Hi Elementareaders!
I've decided to take a break from my blog for a bit. I'm not going to go too much into why, but I'm not too well at the moment and I'm finding it difficult to write decent reviews that do the books I'm reading justice.
I'm not too sure how long I'll be gone for, but I reckon it'll be a few months - a year as I want to concentrate on improving my health.
If you wish to keep updated on what I'm reading in the meantime, please follow me on Goodreads. I'll be posting much shorter reviews for some books that I'm reading on there.
Thank you to everyone who has been reading my reviews and supporting my blog! Bye for now :)
Friday 11 March 2016
Friday 5 February 2016
REVIEW 'The Catalyst' by Helena Coggan
Goodreads Synopsis:
"Rose Elmsworth has a secret. For eighteen years, the world has been divided into the magically Gifted and the non-magical Ashkind, but Rose's identity is far more dangerous. At fifteen, she has earned herself a place alongside her father in the Department, a brutal law-enforcement organisation run by the Gifted to control the Ashkind. But now an old enemy is threatening to start a catastrophic war, and Rose faces a challenging test of her loyalties. How much does she really know about her father's past? How far is the Department willing to go to keep the peace? And, if the time comes, will Rose choose to protect her secret, or the people she loves?"
4****
Hi Elementareaders!
‘The Catalyst’ by Helena Coggan is a young adult dystopian novel set in a future where Angels have fused their souls with humans and given some of them extraordinary powers.
This book is set eighteen years after the Veilbreak when the Angels first crossed into our world. They split the population into two groups; Gifted and Ashkind. The Gifted have green eyes, in various shades based on their magical capabilities, whereas the Ashkind have grey eyes and possess no magic. There are also the Angels, those with the brightest green eyes and the most powerful who rule the government, and the Demons, those with pure black eyes who are feared by everyone. Then there are the Hybrids, who every six weeks would change into a terrifying monster and kill uncontrollably. During the first War of the Angels the Ashkind were shunted by society, but now the two races live in relative peace.
Rose Elmsworth is a fifteen-year-old Gifted girl about to take the test that will determine whether she is allowed to keep her gifts or not. All young Gifted take this test and those who fail have their powers Leeched, and are seen as lower down than the Ashkind. Rose is the daughter of David Elmsworth, a high ranking official in the Department (London’s law enforcement) and is expected to pass with no problems. But Rose and David have a secret and they’re terrified that someone is going to find out.
They also have bigger fish to contend with. Rose is being blackmailed by someone who knows their secret, The Gospel, and anti-Ashkind group, are making threats to the government and an underground Ashkind army known as Regency and led by a terrifying Hybrid are threatening war. Can Rose and her loved ones survive all this unscathed?
I thought this was a fantastic debut novel by a very talented young author. I really liked that the main character of a fifteen-year-old girl was actually written by a fifteen-year-old girl. Most YA authors are at least a decade older than their main characters so I feel like Helena’s character had more authenticity. Despite her age, the writing is brilliant and it had the feel of being written by a more experienced author. Her vocabulary and way of wording things were fantastic and the story flowed really well. My only criticism is that I found the history of the Angels and some parts of the plot a bit confusing and difficult to follow, but I worked it all out later on.
This was a very interesting concept and I’d love to find out more about this dystopian future so I’m hoping that Helena will write a sequel. I’ll definitely be looking out for more of her work to she how her writing progresses as she gets older!
I would give this book 4 stars :)
Places to buy:
Amazon UK
Amazon US
The Book Depository (free shipping worldwide!)
Or check your local library to borrow a copy!
Find Helena Coggan on:
helenacoggan.wordpress.com
Goodreads
Saturday 30 January 2016
REVIEW 'Demon Bound' by David Parkland
Goodreads Synopsis:
""Ladies and Gentlemen, we are Marris and Wade, purveyors of the impossible! We have delights to bedazzle you, wonders to inspire you and terrors to haunt your bladders! For just a few coins, let us transport you away from your sleepy lives to the furthest edges of the world."
“Roll up, Ladies and Gentlemen! Forget the daily drudgery, suspend your disbelief and let your imagination run riot!”
They came home from the war with only the clothes on their backs and the echoes of cannon in their ears. Marris, the quiet one, had lied about his age to join Wellington’s Army. Wade had cheated and gambled his way out from the gutters of London to secure his place as the Regiment’s lucky talisman, so blessed by good fortune that grown men would fall over themselves to touch his golden hair before stepping into battle.
Wade never lost a bet. Everyone knew it, even General Wellington. The Lucky Drummer was touched by magic.
But magic in the fog of the battlefield and magic in sleepy Yorkshire hamlets are very different things. Words have a terrible power, and people are fragile. It isn’t easy being a charlatan when every word you say comes true.
Demon Bound (Marris and Wade book 1) is a vibrant Gothic fantasy of demons in petticoats, big dance numbers, silver-tongued rascals in top hats, love, loyalty and lies."
5*****
Hi Elementareaders!
‘Demon Bound’ by David Parkland is a fantasy novel set in the 1800’s and is jam packed full of demons, magic and time travel. I was lucky enough to receive a signed copy of this book to review via Goodreads Giveaways.
Marris and Wade are two best friends who met as drummers during the war and now live a comfortable life as carters for a warehouse in Yorkshire. But at the beginning of the book the warehouse burns down and they are suddenly left jobless. Marris wants to find another job in the village but Wade is much more ambitious and creates a sign declaring them as “Marris and Wade, Est 1818, Purveyors of the Impossible”. His plan is to travel around exchanging fanciful stories for money to make their fortune.
But things go terribly wrong when their stories start coming true and people get hurt. And who is this mysterious Orville Long who keeps turning up to investigate after they’ve moved on?
I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this book when I started reading it but right from page one I was completely hooked. The writing style is so fantastic and so easy to read that I kept wanting to carry on and ended up reading the whole book very quickly!
I love Marris and Wade as characters. Wade is convinced that his words carry power but instead of being careful with them he uses them to try and help people, usually with disastrous consequences. After one tragedy too many he goes a bit off the rails, and Marris (the clear-headed, kinder one) is there to pull him back. Orville Long is also a brilliant character. He’s very mysterious and I’d have loved to have found out a bit more about where he came from and how he came into his trade.
I think the book I read wasn’t quite the finished version, and what I read was so fantastic that I can only imagine the finished edition is even more so. I would definitely like to read more of David’s work in the future!
I would give this book 5 stars :)
Places to buy:
Amazon UK
Amazon US
Find David Parkland on:
davidparkland.com
Goodreads
Wednesday 27 January 2016
REVIEW 'Champion' (Legend #3) by Marie Lu
Goodreads Synopsis:
"June and Day have sacrificed so much for the people of the Republic - and each other - and now their country is on the brink of a new peaceful existence. June is back in the good graces of the Republic, working within the government's elite circles while Day has been assigned a high level military position."
5*****
THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR THE FIRST TWO BOOKS IN THIS SERIES. Click on the links to read my reviews of ‘LEGEND’ and ‘PRODIGY’
Hi Elementareaders!
‘Champion’ is the third and final book in the ‘Legend’ trilogy by Marie Lu. This is a young adult dystopian series about a group of youngsters trying to change their government for the better. This review contains spoilers for the first two books in this series.
At the end of ‘Prodigy’ Day finds out that he has an abnormality on his brain from the experiments that the Republic performed on him when he was ten, and that he is dying. To protect June, he doesn’t tell her about this but breaks up with her and he and his brother Eden move to San Francisco. ‘Champion’ picks up eight months later.
June is still in Denver training to be one of the Electors Princeps-Elects and Day is in San Francisco receiving treatments that will hopefully shrink the problem area in his brain enough to be removed. The two have not spoken for eight months, when June calls Day out of the blue asking him to return to Denver for an urgent meeting. It turns out that the plague that Eden was carrying got let out into the Colonies and now the Colonies are threatening war unless the Republic delivers a cure… fast.
But the problem is, they don’t have a cure. The only way of creating one would be to experiment on the original carrier of the plague, Eden. Day is still very angry about the way the old Republic treated him and his family so flat out refuses to let them experiment on his only remaining brother, especially as they can not guarantee Eden’s safety. Will June be able to change his mind before a full blown war breaks out?
This book was a fantastic conclusion to a brilliant trilogy! Although ‘Champion’ focuses more on the political side of things it was still full of action and very fast paced. The two main characters are a little older now, and I enjoyed seeing them maturing and developing.
The end few chapters had me on an emotional rollercoaster. I think my brain went something like “Oh no!!” to “Yay!” to “NO FREAKING WAY” then “Ah, ok then”. Although feeling emotionally exhausted by the end it was really bittersweet and I think it wrapped up the trilogy nicely.
These are a fantastic set of books and I’m looking forward to reading more of Marie Lu’s work in the future.
I would give this book 5 stars :)
Places to buy:
Amazon UK
Amazon US
The Book Depository (free shipping worldwide!)
Find Marie Lu on:
marielu.org
Goodreads
Saturday 23 January 2016
REVIEW 'Prodigy' (Legend #2) by Marie Lu
Goodreads Synopsis:
"Injured and on the run, it has been seven days since June and Day barely escaped Los Angeles and the Republic with their lives. Day is believed dead having lost his own brother to an execution squad who thought they were assassinating him. June is now the Republic's most wanted traitor. Desperate for help, they turn to the Patriots - a vigilante rebel group sworn to bring down the Republic. But can they trust them or have they unwittingly become pawns in the most terrifying of political games?"
5*****
THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR THE FIRST BOOK IN THIS SERIES. To read my review of ‘Legend’ click HERE
Hi Elementareaders!
‘Prodigy’ my Marie Lu is the second book in the young adult dystopian ‘Legend’ trilogy. This review contains spoilers for the first book in this series.
At the end of the previous book the Patriots helped June, a Republic soldier who found out some rather unpleasant things about her government, and Day, a boy from the slums who fights the Republic on his own, escape from Day’s execution. We next see these two characters on board a train, hitching a ride to Las Vegas where they hope to meet up with the leader of the Patriots to ask for help.
Day is seriously injured with an infected gun wound in his leg and won’t last much longer without surgery. When they arrive in the city they find out that the Elector Primo has died and his twenty-year-old son, Anden, has taken his place. Finding the Patriots in the militarised city isn’t too difficult, but in return for fixing Day’s leg and helping Day’s brother, Eden, escape they ask a rather large favour. June and Day must pledge their allegiance to the Patriots and help assassinate the new Elector.
But while June is undercover, trying to win his trust, she discovers that Anden has very different views on how to run the Republic than his father, and maybe keeping him in power might be for the best.
This was a fantastic follow up to the first book. I fell in love with this dystopian world in ‘Legend’ and I thought that ‘Prodigy’ brought the story forward really well. The writing was brilliant and the story very fast-paced.
I really enjoyed June and Day’s character development. June’s struggle with giving up her entire world for a boy she has only just met felt very realistic and Day’s passion for protecting what’s left of his family felt way more intense in this book.
I’m looking forward to seeing how the story concludes and can’t wait to begin book three!
I would give this book 5 stars :)
Places to buy:
Amazon UK
Amazon US
The Book Depository (free shipping worldwide!)
Find Marie Lu on:
marielu.org
Goodreads
Thursday 21 January 2016
REVIEW 'Legend' by Marie Lu
Goodreads Synopsis:
"What was once the western United States is now home to the Republic, a nation perpetually at war with its neighbors.
Born into an elite family in one of the Republic's wealthiest districts, fifteen-year-old June is a prodigy being groomed for success in the Republic's highest military circles.
Born into the slums, fifteen-year-old Day is the country's most wanted criminal. But his motives may not be as malicious as they seem.
From very different worlds, June and Day have no reason to cross paths - until the day June's brother, Metias, is murdered and Day becomes the prime suspect.
Caught in the ultimate game of cat and mouse, Day is in a race for his family's survival, while June seeks to avenge Metias's death. But in a shocking turn of events, the two uncover the truth of what has really brought them together, and the sinister lengths their country will go to keep its secrets."
5*****
Hi Elementareaders!
‘Legend’ is the first book in a young adult dystopian trilogy by Marie Lu.
In a futuristic America the military Republic rules over the people. At the age of ten all citizens take a trial and their score decides where they get to finish school and what job they can have. In the poor sectors most people score between 1000 and 1249 and they end up with the rubbish jobs that no-one really wants to do. The rich tend to score higher, between 1250 and 1499 and they get jobs in the military or the government. Score below 1000 and you fail and are sent off to a labour camp. Very few get the perfect score of 1500.
June is one of those few. At fifteen years old she is at a top university and is likely to graduate ahead of all her peers. Her older brother, Metias, has high hopes for her in the military. Day is the opposite of June. He failed his trial but escaped from the labour camp and has been living in the slums since. But he has kept busy, independently fighting against the Republic by destroying vehicles and generally causing trouble. Although he always makes sure that no-one gets hurt in his escapades, he is one of the Republic’s most wanted criminals.
Day’s younger brother, Eden, falls sick with the plague and Day breaks into a hospital to steal a cure (which they have run out of), but during his escape he injures Metias who is on patrol. But when the news reaches June, Metias has been killed and she is suddenly graduated early from university and put on a team to capture Day. She goes undercover in the slums to draw him out, but when she meets him he’s not quite as she expected. After strongly denying that he killed her brother, June begins to question whether the Republic is quite as perfect as she has been led to believe.
I’d been wanting to read these books for a while so I was thrilled when I got the trilogy for Christmas, and the first book certainly didn’t disappoint! I loved the story and the characters, and the writing just flowed so well.
The book is written in first person from Day and June’s perspectives in alternating chapters. Both these characters have been brought up very differently, believing very different things so it was great to see this dystopian world from both points of view. I really liked how Day, a boy who June had been led to believe was the worst kind of criminal, managed to make June see her perfect Republic from another perspective.
I really enjoyed the first book and I’m looking forward to carrying on with the trilogy.
I would give this book 5 stars :)
Places to buy:
Amazon UK
Amazon US
The Book Depository (free shipping worldwide!)
Audible.com
Find Marie Lu on:
marielu.org
Goodreads
Monday 18 January 2016
REVIEW 'All I Know Now' by Carrie Hope Fletcher
Goodreads Synopsis:
"I pushed and persevered through the crap all teenagers go through - the bullying, the boys, the peer pressure, the friends, the enemies, the frenemies... Now I'm here, watching you guys go through almost identical experiences; trapped on the wrong side of a computer screen. Helpless... Until now."
5*****
Hi Elementareaders!
‘All I Know Now’ by Carrie Hope Fletcher is a part memoir and part guide to getting through life for teens and young adults. Carrie is a singer, actress and successful vlogger with over 600,000 subscribers on YouTube.
Carrie first came to my attention around this time last year when I saw one of her covers on YouTube. I think it was ‘Defying Gravity’ or ‘On My Own’ (two fantastic songs from amazing musicals!) I fell in love with her personality then clicked on her channel and found out she vlogged too and immediately hit the subscribe button.
The majority of Carrie’s subscribers are teenage girls so to them I suppose she’s a bit like a big sister, to give advice about growing up. I'm a couple of years older than Carrie, but I kind of feel like she’s ‘lived’ more than me (if that makes sense!) and I think that anyone in their twenties could learn from her.
Carrie’s book is mainly a guide for growing up, learning from your mistakes and journeying into adulthood. She has also added some of her experiences into the book as examples, which I think is a really great way to get a point across and be really relatable as a human being. Some of my favourite chapters were ‘Happy and Healthy’, ‘Dating Myself’ and the whole ‘Internet’ section. But all the chapters were fantastic and packed full of useful real-world advice that anyone can put into practice.
I really liked the layout of the book. The contents page is set out like a theatre programme which I thought was a really nice touch. The chapters are short and concise; every paragraph has tons of information and there’s no useless waffle or repetition at all. The little illustrations by Carrie herself that were dotted throughout were very cute, and I liked that the chapter titles were in Carrie’s handwriting. I loved the addition of the resources at the back, telling youngsters exactly where and how they can get help if they need it. I feel like this is a book that I may go back to again and again, so the addition of the contents page will be really useful for that. I got the Waterstones exclusive edition which also has a couple of bonus chapters at the back, and an extract from Carrie’s novel, ‘On the Other Side’ which is out later this year.
I love how much Carrie’s bubbly and cheerful personality came through in the writing, even when addressing more serious topics. It wasn’t difficult to read the book in her voice, and as a result it flowed really well and I found myself reading large chunks at a time.
Although this book is aimed at teenagers and young adults I think that any fan of Carrie’s would enjoy it. I’m really looking forward to Carrie’s novel and I hope she continues to write in the future!
I would give this book 5 stars :)
Places to buy:
Amazon UK
Amazon US
The Book Depository (free shipping worldwide!)
Audible.com
Waterstones (Exclusive Edition)
Find Carrie Hope Fletcher on:
alliknownow.com
YouTube
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Goodreads
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