Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine, where we spotlight an upcoming release we are eagerly waiting for.
My WoW this week is:
Unleashed
By Sophie Jordan
Hardcover, 368 pages
Expected Publication: February 24, 2015
From Goodreads: Davy has spent the last few months trying to come to terms with the fact that she tested positive for the kill gene HTS (also known as Homicidal Tendency Syndrome). She swore she would not let it change her, and that her DNA did not define her... but then she killed a man. Now on the run, Davy must decide whether she'll be ruled by the kill gene or if she'll follow her heart and fight for her right to live free. But with her own potential for violence lying right beneath the surface, Davy doesn't even know if she can trust herself.
I loved Sophie's first book in this series, Uninvited, where we were introduced to this world where people test to see if you'll be a killer. It was crazy and felt surprisingly real and Davy's story broke my heart yet gave me a lot of hope. I can't wait to read more about her story and see where it takes her next. Sophie's writing is gorgeous and I'm a fan of all her work, so I can't wait for more of it!
Uninvited
Author: Sophie Jordan
Published: January 28, 2014
Hardcover, 384 pages
5 Gold Stars
(summary from Goodreads)
The Scarlet Letter meets Minority Report in bestselling author Sophie Jordan's chilling new novel about a teenage girl who is ostracized when her genetic test proves she's destined to become a murderer. When Davy Hamilton's tests come back positive for Homicidal Tendency Syndrome (HTS)-aka the kill gene-she loses everything. Her boyfriend ditches her, her parents are scared of her, and she can forget about her bright future at Juilliard. Davy doesn't feel any different, but genes don't lie. One day she will kill someone. Only Sean, a fellow HTS carrier, can relate to her new life. Davy wants to trust him; maybe he's not as dangerous as he seems. Or maybe Davy is just as deadly.
The minute I opened this book, I was hooked. Jordan has created this world that doesn't seem too unlike our own where people are tested for HTS, aka the kill gene. Those with tendencies to become murders are labelled as such and become outcasts to society. Davy has a great life, a great boyfriend and goes to a prestigious school, but when she tests positive for HTS, suddenly everything is gone. She is uninvited from her school and is sent to public school to learn along side other carriers. Her new life as a carrier is off to a rocky start and it just shows how brutal her life will be from now on. Stuck in a basement with only a few students and a very sketchy teacher, Davy quickly finds herself trusting Sean, a fortified killer based on the tattooed confirmation around his neck. She knows she should stay away from him, but he is always there for her and she starts to see too much of herself in him. I related to Davy right away. Not that I live a privileged life or anything, but I know I would hate it if I lost what I have. She reacted so perfectly, too scared to really say anything but dying to break away on the inside. The way she deals with being uninvited and thrown into this new school just shows how brave she is. The scariest thing is that this could happen so easily in our world. One word and we could be separated and those who have done wrong could easily be labelled as such for the world to see. I think that's what scared me most about this book - how easily it is for society to turn against you even if you haven't done anything wrong. Day has never murdered anyone, never done anything even close to it. But as soon as she is marked a carrier, the world assumes she will. And when she does use a violent act to protect herself (like any sane person would do) she is suddenly thrust into the same category as murderers. I needed to know more and I kept turning the page to see how Davy would survive this new world. Throughout the novel, I found myself realizing that I would react the same way as her, I'd do the same things she does to get out of awful situations and by the end of it, I was rooting so loudly for her that I can't wait to read the rest of her story. This books shows that just because someone is characterized as something does not mean that defines them. Sean may have the mark around his neck but you can't judge a book by its cover. He is protective of Davy, knowing that she is going through the same thing as him. They are both labelled as something they're not and forced to live with the consequences. I fell in love with their relationship, hoping that they can both overcome the obstacles in front of them and make it through life unscratched. Jordan continues to impress me and based on the ending of this book, I know I'm in for more of a wild ride with the sequel, Unleashed. “Ironic. I'm here because of my inherent dangerousness, but it's my inherent politeness that makes me put up with this. With him.”
This week is Hunger Games week on my blog! With Catching Fire hitting theatres this Friday, I'm devoting every post to my favourite series.
Top Ten Catching Fire Moments
1. Katniss and Peeta sleeping together while on the Victory Tour: After everything they've been through - surviving the games together, then not speaking when returning to District 12 - but on the train, none of that matters and those moments they spend alone together are heartbreaking and beautiful. "You should wake me." "It's not necessary. My nightmares are usually about losing you. I'm okay once I realize you're here."
2. The 75th Quarter Quell announcement: This scene is short, dramatic, and heart wrenching. There's no way to tell if President Snow changed what the original envelope held, but wither way Katniss must go back in the games because she is the only female victor from District 12. This was a game changer in the book and it immediately drew me further in.
3. Katniss and Finnick's first meeting: Who wouldn't love Finnick after meeting him. He's half naked and offering Katniss a sugar cube. He quickly became one of my favourite characters.
4. Katniss's mockingjay dress/ victors holding hands: This whole scene was fantastic. Every victor had something sly to say about the Captiol and by the time Katniss got on stage, there was already a heat
in the air. When her wedding dress turns to ashes and below it a black, feathered number, displays her as the Mockingjay. Then all the victors hold hands and it just takes everything to a whole other level. No one is happy that the victors need to return to the arena.
5. Finnick as their ally in the games: Without knowing that Haymitch has given Katniss and Peeta allies. Finnick quickly includes himself with that and ends up protecting them a lot. He saves Peeta's life, fishes for food, and is willing to sacrifice everything to protect them. Katniss has mixes feelings about this because she knows eventually she'll have to kill him. But in this, we find out a lot about his character, how he's in love with a mad girl back home, and that he is just as haunted as Katniss is.
6. Tick tock, this is a clock: Wiress is smarter than most the other tributes and she is the first to realize that the arena is designed as a clock. It's a great addition to the games and I love it much more than the first arena. There are killer monkeys, blood rain, lighting trees, and jabberjays who threaten you into madness by mocking your family members. The games were much shorter in this book than the first, but they were more intense, scarier and all too real.
7. The beach scene: A scene that equally rivals the cave scene. It's a short, tender moment where nothing else exists but Katniss and Peeta and she kisses him not as a part of the games, but because she wants to. It's beautiful and perfect and gives us Peeta lovers more hope.
8. Katniss desperately trying to save Peeta after she's been attacked: Katniss is attacked and the first thing she worries about is that she left Peeta alone with Finnick and there's no telling if he's still alive. Not caring if anyone hears her, she runs to where she last saw him, willing to do anything it takes to save him. The pain she feels when he's not there is gut wrenching and she calls out to him in hopes of finding him. The saddest part is that she will not see him again for a very long time.
9. Katniss destroying the arena: In her final act of rebellion, thinking she will not survive to see the consequences, Katniss shoots an arrow into the chink in the force field. It destroys the arena and she is quickly retrieved before she can die. Everything is a blur after that, but she did what we all knew she would and it was spectacular.
10. Finding out that the other tributes were all trying to keep Peeta and Katniss alive: After being rescued, Katniss finds out that the other tributes were helping her survive, all part of large plan to overthrow the Captiol. She's upset that she wasn't let in on the plan, but she's even more upset that Peeta is nowhere to be seen. The Captiol has him and she knows the last thing she'll do before she dies is make sure he is safe. The fact that she now lives for Peeta is the best thing that could happen.
This week is Hunger Games week on my blog! With Catching Fire hitting theatres this Friday, I'm devoting every post to my favourite series.
Catching Fire
Author: Suzanne Collins
Published: September 1, 2009
Hardcover, 391 pages
5 Gold Stars
(summary from Goodreads)
Sparks are igniting. Flames are spreading. And the Capitol wants revenge. Against all odds, Katniss has won the Hunger Games. She and fellow District 12 tribute Peeta Mellark are miraculously still alive. Katniss should be relieved, happy even. After all, she has returned to her family and her longtime friend, Gale. Yet nothing is the way Katniss wishes it to be. Gale holds her at an icy distance. Peeta has turned his back on her completely. And there are whispers of a rebellion against the Capitol - a rebellion that Katniss and Peeta may have helped create. Much to her shock, Katniss has fueled an unrest she's afraid she cannot stop. And what scares her even more is that she's not entirely convinced she should try. As time draws near for Katniss and Peeta to visit the districts on the Capitol's cruel Victory Tour, the stakes are higher than ever. If they can't prove, without a shadow of a doubt, that they are lost in their love for each other, the consequences will be horrifying.
If The Hunger Games didn't make you cringe with despair, the sequel certainly will. I don't mean this in a bad way at all, in fact this series quickly became my favourite and still holds that title, but it's brutal, let's be honest, and unlike anything you'll read in the YA genre. Katniss has won the Hunger Games against all odds and she got to save Peeta while she was at it. Her actions did not go unnoticed though and now the Captiol is out for her blood. Her victory tour proves to her that everything they feared is happening. There are uprising in the Districts and President Snow wants her dead. He is sure that everything she did in the game was just a ploy and now it's up to her to prove that everything she did was out of love for Peeta. But nothing is good enough for Snow and when the Quarter Quell is announced, he uses this against her and announces that the Quell tributes will be drawn from only Victors. Without a shadow of a doubt, Katniss knows she is returning to the arena and her mission is to keep Peeta alive no matter what.
Katniss never fails to surprise me. She is at a crossroads at the beginning of the book. Her love for her family makes her want to run away, taking Peeta and Gale with her. Gale refuses to go, knowing that whether Katniss admits it or not, she has feelings for Peeta. When new Peacekeepers arrive and turn everything about District 12 into something unfathomable, Katniss realizes too late that she should have run. When she's shipped back to the Captiol, Peeta in hand, not ready for the next games to come, she does whatever she can to fight the Captiol. What I love is that as Katniss is coming up with her own ways of rebelling, everyone else on her team, as well as the other Victors, are also trying their hardest to let the Captiol know that what they're doing is wrong. There are so many small moments that took my breath away and I was eager to see how the Games would play out. Katniss never stops being strong, never stops worrying about Peeta, and is able to go into the Games ready for him to make it out alive. The way that she propels herself by thinking of Peeta is the most selfless thing she's ever done and it just prove how deep her love for him really is, even if she doesn't know it yet.
The Games in this book blew me away. They were sneaky and strategic and not at all like the previous. Katniss immediately became allies with Finnick, the pretty boy from District 4. Unsure if she can trust him, she goes through a lot of emotions throughout the game, continuously trying to keep Peeta alive. More allies soon arrive, putting Katniss in a very difficult situation. She knows she can only save one person and she wishes she weren't becoming close to more. This has always been Katniss's mindset. She is the kind of girl who does not get close to anyone because she knows in the world they live in, getting close surely means a harder goodbye. But the more time she spends with Peeta, the more she longs to stay with him. She still does not want to lose the boy with the bread. There were spins and surprises every chapter ad even though I'd read the book before, I was still eager to see how it all played out again. Collins is brilliant in her writing and plotting, keeping us guessing until the very last page. The new characters are memorable and unique, their stories all so different even though they have all been through the same thing. The acts of rebellion, the hints of trust, and the subtle nods to how well they all know each other, offered a completely different games with a much harder result to render.
The cliffhanger ending killed me the first time I read it. Luckily, I have Mockingjay beside me so I can quickly dive back into the conclusion of this fantastic series. Katniss, the face of the rebellion, the Mockinjay, still has so much to go through before she can finally be out of the Hunger Games.
“I wish I could freeze this moment, right here, right now and live in it forever.”
“My nightmares are usually about losing you. I'm okay once I realize you're here.”
“I realize only one person will be damaged beyond repair if Peeta dies. Me.”
This week is Hunger Game week on my blog! With Catching Fire hitting theatres this Friday, I'm devoting every post to my favourite series.
I've started a re-read of the series in anticipation of the new movie. I've been waiting a year and a half for my favourite book in the series to hit the big screen, and now that it's so close, I knew it was time to finally do the re-read I've been wanting to do since the first movie came out. So I watched The Hunger Games, then started to devour the series. And since I haven't had a chance to review these books yet, what better time than now!
The Hunger Games
Author: Suzanne Collins
Published: September 14, 2008
Hardcover, 374 pages
5 Gold Stars
(summary from Goodreads)
Winning will make you famous. Losing means certain death. In a dark vision of the near future, a terrifying reality TV show is taking place. Twelve boys and twelve girls are forced to appear in a live event called the Hunger Games. There is only one rule: kill or be killed. When sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen steps forward to take her sister's place in the games, she sees it as a death sentence. But Katniss has been close to death before. For her, survival is second nature.
Imagine a world where the government forced 24 children to fight to the death. That's the world Katniss Everdeen lives in. Panem - a futuristic United States where the Captiol has the only say. Divided into twelve districts, Panem has more rules than ever since an uprising 74 years ago threatened to destroy everything the Captiol had put in place. The Captiol has reminded citizens they're in charge by holding The Hunger Games, a game where two tributes, a boy and a girl, are chosen from each of the twelve districts to compete in a horrible televised fighting match where only one will come out alive. In one swift sacrifice, Katniss finds herself separated from her family, her best friend, Gale, and in an arena unprepared for what she must do to survive.
Collins creates an entire new world, describing it in great detail with little resemblance to our Earth now. Each district is in charge of a different aspect of living, District 12, Katniss's district, is in charge of mining. They are the outer most district and therefore the poorest and it's unlikely one of them could win the games. Although the world is different, the way its run is unsettlingly similar to ours. We are ruled by the government and the power of money and greed. Some people will do whatever needs to be done to achieve fame and fortune. The Hunger Games takes this further by involving the nation's children while the rest of the world allows this to happen. The scariest part is that it seems like something that could actually happen in the future. By putting children in this arena and turning it into something that everyone needs to participate in, and those who are poor need to put their names in more in order to survive the year, citizens will obey as much as possible in fear of worse things happening. Katniss does not go into the games set on rebelling, but she does it naturally, hating the Captiol and what it does to the world just like most everyone else. She does not want to kill, she simply wants to survive. The way humanity works for some people os amazing. Even though Katniss is in this arena where she knows she won't survive unless everyone else dies, she still does not go around killing people. Instead, she does what she has to do to survive, she becomes allies with a young girl, and she finds Peeta, the boy from her district that saved her when she was a little girl and may be in love with her, when she knows there's a chance she can save him.
Katniss is the perfect female heroine. She is brave and strong but at the same time she is still a teenager and therefore makes mistakes like the rest of us. She has betrayed yet loved, fought and killed yet saved and enlightened. She has always only known one life, a life of survival and fear of what will come next. In the arena, she learns what she's made of. She escapes her shell and does what she has to do to survive. She doesn't see how other people see her, but throughout the book she learns more about those around her and those she left behind. She is told to play up her relationship with Peeta, something that was sprung up on her right before she had to enter the arena. She makes the effort, knowing it will save her, if not both of them, from the death around the corner. The romance between them is swoon worthy. Peeta is desperately in love with her, but Katniss doesn't know how she feels. At first, it's all for the cameras, but we all know throughout the game, she falls more and more for him. It's heartbreaking and endearing and I knew the minute they kissed the first time, that it would not end up just for the cameras. Some people are convinces she belongs with Gale, but there was never a doubt in my mind that she was meant for Peeta.
The Hunger Games is beautiful in its brutality. War and death linger around every corner and the words and events will shock and destroy you. But there is always hope, love, and family to make the world seem like a better place. This series started the dystopian craze. Many have tried to recreate the feeling of living in Panem, but not many have succeeded. The writing is wonderful, the plot is terrifying, and the characters are memorable. This book will go down in history for a good reason and it's certainly one to be added to everyone's to-read list.
“And while I was talking, the idea of actually losing Peeta hit me again and I realized how much I don't want him to die. And it's not about the sponsors. And it's not about what will happen when we get home. And it's not just that I don't want to be alone. It's him. I do not want to lose the boy with the bread.”
The faction-based society that Tris Prior once believed in is shattered—fractured by violence and power struggles and scarred by loss and betrayal. So when offered a chance to explore the world past the limits she’s known, Tris is ready. Perhaps beyond the fence, she and Tobias will find a simple new life together, free from complicated lies, tangled loyalties, and painful memories. But Tris’s new reality is even more alarming than the one she left behind. Old discoveries are quickly rendered meaningless. Explosive new truths change the hearts of those she loves. And once again, Tris must battle to comprehend the complexities of human nature—and of herself—while facing impossible choices about courage, allegiance, sacrifice, and love.
Veronica Roth is a brilliant storyteller. She knows just which words to use to lure you in and just what plot points to keep you there. Divergent blew me away. It took me into a world that seemed so plausible yet scary as hell. A world divided and ready to fight. Tris made the hard decision to leave her family for the faction she belonged in and soon found herself a Divergent, hunted and dangerous. The second novel, Insurgent, explored the world around her, helped her fall in love with Four, and revealed secrets we never saw coming. Together in the final book, Tris and Four step out beyond the fence in hopes of getting answers, but only find more secrets, more rebellion and answers they may never be ready for. I anticipated this book since I finished Insurgent. Talk of the world beyond the faction made my mind go wild with possiblities. When they finally left the city, I had no idea what they would find, and I wish I could say I was just as excited when I found out what they did. Unfortunately, none of what played out was what I thought it would be, but that doesn't mean I wasn't drawn into the story just as well. Final books are hard to live up to the first ones. We expect a lot, we expect resolution, lots of fights and lots of love (at least I do). This novel opened up a whole new world of possibilities that I found weren't explored. We stayed in the new compound, we barely got to know about the fringes and everyone ended up back in the city in the end. Nonetheless, Roth took some brave moves and took the story in a direction that we would not soon forget. Told through the alternate views of Tris and Four, we finally have a real chance at getting into Four's head. At first, the chapters were confusing as I couldn't remember who was talking because I was so used to only hearing from Tris's head, but eventually I got the hang out it. Four wasn't as unique as I thought his voice would be, nor did he feel as strong as he did in the earlier books. It seemed like he almost lost himself while Tris was becoming everything she knew she could be. Their relationship had a few bumps, jealously rearing its ugly head, but there was no denying their love for the other. They are the type that would do anything for the other and that backfired a few times. Tris is still the bravest girl out there, willing to do whatever it takes to save those she loves, even if they've betrayed her in the past. She is strong enough to forgive her brother, Caleb, as well as earning the forgiveness from those she's betrayed in the past. Her story arc has been heartbreaking. She's had to do a lot to survive and endure death after death. Somehow though, even i the end, she never falters, especially since she knows what she has to lose. Four may only have four fears, but I think Tris is the one who has overcome her fears and continued being brave. Tris and Four were separated for most of the book, which made the two points of view nice so we could follow them both. A lot happened to them outside that fence as they tried to turn their city back into what they thought worked before. Enemies sprang up from everywhere and unlikely heroes fought against them. This book was nothing short of epic, though there were some scenes that could have been deleted or sped up, and Roth went out with a bang. Bravery and sacrifice have been following Tris since the beginning and if anything, her character had the hardest decisions to make. The other characters I loved made sure they had their say in this book and helped every way they could to get through the final task. Tris and Four's relationship took some hits, but their love kept them strong. Even when they were apart, the other was always on their mind. This series could have finished stronger, but I'm still impressed with everything Roth has done. This will easily become a hit with a lot of fans, even more so after the movie comes out. I can't wait to see what else Roth has in store for us.
“There are so many ways to be brave in this world. Sometimes bravery involves laying down your life for something bigger than yourself, or for someone else. Sometimes it involves giving up everything you have ever known, or everyone you have ever loved, for the sake of something greater.
But sometimes it doesn't.
Sometimes it is nothing more than gritting your teeth through pain, and the work of every day, the slow walk toward a better life.
On Internment, the floating island in the clouds where 16-year-old Morgan Stockhour lives, getting too close to the edge can lead to madness. Even though Morgan's older brother, Lex, was a Jumper, Morgan vows never to end up like him. She tries her best not to mind that her life is orderly and boring, and if she ever wonders about the ground, and why it is forbidden, she takes solace in best friend Pen and her betrothed, Basil. Then a murder, the first in a generation, rocks the city. With whispers swirling and fear on the wind, Morgan can no longer stop herself from investigating, especially when she meets Judas. He is the boy being blamed for the murder — betrothed to the victim — but Morgan is convinced of his innocence. Secrets lay at the heart of Internment, but nothing can prepare Morgan for what she will find — or who she will lose. There are stories that you read where the setting is a character all on its own. Stories that whisk you off to a faraway land. Some of these lands are wonderful places where dreams come true, but others may look beautiful and magical from the outside, but inside they are no different than ours. Internment, a city in the sky, is a perfectly run community. A train keeps everyone inside and people know not to go to the edge. Those who go to the edge never come back the same, if they come back at all. Morgan is content not knowing about what's over the edge. She is excited to start her adult life with her betrothed, Basil, But when a girl ends up murdered, suddenly life on Internment is not as magical as it once was. There are lockdowns, rumours, and more murders. Suddenly the edge doesn't seem so bad after all. DeStefano has proven her ability to create dystopian societies. Her Chemical Garden trilogy drew a picture of a world where everyone dies young and a girl fighting to change that. Her characters are strong and curious, eager to know why things are the way they are. Morgan is no different. She is a dreamer fighting the urge to do what her older brother did, find the edge and try to leave Internment. Through her eyes, we see how she first feels about Internment: safe, happy, free. After the murders and attempts on her family's lives, the only thing she wants to do is leave. The character development is solid. The first half of the book reads like a life, day to day activities that seem mundane but all have hidden meanings. Internments is magical, a city in the sky claimed by the Gods to create a new, better society. When people start to doubt the Gods, the city turns to shambles and the only way Morgan can be save is to leave the island. The wonderful thing about this book is the way the words flow through the pages. Morgan's voice is almost old fashioned and the subtle look of things on Internment creates a picture so clear in my mind. Simple hints of steampunk turns what could be an ordinary city into an illusion of greatness. Each year, Internment has a Festival of Stars, where each resident puts a wish on a wishing tree as a prayer to the Gods. This simple tradition makes Internment what it is and reminds us that they are on a floating city high above the clouds, far from anything else. I was drawn to Internment, wishing I too could live up in the stars, but as the story went on and Morgan discovered more about the place she was living, I understood why she would want to leave. When there is that hope of something more, something different, we as humans have an instinct to explore it. When the ground suddenly seems like the only choice, it's no wonder Morgan takes the opportunity to find it. This book was the perfect beginning to a new series. I know the next book will be completely different, but I'm excited to see where DeStefano takes these characters and how they survive after what they've already been through. She has a fantastic ability to take readers into a magical world, make us fall in love with it, and that turn it into something we dread. Either way, I'll still look up into the sky and dream of a city high above the clouds where you can see the stars up close. “We accept gods that don't speak to us. We accept gods that would place us in a world filled with injustices and do nothing as we struggle. It's easier than accepting that there's nothing out there at all, and that, in our darkest moments, we are truly alone.”
Unleashed
