Book Review: Mind Games by Teri Terry

Teri Terry, we finally meet again. I really need to finish the Slated Trilogy.

In a future world, life is tightly controlled by the all-powerful PareCo. Standing out from the crowd is dangerous so misfit Luna hides her secrets carefully, not realising her own power. Unlike her friends and family, Luna has never been able to plug into Realtime, PareCo's virtual world, where almost everyone now lives their lives. So how do PareCo know about Luna, and why do they want her for their elite think tank?

The truth is hidden in a web of shining silver secrets, and the corrupt authorities would do anything to keep it that way. Can Luna find a way to use her own hidden powers and bring the truth to light before it's too late?

This is another Dystopia from author of Slated (a trilogy that I have still not finished despite really liking it). There is actually a weird reference to it in this book which is fun thing to think about it.

I found this world interesting, if not completely logical. There are hackers in this world that are tattooed, in black clothing and everyone else happily wears the exact the same as everyone else for some reason. Also at the start of the novel, Luna customises her clothes so must have some interest but that little tad bit never comes into play except for slight plot.

The ending while satisfying was, well lacking a bit of emotional. Whilst having this special ability, Luna also seems not to get upset at all. This is a Dystopia so its not really a spoiler to say that terrible things happen in this book and changes in emotional would be expected. Sure, a lot is happening, but it like she never takes it in. It's like "I lost my mum and now I will never feel again". That happen before the book started so not a spoiler.

Though, maybe I'm one lacking emotional as I feel no attachments to characters. They have their parts to play, my favourite is Blood who must have had a very lonely existent because who the hell would want to hang around him and he has the worst hacker ability. I don't care that much about the characters as this is a good plot book and despite what I said there is something to be lost.

Overall, I gave this book 4/5 stars for Swirl Tattoos. I'm petty sure this is a standalone, but I'm not sure because with YA you never know what's going to happen. There could be more with this world and character but it doesn't need another novel. It's interesting addition to books involving virtual world and people hacking it.

I got this book for Review off NetGalley and is being publish by Orchard Books on 5th March 2015 (Tomorrow).

Book Review: Adaptation by Malinda Lo

If you make out with an alien is that bestiality?

Flocks of birds are hurling themselves at aeroplanes across America. Thousands of people die. Millions are stranded. Everyone knows the world will never be the same. 

On Reese's long drive home, along a stretch of empty highway at night, a bird flies into their headlights. The car flips over. When they wake up in a military hospital, the doctor won't tell them what happened.

For Reese, though, this is just the start. She can't remember anything from the time between her accident and the day she woke up almost a month later. She only knows one thing: she's different now. Torn between longtime crush David and new girl Amber, the real question is: who can she trust?

I really like this book. Opens with birds falling from the sky which is a good visual and indicate what the rest of the novel will go. This is a book that involves aliens, secret government groups, conspiracy and of course dead birds.

The plot works and is layout perfectly. There are some fast pace moment as well the calm before the storm.

Reese is likable enough, there is love triangle sort of. Though, I liked it because the romances don't really overlap each other. Two corners of the triangle are girls which is nice to see in a book that's not just about romance.

Overall, I gave this book 5 out of 5 stars for mangled birds. This is the start of a series and I will definitely continued with this one and I'm going to check out the rest of Lo's works.

I got this book for review off Netgalley and is published by Hodder Children's Book. It's out now.

Book Review: Don't even Think about by Sarah Mlynowski

We write reviews as group now. Some of us liked this book.

Imagine if EVERYONE could hear your thoughts: your best friend, your worst enemy, your secret crush...

This is the story of how we became freaks. It's how a group of I's became a we.

When Class 10B got their flu shots, they expected some side effects. Maybe a sore arm. Maybe a headache. They definitely didn't expect to get telepathy. But suddenly they could hear what everyone was thinking. Their friends. Their teachers. Their parents. Now they all know that Tess has a crush on her best friend, Teddy. That Mackenzie cheated on Cooper. That Nurse Carmichael used to be a stripper. Some of them will thrive. Some of them will break. None of them will ever be the same.

This book is interesting as it technically wrote as first person but it come across as third person as it group people talking about themselves but there is certainly main character. I did take me a few chapters to get use to them talking as a "we".

There is probably like five main ones that we learn a lot about. We do hear about the others but not to the same extent. There are all quiet distinctive, a good effect has made to make them all them different. They have different family backgrounds dealing with cheating, OCD and other stuff. You like them on different levels but they all feel like real people.

The actual telepathy is interesting interpretation. I liked the rules of it, but did wonder why the connection with eyes. I also liked the fact that they developed aesthetic symptoms from the flu shots. It did dive into all the awkwardness that would come with classroom of teenagers being able to read minds.

Overall, I gave this book 4 of 5 stars for purple speckles. This is the start of a series and I would definitely continue with it. Best thing I've read with mind readers yet.

I got this book off Netgalley for review. Its published by Orchard Books and is out now.

Book Review: Echo Boy by Matt Haig

I imagine Echo boys would be created by shouting ‘boy’ into a cave or a bathroom.

Audrey’s father taught her that to stay human in the modern world, she had to build a moat around herself; a moat of books and music, philosophy and dreams. A moat that makes Audrey different from the echoes: sophisticated, emotionless machines, built to resemble humans and to work for human masters.

Daniel is an echo – but he’s not like the others. He feels a connection with Audrey; a feeling Daniel knows he was never designed to have, and cannot explain. And when Audrey is placed in terrible danger, he’s determined to save her.

This is an interest idea but there certainly issues with this novel. Believability is one of them for me.  

I think my main problem with this book is that it set too near in the future to believable, for example I don’t buy the science of a currently 84 year old being alive in 2115. Echos are also basically born cyborgs. Some messed up things would need to have happened for people to be okay with that and I don’t think that is explained in the book at all. I also highly doubt that all of Scotland would be flooded but Paris isn’t. Scotland is made of hills and apparently is rising above our current sea level (England is sinking so that being flood is believable enough). It was just off-handed comment but I took note.

Funfact: There is an intersex cat in this book, I know this because tortoiseshell cats are only female and the cat was described as being a he. I guess he could be genetically engineered but what a waste time is to be genetically engineering cats to look a way that’s already possible.

The characters are mostly...Likable? Sure. Lovable? No. I like Audrey’s voice, the book is partly told by her, the other by Daniel. Certain characters don’t play as believable. Uncle Alex and his son are not quite right. Motives are bit lacking. There is romance but it’s very minor and does work in favour of the story.

The plot is made up with the typical dystopia stuff, conspiracy, real threat to the main character’s life and all that good stuff. The world building is interesting with the other technologies. There are no real school anymore so people going into pods.

Overall, I gave this book 4 out of 5 stars for random DNA.  I did almost gave this a three but decided it wasn’t quite a three so round it to four because of the idea. This is enjoyable but the ending is a bit lacking and does lose points due to believability.  I recommend you read this book if you’re intrigued by the idea of an Echo.

I got this off Netgalley for a review. It’s being published by Bodley Head Children's Books on 27^th  March 2014.

 

Book Review: All Our Yesterdays by Cristin Terrill

In all honesty, I requested this book purely because the title reminded me of the Fall Out Boy song which I love. *briefly wanders away to think about Patrick Stump's voice*


Em is locked in a bare, cold cell with no comforts. Finn is in the cell next door. The Doctor is keeping them there until they tell him what he wants to know. Trouble is, what he wants to know hasn’t happened yet.

Em and Finn have a shared past, but no future unless they can find a way out. The present is torture – being kept apart, overhearing each other’s anguish as the Doctor relentlessly seeks answers. There’s no way back from here, to what they used to be, the world they used to know. Then Em finds a note in her cell which changes everything. It’s from her future self and contains some simple but very clear instructions. Em must travel back in time to avert a tragedy that’s about to unfold. Worse, she has to pursue and kill the boy she loves to change the future . . .

 A plus for slightly misleading summary. How is it misleading? I can't say because you know spoilers.

So this about Time Travel (and also the characters, imagine that), I really liked the theory and the rules of the Time Travel. Though, no idea why anyone would agree to do it unless they were desperate, like Em and Finn, because there's no returning to your present and you eventually disappear Basically, it has the classic backward time travelling of what would life be like if someone had the power to mess with the past. Em and Finn basically travel back in time in attempt to stop the Time Machine ever being built as the present basically sucks.

There was a sort of error, it said that European Union had all the countries of European where it only has a random few (some who by the laws of the union shouldn't be in EU at all, but that's a rant for another day). I guess you could argue that in that Timeline Em comes from that EU had been the whole of Europe but did seem she referring to the original time line a.k.a our real one.

So as the proper story, writing and characters...PIZZA. Seriously, the book divided by the POV of Em and Marina whom is actually of the time period Em and Finn travel back into. So you have Em on her mission and just what's actually going on I guess (of course till they bump into each other which isn't really a spoiler because alternating POV always bump into each somehow eventually).

The characters are likable enough, Em has some self-image issues;Finn grows on you like fungus (you know the good kind that they make antibiotics from); Marina is like 16 and needs some life experience and James frankly just has issues. So many issues.

In summary, I give this book 4/5 stars for random, silent 'E's (you have to read it to find out what I mean by that'). I like this book fair enough, not sure whether I'll read the sequel or not as I honestly don't get why it getting one. However, who knows maybe Terrill is going somewhere with it or not. The whole every book is part of a series thing is getting a bit old in the world of YA.