Ender's Game

Author: Orson Scott Card
Pages: 368
Rating: PG, some mild language, some violence.

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.

My Thoughts: I have NOT seen the movie, but I know they changed it quite a bit. This is just my review of the book. I really enjoyed reading it. I got sucked in right away and wanted to know what was happening next and how everything connected. The only thing that was difficult for me was that Ender is supposed to be 6 at the beginning, and although he does age throughout the book, for most of it, he's still under the age of 12. He is supposed to be a child genius, but I still struggled imagining him and his companions that young. I mainly imagined teenagers. I guess just because child warfare is so difficult to imagine.

Since I feel like I'm behind the 8-ball in reading this book, I don't know what else to say about it, only that it was original and different, and I think the argument was there for allowing children to be children, no matter how brilliant they may be. 

Series: The Lunar Chronicles

Author: Marissa Meyer
 
Book One: Cinder


Pages: 387
Rating: PG
Summary:
Humans and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. A deadly plague ravages the population. From space, a ruthless lunar people watch, waiting to make their move. No one knows that Earth’s fate hinges on one girl. . . .

Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg. She’s a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister’s illness. But when her life becomes intertwined with the handsome Prince Kai’s, she suddenly finds herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle, and a forbidden attraction. Caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal, she must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect her world’s future.

My Thoughts: I was totally hooked on this book. I was a little wary at first, just because there have been SO MANY retellings of the various fairy tales that I wasn't sure how this would compare. However, the author manages to connect the stories only vaguely. What Cinder has in common with Cinderella is the fact that she is an orphan being raised by someone who is not her mother and who treats her like a servant, she has no father figure, and two stepsisters, she falls in love with a prince, and she goes to a ball, where she dances with said prince. Everything else in the story is completely different. First of all, the story is set WAY in the future. Not exactly sure when since they have a new year counting system. It's after World War 4. People have colonized the moon and gained mystical powers from living there that are quite dangerous to those living on earth. Unfortunately, Queen Levana, from the moon, wants to take over Earth. Emperor Kai is trying his best not to let that happen, but in order to do that, he must find Princess Selene, the rightful ruler of the moon people, who most believe burned in a fire as a baby. 

When Cinder is volunteered for vaccine testing for the plague that kills her sister, she discovers that she has a rare immunity. This fact reveals other secrets about her past, which Cinder doesn't know. She remembers nothing before the surgery that made her a cyborg at age 11. Cinder's story doesn't end with happily ever after. At least, not yet. At the end of this book, Cinder is in a life-threatening situation, and nowhere near romantic happiness. Her story continues in the next book in the series, Scarlet. I am very excited to see where all this goes.  

Book 2: Scarlet
Pages: 452
Rating: PG-13
Summary:

Cinder is back and trying to break out of prison—even though she’ll be the Commonwealth’s most wanted fugitive if she does—in this second installment from Marissa Meyer.

Halfway around the world, Scarlet Benoit’s grandmother is missing. It turns out there are many things Scarlet doesn't know about her grandmother, or the grave danger she has lived in her whole life. When Scarlet encounters Wolf, a street fighter who may have information as to her grandmother's whereabouts, she is loath to trust this stranger, but is inexplicably drawn to him, and he to her. As Scarlet and Wolf unravel one mystery, they encounter another when they meet Cinder. Now, all of them must stay one step ahead of the vicious Lunar Queen Levana.

My Thoughts: Scarlet was definitely more violent and intense than Cinder, and also more complicated because you are switching back and forth between Scarlet's story and Cinder's story. I really liked how the fairy tale of Little Red Riding Hood was worked into the story in an interesting way. Scarlet lives with her grandmother, who is kidnapped by what seems to be a pack of wolf. One member of the pack offers to help Scarlet find her grandmother. What remains to be seen is whether this wolf is trustworthy or not. (The answer IS in the book, but I'm not going to tell you.) 

I was definitely intrigued by this story as well. I thought the writing was very good and it was incredibly imaginative. I liked that Scarlet gets to sort of have a happily ever after by the end of this book, even though we are still waiting for Cinder to find her happy ending. I assume that won't happen for a while. Also, my one annoyance with this was how Twilight-esque Scarlet and Wolf's relationship was.   

 

Book 3: Cress
Pages: 550
Rating: PG-13

Summary:

In this third book in Marissa Meyer's bestselling Lunar Chronicles series, Cinder and Captain Thorne are fugitives on the run, now with Scarlet and Wolf in tow. Together, they’re plotting to overthrow Queen Levana and prevent her army from invading Earth.

Their best hope lies with Cress, a girl trapped on a satellite since childhood who’s only ever had her netscreens as company. All that screen time has made Cress an excellent hacker. Unfortunately, she’s being forced to work for Queen Levana, and she’s just received orders to track down Cinder and her handsome accomplice.

When a daring rescue of Cress goes awry, the group is splintered. Cress finally has her freedom, but it comes at a higher price than she’d ever expected. Meanwhile, Queen Levana will let nothing prevent her marriage to Emperor Kai, especially the cyborg mechanic. Cress, Scarlet, and Cinder may not have signed up to save the world, but they may be the only hope the world has.

My Thoughts: This series still has me hooked. I absolutely love how the author works in the essential elements from the original fairy tales. However, it's never something you expect. I was completely surprised at every turn, but then when I thought about it, I realized each surprise was not really a surprise at all. Nearly every major plot twist connects back to the original stories. I love how Meyers still manages to surprise me even when she's telling an extremely well-known story. 

I feel like I can't say too much more without giving plot points away and I don't want to do that. This book was so far the longest, but I really enjoyed it. I will say that the books are getting more violent every time, and there is some torture in this book. I like that the romance is kept to a minimum, and about the only thing anyone ever does is kiss, so it's very clean. And there's no language to speak of. That's always a plus. 

Book Four: Winter

Pages: 823
Rating: PG-13

Summary:
Princess Winter is admired by the Lunar people for her grace and kindness, and despite the scars that mar 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.
 
 My Thoughts:
Loved the conclusion to this series! I read it so quickly! I'm still not the bigest fan of the relationship between Scarlet and Wolf (it's a little Twilight-esque) but everything else was great. The ending was good and not totally predictable and I really enjoyed how everything worked out. This was such a good series and I can see them turning it into movies soon! (That would be cool). This  book was violent because it's when the revolution finally happens, but I didn't feel like it was as graphic in the descriptions as some of the other books. That's all I can say. I can't ruin it!  

The Age of Miracles

Author: Karen Thompson Walker
Pages: 269

Rating: PG-13 (There is some language, including maybe 3-4 F-words. I would say there's probably a swear word once every 30 pages or so. It's not a lot.)

Summary:
On an ordinary Saturday, Julia awakes to discover that something has happened to the rotation of the earth. The days and nights are growing longer and longer, gravity is affected, the birds, the tides, human behavior and cosmic rhythms are thrown into disarray. In a world of danger and loss, Julia faces surprising developments in herself, and her personal world—divisions widening between her parents, strange behavior by Hanna and other friends, the vulnerability of first love, a sense of isolation, and a rebellious new strength.

My Thoughts: This is first novel, and the concept was interesting, but I thought the author could have gone a lot farther with it. Basically, the earth's rotation slows down so that eventually "days" and "nights" are lasting 60 hours each. But instead of something really interesting happening, everyone just does their best to adapt. It's more of a coming of age story, but with a different setting than you've seen before. I thought it was a good book, definitely interesting, but not as good as I thought it was going to be. Also, I couldn't figure out how the title applied. The only "miracle" in the book was that the earth wasn't turning they way it's supposed to. Everything else was just sad, like birds dying and people getting sick.

Trilogy: Divergent

Book One: Divergent
Author: Veronica Roth
Rating: PG-13

Pages: 487

Summary:
In Beatrice Prior’s dystopian Chicago world, society is divided into five factions, each dedicated to the cultivation of a particular virtue—Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). On an appointed day of every year, all sixteen-year-olds must select the faction to which they will devote the rest of their lives. For Beatrice, the decision is between staying with her family and being who she really is—she can’t have both. So she makes a choice that surprises everyone, including herself.
During the highly competitive initiation that follows, Beatrice renames herself Tris and struggles alongside her fellow initiates to live out the choice they have made. Together they must undergo extreme physical tests of endurance and intense psychological simulations, some with devastating consequences. As initiation transforms them all, Tris must determine who her friends really are—and where, exactly, a romance with a sometimes fascinating, sometimes exasperating boy fits into the life she's chosen. But Tris also has a secret, one she's kept hidden from everyone because she's been warned it can mean death. And as she discovers unrest and growing conflict that threaten to unravel her seemingly perfect society, she also learns that her secret might help her save those she loves . . . or it might destroy her.

My Thoughts:
First of all, I have to say, I like this better than "The Hunger Games" which I hated. I felt like Hunger Games was really sadistic and morbid and I just couldn't come to terms with the idea of putting a bunch of teenagers in an arena to kill each other for everyone's entertainment. Divergent is different. I like my share of dystopian novels, and this one I really liked. It's not as sadistic really.

Divergent is extremely well written. I finished the book very quickly because it was impossible to put down. There are no good stopping places. And even when the first book ends, the next book picks up right where it left off. I can't wait to get the second one from the library. The way that Erudite blames everything on Abnegation and tries to exterminate them for no reason reminded me quite a bit of the Holocaust, so I'm sure that's part of where the author got her ideas from. It's a little bit scary to realize that it's a dystopian futuristic society novel, but with a touch of reality. Stuff similar to this actually happened in the past, and can happen again.  

It is pretty violent. It's war. People die, and there's some level of psychological torture as well. But like I said, I didn't feel the violence was as bad as in the Hunger Games. Divergent violence is more warlike and people are getting hurt out of self-defense type stuff. Hunger Games was throwing a bunch of people together and forcing them to kill each other. So I guess it depends on whether that bothers you or not. But I'm just saying I was wary of Divergent because of the fact that I hated Hunger Games so much, but I didn't find myself disliking Divergent. I'm just realy intrigued and can't wait to find out what happens next.

Book Two: Insurgent
Pages: 525
Rating: PG-13+

Summary:
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.

My Thoughts: This book was a LOT more intense and scary than the first one. I found myself putting it down a lot because I would just get too freaked out and knew I would probably not sleep well if I kept reading. Sometimes the only thing that kept me going is knowing there was no possible way Tris could die, because the story is ABOUT her, so she has to survive. I would definitely not recommend this series to anyone younger than high school just because of it's high-intensity level. And I don't think I could actually handle watching a movie version of these books. They are full of heart-pounding suspense and scariness.

That being said, I liked this book, but probably not as much as the first one. For example, Tris spends most of this book being such a suicidal idiot that I really wanted to smack her. She is so full of grief from the tragedies she experiences in Book 1 that she turns into a bit of an adrenaline junkie, and throws herself into several extremely dangerous situations without really thinking about it. Also in this book, several people die, and there's torture, and it's difficult to read about. However, you eventually find out that all of this war has something to do with what is outside of the city fence that keeps them all in. (But we don't actually find out specifically what is out there.) Tobias and Tris also have some relationship issues that are hard to deal with.

All in all, I cannot wait for the third book to come out! Not till October, yeesh! Haven't had to wait like this since Harry Potter!

Book 3: Allegiant
Pages: 526
Rating: PG-13

Summary:

The faction-based society that Tris Prior once believed in is shattered- fractured by violence and power struggles and scarred by loss and betrayal. So when offered a chance to explore the world past the limits she's known, Tris is ready. Perhaps beyond the fence, she and Tobias will find a simple new life together, free from complicated lies, tangled loyalties, and painful memories. 

But Tris's new reality is even more alarming than the one she left behind. Old discoveries are quickly rendered meaningless. Explosive new truths change the hearts of those she loves. And once again, Tris must battle to comprehend the complexities of human nature- and of herself- while facing impossible choices about courage, allegiance, sacrifice, and love. 

My Thoughts: First of all, SO happy I finally got to read this. I actually really enjoyed this series as a whole. I felt like it was a very realistic portrayal of a futuristic society, some of the attitudes and ideas portrayed in this final book seem like they could really happen in our lifetime. This book was really sad at the end, but I still really loved it and was very satisfied with the ending. I would definitely recommend this trilogy. I feel like I really can't review this without giving out what happens, so....for the first time ever, I am including spoilers! 

Spoiler Alert! Do not read beyond this point if you don't want to know what happens!

So let me start at the beginning...Tris lives in a city where everyone is divided into "factions" based on their internal traits and characteristics. Tris, however, is Divergent, meaning that she doesn't fit exactly into just one faction. Divergent is a dangerous thing to be. No one really knows why, but one of the city's leaders is killing all the Divergent she can get her hands on. To make a long story short, there's a war, and Tris manages to get her hands on a video where one of the city's earliest members explains that the city was put together because those on the outside need help, and when there is a high population of Divergent, they should send them outside the fence to help those on the outside. 

Here's where book 3 comes in. Tris, Tobias, and several others decide to journey to the outside of the fence, find out what is out there, and what they can do to help. What they find is not what they were expecting. They learn that centuries ago, the United States discovered that the undesirable qualities in human nature could be traced to genetics. So the government decided to start altering people's genes to get rid of these problematic qualities. However, they found that the alterations actually caused more problems than they solved. There was a huge war between those who had been modified and those who hadn't, and the result was that the government took large numbers of genetically altered humans, wiped their memories, and placed them in controlled environments like Tris's city. The city Tris has lived in is basically an experiment, and they are constantly be watched. The Divergent are those whose genes are the most healed, and the point of the experiment is to wait for enough Divergent to evolve that they can then reproduce and create more genetically pure people. 

Unfortunately, the government is only concerned about creating a new population of genetically pure people, who will supposedly be perfect, and nothing bad will ever happen again. They don't care how many "damaged" people die in the process. So, Tris and her band of friends set out to change this prejudice. In the end, Tris actually dies while fighting for this new cause. It's really sad, but I felt the ending was still really satisfying and good, and I wasn't too torn apart by it. I really like the last line of the book, hopefully me putting it here doesn't ruin it for you. "Life damages everyone. We can't escape that damage. But now, I am also learning this:  We can be mended. We mend each other." I thought that was a great final message. 

The whole storyline of putting people into an experiment to strengthen the human race reminded me of a book I've read several times and absolutely love, called "Running out of Time" by Margaret Peterson Haddix. I would recommend giving that one a read if you loved the Divergent series. 

In all, I loved this trilogy, thought it had some great messages and it was an imaginative and captivating storyline. Enjoy!

Son

Author: Lois Lowry
Pages: 393
Rating: G

Summary:
They called her Water Claire. When she washed up on their shore, no one knew that she came from a society where emotions and colors didn’t exist. That she had become a Vessel at age thirteen. That she had carried a Product at age fourteen. That it had been carved from her body. Stolen. Claire had had a son. But what became of him she never knew. What was his name? Was he even alive?　 She was supposed to forget him, but that was impossible. when he was taken from their community, she knew she had to follow. And so her journey began.

But here in this wind-battered village Claire is welcomed as one of their own. In the security of her new home, she is free and loved. She grows stronger. As tempted as she is by the warmth of more human kindness than she has ever known, she cannot stay. her son is our there; a young boy now. Claire will stop at nothing to find her child....even if it means trading her own life.

Son thrusts readers once again into the chilling world of the Newbery Medal winning book, The Giver,　as well as Gathering Blue　and　Messenger　where a new hero emerges. In this thrilling series finale, the startling and long-awaited conclusion to Lois Lowry’s epic tale culminates in a final clash between good and evil.

My Thoughts: I have to say that The Giver  is still my favorite of the four books, but this one definitely tied up some loose ends. In the end of The Giver Jonas runs away with Gabe, but the book leaves you with a bit of a cliffhanger. You never find out if Jonas and Gabe actually make it anywhere safe or what exactly happens to them. There are hints at their whereabouts in Gathering Blue and Messenger but Son makes it all clear. Jonas and Gabe eventually came to a village full of other cast-offs and runaways, a sanctuary of sorts. They remain there, but Gabe is very curious about his past, where he came from, and especially who he came from. He has it in his head that he is going to go back and find his mother, even though Jonas told him that he was a manufactured product and his mother probably doesn't care about him. (In the community where they come from, people took pills to keep them from feeling any emotions, such as love, compassion, etc).

Little does Gabe know that his mother, Claire, is out there desperately searching for him as well. She never took the pills, and so was not like the other Birthmothers. As soon as she had Gabe, she felt an intense longing to be with him. She even visits him several times in the nursery without anyone knowing her true identity. As soon as she hears that Jonas has left the community with her son, Claire leaves too, in search of him.

I do have to say that some of the ideas of this book were a little far-fetched and also....very fairy-tale-ish. Also, I wish there had been some kind of explanation about the general government of the land they live in. There's a lot of communities, all with different lifestyles and technologies and systems of control, but they don't seem to be connected in any way, and there's no explanation as to how life got that way. For example, the community Claire comes from has figured out how to control the weather so that it is always perfect, and they have advanced medical procedures, electricity, and medications. The society Jonas brings Gabe to is somewhat early 1800's. People don't ever really visit other communities, and the only movement seems to be people escaping from their communities into the sanctuary Jonas found. I just feel like Lowry could have gone a lot further with that.

However, the book still holds a lot of value to me since it wraps up everything you ever wondered about when you finished reading The Giver and Gathering Blue. 

By the way....if you haven't read the other books in this series, don't worry, this one can stand on its own pretty well, but I would still recommend reading The Giver. It won awards for a good reason. 

Messenger

Author: Lois Lowry
Pages: 169
Rating: PG

Summary:
For the past six years, Matty has lived in Village and flourished under the guidance of Seer, a blind man, known for his special sight. Village was a place that welcomed newcomers, but something sinister has seeped into Village and the people have voted to close it to outsiders. Matty has been invaluable as a messenger. Now he must make one last journey through the treacherous forest with his only weapon, a power he unexpectedly discovers within himself.

My Thoughts: This book is third in a larger series by Lois Lowry. The Giver is the first book, and then Gathering Blue is second. The final book, which I haven't read yet, is Son. While The Giver and Gathering Blue are both books that can stand completely on their own and almost don't seem connected at all, Messenger seems to be the book that is starting to bring it all together, so I think it will probably make the most sense and work the best if you read the other two first. It's more of a transitional story, and I don't think it has too much merit just on its own.

You get the idea that Village was founded by Jonas (from The Giver) and he is now the leader of the village. I'm almost positive this is true, because randomly mentioned in the book is "a mischievous eight-year-old named Gabe" who I took to be the same Gabe that Jonas saved back in The Giver. I got the feeling that Village was the Elsewhere that Jonas found.

Also in the book is the girl from Gathering Blue. She is brought to Village at the very end of the book. I thought the ending was actually very sad and a little bit vague in how it all came together, but as a whole, I did enjoy the book. It's a quick read, and now I can't wait to read Son to see how everything finally comes together.