war.

Juliette has escaped to Omega Point. It is a place for people like her—people with gifts—and it is also the headquarters of the rebel resistance.

She's finally free from The Reestablishment, free from their plan to use her as a weapon, and free to love Adam. But Juliette will never be free from her lethal touch.

Or from Warner, who wants Juliette more than she ever thought possible.

In this exhilarating sequel to Shatter Me, Juliette has to make life-changing decisions between what she wants and what she thinks is right. Decisions that might involve choosing between her heart—and Adam's life.

**There will be spoilers for Shatter Me and Destroy Me.**

I said this in my review of Destroy Me but I feel like I need to say it again. When I read Shatter Me the only thing I really knew beforehand was that people loved it and that there were Team Adam fans and Team Warner fans. While reading Shatter Me it was hard to imagine that there could possibly be Team Warner fans because of how strongly Juliette feels about Adam and how negatively she feels about Warner. Just the simple fact that Warner could touch Juliette, like Adam, was the start to the whys behind all of that. But it was just difficult for me to imagine how the events could possibly play out that would even bring about a Team Warner. After reading Shatter Me, I polled my fellow readers to see if I should “bother” with the in between novellas Destroy Me and Fracture Me and with the exception of one no, everyone said yes, and I decided to follow their advice. Because Destroy Me is told from Warner’s POV, I think this is where a lot of the sympathies and Team Warner fans began to develop. When you can see inside someone else’s head, you understand them more and I find that I’m more sympathetic with them. But there’s a play on perspective because Warner guards himself so closely that I just had to wonder how Juliette would ever see the things that Warner feels. And so that’s essentially where I was starting Unravel Me.

Even though I really enjoyed Destroy Me, I was struck anew with how beautiful Tahereh Mafi’s writing style is in Unravel Me. Destroy Me was well written, but Unravel Me was on an entirely different level. Part of this is due to Juliette’s narration over Warner’s. And I actually love that there’s such a drastic difference between the way that she writes from each character. It just fits each one uniquely and perfectly. But the problem with Unravel Me being so much better was that I was highlighting in my kindle for DAYS and DAYS! And I’ll probably end up sharing WAY too many quotes in this review. You’ve been warner. Feel free to skip them, but I just love her writing so much. That being said, Kenji pointed out to Juliette that she was entirely too self-involved considering all the events going on around them, and he was so right. After that, it was almost like no matter how well worded Tahereh Mafi’s sentences were, I could only focus on how whiny Juliette was being.

I’ve got some beef with Unravel Me that only begins with Juliette’s complaining. I’m a little nervous about discussing my issues because some of them are spoilers. One thing I know I can say (that’s not a spoiler) is that even though I read Destroy Me and was able to see inside Warner’s head for a bit, I still found him hard to read and interpret through Juliette’s eyes. His motives and decisions didn’t always seem to add up with the information present or with the information presented in Destroy Me. So I can definitely see how anyone who might decide to skip the in between novellas will not be sympathetic to him at all. I was only beginning to be, and I was almost rooting for him (who doesn’t want to root for the guy who you can see is capable of more?). I did enjoy seeing the things that Juliette zeroes in on that they have in common, especially when they were things that Warner hadn’t pointed out in Destroy Me.

Another issue I had was in the conflict that arises between Juliette and Adam. I’m not going to go into any detail on what that conflict was, but I just had a hard time with it. I’m never really a fan of “leaving for the good of the other party”…I mean honestly, I think that happens in real life. There are times when you need to make a tough decision in relationships for the sake of the other party, but in books it just never seems to actually be used in the right way in my opinion. The characters tend to hover around each other which just leads to continually hurting each other. With Adam and Juliette…well I just struggled with that conflict.

***Spoiler*** Highlight to show spoiler: I found myself completely confused with the Adam, Juliette, Warner love triangle. Here’s why. We start off Unravel Me, and Juliette and Adam are “so in love” and Warner is public enemy number one. When Adam and Juliette are physical it’s like the world has stopped and it’s just the two of them. Yada, yada, yada. But then said conflict I discussed above comes into play and they have to put some distance between themselves. We know from Destroy Me that Warner truly does love Juliette for who she is. So when events take place that lead to Warner and Juliette having a few physical moments, Juliette does the same thing. It’s like she completely forgets about Adam. Warner is the only thing she can think and feel about in that moment. I hate when characters claim to be so in love with one person, but then there’s a connection they share with a third character and in describing the encounters with the third character the main character uses descriptive terms such as “best ever,” “never felt this way,” or other terms that render them incapable in the moment to think about the character they supposedly love. I don’t like it, but I can accept when this happens when the main character has emotional feelings for guy A but perhaps has a supernatural connection with guy B. I still tend to struggle with those scenarios, but as far as I know at this moment in time, there is no supernatural connection between Juliette and Warner that would explain why being with him in any kind of physical connection would severe or overcome her emotional connection to Adam. Unless her emotional connection to Adam isn’t as strong as she originally believed. But evidence doesn’t support this theory either. Ultimately, I know who I’m rooting for and why, but I have no clear vision of how Juliette actually feels and how she can bounce back and forth between the guys so completely like she does. *** End spoiler.

Favorite non-spoiler quotes:

-The world might be sunny-side up today. The big ball of yellow might be spilling into the clouds, runny and yolky and blurring into the bluest sky, bright with cold hope and false promises about fond memories, real families, hearty breakfasts, stacks of pancakes drizzled in maple syrup sitting on a plate in a world that doesn’t exists anymore. Or maybe not.

-But time is beyond our finite comprehension. It’s endless, it exists outside of us; we cannot run out of it or lose track of it or find a way to hold onto it. Time goes on even when we do not.

-It’s like my skin and bones have been craving contact, warm affection, human interaction for so many years that I don’t know how to pace myself. I’m a starving child trying to stuff my stomach, gorging my sense on the decadence of these moments as if I’ll wake up in the morning and realize I’m still sweeping cinders for my stepmother.

-He’s kissing me like he’s lost me and he’s found me and I’m slipping away and he’s never going to let me go.

-“Do you have any idea how awkward it is to wave at someone and have them ignore you? And then you’re just looking around like a [jerk], trying to be all, ‘No, really, I swear, I know that girl’ and no one believes y—“

-I gasp
and
the
world
d i s  a   p    p    e     a     r     s

-How many times, I hear a voice whisper in my head, how many times will you apologize for who you are?

-“We have a million things to take care of down here, and less than none of them involve your love life.”

-I know that he is a tortured soul who, like me, never grew up with the warmth of friendship or love or peaceful coexistence. I know that his father is the leader of The Reestablishment and applauds his son’s murders instead of condemning them and I know that Warner has no idea what it’s like to be normal.
Neither do I.
He’s spent his life fighting to fulfill his father’s expectations of global domination without questioning why, without considering the reprecussions, without stopping long enough to weigh the worth of a human life.

-I forget sometimes, that there are people out there who still manage to smile every day, despite everything.

-I’m so confused, because I don’t even know who he is anymore. He’s 100 different people.

-“Finding this,” he says, his voice soft as he pats the cover of my notebook, “was so”—his eyebrows pull together—“it was so extraordinarily painful.” He finally looks at me and he looks like a completely different person. Like he’s trying to solve a tremendously difficult equation. “It was like meeting a friend for the very first time.”

-I’m checking my pockets for spare words and sentence but I’m finding none, not an adverb, not a preposition or even a dangling participle because there doesn’t exist a single response to such an outlandish request.

-Because what if one day I slip? What if one day I fall through the cracks and no one is willing to pull me back? What happens to me then?

-I want to study the secrets tucked between his elbows and the whispers caught behind his knees.

-”On the darkest days you have to search for a spot of brightness, on the coldest days you have to seek out a spot of warmth; on the bleakest days you have to keep your eyes onward and upward and on the saddest days you have to leave them open to let them cry. To then let them dry. To give them a chance to wash out the pain in order to see fresh and clear once again.” ….This blond boy has my secrets in his mouth. …”So much of it was like seeing myself on paper,” … “Like reading all the things I never knew how to say.”

-I’m only just beginning to realize how quickly I came to rely on the healing properties of an excellent hug.

-“I want you,” he says. He says “I want all of you. I want you inside and out and catching your breath and aching for me like I ache for you.”

-It’s a wanting so desperate, a need so exquisite that it rivals everything, every happy moment I ever thought I knew.

You guys, I could keep quoting and quoting. And believe it or not, I cut out the quotes where I highlighted entire pages at a time. I just can’t help it. This book is packed with so much...so many beautiful words.

I didn’t spend much time talking about the secondary characters, because there aren’t too terribly many of them. But Kenji is an absolute favorite. He’s the one that puts Juliette in her place when she needs it the most, but he also brings the comedic relief as well.

Unravel Me wasn’t as good as Shatter Me even if it was headed in more of a direction that I want to go because of the confusion I had with the triangle. I still love Tahereh Mafi’s writing. Some twists were unexpected, and others were merely annoying. But either way, I’ve GOT to know what happens next. Unravel Me gets 4 Stars from me. Have you read Unravel Me? What did you think? Let me know!

All Things Halloween Review - The Infinite Sea

The Infinite Sea (The 5th Wave, # 2)

By: Rick Yancey

Published: September 16th 2014 by Putnam Juvenile

480 pages

Genre: YA, Science Fiction, Post Apocalyptic

Source: Personal Library

( Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository | Booksamillion.com )

*Note: The above links to Amazon, Book Depository, and Booksamillion.com are affiliate links. Affiliate links support giveaways for Somewhere Only We Know readers.

Goodreads description--The riveting follow-up to the New York Times bestselling The 5th Wave, hailed by Justin Cronin as “wildly entertaining.”

How do you rid the Earth of seven billion humans? Rid the humans of their humanity.

Surviving the first four waves was nearly impossible. Now Cassie Sullivan finds herself in a new world, a world in which the fundamental trust that binds us together is gone. As the 5th Wave rolls across the landscape, Cassie, Ben, and Ringer are forced to confront the Others’ ultimate goal: the extermination of the human race.

Cassie and her friends haven’t seen the depths to which the Others will sink, nor have the Others seen the heights to which humanity will rise, in the ultimate battle between life and death, hope and despair, love and hate.

*Deep sigh*. Oh my. That was a roller coaster. The Infinite Sea felt like a George R R Martin novel because absolutely nothing good happens to these characters. That’s not me spoiling this book. That’s me trying to prepare you for this ride because just when things are looking up…….WHAM! Not so much. Even though The Infinite Sea was an exhausting book, it still was a great second installment to The 5th Wave series.

We pick up The Infinite Sea a little while after The 5th Wave ended. I don’t remember how much time actually passed, maybe two weeks, but regardless, I didn’t feel out of the loop or like too much happened between the end of the first book and the beginning of this one. Like The 5th Wave, Rick Yancey writes from multiple POVs. The largest portions were Cassie, Ringer, Evan, Ben/Zombie, and then Poundcake had a few short sections similar to the sections Sam had in the first installment. I really enjoyed Ringer’s sections even though I wasn’t excited about reading from her POV at first. And even Poundcake’s short little sections added to the depth of the entire story.

When we start The Infinite Sea, Ringer has been tasked with the job of scouting ahead. The group has plans to travel to a more permanent hiding place for the winter because the hotel they’re staying now just isn’t far enough from Camp Haven where everything went down at the end of The 5th Wave. The hotel was supposed to be Evan and Cassie’s rendezvous location, but Evan has yet to show up. Zombie/Ben is ready to move on assuming that Evan is dead, but Cassie isn’t ready to give up yet. Thus Ringer has been sent out to scout out these caves as a potential winter shelter. Without giving too much away, Ringer finds herself back in the hands of the enemy, and eventually Evan finds his way to Cassie. But life isn’t blue skies and rainbows for any of these characters. More terrible things continue to happen as the enemy closes in around them.

Anyone who wasn’t digging the Cassie/Evan relationship from The 5th Wave can relax because their relationship is not the focus of this book. But don’t relax too much because there still is a relationship to be had. I personally love Cassie and Evan. I see no difference between them and Wanderer and what’s-his-face from The Host. And they’re probably less creepy than Katie and Daemon from The Lux series. At least Evan’s DNA is human. Anyway…loved them as individual characters and loved them together. Cassie surprises me sometimes with her temper. She isn’t as timid as you might think. And that spark inside her is what drew Evan to her to begin with. When everyone else would have hid, Cassie stood up to fight. Evan’s fighting his nature at every step. Or maybe he’s actually following his nature, depending on how you look at it. But it’s a battle nonetheless, and one he doesn’t always understand. He has Cassie set at # 1 for every single turn. Everything, for him, always comes back to her. And I love that.

I was hoping for a Zombie/Ringer hook up, but that didn’t really happen since Ringer is not even with the group through 99% of the book. Remember from The 5th Wave that Ringer shot Ben so he’s injured now. That being the case, he is not at the top of his game throughout The Infinite Sea, but even still, Zombie is not a character to mess with. Speaking of Ringer, as what typically happens with me…now that I was allowed a glimpse inside her head she became a much more likeable character. She, like the others, is just trying to cope in a very broken world, and she’s trying to survive. She easily has the toughest road out of all the characters in this book, and I liked her more and more the further along things went.

Enter a new character…everyone say hi to Razor. *Waves* I wasn’t sure, at all, what to think about him. He’s charged to essentially take care of Ringer while she’s in the enemy’s clutches and you can see him transform from stoic soldier, to confused pawn, to potential help, to more, and back again. It’s a process that truly kept me guessing. And I should have seen some events surrounding him coming but I just didn’t. He surprised me through and through.

As with The 5th Wave, I just really enjoyed Rick Yancey’s writing. He’s smooth, free-flowing, and poetic. Here are some of my favorite quotes:

-Five men and two women, strangers to one another on the eve of that final growing season, now bound by the unspoken promise that the least of them was greater than the sum of all of them.

-He was squeezed between what the world had been and what the world had become, who he was before and who he was now, and the cost of all the unspoken promises weighing on his heart.

-Promises are the only currency left. They must be spent wisely.

-“What’s the first priority?”
”No bad thoughts,” she answers dutifully.
”Because bad thoughts do what?”
”Make us soft.”
”And what happens if we go soft?”
”We die.”
”And do we want to die?”
She shakes her head. “Not yet.”

-“One day, Private Ringer, you’re going to smile at something I say and the world will break in half.”
”I’m not prepared to take on that responsibility.”

-When you look death in the eye and death blinks first, nothing seems impossible.

-Promises are priceless, and a kiss is a kind of promise, too.

-I’ll find you, Cassie. Don’t I always find you?

-You never know when the truth will come home. You can’t choose the time. The time chooses you.

-“Who is Cassiopea?” … “The one who stood up when anyone else would have stayed down”…

-He’s violated more than my memories. He’s molesting my soul.

-My reaction is months in the making. And instantaneous.

-Lies within lies within lies. Feints and counterfeints. Like a desert mirage, no matter how hard you ran toward it, it stayed forever in the distance. Finding the truth was like chasing the horizon.

The Infinite Sea was a great second book in The 5th Wave series. It was packed. It was emotional. It was exhausting. It was great. The Infinite Sea gets 4 Stars from me. Have you read The Infinite Sea? What did you think? Let me know!

This review is part of my All Things Halloween event--a month of paranormal, supernatural, mystery/thriller, etc reviews and books.

Waiting on Please Remain Calm

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

Please Remain Calm (This is Not a Test, # 2)

By: Courtney Summers

Expected Publication: January 20th 2015 by St. Martin's Griffin

Genre: Young Adult, Horror, Zombies, Science Fiction, Post-Apocalyptic

( Goodreads )

Goodreads description--In this gripping sequel to THIS IS NOT A TEST, Rhys and Sloane are headed for a safe haven when they get separated along the way. Rhys is determined to reunite with Sloane until he discovers people who might need him more--people who offer him the closest he'll get to everything he's lost, if they can just hold on long enough.

Rhys thinks he has what it takes to survive and find the girl he lost, but in a world overrun by the dead, there are no guarantees and the next leg of his journey will test him in unimaginable ways ...

AH!!!!! A sequel!!!! YAY!!! Loved This is Not a Test! What are you waiting on this week? Let me know!

This feautre is part of my All Things Halloween event--a month of paranormal, supernatural, mystery/thriller, etc reviews and books.

The Scorch Trials - DNF Review

The Scorch Trials (The Maze Runner, # 2)

By: James Dashner

Published: October 12th 2010 by Delacorte Press

360 pages

Genre: YA, Science Fiction, Dystopian, Fantasy, Post-Apocalyptic

Source: Borrowed from the library

( Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository )

*Note: The above links to Amazon and Book Depository are affiliate links. Affiliate links support giveaways for Somewhere Only We Know readers.

Goodreads description--Solving the Maze was supposed to be the end.

Thomas was sure that escape from the Maze would mean freedom for him and the Gladers. But WICKED isn’t done yet. Phase Two has just begun. The Scorch.

There are no rules. There is no help. You either make it or you die.

The Gladers have two weeks to cross through the Scorch—the most burned-out section of the world. And WICKED has made sure to adjust the variables and stack the odds against them.

Friendships will be tested. Loyalties will be broken. All bets are off.

There are others now. Their survival depends on the Gladers’ destruction—and they’re determined to survive.

I didn’t love The Maze Runner by James Dashner. I was curious about what was happening and how it would end, but the book was really slow for me. And there wasn’t much driving me to read it. I didn’t feel any burning need to know what was happening, and that’s essentially how I felt when I finished it too. Even though things ended in a bit of a cliffhanger, I wasn’t feeling a big pull to start the second book. I always felt like I would read it…at some point. Then I saw that the library had the audiobook version and so I figured that would be the perfect way for me to get it “read” and marked off my list.

Once I received the audiobook version from the library, I started it up and completed about 22% which equates to roughly 75ish pages. While The Scorch Trials does have an air of mystery about it, I still felt a disconnect from the storyline and the characters. I didn’t have a single urge to continue listening and uncover all of the secrets. I can’t pinpoint one element that I disliked other than simply not being connected to the story or characters.

And so I’ve come to the point in my reading life when I realize that it’s just not possible for me to read ALL THE BOOKS. Given my lack of connection to the events and characters of The Scorch Trials, I decided to mark this one as DNF and move on with my life. Have you read The Scorch Trials? Did you love it? Or did you have the same problems connecting as I did? Let me know!

This is Not a Test - Review

This is Not a Test

By: Courtney Summers

Published: June 19th 2012 by St. Martin's Griffin

323 pages

Genre: YA, Post-Apocalyptic

Source: Won in an Armchair BEA giveaway from Andi's ABCs

( Goodreads | Amazon | The Book Depository | Booksamillion.com )

*Note: The above links to Amazon, The Book Depository, and Booksamillion.com are affiliate links. Affiliate links support giveaways for Somewhere Only We Know readers.

Goodreads description--It’s the end of the world. Six students have taken cover in Cortege High but shelter is little comfort when the dead outside won’t stop pounding on the doors. One bite is all it takes to kill a person and bring them back as a monstrous version of their former self. To Sloane Price, that doesn’t sound so bad. Six months ago, her world collapsed and since then, she’s failed to find a reason to keep going. Now seems like the perfect time to give up. As Sloane eagerly waits for the barricades to fall, she’s forced to witness the apocalypse through the eyes of five people who actually want to live. But as the days crawl by, the motivations for survival change in startling ways and soon the group’s fate is determined less and less by what’s happening outside and more and more by the unpredictable and violent bids for life—and death—inside. When everything is gone, what do you hold on to?

Wow! Guys, I loved This is Not a Test. I'm honestly not even sure where to begin. Courtney Summers has some major writing talent and while I don't think her other work is zombie related, I've seen enough to prompt me into reading more of her writing.

This is Not a Test is told from the POV of a girl during the zombie apocalypse who doesn't really want to live. And while throughout the zombie books I've read there always seems to be a character that just can't hack the way the world has gone to pot and said character decides to off themselves, but that's not how things go down with Sloane. Sloane had pretty much given up BEFORE the world goes nuts. Thus the contrast of seeing the zombie apocalypse from the point of view of someone who isn't trying to survive. It was different, and I love different.

Of course, I'm not condoning suicide at all, and Sloane is prevented from letting the zombies or herself take her life time and time again by conscience and a variety of other things. It's was so refreshing to watch Sloane find reasons to live rather than the other way around. I think in a lot of zombie books the character becomes so beat down with the way their new world is and seeing friend after friend die that they lose hope by the end, but this was the exact opposite of This is Not a Test and I loved it for that.

I did struggle with Sloane a little bit in the beginning because of how she wanted to give up and just give in, but I still felt extremely connected to her as a character. I LOVED Rhys. He latches on to Sloane pretty early on and I love how he slowly showed her what it is to open her heart back up. The other characters were pretty easy to get attached to as well, Cary, Grace, and even Harrison. The only character I had a hard time liking was Trace.

This is Not a Test is a story about finding hope, finding a reason to live when there might seem like there are no more reasons. It's about seeing how far you're willing to go to survive, who you can trust, and who can trust you when the worst comes to worst. We didn't see much interaction with the actual zombies throughout the book--really just the beginning and the end. But I didn't mind because there were so many dynamics going on within this group of characters.

As I said before, Courtney Summers has some mad writing skills. She reminds me a little of Maggie Stiefvater in that her writing comes off as truly poetic at time. I'm not quite sure it's as lyrical as Maggie S, but here are some examples:

pg 9 - He stares at her body and sits there, drenched in someone else's life, and he looks so calm, like he knew this was coming, like the way this morning started it was only ever going to end up like this.

Pg 22 - Harrison starts to cry. he stands in the middle of the room and holds himself because no one else will and it's the loneliest thing I've ever seen.

pg 89 - It must be awful to find out your life is worth nothing to someone else. I want to tell Cary he's not worthless. Harrison probably needs him. (Ok this one had me busting out laughing...Oh Sloane....)

Pg 263 - Each step forward is a slow and hateful thing.

Like I said, poetic. This is Not a Test exceeded so many expectations for me. 4.5 Stars. Have you read This is Not a Test? If so, what did you think? Let me know!

This review is part of my "All Things Halloween" October review event.

Top Ten Books in X Setting

Top 10 Tuesday is a post hosted by The Broke and the Bookish and this week's topic is Top Ten Books in X Setting.

I've always said I wasn't very good at posts like these. I know this is more of a genre than a setting, but I'm going with Dystopian/Post-Apocalyptic. (In order of date read reverse order.)

1) Partials (Fragments) by Dan Wells

2) This is Not a Test by Courtney Summers

3) The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey

4) The Immortal Rules (The Eternity Cure) by Julie Kagawa

5) Under the Never Sky (Through the Ever Night) by Veronica Rossi

6) The Maze Runner by James Dashner

7) Deadlocked (Deadlocked 2) by AR Wise

8) Divergent (Insurgent) by Veronica Roth

9) The Hunger Games (Catching Fire, Mockingjay) by Suzanne Collins

10) The Forest of Hands and Teeth (The Dead-Tossed Waves, The Dark and Hollow Places) by Carrie Ryan

What are you favorite books in any particular setting? Let me know!

The 5th Wave - Review

The 5th Wave

By: Rick Yancey

Published: May 7th 2013 by Putnam Juvenile

480 pages

Genre: YA, Sci-Fi, Post Apocalyptic

Source: Borrowed from my SNL, Holly @ Words Fueled by Love

( Goodreads | Amazon | The Book Depository | Booksamillion.com )

*Note: The above links to Amazon, The Book Depository, and Booksamillion.com are affiliate links.

Goodreads description--The Passage meets Ender’s Game in an epic new series from award-winning author Rick Yancey.

After the 1st wave, only darkness remains. After the 2nd, only the lucky escape. And after the 3rd, only the unlucky survive. After the 4th wave, only one rule applies: trust no one.

Now, it’s the dawn of the 5th wave, and on a lonely stretch of highway, Cassie runs from Them. The beings who only look human, who roam the countryside killing anyone they see. Who have scattered Earth’s last survivors. To stay alone is to stay alive, Cassie believes, until she meets Evan Walker. Beguiling and mysterious, Evan Walker may be Cassie’s only hope for rescuing her brother—or even saving herself. But Cassie must choose: between trust and despair, between defiance and surrender, between life and death. To give up or to get up.

First off, I totally missed the fact that this is the first book in a series--how do I keep doing that? I thought it was a standalone. So now you know it's a series.

The 5th Wave is told from 4 different view points. Two of which only have small sections. Cassie and "Zombie" have the largest sections. Which is ironic considering that Zombie isn't even mentioned in the description above. The narration shifts always occur at the start of a new chapter, but usually at the start of a new section and sometimes I'd find myself a couple of pages in before I even realized that a different person was narrating. At one point I literally said out loud to Husband, "I don't think this is the same person." He, of course, had no idea what I was talking about. Some readers may take issue with this, but I found it added to the overall feeling of the book and kept me guessing about not only what was going to happen, but who I was reading about. It helped to maintain some of the mystery.

This entire book kept me guessing. I never felt like I could trust my instincts on what I thought was happening. Every time I thought I had it figured out something would happen that would at least make me question what I thought I knew. And ultimately that's kind of how it was for the characters who are living through these events. Even when I ended up being right in my guesses, the way Rick Yancey brings about the information occurs in such a way that makes reading The 5th Wave something that MUST be experienced.

I read Sci-fi occasionally, but The 5th Wave proves what I discussed in my Armchair BEA post about general fiction--it doesn't matter the genre as long as there are some real, raw, human emotions behind the story. Obviously, if a huge spaceship shows up hovering above the earth, I think there would be plenty of fear to go around. Especially once billions of humans start dying off. You've got those who will do anything to survive and those who will do anything to escape life. You have people who fight for their families and people who forge new ones. There is love and loss and heartache. And betrayal and lies go deep.

The 5th Wave is one of those books that I needed in kindle version so that I could highlight/underline to my hearts content. *Sigh* Alas, when you borrow someone else's book, it's probably best that you don't start marking it up. (I will be getting my own copy of this book, that's for sure.) The 5th Wave was another book that I should have taken notes while reading, but I couldn't stop reading long enough to pick up a pen and write anything down. I couldn't tear myself away from the story even that long. But The 5th Wave is also one of those books that demands a 2nd read. There is so much that happens, so much information, and so much that is happening that you don't even know about because the character narrating doesn't know at the time. I'd love to go back and re-read it just to see how it all fits together now that I know how it ends--and I will do that, eventually.

The 5th Wave ended up being exactly the type of book that I love to read. Excellent writing. Compelling, fast-paced story that kept me tearing through the pages. Likable characters just trying to survive the alien apocalypse with a whole heap of emotion packed into each section and every page. Yancey doesn't dumb it down for his audience and I appreciate that even more.

The 5th Wave gets 5 Stars from me. Have you read The 5th Wave? What did you think? Let me know!

Armchair BEA 2013 - Day 2 Part 2 - Genre Fiction

Day 2 of Armchair BEA is about blogger development and a genre discussion about fiction. I've already posted about blogger development.

Genre Fiction

What draws you to a specific genre? Do vampires, zombies, or witches float your boat? Or, do you prefer the heat of romance? Recommend your favorite genres and/or books and help build reader TBR shelves a bit more!

Truthfully, I like many genres. When it comes to fiction, the most important thing for me is that the book make me feel. If I can get wrapped up within the emotion behind a book, it doesn't matter what the genre is.

My love for reading got re-sparked after reading Twilight by Stephanie Meyer. At the time, I hadn't read anything like it. And I was surely surprised to find myself in love with a "vampire book." But this single vampire book not only re-sparked a love for reading for me, but it started a new love for paranormal fiction. I read every vampire book I could get my hands on after reading Twilight by Stephenie Meyer. But that soon branched out to werewolves, witches/wizards, faeries, zombies, angels, demons...any other supernatural or paranormal creature I could think of. I once tried to explain this to my husband by telling him that paranormal fiction just adds an extra layer of conflict to the story.

Zombies from my paranormal fiction reading led me into post-apocalyptic, and I quickly became fascinated by all of the ways that society as we know it could be brought to dust. And with that came thoughts and wondering about how humanity would cope and survive. While I used to shy away from scary movies, somehow I find myself in love with all things zombie related. The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan was the first zombie book I ever read, and it changed my world. Of course, a zombie outbreak isn't the only way for the world to go to pot.

From post-apocalyptic, I moved into dystopian. What if the world didn't quite end, but it just wasn't really ideal either? Dystopian is the opposite of Utopian, which is an ideal world. I can't say for sure, but The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins is the first dystopian that I remember reading, and yet again, the possibilities of writing and books and stories seemed to grow even more.

There isn't exactly a segue from dystopian to contemporary that makes sense, but I found myself reading a couple of books that just sucked me in emotionally and spit me right back out. Those books told me that I didn't need creatures that aren't real, the end of the world, societies falling apart, or anything "extra" to make a book into a great story. What I need is basic human emotion, that is real, and deep, and powerful. There are some contemporary novels that have turned me into a blubbering mess more than any other book or genre.

Of course, there are many other genres that I read occasionally, but not all of the time. I.E. sci-fi, fantasy, historical fiction, mythology, etc. But the common theme through all is the emotion behind the story. What's the use of an epic world created by the author if there's no emotion within the characters? What's the use of surviving the zombie apocalypse if there is no hope? What does is matter if vampires exist if there is no fear and no perfect love to cast out fear? What does it matter if society is in ruins if the characters who live there don't experience love? And that's what it all boils down to for me.

My favorite books from the genres mentioned above:

Paranormal: Twilight by Stephanie Meyer, Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead, The Mortal Instruments by Cassandra Clare, The Infernal Devices by Cassandra Clare, The Wolves of Mercy Falls by Maggie Stiefvater, The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater and Bloodlines by Richelle Mead

Post-apocalyptic: The Dead Tossed Waves by Carrie Ryan, Deadlocked by AR Wise

Dystopian: The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins; Divergent by Veronica Roth

Contemporary: Slammed by Colleen Hoover, Hopeless by Colleen Hoover, The Sea of Tranquility by Katja Millay, The Fault in our Stars by John Green, and Pushing the Limits by Katie McGarry,

Fantasy: Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi, A Song of Ice and Fire by George R R Martin

Sci-Fi: Obsidian by Jennifer L Armentrout, Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi, Partials by Dan Wells

Historical Fiction: Grave Mercy by RL LaFevers, Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte, Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, and Persuasion by Jane Austen

What are your favorite genres? What draws you in to one specific one? Let me know!

Hare Moon - Review

Hare Moon (The Forest of Hands and Teeth, # 0.7)

By: Carrie Ryan

Published: April 5th 2011

40 pages

Genre: Young Adult, Horror, Zombie, Science Fiction, Post-Apocalyptic

Source: Personal Kindle Library

( Goodreads | Amazon )

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Goodreads description--Tabitha can’t shake the feeling that something exists beyond the fences of her village. And when she sneaks out, past the gates and down the path into the Forest of Hands and Teeth, she meets a boy who teaches her heart things she never knew. But love in a world surrounded by so much death doesn’t come without its sacrifices, and Tabitha gradually realizes just how much she’ll have to give up to live among the Unconsecrated.

From New York Times bestselling author Carrie Ryan comes an original story of love after the Return.

Hare Moon gets 3 Stars.

Hare Moon is a prequel to The Forest of Hands and Teeth and it tells Sister Tabitha's story. Some of this makes The Forest of Hands and Teeth make a little more sense because it is just another piece of the puzzle. Sister Tabitha, when she was younger, it turns out was very much like Mary (or should I say, turns out Mary was very much like a young Sister Tabitha). Tabitha feels a call to the forest, to see if there's more to the outside world than what she's always been told. She feels a call to anything that remains hidden or forbidden from her. Sound familiar? It makes her being so hard on Mary make more sense because she sees herself in Mary, but Tabitha made a very different choice than Mary will make. And I believe Sister Tabitha can see that coming.

Tabitha meets a boy and falls in love. And this shows us that the Sister Tabitha we thought we knew from The Forest of Hands and Teeth wasn't always cold and uncaring. She wasn't always without feeling or ambition. She didn't always know which course she was going to take. You get the impression from The Forest of Hands and Teeth that Sister Tabitha views Mary as this horrible person, that Sister Tabitha believes Mary will bring about the downfall of their village, the village she gave up everything to protect, but Mary didn't even push the limits as much as Tabitha did when she was younger. Mary never ventured outside the gates until the breech occurred first. Tabitha did. Mary didn't choose to pursue the ocean until no other option presented itself. Tabitha did. Mary didn't let infection inside the village. Tabitha did. And even though Sister Tabitha could undoubtedly see herself in Mary, it wasn't Mary who brought about the downfall of their village like Sister Tabitha feared.

Tabitha is faced with the decision to flee and pursue love or to stay and sacrifice it all for the protection of her village. We all know what she chose.

That's the story. Now to how I felt about the story. Tabitha's story so closely follows Mary's own story that it frustrated me. I felt like I was re-reading parts of The Forest of Hands and Teeth. I understand why they needed to be similar in some ways and almost exactly the same in others, but that doesn't mean that experiencing it again under a different name made it feel any different (or any better). The best parts weren't fully explored and the things that frustrated me about Mary I just got to relive through Tabitha. So while I felt this was an addition to The Forest of Hands and Teeth and it did make me understand Sister Tabitha more and why she behaves the way she does in The Forest of Hands and Teeth, this was only worth 3 Stars for me.

Have you read Hare Moon? What did you think? Let me know!

Updated: January 30, 2015