Wednesday 21 November 2012

The Hunger Games Trilogy

The Hunger Games Trilogy by Suzanne Collins

Published- 31st October 2008/1st September 2009/24th August 2010
Publisher- Scholastic Press
Pages- 374 (Hardcover)/391 (Hardcover)/390 (Hardcover)





This was a brilliant trilogy of novels. The whole series contains lots of action, fights, deaths and even a bit of love. I cannot choose one book as my favourite as I loved the whole series. So for me there is no stand out book as they are all as good as each other.

The Hunger Games sets off the series well. To explain what The Hunger Games are is a tournament where the tributes (2 from each district 1-12) fight to the death and only 1 person comes out alive. As you can imagine tributes die in lots of horrific and disturbing ways throughout the games. However, as you know 2 tributes come out of the Hunger Games.

Catching Fire continues the story really well and starts Katniss's journey as the Mockingjay. The Mockingjay is a symbol for the rebels (the people who turn against the Capitol), for example it is their symbol of hope and freedom. This novel contains another Hunger Games called The Quarter Quell (75th Hunger Games) where previous tribute winners are chosen to go into the arena. So as District 12 has only had 3 tribute winners Katniss and Peeta have to go back into the arena to fight to survive.

Mockingjay is the last novel and the action continues once again. This novel contains loads of deaths, but no Hunger Games event this time. This time Katniss is fighting to get to the Capitol so she can set everyone from each of the districts free. However, as missions always go there are lots of deaths along the way and some deaths you will not predict. The deaths in this novel are really upsetting at some points. In my opinion the series has a really sad ending which involves the 3 main characters Katniss, Gale and Peeta.

Throughout this series I have different favourite characters. Of course I love Katniss as she is a strong female lead who just wants freedom for the people of Panem. In the Hunger Games I really liked Rue's character. She was a loveable 12 year old girl and it was really sad when she was killed in the games. From Catching Fire & Mockingjay I really liked Finnick. At first you thought he was going to be a brute liked Cato, but he was nothing like that as he protected Katniss & Peeta in the Quarter Quell. He also sacrificed himself so Katniss could get away in Mockingjay. Throughout the series I also really liked Gale. He would do anything for Katniss cos he loved her. He was brave and selfless and only wanted Katniss to survive as she was his best friend & the love of his life. However, you will have to read the books to find out if they end up together.

Overall, this was a fantastic series of novels and definitely one of my favourite series of novels along with Twilight. For each book I gave them 5/5 stars. So the overall rating for this series is 15/15 stars. A definite must read for any book lovers. Plus in my opinion there aren't that many differences between The Hunger Games book and movie. So it doesn't really matter if you read the book first or watch the movie first. Get reading this series book lovers!!!!!!

                     Rating 5/5 for each book
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Sunday 27 May 2012

The Academie

The Academie by Susanne Dunlap

SOLICITED ARC REVIEW

Published- 28th February 2012
Publisher- Bloomsbury USA Childrens
Pages- 368 pages (Paperback)



The Academie is a story told from different characters (Eliza, Hortense and Madeleine). Each chapter switches from 1 character to another out of those 3 characters. This is a lot different from her previous novels I have read as this is basically more of a romance novel. Her other novels have been full of intrigue, suspense and sometimes even murder. So it was a change for me to read a romance novel by Susanne Dunlap, but I really loved this novel.

This wasn't my favourite novel by Susanne so far, but it was still really good. Eliza was my favourite female character because she was fearless, brave, up for carrying out dangerous plans and desperately searching for someone to love her. However, Hortense and Madeleine were also looking for guys to love them. The character I didn't like much was Caroline because she was bossy, sometimes rude to people and didn't really do well in group situations. Although, I was happy that her character found love.

The guys in this story were genuine and lovely guys who only wanted to protect the girls they loved. However, in some cases throughout the novel this wasn't entirely possible. I wasn't really expecting the ending that the novel actually had, so that came as a bit of a surprise. The romance throughout the novel was good, but it was sad in some parts.

Overall, I gave this novel 4/5 stars. This was a brilliant novel, but there wasn't enough intrigue, suspense and tension for me. However, I found that this was a great romance novel and I don't normally tend to read romance novels. Although, I have read romance novels by Simone Elkeles and now Susanne Dunlap. It wasn't as good as Simone Elkeles's romance novels, but it was almost as good. Definitely worth a read if you love historical romance novels.

                                 Rating 4/5
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Tuesday 28 February 2012

Jessica's Guide to Dating on the Dark Side

Jessica's Guide to Dating on the Dark Side by Beth Fantaskey


Published- 18th January 2010
Publisher- Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Pages- 351 pages (Paperback)





This book is about Jessica who finds out she is a vampire princess next in line to the throne in her home country. Lucius is the vampire who has come to America with the intention of marrying Jessica. At first she doesn't believe a single word that Lucius says, until she discovers that her adopted parents have been lying to her for most of her life. The truth will soon be revealed to Jessica and she has to make decisions about her future.

This was a good novel as it is filled with action, suspense and some tense moments. You don't always know what is going to happen next so it is thrilling to find out. The novel contained a good ending as it makes you want to read the 2nd novel in this series which is called Jessica Rules the Dark Side. However, the ending is quite a happy one in my own opinion, but to find out what it is you have to read this novel for yourself.

Jessica was a good main character as she starts off as someone who isn't so sure of herself, but develops into a really confident woman. She has one best friend and a guy who is crushing on her, but when she meets Lucius everything changes for the rest of her life. Jessica is a likeable character who a lot of girls can relate to. When she meets Lucius she doesn't know if she wants to be with him or her crush Jake.

Lucius starts off as an arrogant teenager/vampire who just gets on your nerves and always tries to prove that he is right about everything. He wants things to happen right away and basically says that these things have to happen such as Jessica marrying him. However, he then becomes more likeable because he changes his opinion on everything and tries to stop Jessica from fulfilling the vampire pact of marrying him. So overall my opinion on Lucius is mixed because I didn't like him at first, but then I loved him. He is a character you can't help falling in love with because he is so irresistible.

My overall opinion on this book was that I loved it and I can't wait to read the 2nd Jessica Rules the Dark Side. My overall rating for this novel is 4/5 stars. Everyone who hasn't read this novel really must read it right now. Especially if you love vampire and romance novels then this is the book for you.

                       Rating 4/5
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