Book Review: The Jewel by Amy Ewing

I received a copy of The Jewel by Amy Ewing from Walker Books and couldn't wait to read it because it is Ewing’s debut novel and because it was dystopian (my favorite genre). Thank you.

In Violet’s world, identity isn't important. She's just a number; a surrogate raised to bear the child of a royal in The Jewel. She is forced to partake in an auction, where she is the lot – lot number 197 to be exact. Violet is bought by the Duchess of the Lake and thrown head over heels into a world of glittering parties and society balls. But The Jewel has a dark side and Violet learns that all that glitters may not be gold. She soon finds herself trapped in a world of death and destruction, lies and manipulation, a game where she is a pawn. Violet discovers that she can never be who she truly wants to be. Danger is around every corner, but then she learns that even love can be found even in the darkest of times.

This book has been described as the love child of The Selection and The Handmaid’s Tale, I am inclined to disagree. The twist to this story comes with something called the Auguries: special powers that each surrogate possesses, where they can change the colours and shapes of objects, as well as grow things. In Violet's case, the third augury, Growth, is her best gift. The Auguries were a great idea to set the story away from other books of its kind and they made The Jewel unique.

;">I loved the way that Ewing introduced Violet’s world; The Lone Island. I enjoyed the way that its society functioned; in five circles: The Marsh, The Farm, The Smoke, The Bank and The Jewel. The Marsh was Violet’s home; the poorest circle. The Farm was were animals and dairies were kept, The Smoke held the factories, The Bank of course housed the banks and the shops and businesses and The Jewel, the central circle, was full of palaces and mansions. It was very interesting to see how much the Jewel relied on the outer circles and how vulnerable it would be if there ever was a rebellion *hint, hint*.

Violet had a good personality and over the course of the novel she certainly grew as a character. I loved the side characters: Garnet, Raven, Annabelle and Lucien. I thought that they were great and they will certainly play major roles later on in the series.

My only problem with The Jewel was the romance that suddenly appeared between Violet and Ash. It seemed to be instantaneous, I can understand why Ewing may have done this, perhaps because both Violet and Ash were both trapped and isolated, but this only begs the question: did they really care for each other or did they peruse the relationship purely because it was unlikely either of them would ever have another chance to ‘fall in love’? Ash’s character especially his mysteriousness added to my enjoyment of The Jewel and at times his and Violet’s relationship was sweet but I felt that it came out of nowhere and moved too fast.

The cliff hanger at the end of the book absolutely killed me, I need the sequel NOW. I have so many questions, it was so good.

Overall I give The Jewel four out of five stars. I thought that all the dystopian ideas out there had already been written and then BAM, this one comes along. I loved its complexity and Ewing’s beautiful writing style, I flew through this book and literally can’t wait for the next one.

J

Book Review: Love and Other Unknown Variables by Shannon Lee Alexander

I received a PDF copy of Love and Other Unknown Variables by Shannon Lee Alexander from Entangled publishing house for review. I had never read anything by Shannon Lee Alexander before and was very excited to try something new. (Thank you).

Charlie Hanson has a clear vision of his future. He knows he’ll go collage at MIT, and inevitably discover solutions to the universe’s greatest unanswered questions. He’s that smart. But Charlie’s future blurs the moment he reaches out to touch the tattoo on a beautiful girl’s neck. The future has never seemed very kind to Charlotte Finch, so she’s counting on the present. She’s not impressed by the strange boy at the donut shop—until she learns he’s a student at Brighton where her sister has just taken a job as the English teacher. With her encouragement, Charlie orchestrates the most effective prank campaign in Brighton history. But, in doing so, he puts his own future in jeopardy. By the time he learns she's ill, Charlotte’s gravitational pull is too great to overcome. Soon he must choose between the familiar formulas he’s always relied on or the girl he’s falling for (at far more than 32 feet per second squared).

This book was brilliant, I barely have a bad thing to say about it. The characters were great. Charlie: nerdy and ambitious, who focuses on circles and theorems and equations. And his love interest Charlotte. I loved the way that they interacted with each other and their chemistry was wonderful.

This book started off as your usual teen love story and then BAM. I can’t say much about the story because of spoilers but I can reveal that it is an amazing book. It is vaguely The Fault in Our Stars-esque but is good in its own way. Be prepared, this book will make you laugh, cry and everything else in between.

Overall I give this book four and a half out of five stars and I can’t wait to buy a physical copy of it and I will refresh this review with a more updated one when the release date gets a little closer, I can't wait.

Review Archive

Reviews ordered alphabetically by title.

#

The 100 (The Hundred #1) – Kass Morgan

A

B

Blood Red Road (Dust Lands #1) – Moira Young

Blue Lily, Lily Blue (The Raven Cycle #3) – Maggie Stiefvater

The Book of Ivy (The Book of Ivy #1) – Amy Engel

C

Catalyst – Laurie Halse Anderson

D

Darkness Hidden (Name of the Blade #2) – Zoe Marriott

The Dream Thieves (The Raven Cycle #2) – Maggie Stiefvater

E

F

Fangirl – Rainbow Rowell

G
H

Hollow City (Miss Peregrine's Children #2) – Ramson Riggs
How I Live Now – Meg Rosoff

I

J

The Jewel (The Lone City #1)  – Amy Ewing

K

L

Love and Other Unknown Variables – Shannon Lee Anderson

M

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children (Miss Peregrine's Children #1) – Ramson Riggs

N

The Night Itself (Name of the Blade #1) – Zoe Marriott

O

P

Q

Queen of Someday (Stolen Empire #1) – Sherry D. Flickin

R

The Raven Boys (The Raven Cycle #1) – Maggie Stiefvater

Raging Star (Dust Lands #3) – Moira Young

Rebel Heart (Dust Lands #2) – Moira Young

S

Sinner (The Wolves of Mercy Falls #4) – Maggie Stiefvater

T

To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before – Jenny Han

U

V

W

The Winter People – Rebekah L. Purdy

X

Y

Z

Book Review: The 100 by Kass Morgan

I am obsessed with the TV series (it’s AMAZING) so I requested this book from Net Galley and was lucky (well not really) enough to receive a copy. Quickly I'd like to say that I won't be reviewing Day 21, I really don't see the point.

Okay here goes: The 100 is set three hundred years after a nuclear war ravaged earth. The survivors escaped into space, to live on a spaceship known in the TV series as The Ark. Locked inside The Ark are teenage delinquents, in order to find out whether earth is inhabitable, it is decided that one hundred of the prisoners should be sent to earth to see if they can survive.

I can tell you now; this review is going to be short. Why? Well, because this book was rubbish. The premise is very interesting, if a little obvious. Nuclear war. Space. Earth mission. I thought that the characters would flesh out the story line, because I made the mistake of watching the first few episodes of the TV series before I read the book. Big mistake. HUGE mistake. Massive, massive. The series is brilliant, in fact it’s one of the best I've ever watched, definitely up there with Doctor Who, Once Upon a Time and Game of Thrones. But the book, I feel so bad writing this because it had so much potential, but unfortunately I hated it.

The TV series makes the characters deep and interesting with great back stories and interaction. In the book, they are shallow and I couldn't connect with them at all. Besides, there was no Finn in the book, doesn't that just say it all? The series made the story line of the book much more interesting, it included ‘grounders’ and ‘mountain men’ and I wasn't bored for a second, I was on my toes right until the end. The cliff hanger oh my gosh, don’t even get me started on the cliff hanger.

Sadly, the book didn't deliver and I give it one out of five stars. Sorry Kass Morgan but I will not be reading Day 21. However I will be watching series two which airs in America on October 22. Here is a link if you want to find out more about that: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YUytl9bZV0Q.

Book Review: The Winter People by Rebekah L. Purdy

I received a PDF copy of The Winter People by Rebekah L. Purdy from Entangled publishing house for review. I had never read anything by Rebekah L. Purdy before and was very excited to try something new. (Thank you).

Salome Montgomery fears winter because she fell through her Grandma’s pond when she was young. Now, eleven years later, the fear festers inside Salome waiting to break out at any moment, the snow, the ice, winter terrifies her. To make matters worse, her Grandparents are forced to leave their home due to failing health, leaving Salome to tend to their estate in their absence – you guessed it – in the middle of winter. One day Salome meets someone who is strangely familiar and she begins to unlock the secrets of the centuries old curse that surrounds her family and realize that the voices in her head weren't voices at all. Someone or something wants Salome dead and they will stop at nothing to get what they want.

As a character, Salome was great and it was interesting to be inside her head and experience the physiological trauma that she was going through and how she dealt with it. The book was written in a first person narrative and I felt that this was a good vice to capture the attention of the reader as it allowed us to discover things as Salome herself began to unlock the mystery. I enjoyed Salome’s interaction with her best friend Kadie too. At times Salome could be a little lacklustre but Purdy made up for this with her lovely writing style.

Initially, Salome had three love interests (a love square, a quadrangle?!). I was quick to label this as excessive, but as the story unfolds I found that Nevin, Colton and Gareth were all key characters, each with very different personalities. Nevin: the mysterious trespasser, bitter but with a sweet undercurrent, Colton: the school’s golden boy, outwardly charming but inwardly, bent by hate and revenge and Gareth: Salome’s unlikely saviour, protective and caring, but hiding secrets of his own. This made for some very interesting dialogue and confrontation and worked really well.

One issue I have with The Winter People, is the pacing. At the beginning of the book, it is very slow and towards the end it seems very squashed together. For example a pivotal scene towards the end of the book seemed very rushed. I also wish that there could have been some closure over certain issues like Salome’s father and the reasoning behind for her parents’ separation; I just felt that this was left very open ended and needed closure.

Overall I enjoyed The Winter People very much. The plot was so interesting; there were mysteries within mysteries within – dare I say it?! – mysteries and unexpected twists that kept me guessing until the final page. The story was an excellent mix of paranormal fantasy romance shot through with historical, physiological and mysterious themes, there’s something for everyone. I give The Winter People four and a half out of five stars, perfect for fans of Julie Kagawa and Maggie Stiefvater.

Book Review: To All the Boy’s I’ve Loved Before by Jenny Han

I received a copy of To All the Boy’s I’ve Loved Before by Jenny Han from Scholastic publishing house and couldn’t wait to read it because I had never read anything by Jenny Han before and was very excited to try something new. Thank you Sophia (hi).

Lara Jean never openly admits her crushes, instead she writes each boy a letter about how she feels, seals it, addresses it and puts it in a hat box under her bed never to be seen again. Writing her letters is Lara Jean’s way of saying ‘good bye’, a way to let her emotions go. One day, Lara Jean discovers that the box is missing and the letters have been mailed causing all the boy’s she has loved before to confront her: her first kiss, the boy from summer camp, even her sister’s boyfriend Josh. As she learns how to deal with her past crushes face to face, she discovers that maybe something good could come out of the letters after all.

Lara Jean’s family consists of her Dad and Lara Jean’s two sisters. The older Margot and the younger kitty, nine years ago the girls’ mother died, leaving them dependant on each other. I loved the familial bonds between the sisters. Margo was the acting mother and when she left for university it fell upon Lara Jean to take responsibility for her family. I enjoyed the way in which Han portrayed the sisters, all with their own singular personality but at the same time very alike, their dialogue was entertaining and I liked the way they interacted and solved problems together.

Han used Lara Jean’s love interests well, even if it seemed that she prioritised only two while briefly glancing over the other three. To All the Boy’s I’ve Loved Before developed a believable love triangle (Josh, Peter and of course Lana Jean), but personally I was rooting for Peter. Lara Jean and Peter’s interactions oozed cuteness especially when they were fake dating, I loved the two of them.

My one problem with To All the Boy’s I’ve Loved Before is this: Lara Jean is half American and half Korean, this fact is mentioned within the first few pages of the book. I felt that Lara Jean’s Korean roots could have been explored an awful lot more making for some very interesting reading. I think that if Lara Jean had embraced the Asian culture a little more the book would have held a deeper meaning and would also have appealed to a wider audience.

Overall I liked To All the Boy’s I’ve Loved Before on the surface it seems to be a light hearted summer read, but really it delves into familial ties, self-discovery and independence. I give this book three and a half out of five stars and I can't wait for the sequel.

Book Review: The Impossible Knife of Memory by Laurie Halse Anderson

Title: The Impossible Knife of Memory

Author: Laurie Halse Anderson

Publisher: Scholastic

Release Date: January 7^th, 2014

ISBN: 9781622664658

Rating: 5/5

Cover Impressions: Amazing.

I received copies of The Impossible Knife of Memory and Catalyst (see below) by Laurie Halse Anderson from Scholastic publishing house and was very excited to delve into them because I have read another book by this author – Chains, which was very good.

Synopsis: Hayley Kincaid divides the human race into two types of people: the freaks and the zombies. Her lack of faith in her fellow man makes sense – she spent the past five years on the road with her father, Andy, a war veteran who resorts to alcohol and drugs to escape his demons. He decides that they should move back to his hometown, so that Hayley can start school and have a ‘normal’ life. Except nothing in her life is normal. Not Andy’s PTSD that still plagues him and leaves him screaming in his sleep, not Gracie her best friend who suffers family issues of her own and certainly not Finn the attractive nerd with a disarming smile and a whole host of secrets. As Hayley’s bond with Finn escalates, she fights the memories that threaten to rise up and tear her apart again and again until there’s nothing left.

Review: Hayley is a brilliant character and I connected to her right away. She is powerful and sassy with just a little touch of acid. But beneath all her joking and side remarks lies a pain-ridden emotional undercurrent. With the use of flashbacks Laurie Halse Anderson carefully reveals to the reader not only Andy’s experience as a soldier but also to Hayley’s past and her suffering to.

I adored the romance that sparked between Hayley and her friend Finn. Their banter was entertaining and their chemistry and deeper conversations left me in awe of how good Laurie Halse Anderson’s writing really is.

Hayley’s Dad completed two tours of Iraq and Afghanistan; Laurie Halse Anderson portrays the aftermath of this wonderfully. The book takes the reader on a journey as Andy faces his PTSD and loses himself to alcohol and drugs leaving Hayley to pick up the pieces. The Impossible Knife of Memory is raw, truthful and haunting.

Overall, I can truthfully say that this is one of the best books I have ever read. On the back of the copy of the book that I read, there are two quotes from two very well-known authors. The first is from Jodie Picoult, author of My Sister’s Keeper, she said that The Impossible Knife of Memory is “heart breaking”. The second is from Stephen Chbosky, author of The Perks of Being a Wallflower, he said; “with her trademark hope, humour and heart breaking realism Laurie Halse Anderson has given us a roadmap to heal”. I cannot sum up The Impossible Knife of Memory any better than they can, I give it five out of five stars, and it was as close to perfect as it could be.

I would recommend this book to anyone and everyone.

Can't wait to get your hands on it? Read an except now:

(Hi Sophia, *waves* thank you for sending me To All the Boys I've Loved Before, I can't wait to read it and my review should be up soon).