Book: The Adoration Of Jenna Fox by Mary Pearson

Book Info: Published by Henry Holl And Co; 266 pages; Hardcover; borrowed from the library

Goodreads Summary: Who is Jenna Fox? Seventeen-year-old Jenna has been told that is her name. She has just awoken from a coma, they tell her, and she is still recovering from a terrible accident in which she was involved a year ago. But what happened before that? Jenna doesn’t remember her life. Or does she? And are the memories really hers? 

This was a really interesting book.  It definitely gets into the ethics of science and where to draw the line.  You can’t help but wonder where to draw the line and how far is too far.

It’s a fairly linear story, but at the same time, there’s something about it that’s non-linear.  You see Jenna learn things and remember things, and you’re never sure who you can trust.

I liked that Pearson didn’t take a side.  You have Jenna, who, in essence, is illegal.  But you also have her friend Allys, who thinks that artifical life is unethical.

But it’s not just about Jenna and the fact that she’s now considered illegal.  It’s also about who she is as a person, finding your identity and relationships between parent and child.  I like that she tries to be perfect, because she tries so hard to make them happy and proud of her.  I think it’s something we can all relate to.

In a way, it reminded me of Unwind by Neal Shusterman.  Both deal with where to draw the line and when enough is enough.

My only complaint is the epilogue.  She lives a good, long life- the epilogue is 260 years later, and while certain things are brought up, it feels as though the ethics thing is never truly resolved.  It just doesn’t fit, and felt out of place.

I give it a 4 out of 5.  It makes you think, but like I said, the epilogue felt a little out of place.

Book: The City Of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau

Book Info: Published by Yearling; 270 pages; paperback; Source: from the library

Goodreads Summary: The city of Ember was built as a last refuge for the human race. Two hundred years later, the great lamps that light the city are beginning to flicker. When Lina finds part of an ancient message, she’s sure it holds a secret that will save the city. She and her friend Doon must decipher the message before the lights go out on Ember forever! This stunning debut novel offers refreshingly clear writing and fascinating, original characters.

This is an interesting book.  I liked the plot, but something about this book fell flat for me.

It was very simple and straightfoward.  There was a lot of mystery, but at the same time, the mystery felt very obvious.  Somethingh about it was dumbed down, and it is definitely aimed for the really young end of young adult.

I liked the city of Ember, but that was really about it.  There were a few things that were hard to believe.  Like when Lina’s grandma dies and Lina didn’t seem to really care that she died.  Or the fact that she didn’t seem to care about her younger sister.  Oh, and in 2oo+ years, no one has really tried to get out of the city?  Seriously?  Anyway, the characters weren’t very interesting, and no one was particularly interesting.

Overall, it was just okay.  I give it a 2 out of 5- it’s a simplistic story, and I felt like it was dumbed down a little.

Book: Fire by Kristin Cashore

Book Info: Published by Dial; 461 Pages; Hardcover; Source: from the library

Goodreads Summary: She is the last of her kind…

It is not a peaceful time in the Dells. In King City, the young King Nash is clinging to the throne, while rebel lords in the north and south build armies to unseat him. War is coming. And the mountains and forest are filled with spies and thieves. This is where Fire lives, a girl whose beauty is impossibly irresistible and who can control the minds of everyone around her. 

After reading Graceling, I thought I would read Fire, the 2nd book in the series.

Quite honestly, I was bored.  Nothing particularly interesting happened, and while the world-building was good, the story felt a little convoluted.  Things didn’t really make sense to me, and Cashore didn’t really explain things.  Fire is half-human and half-monster, and is really attractive.  But…some people want to kill her and others want to sleep with her.  It seemed a little weird.  Oh, and she needs a guard when it’s that time of month because it makes her even more attractive?  How on earth did Cashore come up with an idea like that?

While it was nice to see another part of the world that Graceling took place in, it didn’t have the same charm that Graceling did.  Actually, there are a lot of similarities between Graceling and Fire.  It’s almost like they’re the same book, just with different characters and a different world.

The prologue was great, but unfortunately, it went downhill from there.  Things mentioned in the beginning randomly showed up in the book.  Like Leck, a character introduced in the prologue.  He randomly shows up halfway through, only to disappear again.

I didn’t really like any of the characters.  Fire was obnoxious, especially because she felt sorry for herself.  She was pretty bratty, and I’m not entirely sure if we’re supposed to love her or if we’re supposed to hate her.

Overall, it gets a 2 out 5.  It was okay, and the world was cool and interesting.  It’s just too bad the characters weren’t so interesting.

Book: The Iron Daughter by Julie Kagawa

Book Info: Published by Harlequin Teen; 359 Pages; Paperback

Source: Library Book

Goodreads Summary: Half Summer faery princess, half human, Meghan has never fit in anywhere. Deserted by the Winter prince she thought loved her, she is prisoner to the Winter faery queen. As war looms between Summer and Winter, Meghan knows that the real danger comes from the Iron fey—ironbound faeries that only she and her absent prince have seen. But no one believes her.

Worse, Meghan’s own fey powers have been cut off. She’s stuck in Faery with only her wits for help. Trusting anyone would be foolish. Trusting a seeming traitor could be deadly. But even as she grows a backbone of iron, Meghan can’t help but hear the whispers of longing in her all-too-human heart.

This is the 2nd book in The Iron Fey series, which I’ve recently decided to finish.  I really liked it, and I liked it a lot more than I thought.  It seems like I have really low expectations for sequels, but I was pleasantly surprised with it.

I really liked Meghan in this book, but Ash and Puck were annoying.  I could understand Ash being a jerk, and while I felt *a little* bad for Puck…I don’t know.  I just couldn’t like him.  Iron Horse, though, was awesome!  And I’m glad Grimalkin made random appearances throughout the book.

I loved seeing the Winter Court in more detail, and the Briars was equally cool. And the mansion of the Queen of Exiles was cool too, especially since Meghan comes across her mom’s 1st husband.  The Between was certainly interesting, and I hope we get to see more of it.

This is such a creative series, and I can’t wait to read the next one.  Especially with the way the book ended- it wasn’t what I was expecting, and I’m curious as to how the rest of the series will play out.

I give it a 4 out of 5.  I love the idea of the Iron Fay, and that notable fairies are fairly integral to the story.

Book: Good Fairies, Bad Fairies by Brian Froud

Book Info: Published by Simon & Schuster; 192 pages; hardcover; Source: From the library

Goodreads Summary: Returning the to magical realm of his beloved bestseller “Faeries”, illustrator extraordinaire Brian Froud introduces readers to all manner of fairies–those vibrant creatures who guide, enchant, and disrupt our lives while putting us in touch with out inner natures. 215 illustrations, 200 in color.

I wasn’t sure if I would like this book, but I really liked it!  In fact, I liked it a lot more than Fairies, also by the same author.

I loved the artwork, and it’s absolutely beautiful!  Froud has a talent for drawing fairies, and I’m so glad he’s sharing it with the world.  I loved seeing so many different fairies and Froud’s vision of what they looked like.  As for the text, it wasn’t overwhelming, and it complemented the art rather nicely.  I was expecting huge blocks of text, but much to my delight, there were small paragraphs to go with a lot of the pictures.

I liked that he divided the fairies into good fairies and bad fairies.  A lot of them weren’t familiar to me, so it was cool to see a lot of different fairies.  And for the ones I have heard of…I liked seeing his version of them, and his thoughts on those fairies.

Overall, it gets a 4 out of 5.  Beautiful artwork, and interesting information about fairies.  But I didn’t completely love it.

Book: The Coming Of The Third Reich by Richard J. Evans

Book Info: Published by Penguin Books; 656 pages; hardcover; Source: the library

Goodreads Summary: From one of the world’s most distinguished historians, a magisterial new reckoning with Hitler’s rise to power and the collapse of civilization in Nazi Germany. 

In 1900 Germany was the most progressive and dynamic nation in Europe, the only country whose rapid technological and social growth and change challenged that of the United States. Its political culture was less authoritarian than Russia’s and less anti-Semitic than France’s; representative institutions were thriving, and competing political parties and elections were a central part of life. How then can we explain the fact that in little more than a generation this stable modern country would be in the hands of a violent, racist, extremist political movement that would lead it and all of Europe into utter moral, physical, and cultural ruin? There is no story in twentieth-century history more important to understand, and Richard Evans has written the definitive account for our time. A masterful synthesis of a vast body of scholarly work integrated with important new research and interpretations, Evans’s history restores drama and contingency to the rise to power of Hitler and the Nazis, even as he shows how ready Germany was by the early 1930s for such a takeover to occur. With many people angry and embittered by military defeat and economic ruin; a state undermined by a civil service, an army, and a law enforcement system deeply alienated from the democratic order introduced in 1918; beset by the growing extremism of voters prey to panic about the increasing popularity of communism; home to a tiny but quite successful Jewish community subject to widespread suspicion and resentment, Germany proved to be fertile ground in which Nazism’s ideology of hatred could take root. 

The first book of what will ultimately be a complete three-volume history of Nazi Germany, The Coming of the Third Reich is a masterwork of the historian’s art and the book by which all others on this subject will be judged.

I’m glad I finished this book.  It took a while, but I finally managed it!

We all know about the Nazi’s- it’s hard not to know about them.  What I didn’t know was the specifics about how they came to power.  It certainly didn’t happen overnight, and it was nice to see the author go back several decades and talk about the events that led to the rise of the Nazi Party.

One thing I thought was interesting was that Evans didn’t focus solely on Hitler.  Evans was very impartial, and I couldn’t really detect any sort of bias.  It was also very detailed.  And considering the amount of detail and research, it was a fairly easy read.  It was dry, and dense, but all things considered, it wasn’t terribly hard to get through.

I liked how it was organized into 6 different sections; and each section was divided into even more sections.  He did jump around a little, mostly at the beginning, but for the most part, it was a pretty linear book.  It was nice to learn about all of the different factors that played a role in the Nazi’s rise to power.

As for a rating, I would give it a 3 out of 5.  It was a little overwhelming at times, but overall, I liked it.

Book: The Forest Of Hands And Teeth by Carrie Ryan

Book Info: Published by Delacorte Books For Young Readers; 310 pages; Hardcover; checked out from the library

Goodreads Summary: In Mary’s world there are simple truths. The Sisterhood always knows best. The Guardians will protect and serve. The Unconsecrated will never relent. And you must always mind the fence that surrounds the village; the fence that protects the village from the Forest of Hands and Teeth. But, slowly, Mary’s truths are failing her. She’s learning things she never wanted to know about the Sisterhood and its secrets, and the Guardians and their power, and about the Unconsecrated and their relentlessness. When the fence is breached and her world is thrown into chaos, she must choose between her village and her future—between the one she loves and the one who loves her. And she must face the truth about the Forest of Hands and Teeth. Could there be life outside a world surrounded in so much death?

One of the things I kept thinking was that this book is zombie apocalypse meets M. Night Shyamalan.  It was an interesting book, and I liked that there’s this secluded village that the world has forgotten about.

I liked the world Ryan built- there’s a clear hierarchy.  While she doesn’t completely explain everything that’s happened, it is pretty easy to figure out.

The characters, though, fell flat.  They were all really annoying, and it seems like this book is much more plot-driven than character-driven.  And as much as I liked the plot, there were too many things going on.  Keeping zombies at bay, romance, staying safe…her obsession with the ocean.  She finally gets to the ocean, but it felt really lame and forced.

I give it a 2 out of 5.  It reminded me too much of The Village by M. Night Shyamalan for me to really get into it.