Tuesday, November 14, 2017

"Warcross" by Marie Lu (UPDATED)


Warcross by Mari Lu is teen science fiction that had my head spinning trying to figure out how everything worked.  This is about a worldwide, popular virtual reality game with tournaments that people actually attend!  Emika Chen is what is referred to as a bounty hunter who helps the cops capture bad guys, primarily ones who illegally bet on Warcross games.  She is a hacker who got an offer to work for the creator of Warcross, Hideo Tanaka, to figure out who was sabotaging his security system for the games.  Emie lives in NYC, travels by skateboard, has a big debt and is being kicked out of her apartment for not paying rent when she gets his offer.  She accepts and her life changes completely!

I liked this book, but there is a lot of things I really don't understand about how all this advanced technology works.  Sometimes it seems as though the players are physically in the game and other times as though it is their avatar playing.  This is fast-paced and very interesting, but a lot of things just didn't make sense to me.  I like Hideo and think Emie should stick with him, but have a feeling she is going to defect to the other side.  I like his big invention too!
(Karen's review, 4 stars)

Gerard's review, 11/8/17, 5++ stars:
Warcross by Marie Lu is about the game played worldwide called Warcross.  It is an obsession to most people.  When one young down on her luck girl, Emika, hacks into the opening game of the tournament, she becomes known to all.  When she gets a call from the game's creator, she does not know what will happen to her.

Teaser from page 10:  I fire the stun gun once more, this time at close range.  It hits true.  His body goes rigid, and he collapses on the pavement, trembling.

Marie Lu knows how to write and it is on full display with this book!  I was engaged from the get go!  Emika is a great character and it was a joy to follow her.  There is good action and an ending that leaves everything up in the air!  Do not miss it!!

See our review of the sequel:  Wildcard

Have you read this one? What did you think of it? If you reviewed this too, feel free to share your link to your review in the comments. To find books on a specific topic, scroll to the bottom and click on the topic you want. Happy Reading!

Saturday, November 11, 2017

"Turtles All the Way Down" by John Green

In Turtles All the Way Down by John Green, Aza is a young 16-yr.-old girl who is consumed by her own thoughts.  She and her best friend, Daisy, decide to investigate the disappearance of a billionaire.  There is a reward if you find him!

It took me a while to get into this because at first it was kind of girlish!  That being said, Aza and Daisy were fun to follow!  The story line was so-so, but the writing kept me wanting to keep reading.  I liked it and think it is well worth reading. 
(Gerard's review, 4+ stars)

Have you read this one? What did you think of it? If you reviewed this too, feel free to share your link to your review in the comments. To find books on a specific topic, scroll to the bottom and click on the topic you want. Happy Reading!

Friday, November 10, 2017

"Caroline--Little House, Revisited" by Sarah Miller

Caroline by Sarah Miller is about the Ingalls family and their move from Wisconsin to Kansas and their time in Kansas during the late 1800s. This book is told from Caroline’s point of view. She is the mother of two girls, Mary who is 5 and Laura who is 3. She is pregnant with a third during her trip to Kansas and has Carrie while in Kansas on the prairie. This book is closer to the actual historical account than the Little House on the Prairie books. In this book, the only characters that appear besides the Ingalls family is Mr. Edwards.

This book is historical fiction that gives a very clear picture of what pioneer life was like. It is slow moving but has lots of emotional scenes. I think women would definitely enjoy it more than men. I thought it was nice revisiting the Ingalls family again and learning more about Carolyn.
(Karen’s review, 3 stars)


Have you read this one? What did you think of it? If you reviewed this too, feel free to share your link to your review in the comments. To find books on a specific topic, scroll to the bottom and click on the topic you want. Happy Reading!

Tuesday, November 7, 2017

"Deep Freeze" by John Sandford

In Deep Freeze by John Sandford, a local woman has been found dead, frozen in a block of ice!  The town is small and everybody knows everybody's business.  Virgil, a detective, is familiar with this town and is back again to try to find the killer.

Teaser from page 9:  "Come on, Gina, get up"--but the fact was, Gina Hemming was deader than the aforesaid deer, looking up at him with half-open blank gray eyes.

I thought this book was just okay.  The story line was good enough; however, some parts of the book dragged.  The ending was a bit anti-climactic.
(Gerard's review, 4 stars)

Have you read this one? What did you think of it? If you reviewed this too, feel free to share your link to your review in the comments. To find books on a specific topic, scroll to the bottom and click on the topic you want. Happy Reading!

Sunday, November 5, 2017

"Scythe" (Arc of a Scythe #1) by Neal Shusterman Was Even Better Than We Expected


In Scythe by Neal Shusterman, there is no war, no disease, and nobody goes hungry in the world.  The only problem is overpopulation!  That is where being a scythe comes into play.  You fix that problem.  Citra and Rowan are both picked to try to be a scythe, but do not want any part of it!  However, to decline is not in their best interest.

This book was way better than I thought it would be.  Citra and Rowan are both really good.  The story flows well and the twists and turns are well done to say the least!  Do not miss this one--it's a must read!  I look forward to book 2.
(Gerard's review 10/30/17, 5++ stars)

Teaser from page 29:  But a perfect world needs no improvement.  Like most everything else we do, education, from grade school through the highest of universities, is just a way to keep us busy.

We both also liked Unwind by this author too and also recommend that one.


(Karen's review, 5 stars:  LOVED THIS BOOK!  SO GLAD I READ IT!)
Scythe by Neal Shusterman is about a utopia future where humanity has overcome disease, aging, crime, and natural death.  Government has been replaced with the Thunderhead that makes sure everyone in the world has what they need.  It watches everything that happens and stores people's memories.  (Anyway, guess we'll find out more about the Thunderhead in book two.)  People can still get hurt, but what normally would kill someone like falling 12 stories from a window now makes them "deadish."  They can be taken to a revival center where they get good as new in just 2-3 days and get delicious ice cream when they wake up.  Since there is a problem of overpopulation, a special group called Scythes do the service of "gleaning" people on a random basis.  Gleaning is just a nice word for legalized killing.  The Scythdom have their own set of laws they must follow.  When Citra and Rowan are chosen by Scythe Faraday to become his apprentices on the road to becoming a scythe, both reluctantly accept for different reasons.  Scythes have power not only to take life, but also to grant immunity from being gleaned to people and Scythe's families have immunity as long as the Scythe lives.

I was very intrigued by this book.  It is well written and very thought provoking with several twists tossed in that really shocked me!  I loved this book so much, I think I will actually re-read it just to make sure I didn't miss anything.  Citra and Rowan come from very different backgrounds but are both smart, moral and find themselves in difficult situations.  I also liked all the humor, some of which made me actually laugh out loud, and really cool things in this book like being able to "turn the corner" and go back to being any age you want, having years named after animals, and having healing nanites so wounds can heal themselves.  I highly recommend this to older teens or adults who like thought provoking books about the future.  This is one of my top 2 favorites of the year, the other being Queen of Blood by Sarah Beth Durst.  


SPOILER ALERT - STOP HERE IF YOU HAVEN'T YET READ THIS BOOK.  IF YOU HAVE, I'D LOVE TO HEAR YOUR THOUGHTS ON THESE QUESTIONS:

(1)  Exactly how did Scythe Faraday fake his own death and how did Scythe Curie know about it?

(2)  Why did Citra's fingers turn really cold when Scythe Faraday let her try on his ring, but when Scythe Goddard gave his ring to Rowan to take over giving immunity to the loved ones of those they gleaned, nothing happened.  Nor did anything happen when Rowan put it on after decapitating Scythe Goddard (which I really liked by the way).  I thought it was funny he put it in the dirty water bowl at the monastery.

(3)  I thought the ending was fantastic and was so happy it didn't end with a cliffhanger as to which one was chosen or stop before knowing if the winner gleaned the loser.  What did you think about the ending?

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