The Testing by Joelle Charbonneau- The Unofficial Hunger Games-Divergent Crossover
Rating- 5 Stars
Age Recommendation- 11+ No sexuality, limited course language, violence
Summary of thoughts- This is one of the best books I've read in a few months. The beginning can be a bit slow but once the story gets developed the reader is sucked right in. Defiantly a must read for fans of The Hunger Games, Divergent, The Maze Runner!
This book is incredible! Lately I have been in a bit of a reading slump but this book and series have yank me out of it. I originally read this book for my english class at school but what was supposed to take two weeks to read, was finished within days.
This book sucks you right in with relatable characters such as the protagonist Cia and her brothers. The book starts out focusing on Cia's graduation from her school in her home colony. A colony is this book's version of factions, districts or cities. Cia is top of her class and everyone expects her to graduate and move onto The Testing. In their dystopian world The Testing is a process of tests that the smartest teens go through to gain acceptance into The University. All of Cia's brothers are more that smart enough to go to The Testing but no one from Cia's colony -Five Lakes Colony (FUN FACT: Their colony is named after Canada's five great lakes!)- has been chosen for The Testing in ten years. Of course Cia gets chosen for The Testing and is warned by her father -who went to The Testing when he was a teenager- that The Testing is not what it seems. Her father is still haunted by nightmares from The Testing years later. He says not to trust anyone and that their are people who go to The Testing and never return. Cia goes to The Testing and manages to complete all four stages of The Testing. Written tests, practical tests, group tests, and a Hunger Games like journey across their country back to the city. While Cia and her love interest Tomas make it through The Testing with only scars, many of the other candidates do not make it through or are killed along the way. Cia learns that The Testing is not what it seems and that her father is right, even with the memory wipe that happens at the end of The Testing, her nightmares will haunt her forever.
This book was incredibly interesting and pulled me in within the first few chapters. The book is very simillar to Divergent and The Hunger Games however this book is more centered on how far Cia's knowledge and intellectual smarts will take her.
Cia and Tomas are couple goals and the way Cia cares about others makes the book seem sort of magical. The imagery in this novel is amazing, Charbonneau describes the dystopian world filled with ruble and viscous animals with extreme detail that pulls the reader into the world. Charbonneau's cliffhangers are out of this world. At the end of most, if not all, the chapters Charbonneau provides the reader with a cliffhanger that leaves them reaching for the next page. This led to many late reading nights with me putting the book down only when my eyes would no longer stay open.
In conclusion, I cannot wait to read the next book in the series, Independent Study!
The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephan Chbosky The “Infinite” Read
Rating- 4 stars
Recommended Age- 15
Summary of thoughts- Loved the humor and overall story. Charlie is a captivating character and the author causes you to feel every emotion. This is less of a read and more of an experience.
Overall this book is very enjoyable. I had to read this book for my english class that is focusing on the theme of "Coming of Age". I strongly believe that this book fit that theme and really helped me understand what growing up or "Coming of Age" truly is.
At first glance the format of the book threw me off a bit. I have read multiple book that are in diary format or even novels that include letters, but I have never read a book compiled of only letters. However, it is an absolutely perfect format for this story.
The reader does not know where Charlie lives, what his family members names are, or even to whom he is writing, but all that somehow adds to the powerfulness (is that a word?) of the story.
It is so powerful when Charlie mentions people by name. If I recall correctly the first person he mentions by name was his friend Micheal who is no longer around. The next people he names are Sam and Patrick. Their relationship is somewhat magical because they love each other so much yet overtime they learn to love Charlie the same way.
One thing I love about Charlie is how naive and innocent he is. He does everything he can to be kind to everyone even though very few people are kind to him. However, this is something that Sam teaches Charlie. She teaches him that he cannot be kind and friendly and silent and comforting to everyone. She teaches him that he has a voice and feelings that matter.
This is what struck me, how he loves so easily despite his dark past. His dark past also confuses me. Why did he forget everything? Why does he only remember some things? How did his brother or sister not notice what was happening? So many questions, very few answers.
Overall this was a dark, haunting novel that was at the same time hilarious and innocent. The feeling I got when Charlie would rant about what it feels like to be infinite. The book left me feeling infinite, the book was less of a read and more of an experience. The book was perfect.
Lady Midnight by Cassandra Clare - The Best Shadowhunters Book Yet!
Rating- 5 stars
Age Recommendation- 12+
Summary of thoughts- I absolutely love all of Cassandra Clare's novels but this is defiantly the best one yet! The characters, plot, setting and overall story is deep and leaves you with all the feels!
This book was absolutely incredible. I read the Mortal Instruments series, also by Cassandra Clare and fell in love with her writing style, plot lines and characters. Clare perfectly crafts characters that make you cringe, weep, cry, smile, laugh and scream along with them. And the shadow world. By far the best fantasy world ever. The way it fits with our modern world today yet also brings in aspects from the past that have been forgotten makes a perfect setting for these amazing books.
Lady Midnight is by far my favourite Cassandra Clare book and maybe my favourite book ever. Emma, Julian, Mark, Livvy, Ty, Dru, and Tavvy, they all feel like part of my family and I was sad to let them go when the book finished. Emma is my favourite protagonist. She is by no means perfect but she is strong, beautiful, independent, a perfect role model for young girls and teenager around the world.
Emma's relationship with Julian, don't even get me started. It was heart breaking and mind blowing all at the same time. I ache for the kind of love, the kind of bond they share and was shattered when I realized that they are parabatai and parabatai cannot be involved romantically with each other. Forbidden love, the best kind.
Clare left a whole new mystery for the next book at the end of this one and I almost cried when I finished the book. I was reading the e-book edition and it told me I had 8% of the book left. When I reached the last page (I didn't realize it was the last page) I was ready for the story to continue and was disappointed when it didn't. I will defiantly be reading the next book in the series the day it comes out.
For fans of romance, horror, mystery, family, and suspense and awesomeness, this is the perfect book for you! I could talk (write) and talk about my love for this book for hours.
