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YA Dystopian

Book Review : Under The Never Sky by Veronica Rossi

April 27, 2012      3 Comments

“A world of nevers under a never sky.” 

                         – Veronica Rossi, Under The Never Sky

 

Synopsis : EXILED from her home, the enclosed city of Reverie, Aria knows her chances of surviving in the outer wasteland–known as The Death Shop–are slim. If the cannibals don’t get her, the violent, electrified energy storms will. She’s been taught that the very air she breathes can kill her. Then Aria meets an Outsider named Perry. He’s wild–a savage–and her only hope of staying alive.

Under The Never Sky is a post-apocalpytic road story sprinkled with  dystopian elements. The female protagonist, Aria lives a safe and secure life in underground pods, spending her days in vitural realms. Perry lives on the outside or “The Death Shop” a world filled with tribal warfare, Aether storms and savagery.When their worlds collide they learn they may not be as different as they thought.

The novel starts out a little shaky to me, almost everything in the story is told or explained immediately, in an almost checklist like fashion. There is very little mystery and I would have liked to slide easier into the story. Once we get past the introduction the writing does get better and the story begins to take shape.

Basically, Aria and Perry each have their own plot MacGuffin that propels them to journey together in search of what they are looking for. While this jump starts the plot it isn’t my favorite set up.

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Book Review : Divergent by Veronica Roth

March 23, 2012      4 Comments

Synopsis : 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.

When I first got back into reading YA, Divergent was everywhere. When I grabbed it for 6.00 at the used  book store, it just sort of sat on my shelf. However, after Divergent  won Favorite Book of 2011 at Goodreads and Story Siren’s Best of 2011 DebutI knew I had to check it out.
Divergent has a unique concept. Tris and her family live in a peaceful Utopia where society is dived into factions which represent individual ideals Dauntless (bravery), Amity (peace), Abegnation (selflessness ) and Erudite (intelligence).

Every child is raised in their own faction , but when they turn sixteen they are tested to determine the best faction for them. They can  either choose to stay with their faction or leave it all behind to join another faction, never to see their families again.

Faction before family.

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Book Review : Wither (The Chemical Garden Trilogy #1 )

February 12, 2012      7 Comments

“You’ve been captive for so long that you don’t even realize you want freedom anymore.” 

  – Lauren DeStefano, Wither

 

Synopsis :  Genetic mutations have festered, reducing human longevity to twenty-five, even less for most women. To prevent extinction, young girls are kidnapped, mated in polygamous marriages with [Rich] men eager to procreate. Sixteen-year-old Rhine Ellery, a recent victim of this breeding farm mentality, has vowed to break loose from its fetters

Wither is the taboo, energized and tumultuous story of three girls kidnapped and forced into marriage to the young Governor Linden. 

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Book Review : Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi

January 30, 2012      3 Comments

“Find me a cure for these tears, I’d really like to exhale for the first time in my life.” 

― Tahereh Mafi, Shatter Me

Synopsis : Juliette hasn’t touched anyone in exactly 264 days. 

The last time she did, it was an accident, but The Reestablishment locked her up for murder. . . Diseases are destroying the population, food is hard to find, birds don’t fly anymore, and the clouds are the wrong color. 

The Reestablishment said their way was the only way to fix things  . . . Now so many people are dead that the survivors are whispering war.  Maybe Juliette is more than a tortured soul stuffed into a poisonous body. Maybe she’s exactly what they need right now. 

I didn’t really know what to expect going into this novel, I was aware of all the hype, but I wondered what kind of story could be told about a girl with a deadly touch. From the first chapter the reader is thrown into  Juliette’s isolated imprisonment, but when she gets a new roommate she soon finds herself running for her life in a world on the brink of destruction.

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Book Review : Delirium by Lauren Oliver

January 10, 2012      8 Comments

“Love: It will kill you and save you, both” 

  – Lauren Oliver, Delirium

Synopsis: Before scientists found the cure, people thought love was a good thing. They didn’t understand that once love — the deliria — blooms in your blood, there is no escaping its hold. Things are different now. Scientists are able to eradicate love, and the government demands that all citizens receive the cure upon turning eighteen. Lena Holoway has always looked forward to the day when she’ll be cured. A life without love is a life without pain: safe, measured, predictable, and happy.

Delirium tells the story of a world similar to our own with only one exception; Scientists have discovered a cure for the deadliest of all diseases—love, Amor Deliria Nervosa. And at age 18 Lena Holoway is ready to receive her cure.

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Book Review : All These Things I’ve Done by Gabrielle Zevin

December 16, 2011      2 Comments

“Daddy always said you only explained things to the people that actually mattered.” 

― Gabrielle Zevin, All These Things I’ve Done

Synopsis : In 2083, chocolate and coffee are illegal, paper is hard to find, water is carefully rationed, and New York City is rife with crime and poverty. And yet, for Anya Balanchine, the sixteen-year-old daughter of the city’s most notorious (and dead) crime boss, life is fairly routine. It consists of going to school, taking care of her siblings and her dying grandmother, trying to avoid falling in love with the new assistant D.A.’s son, and avoiding her loser ex-boyfriend. That is until her ex is accidently poisoned by the chocolate her family manufactures and the police think she’s to blame. Suddenly, Anya finds herself thrust unwillingly into the spotlight–at school, in the news, and most importantly, within her mafia family. 

Anya Blanchaine is  the daughter of a Russian mob boss, but she isn’t exactly Growing Up Gotti. All These Things I’ve Done is a novel comprised of  17-year-old Anya’s confessions.She has the world on her shoulders; having to take care of her ailing grandmother and siblings while trying to keep out of the notorious family business of selling chocolate–which has become illegal in 2083.

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