ARC Review: Borne by Jeff VanderMeer

Borne by Jeff Vandermeer

Genre: Sci-Fi / Post-Apocalyptic

Publisher: Fourth Estate, 15th June 2017

My Rating: 

Synopsis: A ruined city of the future lives in fear of a despotic, gigantic flying bear, driven mad by the tortures inflicted on him by the Company, a mysterious biotech firm. A scavenger, Rachel, finds a creature entangled in his fur. She names it Borne.

At first, Borne looks like nothing at all― a green lump that might be a discard from the Company. But he reminds Rachel of her homeland, an island nation long lost to rising seas, and she prevents her lover, Wick, from rendering down Borne as raw genetic material for the special kind of drugs he sells.

But nothing is quite the way it seems: not the past, not the present, not the future. If Wick is hiding secrets, so is Rachel―and Borne most of all.

My Review

Thanks to my aunt who kindly lent me this ARC copy!

If you’re someone who needs answers immediately when reading a book or watching a film, someone who, when something unexplained happens, asks, “Why did that happen?” or “Why did they say that?” instead of waiting a few more chapters or 15 minutes more to find out, or someone who is not content with ever knowing the answers at all, then this is not the kind of book for you.

However, if you’re someone who likes a bit of ambiguity, who likes to be confused in a good, page-turning kind of way, then Borne is for you.

I read Jeff VanderMeer’s The Southern Reach Trilogy a few years ago and devoured each book one after the other. Usually, I leave a bit of a gap between books in a series if the series is already complete. However, I had so many questions, I needed to keep reading. That trilogy was fantastically creepy, suspenseful, horrifying and twisted. So that should give you a good idea of what Borne is like.

Borne, I would say, is the slightly calmer younger brother of The Southern Reach Trilogy. It’s still totally bizarre and full of some very creepy creations, but whereas that first trilogy was a full-throttle Sci-Fi Horror, Borne is more of just a Sci-Fi with a touch of Horror.

And immediately, the opening to Borne totally confused me. I had to go back and re-read sections because VanderMeer writes very intricately, yet with a throwaway attitude whereby he drops names of creations and places as if to say, “Keep up.” However, after the first twenty or so pages, I quickly settled into the rhythm and was captivated. VanderMeer has crafted a weird and wonderful story, with a bit more humour than his previous series, but with no less strangeness.

The story is narrated by Rachel, a young woman scavenging in a ruined city. She doesn’t quite know how she got there, but knows she travelled a dying Earth with her parents in search of salvation. Rachel lives with a man called Wick, who is a drug dealer of sorts, selling bits of ‘biotech’ to make a living. This crumbling city is haunted by a massive, murderous bear known as Mord. (Yes, you did read that right). One day, whilst searching Mord’s fur for bits to scavenge, Rachel finds a glowing blob that she takes home and calls Borne. She assumes it’s a strange plant, but it soon becomes apparent that Borne is much more.

Rachel herself is a great protagonist. Strong, hardened, but with a softness brought out in her by Borne. Borne, however, is the real star of the show, as the title would suggest. I won’t spoil what Borne is or much about him, but he’s a brilliant character. Innocent and funny, yet also deeply unnerving. He was crafted excellently and was easy to connect to, despite the fact he’s not even human. 

Wick was an odd character, but I ended up also liking him. I would say Wick is the most complex; you never really know what he’s thinking. He’s very flawed, yet clearly caring. I liked the dynamic the three characters had: Rachel, Borne and Wick. Despite the setting being just downright odd, the characters felt entirely real and relatable. 

And trust me, the setting is strange. It can be hard to imagine at times, but I find that VanderMeer manages to pull off describing these weird places. Whilst all my questions weren’t answered about the setting, I didn’t mind, and VanderMeer is able to write a setting and story shrouded in a bit of mystery, instead of feeling like he just couldn’t be bothered to tie up loose ends or have any reasoning behind particular aspects. The ending left me wanting to know more, but it didn’t feel incomplete. After The Southern Reach Trilogy, I have come to expect that VanderMeer likes to leave you guessing, and to leave parts open to interpretation. That works well for his novels, because any answers might actually ruin it in that they don’t feel right, or they feel anticlimactic.

For a while whilst reading, I compared Borne to The Southern Reach Trilogy and thought I liked the trilogy better as it was grittier and darker. However, thinking about it, Borne is totally its own entity and I shouldn’t compare it. Borne is a slightly ‘lighter’ read, and for that I found it had a little more meaning behind it rather than just being a brilliant idea. It’s a novel about loss and human nature, and can be quite moving at times. Not in the totally bleak and terrifying way of The Southern Reach Trilogy, but in a more bittersweet way.

If you haven’t tried any of VanderMeer’s books, I really recommend you do. If you’re not a Sci-Fi fan, and you’re scared easily, then you should probably skip them, but otherwise don’t be put off. They’re brilliantly imagined, entirely vivid and unique, and such gripping reads. Borne might be a softer introduction, but I honestly think VanderMeer has earned his place as one of my favourite authors, and I really look forward to more of his novels in future.

Have you read any of VanderMeer’s books? What did you think of them? Do you want to read Borne? Let me know in the comments below!

 

 

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Review: The Maze Runner by James Dashner

The Maze Runner by James Dashner

Genre: Young Adult / Sci-Fi / Dystopian / Apocalyptic

Publisher: Chicken House

My Rating: 

Synopsis: When Thomas wakes up in the lift, the only thing he can remember is his name. He’s surrounded by strangers—boys whose memories are also gone.

Outside the towering stone walls that surround the Glade is a limitless, ever-changing maze. It’s the only way out—and no one’s ever made it through alive.

Then a girl arrives. The first girl ever. And the message she delivers is terrifying.

Remember. Survive. Run.

My Review

I decided to pick up The Maze Runner series after watching the first two film adaptations. I was pleasantly surprised by the first film and, whilst the second wasn’t as good, I still enjoyed it. So, I thought it was finally time I picked up the books.

The Maze Runner tells the story of a group of boys, known as Gladers, who are trapped at the centre of a seemingly unsolvable maze for some inconceivable reason. They have no real, concrete memories, except their names, and must carry on with life with no proper answers. Each month, one new boy is sent to the centre of the maze, known as the Glade, in a lift. They must learn the one rule of the Glade: no one, except the Runners, goes into the maze, especially after dark. At night, the doors to the maze close and the Grievers come out.

Yet, when Thomas turns up, the sense of order within the Glade begins to unravel. I thought the opening was done well; we’re just as confused as Thomas as he travels in the lift, before reaching the Glade and being greeted by a group of unsympathetic boys who won’t really tell him what’s going on, mainly because they don’t know themselves.

The characters were clear-cut from the beginning: curious Thomas, short-tempered Alby, intelligent Newt, innocent Chuck, distrustful Gally, confident Minho. I also realised that the films had been very true to the characters in the books, which was great. There was no worry here of the characters bleeding into one another, where the reader is unable to tell who’s who and who’s talking.

The suspense and mystery is also palpable from the outset. We learn everything as Thomas does, and I thought hints and revelations were dropped just at the right moments to keep you intrigued. I’ve seen some people complain that the beginning lagged, and yes whilst it did take a little while to get to the action, I was enjoying myself just learning about the characters, the dynamics of the Glade, and the mystery of the maze.

In fact, I think seeing the films first enhanced my enjoyment of the book. Like I said, I can see why some people would say the beginning wasn’t pacey enough, but having seen the film adaptation, I knew generally what was coming and was excited to see how scenes from the film panned out in the book, and what differences there were between the film and novel. Also, because I already liked these characters from the films, I didn’t need to learn to like them whilst reading the book.

However, one way in which the novel really fell short was the writing. It was pretty average. There was a fair bit of telling, not showing, and it was just quite clunky; that was obvious from the start. I felt at times the awkward writing bogged down the pace as sentences often didn’t flow well, but a lot of the time I managed to overlook it because of the plot points, which kept me reading.

Also, Thomas was definitely a bit more of a Gary Stu in the novel than in the film. Dylan O’Brien gave Thomas a lot of depth in the film, creating a character that was both confident and unsure. Whilst novel-Thomas was suitably flawed, the way he was a Gary Stu was that he seemed to have all the answers. Boys who had spent years in the Glade would not have thought of the same things as Thomas. In actuality, the author spent a lot of time having Thomas list things and other characters going “tried that”. However, whilst the characters would have “tried that”, they would not have been able to join the dots like Thomas, which felt a little unbelievable at times. Are you telling me no one else had really given that much thought to the WICKED acronym?

In addition, Thomas could also be quite passive. Things would happen to him, rather than him outright causing them. I felt that Thomas was much more active in the films, rather than someone who has things happen to them because they’re special in some way. This was also heightened when Teresa turned up, for reasons I won’t divulge as it’s spoilery, but I’m glad the films left out one particular plot point involving Thomas and Teresa.

However, back to some positives. I did really like the characters. I think Teresa is actually more interesting in the books than she is in the films, although I think Kaya Scodelario is a good actress. In a total contrast to Thomas, novel-Teresa was much more active than film-Teresa. I think Newt is also more passive in the films than he is in the books. In addition, the characterisation of Minho was executed a little better in the books. The same goes for Alby and Newt, and Frypan as well. Gally, however, was a better antagonist in the film adaptation than in the book.

Lastly, I didn’t mind the slang, such as “shuck” and “klunk”. I thought it would annoy me, as I presumed it would be used more in the book than in the film, but it was fine. It was a good way for characters to get their emotions across sometimes as the slang was clearly used in place of swearing, which is often taboo in YA that is marketable to younger teens.

So, overall, I think this was a solid start to the series in terms of plot and characterisation. However, it was definitely let down by average writing, so that knocked a star off the rating. But yes, whilst it was clunky, and some things were just a bit too convenient, I still enjoyed it. I honestly do recommend that maybe you watch the films before you try the books. The first two films are available on DVD, and the third is due out next year. I found, for once, that seeing the films enhanced my enjoyment of the novels.

Have you read The Maze Runner? What did you think of it? Have you seen the film adaptations? Let me know in the comments below!

 

My Top 5 YA Books From My Early Teens

Recently, I’ve been redecorating my room, and in the process I’ve found a lot of old books. Books I read and re-read numerous times in my early teens, when ‘YA’  wasn’t quite yet the booming market that it is today.

The books I loved in my early teens, from about 12-15, seem to have been forgotten about as YA became such a ‘big thing’ and new books flooded the market. The only few books from the 90s and early 00s that seem to have hung on have been Harry Potter and The Confessions of Georgia Nicolson. So, I’m here to showcase some of my favourite YA books from my early teens, and why they shouldn’t just be swept under the carpet.

It’s ten years since the terrible war in the cities that took Kat and Tanka’s parents. A new life in the New Frontier beckons them, far from bullet holes and bomb craters. New Frontier people are building a fresh, liberal society, without the genetic classification and discrimination that led to the war. Kat and Tanka have a beautiful new home, Cherry Heaven, and everything promises them peace and happiness. But Cherry Heaven carries haunting marks of the past, bubbling to the surface in mysterious and frightening ways. 

Cherry Heaven came out whilst I was halfway through Year 8, so when I was almost 13. I didn’t know it at the time, but it was actually the second in a series. However, it read like a standalone and I never really felt confused.

I think I probably picked this one up because I liked the cover, but I’m fairly certain it might just have kick-started my love for all things dystopian. It was a really gripping and exciting read, with complex yet mysterious world-building. I’m not sure why I’ve never picked up the first book or the sequels – maybe because I was young and not too bothered about reading things in order or finishing series – but perhaps that’s something I’ll do now I’m older and at least a little more organised.

For fans of: dystopian thrillers.

Jessica Allendon is bored and Googles her name. Weirdly, she finds another girl, same age, same name, also living in London. They arrange to meet. At the designated time and place, Jess sees the girl, shock registering on both their faces as they realise they look identical. They shake hands and in that instant are catapulted into each other’s worlds. Jessica finds herself somewhere which looks like the London of 50 years ago, but the year is still 2008. In this parallel London, the history is different, key war memorials are missing, and the Jessica whose life she now inhabits was involved in a dark and sinister conspiracy. Jess must convince everyone she is the same girl, at all costs, if she wants to get back to her London – alive.

This is another published in February 2008, and I kept re-reading this all the way until I was 16, I enjoyed it that much. I suppose this is another dystopian-ish YA novel but, just like Cherry Heaven, it’s also a great thriller with some interesting and funny characters.

I can actually still remember much of this book and can still envisage particular scenes, which goes to show how much I enjoyed this one because I can’t even remember what I read two years ago.

For fans of: alternate history thrillers and a witty protagonist.

Sixteen-year-old Gemma has had an unconventional upbringing in India, until the day she foresees her mother’s death in a black, swirling vision that turns out to be true.

Sent back to England, she is enrolled at Spence, a girls’ academy with a mysterious burned-out East Wing. There Gemma is snubbed by powerful Felicity, beautiful Pippa, and even her own dumpy roommate Ann, until she blackmails herself and Ann into the treacherous clique. Gemma is distressed to find that she has been followed from India by Kartik, a beautiful young man who warns her to fight off the visions.

Nevertheless, they continue, and one night she is led by a child-spirit to find a diary that reveals the secrets of a mystical Order. The clique soon finds a way to accompany Gemma to the other-world realms of her visions “for a bit of fun” and to taste the power they will never have as Victorian wives, but they discover that the delights of the realms are overwhelmed by a menace they cannot control. Gemma is left with the knowledge that her role as the link between worlds leaves her with a mission to seek out the “others” and rebuild the Order.

To say I worshipped this series would be an understatement.

My dad actually chose the first book in this series for me. For someone who doesn’t read fiction, he’s strangely good at choosing books.

I can still partly remember the last page of the final book, The Sweet Far Thing, because it was so bittersweet and profound. Not only does this series have great writing, but it has intriguing characters, magical realism and a great romance. Also, this is probably the only book/series on my list that I still see mentioned today in the bookish community.

For fans of: historical fantasy and romance.

The days between Christmas and New Year’s Eve are dead days, when spirits roam and magic shifts restlessly just beneath the surface of our lives.

A magician called Valerian must save his own life within those few days or pay the price for the pact he made with evil so many years ago. But alchemy and sorcery are no match against the demonic power pursuing him. Helping him is his servant, Boy, a child with no name and no past. The quick-witted orphan girl, Willow, is with them as they dig in death fields at midnight, and as they are swept into the sprawling blackness of a subterranean city on a journey from which there is no escape.

I was a big fan of Marcus Sedgwick when I was younger. In fact, practically my whole family was. Me, my mum and my sister all read the Book of Dead Days series. I liked to try and read the same things as my mum and sister when I was younger, which is how I found out about my favourite YA series, Garth Nix’s Old Kingdom series, when I overheard my mum and sister chatting about it and wanted to be involved. The same happened for The Book of Dead Days and Sedgwick quickly became one of my go-to authors in my early teens.

This duology is quite sinister and dark for a YA series, but it’s one reason why I loved it. Not to mention the covers were made of this mottled kind of card and so they even felt creepy. Also, an honorary mention to one of Sedgwick’s other novels, My Swordhand is Singing, for being extremely creepy and helping to kickstart by zombie obsession.

For fans of: creepy historical horror and dark magic.

Ever since she was child, Jem has kept a secret: Whenever she meets someone new, no matter who, as soon as she looks into their eyes, a number pops into her head. That number is a date: the date they will die. Burdened with such awful awareness, Jem avoids relationships.

Until she meets Spider, another outsider, and takes a chance. The two plan a trip to the city. But while waiting to ride the Eye ferris wheel, Jem is terrified to see that all the other tourists in line flash the same number. Today’s number. Today’s date. Terrorists are going to attack London. Jem’s world is about to explode!

Even just thinking about this series gets me pumped up. This trilogy was action-packed and didn’t pull punches. Plus it had POC and biracial main characters, discussed issues like teen pregnancy and drugs, and looked at how the British government can fail young people from poorer areas. Not to mention it featured superpowers, of course.

For fans of: dystopian thrillers (again. Maybe my dystopian obsession did start earlier than I thought) and gritty, raw characters.

Have you read any of these books? What did you think of them? What books did you enjoy when you were younger? Let me know in the comments below!

 

ARC Review: Gilded Cage by Vic James

Gilded Cage by Vic James

Genre: Young Adult / Fantasy / Dystopian

Publisher: Pan Macmillan

My Rating: 

Synopsis: Our world belongs to the Equals — aristocrats with magical gifts — and all commoners must serve them for ten years. But behind the gates of England’s grandest estate lies a power that could break the world.

A girl thirsts for love and knowledge.

Abi is a servant to England’s most powerful family, but her spirit is free. So when she falls for one of the noble-born sons, Abi faces a terrible choice. Uncovering the family’s secrets might win her liberty, but will her heart pay the price?

A boy dreams of revolution.

Abi’s brother, Luke, is enslaved in a brutal factory town. Far from his family and cruelly oppressed, he makes friends whose ideals could cost him everything. Now Luke has discovered there may be a power even greater than magic: revolution.

And an aristocrat will remake the world with his dark gifts.

He is a shadow in the glittering world of the Equals, with mysterious powers no one else understands. But will he liberate—or destroy?

This book was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. It has not affected my opinion of the book in any way.

It’s taken me nearly three weeks to read Gilded Cage. However, that isn’t because I didn’t enjoy it. On the contrary, I loved it, but life just kept getting in the way! This isn’t a book that’s easy to put down, yet I will say that if you do have to put it down for a few days, it’s not difficult to get back into the story and reorient yourself.

That’s all down to the fact that this book is seamlessly written, with an intriguing, fresh plot, a richly woven world, and complex characters. I’d heard great things about Gilded Cage before I started, so I was eager to begin. I definitely wasn’t disappointed.

Let’s start with the plot. In an alternative universe where some members of the population possess the power of magic, these people with ‘Skill’ have mostly ascended to the higher ranks of society. In some parts of the world, they’re shunned, but in Europe they rule over the Skilless masses as a magical elite. The Skilless must serve the elite, known as ‘Equals’, for ten years as slaves.

The story is written from the third person POV of a number of characters, each chapter focussing on a different one, and this gave a great feel for the world, allowing us to see this society from different perspectives, as well as learning more about the motivations of the main characters.

Mostly, the chapters centre on Abi and Luke Hadley, brother and sister. The Hadley family have all signed up to get their slavedays over and done with together. However, the family find themselves split up, with Luke carted off to the slave town of Millmoor, a large, almost Victorian slum-like industrial complex, and the rest of the family – Abi, little sister Daisy, and Mum and Dad – are sent to work for the most powerful Equal family in the country – the Parva-Jardine’s.

I found the chapters in the two locations of Millmoor and Kyneston (the Jardine estate) equally interesting, although perhaps Kyneston piqued my interest a little more. However, the two settings provide a great contrast and really set two different tones. You have the dirty Millmoor, with rumblings of rebellion, and the picturesque Kyneston, where everything isn’t quite as perfect as it seems.

I liked both Abi and Luke as the two most central characters, but I really did enjoy the entire cast as a whole. It’s quite a large cast of characters, all complex and clearly drawn. There are no characters that feel like stereotypes, or like the author just has a check list of stock characters she’s ticking her way through. Instead, even a character such as Bouda Matravers, engaged to Gavar Jardine (Heir to the Jardine estate), could easily have fallen prey to the ‘bitchy girl’ stock character, but she didn’t. Whilst she certainly was bitchy, she had much more depth to her. She was motivated, headstrong and very intelligent. I really enjoyed the couple of chapters from her perspective as, even though I didn’t particularly like her, I admired her ambition.

My favourite characters as a whole though, I would say, are the three Jardine brothers: Gavar, Jenner and Silyen. I liked the complexities of Gavar’s character; initially, he just seems very brutish, when in reality there’s much more to him and he does have a soft side. Silyen, however, was my favourite. The youngest brother, Silyen possesses the most Skill. He’s dark, mysterious and very cunning. Not always likeable, I’ll admit, but I was hanging on his every word and looked forward to scenes involving him. He was definitely one of the best characters I’ve read about this year.

In terms of the writing, I enjoyed the style. It was fresh and didn’t seem like Vic James was trying to emulate any other author. It was often detailed, yet not boring. However, my one small gripe with this novel, though not big enough to affect the rating, is that some events were kind of glossed over. We’d learn about them in passing rather than get to see them. There were a few times where I was a little disappointed I wasn’t privy to this conversation or that event, and would have liked them to be included. However, it may have been that there was a strict word count that Vic James needed to adhere to; YA books aren’t often allowed to be quite long.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed Gilded Cage. This is definitely one of my favourite YA books of the year and I’m really excited to continue with the series, especially because of the climactic ending that, thankfully, didn’t fall flat, and the character of Silyen. Also, as you can see from the blurb, there is a romance, but it didn’t overpower the plot. If, like me, you’re sick of insta-love and cringe-worthy ‘swooning’, you’ll be glad to know that there’s none of that here.

So, if you’re looking for a new YA series to sink your teeth into, especially an interesting, unique dystopian filled with magical realism, then I highly recommend this series. You seriously don’t want to miss out.

Gilded Cage will be released 1st Dec in e-book format, with the paperback out 26th Jan.

Have you read an ARC of Gilded Cage? Are you excited for the release? Let me know in the comments below!

Review: The City of Mirrors (Passage #3) by Justin Cronin

The City of Mirrors (Passage #3) by Justin Cronin

Genre: Science Fantasy / Post-Apocalyptic / Horror

Publisher: Orion, 2016

My Rating: 5/5

Synopsis: The plague that almost ended humanity is finally over. For a new generation, the once-feared virals have begun to seem almost like imaginary monsters, creatures from a fairy tale they no longer believe in.

For Alicia, however, the bad dreams can never be forgotten. And the voice in those dreams is leading her towards one of the great cities of The Time Before. The ruined city of New York.

Ruined but not empty. For this is the final refuge of Zero, the first and most terrible product of the viral experiment. And Alicia knows that the nightmare can never truly be over until he is destroyed.

But what she finds is not what she’s expecting.

An opponent at once deadlier and more human than she could ever have imagined, who takes her on a terrifying journey into the past to learn how it all began.

And to find out how it must end.

My Review

WARNING: This review will contain minor spoilers for the first two books in the series. No major plot points will be revealed, nor information on who lives and who dies. Read on at your own risk. However, this review is spoiler-free in terms of the plot of The City of Mirrors.

I’m so sad to have finished this series. I started reading it back in 2010 when The Passage was first released. I was hooked from the start. At the time I was only 15. Now I’m 21 and this trilogy has remained with me, as well as remaining one of my favourite series of all time.

So, after the events of The Twelve, peace seems to have finally returned to North America. Or so it seems.

Make no mistake, this final book isn’t just a long, drawn-out conclusion tying up a bunch of pointless loose ends. No way. It’s just as poignant, hopeful and exciting as the first two installments, with an abundance of drama and tension.

The Passage was a rip-roaring read, most probably my favourite book in the series. The Twelve was excellent, however I felt it dragged a little in some places. Not enough for me to lose interest, of course, but still slightly slower in comparison. Thankfully though, it was by no means that dreaded filler book that the second novel in a trilogy quite often is; like The Passage, it had its own clear arc and revelations. As such, I like to think of this series as a vampiric The Lord of the Rings. Like The Fellowship of the Ring, The Passage gets the action started. We learn who the main players are and the identity of the main antagonist (Zero here, Sauron in LOTR), but we’re nowhere near close to defeating him yet. Instead, the antagonist of this first book is a lesser player, Babcock in The Passage and the Balrog of Morgoth in Fellowship. Subsequently, the group splits and moves on to the next antagonist, the main villain’s second-in-command. In The Twelve, it’s, well, The Twelve (or rather, the Eleven); the main virals, Zero’s henchmen. In The Two Towers, it’s Saruman, Sauron’s right-hand man. Now that they’ve been defeated, we’re onto the big one, the main villain, the final adversary who has been pulling the strings behind the scenes all along. Zero here is our Sauron, and The City of Mirrors is our The Return of the King.

Now, that’s where the similarities end, of course. No orcs or hobbits, but the The Passage series is no less epic in its own way. Thankfully, the final installment didn’t disappoint. I finished this book with tears in my eyes, barely able to see the last page. It’s a bittersweet book, a culmination of blood, sweat and tears from the characters (and from the author, I suspect). For years, the characters have struggled against the wasteland they inhabit – where the virals roam and Zero watches on – desperate to finally live in peace. The characters’ arcs reached their conclusion in this book, all in a satisfying way. There is an air of destiny in this trilogy and all the characters fulfilled theirs, whether it be good or bad, but I couldn’t argue that it all felt right. Everything about this book seems deliberate. Nothing is rushed or a coincidence. Everything is clearly mapped from the start, all the fates intertwined, and that’s what makes it a joy to read.

However, this series is all about a girl who saves the world, Amy Harper Bellafonte. Does Amy save it? I won’t say, but Cronin has written a remarkable set of characters, with Amy at the centre. This is a series with a huge cast and here we continue with the lives of Peter, Alicia, Sara, Hollis, Michael and Carter, among many other new characters. And we also finally get to know who Zero, aka Dr Timothy Fanning, really is. Somehow, Cronin has managed to create a villain you feel sorry for. Fanning has done terrible things, but in this book you’ll learn why. I could see the logic behind his actions and I pitied him, yet it didn’t excuse what he’d done; it was time for Fanning to give up his hold on the land.

What I’ve always loved about this story is its mix of Sci-Fi and Fantasy. Like I said, there’s a real sense of destiny in these books, a mysticism in its words, coupled with a raw humanity that I loved, and of course the origin of the vampiric, zombie-like virus isn’t wholly within the realm of science. This is a series of death and destruction, love and hate, joy and sorrow, with no punches pulled, but at its core is hope.

The plot of this book is faster-paced than The Twelve, I would say, and still as exciting as both its predecessors. All loose ends are tied up neatly, including the ending. I thought the ending was really well done. There’s nothing worse than getting attached to a series, only for the finale to be anti-climactic and just plain wrong. Thankfully, this trilogy doesn’t fall into that hole. As I said, I finished this with tears blurring my vision, and that was the case for much of the book.

I don’t really know what else to say. This series is brilliant. Complex, tense, exciting, heart-breaking and hopeful, it’s everything you could ask for. These characters are ones that will stay with me for a long time, as will the story itself. However, it’s not truly over. Before even The Passage was published, the film rights for the series were bought. Ridley Scott is the director so I am extremely excited; I don’t think anyone could do a better job at making these books into films than him. So that’s something to look forward to in the future. For now, I’m going to feel sad probably for a whole week, but also happy. It’s bittersweet to finish a series you loved, especially one as good as this, and I can’t recommend it enough.

Have you read this series? Or do you want to start it? Let me know in the comments below!

 

Review: The Stars Never Rise by Rachel Vincent

The Stars Never Rise by Rachel Vincent

Genre: Young Adult / Dystopian / Urban Fantasy

Publisher:  Mira Ink, 2015

My Rating: 4/5

Synopsis: In the town of New Temperance, souls are in short supply and Nina should be worrying about protecting hers. Yet she’s too busy trying to keep her sister Mellie safe.

When Nina discovers that Mellie is keeping a secret that threatens their existence, she’ll do anything to protect her. Because in New Temperance sins are prosecuted as crimes by the brutal church.

To keep them both alive, Nina will need to trust Finn, a mysterious fugitive who has already saved her life once. Wanted by the church and hunted by dark forces, Nina knows she needs Finn and his group of rogue friends.

But what do they need from her in return?

My Review

This is the second book my boyfriend bought me and, whilst Soundless was a flop, The Stars Never Rise was not. This was a thoroughly enjoyable and fast-paced read. There were some flaws, hence the 4/5 rating instead of 5/5, but it was still a fun, and surprisingly mature, book.

This novel is set in the future, 100 years after a war between humans and demons, and the occurrence of stillbirths due to there not being enough pure ‘souls’ to go around. The vast majority of America was ravaged by the war, but big towns and cities survived, protected by high walls and the authority of the Church. The rules of society are strictly upheld and sins severely punished. Sins include anything from blasphemy to fornication. And as if that wasn’t enough to contend with, ‘degenerates’ also roam the badlands, demons occupying decaying human bodies, searching for human flesh and a new human vessel to occupy.

The world-building was really interesting and unique, and I’m excited to learn even more in the sequel. The author doesn’t info-dump all this information either. It’s given to us in drips and drabs, mainly through clever dialogue.

In addition to this, there was thankfully no preaching. Of course, this novel deals with Christianity, yet it doesn’t force any ideas down your throat. There’s no preaching or mention of Biblical stories and figures, or even God for that matter. There’s nothing wrong with having religion in a book, but I was worried this novel might go on and on about the power of God or something like that. However, it also doesn’t insult religion, so people of any faith, or no faith at all, can read this without feeling offended or preached to.

Also, the novel doesn’t gloss over sex and swearing like some YA does. It’s silly to think teenagers don’t engage in these activities or don’t know anything about them, because they do. Nothing is gratuitous and any mention of sex is referred to vaguely, but it’s at least mentioned.

Our story follows the life of Nina. Neglected by a sinful mother, she’s forced to steal in order to care for her sister Mellie. Nina is headstrong and practical; she knows what she needs to do to survive, until the night she meets Finn. One thing I did enjoy about Nina is that she wasn’t overly trusting. Too often, the female protagonist is swept off to safety by a handsome boy and she falls madly in love within about five seconds. Nina, however, after being helped by Finn, keeps trying to bolt. She doesn’t fall straight into his arms and believe every word that comes out of his mouth, which was really refreshing to read. If I was in some dire situation and a boy saved my life, I’d be very grateful, but I certainly wouldn’t fully trust him. I know a character being trusting, or not trusting enough, can be a personality trait, but too often these girls are more trusting than is normal.

Finn himself is an interesting character. He has a particular ‘quirk’ that makes him stand out from other love interests, but I won’t spoil it. At first, this quirk of his was strange to get my head around and put me off a little, just like it does Nina, yet I eventually got my head around it, especially because he’s a very likable character. Witty, caring and confident, he was a love interest I genuinely liked. Too often the male love interests are just as formulaic as the female protagonists. Finn was certainly his own person. However, the romance itself was a little strange, mostly due to Finn’s quirk, but also because of its progression. Yes, Nina wasn’t entirely trusting at the start, yet I did feel like the romance suddenly progressed quickly over the span of about two days. Still, there was no insta-love, with no “I love you’s” being thrown around.

The plot is fast-paced with twists and turns. Some of the twists I worked out early on, others took me by surprise, and the twists keep coming right until the very end. This was definitely a plus point; the plot is never stagnant and neither is the ending, with action going on right to the very last page. Sometimes, endings can just fizzle out, with the action pretty anti-climactic, but here it was done well.

Lastly, the writing was good, successfully building up the tension. The emotion of it didn’t feel forced and it was poetic at times and, as a result, I enjoyed reading from Nina’s POV.

So, overall, it was a quick read with an abundance of action and a refreshing take on the Dystopian genre. The oppressive government being the church made for an interesting spin and there were also multiple layers to the oppression and deceit. This is a book I’d recommend to anyone who enjoys the Dystopian genre but is perhaps fed up of a lot of the current books feeling too similar, especially because this series has the added element of Urban Fantasy.

Have you read The Stars Never Rise? Or any other of Rachel Vincent’s novels? Did you enjoy them? Let me know in the comments below!

 

Review: The Fireman by Joe Hill

The Fireman by Joe Hill

Genre: Apocalyptic

Publisher: Gollancz, 2016

My Rating: 4.5/5

Synopsis: The doctors call it Draco Incendia Trychophyton. But everyone knows it as Dragonscale, an incurable spore that kills its host through spontaneous combustion. A million people have it. There’s a fire on every street corner; hospitals have become funeral pyres. Civilization is disappearing fast into the smoke.

Sunny, unflappable Harper Grayson is newly pregnant when she comes up marked and sure to burn. But her baby might be born uninfected… if she can live long enough to deliver.

Abandoned by her increasingly unhinged husband, hunted by the Cremation Squads, Harper hears a fantastic rumour: the story of The Fireman. He strolls the ruins of New Hampshire, a madman afflicted with Dragonscale who may have learned to control the flames.

In the desperate season to come, Harper will take any risk to find him and learn his secrets – before what’s left of the world goes up in smoke.

My Review

I’d heard a lot of good things about this book and, being a fan of apocalyptic fiction, I was over the moon to find a signed copy in Waterstones. And I have to say, this novel didn’t disappoint.

However, it wasn’t what I expected. The blurb makes it sound like Harper is going to have to travel a dangerous, burning America in search of the mysterious Fireman, when in fact that’s not it at all. This novel goes in a completely different direction to the usual apocalyptic fiction, whereby the hero must travel the country in search of a cure or a lost loved one. The blurb really doesn’t even hint at the depth of this novel and the myriad of sub-plots. There are an abundance of characters as well and this makes for a satisfyingly complicated read. So, when I say it wasn’t what I expected, that certainly doesn’t mean I didn’t like it.

I say ‘satisfyingly complicated’ because I was never confused. The writing style is excellent and reminded me a little of Justin Cronin’s The Passage series (which is brilliant, by the way, and if you haven’t read it go start now!). Just like that series, The Fireman is a pretty hefty book. I think it could have been a little shorter. Some scenes were quite long when they could have been cut down, and others were too short, with one scene especially springing to mind for being too short and maybe a little anticlimactic, almost a slight cop-out. To give you a hint (no spoilers), we spend much of the time in a particular setting and so may of the sub-plots and characters are weaved about this place, and then something happens that means all the loose threads abruptly come to an end but never seem to be finished. However, some continue on afterwards and come to a completion, but I still felt this particular scene could have been done differently, or extended, for a more satisfying conclusion.

But like I said, I really enjoyed the writing style of this book. It was witty, full of action, lots of detail (but without being boring) and hopeful, and so were the characters. Harper, our protagonist, is very well-crafted. You really get a sense that she’s an actual person, out in the world somewhere, rather than just lying flat on the page. She’s caring, compassionate and great under pressure. She grows throughout the book from a loving, but easily walked over, young woman, to a loving, but won’t take no shit from anyone, young woman. I admired her resilience and her obsession with a certain Disney musical was endearing.

My other favourite character was actually a middle-aged woman named Renée. She was funny and determined like Harper, with a real sense of justice. She’s the kind of woman you’d definitely want as your aunt.

The other characters were all well-rounded too, but those were the standout ones for me. Allie, Nick, Don Lewiston, Father Storey and The Fireman himself were all great. I especially liked how the author got an Englishman right! For once, he was referred to as ‘English’ with an ‘English accent’ (even though there isn’t a true English accent as there are so many in this country, but I hate when people say ‘British accent’ because that doesn’t exist! Your typical Welsh, Scottish and Northern Irish accents are extremely different in comparison to your quintessential English accent!). So Joe Hill definitely won brownie points from me.

In addition, some of the ‘science’ was a little fantastical and most probably could not happen in real life, but that’s why we read books, to see the boundaries being pushed, and these ‘fantastical’ elements never felt silly or ridiculous. Instead, they fitted in well with the story and made for a bit of a change from your usual viral outbreak book. The virus is very unique, not just your typical coughing up blood kinda virus you get in the apocalyptic genre, and clearly a lot of thought has gone into setting this book apart as an original addition to the genre.

As for the ending, I thought it was going to be unsatisfactory but thankfully it wasn’t, at least not for me. A little extra scene included as a Coda at the end provided some hope and possibility for something that occurred in the climax, so I was happy.

Overall, my only qualms were that sometimes the scenes were either too long or too short, and one scene in particular was a bit anticlimactic, but other than that I thoroughly enjoyed this novel and highly recommend it. It is pretty long, but it never really feels like it’s dragging, which can sometimes happen with big books. However, there was some of the best characterisation I’ve seen in quite a while so, if you want a really good character-driven book with an excellent story-line to boot, then look no further than The Fireman.

Have you read The Fireman? Or any other of Hill’s books? Do you like apocalyptic fiction? Let me know in the comments!

Waiting On Wednesday: The Burning World (Warm Bodies #3) by Isaac Marion

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted at Breaking the Spine where you showcase which books you’re looking forward to being released.

This week (or rather, for about the past ten billion years) I’m waiting on The Burning World, the sequel to Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion, one of my favourite books of all time!

UK Release Date: 7th February 2017

Now, like I said, it feels like I’ve been waiting on this sequel for the vast majority of my 21 years. In fact, I still haven’t read the prequel novel, The New Hunger, because I’m too worried that it will get me so engrossed in the Warm Bodies world again and then I won’t have anything to read after it for quite a few months. However, now that the release date of The Burning World finally seems within reach, I’m going to give The New Hunger a go sometime soon. It’s only been sitting on my bookshelf for about a year!

Anyway, Warm Bodies is one of my favourite novels. It’s witty, hopeful, heartbreaking and philosophical. The characters are amazing and, in fact, the whole concept is just brilliant. I read it not long after its release back in 2010, 6 years ago now! I then had the film adaptation to sate my hunger for a while and I was pleasantly surprised by how well they adapted it. It took the more lighthearted elements from the novel, and missed out Perry’s monologues with R, which were one of my favourite aspects of the book, but I can’t deny I still really enjoyed the film.

So, obviously Isaac Marion has been working on The Burning World for quite some time, and I’ve witnessed him practically tearing his hair out over it on Twitter, but apparently it’s going to be quite a long book, so there’ll be a lot to appease the fans with after the wait. Fingers crossed it’s just as good as the first book!

Synopsis for The Burning World: 

Being alive is hard. Being human is harder. But since his recent recovery from death, R is making progress. He’s learning how to read, how to speak, maybe even how to love, and the city’s undead population is showing signs of life. R can almost imagine a future with Julie, this girl who restarted his heart—building a new world from the ashes of the old one.

And then helicopters appear on the horizon. Someone is coming to restore order. To silence all this noise. To return things to the way they were, the good old days of stability and control and the strong eating the weak. The plague is ancient and ambitious, and the Dead were never its only weapon.

How do you fight an enemy that’s in everyone? Can the world ever really change? With their home overrun by madmen, R, Julie, and their ragged group of refugees plunge into the otherworldly wastelands of America in search of answers. But there are some answers R doesn’t want to find. A past life, an old shadow, crawling up from the basement.

Have you read Warm Bodies? Did you enjoy it? Are you excited for the sequel? Anyone else think that synopsis just couldn’t get any better?! Let me know in the comments!

Review: Nod by Adrian Barnes

Nod by Adrian Barnes

Genre: Sci-Fi / Apocalyptic

Publisher: Titan

My Rating: 4/5

Synopsis: Dawn breaks over Vancouver and no one in the world has slept the night before, or almost no one. A few people, perhaps one in ten thousand, can still sleep, and they’ve all shared the same golden dream. After six days of absolute sleep deprivation, psychosis will set in. After four weeks, the body will die. In the interim, panic ensues and a bizarre new world arises in which those previously on the fringes of society take the lead. Paul, a writer, continues to sleep while his partner Tanya disintegrates before his eyes, and the new world swallows the old one whole.

My Review

I’m really jealous I didn’t come up with this concept myself because it’s just so interesting. What happens when suddenly the majority of the population can’t sleep? They’re not like insomniacs, who are able to sleep a little, but they cannot sleep at all. I really love this concept and it’s a unique take on ‘outbreak’ books. Who needs a virus when your own body is destroying itself?

We see this quickly decaying world through the eyes of Paul, one of the minuscule few who can still sleep. And when they do sleep, they dream of the same fantastical golden light. Now, I must warn you that this isn’t a novel that gives a lot of answers, so don’t go into this expecting to have everything explained. Instead, this apocalyptic novel is a study of humanity, not a study of science and the unknown.

That’s where the strengths of this novel lie: in its character study of humans. We see the Sleepers attempting to survive in a world that has suddenly gone to the dogs. It’s no longer the sane Sleepers who are in charge, but the insane Awakened. Paul is forced to navigate a world where societal norms and values no longer apply, and where there is danger around every corner.

I thought it was really interesting to have Paul’s partner, Tanya, as one of the Awakened. We meet her as a sane woman and watch her deteriorate, which was pretty bleak. I had a lot of sympathy for Paul; he obviously wants to hang onto Tanya, but Tanya no longer wants to hang onto him, her brain having been overcome by sleep deprivation.

Adrian Barnes has created an interesting set of characters. Charles, a homeless man who finds power in this New World Order. Zoe, a mute little girl who’s oblivious to the decay around her. And the Awakened themselves. I think perhaps their insanity was a little exaggerated for the purposes of the novel, but then again I don’t know much about the psychosis sleep deprivation can cause. However, it was interesting in that this apocalypse had a set time frame. Paul knows that after a month the Awakened will die, their bodies succumbing, and this ramps up the tension as he attempts to survive in a world growing increasingly madder, but with an end goal in sight.

The reason I didn’t give this 5/5 is because I would have liked some answers. Just an answer to one of the questions would be great, but I won’t list them as I don’t want to mildly spoil anything. Also, whilst the writing was good, it wasn’t my favourite style of writing I’ve ever read. Still polished and well thought out, but not entirely my cup of tea.

However, overall, I did enjoy this book. It’s only a short read and an interesting concept so I would recommend it! Just don’t go in expecting all your questions to be answered.

Have you read Nod? Did you enjoy it? Let me know in the comments below!

Book Recommendations: If You Liked That, You’ll Love This #2

I just wanna start this post by quickly saying that I am over the moon to find out I’m gonna be graduating from Royal Holloway with a 2:1 in BA Hons English! So that’s all my stressing over and done with and I have to say it is a huge relief. Now just to become the next JK Rowling and earn my millions…

Anyway, this post is another ‘If you liked that, you’ll love this’. In the same vein as the last post, my recommendation is Sci-Fi/Apocalyptic. So, without further ado:

If you liked Never Let Me Go or Our Endless Numbered Days, you’ll love The Ship

It’s probably about a year and a half since I read The Ship by Antonia Honeywell. There are bits of the plot I’ve forgotten, but other parts have stayed with me. It’s a bleak and mysterious novel, characterised by the innocence and curiosity of a young girl growing up in a harrowing world, much like Peggy in the forest with her father, and Kathy, Tommy and Ruth in their dystopian boarding school. The protagonists in all three novels are forced to make their own way in life, carving a path for themselves in a treacherous landscape.

Lalla in The Ship draws comparisons especially with Peggy in Our Endless Numbered Days. We meet them as children and watch them attempt to traverse adolescence themselves; both inhabit a harsh, dying world; and both have overbearing father’s with a God complex. You can also find my review for Our Endless Numbered Days right here on my blog.

I loved The Ship when I read it and struggled to put it down. The same can be said for Never Let Me Go and Our Endless Numbered Days. And, like both those novels, The Ship has an excellent twist. It’s stark, lyrical and chilling. There’s also romance, but it’s not cheesy and it doesn’t overpower the plot.

So, here’s the synopsis of The Ship:

WELCOME TO LONDON
BUT NOT AS YOU KNOW IT

Oxford Street burned for three weeks. The British Museum is occupied by ragtag survivors. The Regent’s Park camps have been bombed. The Nazareth Act has come into force. If you can’t produce your identity card, you don’t exist.

Lalla, sixteen, has grown up sheltered from the new reality by her visionary father, Michael Paul. But now the chaos has reached their doorstep. Michael has promised to save them. His escape route is a ship big enough to save five hundred people. But only the worthy will be chosen.

Once on board, as day follows identical day, Lalla’s unease grows. Where are they going? What does her father really want?

WHAT IS THE PRICE OF SALVATION?

If you liked Never Let Me Go or Our Endless Numbered Days, I really can’t recommend The Ship enough to fill the hole those books may have left in your life (I know Never Let Me Go definitely left a hole in mine).

Do you agree with my recommendation? Have you read The Ship? Let me know in the comments below!