Review: The Compound

Title:  The Compound
Author:  S.A. Bodeen
Series:  The Compound [1]
Rating:  1/5

Summary:

Eli and his family have lived in the underground Compound for six years. The world they knew is gone, and they've become accustomed to their new life. Accustomed, but not happy.

For Eli, no amount of luxury can stifle the dull routine of living in the same place, with only his two sisters, his father and mother, doing the same thing day after day after day. 

As problems with their carefully planned existence threaten to destroy their sanctuary—and their sanity—Eli can't help but wonder if he'd rather take his chances outside. 

Eli's father built the Compound to keep them safe. But are they safe—or sorry?

Review:

This book was TERRIBLE, at least in my opinion.  I got through the first half and couldn't stand the story anymore.  It was predictable by the third chapter.  Seriously, it was a good premise, but somewhere between the idea sparking in the author's brain and the publishing, the entirety of anything good about this book was lost.

They're underground in a bomb shelter (that sounds like it's the size of a small mall), and life has been going for years.  Only they're about to find out that someone lied!  Oh damn, not that.  You mean the world above isn't dead?  But how could that be?

Yeah, sorry, I can't take this book seriously.

Recommended to someone who doesn't care about quality of story or writing.

Review: Crossed

Title:  Crossed
Author:  Ally Condie
Series:  The Matched Trilogy [2]
Rating:  4/5

Summary:

In search of a future that may not exist and faced with the decision of who to share it with, Cassia journeys to the Outer Provinces in pursuit of Ky - taken by the Society to his certain death - only to find that he has escaped, leaving a series of clues in his wake. Cassia's quest leads her to question much of what she holds dear, even as she finds glimmers of a different life across the border. 

But as Cassia nears resolve and certainty about her future with Ky, an invitation for rebellion, an unexpected betrayal, and a surprise visit from Xander - who may hold the key to the uprising and, still, to Cassia's heart - change the game once again. Nothing is as expected on the edge of Society, where crosses and double crosses make the path more twisted than ever.

Review:

I can't decide if I like this or the first book more.  Where this one has more action and more drama, the first one had more introspective into how the world seems.

I did enjoy, however that the characters were spread out.  This meant that when we got different chapters from different points of view it meant we were almost sure to see a completely different setting, not just a different view on the same events.

My greatest love for this series is the class poetry weaved into the story-line.  I think it's despicable to choose but 100 poems to keep, and always look forward to what poems Cassie and crew have found and how they have interpreted the words.

This book left me desperate for the third one to be released.

Recommended to anyone who has read the first book, and enjoys the dystopian teen fiction genre.

Books To Read

Ten books I'm looking forward to reading as soon as they're released and/or I get my hands on them.

10.  Unwind by Neal Shusterman

9.  The Last Girl by Kitty Thomas

8.  Escape Theory by Margaux Froley

7.  Uses for Boys by Erica Lorraine Scheidt

6.  Memoirs of an Imaginary Friend by Matthew Dicks

5.  Hushed by Kelley York

4.  Wither by Lauren DeStefano

3.  Tiger Lilly by Jodi Lynn Anderson

2.  Beautiful Disaster by Jamie McGuire

1.  The Program by Suzanne Young

Review: Matched

Title:  Matched
Author:  Ally Condie
Series:   The Matched Trilogy [1]
Rating:  4/5

Summary:

Cassia has always trusted the Society to make the right choices for her: what to read, what to watch, what to believe. So when Xander's face appears on-screen at her Matching ceremony, Cassia knows with complete certainty that he is her ideal mate... until she sees Ky Markham's face flash for an instant before the screen fades to black.

The Society tells her it's a glitch, a rare malfunction, and that she should focus on the happy life she's destined to lead with Xander. But Cassia can't stop thinking about Ky, and as they slowly fall in love, Cassia begins to doubt the Society's infallibility and is faced with an impossible choice: between Xander and Ky, between the only life she's known and a path that no one else has dared to follow.

Review:

This book hooked me in nearly as fast as The Hunger Games did.  But I do say nearly.  The triangle surrounding Cassie, Xander, and Ky is interesting, especially considering we get chapters narrated by all three of them.

It's nice to see the events from other points of view, however I found myself checking the beginning of the chapter a few times to see which character I was reading under because the text wasn't clear.

It also almost immediately starts the triangle and "teams" between Ky and Xander.  Personally, I'm a Ky fan.  What can I say?  Apparently I'm a rebel.

The book overall is well written and not too far out to imagine our society reaching the point it has in this book.

Recommended to those liking: "The Hunger Games", dystopian fiction; and love triangles with a little action sprinkled over.

Review: Chopsticks

Title:  Chopsticks
Author:  Jessica Anthony
Illustrator:  Rodrigo Corral
Rating:  5/5

Summary:

After her mother died, Glory retreated into herself and her music. Her single father raised her as a piano prodigy, with a rigid schedule and the goal of playing sold-out shows across the globe. Now, as a teenager, Glory has disappeared. As we flash back to the events leading up to her disappearance, we see a girl on the precipice of disaster. Brilliant and lonely, Glory is drawn to an artistic new boy, Frank, who moves in next door. The farther she falls, the deeper she spirals into madness. Before long, Glory is unable to play anything but the song "Chopsticks."

But nothing is what it seems, and Glory's reality is not reality at all. In this stunningly moving novel told in photographs, pictures, and words, it's up to the reader to decide what is real, what is imagined, and what has been madness all along....

Review:

The words we get in the summary above are more than the words we collectively get in this book.  The story is a mass of photographs, with snippets of words enough to show where the story-line is heading, but with enough gaps that you can fill in what you think is specifically happening.

Despite the fact that you get no direct dialogue between the characters, they seem to be more real than those of traditional books.

Recommended to someone looking for a quick, yet interesting, read; that won't take a lot of time.