Young Adult Series I Don’t Get Why People Are Crazy About!

                All these series are not living up to the hype for me. They lack the spark that makes me want to stay up all night breathing in the fumes from the ink on the pages!  Also this is obviously not meant to insult anyone who likes these books, I am totally okay with other people liking them…just not what I fancy in a novel is all.

1. The Delirium Trilogy – Lauren Oliver
                   I really wanted to like this series, people are crazy over it and I’ve liked everything else that I’ve read by Lauren Oliver so I gave it a shot…regretted it massively and now own the whole series and have no idea what I’m going to do… obviously I have to read them right? Maybe it will get better for me?
                   There were just too many plot holes for me to enjoy this series and the longer time has gone by since I’ve read Delirium the more I don’t like it…Just wasn’t my cup of tea I suppose.

2. Unwind Trilogy – Neal Shusterman
                   This is another the longer I think about it the more I just want to kick myself for giving it an okay rating because I really am not feeling it and 100% will not be continuing on with this series unless somehow they end up in my hands…like fall out of the sky end up in my hands kind of thing.
                   Just wasn’t what I thought it was going to be, I was really unhappy with what unwinding is and what it does and how just… it’s too unbelievable, I can honestly see people removing the emotion of ‘love’ before they go around ‘unwinding’ 12 year olds.
                  
3. The Mortal Instruments Series – Cassandra Clare
                   I am fairly certain I first heard about Cassandra Clare when she wrote Harry Potter Fan fiction and that was a LONG time ago so I was looking forward to City of Bones when it was first released. I bought it and never even finished it. It lacked something for me and I thought that the characters took some weird turns that my younger self wasn’t prepared for and was overly disappointed.  I don’t even remember what it was exactly but something happened that I was like ‘wtfudgesickles’ and didn’t want to finish it.

4. Infernal Devices Trilogy – Cassandra Clare
                   I bought the first book in this trilogy while I was standing in a chapters because it had a beautiful cover mostly and I didn’t hate Cassandra Clare’s writing style so I thought I would give her spin-off trilogy a chance and it was on sale for like 5 dollars or something…perhaps even less I cannot remember that was a long time ago. I never picked it up until recently. I have ben hearing people go on and on about how good Clockwork Princess is and how much they LOVE the series and I hated it you guys, I started it and never finished it I just hated it. I don’t even have words to express how weirdly annoyed I felt while reading it… so weird right? Because the premise totally sounds like something I would like!

5. Caster Chronicles – Margret Stohl & Kami Garcia
                   I really like the idea of this series and perhaps one day I’ll get around to reading it fully (doubtful) but as it stands I’m definitely not a big fan. I bought ‘Beautiful Creatures’ last January or December and started reading it but I couldn’t really get into it. I do know that I don’t usually like books told from a Males perspective (If they’re written by woman) because I always feel like the author doesn’t do a great job making the ‘male’ character seem believable. I suppose this would be okay if it wasn’t told in first person. I’m not a huge fan of first person anyways but I really struggle with it when the lead character is a male and I feel like they’re being to ‘feminine’ if that makes any sense to you?
                   I found that most of the characters lacked something for me as well, I wasn’t able to connect with them in a way that I liked too…I also found this book terribly slow, I am pretty sure I was at least 200 pages in and I felt like absolutely nothing was happening. Perhaps I’ll give it a shot again one day… Perhaps I won’t!
   We will have to see

                   what books or Series do you think are over rated and why? I would love to know! So I can be fully warned in the future! ❤ Hope you’re all having a great, fantastic week!

Book Review: Delirium

Delirium (Delirium#1)
Lauren Oliver
Young Adult Dystopian
Published: 2011
3.5/5

 

                Delirium takes place in a world fighting the battle against a powerful and vicious disease; one so fierce it could destroy everything that you love about the world and about yourself. It makes people sick, deranged and sometimes it causes people to take their own lives.
                The American government has a cure however, and once each person turns 18 they are placed on an operating table and the cure is administered to them.  After that no one should have anything to fear. Everyone over the age of 18 will be saved from the worst illness to have ever conquered and almost destroyed the human civilization.
                Love is evil, it is bad and no one wants to be caught in its seductive and powerful grasp. At least this is what Lena knows. She is looking forward to her 18^th birthday and the day of her procedure. In fact she can hardly contain herself with the want of just getting it over with so she can move on with her life because the last thing she wants is to end up like her mother.
                Delirium is an enjoyable young adult novel, it’s not my favorite Lauren Oliver novel but it’s okay. Sometimes when a book receives a lot of hype the person reading it somewhere down the line gets a little lost in all of it and that’s what happened to me. There were just so many problems with how society would work without love that were not explained and parts about it that left a bitter taste in my mouth. Along with Love they’ve lost emotions like compassion, nurturing parents to start it off.  I cannot imagine any parent could be considered a good parent if there child is screaming in the street and the parent of that child is all like ‘get over it, I’m so not concerned with your tiny human problems’. They do discuss kind of or at least mention that some mothers are unable to bond with their offspring. I feel like the psychology  in this book is seriously lacking… like a lot and though this is a Dystopian and a Young Adult novel I think this was over looked a little too much.  This is the first book however; there is a chance this could be addressed later.
                This book is however, enjoyable to a point. I enjoyed most of the characters, how they all interacted with each other and the romantic storyline though a little shaky and awkward was cute and was affective to the plot and progression of the storyline. This book does end in a cliff hanger, and not even a small one… it’s a pretty massive and enraging cliff hanger. It’s also I think maybe a pointless cliff hanger? Obviously what they are suggesting is not going to happen because that would be terrible and why on earth would anyone want to read a book where something terrible like that happens? It back tracks the plot!
                I own the first book and the third book but do not own the second book which I believe is called Pandemonium so obviously I’m going to have to convince my Hubby that I need this book a.s.a.p. so I can finish it and pray and hope and whine to the book gods that it be better than the first. I’ve been hearing that people are unhappy with the way the series ends and perhaps I’ll be one of those few that’ll be happy with it? We shall see in the future.

                If you have read Delirium, what did YOU think about it? Do you think it lives up to the hype? Also if you’ve read other Lauren Oliver books which one is your favorite thus far?
                ALSO (because I can’t shut up today apparently) what do you think about Delirium becoming a TV Show? Click HERE to find out more!
                <3<3<3<3<3

Book Review: Before I fall

Before I fall
Lauren Oliver
Young Adult
Published: 2010
5/5

                On February 12^th all Samantha Kingston is worried about is how she looks, what others think of her and of course losing her virginity to her incredibly hot boyfriend that she is sometimes still surprised wants her.  However, not everything goes as planned after consuming too much alcohol Samantha and her friends leave the party and end up in a terrible accident.
                The next morning Samantha wakes up in her bed, but it’s not Saturday like it should be, in fact it’s still February 12^th and she’s late for school. Going through her day bewildered and confused she tries to unravel what happened on the night she thought she had already lived and died in. During the next seven Days Sam wakes up each morning, each day becoming closer to figuring out why she died, if she was supposed to die and trying desperately to figure out what is going on.
                This is an epic adventure that really draws you in and grabs your attention. You cannot help but be horrified by Samantha Kingston and her friends as you read the book but the closer you get to the end of the book you learn more about each of them and why people aren’t always what they seem no matter how perfect they appear.
                Samantha and many of the characters really develop quite a bit, Samantha of course developing the most as she’s the only one that’s re lived February 12^th seven times and knows about it. She goes from being insecure and selfish to figuring out what is important and figuring out who she is and who she really was meant to be.
                There are a whole host of Characters in this book that are directly affected both in good ways and bad ways by Samantha’s actions. There’s a very bad, bad, bad teacher, a girl who losing her spot in a competition because Samantha ends up making her late, there are new secrets spilt each day and Samantha kind of figures out who she really should be with and shares a passionate kiss with someone you least expect (a few times with a few different people)
                It’s sad, it’s heartbreaking and it’s everything it should be. It’s a tale of self-discovery that you can’t help but feel in your own heart and in your own soul. It’s a world inside a world and it makes you question what really does happen when we die and what if we die when we’re not supposed too.
                It for sure makes you want to live your life to the fullest. Don’t do what you think you should do, or what you think others want you to do. You are your own person and honestly, despite the 7day rerun in this story, you’re only going to live once. There is only one chance to do everything you want to and be who you want to be so go out there people and live your lives.
                This story inspired me to travel, to try reading good books and maybe even try finishing the bad and it made me appreciate my Husband, my Family and my Friends a whole lot more.  I didn’t get as emotional with this story as I’ve heard others have but it still touched me to the core of my being. I For sure recommend this book to anyone who thinks maybe they need to challenge their live and maybe they need something to inspire them to do so.

Book Review: Lisel & Po

Lisel & Po
written by: Lauren Oliver
illustrations by: Kei Acedera
8-12 years

            Liesl lives in a tiny attic bedroom, locked away by her cruel stepmother. Her only friends are the shadows and the mice-until one night a ghost appears from the darkness. It is Po, who comes from the Other Side. Both Liesl and Po are lonely, but together they are less alone.
That same night, an alchemist”s apprentice, Will, bungles an important delivery. He accidentally switches a box containing the most powerful magic in the world with one containing something decidedly less remarkable
Will”s mistake has tremendous consequences for Liesl and Po, and it draws the three of them together on an extraordinary journey.

 

 

—-Book Review—-

 

 

            This would have been one of my favorite books if I had read this as a child or youngerish in general. I, even though I’m in my early 20’s, still really enjoyed this book anyways despite the fact that I am outside the target age range.

            It had all the elements of a good story and all the elements that I would have enjoyed to the max as a child. It is magical, Lauren Oliver did a fantastically good job making fantastically wicked and delightful characters, both of which you couldn’t help but love and appreciate in some way.  The story it’s self was fairly straight forward and simple but it shone in the story’s simplicity, the simple way in which events and life happens made this story very relatable and very enjoyable.
I loved the mystery of Po and his ‘pet’ Bundle, I loved trying to figure out their story who they were or what they were before they died. I was slightly disappointed that I didn’t get to learn more but in a big way it makes sense because the story isn’t about who Po was but rather what they had become.

            The illustrations by Kei Acedera were beautiful. I loved every single one of them and looked forward to seeing each one. I loved how the pictures followed the story so well. I enjoyed the detail in the pictures, the expressions and the backgrounds; attention to detail was very strong in these works. I really, full heartedly think you should at least check out Kei’s work if not this book in total. She is fantastic and for certain made a new fan in me.
I really, really, enjoyed Lisel & Po and will for certain be keeping this book for my children to read years down the road from now ( I need to have one first…ha) and this is the first book by Lauren Oliver I have read! (Strange? Maaaybe!?) So I am now very obviously looking forward to reading her other works. However, if you’re a fan of hers, I would assume you would also enjoy this fantastic story of adventure and self-discovery.