5/50

Book: The Scorch Trials (Maze Runner #2)

Author: James Dashner
Rating: *****

Review: So, I officially cannot wait until the third book in this series comes out, something I very rarely say with such conviction. I thought that this was going to be a series that I would be interested in reading, but never something I would get this hooked on. I read this book in two sittings. The chapters are so well put together that, as soon as the characters are solving one problem, the next one is introduced and you're stuck reading the next chapter too, because you just have to find out what they do with this new set of "Variables" as they come to be called.

I also had no idea that this story line was going to get even more intense than what was presented in The Maze Runner. I really wasn't sure if it was possible to have more questions than I did while reading that book, but it was. Every other page seemed to open up a whole new series of what-ifs, whys, who-done-its, and more.

Definitely, 110% recommended this series to any interested in young adult dystopian fiction!

4/50

Book: The Maze Runner (Maze Runner #1)

Author: James Dashner
Rating: *****

Review:I picked this book up and only put it down because I had to sleep. I picked it right back up again in the morning and finished it in a less than 12 hour period. I was that hooked on the story line.

This book grabs you with questions from the very first page and the questions never stop. It is fast paced, well developed, and perfectly lovely (or unlovely, as the case may be, given that it does fit into a YA Dystopian category quite nicely).

I am fond of the character development. The author give you a very good idea of what the person is like with out repeating incessantly, boring you, or giving you more information about someone's appearance that you even know about your best friend of 15 year's appearance. In a similar fashion, the use of just enough and not too much in the way of descriptive language is very nice. In a book like this it sort of lets you fill in the nightmare in whatever way makes it the creepiest to you.

Definitely off to the library asap to get my hands on more of this one!

3/50

Book: Unwind

Author: Neal Shusterman
Rating: *****

Review: Reading the summaries for this book, I had a hard time thinking that it was something I would get as in to as I did. Most simple summaries make it sound very much like it's a plot line that could quickly spiral down into the world of teen-angst and woe-is-me lackluster characters that so many otherwise very good YA novel plots sink.

This book is anything but that! Unwind is so incredibly thought provoking; so full of such vivid language, imagery, and characters with a great amount of depth, that every impossible idea Shusterman sets before you becomes quite terrifyingly believable in the incredibly and horrifyingly tangible future world he has created.

I picked this book up and only put it down because I had to sleep. When I woke up in the morning I went straight back to it. A whole second book later and I'm still thinking back to some of the questions and topic raised in Undwind.

I am incredibly hopeful that this will turn into a series or a trilogy (based on the "Unwind #1" designation)!

2/50

Book: How I Live Now

Author: Meg Rosoff
Rating: ****

Review: It was a good quick read (only took me 3 hours). I was really irked at first by the writing style, but let it go because it is written by the main character. I'm glad I did because after a few chapters I became so wrapped up in the plot that the strange use of capital letters and so on were quite soon the least of my concerns.

It is a very haunting tale that gives you just enough information to start asking a lot of questions about what could happen in your own future, how you would handle it, etc.

Very thought provoking and very worth the read!

1/50

Book: The Windup Girl
Author: Paolo Bacigalupi
Rating: ****

Review: It took me a little while to get into it, mostly because of the way it jumps between character view points. It always takes me longer to get into a story written in that style because it takes longer for me to get attached to any of the characters and story lines. However, once I was thoroughly immersed, I could hardly put it down. Very interesting, great world building, raises a lot of questions about the way we live now.

The end was a bit ambiguous, which leaves me hoping this means there will be a sequal. If not I'm a tiny bit dissappointed.

A Foreword

Before I launch straight into the reviews, I'm going to give you a little explanation.

This year I decided to try and finish reading 50 books before the year is out. If I don't finish 50, I'll still have read a lot more that I have done lately.

I decided, to help keep myself on top of things and motivated, I'll be posting mini reviews in a blog.

Each book will get a rating out of 5 stars. Only whole stars, no halves allowed. Also a quick textual summary of my thoughts about the book.