Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver (Delirium #2)

Author: Lauren Oliver
Published February 28th 2012 by Harper Teen
375 pages
Series: Delirium
Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥

Summary:

I'm pushing aside the memory of my nightmare,
pushing aside thoughts of Alex,
pushing aside thoughts of Hana and my old school,
push,
push,
push,
like Raven taught me to do.
The old life is dead.
But the old Lena is dead too.
I buried her.
I left her beyond a fence,
behind a wall of smoke and flame.

Review:

I suggest before reading Pandemonium better read the first book Delirium to know the story behind the deliria and how it affected the lives of the protagonists. Pandemonium is the second book of the Delirium Trilogy. I was actually excited to read this because I liked the first book and the cliffhanger there! Read my review here! :)

The book continued where it left off from the first book. This time the story went around the past (then) when Lena was in the Wild and the present (now) when she went back to the city to go undercover. Chapters switches between then and now, so we have a better glimpse of what really happened to Lena especially in the Wild. Well, I was confused at first in the change of events but was able to get it as I continue reading. For me the plot development was a little confusing and really slow. I was bored reading it that I was about to give up but didn't really do it because I want to know what will happen.

The new characters introduced are quite interesting. I think that's what I liked in the book. We'd also read a new Lena here - one who knows now how to fight and how to survive. She also has a new lovelife! Julian is not bad at all but we want Alex back! Hmm, the last part! I didn't see that coming!

Overall, Pandemonium is not as good as the first one. But if you have read the first book and wants to know what happens next, read this! One book to go for this series! :)

♥ xoxo, Edil ♥

Feed by Mira Grant (Newsflesh #1)

Author: Mira Grant
Published May 1st by Orbit
571 pages
Review Copy from NetGalley and Publisher
Series: Newsflesh
Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Summary:

In 2014, two experimental viruses—a genetically engineered flu strain designed by Dr. Alexander Kellis, intended to act as a cure for the common cold, and a cancer-killing strain of Marburg, known as "Marburg Amberlee"—escaped the lab and combined to form a single airborne pathogen that swept around the world in a matter of days. It cured cancer. It stopped a thousand cold and flu viruses in their tracks.

It raised the dead.

Millions died in the chaos that followed. The summer of 2014 was dubbed "The Rising," and only the lessons learned from a thousand zombie movies allowed mankind to survive. Even then, the world was changed forever. The mainstream media fell, Internet news acquired an undeniable new legitimacy, and the CDC rose to a new level of power.

Set twenty years after the Rising, the Newsflesh trilogy follows a team of bloggers, led by Georgia and Shaun Mason, as they search for the brutal truths behind the infection. Danger, deceit, and betrayal lurk around every corner, as does the hardest question of them all:

When will you rise?

Review:

This book is both depressing and very good, but a realistic one in terms of the depth of the story. It was too long that I almost gave up. But then, as I read through the characters' adventures, it kept me engaged with the story.

The book is about twin bloggers, Georgia and Shaun Mason, and their adventures with the zombies and knowing the truth behind the deceit in a presidential campaign they've followed . The two, together with Buffy, will deliver only the truth and the truth will also put their lives in danger.

This is the first ever book I read about zombies and much more. I must admit, although the book bored me at some point, it still managed to capture my attention because of the way the author told the story. I love that she used Georgia's  point of view. It's remarkable and engaging most especially when you read the excerpts from her blog. Her suicidal brother Shaun will keep you awake. Not to mention their dialogues with loads of humor.

Actually the book made me realize why journalists' job is very risky whether traditional or new media. In search of finding the truth behind a story, they have to risk their lives. We're aware that this is happening in the real world. Journalists who were killed to keep them from unraveling the truth. Mira Grant was able to clearly show that in this book.

Overall, Feed is an exceptional read. It is an amazingly intelligent story of how truth shall always prevail.

 ♥ xoxo, Edil ♥

Feed (Newsflesh, Book 1)

Delirium by Lauren Oliver (Delirium #1)

Author: Lauren Oliver

Published February 1st 2011 by HarperCollins
441 pages
Review Copy from NetGalley and Publisher
Series: Delirium
Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Summary:

Before scientists found the cure, people thought love was a good thing. They didn’t understand that once love -- the deliria -- blooms in your blood, there is no escaping its hold. Things are different now. Scientists are able to eradicate love, and the governments demands that all citizens receive the cure upon turning eighteen. Lena Haloway has always looked forward to the day when she’ll be cured. A life without love is a life without pain: safe, measured, predictable, and happy.

But with ninety-five days left until her treatment, Lena does the unthinkable: She falls in love.

Review:

I didn't know anything about this book before I read it. So I was surprised when I read the first sentence from the book. So intriguing! And I kept reading to know what this book is all about.

The book is about Lena Haloway. She is very much looking forward to being cured and living a safe, predictable life until she met Alex. Love has been declared as a dangerous disease and people of the right age should be cured. And after meeting Alex, Lena understands that an emotional connection to another person is something she's always been missing -- and now it's something she won't live without. 

I enjoyed reading this. I was fascinated by the concept of love as a serious illness, that when you get infected, you should be cured. If only that's possible when you have heart aches right? But indifference is a more serious condition. I think the book is more of a love story than dystopian. Well for me it came out good although some people have mixed feelings on this one. I liked the character development. From the "I want to be cured" Lena to the "In love" Lena. And of course the mysterious Alex. You would see how this has changed the whole point of the story. 

This book made me realize... What if we really have a cure for love? Would you want to get cured and live a peaceful life or would you stay in love and bear the consequences? Oh well... one word for this, Sacrifice.

Delirium is a great start for a series. Good concept and such a nice cliffhanger at the end. I will definitely read the next book!

♥ xoxo, Edil ♥

Delirium

Across the Universe by Beth Revis (Across the Universe #1)

Author: Beth Revis
Published January 11th 2011 by Penguin Group (USA)
400 pages
Series: Across the Universe
Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥

Summary:

A love out of time. A spaceship built of secrets and murder.

Seventeen-year-old Amy joins her parents as frozen cargo aboard the vast spaceship Godspeed and expects to awaken on a new planet, three hundred years in the future. Never could she have known that her frozen slumber would come to an end fifty years too soon and that she would be thrust into the brave new world of a spaceship that lives by its own rules.

Amy quickly realizes that her awakening was no mere computer malfunction. Someone-one of the few thousand inhabitants of the spaceship-tried to kill her. And if Amy doesn't do something soon, her parents will be next.

Now Amy must race to unlock Godspeed's hidden secrets. But out of her list of murder suspects, there's only one who matters: Elder, the future leader of the ship and the love she could never have seen coming.

Review:

Pretty good cover isn't it? But don't judge the book by its cover. There's more to it than you'd think.

The book started a little intriguing. Amy and her parents are to be frozen inside this box that looks like a coffin to be sent on a mission. Three hundred and one years before they are supposed to be awaken, hoping to live a new life. Little did Amy know that when she wakes up, she will be on where she isn't supposed to be.

These futuristic novels I've been reading interest me a lot. That's one reason why I decided to read this book besides the beautiful cover which fooled me. While Across the Universe is one of those novels, it managed to capture it's readers with it's own unique stories of lies, leadership and love. There are frexing, brilly words that indicate the future settings but won't leave you confused. The characters are okay. Not very much likable especially Eldest. I think the character development is not that impressive but can improve. The book is more of a science fiction and mystery. The romance part, well, we need more Elder and Amy romance! The book needs more of it so that it won't be that serious.

I liked the premise of Across the Universe. It was still a good read for me although the whole idea can be terrifying. Read the book to know what I mean. I thought it is not a series. Well, it shows in Goodreads that there's a sequel and it might still be about Elder and Amy. I have to read the next books to know what's gonna happen to Godspeed!

♥ xoxo, Edil ♥

Across the Universe

Outside In by Maria V. Snyder (Insider #2)

Author: Maria V. Snyder
Published March 1st 2011 by Harlequin Teen
320 pages
Review copy from NetGalley and Publisher
Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Summary:

ME?

A LEADER?

Okay, I did prove that there’s more to Inside than we knew. That a whole world exists beyond this cube we live in. And finding that led to a major rebellion—between worker scrubs like me and the snobby uppers who rule our world. Make that ruled. Because of me, we’re free. I thought that meant I was off the hook, and could go off on my own again—while still touching base with Riley, of course. He’s the one upper I think I can trust. But then we learned that there’s outside and then there is Outside.

And something from Outside wants In.

Review:

I enjoyed reading Outside In and I didn't really expect that I would. The dystopian genre appeal to me so much ever since I read a series in that same theme.

Trella is back on exploring air ducts but this time without the fear that she will be caught by the PopCops. The rebellion has ended and the Insiders have a new committee to lead them. What they don't know is freedom might not be beyond their reach.

When I read the first book, Inside Out, I was impressed with the world building. The futuristic theme may be a usual one for a story but the author managed to create her unique stories for the series. I liked the character development. In this book, Trella's character is admirable. You'd learn she's not always as tough as we think but she also has her weaknesses and limitations. It's good to read the development of Trella and Riley's relationship. The new characters are introduced timely with respect to the events happening in the book. The conspiracies and conflicts are well written that you wouldn't stop reading until you know who's the real culprit.

Although there are parts that could be a little boring or should I say confusing with all the terms used in the book, Outside In is still a good sequel for the first book.

♥ xoxo, Edil ♥

Outside In (Harlequin Teen) 

Inside Out by Maria V. Snyder (Insider #1)

Author: Maria V. Snyder
Published April 1st 2010 by Harlequin (first published March 24th 2010)
320 pages
Series: Insider
Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Summary:

Keep Your Head Down.

Don't Get Noticed.

Or Else.

I'm Trella. I'm a scrub. A nobody. One of thousands who work the lower levels, keeping Inside clean for the Uppers. I've got one friend, do my job and try to avoid the Pop Cops. So what if I occasionally use the pipes to sneak around the Upper levels? The only neck at risk is my own…until I accidentally start a rebellion and become the go-to girl to lead a revolution.

Review:

Dystopian has been a favorite genre of me ever since I read The Hunger Games series. Well, I'm really intrigued with all the conspiracies and end-of-the-world stories in this genre. I saw that the second book of Inside out, which is Outside In, is available on netgalley. So I decided to read the first book already. Inside Out has already been on my to-read pile for a long time!

Trella is a scrub in the Inside. Scrubs are people in the lower levels who work for the Uppers to maintain Inside. They do the laundry, cleaning, cooking and all the hard work. When a prophet tried to convince Trella that there's still hope for the scrubs, Trella sees herself sneaking through the pipes to spy on the Uppers. Trella doesn't know that a rebellion will begin because of it.

Inside Out is one of those books that has a brilliant concept but too short for a 320 pages book. I know that's already pretty long but that's only what I thought. At first, I was kinda confused of the settings. The beginning was slow but as I read on, it became fast-paced and adventurous.

The main characters are likable. Trella is one tough girl. She's only 17 but her personality makes her older than her age. It was interesting because they use weeks to count their age. I thought I'm going to do a little math but the lazy side of me didn't bother anymore. :) Cogon is really brave and he will fight for the sake of others. He is well-liked by many scrubs. It's just sad what happened to him in the end. When Riley was introduced in the book, I have a feeling that he will play an important role in the story. Just read the book to find out!

The book was a good read! It's not as exciting as I expected but the concept really impressed me. Will definitely read the sequel!

♥ xoxo, Edil ♥

Inside Out (Harlequin Teen)