Books: Scythe ~ Arc of Scythe #1 ~ Neal Shusterman

Title:Scythe
Author: Neal Shusterman
Publisher: Walker Bookss
Publishing date: November, 0216
Number of pages: 443 p.
Series: Arc of Scythe #1
Age Category: Young Adult
Genre: Utopia, Science Fiction
Other Books In This Series:
Thunderhead, book #2
The Toll, book #3

About Scythe

What if Death was the only thing left to control?
Maybe just read this sentence and get into the book, I really encourage you to go in bind. No still want to know more? alright then here is the rest of the synopsis:
In a perfect world, the only way to die is to be gleanded by a professional scythe. When Citra and Rowan are chosen to be apprentice scythes, they know they have no option but to learn the art of killing. However, the terrifying responsibility of choosing their victims is just the start.
Corruption is the order of the day and Citra and Rowan need to stick together to fight it.

Then they are told that one of them will have to glean the other..

My opinion about Scythe

Oh how I struggled ath the first half of the book. I was having a hard time getting into the writing style of this book, it took me about half the book to get over that. As you might be aware English is not my native language, and what I found with Scythe was that there were a lot of words that are not so commonly used throughout the YA genre, and so I sometimes had to look up some of the words mentioned. It has been a while since I have had to do that. I think that made it a bit challenging for me at times to get in to. In general it was not a difficult read, it is still very much a young adult novel, but if you are starting to read English I would not pick this as a starting point.

On the front of the edition I have of Scythe it says on the front: "A true successor to The Hunger Games". I don't really agree with this, I don't think this is a proper comparison as Scythe is so different in tone and world form the Hunger Games. Yes it is still science fiction, but not in the same category of the Hunger Games, which is a game based dystopian, where this is more a utopia instead. I would have like it to be compared to Matched if you want to compare it to something similar. Matched also is very much a utopia, and has some other similarities to Scythe as well. I think that if you are going into this book with the expectations of "another Hunger Games" that you would be very dissapointed. Scythe is a very different story, intellegent, political and at times a bit disturbing.

The first half of the book is a bit slow, it is mainly based on the training of Citra and Rowan our main characters. We get to see both Citra and Rowan point of view of their apprenticeship. The internal struggles of becoming a scythe and the dread of having to glean a person. To take a persons live, they both have very distinct voices and very different point of view on things. In the beginning I did not really like Citra, I found her to be a bit shallow and a bit of a know-it-all. But the farther we got in the book the more I came to appreciate her character. Rowan is a very likable character from the beginning, allthough during the book especially SPOILER ALLERT, when under the care of Scythe Goddard I actually started doubting is choices a bit.

I think the author made a very bold move at the end of the book, something I had not expected to happen. I do applaud the events and it definitely made me change my mind about this book. Now that I have had some time to process this book I think this book is a good set up for the rest of the series. There is a lot of world building, which is also the reason for the slow start, but I think the worldbuilding is necassary to explain to us the world we are in, to set up for the other two books in the series. And it is the set up for the events unfolding at the end of the book.

The ending of this book is action packed, full of surprises, and the beginning of a very interesting journey for both of our main characters. I feel the ending is perfect and this makes up so much for the slower parts of this book.

Conclusions

This is the kind of book that makes you think about our own world, our future and our incompetences. It makes you think that maybe we could all use a Thunderhead, a disease free world. Or would live then be come a dull experience? This book is a masterpiece, eventhought, at the beginning I felt like quitting a couple of times. It is such an interesting take on humanity and I am definitely going to continue the series. As I am writing this review I am already half through the second book, and I can already say, I am loving it! Utopia at it's best. As I was not all that fond of the beginning of the book, this influenced my final rating a bit, it is still a solid work of art. Therefore I am giving this book 4 stars.

It occurred to her that being a scythe was like being the living dead. In the world, but apart from it. Just a witness to the comings and goings of others. - Citra

Books: All Our Yesterdays ~ Cristin Terrill

Title: All Our Yesterdays
Author: Cristin Terrill
Series: Standalone
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Publishing date: September 2013
Number of pages: 360 p.
Languages: English
Age Category: Young adult
Genre: Science Fiction, Time Travel 

About All Our Yesterdays

Yesterday - Marina was safe, privileged, wealthy. She was falling for James - the super-brainy youngest son of a very powerful family. Yesterday ended badly.

Today - Em is in a cell she may never get out of alive. There's a flicker of hope when she talks to the boy in the cell next to hers - and when she remembers who she used to be... Yesterday.

Tomorrow - Em has a mission. She must escape and travel back in time. She must kill the boy Marina loved - to save her future.

My thoughts on All Our Yesterdays

Let me start of with a bit of a content warning: THIS REVIEW IS NOT SPOILER FREE, so if you don't want any spoilers please skip to my conclusions.

Oh this book, this book really tore me apart, what an amazing read this was.

All Our Yesterdays has been on my wishlist for many years, finally I found a copy I think it was at one of the Boekenfestijn events. They always had a very large English languages section on these events, which was the reason I went to these events. I always found very nicely priced books there. If you have any online suggestions of good webshops for English Fantasy and Science fiction that ship to the Netherlands, and are cheaper than the regular bookstores/online players, please let me know. I am a little stuck with Bookdepitory and Bol.com and I have recently noticed that the book prices are going up. I was so happy to have found this book, however it remained on my shelf for years and years. So I could not remember what it was about, I decided to go in blind.

I dove right into the story, our main character is lock up, we don't know where, we don't know why and we don't know what the prisoners are to each other. I was very intrigued that we did not get much information, but the author managed to keep me on my toes the entire time. The POV starts of with Em, who is the person that is locked up, after a couple of chapters the POV switches to Marina. Marina is a brat, spoiled, rich kid that is very very naive. You might have gathered from this that Marina was far from a favorite. We also find out that Finn is in both story lines so it must be Finn in different times.

It took me a much longer while to figure out that Em and Marina are actually the same person. You would not have guessed if it wasn't explained at some point, it was so interesting to see that one person can change so much that you would not even recgonize them, this was really smart writing, and it is one of the things that I really appreciate about this book. This not only goes for our main character but the same is true for the side characters. We see a lot of development between the future selves and past selves of our characters. Allthough I must say Finn remains relatively the same in any time line.

When Em & Finn manage to escape from the Doctor, they travel back in time to kill James. We see how they track James, prepare for attack, but also the hesitation on Em's part, as James was her friend, the friend she was so desparetly in love with. We see the contraversy this gives Em, the hesitation to kill him, as past James was relatively innocent. It is not easy for the old friends to try to kill someone they loved, that they trusted. This is what makes this book so realistic, it shows the struggles of the characters, and we get a well rounded story since the POV's switch between Em and Marina.

The end was really suprising, it took a turn that I did not see coming, a very daring thing to do. The ending was great, and I think what made this book so great is that it was not your straight forward, predictable YA book you would expect, it twists and turns, and you have to figure out all the details as you go along.

Conclusions

If you like time travel, then this is for you. If you are looking for a well-written suprising, not so predictable YA story, then go right ahead an pick this up. This book threw me out of my 5 year long reading slump, it was addictive, action packed, with amazing character development in a well rounded story. I can only say please read this, it is amazing, it is an older young adult book, and maybe even a bit underrated as I never really saw a lot of people talking about it, but damn, what a ride. 5 stars for this one!

 

Time travel isn't a wonder, it's an abomination. - Cristin Terrill

Movies: Guardians Of The Galaxy

Title: Guardians Of The Galaxy
Runtime: 121 minutes
Director: James Gunn
Release Date: 14 August 2014

About Guardians of the Galaxy

After stealing a mysterious orb in the far reaches of outer space, Peter Quill from Earth, is now the main target of a manhunt led by the villain known as Ronan the Accuser.

To help fight Ronan and his team and save the galaxy from his power, Quill creates a team of space heroes known as the "Guardians of the Galaxy" to save the world.

Books: Eyes Ever To The Sky ~ Katie French

Title: Eyes Ever To The Sky
Author: Katie French
Series: The Sky Trilogy #1
Publishing date: 9th April 2014 
Publisher: Kate French Books
Number of pages: 194 p.
Age group: Young Adult
Language: English only
Other books in this series: Unknown at this point in time

I received a copy via Netgalley for an honest review. This in no way influences my honest opinion. 

About Eyes Ever to the Sky

When Hugh wakes up in a smoldering crater—no memory, no clothes—a single thought echoes in his head…trust no one. Frightened and alone, with no memory of who he is, he stumbles upon a grisly murder scene and is fatally shot.

He wakes, only to find he can heal himself. He has superpowers, and he’s going to need them. Desperate and bleeding, Hugh stumbles upon fifteen-year-old Cece, who’s got enough troubles of her own.

Between caring for her bipolar mother and trying not to get evicted from her run-down trailer, Cece may be the only person struggling as much as Hugh. Drawn to Hugh, Cece finds a love she’s never known. But when the real killer—a man-hunting beast—chooses another victim, Hugh and Cece realize they must unlock the clues to their past if they have any chance at a future.

Review

Where to start with this review? This book is really hard to put in words or to form an opinion about this book. This book is just really an Ok read, it's nothing extraordinary good nor bad. There isn't anything wrong with it, but it doesn't read like a five star read. All though I must say that in the beginning it was a little slow, for my taste.

However the main characters: Hugh and Cece, were so interesting that you just want to continue reading. This book does not only contain great main characters, but there is also a bucket full of super great side characters to keep you entertained.

Cece is one of the strongest main characters I have met, she has a stronger role in this book than Hugh. Hugh or butt-naked-guy-from-the-sky as I like to call him, doesn't come of as strong. I think it might be because of the memory loss, but he also makes some very silly choices. For example, if you are starving, because you haven't eaten in days, you run into food under the most disturbing circumstances, say a murder scene. I would have still gathered some food before I ran away. That is survival instinct!

Cece seems to be the complete opposite doing what she needs to do, just to survive another day. She is struggling to keep the pieces of her life together, while one piece after another seems to break away. My respect and pity for her grew throughout the book. She's at the bottom of bottoms of society, which you do not read often about nor an easy place to live. What I also liked was her mom always talking in Spanish, it's different, and I like Spanish so big plus there!

Rating

Original intriguing plot, fantastic characters, both main and side characters and an overal intriguing story.

Music

This just popped in to my mind, because of the video. Enjoy!

My favourite quotes:

Above, fire escapes clung to the sides of buildings. From this angle they looked like stairways to heaven. He started humming that tune under his breath an let his eyes slip back up to the stars. - Little Mack

Yet, deep down she knew she'd spend many moments like this one: hallow, heart-broken, and with her eyes ever to the sky. - Cece

Books: Visited ~ Janine Caldwell

Title: Visited
Author: Janine Caldwell
Kind of story: Standalone
Publishing date: 25 Mei 2013
Publisher: self published
Language: English only
Age category: Young Adult
Number of pages: 216 p.

I received an ARC copy of this book from Xpresso Book tours, as part of the Visited blog tour. This however in no way influences my honest opinion. 

About Visited

Seventeen-year-old Joanna Murphy has lost faith in her life. Vying for her mom’s attention, she’s resentful of her stepdad’s intrusion to their family. Her best friend, Tommy, has no clue she’s in love with him as he dates girl after girl without noticing how it tortures her. The final kicker, though, is God’s sick joke to make her freakishly tall when everyone knows boys prefer petite girls.


Then in a bizarre accident Joanna meets James, a breathtaking teen who appears to her after an unusual falling star sighting. Suddenly, her dream for an alien encounter becomes all too real. But when she finds her life has been made unrecognizable, she’s forced into an explosive study of the original design for her life that just may have her regretting every wish she ever made.

 

My review

Warning: this is not going to be one of those praising reviews. So stop reading here if you don't want to know why I didn't like it.

 I really didn't like this book, it was slow, naïve and annoying. I should have stopped reading. Stubborn me didn't agree so I pulled through. And was even more disappointed when I finished. The ending was kind of surprising. I didn't see that one coming, usually this would be a good thing. In this case however, it was not. It was like seeing a delicious desert after a horrible entrée and main course, but after tasting the first mouthful deciding it tasted worse than the entrée and main course all together. That is kind of what I felt like after reading this.

The protagonist Joanna was insecure, awkward and to top it of very naïve. The latter is what bothered me the most throughout the book. Don't get me wrong insecurity and awkward behaviour I am very familiar with. It doesn't always bother me in books, but this was just way too much of all of that which made the book almost unbearable to read. And to add to that it was really slow.

Then there was the ending, Oh My Fr*king God! This must have been the most horrible endings I have ever read! SPOILER ALERT: Really, freaking angels pretending to be aliens! Gosh that is just horrible, horrible! END OF SPOILER :) Don't ever do that to me again, please just put a big: philoshopical/spiritual label on the book for crying out loud. Then I would have passed it by.

The worst of all this is that I signed up for the blog tour myself, I always hope that I can give the author a great review then. Especially after hearing really good things about the author. Also I really do love the cover! It is very pretty! I do hope that the other books of this author are better, because this wasn't it for me.

But don't be discourage by my review, because I also think I am not part of the intended target group. I do recommend this to younger readers age 10 to 16. Why do I recommend it if I didn't like it? Well the general theme of the book is interesting, I think it might appeal better to this target group. I think they can learn some lessons form this book, some morals.

My rating

So for me this is a 2 star book, because I am not the intended audience. Lastly let me say that it is well written, meaning: minor grammar and spelling mistakes....

Books: Visited ~ Janine Caldwell ~ Promo

Titel: Visited
Author: Janine Caldwell
Published in: 25th of May 2013
Publisher: Self published
Language: English only
Age category: Young Adult
Number of pages: 216 p.
Kind of story: standalone

About Visited

Seventeen-year-old Joanna Murphy has lost faith in her life. Vying for her mom’s attention, she’s resentful of her stepdad’s intrusion to their family. Her best friend, Tommy, has no clue she’s in love with him as he dates girl after girl without noticing how it tortures her. The final kicker, though, is God’s sick joke to make her freakishly tall when everyone knows boys prefer petite girls.


Then in a bizarre accident Joanna meets James, a breathtaking teen who appears to her after an unusual falling star sighting. Suddenly, her dream for an alien encounter becomes all too real. But when she finds her life has been made unrecognizable, she’s forced into an explosive study of the original design for her life that just may have her regretting every wish she ever made.

Buy this book at:

Barnes and Noble ~ Amazon

About Janine Caldwell

Janine Caldwell was born in Concord, CA and raised in the small San Francisco Bay Area town of Clayton. Four days after her high school graduation, Janine attended California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo and graduated with a degree in English.

Janine now lives in Anthem, AZ with her husband and two sons. As a lifelong literature fanatic, she knew it was only a matter of time before she would become obsessed with writing her own work. With relatives like the Brothers Grimm and Anita Loos (Gentlemen Prefer Blondes), she figured fantasy writing had to be in her DNA.

Books published by Janine include Visited, a YA coming-of-age fantasy, Rematch and Double Fault—the first two books of The Vortex Series. The final book in this YA fantasy romance, Deuce, will be released fall 2013.

Website ~ Goodreads ~ Facebook ~ Twitter

Books: The Emerald Tablet ~ promo

Genre: Sci-Fi, Fantasy

Leoros doesn't have many friends. The son of a scientist and archeologist, he is constantly on the move. But when his parents make a startling discovery in Egypt, Leoros' world is turned upside down. Do you wish you could have the power of a god? Would you use it for good…or for evil?

When an archaeologist discovers the mythic Emerald Tablet buried beneath Egypt’s desert, her son decodes the ancient text leading him to a distant world. On that world, a slave girl begins a journey towards a destiny she cannot imagine. But when an ancient foe rises from the ashes, they will be brought together by forces neither understands.
Leoros, who dreams of being like the heroes in the comic books, must fight to unlock the secrets of the universe to save a people he never knew existed.

Atlantia, whose bloody visions wake her in the night, senses the darkness coming. Together they will face an enemy with the power of dark energy, lose a mentor to the assassin’s blade, and be betrayed by someone they trust. Their fight for the future is just beginning, and before it is over, a final sacrifice must be made. When the darkness comes, will they stand and fight or will they join it? There is darkness in everyone.

Purchase the book/Koop het boek hier:
Amazon | Barnes & Noble

About/Over Joshua Silverman

Joshua Silverman was born in Washington, D.C. and raised in Orange County, California. While attending California State University, Fullerton and studying Criminal Justice, Joshua was introduced to a creative writing class where he wrote a series of paranormal stories.
As a child, he has always been an amateur historian, focusing on ancient Egypt, Greece, and Roman civilizations. Since working in the legal environment, he has combined his passion for creative writing with his love of ancient history by penning his debut novel, The Emerald Tablet, the first of seven in the Legends of Amun Ra series.

Follow Joshua Silverman:

Website | Blog | Facebook | Twitter | GoodReads