Catching Fire

by Suzanne Collins

Despite this book annoying the heck out of me - it still must receive 5 stars. Why you ask? Well, the book is amazing. (We'll get to that in a bit.) However, the end is a total cliff-hanger (seems that's been a common problem for me lately.) We are left with a few characters in mortal peril by the book's end. And that's just annoying, because I now have to wait another year to read the conclusion to this amazing story!

In The Hunger Games - the first book of the trilogy - Katniss Everdeen finds herself competing in the Capital's annual Hunger Games. Katniss lives in a country called Panem - which used to be the United States. After a destructive war the country was restructured int0 13 districts surrounding the controlling government stationed in The Capital. Years ago, district 13 revolted, but The Capital prevailed. District 13 is no more, and as punishment for the district's uprising, The Capital has set in place an annual games as a reminder that all are under The Capital's power. Each year, a set of teenagers (one boy and one girl) from each of the districts are selected, and sent to compete - to the death - in the Hunger Games. One will prevail and win fame and fortune. The rest will never come home.

Katniss's sister is chosen, but Katniss takes her place. The boy selected from her district is the baker's son - Peeta. The two form a tenuous friendship as they are prepped for the game despite fearing the other may simply be planning a way to kill the other. However, partially as a plot to survive the games and partially due to Peeta's true feelings, the two develop a romantic relationship. And, against all odds, survive the games together. Both refuse to kill the other, and when the gamemakers attempt to force their hand, they threaten to both kill themselves - thus leaving no winner. And so, for the first time ever there are two winners.

However, in Catching Fire, Katniss's troubles are not over. Her desperate act in the arena is viewed by the President as an act of defiance against the capital, and her life and the lives of all she holds dear are threatened by the powerful government. Katniss must try to quell the rebellion she has inadvertently started before it's too late. The question is, does she really want to stop the rebellion? And if she doesn't, where will she hide?

This book is so absorbing it is incredibly difficult to put it down. The characters are endearing. The government is frightening and believable. The descriptions of the outfits and accessories of those in the Capital are outrageous, but funny. And despite the terrible make-me-wait-forever ending, I just adore this series and will keep recommending it to anyone who will listen!

Dreamhunter

by Elizabeth Know

One of the more unique books I've read in the past few months, this book still has me wondering...

What's really going on in The Place?

Will Laura ever find her father?

What is Cas up to?

Why a sandman?

This book is part of a duet, and really it feels like it - the ending just ended so abruptly that I felt like I needed to turn the page right into the next book. Unfortunately, I don't have it yet. Hopefully soon I'll be reading it and then be able to more accurately critique the plot and characters. Because, you see, so much is left unexplained or unresolved by the end of the first book. And to give it 5 stars, I feel like I have to have a better idea of what going on, and I don't yet.

However, there were enough good things about this book that makes it close. First, the narrative is very rich and descriptive - it draws you right into the story and the environment. Secondly, the premise of this story is so unique - it's truly like nothing else I've read before. Thirdly, the characters are interesting and varied.

And while yes, the ending is abrupt, it does leave me wanting to read more! So I suppose that's a good thing as well. :)

Sent

by Margaret Peterson Haddix

I'm really loving this series! However I can't really discuss it without some major spoilers for the first book, so beware!

At the end of Found we learn that the adoptive kids who have been gathered together for the fake conference are actually famous missing children from history, who have been taken from their time by some advantageous businessmen in the future to be adopted. However, the plan went wrong and the children were dropped into the end of the 20th century and adopted by a variety of families.

This great tampering with time had caused a ripple effect that one group wishes to repair - and to do that they must send these children back to their own times. In Sent, Jonah and his sister have followed their friends, Chip and Alex back into time - to the 15th century. They must find a way to "fix time" and also save their friends from their inevitable deaths. The hard part - Chip and Alex are really Edward V and Richard - king and prince of England.

What I love about this book:

1) Haddix finds a way to simplify time travel and the time paradox in a way that kids can understand, but not so much that it is boring or silly for adults.

2) The events in the book are based on accurate historical facts, and real historical mystery. No one knows what happened to Edward V and his brother Richard, so Haddix explanation of time travel lends itself well to the historical facts.

3) The book cover is just pretty cool looking. And yes, I admit I'm a sucker for pretty cover-art.

4) There's going to be more! While I'm not sure how many more, Haddix clearly sets herself up for multiple sequels to come. If they are a good as the first two offerings I can see this books as being a great series to introduce to students or read to a class.

Blood Promise

by Richelle Mead

I'll admit, when I read the last book in the Vampire Academy series, I was mad - it's pretty much certain that Dimitri is a Strigoi and Rose now feels she must hunt him down and kill him. It was such a downer of an ending! However, by the time Blood Promise was released I was eager to read more.

For the first time ever Rose has left Lissa behind. She has chosen Dimitri over Lissa, because while Dimitri's life has left him, he is not dead. He has been turned into one of the Strigoi - a type of vampire that kills for pleasure. Once Dimitri told Rose he'd hope someone would kill him if he ever became a Strigoi. And so it is with this conversation firmly in mind that Rose sets out to find Dimitri - to kill him and fulfill his wish.

The first half of the book is a little slow. Rose spends a lot of time vacillating between options of what to do next. All the while she is mourning for Dimitri and trying to push everyone from her old life away. Thankfully, Rose eventually gets herself and gear and continues on her mission. From that point on the book races toward the finish. As expected, Rose does manage to find Dimitri, and her encounter and interaction with him is one of the most interesting parts of the novel.

The ending of this book is less of a downer, while it does easily set itself up for the next instalment - another I'll be eagerly waiting for!

Fire Study

by Maria V. Snyder

I have to say I was a little disappointed in this book. As the third book in the Study series it left a lot to be desired. In Poison Study and Magic Study I really enjoyed the character of Yelena - she was strong, fierce, confident, and passionate. Often she jumped into situations without thinking them through, but she thought well on her feet. For most of Fire Study Yelena was a different person. She doubted herself at every moment, she gave up too soon, she was afraid, despairing and seemed to be in a constant state of confusion. I wanted the old Yelena back!

One particular personality trait the manifested itself in Yelena this book was an awkward sort of pacifism. Yelena, the girl who from the onset of the series was a murderer - the girl who spent half of the first book training on how to fight, the girl who always carries a knife strapped to her thigh suddenly doesn't want to harm anyone. The vilest, evil creature is right in front of her - the man who kidnapped, tortured, raped and killed at least 12 girls in the previous book - and after magically shredding his brain and essentially killing him, she feels guilty. Others seem to disapprove of her actions. Funny, I was cheering her on when she did it. Throughout most battle sequences Yelena narrates how she incapacitates one person after the next and then frets as she takes down the next that her blow might have killed the poor guy who was just trying to kill her! I don't want her to be bloodthirsty, but it just seemed weird that she was SO traumatized by the deaths of the creeps who were out torturing and killing people. Get over it girl!

In connection to this, I thought Yelena's new found reluctance to swat a fly made it hard to believe her relationship with Valek. He's supposed to be the most lethal assassin out there, who kills threats first and then asks questions and HE'S the man Yelena loves? If she's now so concerned over NOT killing people, why would she love a man who has killed so many with no apology? It just didn't make sense.

Lastly, I thought the book did not flow well. The first half of the book was rambling and confusing. It was sometimes hard to know or remember what was going on, even though the author repeatedly reminded reminded reminded the reader of what had happened in the previous book through Yelena's odd sounding paragraph-long asides to the reader. It was awkward and annoying because I had just read the previous book - I remembered what had happened well enough and didn't need to read summary after summary of what I'd read a few weeks ago.

Thankfully, on the plus side, the last third of the book did improve. The condescending remembers were fewer and Yelena started to act more like the character I remembered from the previous entries. The characters finally had a plan and a purpose. It reminded me why I liked the first books and finally added something worthwhile to the story. I just wish somebody had edited down the beginning!

The Time Traveler's Wife

by Audrey Niffenegger

Yuck yuck yuck! I hated this book! Despite the fact that I still think the premise is quite interesting - the book was just terrible!

I would actually like to see what a different author would do with the idea of a man involuntarily traveling back and forth in time - meeting with his younger self, his wife's younger self, his older child, etc. Preferably an author without such a fondness for all manner of curse words. Page after page after page just littered with profanity - it didn't come across as "realistic" - it reads more like the author was trying to shock us. It makes the author and the characters seem crude and uneducated. In high school one of my teachers informed the class on the first day of school that there would be no cursing in his classroom. He then directed our attention to the quote displayed in the room: "Profanity is a weak mind trying to express itself forcefully." I couldn't help but think of that quote time and time again while reading this book. Really author, are those the only words you know? Because I know some words that you could have used instead that wouldn't make you sound like a jerk trying to impress us with your "tough" language. A few profanities in a book, I can look over, realize that some people do talk that way and let it go, but in this book it was just excessive.

Secondly, and in addition to the profanities, there were many scenes in the book that were intensely suggestive, crude and explicit. I found myself flipping through pages just to find where it ended and it was safe to read again. Henry's and Clare's love wasn't believable at times. Why do they love each other? - the author doesn't really tell us, except that Henry's all Clare's ever known and they have sex a lot. Henry as a 30- and 40-something adult time travels back to when Clare is a child. He meets her, tells her about his time travelling, asks her to keep it a secret, etc. I found the whole exchange to be creepy. In his time he's married to Clare, and sometimes when he's visiting with teenage Clare he has a hard time thinking of her as a child. Ew!

Thirdly, Henry and Clare aren't even that likable. Henry's a cad and an alcoholic. He's selfish, he thinks only of himself. Clare just acts like a martyr. She does nothing but wait for Henry. She takes advantage of her friend's trust. The don't read as real, and I didn't really care what happened to them because I didn't like them. I like to feel like I could be friends with the characters in the books I read, if they actually existed in real life. If I were to meet a real life Henry and Clare I'd try to stay as far away as possible!

And lastly (yes, I have one more thing to complain about!), throughout the whole book the author litters the text with references to obscure authors and artists as if to impress the reader with her great knowledge. Often we are forced to read through sentences, paragraphs of text in French or German. Almost none of these sections are translated. If they aren't important enough to the story to need to be translated, then why include them at all? Again, it gave me the distinct impression that the author was talking down to me, the reader. Pretty much guarantees that I will never read a book by her again.

So to summarize, I thought this book was a tasteless, crude adaptation of what could have been an interesting story. I can't think of anyone I'd recommend it to - in fact, I'd be more likely to warn people not to read it. Yuck. I'm so excited to read something else!

The Forest of Hands and Teeth

by Carrie Ryan

Sigh. This book had such potential, and I was so primed to love it after the first 3 chapters and then it was just sort of a victim of itself.

The biggest problem was that it seemed the author couldn't quite decide what kind of book she was writing. Is it horror? Romance? Mystery? Suspense? It tried to be all of these things and then failed to be any of them well.

Initially, this book reminded me of The Village - a group of people live in a pioneer style village surrounded by an intimidating forest filled with disturbing creatures. In The Forest of Hands and Teeth those creatures are basically zombies: a horde of the undead - mindless and hungry for flesh. They are called "The Unconsecrated". Young Mary has recently lost her father to the forest (we never actually find out how he got into the forest in the first place). Then, at the very beginning of the book, she loses her mother as well. Mary is orphaned, and her older brother kicks her out of the house. Mary is then forced to join the Sisterhood - a type of nunnery.

At this point the story becomes a mix of romance and mystery. Mary tends to the sick Travis and begins to develop feelings for him. At the same time, she uncovers mysterious happenings at the church that begin to suggest that there is life outside the Forest and that the Sisters are trying to hide it. Honestly, this is the kind of story I was hoping for. Soon though, our genre shifts.

The Unconsecrated breach the village and Mary manages to escape with her friends Travis, Harry and Cass, as well as her brother Jed, his wife Beth, and a small boy named Jacob. The group has no choice but to set off down the narrow fenced-in path through the forest in hopes of finding civilization on the other side. Now our book becomes more of a horror/suspense novel and mostly stays that way til the end. I'm disappointed.

But more than just the author switching genres partway through - she also drops multiple story lines! At the Cathedral, Mary finds mysterious rooms, overhears whispered conversations, finds a girl from outside the village, and NONE of that gets explained. Ever. Mary doesn't even seem to speculate or wonder about it again.

Also, the romance falls flat because you're not ever quite sure who you should wish she ends up with. She loves Travis, but then she likes Harry after all and is mad at Travis, then she loves Travis again. Then Travis makes her mad, and she misses Harry. I think we were ultimately supposed to like Travis the best, but I liked Harry!

(*SPOILERS*) And then, the end! The end of this book was just terrible! I refuse to call it and end. It felt as if surely the last 10 chapters of the book had been misplaced! We find out the outcome for 3 of the 7 characters (2 because they die). The rest are either just assumed dead or left sitting helplessly in the forest with virtually no food, water or hope for making it out. What is up with that?!

This is how it should have ended - Travis doesn't get bitten. Jed sacrifices himself to the Unconsecrated to help them escape instead of Travis. Travis, Mary, Harry, Cass and Jacob find the path out of the forest and to the ocean. (And the path actually goes all the way to the coast - none of this lame running through the forest and down the cliffs aimlessly in the dark to escape the Unconsecrated). The village has better defences against the Unconsecrated, or perhaps they find that the Unconsecrated are confined to the forest by some ancient spell, or maybe the village has found a cure for the Unconsecrated. Any of those would be better than the non-ending the author came up with. (*END SPOILERS*)

Disappointing. It could have been great. As is, it's just mediocre.