A crazy adventure with interesting characters | Starflight

Starflight (Starflight #1) by Melissa Landers

Published: February 2nd 2016 by Disney Hyperion

Genre: young adult, science-fiction

Goodreads summary: Life in the outer realm is a lawless, dirty, hard existence, and Solara Brooks is hungry for it. Just out of the orphanage, she needs a fresh start in a place where nobody cares about the engine grease beneath her fingernails or the felony tattoos across her knuckles. She's so desperate to reach the realm that she's willing to indenture herself to Doran Spaulding, the rich and popular quarterback who made her life miserable all through high school, in exchange for passage aboard the spaceliner Zenith.

When a twist of fate lands them instead on the Banshee, a vessel of dubious repute, Doran learns he's been framed on Earth for conspiracy. As he pursues a set of mysterious coordinates rumored to hold the key to clearing his name, he and Solara must get past their enmity to work together and evade those out for their arrest. Life on the Banshee may be tumultuous, but as Solara and Doran are forced to question everything they once believed about their world—and each other—the ship becomes home, and the eccentric crew family. But what Solara and Doran discover on the mysterious Planet X has the power to not only alter their lives, but the existence of everyone in the universe...

REVIEW

When I first heard about this book, I wasn't expecting a lot from it. I read Melissa Landers' debut, Alienated, when it came out, and really disliked it, because it was full of clichés and almost only focused on the romance. So if you're like me and disliked Alienated, you should still read Starflight, which I found so hilarious and entertaining. If you're a 'beginner' in sci-fi, you can also start with this one, because it doesn't involve complicated theories.

The beginning of the story was a little predictable, with Solara wanting to go to the outer realm and having no choice but to go with her nemesis, Doran. It was obious they would warm up to each other during the story, but I still really enjoyed reading about it. The plot really surprised me, I didn't really know what to expect, but it's more complex that I thought. It involved pirates, conspiracy and space ships, I don't see how I can ask any more. I really enjoyed the fact that some twists surprised me, because I hadn't thought this or that could be a possibility. This book was more of a fun book to read quickly, with no pressure. When I think about some scenes, I'm still laughing. It was action-packed, but sometimes I felt like I was waiting for something big to happen, so maybe it dragged in some parts - or I would have read faster.

Starflight didn't have a lot of world-building, but it didn't need it anyway. At the beginning of the book, our two main characters are on Earth and then they go in space. It's basically our world if we were able to colonize other planets. Also, you can note that a Planet Disney was mentioned, which made me laugh and eager to get there. Melissa Landers still managed to describe a realistic world I can totally see as an evolution of our world. It was a little like the Starbound trilogy with a powerful company and conspiracies, which I liked. Landers' still created special beings, the Daeva, whose will gave you goosebumps.

I found the characters to be interesting and realistic. Solara was a mechanic, typical in sci-fi, that had to fend for herself all life because she was basically an orphan - I would like to know more about that aspect by the way. She was daring and I really enjoyed that about her, she never gave up or anything. I had a harder time liking Doran, because he was such a jerk in the beginning. He went through a lot of character development and I even liked him at the end of the book. He was more resourceful than everyone was saying, which actually made sense since his father was sending him into missions all the time. The secondary characters -the crew- were all interesting and had their secrets. I loved learning about them, because at first, we knew nothing about them, just like the main characters. 

The dynamics between the characters worked well, thanks to witty dialogue. Of course, there was Solara and Doran's romance, which was a hate-turned-love type of relationship, which I enjoyed, even if I found that Doran was a bit quick in changing his opinion of Solara, even if I get it, he was in a bad situation and had to think through everything. Their dynamics were still well written and at some point I was just waiting for them to finally kiss. I think they reminded me a little of Tarver and Lilac in These Broken Stars. Landers managed to write a realistic relationship for them and I don't think they'll have to deal with drama in the next book, since it'll focus less on them. There were other interesting dynamics among the crew, the best one was of course the family aspect. At the end of the novel, the characters were ready to do anything for each other, which makes me want to read the sequel now. I even liked the idea of Acorn, even if in the beginning I was sceptical. 

I was surprised by one turn of event, I'm wondering if I could have predicted it, but the author still got me. It was more of an open-ending which could almost make me feel like this one is a standalone. I would have liked more closure because there is one plot point. Moreover, I'm not sure I'll have my answer straight away, since the sequel will focus more upon Cassia and Kane, even if we'll still see the main characters. 

Overall, this was an entertaing book which was so much fun to read about. I didn't feel this spark that makes an amazing book, but I still loved it. The characters were interesting, especially since we didn't know everything about them. The romance was cute and enjoyable. I don't know if the second book will be as good as this one, since it seems to involve more drama, but I'll read it nonetheless. If you're looking for a quick book to read that will entertain you should pick this one up, even more if you loved Illuminae or the Starbound trilogy.

 Do you love sci-fi books? Have you read this one? What did you think of it? Did you have a Illuminae/Starbound vibe?

A fast-paced western read with a tough female lead | Vengeance Road

Title: Vengeance Road

Author: Erin Bowman

Published: September 1st by HMH Books for Young Readers

Goodreads summary: Revenge is worth its weight in gold.

When her father is murdered for a journal revealing the location of a hidden gold mine, eighteen-year-old Kate Thompson disguises herself as a boy and takes to the gritty plains looking for answers—and justice. What she finds are untrustworthy strangers, endless dust and heat, and a surprising band of allies, among them a young Apache girl and a pair of stubborn brothers who refuse to quit riding in her shadow. But as Kate gets closer to the secrets about her family, a startling truth becomes clear: some men will stop at nothing to get their hands on gold, and Kate’s quest for revenge may prove fatal.

REVIEW

Western is pretty new to the YA genre, but I think it is a trend I will totally enjoy! I actually only saw one western movie in my life, a few months ago, it was SO LONG but I enjoyed the plot. I’m a history major at uni, so of course I like historical fiction. I’ve read a lot of books set in that time period – Something Strange and Deadly is set in 1876 – but never about the Golden Rush.

I was immersed in the book straight away, because Bowman chose to use the slang of that period, it worked beautifully, it made me feel like I was there. I think the author did a lot of research; the atmosphere is accurate, like what we see in Western movies.

I really enjoyed our main character Kate, how tough she was, when she was supposed to be at such a time period. She disguised herself as a boy not to draw attention, she was so much into fighting, and didn’t want to be a wife who stays at home to take care of the children. If I recall well, she was at a marrying age but it wasn’t her goal at all, even if she might have picked the interest of some guys. There was a romance in the book, but it was such a minor part of the plot, I really enjoyed that, because it wasn’t what Kate wanted after all.

"That sounds real nice, boy," he says. "Now for the love of God, lower that damn pistol."

"All right," I says.And I do.Right after I shoot him through the skull.

The plot was really interesting; with kick-ass action scenes, however sometimes I was a little bored because it felt repetitive. The way Bowman included folklore was really interesting and was relevant to the plot. There was a nice plot twist I didn’t see coming at the end of the story, I enjoyed it quite a lot. I really liked that an Appalachian girl was an important character to the story, because she was part of a different culture all together, it was a way to add some diversity to the story. Also, Kate’s favourite book is Little Women, which was one of my favourite when I was a kid I was so happy about that!

"Then you ain't found the right book yet," I says. "There's something for everyone."

FINAL THOUGHTS

I really enjoyed this book, its genre is quite new in YA, I think I will enjoy this trend a lot: I still need to read Walk on Earth a Stranger and I’m eagerly anticipating Revenge and the Wild (it’s steampunk!) next year. However, I don’t think those kind of books are for everyone, because you have to be okay with people dying all the time. Those books aren’t a romantic representation of the Wild West, but as close as possible from the truth.

I CRIED A THOUSAND TEARS | Winter

Title: Winter (The Lunar Chronicles #4)
Author: Marissa Meyer
Published: November 10th 2015 by Feiwel and Friends

Goodreads summary: Princess Winter is admired by the Lunar people for her grace and kindness, and despite the scars that mark her face, her beauty is said to be even more breathtaking than that of her stepmother, Queen Levana.

Winter despises her stepmother, and knows Levana won't approve of her feelings for her childhood friend, the handsome palace guard, Jacin. But Winter isn't as weak as Levana believes her to be and she's been undermining her stepmother's wishes for years. Together with the cyborg mechanic, Cinder, and her allies, Winter might even have the power to launch a revolution and win a war that's been raging for far too long.

Can Cinder, Scarlet, Cress, and Winter defeat Levana and find their happily ever afterss? Fans will not want to miss this thrilling conclusion to Marissa Meyer's nationally bestselling Lunar Chronicles series.

REVIEW

I read Cress in March 2014 (I preordered, but sometimes Amazon sucks…..) and I have been eagerly anticipating Winter, it was like the book I waited for the most since… Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows? However, I was a little nervous, because I had been eagerly anticipating Queen of Shadows, which kind of disappointed me (even if it was still great), but I was wrong, because Winter was FANTABULOUS, I devoured it in three days (homework? What are you talking about?) and it was one of my favourite books of the year. By the way, I didn’t take any notes while reading it because I was too busy loving it. If you want a review in one gif, here you have it:

This review will be spoilery for the first three books and maybe Fairest, idk, so be considered warned. 

A wicked grin pulled at Winter's lips. She stepped away from Jacin, faced the people, and raised her arms to her sides. "People of Luna," she said, echoing the broadcast and pulling the crowd's attention away from the dome, "please give your full attention now to the true heir to the Lunar throne, Princess Selene, live from your very own sector." Her eyes flashed as she swooped an arm toward Cinder. "Our revolution is about to begin."

This book was huge and it was almost intimidating, SO MUCH happened. Of course, there was preparation for Cinder's revolution and we saw the characters doing just that in the Rampion, but after that, everything happened in a few days. I can't say much about the plot obviously, it was very fast-paced and I wasn't bored a single moment. The repartition between the points of view was well handled, because characters who were less important to some parts of the plot weren't really mentionned and then we got them again, etc. 

At first, I thought we weren't getting much of Snow White's fairy tale retelling, because Meyer had a lot of characters to handle and was busy with them. We still got the "big" parts of the story, I was so scared because I didn't want anything to happen to Winter, my precious baby. This Snow White retelling was SO WELL DONE I was just so surprised!

It was so well adapted to this world and I totally respect the "glass coffin" here, it was clever. About that, I shipped Jacin and Winter so much, it was so cute when he was like "Hey, Trouble", so casual and everything.

"I'm such an idiot. You should hate me." "You may be an idiot, but I assure you, you're quite a lovable one." He shook his head. "You're the only person in the galaxy who would ever call me lovable." "I'm the only person in the galaxy crazy enough to believe it. Now tell me what you've done that is worth hating you for."

Let's continue with the romance then why am I starting with that anyway?. Kai and Cinder were as cute as always, and wait for their last scene together. I was just crying and repeating myself hysterically "The wheel has come for circle." It was so cute and every fangirl heart will be pleased with that. I was pretty indifferent to Wolf and Scarlet's romance, though, but to be honest I was pretty indifferent to them during the whole book. Cress and Thorne were really cute, because their relationship took its time, but it was everything. I'm just so happy about the ships I might cry wait I actually did.

I had forgotten how the characters were sarcastic (Iko = Queen of Sarcasm) and hilarious, but they reminded me of it real fast!

Thorne glanced back at the pantry. "Did you see any rice in there? Maybe we could fill Cinder's head with it." Everyone stared at him. "You know, to... absorb the moisture, or something. Isn't that a thing?" "We're not pouring rice in my head."

Thorne was such a quirky and funny character, he was definitely one of my favourite! I grew so fond of Winter in this book, because she was so much more than "the crazy princess", she was clever and really helpful, even if the other characters couldn't see it at first. We saw a lot of developpment in Cinder's character, because she realized that she would really become Queen Selene and that Lunars would consider it this way, it was really interesting. 

I was eagerly anticipating seeing Luna in all its glory or not and I wasn't disappointed. Meyer depicted a bipolar world where the courtesans live more than wealthy, whereas regular Lunars are forced to work and live in sectors. It really felt like totalitarism, each sector was named because of what the people were doing in it, for example the L standed for Lumber, and then there was the numbers. Lunars only had artifical days and weather which is horrifying, I'm proud to be an Earthen guys!

The ending was so fast paced and I'm really happy that we got several chapters which were kind of an epilogue. Even if it brought me a lot of tears, we saw where each character is headed for the future, and I'm really pleased about that. It also made me hungry because LEMON CAKE. 

Final Thoughts:

This book was a more than satisfying conclusion to the Lunar Chronicles. I'm sad to let this series go and it will remain one of my favourite, it introduced me to sci-fi and made me learn that I loved spaceships. Meyer knows how to play with our little fangirls hearts with swoony-worthy romances, hilarious characters, fast-paced action and dramatic moments. I'm eagerly anticipating her next book, Heartless, because I REALLY REALLY want to know what she can do now she has finished the Lunar Chronicles.

And one last quote before I'm letting Winter go or at least try to:

"When she catches you," the guard snarled, "my queen will eat your heart with salt and pepper." "Well," said Cinder, unconcerned, "my heart is half synthetic, so it'll probably give her indigestion."

What do you think about this series? Are you a fan of sci-fi? Can you recommend me other books in this genre?

A Darkness Strange and Lovely | Book review

Title: A Darkness Strange and Lovely (Something Strange and Deadly #2)

Author: Susan Dennard

Published: July 23rd 2013 by HarperTeen

Goodreads summary: With her brother dead and her mother on the verge of insanity, Eleanor Fitt is utterly alone. Even the Spirit-Hunters - Joseph, Jie and the handsome, enigmatic Daniel - have fled to Paris. So when Eleanor begins to hear the vicious barking of hounds and see images of haunting yellow eyes, she fears the worst - that the Dead, and the necromancer Marcus, are coming for her.

To escape and search out the Spirit-Hunters, Eleanor boards a steamer bound for France. There she meets Oliver, a young man who claims to have known her brother. Though friendly, Oliver entices Eleanor with necromancy and black magic, yet as long as she can resist his powerful temptation, she'll be fine. But when she arrives in Paris, she finds that the Dead have taken over the city...and there's a whole new evil lurking. With the body count rising, Eleanor is forced to make a deadly decision that will go against everything the Spirit-Hunters stand for.

In Paris, there's a price for this darkness strange and lovely...and it may have Eleanor paying with her life.

REVIEW

This book had the same tropes that usual second books in trilogy, but it was done beautifully. I wasn’t bored a single moment, because the author took us to other parts of the world, we didn’t stay in Philadelphia. At the beginning of the book, Eleanor is truly a misfit (lol), she’s all alone because her mother is an asylum, her friends turned on her, the Spirit-Hunters have left and of course, there is the matter of her hand.

Eleanor is forced to leave town when Marcus comes after her and sail on a boat to France, because the Spirit Hunters are now in Paris. There, she meets new friends like Laure and form new alliances with the mysterious Oliver, who knows a lot more about her brother than he let on. Moreover, Eleanor is hunted down by creatures of the underworld, the Hell Hounds. I loved that Eleanor was on the ship, because it’s one of my favourite tropes in books. There was a scene of dream on the boat that was such like in Anastasia.

France was an amazing setting, because for once, I actually felt that the author did her research right. I live in Paris, so I get mad easily about French settings, haha. There was only one grammatical error in Susan Dennard’s French: it’s not “Le Cupidon Belle” but “Le Beau Cupidon”. Anyways, the French was correct for the rest of the book, and there was a lot of research about Paris, because the author mentioned Haussmann. Moreover, other cities were mentioned, like Le Havre where Americans sailed, or Marseille, from where Laure came from.

This book was a moment of deceptions for Eleanor, because a lot of people she considered friends turned their back to her. The author explained a lot more of the necromancy, because of the plot. Demons were also introduced, I really enjoyed that aspect. However, I had figured out who the bad guy was really early in the book. I noticed that the author doesn’t flinch when she has to wound a beloved character.

I enjoyed this book slightly less than the first one, but it was already SO GOOD. The next one seems full of promises; I’m really looking forward to it.

Have you read this book? What did you think of it?

Something Strange and Deadly | Book review

Title: Something Strange and Deadly (Something Strange and Deadly #1)

Author: Susan Dennard

Published: July 24th 2012 by HarperTeen

Goodreads summary: Philadelphia 1876. The Dead are rising. A zombie delivers a letter to Eleanor Fitt. Whoever controls the Dead Army has her brother. She avoids her mother's choice of husband for the lab of Spirit Hunters, including the maddeningly stubborn yet handsome Daniel. The situation threatens her reputation, and the lives of everyone in the city.

REVIEW

I was hesitant to dive into this book because ZOMBIES. Honestly, I’m a total chicken that doesn’t like to venture outside her comfort zone, but it was 19^th century, so I literally had to give it a try. Actually, this book has become one of my favourites, I feel guilty for not having read it sooner.

This book is set in 1876 during the International Exhibition of Philadelphia. Actually, I had no idea there was one in Philadelphia at that time, but I’m such a history nerd I want to know more about it now. I saw a YouTube video where Susan said she read documents from that period to immerse herself into it and honestly it worked so well. I could feel like I was there. Moreover, it wasn’t exactly easy for Eleanor to sneak away, which doesn’t appear in a lot of novels set in this time period, it’s something I really enjoyed, because it felt more realistic. I think the author really understood the social conventions of this time period and reproduced them well. I don’t know about you, but I had never read a book set in Philadelphia, I thought it was very original.

The zombies are never called zombies; they are referred to as “the Dead” or “the Hungry”, depending the time of creature. I enjoyed these paranormal creatures because they are raised by necromancers, which is pretty cool. Apparently, necromancy runs in the blood. The voodoo was also mentioned; in fact I pictured Joseph as Dr Facilier from the Princess and the Frog, but a lot nicer. Because of the Dead, it was a creepy read. It had a lighter tone in the beginning of the book but it became dark really soon.

I got friends on the other side ♪♫

The characters were well-written and diverse, for one part because Jie is Chinese and Joseph is Creole (so is Dr Facilier I’m sure), but also because of their social status: Eleanor was from the aristocracy, but it wasn’t the case of the Spirit Hunters. Eleanor was really brave, because she was nothing special but still did everything to save her brother. However, she’s very impulsive and makes stupid decisions because of that. She also loves food, so that’s always enjoyable. Daniel was an interesting character, because he has a past as a criminal and he’s an inventor. Jie was such a character I wasn’t expecting, she is so brave and kick-ass. She’s a bald Chinese girl who dresses like a man, because she doesn’t want to be forced into other’s ideas of the place of the women. Also, like she said, if she was dressed as a girl, she would have been put into a brothel. Joseph’s accent was soooooooo realistic, I’m really happy with that!

I really enjoyed the plot; we were put straight into the action.

"Dead!” a woman screamed. “It’s the Dead!”

That was the first sentence, which immediately held my attention; I was sucked right into the story because of it. Even if the plot was resolving a lot on the investigation, it also focused on the society, because Eleanor was part of it and attended to a lot of events. I guessed a part of the plot twist, but there were part of the ending I wasn’t expecting, I was just gaping and had to read a sentence four times before processing it at some point.

Something Strange and Deadly was an engaging read I was unable to put down, I read late into the night and then all day, because I had to know how it would end. If you loved the Infernal Devices, this book is for you!

Six of Crows | Book review

Title: Six of Crows (Six of Crows #1)

Author: Leigh Bardugo

Published: September 29th by Henry Holt and Company

Goodreads summary: Ketterdam: a bustling hub of international trade where anything can be had for the right price—and no one knows that better than criminal prodigy Kaz Brekker. Kaz is offered a chance at a deadly heist that could make him rich beyond his wildest dreams. But he can't pull it off alone...

A convict with a thirst for revenge.

A sharpshooter who can't walk away from a wager.

A runaway with a privileged past.

A spy known as the Wraith.

A Heartrender using her magic to survive the slums. 

A thief with a gift for unlikely escapes. 

Six dangerous outcasts. One impossible heist. Kaz's crew is the only thing that might stand between the world and destruction—if they don't kill each other first.

REVIEW

I expected to love it, I wasn’t disappointed. In the acknowledgments, Bardugo said she read a book about Amsterdam to write Ketterdam, it’s exactly what I felt, without knowing she meant to do it that way. Being back into the Grisha world was amazing, I really had missed it, I’m thinking to give the previous trilogy a reread to be honest. I really enjoyed the parts of the world we got to discover, like Ketterdam or the Ice Court in Fjerdan territory.

Each character was unique in its way, I enjoyed reading about every one of them. Truly, changing points of view all the time wasn’t an issue in this book. However, I’m warning you: you might be a little confused in the beginning, because Bardugo talks about everyone as if we already knew them, there are SO MANY NAMES, even of secondary characters. Nevertheless, I liked she did it from the beginning, because I had to be really careful, it gripped my attention this way. I think if I had to pick a favourite, it would be Nina, she’s a Grisha who loves cake, so well.

There is room for so much romance in the second book, but it’s not really the priority for the characters right away in the next book, because some of them will be in big trouble. I ship all the ships and I’m glad there will be an homosexual relationship, because it doesn’t happen that often in high fantasy.

The plot was much about… Plotting. The first chapter was everything. It was from a different character’s perspective, I was disconcerted but it was really necessary, because you see something really important happening, I wanted to read the rest of the book straight away after that, haha. I liked to see how many backup plans the characters had, the main ones like the villains. The heist was truly amazing, it took a big part of the story because every character had a part in it (in the last part, the time was written below each chapter headers, so much things happened, really).

The ending was full of twists and reveals, something went bad because of a second of inattention, that’s crazy. Seriously, I want the next one in my hands right now. I only have a suggestion for Leigh Bardugo: can we have Wylan’s chapters in the next book please?

Have you read this book? What did you think of it?