A book set in the future

Uglies by Scott Westerfeld

Love, friendship, truth, lies and adventure. Uglies has it all. 

The book is centred around a fifteen year old girl named Tally who cannot wait until her sixteenth birthday when she will become a pretty. Three months before her birthday however, she becomes friends with another girl named Shay. Shay is also an ugly and on her sixteenth birthday she too is meant to become a pretty but she has other plans. When Shay decides to run away it is Tally who is left to pick up the pieces. She cannot become pretty unless she brings back Shay but she also does not want to have to follow her friend into the unknown. As expected though, she does follow her friend and does find her but is conflicted about turning in her and the people she is staying with. When the truth about what really happens when becoming a pretty is revealed to Tally she finally makes her decision. This decision is followed by more conflict and problem that have to be solved. 

Through the story, Scott Westerfeld leaves the reader thinking a great deal about how we view others in society. When we first meet Tally she believes that there are ugly people and then there are pretty people but is conflicted when she reaches "the smoke". In the smoke all of the people are what Tally considers ugly until she falls in love with one. This is when she decides that although "Pretties" maybe beautiful, "Uglies" can be too. She works out that the ugliness that she witnessed growing up was just the awkward stage that comes with adolescence. Everyone knows this "stage" that she is talking about when nobody quite fits their body right and are all trying to work out who they really are. Tally finds all of this while in the smoke with her friends. 

The friendships that are created in Uglies are ones full of love. There may be mistrust amongst some, they may lie to one another on occasion and they may not always get along but they share a great love for one another. These are the friendships that everyone has and can relate to. That is what draws you into the story in the beginning. When Tally meets Shay she never intended in them being friends but by the time Shay was running away she didn't want her to go. Not out of being selfish and wanting her to stay (even thought that was part of the reason) but because she had come to care about her friend. She was worried about what may become of her and whether or not the two would meet again. 

When Tally also fell in love with David, it was unexpected. At first she could not admit to herself that she liked this young man who was neither ugly nor pretty but she could not help herself from falling for him. She was a girl who never believed she could love someone who looked the way he did. 

Westerfeld also shows his readers in his book how easy it is for people of authority to lie to those below them without them ever finding out. The people of the society Tally is part of have been lied to all of their lives, and with a little influence they do not question anything that they are told. They just accept what they are told as the truth instead of discovering what truly happens behind closed doors. 

Westerfeld has created a society that can be related to in some way by all of his readers. His writing both takes you to a new place while also leaving you in your own world to debate with yourself what he is telling you. 

The Infinite Sea by Rick Yancey

Rick Yancey did another great job on this book. The imagery he uses throughout the book really does help you to become part of the world that his characters live in. I had to put this book aside for a while to concentrate on my exams but with Yancey's writing style it barely took me any time at all to fall back into the story. I truly believe that this is what makes a good writer.

The Infinite Sea is the sequel to The 5th Wave. It continues on from the ending of The 5th Wave, where we find the group hiding out in a rat-infested hotel. The majority of the book follows the group in the hotel and the dangers they face while staying there. 

A large part of the book however, follows Ringer/Marika. Ringer was one of the members of Zombie's squad. Her story begins when she is preparing to go off without the rest of the squad to find safety elsewhere for them as she felt that they had been in the same place for too long. This leads to a series of problems that she has to get herself out of while also trying to protect all of her friends. 

Throughout the story there were often references to the title of the book. The characters would subtly mention it to describe the situation that they found themselves in. These subtle references allowed me to understand why Yancey had name the book The Infinite Sea. 

A large part of the book was made up of references to "the rats". These rats turned out not to be rats at all and the group were so obsessed with them because they simbolised human beings. To the aliens who had invaded the Earth the humans were the rats, rats who they wanted to destroy from the inside out. They don't just want to kill the rats as quickly as possible though, they want them to know that they are being hunted. They want them to be scared of their hunter. 

One thing about this book that I enjoyed less than the one before is that some of the storyline drags out. I know that is to be expected when a book is set in one building for the most part but I think that it could have been made more exciting. 

If I were to rate this book I would give it a 4/5 starts. This is just down to the slow pace that some of it had but on the most part the book it a great read. 

The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey

The 5th Wave is about the 5th wave of an alien invasion. On the back of the book it reads:

"THE 1ST WAVE 

TOOK OUT HALF A MILLION PEOPLE.

THE 2ND WAVE

PUT THAT NUMBER TO SHAME.

THE 3RD WAVE

LASTED A LITTLE LONGER, TWELVE WEEKS... FOUR BILLION DEAD.

IN THE 4TH WAVE,

YOU CAN'T TRUST THAT PEOPLE ARE STILL PEOPLE.

AND THE 5TH WAVE?

NO ONE KNOWS. BUT IT'S COMING."

This is what drew me in to the book. I wanted to know what this 5th wave was but was pulled deeper into the story when I met Cassie (for Cassiopeia) in the first section of the book.

Cassie was a normal 16 year old who spent her days dreaming out boys, gossiping with her best friend and fawning over her little brother. That was before the first wave hit. Now Cassie is a girl desperate to survive the invasion long enough to get her brother back from the people who put him on a big, yellow school bus full of children before killing her father while she watched from her hiding spot. All she has to go on is rumours of a camp said to be located at an old military base, a promise she made to find her brother again and his bear (who she has mixed feelings about). Her narration is full of sarcasm, wit and raw emotion which leave you wanting her to fulfil her promise.

Cassie is not the only person we hear from in the book. 

We read about what happened to Ben Parrish, also referred to as Zombie, who was Cassie's crush in high school. We hear about what he goes through when he gets rescued from his camp when it is under attack and cured of the disease that has taken out billions before him. He talks about his training and his horrible Drill Sergeant but also his squad who he cares deeply about. The squad is made up of Flintstone (who is Ben's age, "with his big head and unibrow"), Tank ("the skinny, quick-tempered farm boy"), Dumbo ("the twelve year old with big ears"), Poundcake ("the eight year old who never talks"), Oompa ("the chubby kid with crooked teeth"), Teacup ("the meanest seven year old you'll ever meet"), Nugget who is Cassie's little brother, and later Ringer who is the best shot in the camp. We find out a little about what happened to Ben when the first wave hit too and what happened to his family that left him alone in a world that no longer belonged to the people who lived there.

You also get to see Cassie's brother's story after he get on the school bus. Sammy get taken to Camp Haven, the same place that Ben was taken to . We see Sammy go through the same routine as Ben before being assigned to the squad of Private Zombie and being given the nickname of Nugget. We see Nugget and Zombie form a bond over those they have lost and when Zombie is given his first mission as a recruit, he promises that he will come back for Nugget. 

We also hear a little bit from the "Silencer", who later turns out to be Evan Walker. When we hear from Evan he has just shot Cassie in the leg and has watched her dive under a car to get away from him. We see him asking himself why he didn't kill Cassie after stalking her for some time. When Cassie comes out from her hiding place to confront Evan, he runs because he knows that he cannot kill her. Later he saves her from freezing to death and nurses her back to health in his farmhouse. Thus begins the cycle of mistrust and deceit between the two but it ultimately ends on a high note.  

The plot of this book is like nothing I have read before. Yes, it is an alien invasion and yes, there is fighting and conflict but there is also love and personal conflicts for all of the characters. It is also interesting how all of the separate stories in the book intertwine and come together at the end. Though the ending is in a way a happy one, I wouldn't consider it to such a thing. Yes, the group got away from the camp with only one suspected casualty. Yes, the death camp got destroyed. Yes, everyone kept their promises and are all together. But the conflict is not over, the aliens are still trying to destroy the human race and still have a cargo plane full of recruits and lots of equipment. There is still a threat that they group want to be safe from. 

Rick Yancey's writing is incredible. He makes you feel like you are listening to his characters talk to you and gives them all their own personalities. By the end of the book you don't feel that these characters are characters anymore, they become people. People that you don't want to let go of. He also writes in a way that makes you question your assumptions throughout the book. He slips in metaphors that you have to go back and re-read to fully understand. Rick Yancey is truly a writing genius. 

As soon as I finished this book I picked up the next one to continue reading about all of these incredible characters that Rick Yancey has created and to follow their stories further. The Infinite Sea is what I am currently reading and so far the book is almost as good as the first. 

A book by an author you've never read before

Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell

What can I say about Eleanor and Park? This has been running through my head since I finished reading the book. This is one of the few book that I have had mixed feelings about. I don't know if this is has anything to do with it taking me three weeks to read or not.

Whenever I read anything from this book it was always so sweet and relatable. These were two people my age who had found each other when they least expected it. Not only were they falling in love but they were both trying to discover who they wanted to be at the same time.

Eleanor was one of five children and was incredibly insecure. At times I felt that Eleanor's insecurities got in the way of the story. Yes, she was self-conscious; yes, she had an unhealthy home life; yes, she was a hormonal teenage girl but there comes a point where 
this being mentioned all of the time can become a bit too much. I understood it being address because it was a large part of who Eleanor was and was ultimately the reason for the ending but I felt that is was brought up too often. 

Park's background on the other hand was only briefly addressed throughout the book. I felt this allowed you to focus more on the development of the two's relationship. What little we found out about Park's family made us understand who he was and there was no more than those few details needed. It allowed me to realise that when he was with Eleanor he felt like they could end up like his parents and he liked the idea of this. 

The two's relationship was admittedly a strange one but sort of expected. Both were outcasts for different reasons but in a way found comfort in each other because of this. They bonded over their love for comic books and music and ultimately fell in love in the process. 

The ending just summed up the book for me. It was both sweet and heartbreaking at the same time. Park had written letter after letter to Eleanor with no reply and continued to do so even after he admitted to himself that no reply was ever going to come. He was slowly continuing with his life but never forgetting about Eleanor. Park did get his reply though in the form of a postcard that was "just three words long". In my opinion this simple reply seemed to remind him why he has fallen in love with Eleanor in the first place.

It has been speculated about what those three words were, however. People have questioned whether it was the long awaited "I love you" or if it was something else entirely. It could be "I miss you" or even something as simple and reassuring as "I am ok" for all we know. The author is giving readers no answer though meaning that we are all left to find our own answer to what could be on the postcard. 

What do you think those three words could be? 

A book by a female author

Geek Girl by Holly Smale

Let's just start by saying that Holly Smale is a genius when it comes to writing. It is probably just me but I felt that this is possibly the easiest book to read. Not easy as in it is simple but just a pleasure to actually read. 

Geek Girl is about a girl named Harriet who is a really big geek, hence the title. She does however get spotted by a modelling agency and becomes the face of a large fashion company. She goes through a lot of problems after getting spotted which allows her to grow as a person. 

I would like to say that I am nothing like the character of Harriet but I really am. I actually enjoy learning new things and have a head full of totally irrelevant things. I also used to be really paranoid about what other people thought of me until I realized that the people who truly care about me really don't care all that much about things like that. These are the kind of things that allowed me to really put myself in Harriet's position throughout the book. 

The humor that is drizzled throughout the story just adds to the book. I genuinely laughed out loud at this book several times and had to put it down to digest the genius of it. I often got my mum to  read parts that made me laugh and even she found them funny too 

I loved this book for many reasons and most cannot be put into words. This is one of those books that you have to read for yourself to truly understand and I recommend that you do read it. I cannot wait to get my hands on the sequels to this book to find out what other problems Harriet gets herself into.

A book written by someone under 30

Girl Online by Zoe Sugg (a.k.a Zoella)

I, like I think most people were, was first drawn to this book because of the author. Zoe has been someone that I look to as a role model for a while now and buying her book was one thing that I felt could really show that. Though Zoe was the first thing that made me want this book, the plot was also rather intriguing. 

If you do not already know, Girl Online is about a girl named Penny who suffers from Anxiety and severe panic attacks. She finds a way to talk about these panic attacks through her blog, Girl Online. This anonymous blog allows her to talk to people about her problems and seek advice and comfort in the people who read it. She then finds herself in New York where she meets a boy and her life seems to be going in an upwards direction until she returns home and her things get hard for her again. 

Though that is the basic plot of the book, it is really about a young 15 year old girl who is trying to find where she fits into this thing we call life. It is a sweet, heart-warming story that leaves you feeling all fuzzy inside. 

While I was reading this book I found aspects of myself in Penny. She is just an average teenage girl who has her insecurities and problems much like most but she just happens to suffer from panic attacks too. I found that with this book I could really picture all of the events in Penny's life as if she was confessing it all to me face-to-face. 

Before I started to read this book, I thought that it could be quite cliche and for a while I didn't really know if it was a book that I would read. If this book was cliched however, you would never notice. The story is so well thought out and pulls you in to the point that you feel that you know the characters that you stop thinking about the plot and you just read. 

This book was a pleasure to read and I would be happy to read it again. Zoe has done a fantastic job with her first book and I cannot wait for the next one.

A book that became a movie

If I Stay by Gayle Forman

I must say this book is incredible. It made me laugh, it made me cry and it made me think about life. I know that sounds totally cliched but it's true. I think it was that Mia was my age and I have a brother who is a lot like Teddy.

The first thing that drew me to this book was the movie. Yes, I was a terrible person and watched the movie before I read the book but I cannot say that it changed how I felt while reading it. This is one of those books that you read and you realise that the movie cannot possible portray all of the emotion that is built up in the book. Not once while reading this book did I think about the movie and put the two together. The movie was amazing, don't get me wrong, but the book was that times ten. I cried to much while reading this book that I had to physically put it down several times so that I could get to grips with my emotions. 

Like I said before, I am the same age as Mia is in the book and I honestly could not imagine what it would be like to lose my parents and brothers and have to decide whether I to live my life without them or give up. I would definitely not have been able to stay in that situation. I would leave behind all of the other people who I loved because I know that I would not be able to go on without any of my immediate family.

In the back of my book there was an preview of the first chapter of the sequel "Where She Went" and from what I read it seems like it is just as emotional as this one. I cannot wait to get my hands on it to continue the story and find out where Adam and Mia end up.