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impasta_syndrome's reviews
440 reviews
Across the Universe by Beth Revis
4.0
As a forewarning, this book has nothing to do with the Beatles.
Amy has a decision to make. This decision isn’t something as simple as what to get for lunch or even what she wants to do after high school. This choice will change her future entirely with no going back. Earth is running out of resources. There has been a new planet found that can provide what the people of Earth need to survive. The catch is that it takes 300 years to travel to this planet. Once there, a government will have to be set up to run the planet. In order for this to work, government officials and biology experts must be recruited to be frozen for three centuries in order to reach the new world and help their home. Amy doesn’t work for the military or in a natural science field, but her parents both do. She is nonessential to the mission. Her decision is to choose whether she should leave her home, her friends, her boyfriend, and everything she knows behind. She must do this in order to stay with her parents.
She makes her choice to be frozen with her parents and trust the ship workers to take care of her and her family. Then, she ends up being woken up 50 years early. She wasn’t awoken because they arrived early; she was unplugged and left to drown in the liquid that kept her frozen for over two centuries. She is rescued by the soon to be leader of the ship. She soon finds out that the people of the ship aren’t like the friends she left behind, though. Here, the people are monoethnic. They were born to all look and act the same. The only people she can befriend are the ones considered insane by the rest of the ship. Insane is normal and normal makes no sense at all to Amy. She must learn to survive on the ship, though, because she can’t be refrozen.
She becomes friends with her savior, Edler, and his best friend Harley. They work together to solve the mystery of her rude awakening. They find the ship is based on lies. No one but the sole ruler of the ship knows the truth, and he isn’t telling anyone his or the ship’s secrets.
This story is told from the two perspectives of Amy and Elder. I think the book is quite well written and excels at keeping the reader constantly interested and waiting for more. There is no real lull in the middle of the book like is seen in other science fiction. While the target market is teens, I would recommend that the reader should be a more mature younger reader or at least in high school. Some readers might be off put by the more intimate or violent scenes. While this is so, I do think this book is a great read. 4/5 stars.
Amy has a decision to make. This decision isn’t something as simple as what to get for lunch or even what she wants to do after high school. This choice will change her future entirely with no going back. Earth is running out of resources. There has been a new planet found that can provide what the people of Earth need to survive. The catch is that it takes 300 years to travel to this planet. Once there, a government will have to be set up to run the planet. In order for this to work, government officials and biology experts must be recruited to be frozen for three centuries in order to reach the new world and help their home. Amy doesn’t work for the military or in a natural science field, but her parents both do. She is nonessential to the mission. Her decision is to choose whether she should leave her home, her friends, her boyfriend, and everything she knows behind. She must do this in order to stay with her parents.
She makes her choice to be frozen with her parents and trust the ship workers to take care of her and her family. Then, she ends up being woken up 50 years early. She wasn’t awoken because they arrived early; she was unplugged and left to drown in the liquid that kept her frozen for over two centuries. She is rescued by the soon to be leader of the ship. She soon finds out that the people of the ship aren’t like the friends she left behind, though. Here, the people are monoethnic. They were born to all look and act the same. The only people she can befriend are the ones considered insane by the rest of the ship. Insane is normal and normal makes no sense at all to Amy. She must learn to survive on the ship, though, because she can’t be refrozen.
She becomes friends with her savior, Edler, and his best friend Harley. They work together to solve the mystery of her rude awakening. They find the ship is based on lies. No one but the sole ruler of the ship knows the truth, and he isn’t telling anyone his or the ship’s secrets.
This story is told from the two perspectives of Amy and Elder. I think the book is quite well written and excels at keeping the reader constantly interested and waiting for more. There is no real lull in the middle of the book like is seen in other science fiction. While the target market is teens, I would recommend that the reader should be a more mature younger reader or at least in high school. Some readers might be off put by the more intimate or violent scenes. While this is so, I do think this book is a great read. 4/5 stars.
Cinder by Marissa Meyer
4.0
I have to get a few things out of the way before I start this book review. 1. While I adore fairy tale retellings, I have never enjoyed the story of Cinderella. I didn’t love the idea of a girl just hoping and waiting for outside influences to change her life. Before this book, that’s all I felt about Cinderella. 2. This book has completely changed my mind. The story of Cinderella is many of centuries old. Yet, Marissa Meyer found a way to reinvent this story into something new and exciting.
In this version, Cinder is a cyborg in futuristic New Beijing. Cyborgs in this world have metal infused into their bodies for medical reasons. Instead of organic transplants, the lower classes have to take metal ones for nerve and muscle replacements. Once a person has one of these transplants, they are seen as part of an even lower class. They are treated as something to be avoided in society. Cinder has been a cyborg for as long as she can remember. She was brought to live with her “family” at the age of 11 and has no memory before then. Her mechanic “Father” traveled to England for work and returned with her to become a part of his family. He is one of the men who worked on her to save her life. Cinder, now 16, works as a mechanic downtown to support her new family after her Father has died from the plague cursing the country. This could be enough to fuel this first book in the Lunar Chronicles.
However, there is so much more. The Emperor has the plague, the (very handsome)prince shows up at Cinder’s shop to have his android repaired, the colony on the Moon is prepared to wage war on the Earth, and Cinder is on a path that will lead her to find out the secrets of her past. I really liked this book. I read it in a little over a day and enjoyed each moment. Meyer did a great job of making this retelling wonderful and new but still keeping the underlying base story intact. I have only three critiques of this book. The first is that I wish there was more background information of how the world came to be as it is. The second is that 16 seems an unreasonable age for Cinder to be. I imagine her to be around 19 or 20. The third is that there is going to be a year between each new installment of the series. Waiting that long is as far from fun as I can imagine. If you like fairytale retellings, cyborgs, or just a good Sci-Fi novel, you are in for a treat.
In this version, Cinder is a cyborg in futuristic New Beijing. Cyborgs in this world have metal infused into their bodies for medical reasons. Instead of organic transplants, the lower classes have to take metal ones for nerve and muscle replacements. Once a person has one of these transplants, they are seen as part of an even lower class. They are treated as something to be avoided in society. Cinder has been a cyborg for as long as she can remember. She was brought to live with her “family” at the age of 11 and has no memory before then. Her mechanic “Father” traveled to England for work and returned with her to become a part of his family. He is one of the men who worked on her to save her life. Cinder, now 16, works as a mechanic downtown to support her new family after her Father has died from the plague cursing the country. This could be enough to fuel this first book in the Lunar Chronicles.
However, there is so much more. The Emperor has the plague, the (very handsome)prince shows up at Cinder’s shop to have his android repaired, the colony on the Moon is prepared to wage war on the Earth, and Cinder is on a path that will lead her to find out the secrets of her past. I really liked this book. I read it in a little over a day and enjoyed each moment. Meyer did a great job of making this retelling wonderful and new but still keeping the underlying base story intact. I have only three critiques of this book. The first is that I wish there was more background information of how the world came to be as it is. The second is that 16 seems an unreasonable age for Cinder to be. I imagine her to be around 19 or 20. The third is that there is going to be a year between each new installment of the series. Waiting that long is as far from fun as I can imagine. If you like fairytale retellings, cyborgs, or just a good Sci-Fi novel, you are in for a treat.
Suite Scarlett by Maureen Johnson
3.0
Scarlett grew up in inter-city New York in a hotel run by her middle class family. She has an older sister who is dating a wealthy man from the close knit circle of New York’s businessmen, a young sister who has recently battled cancer, and an older brother trying to find work as a stunt actor on Broadway. On Scarlett’s fifteenth birthday, her world takes a sudden twist. She is assigned a room of the hotel to take care of, and a woman shows up to occupy it for the entire summer. This new guest changes the entire family, and teaches them about Broadway, family, love, revenge, and caring about each other. Suite Scarlett is a book you won’t want to put down. Maureen Johnson lets you connect fully with the different characters, and has created the perfect summer read for any time of year.
I loved this book because I experienced so many emotions while reading it. I felt sorrow, anger, joy, and laughter. This book was a story of a girl who gets to see what life is like outside of her small hotel. I caught a glimpse of New York from an insider’s view, and I connected with every character of this book. I would recommend this book to anyone who is looking for a fun read. In this book, you can experience so many stories in one.
I loved this book because I experienced so many emotions while reading it. I felt sorrow, anger, joy, and laughter. This book was a story of a girl who gets to see what life is like outside of her small hotel. I caught a glimpse of New York from an insider’s view, and I connected with every character of this book. I would recommend this book to anyone who is looking for a fun read. In this book, you can experience so many stories in one.
Scarlett Fever by Maureen Johnson
3.0
Scarlet Fever is the next installment to the Suite Scarlet Series. It takes place in modern New York at the Hopewell Hotel run by Scarlet’s family. The book begins as Scarlet’s friends are returning from lavish vacations while she has spent her summer working for the eccentric Mrs. Amberson. Together, they have opened the Amy Amberson Agency , or AAA for short. At the moment, they have only one client. That client also happens to be Scarlet’s brother, Spencer.
Scarlet is still pining away after Eric, Marlene is all of a sudden being nice, Lola is acting oddly mysterious, and Spencer is still waiting for his big break. All of the best characters are back (plus some new ones you won’t want to miss) from the first book to make you laugh out loud and maybe even shed a tear or two. This book will capture your attention with wonderful writing and characters you wish were real. You won’t want the book to end.
Scarlet is still pining away after Eric, Marlene is all of a sudden being nice, Lola is acting oddly mysterious, and Spencer is still waiting for his big break. All of the best characters are back (plus some new ones you won’t want to miss) from the first book to make you laugh out loud and maybe even shed a tear or two. This book will capture your attention with wonderful writing and characters you wish were real. You won’t want the book to end.