Carry On - Rainbow Rowell (2015)

5 stars

Three different people bought me this book over the holidays, three, obviously my love for Rainbow Rowell is well known and after this book, so well deserved.

I loved this book, all anyone had to say was gay wizards and I would be interested but add Rainbow Rowell and it just became one of the funnest and cutest books I've read recently. It is told from alternating perspectives, but mostly Simon and Baz's and the whole book is very hard to put down, except for the first part in which Baz is missing from school and so we don't hear anything from him for about one hundred pages. Even though the main plot of the book is about defeating the Humdrum the relationship between Simon and Baz is really what drove me to keep reading the whole time, it was so well done and I had so much fun and anticipation reading it that it's basically all I can remember from most of the book. My favourite character was definitely Baz, there is no question about my undying love for the sassy, self-described queer boy who one summer tried to masturbate his crush away. His perspective was my favourite, he always made me laugh and I just can't even articulate why I love him so much but I do. I would recommend this book to anyone who is a fan of Rainbow's books, people who like a good adventure book with romance, or anyone looking for a good book with LGBTQ characters.

It's Simon Snow's last year at Watford's School of Magicks and once he arrives he is unnerved to learn that his roommate, Baz, hasn't arrived. He basically goes nuts wondering where he is for the first month of school or however long Baz is gone for, and while Baz is gone the ghost of his mother tells Simon that since she can't find Baz he has to give him a message, that her killer still walks and he should ask Nicodemus about it. Baz returns and you learn that he's been in love with Simon for years so when Simon tells him the message from his mother they make a deal to work together to find her killer. When Baz goes home for Christmas Simon learns who Nicodemus is and travels to Baz's house to tell him that he learned he's a vampire and is Ebeneza's brother. They go to find Nicodemus and when he won't tell them anything except that someone hired the vampires to attack the school when his mother died, Baz becomes frustrated and lights a forest on fire around him because he wants to die. Simon kisses him in the middle of the fire and Baz puts it out using Simon's magic and they basically start dating. They realize that the Humdrum is a vacuum of magic caused by Simon's own magic but the Mage is insane and wants to sacrifice someone with a lot of power to try to stop the Humdrum. He kills Ebeneza and tries to kill Simon but Simon gives all his magic to the Humdrum to fill the vacuum so when the Mage realizes he has no magic left he starts yelling at Simon, Simon and Penelope accidently kill him when she casts a "Simon says" spell and he says to stop hurting him. Simon is then stuck with no magic but with red wings and a tail from when he flew to the Mage and the Humdrum, he doesn't finish school but he goes to the graduation ball so he can dance with Baz. Simon and Penny end up sharing a flat in London while Baz lives nearby and he and Simon are cute as hell.

The Song of Achilles - Madeline Miller (2011)

5 stars

I kept hearing about this book all over tumblr and when I saw it might be becoming a miniseries I decided to buy it to understand what all the love was about, I know absolutely get it.

This book is amazing, just so amazing, it is told from Patroclus' perspective from when he was a child up until his death and even afterwards. It chronicles his relationship with Achilles and it is written so beautifully that it made me emotional during the happy parts as well as the sad which is unusual for me. It's not like the plot is anything new or amazing, most people know what will happen in the end, it's really the way the author wrote it that makes it so engrossing and special. My favourite character was Patroclus, it was hard not to have an attachment to him when his perspective is so lovely and reveals so much about his emotions. I would recommend this to any romance fans, or anyone who likes greek mythology or the movie troy.

The book starts when Patroclus first sees Achilles when he is 5 and he comes to a competition his father is holding, even from that first childhood experience you learn that Patroclus is gay, and he thinks Achilles is amazing. You then learn about Patroclus being a suitor for Helen when he was younger than 10 years old and really just putting his father's name forth without him having to cheat on his simple wife, this means he has to agree to the oath to protect Helen is any harm ever comes to her. Patroclus accidently kills a nobleman's son when he is 10 and is then disowed and exiled to Pthia where he meets Achilles. Patroclus doesn't talk to any of the other orphan boys and he sits at a table by himself just looking at Achilles at every meal until one day Achilles sits at his table, they soon become the closest of friends and Patroclus becomes Achilles companion, a brother-in-arms type position. They kiss on the beach one day and Achilles mother, a sea goddess, basically threatens them in case they do it again. They ignore her and soon become lovers and Patroclus is heartbroken when Achilles must go off with Chiron to train to become a hero, he decides he will follow them as there is nothing for him in Pthia without Achilles. Achilles made his party stop in the forest as he knew Patroclus would follow and they go to Chiron's mountain together and stay there for many years. After they return to Pthia the Trojan war is just beginning and Achilles' father wants him to go and lead their army, Achilles refuses and soon after Patroclus can't find him after he didn't return from one morning with his mother. Patroclus learns that his mother has hid him on an island and he goes to find him to find he has been married and gotten Deidameia pregnant. Achilles regrets having to do it and Patroclus forgives him, they must then go to war as Odysseus and Menelaus come find Achilles and command him to come lead their army. The war rages on for ten years where Achilles refuses to kill Hector as his mother told him that he will die after Hector has died and Achilles is the only person skilled enough to kill him. It eventually comes to a point where they are about to lose if Achilles does not swallow his pride from an argument with Agamemmnon so Patroclus convinces him to let him wear his armor and fight the trojans to give hope back to their army. Patroclus is then killed by Hector which drives Achilles into a fury where he kills Hector and then everyone else until he is finally killed by Paris. Achilles' son Pyrrhus then arrives and wants to avenge his father, he refuses to let his father's honour be tarnished by being buried with Patroclus so even though their ashes are buried together the grave is only marked with Achilles' name and Patroclus can't find rest until his spirit convinces Thetis, Achilles' mother, to mark the grave with his name as well, then Achilles and Patroclus reunite in the afterlife.

This Song Will Save Your Life - Leila Sales (2013)

5 stars

I saw an article talking about this book and how it was being adapted into a movie, so I thought I'd see if it was any good and boy did I love this book.

This book is told from Elise's perspective, she is a depressed teenager who doesn't have any friends and somehow in a lot of the latter half of the book is a lot more rational and calm than I would be if I was in her position. I found myself very involved in her story and thinking about her wellbeing while I was in the middle of this book which led me to read the majority of it one day because it was so interesting. There is a list of songs at the end of the book which are either mentioned in the book or songs that the author thinks would be common in Start and I would recommend that you download the songs and put the playlist on shuffle when you're reading this, I left it till after I was already finished and I'm pretty sure the book would've been a lot cooler if you were listening to it as you were reading. My favourite character in this book was Vicky, I wish that Elise had opened up to her more because when she told her all about her problems at the end I'd wish I'd known the depth of her character for more of the book. I would recommend this book to people who like young adult fiction, especially if you're a bit of a music lover.

The book starts seven months after Elise's suicide attempt, she is back at school and still has no friends except for the two girls she sits with at lunch and has no real interests in her life. She suffers from insomnia and because her parents are not the most observant she sneaks out every night and just walks around the streets listening to her music. One night she meets Vicky and Pippa who are going into an underground club called Start where they play the music Elise loves and people are nice to her. She starts going to Start every week and soon develops a weird friends with benefits type relationship (excpet not with sex) with Char, the DJ. He teaches her how to DJ and starts to let her DJ for an hour or two during each of his sets on Thursdays. Elise soon learns that someone was posting a fake online diary claiming to be her talking all about how much she hates her life and wants to kill herself and the head of Start offers her her own night DJing when he opens it for Fridays. The next time when she goes to Start Char is jealous that she getting Fridays all to herself and won't let her DJ and Pippa returns and yells at Elise for dating Char when she knew she liked him, she breaks down in front of Vicky and her band and goes home and destroys her sister's huge project that she had been working on for months so that she wouldn't be weird like she is. Her mother then kicks her out of her house to stay with her father who lives too far away from Start for her to get there so she calls her friends Sally and Chava who she sits with at lunch to take her to Start and they tell her that they're her friends even though she didn't think so. Once she gets to Start her dad finds her because the online journal posted that she was going to commit suicide that night and one of her classmates informed her dad. Her mum and dad then go to the principal to get the journal taken down and the perpertrator punished, and her dad takes her to Start the next Friday for her first night as DJ. She lets Vicky's band play a set that night because she had promised her and her dad tells Vicky he wants to set them up with his old agent as he used to be in a band. Elise ends up asking Vicky's brother Harry to her school dance with her the next night and she realizes that being herself should be enough for her.

The Secret Diary of Lizzie Bennet - Bernie Su & Kate Rorick (2014)

5 stars

I bought this when I saw it in Big W and freaked out my sister when I started yelling out of nowhere, I loved the youtube series and, unsurprisingly, this book.

I loved the series so much that I backed the kickstarter and now own the DVD set so it is no surprise that I loved this book. It also helps that I grew up on The Princess Diaries so I am a big fan of the diary format of a book, I love being able to just read all of the characters emotions and thoughts as they go through them, and it often involves large amounts of sarcasm so it's win win. I thought this provided great fun little details that the vlogs didn't give and I found it very easy to read in a short amount of time. My favourite character was probably Lizzie, she is just so funny and smart that now when I think about pride and prejudice I'm like Elizabeth rocks, whereas earlier I was all about Darcy. I would recommend this to any fans of pride and prejudice, regardless of whether you've seen the series, and to any fans of young adult romance.

This book follows the plot of the youtube series, which follows the plot of pride and prejudice, which if you don't already know I'm a bit sad for you. Here's a super short version with lots of details left out because I'm tired; Lizzie meets Darcy, Lizzie is annoyed by Darcy, Darcy grows to like Lizzie, Lizzie is lied to about Darcy so she dislikes him more, Darcy confesses his feelings to Lizzie, Lizzie rejects Darcy, Lizzie learns the truth about Darcy, Lizzie starts to like Darcy, Darcy confesses his feelings again, this time Lizzie reciprocates (and they share a glorious glorious kiss that I waited literally months for).

This Shattered World - Amie Kaufman & Meagan Spooner (2014)

5 stars

I bought this book after I finished These Broken Stars because the ending had me so invested in the story that I wanted to keep reading right away, and I was not disappoointed at all.

This book is told from two different perspectives than the last book but in the same style, this time from Jubilee and Flynn, with snippets of Jubilee's childhood at the start of each chapter. Ironically I think the other people in this book asides from them weren't really that neccessary because I loved them so much, but I absolutely loved the connection between them and Tarver and it makes me think that the focus of the third book will be the Knave of Hearts person they mentioned. The plot of this book is so much better than the last one as I just could not put it down, but I understand that they had to lay the groundwork for it with the first book so I strongly suggest that if you were kinda into the first book but didn't like all the constant travelling that you finish it and get to this one. My favourite character was Jubilee, I love strong female characters and she is such a great example of one that thinking back on this book all I can remember iss how much I loved her. I would recommend this series to anyone who likes young adult fantasy and romance.

Jubilee is a soldier and Flynn is a rebel on Avon, a planet that's never fully terraformed and is known for driving soldiers that are posted there too long to go insane. Jubilee has lasted the longest on the planet and is at her normal bar when she is kidnapped by Flynn Cormac who wants her to tell him about a secret base that he's seen in the swamp, she knows nothing about it and when he takes her to the island it's on nothing is there, but Jubilee sees a flash of the building appear and she picks up a microchip with a LaRoux symbol on it. Flynn then decides to take her back to the rebel base and try to trade her back to the army for some much needed medicine for their people. When he gets back the other leader of the rebels, McBride, is trying to rouse the civillians to go storm the base because he says they've taken Flynn. He calms the crowd, as he wants everything resolved peacefully, but then McBride finds Jubilee and nearly beats her to death before Flynn saves her. She tells him about the microchip and they decide to try to do something about it together so Jubilee calls her old captain, Tarver Merendsen. Tarver and Lilac tell them what happened to them with the whispers, which they realize are whats on Avon and Tarver tells them that if they plan on infiltrating the base they also have to tell the world that LaRoux are behind it. McBride slaughters a bunch of his own people while Jubilee is unconcious and he tells everyone that she is who did it so that they'll march against the army base. Jubilee and Tarver manage to break into the whispers building but one of them soon takes over Flynn's body and tells Jubilee that humans have taught them cruelty and separation so that's what they will show in return. It turns out that one of the whispers knew Jubilee as a child and is what has been taking her dreams, because it considers her a friend. It tells her to destroy them as they've become cruel and aren't one being anymore which is how they're supposed to be, he fends off the one in Flynn's body long enough for Jubilee to shoot the machinery that was holding them together. The war between the rebels and the army has come to a battle on the island that the whispers were held on and Jubilee gets shot trying to get to the loudspeaker to broadcast to everyone, so Flynn must do it on his own and he manages to talk everyone down from war and expose LaRoux industries. Jubilee lives and she and Flynn see the clouds start to clear on Avon now that LaRoux is leaving their planet alome.

Neil Patrick Harris Choose Your Own Autobiography - Neil Patrick Harris (2014)

5 stars

My mum got me this book for christmas after I told her it was probably the one off my list that I wanted most, and I was certainly not disappointed.

Although this book is a "choose your own adventure" book I just read it straight through, which at times was a bit confusing but I just didn't want to miss anything and I would definitely recommend reading it that way if you're a massive fan. This book is so hilarious that even if all you know Neil Patrick Harris from is How I Met Your Mother then I would tell you give it a read if you're looking for a fun book to read. I actually found the footnotes giving you options of where to turn to next often the funniest part of the book, so even if you read it straight through definitely don't skip over the options just because you're not using them. Considering this is an autobiography which is obviously about real people I can't pick a favourite character (although the two sentences where Lena Hall was mentioned I almost cried) so I'll instead give a favourite chapter/moment. It's so hard to pick just one chapter because they were all so entertaining, but being the broadway nerd I am my favourites were definitely the one about planning "bigger" and the one about his process as Hedwig, as well as the chapter where he meets David because that was so adorable with all the annotations I was constantly either laughing or crying. I would recommend this book if you like Neil Patrick Harris and you're looking for a light funny book to read.

This book chronicles all the major events, as well as some minor, in Neil Patrick Harris' life. It starts with his childhood and moves onto how he got his first gig in a movie with Whoopi Goldberg, his work on Doogie Howser, MD, his first foray into theatre, his coming out process, how he met David Burtka, how they had their kids, his work on How I Met Your Mother, his work on Dr Horrible's Sing-Along Blog, all the shows he hosted, some of his celebrity friendship stories, his work on Hedwig and the Angry Inch, and his fortieth birthday surprise scavenger hunt among many others.

We Were Liars - E. Lockhart (2014)

5 stars

I bought this book because I kept seeing everyone rave about it, but I still had no idea what it was about when I bought it but I was definitely happy with my decision.

Although the whole "this book is so great but I shouldn't tell you anything about it" strategy worked on me, I don't think it's the smartest thing in the world because unless you spend your whole life on the internet like me I don't think many people would see it in a bookstore and pick it up. This book is told from the perspective of Cadence, and I kind of enjoy all her fairytales and exaggerated metaphors, and I love the short chapters, if you could even call them that. This book combined all my favourite aspects; summer holidays, good friendships, romance and a bit of mystery, I thought it was a good length too, because any longer with her not being able to remember what happened and I would've gotten really frustrated. My favourite characters in this book are Johnny and Gat, Johnny because he was hilarious and brought some much needed humour to the book, and Gat because I fell in love with him along with Cadence. I would recommend this book to people who like drama and romance, but also like a mystery.

Cadence is the eldest grandchild of Harris Sinclair, a rich and prestigious man who owns his own island that she and her cousins go to every summer. She and her two other cousins around her age, Johnny and Mirren, along with Johnny's stepfather's nephew Gat, become the best of friends and have a great time together every summer, calling themselves the liars. As Cadence gets older she starts to love Gat and during summer fifteen they declare their love for each other even though Cadence's grandfather doesn't approve. During summer fifteen Cadence has an accident she can't remember along with most of that summer, and when she returns to the island two summers later she has to piece together her memory to work out what happened. She eventually remembers that her mother and her two sisters were fighting over their inheritances and their granfather was manipulating and threatening them all over it so much that summer that the liars decided to do something about it. Cadence remembers that she convinced them all to burn down the grandfather's house on the island while everyone else was out except they didn't plan it that well and Cadence lit her floor too early and Johnny, Mirren and Gat all died.

The One - Kiera Cass (2014)

5 stars

I don't know whether I really enjoyed this book this much or because I read it in four hours I can't really remember any of the bad parts, but this book was definitely my favourite of the series.

This book had everything I ever wanted from America, she started actually telling people her ideas, which most of the time were pretty good, she worked out her feelings and expressed them (even if it was at the end), and she helped organise a rebellion. Reading this book it was like there never was a love triangle, there was no America being a wuss and not saying anything to Aspen and letting him pursue her, there was no angst over who she should be with, it was just pretty much a love story between her and Maxon, which I have no problem with. Also I feel like this book is probably the only one in the series that passes the Bechdel test, I loved that Celeste got some reasoning for her behaviour and that she and the other girls all became quite good friends, not even needing to talk about Maxon (for once). My favourite character in this book was probably Celeste, everyone else had a point in this book where they made me really dislike them, and ironically Celeste was probably the only one who didn't do that, I wasn't expecting the depth that she got in this book but I am really grateful for it. I would definitely recommend finishing this series, even if, like me, you didn't enjoy The Elite that much.

America and Maxon are summoned by the Northern rebels in the middle of the night because they want to show their support of Maxon and tell him they'll help fight against the Southern rebels if he gives them a sign that he's willing to change and get rid of the castes once he's in power. She and Georgia, one of the northern rebels become fast friends and Maxon has an ally in August, the other rebel who came. The Southern rebels start increasing their attacks to try to force them to stop the Selection, so America and Maxon get Aspen help them sneak out and meet with August and Georgia in the middle of the night. They learn that they need weapons if they are to go against the Southern rebels, so America invites both Georgia and Nicoletta, the princess of Italy, to one of the events the elite have to participate in and gets Italy to fund the Northern rebels weapons so they can help prevent the attacks. Maxon shows America his room, at this point both know they love the other, but neither is willing to admit it unless the other does first, and they are about to have sex when a guard shows up looking for America because her dad has died. America returns home for the funeral and learns that her dad was a member of the northern rebels and the way you identify them is by the star of david they display, usually as part of their wardrobe. She returns to the palace and finds all the girls from the selection are back because Maxon has narrowed it down Kriss and America and is announcing his engagement the next day. She goes to her room and Maxon comes to visit to give her an envelope full of letters he wrote while she was away and to tell her that she's the one he's picking. They spend the night together and when Aspen walks in on them in the morning Maxon goes to leave and while America is assuring Aspen that they didn't have sex Maxon comes back and sees them together. Although America assures him that she loves him and she and Aspen are just friends, Maxon rejects her and tells her she'll leave tomorrow. The next day at the engagement announcement, the Southern rebels suddenly attack having been scattered throughout the castle, when one comes to shoot Maxon, he instead decides to make him suffer and shoot America, Maxon jumps in front of her and takes the bullet. Aspen kills the shooter and Maxon tells him to take America to safety before helping him. When America is let out of her safe room after the battle she learns Maxon is alive and is King because his mother and father were both killed and when she goes to his room he shows her the documents he's making that will get rid of caste eight by absorbing it into caste seven, he then needs to work on it more but he will slowly get rid of the caste system. He proposes to her and she says yes. The book ends with America walking down the aisle at her wedding to Maxon and him saying "hello my dear" and she replies with "oh don't start" (and then I cried).

The Giver - Lois Lowry (1993)

5 stars

It took a long while for me to buy this book because the synopsis didn't really sound like much but seeing the trailer for the movie was enough for me to finally read it, and when I finally decided to get it I read it in two days.

This book was so much shorter than all the other dystopian novels I've read, it was only 180 pages, but it just showed me that sometimes all the other detail in the dystopian novels these days (*cough* love triangles *cough*) is just so uneccessary as I enjoyed it a lot more than some other more recent ones I've read. It's told from the perspective of Jonas which I really enjoy, but it does get a bit annoying when he can't see the outcome of his decision so I don't know if it worked out well or not, so I'm excited to see whether the movie will expand on what happened without him. The concept was this book was so simple but so thought provoking, who are we without memories and how do they shape us? It was really interesting reading about how important feelings were to them when they didn't really know what they were. My favourite character in this book is Jonas, it's rare that the main character in a novel is my favourite usually due to a combination of seeing all their flaws and enjoying the traits of other secondary characters more, but in this book I just agreed with him so much and just really liked him as a character and a narrator. I would recommend this book to anyone that has never read a dystopian novel and wants to see what they're like, or any fans of dystopian fiction and the concept of memories and how they shape us.

For anyone interested, here is the trailer for the movie coming out later this year:

Jonas lives in a society where there are fifty new children born every year and each december they go up an age group. When they turn 12 they are given their assignments for how they will contribute to society and Jonas gets the job known as the "Reciever of Memory" of which there is only ever one at a time and it is a position of the highest honour. When he meets the previous Reciever of Memory, who nicknames himself "The Giver" he learns that he must have all the memories that the giver has of human history. He slowly learns about love, war, colours and starvation among many other things through experiencing the memories that the giver transfers to him. They soon decide that their society needs to know and understand these things so they make a plan for Jonas to go missing and assumed to be dead while he travels as far away as possible so his memories will be released into the city. The plan would have worked however Jonas learns that the baby that his family has been looking after is to be "released" which Jonas learns means they will be killed because he can't sleep through the night. Jonas then takes Gabriel, the baby, in the middle of the night and leaves on his bicycle with only the food he could gather and a blanket for Gabe. He bikes far enough that the memories mostly leave him, but he eventually runs out of food and the temperature gets so cold he can't make it much further. He manages to transmit a memory of sunshine to himself and Gabe to warm them up and that gives him enough strength to get to the top of the hill he'd been climbing to find a sled on the top which he slides down on into a warm welcoming house, but the story is unclear as to whether that actually happened or he was merely recalling those memories as he and Gabe lay dying.

This Star Won't Go Out: The Life and Words of Esther Grace Earl - Esther Earl with Lori and Wayne Earl (2014)

5 stars

I preordered this book as soon as John Green mentioned it in a video and at first I was wary about reading it, but after reading it I don't think this book will ever leave me.

This book is a compilation of words by and about Esther Earl, a girl famous in some internet circles for inspiring so many before she died of thyroid cancer at the age of sixteen in 2010. I don't pretend to know Esther, I joined the nerdfighter community a few months after she had already left it and I personally hate it when people pretend that they knew a person after they've died, but I think that many people who read this book, myself included, can't help but feel a connection to her. Her original works of fiction are at the end of the book and I found myself not wanting that portion to stop, it didn't feel like I was reading a story written by a 15 year old, but someone who had spent a mountain of time working on their own book. Reading a book about someone who knows they are dying is incredibly hard, but I would recommend this book to anyone because I think everyone can be touched by her words and her story.

The introductions are by John Green, author and Esther's friend, and Lori and Wayne Earl, Esther's parents. The first section of the book is about thirty pages of photos and childhood stories about Esther and her family written by her parents, then there is a brief summary of her medical journey. The main part of the book is a mixture of exerpts from Esther's journal and blog, entries by her parents from the CaringBridge page and exerpts from Skype conversations between her and her internet friends. The next to last section is letters from all her friends and family members from last year about how Esther touched their lives, and her father's eulogy from her funeral. The last fifty pages are original works of fiction that Esther had started but never got to finish.

Breathe - Sarah Crossan (2012)

5 stars

I got this book as a christmas present after finding it on goodreads and putting it on my christmas list on a whim. As it turns out it was a really good choice.

I read a lot of dystopian novels and although the overall plot of an unlikely trio forming and starting a rebellion isn't new, I really enjoyed this book. The concept of having to pay for air was both really enjoyable and really freaky at the same time and I really liked that although the resistance base was separate from the main population, it was still accessible and easy to locate once they tried. This book is told from the three different perspectives of the main characters which is really good for parts of the book where they're separated and really interesting seeing how they react to the same people. My favourite character in this book is Maude, at first I thought she was a creepy old lady, then I pitied her, then I thought she became pretty badass and I'm looking forward to what she'll do in future books. I would recommend this book to any fans of dystopian novels.

Quinn, Bea and Alina live in the Breathe pod where everyone must pay for oxygen and any heavy breathing activities like exercise are illegal unless you've paid for the excess oxygen you need to do it. Quinn is a premium, someone whose family has enough status and money to afford all the oxygen they like, Bea is an auxilary, someone whose family has to scrape to pay for the oxygen in their apartment, and Alina is part of the resistance. When Alina has to escape the pod she runs into Quinn and Bea crossing the border at the same time and they help smuggle her across, she then tries to leave them behind but they save her life from Maude, an old drifter who wants a portable oxygen tank instead of the solar powered stationary oxygen tank she has and they make it to The Grove, the resistance's base, together. Bea and Quinn decide to help Alina and the resistance because they learn that Breathe gives them much more oxygen than they need so they're dependant on them and couldn't leave into the outside world which has 6% oxygen, which they keep at that level by killing any trees they see that are starting to regrow. In doing so they inadvertantly start a war with the Breathe officials and Quinn and Bea must go back and lie to the officials to give the resistance time to ready themselves for an attack. Breathe attacks the Grove and Alina, Maude and some others escape the attack and head to the next closest resistance base they've heard of. Quinn then tells the citizens inside the pod of what the officials are doing to them and he starts a civil war inside the pod. His dad kicks him out of the pod, but gives him some air tanks so he knows he'll survive and he and Bea meet up at the destroyed Grove to find Jazz, a survivor who knows where Alina and the others are heading, so they set off there together.

Catching Fire - Suzanne Collins (2009)

5 stars

After reading the first book, I immediately started this one, because even though I've read them before they are incredibly addictive reading.

Despite giving this the same rating as The Hunger Games this is my favourite book in the trilogy. It introduces really diverse new characters, and brings whole new facets to the old characters like Haymitcha and Effie. While reading this book I couldn't help comparing it to the movie as I had seen it the day before, and it is so spot on, some scenes are literally word for word as they are in the book. I also really enjoy this book as it has Katniss realising what her presence is doing and that a revolution is forming, but it's not all she thinks about and bases her choices around like in the third book. I still think about how long it must have taken the author to think of the arena for this book, because once she'd thought of the overall idea I have no idea how long it must have taken her to come up with all the individual horrors that it contains, I think the complexity of the arena also makes me enjoy this book even more. My favourite character in this book is Peeta, my beautiful boy with the bread. I think this is the best book for his character as Katniss gets to know him in this book and realizes that she does need him in her life.

Katniss and Peeta are about to go on their victory tour six months after the games. They have barely spoken and must now pretend to be lovers again for the citizens, to ensure that Katniss will do this, President Snow comes to visit her and tells her that she must do this to calm the districts who saw her act with the berries as a rebellion. He tells her if she doesn't convince the citizens he will have no trouble hurting her family or loved ones like Gale, who kissed her in the woods when she returned from the games, which Snow somehow knows about. At the first district they go to Peeta gives some of their winnings to Rue and Thresh's families and Katniss makes a moving speech about Rue before the Peacekeepers start shooting some of the citizens. Katniss then tells Peeta about Snow coming to see her and they decide to get married. However at the end of their tour Snow tells them that wasn't good enough. As the next hunger games is a quarter quell, something special must happen and this year it is that the tributes will be reaped from the existing victors which means Katniss is definitely going back into the arena. Katniss then goes to Haymitch and tells him that this games they have to save Peeta, not her, and he agrees to help. Haymitch's name is drawn out and Peeta immediately volunteers and once they are in the Capitol they and the other victors do everything they can to try to disrupt the games and anger the capitol citizens which is why Peeta tells the audience Katniss is pregnant. The games still continue though and once in it Katniss and Peeta ally with Finnick and Mags who soon gives her life so Finnick can carry Peeta out of poisoinous gas instead of her. They are then attacked by monkeys and a tribute from 6 sacrifices herself for Peeta when he is about to be killed by one. Johanna then brings Beetee and Wiress to join their pack after they escaped a segment of blood rain. Wiress then tells Katniss that the arena is a clock, with each wedge bring a new horror each hour. Wiress is then killed by one of the careers who is then killed by Katniss, and Johanna and Finnick kill another before the other two escape. Beetee then tells them of his plan to run wire from the tree that gets struck by lightning at midnight and noon down to the water which will hopefully electricute the other tributes. Katniss and Peeta must then separate as he must stay with Beetee at the tree and she and Johanna have to run the wire down to the water, however after a few minutes the wire is cut and Johanna attacks Katniss and tells her to stay down. Katniss then runs to try to save Peeta however when she gets to the tree he is no longer there and Beetee is collapsed with a knife that has some of the wire attatched to it. Katniss quickly works out that he was trying to get it to the forcefield to blow it up when the lightning strikes so she attatches the wire to her arrow and shoots it into the forcefield right before the lightning strikes. She then awakes in a hovercraft next to Beetee and gets up to find Haymitch, Plutarch Heavensbee and Finnick talking, after they tell her that Peeta was taken by the Capitol she attacks Haymitch for saving her instead of him.  She is drugged again and the next time she wakes up to Gale telling her that her family is safe but there is no more district 12.

The Hunger Games - Suzanne Collins (2008)

5 stars

I first read this series in 2009 and after seeing the latest movie, Catching Fire, on Thursday I had to reread them.

This series is so well written it only takes me a few pages to get hooked into the story, I think Katniss' perspective is very easy to relate to and that's part of the reason everyone loves these books so much. When I look back on the book I'm surprised to see the games take so long, about 240 pages, because I get so drawn in they seem much shorter when I think about that actual part of the book. My favourite character in this book is Rue, although I love Peeta, I just think that Rue was such a standout character in this book without even having many pages to her. I think Rue is probably one of the best characters that Suzanne has in the entire series, and she really makes all the points the book tries to show about poverty, harsh policing of everyone, and meaningless death with her few conversations with Katniss. I think this series is almost required reading for people who can handle a book all about children dying.

Katniss lives in a future where once a year 24 children are chosen and put in a televised arena where they must fight to the death in what is known as the Hunger Games. When her younger sister's name is drawn to go into the games, she volunteers to take her place and ends up going in with Peeta Mellark, a boy who saved her life when she was younger and was starving, he took a beating from his mother to feed her bread from his family's bakery. Before she goes into the arena she learns that Peeta has loved her his whole life so any way the games end will be terrible for him, her mentor tells her to go along with it so she can get more sponsors and possibly live longer while she's in the arena. After a few days in the arena she learns that Peeta has teamed up with the "careers" who train their whole lives for the glory of winning the games and she must set a nest of tracker jackers, wasps that cause hallucination and sometimes death, on them. She gets stung in the process though and Peeta fights off the careers so she can escape them and he gets wounded in the process. Katniss then teams up with Rue, a small girl from district 11 and while helping her blow up the careers food, she dies and Katniss kills her killer and sings her to her death. It is then announced that there can be two winners of the games if they are from the same district so she goes and finds Peeta. His wound is giving him blood poisoining and she must get the medicine from the cornucopia where everyone else will be getting something else they need from. She gets the medicine after being saved by Thresh, the boy from Rue's district, and she and Peeta both recover from their injuries and go on to win together. It is then announced that the rule is renounced and there still must be only one winner, Katniss get out some poisonous berries and her and Peeta decide to both take them because they have to have a winner and must let them both live rather then having them both die. This turns out to be the case however Katniss is now in trouble from the Capitol having shown such rebellion and Peeta learns that she was faking her love for him he stops speaking to her.

Goddess - Josephine Angelini (2013)

5 stars

After devouring both Starcrossed and Dreamless in a few hours each I wasn't going to be left in the dark about how it all ends, and what was most important to me, finding out why Daphne was such a terrible person. Fortunately for me, this book did not let me down and was just as riveting as the other two books in the trilogy.

It is told mostly from Helen's perspective but is told from other character's perspectives when needed. I personally find Lucas' perspective the most interesting to read as you can understand how strong his morals are and see his inner battles between those morals and his own desires. When I was reading this book, I found it very easy to think I'd only read a few pages but when I checked I'd really read one hundred. I think this is a mark of how good Angelini's writing and plot were that I could get that interested in the story and not notice how much I'd read. My favourite character in this book was probably Hades (never thought I'd say that), he was written so I never doubted him or his motives, unlike most other characters, and learning that his compassion for humans was the greatest out of all the Gods really endeared his character to me.

This book starts about one hour after the last one ended with Helen descending to the underworld to try to get Zach to the Elysian Fields, after Hades promises her he will get him there and tells her she is a worldbuilder she returns to the Delos' house to recover from her injuries. Once there she dreams memories of past Helen's, including Helen of Troy and Guinevere and learns that she always ends up with Lucas they've never been cousins in any past life, only other obstacles in their way. They then learn that Orion is a shield to the fates, when he is around anyone the fates can't see them, or in Cassandra's case, possess them. After a couple of days all the other Scion's meet at their house to discuss what they must do now all the Gods have been released from Olympus when Phaon draws a sword, which isn't allowed, Helen gets angry and accidently summons her lightning. To stop her Lucas holds onto her and dies from the lightning, Helen then creates her own world and takes Lucas there so he can heal and Daedelus ends up challenging Phaon to a fight to the death. The next day when Helen returns with Lucas and everyone is relieved after thinking he was dead, they go out to watch the fight. After Daedelus wins, the Gods all appear and Zues challenges her. When she says that she knows an immortal cannot challenge a mortal he picks Achilles as his champion. Matt shows up with the spirit of Achilles in him wanting to kill Helen, and an army of Myrmidons behind him. The scions all then pick a side, with or against Helen, and Hector says he'll fight for Helen as he is her champion. When he slices Matt's heel nothing happens and Matt says it was the "wrong heel" even though he tries both heels, and many other parts of his body Matt doesn't die and instead kills Hector. Lucas then steps up as he was Hector's second and shoots an arrow into the heels of Matt's hand and he dies. Lucas then travels to the underworld and says he'll take Hades' place as head of the underworld in return for Hector's life. When Hector returns Daphne breaks down saying it wasn't meant to be him, she thought Orion was Hades son and would bargain the life of his girlfriend's father from him so she could have Ajax back and everyone learns of her deceit. Helen then goes to the underworld and gets the Eumenides to help her get Lucas out of his promise, she eventually gets them to agree to him not taking the position now, but he will have to do it eventually. Helen then makes herself immortal so she can battle Zeus, she traps him in Everyland (the world she created) and that scares the Gods into stopping the fight on the rest of the Scions. The epilogue ends with her and Lucas spending each day like it's their last on this earth.

Spark - Amy Kathleen Ryan (2012)

5 stars

I was browsing through the book depository when I came across this book and remembering how much I loved Glow I bought it, it definitely lived up to it's predecessor.

This book is told from the three different perspectives of Seth, Waverly and Kieran, it is a testament to how well the author writes that some characters I used to hate I now like and some characters I used to like I now hate. She shows what effect power has on people and how torture and kidnapping can affect a person's behaviour, I loved reading Kieran's inner monologue and how he was justifying his actions at the same time Seth was reprimanding himself for acting that way. Anne Mather is a villan  for the history books, my hatred for her runs so deep that whenever I'm reading her dialogue I curse at her out loud, I can't wait for the next book, Flame, to come out in 2014 so I can finally see her taken down. My favourite characters in this novel were Tobin and Seth. Tobin is just so brave it amazes me, his character was needed as a moral comparison for the rest of the crew members to live up to in my mind. Although I disliked Seth in the previous book, his cleverness, kindness, and love for Waverly make him a very loveable character.

The book starts with Seth being let out of the brig and the alarms going off in the ship, someone had set the thrusters to go off to try to fling them off course. Kieran fixes this, then when he realizes Seth is out he immediately blames him. Waverly knows that Kieran is going mad with power and it wasn't Seth that did it, so she calls an election for a central council to help Kieran in which she is elected as a member. Seth realizes a terrorist from the New Horizon is on board so he tries to stop him and gets hurt so badly he has to stitch himself up in Waverly's room where he immediately collapses after the procedure from the pain. Waverly gets home and starts to help Seth and where she next arranges to drop him food he realizes is where the terrorist is sending messages from. When Seth goes to find Waverly and warn her, the terrorist is already there and almost kills them both before they knock him out. Kieran then decides to board the New Horizon to discuss the return of their parents from Anne Mather but the Central Council's plan to attack them and get their parents while he was negotiating failed. As they are being sent back on their shuttle they see the Empyrean's hull explode. Waverly gets Sarek to take all the kids to the New Horizon while she goes to the brig to save Seth. After they return to the shuttles Seth kisses Waverly then doesn't get on the shuttle with her and stays on the damaged Empyrean alone.

Safe Haven - Nicholas Sparks (2010)

5 stars

I bought this book because of a staff recommendation in dymocks and I am so grateful to that staff member, because I've read some Nicholas Sparks that are terrible so I'm always hesitant to buy a new one.

This book was wonderfully written, I have no idea how Sparks was able to write from Kevin's perspective because sometimes while reading it I had to stop for a minute to remember he's fictional and I don't know anyone that messed up in the head in real life. The plot was really enthralling as well, just when Alex and Katie's love started to get boring, Kevin's story started being told, it was so well paced I found it hard to stop reading at all. My favourite character was Jo, she was really funny and gave Katie the reassurance she needed to settle down and give love a chance, I thought her character could have been used more near the end of the story, but then her plot twist made me understand why she became more sparse towards the end of the plot. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes Nicholas Sparks' books or romance novels with a bit of drama.

Katie comes to Southport starving and unemployed, she gets a job as a waitress at Ivan's and soon meets Alex, the general store owner who is a widower with two kids. They form a friendship and Katie starts to settle down in Southport, they soon start dating and Katie tells Alex about her past. She was abused by her husband who was a drunk (and a psycho in my opinion) and it took her a year to steal the money she needed from him to escape and she stole the identity of her neighbours dead daughter to escape without him finding her. After about six months Kevin finds out the identity Erin (Katie's real name) stole and finds her. He drank four bottles of vodka in one day and can't see straight, but he decides that fire is purifying so he douses Alex's house in gasoline, where Katie is babysitting the kids while Alex drives a neighbour back from the airport. Katie manages to get the kids out safely, however Kevin then threatens them with a gun, so Katie distracts him while telling them to run to her house. Alex sees them on the road and drops them off before going to the store to help Katie, when he gets there he runs over Kevin's hand and breaks it. Before they can do anything else Kevin manages to drive off to where Katie is staying so they also head there to protect the kids. Once there Kevin knocks Alex over the head with a crowbar, and while Katie's holding the gun, he pulls the trigger cause he thinks it's pointing at her, but he accidently shoots himself in the gut. Kevin dies and Alex and Katie are happy, Katie realizes that her neighbour that she had made friends with was really Carly's (Alex's wife) ghost and is happy that she approves of her with Alex.

Pure - Julianna Baggott (2012)

5 stars

I bought this book for a friend about a year ago and she has been bugging me to read it ever since then, I finally got around to buying it and I wish I'd listened to her sooner.

This book was a really excellent dystopian novel, with no frustrating love triangle or predictable endings. I really loved how it made the world seem realistic and actually dystopian whereas in some other novels I've read I really can't understand how the world would be so hard to live in. The book was really well written, with a world that I can picture and characters that I had real emotion for, Baggott did an excellent job and I cannot wait for the next book in the trilogy. My favourite character was probably Pressia, she was strong willed and consistent and her perspective made me really appreciate her, and her emotions were really complex and interesting to read about. I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys dystopian novels and doesn't mind a bit of gruesome details.

For a plot summary, see Mac's earlier review.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower - Stephen Chbosky

5 stars

I wanted to read this book because I saw the previews for the movie and knew I would want to see it because it has Emma Watson and Ezra Miller in it, both whom I love. I had heard great things about this book, and I wasn't disappointed.

This book is told through letters to an unknown party from the main character, Charlie, I loved how as Charlie's writing got better so did the letters that comprise this book. That, and the fact that the book is written to a "good person" gives the book an aspect of reality that other books don't and made me kind of feel like it was written just for me. I read this book in two days, it was so excellent and really hard to put down especially once you're past part one because although the plot is nothing special, I got really attatched to the main character and his writing and insights on his world were amazing to read. My favourite character was Patrick, he was hilarious and adorable and helped Charlie when he didn't understand what he should do. I would recommend this book to anyone.

This book is written through letters from Charlie, who is starting his first year at high school. At first he has no friends due to his strange behaviour, however he soon makes friends with step siblings Sam and Patrick. This book details their adventures over the year, including Charlie falling in love with Sam, him having his first girlfriend, and learning that he has depression due to his Aunt dying while going to buy him his birthday present and his best friend killing himself when he was in middle school. At the end of the novel before Sam leaves for college she and Charlie are going to have sex however Charlie freezes and has to sleep on their couch, it turns out that his Aunt Helen molested him as a child and he had repressed it until now. The book ends with Charlie getting out of recovery in the hospital and looking forward to his sophmore year.

The Rise of Nine - Pittacus Lore

5 stars

I read the previous two books in this series and really enjoyed them, this book didn't let me down and is my favourite in the series so far.

Much like the second book in the series, The Power of Six, the book is told from different perspectives, except in this book it adds the perspective of Six, to Marina's and John's. I really enjoyed reading from Six's perspective and I really hope to read from Nine's in the next book, if they continue adding a new perspective each book, because I think he is a character that has a lot of hidden depth. I also really enjoy the whole "this is real" pretense of this book, being written by Pittacus Lore and the intro and outro that tell you that the events in the book are real. I liked this book better than the previous because it had a good balance of action, and discovery about Lorien and the other members of the Garde, the previous book didn't have much action till the very end. I also really enjoyed having a realistic bad guy that I could really hate for a change. Setrakus didn't give in to petty insults that work on most villians, my favourite part during the battle was when they were saying he's weak for not fighting fair and he replies with: "You can call me whatever names you want. It's not going to change the fact that you're about to die". My favourite character in this book was Eight, I loved the playfulness he brought to the group that no-one had done yet, and he had really cool legacies. I would recommend this series to any science fiction or action fans of any age.

John and Nine are travelling together and although John doesn't like him at first, him and Nine bond over their commitment to Lorien and after discovering how the tablet that John found in Paradise works, they learn that their ship, and another member of the Garde, Six, is in New Mexico so they head there. Six, Marina and Ella follow Crayton's lead where he thinks another Garde is and they find Eight in India. Eight has the legacy of telporting, so he teleports the group to New Mexico after a battle with the Mogs where Crayton dies. However he wasn't used to teleporting groups of people and while Six gets to New Mexico, Eight, Ella and Marina take a few more tries before they get there. Before they can get to New Mexico, Six gets captured and taken to the FBI base there where they are working with Setrakus Ra and other Mogs. Setrakus then immobilises her in rock and changes shape into her, meanwhile Ella has developed her first legacy to communicate to other members of the Garde and gets her, Eight and Marina to meet up with Nine and John. They fight their way into the base, finding Sarah on the way, however when they find "Six" Eight teleports to her to give her a hug and Setrakus stabs him. Setrakus then takes away the Garde's legacies and they continue a losing battle with him until Ella uses a dart on Setrakus that gives them all their legacies back. Marina then heals Eight and after Sarah and Ella are shot, Four discovers he also has the healing legacy and heals them. Setrakus then disappears when he realizes he is losing and the novel finishes with the Garde almost fully united and ready to fight.

A Game of Thrones - George R. R. Martin

5 stars

I watched bits and pieces of this show and liked it, and then I heard some really good reviews of this book so I decided to read it and I wasn't disappointed.

I really enjoyed this book, although I found it incredibly long (which is why I haven't posted a blog in about a month) and it's hard to power through an eight hundred page book when you've seen bits of the tv show and know what's going to happen. This book is very good , and although the television show is a pretty accurate retelling, the book has a lot more detail and makes everything a lot clearer. It is very well written, and describes the battles and deaths in such a way that explains all the details of the wounds without being too gruesome for me. My favourite character was Arya, a well written kick-ass heroine that doesn't annoy me in any way, which is very rare for a heroine in most books I read. I would recommend this book to mature readers who like really intricate fantasy.

Lord Eddard (Ned) Stark is King Robert Baratheon's oldest friend and when Jon Arryn, the King's Hand, dies suddenly Ned is given the job. While serving the King and living at court Ned looks into Jon's death and learns that Robert's children to the Queen are not his but Jaime Lannister's, The Queen's own twin. Cersei learns that Ned knows this and poisons Robert while he's on his hunting trip. When on his deathbed Robert makes Ned write out a new will naming him Protector of the Realm until his "son" Joffrey comes of age and Ned doesn't have the heart to tell him his children aren't his when he's about to die so he changes the will so it says "heir" not son. Once Robert dies Ned tries to tell people that Joffrey doesn't have any right to the title, however Cersei names him a traitor and has him taken to the dungeons. Joffrey is then named King and Stannis Baratheon, Renly Baratheon, and Robb Stark form armies to march against him. Sansa is kept in King's Landing and still betrothed to Joffrey, Arya escapes and takes the guise of a boy going to the wall with Yoren, Catelyn moves with Robb and his army, and Bran is lord of Winterfell and looking after Rickon. Joffrey orders Ned's execution against the advice of everyone on the council, including his mother, and Daenerys, the last true heir to the throne, hatches three dragons, which were long thought to be extinct.