The Hunger Games (by Suzanne Collins)

Title: The Hunger Games
Author: Suzanne Collins
Publisher: Scholastic, Inc.
Release Date: September 14, 2008
Barnes and Noble / Amazon / Goodreads

From Goodreads:
In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, a shining Capitol surrounded by twelve outlying districts. The Capitol is harsh and cruel and keeps the districts in line by forcing them all to send one boy and one girl between the ages of twelve and eighteen to participate in the annual Hunger Games, a fight to the death on live TV.

Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen, who lives alone with her mother and younger sister, regards it as a death sentence when she steps forward to take her sister's place in the Games. But Katniss has been close to dead before—and survival, for her, is second nature. Without really meaning to, she becomes a contender. But if she is to win, she will have to start making choices that will weigh survival against humanity and life against love.

24 hours! That's how long it took me to finish The Hunger Games. If you've read The Hunger Games, you already know why it took just 24 hours to read the book, and if you haven't- it has nothing to do with the length of the book. I've heard many good things about the series and my curiosity got the better of me. Finally last night, I broke down, pulled out my Nook and pressed the "Buy" button that sat innocently enough next to The Hunger Games cover.

I have to say, when I began the book, I was introduced to a world that seemed oddly familiar. Not familiar to our everyday lives, but to two other books in-particular; Lauren Oliver's "Delirium" and George Orwell's classic, "1984." From the overpowering presence of the government and their "unclaimed" dictatorship, right down to the sectioned cities and their electrifed security fences. At first, I was dissapointed that I felt like I was in two other books but that did come to an end. Eventually, the similarities take alternate pathways and the world of The Hunger Games becomes you. This world is fascinating, exciting, thrilling and (at times) scary.

Our protagonist, Katniss Everdeen and supporting character, Peeta Mellark, both go through huge transformations. At the beginning, I found Katniss likable and Peeta- tolreable. But the events that occur in the games alter these characters greatly and I felt the urge to love them. By the end I was cheering for this heroine and her counterpart. I love how and by what means, their relationship develops into something that leaves you torn and craving more!

In 24 hours, a lot can happen, and "happen" it did! I highly recommend this book and I look forward to the next book in the trilogy. "Catching Fire," here I come!

Delirium (by Lauren Oliver)

Title: Delirium
Author: Lauren Oliver
Publisher: HarperCollins
Release Date: August 2, 2011
Purchase: Barnes n' Noble / Amazon


The Beatles said "all you need is love." But, in Lena's world, love is the last thing you could want or need. Love is forbidden, it is even feared. Lena lives in a United States that has identified love as a disease and perfected a cure for it. When the book opens, Lena is counting down the days till her procedure, ninety-five days to be exact. Then she will be safe and become one of the thousands of other "cureds." The "cureds" are the U.S. citizens that have had the "love" extracting procedure and are marred by a scar that they are proud of. After she is "love-free," Lena will go about the life that the government assigns her, forgetting her former joys, friendships, cares, heartfelt wants and needs.

A world without love was like trying to see without eyes. I was both baffled and intrigued by this concept. To begin with, I was surprised most that Lena wanted the life of a "cured." She believed that love was deadly and for a person like myself, that believes love is in everything and is everything, I had a hard time seeing what she saw. But as the story progressed, I began to see how love can be deadly. For we die loving one another and without love, what is life? So if you never experience love, how can you die from never knowing it? It's the same concept of "what you never have, you never miss." Although I understood Lena's fears, I had the hopes that see would "she the light." And (spoiler alert) what sets the story in motion, is that she does.

I love this book. The characters were brilliantly developed, as was the plot. I felt every emotion strongly and both cheered and morned for Lena. I loved the progression of Lena's character and the characters that she encounters and builds relationships with. The relationships that develop, were set in a timely way that felt real and true to life and were fantastically lovely.

I strongly recommend this book and praise Lauren Oliver's work.

Before I Fall

This is probably the only book that I've ever read that I felt the immediate feeling to go back to the beginning and reread it all over again. Just keep reading and re-reading it, like it's never ending. Of course- it did end, and do I ever regret the decision to start the last chapter. But, how can I really regret it? when I so eagerly began reading it. So many conflicting feelings...(tsk, tsk) that's what this book does to you. I cried many times since the beginning of this book. From the very first chapter to the last- I cried. But so many were happy tears, tears that sprang not only out of longing but out of fulfillment. I'm gonna miss this book and the life of Samantha Kingston beyond words.
Samantha Kingston has it all, the "best" of it all. The best of bestfriends, the best boyfriend, the best clothes, the best parking spot... one of the best "lived" lives at Thomas Jefferson High School. Until one Friday night in the blink of an eye- it's over. Samantha Kingston becomes the Samantha Kingston. And as fate would have it, she gets to relive the last day of her life- seven times over. One last week to relive it all. What would you do on the last day of your life? What would you say? Who would you spend it with? What would you wear? Who would you kiss? Would you eat turkey or roast beef? Would you go to school or would you hang out with your little sister? Would you go "all the way" with your boyfriend? or would you fall for someone else? Those are all questions that Samantha must make, and make the right ones she must-, in order to live... just one more day.

Excerpt from "Before I Fall": The thing is, you don't get to know. It's not like you wake up with a bad feeling in your stomach. You don't see shadows where there shouldn't be any. You don't remember to tell your parents that you love them or- in my case -remember to say good-bye to them at all. If you're like me, you wake up seven minutes and forty-seven seconds before your best friend is supposed to be picking you up. You're too busy worrying about how many roses you're going to get on Cupid Day to do anything more than throw on your clothes, brush your teeth, and pray to God you left your makeup in the bottom of your messenger bag so you can do it in the car. If you're like me, your last day starts like this:

Title: Before I Fall
Author: Lauren Oliver
Purchase Before I Fall here

Blind Pursuit

I just wrapped Blind Pursuit. I really enjoyed it and was totally taken for a ride- a very fun ride. It's full of heart-pounding scenes and many shocking twists. Mr. Prescott, once again, delivered. This is my third read of his and comparing Blind Pursuit to the others, it wasn't as awesome as Stealing Faces but much better than Shiver. Take that for what it's worth.
Blind Pursuit leads with the abduction of Erin Reilly. Her captor goes by the name of Harold Gund. He kidnaps women and burns them alive, and now he wants Erin. He intends to use her profession as a psychiatrist to help cure him of his sick and deadly addiction. Gone in the middle of the night, she leaves no clues as to her intention, except a poorly written and forced letter to her twin sister, Annie. Erin must now depend on her gut, wits and Annie's perseverance to survive the inferno that is the mind of Harold Gund.

Excerpt from "Blind Pursuit": The man was tall and heavyset, red-bearded, an uncombed shock of scarlet hair spilling out from under a baseball cap, the bill cocked low over his eyes. On the collar of his winter coat lay a bristle-toothed leaf, deposited there by the sword fern in the alcove where he had lain in wait. His hands were gloved. In his right first, a gleam of metal. She almost screamed, and then his left hand shot out, seized her shoulder, slammed her up against the elevator doors. The impact winded her. She had no breath, no voice. Thrust of his right arm, the metallic thing digging into her stomach below the breastbone, two sharp prongs pinching her skin through the robe and pajama top. From a yard away she stared into his eyes, blue and cold.

Title: Blind Pursuit
Author: Michael Prescott
Purchase Blind Pursuit here

Eve

Eve is over and I don't know whether I am relieved or, well, not relieved. It was a definite "quick read" but the first half was almost too "quick" for me. I wish Ms. Carey had taken her time in building the plot instead of jumping head first into it. I would of rather her spread the first two chapters out into four chapters, and really let the plot thicken. But hey, she's the published author here.
Eve takes place sixteen years after a deadly virus has taken most of the human population. The name sake of the book is an eighteen year old girl- Eve, who was taken as as a child, from her dying mother, and raised at a school for girls. On the night before her graduation she discovers the truth behind the school and what her promised future actually is, which was nothing like she could have ever dreamed (or feared). She flees into the wild and after meeting up with an old friend from the past, the two set off west to Califia, the dreamlike land of a secure present and a safe future. The two must discover a way to survive in a world they never really knew. Along the way, they will encounter danger, betrayal, friendship and, for Eve, ultimately- love.

Excerpt from Eve: "Arden?" I said again, softer this time. Her eyes were squeezed shut, her cheeks pink and contorted. She turned over, her chest heaving. I stood, reaching out my hand, but she didn't move. Instead her body curled into a tight ball, tensing with great effort. She hacked loudly, her coughs splitting the air. I dropped to the floor. My hand rested on her back as she lurched forwards, trying to free her lungs. When she pulled away we both looked down. Her palms were covered with blood.

Title: Eve
Author: Anna Carey
Purchase Eve here

Thirteen Reasons Why

I just finished Thirteen Reasons Why. All I can say is "Wow." It was so moving, so surprising. Hannah's story changed something in me, something permanent. I wish I could go back and say those words, the secret- the absolute dire- words that others needed to hear. But, I can't and that's what's so sad.

One day, Hannah Baker, normal teenage- high school- girl, doesn't show up for school. She's just another no-show, until the words get out that she killed herself, one day, for "no reason" she takes a handful of pills and she's gone. Then two weeks later, Clay Jensen, receives a box of tapes on his front door. Compelled to listen, because really... who listens to tapes anymore?, let alone packages them up and sends them around to random people?, he pops in the first of seven tapes and hears the voice of Hannah Baker crackle into the headset. She's going to tell the listeners why she killed herself and surprise, if you received them, then you're one of the reasons why, one of thirteen reasons why. The rules- you must listen to each tape and pass them along to the next person in line- or a second set will be released and then everyone will hear what it was exactly that you did to help Hannah seal off her life. And so the story begins...

Excerpt from "Thirteen Reasons Why" : In the back of our class, Mrs. Bradley also had a paper bag. It hung with the rest of ours on the spinning bookrack. We could use it - and she encouraged it- for notes about her teaching. Critical or otherwise. She also wanted us to recommend topics for future discussions. So I did just that. I wrote a note to Mrs. Bradley that read: "Suicide. It's something I've been thinking about. Not too seriously, but I have been thinking about it." That's the note. Word for word. And I know it's word for word because I wrote it dozens of times before delivering it. I'd write it, throw it away, write it, crumple it up, throw it away. But why was I writing it to begin with? I asked myself that question every time I printed the words onto a new sheet of paper. Why was I writing this note? It was a lie. I hadn't been thinking about it. Not really. Not in detail. The thought would come into my head and I'd push it away. But I pushed it away a lot.

Are you, or someone you know, considering suicide? Then know that there is help, visit The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline's website: www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org or call 1-800-273-TALK.

Title: Thirteen Reasons Why
Author: Jay Asher
Purchase Thirteen Reasons Why here

Shiver

I'm finally finished with "Shiver" by Michael Prescott. Overall, it was good but I wouldn't read it again. Every now and then, I felt like it was a waste of time, but that feeling was far-and-few between. About 3/4 of the way through, it gets a little repetitive. Shiver is about a serial-killer called the Gryphon, who hunts women on the west side of Los Angeles. He strikes at random, when they're alone and most vulnerable and leaves them dead, headless and always clutching a clay Gryphon statue. Wendy Alden was just another victim till her "death"-gone-wrong, left her a survivor. The Gryphon is rendered furious and left feeling incompetent. A feeling- new to him. He is determined to end her existence and strikes again and again. Now, Wendy must find a way to survive him and to once and for all bring an end to the mythical- and deadly- "Gryphon."

Title: Shiver
Author: Michael Prescott
Purchase Shiver here

Miss. Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children

I can't believe it's over. I just finished Miss. Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children. A truly amazing, captivating story.
Jacob's Grandpa Portman is an acentric old man. From the time Jacob is little his Grandpa Portman tells of a children's home he lived in as a young man, a home for peculiar children. Children like Victor, who was so strong he could lift a boulder over his head. Olive who had to wear weighted shoes and a rope tied around her waist to keep from floating away. Millard who was invisible and Horace who had bees that lived inside of him. As Jacob grows older, he begins to believe these stories are just that- stories. Stories made up from the imagination of an old man. But one night, when Jacob is 15, his Grandpa Portman calls him terrified of the monsters that are "after him"- monsters who hunt peculiar children. When his grandpa is found dead, only then does Jacob begin to believe that maybe those stories are not fiction but the truth. The truth- that is now up to him to find out.

Title: Miss. Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children
Author: Ransom Riggs
Purchase Miss. Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children here

Stealing Faces

I just finished Michael Prescott's Stealing Faces. An awesome book! I couldn't stop turning the pages, eating up every word like licking the sweetness of candy off one's fingertips.
Stealing Faces begins with the hunt and murder of (the fictitious) Sharon Andrews in the White Mountains of Arizona. The star of the show is John Cray. He kidnaps women and then takes them out in the mountains or the desert and hunts them like animals. His last move is to cut the face off his victims as they lay alive, bleeding from the wounds inflicted from his gun and knife. Their last image is their face laying in the hands of their killer. Elizabeth Palmer is the only one who knows John Cray's secret. She stalks him in the night and threatens to expose the truth. But soon the table turns and she will then become the object of his next fixation. In Mr. Prescott's words "She must save her life... or lose her mind."

Title: Stealing Faces
Author: Michael Prescott
Purchase Stealing Faces here