Cinder (Lunar Chronicles #1)

Title: Cinder (Lunar Chronicles #1)

Author: Marissa Meyer
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends

Publication Date: January 3, 2012

Rating: 4 Stars

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.-GoodReads

The best thing about Cinder is that even though it's a retelling of a well known fairytale it is so original. It's more of a Sci-fi book with bits of classic Cinderella details thrown in. I'm still blown away, Cinderella as a cyborg?! Hah! That's awesome!

Cinder was a great protagonist, she was strong, likeable, and you couldn't help but feel sorry for her. Kai was the same, I couldn't help but like him because of his willingness to do all that he could for his people. My favorite character by far was Iko, she brought a light heartedness to the book. I loved how a simple ribbon made her feel like she was dressing up and how she dreamed of going to the ball.

I really liked this book, it was well written, with good characters, and a strong plot. There were a few things that were predictable but I didn't really care, I'm not picky especially since this book threw enough curveballs at me that even though I guessed a few things there was always something else to throw me off. The ball was one of those scenes where you're going "what the heck!" The fact that they were still recovering from a war and that there was a plague added to the believability of the world. No matter how high advanced a world gets, the problems will change right along with it.

I wondered when I started Cinder if it was a series, when I reached the last page there was no doubt in my mind that it was. Even though the book is almost 400 pages it feels like it only scratched the surface. I am eager to see what Meyer does with the rest of the series.

A Wrinkle in Time (Time #1)

Title: A Wrinkle in Time

Author: Madeleine L'Engle
Publisher: Yearling
Publication Date:May 11th 1999 by Yearling
(first published 1962)
Rating: 3 Stars

Meg Murray, her little brother Charles Wallace, and their mother are having a midnight snack on a dark and stormy night when an unearthly stranger appears at their door. He claims to have been blown off course, and goes on to tell them that there is such a thing as a "tesseract," which, if you didn't know, is a wrinkle in time.

Meg's father had been experimenting with time-travel when he suddenly disappeared. Will Meg, Charles Wallace, and their friend Calvin outwit the forces of evil as they search through space for their father?-Amazon

A long time ago one of my favorite librarians recommended this book to me when I was bored. At the time I wasn't a big reader and the 200+ pages looked impossible so I'm ashamed to say I never read it. My sister read it for a children's lit class and said she really didn't care for it but since she hates to part with books it's still on her bookshelf. After all these years I finally read it today.

I liked they style of it, it just felt... right. At page 2 I knew it was going to be an interesting book when the main character Meg tackled a boy for insulting her younger brother. I really liked the unique relationship between Meg and Charles Wallace. For a five year old Charles Wallace is scarily mature, he acts like an adult. He seems to act like the older sibling, always taking care of Meg and his mother and knowing when they need someone to talk to. The Mrs. W's were hilarious and mysterious, I loved the names: Mrs. Whatsit, Mrs. Who, and Mrs. Which. I love Aunt Beast, as little as she was in the book she had this attitude that made her seem so sweet. If I was going to meet an alien she would be probably my second choice(first choice would be the Doctor, but that's a different matter). I also love her race, they way that they didn't see things but knew it by WHAT it was instead what it looked like.

I wish the book would have gotten more into what Calvin and Charles Wallace were and why they were special but it is a series so maybe it goes into that later. I loved the fact that with all the impossible things that happened such as traveling through time and space, meeting aliens and fighting the darkness Christianity and God was still acknowledged by all, even the aliens. For once Science and God were both counted as truth. It felt natural and was very refreshing.

I gave this book 3 Stars because while it was interesting and there was a lot I liked about it I wasn't in love with it.

A Million Suns (Across the Universe #2)

Title: A Million Suns (Across the Universe #2)
Author: Beth Revis
Publisher: Razorbill
Published: January 10th, 2012
Rating: 5 STARS!

Godspeed was fueled by lies. Now it is ruled by chaos.

It's been three months since Amy was unplugged. The life she always knew is over. And everywhere she looks, she sees the walls of the spaceship Godspeed. But there may just be hope: Elder has assumed leadership of the ship. He's finally free to enact his vision - no more Phydus, no more lies.

But when Elder discovers shocking news about the ship, he and Amy race to discover the truth behind life on Godspeed. They must work together to unlock a puzzle that was set in motion hundreds of years earlier, unable to fight the romance that's growing between them and the chaos that threatens to tear them apart.-GoodReads

First of all can I just say I love the cover of both Across the Universe and A Million Suns! They are absolutely gorgeous. I can't wait to see the cover of book 3, I'm sure it will be just as lovely.

The thing I loved about A Million Suns is that it was just as good as Across the Universe. I literally spent half of the day reading this book, it was so good. I love Beth Revis's writing style, the imagery that is put forth is as clear as a picture. It's so beautiful. Another thing that I love is that the 1st person POV is so real that when the character's mind is in chaos you can feel it. This whole book just feels like a work of art.

STARS AND SILENCE

I loved reading this continuation of Elder and Amy's story. I can truthfully say that I was shocked by the turn of events in the book more than once. I was on the edge of my seat and couldn't stop reading. Luckily I finished the book with 45 minutes to spare before my first class. I got a bit annoyed by Amy near the end but I could understand where she was coming from even if I didn't completely agree with her. I love the fact that this book makes you question what you would do in the same situation and since most of the characters hold different opinions you can't just follow them blindly, you have to decide for yourself. It was nice to see Elder stepping up and became the leader he was born to be, I'm sure that he'll have plenty more difficulties to come in the next book. I'm looking forward to it *evil laugh*. I cannot wait for the next book to come out, it's sure to be epic.

Interesting Fact

The murderer in A Million Suns changed with each of Beth Revis's rewrites. The killer changed identities a grand total of three times.

The Host

Title: The Host
Author: Stephenie Meyer
Pages: 619

'Melanie Stryder refuses to fade away. The earth has been invaded by a species that take over the minds of their human hosts while leaving their bodies intact, and most of humanity has succumbed.

Wanderer, the invading "soul" who has been given Melanie's body, knew about the challenges of living inside a human: the overwhelming emotions, the too vivid memories. But there was one difficulty Wanderer didn't expect: the former tenant of her body refusing to relinquish possession of her mind.

Melanie fills Wanderer's thoughts with visions of the man Melanie loves-Jared, a human who still lives in hiding. Unable to separate herself from her body's desires, Wanderer yearns for a man she's never met. As outside forces make Wanderer and Melanie unwilling allies, they set off to search for the man they both love.'

It has been described as "the first love triangle involving only two bodies"

I wasn't sure what to expect from The Host. I saw a book trailer for it on Youtube a year ago, and I thought it looked interesting, I just didn't read it until a few days ago.

What did I think of this book? Well, the first hundred pages are boring, that's for sure, but once you get past it the host is a really good book. The storyline was good. The caves were amazing, if aliens were invading the earth I would definitely want to have those caves nearby. The characters were interesting, my favorites were Uncle Jeb, Ian, and Jamie. And.... Drum roll please.....Stephenie Meyer actually wrote a romance novel that didn't make me cringe. YAY!!!

Side note: there are two blank pages in between page 594 and 599. The book does not end on 594, I promise. That would have made a terrible ending

All in all, it was a good book. And, great news, there is going to be a movie coming out sometime in the coming years. There are a lot of really great fan-made trailers on youtube, I thought I'd post my favorite here