LIGHT

Ok, so this isn't a review or a haul or anything but I absolutely HAD to share this with you guys! If you didn't already know, I'm a HUGE HUGE fan of the GONE series by Michael Grant, I mean, I love this series astronomically! And if you are a fan of this series also, you probably already know that the final book in the series LIGHT is coming out in April 2013 and if you aren't already a fan of this series well then... the final book in the series LIGHT is coming out in April 2013 AND ALL US FANS ARE SO EXCITED! After years of reading and loving this series and connecting with characters and losing them, the end is finally right around the corner. 
Anyway, not only the content of this series is epic but also, the UK covers (no no, not the US covers with the people on them, I personally think they suck) are completely AMAZING! They're plain, simple but so interesting and breathtaking that you just want to pick the series right up! ANYWAY, on top of the UK covers being amazing, the edges of the pages (yes I can rhyme) match the neon colour that surrounds the book title on the front of the cover, so each book has both a coloured title, and pages to match. So, when it was announced that the colour used for LIGHT is white my initial reaction was: wait, does that mean that the pages are going to be just plain white? And I believed this right up until today! Waterstones, which, if you're American and don't already know, is a bookstore chain here in the UK that can usually be pretty pricey but they have come in extremely successful in what has been announced that is being sold exclusively at Waterstones and it is this:

Yup, that my friends, is a first look at the edition of LIGHT that Waterstones is exclusively selling online and in stores. As you can see, they have the black edges around the sides of the pages, but wait, what's that down the side? You bet it is! It's a white lightning strike/crack that is printed on the sides of the pages! WHAT?! I personally have never seen a book with a page edge design as incredibly beautiful as this one! If you're in the UK, you can pre-order this exclusive copy of LIGHT from Waterstones TODAY FOR ONLY £10.39! I'll leave a link below so you can check it out if you wish! 
So yeah, sorry to anyone who has absolutely no interest in either the GONE series or this post whatsoever, but I just had to let out my excitement for this somewhere and you just happened to be the unfortunate victim of my excitement overload! :D
If you are completely and totally unsure of or have never even heard of the GONE series, I'll give you the description of the first book in this epic 6 part series here:

[In the blink of an eye. Everyone disappears. GONE.

Except for the young. Teens. Middle schoolers. Toddlers. But not one single adult. No teachers, no cops, no doctors, no parents. Just as suddenly, there are no phones, no internet, no television. No way to get help. And no way to figure out what's happened.

Hunger threatens. Bullies rule. A sinister creature lurks. Animals are mutating. And the teens themselves are changing, developing new talents--unimaginable, dangerous, deadly powers--that grow stronger by the day.

It's a terrifying new world. Sides are being chosen, a fight is shaping up. Townies against rich kids. Bullies against the weak. Powerful against powerless. And time is running out: On your birthday, you disappear just like everyone else...]

Ryan

Light Waterstones Exclusive - http://www.waterstones.com/waterstonesweb/products/michael+grant/light+-+waterstones+exclusive/9471828/

Book Haul (24th November 2012)

Sooo, I got some more books for review, and I bought some, so here ya go!

Books received for review:

Intertwined, Unraveled and Twisted - Gena Showalter

(So I actually requested these three books from Mira Ink and they accidentally sent me 2 copies of Intertwined, 1 copy of Twisted and 0 copies of Unraveled. However, being the amazingly kind people that they are, they are sending me a copy of Unraveled and have allowed me to keep the extra copy of Intertwined to do with as I wish, so I'll probably use it for a giveaway when I review the book hopefully in December so keep your eyes peeled!)

Books I bought:

One Shot (A Jack Reacher Novel) - Lee Child

The Lord of the Rings - J.R.R Tolkien

(I LOVE these new covers! I had to own them, impulse buy!)

Hope you enjoyed this book haul! If you've read or want to read any of these books let me know, I'd love to know what you guys think of them! :D

Ryan

The Maze Runner Trilogy - James Dashner (Series Review!)

Publication Details

These UK editions were published between 2011 and 2012 by Chicken House.

The Maze Runner - 369 pages, 62 chapters

The Scorch Trials - 359 pages, 65 chapters

The Death Cure - 329 pages, 73 chapters

Synopsis (of The Maze Runner [spoiler free])

When the doors of the lift crank open, the only thing Thomas remembers is his first name. But he's not alone. He's surrounded by boys who welcome him to the Glade - a walled encampment at the centre of a bizarre and terrible stone maze. Like Thomas, the Gladers don't know why or how they came to be there - or what's happened to the world outside.

Review (SPOILER FREE)

**Note - because this is a series review, I highly doubt that this is going to be a long and detailed review so I can't really go into much detail because I'm talking about three books at once here people, what more can I do for you guys?!** :)

The main things that I'm going to talk about here is my opinion of this series overall and the writing style, how I felt about the main character etc... so yeah, lets get started!

I really love Dashner's writing style, it's quick, it's to the point and it's detailed. The author managed to first create this world in The Maze Runner in a way that was vivid and had me hooked from the very first page. As the series develops into The Scorch Trials, Dashner manages to develop this world on a grand scale that completely magnified my love for the series. Dashner is capable of writing such amazing action scenes - that are fast paced and realistic - that escape the page and consume you in a way that causes the story to feel so realistic and vivid that it makes you literally feel as though you are right in the middle  of everything that's going on; you feel like you're trapped in this Maze with these children, you're taking this journey with the children and experiencing the same emotions that you expect them to be feeling throughout the entirety of this book. Also, Dashner ends almost every chapter with a cliffhanger - something I LOVE in a book, and these ciffhangers were so excellently and logically executed and perfectly placed so that when you thought things were just about to slow down BAM! they pick right back up again!

The main character - Thomas - is so incredibly well written that I feel like finishing the series has caused me to lose a friend in some strange way. I connected with Thomas extremely well and sympathised for his character throughout all three instalments in this trilogy. When Thomas was in trouble, I was worried. When Thomas was scared, I was horrified. Everything was magnified to a level that made Thomas and the world he was living in so unbelievably realistic and creative that I both feared and loved the world I was entering every time I picked up each book.

So far this review has been totally positive, however, unfortunately, this is where that ends. The Death Cure was a disappointment for me - as well as (to my knowledge) for the vast majority of other fans of this trilogy. It's an amazing book that again is fantastically well written with incredible characters that you love to read about, but it just didn't live up to my expectations after the first two books. The Maze Runner and The Scorch Trials  were so amazingly breath taking that The Death Cure had a lot to live up to and I totally understand that, but it just didn't stay up to standards with the first two books. I still really enjoyed the book though. Also, I'm not sure about anyone else, but I really wasn't satisfied with the way Dashner ended the trilogy in The Death Cure. It's one of the few last-in-a-series books that I've ever finished and felt unfulfilled - like the series hadn't really ended or didn't come to a proper conclusion, and that really disappointed me. The last book was also a little anti-climactic in some points, I just didn't feel like much was happening. Again though, the last book was still amazing.

Overall, I LOVED this trilogy and I highly recommend that you at least pick up the first book because you won't be disappointed! I will miss reading this series and following the characters in their journeys very much. HOWEVER, there is still The Kill Order - a prequel to The Maze Runner trilogy - that I got an Advanced Reader's Copy of recently from Chicken House so I'm extremely excited to read that one before it's UK release in January and see how it all began!

The Maze Runner - 5 out of 5 stars

The Scorch Trials - 5 out of 5 stars

The Death Cure - 4 out of 5 stars

Overall Series Rating - 5 out of 5 stars

Book Haul (20th November 2012)

These are books that I have bought/received for review over the last while! I haven't posted a book haul in a while so there are quite a few books!

Books received for review:

Flawless + Perfect - Sara Shepard (2nd and 3rd installments in the Pretty Little Liars series - sent to me by the publishers: Atom)

Operation Eiffel Tower - Elen Caldecott 

(Middlegrade novel sent to me by Bloomsbury)

The Kill Order - James Dashner

(prequel to the Maze Runner trilogy, sent to me by Chicken House)

The Diviners - Libba Bray

(Sent to me by Atom)

Books I bought myself:

Gerald's Game - Stephen King

Poirot's Early Cases + Poirot Investigates - Agatha Christie

(Cover could not be found for Poirot Investigates)

Metamorphosis - Franz Kafka

Robinson Crusoe - Daniel DeFoe

And finally:

Jane - Robin Maxwell

(I won this in a giveaway on TheBookRat's blog! Link below!)

TheBookRat - http://www.thebookrat.com/

Ryan

And Then There Were None - Agatha Christie

Publication Details:

Published by Harper - Mystery in April 2011

Originally published as "Ten Little Indians" in 1939/1940

300 pages

16 chapters (with separating sections)

Synopsis

First, there were ten - a curious assortment of strangers summoned as weekend guests to a private island off the coast of Devon. Their host, an eccentric millionaire unknown to all of them, is nowhere to be found. All that the guests have in common is a wicked past they're unwilling to reveal - and a secret that will seal their fate. For each has been marked for murder. One by one they fall prey. Before the weekend is out, there will be none. And only the dead are above suspicion.

Review

**Like my review for Velveteen by Daniel Marks, I cannot for the life of me, make this a "proper" review as usual. Because this is a mystery book and I absolutely hate spoilers in any shape or form, I have decided to briefly discuss my thoughts on the writing style, but not as in depth as usual, so that I can avoid giving anyone spoilers. So in case you are reluctant to read on because you are worried about spoilers, I assure you now that this review will be 100% SPOILER FREE**

This is my first go at an Agatha Christie novel and I have to say I had a slight love/hate relationship with her writing style in this book. Her writing style is incredibly and detailed and I definitely found myself getting lost in the story because the writing was just so fluent and easy to understand. The way Agatha writes dialogue is really quite different from what I've ever experienced - she writes the dialogue and announces who is reading in a way that vaguely reminded me of a "play". 

Example:

"Mrs. Rogers was saying:

'I hope you've got everything you want, Miss?'"

I hope you can see what I mean by the dialogue being written in a very structured manner. I enjoyed this to an extent, after a while it began to get kind of irritating. Although, aside from that, Agatha's writing style was very descriptive, enthralling and addictive, so I definitely loved it more than I hated it.

Agatha creates a very vivid image in the mind of the reader of what is occurring in the book so I felt more like I was in the story, rather than sitting in my room reading it, which is a huge plus for me in any book. Feeling more involved in the story helps the book be much more enjoyable which will make for a more pleasant experience with the book and the story.

If you didn't grasp from the synopsis above what this book is about, it's basically telling the story of 10 strangers who are lured onto an island by a mysterious "U.N. Owen", all for different reasons. Once all the guests are on the island, they are each accused of murder, and then they begin to be killed, one by one. So the mystery part for the reader is trying to figure out who the anonymous killer is throughout the entirety of the book. Agatha is predominantly and famously known for being "The Queen of Mystery" and I can certainly see why after reading this novel. She creates an atmosphere within the story that is so strange, eery and somehow foreign to me in a way that makes for an incredibly written story. I certainly did not guess who the killer was. I tried to guess constantly who the culprit could have been and at by the time I had reached the final pages, I realised that I had accused everyone in my head as being the killer - but I still had NO idea as to who it really was. And that's what makes a good mystery - one that leaves you guessing until the very end.

If you are a fan of mystery novels, I highly recommend that you pick this book up and give it a go, it's definitely worth the time and money! I will most definitely be reading more of Christie's works in the future - one that I particularly want to read is "Murder on the Orient Express". 

**If you pick this book up and are one for sneaking a peek at the last page before you even start the book, I warn you now NOT to do that with this book as the last words announce who the killer is! This is not a spoiler but merely a warning as it will ruin the book if you looked!**

5 out of 5 stars

Velveteen - Daniel Marks

Publication Details:

Published by Delacorte Press on 9th October 2012

447 pages

27 chapters

Synopsis

Velveteen Monroe is dead. At 16, she was kidnapped and murdered by a madman named Bonesaw. But that’s not the problem.

The problem is she landed in purgatory. And while it’s not a fiery inferno, it’s certainly no heaven. It’s gray, ashen, and crumbling more and more by the day, and everyone has a job to do. Which doesn’t leave Velveteen much time to do anything about what’s really on her mind.

Bonesaw.

Velveteen aches to deliver the bloody punishment her killer deserves. And she’s figured out just how to do it. She’ll haunt him for the rest of his days. 

It’ll be brutal... and awesome.

But crossing the divide between the living and the dead has devastating consequences. Velveteen’s obsessive haunting cracks the foundations of purgatory and jeopardizes her very soul. A risk she’s willing to take—except fate has just given her reason to stick around: an unreasonably hot and completely off-limits coworker.

Velveteen can’t help herself when it comes to breaking rules... or getting revenge. And she just might be angry enough to take everyone down with her.

Review

So I've decided to insert the synopsis in this review, as you can see above, because I don't want to spoil anything about the storyline by trying to explain it myself. So now I can go on to talk about characters and the writing style and my overall thoughts without spoiling the storyline for anyone. 

The main character that I'll talk about is Velveteen Monroe - more commonly known as Velvet in the book. I liked Velvet's character overall, she was badass and strong. I loved how determined she was to get revenge at Bonesaw for killing her as horribly as he did. As much as I loved Velvet's character, there were a couple of moments where I thought she was showing examples of her being self-absorbed which I really disliked, I just felt like it didn't suit her character very much and kind of put me off her a little bit, but luckily she made up for it with her badass-ery.

Nick Russell is the other character I'm going to talk about - Velvet's romantic interest in the novel. I really liked Nick's character, I thought he was cool and he didn't really think too much of himself, apart from when it came to him trying to seduce Velvet, which was just hilarious to me. It was interesting to see Nick coming into Purgatory and having to come to terms with being dead. Again, I really enjoyed reading about Nick, he's just one of those characters that you love and love to read. He was funny, quirky and just an all-round awesome character.

I feel like I have a slight love/hate relationship with Daniel's writing style in this book, especially in the first half-ish of the book. There was a lot of description and little dialogue in the first half of the book but the dialogue gradually increased as the book went on which I'm very grateful for. I suppose with world building like this, a lot of description is required but I'm just not the super descriptive fan that some people may be and I'd have liked the dialogue to be more common in the beginning. Aside from the description overload, Daniel's writing style was very captivating and interesting.

I ended up loving this book, the action type scenes were awesome, the whole world that Daniel created was incredibly and imaginative. Something else that stood out to me was the funny parts of the book, I wasn't going into this book expecting it to be funny so when characters had these awesome comebacks and funny lines, I cracked up. And the funny parts weren't very frequent or crammed together, so when they came along, they were that much funnier. This is a stand alone novel as far as I know, but I definitely felt like Daniel has written it so that should he ever want to return to this world and write a sequel, he's left it open so that he could do it with ease. I'd definitely read the sequel if Daniel did decide to write one, but if he didn't, I'd be pretty satisfied with the action and all that good stuff that was in this book.

5 out of 5 stars!