Waiting on Wednesday (73)

This week, I'm waiting on...

Rush by Eve Silver. Here's what Goodreads has to say: When Miki Jones is pulled from her life, pulled through time and space into some kind of game—her carefully controlled life spirals into chaos. In the game, she and a team of other teens are sent on missions to eliminate the Drau, terrifying and beautiful alien creatures. There are no practice runs, no training, and no way out. Miki has only the guidance of secretive but maddeningly attractive team leader Jackson Tate, who says the game isn’t really a game, that what Miki and her new teammates do now determines their survival, and the survival of every other person on this planet. She laughs. He doesn’t. And then the game takes a deadly and terrifying turn.



What are you waiting on this Wednesday?

Adult Book Mini-Reviews (2)

The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz. I wasn't sure what to expect from this book, but no matter what I was thinking, this novel was even better than I could have imagined. Told in a unique format, the storyline circled around rather than progressing in a strictly linear fashion, which would not work for all books but was phenomenal here. From the background given on Oscar's family to the perspectives of those around him and finally to Oscar himself, every part of this book was emotional and moving. The story is both brutally realistic with its ties into the reign of Trujillo and somehow almost dream-like with its treatment in other areas, but all in all, I loved every moment of this.

Recommended? Absolutely!

American Gods by Neil Gaiman. You know those books that are chock full of those passages where you have to stop and read them over and over again because the words are so beautiful and so unsettling and so true that you need to ingrain them in your memory? That's this book, and that's why you have to read it. I won't say that the plot was absolutely perfect or all the characters absolutely wonderful (although I did love Shadow), but this is a profound book. Not a perfect story, no, but inventive, creepy, and beautiful. This is the kind of book you want to read with post-its in hand to mark down the best passages for posterity.

Recommended? No, if you're looking for a great story. Yes, if you're looking for spectacular writing.

Nobody: Review

Title: Nobody
Author: Jennifer Lynn Barnes
Release Date: January 2013
Published By: EgmontUSA
Pages: 393
Goodreads Rating: 3.69 stars

Review: No one sees the Nobodies: they're forgotten as soon as you turn away. The Institute finds them and takes them away for training, but an untrained Nobody is a threat to their organization - and threats must be eliminated. Claire has been invisible her whole life, missed by the Institute’s monitoring, but now they’ve sent Nix to remove her. Yet the moment he lays eyes on her, he can’t make the hit - and suddenly, they're both threats to the Institute.

First of all, don't forget to enter the giveaway for this book that's going to close soon! And now, onto the review - NOBODY had a very cool concept behind it, which I loved. The idea of people who are metaphysically altered so that no one notices or remembers them and then using them as assassins is intriguing, and I especially enjoyed the exploration of what kind of emotional effects this has on a person. However, I did feel that at times, the emotional aspect was emphasized too much as to almost feel like the characters were excessively complaining.

That's not to say that the emotions took away from the pacing of the book, though, which was excellent. The narration of the book made reading it smooth and easy, and the suspense ratcheted higher and higher as I feel deeper through the pages. In general, the pacing was fast when it needed to be while able to fall into a slower tempo to explore the feels.

But let's talk about the feels now. I have to say, this was the one part of the book that I was, shall we say, not such a big fan of. One of the biggest pet peeves I have in young adult books is insta-love romance, and this novel certainly had that early on in the story. Just a few hours after Nix and Claire met, it was like they had this magical connection and fell deeply in love. While I understand that it makes sense for them to be compelled to each other, the romance was just not believable for me and detracted from the book.

All in all, NOBODY featured a fascinating concept that's sure to pull in readers and keeps your interest up through an engaging and fast-paced plot. I did wish for a better romance because that was the big aspect that stopped the book from being as good as it could have been, but if you're willing to overlook that, there is a great story waiting between the pages. 
 

Waiting on Wednesday (72)

This week, I'm waiting on...

Severed Heads, Broken Hearts by Robyn Schneider. Here's what Goodreads has to say: Golden boy Ezra Faulkner believes everyone has a tragedy waiting for them—a single encounter after which everything that really matters will happen. His particular tragedy waited until he was primed to lose it all: in one spectacular night, a reckless driver shatters Ezra’s knee, his athletic career, and his social life.

No longer a front-runner for Homecoming King, Ezra finds himself at the table of misfits, where he encounters new girl Cassidy Thorpe. Cassidy is unlike anyone Ezra’s ever met, achingly effortless, fiercely intelligent, and determined to bring Ezra along on her endless adventures.

But as Ezra dives into his new studies, new friendships, and new love, he learns that some people, like books, are easy to misread. And now he must consider: if one’s singular tragedy has already hit and everything after it has mattered quite a bit, what happens when more misfortune strikes?

What are you waiting on this Wednesday?