Shiver (Maggie Stiefvater)

Shiver is a short novel that I came across whilst browsing my library's online database. I had never heard of it before or heard of anyone talking about it. Upon collecting the book from my library, I discovered that it is actually the first novel in a trilogy. I had made a personal decision, after reading many trilogies, that I didn't want to read another trilogy for a little while because I really wanted to a find an excellent single book; however, looks like it's time for another trilogy!

Shiver, like I said, is the first novel in a trilogy. The story is a supernatural/fantasy novel with the main storyline following the developing romance between Sam and Grace. The book itself does switch between first-person perspectives of those two characters, and I think that it is important to the plot and emotions of the characters. Grace is a girl with an unusual past who has a fascination with the woods behind her house, and the animals that roam within. Sam is a boy that is far from ordinary as he is not quite himself through the winter months. Their lives become entwined when Sam is faced with an injury that changes him.

The Book Cover

The characters - and even the story itself - drew me in drastically and had me struggling to put the book down every night. I can't say much about the storyline itself because it would definitely ruin the surprise and suspense of the novel. What I will say is that I found the style of writing (and the story) to be very refreshing and simple. I say simple, but it is also a unique story.

I would rate Shiver 4.9/5 because I am always wary of given a story a perfect rating. There were a couple of spots where I found myself skipping over some paragraphs, but I can't decide whether it was because the story was slow or if it was more just my excitement to get to the end.

Until next time,
Happy Reading Fellow Bookworms :)

Leave a comment with your thoughts on this story or with a suggestion of another book I should read & review!

Erebos: It's A Game. It Watches You. (Ursula Poznanski)

Erebos: It's A Game. It Watches You.
Where do I even begin with this review? I read this book in less than 24 hours and I'm sat here - having just finished reading it - unsure of what to say other than, WOW! If you haven't read this book before, then you are seriously missing out.

The Book Cover

Erebos is a book that I'm also unsure as to how to classify it. It's not supernatural, although at times it feels as such, and it's not fantasy, but again you could say it has aspects of it; it's a book that stands on it's own as far as I'm concerned. The story follows the life of Nick Dunmore and a mysterious computer game that begins to circle around his school. However this game is not like a normal game as it seems to live, breathe, and think like a human. The virtual world begins to tie itself to the real world, harmless at first but quickly becoming daunting and trying to those who play the game. As the back of the book says, "Erebos watches its players and begins to manipulate their lives in frightening ways. It soon becomes clear the game has a deadly agenda. When Nick sets out on a dangerous mission, reality and the virtual world begin to blur..."

As far as characters in the story go, I can't say that I felt a personal connection to them; however, in the case of this book, that was necessary. The story itself and the game in which the people play was enough to hold my attention completely!

I know this review is short, and I've really only discussed the plot, but you must read this book!

I would rate Erebos 5/5 because it's left me speechless and wanting more!

Until next time,
Happy Reading Fellow Bookworms :)

Leave a comment telling me your thoughts on this book or a suggestion as to what I should read next.

The Gravesavers (Sheree Fitch)

The Gravesavers came to my attention while I was searching for a different book on my library's online database. It appeared on the side bar entitled 'Recently Rated', as someone had given it 4 out of 5 stars; the title of the book, as well as the cover, intrigued me. I immediately put a hold on the book and began reading it without any prior knowledge of the storyline. Upon arrival of the book, I noticed that it was both a Canadian novel as well as a Red Maple Award winner; for those of you who may not know what that is, it is (simple put) a reading program offered to students in Grades 7 through 9 with a small selection of books on which you get to vote on at the end. I was excited to read the story since it was a winner of this reading program because I once participated in this program myself.

The Book Cover

Upon beginning this novel - about one third of the way through - I would have placed this story into a Historical Fiction category; however, as I approached two thirds of the way through, the storyline took a different path that I would instead class as a Supernatural Fiction category. This novel actually is composed of not one, but two story lines that become entwined:

The first story follows the life of a young girl named Cinnamon "Minn" Hotchkiss who is forced to go spend the summer with her grandmother following a rather unfortunate event. Much to her distaste, Minn actually begins to enjoy that summer upon discovering the graveyard in the town at which she is staying; however this grave site is in terrible condition and is not faring well to the sea.

The second story follows the life of a young English boy named John Hindley in the year of 1861. His family decides to uproot and travel across the seas on the magnificent SS Atlantic.

SS Atlantic

The stories entwine as Minn discovers more about the graves and the connection they have to the past, and more specifically John Hindley's family. I won't say much more as I hate over sharing a novel's plot, however I wanted to intrigue you readers to perhaps try a different genre other than the Science Fiction novels I have reviewed previously.

I instantly fell in love with the character Minn because she, in a way, reminded me of myself. Her imagination is wild and when she becomes passionate about something, she truly sees it through until the very end; I found her character to be a breath of fresh air.

As for the plot, I loved it. I really am at a loss for words because I think it's a book you need to read for yourself to understand the feeling I got. I wasn't in tears, it's not that type of feeling; if anything, I think I felt at peace at the end. The main message I got out of it was, "the past may be unsettling and may never quite leave you, but if you find a way to come to terms with it and let it go, you will find a sense of happiness and peace."

I would rate The Gravesavers 3.9/5 - which may seem low - only because I found the story to be a little slow and over descriptive at the beginning, otherwise it was a very good book. It's not my usual pick of genre, but I am very glad to have read it.

Until next time,
Happy Reading Fellow Bookworms :)

Leave a comment telling me your thoughts on the book or a suggestion of what I should read next.

Update :)

Hello Fellow Bookworms :)

Before I start talking about the main reason for this post, I just want to start off with a huge thank you! I am overwhelmed by the amount of interest since I started 6 and a half weeks ago. I've had more page views than I ever thought I could accomplish in a year - I'm sure it's minimal compared to most blogs on this site, however I am very grateful for each and every one - so thank you from the bottom of my heart <3

Is this too cheesy to add to this post?

Anyways, onto the main reason behind this update post!

I finished my first year of University last week on Friday, and also finished all of my pre-written and scheduled book reviews. That means two things for this blog:

1. Since I have finished University for the year, I will be "off" for 4 months; the off is in quotation because I'm currently having interviews for jobs, which means I don't know how much free time I'll actually have. With that said, that means I will have more time to read and often in the summer read books a lot faster. Of course this is because I will binge read a book whilst sitting outside in the sun with a cool glass of fresh lemonade. Therefore you can expect lots of reviews in the upcoming future! I have a list of books lined up that I want to read - both single novels as well as series - and I can't wait to get started.
2. Since my scheduled posts have run out, it means there will be a delay for the next review. I am currently halfway through the novel I am reading now, and I am hoping I will have it done in time to review for Friday; however, there will definitely not be one up on Monday, unless I find an old book I've read to review that I still have a clear memory of.

Therefore, that's both good and bad so I hope they balance each other out! Also, I would love it if you bookworms would leave a comment suggesting a book that I should read.

Until next time,
Happy Reading Fellow Bookworms :)

The Kill Order (James Dashner)

The Kill Order by James Dashner is the prequel novel to The Maze Runner trilogy. This novel is a science fiction, suspense novel that follows the lives of a small group of people who survived the Sun flares; the plot line does not follow their initial struggle as the Sun flares struck, but it does however flashback to that stage of their fight for survival. This story’s main focus is on the aftermath and The Flare.

The Book Cover

Although the story itself was good, I felt like it was written “just because.” Whilst reading the novel, and getting sucked into the story, I was awaiting a conclusion to the survival story of the small group of people that it follows; however I was disappointed. The epilogue itself has no mention of the people in which the story follows - more specifically Deedee - and that bothers me; what is the point of getting attached to characters if they simply vanish into thin air (no pun intended for those who have read the book). I now feel like James Dashner wrote this because he could since there is a decent amount of interest in the trilogy.

Of course, with every review, this is only my opinion! I read some other reviews upon finishing the novel to see what other people thought of the plot, and there was a handful of people who enjoyed the ending. Could I just be picky? Maybe. But that still doesn't change my rating.

I would rate The Kill Order 2.7/5 because of the reasoning stated above. The story itself was good, but the ending was a disappointment and really did not have a conclusion.

Until next time,
Happy Reading Fellow Bookworms :) 

The Death Cure (James Dashner)

The Death Cure is the third novel in The Maze Runner trilogy by James Dashner. Again, as did the second novel, the plot picks up right where the previous one left off. I’m glad Dashner did this as the ending of the second novel was indeed a cliffhanger of sorts.

The Book Cover

The plot follows the same main character Thomas as he continues to understand more about the surroundings around him and the project in which he is associated with. The “feel” of the novel, however, does change - at least I think it does. The story is no longer about the struggle to make it to the end of the task assigned by WICKED, but is now instead a fight to understand “which side they are on”? I’m not sure how to put this without revealing too much, but I just feel as though the plot became a different story.

Despite this change in the overall “feel” of the story, I did enjoy watching the characters grow and develop, as well as working towards a common cause. However, I didn’t enjoy it as much as the first two books in the trilogy because I was left with the feeling that something was missing. In addition, I felt as though the last chapter and the epilogue were “the easy way out” in regards to concluding the series, especially based off of the title; Dashner's choice of title is definitely misleading to the reader!

I would rate The Death Cure 3.5/10 because I was actually quite disappointed with the conclusion of the book, especially when you take into account the title that Dashner chose for this novel.

Despite this low rating for the end of the series, I definitely would still recommend the trilogy :)

Until next time,
Happy Reading Fellow Bookworms :)

The Scorch Trials (James Dashner)

The Scorch Trials is the sequel to the popular book The Maze Runner by author James Dashner. The story begins where the first novel left off, not losing pace at all. The suspense you felt at the end of the first novel is definitely carried over into this second book of the trilogy. However, unlike the first novel, this plot is a little closer to the horror side than just thriller due to some of the more “graphic” descriptions (when you read the novel, you'll understand what I mean - all I'm going to say is "cranks").

The Book Cover

The plot is very intriguing in this book because your level of knowledge is essentially the same as the characters; as I said in my first review, it’s like you are experiencing the story as the characters. With every new chapter came another development in the plot, and often those developments were plot twists. As the plot unfolds, you learn more about the reasoning and purpose behind the maze in which these teenagers were placed, and you begin to see the affects of what happens without that said reasoning. I know that sentence is quite cryptic and may not fully make sense, however, I don't want to give too much away.

Through reading, I continued to feel drawn in by the characters and was engrossed in the way they grow and react in the world around them and the knowledge behind why they are there. Some of the character developments had me itching for more and more; I found it difficult to pace myself whilst reading this. I think with school, I finished reading this book in about a week or two.

The Scorch Trials has also been rumored to have been "greenlighted" by Fox for a movie! This will follow after the September 2014 release of The Maze Runner to theaters. Here's a supposed movie poster of this release!

Unofficial Movie Poster

I would rate The Scorch Trials 4.3/5, which is 0.3 higher than the first, because I felt as though this plot was a little more developed than the first. Also, the plot did possess more horror suspense which I really do love in a book, even though I can't sit through horror movies... :)

Until next time,
Happy Reading Fellow Bookworm :)