Bumped

written by Megan McCafferty

I have no gripe with the plot of this book, nor the characters. I thought the alternate futuristic vision of a teenage pregnancy obsessed universe was fascinating, and masterfully developed by McCafferty. This was a good book on every account but one--the fact that it, like many others we are seeing nowadays, is regrettably not a standalone book. The story is laid out, and most major plot threads are resolved. Done with. So why is it that the author/publisher seem to think there is more to tell? I'd much rather be talking about the social and political significance of a novel such as this, but apparently, the story this book set out to tell isn't complete, so instead, I'm sitting here, complaining about the fact that the story isn't done, even though it should be. This story would have worked well as a stand-alone. As more than one book though? No way. The only story left to tell is overly-contrived and pointlessly drawn out. There's no good that can come out of sequels to this book, this book that is already great on its own.

Rating: You know what, I'd easily give this a 5-star rating, except right when things started getting good and plotlines were being resolved, there were things left wide open, and that ruins the story for me. 3/5.

I got this book from...:Amazon Vine

The People of Sparks

want to read: The Prophet of Yonwood
reading next: Audrey, Wait!

The People of Sparks
written by Jeanne DuPrau



I found this book to have many of the similar problems that other sequels encounter--there's not much interesting. The odd thing is, this is typically due to a sequel serving as a bridge between books, but honestly, I'm not seeing very much that'll come in use for future books. We'll see though. Although Lina and Doon are still characters, I felt like they didn't get nearly enough page-time. Too many new secondary characters were introduced, and while some of them had personalities that were interesting enough, others did not. We still don't have any new information about the mythology, which is disappointing. The book's boredom was aggravated by the fact that it moved slower than the first fast-paced book. A lot of time was dedicated to necessary but overly preachy social and political commentary. I don't know if a child would have the patience to sit through this, particularly when I can see many of the social/political references completely going over their heads. I would love to see a return to Ember, or something that somehow connects to the first book, other than the characters. It's easy to understand: this book was too simple and too predictable to truly have been enjoyable.

Rating: 1.5/5

I got this book from...:Waldenbooks

The City of Ember

The City of Ember
written by Jeanne DuPrau



The City of Ember was an easy but enthralling read, so ridiculously easy to love. The characters were so real in this unreal world, presented with plenty of exposition. Plotwise, the book excels, with plenty of fast-paced suspense carrying the reader steadily through the book. The characters act so realistically—like the children they are, but with unambiguous bravery. It’s full of the characterization symbolism, and other literary elements that teachers crave, but also filled with wonder, suspense, and just an amazing plot that kids of all ages will enjoy. It ends on a cliffhanger, so I strongly suggest having the second book on hand to immediately jump into—trust me, you’ll want to have it.
Rating: 5/5

I got this book from...:Waldenbooks

The Hunger Games

The Hunger Games
written by Suzanne Collins



The Hunger Games is living proof that a book cannot be judged by its description. At its simplest, yes, this book can be called a survival story. There are, however, so many more layers to it all. It is all about the human to human interactions as opposed to the human to environment interactions one would expect in a survival stories. It's such a lousy summary to give, "A reality show survivalist story" when there's so much more to it all. So I was skeptical when I first began reading, and it did seem to fall into that category. I had a bit of difficulty, due to that fact, getting into the book. However, once I found a good, quiet block of time, I sat down and read straight through and loved it. It's all so suspenseful, as you really have no idea who will live and who will die going from page to page. I made predictions, some came true, some did not. Overall, I think the appeal to this book is the appealing personality of the main character and its ease of reading--I know 11 year olds who have read and loved this book. It's easy reading, but once you go up the age scale, there's more and more depth to the overall story, making lots of real world connections to pitting countries against each other in brutal wars. I was hoping to see more of this, the internal workings of the Capitol, some more background history (parts of the history they are fed seem veeery dodgy, and I'd like to know more), and I'm really hoping this is a vital point of Catching Fire. I am also definitely hoping Catching Fire is about an overthrowing of the existing system, as well as more of the interaction between Katniss and Gale. I'm getting more than a little sick of Peeta. There were plenty of hints and clues along the way, and I'm hoping some of them (the pin, the ruins, Katniss's father's death, etc) come into play in the sequel.

Rating: 5/5

I got this book from...:Borders

Feed

Feed
written by M.T. Anderson



many thanks to ~Kaitlin~ for letting me borrow her copy!

Feed is a creepy portrayal of a future where most people elect to have a "feed" implanted into their brains, something quite like the Facebook stalkerfeed, only add a lot more advertisements. Reminiscent of Scott Westerfeld's amazing Uglies series, Feed is a terrifying and raw read that you're not likely to forget anytime soon. It's natural narration in a fully unnatural world. The characters are all futuristic, but completely realistic, and the varied chapter lengths make for an enjoyable read. The problem seems evident early on--Titus, the main character, is content living his life the way he is, but Violet, the love interest, is a rebel at heart, and with really good reason. I would have liked to see, particularly under the given circumstances, more discussion about the way religion was interpreted, but other than that, the subject matter is just chilling. There are times when you will hate Titus, times you will hate Violet, and times you will just hate this entire world they're living in. While the end was a little open-ended for me (I would have liked to see the lasting impact on the world), it was still a thoroughly amazing read, just wish there was an epilogue of sorts.

Rating: 4/5

Uglies

Uglies
written by Scott Westerfeld



(also a re-read)

This book had a crazily imaginative plot--possibly the most original since reading HP and Twilight. I had low expectations for the book, but found the characters to be extremely interesting and well-developed, as opposed to the teen soap opera I had envisioned. I immediately rushed to get the sequels (probably my one biggest issue with this book is that it really can't be read as a stand-alone. You have to read the other books, which is problematic with me just because if you disliked it, you're left with an incomplete book, basically). On the other hand, hands-down, the best ending line ever found in a book. Another thing, and this comes straight from Deathly Hallows as well, there were too many camping scenes. I would rather have seen character interaction than lengthy descriptions on the journeys to and from and back and forth. There are times when the book lacks momentum, and times when the momentum is just overwhelming.
Re-reading this now, after the sequels, it's different. The book could have been handled a lot differently. Not enough information is revealed, in my opinion, and later on, with Zane and all, it seems like the core characters are kind of abandoned, which is a real shame.
Still. Highly recommend you read the series, the first time through is a wonderful adventure you are very unlikely to forget.

Rating: 5/5 for first read
4/5 for second.
(yeah, that really makes very little sense)