BOOK REVIEW - The Death Cure by James Dashner

Synopsis from Goodreads:

Thomas knows that Wicked can't be trusted, but they say the time for lies is over, that they've collected all they can from the Trials and now must rely on the Gladers, with full memories restored, to help them with their ultimate mission. It's up to the Gladers to complete the blueprint for the cure to the Flare with a final voluntary test.

What Wicked doesn't know is that something's happened that no Trial or Variable could have foreseen. Thomas has remembered far more than they think. And he knows that he can't believe a word of what Wicked says.

The time for lies is over. But the truth is more dangerous than Thomas could ever imagine.

Will anyone survive the Death Cure?

I wanted to love The Death Cure.  I really, really wanted to love it.  I wanted it to be filled with mystery and suspense like the previous two books in the trilogy, and I wanted it to answer the questions that have been building throughout the series.  I wanted to find out what Thomas' childhood was like, and what his role in WICKED was before he entered the Maze.  I wanted to find out why Teresa made the decisions she did, and what her relationship with Thomas was like before the Maze.  Unfortunately, I did not learn any of those things in what turned out to be a slightly disappointing end to what could have been a fantastic trilogy.

Dashner continued to successfully develop confusion and mystery in The Death Cure.  Each page seemed to create more questions in my mind.  Because WICKED is an organization based on lies, I found myself constantly wondering what was the truth and what was not.  This kept me wanting to read more, with the hopes of finding out what really was going on in this post-apocalyptic world.  Intrigue-wise, The Death Cure was extremely successful.

My overall complaint with the book was how few of my questions were answered.  Based on the previous two books in the series, as well as early events in The Death Cure, it seemed as though there were some things that would simply have to be revealed in order for the series to reach a conclusion.  Somehow, Dashner managed to end the book without answering most of these questions.  The ending was acceptable, but once I actually closed the book and thought about it, I found myself unhappy with how much information I still did not know.  It felt to me as though the answers to some of these questions could have been revealed and led to a more wholesome ending than was written.

I would have been left with this sour impression of the book if it were not for the epilogue.  Wow!  I was not expecting that revelation (even though maybe I should have been...).  I'm not going to say any more about that, though ;-)

Overall, I would say that if you have read the first two books in this trilogy (The Maze Runner and The Scorch Trials), then you should definitely read The Death Cure to finish out the series.  However, if you're looking for a new dystopian/post-apocalyptic series to read, I would look elsewhere.

Preview & Enter to win Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver!

The sequel to Lauren Oliver's Delirium, Pandemonium, arrives on February 28th!  Too bad that is still a month away...  In the meantime, though, the first 75 pages are available for preview!  In addition, you can enter to win an ARC of Pandemonium!  Just visit the Delirium Trilogy fan page on Facebook and click on the Delirium Extras! tab.  There will be five winners picked weekly until February 15, so there is still plenty of time to enter!

FTC Disclaimer:  I posted this information for the enjoyment and benefit of my readers.  I received no compensation from Harper Teen, Lauren Oliver, or Facebook for this post.

In My Mailbox: January 15, 2012

In My Mailbox (IMM) is a meme hosted weekly by Kristi at The Story Siren.

Here's what I got this week!

From the library,  I got Across the Universe by Beth Revis, Unison Spark by Andy Marino, Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins, and Legend by Marie Lu.

From the bookstore, I bought The Fault in Our Stars by John Green (an autographed copy!) and A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin.

From Net Galley, for review, I got Caught in Crystal by Patricia C. Wrede and Invasion by Jon S. Lewis.

From Pulse It, for review, I got Bittersweet by Sarah Ockler.

Since I haven't even read most of the books that I got last week, I have plenty of books to keep me busy for a while!  What's in your mailbox this week?  Leave me a comment and I'll stop by your blog!

In My Mailbox: January 8, 2012

In My Mailbox (IMM) is a meme hosted weekly by Kristi at The Story Siren.

This week, I purchased Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi and Prized (Birthmarked, #2) by Caragh M. O'Brien.

I have been waiting for Prized since I finished Birthmarked, the first book in the trilogy, last year.  I picked up Shatter Me because I've read rave reviews of it and decided I just had to read it myself!

My public library allows you to check out books for the Kindle, and this week I found out that a lot of books I've been wanting to read are available that way!  I borrowed Mastiff (The Legend of Beka Cooper, #3) by Tamora Pierce, The Declaration by Gemma Malley, Across the Universe by Beth Revis, and The Time Paradox (Artemis Fowl, #6) by Eoin Colfer.

Free from Amazon for the Kindle, I got Tortured:  A bridge story between Birthmarked and Prized by Caragh M. O'Brien.

From NetGalley, for review, I received Quest for the Scorpion's Jewel by Amy Green, Endworlds by Nicholas Read, Neurogastronomy by Gordon Shepherd, and The Kitchen as Laboratory edited by Cesar Vega, Job Ubbink, and Erik van der Linden.


I have a ton to read now!  Reviews are forthcoming (in the near- or, not so near, future) for most of these titles.

BOOK REVIEW - Wither by Lauren DeStefano

I've been wanting to read Lauren DeStefano's WITHER for ages now but it always seemed to be checked out of the library every time I went.  Well, I finally got to the top of the waiting list recently and boy was it worth the wait!

Warning- Spoiler Alert!

From the very first page, the world that Lauren DeStefano created drew me in.  Unlike many dystopian worlds, the world of WITHER seemed highly believable given the social circumstances.  Even though not all of the characters were in the same situation, they each were affected by the virus in their own way.  I could really feel the desperation and fear of each character.  What really was interesting to me was that since all of the characters were feeling similar emotions, their reasons for feeling that way became one of the most important parts of the story.  For example, Rhine, Jenna, and Linden both felt fear living in the mansion, but none of them were afraid of the same thing.

I also felt like Rhine's character was very genuine.  As a young woman myself, I constantly found myself thinking, What would I be feeling if I were in Rhine's situation right now?  And the answer was always, Exactly how Rhine feels in the story.  DeStefano did a fantastic job capturing the real, raw emotions of a trapped teenager in fear for her life.  While I've never been in a situation like Rhine's (thank goodness!), I simply could not imagine myself feeling any differently than she did.  As a female reader, it was refreshing to see a female lead not immediately give in to the social pressures around her.  The fight in Rhine, given her circumstances, made her seem very real, and made her story memorable.

But of course- this story is not just about Rhine.  Who can forget about Gabriel?!  Even though he was in the text less than Jenna, Cecily, and Linden, as a character I felt as though he was second in importance only to Rhine.  His transformation from an obedient servant to a young man with fire inside of him was the most moving part of WITHER.  His story showed that it's possible to fight what you've been taught if you want something different.  As a counterpart to Rhine, it is interesting to see their stories unfold in parallel.  On one hand, you have Rhine, who knows from the get-go exactly what she wants (even if she does waver occasionally), and just needs a way to get it.  On the other hand, there's Gabriel, who doesn't like what he has but takes a long time to come to terms with the decisions he needs to make.  Rhine and Gabriel are really the two characters who provide uniqueness and voice to WITHER.

And the ending...well...if this was a stand-alone book, I would have hated the ending- very cliché.  However, knowing that WITHER is just the first book of a trilogy, the ending was fine.  It wasn't very exciting, but it (almost) works as a cliffhanger for book two (FEVER, due out 2/21/2012).

I definitely definitely recommend WITHER to anyone with even the slightest interest in YA dystopian novels.  If you haven't been hooked in the past, read WITHER anyway!  It doesn't have crazy apocalyptic events like some other dystopians, and the believability of the plot makes WITHER the perfect quick read!

BOOK REVIEW: Birthmarked by Caragh O'Brien

Caragh O'Brien's Birthmarked was a refreshing twist on the typical dystopian novel.  Unlike most, which create a completely fictional futuristic society, O'Brien incorporates things that affect real lives today into the story to create a very plausible story.


Warning:  Plot spoilers may follow.


At first, it surprised me a bit that hemophilia was such a major component of the plot.  In my past experiences, authors that try to include a scientific twist tend to botch the actual facts of the disease.  However, O'Brien obviously did her research, because both the genetic and physical components of the disease were described accurately and succinctly in the text.  Enough information was given about hemophilia to explain to the reader why certain other events were taking place, but on the other hand, the reader was not overwhelmed with scientific data.  I thought it was a nice balance, and enough to convince me that this future is possible for our society.


I thought Gaia was a believable protagonist.  While there were some points in the book where I could accurately predict what would happen next, I understood that Gaia might not be able to because of her limited knowledge of the world inside the Enclave.  In that sense, the reader must be able to separate herself from the main character at times in order to appreciate the story more. While you might be able to figure something out, Gaia might not.  And while the POV is third person limited, just as an educated reader in 2011, some things become obvious.


I have to say that the ending of Birthmarked was very reminiscent of the ending of The Giver.  (If you've read The Giver- the same thing happens.)  While I found that ending to be perfectly suitable for The Giver, in the case of Birthmarked, I thought it was really just an easy way to create a cliffhanger.  I thought that there could have been other feasible endings, and O'Brien just chose the most extreme.  But I guess I'll have to wait for the sequel and see if I'm less disappointed with this ending based on the plot of that book.


The sequel to Birthmarked, Prized, is expected to be released in November 2011.

BOOK REVIEW: Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

Wow!  Suzanne Collins has done it again!  Mockingjay absolutely lives up to the hype that was surrounding its release.  As the last book in the series, Mockingjay needed to wrap up Katniss' story, but also address the cliffhanger we were left with at the end of Catching Fire.  It succeeds amazingly well in doing both, and the story still includes the twists and surprises we grew accustomed to from reading The Hunger Games and Catching Fire.


WARNING:  Minor spoilers may be present.


The book starts off with a brief overview of everything that happened between the end of Catching Fire and the time at which Katniss has to choose her role as the Mockingjay.  While this section reads at a much slower pace than the rest of the book, this narration was necessary to set the stage for the rest of the plot.  In my opinion, Collins handled this as best as she could while still propelling the story forward.


The story really gets moving when Katniss and the others begin actively participating in the life of District 13.  I don't want to give away too much here, but District 13 was nothing like I imagined it would be.  Panem is in the midst of a bloody and trying war, and District 13 is trying to cope with it while still staying true to their beliefs about the country.  This is an important plot point- so I will lay it to rest here.


The character development, I have to say, was my absolute favorite part of Mockingjay.  After the events that ended Catching Fire, the tributes, some of the other Hunger Games personnel, and a few District 12 habitants find themselves thrown into District 13, which even if it had not been preparing for war, is very different from 12 or the Capitol.  Collins did an amazing job of tracing each character's journey in 13 and exploring not only their actions, but their thoughts as well.  More so than in either of the preceding books, I felt like I really knew each character.  Even when there were plot twists that shocked me, in some way, they were not completely out of the blue.  They all fit with some aspect of that character's personality.  The characters all felt like real, not like a fictional creation that they were.  It made Mockingjay an even more captivating read, because the character progression felt so natural.


The ending, the ending...satisfied me even though I really expected it not to.  But after reading the whole series, this ending is really the only one that makes sense, after all.


READ THIS SERIES!  That's really all I have to say.  Even if you are not a dystopian fan, the character development and plot progression of The Hunger Games trilogy rivals those of any other series I have ever read.  You will find yourself wrapped up in what is happening to Katniss and Panem, and unable to put the book down.

BOOK REVIEW: Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

I'm going to start off this review saying that I read Catching Fire in just one day!  I'm a fast reader, but not that fast (normally), so it's just a testament as to how much I loved this book.


This book picks up where The Hunger Games leaves off, starting with a background of things that happened immediately upon Katniss' return to District 12.  The action really picks up right before Katniss and Peeta tour the districts for their Victory Tour.  It was a nice transition between the two books, because as the reader, I didn't feel like I was missing any of the action.  Everything that was mentioned as happening to the victors after the end of the Games was actually detailed in Catching Fire.  I really liked that the books, together, seamlessly covered all of the time from the beginning of The Hunger Games to the end of Catching Fire without leaving large gaps in time between the two books like some multi-book series do.


Again, Katniss and Peeta are very strong personalities, but you can tell that they have changed since winning the 74th annual Games.  They are both more rebellious and more questioning of Panem.  This, combined with some other events and new characters (that I'm not going to mention specifically here- too much of a spoiler!), do somewhat prepare the reader for what happens at the end of the book, although not how it actually comes about.  While yes, like many other "middle of the trilogy" books, Catching Fire has the role of setting up what needs to be done before Mockingjay, there are enough twists, surprises, and new characters to keep the reader interested from beginning to end.  Even changes in characters that we met in The Hunger Games feed into the unrest throughout Panem.  Effie, Cinna, and the rest of Katniss and Peeta's entourage become deeper characters in Catching Fire, again to the effect of expressing the state of the Capitol after Katniss' defiance at the end of The Hunger Games.


I especially like that Collins is able to plant doubts into the characters' heads (especially Katniss') at the same time that she puzzles the reader.  Again, the first person narration helps a lot.  The plot moves quickly, and the reader really experiences what Katniss does throughout the entire book.


While I can't deny that I did like The Hunger Games more than Catching Fire, I think that was mainly because everything was so new in The Hunger Games while a lot of things were more expected come Catching Fire.  That's not to say that I didn't still love Catching Fire- because I did- and there is absolutely enough in there to keep the reader pulled forward.  It's just that The Hunger Games had more straight-up action because it primarily dealt with the Games themselves, while Catching Fire covered more of the political unrest and character relationships.


Wow~ I can't wait to read Mockingjay next!  Just seeing reviews of Mockingjay are what got me started with this series in the first place.  But, more of that in the appropriate review!

BOOK REVIEW: The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Wow!  I usually disagree with hype around a lot of newly-published books, but The Hunger Games definitely lived up to its reputation.  From the first page to the last, I could barely put the book down.  I finished reading it in three nights...three very long nights during which I stayed up until 3:00 am just so I could read some more.

While The Hunger Games was clearly a dystopian novel, Panem, the country that exists in place of North America, is not home to the mindless, submissive people that are the staple of many dystopian plots.  Instead, from the beginning, the reader feels that there is a sense of unease throughout the society because of the Hunger Games.  The Games are an annual event in which two tributes (participants) from each of the 12 Districts of Panem, battle each other in a large arena until only one of the 24 teens is left alive; they are, in turn, declared the victor.  The Hunger Games follows Katniss, one of the tributes from District 12, as she struggles to understand the Games, herself, and her future.

For those who have read the Pendragon series, The Hunger Games is very similar to the seventh book, The Quillan Games.  Both involve unwilling competitors who must fight for their own survival in a game designed to end in death.  Both societies- Panem and Quillan- are futuristic communities in which these Games have risen to a level of national importance.  The competitors are treated with the upmost importance before the games and afterwards (if they survive); citizens bet on the competitors they think will fare the best; in the midst of these Games, the competitors being followed realize that there is unease in the society and they must do their part in stopping it, one way or another.  If you enjoyed The Quillan Games, you will absolutely love The Hunger Games.

Suzanne Collins has included many twists in the plot that will surprise even the most keen reader.  Of course I'm not going to reveal any here, but rest assured that The Hunger Games will not disappoint you.  The characters are developed very well, and through their struggles and triumphs, the reader can not help but become deeply attached to many of them.  Collins is able to draw the reader into the actual emotion that the tributes' families must be feeling during the Hunger Games. In that way, the deaths become actually upsetting; more than a character in a book just not being there any more, Katniss' sadness and anger becomes the sadness and anger of the reader as well.

This book is written in first person from Katniss' point of view.  While this may be shocking at first, it really allows you to get inside Katniss' head and experience everything she does as she travels from District 12 to the Capitol and participates in the 74th annual Hunger Games.  I have to say that although I normally don't like reading things written in first person, the extra sense of emotion that comes with it definitely serves its purpose in The Hunger Games.  Any other technique used to tell the story would not portray it in such a personal way.

I am already reading the second book in the Hunger Games trilogy, Catching Fire, so expect a review of that very soon!