Archive for Five Stars
BLOOD RED ROAD by Moira Young
Series: Dustlands, #1
Publication Date: June 7th 2011 by Margaret K. McElderry
Rating: 
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Summary: Saba has spent her whole life in Silverlake, a dried-up wasteland ravaged by constant sandstorms. The Wrecker civilization has long been destroyed, leaving only landfills for Saba and her family to scavenge from. That’s fine by her, as long as her beloved twin brother Lugh is around. But when a monster sandstorm arrives, along with four cloaked horsemen, Saba’s world is shattered. Lugh is captured, and Saba embarks on an epic quest to get him back.Suddenly thrown into the lawless, ugly reality of the world outside of desolate Silverlake, Saba is lost without Lugh to guide her. So perhaps the most surprising thing of all is what Saba learns about herself: she’s a fierce fighter, an unbeatable survivor, and a cunning opponent. And she has the power to take down a corrupt society from the inside. Teamed up with a handsome daredevil named Jack and a gang of girl revolutionaries called the Free Hawks, Saba stages a showdown that will change the course of her own civilization.
Blood Red Road has a searing pace, a poetically minimal writing style, violent action, and an epic love story. Moira Young is one of the most promising and startling new voices in teen fiction.
Review Overview:
- Once I got sucked into the story, I had a hard time putting it down. There’s no such thing as “one more chapter before bed”.
- Epic love story? You bet. I cannot get enough of Jack and Saba!
- Dystopian / post-apocalyptic perfection – best of the genre that I have read this year!
Getting into this book is tough, I’m not going to lie. There’s loads of development and the story starts out somewhat slow, but the challenge is Saba’s thick accent. Moira Young writes like Saba is directly speaking to us readers – accent and all. But overcoming Moira Young’s unique writing style is just one of the many things that makes BLOOD RED ROAD stand out from the overwhelming amount of dystopian and post-apocalyptic releases in the YA market this year.
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Book Review, Five Stars - Audience: Young Adult, Author: Moira Young, Book: Blood Red Road, Genre: Dystopia, Genre: Post-Apocalyptic, Page-Turner, Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry, Romantic Read, Series: Dustlands | 
505 words
ROTTERS by Daniel Kraus
Publication Date: April 5th 2011 by Delacorte Press
Rating:
Summary: Grave-robbing. What kind of monster would do such a thing? It’s true that Leonardo da Vinci did it, Shakespeare wrote about it, and the resurrection men of nineteenth-century Scotland practically made it an art. But none of this matters to Joey Crouch, a sixteen-year-old straight-A student living in Chicago with his single mom. For the most part, Joey’s life is about playing the trumpet and avoiding the daily humiliations of high school.
Everything changes when Joey’s mother dies in a tragic accident and he is sent to rural Iowa to live with the father he has never known, a strange, solitary man with unimaginable secrets. At first, Joey’s father wants nothing to do with him, but once father and son come to terms with each other, Joey’s life takes a turn both macabre and exhilarating.
Daniel Kraus’s masterful plotting and unforgettable characters make Rotters a moving, terrifying, and unconventional epic about fathers and sons, complex family ties, taboos, and the ever-present specter of mortality
Review Overview:
- Gritty, graphic, violent, and gut-wrenching; a great read that pushes you out of your comfort zone
- Complex novel full of realistic characters and relationships with vivid descriptions
- Similar in grit to THE MARBURY LENS, so it is definitely not for everyone
Read at your own risk. Daniel Kraus’s ROTTERS is far from a beautiful book. It is gritty, graphic, violent, gut-wrenching, and so, so addicting. Don’t be afraid to read outside of your comfort zone. Sometimes, the most unlikely books end up being one of the best you’ve read in a while.
ROTTERS is just one of those books in which the summary cannot do it justice. A few paragraphs and a handful of sentences cannot capture the essence of the novel. A son finds out his dad robs graves. Ok, so what? That is what the novel is essentially about, but it is also so much more. It’s about the history of their trade, a teen who lost his mom and just met his dad, the relationship with his dad, bullying, morals, growing up, and so much more. It’s complex on so many levels; a few sentences can’t cover what it’s about.
What I love most about ROTTERS is the development of the father/son relationship between Harnett and Joey. Their relationship is far from conventional which is the beauty of it. But Kraus has written it so wonderfully. The beginning is rocky and the progression is gradual. Changes didn’t happen overnight. Kraus is a master at character and relationship development.
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Book Review, Five Stars - Audience: Young Adult, Author: Daniel Kraus, Book: Rotters, Genre: Contemporary, Genre: Horror, Poetic Prose, Publisher: Delacorte Press | 584 words
BUMPED by Megan McCafferty
Series: Bumped, #1
Publication Date: April 26th 2011 by Balzer + Bray
Rating:
Summary: When a virus makes everyone over the age of eighteen infertile, would-be parents are forced to pay teen girls to conceive and give birth to their children, making teens the most prized members of society.
Sixteen-year-old identical twins Melody and Harmony were separated at birth and had never met until the day Harmony shows up on Melody’s doorstep. Until now, the twins have followed completely opposite paths. Melody has scored an enviable conception contract with a couple called the Jaydens. While they are searching for the perfect partner for Melody to bump with, she is fighting her attraction to her best friend Zen, who is way too short for the job.
Harmony has spent her whole life in religious Goodside, preparing to be a wife and mother. She believes her calling is to bring Melody back to Goodside and convince her that “pregging” for profit is a sin. But Harmony has secrets of her own that she is running from.
When Melody is finally matched with the world-famous, genetically flawless Jondoe, both girls’ lives are changed forever. A case of mistaken identity takes them on a journey neither could have ever imagined, one that makes Melody and Harmony realize they have so much more than just DNA in common.
Review Overview:
- Refreshing dystopian novel that will make you laugh out loud
- Rocky start, but I ended up loving it by the very end
- Incomparable to the Jessica Darling series – it’s fantastic in its own way
First impressions are never a good basis to judge a book. Despite my initial thoughts on BUMPED, Megan McCafferty has not disappointed me: in a year full of heavy, hardcore dystopia, BUMPED stands out as a light-hearted and funny novel that still tackles important issues on teen pregnancy. Yes, you will laugh out loud.
Don’t expect a scientific explanation about the virus. The book deals with more about the social aspect of being “bumped” than the science behind the whole epidemic. It’s not about politics, but more about the choices that these girls have at sixteen. It’s about what Melody and Harmony are experiencing – two girls from two very different backgrounds and how they are each handling the issue.
My initial qualms with the book was with Harmony. To be honest, I wasn’t a fan of her Bible-loving character. Reading from her perspective was a little annoying since she was a bit eccentric and I couldn’t relate to her views. Furthermore, the alternating perspectives did turn out to be confusing for a while. Melody and Harmony have very similar names but opposite attitudes. While I knew the distinction in their character, I still had trouble putting the name to the character. I was able to sort it out around halfway through the book. It took long enough…
So what is so great about this book? McCafferty does a wonderful job tackling a controversial issue in this satirical dystopian novel. From the fake baby bumps to the silly jingles of Babiez R Us, I couldn’t help but laugh at it all. The whole novel is kind of silly and ridiculous. The whole concept of girls making a competition of how many they can birth before they’re 18? Massive sex orgies to see how many girls can get pregnant in one night? McCafferty makes it seem silly and fun, but when you really think about it, it’s a scary concept. And the worst part is, it isn’t too far from the truth.
BUMPED is incomparable to McCafferty’s Jessica Darling series. The protagonists have a completely different tone from Jessica Darling, and I don’t think that readers should try to compare the two series at all. BUMPED is targeted towards a different audience and market, and readers should be aware of that.
BUMPED is a fantastic dystopian novel that will stand out from the many others that are being released this year. It tackles controversial issues with wit and humor, but still manages the reader to think, What if? BUMPED is definitely my new favorite series and I am counting down the days for the next book.
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Book Review, Five Stars - Audience: Young Adult, Author: Megan McCafferty, Book: Bumped, Genre: Dystopia, Genre: Science Fiction, Hahaha Funny, Publisher: Balzer + Bray, Series: Bumped | 842 words
- Action Packed
- Borrow It
- Hahaha Funny
- Keeps You Guessing
- Heartwarmer
- Makes You Think
- Masterful World-Building
- Must Buy
- Poetic Prose
- Tear-Jerker
