the book blog

EIF (Manawa) Sturm Memorial Library Lock-In Jonathan Mary-todd

When the wolf-kids get tired of people pushing them around they show their true-selves at the school lock-in. Jackie didn't think the lock-in would go well but she didn't think she'd have to fight to stay alive either. I gave this book 5/5 stars. It's exciting, but short. It leaves you wanting for more. Plus, there's werewovles, what more could you want?

EIF (Manawa) Sturm Memorial Library Last Desserts Megan Atwood

There's a new bakery in town, and while the cookies are amazing they also turn you into the most perfect person by definition of the bakery owner. But when Ella doesn't get a job working at the bakery, she decides that she won't eat the cookies. She starts noticing how everyone is becoming way too perfect, and she realizes that sometimes messy is the way to go, and that she has to save the day and get her town back! I gave the book 5 out of 5 stars, mostly because I love books about food, but it's short and it's fun.

Valerie Waupaca Area Public Library Cinder Marissa Meyer

I have to get a few things out of the way before I start this book review. 1. While I adore fairy tale retellings, I have never enjoyed the story of Cinderella. I didn’t love the idea of a girl just hoping and waiting for outside influences to change her life. Before this book, that’s all I felt about Cinderella. 2. This book has completely changed my mind. The story of Cinderella is many of centuries old. Yet, Marissa Meyer found a way to reinvent this story into something new and exciting.

In this version, Cinder is a cyborg in futuristic New Beijing. Cyborgs in this world have metal infused into their bodies for medical reasons. Instead of organic transplants, the lower classes have to take metal ones for nerve and muscle replacements. Once a person has one of these transplants, they are seen as part of an even lower class. They are treated as something to be avoided in society. Cinder has been a cyborg for as long as she can remember. She was brought to live with her “family” at the age of 11 and has no memory before then. Her mechanic “Father” traveled to England for work and returned with her to become a part of his family. He is one of the men who worked on her to save her life. Cinder, now 16, works as a mechanic downtown to support her new family after her Father has died from the plague cursing the country. This could be enough to fuel this first book in the Lunar Chronicles.

However, there is so much more. The Emperor has the plague, the (very handsome)prince shows up at Cinder’s shop to have his android repaired, the colony on the Moon is prepared to wage war on the Earth, and Cinder is on a path that will lead her to find out the secrets of her past. I really liked this book. I read it in a little over a day and enjoyed each moment. Meyer did a great job of making this retelling wonderful and new but still keeping the underlying base story intact. I have only three critiques of this book. The first is that I wish there was more background information of how the world came to be as it is. The second is that 16 seems an unreasonable age for Cinder to be. I imagine her to be around 19 or 20. The third is that there is going to be a year between each new installment of the series. Waiting that long is as far from fun as I can imagine. If you like fairytale retellings, cyborgs, or just a good Sci-Fi novel, you are in for a treat.

Kendyll Oconto Falls Community Library Delirium Lauren Oliver

Set in a future post-apocalyptic world, society has discovered a cure for all the problems of today. The root of every problem: love, or amor deliria nervosa (so called in the future society). When a citizen turns 18, they undergo an operation to make them not love at all. They are paired with a mate and lead boring lives with no real emotion except honor for their society. Lena is like any other girl at 17 - wanting to get her operation to lead her perfect, happy, little life. This all changes when she meets Alex, though. He makes her feel things that she has never felt before - things that are illegal in her society.This book exposes the truth of love and just how precious it is to life.

The author, Lauren Oliver, does a great job of keeping the reader guessing up until the very end (which is very realistic and a nice change from the fairytale ending of so many other books today). Delirium is the right edges of fun, sadness, happiness, fright, and danger. It far exceeded my expectations! Definitely one of my new favorite books!

Jekel Loves Hyde Beth Fantaskey

This author did a great job of altering the old story by Robert Louis Stevenson called, "The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" and making it a modern day romance! The book alternates between narrations of the two main characters, Jill and Tristen. Jill Jekel and Tristen Hyde fall in love in high school chemistry class. Jill is being raised by a single mom and Tristen is being raised by a single dad. They have a lot in common. It becomes more complicated when Tristen's dad (a psychiatrist) starts treating Jill's mom for depression. Another important character is Jill and Tristen's chemistry teacher who seems to have more than an ordinary fascination with these two young people. This book ends up with a dramatic ending.