Review - Matched By Ally Condie

I was very lucky to be given an ARC of this book at a Twilight convention, from my awesome friend Jenny at Wondrous Reads . I'm ashamed to admit its another book I hadn't heard of until getting it & when I saw some of my friends responses to me saying I had it, I guessed it was something I needed to read as soon as possible.

Its actually a very different book for me to read, as I don't tend to go for futuristic style, but from reading the blurb even I thought this sounded pretty awesome. I don't think I can convey HOW awesome it actually is!!

The setting is an incredible, futuristic land where every ones lives are pre-mapped for them, from what they eat for breakfast to who they will spend the rest of their lives with. Everyone is engineered to be as perfect as they can be & everyone is incredibly content with this way of life. On reading this I could totally see this one day happening. It was almost like reading an autobiography, except its in the future (and obviously fiction) I have to admit, I did feel like this is a land I could have been quite happy in living in. Not having to make any hard decisions & just doing what you are meant to. I guess that shows some of my lazier streak, eeek!!


Of course nothing is ever perfect and its not until the story evolves that you realise how much people are doing because they are told to and not because its what they want.
I quickly decided that maybe things are better the way we have them - debatable I know!!

The story revolves around a girl called Cassia & her finding her place in the society that has been decided for her. She finds herself torn between a love chosen for her & a love she has chosen for herself. She has the hardest decisions to make and I do not envy her one bit. Although I wouldn't mind the attention from 2 wonderful guys!!
You soon realise how much everyone is being watched & that secrets are just not possible, with harsh punishments for anyone going against the rules.

This really got me questioning life & the future (my future). I always find it incredible when a book can do this & a young Adult book at that, which I don't think get enough credit for their impact.

This is without a doubt one of the best books I have read this year, I can't recommend it any higher. Its a world you can completely sink yourself into & forget everything that is going on around you.
I urge you go and get this book AS SOON AS POSSIBLE, you will not regret it!!!!
Now I just have to wait for the sequel - how longs that going to be???......

Rating 5 Out Of 5

Published in the UK By Puffin

Review - Nightshade By Andrea Cremer

This year I got so lucky - my brother took me to San Diego comic con - I have always wanted to go & was expecting the different TV stations & movie makers to be there. What I didn't expect was that there would be publishers. It really was a heavenly few days for me.

Well in the end I spent a lot of my time with the publishers & was luckily given a few ARCs. Nightshade was one of them. It was a book I hadn't actually heard of. I read the blurb & saw the words werewolves & that got my interest immediately!
Well just about 3 weeks ago I still hadn't got round to reading this & my friend Krystal, asked if I had it & if so read it immediately. Well I am not one, to not do what I am told!! I started reading this the next day!

I was instantly gripped!!!
I found Calla to be a wonderful lead & was so eager to know what she would do next, although at times I felt like shouting at her 'NO DON'T DO IT!!' These female characters make me realise how safe I live my life!!!

Calla has two guys that a fighting for her attention - Ren & Shay. Very different names, but memorable, I like it when things are different.
They are both great characters, but I personally wasn't drawn to either one of them, so there was no teaming for me on this story.
I did find both the guys to be very pushy & I have to admit, this was something I was not 100% comfortable with. I'm not saying they are bad guys at all, just that especially in the beginning of the book they are quite demanding. I think there is some redemption as the story goes on though.

I loved Andrea's use of pop culture references. Two of my favorites have to be a reference to Voldermort & Dark Horse Comics - this made me so geekily excited, I even tweeted my friend my excitement!!

I really enjoyed reading about the wolf packs & how Andrea used facts of animal packs & worked it in to the story. The characters acted how I would imagine they would & it was fascinating for me.
Another fascinating aspect for me was the fact that the packs had 'masters' It really made me think of Victorian style stories, with the characters doing as they were told & living to serve. Its something you don't expect to read of in modern set books & so was quite an appealing change.

The book has twists and turns you wouldn't believe. It had me gripped from the word go! I'm desperate to read the next installment & really do hope it picks up from the cliffhanger end!!!

Rating 4 1/2 out of 5

This Is Published in the UK By Atom Books

Review - Crescendo By Becca Fitzpatrick

I have been so eager to read this since I read Hush Hush last year. I fell totally in love with Patch & wanted to know what was going to happen next.
My problem was that I had the opportunity to meet Becca on 31st October, but had to buy a copy of the book there to meet her & sadly couldn't afford to buy more than one copy, so I had the hard decision to make - buy the book on release, but not get to meet Becca OR wait & get to meet her. It was tough, but I had to go with the latter. Becca is such a wonderful person & I'm so pleased I did go for that option!
The second problem with getting the book later, was that a lot of my friends had read the book before me - EEEEK Spoilers - one thing all us book people hate - luckily I managed to avoid all the major ones, phew! All I did know was that there was a huge twist at the end :S

I did find the book to be in a slight similar style to Meyer's New Moon - which I was very unprepared for. For me this is a great thing - I love Meyer's books!
I also found the lead characters a little frustrating at times, again something I didn't expect. I was nearly screaming at them at times, but remembered I was reading quite late & my Mum wouldn't be best pleased if I did that!!!
It doesn't take long to realise everything is happening for a reason & just makes you eager to know what is going on.
As I mentioned earlier there is quite a twist at the end - this is incredible - I had NO IDEA!!!

The book was amazing - it had me totally gripped & I hated having to put the book down of a night (I'm a night reader) For me that is a sure sign of a fantastic read.
Roll on next October when we get the next part!!!
Rating - 4 Out Of 5

Published By Simon & Schuster Childrens Books

And the Geeky Purchase....

Rewind back to August 2009. I got the opportunity to go to a Harry Potter convention. It was too good an opportunity to pass up – two of my big loves rolled into one – Woohoo!

So at conventions, they normally do themed parties in the evenings. The first night was a quidditch match. I found myself a yellow & black shirt & a Hufflepuff Badge, I was set.

The next night was a Yule ball. My friends and I got talking & thought it would be a great idea to do some cos-play. I racked my brains trying to think who I could be. I couldn’t do Ginny with my black hair, I couldn’t do Cho, I could maybe pass a Hermione, but my friend was doing that one.

I looked in the mirror & saw my big curls and my black hair and it hit me – I could be BELLATRIX LESTRANGE!!!

I managed to find a long black skirt in my Mum’s wardrobe; I bought a corset style top on eBay & made some sleeves out of some black velvet material. The thing I was missing was my wand! I looked around & I had such trouble finding it, when I eventually did it was nearly £40 – I just couldn’t afford it. In the end I had to make my own, using wire & clay. Surprisingly it turned out not too bad. Here are a few pictures of the night – it was so much fun. Even Molotov Jukebox - Natalia Tena (Tonks) band played for us. It was incredible.

The Wand I Made

Me - Bellatrix Style (you would not believe how nervous I was!!)

Lastly Me & Natalia Tena (TONKS!!)

Well to this day I have had a longing to own that wand & finally I made my own wish come true!! And best of all I got it for under £30!!

I’m proud to say this is probably the geekiest thing I have ever bought & got me thinking what has been your geekiest purchase??

The life of a YA Geek

Soooo, I have some awesome friends that all have amazing book blogs & although I know mine will never be quite as good, I'm gonna have a bliming good go!!!
I'm a huge fan of YA books. I probably should be onto more adult books by now, but they really are no fun, I like to get lost in a world I feel comfortable, which is YA if I'm honest!! Especially if these YA books happen to have vampires, werewolves, witches, warlocks, ghosts, etc - Reality really is over-rated!!!

I'm currently reading Crescendo By Becca Fitzpatrick - All I can say is PATCH - That is the kind of male lead that is needed in all books!!

I've been very fortunate to have met a few of my favorite authors over the last year, which I shall get around to blogging about soon. My most recent meet was Becca Fitzpatrick with my fellow blogger SisterSpooky: Book Fangirl (Laura) & her awesome cousin (also my dear friend) Becky - that day was incredible. You can see Laura's blog on the event on her page (HIGHLY RECOMMENDED READING!!)

I shall do a much better blog soon......(thinks hard on how to be awesome.....)