BOOK REVIEW: Delirium by Lauren Oliver

• Reading level: Young Adult
• Hardcover: 480 pages
• Publisher: HarperCollins; Special edition (August 2, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0062112430
• ISBN-13: 978-0062112439

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Lena Haloway is content in her safe, government-managed society. She feels (mostly) relaxed about the future in which her husband and career will be decided, and looks forward to turning 18, when she’ll be cured of deliria, a.k.a. love. She tries not to think about her mother’s suicide (her last words to Lena were a forbidden “I love you”) or the supposed “Invalid” community made up of the uncured just beyond her Portland, Maine, border. There’s no real point—she believes her government knows how to best protect its people, and should do so at any cost. But 95 days before her cure, Lena meets Alex, a confident and mysterious young man who makes her heart flutter and her skin turn red-hot. As their romance blossoms, Lena begins to doubt the intentions of those in power, and fears that her world will turn gray should she submit to the procedure. In this powerful and beautifully written novel, Lauren Oliver, the bestselling author of Before I Fall, throws readers into a tightly controlled society where options don’t exist, and shows not only the lengths one will go for a chance at freedom, but also the true meaning of sacrifice.

My review:

After hearing my friends and the entire book blogger world rave about Delirium nonstop, I decided to read it. 
I can't even express to you how glad I am that I did!
Well, I can't give you the full extent of how much I loved it, but I can at least give you a snippet.
Delirium sucked me in the moment I opened it up.
And I know I've probably have said that about a number of books, but it's true.
Either I've been reading some really good books here lately or I am just easily intrigued. 
Anyway, I must say that Lauren Oliver is a genius.
All of the little intricate details she put into the beautiful pages of this book was incredible. 
Every page was filled with such an amazing story, it blew me away.
I loved how Lauren Oliver has a way of writing that is almost poetic. 
Everything just flowed so wonderfully, the characters, the story and all of the little things.
I think one of the reasons I loved Delirium so much is because it was so realistic.
The entire time I was reading it I could just think about how the world might end up being like that.
I mean, the cure for amor deliria nervosa wasn't that out there. The whole concept of the book was just so real. It's not like I would really like the cure to exist or anything, it was just so crazy reading that and thinking about how it could possibly happen in the future if anyone was insane enough to actually make it happen.
It also made me rethink the word 'love'. How easily it is used. How people say it when they don't truly mean it. And how hard people fight for it because it is so important in their life. I have been thinking about that word for a few days now, in a lot of different ways. It definitely adds to the greatness of a book if it makes me think about something like that!
Oh, I'm starting to rant. 
One of the many things I loved about the character development was how much Lena grew. 
In the beginning she was so scared of everything around her and of getting in serious trouble just by using the word 'love'. By the end of the book she was willing to do anything and everything for the freedom of love. 
Delirium is definitely a book I will never forget, I absolutely loved it. 

BOOK REVIEW: Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi

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• Reading level: Young Adult
• Hardcover: 352 pages
• Publisher: HarperTeen (November 15, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0062085484
• ISBN-13: 978-0062085481

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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. No one knows why Juliette's touch is fatal. As long as she doesn't hurt anyone else, no one really cares. The world is too busy crumbling to pieces to pay attention to a 17-year-old-girl. 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, so they threw Juliette in a cell. Now so many people are dead that the survivors are whispering war- and The Reestablishment has changed its mind. Maybe Juliette is more than a tortured soul stuffed into a poisonous body. Maybe she's exactly what they need right now.
Juliette has to make a choice: Be a weapon. Or be a warrior.
In this electrifying debut, Tahereh Mafi presents a world as riveting asThe Hunger Games and a superhero story as thrilling as The X-Men. Full of pulse-pounding romance, intoxicating villainy, and high-stakes choices, Shatter Me is a fresh and original dystopian novel—with a paranormal twist—that will leave readers anxiously awaiting its sequel.

My thoughts:

First of all I must say that Tahereh Mafi is my new favorite author.

Ever. 

Out of all of the books I have ever read, she is the best one.

Well, that is just my opinion. But I am pretty sure that once you read Shatter Me, 

you might actually agree with me. 

Which brings me to my second point: Shatter Me was the best book I have ever read.

Yes, I know. Some of you might find this kind of hard to believe since here lately

I have been loving every single book I pick up, but honestly I guess I have just been lucky.

The last couple of books I read before Shatter Me were yes, very very very good,

but Shatter Me devoured me. At some points my jaw was actually hanging open and I re-read some pages before I could fully grasp the amazingness that Tahereh Mafi 

gave birth to on those pages. 

(Graphic, yes. But you get the idea)

 And don't even get me started on how well she developed the characters.

I could be writing this review forever, and well that doesn't exactly fit into my schedule.

So I think I rather stick to my plan of attacking people until they agree to read Shatter Me... Alright, well maybe I will say a little bit on what I thought of the characters.

Juliette is so kickbutt, UGH.

It made me feel like a huge wimp and yet at the same time I freaking loved it.

Oh my goodness. I can't even begin to describe how awesome Juliette is.

And ah, well then there is Adam.

I'm pretty sure Blogger will not be able to contain how much I love Adam.

Plus, I'm afraid all of you reading this might think I'm some freaky fan girl that might

make this into the next Twilight fad and have his name all of my clothes.

No.

Just no.

 But to put it a nutshell: I love Adam Kent. 

I think mostly because he reminds me of one of my best friends, so it makes the story 

seem that a little bit more real (which I am aware it is completely impossible for it to be real but whatever), and yeah because Tahereh Mafi did a really great job of making him sound like the hottest man on Earth. Especially since he has full tattooed sleeves on each arm. (Yes I am one of those weirdo girls who find tattoos extremely attractive on a man)

Anyway, enough about Adam. 

I'm SURE you'll get the full picture whenever you read  Shatter Me. 

Onward to the other characters:

Tahereh Mafi made each and every character perfect.

Even the characters that only said five words I could perfectly imagine 

what they would look like. 

Okay well I did exactly what I thought I would do and I got carried away with the characters... 

But I have a great idea, IF you already own Shatter Me read it right now.

Just go read it. 

If this review didn't convince you to read it, then I honestly don't know what else to say.

But I may or may not come attack you until you read it. 

THANK-YOU Tahereh Mafi for writing my new favorite book!

Seriously, I will re-read it forever.

And I cannot even express how badly I want the sequel in my hands right now.

It keeps me up at night.

Thinking about the sequel. 

Book review: Deadly Little Lies and Deadly Little Games by Laurie Faria Stolarz

Enjoy it(:


Oh, btw, please ignore all the ReadingTeen crap.
I did this for another blog I write for, and decided to use it on here too.
So, I'm pretty much recyling this Vlog.
Anyway, check out ReadingTeen! 
Their pretty cool... I guess. :D

It's Not Summer Without You by Jenny Han

Belly, 16, lives all year for her summers at Cousins Beach. But when a family friend dies and the beach house tradition is threatened, she faces the season without her second family and without the boy she loves. In this follow-up to The Summer I Turned Pretty (S & S, 2009), Belly is still reeling from the dissolution of her relationship with Conrad, her lifelong love, and the death of his mother. But mourning Suzanne is even harder since Conrad has shut down, refusing to talk to Belly or anyone else. When he suddenly leaves school without explanation, his brother, Jeremiah, recruits Belly to help find and mend him. The trio find themselves at Cousins Beach after all, and the memories and feelings of the past come flooding back. Complicated and fragile, Belly's relationships with the two young men are put to new tests as she and Conrad come to terms with their relationship, and Belly and Jeremiah begin to build a romantic bond of their own. This sequel is as quiet and thoughtful as its companion. The nostalgic imagery of a lifetime of experiences at a serene and magical place like Cousins Beach is alive once again, and the desperation the characters feel when faced with losing a loved one and possibly the beach house, too, is warmly imagined. Fans of the first book will enjoy this continuation in which nothing is easy for Belly, but the end result is worth the heartache


Usually I don't really like it when books have a sequel.

Especially Chick-Lit books.

I feel like they drag out way too much.

It's Not Summer Without You was even better than the first.

It was just, amazing.

I thought Jenny Han's writing was even better in this one,

and she really made the story come together and nothing dragged along.

Some of the chapters were from Jeremiah's point of view, and those were my favorite.

It just made me love Jeremiah even more (I honestly didn't think that was possible)

Even though I loved Jeremiah's chapters, they broke my heart.

They were so sad!

But, that's what I love about this book, it's one of those books that will make you sad, or maybe even angry, but, the whole time you love every second of it.

Okay, even though I loved this book, I do have one complaint.

Once again, Belly sort of annoyed me.

I felt like she acts very immature.

 I got over it quickly when something really good came up.

Which pretty much happened every page.

My siblings really try to be extremely loud when I'm reading a good book.

So, I was constantly yelling at them saying, "Shhhhhhh! It's at a good part!"

I actually stayed up until 4am last night reading.

I just could not put this freaking book down.

I had to know how it ended.

If I didn't finish it right then, I knew I would be restless, thinking about what would happen.

So thank you Jenny Han, for being a amazing author, and helping me find books that I will definitely re-read during the summer. (:

♥ABIGAILE



The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han



Belly measures her life in summers. Everything good, everything magical happens between the months of June and August. Winters are simply a time to count the weeks until the next summer, a place away from the beach house, away from Susannah, and most importantly, away from Jeremiah and Conrad. They are the boys that Belly has known since her very first summer -- they have been her brother figures, her crushes, and everything in between. But one summer, one wonderful and terrible summer, the more everything changes, the more it all ends up just the way it should have been all along.

My Thoughts:
Honestly, I felt like a complete fag while reading this book.
But, yah know, I'm a weirdo girl.
So I liked it.

The Summer I Turned Pretty is one of those books where while your reading it,

its not so special. But there's something about it that makes you want to read it all day.

But then once its all over, and you think about it all the freaking time.

You realize that it was a really great book.

The way Jenny Han developed all the characters is great.

All the little things she mentions about them makes me think that I really know them.

My favorite character is definitely Jeremiah.

I loved everything about him.

I also really liked how Jenny Han did all the chapters.

She would make some from like 3-5 years ago, and then the rest present time.

I thought that was really neat because I felt like it helped all the characters grow.

It really showed their personalities to a full depth.

Belly kind of got on my nerves at times, I felt like she was kinda playing both

Conrad and Jeremiah.

She just needs to make up her mind!

Anyway, that's the only complaint I have about the book.

I really loved it. The writing is great, Jenny Han really ties things together nicely.

LOVE, Abigaile

ARSON by Estevan Vega book review

Arson Gable feels like a freak. He can create fire. He never asked for it. He never wanted it. But he can't shut it off. Before now, three things were true: he both loved and despised his grandmother; his life was going nowhere; and he was alone. But when a strange girl--who feels more normal behind a mask than inside her own skin--moves in next door, Arson hopes to find something he's never had: purpose. Using what he fears most about himself, Arson must face his consuming past and confront the nightmare that is his present as he walks the fine line between boy and monster. Dark, moody, and breathtakingly relevant, Arson, the chilling chronicle of an isolated boy with unimaginable ability, is sure to ignite the hearts and minds of a new generation.

Let me start off by saying that, Arson brought me good luck.

Before reading Arson I was in a terrible book slump.

I kept just picking up books that did not catch my attention.

Well, Arson definitely did.

 I stole this book from my brother, Austin.

Estevan Vega originally sent it to him.

Well I thought the cover art was pretty cool,

so I read the first chapter and never gave the book back to Austin.

To be honest, I was a little skeptical about Arson before I read it.
I majorly judged it.
Since its in the "Coming Of Age" genre, I assumed that it was going to

be obsessed with sex and drugs. But instead I was refreshed with how clever Estevan Vega was with infusing

normal daily struggles teens deal with, without making it obnoxious.
Like most "Coming of Age" novels I've read,

they make sure to everything awkward, mention subjects that make me blush,
and by half way through the book force me to close it and never pick it up again,

because I'm so annoyed with all the sex, drugs and cursing.

Authors need to realize that not all teens are like that.

Well Estevan Vega definitely got the memo.

I really loved how Estevan Vega captured Arson's

teenage thoughts, and feelings without making them explicit.

The writing in this book was amazing. There were times where I felt like some of the sentences

should have been made into a song.

I LOVED Emery! She was awesome, with her band tee's and converse.
I loved how different she is, just with every little thing she does.
Even though she isn't the nicest person ever, I couldn't help
but fall in love with her character.

It was very cool how her name is inspired by the band, Emery.

I just have to say that, the fact that Arson's grandmother walked around naked all

the time really creeped me out. I don't really like having those images in my head, haha.

Despite all the good things about this book, the middle got just a bit slow.

But the ending definitely made up for it.

I mean, it completely caught me off guard.
My hands were getting a little shaky, and when I'm reading REALLY tense parts

in books, I tend to read really fast. So I had to re-read a lot of sentences because I was

reading way too quickly to catch all the information.

The last four chapters were so exciting and nerve-wrecking that I stopped eating my pizza, and try to calm

myself down. But the exploding feeling my brain started to have didn't cease until the book was over.

Even then, I was still a little shaky. And really wanting the second book in my hands.

Read this book. You'll be extremely happy you did!

P.S. For you MyChildren MyBride fans out there, listen to the song,
"Lungs Full Of Water" and tell me what part of the book made you think of that song. (:

 

♥Abigaile
@musicandmoshing

Hold Still Book Review

"...A new song started, and as soon as the man started singing, with this voice that was urgent and calm all at once, I froze. I stood in the middle of the dancing strangers. It was the moment where I realized what music can do to people, how it can make you hurt and make you feel so good all at once. I just stood there with my eyes closed, feeling the movement of all the people around me, the vibration of the bass rise through the floor to my throat. While something inside me broke and cam back together." - favorite quote

I LOVED this book.

Really, that's all I have to say. I could end the review right here. However, it would be enough to explain how amazing this book was. When I finished it, I wanted to turn to the first page and reread it again. 

Hold Still was so beautifully and poetically written. 

The storyline was great, it kept me entertained the whole time.

I must warn you, this book is a tear jerker, but its definitely worth it. 

I thought all the little things Caitlin did for comfort, since her best friend Ingrid committed suicide were all very random. haha, but I loved them. She did things like... listening to weird indie music while sleeping in the back of her old car, finding her true passion in photography, and, building her own tree house.

I though Caitlin was a trooper. I don't think I could have been strong enough to read Ingrid's journal. 

All her thoughts, everything she regretted, hated, wanted, loved. Everything she hid from Caitlin, pretty much their entire friendship, she wrote in her journal. The the night before she killed herself, she slid that journal underneath Caitlin's bed. 

Caitlin slowly read all of it.

Of course, she was sad. I would have been a basket case. 

I wouldn't be able to come out of my room for month's.

The way Nina LaCour developed all the characters was incredible.

I loved all the characters, and even small characters were involved somehow. 

I also liked how Caitlin actually had parents!

A lot of books I read, the parents are barely involved, and it's not realistic at all. 

I honestly don't have any complaints about this book.

Which is odd.

Especially for me. 

I usually have an opinion on everything.

But, nope. I can't think of anything that I didn't like in this novel.

♥ABIGAILE

@musicandmoshing