Reached

Reached by Ally Condie is the last book in the Matched Trilogy (eep!).

(Summary from Goodreads)

After leaving Society to desperately seek The Rising, and each other, Cassia and Ky have found what they were looking for, but at the cost of losing each other yet again. Cassia is assigned undercover in Central city, Ky outside the borders, an airship pilot with Indie. Xander is a medic, with a secret. All too soon, everything shifts again.

10/10 Oh gosh. Oh my gosh. This was my favorite book after I read it. It was one of those books that sits in the back of my mind days after I finish it, and I'm mourning the loss of a story that I loved so much...this happens a lot with final books. I'm reading The Fault in Our Stars right now though, and it's a close contender, (I'm not here to talk about that right now) but I really wanna read Reached again. Condie really stepped it up in this book. It was beautifully written, the type of writing that I wish I was capable of (or will be someday). I really enjoyed this book...all 512 pages of it--which brings me to my next point. The only thing not positive I have to say about this book is that the first 300 pages or so seemed like mostly filler. I mean, I didn't get bored reading the first half of the book or anything, but in retrospect, I felt like the beginning was pale in comparison to the ending. Matched is my favorite out of the three for that reason, but Reached is by far the most beautifully written. Oh and I loved the tri-perspective with Xander.

SPOILER ALERT SPOILER ALERT SPOILER ALERT
This is the last book of a trilogy, so of course I have to talk about the ending and all of the surprises.

 Hey, well I saw this neat idea thing on some other book blog and just highlight the text to see the spoilers. (genius)

Okay well, Cassia ended up with Ky, which is no surprise. I mean, c'mon, Xander said it himself in the book that why would Cassia choose someone who was chosen for her. I felt so bad for Xander during the story, but I was so glad that he ended up with Lei (I never would've guessed her true identity). I personally never really shipped the whole "Xander Indie" thing. Okay Indie. I CAN'T BELIEVE INDIE DIED SHE WAS MY FAVORITE CHARACTER. NO. JUST NO. Condie really surprised me on some things, like how it turned out Cassia sorted for her own Banquet. She did a really good job with tying everything together, such as the "Red Garden Day". Like whoa. The ending was beautiful. It was amazing. It was breathtaking. I also felt pretty satisfied...the only things that I wanted tied up were Hunter, and who wins the vote. But, I was satisfied, and sad that the journey had to come to a close, but I couldn't have asked for a better final book. 

  

(End spoilers) 

♥Skittlez

I'm Back!! && The Book Thief

Hello peoples!! It's been quite a while, but after my last post, I got somewhat busy...my cousin came over, I had tennis tryouts and practices, and of course, school started which has just swamped me with all sorts of work and stuff. I'm trying to start reading again though, and hopefully posting more reviews for you guys!!

By the way, just saying, I read The Book Thief over the summer as my "pre-course reading assignment"...after that I don't remember reading much that wasn't for school.

(Summary from Good Reads)

It’s just a small story really, about among other things: a girl, some words, an accordionist, some fanatical Germans, a Jewish fist-fighter, and quite a lot of thievery....

Narrated by Death, Markus Zusak’s groundbreaking new novel is the story of Liesel Meminger, a young foster girl living outside of Munich in Nazi Germany. Liesel scratches out a meager existence for herself by stealing when she encounters something she can’t resist – books. Soon she is stealing books from Nazi book-burnings, the mayor's wife's library, wherever they are to be found.

With the help of her accordion-playing foster father, Liesel learns to read and shares her stolen books with her neighbors during bombing raids, as well as with the Jewish man hidden in her basement.

This is an unforgettable story about the ability of books to feed the soul.

10/10 Okay...this book was downright amazing. I didn't even mind that I had to annotate and write a paper on it. It was really nice and refreshing to have a break from the typical dystopian young adult romance novels. This book was like nothing I had ever read before. How it was written, the story, everything was just...I can't even think of the right word. It was very, very sad though. Just a warning. Also, I found this book to be quite...heavy, if that makes any sense. It's not a fast read by any means. But it was so worth it. 

And hey, I got 100% on my paper too. :-)

Coming Soon:
-To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee (possibly)
-Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck (possibly)
-Great Expectations by Charles Dickens (possibly)
(those three I read for school fyi)
-Reached by Ally Condie
-The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
-Every Day by David Leviathan

♥Skittlez

The Sky is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson

(Summary from Goodreads)

Seventeen-year-old Lennie Walker, bookworm and band geek, plays second clarinet and spends her time tucked safely and happily in the shadow of her fiery older sister, Bailey. But when Bailey dies abruptly, Lennie is catapulted to center stage of her own life - and, despite her nonexistent history with boys, suddenly finds herself struggling to balance two. Toby was Bailey's boyfriend; his grief mirrors Lennie's own. Joe is the new boy in town, a transplant from Paris whose nearly magical grin is matched only by his musical talent. For Lennie, they're the sun and the moon; one boy takes her out of her sorrow, the other comforts her in it. But just like their celestial counterparts, they can't collide without the whole wide world exploding.

10/10 Oh gosh I probably looked like a bad case of PMS reading this book. It had me crying, laughing, and everything in between. I loved this book, everything about it. Nelson's writing, for one thing, was so descriptive and full of amazing word choice that had me dictionary.com-ing things at two am. The story, Lennie's story, was so compelling and deep and amazing and I completely fell in love with it as well as the characters. The poetry that was intertwined into the story just added so much compassion and emotion. Anyway, I feel like this review was so scattered, so bottom line, I loved this book, people who enjoy romance will most likely also love it, and I wish I could write like Jandy Nelson.

♥Skittlez

The Chosen One by Carol Lynch Williams

(Summary from Goodreads)

Thirteen-year-old Kyra has grown up in an isolated community without questioning the fact that her father has three wives and she has twenty brothers and sisters, with two more on the way. That is, without questioning them much---if you don’t count her secret visits to the Mobile Library on Wheels to read forbidden books, or her meetings with Joshua, the boy she hopes to choose for herself instead of having a man chosen for her.

But when the Prophet decrees that she must marry her sixty-year-old uncle---who already has six wives---Kyra must make a desperate choice in the face of violence and her own fears of losing her family forever.

8/10 I could give this a higher rating, since I really did like this book, but there were a few things that bothered me. One being the format. This was another book with interjecting flashbacks, and sometimes it worked, but sometimes it was just kinda inconvenient almost. Also, religion is a big part of the plot, but I got annoyed by the constant mentions of God etc. and how the religion just constricts everyone's lifestyle. Maybe that's just me being Atheist, but I dunno...and now I'm gonna stop being controversial and continue with the review. The ending was also a huge disappointment for me. I know I've mentioned this before, but I hate endings where you have to interpret what happens to a character. Also, the whole situation at the end was just so random to me. However, the story was so unique and captivating and the theme of family and love and happiness were executed very well. 

♥Skittlez

In Zanesville by Jo Ann Beard

(Summary from Goodreads)

The beguiling fourteen-year-old narrator of IN ZANESVILLE is a late bloomer. She is used to flying under the radar-a sidekick, a third wheel, a marching band dropout, a disastrous babysitter, the kind of girl whose Eureka moment is the discovery that "fudge" can't be said with an English accent.

Luckily, she has a best friend, a similarly undiscovered girl with whom she shares the everyday adventures of a 1970s American girlhood, incidents through which a world is revealed, and character is forged.

In time, their friendship is tested-- by their families' claims on them, by a clique of popular girls who stumble upon them as if they were found objects, and by the first, startling, subversive intimations of womanhood.

6.5/10 Eh, I don't know...this wasn't a bad book, but I never really got into it. The beginning went slowly to me, but it got slightly better. Beard's writing style was good though, and I thought captured the mind of a fourteen-year-old pretty well.

♥Skittlez

Where She Went by Gayle Forman

(Summary from Goodreads)

It's been three years since the devastating accident . . . three years since Mia walked out of Adam's life forever.

Now living on opposite coasts, Mia is Juilliard's rising star and Adam is LA tabloid fodder, thanks to his new rock star status and celebrity girlfriend. When Adam gets stuck in New York by himself, chance brings the couple together again, for one last night. As they explore the city that has become Mia's home, Adam and Mia revisit the past and open their hearts to the future-and each other.

8/10 Yeah, I liked If I Stay better than this book, but it was still good. However, I didn't start totally liking this book until the second half. The flashback in the book seemed a little excessive, but I still enjoyed it. The story was just as compelling and full of emotion and captured my heart and mind. 

♥Skittlez

Insurgent by Veronica Roth

Insurgent  by Veronica Roth is the second book in the Divergent Trilogy. (this might contain spoilers if you haven't already read Divergent)

(Summary from Goodreads)

Tris's initiation day should have been marked by celebration and victory with her chosen faction; instead, the day ended with unspeakable horrors. War now looms as conflict between the factions and their ideologies grows. And in times of war, sides must be chosen, secrets will emerge, and choices will become even more irrevocable--and even more powerful. Transformed by her own decisions but also by haunting grief and guilt, radical new discoveries, and shifting relationships, Tris must fully embrace her Divergence, even if she does not know what she may lose by doing so.

10/10 Oh gosh, after reading this I came to the conclusion that these are the best books I've read since I read The Hunger Games Trilogy last summer. I loved it. I don't even know what else to say, except that I CAN'T BELIEVE THAT WE HAVE TO WAIT OVER A YEAR FOR THE LAST BOOK!! Waiting is gonna kill me, but I know once I get my hands on the book, I'm gonna have that "third book feeling" where I don't want the trilogy to end, but I wanna know what happens so badly. 

Okay, that was a pretty crappy review. Basically, I love how in the second book of most trilogies, everything just gets more complex and interesting, and you're just waiting to read that third book to see how it'll all come together in the end. This book definitely did that for me.

♥Skittlez

If I Stay by Gayle Forman

(Summary from Goodreads)

In a single moment, everything changes. Seventeen-year-old Mia has no memory of the accident; she can only recall riding along the snow-wet Oregon road with her family. Then, in a blink, she finds herself watching as her own damaged body is taken from the wreck...

A sophisticated, layered, and heart-achingly beautiful story about the power of family and friends, the choices we all make, and the ultimate choice Mia commands.

8.5/10 I really liked this book. It was captivating, deep, haunting, and full of emotion. But honestly, I can't say that this is a book I loved. I can't put my finger on why though. Anyway, to focus on the positives, the way Forman tackled the point of view during the story was, I thought, very witty. I'm also a sucker for a good use of flashback, and this book satisfied that. Overall, a very emotional story that was a quick read.

♥Skittlez 

Divergent by Veronica Roth

Divergent by Veronica Roth is the first book in the Divergent Trilogy.

(Summary from Goodreads) 

In a future Chicago, 16-year-old Beatrice Prior must choose among five predetermined factions to define her identity for the rest of her life, a decision made more difficult when she discovers that she is an anomaly who does not fit into any one group, and that the society she lives in is not perfect after all.

10/10 Wow. You see dystopian novels a lot these days (I think it should be it's own genre), but this book just blew me away. I absolutely loved it. I really liked the idea of a future in which the population was separated into five factions (from a reader's standpoint of course) and I suppose the fact that this book is dystopian Chicago made the impact of the story so much greater. To top that, there's Roth's writing, which was just amazing; Tris, who is another kick-ass female protagonist; and of course, that young adult romance that I love. Haha.

♥Skittlez 

We'll Always Have Summer by Jenny Han

We'll Always Have Summer by Jenny Han is the final book in The Summer Series.

(Summary from inside flap)

It's been two years since Conrad told Belly to go with Jeremiah. She and Jeremiah have been inseparable ever since, even attending the same college-- only, their relationship hasn't exactly been the happily ever after Belly had hoped it would be. And when Jeremiah makes the worst mistake a boy can make, Belly is forced to question what she thought was true love. Does she really have a future with Jeremiah? Has she ever gotten over Conrad? It's time for Belly to decide, once and for all, who has her heart forever.

10/10 This is maybe the first trilogy that I wasn't like crying over because this was the end of the series. I'm not saying that I disliked the series in any way, shape or form, I mean, I loved it. I guess I suppose that the ending was just so satisfying for me, that it didn't matter that the story was over. So yeah, I can't say that this was my favorite out of the three (the first one probably was), but I definitely liked it a lot. After putting off reading this (specifically for the dread of it ending), I finished it in a matter of days (I know, not that short of a time period). Jenny Han definitely captured my attention and my heart in her Summer series, and also made me wish I had Fisher boys of my own. Haha. 

Coming soon:

Divergent and Insurgent by Veronica Roth

If I Stay and Where She Went by Gayle Forman

The Book Theif by Markus Zusak

In Zanesville by Jo Ann Beard

And some other books too.

♥Skittlez