Four

Four by Veronica Roth

Published- 8th July 2014
Publisher- Harper Collins
Pages- 285 pages (paperback)



How did Four come to pick Dauntless in the Choosing Ceremony? Why did he choose to leave Abnegation? Will his life be any different once he gets to Dauntless and will he make any friends when he gets there? This novel is all about Four and his life before he met Tris Prior and the events in Divergent.

Four is my favourite character in the Divergent series so it was good to read about his life before he met Tris. I liked finding out why he wanted to leave Dauntless and why he chose not to become a Dauntless leader after Max stepped down. New characters were introduced in this novel such as Amar. We also learnt why Eric dislikes Four so much, which in my opinion is just because Four comes from Abnegation and Eric hates anyway from that faction. The events of this novel end just before the new initiates take their final initiation tests to see who comes top from Tris's group of transfers. However, there are 3 short scenes at the end of this novel which fit into different parts of the short stories. This 3 scenes are all about Tris- the first jumper, tour around the Dauntless living quarters and when Four gets drunk.

This was a really quick read as it's only 285 pages long. The writing flows really well so there aren't any difficult words to pronounce. Tris is only featured within the last short story in this novel and the 3 short scenes at the end of the novel. It also surprised me to find out that Four already knew his mother was still alive and didn't find out in Insurgent like I originally thought he did. Four is a person who likes spending a lot of time by himself rather than with his fellow Dauntless.

Overall, this was a really good novel and I gave it 5/5 stars. I loved reading about my favourite character in the Divergent series. I finished this book really quickly within 3 days. I can't wait to find out what happens in the last book of this series when I eventually read Allegiant. It's just a shame that the last film in the series has been split into 2 with the first being called Allegiant and the 2nd being called Ascendant. Definitely give this novel a read if you love the Divergent series and if you love Four. Or if you just love any books by Veronica Roth.


                                Rating 5/5
    

The Strain

The Strain by Guillermo Del Toro

Published- 2nd June 2009
Publisher- William Morrow
Pages- 403 pages (hardback)

The Strain TV show- (from left to right)- Fet, Nora, Setrakian, Dutch, Zack and Ephraim.

Flight 753 has been found on the runway with all engines dead and every passenger inside the plane is dead aswell. What happened to all the passengers and how did they all die? Also, what is this sudden mysterious virus that is sweeping over the city of New York? 

The description of the vampires within this novel was well written as there was lots of description and they were terrifyingly written about. These creatures sound so scary and are not things you want to meet in a dark alley at night. The most horrifying thing about them is the stinger which they release from their mouths when they are about to finish off their prey. They are by far the scariest vampires I have ever read about within a novel. If you were expecting vampires like the ones in Twilight then this is definitely the wrong novel for you to be reading. 

Ephraim Goodweather was a great main character as he wanted to find out about this disease and find a way to cure it. He also wanted to protect his ex-wife, Kelly, and son, Zack, from being infected also. However, things don't always go as you want them to. Abraham Setrakian and Fet were also good characters as they had a lot of skills for killing the vampires. Setrakian was filled with all the vampire knowledge of how to destroy vampires and hopefully find and kill the Master. However, finding the Master and killing him are the hardest things as he is not that easy to kill. You didn't find out much about Nora, but she seems like a good character from what we know about her. Although, you did find out that she has been in a relationship with Ephraim and she would make a good mother figure to Zack. 

The writing in this novel flowed really well and it was an easy read. A lot of the descriptive writing was really graphic and in some parts terrifying. For example, some of the death scenes were very descriptive and contained a lot of violence and horrific reading. This is not a novel for younger readers because of all the violence that is involved within the writing. The TV show should also not be watched by younger viewers as that does get quite graphic at times and includes some violent death scenes.

The TV show is quite different from the book as they have changed a lot and added a lot of stuff to it. For example, Zack did not get attacked by Matt in his own home, that was added into the TV show. Also, the character Vaun does not appear in the books. There is a character like Vaun in the books, but he has a different name. TV shows are always changing stuff from the books to make them their own and to give them different twists and turns so they can run for many seasons. If a TV show always followed strictly to the books then it would only last for 1 or 2 seasons. 

Overall, I really enjoyed this novel and give it 4.5/5 stars. It was easy to read as some of the chapters were really short. This is a definite must read if you love vampire novels, horror stories, love the TV show The Strain or love Guillermo Del Toro. I can't wait to read the next book in the trilogy to find out what happens to Ephraim, Setrakian, Nora, Fet and Zack. Will the vampires eventually all be wiped out? I'll have to read the next 2 books in the trilogy to find out.

                      Rating 4.5/5
   

Recently Purchased Books

Paper Towns by John Green &

Magonia by Maria Dahvana Headley

Emma by Jane Austen, 

Personal by Lee Child,

The 100 Homecoming by Kass Morgan &

In the Skin of a Monster by Kathryn Barker

You Belong to Me by Karen Rose &

Elizabeth is Missing by Emma Healey 

The Returned by Seth Patrick & 

Captain America graphic novel

Robin Hood,

Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell &

The Sleeping Doll by Jeffery Deaver

Agent Carter Bobble-Head Pop Vinyl &

Donatello Ninja Turtles Pop Vinyl Figure

Magonia

Magonia by Maria Dahvana Headley

RECEIVED FROM HARPER COLLINS FOR REVIEW

Published- 28th April 2015
Publisher- Harper Collins
Pages- 320 pages (paperback)

What and where is Magonia? Is Aza Ray destined to stay on Earth or go to Magonia? Aza Ray has spent her whole live not being able to breath normal human air, but is her life about to change forever?

This was a good fantasy novel about a subject I have not read about before. Aza Ray was born with breathing difficulties which means she cannot breathe normal human air, this was her rare lung disease. No one knew how to cure her or why she was born this way. Aza Ray was a good female character as she was brave and would do anything to protect the people she loved. She just wanted to live a normal human live, but she wasn't a normal human as she was born in Magonia. Jason was also a good character as he just wanted to protect Aza. I didn't really like Zal that much as she wasn't a very likeable person. She just wanted to control everyone and didn't care about their feelings.

The cover for this novel is very fitting as the feather represents what Aza is about to become and what the future holds for her. It also fits into the storyline where they find a feather in her lungs during an MRI scan. Birds are in this novel a lot as they are part of the main storyline. The writing flows fairly well. However, I didn't really like the parts where it kept repeating itself quite a lot throughout different pages. The fantasy elements were portrayed very well in this novel through Magonia and the birds who could talk/sing. However, you didn't get to find out much about what Magonia looks like as they were mainly on Earth or the Amina Pennarum ship.


Overall, I give this novel 3/5 stars. I gave it that rating because although it was a good fantasy novel there were not many action elements for me. Some parts were very slow for me like the start of the novel. All the action scenes came towards the end of the novel, so I had to wait quite a while for them to happen. However, this was still a good novel and a definite must read if you like fantasy novels with an element of nature.

               Rating 3/5
  

The Martian

The Martian by Andy Weir

Published- 13th February 2014
Publisher- Del Ray
Pages- 369 pages (hardback)

Mark Watney is a botanist and engineer, but he becomes trapped on Mars after a freak accident. Will he make it off Mars alive? How will he survive on Mars? Will anyone rescue him in time?

I really enjoyed this novel and it has become one of my favourite novels that I've read this year. I'm not a big science fan, but I loved reading all the scientific elements of this novel. The scientific elements helped us get inside Mark Watney's mind in his battle for survival. We learnt about everything he needed to do in terms of food, water and how to make Mars a livable planet for him to survive on. There was also a bit of maths thrown into some parts of this novel.

Mark Watney is a great character because of his personality, sense of humor and the way he would do anything to survive. One of my favourite quotes from Mark is 'In your face Neil Armstrong', so I'm glad this quote has made it into the movie. In the movie Mark Watney will be played by the brilliant Matt Damon. Mark always tried to see the positive side to things by making jokes and finding ways to fix any problems that occurred. Some of his ideas were really funny to read about, like towards the end of the novel he wanted to become like Iron Man to try to get back to Hermes. 

I also liked reading the parts about the people on Earth who were doing everything they could to get Mark Watney back alive. You also got points of view from the crew of Hermes and how they were feeling after leaving Mark behind. The staff at JPL had to do a lot of work to figure out how to get Mark home and this was portrayed in the writing of the novel. It was easy to follow the whole way and easy to read. Some of the scientific words were hard to pronounce, but it helps you learn more. 

Overall, this is one of my favourite novels of this year. I give this novel 5/5 stars. I've never read a novel before about people trapped on different planets so it was a really interesting read for me. I can't wait to see how different the film is from the novel and to basically see how good the film is. Hopefully I will enjoy the film just as much as I enjoyed reading this novel. If you love novels about different planets, battles for survival or science novels then this is definitely a must read for you.

                                 Rating 5/5
    

Birthday Presents

My Birthday- 9th September 2015

These are the presents I got for my birthday. I also got some money, a ticket to see the Illusionist Darcy Oake and 3 boxes of chocolate. I may also be getting the Outlander Pop Vinyls of Jamie Fraser and Claire Fraser depending on when they are released.

Sam and Dean Supernatural Pop Vinyl Figures

The Walking Dead Season 1 Blu-Ray

Lady Chatterley's Lover by D.H. Lawrence &

Two Evils by P.J. Tracy

Twisted 07 E17 LDN T-shirt

To The Pub T-shirt

Ruby Necklace & Ring set

Purple & Silver Beaded Bracelet

The 100 Trilogy

The 100 Trilogy by Kass Morgan

Published- 29th August 2013, 16th September 2014 & 24th February 2015
Publisher- Little, Brown and Company & Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Pages- 323 pages (paperback), 320 pages (paperback) & 352 pages (paperback)




The 100
The 100 is about a group of children who are sent to Earth after a cataclysmic event basically wiped out the entire Earth population. Some parts of the Earth have been mutated by the radiation levels and the leaders on the ship sent the children to Earth to find out if it was safe for everyone to return. But are they alone on Earth or not? 

I liked how each chapter was told by a different character. The four main points of view are Clarke, Bellamy, Wells and Glass. Each chapter was really short so it was easy to read a lot at one time. I thought it would be hard following the current events and the flashbacks, but it flowed really smoothly throughout the novel and it was easy to remember everything that was happening. The one character I didn't really like reading about was Glass.

I know it was important to read about what was happening to the other people left behind on the ship after the 100 got sent to Earth. However, her chapters seemed a bit pointless to me as it was mainly about her will they won't they love life with Luke. From her chapters though we did find out what was happening to the Chancellor after the events at the start of the book with the dropships. 

2 characters I loved reading about were Clarke and Bellamy. They were brave individuals who would do anything to protect the people they care about. They would also stand up for their friends/family members. Wells was a good character also as he would do anything for Clarke. Bellamy's sister Octavia was a bit annoying in my opinion as she always acts like the weak little girl who wants other people to do everything for her. Hopefully my opinion of Octavia will change in the next books. 

I do not know how different the TV show is from the book as I have yet to watch the TV show. Will be starting that soon though hopefully. Overall, I really enjoyed this book and I give it 5/5 stars. I can't wait to read the 2nd book and I will be starting that shortly. Then will read the 3rd book straight after I finish the 2nd one. If you love dystopian books then this is definitely the novel for you and especially if you love the 100 TV show.

The 100 Day 21
The 100 start being attacked, but who are the Earthborns and what do they want? What is more dangerous life on Earth or life on the ship? Will Bellamy and Clarke find Octavia? The battle for survival on Earth starts now, but who will survive?

This was a good sequel to The 100. It contained lots of action packed moments like the first book did. I started to like Glass a bit more this time as it was important to learn about life on the ship. There was a fight for survival on the ship as well as a battle for survival on Earth. We also learnt exactly what happened to Luke's friend Carter and why this happened. I did not expect that ending to Glass's story at the end of this novel, that was quite surprising. Reading about what happened to people on the ship such as Sonja, Luke, Camille and the Chancellor was important as it leads up to the final novel.

I liked the romance which blossomed between Clarke and Bellamy throughout the novel. There was also a romance blossoming between Wells and Sasha. I did like reading these parts of the novel as there weren't too many of them. These scenes also lead into other parts of the novel such as the search for Octavia and finding where the Earthborns live. Bellamy was still my favourite character as he was brave, willing to do anything for his sister and tried to make sure the 100 survived by finding them food. Clarke also found out something important at the end of this novel which also leads into the final novel. 

Overall, I gave this novel 5/5 stars as it was quite action packed and was really easy to get through. Took me a few days to finish this novel, but I loved it. I still have yet to watch the TV show, but I shall be starting that soon hopefully. Will next be starting the 3rd/final novel in this trilogy. Can't wait to see how the trilogy finishes and what will happen to each of the characters in their battle for survival on Earth.

The 100 Homecoming
Who will survive the final battle on Earth between the Colonists and the Earthborns? What really happened to Clarke's parents and will she ever find out? Will Bellamy be executed for getting the Chancellor shot and fleeing to Earth on a dropship with the other colonists? It all comes down to this epic thrilling conclusion to The 100 trilogy.

This was a great ending to The 100 trilogy. I loved all the action that happened throughout the novel including all the fight scenes. Was good to see how each character was surviving in their own different ways as they battled for survival on Earth. Lots of new characters were introduced in this novel as they landed on Earth from the other dropships after escaping from the colony.

Clarke and Bellamy were still my favourite characters as I liked to read about their struggles, what they would do to protect the people they love and how they survive in different ways. Glass was still my least favourite character, but I loved reading about her struggle for survival when she went off on her own with Luke to make their own lives on Earth. Wells proved he was a worthy leader of the group by everything he did for them by helping them to survive, find food, battle for their freedom and battle for their lives. 

The story flowed smoothly and the writing of the novel was great. It was definitely an easy and quick read. I didn't get confused between the flashbacks and the present storyline during the novel. The story only had 3 real settings throughout the whole series, but that was fine with me as you didn't get too confused between where each piece of action was taking place. The 3 main settings were the Colony in space, the Colonists camp on Earth and Mount Weather where the Earthborns live. 

Overall this was a brilliant trilogy of novels. I give this novel 5/5 stars. My overall rating for the whole trilogy is 5/5 stars. I loved this dystopian trilogy. It was similar to the Hunger Games, but without the games for survival. If you love dystopian and battle for survival novels then this would be a good book series for you. This is also for fans who love the TV show of the 100 and want to see how different the TV show is from the actual books. There will be a lot of differences between the 2, but this trilogy is definitely worth a read.


                      Rating for trilogy 5/5
    

Love, Rosie

Love, Rosie by Cecelia Ahern

Published- 1st November 2004
Publisher- Harper
Pages- 558 pages (paperback)

Love Rosie is a feel good contemporary romance novel. Rosie and Alex are best friends who have always been in love with each other, but won't tell each other how they feel. This was an easy read because it is told through emails, letters and text messages. Plus, it covers a huge period of the main characters lives, from when they are children to when they are much older. I have yet to watch the film so I do not know how different the film is from the novel. 

Alex is a really likeable character who would do anything for the people he loves. Rosie is also likeable too, but she would complain a bit which did kind of annoy me. For example, she would always say that she likes Alex then get mopey and sad when he got with other girls and got married to someone else. They both tried to be successful in their lives and get good jobs and have good family lives. However, not everything goes the way you want it to go as life isn't that straight forward.

Overall, I rate this book 4/5 stars. If you want a really easy contemporary romance read then this is definitely the book for you. I liked how this novel didn't follow all romance guidelines such as boy meets girl, they fall in love, they get married, have a family, etc. Stories which follow those guidelines get boring and repetitive which is really annoying. Novels need to have their own storylines and not follow every other novel.

                       Rating 4/5
   

Made For You

Made For You by Melissa Marr

RECEIVED FROM HARPER COLLINS FOR REVIEW

Published- 26th March 2015
Publisher- Harper Collins Children's Books
Pages- 336 pages (paperback)

Eva Tilling was almost killed when she was hit by a car. Who would want to try to kill her and why? When she wakes up she starts getting visions of her friends dying, but then people start actually dying. Why are these people being killed, who is killing them and what has it got to do with Eva?

Overall, this was a good novel with lots of action towards the end of the novel. It did start really slowly, but it picked up more a third of the way through the book. However, halfway through the book I did guess who the killer was so I wasn't really that shocked at the end of the novel. To find out who the killer is you have to read the novel. All of the characters were really likeable, but there were some I didn't feel that fondly towards.

One of the girls was not a likeable character because of some of her actions and another was a bit of a gossip. Out of the male characters my favourite was Nate as he would do anything for his family and friends no matter the cost. My favourite female characters were Eva and Grace. I liked them because they were brave, smart, cared about everyone except themselves and wanted to do whatever they could to stop the killer from killing anyone else. 

This is the first Melissa Marr book I have read and I really enjoyed it. My only wish was that there was more action throughout the book as it did drag in places, so reading it was quite slow. When stories are slow I feel like I don't enjoy them as much. However, this was still an enjoyable read even if I do wish it was more fast paced and action packed. The writing was very descriptive throughout and everything was explained so you weren't left with questions which you didn't have the answers to. Following this book I would like to read more Melissa Marr books in the future. Overall, I give this book 4 out of 5 hearts. A must read if you love Melissa Marr's previous books.


                              Rating 4/5