Dystopian

All Aya Fuse wants to be is famous. She dreams of the day where she'll be one of the top 1000, instead of just some irrelevant extra. When she sees some girls surfing the mag-lev trains, she's sure that she's found her rise to fame. Instead, she discovers a cataclysmic secret that may destroy the world as she knows it.

I liked this book. It was interesting to see how the world had changed after the mind-rain. Usually I'm not huge on spin-off type books, but this one worked out alright.

Reviewer Grade: 12

Tally is now a Cutter, which is part of a new branch of Special Circumstances. It's her job to keep the uglies down and the pretties stupid. The Smokies are smuggling in pills that destroy the brain lesions that keep the pretties dumb and mellow. The New Smoke must be taken down, but with Tally's history with them, will she be able to do it?

I didn't like this book a lot. The cutting was a huge turn off for me; I understand why it was being done, but I didn't agree with how the author handled it. I just couldn't get hooked on this book. It was mediocre.

Reviewer Grade: 12

Tally has finally become pretty. As she's waiting to see if she'll be allowed into the "Crim" clique, she runs into somebody from her past, and her whole new perfect life is turned upside down yet again. Now, she has to choose between fighting to forget or fighting for her life.

This book was alright. The plot felt a bit repetitive to me; it was the same basic concept as the first book. It wasn't too bad, though.

Reviewer Grade: 12

In this book, everyone is turned "Pretty" by extreme cosmetic surgery upon reaching the age of 16. Tally Youngblood can't wait until the day that she's finally pretty... that is, until she becomes best friends with a girl named Shay. When Shay runs away, Tally is denied the surgery she's spent her entire life waiting for. She must choose whether to betray her friend, or stay ugly forever.

I loved this book. I enjoyed the plot a lot. It was fun to watch as Tally's beliefs were challenged and she developed as a person.

Reviewer Grade: 12

This book is about a society where children are born with two souls. As they get older, the recessive soul of the two disappears, while the dominant one becomes the only one controlling the body. However, in some people, the recessive soul doesn't completely disappear, making them a hybrid. The society in this book doesn't accept hybrids, which our main characters – Addie and Eva – happen to be. I thought this book was okay for the most part. It was interesting to see the different characters’ personalities and how they interacted with each other, especially when sharing a body. However, I thought the pacing was just too slow. It took forever for something important to happen. There are maybe two or three pages that actually feel fast-paced, at least in my opinion. Also, the whole point of the story isn't too clear, such as why the hybrids are viewed as a threat and not accepted in society.

Reviewer Grade: 8

Action-packed and heartbreaking, Red Rising has no doubt become one of my favorite series of all time. Morning Star is a powerful conclusion to a thrilling series that left me satisfied with how the story concluded. There are many points where I just want to stop and write down all the quotes I love in the book. Pierce Brown writes beautifully and he did every justice to Morning Star. Since it's a sequel and the final book to a trilogy, I won't say much about what happen in case someone new to the series happens to stumble on this review. If you are new, what you need to know about Red Rising is that it's a sci-fi fantasy that borrows elements from mythologies. Red Rising is a phenomenal series and I hope that more people would pick up and give this book a try.
Reviewer Grade: 12

This book left me speechless so many times, shocked by the brutality that brought upon hopes and dreams for a race of the oppressed. War is ugly, yet Pierce Brown paints art and beauty to every word written in this book. There wasn't a moment that bore me. My heart broke many times for the characters in the book, for Darrow, for the young innocent boy he once was and the death stained Reaper he has become. We witnessed the rise of the Reaper in Red Rising and his fall in Golden Son. This is one of the best book I've read so far this year, possibly one of my all-time favorite book. I definitely highly recommend anyone who has already read Red Rising to continue with this book. For anyone who have not read or heard of the series: please pick it up. It is very much worth your time.
Reviewer Grade: 12

When Cassia and Ky finally find each other, they lose each other yet again. Cassia works for the Rising from within the Society, while Ky works for them from outside the borders. Nothing goes as planned, though, as the veil lifts and things shift once again.

This is definitely one of the best books that I've read in a while. It tied up the trilogy quite nicely. I've read so many great series with terrible endings, but this was not one of them. The entire book kept me captivated until the very last second.

Reviewer Grade: 12

The Immortal Rules is the first in the Blood of Eden series written by Julie Kagawa. This book is about a teenage girl, Allison Sekemoto, living in a dystopian-like world where humans are subservient to vampires. In order to survive, humans must either give their blood to the vampires to live a somewhat comfortable life, or keep their blood and in turn, face hunger, disease, and torment from vampires and worser demons. Allison lives with other teenagers in the same position as her. When they go out of the city limits to look for food, Allison is forced to give up her humanity or die. Choosing to live, she has to leave and go with the person who turned her, and learn about the “immortal rules”.

I enjoyed this novel because futuristic or medieval vampire stories are my favorite genre of vampire books. I also liked the length of the book. There are 485 pages dedicated to The Immortal Rules, and a couple more pages for another series Julie Kagawa has written. I have collected all three of the Blood of Eden Series; The Immortal Rules, The Eternity Cure, and The Forever Song. The front cover is of a girl who has a tear of blood running down her face. And because I have the hard copy, the inside’s actual hard back is black with “Blood of Eden” written in dark red. The cover looked very promising and the length was perfect for me. These are what first drew me to the book.

My favorite part of the book was learning around the middle where more characters were introduced. There was one character who becomes a love interest for Allison who I thought had a good relationship with her. Also, the books’ antagonist was my favorite character because of his Cheshire personality. What I liked least of the book was how some sequences during the beginning felt rushed. The plot slowed down around the middle where she meets more side characters. Some of the things which felt hurried in the first book were made more clear in The Eternity Cure.

Some of this book was predictable because it follows quite a few of the sequences for teen vampire romances. Though because the main female character is in the distant future of today, I was still surprised by the turns The Immortal Rules took. I could relate to all the characters in some way. The character I related to most was Kanin; a teacher and father like figure to Allison. I believe he is the character with the most emotions.

I first read this series in the summer of 2015 but have been re-reading it as well as Julie Kagawa’s other works. In 2015, and in 2016, The Immortal Rules is one of my favorites.

Reviewer Grade: 12

In Crossed, Cassia travels to the Outer Provinces to find Ky, who has been sent there to die. When she arrives, though, she finds that he's already escaped and left a series of clues in his wake. The book follows her as she attempts to find and rescue Ky, while questioning everything she's ever known.

This book is the second in a series. I didn't enjoy it as much as the previous book. It reminded me too much of other books and also was a bit dull. Most of it just felt like a filler to move the series along.

Reviewer Grade: 12