A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray

 Great and terrible beauty is set in a Victorian era the 1800s and follows the story of a young girl who lost her mother and father is slowing deteriorating with grief. Gemma is shipped to a finishing school for young girls, where she is taught how to be a proper lady. At this school Gemma finds it hard to make friends, she sticks with her roommate Ann who is even worse at friends and is constantly bullied by two girls at the school. However Gemma always stood up to these bullies named Felicity and Pippa. However events at the school bring the four girls together and end the hate ship between them and they soon become best friends. Gemma discovers she has this magic within her which allows her to enter into this other world known as the realms by travelling through this door which she can create in her mind. In this world she enters what is called the garden and is not allowed to venture any further. In this garden anything is possible magic flows freely there. Gemma takes her friends there and they have some of the best times there. However the more the girls explore the realms the more they discover its secrets and how people want to find a way into the realms and use the magic. Also that not all magic in the realms is good, that it will try and corrupt you. Gemma has to find a way to keep the realms safe from the people that in tend to use the magic for wrong. Gemma has the help from her friends however the magic is what brought them together will it also tear them apart? Gemma also has the help from a young boy on the outside named kartik who is a part of a group known as the Rakshana who dedicate themselves to protecting the realms and the ones who can travel there; this group however cannot enter the realms. Gemma trusts the boy at first but as secrets come to light she begins to question the motives of the Rakshana and if they are just using her so they can claim the magic or truly trying to help the realms. Gemma finds that she has to trust her own instincts if she wishes to protect the realms.

The novel is written by Libba Bray, she is quite a sophisticated writer. She is aiming for 1800 style and has succeeded; her writing style for the book is very formal along with the language she uses which gives it that older feel. The structure of her book is well thought out. It is fluent and well written. She puts many twists into her novel with little hints along the way.

The book deals with a few different themes mainly Oppression versus Liberty and Power of Choice. gender equality is a big one as it is set in the 1800’s girls are raised to be proper ladies whose goal in life is to be married off and bear children. The way that this book shows this theme is the main protagonists of the book. One of the girls in particular Felicity is very opposed to the idea of being married off and wishes to make a life of her own. You also see bit of this attitude with the main protagonist, however largely though Felicity’s character. Also power of choices, the girls in the realms are able to ply with magic and are free to do whatever they like. They are able to live any life that they like and have no one tell them if it is wrong or right. They girls bask in this free will; they have a taste of determining their own lives, which sparks this will to have their own choice in both worlds. That is how the author shows some of these themes within her novel.

What is great is her chracters, how none of them are perfect that each one has their faults and qualities you hate them for. Libba Bray created some of the most realistic characters that i have read in a book. 

This is a very well written novel with a very interesting story line. It has great suspense and mystery and great characters for you to fall in love with. It is defiantly a book that all book lovers should read!

Bitterblue by Kristen Cashore

Bitterblue is another novel written by Kirsten Cashore which is third in her series. While fire was set in a time before Graceling, Bitterblue is set after and back in the same land of which Graceling was set. Bitterblue is the young girl that Katsa and Po had saved in the first novel. Now that Bitterblue is eighteen she wants to start taking a more active role as queen. She has been queen of Monsea since she was ten years old, her four advisers have been looking after the kingdom and getting her to sign different paper works and to attend the occasional trial. However Bitterblue feels that not all is well in her kingdom, she feels that the effects of her father king Leck still have affect in the kingdom. Bitterblue decides to sneak out and see her kingdom for herself, she dressed in servant clothing and snuck into town. She found herself in a story telling pub where people can tell stories. These stories contain personal stories, stories about her dear friend and her hero Katsa; she also hears the stories of her father. Bitterblue finds herself drawn to this story room and sneaks out night after night to listen, and that is where she meets teddy and Saf. These two boys soon start to become her friend; however neither knows her true identity. She finds out that teddy is a writer and publisher, a person who seeks the truth and spreads it to the world, while Saf is a thief. However a strange one he is, when Bitterblue saw him one night steal a gargoyle from her castle. She soon finds that Saf steals things that king Leck had stolen from the people and gives it back. Teddy is attacked because of his want to share the truth and his printing room burnt down so he couldn’t print anything for the world. Bitterblue knows something is wrong when people are attacking people who are trying to spread the truth and tries to find out what is going on.

Where graceling focused on a fighter, it was a more of a secret mission, journey sort of story more action. Fire focused more on the war and planning an army, finding traitors, and learning insight to the enemy. Bitterblue is more about the politics of running a kingdom, about how to help her people recover from a terrible king, about finding who is still working in the wrong and to finally cleanse her kingdom from the footprint of her father.

Kristen Cashore has truly shown her writing improvements through these books, she has become a very good writer; her use of language is more extensive. She knows how to create interesting characters, and is able to connect all her books in small ways which link them together and create a thrilling series. Kristen Cashore is an excellent writer who is defiantly worth checking out. She is a feminist and you can see this throughout her novels in certain ways, more evident in her first book, and in Bitterblue. This series has defiantly a high place in my favourites. 

Hush Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick

This book has everything that a young teenage girl loves. Smart girl, quirky best friend, the bully, dark mysterious new boy, fallen angels and love conquering everything. Hush Hush is defiantly the typical teenage girl book. It’s the story of a girl named Nora who is this smart girl, doesn’t have too many friends and a mother who is never home. When this new boy comes to her school and takes interest in her. At first she refuses to acknowledge him but has this strong desire to be with him and as the book progresses she finds that she likes him and thinks he likes her too. However what she does not know is that this new boy patch is actually a fallen angel. These fallen angels cannot physically feel anything, however once a year during this certain time the fallen angels can posses a body. It has to be a pacific one type and that is a nephil. Each fallen angel has their own and they must make them agree and swear to them once before they can take over their bodies. The nephil hate this and want to put a stop to it. However in the book patch finds out that he can have a human body if he kills his nephil and the only way to do that is to kill a direct descendant of the nephil. For patch that is Nora. As Nora starts to fall for patch and he spends more time her he falls for her. Patch tries a few times to try and kill Nora but he never can. His interest in Nora has out her in danger from others as well. Patch now has to try and keep her alive while also determining whether he can kill her.  Nora and patch fall for each other and patch now knows he can never lose her and has to protect her.

The story is very clique, it is your typical teenage love story mixed in with a war between fallen angels and nephil. The book does make you laugh at times. However it is very predictable and is just another one of the many teenage love stories out. In my opinion it is not one of the best love story books. It is amusing and entertaining though and I did go and get the next one when it came out and read it. It’s a fun book if you don’t want a serious read and like to laugh at some of the predictability and the clique of the love story. However Becca Fitzpatrick’s novel hush hush has become a world known book that all the teenage girls seem to swoon over. Who doesn’t love the mysterious dark boy and shy cute girl love story?

Fallen by Lauren Kate

Fallen is written by Lauren Kate. I was excited about reading this book however was quite disappointed. The book is quite clique. The book is about two people who are cursed the boy lives for many lives and the girl keeps coming back, and every time they find each other again the girl dies, so they can’t be together, however they just can’t stay away from each other. The girl has no idea of any of this. She is to attend a reform school called sword & cross. They have a strict dress code which is they all have to wear black. To me that seems like the author is trying too hard to create that sort of dark gloomy feel to the place dark and gloomy to give it that sense of something bad.  Maybe if they had a uniform instead of whatever they liked as long as it is black. Also the book is all about a girl who is trying to get over a traumatic event, and she finds her way with a new friend at this school. She falls for this mysterious boy and it is a very typical love story. I have read the first and second book in this series, I didn’t mind the first one too much, and it was a little bit interesting there are quite a few things that I did not like about the story line. However the second made me question why I was reading it, I did buy the third book and I was able to read a few chapters before I put the book down and could not motivate myself to pick it up again.

The writing itself is quite average and has a few awkward sentences which I hate to read two or three times before I could make sense of. The structure is okay, and the book does have some flow to it.

I do know people who have enjoyed reading the book, but I could not find the interest in it.

Heist Society by Ally Carter

Kat Bishops family has their own unique business trade which is theft. However this is not the life Kat wanted and she leaves never to come back and decides to go to school. However when the principles car ends up in a fountain Kat gets the blame and is expelled. She finds that it was a friend from the past who did it to get her out of school. Because a mobster has accused her father of stealing his art collection and is now in danger. Kat is the only one who can save her father, so she had to return when hale came to get her. Kat knew the only way to save her father was find who stole the art and steal it back. The only clue they have is a business card that the person left behind with their initials. Kat gets her team together of different thieves from different families so that they can get the work back. They work together figuring out the clues and working out ways to save her father.  After one of the most well protected art galleries was broken into but nothing take only a card left behind to show that they had been there Kat started to think that maybe the paintings that were stolen were returned to the gallery. So Kat and her team plan to complete the impossible and break into the gallery as well to collect the paintings to save her father, no one besides this mystery person have ever been able to do it. They are working with a deadline and time is running out. The team manages to pull off the heist and retrieve the paintings in time to save her father. However Kat knows that after this heist she could never go back to trying to live a normal life that she can never leave this business.  However she decides she will not be a thief that she will join this mysterious man in his mission and sets out to find lost items from now on, she will do right and not just thieve.

This book is witty and clever. It is refreshing as it does not have a love story. This book is about friendship and family, and finding the right path. Learning what is right and wrong. This book is about learning to work with people and trusting others. It is a hilarious book which has a great story and great suspense. It is a truly enjoyable book. 

Looking for Alaska by John Green

Looking for Alaska is a book that deals with some very confronting topics in a teenager’s life. John Green the author of this book explores what it is like to be a teenager and how to deal with growing up. Some of the topics that he explores are depression, relationships, the need to fit in, sex. The story follows a socially awkward boy named Miles Halter who left his home to attend a boarding school. Miles has always been obsessed with people’s last words which is quite evident throughout the whole book. There at the new school Miles is determined to finally make some friends, this is where the need to fit in starts to show. Green shows this need to be accepted by the things that Miles does to be accepted by his roommate who insists on being called colonel and the group that the colonel hangs out with. Such things as he starts to drink and smoke as that is what that group does and thinks that is how he will be accepted. Miles does start to like the smoking and the drinking and the friendship of this group for the first time he feels like he has friends. When you are reading the book you don’t not feel that the friends pressure him too much and you don’t blame them you don’t feel that Miles should have found other people, you feel that these friends were right for him in a way. In this group you meet a young girl named Alaska, who is a gorgeous, clever, funny, sexy, and extremely screwed up. Alaska has a very unique personality which captures Miles from the very first time he met her. However Alaska Young suffers from depression. This is how the author deals with the topic of depression, he doesn’t straight up tell you that she suffers from it but gives you hints to help you figure it out, which can actually help readers know the signs of depression so they can recognise it in their own lives. Alaska always teases Miles and they become pretty good friends and he soon finds out that Alaska is already in a relationship with a person who doesn’t go to the school. Miles then tries dating someone else to try and get over Alaska. Miles and his new girlfriend decide to experiment with different sexual activities however both being virgins they knew nothing about it. They go to Alaska for some help and she gives them pointers. John Green might not actually teach about safe sex in the book however the part that he does look at is people deciding that they are ready and how they start to mature and how they deal with their new sexual interests. As the book progresses you see Alaska get worse you start to see her cracking. And on one night she starts to drive somewhere and crashes and Alaska young dies. Then the book shifts to how to deal with loss. You see how much the death affects Miles and he becomes obsessed with it. The death of Alaska hits the group hard and they all want to break down and yet still support one another. However Miles became distant and became obsessed of what really happened that night whether it had been an accident or if Alaska had driven off the road and killed herself. Always wondering what she had said in her final moments.

John Green is an amazing author who isn’t afraid to bring in confronting topics into his books. He has a very nice writing style and always manages to his readers on emotional journey through his books.

An interesting thing about the book is how John Green set out the chapters. Green has a sort of countdown for his chapters. There is a before such as “one hundred and twenty seven days before” the before counts to the night when Alaska dies in the book. Then after the event it starts to count days after the event. This is because when John Green was writing this book it was around the time of the 9/11. He thought it curious how people seemed to think they were living n a post 9/11 world. How after the event it was living in a time after, that there was a before and after not a continuous thing. John Green thought that sort of thinking the before and after could work well as a way to set his chapters and decided to use it.

Looking for Alaska is a very emotional book, and one of the few that actually show what it is like to be a teenager. John Green does that sugar coat it or make it pretty he shows it for what it is. He isn’t afraid to talk about some major topics in his book and he does it successfully. This book is truly quite special as the author puts a lot of real emotion into the book and I find that people would be able to relate to the problems the kids have in the book. John Green knows that people are not perfect and he shows that he really doesn’t glamorise his characters which makes it that much more believable and real to read.

City Of Bones by Cassandra Clare

This book tells the story of a girl who thought she lived a normal life until her mother was kidnapped and she was thrown into a world she didn’t know existed a world her mother hid her from. A world filled with vampires, werewolves, fairies, and hunters. Clary discovers that she is what they call a shadow hunter, a race of people that exist to keep the balance of good in the world; they fight against the demons that threaten to kill the world and keep order between the vampires and werewolves. With Clary’s mum gone she is forced to stay with the hunters and help to try and find her mother. Clary also searches to find out who she really is, why her mum hid her away from it all, who her mother was, and her father whom she thought had died. They discover that a shadow hunter turned bad, named valentine took Clary’s mum in hopes to find the mortal cup, a cup that can create shadow hunters.  Clary needs to find where they are hiding and figure out how to save her mum.

There is a love story in this one, between Clary and the boy who saved her and brought her into the shadow hunters whose name is Jace. They have a complicated relationship as Clary likes him however he is resistant to let anyone in and tries to push her away. Also it makes it hard when Clary’s best friend Simon gets involved in this world and has a massive crush on Clary and tries to win her heat. It is like most love stories a girl faced between her best friend and this golden mysterious boy.

The story line is a good idea and Cassandra Clare did a good job of making it come to life. City of bones is the first book in the series the mortal instruments. It was a good book. And I enjoyed the next two books which goes to that Clary has accepted who she is and has found her mum but her mother is in some sort of coma, and the story becomes about waking her up and preparing for a war between hunters and demons. However Cassandra Clare does lose it in some points, the love story between Clary and Jace becomes a bit annoying as they discover they are related, then all the sudden they are no longer related and it gets messy, she saved it at some points and I still enjoyed it. She has some very interesting characters through the series which makes it worth reading. However in my Belief Cassandra should have stopped at book three, it was a good ending and I had enjoyed it, then she bought out the next one and it was nowhere near the standard of the others and just seemed like she was desperate to keep it going, after reading the fourth I lost interest in the series and still have not been able to read the next one, maybe one day.

Fire by Kristen Cashore

Fire is the story of a girl named fire who is the last human monster alive. This world that Kristin Cashore has created there are these monsters, and they are beautiful they come in many different bright colour however they are also extremely dangerous and always attack people. Fire is the last of the human monsters. After her father died it was just her. She is beautiful she has bright red hair. Her father saw being a monster as a gift but fire sees it as a curse and refuses to have any kids and to pass on her monster gene. Being a monster gives her the ability to go inside people’s heads make them think things that they wouldn’t and she can manipulate minds and can read them. Everyone always falls for a monsters beauty and it makes it dangerous for fire because everyone always wants something from her.  When there is a trespasser in the king’s rooms they ask fire to come to the castle to help with investigations to use her abilities to come to the solution. She rides with an army filled with men which makes the journey hard for her. Brigin the commander protects her even though he hated her. As they journey together fire prove herself to Brigin that she is nothing like her father who manipulated everyone and Brigin begins to trust her and they soon become friends.

What is good about this book is it has interesting characters and a well told story line. It isn’t predictable and always keeps you guessing. This book doesn’t focus on a love story, there is romance in the book but its focus is on the troubles of the kingdom and fire proving to use her abilities for good. All fire anted is to make up for her father’s mistakes.

Kirsten Cashore is a feminist and you can see that as an undertone in fires character. This is the second book following graceling. They are set in the same world yet different kingdoms. In graceling they mention how no one has explored further then this certain point and this book is set past that point. It is also a prologue it has been set many years before graceling.

Kirsten Cashore has really proven herself to be a talented writer with this book. She doesn’t completely make her books about a love story which makes them so interesting because there is so much happening in the book. Fire has a very good story line which keeps you interested the whole book.

Vampire Academy

The book Vampire Academy has also been turn into a movie recently! Here is the trailer in case you want to check it out!

Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead

Vampire academy is set in a modern society, however there are vampires. There are schools that vampires and damphirs (half vampire half human) can attend. They run on a night schedule because vampires are weak in the sun. They keep this world of theirs secret from humans. The novel follows the story of Rose Hathaway and her best friend Lisa Dragomir. The two run off from the schools they feared that Lisa was in danger. The story begins when the people at the school find rose and Lisa and bring them back. The first book is mainly about adjusting to being back at vampire academy and dealing with the pressures of high school. They are typical teenagers with all the problems that most teenagers face such as fitting in, bullies. The book shows how the girls deal with their return as most of the school are very unwelcoming. It also starts to show you the secrets behind why Lisa Dragomir is so important and about rose and her destiny.

The book is fun; rose is a very bold witty girl who is very tough and doesn’t mind telling people what she thinks and loves to get into fights. She is the drama of the book which keeps you interested. Richelle Mead made the book entertaining through character rose. Lisa is quiet and shy. Through the books you get to see both characters grow and develop it is great how Mead has worked her characters.

There are many fights in this series, personal ones that the girls fight at school, fights against the striogi who are bad vampires, and fights in court for Lisa drogamirs rights as one of the heirs to the throne.

Mead is a good writer it seems that she writes for a younger audience. It is an easy read, there isn’t a very high vocabulary used through the book.  However it is structured well and it all flows, there isn’t many awkward phrases. The writing style could be worked on a bit more as it is a bit weak compared to other authors. However I still enjoyed reading it, it was a light and fun read.

It is full of teenage drama and forbidden love along with dangerous threats trying to kill them and scheming royals. It has everything a teenage drama fantasy book needs.

The series is fairly long, but Mead manages to keep the story alive the whole time and keeps it interesting she doesn’t lose the story. Reading through the whole series I never lost interest. I liked the lightness of the book it was enjoyable to read, it was quite amusing and I do suggest it to people.

They have also made the first book into a movie; however it is a pretty poor movie. Think of twilight same situation they had a good book and did not put enough in the movie, the acting was okay, they made it too much teenage drama and I do not believe the transfer from book to movie worked with this book. However if you read the book I do suggest watching it, it does make you laugh to watch the attempt.  I defiantly recommend reading the book first as they left parts out in the movie and the book tells the better story and you can understand it now.