Jurassic Park by Michael Critchon

“You know what's wrong with scientific power? It's a form of inherited wealth. And you know what assholes congenitally rich people are.

If you don't know the plot to Jurassic park, then where have you been for the last 20 years. Scientists decide its a great idea to bring back Dinosaurs and so they do, with no thought to any consequences these actions might bring and low and behold it turns out to be a bad idea.

Jurassic Park is a mix of scientific nonsense with a little bit of fantasy. It a book with bite, yes its not a literary masterpiece but its a real page turner with an exciting adventure story that has kept me reaching for it time and time again. The plot is fantastic, full of exhilaration and great visual imagery. Crichton does not spare on the details of a dinosaur munching away on a human. The characters are fun and charming and the science is explained in an easy to understand way.

Its a suspense thriller with dinosaurs what more could you want.

Divergent by Veronica Roth

“We believe in ordinary acts of bravery, in the courage that drives one person to stand up for another.”

Divergent is set in a dyspotain future where everyone must choose which fraction they belong too; Candor (the honest), Amity (the peaceful , Erudite (the intelligent) , Dauntless (the brave) and Abnegation (the selfless). Our heroine Tris starts the story off in Abnegation with her family but on her sixteenth birthday she must choose whether to stay with them or move to a different fraction.

This story wasn't without its flaws, the lack of world building was a real problem for me. There was no talk of how the world came to be this way, you just had to learn to accept it and there was no real character development, apart from Tris and Four, I felt no real connection to anyone else and at times I felt myself not even liking Tris, her mindless violence and lack of empathy for anyone else really bothered me.

However saying that I actually really enjoyed reading this book, I found myself constantly turning the page wondering what would happen next. It was engaging and full of action.The plot was well paced and the story moved quickly and the somewhat harshness of the writing really worked well. The romance between Tris and Four was sweet and endearing and I loved the idea of overcoming fears. Tris, what can I say about her, I found myself loving and hating her all at the same time, even though I couldn't connect with her I found it refreshing to read about a female protagonist that had flaws and made the wrong decisions sometimes. 

I'm definitely going to pick up the sequel insurgent and hopefully some of my questions will be answered.

The Immortal Rules by Julie Kagawa

“You are a monster.” Kanin’s deep voice droned in my head again, as I forced myself to move, to walk away. “You will always be a monster, there is no turning back from it. But what type of monster you become is entirely up to you.” 

Allie is an orphaned teenager, living in a world where vampires rule and the human race is enslaved, forced to give blood to their masters in order to survive. She lives on the fringes of her society as an unregistered, scavenging food to stay alive, until one day when she is attacked by rabids and turned into a vampire. Thrown into this new life, Allie struggles to hold on to her humanity and deal with the monster inside.

This is a unique take on the vampire genre, I've never read anything quite like it. Once again I was sucked into the world Julie created, she has an amazing talent of transporting you to new places. I felt I really knew what it was like to face down a group of rabid vampires. 

This is a dark and disturbing world, where vampires rule and humans are just walking blood bags. At the begging Allie is a loner, unable to trust anyone, fighting to survive each day, that is until she is turned into a vampire, she struggles to come to terms with being the monster she hates, and has to fight to save her humanity. I loved Allie, she was fierce and totally bad ass, a young girl struggling to find her way in the world. Once again Julie's characters are well rounded and believable, Kanin, Allie's mentor is dark and mysterious, whose knows the price of letting people in, Zeke the loveable human, who only sees the good in people and wants to help everyone and finally Caleb, the little boy, lost in a world full of monsters.

I loved this book, its a whole new take on both vampires and dystopian fiction. Its dark and disturbing with plenty of kick-ass action, you'll not be disappointed. 

Bitten by Kelley Armstrong

“The show's writers had peppered the piece with words like "savage," "wild," and "animalistic." What bullshit. Show me the animal that kills for the thrill of watching something die. Why does the stereotype of the animalistic killer persist?

Because humans like it. It neatly explains things for them, moving humans to the top of the evolutionary ladder and putting killers down among mythological man-beast monsters like werewolves.The truth is, if a werewolf behaved like this psychopath it wouldn't be because he was part animal, but because he was still too human. Only humans kill for sport.” 

Bitten is the first book from the woman of the otherworld series,right from the beginning I was hooked, the plot is fast moving and engaging and the characters are well defined and entertaining  I couldn't wait to keep reading to find out what would happen.
Elena is the only female werewolf in the world, she was turned by someone she loved and trusted against her will. It has taken Elena a lot to come to terms with her werewolf side and deal with her past. When we first meet her she has left her pack and is trying to live a normal human life with her human boyfriend, however when the pack needs her help she can't say no and she is thrown back into everything she tried to forget.

As I said before I was hooked from the first page, Elena is sexy, fierce and wonderfully funny, everything you want from a heroine. Clay is a cold hard killer with a charming personality  he'll do anything to protect the ones he loves, he's a loveable rouge.  The chemistry between her and Clay is hot and passionate, its definitely a love/hate relationship. Armstrong has created characters full of flaws and that connects you to them even more and makes you root for them throughout.

A book that is full of action and characters that will endear you to them, a real page turner that will keep you absorbed from start to finish.

 

Matched by Ally Condie

“Is falling in love with someone's story the same thing as falling in love with the person himself?” 

Cassia lives in a society where everything is determined for you, what you eat, what you wear, where you work and most importantly who you love. At the beginning of the book we meet Cassia who is getting ready to be matched to her life partner. A glitch in system, starts Cassia on a journey of self discovery, she will learn to question everything she thought was right with the society she lives in.

I love the world Condie has created here, the society seems perfect on the surface but once Cassia takes off her 'rose tinted glasses' she see it for what it really is, creepy and sinister. A society that chooses your destiny for you.

Even though the plot was slow, I think that added to the believability of the story line, Cassia has grown up in this world, its what she has been taught to believe, so we go on the journey with her full of indecisiveness  and fear.

I loved the love triangle in this book, again it was believable  which is such an important quality in YA fiction, its often rushed and characters fall in love far too quickly. Cassia loves both Xander and Ky in different ways one is sweet and protective and the other is fierce and strong, Cassia fights with what she knows is right and what her heart is telling her to do. The build up of the chemistry between Cassia and Ky, is slow and steady, they learn to connect over poetry and little by little they learn more about each other.

I think the poetry aspect had to be one of my favourite things from this book, it was so sweet and charming, it was their forbidden fruit.

The ending was incredible. it was heartbreakingly sad and left me aching to find out what was next for Cassia. This book is a definite must for any fans of dystopian novels, don't be put off by its slow pace, its just the start in what I'm sure will be a wonderful series.

Ascend by Amanda Hocking

“Wendy!” Finn shouted pulling me from my moment with Loki. “What are you doing? You’re married. And not to him.” 
“Nothing slips by you does it.” Loki asked.” 

The final book in the Trylle trilogy. After devouring the first two books in this series I was excited to see how Amanda was going to play this out. I have to say I was thoroughly surprised and not at all disappointed, there were plenty of twists and turns that I didn't see coming and I was left guessing until the final pages.

A war on the horizon and a wedding to plan, so much happened in this book and my opinion changed on so many characters. Wendy has changed drastically since the first book, she finally learns what is it to be a Queen, she stands up for what she believes in, she finally takes charge and shows fierce strength and amazing loyalty. With her people arguing amongst themselves and trying to over throw her, Wendy does not back down. A completely different person to the first novel. I also loved how we saw the relationship build between Elora and Wendy, Elora showed that she really does love Wendy and towards the end it did get very emotional. Again the support cast where superb, you really felt for them and I loved that Hocking tied up all the sub plots at the end, you weren't left wondering what happened to anyone.

This book is full of emotion and courage. A wonderful ending to a fantastic series, that has definitely made me want to read more work by Amanda Hocking. 

Torn by Amanda Hocking

“Right then, it didn't matter what his reasons were. All I knew that I was sick of him breaking my heart.” 

The second instalment in the Trylle trilogy, is face paced with lots of twists and turns. After the events of switched Wendy has returned home with Rhys to her brother Matt, but this doesn't last long with her (true) families enemies looking for her, Wendy is soon captured and imprisoned by them. I won't say much more than that because I don't want to spoil the plot.

I really enjoyed this book, there was a lot more world building and character development. We get to learn more about the Trylle history and politics and why everyone is depending on Wendy to be a great queen. Its full of twists and turns and plenty of emotional moments.

Wendy really grew on me in this book instead of seeming so passive and letting everything revolve around Finn she finally stood up for herself and had to make some tough decisions and a lot of sacrifices. We also got to see a lot more of Elora and finally find out why she seems so cold and disant. The characters seemed to come alive more in this book, and we see that there is perhaps a lot more to them then we first thought. Plus there are a few new characters who really steal the show, Duncan Wendy's new tracker, is funny and sweet and makes for some real comical moments and Loki, her new love interest, well he is the mysterious bad boy, with a dark past but a sweet soul. I really fell for him. I like that he is more of a support for Wendy instead of telling her what to do.

Overall this book was sweet and enchanting, it really captures your imagination. You can feel the emotions of the characters and the weight of the decisions they have to make. It's definitely got me reaching for the final instalment.