Book: Candor by Pam Bachorz

Book Info: Published by EgmontUSA; 249 pages; Hardcover; checked out from library

Goodreads Summary: In the model community of Candor, Florida, every teen wants to be like Oscar Banks. The son of the town’s founder, Oscar earns straight As, is student-body president, and is in demand for every club and cause.  But Oscar has a secret. He knows that parents bring their teens to Candor to make them respectful, compliant–perfect–through subliminal Messages that carefully correct and control their behavior. And Oscar’ s built a business sabotaging his father’s scheme with Messages of his own, getting his clients out before they’re turned. After all, who would ever suspect the perfect Oscar Banks? Then he meets Nia, the girl he can’t stand to see changed. Saving Nia means losing her forever. Keeping her in Candor, Oscar risks exposure . . . and more.

This was interesting.  It’s another book where I liked the premise, but didn’t really care for the book.

None of the characters were particularly interesting, except for Nia, but even she got to be boring at the end.  The idea of brainwashing troubled kids is interesting, and Bachorz could have done so much with it.

I didn’t like the ending, and thought it didn’t fit too well with the rest of the book.  It was almost like she was going for shock value with it.  I was surprised that there aren’t any sequels, because it kind of seemed like she was setting it up to be the first of a series.  It was pretty repetitive, with some points coming up in every single chapter.  And overall, it was pretty basic.

I would give it a 2 out of 5.  It was just okay for me, but the premise of it was really interesting.

Book: Exodus by Julie Bertagna

Book Info: Published by Walker and Company; 352 pages; hardcover; checked out from library

Goodreads Summary: Less than a hundred years from now, the world as we know it no longer exists.  Cities have disappeared beneath the sea, technology no longer functions, and human civilization has reverted to a much more primitive state
 
On an isolated northern island, the people of Wing are trying to hold onto their way of life—even as the sea continues to claim precious acres and threatens to claim their very lives
 
Only fifteen-year-old Mara has the vision and the will to lead her people in search of a new beginning in this harsh, unfamiliar world.
 
This compelling and powerful story set in the near future will hit home with teens, especially those who are ever more aware of the increasingly controversial climate crisis we face in our world today.

I liked the premise of the novel.  But I was bored reading it, and I didn’t like it as much as I thought I would.

I couldn’t connect to any of the characters, and I felt like a lot of them were just there.  Not only that, but we didn’t get much info about the world that Mara lived in.  I thought that was a little weird because Mara leaves her island, goes elsewhere, and doesn’t really know anything about what’s going on.

And considering she goes on a journey to a completely different place, you’d think it would be a little more adventurous than reading that there were a lot of people on a boat and there wasn’t enough food or water for everyone.  Seriously, that’s all you have to say about that?  Nothing about what the boat looks like or how many people are on the boat?

I just felt a little confused about what was going on.  Mara didn’t know anything, and so we didn’t know anything.  It just got very irritating.  And it didn’t feel very coherent.  I don’t mind a novel being divided into sections, but the 3 sections in the book felt very random.

I have to give it a 1 out of 5.  I was bored, and I couldn’t connect with anything in the book.

Book: Song Of The Sparrow by Lisa Ann Sandell

Book Info: Published by Scholastic Inc.; 394 pages; hardcover; checked out from the library

Goodreads Summary: The year is 490 AD. Fiery 16-year-old Elaine of Ascolat, the daughter of one of King Arthur’s supporters, lives with her father on Arthur’s base camp, the sole girl in a militaristic world of men. Elaine’s only girl companion is the mysterious Morgan, Arthur’s older sister, but Elaine cannot tell Morgan her deepest secret: She is in love with Lancelot, Arthur’s second-in-command. However, when yet another girl — the lovely Gwynivere– joins their world, Elaine is confronted with startling emotions of jealousy and rivalry. But can her love for Lancelot survive the birth of an empire?

I thought Song Of The Sparrow was just okay.  I got really bored halfway through, but I wanted to keep reading.

I’m not sure about the fact that it was told in verse.  It was nice to see things through Elaine’s perspective, but there was just something off about it.  Interestingly enough, though, it was well-written.

I liked that it was narrated by Elaine.  It seems like a lot of books based off of Arthurian legend are narrated by Morgan or Guinevere, so it was refreshing to see something narrated by someone else.

As for the characters, I couldn’t really care about any of them.  Guinevere was annoying, all of the men were just there, and I didn’t care about Elaine.  I feel like we were supposed to like her and sympathize with her, but I just couldn’t.  She whined too much- I get she’s the only female in a sea of men, but her thinking about it a lot it got very tiring.

Another thing I didn’t like was the fact that it didn’t feel historical enough.  It felt too modern, and for me, Sandell only included the historical backdrop when it was convenient.

Overall, it gets a 2 out of 5.  I kind of get why people like it, but I was bored.

Book: Fruits Basket, Volume 15 by Natsuki Takaya

Publishing: Published by TokyoPop; 194 Pages; Paperback

Goodreads Summary: Yuki’s past finally is revealed! But is it all too much to bear? His sickness takes a turn for the worse, and after Akito reminds Yuki how loathed he is, his will to live might finally be drained… Meanwhile, as Tohru is getting ready to perform in Cinderella, the class decides that they have to rewrite the play. But no amount of revision will prevent Tohru from improvising her loving feelings for a certain someone. Just who is the mystery man?

I think this may be one of my favorite volumes of Fruits Basket.  We learn more about Yuki’s childhood and his connection to Tohru.  You really do understand why Yuki acts the way he does.  I really liked seeing the class play they put on, and some of the trouble they had with it.  Tohru’s really changing: she’s still herself, and in a lot of ways, she’s still the same Tohru we met at the beginning of the series.  But she’s also speaking up for herself a little more, which is great to see.

I, of course, loved the artwork.  And the fan art is amazing too.  I really do like seeing what the fans come up with.

I give it a 5 out of 5.

Book: Unwind by Neal Shusterman

Publishing Info: Simon and Schuster Children’s Publishing; 335; Paperback

Goodreads Summary: The Second Civil War was fought over reproductive rights. The chilling resolution: Life is inviolable from the moment of conception until age thirteen. Between the ages of thirteen and eighteen, however, parents can have their child “unwound,” whereby all of the child’s organs are transplanted into different donors, so life doesn’t technically end. Connor is too difficult for his parents to control. Risa, a ward of the state is not enough to be kept alive. And Lev is a tithe, a child conceived and raised to be unwound. Together, they may have a chance to escape and to survive.

This is an interesting book.  I really liked it, but at the same time, I was oddly disturbed, especially when you see an unwinding towards the end of the book.

I wasn’t sure about the book at first, especially with the multiple points-of-view.  By the end, though, it all came together.  And the different narrators worked really well, because it shows different aspects of the society.

The storking laws were really interesting- you can leave your newborn on someone’s doorstep and they have to keep it, unless you get caught.  And the whole idea that you can retroactively “abort” a child- taken directly from the Bill Of Life at the beginning of the novel- is completely interesting and yet so not what I expected.  That at 13, kids can be unwound, and their organs donated to people who need it…it’s amazing that Shusterman managed to come up with an idea like this.

Shusterman has taken issues like organ donation, abortion, and when life should begin and end and written them in a really interesting and easy to understand way.  I can see so many parallels to what’s going on right now, with debates over reproductive rights.  It’s very thought-provoking.

Shusterman doesn’t come out in favor of any one side; he keeps it as middle ground as possible, with unwinding happening between the ages of 13 and 18.  It’s very well-written, and he handles all of the different issues incredibly well and with a lot of care.  It doesn’t feel forced, and not only is the storyline/plot well-done, but the characters are amazing too.

They were very much real, and could be anyone you know.  They had a past, present and future, and not once during the entire novel did I think about how anyone (or anything) was a cliche of some sort.

My biggest complaint was that things ended a little too nicely, and it felt a little out of place.  But at the same time, it definitely set things up for the sequel.  I can’t wait to read it once it comes out this year.  Although the gap of 5 or so years is a little weird when it seems like books in a series come out every 6 months to a year.  It stands well on it’s own, and while you wonder what happens to everyone at the end of the book, it’s also something you can figure out on your own too.

It gets a 4 out of 5.  I really liked the world that Shusterman created, and I really want to know more about the 2nd Civil War.