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ACReads

ACReads

I have no idea what I'm doing so, I'm just testing this site out while I figure out if I want to move permanently from Good Reads.

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My Name is Rapunzel
K.C. Hilton
Benajah's Keeper (vol. 1)
Aeryn Dougan
Losing Hope
Colleen Hoover
Sisters Red - Jackson Pearce This review was written as a guest review for stackofhardbacks.blogspot.com.

I’m not going to lie – I have a really hard time getting into and enjoying fairytale retellings. Most of the time, they come off as forced and it feels as though the author is stretching his/her characters and story line so that they fit into the fairytale story arc. That being said, I’ve been putting off picking up Sisters Red by Jackson Pearce for a very long time – nothing against the author herself… I just haven’t had the best track record when it comes to retellings. I found Sisters Red in the bargain section of a book website and after hearing all of the amazing rave reviews from my bookish friends, I decided to give it a chance… and Oh. My. God. I was totally blown away.

As you can probably guess, Sisters Red is a retelling of the Little Red Riding Hood but in a modern setting with two main characters. The March Sisters, Scarlett and Rosie, live in a world filled with girl hunting werewolves named Fenris. After the Fenris rip apart Scarlett and Rosie’s lives, the two embark on a lifelong mission to rid the world of the monsters, one by one. The girls being to notice that the Fenris are deviating from their normal behavior and, when the number of murders in a nearby city begin to sky rocket, they decide to move there to figure out why.

First and foremost, Pearce’s writing style is what makes Sisters Red fantastic. Unlike other fairytale retellings, Pearce doesn’t feel the need to fill her story with frilly language and outlandish characters. Though the story does deal with werewolves, it was easy to believe that it could actually happen – the Fenris could actually exist in our world, on the fringes and in the shadows of society. Pearce writes in a straight forward manner and doesn’t waste our time with unnecessary descriptions and side plots. And I really loved that.

The world building and character development was fantastic. Both aspects of the story were believable and didn’t force me to suspend reality in any way. Pearce was able to explain how the Fenris existed in “our world” without seeming like she was trying to defend or justify it to us. Pearce also split the Little Red Riding Hood figure into two different characters – Scarlett and Rosie. Each girl embodied a different aspect of the fairytale heroine which allowed me to get really wrapped up in their stories. And even though Scarlett frustrated the heck out of me, I could still relate to her and understand where she was coming from.

Overall, I really enjoyed Sisters Red and have given it a 4/5 stars. It was one of the best fairytale retellings that I’ve read… ever. I can’t wait to read more of Jackson Pearce’s novels!
Chopsticks - Jessica Anthony, Rodrigo Corral I have an odd habit when it comes to reading books - I typically do not read the synopsis. Ever. I like to go into a book knowing next to nothing, save what trusted friends have told me in order to move to towards picking it up... So, after reading the synopsis of Chopsticks from Good Reads - after reading the book - I'm left scratching my head and asking, "Huh?"

Okay, let's rewind. After reading Chopsticks, I understood the story to be about a young woman named Glory who is an absolutely brilliant piano player... but stifled under the protective watch of her father. As teens tend to do, Glory falls in love with a boy named Frank... and the two enter into a whirlwind, highly emotional and incredibly intense relationship. Feeling that his daughter's potential is being threatened by Frank, Glory's father arranges a year long European tour as a misguided attempt to realign Glory's focus. And, well, I won't go any further into detail because of spoilers.

So, madness? Imagined? Is it real? Uh... I feel like those adjectives from the synopsis are a bit too strong. The only part of Chopsticks that left me feeling stumped was the ending - because yes, Anthony and Corral definitely left it up to interpretation. But now I'm feeling rather confused about the entire point of the book...

Maybe that was the point?

I have no idea. Either way, I've chosen to read Chopsticks as a standard YA romance novel. The formatting is the biggest draw for this book - there are words in it (read: newspaper articles and chat conversations) but the vast majority of the story is told via photographs. This is where reader interpretation plays the biggest role. We're led to draw the "big" conclusions regarding Glory and Frank's story... but are still allowed a lot of wiggle room to decide things for ourselves.

Overall, Chopsticks was okay. I personally would have benefited from reading the story in the traditional novel format but enjoyed the reading experience anyway. I don't know if I'd recommend buying this book... I'd sooner borrow it from a public library and then if you like it, go out and buy it... But definitely read it in the physical format - I don't think that an e-book version will cut it when it comes to Chopsticks.

This review was originally published on http://acreads.blogspot.com.
The Resurrectionist: The Lost Work of Dr. Spencer Black - E.B. Hudspeth This review was originally posted on my blog: www.acreads.blogspot.com.

I was so incredibly stoked when I received The Resurrectionist - simply put, it is a beautiful and stunning book. The book is broken up into two sections - first, the biography of the fictional anatomist, Dr. Spencer Black and second, a fictional Gray's Anatomy of sorts, filled with beautiful anatomical sketches of mythological creatures. The Codex Extinct Animalia speaks for itself - it is gorgeous. The sketches are professional and I was surprised by how accurate they were... well, as accurate as the skeletal structure of a harpy can be....

However, the biography of Dr. Spencer Black is what makes me hesitate about The Resurrectionist. At first, it was what I expected of any story regarding an anatomist and surgeon of the 1800's - grave digging and primitive dissections included. As Black's story progresses, he becomes a specialist in physical deformities and begins to believe that humans must be distant relatives of long extinct mythological creatures (i.e., webbed fingers or toes indicate a historical relation to mermaids). And this is where the story gets iffy. Obviously, Black is disillusioned and his fantastical notions are impossible to back up via science... and, in a desperate attempt to validate his theory, Black turns to really dark experiments....... (dun, dun, duuuun!)

Don't get me wrong, this story was riveting... but it was also incredibly disturbing and pretty gory at some points. At times, I found myself physically cringing... and I don't typically get grossed out that easily. I think that if I read The Resurrectionist closer to Halloween, I would have appreciated it a lot more but for now, I found it pretty disturbing.

If you're into dark story lines and can stomach some disturbing stuff, go ahead and pick up The Resurrectionist. I can guarantee that you will be blown away by the drawings. But, if you have a hard time stomaching gory images, I'd steer clear - this story probably won't sit well with you.
Sing Me to Sleep - Angela Morrison This book was supposed to be FUN, LIGHT, and chick lit-y... Was it?! OF COURSE NOT. Damn it!
Jane Eyre - Charlotte Brontë I was surprised (but shouldn't have been) by how religious certain parts of the story were.
Ready Player One - Ernest Cline Amazing.
On Dublin Street  - Samantha Young (This review was originally published on my blog - acreads.blogspot.com)

Oh. My. God. This book was just... (fans self)... WOW.

If you follow me at all on YouTube or Good Reads, you'll know that I have been on a serious new adult kick - I've been reading everything that I can get my hands on... but for some reason, I kept putting off On Dublin Street. And now that I've read it, I want to smack myself up the head and say, "What took you so long?!"

Like every other new adult book, On Dublin Street follows a basic formula: ordinary girl (usually with a hidden naughty side) + sexy, single eligible bachelor (usually damaged and emotionally unavailable) enter into a purely sexual agreement only to fall in love. Sorry to spoil that for you guys, but... well, its true.

But what makes this particular story special is the characters - Jocelyn is actually kind of kick ass. She's stuck in her ways and is convinced that no other way will work. She has a snarky attitude and her comebacks often made me laugh. Oh, and, she doesn't become totally obsessed with Braden when he starts paying attention to her. I loved that. And Braden? Gerard Butler - anyone?

All in all, On Dublin Street isn't anything new... but I'm kind of convinced that if you're a staunch new adult fan (I'm slowly creeping towards that), you go into these books knowing exactly what to expect. Samantha Young shines with her characters. Each has their own voice, experience believable development, and the dramatic scenes weren't over the top. This story could possibly happen... and that is like a breath of fresh air in the new adult genre.

Here's to hoping that somewhere a Braden Carmichael look alike is walking the earth. Yum.

Check out this book if you enjoyed Bared to You by Sylvia Day, Beautiful Disaster by Jamie McGuire, or Fifty Shades of Grey by E.L. James.

Steer clear if you are offended by crude language or explicit sex scenes.

Have you read On Dublin Street - let me know what you thought! If you're a new adult fan, let me know some of your favorite titles.
Introductions - C.L. Stone This review was originally published on my blog: acreads.blogspot.com. The author sent this book to me. My true rating: 3.5/5 stars.

I seriously can't figure out how I feel about this book - I certainly don't dislike it... but it was 280 pages devoted to exactly what the title says - introductions. I don't think that it was necessary to devote an entire novel to the introductions of the boys. After a while, I found myself becoming frustrated because I wanted to get to the meat of the story which unfortunately, never came. I think that I would have benefited from learning about the boys and experiencing their individual interactions with Sang in the midst of action... rather than reading a novel that felt like a long prologue.

Sang is a teen who lives in an abusive home and after becoming fed up with her parents' stifling household, she decides to run away. After living so tightly under her overbearing mother's thumb, Sang has almost zero exposure to kids her own age - and that shows. During her interactions with the boys, Sang comes off as overly fragile... so much so that I pictured her staring up at the boys with wide and admiring doe eyes. It was pretty hard for me to relate to her because of this. She was overly adoring of the boys, too apologetic and timid, and too quick to assume that she was burdensome to the guys. I don't have any problems with the boys' characters necessarily, but the sheer amount of them felt incredibly overwhelming.

Despite my hesitations about Introductions, Stone set up enough of a story that I am intrigued and I want to continue on with the series. I just want to know what the heck the Academy is!
Wither (Chemical Garden) - Lauren DeStefano I have had a pretty interesting relationship with Wither. I picked it up over a year ago - based off of the cover alone. The picture I've included above merely hints at the beauty that is Wither's cover but seriously. If you can get your hands on the book just to admire it - do so. It is gorgeous. I mean it. Props to who ever was in charge of the cover design - you deserve a raise!

But the problem started when I actually opened the book. Admittedly, dystopia is not my thing and I'm really hard pressed to like it... and I knew that going into Wither. As per usual, I read to about page 32, decided that it was not for me and set it down. I wasn't hooked by the main character, Rhine, and there were some pretty ginormous world building holes that I could not wrap my head around (I'll briefly touch upon those later). That being decided, I shut the book and decided it wasn't for me.

Now, a year later and three months into a "Clear Your Shelves" reading challenge, I decided to give Wither another shot to see if maybe my feelings had changed - and they have. For the most part.

Overall, Wither was okay. It wasn't the greatest book that I've ever read... but it wasn't the worst either. The idea behind the world that DeStefano has created is really intriguing - the human race is rapidly dying out and in a desperate attempt to repopulate, beautiful young women are sold into polygamous marriages to become baby factories (seriously, is there another polygamy book out there in YA?). But the execution of said world? Eh, not so much.

DeStefano only gives tiny glimpses of the larger world that Rhine lives in: a post-WWIII earth in which the only continent left standing is North America, everything else has been reduced to tiny islands dotting the globe. North America's survival is chalked up to being the result of America being the most technologically advanced....... which was one of the points that stopped me in my first time around with this book. I assumed that this story was supposed to be an extension of the world that we live in... a possible "what if?"... which is why this part of the world gave me pause. America? The most technologically adept and thus the best contender to survive a catastrophic world war? Lets leave time for that to sink in.

Yeah. It still doesn't make any sense... but let's just hope that it become an elaborate lie that the government fed its citizens... Which brings me to my next issue with the world building - the government or more accurately, lack of. I would assume that a country that is advanced enough to become the only place left standing after a war that reduced the rest of the world to uninhabitable islands would have a government strong enough to have a very real presence... at least big enough to stop girls (as young as 13) from being kidnapped, sold into marriages against their will, sold into prostitution, or murdered and left to rot on the side of the road. But there is nothing. Nada. No mention of any sort of government that protects its citizens... or even a government that regulates the sale of young women into these polygamous marriages. DeStefano kind of, sort of, hinted at the larger world but did not expand on any of it... which is why I felt confused and why I abandoned the story the first time.

I decided to set aside these issues and continue reading... and I was pleasantly surprised. I found DeStefano's version of America to be really intriguing. I didn't hate the story or the characters... and was actually curious to see where the story was going to end. I did not feel any strong connection with the characters (with the exception of Jenna, for some odd reason) but wanted them to be happy. The last main issue that I had with the story was the romance between Rhine and Gabriel (one of Linden's servants). I just didn't buy it - I think that a strong friendship between the two would have made more sense, allowing a possible romance to develop later on in the second or third book. I would have been more interested to see the feelings between Rhine and Linden change and develop because that was the romance that would have been believable for me.

Overall, Wither wasn't too bad. I'm hoping that the issues that I touched upon will be resolved or explained in the last two books but I won't be running out anytime soon to pick up the rest of the trilogy. I would recommend Wither to readers who enjoy YA dystopia. Just be warned - there are mild sexual allusions, polygamy, child brides, and a plot line in which a 20 year old man impregnates a 13 year old girl.
How To Get Over Your Ex - Nikki Logan Georgia Stone has been stuck in a rut... for a really long time. So, when she hears about Radio EROS's Valentine's Day promotion - propose to your significant other on air and win the wedding of your dreams (worth $50,000) - she takes it as a divine sign that its time to give her boyfriend the kick in the butt that he needs... that they both need. Unfortunately, what Georgia mistook for a rut, her boyfriend saw as a merely temporary relationship and rejects her... on air... to thousands of listeners across England.

In a desperate attempt to salvage the promotion gone wrong, produce Zander Rush proposes that Georgia spend the $50k over the course of the next year on different activities, trips, dreams that she had always wanted to do but never had the funding. The only catch? Zander will go along with her to document the entire thing for the listeners. Over the course of the year, both Georgia and Zander are forced out of their comfort zones and begin to learn a lot about themselves... and each other. And, despite being resolved to a single lifestyle for the foreseeable future, both cannot deny the growing attraction to each other...

My favorite day of the year is February 15th (and November 1st... and December 26th...) because it is filled with the magic that is discounted Valentine's Day candy. So, imagine my surprise - whilst browsing the nearly endless racks of chocolates, I stumble upon a display of another favorite of mine - books! At the risk of sounding like a snob, I'll admit that I was a wee bit hesitant when I saw the word "Harlequin" splashed across the cover... it conjured images of half naked rugged men wearing kilts groping at a women with torn blouses... but I figured, "They're only $1.54... and the covers are cute... why not?" I threw them (there are four in this particular "series") in my basket and went on my merry way.

I was not expecting much when I picked up How To Get Over Your Ex but was pleasantly surprised. The story was cute - very Valentine's Day with a chick flick kind of feel... and the characters were actually developed... not the sad cardboard cut out that I've grown used to from romance novels. The romance between Georgia and Zander was a far cry from insta-love and I particularly enjoyed the fact that it had to develop through out the story. As far as the characters go, Georgia was a nice change in that she did not lose herself in the romance or in Zander but retained her individuality. Zander was the typical damaged, sexy male lead... but there is nothing wrong with that, right?

All in all, How To Get Over Your Ex is light and fun. If you enjoy chick lit or chick flicks, definitely check it out - the U.S. list price is only $1.94 (I found my copy at K-Mart)... and you can't go wrong for $2, right? I'm looking forward to reading the rest of the titles from the Valentine's Day Survival Guide (The One That Got Away, The Downfall of a Good Girl, Hitched) and will probably read more from Harlequin Kiss in the future.
Teeth - Hannah Moskowitz This book was the weirdest, strangest, most disturbing book that I've read............

Ever?

Yes, ever. That is an accurate statement.

Most of the story of Teeth is about the relationship that grows between Rudy, the main character, and Teeth... a half fish, half boy... but throw out any thoughts or dreams of Ariel from The Little Mermaid because Teeth is not a cute merman... He is literally half of a human fused to a fish - specifically, the magical kind of fish that heals the sick on the island.

Born from a rather... disturbing (how many times am I going to use this adjective? I need a thesaurus...) encounter between his mother and one of the Enki fish, Teeth is one of a kind. He hangs on the fringes of the human world - a young boy who has sentient thoughts, emotions, a sense of humor and anger - but has no true place in the world. Teeth is either exploited in the most terrible of ways by a few of the people on the island or completely ignored, written off as an urban legend of sorts.

And when I say exploited, I mean to say raped. Repeatedly. The screams that Rudy hears during the nights? Those are Teeth's screams while he is being raped.

Hannah Moskowitz really explores the dark side of humanity in Teeth. Nearly everyone on the island knows of Teeth's existence and can probably guess that it is him screaming in the night... but no one attempts to help him, much less care to figure out why he is screaming insistently. Even Rudy, Teeth's only friend, who knows what is happening to his friend, chooses to ignore the screaming night after night... Moskowitz really called into question where we as humans draw the line between right and wrong, action and inaction.

All in all, I really enjoyed this book. It was extremely dark, haunting and made me feel physically ill at some points... but it was unique. I do not think that I will ever forget this book. Teeth is definitely not for everyone - classifying it as young adult is a serious stretch. There is some serious language (totally inappropriate for young readers) and recurring sexual violence. Proceed with caution, you've been warned!
Epic Fail - Claire LaZebnik Unfortunately for me, this book lived up to its title. Maybe that was a bit harsh... there were some points in the story that made me smile and laugh but for the most part, I was rolling my eyes. For the most part, I was disappointed by this book and a bit irritated at the stretches that the author took to make it fit as a retelling of Pride and Prejudice.

If you guys have been around my blog at all since December, you know that I have a serious love (obsession? okay, obsession) with Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice and an interest in any kind of reimagining, retelling, or spin off there is. And, for the most part, I've had a really great experience with these stories. I was so excited to see that Amazon was featuring Epic Fail as one of its monthly deals for $2.99 and immediately bought it because it was the first YA P&P story that I've come across.

Mostly, Epic Fail came off as an unrealistic contemporary romance. I felt that LaZebnik tried to force the characters and plot in certain ways so that they fit the story arc of P&P but at the same time, got a lot of it wrong. For instance, Elise's parents. Elise's dad comes off as an intellectual snob who is more concerned that his daughter is getting involved with a classmate because of his celebrity status than how she feels about the situation... where as the original Mr. Bennet ultimately cared for his daughters' well being and happiness. Elise's mom is the principal of the prestigious Coral Tree Prep who alludes to the fact that she has her doctorate in education. Rather than being a well educated and sensible woman, she often lapses into hysteria over who her daughters are dating. I felt as though LaZebnik wrote two completely different women and smashed them together to make it work as a P&P story.

Another issue (and I'll stop after this one) was what LaZebnik did with the Bingley-Jane separation story line. In the original work, Darcy and Caroline Bingley separate Charles Bingley and Jane Bennet because they believed her status to be inferior and thus unsuited for a man of his stature and also because her family was simply improper. The key here? Both Darcy and Caroline work to separate the couple. LaZebnik decided to place the whole blame on Caroline (named Chelsea). Derek/Darcy had nothing to do with it - no input, no knowledge, nothing... and this really turned me off from the story. The beauty of Pride and Prejudice is that both Lizzy and Darcy begin as flawed and make serious mistakes, work through them all, experience a ton of growth, and ultimately come back together as better versions of themselves thanks to the other. By altering the original story so much, LaZebnik totally lost the growth that could have occurred... and I hate to say it, but the story often felt two dimensional because of it.

Overall, it was an okay book. If you're looking for a good Pride and Prejudice retelling, I wouldn't recommend this one... and I think that was my biggest problem. I went into this book expecting one thing and did not have an open mind to it. It was not terrible... it just wasn't for me. I think that young audiences who are looking for a way to get into the Pride and Prejudice story would probably benefit most from it - just remember that the characters are very loosely based on the originals!
The DUFF: Designated Ugly Fat Friend - Kody Keplinger (Originally posted on my blog...)

I was completely blown away by this book. I have never been able to relate to a main character more than I was able to relate to Bianca Piper. In fact, I felt as though I was reading about the seventeen year old version of myself (except that I'd be hard pressed to go to a dance club with my friends at all...). I know that contemporary isn't the most popular genre in the Young Adult universe but if you're looking to try it out - please give this book a shot.

First, a few things that I didn't like about this book...
Okay, I've been wracking my brain. And there isn't anything specific that I would have changed about this book... but for some reason, it wasn't a favorite for me. I loved the characters - I appreciated how realistic they were... I enjoyed that Kody Keplinger used this story to address some very real and relevant issues and came to a conclusion that wasn't cheesey or a "Believe In Yourself!" motivational poster. But for some reason, it felt... lacking. I don't know why.
But again, the good far out weighed the bad. First and foremost - to my knowledge, The DUFF is a stand alone. Thank you, thank you, thank YOU, Kody Keplinger. I have been craving a really good stand alone novel for a really long time... and this delivered.

Secondly, like I stated before, Bianca was a very believable character. Her struggles were very real and her growth was fitting. I have felt like the "designated ugly fat friend" more times that I would like to admit (even now that I am an adult) and so I felt so sad for Bianca. Most of the time, Bianca was searching for an ulterior motive behind the actions of most of the people in her life and refused to accept that she was worthy of the love that she was receiving. I could see so much of myself in her and because of it, Bianca was sometimes infuriating... but it was refreshing to encounter a character who was able to get a rise out of me for reasons other than being a total Bella Swan.

Lastly, I enjoyed that the romance between Bianca and Wesley was very... interesting. I appreciated that it was not a typical YA love story and enjoyed that the chemistry between the two felt natural. I am still not entirely sure how I feel about the way that Keplinger used sex....... while Bianca and Wesley engaged in their relationship to fill the gaps in their lives, I felt as though the sexual relationships in the story were cheapened. I'm going to stop this particular topic here, though... as I don't want to open a can of worms that I'm unprepared for! (If you've read this book, I'm curious about your thoughts on this topic... let me know in the comments!)

I definitely enjoyed this book and will be open to reading more books by Keplinger. I would recommend this to an older teen audience looking for good contemporary YA. There is a lot of sex in this book... and some pretty foul language at times so I wouldn't recommend it to any middle grade aged readers (is that a real sentence?)
Obsidian - Jennifer L. Armentrout I picked up (er, bought on my Kindle) Obsidian only because Amazon was selling it for $1.99 as a Daily Deal about a month ago. I had heard so many wonderful things about the series... and everyone seemed to be going crazy over Daemon Black (think: Edward/Jacob type craze) so I figured, why not? At best, this book will be an entertaining Twilight-esque paranormal romance... and at worst, I've only wasted $1.99.

Holy freaking crap was I wrong - I loved this book! Almost* everything about it pulled me in... because it had everything that I always found lacking in YA paranormal romance:
The main character acts her age - Katy is a typical high school student. Her behavior, her interests, and her internal dialogue reflect that. At several parts in the story, Katy acted incredibly immature when she was ticked off and I was totally okay with that. Why? Because she is seventeen years old. I often find that many YA main characters are adults trapped in the bodies of high school students and, while I do very much appreciate maturity in teenagers, it was a breath of fresh air to see Katy acting her age.
The romance felt real - Katy didn't lay eyes on Daemon and immediately offer herself to him. Heck, (SPOILER) they didn't even get together by the end of Obsidian. Although she felt attracted to him, he was also a serious ass to her... and she didn't let that go just because he was hot and started paying attention to her.
There was no love triangle. Obsidian should get a gold medal for this fact alone. There were bigger plot points at play during Obsidian and Katy didn't let herself become too distracted by one hot guy... let alone two. (Before you say it - no, I'm not forgetting about Simon... but would you actually consider him a love triangle? I don't!)
All in all, Obsidian was a really fun read. I often found myself laughing out loud at the interactions between Katy and Daemon, and also at Katy's internal dialogue. It was the type of book that I would tell myself, "Okay, one more chapter..." and end up reading five. If you're a fan of paranormal romances (or books along the lines of Twilight) definitely check it out. I don't think that you'll be disappointed.

*The two major problems that I had with Obsidian:
Daemon using "Kitten" as a pet name for Katy. I. Hated. That. I hated it more than Anastasia Steele calling her subconscious "my inner goddess."
Katy's name. Is it pronounced Katie? Because she was often referred to as Kat... I don't know! This wasn't a "major problem" but it really bugged me.
Matched - Ally Condie Much like with Divergent and Delirium, I'm finding that I may not actually dislike YA dystopian as much as I previously thought. I was pleasantly surprised by Matched - I wasn't expecting to enjoy it as much as I did and was even more surprised to find that I want to continue on with the series (just waiting on Crossed to drop in price...).

I did have a few problems with Matched -
The importance of the poetry felt slightly forced at times. In Cassia's world, the Society has decided to destroy all poetry, all music, and all pieces of art except for 100 selections from each category. Cassia comes across a poem that was previously thought destroyed and it sort of becomes her mantra. Now, I'm all for references to literature and poetry in YA books, but this just felt... like Ally Condie was trying to shove it down our throats. I think that she could have demonstrated Cassia's obsession with poetry in a much more believable way.
The love triangle aspect. I would love to read a really, really amazing YA book that does not have a love triangle! I feel like the idea has been cheapened because it is used so often through out the genre. I would have much preferred if Cassia had not known Xander and fell in love with Ky... The story could have progressed at the same rate without dragging a messy love triangle into it.
But, the good far outweighed the bad. I found that I enjoyed Cassia's character - she was seriously conflicted about her situation and battled with it up until the end of the book. I enjoyed seeing the different aspects of her family as well. No one seemed to 100% accept the rules of Society... each person had their quiet rebellion going on and Condie was able to work that into the story without it becoming unbelievable and ridiculous. I also appreciated the world building - Condie built a world that we still don't know much about but it didn't feel flat or one dimensional to me. I really look forward to seeing where the story goes!

I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys romance and isn't entirely sure about dystopian books. Matched is definitely dystopian but I think that it would be a good starting point if you're trying to get your feet wet.
Messenger - Lois Lowry he contents of this particular book should have been the one to answer the most questions that I had regarding Son. Messenger introduces the almost utopia to which Jonas and Gabe flee to at the end of The Giver, and the place that Claire journeys to in pursuit of her son. We are offered the closest semblance of a utopia in a world of dystopias... This is also the story in which Trade Master is introduced. However (and this is a big however), I really think that this book would have functioned better as a short story. I could not connect with Matty's character and I don't think that Trade Master played a big enough part to be the villian of Son. The primary message (in my humble opinion) is that, where humans are concerned, there will be corruption... and I really don't think that Lowry needed an entire novella to accomplish this and set the scene for the "afters" of the previous two books. Lois Lowry also added a pretty big magical element to this book - which she expands upon in Son. Although Lowry set up the beginnings of a sort of magic in Gathering Blue, the amount that existed in Messenger seemed totally unbelievable. Messenger simply felt too different from The Giver for me to care about it as a part of a series from a beloved book.