In The Afterlight
The Darkest Minds: Book Three
Check out my review for book two Never Fade
Check out my review for book two Never Fade
Written By Alexandra Bracken
Dystopian, Paranormal
Published November 3rd 2014
512 Pages
Thank you to Harper Collins Australia
Add to Goodreads
Dystopian, Paranormal
Published November 3rd 2014
512 Pages
Thank you to Harper Collins Australia
Add to Goodreads
Ruby can't look back. Fractured by an unbearable loss, she and the kids who survived the government's attack on Los Angeles travel north to regroup. Only Ruby can keep their highly dangerous prisoner in check. But with Clancy Gray, there's no guarantee you're fully in control, and everything comes with a price.When the Children's League disbands, Ruby rises up as a leader and forms an unlikely allegiance with Liam's brother, Cole, who has a volatile secret of his own. There are still thousands of other PSI kids suffering in government 'rehabilitation camps' all over the country. Freeing them, revealing the governments unspeakable abuses in the process, is the mission Ruby has claimed since her own escape from Thurmond, the worst camp in the country.But not everyone is supportive of the plan Ruby and Cole craft to free the camps. As tensions rise, competing ideals threaten the mission to uncover the cause of IANN, the disease that killed most of America's children and left Ruby and others with powers the government will kill to keep contained. With the fate of a generation in their hands, there is no room for error. One wrong move could be the spark that sets the world on fire.
Four Letters: Book One
By Christina Channelle
Contemporary, New Adult Romance
Contemporary, New Adult Romance
What do you do when the love of your life is halfway across the world?If you’re Jade Reamer, you fill that void with writing depressing song lyrics, hanging out with asshole exes, and re-reading your dead best friend’s diary (morbid, anyone?). But she’s got a lot to deal with, getting to know her biological family, for one. Not to mention getting through her first year of university without her best friend, Nina, by her side.Then there are the men in Jade’s life. Her ex, Connor, has baggage coming out of his ass since the car accident. Her brother, Bryn, thinks stifling who he really is while pretending everything’s okay … is okay. When that’s far from the truth. And Reed? Reed decides the best way for Jade to deal with his absence is to get her a dog. And when he finally comes back?Well, things aren’t exactly the same.Deciphering between love and hate is the least of Jade’s problems… Those four letter words are getting more and more complicated. Especially when she and Reed are keeping secrets from each other. Because as she forms new relationships and rekindles old ones, an unexpected surprise has got Jade’s mouth spewing lies on top of the usual curse words.But little white lies won’t hurt anybody, right?
2014 has been the year of the young adult. Series have ended, new series have begun. We've swooned, we've cried and squealed our way through our favourite reads. Each week I'll feature a new list of my favourites for 2014. Want to join in on the fun? Post your own favourite covers of 2014 and link me up in the comments section.
This week I'm featuring eye catching, beautiful covers.
Contains spoilers for book one
Crash Twinmaker Book Two
Written by Sean Williams
Science Fiction, Dystopian
Published November 2014
400 Pages
Thanks to Allen and Unwin
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★★★
Published November 2014
400 Pages
Thanks to Allen and Unwin
Add to Goodreads
★★★
Where is Q?
Clair and Jesse have barely been reunited when the world is plunged into its biggest crisis since the Water Wars. The D Mat network is broken. The world has ground to a halt. People are trapped, injured, dying. It’s the end of the world as Clair knows it, and it’s partly her fault. 'The girl who killed D Mat' is enlisted to track down her missing friend Q, the rogue AI who repeatedly saved Clair’s life. Q is the key to fixing the system, but she isn’t responding to calls for help, and even if she did... Can she be trusted?
Targeted by dupes, abandoned by her friends, caught in a web of lies that strike at the very essence of who she is, Clair finds powerful allies in RADICAL, secretive activists who are the polar opposite of anti D Mat terrorist group WHOLE. However, if she helps them find Q, will she be inadvertently trapping her friend in a life of servitude, or worse, sending her to an early death by erasure?
Caught between pro and anti D Mat philosophies, in a world on the brink of all out war, Clair must decide where she stands, and who she stands with, at the end.
The world has come to a halt. After Clair had been captured by Wallace and destroyed the D Mat system, in which travel was painless and instantaneous, the world is demanding justice. But the D Mat technology was used to map our minds, our physique in order to create another, less animated version of ourselves. Simply known as Dupes, they are gathering en masse and have Clair in their sights. Ant Wallace who created the breakthrough technology is dead, but the Dupes continue to thrive and multiply. Clair's mission was to put an end to the atrocities of Improvement, a system created to heal the wounded, ill and dying, instead was used to change your appearance but also to allow the takeover of unwilling bodies, original and Dupes alike. When an entire world is reliant on technology to fabricate their food, clothing and all remain connected to the Air network, the population is in a panic and all fingers are pointed firmly at Clair.
With the technology Abstainer Jesse as her only ally, she has no choice but to seek refuge alongside the Peacekeepers, a non violent policing organisation. They too demand answers, but it seems the authorities and gathering Dupes all want to find Q, the newly formed girl that has brought the world to it's knees. But Q has gone to ground, the genius hacker AI and programmer feeling betrayed by Clair, and rightly so. But the Dupes are determined to follow orders, they will stop the impending war on the condition that Clair surrenders, a notion her new team of 'Clair Bears' won't entertain.
The Dupes are aggressive, strategic and hungry for blood. After their location discovered, the group have no option but to seek refuge with RADICAL, an independent group that segregate themselves in a bid to maintain their freedom. But when the Dupes track Clair down on an isolated base in Antarctica, it soon becomes apparent that they have a traitor in their ranks... This isn't a fight for supremacy, it's a battle to save the world.
The Twinmaker series is a intricate science fiction future, with a rebellion against technology and a strong social message. Crash begins moments after Jump, with Clair now in the custody of the Peacekeepers and the world is in turmoil. Clair is beginning to realise the full extent of her actions, and sees the need to make rational decisions, the fate of the world may just depend on what path Clair chooses next. In Crash, I felt a compassion for Clair that I couldn't connect with in the previous novel, waking up knowing that each day may be her last. She isn't quite sure who to trust and her every move is being watched by millions around the world who are flooding the Air network with stories, gossip and lies. Her only ally is Jesse, who is a proud Abstainer. He refuses to use any form of technology or modern day conveniences, rather opting for an organic lifestyle. Clair needs to restore the technological dependent society. while Jesse believes that the world will adapt.Kelly's Thoughts
Once again, romance isn't the focal point of the storyline. Where character development and world building were at the forefront in Jump, Crash needed to more than the deliberating and devising by characters to lift the storyline and progress in Jesse and Clair's relationship. It wasn't until after the first few chapters, where I was able to understand where Crash was headed. In the beginning, I felt disconnected to both the characters and storyline and only minor segments of book one were scattered throughout. With a lengthy wait between each book in the series, I needed a little more to be able to immerse myself from the first few pages, perhaps a prologue would have sufficed.
More science fiction than dystopian, I really enjoyed the inclusion of the Dupes, where characters were artificially brought back to life and in mass. The only way to stop the production of their creation, is to destroy the patterns stolen from the use of the D Mat technology. But the majority of the storyline was spent speculating about the mysterious AI dubbed Q, and deliberating how to destroy the Dupes while fleeing to their next relatively safe location. Sadly it became a little too repetitive.
The most stunning aspect of the Twinmaker series is the social and moral questions it raises. How Improvement was used to alter your physical appearance, being able to fabricate not just inanimate objects but also another version of yourself. The Air is a widely used social media superhighway, that isn't just a modern convenience but a way of life. Anyone doubting it's application, such as the Abstainers or RADICAL are publicly mocked for their simple beliefs. Society has already proven that cloning is already possible, but as a whole, we've already reached the point where we rely heavily on technology and the Twinmaker series emphasises how dependent we all are.
Although I was a little disappointed at the lack of development in Crash, the stunning and surprising climax has me needing to know where Sean Williams will end the series. I'm looking forward to Fall, the final installment in the Twinmaker series.The Final Verdict
In the second edition of Dear Diva, this week I'm taking a look at the lazy bloggers guide. We're all short on time, life gets in the way, people want to communicate with you against your wishes. The list is endless. Often our blogs are the ones left to suffer in silence. So how do we make the most of our time online and maintain a blog without needing to devote hours? Two bloggers this week ask how.
As part of the Victoria Scott street team, I'm thrilled to take part in the cover reveal for her phenomenal Fire & Flood series. With the much awaited release of Salt & Stone, the series has undergone a cover transformation.
Add to Goodreads
Preorder Salt and Stone
Add to Goodreads
Preorder Salt and Stone
In Fire & Flood, Tella Holloway faced a dangerous trek through the jungle and across the desert, all to remain a Contender in the Brimstone Bleed for a chance at obtaining the Cure for her brother. She can't quit, she has to win the race, save Cody, and then fight to make sure the race stops before it can claim any more lives. In the next legs of the race, across the ocean and over mountains, Tella will face frostbite, sharks, avalanche, and twisted new rules in the race.But what if the danger is deeper than that? How do you know who to trust when everyone's keeping secrets? What do you do when the person you'd relied on most suddenly isn't there for support? How do you weigh one life against another?
The race is coming to an end, and Tella is running out of time, resources, and strength. At the start of the race there were one hundred twenty two Contenders. As Tella and her remaining friends start the final part of the race, just forty one are left, and only one can win.
Written by Ellie Marney
Contemporary, Mystery Thriller
Published September 2013
335 Pages
Purchased
Published by Allen and Unwin
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★★★★☆
Rachel Watts has just moved to Melbourne from the country, but the city is the last place she wants to be. James Mycroft is her neighbour, an intriguingly troubled seventeen year old who's also a genius with a passion for forensics.Despite her misgivings, Rachel finds herself unable to resist Mycroft when he wants her help investigating a murder. He's even harder to resist when he's up close and personal, and on the hunt for a cold-blooded killer.When Rachel and Mycroft follows the murderer's trail, they find themselves in the lion's den, literally. A trip to the zoo will never have quite the same meaning again...
It's been four months since the Watts family farm foreclosed, and Rachel and her family have been forced to relocate to Melbourne. Since moving, she and neighbour James Mycroft have been inseparable. Best friends, she is the country girl stifled by uptight city living, with Mycroft being her bright and eccentric offsider. But when the two teens discover a murder scene outside the Melbourne Zoo after dark, Mycroft's forensic obsession takes over. The police assume the murder was nothing more than a sport killing of the homeless man who is only known as Homeless Dave. But with his trusted canine friend missing, Mycroft believes that his companion may just hold the key to solving the murder.
Kelly's Thoughts
Every Breath is a phenomenal thriller from a Brilliant Australian author in Ellie Marney. It follows the story of Watts and Mycroft, who are on a strictly last name basis. Both dynamic characters in their own right, but share an intense attraction.
He said if Sherlock had Watson, it was only fair that Mycroft should have Watts.
Mycroft is a young man without supervision, living in a run down, ramshackle house with his absent aunt. His bedroom housing a makeshift laboratory, and follows his passion of forensics which entertain his inquisitive mind. He's charming yet dysfunctional, and doesn't adhere well to the classroom. Watts is the country girl stuck in the city, and is expected to provide a positive influence in Mycroft's life. Something her parents don't approve of. But Mycroft isn't just a troubled young man, he has a bright, brilliant mind and struggles with grief each day.
I absolutely adored Mycroft and Watts, as individuals and as an incredible duo. The two teens have befriended a homeless man and his dog Poodle, who reside in the parklands surrounding the Royal Melbourne Zoo. But when they discover Homeless Dave has been brutally killed, they soon realise the police aren't interested in finding the assailant and Mycroft takes it upon himself to seek justice for Dave. What ensues is a grim and heartbreaking adventure, which will leave you on the edge of your seat.
Ellie Marney is a natural storyteller, creating realistic, flawed characters that will adhere themselves to readers. I simply adored the slow burning romance, the intensity of the attraction between Mycroft and Watts only added to the suspense. It was simplistic, beautifully written and cemented Ellie Marney as an instant favourite on my shelves.
I've had quite a few blogging related questions this week, so today's theme is Blogging.
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