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Saturday, October 5, 2013

Rose Under Fire – Book Review

Rose Under Fire is a companion novel to Code Name Verity. If you want to read this read CNV first.


This is the UK cover--I like it a lot better than the US one :P

I don't even know how to write a review without spoilers!! Both this book and its prequel are books you just can't write about without spoilers!

This books takes place after Code Name Verity. A few characters overlap, but when you consider the author's style of writing, that's a lot. One of the many great things about Wein's style is her ability to get the reader to deeply understand the characters, without crowding us with 10 million of them.

This book was addicting. It definitely lacked Code Name Verity's breathtaking pace, but it's still perfectly calculated and intensely profound. The core theme of friendship is also carried over in a big way.

Unfortunately, it was not as good as Code Name Verity, but Rose Under Fire was a great book in its own respect.

Final score: 9.4 out of 10

Next book: City of Fallen Angels by Cassandra Clare

 – Nick

Thursday, October 3, 2013

Ivy's Book of the Month- October



I totally forgot about BotM. But anyways, I'm back and ready with a new book.

 Cinder the first book in Marissa Meyer's "The Lunar Chronicles" series. 

Summary: Humans and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. A deadly plague ravages the population. From space, a ruthless lunar people watch, waiting to make their move. No one knows that Earth’s fate hinges on one girl. . . . 

Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg. She’s a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister’s illness. But when her life becomes intertwined with the handsome Prince Kai’s, she suddenly finds herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle, and a forbidden attraction. Caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal, she must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect her world’s future. 


The number of pages in this book are 387 for the hardcover. There is also a paperback version of the book. 

At the beginning of the book, it has already been announced that there will be three more books following this one: Scarlet, Cress, and Winter. The order is consecutive with a one-year spacing. Scarlet has already been released. 

Cinder is based upon Cinderella, as the cover shows the shoe is made of red glass. Lihn Cinder is a mechanic with her handy cyborg skills. She has a stepmother.

But before I get too in depth with the stepmother thing, she is a cyborg. They are humans who have gone through surgery to have more robotic like parts (which can also be seen on the cover). With an accident at the age of eleven, she is turned into a cyborg. 

Like humans they grow and all, but totally not the point. When her not-yet stepmother, Adri's husband goes to Europe, he adopts Cinder who was already an orphan due to the accident in which the surgery took place afterwards.

Adri has never liked Cinder and she has two daughters, the younger in which Cinder is a friend of. 

But enough about the family. Because she is a mechanic, Prince Kai goes to her to request that she fix up one of his androids -we are talking about robots, not phones- which in the futuristic world, people use. Yes, he is the "Prince Charming" of this story.

I should also mention that a plague has been going on. The lady that owns a bakery across from her mechanic shop has caught the plague and her sister does to. And she gets sent to laboratory testings to help scientists find antidotes for the plague. 

So after that much, what did you think of the book. So far, I'm doing good progress with the book. 

It might be a bit confusing in the beginning taking place in a futuristic "New Beijing" and having Meyer set up the scene, but it's quite alright after that.

When I brought the book in to school today, one of my classmates told me it was going to be a great read and so far, it really is. 

Give the book a try. It isn't a horror book as I once, thought it would be. The factors of a fairytale were sewn into the spine of this book, because it has the perfect elements for the person that has loved Disney movies with a darker twist. Even if you aren't one for those tales, you'll enjoy it because of the dystopian lifestyle of the characters shown throughout the book.

Signed,
Ivy

Somaya's Book of the Month: October 2013

I am reading this book. It is just indescribable. I love it as much as I love the book  The Last Princess. Okay, first let me start with the summary:
"Mackenzie and Amy were best friends. Until Amy was brutally murdered.
"Since then, Mac’s life has been turned upside down. She is being haunted by Amy in her dreams, and an extremist group called the Trackers has come to Mac’s hometown of Hemlock to hunt down Amy’s killer: A white werewolf.
"Lupine syndrome—also known as the werewolf virus—is on the rise across the country. Many of the infected try to hide their symptoms, but blood-lust is not easy to control.
"Wanting desperately to put an end to her nightmares, Mac decides to investigate Amy’s murder herself. She discovers secrets lurking in the shadows of Hemlock, secrets about Amy’s boyfriend, Jason, her good pal Kyle, and especially her late best friend. Mac is thrown into a maelstrom of violence and betrayal that puts her life at risk.
"Kathleen Peacock’s thrilling novel is the first in the Hemlock trilogy, a spellbinding supernatural mystery series filled with provocative questions about prejudice, trust, lies, and love."
This book is truly awesome. I read this book because it seemed so interesting. It is a science fiction/fantasy. So all sci-fi/fantasy fans, you must read this. It is a romantic tragedy. People keep on telling me it sounds like Twilight. It is a little, but Twilight is a flower in the solar system. This is so much better. Please, if you are reading this you HAVE TO READ IT. Tienes que leer Hemlock (Spanish: You have to read Hemlock).
Somaya