Review: Fever by Lauren DeStefano

Image and summary from Goodreads.com:


Rhine and Gabriel have escaped the mansion, but danger is never far behind. 

Running away brings Rhine and Gabriel right into a trap, in the form of a twisted carnival whose ringmistress keeps watch over a menagerie of girls. Just as Rhine uncovers what plans await her, her fortune turns again. With Gabriel at her side, Rhine travels through an environment as grim as the one she left a year ago - surroundings that mirror her own feelings of fear and hopelessness. 

The two are determined to get to Manhattan, to relative safety with Rhine’s twin brother, Rowan. But the road there is long and perilous - and in a world where young women only live to age twenty and young men die at twenty-five, time is precious. Worse still, they can’t seem to elude Rhine’s father-in-law, Vaughn, who is determined to bring Rhine back to the mansion...by any means necessary. 

In the sequel to Lauren DeStefano’s harrowing Wither, Rhine must decide if freedom is worth the price - now that she has more to lose than ever.


I am going to warn my readers now, this review might be a bit spoiler-riffic, and full of rants.  So, only read this review if you don't care about having the plot somewhat revealed for you.  I was mildly excited to read this book, as I felt Wither was somewhat unsatisfying and my questions would be answered in the second book.  Whoops - should have read something else.  I suppose I could say that my questions were answered, but only in the most predictable and stagnant way possible.


Okay, so here we are in 2012, an era when YA dystopian fiction with strong heroines is popular - rock on Katniss!  And then there's Rhine; in my head, I re-named the girl "Whine" instead of "Rhine," because other than puke, that's pretty much all she does.  At least I can credit DeStefano for breaking the mold?  Throughout this novel, we are supposed to believe in Rhine's "inner strength," as she thinks about it all the time.  But, I just didn't see her actions in this novel line up with any sort of inner strength.  She ends up (plot details given away):
1.  In a prostitution circus, drugged out and forced to "perform" with Gabriel as customers watch
2.  Traveling around the country, "mysteriously" ill (at least here she somewhat took control)
3.  Vomiting all over herself numerous times, but hiding it from everyone (just stupid, not strong)
4.  Shot up with various drugs
5.  An unwilling victim of medical experiments (but don't worry, she just sits there drugged out and does nothing) 


Ok, so it's not a pretty world she lives in, and there are apparently all sorts of people conspiring behind her back, but really.  Rather than seeing Rhine making a plan and executing it, all I really saw her doing was feeling sick and wishing she could come up with a plan.  At about page 200, I was over it.  And then, even worse, there's Gabriel.  I will be putting his name on the "Characters I Don't Give Two Hoots About" list.  For someone who supposedly gave Rhine the inner strength to leave the mansion, and who stays devotedly by her side (out of love?), his character is REMARKABLY flat.  I know he has green eyes (which look at Rhine with concern... A LOT), and that he lived in an orphanage before being sold to the mansion.  That is all.  If she and Gabriel are supposed to love one another, there is zero chemistry to confirm it.  Plus, (spoiler here), when she and Gabriel get separated, Rhine doesn't even seem to miss him, and instead is just relieved to see some other lost characters (I won't say more). If they are in love, it seems like a pretty wishy-washy one.  I found myself instead cheering for Linden, the wimpy husband she ran away from in the first book.  So sad.


The plot in this novel moves a lot more than the first book, but that's really only due to the numerous changes in setting.  The reader follows Rhine and Gabriel up the east coast of the United States on their way to reunite with Rhine's twin Rowan in Manhattan.  As one can imagine, the two meet various difficulties along the way.  While this seems like an alright premise for the book, there were a few snags in the logic and/or writing that dampened my enjoyment.  To start, I can't get a sense from either of these books about the state of the country.  On one hand, the situation seems so dire all that's left for females to do is hide, go into prostitution, or marry into polygamous relationships designed to breed more children in the hopes a cure will be discovered and save the children before they reach their fatal age.  Ok, a little bleak and full of sex (I'll cover that topic later), but fine.  However, on the other hand, apparently the infrastructure is still held-together enough that there are television broadcasts, truck deliveries of luxury goods like soda and potato chips, hot water and electricity readily available, and food such as oatmeal and maple syrup accessible to most citizens.  Or, medicine is so expensive that Rhine can't get it, but a woman who runs an orphanage can?  Keep in mind, these orphanages are so desperate for money in other parts of the series that they sell children with little compunction.  So which is it?  I felt like there wasn't much attention paid to world-building and keeping it consistent, but instead the future evolves in a way that makes it convenient for moving the series along.  While I want to see Rhine happy and reunited with her brother (after all, as a big sister myself I am always going to cheer for family!), there were so many other weird moments in this book to get over and I just couldn't.  Even worse, the two supposed "twists" at the end of the novel were something that I just assumed had happened in the first.  So, no real excitement until the last line of the book, which does leave off on a cliffhanger.


On the surface, there isn't much content about which a teacher would be concerned.  On the surface.  All sex happens off-page, and there are zero swear words.  But as a female helping other young ladies develop confidence, I have to wonder about the message this series sends overall.  Is the future of womenkind so tied to the nation's that if one collapses, so will the other?  Meaning, if the world goes awry, all us girls will have left is having sex and hoping for men to save us?  Oh, and also, we could become victims of highly unethical medical experiments.  Yay progress?  I just feel like if someone is a female writer, creating books for impressionable female readers (as most teens are), why not choose the empowerment route? Instead, this whole book is completely bleak, and Rhine doesn't overcome it and rise above (which would make the message more tolerable).  And why the preoccupation with sex at all?  There are so many other interesting debates the premise of the novel brings up - for example, how to spend our years alive - but the essential enslavement of women overpowered all of those for me.


The cover of the book is pretty, as was the first, but I think it's deceiving.  The message of the series is anything but, and the writing is nothing to write home about.  I will not be purchasing these books for my classroom anytime soon, and don't plan on passing the series into the hands of readers.  And when 2013 rolls around, I doubt I'll bother reading the third book.  There are too many other exciting, uplifting, or thought-provoking series out there.

Review: Starters by Lissa Price

Image and summary from Goodreads.com:

Callie lost her parents when the Spore Wars wiped out everyone between the ages of twenty and sixty. She and her little brother, Tyler, go on the run, living as squatters with their friend Michael and fighting off renegades who would kill them for a cookie. Callie's only hope is Prime Destinations, a disturbing place in Beverly Hills run by a mysterious figure known as the Old Man. 

He hires teens to rent their bodies to Enders—seniors who want to be young again. Callie, desperate for the money that will keep her, Tyler, and Michael alive, agrees to be a donor. But the neurochip they place in Callie's head malfunctions and she wakes up in the life of her renter, living in her mansion, driving her cars, and going out with a senator's grandson. It feels almost like a fairy tale, until Callie discovers that her renter intends to do more than party—and that Prime Destinations' plans are more evil than Callie could ever have imagined. . . .


This was a book that I saw on NetGalley and got super-excited to read.  I love nothing more than a creepy dystopian novel, and this one fit the bill!  While it's exploration of society's obsession with youth was interesting, the overall book was a little bit underwhelming.


Personally, I felt that the characters were where this book fell a bit short.  Callie, the protagonist, was entertaining and believable as the narrator, but just didn't strike me as original.  I would have loved to see a bit of an "edge" to her, rather than just carrying the flag for her brother and the good of all youth.  Similarly, the love interest, Blake, was ... blah.  Cute, rich... ehhhhh.  I just wanted a bit more, and it wasn't delivered.  I honestly found myself not caring whether the two of them ended up together, which is never a good sign.  The characters I did love, however, were the various "enders" who were renting youthful bodies.  Their obsession with "living a youthful fantasy" did lead to some chuckle-worthy moments.


The plot in this book was exciting and engaging, but felt a bit too fast-paced.  Perhaps the event-driven plot was why there was so little character development.  I felt like I barely had time to breathe before the next car chase, explosion, or spy mission happened.  While fun to read, it left some holes in other areas which, unfilled, made the whole novel fall a little flat.  However, the ending was AWESOME, and left a cliffhanger that I am eager to see play out!


Content-wise, there is nothing with which a teacher should be concerned.  And honestly, the above whining is just because I am an overly picky reader.  I think the fast pace of the book, easy to understand characters, and suitably creepy premise would all hook my readers.  Plus, who doesn't love an attractive and shiny cover?


Overall, though perhaps not my favorite book, I will be happy to recommend it to my students.  It is the perfect quick read, and potentially a good "starter" for those new to dystopian fiction (couldn't resist a pun... :).

Review: Prized by Caragh O'Brien

Image and summary from Goodreads.com:


Striking out into the wasteland with nothing but her baby sister, a handful of supplies, and a rumor to guide her, sixteen-year-old midwife Gaia Stone survives only to be captured by the people of Sylum, a dystopian society where women rule the men who drastically outnumber them, and a kiss is a crime. In order to see her sister again, Gaia must submit to their strict social code, but how can she deny her sense of justice, her curiosity, and everything in her heart that makes her whole?


I absolutely devoured the first installment of this trilogy, Birthmarked, in 2011.  So, naturally I was thrilled when my library got this book in - I had been dying to see how Gaia's story continued.  Thankfully, I was not let down, and am now eagerly anticipating the third book in the series.


One of my favorite aspects of this trilogy will continue to be the heroine, Gaia.  She is a remarkably believable character, especially given the setting of these novels.  What I enjoy about her is her belief in her personal principles, and her sense of integrity.  These character traits, while so important, often go overlooked in YA novels, which is too bad!  In this novel, she has to decide what is more important/the "right" thing - sacrificing her personal beliefs, or sacrificing those close to her.  It's a fascinating inner conflict to watch play out.  This novel also sees further development of the primary love interest, Leon, though not as much as I would have liked.  To be honest, the other members of the love... square?  rectangle?  (even Gaia doesn't know what to call it!) were much more endearing to me.  The brothers Chardo, Will and Peter, were both dorky, awkward, and completely melt-worthy.  


The plot of this novel was completely captivating, pretty much from the outset.  The story starts off with a bang as Gaia gets captured and brought to Sylum.  From the description above, it's easily deduced this is one creepy society, but the summary does not do it justice!  To think of a place where the population is dying off due to low female numbers, and the desperation that must cause in everyone, is a bit mind-bending.  I could certainly sympathize with the women, who are hoping to keep control of a powder keg set to go off, and the men, who just want the same rights as everyone else.  While some parts in the novel dragged a bit (for example, Gaia is under house arrest for an entire chapter...), there were plenty of surprises and romantic intrigues to keep me engaged.  I found the amount of romance surprising, actually, given the first book was largely focused on other ideas.  However, in a community where touching and flirtations are extremely limited, it seems only natural relationships (and navigating the rules) would take the spotlight.


There is one potential snafu with this novel.  Though dystopian fiction is designed to question social boundaries and rules, this particular book hits on a very sensitive topic:  abortion.  Helping women miscarry could feasibly fall within the realm of Gaia's midwife duties, but it's clear in this book that it is NOT for medical reasons, but rather because of harsh societal norms.  Also, there is an odd seemingly side-plot involving therapeutic drug use (no more info here, as it would involve some bummer spoilers).  


So, overall, I personally would rate this book extremely high.  However, as a teacher, I would be careful to whom I recommend it.  For those who are staunch in their beliefs, this book could be offensive (the Dark Materials trilogy comes to mind as having a similar issue).  This book is set in the future in a completely fictionalized location, so I think most readers could be alright with the content (after all, most of my students have gone crazy for Unwind, which also explores the abortion debate).  But, be wary of sensitive readers, as reading should be a pleasurable experience, not one that offends.

Review: Delirium by Lauren Oliver

Image and summary from Goodreads.com:

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 government demands that all citizens receive the cure upon turning eighteen. Lena Holoway 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.


For whatever reason, this book has been sitting on my mental TBR list, not getting read.  So when I finally decided to check this book out from the library, I was eager to begin.  Unfortunately, after finishing it, all I can say is "meh."


Sadly, the characters in this book struck me as lackluster.  Lena, the protagonist, just seemed like the run-of-the-mill revolutionary anti-government character, wrapped up in a romantic and slightly more timid package.  Now, I imagine that living in a world without love and ruled by fear would render one timid, but still.  Her hesitation lasted too long into the novel for my taste, especially given the massive case of "insta-love" in this book.  Truthfully, Lena's insta-love interest, Alex, was my biggest disappointment of the novel.  I was happy to see Lena fall in love, but other than his slight irreverence, I wasn't really sure what set Alex apart.  His character was left pretty flat, which made it hard to understand Lena's attraction.


Similarly, the plot left a little something to be desired.  There were certainly exciting parts, but the pages in between dragged somewhat.  To be fair, this might be due to my fatigue from grading massive amounts of diagnostic writing prompts (no matter how you slice it, 76 relatively identical essays just aren't exciting), but this book didn't captivate me the way I was hoping.  I found the storyline pretty predictable, and given that I wasn't invested in the love story the way I normally am, I just found myself apathetic.  Even the ending was predictable, and I hate when that happens.


Other than a few language issues, this book is pretty clean, which is a plus in the "teacher-safe" category.  This is the cover of the book I read, but there are several others that are a bit more enticing.  However, the bright blue might attract some curious glances, which could help draw student readers in.


Overall, I would recommend this book for the less discerning dystopian reader.  For ladies (sorry gents, too much mushy stuff in here for most of you) who enjoyed Divergent, Fever, and even The Hunger Games, I would perhaps offer this as something new to try.  However, I will probably be taking Delirium's sequel, Pandemonium, off of my TBR list, which does leave me feeling slightly accomplished.

Review: Wither by Lauren DeStefano

Image and summary from Goodreads.com:

Obviously, something went terribly wrong. Genetic mutations have festered, reducing human longevity to twenty-five, even less for most women. To prevent extinction, young girls are kidnapped, mated in polygamous marriages with men eager to procreate. Sixteen-year-old Rhine Ellery, a recent victim of this breeding farm mentality, has vowed to break loose from its fetters; but finding allies and a safe way out is a challenge she can only hope she will survive. A dystopian fantasy series starter with wings.

This book came with mixed reviews to me. I had heard from some of my students that they really liked it, while others said that it was only "alright." That's sort of how I feel about it too - it had a lot of great qualities, but then some that were only "alright."

For one, while the characters (especially those of the sister wives) were interesting, I felt that they were a little flat. Rhine, the protagonist, is certainly someone who has been put into a very depressing situation; so, I feel a little wrong calling her "excessively morose," but that was how she felt to me. Her constant self-reminders to hate her situation, loathe her father-in-law, and distrust her husband became a bit monotonous. Then again, perhaps this was intended to be a glimpse into what would truly be going on in someone's head who has been kidnapped and forced into a marriage - I suppose I couldn't speak to it from personal experience. (Thankfully!) The other character that left me wanting more was Gabriel, the servant-turned-forbidden love. While we see Rhine's attraction to him, I felt that his character could have been developed more. What are his motivations? Why is he living in this house? There were a lot of questions left unanswered about him that had they been answered, I probably would have been "rooting" for him more.

The plot was exciting and mysterious - I tore through this book! However, again, I was left wanting more. There were a lot of things that almost happened, or questions that were almost answered, but not quite. Perhaps it is because this book was conceived as a trilogy from the start? At the risk of giving away too much, and ruining the book for others, I will leave it at that. I know I am looking forward to reading the sequel, just to see where the story continues.

My only big problem with this book was the world building. My personal preference in dystopian fiction is to get some details and backstory as to WHY the world is the way it is. In this novel, though, that explanation is somewhat missing. People die at extremely young ages from a "virus" that somehow came about because of genetic engineering. (Problem here - and perhaps this is just because I am married to a doctor - but a latent virus that hangs out for differing amounts of time depending on gender seemed a bit strange. Genetic mutation maybe?). The other idea that struck me as strange was the marriages that are formed for breeding purposes. If having as many children as possible is the aim, which it seemed to be, why are they killing off or abandoning the girls who aren't selected for these marriages? Is there some sort of genetic screening to which we were not privy? It just seemed to be at cross purposes. On one hand, you have the wealthy men selecting only the most beautiful and unique girls for marriage - I can accept this. On the other, you have demands that as many children as possible are born to save the human race - while sort of disgusting, I can buy that too. But the two ideas just didn't work together the way I thought they would.

Like I said previously, the narration is this book can seem excessively morose. It is absolutely a pretty bleak world to live in, so I didn't exactly expect a perky narrator either. However, there seemed to be a few details on which the narrator harped, and nothing more. At the same time, I bought into her conflicting emotions about her husband and sister wives. Rhine's voice is compelling in that sense for sure.

One BIG plus of this book is the cover, without a doubt. A few of my girls even said that they chose to read this book for that specific reason! I was drawn in by the art too. The whole wedding ring connected to the bird cage really did speak to the themes of the novel, which I appreciated.

So, overall, I would recommend this book to anyone who, like me, enjoys a good dystopian novel and series and is willing to overlook some flaws in order to appreciate the mystery. There were no real content concerns, as long as readers are comfortable with the fact that these women are married solely for the purpose of breeding - obviously, they will be having sex. The sex occurs 100% off-stage, though, and isn't mentioned more than the necessary allusion to it. This book is a great quick read - just don't think too hard about it.

Top Ten Tuesday 2

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.

This week's topic is The Top Ten Books I'd Recommend to Someone Who Doesn't Read X.

So, since dystopian novels are my current obsession, I thought I'd go with that!

Top Ten Books I'd Recommend to Someone Who Doesn't Read Science Fiction

1. The Giver by Lois Lowry

Heartbreaking, gut-wrenching, and totally surprising at the end. This book was the unit I would look forward to every spring with my seventh graders!

2. The Maze Runner by James Dashner

This book has tickled many a reluctant reader. It has an engaging plot for just about anyone, even folks who swear they don't care for sci-fi.

3. Matched by Ally Condie

I'd recommend this one to girls who are hesitant to delve into the sci-fi waters. It seems to appeal to those who like to stay in the contemporary or romance genres, as well as science fiction fans.

4. Feed by M.T. Anderson

I remember reading this book in college as one of my first-ever YA reads, and it blew my mind. Even though it is a few years old now, the social critique is still relevant, and the humorous voice of the narrator is interesting to all.

5. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

It isn't all hype - this book is actually that good. Violence for the boys, romance for the girls, and reality TV for us Survivor fans (though I realize I am one of about five of those left in the USA :), this book has a little bit of everything.

6. Unwind by Neal Shusterman

A very interesting social critique that is played out through teenage runaways, this book was so action-packed, I sometimes forgot that I was in an alternate reality. The world building was convincing without being tedious or over-the-top. Basically, I just love anything Neal Shusterman writes.

7. Divergent by Veronica Roth

Though some have criticized this book as too "Hunger Games-esque," I thought that it had plenty of interesting differences. Tris' self-doubt and ultimate self-discovery certainly have universal appeal.

8. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams

This book is just hilarious. Anyone who appreciates random humor would enjoy this book, spaceships and aliens aside.

9. The Host by Stephanie Meyer

I have used this one as a cross-over for many of my little "Twi-hards." It is just as romantic as the Twilight series, but falls into that lovely crossover fantasy-science fiction-romance category that makes it more widely appealing.

10. The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan

Technically, you could classify this one as horror, but since it also involves the collapse of our current society and the hope to create a better one, I am impudently putting it on my list. For those who love scary stories, or even some doomed romance, this entire trilogy is well worth the read.