Follow Friday #77

Feature and Follow Friday is a weekly event hosted by Parajunkee & Alison of Alison Can Read.

The question this week is:

Question of the Week: How many books have you got on your TBR list? - Suggested by Obsessive Compulsive Reader

The above picture shows the bulk of my unread books. I do have my unread stand alones on a separate shelf though. 


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Book Review #551 - The Death Cure (The Maze Runner #3) by James Dashner

The Trials are over. WICKED is planning to restore the survivors'

 

memories and complete the final cure for the Flare.

But Thomas has already remembered more than they think. And he 

knows WICKED can't be trusted...

The time for lies is over. But the truth is more dangerous than Thomas could ever imagine. Will anyone survive the Death Cure?

My Rating: 3.5/5

This is the third and final book in the Maze Runner trilogy. It is the sequel to The Maze Runner and The Scorch Trials. 

Whilst I didn't like this book as much as The Maze Runner, it was significantly better than The Scorch Trials and The Kill Order. 

With a series like this - where the reader knows as much about the plot as the characters who have had their memories wiped, a lot depends on the last book. We want answers and for the most part we got them but there were still significant holes. 

There was a significant death about 250 pages in but I found that it didn't affect me as much as it should have because I don't have much of a connection with any of them. This is because after 3 books I still don't know very much about them. 

The most under-developed characters were Teresa and Brenda and at times they were both just plain annoying. James Dashner definitely creates better males better than he does females. 

Teresa and Brenda's relationships with Thomas was just plain weird and awkward. 

The way the series ends leaves the door open for a possible sequel - which published I would more than likely read. 

This book was absolutely action packed and because of the short chapters I breezed through it very quickly. 

Book Review #550 - Arkarnae (The Medoran Chronicles #1) by Lynette Noni

With just one step, sixteen-year-old Alexandra Jennings's world changes--literally.

Dreading her first day at a new school, Alex is stunned when she walks through a doorway and finds herself stranded in Medora, a fantasy world full of impossibilities. Desperate to return home, she learns that only a man named Professor Marselle can help her... but he's missing.

While waiting for him to reappear, Alex attends Akarnae Academy, Medora's boarding school for teenagers with extraordinary gifts. She soon starts to enjoy her bizarre new world and the friends who embrace her as one of their own, but strange things are happening at Akarnae, and Alex can't ignore her fear that something unexpected... something sinister... is looming.

An unwilling pawn in a deadly game, Alex's shoulders bear the crushing weight of an entire race's survival. Only she can save the Medorans, but what if doing so prevents her from ever returning home?

Will Alex risk her entire world--and maybe even her life--to save Medora?

My Rating: 3/5

I received this book for review from Simon and Schuster Australia. This is the first of five proposed books in the Medoran Chronicles. 

The perfect way to describe this book would be a combination of Harry Potter and the Chronicles of Narnia. 

Alex, the protagonist was easy to relate to and the secondary characters like Jordan, Bear and DC had significant depth to them unlike most other YA literature. 

The pacing of this book was a little unpredictable. At times I felt like I could read it non-stop and others I was just waiting for something to happen. 

I loved the Hogwarts like setting of the Akarnae Academy especially the library which was constantly full of surprises. 

The classes at the school and the teachers were all interesting but definitely could have been explored deeper. 

It was also very interesting and somewhat refreshing to read a book where there was absolutely no romance. 

Overall, this was a very compelling and enchanting read and I am looking forward to reading the sequel Raelia. 

Book Review #549 - Lifespan of Starlight by Thalia Kalkipsakis

The first in a thrilling new trilogy of epic proportions from best-selling children's author Thalia Kalkipsakis. A fresh take on the time tripping genre, The Lifespan of Starlight is Gattacameets The Time Traveler's Wife. 

It already lies dormant within you: the ability to move within time.

In 2084, three teenagers discover the secret to time travel. At first their jumps cover only a few seconds, but soon they master the technique and combat their fear of jumping into the unknown. 

It's dangerous. It's illegal. And it's utterly worth it for the full-body bliss of each return. 

As their ability to time jump grows into days and weeks, the group begins to push beyond their limits, with terrifying consequences. Could they travel as far as ten years, to escape the authorities? They are desperate enough to find out. 

But before they jump they must be sure, because it only works in one direction. 

Once you trip forwards, there's no coming back.

My Rating: 4/5

I received this book for review from Hardie Grant Egmont. 

I think I have stated on here before that time travel is far from my favourite genre so I was beyond surprised by how much I enjoyed this book. 


I found this book engaging, fast paced and I was really captivated by it. 


I really enjoyed the world building and the setting especially as it is set in a dystopian Australia. 


Scout (the protagonist) felt older than 14 which was not necessarily a negative thing but I wouldn't pass on this book because of her age - she seems much older. 


The structure of the plot was pretty straight forward. It was definitely interesting but I felt there possibly could have been some more twists along the way. 


The secondary characters especially Mason and Boc could have had a little more depth to them. 


Whilst the concept of time travel is far from unique, this book did offer some interesting theories of the concept. 


The ending whilst dramatic and surprising could have been even more so if not for the fact that the book's blurb somewhat spoils it. I did read an advanced readers edition so hopefully this can be fixed by the time it is published. 

Book Review #548 - The Scorch Trials (The Maze Runner #2) by James Dashner

Solving the Maze was supposed to be the end. 

 

Thomas was sure that escape from the Maze would mean freedom for him and the Gladers. But WICKED isn’t done yet. Phase Two has just begun. The Scorch. 

 

There are no rules. There is no help. You either make it or you die.

 

The Gladers have two weeks to cross through the Scorch—the most burned-out section of the world. And WICKED has made sure to adjust the variables and stack the odds against them. 

 

Friendships will be tested. Loyalties will be broken. All bets are off. 

 

There are others now. Their survival depends on the Gladers’ destruction—and they’re determined to survive.

My Rating: 3/5

This is the sequel to The Maze Runner. 

The very first time I read The Maze Runner I struggled to get past the slow pace yet the second and third times I read it I loved it so I was a little bit worried about reading The Scorch Trials for the first time. 

Overall I did enjoy this book, however I did also discover a few flaws with it. 

This book was also slow paced although I did find that it did speed up at times.

The plot had absolutely no structure to it. I felt like the author knew how he wanted the story to end and then just made up the rest as he went along with no substantial planning. 

Teresa is the most annoying character by far in these books. I really cannot stand her. 

My favourite element with The Maze Runner was the mystery in working out the maze and that was something that I really missed with this book. 

I am now looking forward to reading The Death Cure so I can finally discover what the purpose off everything is. 

I also didn't like how little the other gladers such as Newt were involved in the story. 

I had mixed feelings about the new characters Aris and Brenda as they don't seem trustworthy. 

Book Review #547 - The Sin-Eaters Daughter (The Sin-Eaters Daughter #1) by Melinda Salisbury

I am the perfect weapon.

I kill with a single touch.

Twylla is blessed. The Gods have chosen her to marry a prince, and rule the kingdom. But the favour of the Gods has it's price. A deadly poison infuses her skin. Those who anger the queen must die under Twylla's fatal touch.

Only Lief, an outspoken new guard, can see past Twylla's chilling role to the girls she truly is.

Yet in a court as dangerous and the queen's, some truths should not be told...

My Rating: 3.5/5

I received this book for review from Scholastic Australia. 

I really enjoyed this book. The way the plot unraveled was very well paced. 

The setting reminded me of Kings Landing in A Game of Thrones with the elaborate castle and royalty. 

I didn't like the fact that the majority of the novel was set in Twylla's bedroom as it got boring. 

The Queen was a character that I loved to hate. She was pure evil but she was also a very interesting and complex character. 

Given the title of the book, I would have liked Twylla's mother and her job as a sin eater to have been explored a little deeper. I am looking forward to this in the sequel perhaps. 

The romance between Twylla and Lief was rather sudden and developed too quickly for my liking. 

Overall I found this book very unique, engaging and can't wait to read the sequel.