SYLO book review

I ended up having a situation and didn't have time for reading so I'm going to be reading The Monstrumologist and the Chaos Walking 2 in 1 Omnibus next month, which means I hopefully I will read 12 books next month. Also for next year I will be doing something different to decide what books I'm am going to read on my To Be Read book selves.


SYLO (The SYLO Chronicles book #1 of 3) by D.J. MacHale

Paperback, 416 pages
Read: Nov. 23 and 25
Rating: 4/5
Genres: Young Adult, Dystopia, Adventure
Summery: THEY CAME FROM THE SKY
parachuting out of military helicopters to invade Tucker Pierce's idyllic hometown on Pemberwick Island, Maine.
They call themselves SYLO and they are a secret branch of the U.S. Navy. SYLO's commander, Captain Granger, informs Pemberwick residents that the island has been hit by a lethal virus and must be quarantined. Now Pemberwick is cut off from the outside world.
Tucker believes there's more to SYLO's story. He was on the sidelines when the high school running back dropped dead with no warning. He saw the bizarre midnight explosion over the ocean, and the mysterious singing aircraft that traveled like shadows through the night sky. He tasted the Ruby - and experienced the powers it gave him - for himself.
What all this means, SYLO isn't saying. Only Tucker holds the clues that can solve this deadly mystery.
LOOK TO THE SKY
because Pemberwick is only the first stop.

Review: This story starts off with the night of Marty Wiggins death. This story was hard for me to get into, but once I did it was an exciting story. The high school running backs death, and the bizarre midnight explosion, and singing aircraft, both happen in the first two chapters of the book and including those the first 74 pages were dull for me. when I got to page 75 (Chapter 8) is when things really picked up, SYLO has appeared. The first 74 pages felt dragging to me, and took me 2 hours just to get through, I couldn't get a feel for the characters, and I didn't feel like I knew them, that continued on through the whole story quite a bit, so for me this was more of a world and plot driven book instead of a character driven book, so if you don't like very little character background/information then you might want to keep this in mind if you decide to read this book. While it did drag in the beginning,mainly because there was very little background on the characters, once SYLO had started to show up the story evolved into a fun and exciting book. Sadly, I didn't really have a favorite character, although I did enjoy Tori and Quinn more than the others, I did enjoy them well enough, I just couldn't connect to any of them. I'm surprised that I liked this story as much as I did because normally the books that I end up really enjoying are more character driven than plot/world driven books. But I did really enjoy this book and definitely want to read the sequel (it left on a pretty big cliff hanger) the main reason being I want to read more about the plot and world. If you think the book sounds interesting and you end up finding that the beginning is dragging then I would suggest at least reading up to when SYLO show up and see if you start getting interested then, the thing to keep in mind is that this is not a character driven book.

Hope everybody had/has a great day : )

Legend book review

Legend (Legend book #1 of 3.5) by Marie Lu

Paperback, 305 pages
Read: Nov. 18
Rating: 4.5/5
Genres: Young Adult, Dystopia, Action, Adventure, Romance
Summery: From different worlds, June and Day have no reason to cross paths...
Until June's brother is murdered, and Day becomes the prime suspect.
In a shocking turn of events, the two uncover what has really brought them together, and the sinister lengths to which their country will go to keep its secrets.

Review: The story starts from Day's P.O.V. in Lake Sector, with Day hidden from view watching the soldiers doing routine plague checks. 10 pages later we switch to June's P.O.V. at Drake University in Batalla Sector, June is in the dean's secretary's office again. The pacing for this story reminds me of the Penryn and the End of Days series by Susan Ee, as well as The Maze Runner Series by James Dashner, this story has a fast pace to it, and feels like a movie playing in my head, which I really enjoyed. I really liked both Day and June, as well as June's brother Metias, Day's brother John, and Tess. I did end up figuring out the situation with Metias around the second time we switch to June's P.O.V. (I suspected what happened in the first 20 pages), as well as figuring out what was going on with the plague virus's about page 118, I don't know if this was because of how the writing played out or if I've read too many Dystopian, and Post-Apocalyptic books that I what was going on with those two situations.But either way I did really like the story. Of course with Young Adult novels comes romance, while the romance doesn't really come about until around 100 pages so I got to know both characters enough that it didn't feel fast, but it did develop quite fast. I really liked this book, and can't wait to read the rest in the other two in this series. I also really liked the fact that through out the book June and Day's P.O.V's were short (anywhere from 1 to 12 pages), so you could get their perspectives on events quickly, I also liked that you could tell who's P.O.V. you were reading not only from a personality perspective, but each part has their name on the corner of the page, as well as June's type being in black and Day's type being in a matte gold color, the boldness of the lettering is also different June's being Thin and Day's being slightly thicker.

Hope everybody had/has a great day : )

The Darkest Minds + In Time book review

The Darkest Minds (The Darkest Minds book #1 of 3.5) by Alexandra Bracken

Paperback, 488 pages
Read: Nov. 15 - 16
Rating: 4/5
Genres: Young Adult, Dystopia, Science Fiction, Post-Apocalyptic
Summery: When Ruby woke up on her tenth birthday, something about her had changed. Something alarming enough to make her parents lock her in the garage and call the police. Something that gets her sent to Thurmond, a brutal government “rehabilitation camp.” She might have survived the mysterious disease that’s killed most of America’s children, but she and the others have emerged with something far worse: frightening abilities they cannot control.
Now sixteen, Ruby is one of the dangerous ones.
When the truth comes out, Ruby barely escapes Thurmond with her life. Now she’s on the run, desperate to find the one safe haven left for kids like her—East River. She joins a group of kids who escaped their own camp. Liam, their brave leader, is falling hard for Ruby. But no matter how much she aches for him, Ruby can’t risk getting close. Not after what happened to her parents.
When they arrive at East River, nothing is as it seems, least of all its mysterious leader. But there are other forces at work, people who will stop at nothing to use Ruby in their fight against the government. Ruby will be faced with a terrible choice, one that may mean giving up her only chance at a life worth living.

Review: The prologue starts out with the very beginnings of Ruby's breakout of Thurmond. The first chapter starts with Grace Somerfield. This story is about a girl named Ruby, who as a ten years old is sent to Thurmond, a disturbing “rehabilitation camp”, which "controls" kids who have special powers. The world in which Ruby lives, the newest generation of kids either end up with IAAN (Idiopathic Adolescent Acute Neurodegeneration) and end up dying at the age of ten, or they end up with abilities, each one with a different color. (From least to most dangerous) Greens have a heightened intelligence as their power, Green is considered one of the less dangerous powers. Blues have the power to move objects with their minds, Also known as telekinesis. Blue is considered one of the less dangerous powers. Yellows have the power to create and control electricity, Also known as electrokinesis, They are considered one of the more dangerous powers. Oranges have the power to control minds, They also have the ability to read, alter, and destroy memories, Orange is considered one of the more dangerous powers. Their ability to manipulate and hear other's thoughts makes them especially dangerous, This causes some of them to go insane or not be able function correctly upon reentering their own bodies. Because of this, Oranges are often killed or relocated in Rehabilitation Camps, such as Thurmond. Reds have the power to create and control fire, Also known as pyrokinesis, Red is considered one of the more dangerous powers. The Blue, Yellow, and Orange powers are what you spend the most time on. I liked Ruby, with the events that happen through the the story I can understand her fear of herself, as well as others with similar powers to hers. I loved the relationships she had with Liam, Suzume (Zu), and Charles (Chubs), My favorites characters being Chubs and Zu. Although I know most Young Adult books/series, if not all, have to have a romance, I wish this one didn't, for me the characters fit better as friends. I really liked the world, along with the concepts that went into making it. The ending, though did leave me upset. I would like to read the other full novels along with the short novella/story in this series.


Next up, I did end up buying and reading the short novella/story, so I am going to review now.

In Time (The Darkest Minds book #1.5 of 3.5) by Alexandra Bracken

ebook, 89 pages
Read: Nov. 17
Rating: 4.5/5
Genres: Young Adult, Dystopia, Science Fiction, Post-Apocalyptic
Summery: Gabe's life has been devastated in the wake of the economic crash. The only option left for someone like him to escape his tragic past is to leave his small town behind and to attempt to become a skip tracer. This already almost impossible task is made all the more difficult by his first score, a young girl who won't speak, but who changes his life in ways he could never imagine.

Review: The prologue starts right before Zu meets Gabe. The first chapter is from Gabe's P.O.V.  a while before he meets Zu. This story takes place after the events of The Darkest Minds but before Never Fade. It follows the characters Zu and Gabe, as Zu tries to get to California. Even though I wish it was longer to flesh out the story a bit more I really enjoyed it. I liked Gabe well enough, but my favorite character was Zu. I liked the relationship between Zu and Gabe, although with how short the story was it did end up felling a bit rushed. I also liked the tiny bit of background you get on Liam before he got captured and sent to one of the camps.

Hope everybody had/has a great day : )

Asylum book review

Asylum (Asylum book #1 of 3) by Madeleine Roux

Paperback, 336 pages

Read: Nov. 13 - 14

Rating: 2.5/5

Genres: Paranormal, Suspense, Mystery, Young Adult

Summery: For sixteen-year-old Dan Crawford, the New Hampshire College Prep program is the chance of a lifetime. Except that when Dan arrives, he finds that the usual summer housing has been closed, forcing students to stay in the crumbling Brookline Dorm—formerly a psychiatric hospital. As Dan and his new friends Abby and Jordan start exploring Brookline's twisty halls and hidden basement, they uncover disturbing secrets about what really went on here . . . secrets that link Dan and his friends to the asylum's dark past. Because Brookline was no ordinary mental hospital, and there are some secrets that refuse to stay buried.

Review: This story starts out with Dan Crawford in a taxi on his way to the New Hampshire College Prep program, which used to be Brookline Asylum. Well, there were good parts of this and parts I really didn't care about. First the good, the little parts of back story and memories that you get through out the book really held my interests, they were sprinkled through out enough that I had enough interest to keep reading through the dull parts. I liked the "adventures" to the old closed off wing and basement as well. Now for the rest, I could not get myself to care about the characters or there relationships to each other, the only characters I had a mild interest in were Jordan, and Yi who was only in the book for a total of probably one and a half to two pages altogether. There is of course a romance of some sorts (because it is a young adult book, there has to be a romance), The romance is small, but it didn't fit, the way the characters were described and the way their personalities were they ended up having no chemistry. Also the way the characters are written they come off as being about 14 years old, rather than the 17 they're supposed to be. The parts with the characters interacting and doing regular things together were very dull and held no interest for me. I was reading those parts without really having it register. Thankfully there were enough of the good parts to keep me reading to the end, but there weren't really enough to make me want to read the sequel because of the uninteresting characters and their relationships with each other. The annoying thing for me is that the ending of this book sets up for a sequel, and I like knowing what happens all the way to the end of the book/series, so while I don't care about the main part of the book/series (the characters) I know it is going to drive me a little nuts wondering about the paranormal part of the book/series. I may just end up trying to find out about the spoilers and how it ends on the internet, instead of trying to talk myself into reading the sequel and waiting for the third to come out.

Hope everybody has/had a great day : )

Howl's Moving Castle book + movie review

Howl's Moving Castle (Howl's Moving Castle book #1 of 3) by Diana Wynne Jones

Paperback, 429 pages
Read: Nov. 6
Rating: 5/5
Genres: Fantasy, Magic, Adventure
Summery: Sophie has the great misfortune of being the eldest of three daughters, destined to fail miserably should she ever leave home to seek her fate. But when she unwittingly attracts the ire of the Witch of the Waste, Sophie finds herself under a horrid spell that transforms her into an old lady. Her only chance at breaking it lies in the ever-moving castle in the hills: the Wizard Howl's castle. To untangle the enchantment, Sophie must handle the heartless Howl, strike a bargain with a fire demon, and meet the Witch of the Waste head-on. Along the way, she discovers that there's far more to Howl—and herself—than first meets the eye.

Review: The story starts with Sophie Hatter, the eldest of three, talking to hats. I loved this story. I had seen the movie that was based of/inspired by this book so I knew a good amount of what was going to happen in the book, but there were quite a few sub-plots that were not in the movie, and were really interesting, they also lent more to the main plot as well. I had seen the movie before finding out that it was based of a book, and since I had seen and loved the movie I decided to read the book. I was honestly not expecting to love the book as much as I did. It had me hooked from the first chapter. I loved all of the characters, the main character, Sophie, and Calcifer, were my favorites, but all of the characters seemed to have something that I liked or at least enjoyed about them. The adventure Sophie went on was definitely exciting. I normally don't read larger book (429 pages) in one day, but the first third, to the middle third, to the last third all had funny and exciting chapters that made me not want to put the book down, and keep reading through to the end. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes a good fantasy/adventure book, and if you have seen the movie I would definitely recommend reading it. It was a very fun read for me.

Now onto the movie

Book-to-Movie Rating: 4/5
Thoughts on the Book to Movie Adaptation: I love this movie. If you have read the book and decide to watch the movie, there are going to be some differences. Some main one are the witch of the waste, the scarecrow, the relationship development between Sophie and Howl is slightly different, the race and age of Markl (Marukuru)/Michael (which did disappoint me when I found that out, there are a few other minor differences as well. Even though there are some differences it is still a very enjoyable movie.


Hope everybody had/has a great day : )

November T.B.R. List

I did not expect to become so busy last week of Oct.. So I was not able to read Howl's Moving Castle in Oct., so I will be reading it this month.

#1
Howl's Moving Castle (Howl's Moving Castle book #1 of 3) by Diana Wynne Jones

#2
Asylum (Asylum book #1 of 3) by Madeleine Roux

#3
Legend (Legend book #1 of 3) by Marie Lu

#4
SYLO (The SYLO Chronicles book #1 of 3) by D.J. MacHale

#4
The Darkest Minds (The Darkest Minds book #1 of 3) by Alexandra Bracken

#5
The Devouring (The Devouring book #1 of 3) by Simon Holt

#6
Soulstice (The Devouring book #2 of 3) by Simon Holt

#7
Fearscape (The Devouring book #3 of 3) bu Simon Holt

#8
The Monstrumologist (The Monstrumologist book #1 of 4) by Rick Yancey

# 9
Chaos Walking 2 In 1 Omnibus (Chaos Walking book #1-2 of 3) by Patrick Ness

So I have 9 books I'm hoping to read this month (technically 10 if you count the Chaos Walking Omnibus as 2 books). I'm hoping to read at least 50 books this year, so far I've read 34 books.

Hope everybody had/has a great day.