Review: Dead Rules

Author: Randy Russel

Pages: 376

Publisher: HarperTeen

Source: Library

Synopsis: When Jana Webster dies in a tragic accident, she finds herself transferred to 'Dead School' in the afterlife, where students fall into distinct cliques. Risers (good kids who died innocently), Sliders (bad kids, who have one foot tied to earth) and Virgins (there are fewer than Jana would expect). Jana's boyfriend and love of her life - Michael - is still in the land of the living. Michael is Romeo to Jana's Juliet and as the story goes...even death can't keep them apart. Tired of waiting for him to kill himself over his grief of losing her, Jana decides she needs to do it for him. To kill Michael she'll need the help of a dangerous and sexy Slider - Mars Dreamcoate. But Mars has a goal of his own: he wants to save a life to atone for having taken one in a drunk-driving accident. And to complicate matters, he was trying to save Jana when she died and saw what was really going on when her 'accident' happened. Jana decides to do whatever it takes to get Michael back, and nothing - not even Mars' warm touch or the devastating secret he holds about her death - will stop her.

Buy the Book (Amazon/ The Book Depository)

Dead Rules took me by surprise. I loved it! The characters made realistic choices, the story was interesting and the whole concept is one I'd love to revisit.

Jane loves Michael a lot. So much that she doesn't want to be dead without him. She'd rather he join her at dead school. That only made me like Jane. She was different. Some characters in books are so heroic and perfect that while I admire them and think they awesome, I'm intimidated by how good they are. Having a character like Jane who was good but wanted this over everything was refreshing. Jane was so unique and determined. She was ruthless to get what she wanted. I won't forget about this girl.

The plot itself wasn't too complicated. Somehow it was addictive though. The story wraps itself up at the end and it's satisfying, but it leaves you wanting more. I want to know more about Mars and the sliders and how they're different compared to the Risers. I wouldn't object to a short story.

There is a fair deal of darkness here too. Dead Rules makes you think of love, following the rules and morality. I loved that part. The story wasn't very unpredictable but I liked it a lot. Something about it hooked me in... Very readable.

Overall, Dead Rules is awesome, fun and entertaining. Teenage love, death, redemption, all the good stuff can be found here. 4 stars,

****

My New Blog Look... What do you think?

Most people know how I love pretty things. That's why I have a feature just for pretty books, called Cover Wars. I also like new things. I got the bird design a while back and I thought it was beautiful. However, it's summer now and I really wanted to change things up. So now, I downloaded the "lemon" template from my favourite website for blog designs EVER, The Cutest Blog on the Block. Check them out- they have some really awesome stuff.

I love this design. I love how clean it is, and I have always loved high contrast designs. I started off with a black and hot pink design. Then I moved on to a more red and blue design. Now I'm on to a yellow design.

What do you guys think? Do you like it? Do you have any blog design sites you love?

Review: Twisted

Author: Sara Shepard
Pages: 320
Publisher: HarperTeen
Source: Library
Series: Pretty Little Liars (#9)
Synopsis: It’s been a year since the torturous notes from A stopped and the mystery of Alison DiLaurentis’s disappearance was finally put to rest. Now seniors in high school, Aria, Spencer, Hanna and Emily are older, but they’re not any wiser. The Pretty Little Liars have more secrets than ever - twisted secrets that could destroy the perfect lives they’ve worked so hard to rebuild. 


Aria’s jealous of her boyfriend’s new exchange student. Spencer’s getting a little too cozy with her soon-to-be-stepbrother. Hanna’s one scandalous photo away from ruining her dad’s Senate campaign. And Emily will do anything to get a swim scholarship. 


Worst of all: Last spring break in Jamaica, they did something unforgivable. The girls are desperate to forget that fateful night, but they should know better than anyone that all secrets wash ashore … eventually.


Buy the Book (Amazon/The Book Depository)

Sara Shepard has a Twisted mind (hahaha... Yeah, not that funny). The drama in these books are unbelievable.

I know what you're thinking. I thought the same thing. A ninth book? But everything was closed off in the eighth! What else could possibly happen? This is ridiculous! Is there even a genuine story?

And I'll say that to enjoy this book, you're going to have to let go of some things. Let go of any preconceptions that Pretty Little Liars is realistic. Expect the unexpected. Don't even think "That's not possible!" because, it is. Ignore the need for characters to stop behaving the way they do and creating huge trouble for themselves. That trouble is what the story is based on. And as all the fans know, reading about the drama is an addictive, guilty pleasure. Accept the books for what they are: entertaining, fun, surprising.

That doesn't all come without a price though. This series has gone way down my list from being well thought out to amusing, to quick entertainment. It could have been so much more... But I should follow my own advice and accept the books for what they are.

Twisted begins with this huge secret that you don't know which was driving me insane. Curiosity was killing me. There were tantalizing little hints but not until later on do we fully piece what happened and still then we're left astounded. The plot is a bit slow and it seems like pointless drama for a bit till we get to the end and a revelation appears.

I have to say, I lost respect and faith in Spencer, Emily, Aria and Hanna. I thought these girls were capable of taking the good things they had and not messing up. They're good people- why can't that translate into actions? That wouldn't make much of a story though. I was frustrated with the way they all made decisions in Twisted.

I like these books. They're not the most eloquently written, not the most haunting story, but they're easy to read and make a great tv show. I say if you've read all the previous books, why not read one more? 3 stars,

***

Cover Wars: What's Left of Me vs. Disenchanted

Cover Wars is when I post two covers, and you basically get a week to vote for your favourite. The winner continues on to next week, and it's kind of cool seeing which covers work and which don't. In the comments section we can discuss what we like about what cover, and it's basically some fun and friendly competition.

Last week, What's Left of Me managed a win against the almost unbeatable Want, propelling Kat Zhang's book to this week's competition. And the competition is tough. Disenchanted by Sherry Soule is hear to challenge. Which cover do you prefer?

vs

Let the Cover Wars... begin!!!!

Wait! Don't leave yet! Remember to vote on the right, and then leave a comment about why your chosen cover is the best. 


Thanks for visiting and have a great week!

The Weekly Progress

So last week was kind of a "holiday". I spent a lot of time with my family and didn't blog as much as I should have. No problem though, since I did read a decent amount, plus I cleaned up my email. (I had requests dating back from February so I needed that.) All book covers link to Goodreads.

Books Read

Of those, my favourites would probably be Ashes, Impulse and Beauty Queens in that exact order. I have reviews for Ashes, Beauty Queens, and Dark Angel. Maybe Gilt too, but I can't seem to remember if I wrote about it.

Currently Reading

I'm on the first chapter and I'm curious about this book. I've seen good and bad reviews, so hopefully I'll enjoy it. 

Next I'll Be Reading 

Sounds good right?! 

I also wrote a post on beauty in YA and I'd love to hear your thoughts on it.

It was a pretty good book reading week so hopefully this week will be a better book blogging week. Have a great week everyone! 

Thoughts on: Beautiful People in Books (And Love!)

You know how it seems like almost every YA book features a romance involving two (sometimes three) stunning characters? Ever read a book and thought, why do these people not look normal? Why can't they be ugly!

Well, I read a book I enjoyed. After rating the book on Goodreads and writing my review, I looked around to see others' reactions to the book. One person said something very interesting: why can't that guy the main character likes be ugly? Why does he have to be hot?

That made sense in a way. I mean, the world is not filled with stunningly attractive people. At the same time though, and I may not know too much about this, but don't you have to be attracted to the person you love? Don't you have to think they're beautiful? Can you be in a real relationship with someone whom you consider ugly?

I'm not being superficial here. I'm saying that some people, you look at them and think "Damn, that's hot." But others, maybe you'll notice they have great eyes or hair. There will be initial attraction. From there, don't people in love usually notice all the great things about their partner after they got to know their personality? So of course, in a story that is told in the biased perspective of one fallen-in-love character, there are beautiful people.

Would you call your (good) friends ugly? I wouldn't. So maybe that's why there aren't so many real "ugly" characters in books. It's hard to imagine an ugly character, and unless it's some kind of enemy. The main character usually perceives their loved ones as beautiful. That doesn't mean they are the drop dead gorgeous model some people imagine in their heads- it just means that they are beautiful to the characters, and from there the reader gives them a look based on their own definition of beauty.

*all images were pertained from the awesome website, http://www.sxc.hu/

What do you guys think of that? Agree, disagree, is this completely wrong? 

Review: Those That Wake

Author: Jesse Karp
Pages: 336
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Source: Library
Synopsis: New York City’s spirit has been crushed. People walk the streets with their heads down, withdrawing from one another and into the cold comfort of technology. Teenagers Mal and Laura have grown up in this reality. They’ve never met. Seemingly, they never will. 


But on the same day Mal learns his brother has disappeared, Laura discovers her parents have forgotten her. Both begin a search for their families that leads them to the same truth: someone or something has wiped the teens from the memories of every person they have ever known. Thrown together, Mal and Laura must find common ground as they attempt to reclaim their pasts.

Buy the Book (Amazon/The Book Depository)

Those That Wake has the appearance of a book about zombies but, you should know, it isn't. The book is instead about helplessness and fighting it.

To be honest, after finishing the last page my reaction was "What happened?" I was thoroughly confused. I couldn't really grasp the concept Jesse Karp was using so many things had me puzzled. I read one passage three or four times and still didn't understand what was going on. Maybe someone else will understand or there could have been better explanations. You had to pay very very close attention to understand what was going on and I honestly wasn't willing to put that much effort in a book I had hoped would entertain me.

The characters... What can I say? I didn't actively like any of them. I thought they ranged from "I hate them" to "normal." I just couldn't seem to connect with them or what they did. For example, the "romance." It didn't make sense. It wasn't needed. Does all it take for love to appear is a girl to see a guy? There wasn't any foreplay. No one ever questioned their feelings. They just felt protective from the start. I couldn't understand it.

The world building wasn't really amazing. I couldn't tell if this world was supposed to be a near future or an advanced future. They referenced 9/11 so it could be near but based on how people were so technologically advanced I really don't know. We were told people never looked up from screens. Besides a few events, I couldn't really picture the New York in Those That Wake.

You may have gotten the impression I wasn't too impressed by Those That Wake,but there were good things. A lot of cool stuff happened like Laura being forgotten and having to deal with that. The characters' backgrounds were also interesting. Those That Wake make you want to stop using the Internet and testing all the time and instead look around the world. It also raises awareness of media's influences.

This book wasn't the book for me. I couldn't get into it, I didn't find myself liking the characters, the plot confused me... Definitely not for me. I'm sure someone else may enjoy this book. If Sci-fi with conspiracies against media and corporations is your thing, you'll probably like this. 2 stars,

**