Book Review: The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness

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adventure, book, book review, books, fiction, patrick ness, review, reviews, science fiction, The Knife of Never Letting Go, young adult

The Knife of Never Letting Go

by Patrick Ness

genre: adventure, science fiction, young adult

Summary from Goodreads

 

Prentisstown isn’t like other towns. Everyone can hear everyone else’s thoughts in an overwhelming, never-ending stream of Noise. Just a month away from the birthday that will make him a man, Todd and his dog, Manchee — whose thoughts Todd can hear too, whether he wants to or not — stumble upon an area of complete silence. They find that in a town where privacy is impossible, something terrible has been hidden — a secret so awful that Todd and Manchee must run for their lives.

But how do you escape when your pursuers can hear your every thought?

Book Review: Inferno by Dan Brown

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action, adventure, black plague, book review inferno, Dan Brown, historical fiction, overpopulation, reviews, robert langdon, sinsky

Inferno (Langdon #4)

by Dan Brown

genre: thriller, adventure

Venice. Overpopulation. Race against time. This was an entertaining read with a stellar plot and only mildly annoying characters. Find out why I gave it a 4.5 out of 5 stars!

Summary

(Taken from Goodreads)

In his international blockbusters The Da Vinci Code, Angels & Demons, and The Lost Symbol, Dan Brown masterfully fused history, art, codes, and symbols. In this riveting new thriller, Brown returns to his element and has crafted his highest-stakes novel to date.

In the heart of Italy, Harvard professor of symbology Robert Langdon is drawn into a harrowing world centered on one of history’s most enduring and mysterious literary masterpieces . . . Dante’s Inferno.

Against this backdrop, Langdon battles a chilling adversary and grapples with an ingenious riddle that pulls him into a landscape of classic art, secret passageways, and futuristic science. Drawing from Dante’s dark epic poem, Langdon races to find answers and decide whom to trust . . . before the world is irrevocably altered.

Review

Since Eliabeth has already reviewed this novel, I’ll try to keep it short and sweet. Short story, I really enjoyed it. Long story is below. Minor spoilers will be included in this review.

Book Review: The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey

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action, adventure, aliens, army, bear and sammi, ben parish, book reviews, cassie, cassiopeia, evan walker, fifth wave, human extinction, military, new adult, post apocalyptic, rick yancey, romance, sci-fi, the 5th wave, YA, young adult

The 5th Wave

by Rick Yancey

genre: post apocalyptic, action, adventure, aliens, young adult

Aliens, teens with guns, and a world upside down. This story touches on profound themes while also delivering an entertaining story. Find out why I gave it a 4 out of 5 stars!

Summary

(Taken from Goodreads)

After the 1st wave, only darkness remains. After the 2nd, only the lucky escape. And after the 3rd, only the unlucky survive. After the 4th wave, only one rule applies: trust no one.

Now, it’s the dawn of the 5th wave, and on a lonely stretch of highway, Cassie runs from Them. The beings who only look human, who roam the countryside killing anyone they see. Who have scattered Earth’s last survivors. To stay alone is to stay alive, Cassie believes, until she meets Evan Walker. Beguiling and mysterious, Evan Walker may be Cassie’s only hope for rescuing her brother—or even saving herself. But Cassie must choose: between trust and despair, between defiance and surrender, between life and death. To give up or to get up.

Review

I took this audiobook with me on my 12 hour roadtrip to Melbourne. I’m glad I did! I had heard some chatter about this amongst book tubers and decided to check it out when I had the chance.

I really enjoyed Cassie, the main female protagonist. She was funny, witty, and sarcastic. Some of the things she said made me chuckle. With my partner in the car with me, he also found plenty of what she said to be humorous. Since the setting of the novel is so sinister and desolate, it was nice to have the humor spice things up.

Book Review: Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

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80s references, action, adventure, book review, books for gamers, dystopian, ernest cline, futuristic, games, geeky books, oasis, ready player one, romance, sci-fi, strong female characters

Ready Player One

by Ernest Cline

genre: dystopian, action, adventure, gamer, sci-fi, futuristic

Super geeky gamer-style adventure/action novel with copious amounts of 80s references. This is why I gave it a 4 out of 5 stars!

Summary

(Taken from Goodreads)

It’s the year 2044, and the real world is an ugly place.

Like most of humanity, Wade Watts escapes his grim surroundings by spending his waking hours jacked into the OASIS, a sprawling virtual utopia that lets you be anything you want to be, a place where you can live and play and fall in love on any of ten thousand planets.

And like most of humanity, Wade dreams of being the one to discover the ultimate lottery ticket that lies concealed within this virtual world. For somewhere inside this giant networked playground, OASIS creator James Halliday has hidden a series of fiendish puzzles that will yield massive fortune–and remarkable power–to whoever can unlock them.

[…]

And then Wade stumbles upon the first puzzle.

[…]

A world at stake.
A quest for the ultimate prize.
Are you ready?

Book Review: Monstrous Regiment by Terry Pratchett

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adventure, books, Discworld, ebooks, fantasy, fiction, Monstrous Regiment, reviews, Terry Pratchett, young adult

Monstrous Regiment

Discworld, #31
by Terry Pratchett

genre: fantasy, adventure, young adult

No damsels in distress here!  If you want a book with a strong female protagonist, this is a book for you.  This is very much a “one grain of rice may tip the scale” story.  I actually had a scene from Mulan playing in my head when Polly cut off her hair to join the army even though her reasons for doing so were a little different.

Summary

Borogravia doesn’t have scenic mountains or natural resources, they don’t even have a god who is all there in the head metaphysically speaking, but the people are proud that it’s theirs and they are willing to kill for it.  So willing that they’ve gone into war with almost, if not all, of their neighboring countries.  Everyone knows they’re losing, but no one is willing to say it.  Men come back missing body parts if they come back at all and the last of the recruits seem too young to have sprouted any facial hair.  Among them is Polly Perks, a plain girl who doesn’t need to do much more than cut her hair and stuff socks down her pants to pass for a boy.  She’s joining the Ins and Outs to find out what happened to her brother Paul, but the journey ends up being much more than a rescue mission as she learns not everything is as it seems.

Book Review: The Hunger Games

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adventure, book, book reviews, books, dystopian, fantasy, fiction, reading, reviews, science fiction, suzanne collins, The Hunger Games, YA, young adult

The Hunger Games
The Hunger Games #1
Suzanne Collins

genres: adventure, dystopian, science-fiction, young adult

synopsis from Goodreads
In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, a shining Capitol surrounded by twelve outlying districts. The Capitol is harsh and cruel and keeps the districts in line by forcing them all to send one boy and one girl between the ages of twelve and eighteen to participate in the annual Hunger Games, a fight to the death on live TV.

Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen, who lives alone with her mother and younger sister Primrose, regards it as a death sentence when she steps forward to take her sister’s place in the Games. But Katniss has been close to dead before — and survival, for her, is second nature. Without really meaning to, she becomes a contender. But if she is to win, she will have to start making choices that will weigh survival against humanity and life against love.

Ermisenda has already reviewed The Hunger Games Trilogy, but with the movie coming out this year, I just had to read the book first and see if it stood up to the hype.  Yes, we’ve decided that occasionally you will get to hear both of our thoughts on a book.  The Hunger Games is our guinea pig.