The Limit by Kristen Landon Review

"An eighth grade girl was taken today . . . With this first sentence, readers are immediately thrust into a fast-paced thriller that doesn't let up for a moment. 

In a world not too far removed from our own, kids are being taken away to special workhouses if their families exceed the monthly debt limit imposed by the government. Thirteen-year-old Matt briefly wonders if he might be next, but quickly dismisses the thought. After all, his parents are financially responsible, unlike the parents of those other kids. As long as his parents remain within their limit, the government will be satisfied and leave them alone. But all it takes is one fatal visit to the store to push Matt’s family over their limit—and to change his reality forever. 

Kristen Landon's The Limit brings the popular dystopian thriller genre to a middle grade audience."

At first I was cautious toward The Limit. It doesn't seem to be very promising. Right? The synopsis kind of tips readers off. The government will take children away from their parents if the parents went over their limit. I think it would be more logical if they take away the parents. After all, it's the parent's fault, not the children's.

The plot was good. Every theory of the characters were somewhat involved with the plot. The plot was mostly about the search for the truth of the 'Honey Lady.' Some other parts are just smaller parts of the plot. Interestingly enough, the smaller parts, to me, are the more interesting parts.

The Limit is recommended to the Young Adult audience. Readers should be at least an elementary student and around nine or ten years old.

The writing of Kristen Landon was amazing. Usually middle grade authors are good at writing (with the exception of Twilight and Harry Potter). She was good. Descriptive. Clear. Each sentences flows well with the sentences before and after it.

(I hope there is a book after The Limit, but, unfortunately, there wasn't one. I checked. Ahh... It was a good wish).

The Limit's spotlight:

Matt... The main character. (Other than Matt, I don't remember anyone from The Limit. So I'm doing Matt's and only Matt's.) Matt is this brilliant character who is spectacular at hacking computers. He is smart, but he is not exactly knowledgeable. The Limit is majorly about Matt's journey and heist to steal knowledge from the knowing. (And that is where the hacking computers come in.)

Matt is excellent at math. He is sometimes reckless and doesn't have the "killer instinct." He's not really a person who was just do. (The Dark Knight, remember? The Joker) Instead he has this plan. And there are some people who are trying to take his little plan and wreak it. (More Joker moments. Such as good villain in  The Dark Knight. Even better than Two Face.) He doesn't chase cars. Instead he is human, and thinks it through before he chase the car. (And more Joker moments).

Anyway, in summary, The Limit was a good, refreshing read. Four out of Five. 

After the Snow by S.D. Crockett Review

"Fifteen-year-old Willo was out hunting when the trucks came and took his family away. Left alone in the snow, Willo becomes determined to find and rescue his family, and he knows just who to talk with to learn where they are. He plans to head across the mountains and make Farmer Geraint tell him where his family has gone. 

But on the way across the mountain, he finds Mary, a refugee from the city, whose father is lost and who is starving to death. The smart thing to do would be to leave her alone -- he doesn't have enough supplies for two or the time to take care of a girl -- but Willo just can't do it. However, with the world trapped in an ice age, the odds of them surviving on their own are not good. And even if he does manage to keep Mary safe, what about finding his family?"

 Honestly I am very disappointed with this book. I expected an awestruck, rush-hour-like, violent, and fast book. Instead I receive a slow (for many parts of the book), boring, dull, and dry book.

*Yawn*

For many parts of After the Snow, Willo was just sitting around, hiding, and listening. (more yawns). There was little violence and not very much of a fast-paced book.

The biggest annoying thing is that Mary, the girl of After the Snow, was not in many of the scenes. Seriously. I expected Mary to be a much more dramatic and exciting character. Instead, she rarely appears and when she does, she plays a little six year old who is scared out of her wits and crying for her father the ponyman. Not a particular fascinating character. 

The second biggest thing is that Willo is just... slow. Slow. I wished he would just get things. Understand. But he is such a little boy. Definitely not a fifteen year old. Willo should be more hunterish and more willing to be careful like a hunter trying to find its prey. Nahhh! He is careless. Reckless, sometimes. Willo spends a major amount of time (most of wintertime) stitching up some coats for a beautiful lady (who is also a prostitute). 

The third... Well, I didn't like the twist at all. Or any of the characters. Especially Willo's father. I was irritated by all these references to Willo's father John Blake. All these ideas that were drilled in by John Blake were interesting, yes, but then it gets repeated over and over and over again. Get the picture? Annoying.

The death. From a harsh world with hungry, cold, and evil-hearted people, I expected a whole lot more death. Let me see. How many people die? There's the little boy. And another person, I believe. The hunter. The prostitute. John Blake. Magda. Some other people. But I thought that there wasn't enough deaths. (Sorry for those sensitive people out there.)

The twist about John Blake. (I have to mention this twice to emphasize on how much I don't like the twist). 

The parts of the book I love...

The dialects. Willo speaks in a way that suggests he hasn't been to a school or learn proper grammar. It makes the story a little more realistic  I would have liked it even more if the author enlisted/created new words because as time goes on, new words are created and old words discarded. I doubt some of the words the author uses will even be said in the future. 

The traitor in the mist... Yeah, traitor. I was delighted when I discovered the new twist. I was so giddy and curious on what will happen to the traitor, the prisoners, and our main character, Willo. Good job, Mr. Crockett (like Davy Crockett?). I totally love that twist. Unlike the one with John Blake (yes, again). The traitor was fascinating. I love how the traitor open himself up, shined a little light into his POV. 

This book's rating is a two out of five. Not enough action to satisfy me. (Got Elvis in my head.)

The Daughters Break the Rules by Joanna Philbin Review

Synopsis:

"Daughters Rule Number Six: Never talk to the press about your parents. 

After leaking a story about the family business, impetuous high school freshman Carina Jurgensen is cut off by her billionaire father. Always resourceful, she fibs her way into a job as a party planner for New York's annual Silver Snowflake Ball. But when Carina finds out that the party committee expects favors and freebies from her dad's A-list connections, a choice must be made: Does she get real about her downgraded status, or pretend she's still the ultimate heiress?

Best friends and fellow daughters of celebrities Lizzie Summers, Carina Jurgensen and Hudson Jones are back in Joanna Philbin's second stylish and heartfelt Daughters novel."

Yep, these spoiled kids are back. Even though I hate to say it, these girls, Carina and Lizzie and Hudson, are really spoiled. Rich parents. Flashy credit cards. Fourteen years old. Not a care in the world other than high school. And their controlling and demanding parents.

Despite all of that, I still love them. They are unbelievable. Funny, clever in some situations, stubborn, and smart.

Carina... She is a smart kid. However, I felt that the author rushed a little in this book. Carina can't break her bad habit of shopping for clothes that quickly. A bad habit like that is much harder to break. Carina is an amazing character. I love how she grows and matures. She is a complete one eighty degrees of what she was like. She used to figuratively burn money and clean out stores. Now she carefully spends money only on things that are necessary. This is a best character change of all of the four books of The Daughters series. Carina and her dad's relationship changed dramatically too. I love how the relationship becomes closer and closer as more secrets and stories are revealed. The actions of Carina can sometimes be a little reckless. I wonder if she ever thought of the consequences before she acts on her actions.

Alex... The way the author describes him is making him look better than Todd. (Todd from the previous book, The Daughters). He seems so much more mature than Todd. And wiser. And smarter than Todd. To me, he seems much more appealing than Todd. (Sorry, Todd). I love the little moments between Alex and Carina. They are so adorable together. During some moments of the book, I will be egging them on, but they don't. (Oh how disappointing). When they finally get together, the book ends suddenly. (Which brings to the first issue of this book).

The Jurg... I have to admit, the Jurg kind of reminds me of the father from 52 Reasons To Hate My Father by Jessica Brody. It's nice to see a similar character to my favorite character in 52 Reasons To Hate My Father. They both teach their daughters a life lesson. They both withhold money. They both indirectly/directly suggest their daughters to go to work. Anyway, the Jurg is a complex character who has a lot of depth and not quite shallow at first.

Lizzie... Thank Goodness! A little more about Lizzie. Ever since the surprising cutoff of the first book, The Daughters (check out my review), I have been wondering what will happen to them. (Todd and Lizzie will appear). More info on Lizzie: Lizzie and Carina have a BFF spat in this book. Yeah... A nasty one too. It was exciting to see how their relationship heal and not fall apart like a lot of BFF relationships. (Real like BFFs usually break off after two or three years.)

Hudson... Not much on her. Although I am curious on what will happen to her and her album.

The writing was full of humor. It flows very well like the first book. Books like these will appeal to the Young Adult Audience and Children Fiction. The words are not complicated. They are quite easy to understand; however, I wished Joanna Philbin used a little more vocabulary. It would be appreciated dearly. Many of us readers truly do need to expand our fancy vocabulary.

Issue #1: The sudden ending. I was shocked by how the author ends the book. Now she expects us to read the next one? WOW. I wished she gave us a warning.

Issue #2: A little more chemistry between Alex and Carina. The first time they met was NOT love at true sight. It could have been an opportunity to wow us with the physical traits of Alex.

Issue #3: Lizzie and Carina's relationship. Seriously. They fought because of that?

Issue #4: Carter. That is all.

This book's rating is a four out of five. (Next book is The Daughters Take The Stage)