The Fault in our Stars by John Green

*Wooo exams are over! I'm back!


Pages: 313
Publisher: Penguin Books
Release: January 2012

Plot: Diagnosed with Stage IV thyroid cancer at 13, Hazel was prepared to die until, at 14, a medical miracle shrunk the tumours in her lungs... for now. 

Two years post-miracle, sixteen-year-old Hazel is post-everything else, too; post-high school, post-friends and post-normalcy. And even though she could live for a long time (whatever that means), Hazel lives tethered to an oxygen tank, the tumours tenuously kept at bay with a constant chemical assault. 

Enter Augustus Waters. A match made at cancer kid support group, Augustus is gorgeous, in remission, and shockingly to her, interested in Hazel. Being with Augustus is both an unexpected destination and a long-needed journey, pushing Hazel to re-examine how sickness and health, life and death, will define her and the legacy that everyone leaves behind.

The review

I'm not going to bother following my usual review style of good points, bad points for this books because I don't think I could ever bring myself to fault it. 

Firstly, God Damn it John Green what have you done to me!!! 

When I ordered this book a couple of days ago I knew that everyone had been giving it glowing reviews but for some reason I had kept putting off actually reading the thing. Why? You may ask, I'm not entirely sure...maybe its because I had read it was about cancer and couldn't bring myself to go through what I knew would inevitably happen within the story or maybe because I was worried that I would be investing time into characters I would inevitably grow to love only to be heartbroken when, you know, it happened.

Well anyway I finally decided to read it and I really am glad that I did. The book arrived yesterday afternoon and I think I read it in something like two sittings, it was that brilliant.

 On rare occasions do books have me bursting out into fits of laughter and on even rarer occasions do they eventually bring me to tears. But this book managed both. And although I wasn't flooded with tears, these characters that I had rightly believed I would grow fond of genuinely felt real in my eyes/mind (?)

This book isn't just about the cancer, its about finding yourself and learning to live. The characters find purpose and every one of their personalties shone through so amazingly well that you felt the people you were reading about were real. 

I don't think I can comment much more on how brilliant this book truly was, I can only recommend that if you haven't read it already- do, and if you have- read it again. 

BTW. Did anybody else rush on to Google to try and find An Imperial Affliction? I see now it is a made up book but I love that somebody has made a Goodreads page for it anyhow. See here :) 

Thanks for reading :D Please do comment!

Waiting on Wednesday #11

Waiting On Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by  

Breaking the Spine. 

This weeks pick is...

Scarlet by Marissa Meyer

The sequel to the New York Times best-selling Cinder in the Lunar chronicles.

Cinder returns in the second thrilling installment of the New York Times-bestselling Lunar Chronicles. She’s trying to break out of prison—even though if she succeeds, she’ll be the Commonwealth’s most wanted fugitive.

Halfway around the world, Scarlet Benoit’s grandmother is missing. It turns out there are many things Scarlet doesn’t know about her grandmother and the grave danger she has lived in her whole life. When Scarlet encounters Wolf, a street fighter who may have information as to her grandmother’s whereabouts, she has no choice but to trust him, though he clearly has a few dark secrets of his own.

As Scarlet and Wolf work to unravel one mystery, they find another when they cross paths with Cinder. Together, they must stay one step ahead of the vicious Lunar Queen who will do anything to make Prince Kai her husband, her king, her prisoner.

I'm really excited for this book and can't wait to step back into the world Meyer has created. Apparently the author wrote the first book in like two weeks! I don't have a clue how she did it but Meyer keep doing it!!

If you liked this week's WOW please comment and don't forget to leave a link to your own pick! :D

Sister Assassin (A.K.A Mind Games) by Kiersten White

Ahh. The first post of 2013! Happy New Year everyone! Hope its a good one :)

Pages: 302
Publisher: HarperCollins
Release: February 2013

Plot: She never chose her deadly gift but now she’s forced to use it. How far would you go to protect the only family you have left?

Annie is beset by fleeting strange visions and a guilty conscience. Blind and orphaned, she struggles to care for her feisty younger sister Fia, but things look up when both sisters are offered a place at Kessler School for Exceptional Girls.

Born with flawless intuition, Fia immediately knows that something’s wrong, but bites her tongue… until it’s too late. For Fia is the perfect weapon to carry out criminal plans and there are those at Kessler who will do anything to ensure her co-operation.

With Annie trapped in Kessler’s sinister clutches, instincts keep Fia from killing an innocent guy and everything unravels. Is manipulative James the key to the sisters’ freedom or an even darker prison? And how can Fia atone for the blood on her hands?

Good Points: I really loved how the book switched from one sisters perspective to the other throughout however I have to admit it was a little confusing as it wasn't at times clear who was speaking as the order didn't consistently switch (one chapter Fia, one chapter Annie.)
The relationship between the two sisters was written well and the flashbacks into their backgrounds helped to add a greater depth to each of the siblings, sort of forcing you to gain at least some form of emotion for them within the plot.

Bad Points: If I'm going to be honest they could have come up with a better summary than that one, it didn't exactly draw me in from the onset and I also don't understand why the US cover and title has not been used for the UK. Another bad point so-to-say was how predictable the book was, I would have liked a little more mystery for the reader.

To Sum Up... Although I wouldn't say this book was faultless I would say, however that it was an enjoyable read and I think this is mostly due to the dynamic duo that is Annie and Fia. I have only ever previously read Paranormalancy by Kiersten White, the first of her other trilogy and for some reason I can never seem to get past the first book in her series and I think this problem has passed onto this one.
Overall however I'd definitely encourage people to give it a try...it may just be me who has this problem haha ;)

Blog News

Hi,

 Sorry I haven't been posting lately. Currently revising for January exams, wish me luck :)

The books are piling up though so reviews will resume soon!

Hope you all had a great Christmas and have a Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas!

Hi Everyone!

Hope you're all having a great Christmas!

Posting will return soon!

Amy@TeenyReader

Review of The Madness Underneath by Maureen Johnson

Pages: 352
Publisher: Harper Collins Childrens Books
Release: February 2013

Thanks to to Publisher for the ARC copy :)

Plot: When Madness stalks the streets of London, no one is safe...
There's a creepy new terror haunting modern-day London. Fresh from defeating a Jack the Ripper killer, Rory must put her new-found hunting skills to the test before all hell breaks loose...
But enemies are not always who you expect them to be and crazy times call for crazy solutions.

Good Points: The second book in the Shades of London series starts off with Rory living in Bristol and frequently visiting her therapist. Unlike some books where the protagonist simply deals with what's happened as if all they've seen is a fly being swatted, Rory actually reflects the emotions you assume a person would be going through after the ordeal that took place in the first book, The Name Of the Star, which saw Rory investigating and becoming a close victim to the Jack the Ripper Copycat that was terrorizing London.
The emotions are played subtly at first and then the stress builds when Rory returns to Wexford and struggles to cope with the workload and the stress of possibly being the key to the continuation of the group that helped her in the first book.
Other great points were the history and research that has gone into this book, everything surprisingly fit well together and the detail that Johnson has built in creating Rory's world is both descriptive and concise.
Also that ending! Maureen Johnson sure does know how to leave a book on a good cliff hanger and one that I'm sure will leave me hanging by those last pages until the third novel is released.


Bad Points: The book was a little slow. I read this on my Kindle and it was only after the percentage reached around 50% of the book that the real investigation into the murder at the beginning starts to happen. Also although Rory's character was explored much deeper the other characters seem to have been slightly forgotten in this one which was slightly disappointing.

To Sum Up... When I heard that Name of The Star was going to be part of a series I did wonder what direction Johnson was going to take the characters, especially after the seemingly complete ending to the Ripper case focused in the first book which I loved.
On the one hand I think this book does work well in following on from Rory's story although I would have liked a little more involvement from some of the other characters such as Jerome and Jazza and possibly a faster pacing to the book.
However I am extremely happy in the fact that Rory's dialogue is as ever funny and believably weird. The book although being a little too slow for me in its first half definitely redeemed itself in its remaining pages, ending on a cliff hanger that as I've already mentioned will leave you screaming "What the...?"
Oh, quick note- I forgot to mention it's pretty vital that if this is the first time you've heard of this series, read the first book Name of The Star first as this one doesn't really explain the details dealt in it so skipping is a straight no-go here.

Thanks for Reading and make sure to leave any comments you have on the review :)

Review of Shadowhunters and Downworlders: A Mortal Instruments Reader by Cassandra Clare and others.

Pages: 256
Publisher: SmartPop
Release: January 2013
Thanks to the publisher for this ARC copy

Summary:
Join Cassandra Clare and a Circle of more than a dozen top YA writers, including New York Times bestsellers Holly Black, Rachel Caine, and Kami Garcia, as they write about the Mortal Instruments series, its characters, and its world.
Inside you’ll read:

-A cinematic tutorial on why the best friend (Simon) always loses out to the bad boy (Jace)
-The benefits (no, really!) of incest . . . at least in literature
-What we can read between the lines of Alec and Magnus’ European vacation
-The importance of friendship, art, humour, and rebellion
-And more, from the virtues of Downworlders to the naughty side of Shadow hunting

Good Points: Okay this book is really good if you are super obsessed with TMI and need something to read by Cassie until Clockwork Princess comes out (which b.t.w is already my book of 2013). The book contains a series of essay's written by different authors and edited by Clare discussing the roles in which the characters play, themes explored within the series and basically just about anything TMI.
When I first started reading I was quite surprised, I liked where it was going, kind of tying in philosophical elements and a bit of Psychology- think one of William Irwin's pop- culture- inspired philosophical texts, yet Mortal Instruments themed. Some of the essays I enjoyed more than others, the one about Tattoo's at the beginning was particular interesting. But then...

Bad Points: It seemed to get a little...boring. To be honest it was like somebody telling you the entire plot of a series you have already read again, in detail. Like a lot of detail. To be honest I may as well have read the books again, I think that the topics weren't really explored in a way that made them great essays. I would have liked more on what Cassie thought or why she chose to do certain things within the series rather than some other author guessing as to why. The chapter on the 'benefits of Incest in literature' speaks for itself really, though at least the word gross was used to describe it and I have to agree with the writer that 'everyone loves a good taboo'.

To Sum Up... To be honest if I hadn't of gotten this book for review copy I probably would never have read it. Though I love Cassandra Clare's work I do think maybe it is time to draw The Mortal Instruments series to an end, which before you start hating I know she is doing. But I think I'm going to have to be, for now, one of those whiney book-traditionalists (?) and say The Mortal Instruments should have remained a trilogy.
This book although contains some good essays describing every detail of TMI you could possibly want, in my opinion just takes away from what reading the books again can give you. The whole point is to explore and question these topics yourself while you read them and not for some other author to tell you how it is. I'm not saying everyone thinks this but personally I just like to keep the books and stay clear from now on of the 'Readers'.