Book Review: Vortex (Tempest #2) by Julie Cross

Vortex (Tempest #2) by Julie Cross

Release Date: January 15th 2013

Publisher: Pan Macmillan
Format: Paperback
Pages: 435
Rating: 4.5/5.0

This book was read as part of the 2014 RC and 2014 SSC

Summary from Goodreads:

"Jackson Meyer has thrown himself into his role as an agent for Tempest, the shadowy division of the CIA that handles all time-travel-related threats. Despite his heartbreak at losing the love of his life, Jackson has proved himself to be an excellent agent. However, after an accidental run in with Holly—the girl he altered history to save—Jackson is once again reminded of what he's lost. And when Eyewall, an opposing division of the CIA, emerges, Jackson and his fellow agents not only find themselves under attack, but Jackson begins to discover that the world around him has changed and someone knows about his erased relationship with Holly, putting both their lives at risk all over again."

Review:
** Spoiler Alert: Read at your own risk**

I'm currently finding it very hard to figure out my thoughts on this one, just because it's been weeks since I actually finished reading this. So I'm going to do something different - I'm going to try out a pros and cons list.

- Pros -

• I liked the plot overall. Vortex took our character's in a new direction. Instead of focusing more on the romance in Tempest, Vortex very much focused on the time travel, and the mysteries behind it, and the government corporations all getting in on the action. And I liked that. 
• I like what they did with Holly. In Tempest Holly was our protagonist Jackson's love interest, and the main driving force behind everything he did. In Vortex, for reasons I won't go into, she's his enemy. It was hard to wrap my head around it at first, because you've also got Jackson still hung up on the old Holly, and the majority of his actions revolve around protecting her, but once I started to think of her as a completely new character, I could appreciate what Cross has done with her.  
• I liked Stewart and Kendrick. I loved Kendrick as the new best friend, and Stewart was an interesting character. You start out maybe not liking her so much, but she grows on you and in the end, you're glad Jackson has her. The only downside is that I don't remember Stewart in Tempest AT ALL, so I have absolutely nothing to compare her to in terms of character growth
• I LOVED the ending. Very wacky, very strange, but very well done. 
• There are still so many unanswered questions, which I can't wait to find out about in Timestorm. Why was Jackson's Dad abducted from the past? Where did Courtney come from and how is she doing what she's doing? Emily is still mysterious, I need more information on her. Healy said Thomas wasn't the guy he's been sending to try to convince him to do what he wants - so who is it? Is it Holly? Emily? Also Stewart seemed at bit off at times, does she have a deeper role? AND ADAM, WHY DID HE HAVE TO DIE??? There are so many questions raised that make my anxious to get my hands on Timestorm so I can get my answers. 

- Cons -

• I suffered majorly from book amnesia, so I had a hard time remembering what actually happened in Tempest. Which in turn made it harder to understand everything going on in Vortex, because background information was missing.
• A lot of information about the intricacies of time travel went completely over my head. There were a lot of explanations about time travel, alternate universe's, and Jackson's role in all of this, but most of the time I just couldn't completely understand what was happening. It's very complex, and I think since I didn't have my head completely wrapped around it, it made it harder to completely understand plot points
• I'm still not sure exactly who Eyewall are. Eyewall are Jackson's enemy, but even after all the focus on Eyewall in this novel, I still have no idea who they are or what exactly they do. Which isn't great, considering the major role they have in all the action. I wasn't entirely sure in the end if they were as bad as what we're supposed to think they are. Hopefully their purpose is explained more thoroughly in Timestorm.   

So overall, I really, really enjoyed this. Vortex impressed me in taking the story in a new direction, and avoiding second book syndrome entirely. It's fast paced, full of action, and there's a bit of romance thrown in there, but it's completely different to the romance in Tempest. I'm excited to get my hands on Timestorm and finish this story, in what I'm sure is going to be a fitting finale. 

Sidenote - is this sort of review something you enjoy reading. I like the pros and cons list, I think it's actually easier to write out my reviews, but is it something you enjoy reading? Let me know in the comments!

Book Review: Cress (The Lunar Chronicles #3) by Marissa Meyer

Book Review: Cress (The Lunar Chronicles #3) by Marissa Meyer
Release Date: 4th February 2014

Publisher: Puffin Books
Format: Paperback
Pages: 550
Rating: 5.0/5.0

This book was read as part of the 2014 SSC

Summary from Goodreads:

"Rapunzel’s tower is a satellite. She can’t let down her hair—or her guard. 

In this third book in the bestselling Lunar Chronicles series, Cinder and Captain Thorne are fugitives on the run, with Scarlet and Wolf in tow. Together, they’re plotting to overthrow Queen Levana and her army. 

Their best hope lies with Cress, who has been trapped on a satellite since childhood with only her netscreens as company. All that screen time has made Cress an excellent hacker—unfortunately, she’s just received orders from Levana to track down Cinder and her handsome accomplice. When a daring rescue goes awry, the group is separated. Cress finally has her freedom, but it comes at a high price. Meanwhile, Queen Levana will let nothing stop her marriage to Emperor Kai. Cress, Scarlet, and Cinder may not have signed up to save the world, but they may be the only ones who can."

Review:

It wasn't my intention to post this review today, but after finishing this gem yesterday, I just had to get my feelings out there. Because OH MY GOD THIS SERIES. It's going to be one hell of a struggle to wait a year for the last instalment.

I can't believe what Meyer has managed to do with this series. Not only does she effortlessly and flawlessly work a fairytale into each novel, but she follows the overarching plot as well. You'd think that adding another main female protagonist (to add to Cinder and Scarlet) would be a few too many POVs, but somehow it works. The number of POVs in this novel is astronomical, and yet, it doesn't feel forced, or a pain, to read from each character's POV. I've had problems with multiple POVs in the past, just in that usually I prefer one POV over the other. But Meyer has created fascinating and interesting characters that this isn't a problem; I don't even mind jumping around POVs mid chapter, it's just written that well.

I don't want to start going in depth about the character's or the plot, because I feel I might wander into spoiler territory. I'll just say that during the final section (Cress was separated into four sections), my heart was pounding, I was frantically flipping through the pages, and I absolutely adored that ending. It's been a while since I've been so invested in a story and it's characters, to the point where even though I'm sure they'll be ok, I still worry for them throughout their escapade. It's been a while since a plot has kept me guessing, and thrown plot twists at me that I hadn't even considered. It's been a while since I've picked up a book and read over 150 pages in one sitting. This series right here is why I read YA, because when it's done right, it's just so damn good.

Book Review: Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

Release Date: 16th August 2011

Publisher: Arrow Books
Format: Paperback
Pages: 372
Rating: 4.5/5.0

This book was read as part of the 2014 RC 

Summary from Goodreads:

"It's the year 2044, and the real world is an ugly place.

Like most of humanity, Wade Watts escapes his grim surroundings by spending his waking hours jacked into the OASIS, a sprawling virtual utopia that lets you be anything you want to be, a place where you can live and play and fall in love on any of ten thousand planets. 

And like most of humanity, Wade dreams of being the one to discover the ultimate lottery ticket that lies concealed within this virtual world. For somewhere inside this giant networked playground, OASIS creator James Halliday has hidden a series of fiendish puzzles that will yield massive fortune--and remarkable power--to whoever can unlock them. 

For years, millions have struggled fruitlessly to attain this prize, knowing only that Halliday's riddles are based in the pop culture he loved--that of the late twentieth century. And for years, millions have found in this quest another means of escape, retreating into happy, obsessive study of Halliday's icons. Like many of his contemporaries, Wade is as comfortable debating the finer points of John Hughes's oeuvre, playing Pac-Man, or reciting Devo lyrics as he is scrounging power to run his OASIS rig. 

And then Wade stumbles upon the first puzzle. 

Suddenly the whole world is watching, and thousands of competitors join the hunt--among them certain powerful players who are willing to commit very real murder to beat Wade to this prize. Now the only way for Wade to survive and preserve everything he knows is to win. But to do so, he may have to leave behind his oh-so-perfect virtual existence and face up to life--and love--in the real world he's always been so desperate to escape. 

A world at stake. 
A quest for the ultimate prize. Are you ready?"

Review:

** Spoiler Alert: Read at your own risk**

Looking back at my notes after I finished reading this, I've mostly just written three lines which boil down to 'I thought this was good'. So this review isn't going to delve into characters, or the plot, or the normal things you see in a review. Instead I'm just going to focus on the main points that stood out to me. Don't get me wrong, I loved the characters, the setting, the plot, and all that jazz, but these are the main points that really stood out to me. 

I like to think that I read a fair bit of sci-fi, but most of that revolves around time travel, not the world wide web, so this is my first experience reading sci-fi involving virtual reality. And I have to say, I think Cline did a very good job at it. Not only did we delve into the amazingness that would be the OASIS, and massive virtual world with anything and everything you could possibly imagine, but this was balanced against a grim view of a real world that was slowly, but surely, declining. Just when you experience something amazing in the OASIS, in the next scene you see our protagonist Wade's daily ritual, where he wakes up, showers, eats, and then jacks himself up to the OASIS for hours upon hours of gameplay. The decline of the real world has gotten to the point where Wade doesn't even leave his room anymore, it's just not worth it. Why bother when you can spend your time in a virtual reality. In fact, spend so much time in the world of the OASIS that it become's your reality, and you just leave the real world behind. It's kinda sad really. But I liked that Cline managed to weigh these two realities fairly. Just showing us the OASIS itself wouldn't have been enough to actually depict how important the OASIS is, how important it is that the gunter's find Halliday's egg and not The Sixer's. It wouldn't have made much sense without the context, so I appreciate that. 

And while we're on this point, let's not forget about that ending. After the OASIS being Wade's entire life for years, after meeting Art3mis in person, he has no desire to return to that world. And I think that's a very powerful message. You could be rich and famous in an online world, but it can't bring you the sort of happiness that real, true connections do. When it comes down to it, the real world trumps virtual reality.

Moving on, I really enjoyed the 80's trivia as well, even if I didn't understand much of it given that I'm a 90's kid. It was an amusing touch that I think gave some heart to the story - Halliday really wanted the OASIS to fall into the right hands, and I think that reflected in his puzzles. They all revolved around the time in his life that he was just an optimistic young lad with a love for computing, before all the money and before he invented the OASIS. Plus it was fun and super hard to try to figure out the puzzles, since I have little to no 80's trivia knowledge, but once it was spelled out for me, it all made sense. It was fun to follow along with the hunt myself and see if I could figure anything out. 

These were the two things that stood out to me the most; an important message about the negative effects of virtual reality and what happens when it gets out of hand, but also the fun 80's trivia I learnt whilst completely the hunt. Mixing an important message with the fun, light side worked well for the novel, and I really wish this were a part of some series, just so that I could revisit that world. I'll have to settle for second best, and will have to check out Cline's other novels. 

Book Review: Ruby Red (Precious Stone Trilogy #1) by Kerstin Gier

Ruby Red (Precious Stone Trilogy #1) by Kerstin Gier
Release Date: 10th May 2011

Publisher: Henry Holt 
Format: Paperback 
Pages: 322
Rating: 4.0/5.0

This book was read as part of the 2013 ODY and 2013 BSR

Summary from Goodreads:

"Gwyneth Shepherd's sophisticated, beautiful cousin Charlotte has been prepared her entire life for traveling through time. But unexpectedly, it is Gwyneth, who in the middle of class takes a sudden spin to a different era!

Gwyneth must now unearth the mystery of why her mother would lie about her birth date to ward off suspicion about her ability, brush up on her history, and work with Gideon--the time traveler from a similarly gifted family that passes the gene through its male line, and whose presence becomes, in time, less insufferable and more essential. Together, Gwyneth and Gideon journey through time to discover who, in the 18th century and in contemporary London, they can trust."

Review:

This was a quick, fun read for someone looking just for that. Not sure if time travel is your thing - then I suggest you give this one a go.

Ruby Red is a quick, addictive read, about a 16 year old girl named Gwyn who's just discovered she can time travel. With zero preparation, she's inducted into this secret society, travels back in time, and unearths mystery after mystery. I loved how engrossed in this book I was - I didn't think I would be! In the first couple of chapters, possibly even the second, we're thrown into the time travel aspect. There's no slow build up - it's literally just, Yeah so there's this random time travel gene in my family. Holy crap, I can time travel! And I loved that - I enjoy being thrown right into the story.

And the mysteries - there were a lot of mystery's established, revolving around Gwyn, her family, and almost everyone in the secret time travel society (I forget what they're actual name is). I like that these are set up here, ready to be solved in the following books. And that twist at the end, that we only get to see in the epilogue - well done Gier, you kept me busy with all the other mysteries that I didn't even think about that one.

I loved a lot of the aspects in this novel - the plot, as i've established, was written well, there was a mix of characters you love (Gwyn, Lesley) and those you don't (Charlotte, Creepy Saint-Germain), but the main problem I had with this book was that it felt too short. Now, I'm not sitting here complaining that a book I loved was over too soon, what I'm getting at is that the pacing just... wasn't quite right. We get thrown into the action, introduced to this new world, establish some relationships, get to a scene that feels super important, and then BAM, book ends. I just don't think it ended properly.

Regardless, I'm definitely going to read the sequels, hopefully soon since I'm sure they'll be so easy to just fly through.

Book Review: The Host (The Host #1) by Stephenie Meyer

The Host (The Host #1) by Stephenie Meyer
Release Date: 6th May 2006

Publisher: Little Brown Books 
Format: eBook
Pages: 619
Rating: 5.0/5.0

This book was read as part of the 2013 OTS, 2013 ODY, 2013 EBC and 2013 BSR

Summary from Amazon:
"Melanie Stryder refuses to fade away. 

Our world has been invaded by an unseen enemy that takes over the minds of human hosts while leaving their bodies intact. But Wanderer, the invading "soul" who occupies Melanie's body, finds its former tenant refusing to relinquish possession of her mind.

As Melanie fills Wanderer's thoughts with visions of Jared, a human who lives in hiding, Wanderer begins to yearn for a man she's never met. Soon Wanderer and Melanie-reluctant allies-set off to search for the man they both love.

Featuring one of the most unusual love triangles in literature, THE HOST is a riveting and unforgettable novel about the persistence of love and the essence of what it means to be human."

Review:
Today I'm going to keep this review short and sweet. Put simply, I really, really enjoyed this book - waaaaay more than I expected I would (I think we can put that down to the stigma surrounding Stephenie Meyer these days). I loved almost everything about this book - the premise especially drew me it. Aliens invade earth to use humans as host bodies - what doesn't sound interesting about that?

Before starting this book, the only characters I really knew about were Melanie and Jared. I didn't know, or expect, that the story would be told from Wanda's point of view - but I really enjoyed it. It was interesting to read about how Wanda saw our world, how her opinions changed over time. Same thing with Melanie - it was interesting to have her as the complete opposite of Wanda in the beginning, and then see how she changes as the story progresses. 

One thing I feel like I need to stress is that THERE IS NO LOVE TRIANGLE. Don't be fooled by the blurbs claim, there is no love triangle, so don't decide not to read this book soley based on this reason. Also, I've heard that the movie isn't that great either. So if you were thinking of reading the book but then changed your mind after seeing the movie, reconsider - the book is always better than the movie!

Book Review: Scarlet (The Lunar Chronicles #2) by Marissa Meyer

Scarlet (The Lunar Chronicles #2) by Marissa Meyer
Release Date: 5th Feb 2013

Publisher: Puffin Books
Format: Paperback 
Pages: 452
Rating: 5.0/5.0

This book was read as part of the 2013 ODY, 2013 GVR and 2013 BSR

Summary from Amazon:

"Cinder, the cyborg mechanic, returns in the second thrilling installment of the 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 or 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 is loath to trust this stranger, but is inexplicably drawn to him, and he to her. As Scarlet and Wolf unravel one mystery, they encounter another when they meet Cinder. Now, all of them must stay one step ahead of the vicious Lunar Queen Levana, who will do anything for the handsome Prince Kai to become her husband, her king, her prisoner."

Review:

This was a fitting sequel to Meyer's debut novel, Cinder. To be honest, I was worried that the introduction of new main characters might interfere with what was already set up in book one, but it all worked out really well.

What I love about this series is that each book incorporates a retelling of an old fairytale. Cinder, if you can't tell based from the name, was based on Cinderella, and Scarlet has been based on Red Riding Hood. I was worried a bit when I found this out, because I wondered how Meyer was going to effectively incorporate a new story and new characters, whilst also continuing on the story she began in Cinder. But, Meyer was very clever with how she used the characters of Scarlet (little red riding hood), Wolf (that one's pretty self explanatory) and Scarlet's grandmother Michelle, so that they had significance to the continuing storyline from Cinder. 

Overall, Meyer continued the fascinating story of Cinder in the second novel in the Lunar Chronicles, and I'm really excited to see where the next novel takes us. 

Book Review: The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger

The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger

Release Date: 27th May 2004
Publisher: Baker and Taylor
Format: eBook
Pages: 224
Rating: 5.0/5.0

This book was read as part of the 2012 OTS Challenge and 2012 ATS Challenge

Summary from Amazon:

"A dazzling novel in the most untraditional fashion, this is the remarkable story of Henry DeTamble, a dashing, adventuresome librarian who travels involuntarily through time, and Clare Abshire, an artist whose life takes a natural sequential course. Henry and Clare's passionate love affair endures across a sea of time and captures the two lovers in an impossibly romantic trap, and it is Audrey Niffenegger's cinematic storytelling that makes the novel's unconventional chronology so vibrantly triumphant.

An enchanting debut and a spellbinding tale of fate and belief in the bonds of love, The Time Traveler's Wife is destined to captivate readers for years to come."

Review:

First off, I have to say that I am so, so sorry that it took me so long to get around to writing this review. And while this review won't be long, I think I'll be able to get across what I need to say.

All I'm going to say is this - this has to be one of the best romance novels I've ever read. Not only do you have this once-in-a-lifetime love depicted, which is written really well, but you also have a bit of the supernatural thrown in, with Henry being able to time-travel. This one extra aspect makes this novel unlike any other romances.
 

This is a complex story about love, life and loss. It can be a bit hard to get into because of the time traveling - I found it a bit hard at the beginning to figure out the ages, what with the time traveling, and exactly which Henry was in each scene. But once you figure it out, this book is a piece of cake to read, and could quite possibly be one of the best romance novels you ever read.