Shades of Earth by Beth Revis

 #3 in the Across the Universe Series
Published January 15, 2013 by Razorbill
3 Stars

Goodreads Review
Amy and Elder have finally left the oppressive walls of the spaceship Godspeed behind. They're ready to start life afresh--to build a home--on Centauri-Earth, the planet that Amy has traveled 25 trillion miles across the universe to experience.

But this new Earth isn't the paradise Amy had been hoping for. There are giant pterodactyl-like birds, purple flowers with mind-numbing toxins, and mysterious, unexplained ruins that hold more secrets than their stone walls first let on. The biggest secret of all? Godspeed's former passengers aren't alone on this planet. And if they're going to stay, they'll have to fight.

Amy and Elder must race to discover who--or what--else is out there if they are to have any hope of saving their struggling colony and building a future together. They will have to look inward to the very core of what makes them human on this, their most harrowing journey yet. Because if the colony collapses? Then everything they have sacrificed--friends, family, life on Earth--will have been for nothing.

FUELED BY LIES.
RULED BY CHAOS.
ALMOST HOME.

Review:  Shades of Earth is the best of the three in the series, especially the first half.  We start off with the shuttle crash landing on Centauri-Earth and tensions mount as the people break into two groups, Earthborn and Shipborn.  I thought the racism was really well done and I could totally understand Amy's frustration at being caught in the middle.  I did enjoy their first impressions of the planet. My mind was coming up with all kinds of theories about what was going on with this planet and what kind of dangers they would face. Unfortunately I felt like my imagination was bigger than the planet because I felt like what actually happened on the planet was a bit of a let down.

The twists weren't all the surprising, I pretty much called everything that was going to happen.  I didn't appreciate Amy's parents as much as I wanted.  Her dad was all military all the time, and was set up as an antagonist which I thought was a step back in terms of plotting and the character development of Amy.  Her mom had no personality and was there basically to just be the scientist so new plot elements could be revealed easily.  That too felt like a cop out.  I honestly found the plot to be really confusing.  I literally just finished the book and I was trying to explain it to a co-worker and I couldn't summarize it.  Something about corporate greed and slavery?  It felt like Beth Revis was trying to get allegorical but also trying to do it subtly and it just didn't come out in a clear way.

Also I thought the love triangle was ridiculous and completely unnecessary. I hated how jealous Elder got, your girlfriend is allowed to be friends with other guys, though I thought Amy handled the whole situation pretty well.  Amy and Elder's relationship as a whole didn't really work for me, and honestly I would have rather Amy choose herself and learn to live as her own independent person. Alas, what YA heroine ever gets to do that?

Overall the Across the Universe series improved with each book.  I really appreciated that Revis stepped away from the sexual assault and intimidation in the second book.  That was a plot device that I really hated, as well as the general sense of sex is scary and bad that was in Across the Universe.  I appreciated the different allegorical themes throughout the series, but I did think some were more successful than others.  I think Across the Universe addressed racism very well throughout the whole series, whether it was the shipborns not trusting Amy because she looked different or the earthborns thinking they were better than the shipborns.  I thought the theme of government control were well explored at the beginning of the series, but fell flat later on.  Finally I don't think the evils of corporate greed were written about in great depth.  That portion of the story felt rushed and very surface level.

I would recommend the Across the Universe series to people who are looking for a science fiction with a lot of parallels to our current society.  While the series didn't really work for me, I know that many will find it compelling and surprising.

The Last of Us Video Game Review

Released June 14, 2013
Rated M for Mature
Genre Action/Adventure, Survival Horror
Developed by Naughty Dog
Published by Sony Computer Entertainment, Playstation 3 exclusive

The Last of Us was one of the most hyped games of 2013 and after a solid week of playing at every free moment, I can report that the hype was most certainly deserved.  I actually bought a PS3 just so I could play The Last of Us and it is well worth it.  Even though I finished the game yesterday I already started a second play through, which I don't think I've ever done with a game.

Game Play

The game play of The Last of Us is simple yet efficient, with every weapon and skill usable throughout the entirety of the game.  I never found myself only using one weapon or tactic (which I often do as I get further into a game); I was constantly switching it up to best fit the situation.  There are many different ways of approaching a situation, and while the game is linear it still feels expansive. I also really appreciated the NPCs in this game.  They never were a burden and I never felt like I was doing a painful escort mission.  Much like Elizabeth in Bioshock Infinite, they were an asset, alerting me to danger and hidden supplies.

The pacing of the game was great.  There would be a scene of intense action or drama followed by a more mellow scene that allowed you to appreciate the beautiful world building and connect with Ellie.  I loved exploring the world because there was no compass showing you which way to go, I had to just pick a direction and start walking.  This type of free form exploration lead me to discovering a lot of wonderful hidden details in the game.  The collectibles are also really well done, they aren't just hidden items throughout the game, they are little bits of story that add to the ambiance. 

Another aspect that really adds to the overall feel of the game is the sound and music.  They knew exactly when to use background music to add emotional effect and when to strip it away.  Also the sounds the infected made were absolutely terrifying.  More so than the infected that were screaming and moaning, it was the infected standing in a corner just sobbing that would really get to me.

Story

To put it simply, the story of The Last of Us is amazing.  I won't post any spoilers, don't worry, but all I can say is wow.  I don't think a video game has ever made me question my own morals and ethics as much as The Last of Us.  None of the characters are all good or all evil, they're a mix of the two and that makes it feel so real. Ellie and Joel are great characters and I really enjoyed watching their relationship grow. 

In addition to the more personal relationships of the game I really enjoyed the apocalyptic scenario.  I thought it was a very interesting play on the zombie genre.  In The Last of Us the zombies are actually people infected with a parasite-like spore that takes over all motor functions (which is based on a real life fungus which is terrifying).  So the idea that the zombies you are fighting still have some amount of human consciousness is pretty horrific.  I also really liked how the government reacted to the infection and the resulting rebellion against the marshal law.  Whenever I read apocalyptic fiction I really want a firm world building, even if the focus is on the personal relationships between a few people, and The Last of Us really delivers on both fronts.

In conclusion, The Last of Us is one of the strongest video games to come out in the past five years.  The story, graphics, and game play all lend to an immersive and emotionally impacting experience.  The characters are all relatable, the world building on point, and an overall message that will stick with you long after you put the controller down.

10/10 - A standout game that will last the test of time.

A Million Suns by Beth Revis

#2 in the Across the Universe Series
Published January 10, 2012 by Razorbill
3 Stars

Goodreads Review
Godspeed was once fueled by lies. Now it is ruled by chaos.It’s been three months since Amy was unplugged. The life she always knew is over. Everywhere she looks, she sees the walls of the spaceship Godspeed.

But there may be hope: Elder has assumed leadership of the ship. He's finally free to act on his vision—no more Phydus, no more lies.

But when Elder learns shocking news about the ship, he and Amy race to discover the truth behind life on Godspeed. They must work together to unlock a mystery that was set in motion hundreds of years earlier. Their success—or failure—will determine the fate of the 2,298 passengers aboard Godspeed. But with each step, the journey becomes more perilous, the ship more chaotic, and the love between them more impossible to fight.

Beth Revis catapulted readers into the far reaches of space with her New York Times bestselling debut, Across the Universe. In A Million Suns, Beth deepens the mystery with action, suspense, romance, and deep philosophical questions. And this time it all builds to one mind-bending conclusion: They have to get off this ship.

 

 Hey guys!  Long time no blog!  I was out of town for work for two weeks and had no time to blog (sad day for sure).  But I'm back and we can return to our regular scheduled reviewing!

Review:  More like a 3.5, but not enough to add up to a 4. I ended up liking this a lot more than Across the Universe and I'm actually excited for Shades of Earth. The follow the clues was a cool idea, but I'm not sure it worked in this context because Amy just told Elder everything from the start. However, I enjoyed the build up to the final book (even though I totally called it, like spot on. I'm so smart).

While I really liked the idea of the follow the clues to find the truth treasure hunt plot device, I don't think it worked in the context of this particular story.  Amy is told from the start not to tell Elder, that deciding what to do with the information discovered should be her choice alone.  But of course she runs to Elder immediately.  I felt like this was a missed opportunity to create suspicious and distrust between the two characters which could have lead to some interesting development in their relationship.  It also could have given Amy a real chance to grow and act independently.  It was also painfully obvious what the secret information was, so there really wasn't much tension while they were trying to figure out the clues.  A good idea, but not executed well. 

What did work very well was the dissolution of the Eldest/Elder system and the rebellions that start springing up all over the ship.  I felt like this was a great allegory for what is happening in the world today.  People who live in poor conditions who are controlled by their government will eventually rise up against the institution, often in violent riots.

Overall I thought that while A Million Suns missed the mark on a few plotting choices, it is a great improvement on the first book, Across the Universe.  The writing style was great and the deeper message about mob mentality and the inherent flaws in a dictatorial type of government work really well in the futuristic setting.

Legend by Marie Lu

Published November 29, 2011 by Putnam
#1 in the Legend series
4 Stars

Goodreads Review
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.

Full of nonstop action, suspense, and romance, this novel is sure to move readers as much as it thrills.

Review:  Legend is a great start to a series with will definitely fill your Hunger Games void.  It has fight scenes, snappy dialogue, kissing, and a government conspiracy!  I listened to the audio book and really loved the two readers. They were excellent and I recommend the audio book to everyone, especially if the gold text puts you off (as it did for me).

I really enjoyed Legend, especially the two main characters.  Day and June were both really great characters and I really enjoyed their banter as they got to know one another.  With that said, I do wish they lived up to the described intelligence.  We're told again and again how exceptionally smart they are, but they seem to get tricked and trapped a lot.  I really would have liked to learn more of Day's back story and his motivations behind his crimes.  We know he's done all of these crazy stunts (like attacking an airbase) but we never really learned why because he's kind of rogue and doesn't belong to a rebel group. 

I did have some issues with the world building. In dystopian books set in America I really like to understand how we got from present day to the current government in the novel. There were some hints at this so I'm hoping this will be discussed more in future novels. I also would have liked to know some more answers to the Republic plague conspiracy as well as why they are at war with the colonies, but again I think that will be covered more in later novels. I also wanted to know more about the trials, especially what exactly when down with Day's trial.  There are a lot of interesting concepts that I hope will be fleshed out in further novels.

Overall I really enjoyed Legend.  The writing was really great and the pacing was spot on.  I know dystopian is a real trend right now is YA literature, but Legend is at the top of the pack.  If you liked The Hunger Games and Divergent, make Legend your next pick.

Sever by Lauren DeStefano

#3 in the Chemical Garden Series
Published February 12, 2013 by Simon & Schuster
1 Star

Goodreads Review
Time is running out for Rhine in this conclusion to the New York Times bestselling Chemical Garden Trilogy.With the clock ticking until the virus takes its toll, Rhine is desperate for answers. After enduring Vaughn’s worst, Rhine finds an unlikely ally in his brother, an eccentric inventor named Reed. She takes refuge in his dilapidated house, though the people she left behind refuse to stay in the past. While Gabriel haunts Rhine’s memories, Cecily is determined to be at Rhine’s side, even if Linden’s feelings are still caught between them.

Meanwhile, Rowan’s growing involvement in an underground resistance compels Rhine to reach him before he does something that cannot be undone. But what she discovers along the way has alarming implications for her future—and about the past her parents never had the chance to explain.

In this breathtaking conclusion to Lauren DeStefano’s Chemical Garden trilogy, everything Rhine knows to be true will be irrevocably shattered.

Review:  I am a literature sadist.  I don't know why, but I have a sick need to finish every book that I've started, no matter how painful, stupid, or rage-inducing.  I really did not like Sever, nor the Chemical Garden series as a whole.  I think this story could have definitely been a stand alone because all of the plot really happened in the first book and the second and third were full of pretty prose of little consequence.  I was particularly disappointed with this series because there were so many really interesting ways this story could have gone and a lot of great topics that could have been explored but none were really committed to which just left for a weak series that didn't say anything.

Sever was a very monotonous ending to the series where nothing really happened and none of our questions were answered.  The first third of the book was Rhine hanging out at Lindon's uncle's house (did we know about this uncle before book 3?  I don't think so, and this character suddenly living just down the road was very convenient) doing nothing.  I thought finding her brother was really important but she's really not in any hurry to do anything other than putz around.  I also was wondering what was going on with Gabriel, but Rhine must really have an out of sight, out of mind personality because I don't think she spared one thought for him for at least 200 pages.  But you know what, Rhine and Linden should have stayed together because they're both as exciting as a bump on a log covered with a wet blanket.  I seriously don't think I've read two more wishy washy characters in my life.  The only semi redeemable character in Sever is Cecily (I know I was surprised too).  There was some character growth there and Cecily actually took some action in this book.  I couldn't believe it.

I also had huge problems with the general plot of Sever and how the big issues of the world were glossed over or just not addressed at all.  I don't want to post too many spoilers, but the big revelations about Rhine's parent's work on genetics or Vaugh's motivations behind his terrible abuses or how the world because the messed up society felt so contrived, like the author didn't know how to tie things up so she just brushed it under the rug with the barest of explanations.  The plot of this series is so sloppy, it's laughable.  All of the pretty prose in the world can't replace a well thought out story.

The other aspect of Sever that is really damaging is sex, namely the lack of sex that our main character has.  I mentioned this in my review for Fever, but to have a world where young girls are forced into marriage and prostitution as basically broodmares, and then put your main character into situation after situation where all of her peers are forced into sex but somehow miraculously she doesn't have to have sex is so ridiculous I can't even properly form words.  This is the biggest cop out I have ever seen.  If you're going to create a world like this and put your character in those situations (I mean, she was in a prostitution circus FFS) then you have to follow through, even if that means bad things have to happen to that character.  If you don't back up your world building the entire series falls apart and I won't be able to take the story or the characters seriously.  That's a problem with YA in general I think, writers don't want to do anything really bad to their characters so they put them in dangerous situations but don't actually put them in any danger. 

Sever, and frankly the entire Chemical Garden series, is just a hot mess.  Weak characters, weak plot, and very weak world building makes up this train wreck of a series.  Flowery prose cannot make up for this pile of pseudo scientific drivel. 

Fever by Lauren DeStefeno

#2 in The Cemical Garden Series
Published February 21, 2012 by Simon & Schuster
1 Star

 Goodreads Review
Rhine and Gabriel have escaped the mansion, but danger is never far behind.

Running away brings Rhine and Gabriel right into a trap, in the form of a twisted carnival whose ringmistress keeps watch over a menagerie of girls. Just as Rhine uncovers what plans await her, her fortune turns again. With Gabriel at her side, Rhine travels through an environment as grim as the one she left a year ago - surroundings that mirror her own feelings of fear and hopelessness.

The two are determined to get to Manhattan, to relative safety with Rhine’s twin brother, Rowan. But the road there is long and perilous - and in a world where young women only live to age twenty and young men die at twenty-five, time is precious. Worse still, they can’t seem to elude Rhine’s father-in-law, Vaughn, who is determined to bring Rhine back to the mansion...by any means necessary.

In the sequel to Lauren DeStefano’s harrowing Wither, Rhine must decide if freedom is worth the price - now that she has more to lose than ever.

Review:  I didn't really like Wither, but I didn't hate it either.  I was put off by the lack of scientific support for the world building but I was interested in the characters and the drama that unfolded.  I thought Wither presented some interesting topics on forced marriages and human trafficking as well as the ethics of genetic manipulation and that in Fever we were going to explore these themes in greater depths.  Unfortunately these topics were barely touched on in this weak follow up.

Fever really suffers from middle book syndrome.  It's almost like the wordiness and overly poetic writing is trying to make up for the lack of character development, world building, or any real plot.    I feel like everything in this book, from the main character to the writing to the world building to even the book itself, is very surface level. Everything is pretty and shiny, but there's no substance, no meat, to anything.  It's like this book is saying "Look at how beautifully I described these girl's dresses and hair! Ignore the fact that they are child prostitutes, let me wax poetic about the fabric of their sex tent!"  The writing is very wishy washy, to the point where I wasn't sure what was happening (specifically with Gabriel and the cage and with Vaughn and his testing).  We're never told clearly what is happening, and instead of creating tension, it only creates confusion.

It's all very disappointing because I really liked the idea of the sex carnival and I thought it was an interesting setting to talk about tough issues like child prostitution.  But it's almost like the author presents these terrible situations but doesn't fully commit her writing or her main character to those situations.  Rhine gets exempt from abusive situations again and again (not having to consummate her marriage to Lindon, not having to prostitute with strangers).  Instead Rhine watches other children be victimized and doesn't do anything to help them other than feel kind of bad.  I feel like there is some indirect victim blaming going on here, that the child prostitutes are dirty and bad for having sex and that Rhine must stay pure and good because she is the main character.  I do not know if that was the intention, but that is the road Fever heads down and it is a very damaging and dangerous path.

Fever is a truly disappointing novel not just as a sequel, but as a missed opportunity to actually say something of value.  It just flits from topic to topic without fully committing to anything.

The Fifth Wave by Rick Yancey

Published May 7, 2013 by Putnam
#1 in The Fifth Wave series
3 Stars

Goodreads Review
The Passage meets Ender’s Game in an epic new series from award-winning author Rick Yancey.

After the 1st wave, only darkness remains. After the 2nd, only the lucky escape. And after the 3rd, only the unlucky survive. After the 4th wave, only one rule applies: trust no one.

Now, it’s the dawn of the 5th wave, and on a lonely stretch of highway, Cassie runs from Them. The beings who only look human, who roam the countryside killing anyone they see. Who have scattered Earth’s last survivors. To stay alone is to stay alive, Cassie believes, until she meets Evan Walker. Beguiling and mysterious, Evan Walker may be Cassie’s only hope for rescuing her brother—or even saving herself. But Cassie must choose: between trust and despair, between defiance and surrender, between life and death. To give up or to get up.

Review:  I recently watched a really great video from Daniel Marks about Propping.  Propping is basically when book industry consumers who also have some sort of media outlet (youtube, blogs, twitter, ect) get caught up in the hype of a book regardless of it's quality.  I feel like The 5th Wave falls into this category.  People hyped the shit out of this book, it was the BIG RELEASE FOR SUMMER 2013!!!!! So I had high expectations....and The 5th Wave fell far short of them.

I feel like I'm the only person who thinks like this, but I was very unimpressed with The 5th Wave.  I think my main complaint is that at the beginning of the novel Cassie goes on and on about how the alien invasion was like nothing we had ever imagined, we were dead wrong about how it would happen, we could have never predicted it ect.  Instead what we got were many common tropes seen in a variety of science fiction.

***slight spoilers ahead for the different waves.  I won't talk about what happens to the characters, just the general world building***

Wave 1 - EMP takes out all technology.  As seen in The Matrix or War of the Worlds and in lots of modern warfare type video games.

Wave 2 - Natural disasters that cause tsunamis that take out most of the coasts.  As seen in The Day After Tomorrow, Deep Impact, 2012, and loads of other disaster movies.

Wave 3 - Terrible virus/disease that wipes out 95% of the population.  As seen in Contagion, Mask of the Red Death, lots of episodes of Star Trek, and a ton of video games such as Mass Effect and Deus Ex.

Wave 4 - Alien silencers (who look like humans) sent to root out survivors.  Reminds me of Animporhs mixed with Terminator mixed with Invasion of the Body Snatchers.  There are also floating eye machine things that made me think of the attack drones from Oblivion (that recent Tom Cruise Movie) and Portal's Wheatley.

Wave 5 - I won't spoil it for you, but suffice it to say that it didn't seem all the original (and not very logical on the part of the aliens.)

Can you see my frustration?  Each wave didn't seem unexpected because I've seen these same tropes pop up again and again!  It felt like The 5th Wave was trying to be all of the things all at once, and I would have preferred just picking one and really supporting it or having the waves be things that I had never seen before.  This felt too spread out and too stuck in the same old sci-fi genre.

I also had a very hard time connecting with Cassie, especially when she teams up with Evan.  I felt like I was reading what an author thinks a teenage girl would feel or say, and not what his character would feel or say.  The romance was incredibly awkward and just didn't really work for me.  My biggest problem is that we get a very short chapter from Evan's perspective that reveals that he is in fact a silencer (at least that's how I read it) so when Cassie is doubting him and his intentions, we already know.  It completely took out the suspicious tension for me and made their whole romance just unbearable.

Now, with that said, the reason I gave The 5th Wave 3 stars was because I really enjoyed the ending.  I liked it when all of the different perspectives came together for the final show down, it just took forever for them to get there.  I am interested in continuing the story and seeing how they will deal with wave 5 (even though I don't really understand why the aliens would even bother at this point, but who knows.  Maybe we'll get more insight later on in the series).

Overall The 5th Wave was a disappointment.  I was expecting a fresh and exciting adventure and instead I got cliche tropes told through a lot of info dumps.  While I am interested in reading a sequel, it is not high on my list. 

Scarlet by Marissa Meyer

Published February 5, 2013 by Feiwel and Friends
#2 in the Lunar Chronicles
5 Stars

Goodreads Review
The fates of Cinder and Scarlet collide as a Lunar threat spreads across the Earth...

Cinder, the cyborg mechanic, returns in the second thrilling installment of the bestselling Lunar Chronicles. She's trying to break out of prison—even though if she succeeds, she'll be the Commonwealth's most wanted fugitive.

Halfway around the world, Scarlet Benoit's grandmother is missing. It turns out there are many things Scarlet doesn't know about her grandmother or the grave danger she has lived in her whole life. When Scarlet encounters Wolf, a street fighter who may have information as to her grandmother's whereabouts, she is loath to trust this stranger, but is inexplicably drawn to him, and he to her. As Scarlet and Wolf unravel one mystery, they encounter another when they meet Cinder. Now, all of them must stay one step ahead of the vicious Lunar Queen Levana, who will do anything for the handsome Prince Kai to become her husband, her king, her prisoner.

Review:  Scarlet is the second book in the Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer.  I read the first book, Cinder, last year when it came out and I absolutely loved it.  In fact it was my second favorite book of 2012 so to say that my expectations for Scarlet were high is a bit of an understatement.  However I'm very pleased to report that Scarlet definitely lived up to my expectations!  The Lunar Chronicles is quickly becoming one of my favorite YA series.  (FYI this review might have some spoilers for Cinder, so you have been warned).

Scarlet picks up directly after the ending of Cinder.  What's interesting in Scarlet is instead of just following Cinder's story we are following three different characters, Cinder who is busting out of jail, Prince Kai who is trying to deal with the evil Queen Levana, and a new character named Scarlet who lives in France and delivers vegetables from her grandmother's farm.  I wasn't too sure how I would feel about the POV changes, but I think they were done very smoothly though I have to admit I enjoyed my homegirl Cinder's story more.

I did like the new characters, espeically Scarlet and Thorne (another prisoner who escapes with Cinder and really reminds me of Captain Jack Harkness).  However because Scarlet and Cinder don't come together until the very end of the novel I don't think we get the same level of attention paid to the new characters.  I didn't buy into Scarlet and Wolf's relationship the same way I did with Cinder and Kai. 

My favorite thing about Scarlet though is the introduction to the big plot.  Cinder was an introduction to the world and the main characters but in Scarlet we really get our first glimpse at just how bad the Lunars are and how dangerous Cinder's situation really is.  I also really LOVED the ending but the "big reveal"?  Yeah totally saw that one coming lol.

Overall Scarlet and the Lunar Chronicles as a whole are some of the best YA novels out there.  The balance of the fairy tales that we all know and love with the completely new world Meyer has created is fantastic and comes together to create a wholly original story.

Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion Book and Movie Review

Published November 1, 2011 by Atria/Emily Bestler Books

#1 in the Warm Bodies series
4 stars

Goodreads Review
R is a young man with an existential crisis--he is a zombie. He shuffles through an America destroyed by war, social collapse, and the mindless hunger of his undead comrades, but he craves something more than blood and brains. He can speak just a few grunted syllables, but his inner life is deep, full of wonder and longing. He has no memories, no identity, and no pulse, but he has dreams.After experiencing a teenage boy's memories while consuming his brain, R makes an unexpected choice that begins a tense, awkward, and strangely sweet relationship with the victim's human girlfriend. Julie is a blast of color in the otherwise dreary and gray landscape that surrounds R. His decision to protect her will transform not only R, but his fellow Dead, and perhaps their whole lifeless world.

Scary, funny, and surprisingly poignant, Warm Bodies is about being alive, being dead, and the blurry line in between.

Review:  Warm Bodies is a really fun mashup of Shakespeare and zombies, two of my favorite things.  I really liked the re-imagining of zombies and how Warm Bodies examines what makes a person human and if you have nothing to live for are you really living?  I didn't expect a zombie novel to make me think as much as Warm Bodies did. 

R was a really great character, and one I could really relate to.  He's a great narrator and reading his inner monologue is hilarious and touching.  I really loved how he had all of these eloquent thoughts and ideas but due to his zombie self he can't actually express these ideas to other people.  There's a quote from the book where R says “In my mind I am eloquent; I can climb intricate scaffolds of words to reach the highest cathedral ceilings and paint my thoughts. But when I open my mouth, everything collapses.”  I love that.

I really liked the theme of living your life to the fullest and how it applies to not only the zombies but also the surviving humans.  As R and Julie begin to get to know each other they help each other heal.  They both help each other find their humanity, because both of them have been wandering and not really living (R literally). 

There were a few things that I didn't really like about Warm Bodies.  I didn't like how heavy handed the Romeo and Juliet stuff got at some parts.  In particular the balcony scene was just too obvious and I found myself rolling my eyes.  I also didn't like how Perry's death was glossed over.  Julie and Perry had been having problems, but I still think I would have been a lot more upset if my boyfriend had been eaten by a zombie.  Just saying.  It's not even that Julie's reason for not being that upset was bad (I can understand in an apocalyptic situation preparing for everyone you love to be killed at any moment) but I wish R had tried to talk to her more about it.  I wish there had been more of an ethical conflict.

Overall I enjoyed Warm Bodies quite a bit, but due to the sometimes obvious re-telling elements and some disappointing author behavior Warm Bodies fell just short of the 5 star rating.  It's still a really adorable and fun read that will also make you think!

 

Warm Bodies Movie Review

Released February 1, 2013
Rated PG-13
Directed by Jonathan Levine
Starring Nicholas Hoult, Teresa Palmer, Rob Corddry
I absolutely LOVED the Warm Bodies movie adaptation.  I thought it was very faithful to the novel but really worked on screen as well.  I thought the movie was a little more light hearted than the novel and cut out some of the darker aspects of the characters, but I think it very successfully kept the core feeling of the novel.  I really loved the use of voice over to help express some of the themes from the novel. 

 

What makes this movie so charming is the fantastic performance of Nicholas Hoult (X-Men: First Class) who plays R.  He is able to convey so much emotion through his facial expressions and body language that he really makes R come to life....well, sort of.  I also loved his interaction with Teresa Palmer (I am Number Four) who plays Julie.  They interact really well together and I really believed their relationship's growth; from fear, to wonder, to hope.

 

Both the novel and movie adaptation of Warm Bodies are fantastic.  This story goes a lot deeper than most zombie fare and I think it will appeal to a wide audience.  It has romance, humor, action, and a touching story of hope and redemption.



The Maze Runner by James Dashner (100th Review, HOLLA!)

#1 in the Maze Runner series
Published October 2009 by Delacorte BFYR
3 Stars

Goodreads Review
When Thomas wakes up in the lift, the only thing he can remember is his first name. His memory is blank. But he’s not alone. When the lift’s doors open, Thomas finds himself surrounded by kids who welcome him to the Glade—a large, open expanse surrounded by stone walls.

Just like Thomas, the Gladers don’t know why or how they got to the Glade. All they know is that every morning the stone doors to the maze that surrounds them have opened. Every night they’ve closed tight. And every 30 days a new boy has been delivered in the lift.

Thomas was expected. But the next day, a girl is sent up—the first girl to ever arrive in the Glade. And more surprising yet is the message she delivers.

Thomas might be more important than he could ever guess. If only he could unlock the dark secrets buried within his mind.

Review:  I was really excited to read the maze runner after having met James Dashner at a book signing for his newest series, The Infinity Ring.  He had such enthusiasm for writing for kids and encouraging them to read that I wanted to read all of his books right now!  However, I was really disappointed with a lot of what happened in The Maze Runner.  (sad panda!)

The one thing that got really old with The Maze Runner was the withholding of information from Thomas just because "you don't need to know that right now greenie".  UGH WHATEVER!  I hate books that try and create tension by purposefully keeping the main character in the dark.  It's one thing if the character has amnesia, that I don't mind, but it's when they ask a specific question and are told "you don't need to know that" or "I'll tell you later".  No. NO!  TELL ME NOW! 

This is especially true in a dystopian type setting.  Like ok, if it's a contemporary and the reason you don't want to tell the main character something is because you have too many feels and you're just not ready yet or whatever ok.  I get that.  BUT in a dystopian kind of setting information is how you survive!  Why would you with not tell someone some vital information for no reason other than you think it doesn't matter or they don't need to know?  That's crazy talk!  And yet this went on for pages and pages during The Maze Runner.

However, a pretty interesting story did develop.  While I wasn't a huge fan of the majority of The Maze Runner I like where it's going.  I was really drawn into the story in the last 25% of the book, so that's where the 3 stars came from.  So while the second book, The Scorch Trials, isn't very high on my TBR pile, it's in there.  I'm not giving up yet!

Pure by Julianna Baggott

#1 in the Pure Series
Published February 8, 2012 by Grand Central Publishing
4 Stars

Goodreads Review
We know you are here, our brothers and sisters . . .
Pressia barely remembers the Detonations or much about life during the Before. In her sleeping cabinet behind the rubble of an old barbershop where she lives with her grandfather, she thinks about what is lost-how the world went from amusement parks, movie theaters, birthday parties, fathers and mothers . . . to ash and dust, scars, permanent burns, and fused, damaged bodies. And now, at an age when everyone is required to turn themselves over to the militia to either be trained as a soldier or, if they are too damaged and weak, to be used as live targets, Pressia can no longer pretend to be small. Pressia is on the run.

Burn a Pure and Breathe the Ash . . .
There are those who escaped the apocalypse unmarked. Pures. They are tucked safely inside the Dome that protects their healthy, superior bodies. Yet Partridge, whose father is one of the most influential men in the Dome, feels isolated and lonely. Different. He thinks about loss-maybe just because his family is broken; his father is emotionally distant; his brother killed himself; and his mother never made it inside their shelter. Or maybe it’s his claustrophobia: his feeling that this Dome has become a swaddling of intensely rigid order. So when a slipped phrase suggests his mother might still be alive, Partridge risks his life to leave the Dome to find her.

When Pressia meets Partridge, their worlds shatter all over again.


Review:  Pure is a gut wrenching post apocalyptic novel.  The world building is fantastic, with rich descriptions that don't skimp on the horror of what has happened.  Pure has a unique concept that, while bizarre, is engrossing.  Pure paints a vivid picture of bodies fused to objects, the ground, other bodies, and the shock of how these people came to be disfigured really punches your heart.  

Pure is unlike the majority of other YA apocalyptic novels, both in the pacing and characterization.  Most YA apocalyptic stories are told at a blazing pace, often sacrificing explanation of the plot (like here, and here) but Pure is definitely not the norm.  There is lush descriptions and atmosphere which give a fantastic world set up, but also moves at a much slower pace.  If you like a more literary approach to your science fiction, such as The Road, you will enjoy Pure.  Another aspect of Pure that differs from the normal YA fare is the romance, or lack there of.  There is a hint, but it is not the major plot point which is a welcome relief.  

Pure is told from multiple perspectives, and I found myself really enjoying half of them.  I really liked Pressia and El Captain, the two perspectives that were outside the dome.  Their world was so interesting and horrific, I was completely drawn into their lives and how the world had changed.  I found myself not as connected to Partridge and Lyda, the two characters in the dome.  I don't think the political structure and history of the dome was clear enough for me to understand fully why it existed and how it failed as a society. 

Pure's strength lies in the atmosphere.  The world is frightfully disfigured, but the fact that human life perseveres on and adapts to their mutations creates a disconcerting tone  that is unlike the other YA dystopians out there.   I would recommend this to anyone who loves apocalyptic novels but is tired of the same old formulas.

The Immortal Rules by Julie Kagawa

#1 in the Blood of Eden series
Published April 24, 2012 by Harlequin Teen
egalley for review from netgalley
5 Stars

Goodreads Review
In a future world, Vampires reign. Humans are blood cattle. And one girl will search for the key to save humanity.

Allison Sekemoto survives in the Fringe, the outermost circle of a vampire city. By day, she and her crew scavenge for food. By night, any one of them could be eaten.

Some days, all that drives Allie is her hatred of them. The vampires who keep humans as blood cattle. Until the night Allie herself is attacked—and given the ultimate choice. Die… or become one of the monsters.

Faced with her own mortality, Allie becomes what she despises most. To survive, she must learn the rules of being immortal, including the most important: go long enough without human blood, and you will go mad.

Then Allie is forced to flee into the unknown, outside her city walls. There she joins a ragged band of humans who are seeking a legend—a possible cure to the disease that killed off most of humankind and created the rabids, the mindless creatures who threaten humans and vampires alike.

But it isn’t easy to pass for human. Especially not around Zeke, who might see past the monster inside her. And Allie soon must decide what—and who—is worth dying for.


Review:  The Immortal Rules by Julie Kagawa is the YA Vampire book I've been looking for.  It has fantastic world building, compelling characters, and an overall story arch that is exciting and interesting.

First off, I have to say that FINALLY we have vampires that are legit vampires!  There's no wussy sparkling vampires here, they are frightening demons of the night that hunt humans like deer.  There are two kinds of vampires, one that are more or less human like even if they think that humans are blood bags, and the other are horrific "rabids", mindless mutants that attack humans and vampires alike (kind of like the movie Daybreakers, did anyone else see that?).  The vampires are cool, how they came to be makes sense, and how they function makes sense.  There's also a really cool apocalyptic aspect to this book that also makes sense so yay!  Science in my science fiction FTW!  The world building and setting is lush and definitely the high point of the book.

Another high point of The Immortal Rules is the action.  Allison is a kick-ass warrior and there is so much awesome fighting!  One of the characteristics of Kagawa's writing is that she does not shy away from violence.  She has an excellent balance where you get a clear (and yes that graphic) picture of the fight without it crossing into gratuitous.  You see this throughout her Iron Fey series and it crosses over very well into Blood of Eden.  There is some romance, but it is very minor in comparison to the main story line which is awesome.  I really hope in future books the romance (aka angst) won't take over like we see so often in other dystopian books.

Overall I really enjoyed The Immortal Rules and would recommend it to anyone who liked Kagawa's Iron Fey series or readers who like action packed dystopians.  It is thrilling addition to the YA vampire selections and should not be missed!

Insurgent by Veronica Roth

#2 in the Divergent trilogy
Pubished May 1, 2012 by HarperTeen
4 stars

Goodreads Review
One choice can transform you—or it can destroy you. But every choice has consequences, and as unrest surges in the factions all around her, Tris Prior must continue trying to save those she loves—and herself—while grappling with haunting questions of grief and forgiveness, identity and loyalty, politics and love.

Tris's initiation day should have been marked by celebration and victory with her chosen faction; instead, the day ended with unspeakable horrors. War now looms as conflict between the factions and their ideologies grows. And in times of war, sides must be chosen, secrets will emerge, and choices will become even more irrevocable—and even more powerful. Transformed by her own decisions but also by haunting grief and guilt, radical new discoveries, and shifting relationships, Tris must fully embrace her Divergence, even if she does not know what she may lose by doing so.

New York Times bestselling author Veronica Roth's much-anticipated second book of the dystopian Divergent series is another intoxicating thrill ride of a story, rich with hallmark twists, heartbreaks, romance, and powerful insights about human nature.

Review:  Insurgent is more like 3.5, but I'm going to round up. While there was some interesting development toward the ending, Insurgent sadly has a bad case of middle book syndrome. It felt like a transition book, not a unique story. 


My biggest problem with Insurgent is there's absolutely no refresher on who people are and what they're doing at the end of Divergent.  We literally just jump straight into the story without any background.  This would be fine if I had just read Divergent, but for the many people who read the book a year ago when it first came out, it is very difficult to remember all of the side characters.  I kept thinking, "Wait, who was that again?" and so I really had a hard time connecting to the characters.

Insurgent moved a lot slower than Divergent.  I got half way through the book before anything with the main story arc actually happened.  Insurgent got too hung up on the relationship angst, which was handled much better in Divergent.  When it comes to dystopian I prefer more action/science books, and Insurgent focused way too much on Tris's inner monologue.  Also the transitions between scenes were extremely choppy and hard to follow. There seemed to be a lack of editing in terms of continuity and flow.  This became more noticeable toward the end of the book as the action got more intense and thus made the story hard to follow.

However I still really enjoyed this book.  Some of the action scenes are great and I really like the concept of trying to force people into certain social constructs and how that society will ultimately crumble because all people are really divergent.  But overall the parts that I did enjoy weren't enough to draw me in to the story and ultimately I just didn't care as much as I did in Divergent.

Deadline by Mira Grant

#2 in the Newsflesh trilogy
Published June 1, 2011 by Orbit
3 stars

Goodreads Review
Shaun Mason is a man without a mission. Not even running the news organization he built with his sister has the same urgency as it used to. Playing with dead things just doesn't seem as fun when you've lost as much as he has.

But when a CDC researcher fakes her own death and appears on his doorstep with a ravenous pack of zombies in tow, Shaun has a newfound interest in life. Because she brings news-he may have put down the monster who attacked them, but the conspiracy is far from dead.

Now, Shaun hits the road to find what truth can be found at the end of a shotgun.

Review:  This review will not contain any spoilers for Deadline OR Feed because I could never ruin such an amazing book for you!

OK guys, you know how much I loved Feed.  Seriously, Feed is probaby one of my favourite books of all time.  I could not put that book down, and I was still thinking about the plot and the characters months after finishing the book.  So I think it's pretty obvious I had monstrously huge expectations for Deadline, and while the book was enjoyable, it fell far short of the ridiculously high bar it's predecessor has set.

One of my biggest problems with this "zombie" book was it's distinct LACK of zombies!  There's some running away from zombies, but they only actually encounter zombies like, two times.  I wanted a little more suspense and action!  Lots of Deadline was spent in conversation.  The characters spent way too much time talking about what they were going to do, rather than actually doing it.  These conversations wouldn't have been too bad, but we switch narrators from Georgia to Shaun, and his inner monologue is very repetitive and gets rather annoying after a while. 

I also am missing the love that I had for the supporting characters.  I loved Buffy and Mahir in Feed, but I didn't feel the same love for Becks, Alaric, and Maggie.  In general I just wasn't nearly as committed to Deadline as I was to Feed, which I think is pretty apparent considering it took me almost 6 months to read!

Deadline is a good follow up, but is missing a lot of the magic of feed, which is one of the best books I've ever read. I'm not as big a fan of Shaun as I was of Georgia, and none of the big plot twists seemed that shocking. I am still very excited for Blackout, and I think it will be awesome based on the ending of Deadline.

Starters by Lissa Price

#1 in the Starters series
Published March 13, 2012 by Delacorte Books
egalley for review from netgalley
2 Stars
DAC 2012

Goodreads Review
HER WORLD IS CHANGED FOREVER

Callie lost her parents when the Spore Wars wiped out everyone between the ages of twenty and sixty. She and her little brother, Tyler, go on the run, living as squatters with their friend Michael and fighting off renegades who would kill them for a cookie. Callie's only hope is Prime Destinations, a disturbing place in Beverly Hills run by a mysterious figure known as the Old Man.

He hires teens to rent their bodies to Enders—seniors who want to be young again. Callie, desperate for the money that will keep her, Tyler, and Michael alive, agrees to be a donor. But the neurochip they place in Callie's head malfunctions and she wakes up in the life of her renter, living in her mansion, driving her cars, and going out with a senator's grandson. It feels almost like a fairy tale, until Callie discovers that her renter intends to do more than party—and that Prime Destinations' plans are more evil than Callie could ever have imagined...

Review:  I began Starters with high hopes.  It has a striking cover and a very interesting premise.  However as I read more I became increasingly disappointed.  See, I love dystopian, when it makes scientific sense.  That's the key phrase, but sadly Starters's world building was under developed which really detracted from my reading experience. 

The world building gave me the same problems that I had with Lauren DeStefano's Wither.  I don't understand the age principle used as the crux of the story.  It doesn't make sense that the youngest and oldest would get vaccinated first.  The richest and most important would.  It's not age so much as status and power.  I find it extremely hard to believe that important military, political, economic, and medical personal wouldn't get vaccinated before some 100 year old grandma.  I also found it very difficult to believe that since EVERY child in America (or maybe the whole world, that wasn't clear) became an orphan at the same time that any kid who didn't happen to have living grandparents would be forced to live on the street or sent to what is basically a prison.  I mean, it's every single child, the future of the country.  I don't believe the enders who are now running the country wouldn't set up some sort of care system that would raise the orphans to be productive members of society. 


The other problem I had was the first 75% of the book.  It has a promising start, but then quickly fell into the oh so common YA dystopian trap of thinly veiled girls in pretty dresses meeting cute boys.  And the middle chunk of this book dragged.  I just couldn't care about the night clubs, costumes, or parties.  The book did pick up in the final 25% and I think that if I had cared more about the characters I could have really enjoyed the ending.  However even parts of that felt rushed and just too convenient.


I think my biggest frustration is I loved half the premise and was really annoyed by the other half.  I loved reading about Callie's body being taken over and how she tries to figure out what is going on with Prime Destinations.  I liked the conspiracy theory and there were some great plot twists that I didn't see coming.  I just really disliked the world building that puts the characters in their situations.  Now, I did read an egalley, so there is a great chance this book has gone through another round of editing that could smooth out some of the rushed and unsupported parts, but for me Starters was a book with great potential that focused too much on trivial details.

Across the Universe by Beth Revis

#1 in the Across the Universe series
Published January 11, 2011 by Razorbill
2 Stars

Goodreads Review
A love out of time. A spaceship built of secrets and murder.

Seventeen-year-old Amy joins her parents as frozen cargo aboard the vast spaceship Godspeed and expects to awaken on a new planet, three hundred years in the future. Never could she have known that her frozen slumber would come to an end fifty years too soon and that she would be thrust into the brave new world of a spaceship that lives by its own rules.

Amy quickly realizes that her awakening was no mere computer malfunction. Someone-one of the few thousand inhabitants of the spaceship-tried to kill her. And if Amy doesn't do something soon, her parents will be next.

Now Amy must race to unlock Godspeed's hidden secrets. But out of her list of murder suspects, there's only one who matters: Elder, the future leader of the ship and the love she could never have seen coming. 

Review:  Look at this cover.  Look at it.  It is phenomenal.  Seriously, take off the words and I'd hang that on my wall.  But sadly I cannot say the story inside the book was as wildly exciting as the cover.  I rarely think that books are overwritten, but There were so many plot twists it got to be too much and I found myself figuring out everything long before they were revealed and rolling my eyes. 

The biggest problem in Across the Universe is world building, as is often the case with lack luster science fiction.  I did not understand why there needed to be a society of people to maintain the ship in the first place.  Couldn't there be a group of frozen technicians who are awaken at certain intervals?  Couldn't most of the ship's functions be run by computers?  Also, what was the point in the mission at all?  I don't remember if that was explained but I never really knew why Amy and her parents were frozen in the first place. 

I found myself really disliking Elder and Amy, the two main characters.  I felt like there wasn't anything special enough about either of them to make them stand out and I couldn't relate.  Amy was particularly bland.  I came away from the novel knowing she was different because she had red hair, liked track and field, and spent a lot of time whining about her parents, her ex-boyfriend, and how different life on the ship is.  I got a bit of a better feeling for Elder, mostly because he had the opportunity to develop as he learns more about Eldest and the deceptions of the ship's government.  What really bothered me about these characters was how terrible things could happen to them but then they'd get over it in a matter of minutes.  Amy, in particular, had some very unbelievable reactions.  The romance between these two was boring and poorly paced.  By the time they finally meet we're a third of the way through the book and I found it very difficult to care. 

There were some good themes in Across the Universe, namely does quality of life matter if something can survive?  It questions government control through various means: medicinal, class structure, and religion.  It was like Revis had these great ethical themes that were bogged down with poorly built science fiction and tiresome romance. 

Across the Universe looks like a beautiful romance set in outer space, but don't let that cover fool you.  The book plods along with a clunky and more than slightly creepy romance and while there are some huge plot twists, they're hinted at with extremely obvious clues and then solved with extremely convenient solutions.  This would have been a one star read, but that stunning cover is worth a star all on it's own.

The Iron Thorn by Caitlin Kittredge

#1 in the Iron Codex series
Published February 22, 2011 by Delacorte Books
4 Stars


Goodreads Review
In the city of Lovecraft, the Proctors rule and a great Engine turns below the streets, grinding any resistance to their order to dust. The necrovirus is blamed for Lovecraft's epidemic of madness, for the strange and eldritch creatures that roam the streets after dark, and for everything that the city leaders deem Heretical—born of the belief in magic and witchcraft. And for Aoife Grayson, her time is growing shorter by the day.
Aoife Grayson's family is unique, in the worst way—every one of them, including her mother and her elder brother Conrad, has gone mad on their 16th birthday. And now, a ward of the state, and one of the only female students at the School of Engines, she is trying to pretend that her fate can be different.

Review:  The Iron Thorn was my first jump into a real Steampunk novel, and I loved the world it created.  I honestly wish it was a movie because I wanted to see Lovecraft and how the city worked as well as the fashions of the people living in it.  This is definitely the strongest part of the book for me.  The fantastic world building which includes one of my favorite settings, mansions with hidden passages and rooms!  It's totally awesome.

I also really enjoyed the characters.  First off, Aoife (pronounced EE-fa) is a fantastic name for a fantastic character. Lets just hold up for a minute and recognize that this girl is an ENGINEER!  HOLLA!  Being an engineer myself, it was absolutely awesome to read a character like me!  We aren't just told that Aoife is smart, we see her intelligence when she creates solutions to problems like a lady Macgyver.  There's a lot of sexism in Lovecraft's society, and I like how Aoife starts to stand up for herself and is all "You know what?  Women can be smart AND hot and STILL save the day!"  I also loved the swoon worthy Dean.  Like for serious, he is a fantastic hottie bad boy.  Their romance developed at a good pace and, yes I'll say it, smoldered all over the place. 

Now onto what disappointed me a bit.  If you took out the fantastic steampunk elements, I would have to say this story is not very imaginative.  It's got a very generic adventure story plot.  Girl and friend and hot boy go off to save something, run into problems, discover a much greater problem, go on mission to solve it, almost get thwarted by bad guy, beat the bad guy at the last minute, but then something totally unexpected happens and cliffhanger ending.  I really enjoyed the story up until the fey were introduced.  I just don't see why they had to be in the story.  I would have been down for the "weird" magic, but I didn't want it to go that far into fairytale, I wanted it to stay more science fiction.  I also didn't really like what happened to Cal, it felt too convenient of a twist that was too forced.

Overall The Iron Thorn is a great introduction to the steampunk genre, but still has a bit of magical fun for people who like a little fantasy.  While the story can be paced a little slow and some of the magic lore a bit confusing, I would recommend this book to anyone who likes alternative histories with beautiful imagery. 

The Hunger Games Movie Review

 

Released March 23, 2012

Rated PG-13

Directed by Gary Ross

Starring Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Woody Harrelson

So this weekend I, and the rest of America, when and saw The Hunger Games.  I went into it like OMG!OMG!OMG!OMG! but I came out with mixed feelings.  I thought the movie was an very good interpretation of the book, but there were some aspects that didn't quite live up to my expectations.

Ok let's go over what I LOVED first, namely the costuming.  Yes the capitol was everything I wanted it to be (like Marie Antoinette had a baby with Lady Gaga), but I specifically wanted to give a shout out to the reaping scene in District 12.  I freaking loved the 1930s depression era style.  It was all just so West Virginia coal mining town a la October Sky.  The muted color palette made Effie really stand out and showed just how different the lives of the people in District 12 were from those in the Capitol.  My only complaint about the costumes is I wish I could have seen more of the other district's chariot costumes!  They were all awesome and the fish ones were hilarious, I just wish I could have seen more.

Another aspect that I loved was the acting in general, but Jennifer Lawrence in particular.  She was just fantastic.  I think she hit all of the right notes and really brought a lot to her character.  In particular I just loved her "dumb bitch be lighting a fire!" face.  That made me lol for real.  Other actors that I thought did a great job were Willow Shields as Prim (when she screams no at the reaping it just broke my heart), Stanley Tucci as Caesar Flickerman, Woody Harrelson as Haymich, Lenny Kravitz as Cinna, and Elizabeth Banks as Effie Trinket.  I thought the entire cast was more or less well done, but those were the stand out performances for me. 

There were a couple characters I didn't connect to very well.  I was not a big fan of Peeta or Gale.  Even though he didn't have a big part I don't think Liam Hemsworth is right for the role nor is he that great of an actor.  I saw him in The Last Song (he was bad in that too) but I tried to give him another chance, and he still let me down.  Peeta also didn't do much for me, but I think this was more of how the movie editors decided to portray him and not anything on Josh Hutcherson's acting.  I also didn't get a good emotional connection to Rue, but like with Peeta, I blame the choices made in telling her story, not Amandla's acting abilities.  I would have liked more time with Rue so I could have connected to her more and really felt the devastation Katniss feels when she is killed.  (And as a side note I'd just like to say that people who complained about the black actors in the movie need to 1) Learn to effing read and 2) STFU you racist a-holes.  kthanks.)

Now there were some major things that really bothered me about the movie.  The biggest complaint I have was on the shaky camera work.  I HATED it during the non-violence scenes, such as introducing district 12 and during the reaping.  I've heard arguments that the camera work made the action more realistic, but I disagree.  I think the reason this camera work was used in the fighting scenes was to mask the violence to help get a PG-13 rating.  I wish the MPAA didn't exist, because this story is a violent story and I wanted more violence and I wanted to feel that visceral reaction to seeing it and realizing just how terrible the games were.  The MPAA stunts artistic expression by forcing movie makers to fit into their "age appropriate" box.  It should be up to the parents to be aware and know what they're taking their children to and if The Hunger Games is appropriate for their 2nd grader.  Let the movie makers tell the story, and let the parents parent.  *end soapbox*

Ok whew, rant over, on to other aspects I didn't like.  There were some story telling aspects I would have done differently.  One major one is how they showed Peeta giving Katniss the bread.  That flashback didn't work because they never showed how Katniss was literally starving to death, she was just sitting in the rain like some depressed emo kid.  I would have shown the story before, how Katniss is digging through the trash looking for food.  I also would have made it more clear that Peeta burned the bread on purpose so he could give it to Katniss.  I think it wouldn't have taken much extra work and would have reinforced the idea that Katniss feels a debt to Peeta for saving her life.  She's not in love with him in this book, she feels like she owes him. 

That would have also helped show how Katniss is playing the game in the cave scene, which also fell really flat to me.  They almost had it, but I didn't think there was enough manipulation being shown. I would have liked to have seen more manipulation from the control room to make good tv, not just make it more difficult for the tributes.  I think if they had show the capitol citizens reacting to watching the games it would have not only shown how Katniss is manipulating the crowd, but it would have also shown how desensitized the capitol people are to the games and made them more of an antagonist.

Now I just want to address one thing they changed from the book that I feel was a super smart choice.  At the end of the movie when Cato is about to kill Peeta he says that it doesn't matter what happens to him, that he has to bring honor to his district and it's what he's been trained to do and it's all he knows.  I thought this was brilliant.  In my youtube video comparing The Hunger Games and Battle Royale I mentioned how in The Hunger Games we never get to see any of the other tributes as anything other than mindless, evil, killing machines.  I loved how we got to know Cato a little bit more and got to see why he is the way he is.  It made him human and much more sympathetic of a character. 

Overall I think the movie was an good adaptation of the book, but missed some opportunities to create a more compelling story.  The acting, costumes, and sets were fantastic, but with shaky camera work and some poor editing choices the movie didn't impact me as much as I had hoped.  However it was still thoroughly entertaining and I'll probably go see it again this weekend.

Bad Taste in Boys by Carrie Harris

#1 in Kate Grable series
Published July 12, 2011 by Delacorte Press
4 Stars - DAC 2011


Goodreads Review
Someone's been a very bad zombie.

Kate Grable is horrified to find out that the football coach has given the team steroids. Worse yet, the steroids are having an unexpected effect, turning hot gridiron hunks into mindless flesh-eating zombies. No one is safe--not her cute crush Aaron, not her dorky brother, Jonah . . . not even Kate!

She's got to find an antidote--before her entire high school ends up eating each other. So Kate, her best girlfriend, Rocky, and Aaron stage a frantic battle to save their town. . . and stay hormonally human.

Review:  Let me start off by saying I freaking LOVE zombies.  They're my favorite horror genre, and I am very protective of them.  I'll pretty much read or watch anything that has to do with zombies, but I'm also extremely critical.  With that said, Bad Taste in Boys is a super cute zombie read (how often do you get to say that?).  I'd say it's more of a middle grade book that is great for kids who want to read a zombie book but don't want to read anything too scary. 

There are lots of cliches and over-the-top dramatics, but I still really enjoyed this book.  I think if you go into Bad Taste in Boys wanting a serious and scientific book you will be sadly disappointed.  I'm surprised I liked it as much as I did because I am usually a huge stickler for proper science in a zombie novel.  I would recommend taking this book for what it is, fun and light hearted.  Don't try and read too much into it or think too hard about how ridiculous the science is.  Just go with it.

Overall Bad Taste in boys is a silly little zombie romp.  Definitely more Shaun of the Dead then Dawn of the Dead.  There are some great quotes from the book, and one of my favorites is “Excuse me if I feel skeptical,' I said. 'Coach's foot fell off. How exactly do you propose to cure that? Superglue?”.  LOL! 

Bad Taste in Boys is the first in a series, with the second book Bad Hair Day set to come out November 2012.  I will definitely be reading the next one!