UnSouled by Neal Shusterman

UnSouled by Neal Shusterman
Rating: 4/5 stars

I have 3 papers due this week so I'm going to keep this one short and to the point.

This is one of those books where you can put it down for a while and when you pick it up again, you get right back into it. When I started this, I honestly forgot a lot of the characters and their storyline but once I started reading their POV chapters, I remembered right away who they were.

I’m not a fan of changing POV chapters but I’m used to it when it comes to the Unwind series. I think it actually helps you keep track of the characters and their storyline since there is so much going on. If there weren’t different POV chapters for this series, I have no idea how it would turn out.

One thing I loved about this book is how Wil is mentioned a lot even though he is gone. I honestly thought he was just going to be in that novella “UnStrung” but he was a big part in this book. If you did not read “UnStrong” but read this, you might be a little confused so I definitely recommend reading that first.

The whole idea behind this series is so disturbing but it is honestly so much better than it sounds. Not my favorite out the series but it is still worth the read. I was planning on this being the last book but I’m so glad Neal decided to make one more because if he ended with this book, it would have been rushed and there would be a lot of unanswered questions. And now, the wait for Undivided begins…

Champion by Marie Lu

Champion by Marie Lu
Rating: 4/5 stars

For some reason, I honestly have no idea what to say for this book so I’m just going to keep this short. Plus, I finished this over a week ago and I forgot what I wanted to originally say. Opps, this is what I get for putting this off.

The reason I started reading this series is because I went the library one day and just picked up a random book that sounded interesting and I’m SO glad that I picked this one. This series is great and will be greatly missed.

This book does not pick up right after Prodigy, it’s about 8/9 months after which was annoying. I usually don’t like books that don’t start right after the previous but it worked with this series. It had a lot of action but at the same, not as much action as the previous books. It had a lot more politics and war, which would get boring and confusing.

Throughout the book I wanted to give it 5 stars but the ending made me give it four. I have mixed emotions about the ending. It felt extremely weak to me. It reminded me a lot of Mockingjay, It wasn’t horrible but it could have been A LOT better. The only thing that made me happy was that Andun and June gave dating a try, even though it doesn’t go into details. I wish there was more of him; I didn’t love him as much as Day but I would have loved to see how him and June were like in a relationship.

Overall, this book was not a disappointment. Marie Lu has really grown as a writer and you see it in this book. I loved all three books, which is surprising because there is usually one book that is not as great as the others. I will miss this series but I am really looking forward to Marie Lu's next series The Young Elites!

Destroy Me

Destroy Me by Tahereh Mafi
Rating: 4/5 stars
Finished reading: October 20, 2013

Destroy Me is a novella told in Warner’s POV right after he was shot in Shatter Me. In the first book, most people didn’t like Warner but there was always something about him that I liked for some reason. You can tell he always thought he was doing right thing and actually cared for Juliette in his own sadistic way. After reading this, you see that he really does love her, more than anything else.

This book gives you a glimpse into Warner’s head and will probably make you fall in love with him. Everything you thought about him will change because there is so much more to him than he lets on. Warner’s “obsession” with Juliette runs very deep and in this novella you get to see why. You get to see his relationship with his brutal father and the reasons why he is the way he is.

There is nothing more frustrating than a love triangle, especially since Adam is perfect, sweet and everything you want in a man. This novella will definitely make you think twice about whom you ship with Juliette. Overall, this book will change the way you look at Warner and will even make you feel bad for him. It is an amazing follow up to Shatter Me.

The Evolution of Mara Dyer

The Evolution of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin
Rating: 4/5 stars.
Finished reading: October 10, 2013.

This is my first review on this blog. Hopefully it's decent and I don't sound like I have no idea what i'm talking about..

     The Evolution of Mara Dyer is the sequel in the “Mara Dyer” series. Michelle Hodkin is very talented; her writing is both beautiful and haunting. The book mainly picks up right where the first book leaves off and Mara Dyer is in an psychiatric unit. But is she really crazy? Did she really see her dead ex-boyfriend Jude? Mara no longer goes to Croyden but is put into a Horizons Outpatient Program and goes there 5 times a week. Throughout the book, Mara notices that things in her house are either going missing or appearing somewhere else. Mara is even having blackouts, flashbacks, sleepwalking, forgetting things, etc. We find out more about her grandmother and find out that her and Mara might have something in common. There are surprising plot twists, a scary stalking ex-boyfriend, and intense moments that will keep you on your toes. The book ends with a cliffhanger that leaves readers in a state of shock.
     I was very hesitant about starting this book; even though I thought the first book was good, I still found it so creepy that I got a bad vibe with it. I didn’t want to go through all those crazy emotions again and I knew that the sequel was going to be even creepier. I wasn’t expecting a lot out of this book but this was surprisingly really great and it would keep you on the edge of your seat the entire time. This book was MUCH creepier than the first one, as I predicted; at times this book was so scary I had to stop reading and wait till it was daylight outside. One thing that actually scared me the most, aside from Jude, was the fact that people thought Mara was crazy but no one, except Noah, would believe her. The thought of that happening to anybody is horrifying. I love how Mara didn't give up even though she was so fragile on the inside and that her own family didn’t trust her with anything.
     The romance in this book is incredible. “If I were to live a thousand years, I would belong to you for all of them. If we were to live a thousand lives, I would want to make you mine in each one” SWOON. Noah Shaw is an absolute babe in this book. In the first book, Noah is just a rich guy, who is cocky and sleeps with a lot of girls and out of nowhere he and Mara are in love. In this sequel, you see their relationship grow and he is totally dedicated to Mara. No matter what Mara said/did, he was by her side through all of it. You see that he actually really cares about her.
     I have a love/hate relationship with her family. I loved how her family, especially her mom, cares about Mara. It is very realistic; in other books, parents seem to disappear most of the time. But at the same time, it annoyed me so much how no one in her family would believe her and would watch her, just waiting for her to say something that would consider her “crazy”. The only people in her family that didn’t bother me were her brothers. I absolutely love Daniel, every girl wants a brother like him, and Joseph is so innocent and adorable when he is with Noah.
     Overall, this book gets a little confusing and complex at times but in the end it is great and worth the read. The only downside is that both books gave me so much anxiety, this book especially. Reading this book during midterm week at school was a bad idea. My emotions were everywhere! The wait for the next book is torture and I am defiantly going to start reading it the day it comes out.

Clare xx