Book Review: New World Rising

New World : Rising
By: Jennifer Lawson

❤❤❤❤/5

“Since witnessing her parents’ murders at the age of eleven, Phoenix’s only purpose in life has been to uphold her mother’s dying words- to be strong and survive. But surviving outside of The Walls- outside of The Sanctuary- is more like a drawn-out death sentence. A cruel and ruthless city, Tartarus is run by the Tribes whose motto is simple, “Join or die.”

Refusing to join and determined to live, Phoenix fights to survive in this savage world. But who can she trust, when no one can be trusted? Not even herself”      -New World Series

New World Rising is that rare gem stumbled upon and reinforces why I love the genre.

As the novel begins, the pace is not rushed. I was gently eased into the story as Phoenix figured out where she was going to stay for the night and how her subsequent actions led her to my favorite character, Mouse. The scenes were dark with lots of undercurrent tensions that let’s the reader know that there was a lot that was still hidden and will have tremendous impact once revealed. Much of the novels occurred at night but it was easy to follow the characters as they went about their business.

I loved Phoenix tenacity. Her skills were amazing to visualize while reading. I mean, her upper body strength has got to be incredible with all those pipes and walls she scaled! Phoenix had enough heart to excuse her arrogance; it was really a shield she used to protect herself from becoming too vulnerable. It made for a well liked book for me because I could see a glimpse of myself in Phoenix ( it is definitely not her incredible tip top skills haha) as she constantly reflected on her choices before acting. It revealed her maturity and humanity and those are usually not exposed in most dystopian heroines in the first book.

Wilson did a great job of adding enough background details of how Phoenix figured out how to survive and the very few people who guided her along the way, without it been to dense to read. It was woven into the present scenes.

My favorite character was definitely Mouse. She may be young but she was knowledgeable. She was very much like Phoenix that, once they set their mind onto something, there is no backing down.

I found the romance between Phoenix and Triven to be adorable and it helped Phoenix heal and see that she doesn’t have to do everything alone. Although I think it may have progressed a little to fast. But if you’re living in a world like Tartarus, every moment, every breathe, cannot to be wasted thinking whether you fell too fast for someone because the next day was not guaranteed.

New World Rising chipped away my recent discontent with dystopian worlds and I’m looking forward to the revolution in NW: Ashes

Happy Reading,

❤

Book Review: Saint Anything

Saint Anything by Sarah Dessen

Rated: ❤❤❤❤
One Word: Incredible

Can I just say that the amount of pizza consumed and mentioned in this book made me very hungry? I had to stop reading just because the pizza was described many times as “delicious” “the best” and the garlic knots? Dont get me started.

What I should start on is this book review!

Sydney just watched her once full of life and fierce brother, Peyton, got sentenced to jail for drunk driving, injuring someone and she doesn’t know where to begin after. Her house was not welcoming with parents that was very distracted with the issues of Peyton and she felt neglected. Then shhe met the Chatham, and was welcomed in with no judgement. Layla and Sydney became fast friends but it was her brother, Mac, and his protectiveness and awarenesses that resonated with her the most.

Saint Anything goes over the issues of picking yourself and people around you up after a fall, how to deal with the downfall and that sometimes parents are only doing what they believe is best even if they can’t see past their own judgement. Dessen tackles the issue of friendship been very important through Layla and Sydney and Mac and Sydney. The girl and girl friendship is crucial to show in a time when teenagers are evolving the most and I think it is needed in life.

I liked Sydney a lot because she just wanted to be noticed by her parents. Layla is an unforgettable character with some of the wittiest comebacks. This is a very heavily family centered book like many of Dessens book and she didn’t disappoint.

This book ties many issues into one and I think one very important factor is to be present and aware. Take note of your surrounding, the people around and look beyond the surface. It can make a world of difference.

If you haven’t read the book, what are you waiting for?

Happy Reading,

❤

Review : Red Queen

Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard

An EpicReads book

Rated : ❤❤❤❤

Honestly, I’ve completed this book for about 3 days before composing this review. I have mixed feelings about this book Aveyard and I’m hoping some of my issue could be taken very seriously in the next installments of this series.*crosses finger *

Red Queen is about a girl, Mare living in a dystopian world. The people are segragated by blood. There are the elite and powerful with Silver blood and there are the paupers and lowly with red blood in their veins.Silvers have abilities, like telekinesis, mind reading, nymphs and so fort while Reds do not. This enables the segregation to be effective in show of powers.

Mare is a red blood. She is bitter, (whiny) and disheartened. She hates the Silvers because they take everything away from the Reds and make them suffer. Due to an accident in the palace during a show (an auctioning of type), the Silvers found that she possed an ability that belongs only to the Silvers. Now they were forced to cover up the anomaly and Mare had to pretend to be like the Silvers.

With her position and power, Mare joins the rebel group, Scarlet Guard, who are seeking justice and equality for all people. Her fight for equality consumes Mare and those all around her in a way that makes you wonder who’s on who’s side?

I truly love this story concept and the twist and turns that Aveyard took us through. There was many times this could have been like any dystopian novel we’ve all read before but she kept us in suspence until the last page was turned.

The beginning of the novel was very slow paced and I found myself almost giving up! It wasn’t until later I totally couldn’t put the book down! I’d advice if you had this problem, go back and shoulder through it. Its totally worth… To a point (at least for me).

Mare made this book quite difficult for me to like. I’m usually a go for strong, opinionated characters but she was very bitter. It cloaked the whole book and made me very distrustful of her voice as the narrator. I think this book should have been in third person narrator. Honestly, she was strong yet weak, a great flaw yet important for a protagonist of a dystopian novel. But she was very uncaring for other peoples wellbeing, especially if they were not beneficial to her. I know her attitude was needed to show how much struggles the Silvers put the Reds through, but I couldn’t help but feel that she needed to tone it down a bit. She didn’t have any remorse for the others who suffered if they were not Reds and her action makes me wonder what will happen if she did have totall control over the Silvers.

There are many love stories in this book, it made an unsual love square. It was intriguing but a tad too much. One of the love stories was obvious to me as it wasn’t to Mare that she was way over her head but it added to the great work Red Queen came to be. Another love story should be shelved off and progress towards another girl in the book.

I’m rooting for Mare and Cal all the way. I think they balanced each other well and Mare just has some growing up to do.

I gave this book only 4 ❤ because of how I feel about Mare and her attitude in general. She should want a revolution in a better way but I’m almost too afraid to see her in complete power mode. She seemed like she would like ittoo much!

I’m looking forward to reading the sequel, Glass Sword !

**I tried really hard not to give away any spoilers, especially with the love square but I’m sure you could guess which was which once you’ve read the book!***

If you haven’t checked out Red Queen, please go and grab a copy immediately!

❤