Ely's Recommedations #4

Do you know what time it is? That's right...IT'S RECOMMENDATION TIME! You can see my other recommendation posts here: #1, #2 and #3. I've read so so much since my last recommendation post that I had a seriously hard time cutting this down to just five, but without further ado, here they are:

1. Jamaica Inn by Daphne Du Maurier
You might not know this, but Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier is one of my all-time favourite books but I think Jamaica Inn is making it's way up that list. Both of these are mystery novels, but this one has a little bit more romance than Rebecca. That's not why I love it. I love it because there are some many twists and turns and the love interest, Jem Merlyn, is to die for. Also, the brand new BBC miniseries is glorious.

2. The Purgatorium by Eva Pohler
If you want a proper review for this, you can check out the one I did earlier this month here. In short, this book gets into your head and you don't know which characters you can trust and which you should dislike. It's absolutely brilliant.

3. Finnkin of the Rock by Melina Marchetta
I've been meaning to read Melina Marchetta for ages, but this just happened to be the first one I got to. It's amazing. It's fantasy with some romance with a little bit of mystery and magic thrown in too. It's incredibly fun to read, and the character Evanjalin is seriously amazing.

4. Razorhurst by Justine Larbalestier
I warned in my review of this that I was probably going to talk about this one for the next couple of years until everyone is completely bored of me. To sum it up, this is brilliant and so very different to everything else that's out there at the moment. It's definitely become a new favourite of mine and I'm determined to get everyone else on this planet to read it too. Also, you should my review and enter the giveaway (AUS only).

5. The Ruins of Gorlan by John Flanagan
This one is also a fantasy, but it's more Middle Grade than Finnikin of the Rock. I can't even begin to describe how fun this book is, I laughed so many times while reading. I also fell completely in love with the protagonist, a fifteen year old boy named Will. And yeah, I might be older than him but true love knows no age. But really guys, you should read this!

Some notable mentions are: Great Expectations, Jane Eyre, North and South, Reboot and Rebel, The Raven Boys, My Life Next Door and Finale. See what I mean when I said I had trouble deciding?

Now, what are your recommendations? Have you read any of these? Have I influenced you to pick any of this up?

As we all know, Chami has taken to an event called, "Let's destroy Ely's post by adding some Chami stuff into it as well". So, Hi everyone. It's me here again. 

Vampire Academy Series by Richelle Mead
If you are put off just by the title having "Vampire", then you don't deserve to read this series becomes your one dimensional and just damn judgemental. This is one of my favourite series EVER and if you are seriously worried about the fact that there are vampires in it, think of it as a culture. Because in this series, it is. Give this series a good two books to fall in love. Because when you fall. You fall hard.

I can't even mention anything else because everyone needs to read this series. Have you read it? Did you love it? Comment down below and tell us what you think?

Review: REBOOT + REBEL by Amy Tintera

Title: Reboot (Reboot #1) + Rebel (Reboot #2)

Author: Amy Tintera

Genre: Young Adult/Sci Fi/Dystopian.

Publication Date: June 2013 + June 1st 2014

Publisher: Allen and Unwin

Format: Paperback

Pages: 384 +352

Form of Review: Series Review - Non- Spoiler.

Rating: 5/5

REBOOT:

'5 years ago, I died. 178 minutes later, I woke up.'

In this post-apocalyptic thriller a deadly virus mutation sees teenagers raised from the dead and trained to be vicious soldiers until Wren, the deadliest Reboot, joins forces with Callum, the most innocent, to try to overthrow the organisation that has corrupted their world.

REBEL:

The sequel and exciting conclusion to the action-packed Reboot.

Wren and Callum finally reach the Reboot Reservation, a safe haven from HARC, which controls the cities. But it isn’t the paradise they’d hoped for. As they learn more about Micah, the bloodthirsty Reboot who runs it, they discover that he’s been creating an army with one goal in mind: to kill the humans in the cities … ALL of them. Wren’s first instinct is to head out for new territory, but Callum can’t stand by and let his human family and everyone else be hunted down. With HARC on one side and Micah on the other, saving the innocent and forging a lasting peace between humans and Reboots is a nearly impossible task. But Wren and Callum have never let that stop them before.

Since this series is a duology (only two books) I’ve decided to review the two books together. And since this is a review based around the whole series, I’m going to try and keep it unspoilery. Before we start, Ely and I received these books to review but that no way alters our opinion of the book. If you would like to view Ely's review of Reboot click here. If you would like to view Ely's review of Rebel which has spoilers, click here.  So have fun!

I personally am not a big Zombie fan, and like Ely, when I heard that it was Zombish I was kind of thrown off. Like, when do us Young Adult readers normally see Zombie’s mixed in with dystopia’s? Like never. But the thing is, it worked perfectly. Amy Tintera sure knows how to keep you intrigued and this sure did that exactly.

The pacing off the series was excellent and Wren and Callum are both lovable and the world building is crazy. I seriously don’t know how people come up with these kinds of ideas but all elements combined beautifully. Normally one may see a decline in quality throughout a series but this was the opposite. The first book served a basic foundation and the second finished it off nicely. Even thought I would’ve liked more of Wren and Callum!

One of the things I also loved the most is how we enter action as soon as we open the first page. The Ideas that Amy develops gives an insight to the variety of perceptions of humanity. In the end, what does it really mean to be human?

One of the most outstanding things was the character development with Wren. Once each layer was peeled back you could see her more distinctly. It wasn’t obvious but once you look back you realise how much all the characters actually changed. Applause to Tintera for being able to swiftly develop characters and make the reader still love them throughout the whole entire way.

Finally, Thank you to Lara from A&U for providing Ely and I with the copies to the series.

Love you all!

BLOG TOUR/REVIEW: Rebel by Amy Tintera

Title: Rebel (Reboot #2)

Author: Amy Tintera

Genre: Young Adult. Sci Fi. Dystopian.

Publication Date: June 1st 2014

Publisher: Allen and Unwin

Format: Paperback

Pages: 352

Rating: 5/5

The sequel and exciting conclusion to the action-packed Reboot.

Wren and Callum finally reach the Reboot Reservation, a safe haven from HARC, which controls the cities. But it isn’t the paradise they’d hoped for. As they learn more about Micah, the bloodthirsty Reboot who runs it, they discover that he’s been creating an army with one goal in mind: to kill the humans in the cities … ALL of them. Wren’s first instinct is to head out for new territory, but Callum can’t stand by and let his human family and everyone else be hunted down. With HARC on one side and Micah on the other, saving the innocent and forging a lasting peace between humans and Reboots is a nearly impossible task. But Wren and Callum have never let that stop them before.

We received this book for review, but this is no way alters our opinion of the book.

Can we just take a moment first? I literally just finished this book a few minutes ago, and I think I need some time for this to sink in. I have one question for Amy Tintera.

Okay, so now that that’s over. Let’s actually get to the review. First, if you haven’t already- go check my review of the first book, Reboot, out. Now moving on.

I thought the first book was fats paced, but that really has nothing on this one. Oh my god. There was hardly a moment to stop and catch your breath. That being said, I think all the action was really well planned out- there wasn’t anything that wasn’t relevant to the story. I have to admit, some of those plot twists- damn…I did not see them coming. 

I’m really not a big fan of dual POV books (I entirely blame Allegiant), so I was actually a bit hesitant when I saw that this begun with Callum’s POV. After a few chapters, it didn’t bother me anymore. I actually really liked being able to be inside Callum’s head as well as Wren’s, and I think it really made sense for the story to be split into the two POV’s. Have I mentioned how much I love Callum? Because, I really seriously love Callum.

I still really love Wren, and so you can probably imagine that I really love Callum and Wren together. Just. So. Much. Love. Anyway, I want to talk about the other characters because I mentioned how excited I was to meet some new ones in my review of the first book. Let’s start with Addie. There isn’t a lot of Addie at the beginning, but once she becomes a more prominent character- to put it simply, I really love her. I’m interested to see where the friendship (sort of spoiler alert there) between her and Wren goes from here (Note, I hadn't realised this was only a duology at this point). Next…Riley. So when I think of Riley, I think of Riley from Buffy- so yes, I imagine this incredibly buff guy (which I’m totally not complaining about, by the way). But yes, this Riley is amazing, though I admit I had my doubts about him. 

Finally, Micah. Where do I even begin with you? I thought maybe that Micah would sort of make this into a love triangle so I was a bit hesitant about him coming in. But no, this is not a love triangle. Micah is so much more than that. I can’t properly express my feelings without spoiling, so I’ll just leave it at the fact that it took me a while to decide where I stood.

Okay, so before I wrap this up, can we just have another moment? This is a duology, meaning this is the last book. I CAN’T DEAL WITH THAT. I NEED ANOTHER BOOK. THAT CANNOT BE THE END. GIVE ME ANOTHER BOOK. 

At that, I will leave you. Thank you again to the Allen and Unwin for the lovely ARC copy. I will treasure it for ever and ever.