I've decided that Fire, by Kristin Cashore, is the lucky winner in the what-shall-Smish-read-now contest.
Good choice!
What YA book are you reading RIGHT NOW?
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Good choice!
Red Glove by Holly Black. If you haven't started the series I SERIOUSLY suggest White Cat because these books are amazing! Gangsters + Powers + Dystopian Society = UGHMAZING
The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater. (I have an ARC). It's rather brilliant. Actually, it's completely brilliant. I'm going to read Going Bovine next. I'm reading Rick Riordian's Throne of Fire also, but that's more kids than teen.
well at the moment i'm finishing up on Tale Of Two Cities, but next on my pile is Exile (A Mercy Novel - book 2) by Rebecca Lim. I loved the first book and have checked out the first couple chapters of this so far and it's good
I've almost finished BLOOD RED ROAD by Moira Young and I'm honestly not getting what all the fuss is about.
Partly it's to do with the fact that the first person voice, while strong, is selective in its use of phonetic spelling, which means I'm constantly wondering how come the narrator knows how to spell words like "malevolant" when "exactly" alludes her. Mainly though it's the fact that there isn't an awful happening given the length of the book (which comes in at a massive 520 pages) and where the plot does move, it relies on contrivance (e.g. a person being locked up in the cell next to Saba who just happens to know another character so she can give some background) or it stretches plausibility (e.g. would a girl who's lived in seclusion for most of her life and spent at least a year without a huge amount of food really become the deadliest cage fighter around just because she's angry and desperate?).
There's also too much of a sense of being able to guess what happens next and watching the MC do naive things and engage in petty bickering with her sister and other characters.
There are some good things about it - it's a fast read and I like the fact that the MC isn't naturally likable, but there are better YA dystopians out there at the moment (for me, anyway).
Not sure what I'm going to read next - might look at DIARY OF A WIMPY VAMPIRE by Tim Collins, which is a humorous send up of Twilight and Diary of a Wimpy Kid.
MM
Partly it's to do with the fact that the first person voice, while strong, is selective in its use of phonetic spelling, which means I'm constantly wondering how come the narrator knows how to spell words like "malevolant" when "exactly" alludes her. Mainly though it's the fact that there isn't an awful happening given the length of the book (which comes in at a massive 520 pages) and where the plot does move, it relies on contrivance (e.g. a person being locked up in the cell next to Saba who just happens to know another character so she can give some background) or it stretches plausibility (e.g. would a girl who's lived in seclusion for most of her life and spent at least a year without a huge amount of food really become the deadliest cage fighter around just because she's angry and desperate?).
There's also too much of a sense of being able to guess what happens next and watching the MC do naive things and engage in petty bickering with her sister and other characters.
There are some good things about it - it's a fast read and I like the fact that the MC isn't naturally likable, but there are better YA dystopians out there at the moment (for me, anyway).
Not sure what I'm going to read next - might look at DIARY OF A WIMPY VAMPIRE by Tim Collins, which is a humorous send up of Twilight and Diary of a Wimpy Kid.
MM
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I just finished Red Glove a couple of weeks ago and I agree! It's a fantastic series. I second the recommendation. Holly Black is one of my favorite authors.
As for me, I just finished THE DUFF. I just whizzed through it this afternoon (I started it this morning) and it was a fun read. It kind of reminded me of "Mean Girls" and other school-drama books/movies like that (which I have a certain guilty pleasure for). I liked THE DUFF especially because the friends that the MC had and the way they supported her kind of reminded me of my friends and how they do the same for me.
Now starting SHIVER by Maggie Stiefvater. I've read her earlier books (BALLAD and LAMENT) and loved them. I'm hoping this one is as good as well.
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I just finished Speak my Laurie Halse Anderson. I'd heard of it before but I just never got around to actually reading it. I highly recommend it (I reviewed it on my blog www.simplyaaronni.com) and I'm currently reading Dreamland by Sarah Dessen! Only on chapter 1 so we shall see!
I started Looking for Alibrandi by Melina Marchetta last night and I'm already 70 pages in so far I like it better than Saving Francesca.
so far I like it better than Saving Francesca.
Just finished The Adoration of Jenna Fox. Slow starter and some parts were just really, really repetitive as she keeps saying over and over again, do I have a soul? What am I? etc. etc. Hated the epilogue. I did really like the prose though and the concept overall.
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That's it, I'm getting those books now.
Reading the Silver Metal Lover by Tanith Lee. If it were marketed today, I think it would be billed as a YA Dystopian novel in which Romeo & Juliet meets A.I.. As it is, it is a SF novel with a teen heroine who goes through some issues typical for YA fiction, so I decided to mention it here. It's incredible. I like it when I can sense that the author's imagination has the wingspan of an eagle and Tanith Lee delivers, delivers, and keeps delivering.
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About to start The Last Vampire 3: Red Dice by Christopher Pike. I can't get enough.
Fearscape didn't turn out to be as big of a turd as what I've been told. Definitely wasn't as good at the first but it was alright.
Fearscape didn't turn out to be as big of a turd as what I've been told. Definitely wasn't as good at the first but it was alright.
I finished BLOOD RED ROAD by Moira Young and while I think it's an okay read (and definitely a pacey one), I'm just not getting the critical love for it. For me, it glossed over things that seemed to me to be central to the story, the phonetic spelling annoyed me and there were too many contrivances to carry the plot along. Not sure that I'll rush to read the sequel.
Have now started BALLAD by Maggie Stiefvater, which is the sequel to LAMENT (which I haven't read, but I don't think you need to in order to understand the story). It's got a strong first person voice and I like the fact that it's about a boy who plays the bagpipes, so I'll see where it goes.
MM
Have now started BALLAD by Maggie Stiefvater, which is the sequel to LAMENT (which I haven't read, but I don't think you need to in order to understand the story). It's got a strong first person voice and I like the fact that it's about a boy who plays the bagpipes, so I'll see where it goes.
MM
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