Mini-Review/Recommendation: The Giver by Lois Lowry

The Giver (The Giver Quartet #1)
by Lois Lowry

Published January 24th 2006 by Ember (first published 1993)

Jonas's world is perfect. Everything is under control. There is no war or fear or pain. There are no choices. Every person is assigned a role in the Community. When Jonas turns twelve, he is singled out to receive special training from The Giver. The Giver alone holds the memories of the true pain and pleasure of life. Now, it is time for Jonas to receive the truth. There is no turning back.

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Genre: Classics, Dystopia

Publication Date: January 24th, 2006

Publisher: Ember

Format: Paperback, 179 pages 

Series: Technically yes, but can be read as a stand-alone

Source: My own copy

My Review:

As most of you know, I have contracted the Dystopian fever last year, and, as of yet, it still remains uncured. So when I heard so many good things about this 'new classic', I thought, 'why not?'. I was a bit apprehensive to choose a 'classic', because they always sound like very boring difficult readings, but not this one. Not at ALL. Well, this IS a children's book... but the issues dealt within are very adult. That's for sure.

The Giver is a short, sweet, creepy and enticing book. There are no more than 179 pages, but the story is so well-written, the characters are so well developed, and the plot is so easy to get lost into, that you can barely believe that so much has fit into such a small number of pages! And, of course, it leaves you wanting more. Much more. I loved it, but I would have been even more content if the book was just a tad bit longer, showing what happened to the village and what really came to happen at the end. I don't like 'open endings' like this one had, but I hear the other books will explain a couple of things, so I'll just have to look for them. :)

So, the big deal here was: I have read a LOT of dystopians, and I have always thought of how creative they were... well, as it turns out, (in my opinion, at least), most of them must have been somehow inspired by Lois Lowry's world, because the similarities with some titles are uncanny. I won't list them here, because, really, who am I to accuse others? What I mean to say is: once you've read this one... you'll know what I mean.

Early Review: Undead by Kirsty McKay

Undead (Undead #1)
by Kirsty McKay

Expected publication: September 1st 2012 by Scholastic Inc.

Out of sight, out of their minds: It's a school-trip splatter fest and completely not cool when the other kids in her class go all braindead on new girl Bobby.

The day of the ski trip, when the bus comes to a stop at a roadside restaurant, everyone gets off and heads in for lunch. Everyone, that is, except Bobby, the new girl, who stays behind with rebel-without-a-clue Smitty.

Then hours pass. Snow piles up. Sun goes down. Bobby and Smitty start to flirt. Start to stress. Till finally they see the other kids stumbling back.

But they've changed. And not in a good way. Straight up, they're zombies. So the wheels on the bus better go round and round freakin' fast, because that's the only thing keeping Bobby and Smitty from becoming their classmates' next meal. It's kill or be killed in these hunger games, heads are gonna roll, and homework is most definitely gonna be late.

Combining the chill of THE SHINING, the thrill ride of SPEED, the humor of SHAUN OF THE DEAD, and the angst of THE BREAKFAST CLUB, Kirsty McKay's UNDEAD is a bloody mad mash-up, a school-trip splatter-fest, a funny, gory, frighteningly good debut!

Genre: Young Adult, Zombies

Publication Date: September 1st 2012

Publisher: Scholastic

Format: eARC, 272 pages 

Series: yes

Source: Netgalley

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My Review

First line: I would rather die than face them all again.

Last line: "We need to get off this bus - now!"

Favorite quote: "Zombie parkour. Don't think that's been done before. Better film this, Alice, it could go viral."

Bobby is on the School Trip from Hell. She was born in the UK, but thanks to her mother's job they had to move to the US. Now, she's back the UK again. On a skiing trip to Scotland before the start of the new school year. The thing is, everyone is making fun of her 'hybrid' accent. She, herself, needs to police her lingo, always trying to sound as properly british as possible. She's also avoiding every single one of her new school mates, because they are all so annoying to new kids, especially ex-american ones, and he really just wants to kick those losers' butts. I mean, their bums. 

That's why she was the only inside the bus when everyone got off to venture the snow storm and eat something at the café by the road. Well, her, the driver and Rob Smitty, rebel without a pause. And hottie. Their teacher forbade him from leaving the bus after he got caught bying booze and cigs with a fake ID. So they were the only ones who didn't get to taste the nice free samples of Carrot Juice, being given away by a man in a carrot costume. And so they didn't see what happened to those who did, inside the café. Until a bloody hand hit one of the bus' windows and the driver went outside to check it out... and the proverbial sh*t started to hit the fan.

Now it's Bobby, the 'freak hybrid', Smitty, the smartass bad boy, Alice, the annoying b*tch--I mean, popular brainless girl and Pete, the cowardly, brainy weirdo. It's just them. Against a whole lot of Zs.

As they try to stay alive and survive constant zombie attacks (and quite a few dangerous humans, too), they also need to learn to deal with each other while trying to find shelter and a way to contact someone. But things aren't really looking good... and little do they know, they just might get worse. And personal.

I LOVED this book!!! There was never ONE boring moment! I mean it, the whole thing was, well... words fail me right now, so I'll just have to go with AWEEEEEESOME! ;P

Those zombies really went all-out! Kirsty McKay got them doing some pretty interesting stuff. Brand new, too. Same goes for the surviving group of teenage humans. Those guys actually managed to survive while NOT working as group or even really caring about each other much (it was pretty realistic, if you start thinking about it. People are selfish. Especially in difficult situations), with a small romantic exception, of course (which worked great, if you ask me!). So...

Oh, and, man!! That miraculous bus driving through a snow storm on an empty tank? WOW! And the hidden dungeon/booze/dumbwaiter inside that Scotland castle? Mah Lawd!

Hey, did I mention the cellphone actually working when they were almost -literally- fried? Yowtch.

Also, the zombies walking UNDER the iced-over loch? SU-weeeet! O.O

I laughed so hard with this book. Almost during the whole thing. It also made me slightly nauseated at times, which makes sense in a zombie book. ;P Oh, and my heart went all a-flutter during a couple of cute scenes, too, which is always a good thing. And I so, SO wanted Alice and Pete to die... but, oh, well. There's always the next book, huh? :D And let me tell you how glad that makes me! I'm dying and un-dying (no pun intended) to read what happens next! Like, I need it right now! OR I'LL GET YOUR BRAINS, Miss McKay!!

LOL.

(that's the last one, I promise)

Hey, you! Yeah, you. Go and pre-order this baby right away!! Thou shall not regret this, my friend.

* I received an eARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.*

Early Review: Monument 14 by Emmy Laybourne

Monument 14

by Emmy Laybourne

Expected publication: June 5th 2012 by Feiwel & Friends

Fourteen kids. One superstore. A million things that go wrong.

A huge store isn’t the worst place to be stranded. There’s food and water, bedding and books. But what if it’s not safe to leave? Emmy Laybourne had us from the get-go with her utterly fresh and fast-paced debut.

Six high school kids (some popular, some not), two eighth graders (one a tech genius), and six little kids are trapped together in a chain superstore. Together they build a refuge for themselves inside, while outside, a series of escalating disasters, beginning with a monster hailstorm and ending with a chemical weapon spill, seems to be tearing the world—as they know it—apart.

Genre: Young Adult, Dystopia

Publication Date: June 5th 2012

Publisher: Feiwel & Friends

Format: eARC, 294 pages 

Series: no

Source: Netgalley

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My review

Dean and his brother Alex are late for the bus. And as they run for it, they can never imagine this might be the last time they'll see their parents. On the way to school a terrible hail storm hits the city. But this isn't ordinary hail. These are enormous balls, heavy enough to start breaking the windows and making dents in the roof of the school buses. The students are hurt and there a couple of casualties, but eventualy they end up in the momentary safety of the inside of a superstore. There are kids from fifth grade to high school seniors. And they have to fend for themselves until help comes. If it ever will.

Inside the store are fourteen people: Dean, who is in love with super athlete Astrid, whom is dating Jake, the hot jock. Niko, the boy scout, likes Josie, the girl with a serious head concussion who eventually gets better and hooks up with Brayden, the jerk. And then there is Sahalia, the thirteen year-old that wants to be a grown-up and Alex, the pre-adolescent tech genious. And the six little kids who all want their momies. 

The Network, which has never gone down, is not working. So there is no contact with the outside world. Their only source of information from the outside comes from an old slim TV, that is considered completely outdated, but, unlike everything else, works without The Network. That's how they discover that there's been an 8.2 earthquake, the biggest volcano eruption and tsunami ever documented and, if that wasn't bad enough, that there has been a leak of chemical warfare compounds from NORAD. A chemical leak that forms a very thick cloud all over the city and, if inhaled, causes different reactions depending on the blood type of the individual. Blood type O can become bloodthirsty, losing their minds and killing anything in sight.  Blood type A can have blisters all over their bodies, which can make them hemorrhage to death. Blood type AB can hallucinate and blood type B can have no reactions on the outside at all, but become sterile.

After a few days go by and they start to accept that maube nobody is coming, the teens begin to argue about who is in charge and who makes the decisions. Should they enjoy their days and play and have fun with all the store has available? Or should they organize everything, calcute how long their provisions will last, control the electric power to last longer, etc? It was fascinating to see them react to the problems that kept coming up and find the solutions. To see them deal with the issues at hand, see them deal with the very difficult small kids and with each other. 

The book showed some kinds of situations you never even imagine can ever happen, so it's good to know what is possible to do with the items at hand and how to act if certain circumstances ever come up. It may be fiction, but, however unlikely, not everything there is impossible.

I really, really enjoyed the book as a whole. There was never a dull moment, everything that happened was exciting and surprising and intriguing and made you want more and more and more... but the ending was SO very frustrating. I wish there was an epilogue or something, so we know what really happens, how it really ends. From the first sentence I knew I would really enjoy this book. And I wasn't wrong. But even though I was seriously stirred up by the plot and the characters and everything, I just wasn't satisfied with the ending at all. But I really recommend it!! Monument 14 is amazingly creative, absurdly engaging.

If you like post-apocalyptic and dystopian YAs with a strong survival theme, some romance and drama thrown in the mix, you'll really enjoy Monument 14.

* I received an eARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.*

Review: Tomorrow Land by Mari Mancusi

 

Tomorrow Land
by Mari Mancusi

Published March 8th 2012 by NLA Digital

Can true love survive the end of the world?

Imagine finding your first love, only to be ripped apart by the apocalypse. Peyton Anderson will never forget the day she was forced to make a choice--between her family--and Chris Parker, the boy she'd given her heart. Now, four years later, as she steps from the fallout shelter and into a dead and broken world, he's the only thing on her mind.

All Chris "Chase" Parker wanted was to take Peyton away and keep her safe from harm. But he waited for hours in the rain on judgment day and she never showed--breaking his heart without ever telling him why.

Now the two of them have been thrown together once again, reluctant chaperones to a group of orphan children in a post-apocalyptic world where the dead still walk...and feed. As they begin their pilgramage to the last human outpost on Earth, can they find a way to let go of old hurts and find the love they lost--all while attempting to save what's left of the human race?

Genre: Young Adult, Dystopia

Publication Date: March 8th 2012

Publisher: NLA Digital

Format: eARC, ? pages 

Series: no

Source: Netgalley

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My Review

It's the year of 2030, and fifteen-year-old Peyton Anderson wouldn't go out with Chris Parker if he was the last guy on Earth. She's also not very happy about her crackpot of a father, who will tell anyone who'll listen about how The End of Days is coming soon and how dangerous the government is. Oh, and he won't let her have any of the advanced  technology that everybody else has because he's so afraid the government might be monitoring them. And he most certainly won't allow her to get her LTF, a License to Fu--, well, you get the idea. Its real name is the Copulation Conditional and nobody can have sex without this license, and it's only given to those who have taken their AIDS vaccine. But, like with everything else, her father doesn't trust this vaccine... and this time his craziness just might be right.

All of a sudden people start falling sick. First it's just a few isolated cases, quickly covered by the government... but then the disease starts to quickly spread. The first sign of Super Flu is people coughing blood. After that they might die...or not. If they don't die, they become 'zombies'. At the beginning it only happens to those who have taken the AIDS vaccine, that is, all the adults and a handful of teens. But then the virus seems to evolve, becoming airborne. And that's when 'The End of Days' Dr.Anderson has been talking about all this time really makes an appearance.

Peyton is slowly starting to warm up to Chris, she might even be falling in love, but the evident Apocalypse threatens to separate them. Chris and a few other kids decided to run to the mountains to scape the disease and 'the Others' (zombies), and Peyton had every plan to go with them... but after being experienced on and cybernetically enhanced by her father, she is forced to enter an underground shelter, equipped with every necessary provisions, with her mother. Her father assures her it would open in four years, after which she would have one mission. To find her father and save the world.

It's 2034 and the world is a very different place. Peyton is a very different person. She doesn't know what has been happening these last four years, who has survived and who hasn't... the only thing she does know is that she must join her father in California. To be more exact, she needs to go to DisneyWorld. That's where he told her a group of his scientists friends would be, working on a cure. So that's where she's going... until she meets him again. Chris Parker, who might as well be the last guy on Earth.

I expected Tomorrow Land to have a completely different story... and to be much better. Honestly, Peyton sort of pissed me off AND confused me. One moment she's saying how much she can't stand Chris and how he has been stalking her since they were kids and all... and the next she just can't believe how great a guy he is and oh, she just might be falling for him. Seriously, it all changed radically in just a matter of a few days. Sorry, but I couldn't swallow that. 

And when they were finally reunited four years later, things still didn't go very smoothly with me.  Or with them. There was waaaaay too much drama. Oh, she stood me up four years ago, I can't just forgive her. Oh, I can't explain to him why I stood him up four years ago, so I'll just be cold. Oh, I need to be strong, so I'll ignore her and push her away. Oh, I need to save the world and be on my own, so I'll just ignore him and push him away. Oh, he's a lying junky, I can't trust him. Oh, she just won't trust me, so I'll give up on her. Oh, I've been bitten by a zombie, so I'll be cold and push her away yet again for no apparent reason. Jeez! Drama much?? O.o I was like: WAKE UP, you two losers! It's the freaking end of the world, you have half a dozen kids to take care of (kids that are not well explained or well utilized as they should), tons os zombies to kill and hundreds of miles to cover til Florida, and all they can think of is stupid reasons not to be together. Either just break up or not. It was like the zombies were getting smarter and the main characters were getting more stupid...

The book felt like it was too long and it dragged quite a bit. It seems to me like there were lots of unnecessary things and pages and many issues that could have been better developed. The ending, by itself, wasn't surprising. But its abruptness was. The whole thing was very brusque. Too much description, not enough action. I believe the whole 'phantom city with zombie fights' could have been completely deleted to make room for a more decent ending.

But even with all those many things that bothered me, I still couldn't put the book down. I read the whole thing, because I really wanted to see what would happen. Strange, but true. I guess that's why there are so many 5 star reviews of it.

If you like apocalyptic YAs with lots of zombies and difficult romances, then you might enjoy Tomorrow Land. 

* I received an eARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.*