Book Review | Breaking Sky | Cori McCarthy

May 21

I received this book for free from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Book Review | Breaking Sky | Cori McCarthyBreaking Sky by Cori McCarthy
Published by Sourcebooks Fire on March 10, 2015
Genres: Dystopian YA, Young Adult
Pages: 416
Format: eARC
Source: the publisher via NetGalley
Amazon • Barnes & Noble • Goodreads
four-stars

In this high-flying, adrenaline-fueled debut thriller, America’s best hope is the elite teen fighter pilots of the United Star Academy

Chase Harcourt, call sign “Nyx,” is one of only two pilots chosen to fly the experimental “Streaker” jets at the junior Air Force Academy in the year 2048. She’s tough and impulsive with lightning-fast reactions, but few know the pain and loneliness of her past or the dark secret about her father. All anyone cares about is that Chase aces the upcoming Streaker trials, proving the prototype jet can knock the enemy out of the sky.

But as the world tilts toward war, Chase cracks open a military secret. There’s a third Streaker jet, whose young hotshot pilot, Tristan, can match her on the ground and in the clouds. Chase doesn’t play well with others, but to save her country she may just have to put her life in the hands of the competition.

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Filed Under: Reviews, Young Adult Tagged With: , , ,

Book Review | Fairest | Marissa Meyer

Apr 30
Book Review | Fairest | Marissa MeyerFairest by Marissa Meyer
Series: The Lunar Chronicles #3.5
Published by Feiwel & Friends on January 27th 2015
Genres: Dystopian YA, Science Fiction
Pages: 272
Format: Hardcover
Also in this series: Cinder, Scarlet, Cinder, Cress
Also by this author: Cinder, Scarlet, Cinder, Cress
Source: Bought it
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three-half-stars

In this stunning bridge book between Cress and Winter in the bestselling Lunar Chronicles, Queen Levana’s story is finally told.

Mirror, mirror on the wall,
Who is the fairest of them all?

Fans of the Lunar Chronicles know Queen Levana as a ruler who uses her “glamour” to gain power. But long before she crossed paths with Cinder, Scarlet, and Cress, Levana lived a very different story – a story that has never been told . . . until now.

Marissa Meyer spins yet another unforgettable tale about love and war, deceit and death. This extraordinary book includes full-color art and an excerpt from Winter, the next book in the Lunar Chronicles series.

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Filed Under: Reviews, Young Adult Tagged With: , , , , ,

Book Review | Cress | Marissa Meyer

Feb 5
Book Review | Cress | Marissa MeyerCress by Marissa Meyer
Series: The Lunar Chronicles #3
Published by Feiwel & Friends on February 4, 2014
Genres: Dystopian YA, Science Fiction
Pages: 560
Format: ARC
Also in this series: Cinder, Scarlet, Cinder, Fairest
Also by this author: Cinder, Scarlet, Cinder, Fairest
Source: a fellow blogger (thanks for sharing!)
Amazon • Barnes & Noble • Goodreads
five-stars

 Rapunzel’s tower is a satellite. She can’t let down her hair—or her guard.

In this third book in the bestselling Lunar Chronicles series, Cinder and Captain Thorne are fugitives on the run, with Scarlet and Wolf in tow. Together, they’re plotting to overthrow Queen Levana and her army.

Their best hope lies with Cress, who has been trapped on a satellite since childhood with only her netscreens as company. All that screen time has made Cress an excellent hacker—unfortunately, she’s just received orders from Levana to track down Cinder and her handsome accomplice.

When a daring rescue goes awry, the group is separated. Cress finally has her freedom, but it comes at a high price. Meanwhile, Queen Levana will let nothing stop her marriage to Emperor Kai. Cress, Scarlet, and Cinder may not have signed up to save the world, but they may be the only ones who can.

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Filed Under: Reviews, Young Adult Tagged With: , , , , ,

Audiobook Review | Cinder | Marissa Meyer + Rebecca Soler

Feb 15
Audiobook Review | Cinder | Marissa Meyer + Rebecca SolerCinder by Marissa Meyer
Narrator: Rebecca Soler
Series: The Lunar Chronicles #1
Published by Macmillan Audio on January 3, 2012
Genres: Dystopian YA, Science Fiction
Length: 10 hours, 6 minutes
Format: Audiobook
Also in this series: Cinder, Scarlet, Cress, Fairest
Also by this author: Cinder, Scarlet, Cress, Fairest
Source: Audible
Amazon • Audible • Goodreads
five-stars

Humans and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. A deadly plague ravages the population. From space, a ruthless lunar people watch, waiting to make their move. No one knows that Earth’s fate hinges on one girl…

Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg. She’s a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister’s illness. But when her life becomes intertwined with the handsome Prince Kai’s, she suddenly finds herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle, and a forbidden attraction. Caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal, she must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect her world’s future.

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Filed Under: 2013 Reading Challenge, Audiobook, Reviews, Young Adult Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Book Review | Scarlet | Marissa Meyer

Feb 11

I received this book for free from a fellow blogger (thanks for sharing!) in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Book Review | Scarlet | Marissa MeyerScarlet by Marissa Meyer
Series: The Lunar Chronicles #2
Published by Feiwel & Friends on February 5, 2013
Genres: Dystopian YA, Science Fiction
Pages: 452
Format: ARC
Also in this series: Cinder, Cinder, Cress, Fairest
Also by this author: Cinder, Cinder, Cress, Fairest
Source: a fellow blogger (thanks for sharing!)
Amazon • Barnes & Noble • Goodreads
five-stars

Cinder returns in the second thrilling installment of the New York Times-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 and 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 has no choice but to trust him, though he clearly has a few dark secrets of his own.

As Scarlet and Wolf work to unravel one mystery, they find another when they cross paths with Cinder. Together, they must stay one step ahead of the vicious Lunar Queen who will do anything to make Prince Kai her husband, her king, her prisoner.

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Filed Under: Reviews, Young Adult Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Book Review | Cinder | Marissa Meyer

Jan 9

I received this book for free from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Book Review | Cinder | Marissa MeyerCinder by Marissa Meyer
Series: The Lunar Chronicles #1
Published by Feiwel & Friends on January 3, 2012
Genres: Dystopian YA, Science Fiction, Young Adult
Pages: 390
Format: eARC
Also in this series: Scarlet, Cinder, Cress, Fairest
Also by this author: Scarlet, Cinder, Cress, Fairest
Source: the publisher via NetGalley
Amazon • Barnes & Noble • Goodreads
five-stars

Humans and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. A deadly plague ravages the population. From space, a ruthless lunar people watch, waiting to make their move. No one knows that Earth’s fate hinges on one girl. . . .

Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg. She’s a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister’s illness. But when her life becomes intertwined with the handsome Prince Kai’s, she suddenly finds herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle, and a forbidden attraction. Caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal, she must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect her world’s future.

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Filed Under: 2012 Reading Challenge, Reviews Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Book Review | All These Things I’ve Done | Gabrielle Zevin

Dec 8
Book Review | All These Things I’ve Done | Gabrielle ZevinAll These Things I've Done by Gabrielle Zevin
Series: Birthright #1
Published by Farrar Straus & Giroux on September 6, 2011
Genres: Dystopian YA, Families, Young Adult
Pages: 354
Format: Hardcover
Source: Library
Amazon • Barnes & Noble • Goodreads
four-stars

In 2083, chocolate and coffee are illegal, paper is hard to find, water is carefully rationed, and New York City is rife with crime and poverty. And yet, for Anya Balanchine, the sixteen-year-old daughter of the city’s most notorious (and dead) crime boss, life is fairly routine. It consists of going to school, taking care of her siblings and her dying grandmother, trying to avoid falling in love with the new assistant D.A.’s son, and avoiding her loser ex-boyfriend. That is until her ex is accidently poisoned by the chocolate her family manufactures and the police think she’s to blame. Suddenly, Anya finds herself thrust unwillingly into the spotlight–at school, in the news, and most importantly, within her mafia family.

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Filed Under: Reviews, Young Adult Tagged With: , , ,

Book Review | Legend | Marie Lu

Dec 1

I received this book for free from in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Book Review | Legend | Marie LuLegend by Marie Lu
Series: Legend #1
Published by Putnam Juvenile on November 29, 2011
Genres: Dystopian YA, Families, Relationships, Young Adult
Pages: 305
Format: ARC
Also by this author: The Young Elites
Amazon • Barnes & Noble • Goodreads
four-half-stars

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.

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Filed Under: Reviews, Young Adult

Book Review | Shatter Me | Tahereh Mafi

Nov 10

I received this book for free from in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Book Review | Shatter Me | Tahereh MafiShatter Me by Tahereh Mafi
Series: Shatter Me #1
on November 15, 2011
Genres: Dystopian YA, Relationships, Superheroes, Young Adult
Pages: 338
Format: ARC
Amazon • Barnes & Noble • Goodreads
four-stars

Juliette hasn’t touched anyone in exactly 264 days.

The last time she did, it was an accident, but The Reestablishment locked her up for murder. No one knows why Juliette’s touch is fatal. As long as she doesn’t hurt anyone else, no one really cares. The world is too busy crumbling to pieces to pay attention to a 17-year-old girl. Diseases are destroying the population, food is hard to find, birds don’t fly anymore, and the clouds are the wrong color.

The Reestablishment said their way was the only way to fix things, so they threw Juliette in a cell. Now so many people are dead that the survivors are whispering war– and The Reestablishment has changed its mind. Maybe Juliette is more than a tortured soul stuffed into a poisonous body. Maybe she’s exactly what they need right now.

Juliette has to make a choice: Be a weapon. Or be a warrior.

In this electrifying debut, Tahereh Mafi presents a world as riveting as The Hunger Games and a superhero story as thrilling as The X-Men. Full of pulse-pounding romance, intoxicating villainy, and high-stakes choices, Shatter Me is a fresh and original dystopian novel—with a paranormal twist—that will leave readers anxiously awaiting its sequel.

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Filed Under: Reviews, Young Adult

Book Review | Crossed | Ally Condie

Nov 8

I received this book for free from in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Book Review | Crossed | Ally CondieCrossed by Ally Condie
Series: Matched #2
Published by Dutton Juvenile on November 1, 2011
Genres: Dystopian YA, Romance, Young Adult
Pages: 367
Format: ARC
Amazon • Barnes & Noble • Goodreads
two-stars

In search of a future that may not exist and faced with the decision of who to share it with, Cassia journeys to the Outer Provinces in pursuit of Ky – taken by the Society to his certain death – only to find that he has escaped, leaving a series of clues in his wake.

Cassia’s quest leads her to question much of what she holds dear, even as she finds glimmers of a different life across the border. But as Cassia nears resolve and certainty about her future with Ky, an invitation for rebellion, an unexpected betrayal, and a surprise visit from Xander – who may hold the key to the uprising and, still, to Cassia’s heart – change the game once again. Nothing is as expected on the edge of Society, where crosses and double crosses make the path more twisted than ever.

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Filed Under: Reviews, Young Adult