Catching Fire

Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Gosh what a good sequel to The Hunger Games!

The first part is accused of being dull, but I find it highly amusing and a key to Katniss life back in district Twelve. Plus, we get to see Gale again and Katniss trying to figure out her feelings for Peeta and Gale. (I hope she chooses Gale!)

But anyway, the book was exciting, a read beyond astonishing. I just couldn't put the book down. It was highly amusing and hilariously ironic, especially during the parts when Katniss was with her stylists who were crying all over her when she was the one going in to be slaughtered. But anyway, I was in shock when they announced the event for the Quarter Quell. I mean, a fight to the death among victors, how cool is that?! Can it get any better, drama and action wise? Goodness gracious it was amazing. I could picture it all in my head. Wow. I couldn't wait for these Hunger Games to begin, not because of morbid entertainment. It's more to know the outcome of the games since the Capitol wants only one winner this time.

The arena was quite a surprise as well, nothing I envisioned before. The great thing about Collins is her never-ending surprises. When you think you have everything figured out, BAM, it's not what it is, but much better than you thought. Thank you Mrs. Collins for being so freaking awesome. I can picture myself reading this book again.

Katniss forms alliances. I especially like Finnick. I can picture him perfectly, a diver's body (blame it on the Olympics. I swear divers have the sexiest body type in all the sports). But anyway, I was very proud when several districts decided to team up to protect Katniss, the symbol of revolution.

And then there's Peeta. I found I could stand him better during this book. I guess it's because he is less naive about Katniss feelings for him. I am anxious to know what will happen to Peeta and Gale and Katniss. I'm selfish, but I really want to know who she'll choose (if any of them is alive after whatever happens during and after the third installment).

Then there is the romanticism in the whole story: a symbol of rebellion rising above the tyranny and cruelty. Everybody revolting against their oppressor, risking their life for that ideal greater than themselves to ensure a better and safer future for their children. It's very inspiring, and a trademark among young adult fiction. In my opinion, it's uprising against a political regime that squanders their minions, and at the head of the revolution is Katniss, a girl who won the Games because of her wit and bow and arrows.

Oh Katniss, may the odds be ever in your favor.

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The Hunger Games

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Wooo hooray! I finally finished reading this book, after much nagging from my friends to read it. I watched the movie and thought it was thrilling and exciting. However, after my friends recommended the book I refused. First of all, it is written in present tense, something I've come to abhor due to other young adult novels out there (Water for Elephants, Divergent, among others). I shuddered. But then I thought, "I am a fan of Katniss Everdeen." Okay, maybe I should give it a try, for Katniss.

Oh boy, I didn't even pay that much attention to the way the book was written or how it was structured. All I wanted was Katniss. Katniss, Katniss, Katniss! *the crowd goes crazy* She is the best YA heroine out there! Followed closely by Cinder (as of yet). There are several reasons why I like Katniss. First of all, she's a survivor. She loves the forest. She loves her little sister Prim. And she is really adept and skillful with bow and arrow. What else can you ask? I wasn't bothered by her scowling. I thought it was pretty cool and defined her as a character. She is completely in my liking :))) She was the one with the pants in the family, very independent and rational. She can take care of herself.

Now Peeta, on the other hand, is almost complete opposite to Katniss. He might be as brave and strong as her, but in a different way. Not very appealing or striking to me. He was quiet, reserved, extremely naive, and useless! Ugh, I can't even start recounting my dislike that he survived because Katniss nursed him back to health. She hunted for him, she protected him. That is why I like her and Gale more than her and Peeta. Whenever Peeta leaned in to kiss Katniss, I cringed. I knew she did it for the Games, I could managed that. But he's so naive as to believe that she really loves him. Utterly disgusting. Sometimes I wished Katniss would just tell him she's doing it because it means survival. Cold-hearted Katniss. I like you so much. And you're such a skilled hunter!

Okay, now for the content of the book. Very original and dystopian theme. I found I really liked it. However, I could not completely buy the reason for the Hunger Games to exist. It seemed very shallow that the Capitol would require the districts to offer a child as tribute to fight for the death. I mean, it's very entertaining and all, but I cannot find it all rational. The developments in the arena were awesome, real fun, and very intense!

Okay, I must confess first that I watched the movie before reading the book. So I kinda knew beforehand what the book was about and what scene would follow. Although the movie does offers some new perspectives, perspectives that are not solely centered on Katniss (due to how the book is written). I actually had uneasiness when I went to sleep last night (at 1:30 AM) after reading what had happened to the other tributes (mutts) and Cato. It was disgusting and terrifying. But oh well, it was a good book.

Though not my favorite, it's fairly above just liking it.

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Kill Me Softly

Kill Me Softly by Sarah Cross
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Kill Me Softly started really strong and intriguing. I was immediately drawn to Mira from the beginning. I started seeing the correlations between the different characters and the fairy tales I thought they embodied. This book is an amazing take on fairy tales and making them fit into our modern life. Warning: this book is NOT the Disney-fied fairy tales, but rather, Brother Grimm's sort of thing. It was amazing, pure genius, and absolutely mesmerizing.

First off, the characters are fleshed out very well. Everybody is extremely likable, especially Blue (in the beginning), Freddie, and Viv. Well, everybody. These teenagers had a very funny way to view life and their fate. They even had spare time to joke about it! And Mira was all new to this and very confused. I loved her boldness to leave everything behind and search for what she was looking for: who she was in this world.

Beau Rivage was spooky, with all these fairy tale characters walking about. I loved Cross' interpretation of fairy tales and how she adapted it in the real world. Very original!

Even though I liked this book, enough to give it a five, I cannot. There are some things that knocked some stars down:

1. There is no conclusion to many of the major questions that are bugging my mind and I cannot seem to NOT MIND IT!
* First of all, Mira's whole trip to Beau Rivage was to become acquainted with the place she was born, to find her parents' tomb. Felix helped her. Her parents are not dead. Her fairy godmothers confessed they were not dead. And yet, we get no conclusion with this little issue. I really want to know where the parents are, how they are. I don't want a promise that Mira will meet them, but she already has a home.

* Freddie. Poor Freddie. I feel very sorry for him. Especially the way Mira treats him. He kissed her, he gave her back life, he is her prince in her fairy tale. Okay, first in my defense, I do believe in the "not everything is fate, you can overcome fate" shit. I do believe in it. However, Mira is being a bit unfair to Freddie when she's off with Blue (now with his curse softened) kissing him and whatnot. I don't think Freddie would be stupid enough not to notice that Mira loves Blue. And I hope Blue is not enough of a jerk to hurt his best friend.

*Blue. Oh Blue, I really enjoyed your character in the beginning of the book. Why did you had to fall in love with Mira.

*Felix. Okay, Felix leaves nothing undone. Then, where the hell is he. Just when I thought that Felix would want revenge because Mira's curse fell on her, hence he had undone business, the book ends. No conclusion to Felix either!

2. Oh goodness, I had high expectation for this book, especially when it was off with a GREAT start! I was really afraid that the ending would be bad, that something would ruin everything good and awesome about this book. And it did, very slightly. I didn't like the ending. Blue;s curse sounded like impending doom. He had to die, sacrificed himself, go against his curse. Mira wished to soften his curse. It worked out. Now Mira had set Blue free. And what does Blue does (or at least, the book implies it) he decides to stay. With Mira. Gosh, I would hailed the book if Blue had just gone the other way: happy, free of the curse and free to love anyone he wanted. All thanks to Mira.

Damn.


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The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

There are many remarkable things in this book which makes me cry, laugh, anger, and hope. The main issue tackled by this book was slavery. We're introduced to memorable characters, among them: Huck Finn, Jim (who is a black slave), the duke and the king (hilarious characters), and of course Tom Sawyer (I love that kid to death!)

This book mainly deals with the adventures of Huck Finn, who became rich (alongside with Tom Sawyer) after uncovering Injun Joe's treasure (from the Adventures of Tom Sawyer). Both kids are rich. An old lady decides to adopt Huck and civilize him. Huck's father comes back to make matters worse, and takes Huck away! I was so scared during those moments, fearing for his life. Especially when his father was drunk and started chasing Huck around with a butcher knife. Not fun stuff at all.

But Huck is all but helpless, he is very ingenious, though he lacks the Tom's style, as he claims most of the time. Huck's from the practical lot. He embarks on adventure after feigning his own death. He encounters Jim. They travel along the Mississippi River (and I liked every aspect and moment of their trajectory). They met the duke and king, whom in the end received the licking they deserved after tricking all those people. Many adventures, adventures I'm sure Tom Sawyer has not experience, only in his imagination. It was an amazing book!

Some things I loved:
The humor, especially by the nonsensical things that the duke and the king said just so we would believe they were king and duke.
And of course, Tom Sawyer's re-entrance in the novel at the end, planning the escape of Jim and doing all these fantastic things that prisoners in novel do and trying to apply it to poor Jim. It was just too hilarious!

I didn't enjoy very much the king and the duke's scam, especially from that nice family of three daughters. I was angered when Huck finally could escape and the town would know they were traitors. I was close to tears when they reappeared running after the boat. It's not something a didn't enjoy, per se, but was uncomfortable with. I felt for Huck.

It all ended well in the story. I had my share of tears and laughs (oh, tons of it).

Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn immortalize the Mississippi River. Both of them are unforgettable and memorable characters! :)

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The Fault in Our Stars

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

OH HOLIEST OF CRAP, THIS BOOK EXCEEDED ALL MY EXPECTATIONS!!!

This is when I flap and yap like a bird, or a creature who does that, because honestly, I cannot stop! This book is astonishing, mesmerizing, tantalizing, sad, happy, lovely, comical, and emotionally deep all in one.

*flips non-existent long hair* honestly Mr. John Green, however do you manage to create such good stories and extremely witty, smart-asses, intellectual characters who are also very comical? It's like your gift right? I mean, these teenagers whom you portray in your book are very rare, or completely non-existent. But the comical aspect of them keeps me liking them and pardoning their sassy and book-quote-smart mouths.

Anyway, onto the story. It was lovely, the love was so awkward and tender. Like, honestly, it's the first story I read about two protagonists with cancer falling in love. I mean, that was amazing! This book brought wide grins and tears all in one. It was very beautiful. John Green writes beautifully. I mean, it's prose high on poetry. Perfect combination!!!

The eulogies were devastatingly beautiful (Augustus) , comical (Isaac's), and deep (Hazel). I am happy Mr. Green did not settled for a all-happy-ever-after ending for the book. That would have sucked prime time. I was sad for the event that happened in the ending, but it was the best possible ending imaginable.

What I liked the most of this book was the exploration of death and side-effects of dying, which I'm sure most of us have been thinking or considering or whatever. I've had thoughts just like Augustus and Hazel, maybe at some point every teenager has them, dunno. But it's beautiful to be able to discern and care about things like this.
Loosely quoted from the book: sometimes the universe just wants us to care, and we want the universe to care too.

Okay, on another note: John Green, he's my newest, unreachable crush. He has such and amazing storytelling ability. His writing is so intellectual, witty, entertaining, enlightening, deep, engaging, hilarious, and SO crudely honest. He's my favorite contemporary writer -that is, contemporary meaning alive, like this decade, like now. Hands down to Mr. John Green. He is just pure awesomeness.

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Cinder

Oh, I loved this one :D

Cinder by Marissa Meyer
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I finished this book at dawn and I was gawking every minute of it. This was unbelievable, amazing, truly entertaining and interesting. First of all, hands down on a world where cyborgs and androids exists, let's not forget about the Lunars! Ugh, how I hated Levana. A disease that is plaguing the world, an imminent war about to take place if the whims of a queen are not met, and the young love that befalls our two protagonists.

I started reading this book with low expectations and this is the reason: I am wary of books set in dystopian settings, particularly science fiction mixed with fantasy books because I've had terrible experience with them. Therefore, I wasn't expecting this book to be a killer, or a five-star rating. However, as I started reading I got excited, my expectations escalated (though something in the back of my mind urged me to pull back in case I was met with disappointment). Somewhere during the middle section of the book, I was nervous if I continued reading, especially since the book was so strong that any mistake would be fatal towards my automatic hatred and disappointment. Gladly, nothing happened.

The plot wasn't as strong as the character development, but it was there, subtly entwining with the setting. Character development was critical in this book, because I was forced to like and sympathize with Cinder since the beginning. And for Kai as well. I felt the end of the book to be rushed and kinda confusing, especially with all the action going on and adrenaline surging through my veins and Cinder's as well. I was expecting that Meyer would rush through the last bit because I was 1/8 of finishing and a conclusion hadn't been reached yet.

A couple of things annoyed me from the book, which I am willing to overlook because the book was kickass. Anyway, I did not enjoy the heavy reference to fairytales, such as Cinderella (if you did not noticed, Cinder comes from Cinder[ella]. And Levana reminded me of the Queen in Snow White). The scene at the ball was rushed and I wasn't particularly enjoying that, especially since Prince Kai finally got Cinder to assist to the ball.

Oh yeah, another thing that kinda threw me off (though I was expecting it and really hope this would not turn this way) was the fate of Princess Selene. I was hoping Cinder had nothing to do with her, but turns out she has everything to do with her. Of course, I knew it from the minute I read that there were rumors that Selene had escaped from Luna and taken to Earth. Since that moment, everything clicked into place. Which is unfortunate because for once, I was really looking forward for this outcome to be different.

Cinder and Kai's relationship became of my favorites of the written world. However, I did not like how it was inconclusive at the ending. Damn you Meyer, not I have to wait till next year to read the second installment. I desperate need to know what will happen to both of them! Kai is gallant and I liked him immediately. I loved loved how he flirted with Cinder and Cinder tried to appear indifferent because of the differences of their origin.

I found it really annoying (in a good way) that Cinder didn't have tear ducts or couldn't blush. Really helpful, but I really, I wanted to see her shed tears for Peony. Not that I was blaming her not to, but I just wished she could because she wanted to. I like Cinder. She has become one of my favorite heroines.

Cinder is a mechanic, how cool is that! She is independent and strong. Oh my, Iko, I loved her and her personality chip. I was angered when Adri destroyed her and relieved when Cinder found her faulty chip.

I am grateful that Kai is not marrying that witch Levana. Those last words he said to Cinder hurt me to the soul. It was as if he was telling them to me and I was feeling Cinder's pain.

Yeah, I liked this book very much. Recommended.

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Waiting on Wednesday # 1

Waiting on Wednesday is an activity I recently joined hosted by Jill at her blog Breaking the Spine. I think it's a fun activity so let's try:
My "can't-wait-to-read" publication is.... *drums playing*

Stormdancer (The Lotus War # 1) by Jay Kristoff

Expected publication date: September 2012.

Goodreads blurb:

Griffins are supposed to be extinct. So when Yukiko and her warrior father Masaru are sent to capture one for the Shogun, they fear that their lives are over. Everyone knows what happens to those who fail him, no matter how hopeless the task.

But the mission proves far less impossible, and far more deadly, than anyone expects – and soon Yukiko finds herself stranded: a young woman alone in her country's last wilderness, with only a furious, crippled griffin for company. But trapped together in the forest, Yukiko and Buruu soon discover a friendship that neither of them expected.

Meanwhile, the country around them verges on the brink of collapse. A toxic fuel is slowly choking the land; the omnipotent, machine-powered Lotus Guild is publicly burning those they deem Impure; and the Shogun cares about nothing but his own dominion. Yukiko has always been uneasy in the shadow of power, when she learns the awful truth of what the Shogun has done, both to her country and to her own family she's determined to do something about it.

Returning to the city, Yukiko and Buruu plan to make the Shogun pay for his crimes – but what can one girl and a flightless griffin do against the might of an empire?


My thoughts:
JAPANESE STEAMPUNK, HOLY FRACK THIS IS GOING TO BE AWESOME! What's more awesome about this book is that there is a female character (I can already tell she will kick some asses). Female characters are becoming very popular in young adult publications.  Besides, this book is categorized under Science Fiction and Fantasy. Also, as a fervent reader of Tor.com, I feel obliged to read a book published by them! This is going to be awesome. 


Major BTW: The cover is beautiful!