Out of Sight, Out of Time By Ally Carter

Title: Out of Sight, Out of Time

Author: Ally Carter

Pages: 294

Level: Young Adult

Published: March 13, 2012

"The last thing Cammie Morgan remembers is leaving the Gallagher Academy to protect her friends and family. But when Cammie wakes up in an alpine convent and discovers months have passed, her memory is a black hole. The only traces left of Cammie’s summer vacation are the bruises on her body and dirt under her nails. All she wants is to go home. But even the Gallagher Academy now holds more questions than answers as Cammie and her friends face their most difficult challenge yet. With only their training and a few clues to guide them, the girls go in search of answers on the other side of the world. But the Circle is hot on their trail and will stop at nothing to prevent Cammie from remembering what she did last summer."

Review:

I don't really know what to say about this book. It didn't really stand out to me for being good or bad. The plot was good, it wasn't slow paced, which it never is in this series anyways. I guess I liked it. The only issue I have is that the period from when Ally Carter publishes one and when she publishes the next one is SO long that by the time the newest book comes out, I have completely forgot what happened in the other books. Even though I don't remember anything, the plot is still easy to follow, and that is a definite plus.

Cover: 4/5

Character Rating: 4/5

Style: 4/5

Development: 5/5

Overall:

****

Awaken By Katie Kacvinsky

Title: Awaken

Author: Katie Kavinsky

Pages: 310

Level: Young Adult

Published: May 23, 2011

"In the year 2060, everything is done digitally. Kids no longer go to schools. They stay home and take classes online. Adults work from home, too. Even dating is no longer done in person. Why walk on a real beach when you can stroll down a digitally remastered one instead? No bad weather, no seagulls, nothing real to ruin a perfectly fine time. Though she's grown up in this digital world, something about being cut off from everyone doesn't sit right with seventeen-year-old Madeline. Her favorite activity--the only one she does off line--is soccer. She likes the physicality of it and the comradery with the other girls. Then she meets Justin. He, too, prefers life off line. It's all he talks about. He even takes her out to a real coffee shop and an underground club. Maybe it's his attentiveness, or the physical closeness of actually being with someone, or just that he's very good looking, Madie is definitely drawn to him. But there's also something very aloof about him, like perhaps he's hiding something. When Madie uncovers the truth, she's faced with the question: What's more important, fighting for what you believe in or love?"

Review:

I picked up this book probably 8 months ago and I really wanted to read it so I put it on my plan to read list and forgot about it. Man, do I wish that I would have bought it that day. This book was extremely good. I started at about 10PM last night and I could not stop reading it. It was so good, I think I finally finished at 3 AM and I was kind of mindblown.

The plot was so different from anything that I have read so it was refreshing to read something that hadn't already been done 50 billion times. And, I am a hopeless romantic so when I met a sexy,brilliant, mysterious heartthrob, I was even more mesmerized to continue reading it.

One of the characteristics of a really good book, at least to me anyway, is when the book really makes you think or it makes you want to change your ways. The main storyline of this book was about how digitalized everything had become and how no one was interacting with each other or spending time outdoors. It really made me want to go take a walk outside or touch the grass. I was really considering putting down the computer, and even books for a while because I need to spend more time outside. I can't do that though, so whatever.

I also didn't mind the characters either. I really liked Justin, if I had met him in real life I definitely would have been swooning.

I think being that this was her debut novel, she deserves a standing O because it was really good. I do have some minor things that bugged me though.

First off, the main character, Madeline, took forever to chose what side she was going to be on. She was so wishy-washy I was screaming pick a side! Another thing, the romance was so generic, there wasn't anything new to it. And the ending was so cheesy, not the very ending, but the "action" parts. I was laughing at how stupid it was, but maybe that was just me.

Otherwise this book was really good and if you want to breathe a breath of fresh air, this book will make you do it for the most part.

Cover: 4/5

Character Rating: 3/5

Style: 4/5

Development: 4/5

Overall:

****

Article 5 by Kritsen Simmons

Title: Article 5

Author: Kristen Simmons

Pages: 364

Level: Young Adult

Published: January 31, 2012

"New York, Los Angeles, and Washington, D.C., have been abandoned. 
The Bill of Rights has been revoked, and replaced with the Moral Statutes.
There are no more police—instead, there are soldiers. There are no more fines for bad behavior—instead, there are arrests, trials, and maybe worse. People who get arrested usually don't come back. 
Seventeen-year-old Ember Miller is old enough to remember that things weren't always this way. Living with her rebellious single mother, it's hard for her to forget that people weren't always arrested for reading the wrong books or staying out after dark. It's hard to forget that life in the United States used to be different. 
Ember has perfected the art of keeping a low profile. She knows how to get the things she needs, like food stamps and hand-me-down clothes, and how to pass the random home inspections by the military. Her life is as close to peaceful as circumstances allow. 
That is, until her mother is arrested for noncompliance with Article 5 of the Moral Statutes. And one of the arresting officers is none other than Chase Jennings—the only boy Ember has ever loved."

Review: 

I have to start off by saying that I love dystopia books. They are definitely my all time favorite genre of writing. 

One thing that I find with most well written, heart-felt dystopia novels is that war completely destroys. 

That is,war completely destroys, but some things are worth fighting for. 

Another thing that I really love dystopia for is that they all have one thing in common: hope. 

It's really interesting for me to read about; how the characters struggle with fighting for something that can get them and everyone they care about demolished, but they fight anyways because they believe so strongly that it's the right thing to do. 

It's oddly inspirational.  ^.^

Anyway, back to the actual review. 

By reading the inside cover of the book (listed above), it sounds absolutely AMAZING. I was so excited to start reading. I had been on the look out for a book that could possibly beat The Hunger Games and this sounded perfect. 
The first couple pages were good. The author did a good job with a hook and made me want to keep reading for about the first 20 pages, which is about when Ember's mother is being arrested. 
After that, things got a little too girly/needy for me. 
Once Chase, the boy that arrests Ember's mother, is in the picture, the main character, Ember, gets really whiny and annoying. It kinda sucks being stuck in her head. 
    Reason 1: Ember is overly dramatic. 
                   a) "My eyes widened." 
                   b) "I couldn't breathe." 
                   c) "My heart stopped." 
                   d) "My voice shook. My whole body shook."
I felt that these types interjections were on every single page. C'mon girl, you're supposed to be tough. Stop and grow a pair. (please.)
   Reason 2: Ember is stupid. 
               a) So imagine you are being attacked. It's natural to defend yourself, to want to hurt the person who is trying to hurt you. Right? Well, Ember gets angry at Chase for defending her from a guy who was going to rape her. 
Ember: "You almost killed that guy! You would have if I didn't stop you."
Chase: "They were going to hurt you."
Ember: "So that makes it okay?" 
Well Ember, that guy was going to rape you. So, HECK YES THAT MAKES IT OKAY. 
              b)Ember is still stupid. Like running away from safety, stupid. Multiple times. 
              c) Chase: "Hey, are you-"
                   Ember: *slaps him*
                Me: ????????
              d) Ember: " I guess I leave my clothes on, right?"
                  Me: Well, yeah, unless you want to sleep naked with some guy in the same sleeping bag. That's not awkward. 


  Reason 3:  Another thing that bothered me was the writing style. A lot of the sentences didn't make sense.  For example: 
    a) "The ground was relatively flat and not too rocky." Now thats all well and good until I read later (in the same setting) "And though the ground was cold and uneven..."
Wait, what?  But you just said.....??
    b)"One of the soldiers had short brown hair that grayed around his temples, and wrinkles around the corners of his mouth that made him appear too old for his age." Umm, how do you know his age? This is first person, right?


Reason 4: Sometimes, this book seemed cheesy and a little too run down, like the author is stealing ideas from another author. 
         a) Chase: "I promised I'd never hurt you." Hellooooo, Twilight anyone?
I don't know, I'm probably being more frugal that I should be but these things annoyed me. This book was taken over by fluffy romance and totally ruined the potential it had to be a true dystopian book (in my eyes). 

Cover: 3/5

Character Rating: 0/5

Style: 0/5

Development: 1/5

Overall: 

*

It is a sad, sad day. Only one star :( If you've read this book, tell me what you think of it. 

will grayson, will grayson By John Green & David Levithan

Title: will grayson, will grayson

Author(s): John Green & David Levithan

Pages: 310

Level: Young Adult

Published: April 6, 2010

One cold night in a most unlikely corner of Chicago, two teens--both names Will Grayson-- are about to cross paths. As their worlds collide and intertwine, the Will Grayson's find their lives going in new and unexpected directions, building towards romantic turns-of-heart and the epic production of history's most fabulous high school musical.

Review:

When I originally picked this book up, I had such high expectations because not only is John Green my favorite author, in my opinion, he is like unbelievably amazing.

Well lets just say that my standards were not met. First off, the plot of the story is supposed to be about the two Will Grayson's meeting each other. It took 110 pages before they had even crossed paths. I understand that there has to be background information on their life and personality and such, but come on, 110 pages? Really?

So, basically it took me absolutely forEVER to get to when they finally met. After though, things did pick up and my mindset wasn't as negative because it wasn't a terrible book. The writing style though threw me for a loop. John Green wrote the first Will Grayson's perspective, which I was fine with. And I'm also going to admit, I enjoyed more than the second. David Levithan made me want to punch him in the face though, nothing was capitalized. It bugged me so much, I seriously could not stand it. Not to mention the dialogue was so bogus, it wasn't like real dialogue, for example:

me: i was having a great day (yes, I purposely did not capitalize the "i")

mom: but what happened after that?

It just pissed me off. Otherwise the book was pretty good, I hate musicals, I think they are just horrendous, but reading about this one wasn't terrible, I actually mildly enjoyed it.

Cover: 4/5

Character Rating: 3/5

Style: 5/5 (John Green) 1/5 (David Levithan)

Development: 3/5

Overall:

***

Imaginary Girls by Nova Ren Suma

          

Title: Imaginary Girls

Author: Nova Ren Suma

Pages: 348

Level: Young Adult

Published: June 14, 2011

Chloe's older sister, Ruby, is the girl everyone looks to and longs for, who can't be captured or caged. When a night with Ruby's friends goes horribly wrong and Chloe discovers the dead body of her classmate London Hayes left floating in the reservoir, Chloe is sent away from town and away from Ruby.

But Ruby will do anything to get her sister back, and when Chloe returns to town two years later, deadly surprises await. As Chloe flirts with the truth that Ruby has hidden deeply away, the fragile line between life and death is redrawn by the complex bonds of sisterhood.

* ahahaha yeah. It's complex alright. *

Review: 

Let's start this review on a positive note...

I love the cover. 

Yes, I admit. I judge a book by it's cover before I read it. I know its bad but I can't help myself. I pay for it though. Karma bites me in the butt. 

Especially with this book. 

This book was weird.  I wasn't (and still am not) sure if was paranormal or realistic fiction. I found myself getting confused a lot of the time, so it took me a long time to read (about two weeks! That's long!). In the book it would talk about *Minor Spoiler* coming back to life but it wouldn't explain about how. I'm still very confused. *End Minor Spoiler* (highlight if you would like to see). 

Another thing that irked me about this book are the characters. I hated the characters. The main character was flat and boring. I wanted to slap her; put some sense into her. I also didn't like Ruby, the sister. 

You know what? I hated every single character. 

Every single one. 

The writing wasn't bad other than that. It just wasn't enough to override the flaws. 

I might not have liked it as much as I would have because I read The Sharp Time before it. Now that was a good book. 

Oh, who am I kidding, I would have hated this book anyways. 

I often found myself counting the amount of pages I had left to read. This is not good in any situation. 

The book didn't really go anywhere. The climax was really abrupt, like the author didn't really know what to do. 

The ending didn't really solve any problems. It just made me more confused (and more eager to pick up a different book). 

^Exactly. 

Cover: 4/5

Character Rating: 1/5 (at best, unfortunately)

Style: 2/5

Development: 1/5

Overall:

* *