Unwind- Book Review

Unwind, by Neal Shusterman
 
Good Reads Review:
    Connor, Risa, and Lev are running for their lives. 

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 quite possibly the most disturbing books I have ever read.  I was immediately drawn into it on the first page.  "However, between the ages of thirteen and eighteen, a parent may choose to retroactively "abort" a child on the condition that the child's life doesn't "technically" end... Unwinding is now a common and accepted practice in society."  I had to reread this line about 10 times to actually comprehend it. Parents actually choosing to unwind, or in my mind, kill, their child? In what society would they allow that? Aren't parents supposed to love their children? In this book, I guess not. 

    I'm not quite sure if I liked this book or if I hated it. While the writing was phenomenal, the concept was quite disturbing for me. While I enjoyed some parts of the book, my stomach just couldn't handle others. I won't share any details with you, but if you  have a weak stomach please don't read this book. I got very angry with the whole 'unwinding' buisness. I mean, what kind of parent has their own blood and flesh taken apart? The other part that got to me was the tithes. Tithes are kids who are born to become unwound. I get it's some kind of religious sacrifice, but i think it's a disgusting concept. 

   The character's in this book were amazing. I found myself coming very attached to some, while I absolutely hated others. They had such strong personalities and in depth pasts, I felt like I knew them personally. Y favorite character was Lev. I found him adorable and his past interesting. I really enjoyed watching the process of him growing up and discovering himself. 

   Over all, this book was good but very disturbing, and in some parts just down right disgusting. If you like gory books with disturbing concepts this is the book for you, but if you have a weak stomach, don't read his book! Please! Your stomach will thank you. 

   

Delirium-Book Review

  In Delirium, love has been identified as a disease, and at the age of 18 everyone is given a cure. For Lena, that's all she's ever wanted, to be free of emotion and avoid the sickness that claimed her mother's life. Just week's before the procedure, Lena does the unthinkable. She falls in love.  Now, she starts questioning the Government's laws and has to sort the truth for the lies. Is love really a disease? And if love is a disease, is it worth risking it all?
    Wow. This book is absolutely amazing! Major props for Lauren Oliver for putting such an original twist to a classic dystopian novel.  At first, the story seemed just a tad too similar to Matched, by Ally Condie, but by the middle she  definitely added an unsuspected twist that I very much enjoyed.
    Oliver clearly puts a lot of effort into creating this futuristic society. It's plain to see with the creepy excerpts from the 'official texts' at the beginning of each chapter and the ease of which Oliver writes about her world. Even though the story can get very complex, Oliver keeps it easy for the readers to follow along and have an understanding of what's going on in the story.
    I was constantly on edge while reading this story. I was  surprised by the character's decisions and the little twists Oliver consistently throws out through the story. Sometimes I felt like jumping for joy, while others I felt tempted to throw the book in frustration. I do have to admit though, the beginning was very hard to get through for me. I was angered at the main character's decisions. I could already see what direction the story was going in, and I was frustrated that Lena wouldn't hurry up the process.
  All in all, this was an amazing book. I can't wait for the sequel, and I look forward to finding out what happens. I recommend this book for fans of Matched and the Uglies series.

The Twilight Saga- book review

Alright, I know what your all thinking. Is she really going to write another review on Twilight? I know, I know, just about everyone has been writing about the Twilight series, but i really need to get this off my chest, so please bear with me.
    Im going to make the summary as short as possible...
          Ok, so girl meets vampire, vampire tries to push her away, they fall in love, vampire leaves girl, girl has a mental breakdown, becomes friends with werewolves, go saves vampire, vampire army attacks, vampire proposes, girl and vampire get married, have a little monster child, and then live happily ever after.
    Honestly, I never thought this series was going to be any good, but my friends eventually forced me to read it. After i read the first page, I thought that I might even like this book.  As I was reading, I came to a line that says ' ... It had been belonged to me since I was born.' My hopes of this book being even a little entertaining immediately fell, but I just couldn't bring myself to put it down. I had to find out if this was just a little editing mistake or if this book was as bad as I thought it was. I turned out to be correct.
    Let's start out with the main character Bella. This girl can honestly do nothing for herself. In the series she repeatedly relies on her pack of vampires or werewolves to come to save her. What does this teach young girls? That we can sit back and relax while vampires come to our rescue? Bella also has no feelings towards other people whatsoever. I mean, how many times does she have to break Jacobs heart?   And after Edward left her like that, why did she even go save him? He broke her heart and nearly made her go insane, and she takes him back like he went on a little vacation. If someone did that to me I would never talk to them again, much less fall back in love with him like nothing happened. Im pretty convinced that Bella has a death wish. I mean, what's she thinking, hanging out with a bunch of Vampires who want to drink her blood and werewolves who could easily crush her? In my opinion, Bella is one of the most annoying, selfish, and stupid main character that any author has come up with.
    Ok, if someone asks me if I'm team Edward or team Jacob again, I'll shoot myself. I never will understand why people are so obsessed with them. I don't find either of them attractive and they both have awful personalities. Edward is a hard rock who as no heart and sparkles. How do people find that attractive? I will never understand why Bella falls in love with him. I mean, if he had a great personality i could see why Bella would want to be with a cold rock with no heart who sparkles, but he doesn't even have that. Throughout the whole series he barely shows emotion, unless Bella is near death. I truly do feel bad for Jacob and the way Bella treated him, but he only hurt himself. Obviously Bella doesn't like him that way, and he only hurt himself by pursuing her.
   Stephanie Meyer is one of the worst authors I have ever read. Everything from her choice of words to her storyline disgust me. Her lack of describing her characters is very, very annoying. On page four in Twilight she descibes Bella's mom like this ' My mom looks like me, except with short hair and laugh lines.' I guess that would be an ok description if we actually knew what Bella looks likes. This passage always gets to me. "It rains on this inconsequential town more that any other place in the United States. It was from this tow and its gloomy, omnipresent shade..." We know Stephanie that you know what big words mean, and I'm personally very proud of you, but lets get back to reality. What teenage girl uses that kind of vocabulary? She uses those big words and odd phrases throughout the book in the most inappropriate times. Stephanie doesn't only have a big problem with using big words, but also using too many adjectives. "His skin, white despite the faint flush from yesterday's hunting trip, literally sparkled, like thousands of tiny diamonds were embedded in the surface. He lay perfectly still in the grass,his shirt opened over his sculpted, incandescent chest, his scintillating arms bare. His glistening pale lavender lids were shut, though of course he didn't sleep. A perfect statue, carved in some unknown stone, smooth like marble, glittering like crystal." I get that Edward is absolutley beautiful and perfect, but i highly doubt she needed to use so many words to descibe the looks of one person, or should i say vampire.
    All in all, this book pretty much sucks. If you haven't been caught up in the whole Twilight mania, I highly suggest you do not pick up this book, and if you do, brace yourself for the terrible writing that's in store.

The Maze Runner - Book review

   Waking up in a moving lift, Thomas has no recollection of who he is, other than his name. When he reaches the top, he finds himself surrounded by a group of boys. He still has no idea where he is, and the boys aren't any help. He eventually finds out that he's in the Glade, a large expanse of land surrounded by stone walls that close every night and open every morning. Outside the walls is a huge maze, where a group of boys go out each morning trying to solve the maze and ultimately find a way out. Thomas's arrival  starts a chain events that will change the Glader's life's forever.
    I was immediatly pulled into this book from the moment I started reading. In the opening scene of the book I felt as confused, scared, and excited as Thomas did. I instantly felt a connection to Thomas, and he became one of my favorite characters.
   The book starts out slowly, but it only adds to the suspense. You really get an idea of the Glade and all the characters. The characters in this book are absolutely amazing! James Dashner describes them in such detail that you feel that you actually know them. My favorite character would probably have to be Minho. I love his dry, witty sense of humor and I find his anger issues hilarious.
   I got easily frustrated because I didn't know what was happening in the story. Although I do like the sense of surprise and the joy of solving the mystery, I also like having a slight sense of what's going to happen. I can usually guess what happens in books, but not in this one. It kept me in the fog until the very end, and even then I still didn't get a very clear sense of what was going on. Looks like I'll have to wait until I read the sequel Scorch Trials...
   I recommend this book for fans of the Hunger Games and Battle Royale. Both are very similar and equally as exciting and suspenseful. If your looking for a good sci/fy novel that grabs your attention, I highly recommend that you pick up this book for your next read!
   

The problem with sugar coating...

  Have you ever read a really good review about a book, then went and read the book to find it was one of the worst things you've ever read? Thats the problem with sugarcoating reviews, and people seem to be doing it everywhere. Nowadays, you can never read a review and get an a honest answer. This leaves you wondering 'Is this book really good? Should i really buy it? Is it ever worth reading?'  Isn't the whole point a book review to, well, review the book? What's the point of a book review if your just going to lie about your opinion? The sole purpose of a book review is to express your opinion about the book, and then encourage or discourage the people to buy the book. This is where I, the teenage book worm comes in. I'll give you an honest review, no sugarcoating or lying, just the raw truth. Enjoy :)