Wednesday Wishlist #1

So I am trying something new starting this week. In an attempt to make my blog a bit more consistent, from now on I'll be writing this little post. Every Wednesday (hopefully) I'm going to outline things that I've discovered recently (or ages ago, there's a lot of catching up to do) and tell you lot why I need them in my life.

This week's Wishlist is all the YA series that I feel I must read;

The One - Kiera Cass

Every time I glimpse the beautiful cover on my Amazon wishlist I always think about America and the competition to win Maxon's heart. This finale is going to be brilliant, and just look at that stunning dress on the cover.. wow.

Sever - Lauren DeStefano

Again, another beautiful cover and another compelling story. Maybe I need to re-read the first two though, because my mind is coming up blank as for the end of the second. What I do remember is that the first one was beautifully told and emotionally tangible, and the last will probably, hopefully, be no different.

Insurgent and Allegiant - Veronica Roth

With the film of Divergent out right now, I should be brushing up on Tris and Four's story by reading the next two. I'm feeling rather guilty that I haven't at least read Insurgent yet, as the ending of Divergent was so sad and so shocking that at the time I immediately wanted to read on. I'm looking forward to what Roth has in store for me.

Requiem - Lauren Oliver

My fellow YA readers must all be shocked and appalled at me by now, and I wouldn't blame you. I'm not as enthralled with the Delirium series as I am by the others, but nevertheless it's on the wishlist. Sometimes you just want to know how these messed up scenarios turn out in the end.

The Selection - Kiera Cass

The thing about teen reads is that once you pick them up, it's so fun and quick to read them. This one was finished in 6 hours. Not 6 hours flat, there was an overnight break in the middle. It got put down very reluctantly at 2 in the morning. Anyway...

The Selection is a countrywide competition full of beautiful girls vying for the love/crown of Prince Maxon, the heir to the throne. America Singer is one of those girls. The problem? She's already in love with someone else. And it's about to get even more complicated.

The story is great, if a little obvious for an adult reader. But that's what makes it a great. It's light-hearted, funny and lovely. You don't have to think too much about it, you just read and it whizzes by.

This book is very reminiscent of Wither, by Lauren DeStefano, in the way that both main characters feel trapped in a 'gilded cage' and have extremely mixed feelings. The closeness of other women vying for the same young man and the sense of sisterhood the reader gets is also very like it.

It also picks up on the recent dystopian idea of reality television - a world where you are chosen for something, and people watch your every move. However, this is nothing like The Hunger Games.
This book is a delight to read. The characters are lively and likeable. Their conversations are hilarious; you find yourself laughing out loud. And America, the protagonist, is relateable. We've all been through what she's going through, only on a less grand stage.

This is a pretty short review, because saying much more will ruin the plot for those of you who are interested in reading it. So without further ado it gets 5 out of 5 stars and applause. I can't wait to get started on the next in the series, The Elite, which comes out in April. But in the meantime I'll settle with the kindle short story that's coming out in February (The Prince).

Fever - Lauren DeStefano

I was casually walking around an Oxfam bookshop, not really wanting to buy anything in particular, when I saw this little beauty. The first one was great, and I was waiting for the oppurtune moment to pick this one up on the cheap from Amazon. But at a meagre £2.00, I just had to snap it up. It was so much cheaper than anything else I would ever find.

In my experience, trilogies always have one downfall: The second book is never quite as thrilling as the other two. The first one tends to be a story in itsself, and the third one is the huge climax. The second, therefore, is the build-up. There are only a few exceptions, and I'm sad to say that Fever is not one of them.

While the storyline was very good, I found that it lacked the goal that we had in Wither. Although I absolutely loved the characters, I found it harder to sympathise with them in this book.

However, the plot was very good. It has intrigue, love, loss, and it always keeps us wondering what is going to heppen to our beloved characters. Their time is running out, and their mortality is more pronounced. This time, you really can't see where it is going to lead you. I thought the ending in Wither was rather obvious, but here there's a twist that you don't see coming. Again, the cover perfectly encapsulates the story, though you don't see it at first.

A little review, this one. As there's not so much more to say about the writing, the characters or the themes that I didn't already say in my review for Wither.

7 out of 10 this time. But I have more hope for the final book, Sever, which should be out early in 2013.

Wither - Lauren DeStefano

The cover of this book has captivated me for a while - a beautiful young woman, a bird in a pretty cage.They are a couple of wonderful metaphors for entrapment and youth. The image, I can tell you now, does the story real justice. It includes the most important factors of the book, right down to circling the wedding ring on her finger. But no part is more important than what you will spot on the back cover; a depiction of an hourglass, nearly empty. The age-old symbol of time running out.

Could you imagine a world where men die aged 25, and women die at only 20? Where young girls are stolen away to be sold as prostitutes or brides to those willing to pay? Rhine is 16 years old when she is taken and sold to be a wife to 21-year-old Linden, whose first wife is already dying from the virus. At his mansion she is well-cared for, but she longs to see her twin brother and the lights of her home again. Down in the basement, something awful and terrifying is happening. Rhine desperately wants to escape, but time is running out, and in four short years she will be dead.

This story is heart-wrenching and beautiful at the same time. It is so full of emotion - of love, loss, sisterhood, anger, loyalty and even hate. It is despicably easy to read: You could get lost in it for hours only to find that you are much too close to the end. The plot is quite familiar and yet the way it is written and the difference in tone is entirely new. Notes of Margaret Atwood's 'The Handmaid's Tale' ring out from under the plotline; the take on the forced nature of being a wife for someone who you have never known is so akin to being forced to be a surrogate, like the handmaid. The absolute captivity and underlying fear is so extremely evident in the story.

The world is well-imagined and bursting with fine detail. The perfection of the world in which Linden lives, with his holograms, his golf course, his fine food and his servants is a stark contrast to the streets of Manhattan, where you board up your windows to stop orphans from stealing your food.

The characters are developed nicely. Each of them, even the minor characters, are multi-dimensional and so realistic. Rhine's voice is so strong that if you're not careful, it could start sounding an awful lot like your own, should you be stuck in such a difficult situation. You completely understand her thoughts and feelings, and she always does exactly what you think she should, or what you think you would do.

I could not put the book down and finished it within two days. I can't wait to know what happens next, in Fever (the second book in the Chemical Garden Trilogy).

An intriguing, realistic and achingly wonderful book. 10 out of 10.