The Age of Miracles by Karen Thomspon Walker

Cover via Goodreads.

Rating: 3/5 stars.

The Age of Miracles details eleven-year-old Julia’s coming of age in a California suburb amidst the decline of the earth. The planet spins slower and slower, leading to gravity sickness, shortages of energy, dead birds, and more. In the middle of the chaos Julia comes to terms with the imperfections of her parents, the pains of an awkward adolescence, and her feelings for Seth Moreno, the boy down the street.

Karen Thompson Walker does not focus so much on the science behind the earth’s slowing or the slowing’s disastrous consequences.

Advertisement

Allegiant by Veronica Roth

Cover via Goodreads.

Rating: 3/5 stars.

After finishing Lauren Oliver’s Requiem and Marie Lu’s Champion, Allegiant marks the third final installment I’ve read in terms of YA trilogies as of late. While none of them inspired me as much as Suzanne Collin’s Mockingjay, each showed the writer’s growth and the development of his or her characters – though with Allegiant, I was left disappointed, more than I was with the others.

As many other reviewers have stated in passionate terms, the plot of Allegiant was its main pitfall.

Proxy by Alex London

Cover via Goodreads.

Rating: 4.5/5 stars.

Going along with my idea of book reproduction in my review of Speechless, Proxy would be the child of Uglies by Scott Westerfeld and Legend by Marie Lu. It blends fast-paced action with a well-fleshed futuristic world, complete with characters that are rife with wit and passion.

Knox has never felt consequences before.

Light by Michael Grant

Cover via Goodreads.

Rating: 5/5 stars.

If there’s one series that captures my teenage years, it’s this one. I picked up Gone five years ago at the age of 13 maybe because Sam was cute, not like I knew I was into guys at the time and five books later I’ve finished the series, now as an adult. I have so much history with this series, and I doubt any sleeping aid would give me back the hours I’ve spent reading it late into the night.

If you haven’t read Light yet or the books preceding it, I’d recommend skipping this paragraph and catching up right now. Otherwise, the central story line of the last installment in Michael Grant’s epic series revolves around Gaia and her (its?) plan to destroy all who inhabit the FAYZ… and eventually, all outside of it, too. Every character joins in for the fight no matter his or her previous wounds or scars. The question remains: will it be enough to defeat the darkness once and for all?

As always, Grant’s plot grabbed me from the get go.

Requiem by Lauren Oliver

Cover via Goodreads.

Rating: 3.5/5 stars.

Every book has its beginnings. A fresh protagonist to fall in love with, a new world to explore, a story to watch play out. By the end of the book, it’s time to say goodbye to what we’ve come to know – not only the settings that have taken root in our minds or the characters who have made their way into our hearts, but the lessons we’ve learned. With series, I find this more difficult; with several books and hundreds and hundreds of pages to entrench ourselves in, it should be more gut-wrenching, more bittersweet. But when I put Requiem down, it wasn’t as devastating as I wanted it to be… it wasn’t anything at all, really.

Prodigy by Marie Lu

Cover via Goodreads.

Rating: 4/5 stars.

The sequel to Legend, Prodigy picks up on June and Day’s journey after escaping from the clutches of the Republic. Their mission should be clear: kill the new Elector and avenge their fallen family members. June and Day join the Patriots, a group of rebels, to fight for what they’ve lost – but what happens when the new Elector isn’t as bad as his father? Suddenly their plans don’t seem full proof anymore… if they even were to start with.

Contrary to the majority of book bloggers, I tend to enjoy the second book in a series more than the first. Prodigy is no exception.

Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi

Cover via Goodreads.

Rating: 3.5/5 stars.

Apathy is such an ugly word. We should always connect with the characters we read about, even if it’s not in a positive way – or we should fall in love with the author’s writing, or the setting of the story. In Under the Never Sky, none of that happened. Instead, I felt it: apathy.

A synopsis of the plot would probably pique readers’ interest. In Under the Never Sky, humans live in sheltered Pods where, through technological advances, they access the Realms – virtual realities in which one can do almost anything without fear. Aria grew up in a dome called Reverie, safe from the Aether storms that threaten the lives of all in the Pods. But a reckless choice and an unfortunate consequence causes Aria to be thrown out of her home and into the Outside, a dangerous place full of savages and empty of the comforting pleasures Aria has always known. There she encounters a gifted savage named Perry, and embarks on a journey to find her mother, Lumina.

It’s not like this was a bad book.

Legend by Marie Lu

Cover via Goodreads.

Rating: 3/5 stars.

June has always loved the Republic. Encompassing what used to be the west coast of the United States, it thrives on its trial system – all ten-year-olds must take a test that determines their fate. June is the only person to receive a perfect score of 1500. Day, on the other hand, failed his trial. Born into a slum sector of the Republic, he’s always had a defiant streak. A fierce care for his family keeps him grounded, and when his brother Eden contracts the Plague, he’s forced to steal some of the Republic’s cure. This action ties him and June together in a way that will make them question the true intent of the Republic.

I liked Legend.

The Lost Girl by Sangu Mandanna

Cover via Goodreads.

Rating: 4/5 stars.

“If you pretend you love a boy, maybe after a while you start to care. If you spend months with the traces of someone else’s love and memories inside you, maybe those traces become a part of you. Or perhaps Amarra has nothing do with this. Perhaps I care because I’m jealous of what she had. That kind of love. That kind of freedom to love.”

As an echo, Eva’s sole purpose is to study someone else’s life and eventually replace her if she dies. Amarra, Eva’s “other”, happens to pass away after an unfortunate car accident. But when Eva leaves what she’s known for sixteen years to take the place of another girl, she finds that what she wants to do and what she was designed to do are two wildly different things.

The Lost Girl is almost a young-adult version of Frankenstein, with more sentimentality and slightly sweeter prose.

Monsters of Men by Patrick Ness

Cover via Goodreads.

Rating: 5/5 stars.

Monsters of Men is the third and final book in the Chaos Walking trilogy. It continues the story of Todd and Viola, two brave souls living in a war-torn world where the thoughts of men are heard by everyone. The battle turns into a fight between three – the power-hungry Mayor, the rebellious and crafty Mistress Coyle, and the native Spackle. As Todd turns his own thoughts inward and Viola fights violently against her sickness, all sides attack one another in an attempt to finally bring peace to the planet.