Well, that was sure...something, and, whatever it was, it was...a lot.
I had to give this 5 stars even though I was confused for mostly all of it becauWell, that was sure...something, and, whatever it was, it was...a lot.
I had to give this 5 stars even though I was confused for mostly all of it because I binge-read this in one sitting and literally could not put it down.
If you're in the mood to have an existential crisis, MIGHT I SUGGEST THIS BOOK.
Kara was just kidnapped from her family and home planet and taken aboard a spaceship where she’s forced into a new life based on alien DNASynopsis
Kara was just kidnapped from her family and home planet and taken aboard a spaceship where she’s forced into a new life based on alien DNA and family lineage from a planet far away from her own. When she is put through tests, Kara is pushed to her limits and realizes that she is much more than ordinary, even if she can’t see it at first. Kara’s next door neighbor and long-time crush is also kidnapped. When he starts to develop feelings that reciprocate Kara’s, will she pursue a relationship, or will other forces keep them apart? And what of this new alien boy who is bemused by her? What will happen on the long journey to her new home?
Selected: A Young Adult Sci-Fi Adventure (The Zaratan Trilogy Book 1) by Evelyn Lederman
Rating: ★★ Genre: YA Sci-Fi/Romance Release Date: May 2016 Source: Netgalley On My Shelf: No
I requested this book mostly because of the cover, but also because I liked the description. Regardless of my thoughts/rating of this story, I still think that cover is absolutely gorgeous. Simply Stunning.
But, that’s not what I’m here to talk about.
This book says it’s a young adult adventure, but I would actually place it more under middle-grade. The character is 14 – just verging on YA, so I think it would be better marketed toward younger readers. Because I felt that I fell so far outside of this demographic, I feel I didn’t enjoy this book as much.
The writing style is very simplistic and altogether incredibly passive. I did not feel much intensity in the pages and never found myself gripping my seat to find out what would happen next. Even when big events were occurring, they felt lackluster. I also felt that some of the writing was weirdly specific but the storytelling as a whole was kind of vague. (I know, it doesn’t make sense to me either.) The writing is the main reason I think this book would be better marketed as a middle-grade novel. This is great writing for kids who are past children’s books but are not yet into young adult.
I felt the same way about the characters. They were acceptably developed and each one had a unique personality making it easy to tell them apart, yet I still felt that they needed so much more. I was a bit annoyed that our protagonist spends about 1/3 – 1/2 of this book unconscious or recovering from one ailment after the next. She never really had the chance to grow because she was always sick with one thing or another. Also, unrelated to development but related to character, she is way too submissive. Aliens literally just kidnapped her and she’s completely cool with it? Nahhh. I don’t believe that. I needed more from her.
This book needed more emotion all around in general.
What else I didn’t like, especially concerning the protag, was all the subtle sexist undertones. And, I really did not like that Kara constantly needed saving. I mean, I get being a weak character and specifically writing a character as weak, but Kara was consistently described as an incredibly strong leader, yet she always needed to be saved and couldn’t seem to do much for herself. It’s like Lederman wanted Kara to be a super strong female but also mainly wanted her to be a submissive future housewife. I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with wanting a domestic life and having those goals, but it was incredibly contradictory in the way Kara’s character, development, and thoughts were written. It was all very strange. I think more character development would have helped.
I don’t really want to talk about it, because I was magnificently uninspired by it, so I’ll just say that the love triangle was very blegh. Matt is trash, and it’s really unsettling that Jim is so much older than Kara and has such a weird obsession with her. It’s honestly verging on creepy. But, whatever, I have about 2 whole feelings about this, and I don’t care who “wins.” Although, it felt very Romeo and Juliet, so I’m going to go out on a limb and guess that Matt will eventually win this grand pissing contest the two boys are having.
Overall, this book was just very okay for me. However, I feel as if I were still 14 that I would have rated this higher at 3 or 4 stars. Target audience is everything in this case. Even so, there was something strangely addicting about this plot that might cause me to pick up the second book. The jury is still out, but we’ll see.
*I was provided with a free copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. That did not sway my thoughts; all opinions are and remain my own.*...more
A collection of UFOs captured in photographs paired with brief descriptions for where each photo came from with a few longer entries on the moSynopsis
A collection of UFOs captured in photographs paired with brief descriptions for where each photo came from with a few longer entries on the more strange and hard-to-believe cases.
The Truth is Out There
UFOs Caught on Film: Amazing Evidence of Alien Visitors to Earth by B.J. Booth
★★★★★ Genre: Nonfiction/Supernatural–Specifically Extra Terrestrial Release Date: August 2009 Source: Half Price Books – Bought On My Shelf: Yes
This was super interesting and made me question everything (even more than I usually do). It also made me want to go through all my old photos in hopes of finding a UFO.
I found all of the photographs included incredibly intriguing and enjoyed reading the stories that went along with each one. Although much of the photography is grainy and hard to make out, what else would you expect from a book about aliens?
Maybe now that the government seems to be slowly prepping us for the truth that extraterrestrials have indeed been visiting this planet for decades now–most likely even centuries, books like this will find themselves obsolete and maybe even embarrassing, but, for now, This is a must-read: the perfect book for someone like me who wants to believe.
Well, as you already know, I recently (finally) started The 5th Wave series by Rick Yancey. If you haven’t read my review of the first book in this seWell, as you already know, I recently (finally) started The 5th Wave series by Rick Yancey. If you haven’t read my review of the first book in this series you can click here. After finishing the first book I had to go to Target to immediately get my hands on the second one. (Okay, I waited till the paperback copy came out, but that was only about a week after finishing the first one.)
I am loving this series so much. It’s dystopian. There’s aliens. There’s strong female characters. What is not to love? (I’m trying to contain my fangirling here.)
Moving on.
The second installment of The 5th Wave series picks up where the first one left off with only a small time lapse in between. The group is holed up in a hotel trying to find a warm place to spend winter; instead, they find themselves facing even more hideous plans executed by the alien race trying to wipe the humans off the planet. About 1/3 of the way through this story, it focuses heavily on one of the group members who is captured, telling their story more than the others. This, however, does not mean a lack of action. This group of kids that came together by chance now has to fight and face even more horror. Will they survive? Will the one taken hostage escape? Or will they drown in an infinite sea? Pick up this book and find out.
Wow, okay, wow. Asldjflkjalkj. Okay. Trying to gather my thoughts.
I liked this book just as much as the first one. The only thing that disappointed me was that it was half the size! What’s up with that? Just like the first, I could not put this book down. I read it in less than 24 hours. It was that good.
Yancey’s writing style stayed consistent with how he wrote the first one. So, if you were looking for a bit more clarification, you’re probably going to be disappointed. Yancey keeps the air of mystery and doesn’t answer many question. And, with the few that he does answer, he only uses that to raise more. I still have no idea what’s going on, but I love it.
I really love Yancey’s cryptic writing and story telling technique. It keeps me wanting more. I have no idea how this series is going to wrap up, but I have no doubt that Yancey can bring everything together nicely. And I can’t wait to read it.
I still love all the characters in this second installment. It’s great that we get to learn more about them. They are all strong, and unique, and different, and have their own thoughts and feelings. It’s all just so fantastic. It’s wonderful how each one is their own person. I applaud Yancey for that. It can be hard for readers to differentiate so many characters, but Yancey makes it easy by making them all so diverse. I just love these characters, okay?
There’s really not much else to say that I didn’t already cover in my review of The 5th Wave. This book series is so unique and unlike anything I’ve read before. Although it gives me the feel and takes small aspects of previous alien-themed books and movies I’ve read and seen before, Yancey has created something completely new and different.
I CANNOT WAIT UNTIL MAY. MAKE IT COME FASTER.
(And, I actually have to wait longer to read the third book (The Last Star). I have the first 2 books in paperback, so have to wait for the 3rd one in paperback. The Torture.)
Anyway, I highly recommend you read this book if you liked the first one. If you haven’t read the first one but this review has peaked your interest, what are you waiting for? Go get your copy and read it immediately!
The Infinite Sea absolutely lived up to the first book for me....more
A few months ago I was at Target and was browsing the books, telling myself I was just looking. But, it’s so hard to convince myself I’m just looking A few months ago I was at Target and was browsing the books, telling myself I was just looking. But, it’s so hard to convince myself I’m just looking when I’m around books. This time,though, I was honestly not going to buy anything, but I found a copy of this for $8.79 and though that was a really decent price. I had been avoiding this book because I had no idea what it was about and thought it wouldn’t be my cup of tea. (How I could come to this conclusion when I had no idea what it was about, I have not the slightest inclination of an idea.)
I thought it was over hyped and didn’t plan on reading it. But, then I found out it was gonna be a movie, so that day at Target, I was like, “Oh, I might as well read it.”
Then, once I started reading it, I realized it was about aliens, freaked, and was so mad at myself for ignoring it for so long. Like, aliens are my second favorite thing right under zombies. (The truth is out there, yo.) I can’t believe I had put off this book for so long!
So, anyway, after that super long-winded story, on with my review.
Cassiopeia (Cassie) is convinced she is the only human left on earth. The mothership arrived months ago, her mother died in the plague of the 4th wave, her father is dead, her younger brother was taken to a US military base, and she is on her own with winter fast approaching. Will she survive? Is her brother really safe? Will she be able to make it to the Wright-Patterson base and find him? Is he still alive? Is she really the last human being on alive on earth? What happens when she meets an Other and her scope of reality gets even more messed up than it already is?
Wow, there sure are a lot of questions this book raises, and it answers all the ones it needs to. It was so easy for me to give this book a 5-star rating. I absolutely loved the story and found myself fully immersed. It was so easy to get lost in the world Yancey created. It did get a bit slow in the middle, where I considered giving it a 4.5-star rating, but then then it picked up again and the 5-star rating came back. (Plus, the fact that it’s about aliens.)
Also, once finishing and thinking back to the middle section, I realized it was necessary. It makes total sense to spend so much time on that portion. I became exceptionally okay with it after reading the second book in the series (went to Target the day after it came out in paperback to scoop that up!). (Review of that coming in the next few weeks.) So, I was completely okay with the gushy romance bits once everything started to come together is what I’m trying to say, and this book is absolutely deserving of that 5-star rating.
On top of writing a phenomenal science fiction tale, Yancey’s actual writing is simple enough to breeze through (the large font helps), but there is also an elegance to it. So many of his lines really grasped me and made me feel something, some absolutely paralyzed me with their meanings. I seriously cannot believe it took me so long to pick up this book. It’s brilliant. I loved it.
He also creates the tension through his writing needed to keep you flipping through to the very next page. There was no really lull for me. Even the lull section wasn’t really that calm. There was a lot happening and so many questions being raised that keep you second guessing everything. There was not one point of this book where I thought I was sure of what was going on or what was going to happen. (I still feel the same after reading the sequel.) Yancey gives nothing away. He stumps his readers in the best way to keep them reading in search of answers. So, do not be afraid of how thick this book is (500-something-pages); it is so easy to absolutely fly through and so worth it!
Yancey really has the whole package going for him in this series because his characters are also so strong. I loved all of the characters in this story. They’re strong, weak, utterly torn apart, fighting for what they believe in, crying, smiling, even sometimes laughing. There is no lack of emotion in Yancey’s story and that comes through loud and clear. His characters are relatable, multi-dimensional, realistic, and amazing. Even the bad characters are written superbly. Everything is. This books is. I’m in love.
adjf; j;kajf kjaf;k
Also, (ignoring my fangirl outburst) can we just take a moment to appreciate this line, since all us girls know it would be a really series issue in an apocalypse:
“Tampons. I’m constantly worrying about my stash and if I’ll be able to find more.”
I absolutely recommend this book, especially to science-fiction lovers (and definitely to you alien lovers like me out there), as well as to those who like thrillers, apocalyptic themes, and/or dystopian-type books. This was a great read. It’s honestly one of my new favorite series. I CAN’T BELIEVE I HAVE TO WAIT TILL MAY FOR THE THIRD INSTALLMENT.
Also, I went to the movies yesterday and saw the trailer for this one. It. Looks. So. Good. O. M. G.
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