Fracture Me by Tahereh Mafi

Tahereh Mafi's first novella, DESTROY ME, wowed me beyond belief. Getting into Warner's mind was absolutely stupendous and that novella is singlehandedly responsible for making me love him. Naturally, I was nothing short of excited for Mafi's second novella. However, I'm sad to say that despite the fact that the novella was satisfactory, it did not wow me at all.

This was pretty much a re-telling of one of the last scenes in book two, UNRAVEL ME, told in Adam's perspective. Naturally, if you read book two, you know what happens so this does provide a very interesting comparison to what some characters believe happens and what actually happened. This certainly explains the mindset of most of the Omega Point members that we are going to encounter at the beginning of book three, which does just enough to saturate my hunger while I wait for book three.

However, with all that in mind, I have to say that I did not enjoy being in Adam's mind at all. While Warner's mind is very twisted because of his desperation to please his father and his intense fascination with Juliette, Adam's mind is very condescending. Sure, he admits he loves Juliette countless times, but I just don't feel it. I did not connect with his emotions or his feelings the way that I have Mafi's others characters. It makes me question where the connection I made with Adam in book one went. Now, it seems he's only condescending towards Juliette, the girl he loves. He treats his ten year old brother like more of an adult and literally compares Juliette to a child at one point.

In the end, this novella served to frustrate me more than anything else. While it makes me curious for book three, it made me lose faith in a character that I initially didn't mind. Again, it made me curious for aspects of book three, so I suppose it served its purpose. But, if anything, it solidified my placement on Team Warner.

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by Tynga at Thursday, February 20, 2014

 Borrowed, dystopia, Dystopian, Harper Collins, Paranormal, Review, Science Fiction, Shatter Me, Taherah Mafi, Tahereh Mafi, young adult  Leave your mark

✎

Shadowlands by Kate Brian

I've had my eye on this book for a while. The great majority of reviews I have seen for it have been overwhelmingly positive and many friends have promised me that this is a unique tale that'll easily grab my attention. Unfortunately, I can't say I fully understand why this book is so greatly adored. While admittedly a quick read that I got through in a single day, the characters were flat, the plot was predictable, and the overall story reminded me more of a bad teen horror story than a novel by a hugely adored author.

Initially, I thought that was going to be an amazing book. The very first chapter is the attempted killing of Rory Miller by the famous serial killer Steven Nell. To make matters even more interesting the chapter is told from his perspective. It was so chilling that I can only describe it as creepily cool. It kept me excited and on my toes. But, shortly after, all of my hopes were dashed because most of the story is told from Rory's perspective. Her bland, slow, uneventful and normally frustrating perspective. It's like I lived for those random chapters told by Nell's perspective that were scattered throughout the book, even though all of them were shorter than two pages. His creepiness resonated with me so greatly, and it's sad to think that Rory's plight had such a small emotional impact on me in comparison.

However, the overall creepiness of the book just didn't have an impact on me either. I'm normally one that can easily be scared to the point of not sleeping for the night, but I barely batted an eye with this one. It almost felt like some of the scenes were taken right out of a bad horror movie. To make matters worse, some aspects of the story and the investigation were just hard to believe. For example, Steven Nell is supposed to be this genius that has eluded the FBI for over a decade, but wouldn't the FBI be able to detect someone right under their nose? Shouldn't they prove to be somewhat of an obstacle if the killer wanted to contact his mark? If turning to the witness protection program, wouldn't they want to protect their victims more? Oh, and the most obvious thing ever...wouldn't a brilliant serial killer know never to act around a large group of people because it will always backfire? Cases like this are constantly occurring in the book. It frustrated me because I wanted to shake the characters and ask why they aren't acting nearly as smart as they claim to be. It seemed like common sense rarely made an appearance in this novel.

Rory's family is similar to the cliche broken young adult family that is often found in novels these days. Her father is still suffering five years after the loss of his wife to cancer. This loss tore the family apart. Darcy, Rory's older sister, is incredibly materialistic and shallow, which also made her frustrating. While they're sisters and they can't help but love each other, I felt no inclination to like Darcy at all. She's not painted in a decent light therefore she isn't that likable. However, Rory's father goes through some great character growth throughout the book that I really enjoyed. My one other issue with characterization is that everyone was so flat I tended to have trouble keeping everything straight. And, to make matters worse, this book pretty much felt like a parade of hot guys. It was hot guy after hot guy after hot guy that were all hot in different ways. Relationships felt more shallow and physical than emotional. I can see a budding romance, but I don't think it shows any true promise since the male Rory is interested in likes to keep secrets and is rather sketchy. But, hey, he's hot!

In the end, I know a lot of people enjoyed this one. Heck, I can't even count the people who I know disliked this one on one hand. I'm simply the black sheep in this case because this book just wasn't for me. While the big twist at the end leaves me curious about book two, I'm not in any hurry to continue this series for myself. However, I recommend this to mystery thriller fans who like a hint of paranormalcy that makes an appearance at the end of the book. Its presence is heavily promised in the rest of the trilogy, too.

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by Tynga at Thursday, December 12, 2013

 Borrowed, Disney Hyperion, Fantasy, Kate Brian, Mystery, Review, Shadowlands, Thriller, young adult  3 People left their mark

✎

The Crown of Embers by Rae Carson

I have a confession. While, I was greatly looking forward to reading this book I didn’t expect to love it as much as I did. My problems with book one stemmed from the fact that our main character, Elisa, relied heavily on God for her power despite the fact that she discovered the power to lead within herself. I didn’t like the religious reliance even though it wasn’t shoved down my throat. While book two pulls back on it, it’s still there. But it wholly disappears in the second half of the book to give way to a story that had me freaking out and proclaiming my love in the middle of a Starbucks.

There was a lot of political maneuvering in the beginning and that is, perhaps, what made it so slow for me. The second half of the book began with that epic adventure that we expected Carson to deliver after reading book one and that’s what made this book nearly unputdownable. It just took a while to get to that point. We picked up shortly after book two where Elisa’s own political allies are turning against her and her people are rioting. There have been several attempts on her life and just as many people want her dead as those who want her to live. Characters from the past blast back into her life and her most trustworthy friends seem to be doing nothing but hurting her. And worst of all, she is being forced to search for a proper suitor and husband to ally her war-riddled country with someone else. It’s all rather great, and it holds your attention, but it just can’t keep you glued to the page until over two hundred pages into the book. That’s what makes the beginning feel so long and the amazingness that is the epic adventure pass by all too quickly.

But what I really loved about this book were two story arcs in particular: Elisa’s journey to being a proper queen and Hector. Elisa acknowledges that she’s been a weak ruler and she truly wants to be better. Hints of a powerful woman shine through at certain parts of the book and you can’t help but think, “I’d want this girl to be my queen if I was forced to subject to one.” It’s a huge emotional and psychological step up from book two.

And Hector. Oh, how I love you so. You and your newly lacking mustache are absolutely amazing and I love you. A lot. With all of my heart. Seriously. These two had a romance that began in book one with cute side-long glances and such. Now, their interactions are all the more frustrating because they remain cute. Yet these two are entirely devoted to each other and supremely passionate. I love every minute of this romance--the way one should progress.

This high fantasy is epic. It really is. It left me reeling and highly anticipating book three, though I don’t want to say goodbye to this series or this amazing world or even these amazingly well written characters just yet. Full of many surprises I couldn’t even hint at because of major spoilers, this book is one that you should definitely read. This series is worth continuing because the surprises are limitless and this book promises you the most epic epic of all time to take place in book three. Simply put, Rae Carson is a genius.

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by Tynga at Wednesday, July 31, 2013

 Borrowed, Fantasy, Fire and Thorns, Harper Collins, High Fantasy, Magic, Rae Carson, Review, young adult  3 People left their mark

✎