Annette's Book Spot

Tuesday, January 13, 2015

Book Review: The Prey, by Tom Isbell @TomIsbell

The Prey was full of suspense and great action, but the ending really fizzled for me.

This is a book about children after a radiation disaster. There are very few adults, at least that we know of. All the children are in camps for orphans. Some camps are nicer than others. Some camps aren't what they seem to be.

Hope and Faith are twins and they've been running and hiding for years with their father to keep away from the "brown shirts." After their father dies, they are captured and taken to a camp for girls. It soon becomes obvious that this camp is doing medical experiments on these children, and the prized children are twins.

Book is in a camp for boys. He thinks he's in training to be a soldier (they call them LTs, for Lieutenant, right?) He finds out that LT really stands for "less thans." All of the boys in the camp are deformed or deemed inferior in some way, and their future is far more bleak than they think.

Book finds out the truth because of Cat, a boy who is captured and brought into the camp. It isn't clear where Cat came from, but he knows a lot about what is really going on. Cat escapes, but comes back to help some of the other boys escape.

Book has met Hope, realizes her horrible situation, and won't leave without rescuing the Sisters, as they are called.

The Prey is action packed. The way is not easy for these kids, constantly being pursued and running towards an unknown target. The pace is relentless -- and at times it almost seems too easy for them to get food and recover from their injuries. But those details would slow down the pace.

There is a hint at a love triangle between the three main characters which is soon resolved, thankfully. I really don't think it's needed here.

We don't have any idea what is going on in the outside world, or even the motivations of the adults at the camp. We get hints, but it is clear that more needs to be explained in future installments of this story. And that's OK.

What really didn't gel with me was the ending. Without giving away spoilers, I don't see why the group didn't at least investigate where they were before making the decision they did. That didn't make sense. Why would you decide to take all those risks when you don't even know what the reward will be (or if there IS a reward.) It wouldn't have hurt them to explore a bit before rushing off.

I'm ready for the next book in the Hatchery series. I love a plot-driven adventure book, and I'm always looking for new, exciting books to recommend to my students. The Prey will be on the list.

Published by HarperTeen, January 20, 2015
eARC obtained from Edelweiss
416 pages

Rating: 4/5

Monday, January 12, 2015

Book Review: When, by Victoria Laurie

When has a unique premise that kept my interest, even if I didn't really connect with the main character.

Maddie has been able to see numbers on people's foreheads ever since she knew what a number was. The numbers represent the date that a person will die. She can even see it in pictures of the person.

When Maddie predicts a death date, and then that person ends up murdered, she is accused by the FBI of committing the crime. They don't believe in her ability. Her best friend, Stubby, gets dragged into the whole mess, and soon he is charged with murder.

It takes everything Maddie can do to convince the FBI that they should be looking somewhere else. And that's the biggest problem I had. There is no way the FBI would have been so gung-ho when the evidence was so circumstantial. And Maddie could have done what she did a lot sooner and cleared everything up before it went so far. But that would have ruined the suspense of the story.

I didn't really like Maddie, and I'm not sure why. She just didn't ring true to me. Something about her reactions -- didn't seem like a 16-year-old or something. Like I said, I really can't put my finger on it.

I loved the premise. This is a new one to me. I also liked the mystery. I didn't figure it out. There were many well done red herrings, so I didn't really know who did it until it was revealed.

The ending was just darn cute. Sappy in a good way. So, I'll sum it up by saying When is unique, entertaining, and cute. I had to suspend some disbelief, and it won't stick with me forever, but I'm not disappointed that I spent the time reading. It's a quick read, too. I'll be happy to recommend this one to teens in my library. I'm sure they'll like it even more than I did.

Published by Disney-Hyperion, January 13, 2015
eARC obtained from NetGalley
336 pages

Rating: 3.5/5

Saturday, January 10, 2015

Stacking the Shelves - Lots to Report

I just went eARC crazy this week, so I have a lot of review books to show you.

For Review:

All the Bright Places, by Jennifer Niven from NetGalley

Already read and reviewed.

The Cage, by Megan Shepherd from Edelweiss

The Leveller, by Julia Durango from Edelweiss

The Replaced, by Kimberly Derting from Edelweiss

Seeker, by Arwen Elys Dayton from NetGalley

First Frost, by Sarah Addison Allen from NetGalley

Vanishing Girls, by Lauren Oliver from Edelweiss

Ruthless, by Carolyn Lee Adams from Edelweiss

That's it for me. How about you? Are there possibly any more books I should have?? Let me know in the comments. Thanks for stopping by. Be sure to visit our hosts, Team Tynga's Reviews.

Friday, January 9, 2015

Feature and Follow Friday: Are You a Collector?

Happy Friday! I hope you had a great first week of 2015. Here's this week's question for Feature & Follow:

Do you have any fun collections (other than books)? - Suggested by Peace Love Books.

I used to collect mugs. But they took up so much space, collected dust, and I couldn't drink enough coffee to use them all! I'm at the point now where I've become very minimalist. I don't like stuff sitting around, so I'm an "anti-collector."

How about you? What do you collect? Leave me a link, and make sure you visit all the other participants at our hosts, Parajunkee and Alison. Have a great weekend. Hope to see you back here soon.

Thursday, January 8, 2015

Book Review: Lost Republic by Paul B. Thompson

The unique and creative concept in Lost Republic suffers from a lack of characterizations.

Stranded in what appears to be Ancient Rome, but certain they are in the present, a group of teens tries to survive and escape. The “present” is 2055, where technology has permeated society. These teens are glued to their PDD’s (Personal Data Devices.)

They all happen to be on the last voyage of an old steamship heading to Boston, where it will be scrapped. The world is now going to be totally free of dependence on fossil fuels.

Soon after departure, Your/World (what we would call the World Wide Web) goes down, then the ship runs aground in the middle of the ocean. The survivors are captured by Roman soldiers. But weird, magical things happen, and although the society is primitive, there are anomalies, such as a printing press. The teens are understandably confused, but fear for their lives as they are each assigned a job. There is a soldier, a printer, a prostitute, and an acolyte in the temple. The other survivors have been assimilated and remember nothing of their past. It is unclear why this group of teens remembers everything. They band together to attempt escape.

There are eight teens that are the main characters. It was hard to keep track of them. It would have been nice if one or two stood out more than the others. They were introduced quickly and weren't very distinct. I also didn't realize they were teens, until I was reminded. The author refers to "the teens" often. It's a good thing, because they don't act like teens and if not reminded I would have forgotten.

I didn't feel much tension throughout their daring escape attempt. Maybe this was because of the lack of connection to the characters. Some of their decisions and responses were difficult to understand, but once again, the characters weren't distinct so I couldn't relate to each personality separately.

Throughout this very short book, I was apprehensive about how all this strangeness was going to be explained. I was worried that it would be contrived or not make sense. I needn't have worried because THERE IS NO EXPLANATION! I'm assuming another book is planned, so we have yet another book that is really only a partial a book. There is no resolution. Only a huge cliffhanger.

I wish that I had connected more with the story and characters, because the premise of Lost Republic has a lot of appeal.

Published by Scarlet Voyage, September 1, 2014
ARC obtained from Library Media Connection Magazine
256 pages

Rating: 2.5/5

Wednesday, January 7, 2015

Book Review: All Fall Down, by Ally Carter

Don't forget to enter the 2015 EBook Reading Challenge hosted right here!

Carter has created yet another powerful teen girl in All Fall Down, the first book in her new Embassy Row series.

Grace has been sent to live with her grandfather, the ambassador, in the U.S. Embassy in the fictitious country of Adria. Grace's mother died three years ago, and her father is away serving our country.

Grace witnessed the death of her mother, who she believes was murdered by a man with a scar on his face. The authorities claim it was an accident, and that her mother died in a fire. When Grace sees the scarred man in Adria, all of the counseling she has received goes down the drain as she tries to determine who this man is, and make him pay.

Grace is assisted by some other teens -- all kids who live in various embassies in Adria. They sometimes believe her, but sometimes it is difficult because she has no support from the adults in her life. When she overhears the scarred man talk about committing another murder, their quest to find him and stop him gets even more exciting -- and dangerous.

Even though there are tense parts in All Fall Down, the story has a lighthearted tone, and even a hint of romance towards the end. Grace and her friends are rebels, doing things over and over again in defiance of the rules. This is especially dangerous because breaking the rules could mean starting a war!

As with Carter's other series (The Gallagher Girls and Heist Society) the plot is a bit far-fetched. But the determination and resourcefulness of these characters makes it worth going along for the ride. Grace seems to be a more troubled character than those in the other series. The dramatic ending reveal is, of course, a bit unbelievable too, but that's not why we read these books. The ending is satisfying, although it leaves much room for the continuation of the series.

The pace is frantic, and the book reads very quickly. Teens who have enjoyed Carter's books will definitely want to check out All Fall Down.

Published by Scholastic, January 15, 2015
ARC obtained from Library Media Connection Magazine
310 pages (qualifies for my Books You Can Read in a Day Challenge!)

Rating: 4/5

Tuesday, January 6, 2015

Book Review: As Chimney Sweepers Come to Dust by Alan Bradley

Flavia deLuce is at it again in As Chimney Sweepers Come to Dust.

This time, she's been sent to an exclusive boarding school in Canada. The boarding school is in what used to be a convent, and her mother was a former student. A body is discovered stuffed up the chimney in Flavia's room, so she is on the case. But it's difficult being in a new place with all new people.

As a matter of fact, she doesn't even get to do much investigating until the very last portion of the book. There is also the mystery of three students who have disappeared before Flavia even arrived. Most of the book is devoted to Flavia trying to fit in to her new surroundings and figuring out if she's going to make any new friends (or enemies).

While the cast of new characters is interesting and keep you guessing, I missed Buckshaw almost as much as Flavia. She does tell stories of her sisters, but it isn't the same as their crazy interactions in the previous books. There is, of course, some interesting chemistry and Flavia is the same intelligent, precocious, witty character that I cannot resist.

Here's a couple of examples of her wit (reminder that this is an ARC, and may be changed.)

Feigning stupidity was one of my specialties. If stupidity were theoretical physics, then I would be Albert Einstein.

I had to include this one, being a librarian:

None of the books were in alphabetical order, which made it necessary to cock my head sideways to read each one of the spines. By the end of the third shelf I had begun to realize why librarians are sometimes able to achieve such pinnacles of crankiness: It's because they're in agony.

If only publishers could be persuaded, I thought, to stamp all book title horizontally instead of vertically, a great deal of unpleasantness could be avoided all round. Chiropractors and opticians would be out of business, librarians cheerier, and the world would be a better place. I must remember to discuss this theory with Dogger.

I've read every one of these novels (this is the seventh) and I don't intend to stop. It isn't necessary to have read the previous books, but I highly suggest you do. The first is The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie. Mature teens that are interested in lighthearted mysteries will enjoy these books too.

Published by Delacorte, January 6, 2015
eARC obtained from Edelweiss and NetGalley
416 pages

Rating: 4/5

Monday, January 5, 2015

Book Review: All the Bright Places, by Jennifer Niven

Teenage angst, attempted suicide, and the feeling of impending doom. That's my impression of All the Bright Places.

Violet is suffering because she lost her older sister (and best friend) less than a year ago in a car accident. She blames herself. Finch has spent much of his life contemplating suicide. At times, he goes to "sleep," basically hiding from the world for weeks at a time. When he's not having one of these episodes, he's thinking about taking his own life.

When Finch saves Violet from falling (or jumping) off the bell tower at their school, everyone thinks Violet saves Finch. But it's the start of an interesting relationship.

I loved how the relationship slowly built. There isn't any "insta-love" here. The book is wonderfully lyrical, and easy to read. Each of these characters come to life, and you can't help but root for their eventual happiness. However, throughout the whole book, I kept feeling like things were NOT going to end happily. As much as I wished for it. And I was correct. Blaaahhhh.

I get the comparison to Eleanor and Park. The romance is really sweet and genuine. I'm not so sure about The Fault in Our Stars. I didn't get that vibe from All the Bright Places.

Kids with problems, digging holes and trying to help each other out of those holes. It's an interesting, if familiar, premise. It was well done, but I guess I'm just tired of it.

I've read mostly rave reviews of All the Bright Places, so you should look some of those up. If this is your type of book, then it's very well done and I would recommend it.

Published by Knopf BFYR, January 6, 2015
eARC obtained from NetGalley
400 pages

Rating: 3/5

Sunday, January 4, 2015

2014 - Statistically Speaking

I like to do these summary posts mostly for me, so I have a record, but if you are interested, here's my reading accomplishments for 2014.

You can see the detailed list of all my reviews on my 2014 Review Archives Page.

I'd also like to mention that really I'm posting about books I reviewed in 2014 -- I think there were a couple reviews at the beginning of the year of books I actually read in 2013. Likewise, I already have a review ready to post in 2015 of a book that I read in 2014. It just gets confusing if I try to keep track of all that, and it's pretty much a wash anyway.

If you are interested in favorite books of the year, you can check out my 2014 End of Year Book Survey.

The numbers:

I read 153 books in 2014, which was actually 14 less than the 167 I read in 2013. That's two years in a row I've read less books! What's up with that?

If you look at number of pages, I read 56,824, which is MORE pages than the 55,794 I read last year. So I guess that means that I read longer books in 2014. Average book length: 361 pages. This beats my all time high of 56,790 pages I read in 2011.

87 of the books I read were e-books, and 14 were audiobooks. Pretty close to 2013 numbers.

Average book rating (out of a scale of 5) was 3.9. This may seem a bit high, but I never give "1" rating -- if a book is that bad, I don't finish it. I DNF (did not finish) 11 books this year -- that might be a record. And I rarely give "2" ratings (only 1 this year). 26 books got a 5/5 rating this year. That's about 17% of the books I read, close to the 18% from 2013.

Here's a link to my 2013 statistics, for comparison.

Reading Challenges:

Here's a link to my 2014 Reading Challenges Summary Page

The You Read How Many Books Challenge, hosted by My Overstuffed Bookshelf: I read over 150 books, so *completed!*

The 2014 Ebook Challenge hosted by Workaday Reads: I challenged myself to read 75 Ebooks. I read 87. *smoked it!*

The Library Books Reading Challenge, hosted by Book Dragon's Lair: I challenged myself to read 50 library books. I read 43. Much different than 2013. Hmmm. Not sure why. *fail*

And, the Books You Can Read in a Day Challenge, hosted by ME! I challenged myself to read 25 books in a day. I read 23. Darn. *just missed!*

I'm hoping that 2015 will be about the same. I would always want to have bigger numbers, but I'm pretty happy with my numbers from 2014, and if I do that well this year, then I'll be happy with that!

How did your year go? Did you meet your goals? Are you surprised by anything? What about 2015? Are your goals the same, or are you making adjustments?

Thanks for visiting and Happy Reading!

Saturday, January 3, 2015

Books You Can Read in a Day Challenge - December Update and Year End Totals

Once again I've had fun trying to see how many interesting, short books I can find that I can read in a day. I managed to add three more books in December:

21. The Prince Charming Starter Kit, by Carolyn Carter

22. The Bishop's Wife, by Mette Ivie Harrison

23. Midwinterblood, by Marcus Sedgwick

While this was a valiant effort at the end, I still missed my goal of 25. Just barely. Oh well. Here's a link to my summary for the year.

I'm not hosting this challenge in 2015, but I am hosting the 2015 EBook Reading Challenge if you are interested.

Thanks for participating.