Unwholly (Unwind #2) by Neal Shusterman

Year Published: 2012
Publisher: Simon & Schuster UK
Pages: 402
Rating: 

Thanks to Connor, Lev, and Risa — and their high-profile revolt at Happy Jack Harvest Camp — people can no longer turn a blind eye to unwinding. Ridding society of troublesome teens while simultaneously providing much-needed tissues for transplant might be convenient, but its morality has finally been brought into question. However, unwinding has become big business, and there are powerful political and corporate interests that want to see it not only continue, but also expand to the unwinding of prisoners and the impoverished.

Cam is a product of unwinding; made entirely out of the parts of other unwinds, he is a teen who does not technically exist. A futuristic Frankenstein, Cam struggles with a search for identity and meaning and wonders if a rewound being can have a soul. And when the actions of a sadistic bounty hunter cause Cam’s fate to become inextricably bound with the fates of Connor, Risa, and Lev, he’ll have to question humanity itself.

Rife with action and suspense, this riveting companion to the perennially popular Unwind challenges assumptions about where life begins and ends—and what it means to live.

I DON'T KNOW HOW TO EXPRESS MY LOVE FOR THIS BOOK!!!

If Unwind has just enough everything for a dystopian story. Than UNWHOLLY (Unwind #2) HAS TOO MUCH OF EVERYTHING FOR A DYSTOPIAN STORY!

I am not kidding if I am going to say that this book is probably the most lovable and also creepiest book I ever read this year (or so far in 2012).

I STILL WANT TO MARRY ALL CHARACTERS in this book (maybe only Connor, Risa, Lev, and Hayden.. Plus the new character, Miracolina and maybe that good stranger at the end of the story).

NOT GOING TO GO SPOILERY..

I just wanna say that I LOVE EVERYTHING IN THIS BOOK!

E V E R Y T H I N G ! More than Unwind actually..

I LOVE ALL CHARACTERS! (the good and the bad, although I only want to marry the good one)

I LOVE THE STORY LINE! It's just perfect! The pace, the surprise, the flow, everything!

I LOVE THE DEVELOPMENT! The character and story development for this story are just perfect as well! The character, all of them are (as always) well-developed! and the story, what can I say other than that I LOVE IT!!

What else.. what else.. I don't know what else, the only thing I know, I LOVE IT!!!!!!!!!

Even the romance, OMG!!! I just...... aaaahhhhh... I'm breathless and restless.. when I thought they'll be..... but then.... aaaaghhhh... I NEED THIRD BOOK NOW!!!!

I think I will make a video of my reaction for this book, probably there would be no words spoken in it, just me doing "oooohhhs... aaaaahhhsss.. and rolling on the floor.."

I will sleep hugging this book tonight..

and hoping that Mr. Neal Shusterman will not spend another five years for the next book to come out..

PERFECT PERFECT PERFECT!!! JUST SOLID FIVE GOLD STARS!!!

Ah, and I got this book in UK version cover.. so it's not technically matched with my US version cover of Unwind.. SOOOOOOOO because of my huge love for this book, I will purchase the US version one.. hah.. I love you book.. <3

Isn't it awesome??? It's Camus Comprix!!! (what or who is he? Read this book!)

The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien

Year Published: 2006 (book), 1937 (story)
Publisher: Harper Collins
Pages: 353
Rating: 

Whisked away from his comfortable, unambitious life in his hobbit-hole in Bag End by Gandalf the wizard and a company of dwarves, Bilbo Baggins finds himself caught up in a plot to raid the treasure hoard of Smaug the Magnificent, a large and very dangerous dragon...

What an Epic Adventure Tale!

It has to be a classic read that will be read forever..

Now I really can not wait for the Movie! I have a very great expectation for many of my favorite scenes from the book to be visualized in the movie..This is so refreshing, I have already read LOTR and The Two Towers.. But The Hobbit is really something else.. I love to read Mr. Bilbo Baggins epic adventure.. It feels so wonderful.. Also to know more about some magnificent characters and tales that were only mentioned slightly on LOTR series..

Well the story was kinda started with Mr. Baggins's unexpected involvement in the Thorin's dwarfs party to fill in the mission of taking back the dwarf's lost kingdom under the lonely mountains where a certain vicious dragon lived and ruined many lives of many tribes of dwarves, men, and elves. And along the way to the lonely mountains was where all the epic adventures happened. It was just fantastic!

I love this wonderful feeling.. It's such a good and enjoyable read.. Totally must-read for all epic-fantasy story-lovers.. This is just great.. <3

Watch the awesome trailer and get ready to watch this epic movie in this December! :D I know that I can't wait!

The Casual Vacancy by J.K. Rowling

Year Published: 2012
Publisher: Little Brown
Pages: 503
Rating: 

A BIG NOVEL ABOUT A SMALL TOWN ...

When Barry Fairbrother dies in his early forties, the town of Pagford is left in shock.

Pagford is, seemingly, an English idyll, with a cobbled market square and an ancient abbey, but what lies behind the pretty façade is a town at war.

Rich at war with poor, teenagers at war with their parents, wives at war with their husbands, teachers at war with their pupils ... Pagford is not what it first seems.

And the empty seat left by Barry on the parish council soon becomes the catalyst for the biggest war the town has yet seen. Who will triumph in an election fraught with passion, duplicity and unexpected revelations?

If I can describe this book in two words, it will be DRAMATIC & UNPREDICTABLE.

This book is amazing! now that I have read this book, I am confused on why it has such a low-rating (based on GoodReads). Well I think it depends on the reader's preference. If you expect smth similar to Harry Potter, you better stay away from this book. It's far far away from it, not even half millimetre close.

If you want to read this, you need to be open-minded and ready to be blown away.

There are three things that I love the most about this book; The Characters, The Endless Drama (Story-Line) and The Feeling of you-have-no-idea-what-is-going-to-happen (Unpredictable).

The characters (for me) were the selling point of this book. They were so rich! It felt like they were real! Rowling's writing style is so vivid and realistic, so it allowed me to feel the emotions of those characters. It was crazy!

The Endless Dramas (story-line), I was not kidding when I said it was dramatic. It brought the meaning of dramatic to a whole new level. The death of Barry Fairbrother triggered multiple dramas in the small town of Pagford. These multiple dramas were so complex, dramatic and different but somehow they were all connected in a strange way but made-sense! And the writing was flowing easily, it felt like I was watching a drama TV series that dragged me for seasons of heartache (in a very good and realistic way).

and it was so UNPREDICTABLE! This is one of among very few books that until the end I could not see or guess or predict what will happen. It was surprising until the end.

phew.. I can tell you that it was such an emotional roller coaster.. I love it and this is definitely one of my faves. I voted this as the best contemporary fiction in 2012. <3

What's New #5

It's been quite some time since I posted What's New to this blog.. So to make up all the delay, here it is:

So basically, I had tried to stop myself from buying more books, but it's obviously not working.. So I just let it be and so far I got some pretty interesting books for myself xp

from the top:

- The Passage (Passage series #1) by Justin Cronin

- Eternally Yours (Immortal Beloved series #3) by Cate Tiernan *Yes! Finally I completed this series, will hv Immortal Beloved reading marathon)

- The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien *currently reading*

- The Scorch Trials (Maze Runner series #2) by James Dashner

- The Maze Runner (Maze Runner series #1) by James Dashner

- Iron Legends (Iron Fey series ~ Novellas) by Julie Kagawa *I will post about my December reading marathon later on and Iron Fey series will play important part in it*

- Such a Rush by Jennifer Echols *already read this, you can find my review of this book on this blog*

- 11/22/63 by Stephen King

- The Spindlers by Lauren Oliver

- The Wolf Gift by Anne Rice *already read this as well, unfortunately I haven't posted review about this book, although you can find my comment about it on my GoodReads*

- Carnival of Souls by Melissa Marr *already read this, you can find my review of this book on this blog*

Alright that'd be all for now ;) I have so much to catch up and read.

Oh and I'm so excited for Christmas and my December reading. I will post about it later.

Happpy Reading!

Such a Rush by Jennifer Echols

Year published : 2012
Publisher : Gallery Books/MTVBooks
Pages : 325
Rating : 

A sexy and poignant romantic tale of a young daredevil pilot caught between two brothers. 

"When I was fourteen, I made a decision. If I was doomed to live in a trailer park next to an airport, I could complain about the smell of the jet fuel like my mom, I could drink myself to death over the noise like everybody else, or I could learn to fly."

Heaven Beach, South Carolina, is anything but, if you live at the low-rent end of town. All her life, Leah Jones has been the grown-up in her family, while her mother moves from boyfriend to boyfriend, letting any available money slip out of her hands. At school, they may diss Leah as trash, but she’s the one who negotiates with the landlord when the rent’s not paid. At fourteen, she’s the one who gets a job at the nearby airstrip.

But there’s one way Leah can escape reality. Saving every penny she can, she begs quiet Mr. Hall, who runs an aerial banner-advertising business at the airstrip and also offers flight lessons, to take her up just once. Leaving the trailer park far beneath her and swooping out over the sea is a rush greater than anything she’s ever experienced, and when Mr. Hall offers to give her cut-rate flight lessons, she feels ready to touch the sky.

By the time she’s a high school senior, Leah has become a good enough pilot that Mr. Hall offers her a job flying a banner plane. It seems like a dream come true . . . but turns out to be just as fleeting as any dream. Mr. Hall dies suddenly, leaving everything he owned in the hands of his teenage sons: golden boy Alec and adrenaline junkie Grayson. And they’re determined to keep the banner planes flying.

Though Leah has crushed on Grayson for years, she’s leery of getting involved in what now seems like a doomed business—until Grayson betrays her by digging up her most damning secret. Holding it over her head, he forces her to fly for secret reasons of his own, reasons involving Alec. Now Leah finds herself drawn into a battle between brothers—and the consequences could be deadly.

It's going to be a quick review.

This book is so romantic, cute, and make me want to cuddle with it xp

Okay, obviously it's a teen/YA romantic contemporary fiction. So it's just in a way kinda predictable once you have read like the first 100 pages. But I really enjoyed it a lot.

The characters were pretty interesting and very well developed. Then the story line along with the real-life issues that those characters experienced had supported the drama to kinda rile me up a bit.

And the making out sessions was steamy alright. hehe..

Nothing much to tell other than I love that the story was setting in plane/air-flight business industry. And the girl was quite kick-ass too or at least feisty. And the boy, hah finally too much doze of watching teen-tv series has paid off big time, coz I just can imagine what kind of hot and sassy guy this boy is.

I know I don't tell much about the story coz I don't want it to be spoilers. As I said earlier it's kinda simple and predictable for my taste. But it's a cute one and romantic <3

Crewel (Crewel World #1) by Gennifer Albin

Year published: 2012
Publisher: Faber & Faber
Pages: 360
Source: Faber & Faber/NetGalley
Ratings: 

Incapable. Awkward. Artless.

That’s what the other girls whisper behind her back. But sixteen year-old Adelice Lewys has a secret: she wants to fail.

Gifted with the ability to weave time with matter, she’s exactly what the Guild is looking for, and in the world of Arras, being chosen as a Spinster is everything a girl could want. It means privilege, eternal beauty, and being something other than a secretary. It also means the power to embroider the very fabric of life. But if controlling what people eat, where they live and how many children they have is the price of having it all, Adelice isn’t interested.

Not that her feelings matter, because she slipped and wove a moment at testing, and they’re coming for her—tonight.

Now she has one hour to eat her mom’s overcooked pot roast. One hour to listen to her sister’s academy gossip and laugh at her Dad’s stupid jokes. One hour to pretend everything’s okay. And one hour to escape.

Because once you become a Spinster, there’s no turning back.

From many titles of dystopian stories I have read so far, this is probably the most unique, original, complex, and kinda creepy dystopian story I ever read.

It has its highs, lows, and a bit "What?!" moments.. Yup, dystopian story in the so called illusion world named Arras where a girl can weave time (or something else too).

It has dazzled me couple of times. I really enjoyed reading this story. The dystopian-world, the characters, the development, the romance, the friendship, etc etc..

I am not going to give away spoilers or hints of the story, so let me share what I feel regarding on this story.

First, I had to struggle a bit to catch up with the world setting in this story, it was not exactly hard to grab thou, but I just have a tiny little issue with it. It was set in a dystopian world (you can say a bit of THG, Legend, or Divergent way of sectors set), but a bit more complex in a way than any other dystopian books I've read. It felt like the government has two main bodies, one was the one that control everything and the other one that maintain everything. These two were connected (again) in a quite complicated kind of relationship. Well, this description is a little bit vague, but trust me.. there is more to this description in the story. This is only the very general one. I think the focus of this book was more into the story of this girl named Adelice who was taken to be Spinster that turned out to be the next Creweler of Arras which was working at the Coventry that exactly the one that maintain everything. And the story goes, she (with some others) found that there was more cruelties and dirty secrets in Arras than what met the eyes.

Second, in every dystopian story, there is a story of revolution. Not so much of revolution actions in this first book of Crewel World series. It was mentioned a couple of times and a little bit tell-telling of past actions of it. This first book (for me) basically only telling me about what is Arras and how to get out of it.

Third, relationships. Either it's romantic or friendships. Adelice found friendships and love-triangle (or not) with men (two) at the coventry. But there were also story of hate relationships with some of other characters in the book. I think, the way Gennifer told the stories of there relationships was organic and felt natural. Then there were also facts about these characters and some were revealed at the end of the book. Well, everything happened for a reason. I can't say much or I will reveal everything.

Fourth, the development of the story. There were secrets also facts and the story was moving forward as those secrets and facts revealed one by one. Wow, this was the part I started to say "what?!" when new things came up.

In general, it was pretty entertaining and enjoyable read. Like I said earlier, it has to be one of the most original dystopian stories I ever read. The world-setting was quite awestruck me a bit. Like I was so overwhelmed with everything that happened. I meant it was complex and twisted. But really, I think you guys who read this post should read this so you can understand what I am trying to say. The concept is so unique. I felt like I am speechless now.


Check out its other cover (personally I prefer this one below ~just saying xp~)

Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helen Simonson

Year Published: 2011

Publisher: Random House

Pages: 368

Rating: 

"In the small village of Edgecombe St. Mary in the English countrside lives Major Ernest Pettigrew (retired), the unlikely hero of Helen Simonson's wondrous debut. Wry, courtly, opinionated, and completely endearing, the Major leads a quiet life valuing the proper things that Englishmen have lived by for generations: honor, duty, decorum, and a properly brewed cup of tea. But, then his brother's death sparks an unexpected friendship with Mrs. Jasmina Ali, the Pakistani shopkeeper from the village. Drawn together by their shared love of literature and the loss of their spouses, the Major and Mrs. Ali soon find their friendship blossoming into something more. But, village society insists on embracing him as the quintessential local and regarding her as the permanent foreigner. Can their relationship survive the risks one takes when pursuing happiness in the face of culture and tradition?"

This is probably not a usual kind of book I often read. But I feel like I want to be more unpredicted in terms of books I read. This definitely falls to Real-Life Adult Modern Contemporary Fiction. Based on the synopsis above, this is definitely not a romance story between a hot guy with a naive high school girl or in other words teen-love story or hot-steamy-adult story. This is a story about old people (but they are just amazing fictional old people).

But how I love everything in this book. It's just so charming and heart-warming. A story about a widow and a widower from two different cultural backgrounds in a modern-world setting. I love how it feels so real, the story, the characters, the dramas, the intrigues, and (this is what I love the most) the dry humor. It made me laughed, conflicted, cried, smiled, surprised, but all in all it was all very good feelings. It really warms my heart. All things that these characters have to endure and fight for love. This is a very contemporary novel in a very classy style. The writings are so classic and pretty, I feel like when I read it, it felt like I eat chocolate.

There are so many beautiful words and sentences that can really captivate (me) the reader. I love how mature and lovable these characters, especially Major Pettigrew and Mrs. Ali (two of the most charming characters). There are also other amazing characters that I really like in the book thou they are not shared most of the spotlight in the story, but still play a very integral part in it. Other not so charming characters in the book are also so well developed and written.

This book is really worth to read. A beautiful piece of work, really..