Book Review: Alight by Scott Sigler! (@scottsigler)

Alight (The Generations Trilogy #2) 
Author: Scott Sigler
Publication Date: April 5, 2016
Published: Del Rey

My Rating:

If it’s war they want, they messed with the wrong girl.”
M. Savage—or Em, as she is called—has made a bewildering and ominous discovery. She and the other young people she was chosen to lead awoke in strange coffins with no memory of their names or their pasts. They faced an empty, unknown place of twisting tunnels and human bones. With only one another to depend on, they searched for answers and found the truth about their terrifying fate. Confronted by a monstrous enemy, they vowed never to surrender—and, by any means, to survive.
The planet Omeyocan may be the sanctuary Em and her comrades seek. But the planet for which they were created turns out not to be a pristine, virgin world. Vestiges of a lost civilization testify to a horrifying past that may yet repeat itself. And when a new enemy creeps from the jungle shadows, Em and her young refugees learn there’s nowhere left to run. They face a simple choice: fight or die.
In the midst of this desperate struggle, their unity is compromised from within—and a dangerous zealot devoted to a bloodthirsty god moves to usurp Em’s command, threatening to lead them all down a path to violent doom.

I mention major spoilers in my review.

Usually the second book of a trilogy is so-so, but I enjoyed Alight.

Book Review: Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard! (@victoriaaveyard)

Red Queen (Red Queen #1)
Author: Victoria Aveyard
Publication Date: February 10, 2015
Published: HarperTeen

My Rating:

This is a world divided by blood – red or silver.
The Reds are commoners, ruled by a Silver elite in possession of god-like superpowers. And to Mare Barrow, a seventeen-year-old Red girl from the poverty-stricken Stilts, it seems like nothing will ever change.
That is, until she finds herself working in the Silver Palace. Here, surrounded by the people she hates the most, Mare discovers that, despite her red blood, she possesses a deadly power of her own. One that threatens to destroy the balance of power.
Fearful of Mare’s potential, the Silvers hide her in plain view, declaring her a long-lost Silver princess, now engaged to a Silver prince. Despite knowing that one misstep would mean her death, Mare works silently to help the Red Guard, a militant resistance group, and bring down the Silver regime.
But this is a world of betrayal and lies, and Mare has entered a dangerous dance – Reds against Silvers, prince against prince, and Mare against her own heart.

As if living in a world where the color of your skin could get you killed, now there’s a world where the color of your blood, is everything.

Book Review: Flawed by Cecelia Ahern! (@Cecelia_Ahern )

Flawed (Flawed #1)
Author: Cecelia Ahern
Publication Date: April 5, 2016
Published: Feiwel and Friends

My Rating:

You will be punished…
Celestine North lives a perfect life. She’s a model daughter and sister, she’s well-liked by her classmates and teachers, and she’s dating the impossibly charming Art Crevan.
But then Celestine encounters a situation where she makes an instinctive decision. She breaks a rule and now faces life-changing repercussions. She could be imprisoned. She could be branded. She could be found flawed.
In her breathtaking young adult debut, bestselling author Cecelia Ahern depicts a society where perfection is paramount and flaws lead to punishment. And where one young woman decides to take a stand that could cost her everything.

Being imperfect isn’t a crime, but in Celestine North’s world, one little imperfection can literally brand you for life. Celestine, believes in perfection, and she believes she is perfection, considering she’s a straight A student and is the longtime girlfriend of Art Crevan, son of the famous Judge Crevan. She had it all, until one night...

Book Review: Morning Star by Pierce Brown! (@Pierce_Brown)

Morning Star (Red Rising Trilogy #3)
Author: Pierce Brown
Publication Date: February 9, 2016
Published: Del Rey

My Rating:

Darrow would have lived in peace, but his enemies brought him war. The Gold overlords demanded his obedience, hanged his wife, and enslaved his people. But Darrow is determined to fight back. Risking everything to transform himself and breach Gold society, Darrow has battled to survive the cutthroat rivalries that breed Society's mightiest warriors, climbed the ranks, and waited patiently to unleash the revolution that will tear the hierarchy apart from within.
Finally, the time has come.
But devotion to honor and hunger for vengeance run deep on both sides. Darrow and his comrades-in-arms face powerful enemies without scruple or mercy. Among them are some Darrow once considered friends. To win, Darrow will need to inspire those shackled in darkness to break their chains, unmake the world their cruel masters have built, and claim a destiny too long denied - and too glorious to surrender.

So much happens. It's a rollercoaster ride of emotions. I laughed, was nervous, touched, and sometimes sad. I could not put it down. After having a headache on a Friday and a Saturday I wanted to catch up on those lost days. So I read 100 pages on a Sunday and another 100 pages on Monday (Presidents's Day). By Monday night my right eye was bloodshot. I finished it on February 18 and I still have a book hangover. I am going to fall behind on my Goodreads goal.

The character development was well done and the evolution of the plot was seamless. Not just from beginning to end in Morning Star, but the whole trilogy.

One critique was that I would have liked to see more scenes with a few minor characters from the previous novels.

The action was great and heart pounding, but some of my favorite moments were the quieter ones between Darrow and his friends. So much emotion is felt. Particularly Chapter 22 and Chapter 50. I feel it is difficult to describe my feelings without spoiling the whole book. I like giving examples and quotes.

4.5 out 5 Broken Chains

Check out the spoilery review below the cut!

Guest Book Review: The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan (@CarrieRyan)

The Forest of Hands and Teeth
Author: Carrie Ryan
Publication Date: March 10, 2009
Published: Delacorte Books for Young Readers
Reviewer: Stephanie

My Rating:

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 by so much death?

Guest Book Review: Scripted by Maya Rock

Scripted
Author: Maya Rock
Publication Date: February 5, 2015
Published: G.P. Putnam’s Sons
Reviewer: Stephanie

My Rating:

Reality TV has a dark future in this thought-provoking thriller
To the people suffering on the war-torn mainland, Bliss Island seems like an idyllic place. And it is: except for the fact that the island is a set, and the islanders’ lives are a performance. They’re the stars of a hit TV show, Blissful Days—Characters are adored by mainland viewers, yet in constant danger of being cut if their ratings dip too low. And no one really knows what happens to cut Characters.
Nettie Starling knows she’s been given the chance of a lifetime when a producer offers suggestions to help her improve her mediocre ratings—especially when those suggestions involve making a move on the boy she’s been in love with for years. But she'll soon have to decide how far she's willing to go to keep the cameras fixed on her. . . especially when she learns what could happen to her if she doesn't.

Guest Book Review: Golden Son by Pierce Brown (@Pierce_Brown)

Golden Son (Red Rising Trilogy #2) by Pierce Brown
Publication Date: January 6, 2015
Published: Del Rey
Reviewer: Stephanie

My Rating:

With shades of The Hunger Games, Ender’s Game, and Game of Thrones, debut author Pierce Brown’s genre-defying epic Red Rising hit the ground running and wasted no time becoming a sensation. Golden Son continues the stunning saga of Darrow, a rebel forged by tragedy, battling to lead his oppressed people to freedom.
As a Red, Darrow grew up working the mines deep beneath the surface of Mars, enduring backbreaking labor while dreaming of the better future he was building for his descendants. But the Society he faithfully served was built on lies. Darrow’s kind have been betrayed and denied by their elitist masters, the Golds—and their only path to liberation is revolution. And so Darrow sacrifices himself in the name of the greater good for which Eo, his true love and inspiration, laid down her own life. He becomes a Gold, infiltrating their privileged realm so that he can destroy it from within.
A lamb among wolves in a cruel world, Darrow finds friendship, respect, and even love—but also the wrath of powerful rivals. To wage and win the war that will change humankind’s destiny, Darrow must confront the treachery arrayed against him, overcome his all-too-human desire for retribution—and strive not for violent revolt but a hopeful rebirth. Though the road ahead is fraught with danger and deceit, Darrow must choose to follow Eo’s principles of love and justice to free his people.
He must live for more.

Guest Book Review: Red Rising by Pierce Brown (@Pierce_Brown)

Red Rising by Pierce Brown
Publication Date: January 28, 2014
Published: Del Rey
Reviewer: Stephanie

My rating:

The Earth is dying. Darrow is a Red, a miner in the interior of Mars. His mission is to extract enough precious elements to one day tame the surface of the planet and allow humans to live on it. The Reds are humanity's last hope.
Or so it appears, until the day Darrow discovers it's all a lie. That Mars has been habitable - and inhabited - for generations, by a class of people calling themselves the Golds. A class of people who look down on Darrow and his fellows as slave labour, to be exploited and worked to death without a second thought.
Until the day that Darrow, with the help of a mysterious group of rebels, disguises himself as a Gold and infiltrates their command school, intent on taking down his oppressors from the inside. But the command school is a battlefield - and Darrow isn't the only student with an agenda.

Guest Book Review: The Maze Runner by James Dashner (@jamesdashner)

The Maze Runner (The Maze Runner #1) by James Dashner
Publication Date: October 6, 2009
Published: Delacorte Press
Reviewer: Marc

My Rating:

"If you ain't scared, you ain't human."

When Thomas wakes up in the lift, the only thing he can remember is his name. He's surrounded by strangers--boys whose memories are also gone.
Outside the towering stone walls that surround the Glade is a limitless, ever-changing maze. It's the only way out--and no one's ever made it through alive.
Then a girl arrives. The first girl ever. And the message she delivers is terrifying.