Category: Must Reads

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Review of I Hunt Killers by Barry Lyga

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I HUNT KILLERS by Barry Lyga

SUMMARY:

Jasper “Jazz” Dent is a likable teenager. A charmer, one might say.

But he’s also the son of the world’s most infamous serial killer, and for Dear Old Dad, Take Your Son to Work Day was year-round. Jazz has witnessed crime scenes the way cops wish they could—from the criminal’s point of view.

And now bodies are piling up in Lobo’s Nod.

In an effort to clear his name, Jazz joins the police in a hunt for a new serial killer. But Jazz has a secret—could he be more like his father than anyone knows?

REVIEW: I found this book to be such a fun read. It has this Dexter quality and the main character Jazz is incredibly likable.
I thought it was gory and uncomfortable at times, but in a good way. Many YA books tackle issues such as murder in such a mundane way. She was killed, but not raped. She was tortured, but after death. I was actually relieved to see the nitty-gritty reality of the fact that most women are murdered AND raped. And sick people torture people when they’re still alive. It’s not all roses 🙂
Weird rant that may make me seem insane aside, I really liked this book! and I really REALLY loved Jazz.

RECOMMEND

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Review of Prodigy by Marie Lu

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PRODIGY by Marie Lu

SUMMARY:

June and Day arrive in Vegas just as the unthinkable happens: the Elector Primo dies, and his son Anden takes his place. With the Republic edging closer to chaos, the two join a group of Patriot rebels eager to help Day rescue his brother and offer passage to the Colonies. They have only one request—June and Day must assassinate the new Elector.

It’s their chance to change the nation, to give voice to a people silenced for too long.

But as June realizes this Elector is nothing like his father, she’s haunted by the choice ahead. What if Anden is a new beginning? What if revolution must be more than loss and vengeance, anger and blood—what if the Patriots are wrong?

In this highly-anticipated sequel, Lu delivers a breathtaking thriller with high stakes and cinematic action.

REVIEW: As far as sequels go, I thought this one was great. Not only did it introduce some more issues, but it also was a great segue into the finale! I look forward to it!


RECOMMEND

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Review of Shades of Earth by Beth Revis

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SHADES OF EARTH by Beth Revis

SUMMARY:

Amy and Elder have finally left the oppressive walls of the spaceshipGodspeed behind. They’re ready to start life afresh–to build a home–on Centauri-Earth, the planet that Amy has traveled 25 trillion miles across the universe to experience.

But this new Earth isn’t the paradise Amy had been hoping for. There are giant pterodactyl-like birds, purple flowers with mind-numbing toxins, and mysterious, unexplained ruins that hold more secrets than their stone walls first let on. The biggest secret of all? Godspeed‘s former passengers aren’t alone on this planet. And if they’re going to stay, they’ll have to fight.

Amy and Elder must race to discover who–or what–else is out there if they are to have any hope of saving their struggling colony and building a future together. They will have to look inward to the very core of what makes them human on this, their most harrowing journey yet. Because if the colony collapses? Then everything they have sacrificed–friends, family, life on Earth–will have been for nothing.

FUELED BY LIES.
RULED BY CHAOS.
ALMOST HOME.

THOUGHTS: LOVED IT! What a great way to tie up such an amazing trilogy! Yes! Read it!

FIVE STARS
RECOMMEND

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Review of Ender’s Shadow: Orson Scott Card

Now this book won’t make any sense unless you read Ender’s Game as this is a book that takes place at the same time as Ender’s Game, but just from another perspective. This is from the perspective of the character Bean who was by far my favorite, even more so than Ender.

LOVED this book! But obviously read Ender’s Game first. 5 stars and recommend.

Amazon lists this as Book 5 in the Ender’s series, but my friend suggested I read this one next. I then went on to read the entire Shadow trilogy as the Ender books after Ender’s game take place about 30 years after the first book. Anyways, good book and I would suggest to read this one right after you read Ender’s Game.

Amazon Summary:
Welcome to Battleschool. 

Growing up is never easy. But try living on the mean streets as a child begging for food and fighting like a dog with ruthless gangs of starving kids who wouldn’t hesitate to pound your skull into pulp for a scrap of apple. If Bean has learned anything on the streets, it’s how to survive. And not with fists. He is way too small for that. But with brains.

Bean is a genius with a magician’s ability to zero in on his enemy and exploit his weakness.

What better quality for a future general to lead the Earth in a final climactic battle against a hostile alien race, known as Buggers. At Battleschool Bean meets and befriends another future commander – Ender Wiggins – perhaps his only true rival.

Only one problem: for Bean and Ender, the future is now.

  • Paperback: 480 pages
  • Publisher: Starscape; 1st edition (May 19, 2002)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0765342405
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Review of Ender’s Game: Orson Scott Card

So yes, I am WAY behind on some of the big trends. Like I just read Ender’s Game and it was a hit in the 80’s.
Me however? I was born in the 80’s and had never heard of it until my dear friend who was born in the 70’s told me to check it out because they were making a movie of it and it was going to be epic.

So read it I did.

And you know what? It was awesomely popular for a reason! I loved it! I even got my husband to read it.

A lot of people are immediately turned off if a book as anything to do with space and to this I say get over yourself and read this book before the movie comes out!

5 stars and recommend

Amazon Summary:
In order to develop a secure defense against a hostile alien race’s next attack, government agencies breed child geniuses and train them as soldiers. A brilliant young boy, Andrew “Ender” Wiggin lives with his kind but distant parents, his sadistic brother Peter, and the person he loves more than anyone else, his sister Valentine. Peter and Valentine were candidates for the soldier-training program but didn’t make the cut–young Ender is the Wiggin drafted to the orbiting Battle School for rigorous military training.

Ender’s skills make him a leader in school and respected in the Battle Room, where children play at mock battles in zero gravity. Yet growing up in an artificial community of young soldiers, Ender suffers greatly from isolation, rivalry from his peers, pressure from the adult teachers, and an unsettling fear of the alien invaders. His psychological battles include loneliness, fear that he is becoming like the cruel brother he remembers, and fanning the flames of devotion to his beloved sister. 

Is Ender the general Earth needs? But Ender is not the only result of the genetic experiments. The war with the Buggers has been raging for a hundred years, and the quest for the perfect general has been underway for almost as long. Ender’s two older siblings are every bit as unusual as he is, but in very different ways. Between the three of them lie the abilities to remake a world. If the world survives, that is.

  • Mass Market Paperback: 352 pages
  • Publisher: Tor Science Fiction (July 15, 1994)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0812550706