Book Review: Divergent by Veronica Roth

Title: Divergent
Series: Divergent #1
Author: Veronica Roth
Publisher: HarperCollins
Publication Date: 3rd May 2011
Pages: 299 (E-book)
Special Features: N/A
GoodReads Average Rating: 4.5

In Beatrice Prior's dystopian Chicago, society is divided into five factions, each dedicated to the cultivation of a particular virtue—Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). On an appointed day of every year, all sixteen-year-olds must select the faction to which they will devote the rest of their lives. For Beatrice, the decision is between staying with her family and being who she really is—she can't have both. So she makes a choice that surprises everyone, including herself.

During the highly competitive initiation that follows, Beatrice renames herself Tris and struggles to determine who her friends really are—and where, exactly, a romance with a sometimes fascinating, sometimes infuriating boy fits into the life she's chosen. But Tris also has a secret, one she's kept hidden from everyone because she's been warned it can mean death. And as she discovers a growing conflict that threatens to unravel her seemingly perfect society, she also learns that her secret might help her save those she loves . . . or it might destroy her.

Debut author Veronica Roth bursts onto the literary scene with the first book in the Divergent series—dystopian thrillers filled with electrifying decisions, heartbreaking betrayals, stunning consequences, and unexpected romance.

This book is a magical piece of YA Literature

Book Review: Forsaken/The Demon Trapper's Daughter by Jana Oliver

Title: Forsaken/ The Demon Trapper's Daughter
Series: The Demon Trapper's Daughter
Author: Jana Oliver
Publisher: MacMillian's Children's Books
Publication Date: 1st Feburary 2011
Pages: 448
Special Features: N/A
Goodreads Average Rating: 4.02

 Riley Blackthorne just needs a chance to prove herself – and that’s exactly what the demons are counting on…

Seventeen-year-old Riley, the only daughter of legendary Demon Trapper, Paul Blackthorne, has always dreamed of following in her father's footsteps. The good news is, with human society seriously disrupted by economic upheaval and Lucifer increasing the number of demons in all major cities, Atlanta’s local Trappers’ Guild needs all the help they can get – even from a girl. When she’s not keeping up with her homework or trying to manage her growing crush on fellow apprentice, Simon, Riley’s out saving distressed citizens from foul-mouthed little devils – Grade One Hellspawn only, of course, per the strict rules of the Guild. Life’s about as normal as can be for the average demon-trapping teen.

But then a Grade Five Geo-Fiend crashes Riley’s routine assignment at a library, jeopardizing her life and her chosen livelihood. And, as if that wasn’t bad enough, sudden tragedy strikes the Trappers’ Guild, spinning Riley down a more dangerous path than she ever could have imagined. As her whole world crashes down around her, who can Riley trust with her heart – and her life?

This book was so fasinating and intriguing, well worth a read.

Book Review: Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by JK Rowling

Title: Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
Series: Harry Potter #1
Author: JK Rowling
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Publication Date: 1997
Pages: 223
Special Features:
Goodreads Average Rating: 4.23

Harry Potter has never been the star of a Quidditch team, scoring points while riding a broom far above the ground. He knows no spells, has never helped to hatch a dragon, and has never worn a cloak of invisibility. 

All he knows is a miserable life with the Dursleys, his horrible aunt and uncle, and their abominable son, Dudley—a great big swollen spoiled bully. Harry's room is a tiny closet at the foot of the stairs, and he hasn't had a birthday party in eleven years. 

But all that is about to change when a mysterious letter arrives by owl messenger: a letter with an invitation to an incredible place that Harry—and anyone who reads about him—will find unforgettable. For it's there that he finds not only friends, aerial sports, and magic in everything from classes to meals, but a great destiny that's been waiting for him... if Harry can survive the encounter.

...A book and film series which everyone knows and loves, but for some reason I had never been able to find a connection with the 1-4 Harry Potter books. I had tried countless times to complete the first book, but somehow managed to get distracted. So I vowed a week before going to watch the last film that I would actually complete this book which I did.

I managed to read it in a day, which I will admit surprised me. I was completely hooked and am looking forward to reading the second book.

I'm sure there is not much in this review that I can say to convince someone to read the book, because I'm guessing a large majority of reader's already have. The storyline was one which is unique, and already starts the complex and excellent storyline which is shown in rest of the 7 book series.
Harry Potter is a series mainly aimed at children, but has been proven to be enjoyed by all ages.

The boy who lives, Harry is a character who I am not really that keen on, but in this book I see him as bearable, he is a great role-model for younger reader's. He teaches very valuable and responsible lessons throughout the book
Hermione, is another great rol-model for people of all ages, she shows that intelligence and brains are qualities worth having, and a great influence for reader's.
Ron, is the one in the golden trio who adds humor and a bit of a laugh within the book.

Each character shows and brings something to the book, despite the ages of the young characters, there is someone for everyone to relate to.

I give this book...

Book Review: Radiance by Alyson Noel

Title: Radiance
Series: Riley Bloom #1
Author: Alyson Noel
Publisher: Macmillian Children's Books
Publication Date: 24th August 2011
Pages: 183
Special Features: 1st Chapter of Shimmer
GoodReads Average Rating: 3.55

Riley has crossed the bridge into the afterlife—a place called Here, where time is always Now. She has picked up life where she left off when she was alive, living with her parents and dog in a nice house in a nice neighborhood. When she’s summoned before The Council, she learns that the afterlife isn’t just an eternity of leisure. She’s been assigned a job, Soul Catcher, and a teacher, Bodhi, a possibly cute, seemingly nerdy boy who’s definitely hiding something. They return to earth together for Riley’s first assignment, a Radiant Boy who’s been haunting a castle in England for centuries. Many Soul Catchers have tried to get him to cross the bridge and failed. But all of that was before he met Riley . . .

 I will honestly say that I was quite disappointed with this book.
I had first read Evermore, which is the first book in Alyson Noel's more popular series The Immortals, Evermore happens to be the book where Riley the main character of Radiance, appears as Ever's younger sister, who is a ghost.
She was my favorite character in Evermore, which was the main thing which attracted me to reading this book. She seemed like a pretty awesome and funny character. But this did not follow through in Radiance, she is quite annoying, mean and I kind of just wanted to hit her, but I guess you can say she does well at portraying 12 year old girls.
Riley also quickly goes to judge her guide, Bodhi, as a dork, just from how he looks, but there is no evidence in the way he acts to support this, and well also supports my reason to hating Riley.

The writing in the book is set in first person, from Riley's perspective, the words and writing style used with in the book, was almost perfect for her, informal and chatty, but I came across some complex words which would not be used by a 12yr old.

The book was short, and lacked any sort of decent story-line, I do personally believe it could of been improved by making the book longer. At the beginning there was the usual 50 page introduction to the book (which was more than a quarter of the book), then it went straight into the story, where as I believe a decent book slowly progresses in the central story-line and problem.

The whole trying to convince ghosts to cross the bridge and into the afterlife/heaven, was just not believable it was too easy and silly.
Riley also had to leave her parents to go and fulfill the job she receives, but has no problem with that at all, when a 12yr old in fact would, the writer almost tried to forced Riley's character to be much older than she is.

The story had nothing that seemed to pull me into it, and I was more of skim-reading the last 100pages, than I was reading it.
The reason this book did not receive a 1 star rating, was because it was quite bad, but not horrible, it just managed to cling onto being read-able and would be a good book for younger readers.

I give this book....

Book Review: Raised by Wolves by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

Title: Raised by Wolves
Series: Raised by Wolves #1
Author: Jennifer Lynn Barnes
Publisher: Quercus Publishing Plc
Publication Date: 30th September 2010
Pages: 418
Special Features: N/A
ISBN: 9780857380296

He's in a cage, I reminded myself, but the words meant nothing to me, because I just couldn't stop staring into his wild eyes and playing the last words he'd said before he Shifted, over and over again
I got bit
I got bit.
I got bit.
At the age of four, Bryn watched a rabid werewolf brutally murder her parents. She was rescued and taken in by the mysterious Callum, the alpha of his pack. Now fifteen, Bryn's been as a human among werewolves, adhering to pack rule.
But the pack's been keeping a secret, and when Bryn goes exploring against Callum's orders, she finds Chase, a newly turned teen Were locked in a cage. Bryn needs answers, and she needs Chase to get them. Suddenly, it's Bryn and Chase against the werewolf world, whatever the consequences.

Raised by Wolves was a good book, just not for me.

Once Upon A BRead-a-Thon Introduction

Once Upon a Read-a-Thon is hosted by Pure Imagination, Candaces Book Blog and Reading Angel. It runs from 12:01 am on July 11 to 11:59 on July 13th.

What is a Readathon?

A Readathon is where you set a goal for yourself to read more books that is beyond your average number of books you read. There is no minimum, it's all up to you, and you can read any book that suits your fancy! Push yourself to get some of those books read that have been sitting on your shelves for awhile!

So why am I doing the Read-a-Thon, well I appear to of fallen behind on my 2011 Reading Challenge, only by 3 books though. Plus seeing as it is my summer  holiday and by September the 4th I hope to read 25 books, so far I have managed 5, I hope to increase it.
I will be starting tonight at midnight and finishing on Wednesday at midnight, GMT time.
I have tried Dewey's 24hr read-a-thon and almost completely failed, but I enjoyed the experience.

What Books Do I Hope To Read?
To find out what I plan and am reading, along with any other updates check out my sidebar, for more information.
My main ambition and purpose of taking part is to decrease the amount of books on my TBR pile, therefore i will be mainly focusing on books which I need to read. I will be mixing long an short books together, to increase my chance of getting through more books but to also decrease the chance of being struck by boredome.



I will be updating on my blog, and twitter (click on link in side-bar) throughout the experience, hopefully every two hours of course except when I'm sleeping etc.

I hope you join me on my Read-a-Thon and if you are taking part I wish you goodluck.

Book Review: Starcrossed by Josephine Angelini

Title: Starcrossed
Series: Starcrosses #1
Author: Josephine Angelini
Publisher: Macmillian's Children's Book
Publication Date: 5th April 2011
Pages: 514
Special Features:  N/A
ISBN: 9780330529730
Goodreads Average Rating: 4.17

Set on the island of Nantucket, STARCROSSED tells the tale of Helen Hamilton, a young woman whose destiny is forever altered when she meets Lucas Delos and tries to kill him in front of her entire high school. Which is terribly inconvenient, not only because Lucas is the most beautiful boy on the island, but also because Helen is so achingly shy she suffers physical pain whenever she is given too much attention.

Making matters worse, Helen is beginning to suspect she’s going crazy. Whenever she’s near Lucas or any member of his family she sees the ghostly apparitions of three women weeping bloody tears, and suffers the burden of an intense and irrational hate. She soon learns that she and Lucas are destined to play the leading roles in a Greek tragedy that the Three Fates insist on repeating over and over again throughout history. Like her namesake, Helen of Troy, she’s destined to start a war by falling in love. But even though Lucas and Helen can see their own star-crossed destiny, they’re still powerfully attracted to each other. Will they give up their personal happiness for the greater good, or risk it all to be together?

Starcrossed, a book which has recently been quite popular in the YA world, is a MUST-READ!!
It is such an addicting and enticing read, great writing style, story line and characters.

Recently I have shown quite an interest in Greek Mythology and didn't even think twice about picking this book up. But was kind of surprised and slightly dis-appointed by what I read. There is part of the story which I would class as cliche, for a YA book, for starters main character Helen, has two best friends: one a female who is well her best friend, another a male who is in love with her. Also whilst reading the book I saw a slight resemblance of Twilight, in many ways and you can tell there is a possibility it may of accidentally influenced the story-line. But I will just have to say that this book still has its own individuality.

As I have said the storyline is pretty amazing, this is something I will stick to, I really did enjoy it. The book was full of twists and turns, but the occasion individuality. Also you can see the author's love for her writing in many one's. One way being the obsessive research she has appeared to of done, to make the book perfect and to make sure she got her Greek Mythology right.
This is what made me really like this book, the meaning and the love not just within the book, but also in the background.

I will admit I didn't pay that much attention to the character's, there was nothing which stood out to me, they are almost the normal character's within YA books, but also showed a unique aspect.
I do wish I as a reading was able to witness more of a development in Lucas and Helen's love, as I believe it just more of suddenly happens.

I will recommend this book to anyone, there is something for everyone.

I give this book....