The Death Cure (Maze Runner Trilogy, Book 3)

by James Dashner

Dedication: "This book is for my mom---the best human to ever live."

First paragraph: "It was the smell that began to drive Thomas slightly mad."

Review: After surviving The Maze Runner  and The Scorch Trials, the remaining Gladers find themselves in WICKED being told that the lies are over, the trials are through and the "subjects" can finally have their memories back. The only problem is, WICKED is still WICKED and some of the Gladers aren't so willing to let bygones be bygones. Is the cure really just days away? What will it take to end the spread of the Flare and how much further is WICKED willing to go to make it happen?

Make sure you've read The Maze Runner and The Scorch Trials before starting this book because there is a lot that takes place in the first two books in this trilogy.

The Death Cure has action, suspense, death, plot twists and loss and finally a few answers to all those questions you probably have.

It's a complex plot that is carried out rather well. Unfortunately, the characters aren't as well developed in this book. I lost any emotional attachment I'd previously established with the characters so when one died I may have thought, "Oh. That's too bad" but it wasn't any more than that - even with more prominent characters. I wanted to feel what Thomas was feeling but it was impossible to feel the loss of his friends' because I just wasn't connected to them like I once was.

While the story wasn't everything I hoped it would be it was still quite the page turner. There were a few plot points that were never really explained but you have to choose your battles and Dashner did answer a lot of things that had been a mystery up until now.

I still have other things to say but all of these thoughts will spoil the plot so I'm just going to stop there and say that this is an enjoyable read and I'd definitely suggest this trilogy if you haven't read it yet.

Click here for James Dashner's website and information on The Kill Order, the PREQUEL to The Maze Runner which will be released in 2012.

Crossed

by Ally Condie

Dedication: "For Ian, who looked up, and started to climb"

First paragraph: "I'm standing in a river. It's blue. Dark blue. Reflecting the color of the evening sky."

Review:  This is the second book in the Matched series. However, before you read any more of my review, I'd highly suggest going out and getting a copy of that book and reading it since I can't really review this book without spoiling at least part of the plot of Matched and this is definitely a series worth reading.

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Crossed picks up right where Matched left off. There is no extensive reintroducing of characters or reminding you of what is going on. I think that's a good thing (unless you had to wait a year for the second book to come out) because I hate reading a series where each book spends the first 50 pages retelling what you really should have already read.

Cassia has been sent to a work camp to help squelch her rebellious attitude that developed after her Match Banquet, or at least that's what The Society believes. Little do they know, Cassia wanted to be sent away - to be given a chance to find where Ky was sent and bring him home. Cassia is cunning, smart and knows it won't be easy so she leaves behind the safety of Xander and her future and teams up with a girl named Indie to set out on the adventure of her life. It doesn't take long to realize she's searching for more than her stolen love - she searching for a rebellion.

 I have an intense love for Utopian society stories. Of course they are never as perfect as they seem and it's always fun to see what the author's imagination can create for the futuristic perfect society. Condie creates the perfect image of this for me. I feel like each detail is carefully thought out and The Society is definitely trying to do good but has lost sight of some of the most important characteristics of a successful leadership. They've decided to bind their citizens to them through lies and deception rather than inspire loyalty through commitment to do good and make the world a better place.

The characters - Cassia, Ky, Xander - are further developed. We get a chance to get to know more about Ky's history. Something I've been dying to discover since I first read Matched back in May. Cassia's development was lacking but I feel like we spent so much time learning about her in the first book that it didn't detract from this story. As for Xander - I still don't know what to think about him. I'm confused. He's a mystery that I think will be discovered in the final book. Even Condie's less prominent characters were developed as much or as little as they needed to be to make this story great.

Finally, I love the strong female role Cassia plays. She relies on others and trusts them as much as someone with her upbringing would trust. She makes her decisions based on this upbringing but she pushes herself harder than normal citizens would and she is determined to right the wrongs she has committed. She's determined to give others the life they deserve and not the one they were assigned.

The only flaw: the final book in the series isn't released until Fall 2012 and this book does not have a satisfying ending! It leaves you with questions that need answering now - not in 8 months from now!

Oh well. Until then you can click here for Ally Condie's official Matched series website.

The Book of Lost Things

By John Connolly

Dedication: "This book is dedicated to an adult, Jennifer Ridyard, and to Cameron and Alistair Ridyard, who will be adults all too soon.

"For in every adult dwells the child that was, and in every child lies the adult that will be."

First paragraph: "Once upon a time--for that is how all stories should begin--there was a boy who lost his mother."

Review: In the middle of WWII, David is struggling with the death of his mother and his father's remarriage. It isn't that Rose is unkind or that she's constantly forcing him to do things he'd rather not--it's just the dilemma many young children face when they feel their parent is being replaced by someone else. It doesn't help when Georgie, David's new half-brother, enters the picture.

Soon, David's precious books start whispering and before long he finds himself in a world where the fairytales he loves to read have come alive. Unfortunately, they all seem to have taken a dark twist from the "Happily Ever Afters" he's always known.

I love a twist on a fairy tale. I don't think there should be one way to tell them. Connolly definitely managed to re-write a few of the stories and I loved that aspect. However, before you go stick this book in front of your child, you should know that this was a dark book.

I started reading it thinking it might be for kids around 12-14+ but by the time I finished I'd upgraded the age to about 16 or 17. In fact, I might even say this is more of a "Adult Fiction with Teen Allure" than a YA Fiction book. My reasoning? This is a nightmare inducing story. It's disturbing and dark and cynical and it takes happily ever afters and says, "Happily ever after means getting eaten really fast". So, pretty much every story ends with someone being eaten. From the Louts (werewolves) to the 30 foot long slimy beast, this is not a childhood bedtime story. But it was a great story. Connolly managed to create a whole new world where every story was tied together into one land. And Rumple- I mean the "Crooked Man" has corrupted the land for his own pleasure and gain.

Excessively gory but well written. Connolly did what all authors should do; he created a world the reader could escape into. Unfortunately, this particular book has the side-effect where the stories may follow you back and become nightmares you'd rather not remember.

Click here for John Connolly's website for The Book of Lost Things.

The Book of Three

By Lloyd Alexander

Dedication: "For the Children who listened, The grown-ups who were patient, and especially for Ann Durell"

First paragraph: "Taran wanted to make a sword; but Coll, charged with the practical side of his education, decided on horseshoes. And so it had been horseshoes all morning long. Taran's arms ached, soot blackened his face. At last he dropped the hammer and turned to Coll, who was watching him critically."

Review: This is the first book in the Chronicles of Prydain and we quickly learn of Taran and his dreams of heroes and adventuring instead of being just a simple Assistant Pig Keeper. What Taran forgets to realize is that heroics is more than slaying dragons and saving damsels in distress. His first realization that it may be less glamorous than expected starts with a bad nights sleep on the ground and quickly becomes a tale of follies and one misadventure after another. But he his nothing if not determined to finish his quest to the end to find Hen Wen, the pig left in his charge.

Along the way he picks up one interesting companion after another and soon the band of travelers prove invaluable to Taran and all the land of Prydain. (One of which pays a marking resemblance to a certain creepy crawly fellow from the Lord of the Rings series).


I was asked to read this book to determine if it was appropriate for a nine or ten year old. Some of the parts are intense, and there is one quick scene where there is mention of men being burned alive inside wicker baskets, but overall it's not too graphic and it avoids going into any great detail about the death that comes with battles. Even the wicker basket scene only got mentioned in half a paragraph or less. As such, this story was definitely written for a younger audience but it was still enjoyable for me. Every good book, according to my husband, starts off with a map. And this book started off with a map so it must be good.

It only took a few hours to read and it was full of action and adventure from start to finish. Taran may have frustrated me at times but I absolutely loved Eilonwy. She was a bit of comic relief and made Taran so much more bearable while, at the same time, absolutely refusing to be a damsel for Taran to rescue. I can't help but love her for that.

I did have a hard time getting past the fact that certain aspects felt like they were stolen right from Lord of the Rings then dumbed down a bit for younger kids. For example, a Gollum character, along with some other situations that I'll avoid mentioning in order to keep from spoiling any of the plot. But if you do decide to read the story I'm sure you'll catch them as well. 

The next book in the Chronicles of Prydain series is The Black Cauldron.

Pride and Prejudice

by Jane Austen

First Paragraph: "It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife."

Review: I'd give you a synopsis of the story but I think every person alive - or at least most - has to know what this book is about. It is, after all, one of the greatest love stories ever written. How Austen managed to do this in 1813 and still make her characters relate-able almost 200 years later is remarkable.

Other than that, I don't think there is much to be said about this book other than, "Why did it take me 26 years to read it?" I get that I had to learn how to read first so the first few years of life are excused. But I remember reading Sense and Sensibility in High School and loving  it. I should have known this book would be no different.

Now, the only thing left to do is go rent the BBC movie again from the library.

The Hunt of the Unicorn

by C.C. Humphreys

Dedication: "To Aletha, Tamer of Unicorns"

First paragraph: "Thunderstorms rumble nearer, the air charged with static, as sticky-hot as only a New Orleans night can be. Arcana knows that the werewolf is going to come. She prays that all the precautions she's taken are not in vain. Prays that he's brought the goal of her quest---

'Elayne?'"

Review: Elayne is struggling to come to terms with reality as she watches her father's health steadily decline due to the cancer that plagues his body. Trying to imagine life without him is impossible. So, when her father starts to tell her about their family history, she can't help but be skeptical. Unicorns and Manticores only existed in fairytales and her life was anything but a fairytale.

Or so she thinks.

This book was a fun read. The first part of the book was great; I couldn't put it down. Then something happened and it lost that edge and fell into a lull. Luckily, I kept reading because it definitely picks back up and I felt the story rewarded me for persevering until the end.

Some of the fantastic beasts Humphreys described were beyond my comprehension but it was still a fun story about a land beyond this one. And, in a weird way, it almost makes sense. No wonder we have stories about Unicorns and three-headed-dogs, they used to travel from our world to theirs before the doorways were sealed forever.

I did get a sense of an agenda at a few points in the book but I'm not against taking care of our planet so it didn't bother me too much.

My only real complaint is that Mormons don't have multiple wives and I hate it when authors (even jokingly) throw that into their stories. It's probably silly to be so bothered by it but lots of people, more than I could possibly imagine, actually believe it when they read seemingly innocent sentences like the one I found in the story.  I'm sure most people wouldn't even notice that sentence or think twice about it but ... it bothered me.

Other than that small and albeit pretty petty complaint this was a fun book to read and I would highly recommend it to the unicorn lovers or the fantasy readers out there.

Three stars to The Hunt of the Unicorn.

Click here for C.C. Humphreys' website for The Hunt of the Unicorn.

The Ghost's Child

by Sonya Hartnett

Dedication: "For Julie Watts"

First paragraph: "One damp silvery afternoon an old lady came home from walking her dog and found a boy sitting in her lounge room on the floral settee. The boy hadn't been invited, so the old lady was surprised to see him. It wasn't a large boy, and he looked annoyed and bored, as if he had been waiting for her for some time. The lounge room was cold, and the tip of his nose had turned softly pink, which made the old lady feel sorry for him. 'You should have lit the fire,' she said, and pressed a button and twisted a dial, causing flames to jump up like cancan dancers inside the silver chest of the heater. Her guest didn't answer, but looked more aggrieved: being a boy of a certain age, he had a taste for suffering manfully, and preferred not to be given advice. 'Would you like a cup of tea?' she asked him. 'I'm about to make a pot.'"

Review: An old woman arrives home one day to find a boy waiting on her floral settee. As they visit over tea, she tells the stranger of her life long ago, when she was known as Maddy and longed for a future as enchanting as a fairy tale. In her story, young Maddy falls desperately in love with Feather, a boy "tousled and tameless as a flash of lightning," and they live happily in a little cottage by the sea. But one day Feather doesn't come home, and Maddy must follow him on a fantastical journey across the waves, seeking the answer to a burning question.

I was about 70 pages in and I thought I knew exactly what my review would say: "Boring". But once Maddy quit describing every little thing that she had seen or experienced at different points in her young childhood (and I'm talking pages of things listed one after the other) it got better.

This still wasn't a fascinating read by any means but there were things that I connected with, the imaginings of a young girl trying to make her life into a fantasy. And that is exactly what Maddy's life was--half fairy tale and half reality.

I think my favorite part was how difficult it was to discern which parts were her imagination and which parts really happened.

My only other complaint is the passage of time. There are parts when I could have sworn 4 or 5 years had passed with all the things they were doing and how she described the time passing and then suddenly it's only a year later.

That sort of things rips me out of the story. It's hard to be immersed in something when you can't get a grasp on how quickly things are unfolding.

I wouldn't really suggest this book to anyone. If you happened to be bored and grabbed it at the library because the book cover looked interesting, then you might as well give it a shot but ...I've read much better.

Oh, also. I think the title is sort of a huge spoiler alert - which I don't find to be a good thing. Or maybe I'm just brilliant and no one else will figure it out.

Library Dilemma

The book I want to read currently has 546 holds. .... Oh the joys of using a big city's library system.