Book Review: Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion

Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion

REVIEW BY NICKY

As most of you know by now, I am a high school librarian.  Every month, I run a book club during lunch periods.  A few weeks ago, I had a student request that we read Warm Bodies for our next discussion.  I reluctantly agreed because, I mean--really--zombie falls in love with human girl; girl grows to love him back... yadda...yadda.  I thought, "Here we go--Twilight and vampires have kind of fallen out of popularity, and zombies are the NEXT BIG THING, so someone has obviously put two and two together to come up with the next hot book/movie combo."  I am happy to tell you: I was dead-wrong (pun intended).  

The first thing that struck me about the book was how well-written it was.  Marion puts words together in a way that truly impresses.  The narrator, R, is a zombie living among the undead in an abandoned airport of an unnamed city.  The thoughts that run through R's mind are quite complex and insightful for a zombie.  He's looking for more than just the silent wandering and the "food" runs into the city.  Then, during one attack on the human, he comes across Julie and something happens to him.  He takes her back to the airport, keeps her safe, and begins to feel a connection with her.  He begins to change.  Julie, for her part, can't figure out exact WHAT exactly R is.  She has  a hard time figuring out her own feelings, especially when she returns to "civilization," and realizes that a lot of the humans there, including her father, are actually more dead than R ever was.  She and R both have choices to make.  They know that something big, something involving both of them, is about to happen.  Unsure of what role they play in the big picture, both R and Julie are thrust into a war of unforeseen consequence.  

One of the things that struck me early on about this novel was how much I liked R.  In addition to being a rather deep-thinking zombie, the guy just had spark, something that saw how humans came to be in this end-of-days.  I also really appreciated Marion's attempt to theorize as to why something like a zombie apocalypse could happen... how the human spirit is slowly dying, and if something isn't done--if people don't change how they treat each other and what we value, something ugly is coming.  Despite this, the novel gives the reader hope in the end.  If a zombie like R can see the value and beauty if life, why can't we?

Book Review: The Pledge by Kimberly Derting

 The Pledge by Kimberly Derting

  Review by Janine

In this book we are introduced to the country of Ludania, a place where the class system and its rules are strictly adhered to at all times or punished with death.  Charlana and her sister Angelina, along with their parents, live in the country.  Life for them is lived simply as owners of a restaurant within the city.  The family, however, has a secret. Charlie and her sister both have unique abilities that would make them not only stand out but also become a target of the ruthless and evil Queen Sabara.  This puts her parents in constant fear.  As the rebels, who are trying to overthrow the queen, push further into the city and closer to defeating her, both sides have one common goal: find the next true heir to the throne.  One hopes to continue her legacy of evil, and one hopes to bring peace and hope to a country with none.
I must begin by saying that I really liked this book.  It was different from the other dystopian books that I have been reading lately.The premise of a country divided between an evil ruler and rebels looking to overthrow her and instate a new ruler, who not only has royal blood, but will be fair and kind, while being a strong ruler is nothing new.  I love that in this story the ruler is a queen.  The first born female to the reigning queen and her king, males need not apply!  The problem of the current queen, who is no heir to the throne, is the driving force behind the queen's ruthlessness to her people. She knows that part of her bloodline exists (as there is a line of the family that was banished generations before); the problem is finding an eligible and suitable queen in time.  I also found it interesting (in a good way) how this society was set up.  People were born into a class and that class is where you stayed.  To keep people of each class separate and to insure that the people of each class stayed within their class, each spoke a different language. There were also very strict rules for the interaction of the classes, any disobeying of these rules was punishable by death.  I just thought that was a clever way of devising a class system, and it made the book that much more interesting to me. When we meet Charlie and her sister Angelina, I thought of them as just regular kids (minus the fact that they each have a  kind of power).  They were not rebels, and they weren't acting as spoiled kids. Charlie is leveled-headed, protective of her sister, and while she does question her powers, she also accepts them for what they are and the weight that they carry.  Charlie knows that if anyone found out about them, much harm would come to her family and sister, so she deals with it the best she can.  Although, one should not mistaken her acceptance of her power, her class and any other part of her life as weakness.  She proves herself to be a strong, caring, smart and very powerful person.
  When we learn about the rebels and where they are hiding out, I had a flashback to Divergent (if you have read both, you will completely understand, I was just waiting for a waterfall!).  There were a few surprises but a lot of what happened you could predict as well.  I understand why things happened the way they did, but it still felt it a little predictable.  I still really enjoyed the book and am pretty excited to read the second one, which just came out!!

Book Review: Unwind by Neal Shusterman

UNWIND BY NEAL SHUSTERMAN

REVIEW BY NICKY

As a high school librarian, it's obviously hard to read every book in my collection, and I often find myself recommending books that I haven't even read yet... going by what critics or other students say, or by having read a synopsis of the book.  I must admit, that I've been recommending Unwind for quite some time without having read it.  So this summer, I was determined to get to this book.  I finished it tonight, and I now know that I will be recommending and book talking this one with a whole new passion!

The idea behind this book is what really grabs your attention and makes you want to read it--to find out more.  The characters, and how the story is told, are what keep you from ever wanting to put it down!  The novel takes place in an unspecified future time.  A second civil war has ended... a war between the pro-life and the pro-choice movements.  A compromise has been established.  Unwanted pregnancies can no longer be terminated.  However, a child's life can be terminated by his or her parents between the ages of 13 and 18.  Should a parent decide that they no longer want their child, he or she can be "unwound."  Doctors slowly "dismantle" the body, one part at a time, and each part is donated and used by someone in need.  This story centers on three characters.  Connor, after constantly getting into trouble, is being sent away by his parents to a harvest camp, where he will be unwound.  Risa, whose mother left her when she was just an infant, is a ward of the state.  She has failed to make a great impression on the board who decides her state, and so she is also being sent off to be unwound.  Lev is a tithe.  He has always known that he will be unwound.  As their tenth child, his parents are giving him up as a contribution, a sort of sacrifice for the greater good.  Lev looks forward to his unwinding and believes that he is special, a chosen one.  On one fateful day, their lives intersect, and their survival depends on each other as well as those who want to help.  But not everyone can remain "whole" when the entire world seems to be collapsing.

This is one of the most exciting books that I have read this summer!  I appreciate that, rather than being preachy, Shusterman has even avoided taking sides on the abortion issue while telling a compelling story of what happens when people are so divided that either extreme fails to see what truly is evil.  One of my favorite quotes from the novel goes...

"You see, a conflict always begins with an issue--a difference of opinion, an argument.  but by the time it turns into a war, the issue doesn't matter anymore, because now it's about one thing and one thing only: how much each side hates the other."

Reading this during an election year, with slandering ads on the television every five minutes, and arguments flying back and forth over social media, these words really carried some meaning.  Still, the novel tells a compelling and exciting story based on a heated issue, without getting overly political.   Mostly because you, the reader, want to know what happens to the characters more than you are interested in the political or legal outcome.  Near the end, questions arise.  Seeds of doubt and rebellion are planted, and I see the next books in the trilogy headed in a more political direction.  Still, Shusterman and his characters are dealing with the issue of unwinding, not abortion.  I see readers on both sides of the pro-life/pro-choice debate enjoying this story.  I couldn't put it down, and I'll be waiting on August 28th, for the release of its sequel, UnWholly.

Book Review: Crossed by Ally Condie

CROSSED BY ALLY CONDIE

REVIEW BY NICKY

Though I was entertained but not blown away by Matched, I still was intrigued enough to want to continue the series with Crossed. Perhaps it was because the novel's setting took us outside the Society, or perhaps it was the addition of Ky as a narrator, but I enjoyed the 2nd installment in this series better than the first. 

The novel picks up where Matched had left us.  Cassia has been sent by her family to a work camp.  They sent her there, under the guise of a punishment, so that she could pursue her search for Ky.  Ky, in the meantime, has been sent to the Outer Provinces.  He is sent there to impersonate actual visitors, when in reality, those sent there (mostly Aberrations and Anomalies, or non-Citizens) are essentially sent to their death.  They are fired upon by the Enemy and fight to survive each day.  Xander waits for Cassia back in the borough.  He remains an upstanding member of the Society. 
Ky, in the company of two other survivors, escapes the Outer Provinces.  They run to the Carving, which is a dangerous canyon that holds its own mysteries and secrets.  Ky hopes to somehow return to the Society and get back to Cassia.  Meanwhile, Cassia stows away on an airship that she knows is heading for the Outer Provinces.  She knows this is her chance to find Ky.  Following his trail, she and another companion head into the Canyon as well.  After being reunited, the group must fight to survive and decide whether they will join the Rebellion.  It is rumored that the Rebellion is working against the Society.  However, Ky, Cassia, and the other members of their group have different ideas about what the Rebellion is.  Cassia and Ky struggle with tension in their relationship as Cassia realizes that Ky is still holding onto his own secrets, including one about Xander.

There were a few things that I did not like about this novel.  First of all, as in Matched, some of the language, in an attempt to sound poetic, seems a bit forced.  Also, Cassia and Ky's reunion occurs very quickly and without much struggle on either character's part.  I understand that Condie needed to move the plot along in order to carry the rest of the story, so I wasn't too upset by this.  It is refreshing to read from a new character's point-of-view, and I commend Condie on this because it's a brave move and it definitely adds an interesting element to the story.  Although, in this sequel, we miss some of the minor characters from the first, we are introduced to quite a few new ones that truly add some interest... Indie, Eli, Hunter, etc.  Though some may complain that Xander, the 3rd character in this love triangle, is all but missing from the book, I find that he is a large part of it.  What is revealed about Xander gives him the most character development in this sequel. 
Though I enjoyed it more than Matched, I still was not completely thrilled by Crossed.  I found myself reading it just to find out what happens and be done, not out of any true interest in the characters or their fate.  Still, after reading the first two novels in a trilogy, one can't help but carry this through to the end, so yes, I will be picking up Reached on November 13th. 

Book Review: Matched by Ally Condie

Matched by Ally Condie

REVIEW BY NICKY

Matched  was read by many of our high school students this year, and I figured it would be a good, light summer read.  I think, however, that after this one, I may be ready for a break from dystopian fiction.  I think that Matched follows a lot of the same formula as the past few dystopian novels I have read.  The Society limits personal freedoms to maintain peace; the main character (a young girl) realizes how much she wants the ability to choose her own direction, control her own fate; and, of course, you have to have the love triange between the young protagonist and two seemingly equally appealing young men: one, the "safe" choice, and the other, the mysterious, hardened one.  Yes, I do know this is a broad generalization, but I think, to my own discredit, that I have finally gotten myself into a dystopian rut.

Matched starts out by introducing us to Cassia Reyes, who is on her way to her matching ceremony, where The Society will tell her with whom they have "matched" her.  She will spend the rest of her life with this young man, and chances are that she has never met or even seen this person before.  Of course, Cassia, like all young girls in The Society is nervous yet very excited for this momentous occasion.  She is shocked, then, when her match is revealed to be her best childhood friend, Xander.  When she goes home and reviews here match program on her home "port," she is shocked to see another's face on the screen as well: Ky Markham.  Cassia begins to see Ky in a different light, and to realize that the matching system, as well as other things in The Society, seem faulty at least, if not corrupt and cruel.  When it comes time to make her final decision, will Cassia "go gently"? 

I have to admit, I was annoyed by Cassia and Xander from the very beginning.  To be seventeen and not ever question this whole concept of being "matched" seems fairly far-fetched to me.  With Ky, I was a more sympathetic, however, and his story is why I did read this one fairly quickly.  Though I do feel, as I mentioned earlier, that I am in a dystopian rut, I also think that having just finished and loved Where Things Come Back, my standards have been set high, and I am a harsher critic that usual.  Though, my reaction to this book is a bit lack-luster, I do think it is credit to Ally Condie that I found the story intriguing enough to go out and start its sequel, Crossed, right away.

Book Review: Rot and Ruin by Jonathan Maberry

Rot and Ruin by Jonathan Maberry

REVIEW BY NICKY

At first, I wasn't sure I was going to pick this one up.  Janine and many of our high school students read this a while ago, and they have all been raving about it.  When we decided that we were going to go meet Mr. Maberry at YA Fest in Easton, PA, I finally started Rot & Ruin.  The reason I had been so hesitant to read this one is that I have these awful apocalyptic dreams sometimes, and I try to avoid books and movies that deal with this.  The fact that this was about zombies didn't exactly help, either.  Who knew I'd actually end up feeling sorry for the zombies in this book?!

Benny Imura has grown up after First Night, the night when a zombie epidemic broke out.  He has been raised by his brother Tom, who fled with 18-month old Benny on that fateful night, when their parents became infected.  Benny thinks he is a coward for abandoning their mother and running, but little does he realize Tom's strength and bravery.  Benny has a coming-of-age experience when he leaves their small gated town to go out into the great Ruin with Tom.  He has decided to apprentice with Tom as a zombie hunter, but did not realize what all that job entails and what all is out there in the Ruin.  When some of the town's zombie hunters commit horrific crimes to protect Gameland, a place where children are sacrificed to fight "zoms" for entertainment, Tom and Benny go on a new kind of hunt, where Benny will learn more about Tom, the Ruin, and the truth about what goes on outside of their protected home.

When I first started reading Rot & Ruin, I was continually interrupted by life (work, kids, all those responsibilities), but as the story went on, I started making it a priority, staying up way to late to squeeze in "one more chapter."  Finally, I carved out 3 full hours of non-stop reading to finish it!  And boy, was I NOT disappointed.  To take something so bizarre as a zombie apocalypse, and turn it into a complex story, with twists, and surprises, and multi-dimensional characters... that is a testament to Mr. Maberry's skill.  He leaves you wanting more... to know more about the characters and their choices, more about the mystery of the Ruin and the world beyond Mountainside.  As a high school librarian, this is one of those books that I can recommend to both boys and girls.  It's beyond any kind of gender stereotype, and I love that!  

Book Review: Insurgent by Veronica Roth

Insurgent by Veronica Roth

REVIEW BY NICKY

The day that Insurgent was released, I left work and went straight to the book store.  I had finished my previous book a week ago, but hadn't started anything else because I wanted to be ready for this book.  I read it so quickly because I couldn't wait to find out what happens, but now that I've finished, I feel like I read too fast and I'm having a hard time remembering details...which, really, is a good excuse to re-read both novels before the third one comes out!


From the inside cover: One choice can transform you—or it can destroy you. But every choice has consequences, and as unrest surges in the factions all around her, Tris Prior must continue trying to save those she loves—and herself—while grappling with haunting questions of grief and forgiveness, identity and loyalty, politics and love.

Tris's initiation day should have been marked by celebration and victory with her chosen faction; instead, the day ended with unspeakable horrors. War now looms as conflict between the factions and their ideologies grows. And in times of war, sides must be chosen, secrets will emerge, and choices will become even more irrevocable—and even more powerful. Transformed by her own decisions but also by haunting grief and guilt, radical new discoveries, and shifting relationships, Tris must fully embrace her Divergence, even if she does not know what she may lose by doing so.

New York Times bestselling author Veronica Roth's much-anticipated second book of the dystopian Divergent series is another intoxicating thrill ride of a story, rich with hallmark twists, heartbreaks, romance, and powerful insights about human nature.

I know a lot of other reviewers were annoyed by Tris in this sequel, but honestly, I didn't feel that way.  There were several times when I found myself wishing she would just get over the killing Will thing.  I felt that it wasn't truly Will that she killed, and I could not understand this guilt that haunted her.  However, I also have never shot anyone (let alone one of my best friends), and so that's a hard perspective to have.  Other than that, Tris did not bother me.  I liked that Tris continued to question everything she encountered... Amity's refusal to become involved, Candor's willingness to work with Erudite, and even Tobias' new alliance with the factionless.  I was impressed with her determination to follow her instinct and her convictions.  She did not want her parents' sacrifice to be for nothing.  She wanted to carry on their mission, and I think that showed her real strength.

One of my favorite things about this book is that, as readers, we get to learn more about the other factions.  I  laughed out loud when Tris was drugged my Amity, and I cringed at the Candor hearing when Tobias was forced to take the truth serum.

In general, I was extremely impressed by this sequel... it's definitely one of the best-written sequels I have read!  I won't write a spoiler here, but Veronica Roth really has a way of wrapping up the end of the story while leaving the reader gasping at the revelation, and desperate to read more.  Now, I just have to wait (not-so-patiently) for Roth's conclusion to the series.

Book Review: Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver

Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver
REVIEW BY NICKY

If you read my review of Delirium, you know that as soon as I finished it, I ran out that night to buy Pandemonium.  I could not wait to read the continuation of Lena's story.  I stayed up late last night to finish Pandemonium, and now I have to wait a possible 10 FULL MONTHS to read the conclusion in Requiem!  Oh, Lauren Oliver, how you torture me so!!

Pandemonium picks up right where Delirium left us.  Lena has made it across the border fence into "The Wilds."  She has escaped the love-less world of Portland and her "procedure" to remove the part of her brain that allows her to feel emotion.  With the help of Alex, who makes the ultimate sacrifice to save Lena, she now is free for the first time.  Lena, however, is barely alive when found by Raven and the group of "Invalids" who have made a life together in the Wilds.  They take her in, bring her back to health, and Lena slowly becomes a part of this nomadic family.
Life in the Wilds, Lena quickly learns, is not easy.  It is harsh, dangerous, even life-threatening.  The group travels south for the winter, and then Lena becomes part of the resistance.  She takes on a new identity in New York city, blends in with the "cureds," and then works to infiltrate one of their extreme activist group, the DFA.  When Lena is kidnapped with Julian, the son of the DFA's leader, she must rely on her new survival skills and perhaps a partnership with Julian, if they are going to make it out alive.

I think there are several things that really sets this series apart from other dystopian stories.  Of course, there is the premise... the idea that society, in an effort to keep from falling apart, has created a world without love or freedom.  As Raven says--a world of zombies.
There is also Lena.  Lena, who is strong and complex; who changes as the story and her world change.   The world Lauren Oliver created in Delirium is very different from the Wilds in Pandemonium.  A testament to Ms. Oliver's writing skill, Lena changes and develops right along with the story.  She is hardened, and stronger, and therefore I like her even more in this second novel.
And finally, there is Lauren Oliver's writing.  The beauty with which she puts words together continues to impress me in this book.  From Pandemonium:

“I read once about a kind of fungus that grows in trees. The fungus begins to encroach on the systems that carry water and nutrients up from the roots to the branches. It disables them one by one – it crowds them out. Soon, the fungus – and only the fungus – is carrying the water, and the chemicals, and everything else the tree needs to survive. At the same time it is decaying the tree slowly from within, turning it minute by minute to rot.

That is what hatred is. It will feed you and at the same time turn you to rot.

It is hard and deep and angular, a system of blockades. It is everything and total.

Hatred is a high tower. In the Wilds, I start to build, and to climb.” 

Beautiful.  Simply beautiful.  

The only thing that scares me (spoiler alert!)...

is the love triangle.  I am not a fan.  However, I am comforted by the conviction that Lauren Oliver will not disappoint.  I'm sure she will continue to surprise and impress me.  

I had a copy of Delirium on a staff recommendation display, and one of our high school students came up to me last week to tell me that she had picked it up, was in the middle of reading it and LOVED it.  This morning, I gave her my personal copy of Pandemonium, and we gushed about it and can't wait to discuss it after she finishes the second novel.  Thank you, Lauren Oliver!!!

Book Review: Delirium by Lauren Oliver

Delirium by Lauren Oliver
REVIEW BY NICKY
If you can judge a book by how badly you want to read the sequel, well... I finished Delirium last night, and today I am running out to the book store to grab Pandemonium!


Lena has grown up in Portland, Maine, one of the "approved cities" in the U.S.  In this alternative society, love (or amor deliria nervosa) has been deemed a disease, something of which all young people are cured.  They undergo a procedure which alters the brain to no longer feel love or emotional pain--they essentially become emotionally numb.
(Cue Pink Floyd music, here.)  Lena is actually looking forward to the procedure and the calmness that will come after.  She is afraid that she, like her mother, will contract the disease.  It drove her mother to suicide.  However, a few months before she is scheduled for her procedure, Lena falls in love.
Alex opens Lena's eyes to what it's like to love and feel loved, to experience joy, and he reveals the truth about her mother.  But, can they escape Portland before Lena's procedure?  Will she be doomed to a life without Alex, without joy, without love?

I am on a dystopia kick right now, so I was pretty excited to read Delirium.  I found the premise really interesting... the idea that love can be seen as harmful.  I understand how the idea formed.  Love can make people to do all kinds of things--some of them bad.  Yet, a life without it, is hard to imagine.  As a mother, I think the thing that really got to me was the description of how parents who have been "cured" behave with their children.  There were moments when I felt a little annoyed by Lena's descriptions about how beautiful Alex looks and the flowery language she uses to describe every detail.  However, I had to keep reminding myself that from Lean's point of view (that of a teenage girl), the language we appropriate.  In other words, from a young woman's perspective as narrator, Lauren Oliver nailed it!  I cannot wait to read Pandemonium!