Crossed

I finished the sequel to Matched today. I'm afraid that this series will end up like the Hunger Games, and digress in plot quality as the series goes on. This book caused these expectations. When I review it, keep in mind that there will be spoilers from Matched. Read with caution!

This book half revolves around Cassia searching for Ky in the Outer Provinces, and half revolves around finding the mythical "Rising", the rebellion against the Society. Cassia and Ky switch off narration by chapter, which is okay at first, but after a while confused me. After Cassia found Ky, they're at the same places, the same events are going on, and the tone of Cassia and Ky's narrations are very similar, so you really have to pay attention to the first page of a chapter or you'll be totally lost until you see "Cassia said" in what you thought was her chapter.

I have fallen in love with how much Ky loves Cassia, and how devoted he is to running from the Outer Provinces, where he has been "fighting" the war with the Enemy, and getting back to Society so he can at least send a message to Cassia. The same goes for Cassia's devotion to Ky, even though he's not exactly the guy I'd fall for.

My hatred for the Society has grown, as we discover that the blue tablet, said to save a citizen when taken, actually is poison to slow you down if taken, to keep you in one place so the Society could find you, or kill you if you have rebelled against the Society and are outside of their range of help. Not that I'm surprised.

This book doesn't end. It just stops. What is Cassia's work in Central? Why wasn't she reclassified? Has Xander told her his secret? Is Ky going to be okay? Does he still have Cassia's grandfather and Vick's tissue samples?

So, overall, this is an OK book, but it lacks a certain something that I was looking for. I do not have much hope for Reached, the final book, coming out in November. I'll still read it, of course. I still like the series, but I think Reached will be the worst of all the trilogy.

I am Here!

The other day, I read a manga book for the first time ever. My friend recommended I do t, so I decided to at least try, even if it is a bit unusual.

I read I am Here! Volume 1 by Ema Toyama. It revolves around the story of a girl, Hikage Sumino , who is basically invisible to others. Her only friends are the two people who comment on her daily blog. But when the most popular boys in her class talks to her, she decides to re-invent herself.

I liked this story, because at times I can relate to Hikage, though not so much anymore, now that I am in high school. I thought the romance between Hikage and Hinata was super sweet! Hinata is awesome, and cute! Yet, so are all anime guys...

I thought the character development was a little bit rushed. I expected this book to be about her getting to know Hinata, and becoming stronger and gradually more confident because of him, and gradually she would become more and more outgoing. But no. At the very end of this book, she announces in front of the whole class that she had always felt invisible, and Hinata was the only person who saw her, and suddenly her classmates are all buddy-buddy with her.

Speaking of her classmates, Aya and her crew were so mean! I really didn't like her! I didn't really understand why she said "This is all your fault.". What is all Hikage's fault??

Overall, I liked this book. I want to get the second book, but my dad doesn't approve of me reading manga. When he saw the book, he asked me "Why don't you read a REAL book?" and I don't imagine he'll let me get the next one. I don't know. I understand where he's coming from, but I do usually read real books! This was just for fun, to take a break! Why can't he just let me enjoy it?

Until next time- happy reading!

Matched

I recently read this novel by Ally Condie as filler material between Gallagher Girl books. I LOVED IT! Here's Matched:

This story revolves around Cassia, who lives many years in the future, in the world now known as the Society. The government gives you everything: your home, your clothes, your jobs, deliver your food to your house, and even...your spouse. You are "Matched" (hence the title) once you turn seventeen, but aren't officially married until you turn twenty-one.

At Cassia's Match Banquet, where she will see and meet her Match for the first time, she is shocked to discover that her Match is her best friend, Xander. Most people are Matched with people outside of their province, someone they have never met, so this is very extraordinary. Cassia is very satisfied, happy, and excited on beginning her new life with him.

Each person Matched receives a silver box containing the equivalent of a flash drive with information about their Match on it. When Cassia views hers, just to see Courtship Regulations and a few tidbits she might not already knew, Xander's face disappears, replaced with another boy's- and Cassia knows him, too. An Official tells her it is just a rare glitch. A malfunction. But she's conflicted.

Cassia suddenly finds herself constantly encountering the other boy, Ky. She gradually falls in love with him, and vice versa. She now has to choose: Xander, and a life of safe predictability, or Ky, and a life of new experiences.

I thought this book was AMAZING AMAZING AMAZING! I love stories that take place in a dystopian future. They always make me wonder if that really would be us someday. This Society seems the most realistic of that in any other book I've read. I like it more, because the Society at least gives some choice in life. But of course, the government is worse than any I've seen. They base everything off of percentages and predictions. Every so often they purposely throw a curve ball into someone's life just to see the outcome.

The characters themselves, as seems the way in this genre, are all flat, except for the narrator, Cassia. Except maybe Ky. Sweet, mysterious Ky. Of course, I say that, when I sort of like Xander better. It's a toss up, really. Why does everything have to have a love triangle and make you pick sides?!? I find that more and more in YA fiction these days. It is becoming cliche.

I loved this book, and am currently reading its sequel, Crossed. It confuses me so far, because the narration switches off between Ky and Cassia. I am liking it OK, but it isn't as good as the first. But I AM starting to like Ky better. Mostly because Xander only appears in the second and fourth chapters.... And Ky is super sweet and REALLY loves Cassia. I will review the entire book once I finish, probably sometime over the long weekend. Oh yeah, happy labor day weekend! Bye!

Edited to add: Poems seemed to play a theme in this book, which I really don't understand.

Awaken

I just finished reading Awaken by Katie Kacsvinsky, a dystopian novel that takes place 48 years in the future. I had to read this for my summer reading assignment. i had never heard of this book before, but I'm glad I have now.

48 years in the future, people's lives all take place online: school, dates, movies, friendships, and you can just delete the parts of you that you don't like. People rarely go outside into the real world anymore. The main character and narrator, Maddie, is perfectly happy with this life. Until she meets Justin on a homework help site.

He takes her outside, shows her what the real world is like. He teaches her how to feel, see things for what they are, and to live in the moment. It makes her think that things should be different. But her father created Digital School. And she's already been caught rebelling against it once, three years ago.

As Maddie falls in love with Justin, she has to choose where her loyalty lies: with her family, and a life plugged in, or with her boyfriend, who is rebelling against all she's ever known, but, deep down, knows is wrong. What she chooses isn't surprising.

This book is more about learning to live, and Maddie's relationship with Justin than rebelling against DS. It's a sweet romance and all, but I like it when all aspects of a story are touched to their fullest. Overall, the characters were pretty flat, except for Maddie. I was very disappointed in the ending, because it left you feeling like nothing had really been solved, except that Maddie has learned about feeling, real people, and the real world. DS is still going strong. It left me thinking, That's it? 


I hope that Kacsvinsky plans on releasing a sequel, because I am curious to find out what becomes of all of the characters, and the world around them. The next book I review will probably be When the Legends Die by Hal Borland, the other book I am supposed to read this summer. Until then, arrivederci!

Kingdom Keepers IV-V

Today, I finished Ridley Pearson's latest novel, Shell Game, aka Kingdom Keepers V. It occurs to me I never reviewed Kingdom Keepers IV, Power play. I shall revise that now, by reviewing both books.

Power Play: With Maleficent and Chernabog in prison, things are finally returning to normal for the Keepers. The Keepers are just settling in, Philby gets a video call form Wayne, telling him that the Overtakers are regrouping and planning a jailbreak for their leaders. It's up to the Keepers to stop them.

The stakes are higher now: some Overtakers are DHIs now. They have control of which Keepers cross over or not. Worse, they have started casting spells on children, and they follow their every whim. Paranoia sets in as the Keepers no longer know who to trust, when the OTs are going to attempt their jailbreak, or how.

New Overtakers introduced are Cruella de Vil, the Huns, Jafar the Evil Queen from Snow White, and Judge Frollo.

The Keepers come to realize that the good Disney characters are forming an army to fight with the Keepers. They are missing their leader: Mickey, who disappeared not long before they started tearing down Toontown. The OTs are expanding onto the cruise ships just as the DHIs are, in two weeks.

This book is easily my favorite, or second favorite in the series. It explains a lot about how the DHI technology works.

Shell Game: The Keepers are trading off patrol of the Disney maintenance base in Disney's Hollywood Studios to fend of OT attacks.One night, Willa and Finn witness Maleficent, Cruella and the Evil Queen steal an old journal of Walt's, mostly about Chernabog.

Finn has a vision, much like Jess's. he is in a factory, then reaches the roof of the building and jumps off with Willa, dropping the Return, or what he assumes is the Return. He is scared of what this might mean.

During the duration of the book, we gain two unexpected allies and one unexpected enemy. King Triton is willing to assist the Keepers while they are at sea. As for the enemy, well, think of the Overtaker children as OTKs. What if there was an OTP/OTA??

There are several rumors floating on the boat: the Keepers will be replaced with younger kids after the 2.0 beta test, the OT server is on the ship, as will as OTKs as DHIS. Are any of them true? Along with recovering Walt's journal, Finn's mission is to find out.

New OTs introduced are Tia Dalma, Hyenas from The Lion King, and Ursula

I didn't like the ending very much. It's a cliffhanger. Overall, this was a good book though.

I have very few problems with this series. Pearson's main problem is with continuity, or lack thereof. In KKI, Maybeck declared he was a catholic. In KKIII or KKIV, Maybeck said "I don't really do churches." In KKI, Finn was an only child, as far as we can tell. In KKII and beyond, he has a little sister. In KKI, Jezebel turns back to Jess, but is called Jezebel again in KKII, revised in the following books. In KKIII, Stitch was an OT, no question. In KKV, Stitch helps Finn escape a variation of CTDs, without any mention of his previous OT status.

These aren't important plot points, but annoying in-continuities nonetheless. I hope that KKVI comes out sooner than a year!

The Hunger Games vs. Its Movie

Hi all! I'll bet lots of people have been waiting for this: today, I am reviewing The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. For the first time, (and, most likely, the only time) I am going to do a joint review of the book, and its movie, which JUST came out in theaters and IMAX yesterday!

Part One: "The Tributes":
Most everyone who is a dedicated reader, and/or hasn't been living under a rock these past few months, knows the story of the Hunger Games: In the ruins of what was once known as North America, lies a new nation called Panem, ruled by the Capitol. The nation is divided into twelve districts. To keep those districts in line, each year, the Capitol forces each district to send one girl and one boy, called "tributes" to fight to the death on live television, called The Hunger Games. The very plot made me wary of this book at first, but it could be worse, at least in my opinion. Well, this book begins in District Twelve, the poorest of the districts, home of Katniss Everdeen, who has to go against the law and hunt to feed her family. It's the day that the tributes are chosen, called 'Reaping Day". There are minor differences at this point in the movie:

• The major icon of the series is the Mockingjay, or the Mockingjay pin. In the book, Katniss is given the pin on reaping day by the daughter of District Twelve's mayor, for her protection. Katniss explains that these birds are crosses of jabberjays, the Captiol's creation, and mockingbirds. These birds can mimic anything they hear.  In the movie, Katniss trades for it while she is selling the game she caught that day, and doesn't express what the birds are. Katniss gives the pin to her little sister for protection, eventually to be returned. We never see the mayor or his daughter. 
• Katniss's family has an adopted cat, an ugly, bald-spotted cat. Katniss hates the cat, and the feeling is mutual for the cat. they don't tell you this in the movie, but in the book, Katniss had tried to drown it, but her little sister begged her not to. The cat has continued resentment towards her after that.

Katniss has a little sister, named Primrose, this year being her first year of eligibility for the Hunger Games. She is fairly confident that she won't get chosen, since her name is only in the drawing for the tributes once: each year that you are eligible for the Hunger Games, your name is entered once, adding one time each year from age twelve to eighteen (e.g. at age 12 you are entered once, 13 twice, etc.), unless you opt to get a tessera, to afford extra food, by entering your name in more than required.

Against the odds, Prim's name is called and Katniss volunteers to take her place. And that is how our story begins. Her fellow tribute is a boy named Peeta Mellark, the baker's son. They say goodbye to their loved ones, and are shipped to the Capitol to train and prepare for the arena. Training goes well, as well as the tributes' public appearances to earn sponsors (people of high society who chip in to buy and ship supplies to their tribute when needed). Again ,there are little differences between the book and the movie:

• There are more sequences with Effie Trinket, District Twelve's escort, and Haymitch, District Twelve's mentor, in the book. They cut a lot of the training out in the movie. There is a lot of dialogue between Peeta and Katniss that is cut out, as well, such as how Katniss saw one of the servants that now works at the Traning Center, and how she met Gale. I know I haven't mentioned Gale, but it's because he isn't really an important character, in either the book or the movie! He's Katniss's best friend and hunting partner, but after he doesn't get chosen for the Games, the last we see of him is when he says good-bye to Katniss, except for a couple of times in the movie when they cut back to District Twelve.
• The interviews with Ceaser and the District Twelve's tributes are longer in the book, and in the book, all the tributes were sitting on-stage, not lined up off-stage, as in the movie.
• In the book, after the interviews, when Peeta professes his crush towards Katniss, she pushes him into an urn, which breaks, the shards of which cut Peeta's hands, while in the movie she simply shoves him into a wall.

Part Two: "The Games"

   There is a new arena for every Hunger Games, as to make it a surprise terrain, and as to avoid any one tribute getting too familiar with one arena before-hand, giving them the upper-hand in that aspect. This is where, in the movie, it gets really dizzying and graphic. The details are still the same, though. At the beginning, when the tributes are lifted into the arena, they must wait for sixty seconds before being let to run free in the arena. Why this is, I have NO idea.There is a structure in the very center of the arena, called the Cornucopia, which is filled with weapons, food, and other essentials for survival. This is mostly a call for a bloodbath as tributes fight over the supplies. Katniss was advised to avoid the Cornucopia for this very reason, but goes for it anyway. She ends up missing out on the bow and arrows that she was aiming for, but still gets a backpack filled with useful supplies. The Games go essentially the same as in the book, except:

• Katniss's pack also had night-vision glasses, but these were excluded from the movie for whatever reason.
• It takes Katniss an entire day and a half to find water in the book, but it takes her much less time in the movie.
• Some dialogue from the book (which was actually pretty comedic) was cut out from certain parts of the movie.
• A lot of dialogue between Rue is cut out from the movie, so you can't as easily fall for her as you do in the book, which became a sort-of important plot point for the next book (not the relationship itself, but how Katniss is affected by her death and her reaction towards the Capitol)

Part Three: "The Victor"

A rule change is announced one night: if the last two tributes left standing are both from the same district, they are both winners. Katniss runs to find Peeta, who she knows is still alive, but just barely. She tries to nurse him back to health, but he has blood poisoning, which she can only treat with medicine from the Capitol. There is an announcement of a feast at the cornucopia, where each remaining district will be offered a pack of supplies that they desperately need. Katniss wants to go for Peeta, but he won't let her risk her life for him, because he knows that the Capitol is just drawing the tributes together for another bloodbath. The remaining chapters are different in this way:

• So that Katniss can go to the feast without Peeta's knowing, in the book, Haymitch sends Katniss a vial of sleeping syrup to give to Peeta, hidden in food. In the movie, Katmiss just waits for him to fall asleep naturally.
• Clove inflicts much more damage to Katniss in the book than in the movie. 
• The mutts that appear near the end of the story are different in the book than in the movie. I'd explain it, but it is really creepy, and it is something that really needs to be read for oneself. 

There are several other differences, but that would spoil the ending, which I never do. I found the movie too rushed: they didn't give a lot of detail in-between events to set for the next one. There is a lot more cussing in the movie than there is in the book. I found it interesting that, in the movie, they gave more of a perspective on how the Gamemakers manipulate the Games, and how people back home react to the Games. Since the book is in first person, obviously these observations cannot be made. Overall, I found it a good adaptation of the book, but as is usually the custom, the book is better.

Parental Guidance:  Both the book and the movie can be very vivid and gruesome. Take extreme discretion before allowing your child to read this book or see the movie. However, also take in mind that there is NOTHING AT ALL suggestive in either. Katniss is more flight than fight. In fact, the whole reason that there is a continuation of the series is that she wishes to rebel against the Capitol. So, at least the narrator has somewhat good morals! I enjoyed both immensely, and will be picking up Catching Fire and Mockingjay as soon as possible. I hope you go get yourself a copy of this crazily-amazing series!

Thirteen R3asons Why

Today, I read Thirteen R3easons Why by Jay Asher. A friend of mine recommended it, so I borrowed it from the library. It was slightly different from how she described it, but it was still good.

This book is mainly in the point of view of Clay Jensen, who, one day. gets a box of audio tapes on his porch. There is no return address on it, so he gets suspicious. He plays the first of the tapes, and he hears the voice of the other narrator: Hannah Baker, who had committed suicide a couple of weeks before.

The tapes were like her suicide note: each side of each tape has a story, connecting to the reason she killed herself. Each story has to do with a different person, who ends up on her list of people to get the tapes and pass them on to the next person. Another, unrelated person, knows who does, and if one person doesn't the tapes go public.

This book is filled with drama, half-suspense, and heartbreak. I seriously cried a few times, a very rare thing for me, especially with books. I really liked it, but I thought Hannah had no right to make the list, the tapes, or kill herself. Most of the reasons were her own fault. I'm going to explain, and for those of you who don't want it spoiled, you can skip over this part. I'll get back to the main review in bolded words so you'll know when to stop scrolling

Reason One: She could have decided to take it slower, to get to know the real Justin, who would spread rumors, instead of rushing to get her first kiss. Then, a lot of the stuff that followed might not have happened.

Reason two: see reason one.

Reason three: see reason one

Reason Four: See reason one.

Reason Five: Why did she ask a random girl to come catch a peeping tom??

Reason six: She could have listened to her gut, which was very smart.

Reason Seven: She could have never gone to Rosie's, never seen Zach, et cetera.

Reason Eight: She could have kept her poetry private in the first place. Don't share what you don't want getting out!

Reason Nine: Hannah could have told Clay about everything! He was open and ready to talk! But no, she had to stay and cry about it. Sure, Clay could have stayed, but he didn't know because she wouldn't tell him!

Reason Ten: She was right across the hall! Hannah could have stopped Bryce, but, again, she had to hide in the closet and cry. She refused to stop another girl from going down the exact same road as she was going down.

Reason Eleven: Hannah could have called the police. That innocent senior would still be alive. But, again,  guess what? She had to think about her own problems.

Reason Twelve: Need I explain?? She was fed up with the world that she actually didn't care what happened.

Reason Thirteen: Why is Mr. Porter's story the last one, the one whom could "take the tapes to [h-e-double-hockey-sticks]"? He was just trying to do his job as counselor! He didn't know what was going on because, guess what, Hannah wouldn't tell him! Hannah herself chose to leave.

Enough of my ranting,  I need to get back to the main review. In all, I think they needed to go deeper into Clay's character. What did people say about him? Why was he so perfect (except when he lied to his mother and everyone else that night he listened to the tapes)? Who was Skye, whom Clay went after at the end of the book? This was a good story, and I recommend it, but at the same time don't recommend it.