Book Review #446 - Fire & Flood (Fire & Flood #1) by Victoria Scott

A modern day thrill ride, where a teen girl and her animal companion must participate in a breathtaking race to save her brother's life—and her own.

 

Tella's brother is dying. He's got cancer, and Tella is helpless to save him. Or so she thought. When an invitation arrives for Tella to compete in the Brimstone Bleed, a deadly competition that will lead her through treacherous jungle and scorching desert, she doesn't think twice. Because the prize is a cure to any illness. But Tella will be facing more than just the elements.

My Rating: 4/5

I received this book for review from Chicken House for Scholastic Australia. 

Comparisons between this book and The Hunger Games made me both hesitant and excited to read this. 

I loved this book. The plot was unique and not like the Hunger Games at all. 

I loved the whole concept of the Brimstone Bleed and the pandora. The pandora reminded me of pokemon. 

I would have liked more character development as I didn't feel any connection with any of the characters - Tella especially. I found that I actually loved the pandora more than the humans. 

I didn't like how there was no build up to the relationship between Tella and Guy. 

The book ends with a relatively huge cliff-hanger and there are enough unanswered questions to leave me eagerly anticipating the sequel.

Book Review #445 - Of Neptune (Syrena Legacy #3) by Anna Banks

Emma and Galen s kingdom and their love is threatened by long-lost Syrena in the brilliant conclusion to Anna Banks bestselling trilogy.

Emma, half human and half Syrena, and her Syrena love, Galen, need time together alone. Away from the kingdoms of Poseidon and Triton. Emma s grandfather, the Poseidon king, suggests the two visit a small town called Neptune.

Neptune is home to both Syrena and Half-Breeds alike. But Emma and Galen didn t sign up to be peacemakers between the ocean and the land-dwelling, freshwater Syrena. They didn t bargain for meeting a charming Half-Breed named Reed, who can barely disguise his feelings for Emma. And they especially didn t expect to find themselves in the middle of a power struggle that threatens not only their love but their ocean kingdoms.

In this stunning conclusion to her bestselling Syrena Legacy, Anna Banks thrills fans with more action and romance than ever.

My Rating: 4.5/5

I received this book for review from Hardie Grant Egmont. It is the sequel to Of Poseidon and Of Triton. 

I didn't reread the first two books like I usually would do because I didn't have enough time but I found that this book was easy enough just to jump back into the Syrena world. 

This book was probably my favourite in the series because I really loved the whole idea of Neptune. 

Whilst the split narrative is very common now in the young adult genre, I don't think I have seen it work anywhere near as well as it does in this series. It worked especially well in this book as Emma and Galen spend so much time apart and their voices gel really well together. 

Reed was a refreshing character. He reminded me of a stereotypical Australian. He was very laid back, charismatic and very outgoing. 

Emma and Galen both annoyed me at times throughout the book and I think this was because there wasn't as much focus on secondary characters as there has been in the first two books. 

I love the amount of depth put into the whole Syrena biology and politics. Overall, this is a was a fantastic series and definitely my favourite in the mermaid genre.

Book Review #444 - The Spectacular Now by Tim Tharp

So, my girlfriend, Cassidy, is threatening to kick me to the curb again, my best friend suddenly wants to put the brakes on our lives of fabulous fun, my mom and big sister are plotting a future in which I turn into an atomic vampire, and my dad, well, my dad is a big fat question mark that I’m not sure I want the answer to. 

Some people would let a senior year like this get them down. Not me. I’m Sutter Keely, master of the party. But don’t mistake a midnight philosopher like me for nothing more than a shallow party boy. Just ask Aimee, the new girl in my life. She saw the depth in the Sutterman from that first moment when she found me passed out on the front lawn. Okay, so she’s a social disaster, but that’s where I come in. 

Yes, life is weird, but I embrace the weird. Let everyone else go marching off into their great shining futures if they want. Me, I’ve always been more than content to tip my whisky bottle and take a ride straight into the heart of the spectacular now.

My Rating: 5/5

I had been putting off reading this book for a long time because I had made the mistake in watching the movie first. I thought that if I waited until I had forgotten most of the movie then I would enjoy the book more. The problem with this theory was that the movie was too memorable. 

The only influence the movie had on me whilst reading was that I was a little impatient in waiting for Aimee to be introduced. Other than that, I loved it as much as I was supposed to. 

Sutter is such a distinct and unique character. He was a lot deeper than most males in the young adult genre. He was a character that had a likeable personality but you wanted to punch him at the same time because of his wasted potential. 

I didn't particularly like the ending, and it wasn't because it was bad or anything. It was simply because it didn't end the way in which I thought it would or the way I wanted it to. 

Overall this book is most definitely my favourite contemporary book and my favourite (rereads aside) book I've read so far in 2014.