Audio Book: Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi

Description:

Juliette hasn’t touched anyone in exactly 264 days.

The last time she did, it was an accident, but The Reestablishment locked her up for murder. No one knows why Juliette’s touch is fatal. As long as she doesn’t hurt anyone else, no one really cares. The world is too busy crumbling to pieces to pay attention to a 17-year-old girl. Diseases are destroying the population, food is hard to find, birds don’t fly anymore, and the clouds are the wrong color.

The Reestablishment said their way was the only way to fix things, so they threw Juliette in a cell. Now so many people are dead that the survivors are whispering war– and The Reestablishment has changed its mind. Maybe Juliette is more than a tortured soul stuffed into a poisonous body. Maybe she’s exactly what they need right now.

Juliette has to make a choice: Be a weapon. Or be a warrior.

My Review:

Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Listening to this book was like listening to someone on the brink of insanity. Poor Juliette hasn’t seen anyone or spoken to anyone for almost a whole year.  Shea hasn’t been purposely & safely touched anyone and vice versa, in almost 17 years.  So overall, it isn’t a surprise if she is on the verge of a psychotic break.  I think the fact that she hasn’t is a testament to her strength. 

Overall, Juliette is an okay character.  She is a wounded, almost broken, creature.  You can’t help but sympathize with her.  But as the story progresses, it is nice to see her start growing a backbone and showing/ using her strengths and powers to make life better for those around her. 

Adam, the boy who loved and remembered, is a deep well that I don’t think we will know it all.  He holds many secrets, a good many that have to do with Juliette.  I wonder if we will find out more about him, of if he will still remain partly a mystery. 

Now let me have a moment to vent about Warner… Ugh!  No matter how good looking, rich and powerful you are, evil is evil, crazy is crazy.  It is just that simple!  I don’t like him; I think he is a deranged boy who has more issues that we even know.  I don’t even understand how there are some readers/bloggers/reviews who actually like him?!?!?!?!?!? So this is what the twilight zone feels like!

This dystopian novel has its good points and its bad points.  I liked the characterizations and the reasons for the society, but it bothers me the cliché way the author uses to make a love triangle.  Honestly, no love triangle is needed.  I think there is enough drama with Juliette’s curse/gift to not warrant it. 

Overall, I found it to be a poor book choice for an audio book.  An example of this is how the book is written in a semi-diary format.  Reading the book, you would see the words marked out.  Unfortunately, you can’t see things in audios.  So what they do is make a scratching noise to let you know what is happening.  A bit of an issue, as at first I thought that my audio book was skipping, especially when the same words/phrases were repeated and scratched out.

An issue with the book:  I had a problem with the flow of the novel.  It was struggle to read it/listen to it, because the flow was inconsistent and was just like someone having a mental break down. 

I’d love to tell you more, but I’m holding off, as I don’t believe in Spoilers!

Overall, I think this was a good book, but I highly recommend that you read it in written format rather than listening to it.

Happy Reading!

Cana

The Immortal Rules by Julie Kagawa

Description:


"In a future world, vampires reign. Humans are blood cattle. And one girl will search for the key to save humanity."Allison Sekemoto survives in the Fringe, the outermost circle of a vampire city. By day, she and her crew scavenge for food. By night, any one of them could be eaten.

Some days, all that drives Allie is her hatred of "them." The vampires who keep humans as blood cattle. Until the night Allie herself is attacked--and given the ultimate choice. Die...or become one of the monsters.

Faced with her own mortality, Allie becomes what she despises most. To survive, she must learn the rules of being immortal, including the most important: go long enough without human blood, and you will go mad.

Then Allie is forced to flee into the unknown, outside her city walls. There she joins a ragged band of humans who are seeking a legend--a possible cure to the disease that killed off most of humankind and created the rabids, the mindless creatures who threaten humans and vampires alike.

But it isn't easy to pass for human. Especially not around Zeke, who might see past the monster inside her. And Allie soon must decide what--and who--is worth dying for.


My Review:

The Immortal Rules by Julie Kagawa

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

In a post-apocalyptic world, there are 3 things that you know for sure:  1. The vampires only care for the humans because they are the only form of food a vampire can survive on; 2. Outside of the Vampire Cities, there is nothing but wilderness and the Rabids; 3. It is always better to die than become a rabid. 

To me, the Rabids (a mutated form of vampire) is like a zombie that is infected with rabies.  They stay away from water, a bite (if they don’t eat you first) will make you a Rabid and this includes any animal they bite too.  And their never ending thirst is only surpassed by their loss of humanity.

The interplay between Zeke and Allie and the interplay between Allie’s human side and her vampire side are very interesting.  They definitely give a certain flow to it that you can’t help but get caught up in.  You wonder if they could make it work?  What is Zeke going to do when/if he discovers that Allie is no longer human.  What about the rest of the group and what they might think once they realize who and what Allie is?  Agh!  It just keeps you thinking.

I loved the discoveries that Allie made.  First, by finding out who the vampire who “saved” her by Turning her really was.  Second, what was actually outside the Vampire Cities.  Third, who Jeb was, and why he was running.  And finally, who she really was (my favorite).

I think it is a wonderful turn on the vampire myth.  Putting it into a dystopian world, what would happen and how we as humans might respond is very important towards our survival.

The only thing that bothered me was the ending.  It is so open. Will she survive?  Will Eden discover a cure for Rabidism?  What will happen to Kanin?  What will happen with Jackal?  AGH! Again with the questions!

This is the first book that I’ve read by Ms. Kagawa.  I thought it was remarkably well done, and I enjoyed it thoroughly.  I look forward to reading more by her.  I highly recommend this book!

Happy Reading!


Cana

Winter of Fire by Sherryl Jordan

Description:

Elsha is one of the Quelled: a branded people, doomed always to mine coal to warm the ruling class, the Chosen. But Elsha has strange visions that set her apart - and a strong spirit that condemns her to death. Her life is saved when she is called to be Handmaiden to the Firelord, the most powerful being on the planet. Elsha is the first of her kind ever to be so honored - and both the Chosen and her fellow Quelled are stunned. But her powers and visions grow ever stronger, even in the face of extreme prejudice. Yet Elsha must learn the hard way that you can't play with fire without getting burned.

My Review:

Winter of Fire by Sherryl Jordan

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Let me first say how much I love this book.  I first read this book when I was in 8^th grade.  I read it so much that the cover and pages fell apart.  Since then I still read this book over again, especially if there are major changes in my life.  So because I love this book so much, let me tell you why.

This book is set in an earth that has lost the sun.  It still exists, but because of pollution, and maybe even a natural disaster or two, the cloud cover prevents any sunlight from reaching the earth.  This of course causes another ice age.  In the process of this, the world divides into two groups: The Chosen and the Quelled.  The Chosen are the highest of people, considered to be the Chosen of God. The Quelled are people marked with brands and forced to work in mines and to toil in other ways for the Chosen.  In this dystopian society, one Quelled called Elsha is raised to a postion that no Quelled would have ever dreamed of: She became the Handmaiden to the Firelord. 

I love this story because it tells a story of hopes and dreams, and of love.  Elsha has dreams of a better life, a life where she can be free of the curse of being Quelled, of being able to be free.  She dreams of how the earth might have been, what the world would be like with sunshine and green plants.  It is a story of love between Elsha and the fire stones, Elsha and the Firelord, and Elsha and the men who become so important in her life. 

Throughout this whole story, you can’t help but want it all to work out.  I cheered her through her trials, and cried as she did through her losses.  Even though I have never experienced what she has, I can’t help but feel a connection. 

I think what made this book the best was that there was a semi-resolution.  Everything wasn’t completely fixed, but it was on its way.  There is no hope for a second book, there is no need.  It ends with the hope of the unknown, just like with life.

I highly recommend this book. 


Happy Reading!


Cana