Review - Cinder By Marissa Meyer

"A forbidden romance.
A deadly plague.
Earth's fate hinges on one girl . . .
CINDER, a gifted mechanic in New Beijing, is also a cyborg. She's reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister's sudden illness. But when her life becomes entwined with the handsome Prince Kai's, she finds herself at the centre of a violent struggle between the desires of an evil queen - and a dangerous temptation.
Cinder is caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal. Now she must uncover secrets about her mysterious past in order to protect Earth's future.
This is not the fairytale you remember. But it's one you won't forget."

I heard about this recently and was instantly excited by the idea of it.  All girls grow up hearing the fairy tales of Cinderella, Snow White, etc.  We all know the stories so well, so finding out that the story is being retold but with a futuristic twist is beyond exciting!!  I wasn't sure when I was going to get the opportunity to read this, but looked through the UK Book Tours blog and found they were touring a copy - OMG I had to get on board with that and literally JUST finished reading it!!

The UK cover is still undecided I believe, but this cover seems to be the only one on show.  I really do hope it is picked as the UK cover as it pretty much is perfect.  It tells you exactly what you need to know about the book and is a great opener to the story.

I must admit when I started to read this, although I was really excited by it, I wasn't that keen.  It just felt too strange having the mix of fairytale and sci-fi.  But I was determined to carry on and I'm so glad I did, as I enjoyed it more and more.

I was a little concerned at the beginning of the story that this would go exactly on the same lines as the original fairytale, meaning that there would be no surprises.  Once again I am thrilled to say my concerns were unwarranted.  You don't lose any of the wonderfulness of 'Cinderella' but just get a whole load of new and fantastic parts that actually fit in with the original premise.  For me it just made this tale completely fresh.

You are left with somewhat of a cliffhanger, again this is really exciting.  I'm so eager to read what is going to develop, but also how the tales of Red Riding Hood, Snow White & Rapunzel are going to be woven in.

Rating 4 Out Of 5

This Is Published In The UK By Puffin

Due For Release January 2012

This Can be Pre-Ordered HERE and will be available from good book retailers

Review - Across The Universe By Beth Revis

"Amy has left the life she loves for a world 300 years away

Trapped in space and frozen in time, Amy is bound for a new planet. But fifty years before she’s due to arrive, she is violently woken, the victim of an attempted murder. Now Amy's lost on board and nothing makes sense - she's never felt so alone.

Yet someone is waiting for her. He wants to protect her; and more if she’ll let him.

But who can she trust amidst the secrets and lies? A killer is out there – and Amy has nowhere to hide . . ."


Yet another of my eagerly anticipated reads.  I heard about this the end of last year and was seriously jealous when everyone started to receive their ARCS and proofs.  Very luckily for me I did get a copy of this a couple of weeks early (of the UK release) from my wonderful friend Jenny at Wondrous Reads

The cover is beautiful.  So fitting for the book theme and story, but also really eye catching.  I would have definitely have picked this up in the shop, had I not of heard of it before.

This is futuristic, so very obviously is sci-fi based.  I generally have a love hate relationship with sci-fi, as all my Dad & brother watched whilst I was growing up was Star Trek, it drove me barmy.  But as I have grown up I have started to see more of what they enjoy and as many of you know I love attending conventions now, so the ratio is switching more to the love.  I love that this book has the sci-fi, but is done in quite a feminine way so this was extremely enjoyable for me.  I also think this is a great book to maybe get people that think they wouldn't be into sci-fi into it.  Anything that broadens peoples interests, gets a big thumbs up from me!

There are just so many aspects of this book that I loved.  All the little details that Beth included are so great.  Like the NEW curse words 'Frexing' & 'Chutz' I'm so going to have to use them in conversations from now on!!  Also the way lots of words had been shortened was brilliant.  Its something that anyone that uses to Internet or texts does.  Its no different to us reading a Jane Austen book now & reading words or phrases that are no longer used.  Language evolves and Beth showed this brilliantly.

Right from the first chapter I was pretty gripped.  The process of being frozen sounded horrendous.  I'm so glad I haven't got to go through it!

There are quite a few ideas in the book that over the years I have sat and thought to myself I wonder if that would be possible or I wonder if that will ever happen.  It was great reading about a world where this was happening.  Made me feel like a fortune teller for a while (oh I wish!)

I loved the way the book was written from two perspectives, of Amy & Elder.  Its done in a similar style to Shiver & Linger By Maggie Stiefvater, which I ADORE so was great for me to read!

There were so many things in the book that shocked me and left me, with my mouth wide open.  Its a reaction I love to have, so once again I really enjoyed it!

One thing the book has definitely made me think is that I need to learn more about history and the way things work.  Amy has struggles with having knowledge, but not knowing enough to show people things accurately & so got me thinking that just in case I'm ever in the same position (being frozen & woken up many years later) there's things that you should definitely know!

This is a thoroughly enjoyable read.  Its very different to a lot of YA books out there and also thought provoking.  I really hope everyone gives this a go.  Its well worth it!!!

Rating 4 1/2 Out Of 5

Published In The UK by Puffin / Razorbill

This Can Be Purchased HERE & at all good bookstores