Book: A Million Suns

Author: Beth Revis

Synopsis: This is the second book in the soon to be trilogy written by Beth Revis. The first book is called Across the Universe and it was AMAZING! I loved it so I was incredibly excited to read this book and boy did it deliver. So currently Amy and Elder are still aboard Godspeed and some time has passed since the events that we left from in the first book but not much has changed. Godspeed is the ship that was developed on Earth and destined to take all these specially chosen people to a new planet called Centauri-Earth. In the last book Amy woke up from being cryogenically frozen early, and that is when things started to get weird aboard Godspeed.  Since the last book however the situation is getting much more dire as events and clues start to unravel and Amy has to figure them out before it’s too late. Amy is still struggling to figure out her feelings about Elder, her parents, and dealing with the fact that she may never get off this ship. The inhabitants of Godspeed are also become more aware of the situation and bad things are starting to happen. Elder is trying to deal with his role now aboard the Godspeed and is struggling to figure out his plan of attack, all the while dealing with his own emotions.

My First Impressions: Well I was extremely excited when I picked up this book and it didn’t fail to disappoint. When I read the first book there was a claustrophobic feeling I got and the second book was just the same. Beth Revis really made me feel like I was on the ship. There were so many twists and turns right from the get go and the story reeled me in again. I fell back in love with many characters and despised others. The book was of course the 2^nd in a trilogy so it kept that whole feeling of urgency, all the while you know that everything will not be solved by the time this book is over.

Characters: I loved Amy and Elder in the first book and I loved them again in this one as well. The beauty I found in Beth Revis’ writing is that she doesn’t hid the flaws of her characters, they really do make up how her characters act and she has developed them extremely well. I found I sympathized a lot with Amy and I could really understand where she was coming from during her situations. Even the secondary characters threw me for some loops. The background stories for the secondary and even tertiary characters really helped with the plot twists and turns.

One thing I really noticed was that, especially with the story line, the reasons behind the actions of every character was extremely well thought out and had to be so that the story line could progress. Elder was such a teenage boy that it made me laugh sometimes, but I loved watching his character evolve into the man he needed to be.

Plot: This plot played with all my logic and all the theories I had made about what was going on and how the story would end up. When you think you know something, watch out because you really don’t. The whole concept and plot of the trilogy is so new and fresh. I haven’t read any books like this before so I really enjoyed a new type of story to read. I’m not usually a huge outer space/sci-fi story kind of reader so I was really surprised by how much I enjoyed this book. The whole concept of being trapped on a spaceship holding other people who have never known what it is like to live on Earth without your family is incredibly emotional and you can’t help but become attached to the main character as she goes through trying to adjust and fit in to life aboard the Godspeed, let alone all the other challenges that are thrown her way. Beth has obviously a well thought out plot arc and I cannot wait to see what happens next.

What I Loved: I loved the whole feeling the book gave me whole I read it. When books can draw you in like that and make you feel as though you are where the main characters are and going through what they are, that is when you know the author wrote something great. There were times I had to close the book for a moment just to catch my breath.

I loved the whole schematic of the Godspeed and how the author has described it so perfectly, not to mention the helpful diagram she provides inside the cover of the first book and on her website.I really enjoyed the characters and am pretty sure I feel in love with Elder a few times.

The twists and turns that the book had inside were amazing. After reading the first book I had no idea how she could drag it out to be a trilogy. I felt, like Amy did, trapped in the circumstances of what was going on, on Godspeed. However, Beth Revis managed to turn everything around and leave me sitting, holding my book, constantly muttering “Oh my gosh” over and over.

Also, the cover is so pretty. (I know, I know, never judge a book by its cover. But this cover is amazing)

Overall Review: LOVE LOVE LOVED this book. I would give this book 5 out of 5 stars.

I highly recommend this series to anyone who likes science fiction books or even that aren’t even into science fiction. It’s more along the lines of soft science fiction. If you love dystopian novels and need to mix it up a little or if you like romance you should definitely check out this series.

Check it out!!!

-TGWR

Book:  Ascendant                        

Author:  Diana Peterfreund

Synopsis:  This is the sequel to the first book in the series, titled “Rampant”. This book continues to follow the main character Astrid as she and the rest of the unicorn hunters continue to deal with the aftermath from the end of Rampant. Astrid is trying to come to terms with how she feels about being a unicorn hunter throughout this novel as she encounters new experiences in France, ex-boyfriends, mysterious illnesses, and new shocking revelations. That is pretty much as detailed as I can get in order to stay spoiler free.

My First Impressions:  I was super excited to read this book because I really enjoyed reading Rampant last summer. I hadn’t expected to enjoy the first so much that I built up this book a bit in my mind, and I have to say it fell a little short. I got about a quarter of the way through and I was bored. Nothing seemed to be happening and I have to say I wasn’t motivated to pick it up to continue reading.

Characters:  Astrid is the main character of the series and my personal favourite. She is from America, where she lived with her unicorn-obsessed mother until she was sent to the Cloisters in Italy to live, train, and fight with other girls who have the ability to be unicorn hunters.  She doesn’t particularly enjoy being a unicorn hunter and would rather be in school studying to be a doctor. One thing I love about Astrid is her sense of duty; she feels duty-bound to be a unicorn hunter because of her heritage. Astrid really values her relationships but she can also be too trusting, which get’s her into trouble.

All the other characters were really secondary and played small roles while we followed Astrid throughout the book. Some characters however that I found stood out or held a small place in my heart are Brendt, Phil, and Cory. All of them stood out to me in this book and helped keep it entertaining, shocking, etc.

Plot:  The plot in this book just seemed all over the place and haphazard at best. I struggled to pay attention in the first half of the book and in the last 100 or so pages all these different events and elements occurred or changed the circumstances and I didn’t have enough time to really gather my thoughts. It was hard to follow along with the main character’s thought process as well really understand what was going on. Everything that I loved about Rampant was sort of deconstructed in this book by the plot so while I’m curious to see what happens next, the plot didn’t grab my attention as much.

What I loved: I loved Brandt’s story line, I won’t say what it was, but it definitely added a new element to the story that I enjoyed. France definitely offered some of the better/most interesting moments in the book. I also really enjoyed the twist in Cory’s character.  

Overall Rating:  Overall  I would have to give Ascendant a 2 out of 5 star rating.

The book just wasn’t good for me. I enjoy the story and the characters but this sequel just didn’t do it for me. I will definitely check out the next book in the series when the author decides to write it, but I was definitely let down by this book.

Until next time,

-TGWR

Book: The Maze Runner                             

Author: James Dasher

Synopsis: A young boy by the name of Thomas wakes up in a lift remembering only his name. Soon he is greeted by a group of young boys who go by the Gladers and they welcome him (in their own way) to the Glade. He is told that he will now be living there and working with them. We soon discover there are many secrets about the Glade and or main character is thrust right into the mix when a series of events begin to unfold around him and his fellow Gladers after he arrives. Their only hope of escaping is to find the way out through the giant maze, but things are not always as they appear as Thomas struggles to figure out his connection to the Maze and why he feels so compelled to solve it.

My First Impressions: When I first started reading this novel I’m not sure if it was because I wasn’t in the right mind frame or if I had trouble connecting to the main character but I just could not get into the book until about page 75-that’s when everything changed. After hitting gust under 1/3 of the book I was hooked. I wasn’t sure what was going to happen but I had so many theories going on in my head. I grew to love how the characters had created their own sort of pigeon language and phrases that were unique to just the Gladers. I felt that the author really portrayed the setting so well in his writing. I felt the writing we very straight to the point. James Dashner doesn’t flower his words up, he gets straight to the point which really allows you to clearly follow the thought process of Thomas.

Characters: The characters in this book were great. I had trouble connecting to them at first, as I haven’t read any books recently from a male perspective, but it was a nice change after I had gotten into it. Thomas is a very relatable character in the sense that he wants answers and all his motives are based on his instincts and his best intentions. He knows that his memory has been tampered with and he decides to go with what he feels even if he can’t explain it all deep down. I found his character really developed even just over the course of this book. The secondary characters were well written and had a lot of depth to them and not one-dimensional. I loved reading about Chuck, Theresa, and Newt the most just because I loved each of their back stories and they all found a special place in my heart.

Plot: This book had me theorizing from start to finish and just when I thought I had it all figured out I was wrong again. I honestly have so many questions still with the ending of this book and I went online right away and ordered my copy of The Scorch Trials from Amazon. Without giving too much away I loved the whole concept of the maze and the Creators. Everything just seemed to have layers and I felt that I was slowly peeling them back along with the characters.

Overall Rating:  Overall I would give The Maze Runner 4 out of 5 stars.

It was an incredible book and I would definitely recommend this read. I think that this book is definitely a good book for both genders to read but I feel male readers would especially appreciate this book and the main character’s point of view. If you are looking for a book that will keep you guessing and makes you feel like you are part of the adventure, then check out The Maze Runner.

And if any of you have read The Maze Runner I would love to know what you thought of the book or discuss it.

Until next time,

-TGWR