BOOK REVIEW: Ashes Ashes by Jo Treggiari
Reading Level: Young Adult
Hardcover: 352 pages
Release Date: June 1, 2011
ISBN-10: 0545255635
ISBN-13: 978-0545255639
Source: Review copy from publisher
Like with most hot summer flings, my borderline obsessive, punch-drunk infatuation with YA dystopian fiction has finally blown its spark plug and officially fizzled out. Looking back on it all, there were definitely some good times (namely the awesomely gory zombie killing and the adrenaline-pumped running for your mother-loving life), but there were also A LOT of bad times.
Therefore, I was really hoping that my last farewell rendezvous would turn out to be a fun one and that YA dystopian fiction and I could part ways on a happy note. Unfortunately, as fate would have it, our tumultuous relationship ended in even more disappointment...and a bit of mild, bilingual cussing.
Bloody hell, I hate to say it ('cos I'm kinda starting to sound like a broken record), but I just didn't enjoy this book. Allow me to elaborate.
Ashes Ashes, started off on the right foot. Immediately, the reader is introduced to Lucy, a klutzy average teen girl trying her best to survive on her own in the wilderness after the world as we know it has been brought to ruin by a series of wide-sweeping environmental disasters and a deadly, highly contagious plague.
Being a tutorial and how to guide junkie myself, I was actually able to get behind the idea that Lucy was capable of learning valuable skills & techniques from a survival guide she picked up along her travels. In my mind, I imagined the guide to be written by the very resourceful & ballsy Bear Grylls. In fact, I got excited because I was hoping that Lucy's story would take the Man vs Wild route and focus on her post-apocalyptic adventures facing off against a seriously pissed off Mother Nature. Therefore, the first handful of chapters kept me quite interested and had me looking forward to seeing Lucy tackle various challenges thrown her way.
Sadly, my excitement wore off rather quickly, and the moment Lucy joined up with a camp of other survivors, the story pretty much went downhill and eventually crashed & burned for me.
In all honesty, the camp might as well have been named West Beverly High 'cos the majority of what happened there involved silly teenage melodrama & angst a la 90210. There was a whole lot of I-hate-him-but-I-like-him nonsense, cheesy flirting, repressed feelings, childish rivalry, icy glares, and non-communication leading to unnecessary misunderstandings.
Seriously, there was a whole big chunk of the book in which nothing of real significance or plot development happened...it felt like pointless filler. The interactions between the characters weren't even meaningful and neither was much of the dialogue. It all felt very superficial. And I never felt as though I really got to know any of the characters. They all seemed like flat paper cutouts of common cliches. There was the insecure plain Jane heroine, the quiet broody love interest, the goofy flirt, the beautiful mean girl, the wise matriarchal granny, and the mad scientist/evil villain. And that's all they were; they had no depth or complexity to them. Consequently, I couldn't bring myself to be interested in or care about anyone one of them.
Finally, there was also quite a bit of stuff that didn't make logical sense or completely add up in my mind. In particular, the explanations behind the plague, its spread, and immunity didn't jive well with what I've personally studied & learned about viral diseases. And I didn't understand why the camp just waited around (out in the open) to get picked off one by one, and why the Sweepers had such laughably incompetent security.
So, yeah, I truly wanted to like Ashes Ashes, and I saw potential in the story, but there wasn't enough substance to the characters and the plot was too simplistic, linear, and predictable for me to get engrossed in the adventure and enjoy the book.
Hardcover: 352 pages
Release Date: June 1, 2011
ISBN-10: 0545255635
ISBN-13: 978-0545255639
Source: Review copy from publisher
Epidemics, floods, droughts—for sixteen-year-old Lucy, the end of the world came and went, taking 99% of the population with it. As the weather continues to rage out of control, and Sweepers clean the streets of plague victims, Lucy survives alone in the wilds of Central Park. But when she's rescued from a pack of hunting dogs by a mysterious boy named Aidan, she reluctantly realizes she can't continue on her own. She joins his band of survivors, yet, a new danger awaits her: the Sweepers are looking for her. There's something special about Lucy, and they will stop at nothing to have her.
—Goodreads
Book Review
Like with most hot summer flings, my borderline obsessive, punch-drunk infatuation with YA dystopian fiction has finally blown its spark plug and officially fizzled out. Looking back on it all, there were definitely some good times (namely the awesomely gory zombie killing and the adrenaline-pumped running for your mother-loving life), but there were also A LOT of bad times.
Therefore, I was really hoping that my last farewell rendezvous would turn out to be a fun one and that YA dystopian fiction and I could part ways on a happy note. Unfortunately, as fate would have it, our tumultuous relationship ended in even more disappointment...and a bit of mild, bilingual cussing.
Bloody hell, I hate to say it ('cos I'm kinda starting to sound like a broken record), but I just didn't enjoy this book. Allow me to elaborate.
Ashes Ashes, started off on the right foot. Immediately, the reader is introduced to Lucy, a klutzy average teen girl trying her best to survive on her own in the wilderness after the world as we know it has been brought to ruin by a series of wide-sweeping environmental disasters and a deadly, highly contagious plague.
Being a tutorial and how to guide junkie myself, I was actually able to get behind the idea that Lucy was capable of learning valuable skills & techniques from a survival guide she picked up along her travels. In my mind, I imagined the guide to be written by the very resourceful & ballsy Bear Grylls. In fact, I got excited because I was hoping that Lucy's story would take the Man vs Wild route and focus on her post-apocalyptic adventures facing off against a seriously pissed off Mother Nature. Therefore, the first handful of chapters kept me quite interested and had me looking forward to seeing Lucy tackle various challenges thrown her way.
Sadly, my excitement wore off rather quickly, and the moment Lucy joined up with a camp of other survivors, the story pretty much went downhill and eventually crashed & burned for me.
In all honesty, the camp might as well have been named West Beverly High 'cos the majority of what happened there involved silly teenage melodrama & angst a la 90210. There was a whole lot of I-hate-him-but-I-like-him nonsense, cheesy flirting, repressed feelings, childish rivalry, icy glares, and non-communication leading to unnecessary misunderstandings.
Seriously, there was a whole big chunk of the book in which nothing of real significance or plot development happened...it felt like pointless filler. The interactions between the characters weren't even meaningful and neither was much of the dialogue. It all felt very superficial. And I never felt as though I really got to know any of the characters. They all seemed like flat paper cutouts of common cliches. There was the insecure plain Jane heroine, the quiet broody love interest, the goofy flirt, the beautiful mean girl, the wise matriarchal granny, and the mad scientist/evil villain. And that's all they were; they had no depth or complexity to them. Consequently, I couldn't bring myself to be interested in or care about anyone one of them.
Finally, there was also quite a bit of stuff that didn't make logical sense or completely add up in my mind. In particular, the explanations behind the plague, its spread, and immunity didn't jive well with what I've personally studied & learned about viral diseases. And I didn't understand why the camp just waited around (out in the open) to get picked off one by one, and why the Sweepers had such laughably incompetent security.
So, yeah, I truly wanted to like Ashes Ashes, and I saw potential in the story, but there wasn't enough substance to the characters and the plot was too simplistic, linear, and predictable for me to get engrossed in the adventure and enjoy the book.
Book Rating
BOOK VIEWFINDER: The Butterfly Clues by Kate Ellison
-The following future book release has caught my eye and stirred my interest-
Reading Level: Young Adult
Hardcover: 336 pages
Release Date: February 14, 2012
ISBN-10: 1606842633
ISBN-13: 978-1606842638
Penelope (Lo) Marin has always loved to collect beautiful things. Her dad's consulting job means she's grown up moving from one rundown city to the next, and she's learned to cope by collecting (sometimes even stealing) quirky trinkets and souvenirs in each new place—possessions that allow her to feel at least some semblance of home.
But in the year since her brother Oren's death, Lo's hoarding has blossomed into a full-blown, potentially dangerous obsession. She discovers a beautiful, antique butterfly pendant during a routine scour at a weekend flea market, and recognizes it as having been stolen from the home of a recently murdered girl known only as "Sapphire"—a girl just a few years older than Lo. As usual when Lo begins to obsess over something, she can't get the murder out of her mind.
As she attempts to piece together the mysterious "butterfly clues," with the unlikely help of a street artist named Flynt, Lo quickly finds herself caught up in a seedy, violent underworld much closer to home than she ever imagined—a world, she'll ultimately discover, that could hold the key to her brother's tragic death.
—netGalley
WINNER: Legend by Marie Lu ARC Giveaway
I am terribly late in posting this. I was planning on choosing and announcing the winner on Thursday but got sidetracked by family stuff, and then Friday evening came around and I found myself feeling sick as a dog. Consequently, I was in bed all weekend and have just now finally managed to start tackling the items on my blogging agenda. Anyways, without further ado, the winner of an ARC of Legend by Marie Lu is...*drum roll*....
BOOK REVIEW: DNF Pile #4
First of all, the synopsis of this book was totally misleading. I was expecting a completely different story from the one I got. Going into the book, I thought I would be reading about a paranormal murder mystery involving some kind of deadly superhuman ability. Instead, the portion of the story I actually managed to get through, focused on the experiences of a girl in a psychiatric facility. This could still have been interesting; unfortunately, nothing really happened in those 80-100 pages I read to make me feel any sense of excitement, suspense, or curiosity.
What really turned me off of this book were its characters. They were very underdeveloped and clichéd. In addition, their interactions and conversations with each other were shallow and at times outright silly. Furthermore, this book read more like a paranormal romance than an urban fantasy. This I could have excused if the romance was actually interesting and added exciting tension to the story, but it pretty much sucked. It was another case of insta-love with a complete lack of chemistry and substance.
This book had some cool and creative ideas. Sadly, I just could not connect with the heroine. She seemed rather bland to me. I didn't dislike her, but I didn't care for her either. Moreover, the story took quite a while to unfold with the plot developing at a rather languid pace, which was way too slow for my admittedly short attention span. Consequently, the story just could not keep me interested. I kept putting the book down and picking up another one. After about the 6th time of doing this, I finally decided to call it quits.
EYE CANDY: The Legion of Extraordinary Dancers
The Legion of Extraordinary Dancers, commonly known as The LXD, is a web series about two groups of rival dancers: heroes (The Legion of Extraordinary Dancers) and villains (The Alliance of the Dark) who discover they have superpowers, referred to as "the ra", through their dance abilities. The entire story takes place over hundreds of years, beginning in the 1920s up to the year 3000.
—Wikipedia
Official Website
http://thelxd.com/
http://thelxd.com/
BOOK REVIEW & GIVEAWAY: Legend by Marie Lu
Reading Level: Young Adult
Hardcover: 336 pages
Release Date: November 29, 2011
ISBN-10: 039925675X
ISBN-13: 978-0399256752
Source: LibraryThing Early Reviewers
Gosh darn it, sweet baby Jesus, where do I begin this review and how do I do it tactfully?
Oh, screw it! No sugar-coating here. Strap on some bubble wrap, people. This ride is gonna get bumpy.
So, the story is told from two alternating points-of-view: one belonging to June (the heroine) and the other belonging to Day (the hero). Problemo numero uno is that both June & Day sound like the same person except that one has lady bits and the other has a package of the masculine variety.
Seriously, their voices were pretty much indistinguishable throughout most of the book. They had the same personality, the same way of thinking, the same special abilities, the same way of speaking (with the exception of Day’s annoying use of the terms ‘trot’ & ‘cousin’), and the same way of expressing the same emotions. In fact, at one point, Day makes the observation that June is essentially the female version of him, which made me break out into a fit of hyperactive-little-girl giggles because I started to picture Day caressing & making out with himself dressed in drag. Needless to say, this certainly didn’t help me buy into their already unbelievable, shallow, chemistry-deprived romance.
Sadly, my issues with the characters don’t end there.
Look, it makes sense for protagonists meant to be heroes to possess special qualities and abilities that set them apart from the general public. However, there is a max quotient of specialness that I’m able to tolerate. When it’s surpassed and topped off with a steaming pile of naturally-perfect-at-everything-without-even-trying bullshit, something I like to refer to as The Unicorn Effect happens. This basically means that I no longer view the characters as people but as entirely unreal mythical creatures that poop rainbows & fart glitter. Consequently, I can’t really relate to or take them seriously.
Honestly, the things these 15-year-old kids were able to do and the roles they played in the story were just redonkulous. Day apparently became the society’s most wanted criminal because he was the Jedi Master of Parkour. The silliness of this was compounded by the fact that despite having a bum knee, he was still able to jump & climb like a juiced up monkey and single-handedly defeat numerous grown men who have been trained practically from birth to be super soldiers. Oh, and he could break into a high-security bank in mere seconds and walk away from a 2.5-story fall. Riiight.
June’s capabilities were no less unbelievable. What was even sillier was the notion that an uber strict & controlling military government would promote a child to high-ranking officer and trust her to capture their most wanted criminal…by herself.
That brings me to the plot. It was predictable, clichéd, and had several gaps in logic. Nothing excited or surprised me about the story at all. The plot was so blatantly formulaic that it took no effort whatsoever to figure out what was going to happen next. And just in case you couldn’t guess on your own, the book dropped hints the size of Mt. Everest a couple of pages in advance.
Truth be told, there really wasn’t anything all that original about Legend. I sort of felt like I was reading Divergent & Enclave’s lovechild. I kept thinking to myself, “been there, done that, bought the t-shirt.” To be fair, though, the world-building was a bit more developed than in those two books. Nonetheless, there was still a lot of missing information and important details that prevented me from attaining a clear perspective & understanding of Legend’s dystopian society and why/how it existed as it did.
All in all, I just didn’t enjoy this book. It did absolutely nothing for me. I thought the protagonists were very two-dimensional, I couldn’t bring myself to care about either one of them, and there was just too much eye-roll inducing absurdity going on (e.g. the truth behind the plagues, the Cruella de Ville military leader, the botched execution, the secret message blog, etc.). Plus, the story was slow to unfold and not very deep or meaningful (at least not to me).
Hardcover: 336 pages
Release Date: November 29, 2011
ISBN-10: 039925675X
ISBN-13: 978-0399256752
Source: LibraryThing Early Reviewers
What was once the western United States is now home to the Republic, a nation perpetually at war with its neighbors. Born into an elite family in one of the Republic's wealthiest districts, fifteen-year-old June is a prodigy being groomed for success in the Republic's highest military circles. Born into the slums, fifteen-year-old Day is the country's most wanted criminal. But his motives may not be as malicious as they seem.
From very different worlds, June and Day have no reason to cross paths—until the day June's brother, Metias, is murdered and Day becomes the prime suspect. Caught in the ultimate game of cat and mouse, Day is in a race for his family's survival, while June seeks to avenge Metias's death. But in a shocking turn of events, the two uncover the truth of what has really brought them together, and the sinister lengths their country will go to keep its secrets.
—Goodreads
Book Review
Gosh darn it, sweet baby Jesus, where do I begin this review and how do I do it tactfully?
Oh, screw it! No sugar-coating here. Strap on some bubble wrap, people. This ride is gonna get bumpy.
So, the story is told from two alternating points-of-view: one belonging to June (the heroine) and the other belonging to Day (the hero). Problemo numero uno is that both June & Day sound like the same person except that one has lady bits and the other has a package of the masculine variety.
Seriously, their voices were pretty much indistinguishable throughout most of the book. They had the same personality, the same way of thinking, the same special abilities, the same way of speaking (with the exception of Day’s annoying use of the terms ‘trot’ & ‘cousin’), and the same way of expressing the same emotions. In fact, at one point, Day makes the observation that June is essentially the female version of him, which made me break out into a fit of hyperactive-little-girl giggles because I started to picture Day caressing & making out with himself dressed in drag. Needless to say, this certainly didn’t help me buy into their already unbelievable, shallow, chemistry-deprived romance.
Sadly, my issues with the characters don’t end there.
Look, it makes sense for protagonists meant to be heroes to possess special qualities and abilities that set them apart from the general public. However, there is a max quotient of specialness that I’m able to tolerate. When it’s surpassed and topped off with a steaming pile of naturally-perfect-at-everything-without-even-trying bullshit, something I like to refer to as The Unicorn Effect happens. This basically means that I no longer view the characters as people but as entirely unreal mythical creatures that poop rainbows & fart glitter. Consequently, I can’t really relate to or take them seriously.
Honestly, the things these 15-year-old kids were able to do and the roles they played in the story were just redonkulous. Day apparently became the society’s most wanted criminal because he was the Jedi Master of Parkour. The silliness of this was compounded by the fact that despite having a bum knee, he was still able to jump & climb like a juiced up monkey and single-handedly defeat numerous grown men who have been trained practically from birth to be super soldiers. Oh, and he could break into a high-security bank in mere seconds and walk away from a 2.5-story fall. Riiight.
June’s capabilities were no less unbelievable. What was even sillier was the notion that an uber strict & controlling military government would promote a child to high-ranking officer and trust her to capture their most wanted criminal…by herself.
That brings me to the plot. It was predictable, clichéd, and had several gaps in logic. Nothing excited or surprised me about the story at all. The plot was so blatantly formulaic that it took no effort whatsoever to figure out what was going to happen next. And just in case you couldn’t guess on your own, the book dropped hints the size of Mt. Everest a couple of pages in advance.
Truth be told, there really wasn’t anything all that original about Legend. I sort of felt like I was reading Divergent & Enclave’s lovechild. I kept thinking to myself, “been there, done that, bought the t-shirt.” To be fair, though, the world-building was a bit more developed than in those two books. Nonetheless, there was still a lot of missing information and important details that prevented me from attaining a clear perspective & understanding of Legend’s dystopian society and why/how it existed as it did.
All in all, I just didn’t enjoy this book. It did absolutely nothing for me. I thought the protagonists were very two-dimensional, I couldn’t bring myself to care about either one of them, and there was just too much eye-roll inducing absurdity going on (e.g. the truth behind the plagues, the Cruella de Ville military leader, the botched execution, the secret message blog, etc.). Plus, the story was slow to unfold and not very deep or meaningful (at least not to me).
Book Rating
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Giveaway
As luck would have it, I ended up with two copies of this book by winning two giveaway contests within just a couple of days of each other. So, I've decided to pass one of the ARCs of Legend by Marie Lu to another reader. Hopefully, whoever wins will (unlike me) enjoy the book. From what I've seen over at Goodreads, lots of people really liked it.
CONTEST CLOSED
