Book: When She Woke by Hillary Jordan

Book Info: Published by Algonquin Books Of Chapel Hill; 344 pages; hardcover; borrowed from the library

Genre: Adult/Dystopic

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Goodreads.com Summary: I am red now. It was her first thought of the day, every day, surfacing after a few seconds of fogged, blessed ignorance and sweeping through her like a wave, breaking in her breast with a soundless roar. Hard on its heels came the second wave, crashing into the wreckage left by the first: he is gone.

Hannah Payne’s life has been devoted to church and family. But after she’s convicted of murder, she awakens to a nightmarish new life. She finds herself lying on a table in a bare room, covered only by a paper gown, with cameras broadcasting her every move to millions at home, for whom observing new Chromes—criminals whose skin color has been genetically altered to match the class of their crime—is a sinister form of entertainment. Hannah is a Red for the crime of murder. The victim, says the State of Texas, was her unborn child, and Hannah is determined to protect the identity of the father, a public figure with whom she shared a fierce and forbidden love.

A powerful reimagining of The Scarlet Letter, When She Woke is a timely fable about a stigmatized woman struggling to navigate an America of the not-too-distant future, where the line between church and state has been eradicated, and convicted felons are no longer imprisoned but chromed and released back into the population to survive as best they can. In seeking a path to safety in an alien and hostile world, Hannah unknowingly embarks on a journey of self-discovery that forces her to question the values she once held true and the righteousness of a country that politicizes faith and love.

I loved When She Woke.  I immediately thought of The Scarlett Letter, which I need to read, and The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood (which I tried reading but gave up on).

I thought the idea of Chroming people according to their crime was really interesting, as was the idea of a secretary of faith.  The book does make you think about things like freedom, separation of church and state, abortion and religion and faith.  It’s definitely a future that I can see happening, which made the book slightly scary.

As for what I didn’t like: I thought it wrapped up a little too nicely.  I don’t have a problem with the slightly ambiguous ending, but the ending felt a little forced.  What I found to be really irritating was the fact that Hannah’s transformation from beginning to end was pretty dramatic, given that it takes place over a few weeks.

We also don’t a lot of information about the society- we get bits and pieces, but there were things that didn’t make sense.  How is it that Hannah is 25 and not married?  It seems like her world is one where people get married very young, and yet she is not.  Or how her parents are super-strict and ultra-conservative, but she can get “forbidden” books at the library.  Something just seemed off about the way the society was set up, which may (or may not) be related to the lack of information we get about them.

Overall, though, it gets a 5 out of 5.  I loved it, and it’s not something I’m going to forget anytime soon.  Despite losing it’s way towards the end, and some of the issues I had with the book, it was still a great read.

Book: In Honor by Jessi Kirby

Book Info: Published by Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers; 240 pages; purchased for my Nook

Genre: YA: Contemporary/Realistic Fiction

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Goodreads.com Summary: Honor receives her brother’s last letter from Iraq three days after learning that he died, and opens it the day his fellow Marines lay the flag over his casket. Its contents are a complete shock: concert tickets to see Kyra Kelly, her favorite pop star and Finn’s celebrity crush. In his letter, he jokingly charged Honor with the task of telling Kyra Kelly that he was in love with her. 

Grief-stricken and determined to grant Finn’s last request, she rushes to leave immediately. But she only gets as far as the driveway before running into Rusty, Finn’s best friend since third grade and his polar opposite. She hasn’t seen him in ages, thanks to a falling out between the two guys, but Rusty is much the same as Honor remembers him: arrogant, stubborn . . . and ruggedly good looking. Neither one is what the other would ever look for in a road trip partner, but the two of them set off together, on a voyage that makes sense only because it doesn’t. Along the way, they find small and sometimes surprising ways to ease their shared loss and honor Finn—but when shocking truths are revealed at the end of the road, will either of them be able to cope with the consequences?

I LOVED In Honor!  I wanted to cry AT THE BEGINNING of the book, which is even more rare than me crying by the end of it.  Which I did, but that’s beside the point.

It was heart-breaking and yet Honor and Rusty managed to work a lot of things out by the end of the book.  I loved their journey and the problems they came across.

My only problem with the book would be the ending.  It was irritating that we found out Finn didn’t tell Honor he joined the military so she could go to her dream school.  I get he would give up his dream of going to college so his sister could go instead, but I don’t know…it kind of fit, but something felt off about it.

The ending was predictable, with a secret being revealed, and with Honor meeting Kyra Kelly at the airport.  But it was a great book to read, and it was refreshing to see grief over someone who didn’t die from a drug overdose or from suicide.  I still liked the ending, and I was glad Kirby left the ending as it was.

Overall, it gets a 5 out of 5.  It’s a great summer read, and despite my issues with the ending, I just loved it!

Book: Tiger’s Curse by Colleen Houck

Book Info: Published by Sterling Publishing; 496 pages; purchased for my Nook

Genre: YA: Romance/Fantasy

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Goodreads.com Summary: Passion. Fate. Loyalty.

Would you risk it all to change your destiny?

The last thing Kelsey Hayes thought she’d be doing this summer was trying to break a 300-year-old Indian curse. With a mysterious white tiger named Ren. Halfway around the world. But that’s exactly what happened. Face-to-face with dark forces, spellbinding magic, and mystical worlds where nothing is what it seems, Kelsey risks everything to piece together an ancient prophecy that could break the curse forever.

Tiger’s Curse is the exciting first volume in an epic fantasy-romance that will leave you breathless and yearning for more.

The cover drew me in, as did the premise.  The book, however, was just okay.

Here’s what I loved about Tiger’s Curse.  I loved the mythology aspect and how well it was incorporated into the story.  Not only that, but it focused on Indian mythology, which was a nice change from the Greek/Roman mythology you tend to see.  I also loved that Kelsey traveled all over India to figure everything out.

As for what I didn’t like…I just didn’t like the characters.  It was hard to believe that Ren, Kishan, and Mr. Kadam were a few hundred years old.  And Kelsey seemed a little more mature than I expected.  I didn’t find them particularly interesting, and by the end of the novel, I was just irritated with them, and I don’t particularly care about what happens to them.

I would rate it at 2 stars out of 5.  The mythology was interesting but the characters weren’t.

Book: Gilt by Katherine Longshore

Book Info: Published by Viking Juvenile; 398 pages; purchased for my Nook

Genre: YA/Historical Fiction

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Goodreads.com Summary: When Kitty Tylney’s best friend, Catherine Howard, worms her way into King Henry VIII’s heart and brings Kitty to court, she’s thrust into a world filled with fabulous gowns, sparkling jewels, and elegant parties. No longer stuck in Cat’s shadow, Kitty’s now caught between two men—the object of her affection and the object of her desire. But court is also full of secrets, lies, and sordid affairs, and as Kitty witnesses Cat’s meteoric rise and fall as queen, she must figure out how to keep being a good friend when the price of telling the truth could literally be her head.

I really liked Gilt.  I’m a big fan of Tudor history, and it was nice reading about Katherine Howard, because she tends to be overlooked in both non-fiction and historical fiction alike.

I liked that it focused on Katherine Howard and her circle of “friends.”  I found them to be irritating, especially Katherine and her best friend Kitty, who narrated the novel.  Katherine was definitely ambitious and self-absorbed, while Kitty would do anything to make Katherine happy.  Despite being annoyed with both girls, I thought that Longshore did a great job writing them. It just goes to show that some things never change.

Back to Katherine for a minute.  She knew what she wanted, but couldn’t really see the consequences of her actions.  If she did, she certainly didn’t care, but then again, Katherine thought she was invincible because she was queen.  As for Kitty, she was loyal to the point of almost losing her head.  But I also understand her going with everything too, especially when Katherine became queen.

I also liked her attention to detail, and described everything beautifully.  I especially liked her descriptions of the places and the clothing.  You can tell Longshore is interested in Tudor history, and of Henry’s 6 wives, Katherine Howard is probably the one teens would most relate to. I’ll admit that the language was a bit modern, but I wasn’t really bothered by it.  And with so many other details being there, I’m willing to overlook it.

My rating would be a 4 out of 5.  It was pretty accurate, and fans of The Luxe by Anna Godbersen will love this book.

Book: Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi

Book Info: Published by HarperCollins; 248 pages; purchased for my Nook

Genre: YA: Dystopic/Romance

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Goodreads.com Summary: “You can’t touch me,” I whisper.

I’m lying, is what I don’t tell him.

He can touch me, is what I’ll never tell him.

But things happen when people touch me.

Strange things.

Bad things.

No one knows why Juliette’s touch is fatal, but The Reestablishment has plans for her. Plans to use her as a weapon.

But Juliette has plans on her own.

After a lifetime without freedom, she’s finally discovering a strength to fight back for the very first time—and to find a future with the one boy she thought she’d lost forever.

I really liked Shatter Me.  It’s certainly interesting, and while it takes a while to draw you in, it is so worth it!

I thought her ability to torture and kill people just by touching them was very unique, especially when you discover that there are 2 people who are immune to her touch.  I am curious as to what makes them so special, and why there are people with different abilities.

I wasn’t terribly impressed with the romance.  What’s interesting, though, is that there could be 3 potential love interests for Juliette.  I mean, Adam is the guy we’re supposed to be rooting for, but there’s also Warner.  And I might be reading too much into it, but it seems like Kenji could be a love interest as well.

The novel is very much the life and thought process of a 17-year-old girl, which Mafi does very well with striking through some of the text.  I loved how she wrote it, but it did get a little tiresome because things were a tad disjointed and jumbled.  It was a little hard to completely get into what was going on, but she does have a way of putting things together that’s really interesting.

Overall, I really liked it.  It gets a 4 out of 5.  I can’t wait to read the next book in the series.