"How do you rid the Earth of seven billion humans? Rid the humans of their humanity.
Surviving the first four waves was nearly impossible. Now Cassie Sullivan finds herself in a new world, a world in which the fundamental trust that binds us together is gone. As the 5th Wave rolls across the landscape, Cassie, Ben, and Ringer are forced to confront the Others’ ultimate goal: the extermination of the human race.
Cassie and her friends haven’t seen the depths to which the Others will sink, nor have the Others seen the heights to which humanity will rise, in the ultimate battle between life and death, hope and despair, love and hate."
Do you know what I did after finishing this? I giggled hysterically. Can you believe that? Giggled. And there was barely anything worth laughing about in The Infinite Sea. I think this is a clear sign that I'm insane. Insane, I repeat. I mean, this book is really serious, and I'm just laughing with no reason. Cuckoo. Definitely.
Alright, here we go. The Infinite Sea is actually much more bearable than The Fifth Wave. Honestly, the POVs just drive me crazy. Rick Yancey never tells the readers who is who, and sometimes you just have to take a wild shot at the character's list.
And I really needed a crazy recap of The Fifth Wave. I don't joke on that. I was so lost until the second part of the book. That was about when I finally started remembering things (The Perilous Sea took a lot of energy). Remember how long The Fifth Wave was? Ugh, I totally needed that recap, but I managed to pull it up in the end.
The writing is a bit boring. It is irritatingly dry, and it could use a bit of polishing, but I'll ignore that because of Evan Walker. Well, I'm not going to ignore it. Evan Walker, no matter how great he is, can't erase errors.
Cassie is a bit more tough now. She isn't that sweet girl in the beginning, but she is still strong. She still has the best of her. And she is slightly weird, but I can totally overlook that. But I'm super annoyed by all these characters and their POVs. Evan Walker. He isn't so bad, actually. He is actually kind of awesome. Ringer. She is amazing. She is weak in the beginning. Well, not that weak, but she does end up being stronger in the end. And there are a few other POVs, of course. Poundcake's history is revealed, and I won't say anymore.
Wow. That is a quite interesting mashup of characters.
The ending ends quite nicely. I'm not going to say anything, but I really liked how Mr. Yancey ended the entire thing.
But it is a year before the sequel is released. Am I just killing myself over sequels? Unfortunately, according to my to-reads list, I am.
Overall, I think I should had read The Infinite Sea when the third book is out. That way, I won't be so annoyed and irritated. The ending and characters are good though.
Rating: Three out of Five
"After spending the summer away from each other, Titus and Iolanthe (still disguised as Archer Fairfax) are eager to return to Eton College to resume their training to fight the Bane. Although no longer bound to Titus by a blood oath, Iolanthe is more committed than ever to fulfilling her destiny—especially with the agents of Atlantis quickly closing in.
Soon after arriving at school, though, Titus makes a shocking discovery, one that makes him question everything he previously believed about their mission. Faced with this devastating realization, Iolanthe is forced to come to terms with her new role, while Titus must choose between following his mother's prophecies—and forging a divergent path to an unknowable future."
Oh, my goodness. The ending of The Perilous Sea is epic. I love it. I'm going to say that it is a little contest between Titus and the Bane (the main villain of the story), but it is not just little. It is epic and awesome. My favorite part is Titus considering to send elephant feces to the Bane. Best part ever. And his arrogance is awesome. Never have I ever loved a character more for their sassiness. Well, other than Regina Mills, of course. I'll consider Dean Winchester, too. And some other characters, too. I love sass, don't you?
Alright, let's get moving.
The Perilous Sea starts of weird enough in the beginning, but I love it. (I love it!) It is a bit confusing at first, because I sort of forgotten some parts of the plot and story of The Burning Sky, but I do manage to jump those old brain cells. Yes, I do remember the entire story around the fifth chapter of The Perilous Sea.
Let me explain "weird." Part of The Perilous Sea is told from the past, but that is very irritating, though I do see a need for the author to tell the story like that. Still, it is annoying. And for that awfulness, I'm going to dock points.
However, I will give points for Titus' sassiness and awesome remarks. I just love him. I think the last time I'd seen the guy (a book character) like him was Raphael in Angelfall. Oh. I read Angelfall last month. That wasn't very long ago. Darn. It felt like half a year ago. It is funny how fast and slow time goes by. It just depends on perspective.
Told from two POVs, The Perilous Sea is awesome. I really enjoyed it despite the terrible start we had together. Great job, Sherry Thomas. Even though this is the middle child of the possible trilogy, it rarely failed or stopped in its path.
Titus is awesome. I think I told you that too many times. Thomas does go into a bit of relationship dive, but it wasn't too bad. It just says a lot about Titus and Iolanthe.
Iolanthe, too! She is good, but she isn't as good as Titus and his sassiness. Even his romantic words and his pokes at his old words (though he certainly doesn't remember it) is hilarious and entertaining. For that, I consider The Perilous Sea worth it. Worth reading even though there is a sequel coming out sometimes next year.
A sequel. I have to wait another year.
Let me sob in a corner, will you?
Rating: Four out of Five
I won a copy from Goodreads First Reads.
""In the tradition of The Princess Bride (with somewhat less whimsy) and The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making, Smith's debut is a fairy tale in a new world.... The twists along this charming road make for an enchanting journey." -- Kirkus Reviews -- The Ugly Princess is an unusual fairytale that centers on an ugly, brave princess who teaches us the true meaning of beauty. Princess Olive is not like most princesses. She is the last generation of Winnowwood, an enchanted people with magical powers, dominion over nature, and the ability to communicate with animals. They are a people as ugly as they are extraordinary, and Olive is one of their ugliest. Her face is covered in bumps and warts, and her own father despises her for her ugly appearance. Olive has lived most of her life confined to the castle, away from the public eye. But when war breaks out between her kingdom and its neighbor and her father is captured, Olive courageously steps up to help him despite his cruelty. In transit, she is kidnapped by a band of highwaymen led by the mysterious Black Bart, and then kidnapped again by an even greater enemy force determined to overtake the entire mainland surrounding her father's kingdom. Will anyone come to rescue Olive? Does she have within herself what it takes to break free and save her people? A story that teaches us that there is more to a person than meets the eye, The Ugly Princess encourages young women to look within themselves to find beauty and power, and to open their eyes to their own magic. This coming-of-age must-read is based on the multi-award-winning screenplay of the same name."
The Ugly Princess is not really ugly. It is actually a bit humorous in some points, but this book is mostly for the Middle Grade readers. The older readers would probably see the holes and little annoyances in character, but the young ones would probably be delighted by all those warts and ugliness. And of course, they would probably like the prince in the end. Or the ugly princess.
Princess Olive isn't that easy to connect with. Honestly, I was never called ugly (unless you count those mean boys back in elementary, who are just trying to look cool in front of their friends). I'm pretty sure none of my pimples lasted longer than two months, and the warts on my face are nonexistent. Besides, she has that magical power that didn't really made any sense. I don't understand how it works, other than what Princess Olive said (it comes from within). I'm sure that helping others feel good (after all, I have been a recipient of it), but Princess Olive is just so unselfish. Until you realize about the legend.
The facts in this book is that the more you use magic, the more uglier you get. The legend says that if you find someone (true love) who sees who you are within, then your ugliness will be taken away. So perhaps deep, deep, deep inside of Princess Olive, I think there is a part of her that believes that legend is truth, and that she takes much comfort in that fact.
And a lot of the characters are archetypes or a mixture of them. I could name some of them like arrogant father/ignorant father, spoiled/bratty sister, and beautiful but also weak mother. How about idiots?
Okay, I'll stop talking about the characters.
The Ugly Princess (and its very long subtitle) is very entertaining. The plot isn't always clear, and there are some parts where I get lost even though The Ugly Princess is really fun. However, I don't really think it is the plot's fault. It is the writing.
The writing, unfortunately, falls short sometimes. There are some annoying dry spots and bumps in the road. Sometimes, there are these really quick parts that seem to go by so fast! And I wasn't even speedreading, darn it.
Overall, The Ugly Princess is a better fit among the younger readers. Honestly, I think I'm criticizing this book too much. Oh, and it is clean romance. Actually, romance is just... Light.
Rating: Three out of Five (Two Point Five)
"Avie Reveare has the normal life of a privileged teen growing up in L.A., at least as normal as any girl’s life is these days. After a synthetic hormone in beef killed fifty million American women ten years ago, only young girls, old women, men, and boys are left to pick up the pieces. The death threat is past, but fathers still fear for their daughters’ safety, and the Paternalist Movement, begun to "protect" young women, is taking over the choices they make.Like all her friends, Avie still mourns the loss of her mother, but she’s also dreaming about college and love and what she’ll make of her life. When her dad "contracts" her to marry a rich, older man to raise money to save his struggling company, her life suddenly narrows to two choices: Be trapped in a marriage with a controlling politician, or run. Her lifelong friend, student revolutionary Yates, urges her to run to freedom across the border to Canada. As their friendship turns to passion, the decision to leave becomes harder and harder. Running away is incredibly dangerous, and it’s possible Avie will never see Yates again. But staying could mean death.From Catherine Linka comes this romantic, thought-provoking, and frighteningly real story, A Girl Called Fearless, about fighting for the most important things in life—freedom and love."
A Girl Called Fearless. That book sounds amazing, doesn't it? It has a kicking title, and it has a wonderful cover. I really like it. Very pretty. Nice contrast. You can easily tell which type of readers they are targeting.
Catherine Linka does a great job of evoking reader's emotion. Honestly, I was so upset at the book that I nearly strangle its invisible neck. The book does bring up issues on feminism and other such topics like politics and anti-government. Well, not exactly anti-government. We can just say that this book is a perfect example of what happens when the government gets things wrong. Eh... Near perfect. It is not exactly perfect. Besides, there is a more peaceful way of ending these issues in the book. Uniting all the girls together and marching to Washington D.C.
But let's pretend those options don't exist. Let's pretend those options don't exist to the point that these people, these characters, need to turn to violence. That is what A Girl Called Fearless does.
Basically, this book turns United States into a similar place to what some countries in the Middle Eastern are like. Oh, yeah. Girls can't drive. Girls stay home. Girls don't have education. Honestly, I pretty much figured out that I'm a feminist and that I really hate staying at home and not having an education. And I figured out that I can spend ten pages just ranting on the inequality and unfairness of the government in this book (which degrades woman to the point where they are just like cattle and property). It is as if the Woman's Rights Movement took a huge step backwards.
Yeah, I'm spending way too much time ranting on anti-feminism. Where was I? Oh, yes. The book.
Honestly, when it comes to Avie Reveare, I just want to bang her head and shout, "Kill them all!" But I like her, actually. She isn't a strong character at first, but she grows very well. I don't approve very much on her love interests, but... That is a much different situation, which is not as severe as the anti-feminism movement.
Overall, A Girl Called Fearless is a great book. You might hate a lot of the characters (because they are all against girl power), but it is entertaining. For certain.
And there is probably going to be a lot of debate. Especially among the girls.
Rating: Four out of Five
I won a copy from Goodreads First Reads.
"What if everything came down to a single test? If your life was defined at seventeen, could you handle it? Could you accept your fate leaving the ones you love, or would you risk it all and stay?
One test stands between Vanessa and Central. One chance to make the leap across the walls to a better life. At seventeen, Central considers Vanessa an adult. Her labor role, marriage, and housing divisions will be dictated by her performance on the leap.
Dedication and unfaltering friendship has bonded Vanessa to Garrett as they fight for their chance to leap into Central. But what happens when love overtakes reason? When defiance in the name of love creates an unintentional fracture in their nation.
Without warning Vanessa is at the mercy of the nation that’s supposed to protect her. Exiled and abandoned she must fight but she find’s she’s not alone. With her heart divided she seeks her revenge, but will her stand be enough?
Ruination is the next YA dystopian trilogy that will hook you from the start! If you liked Veronica Roth's Divergent series or Suzanne Collins Hunger Games series then be prepared to get addicted to Ruination."
Sigh. This is another The Hunger Games/Divergent wannabe.
Okay, this review is going to be a bit shorter than I thought it would be. So it will be precise, and to the point. I hope.
Ruination started off weird enough. The POVs weren't clearly labeled, and I was confused by the number of narrators. I believe there to be two at first, but as the book goes on, I believe there to be three (Garrett, Tyler, and Vanessa). It is very terrible of Amanda Thome (or any other persons involved with this design) to not tell me who is speaking/narrating. I really hated that part. I always had to guess the difference, and sometimes I can tell, but Vanessa and Garrett sound very similar to each other. I can always tell Tyler's POV, because his POV always sounds so creepy. Like Agent Grant Ward talking to Skye about new beginnings creepy.
Then there is the plot. It is so slow. The action doesn't start until around the halfway point of the book, and the exposition is terrible long. It is more like Divergent at first (and then Hunger Games). Actually, it is utterly like Divergent. That is the truth, and it is heavily cliche and irritating to my eyes. At least, Divergent wasn't as slow as this book. Even speedreading could not make Ruination go faster.
Garrett is weird. That is all I'm going about on him. He is kind of like Peeta and all about that star-crossed lovers thing. Eh... Nothing I haven't seen before.
Tyler... Didn't I mention to you about Agent Grant Ward/Creepy Hydra Agent? Hmm... Maybe I need to mention it a few more times.
And Vanessa. There is something so dull about these characters. The only one who is perhaps remotely decent is Garrett. And that is the truth.
Overall, Ruination is a terrible book. It is... Well, go look at the first paragraph. I don't want to repeat myself again.
Rating: Two out of Five
