Quickie Review/Resenha Curta: Jogo da Velha / Noughts and Crosses - Malorie Blackman

Nossa... é impossível não se "contrapensar" ao ler este livro. Eu desafio os leitores a não sentir raiva e preconceito dos personagens... o enredo mexe muito com as nossas crenças, sentimentos, em especial este terrível preconceito contra a cor da pele. Pessoas que se consideram 'não-preconceituosas' irão se flagrar tendo pensamentos de ódio e racismo, seja contra sua própria cor ou a cor oposta da sua. é um assunto bem forte, com um 'lenço' de romance adolescente distópico por cima.

Oh, man... it's impossible not to find yourself being a bad person in your own head while reading this book. I challenge readers to not feel anger and prejudice against the characters... this plot sure messes with a lot of our beliefs, feelings, especially this terrible prejudice against skin color.
People who consider themselves 'non-judgmental' will have to put in some effort not to feel hate against their own color or the other. It's a book about a 'Romeo and Juliet' kind of couple, but it actually deals with a much bigger issue, that of color, injustice and racism in society, be it ours or a dystopic one.

Review: Glow by Amy Kathleen Ryan

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Fiquei muito surpresa com o tanto que gostei deste livro. Esse não é o tipo de coisa que prefiro ler, com temas futurísticos, de naves e tudo o mais, mas realmente foi cativante e envolvente. Depois que terminei, tive que sair na rua gritando para todo mundo comprar e ler, de tão bom e impressionante que achei! (Ok, eu forcei meus amigos a me escutarem falando sobre o livro por meia hora, e meio que os ameacei a lê-lo, mas não foi na rua e tals.) Adorei os temas feministas e bem atuais na nossa sociedade. Eu simplesmente amo distopia, e foi por isso que este livro foi direto para a minha estante de favoritos. 

Atualização: Já consegui fazer/forçar duas amigas e a minha mãe lerem Glow/Brilho, e elas amaram. Mais gente precisa ler. ;) É muito mais do que a sinopse descreve.

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16-year-old Kieran was the first child to be born abord the Empyrean (closely followed by Waverly, his probable wife-to-be), and was highly celebrated by a crew that went through so many hardships trying to find a way to cure the fertility problems they started to suffer in their journey to a new planet. That is why everyone assumes he'll be the next Captain. But his chance to prove himself worthy comes way sooner, and in a much more difficult package than he could ever have predicted.

The spaceship New Horizon should have been years ahead of the Empyrean, but for weeks now they have been getting closer and closer. The crew is alight with curiosity, but the Captain seems quite nervous. And with no lack of reason. The New Horizon is preparing to invade his ship and kidnap all the girls. And kill everyone that gets in their way (some of them more than deserved it -especially the MEN-, but it wasn't really the way to settle things, I guess). When it finally happens, all that are left are the boys, along with a handful of seriously injured adults. 

The kidnapping ship is filled with religious fanatics under the control of Reverend Mather, a woman with understandable reasons, but certainly not deserving of pity. Anne Mather is totally cuckoo. She wants the girls in order to harvest their eggs to impregnate the brainwashed women in her ship. Aaaand she wants to keep the 'egg factories' close by. For now, that is. (evil laugh). Until Waverly finds a way to take off with all the girls in search of their own ship. 

When the girls get there they are surprised (and THAT's putting it mildly) to discover that there were no adults in charge, and that the older boys (Kieran and -hottie-though-slightly-crazy- Seth) had fought a LOT for the power, with Kieran 'winning' in the end. Kieran struggled to find a way to keep the morale of many hopeless newly-made orphans in what was starting to look like a sinking (watch out for the pun!) ship, until he finally found a way to bring them together and restore their hope. With, ta-da! RELIGION. O.o

Waverly's head almost blows up (I could totally picture it) when she sees her beloved almost fiancee and last hope on Earth (uh, ship?) slowly becoming her worst nightmare: another Anne Mather. And Kieran is heart-broken when Waverly doesn't automatically 'digs' his newly found power of 'being the vessel of god and carrier of his will' and all that.

The book ends in a way that was sure to give me a few white hairs and now I can't write much more because I REALLY need to get my hands on a couple of Sparks, like pronto.

P.S.: I noticed tons of people did not like this book, but I particularly found it BRILLIANT. The author was just amazing and found a great way of introducing serious matters (rape, excess of male empowerment and female DISempowerment in a enclosed society -inside a freaking ship lost in the middle of space-, along with excessive religious views, power struggle, and sabotage) to young and mature audiences alike. Sure, maybe this wouldn't be perfect for 13 year-olds, but from 14 up it's one hell of a great book. 

Teens need to know there is evil in the world, and it's usually closer than you think. Power figures, people that should protect and take care of you CAN, in fact, turn out to be the enemy. DUH! Watch out, girls. Men aren't always trustworthy and you should learn it as soon as you can. Oh, and old ladies that look all nice and comfy? Well, they can turn out to be crazy religious bitches who will 'surgically' rape to steal your eggs and shoot you if you try to run from them, but she still totally loves you and wants you safe. In her crutches, but safe. O.o Okay, maybe not the second part (you never know, tho), but the first is a fair warning. 

Remember Red Riding Hood? Now imagine the wolf is a member of your family or your neighbor. Keep your eyes open, don't show weaknesses. They might be a predator. Aaaand enough with this, jeez. This was supposed to be a book review, not a speech on rape awareness. But I do ADMIRE Amy a hell of a lot for putting the word out there in a more constructive way than usual.

This book is amazing, don't let the low ratings fool you. Give it a try and let me know. ;)

Review: Across the Universe by Beth Revis

Across the Universe (Across the Universe #1)
by Beth Revis

A love out of time. A spaceship built of secrets and murder.

Seventeen-year-old Amy joins her parents as frozen cargo aboard the vast spaceship Godspeed and expects to awaken on a new planet, three hundred years in the future. Never could she have known that her frozen slumber would come to an end fifty years too soon and that she would be thrust into the brave new world of a spaceship that lives by its own rules.

Amy quickly realizes that her awakening was no mere computer malfunction. Someone-one of the few thousand inhabitants of the spaceship-tried to kill her. And if Amy doesn't do something soon, her parents will be next.

Now Amy must race to unlock Godspeed's hidden secrets. But out of her list of murder suspects, there's only one who matters: Elder, the future leader of the ship and the love she could never have seen coming.

Genre: Young Adult, Dystopia

Publication Date: Jan 11th 2011

Publisher: Razorbill

Format: Hardcover, 398 pages 

Series: yes

Source: my own copy

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My Review

I feel to need to start this review by stating that I am NOT a very big fan of Sci-Fi, and so it took me a while to pick this particular book up. And I only did so because of the slight dystopian flavor to it. 

Sure, most of the Sci-Fi aspects of it (the descriptions of the ship and its engines, the technicalities and the physics of the thing) were, well... skimmed over quite quickly, I'll admit it. LOL. I also skimmed over the parts in which Amy was asleep and kept dreaming of the past. All those things were not of my interest at all. I only cared for what happened IN the ship. And THAT was pure awesomeness.

The mysteries, the weirdness, the beliefs of the people aborad the ship Godspeed were fascinating to me. I I read the whole thing in one afternoon. And the hardcover edition is anything but light. XD

The romance was there, sure, but it wasn't the center of attention. And that was just fine. The most important thing in Across the Universe is not Amy and Elder getting together, but what they DISCOVER and decide to CHANGE together. That is what it's all about. 

I could not believe some of the things Eldest dared to do, and hid from everyone. Most of them, sure, I saw coming from a mile away (the 'Season' and 'Phydus'), but others (the false stars, the uranium)... wow. I could not have predicted those. And I so love being surprised. *-*

All in all, I am so glad to have given this baby a shot. Oh, and make sure to check my review of Glow, to be posted next week. I started it the minute I closed Across the Universe, and though they may be somewhat similar, they are, in fact, VERY DIFFERENT. And Glow was just as awesome, I assure you! But in a creepier way. ;P

Mini-Review: Crossed (Matched #2) by Ally Condie

Crossed (Matched #2)
by Ally Condie

Published March 12th 2013 by Speak

In search of a future that may not exist and faced with the decision of who to share it with, Cassia journeys to the Outer Provinces in pursuit of Ky - taken by the Society to his certain death - only to find that he has escaped, leaving a series of clues in his wake. Cassia's quest leads her to question much of what she holds dear, even as she finds glimmers of a different life across the border. But as Cassia nears resolve and certainty about her future with Ky, an invitation for rebellion, an unexpected betrayal, and a surprise visit from Xander - who may hold the key to the uprising and, still, to Cassia's heart - change the game once again. Nothing is as expected on the edge of Society, where crosses and double crosses make the path more twisted than ever.

Genre: Young Adult, Dystopia

Publication Date: Nov 1st 2011

Publisher: Dutton Children's

Format: Hardcover, 368 pages 

Series: yup

Source: my own TBR

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It's funny that even though I don't LOVE the writing in this series that much, I still can't NOT read it. That is one cool plot. And there is finally some action here. And some development of the characters.

Let's get this show on the road:

Don't you love these covers? It's so cool that they sort of tell a story on their own, daring you to pick the book up and go find out more about it. Aaaanyway. It took me a while to read Crossed, but it was so very worth my time! It had ALL the things I always expect to see in my dystopian books! People running from crazy government employees, having to find food, water and shelter, suffering, dying (I'm a bit twisted in the head, in case you didn't already notice), only to prepare themselves to take revenge and save society from an insane, controlling world! Or maybe blowing everything to pieces and go away in order to start over somewhere else. Heh. *-* Su-weet!! Right? And that is me being slightly sadistic, though honest in my book-needs.

My point is that Crossed was quite capable of delivering most of my wants (and I so need a copy of Reached!). Cassia was stronger and more determined than ever. Ky let us take a longer look into his heart, and became more lovable and complex and vulnerable because of it. It was an amazing thing to see (read?). And Ally kept things very fresh for us, changing POVs, making the characters GROW as we watched them. Lovely!

A lot happens in a very short period of time in this book, and so much changes! It felt more like a longer novella than an actual book in the series, but it was still enjoyable to see more into the trading world of Archivists, the Rebels and Xavier's secrets. 

Now, where's my copy of Reached?

Mini-Review: The Selection by Kiera Cass

The Selection (The Selection #1)
by Kiera Cass

Published April 24th 2012 by HarperTeen

For thirty-five girls, the Selection is the chance of a lifetime. The opportunity to escape the life laid out for them since birth. To be swept up in a world of glittering gowns and priceless jewels. To live in a palace and compete for the heart of gorgeous Prince Maxon.

But for America Singer, being Selected is a nightmare. It means turning her back on her secret love with Aspen, who is a caste below her. Leaving her home to enter a fierce competition for a crown she doesn't want. Living in a palace that is constantly threatened by violent rebel attacks.

Then America meets Prince Maxon. Gradually, she starts to question all the plans she's made for herself--and realizes that the life she's always dreamed of may not compare to a future she never imagined.

Genre: Young Adult, Dystopia

Publication Date: April 24th, 2012

Publisher: HarperTeen

Format: e-book, 327 pages 

Series: yup

Source: My Kindle

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My Review

Oh, man. Will you just look at that cover? I LOVE blue. And it's just so... so... pretty and blue. LOL. And it's a dystopian book! *-* Wow, right? The blurb didn't really catch my attention, but that cover... I just had to read it.

So it took me while to get into the story and warm up to America Singer (Really? That's her name? REALLY?) and her life. Thankfully, things quickly started to fall into palce and settings and situations were better explained and I just started going bananas over her (very unnerving) world and its weird laws.

The plot had this very 'TV Show' vibe to it (which, of course, it sort of was), and America was almost always such an annoying Goody Two-Shoes, which bothered me a lot. However, the love triangle was pure awesome sauce. I gobbled the whole Aspen/America/Maxon thing up and was left wanting MORE.

To me their romance was such an emotional roller-coaster! As soon as Aspen appeared in the book I instantly wished I had him for myself, and then BAM, he goes and breaks my America's heart like that! Literally heart-wrenching, you guys. My chest really sort of hurt. Okay, enough drama.

I got so lost into the story that when it was over I was like 'That's it?'. I forgot to check beforehand if it was part of a series, so it was a bit of a let down to be left hanging like that... but that's the idea, I suppose.

After a lukewarm start, The Selection sucked me in and wouldn't let me go. The story stayed in my mind for hours after I was done, which is kind of rare in my case. But not bad. Not bad at all.

(sort of spoiler ahead)

However, I believe there won't be many difficulties for America to choose. Okay, scratch that, there will be a LOT of drama. What I meant to say was: she just needs to make a decision, because either way all her problems are solved. Aspen, who was from a lowly caste, became part of the Castle's guard. He is now a Caste 2 or 3, if I'm not mistaken. And as America joined the competition, she instantly became a 2. If she chooses him, they'll both be part of the higher castes, which meand their families will also be high castes, and they will never go hungry again. Happy ending. And if she chooses Maxon and becames a freaking princess, she'll be super high Caste and, ditto here, everybody lives happily ever after. That is, Aspen not included. LOL. Oh, and there will be the super plus that she'll be able to make an actual difference when ruling, helping out the lower castes or, who knows, maybe even bringing an end to all that nonsense. But let's slow down here.

The Selection is much better than I expected and I can't wait for the next book. :)

Review: Eve (Eve #1) by Anna Carey

Eve (Eve #1)
by Anna Carey

Published December 1st 2011 by HarperCollins

Where do you go when nowhere is safe?

After a deadly virus wiped out most of Earth's population, the world is a terrifying place.

Eighteen-year-old Eve has never been beyond the heavily guarded perimeter of her school, where she and two hundred other orphaned girls have been promised a bright future in The New America. But the night before graduation, Eve learns the shocking truth about her school's real purpose--and the horrifying fate that awaits her.

Fleeing the only home she's ever known, Eve sets off on a long, treacherous journey, searching for a place she can survive. Along the way she encounters Caleb, a rough, rebellious boy living in the wild. Caleb slowly wins her trust . . . and her heart. But when soldiers begin hunting them, Eve must choose between true love and her life.

Genre: Young Adult, Dystopia

Publication Date: December 1st 2011

Publisher:  HarperTeen

Format: paperback, 318 pages 

Series: yes

Source: my own copy

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When I first started reading Eve, I had no idea what it was about. I had just reached over to my pile of unread books and it was sitting there, so I grabbed it.

It's not 'Oh, my, this is fantastic, everybody should read this before they die, here's a copy', but it is a good, intense read. A little silly and slow at times, sure, (I mean, this IS YA), but the whole post-apocalyptical situation is so terrifying and aggravating, Eve's world so indignant, and the action scenes so... 'heart-racing', that it becomes well balanced. :)

I'm strange about the books I keep and the ones I trade, but this one... well, this one I'll keep. It's not a 5 stars book on the whole, mind you, but for a few excellent scenes... it gets very close to it. I get the feeling Anna Carey could do so much better, but that maybe she held back sometimes because she wanted it to become a YA book... her violent scenes are so... no-nonsense and clear and disgustingly real, they're blood-curdling in their simplicity. I think she would make an AMAZING Adult writer. Really. Here's hoping, right?

That scene with the pregnant students tied down... yeesh. >.< *shudders* It still resurfaces in my mind randomly. And I've read it over a month ago. O.o I can also still recall the almost-rape scene... the yellowish color of the evil man's teeth... how sweet the the orphan boys were. You see? It's about the little things, the very well-written few parts that suck you in! But there can't be that many of those, because it's supposed to be for young audiences... and, really, JUST 318 pages? I though this kind of books normally could go up to 368 pages, or am I wrong? I am aware this is a series, however, I feel the story could have been slightly improved in those 50 more possible pages... 

The romance was cute and light, not insta-love, which is a certain plus... friendship was also nicely dealt with in Eve, and so was jealousy and betrayal. I can't wait to read Once and Rise. I am really looking forward to learning more about this weird, evil King that forces young girls to study for years straight only to tie them down and get them pregnant until they die of exhaustion and/or childbirth. I mean, seriously? How freaking mean and black-hearted can you possibly be? If you only want them as 'sows' for reproduction, why make them study so hard and hope for the future so bad? Like that'll make better babies! ... Or maybe he does it so they'll have something to occupy their brilliant minds with while they're tied down and knocked-up for the twentieth time, so they won't break so quickly? I don't know.... >.> Like I said, Carey is the boss here. ;P

Have you read Eve? What did you enjoy the most about it? If you haven't read it, do you feel like reading it?

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.

Review: Partials (Partials #1) by Dan Wells

Partials (Partials #1)

by Dan Wells

Published: February 28th 2012 by Balzer + Bray

The human race is all but extinct after a war with Partials—engineered organic beings identical to humans—has decimated the population. Reduced to tens of thousands by RM, a weaponized virus to which only a fraction of humanity is immune, the survivors in North America have huddled together on Long Island while the Partials have mysteriously retreated. The threat of the Partials is still imminent, but worse, no baby has been born immune to RM in more than a decade. Our time is running out.

Kira, a sixteen-year-old medic in training, is on the front lines of this battle, seeing RM ravage the community while mandatory pregnancy laws threaten to launch what’s left of humanity into civil war, and she’s not content to stand by and watch. But as she makes a desperate decision to save the last of her race, she will discover that the survival of humans and Partials alike rests in her attempts to uncover the connections between them—connections that humanity has forgotten, or perhaps never even knew were there.

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My Review

It is the year of 2076. Sixteen-year-old Kira Walker works gathering data from dead human babies in order to help researchers find a cure for the deadly virus RM that killed most of the human race during the Break.

The Senate controls everything and everyone and has approved the Hope Act, which makes it obligatory for every fertile female to start breeding from the age of eighteen. They hope that the more babies are born, the bigger the chances one of them will survive longer than three days, becoming somehow immune to the RM.

When there is talk about the Senate wanting to drop the pregnancy age to sixteen, the Voice of People (a group of terrorists that disagree with the breach of human rights that is the Hope Act and all the intense control the Senate inflicts on people) start to attack the perimeter of the city, burning things and killing innocents

But even an even worse threat than the Voice are the Partials. Machines with human DNA built to be stronger and faster, made to protect the humans and fight for them during war times... until they turned against their makers and released the RM virus on all mankind.

Kira is tired of seeing babies die and mothers suffer from their yearly losses. So she decides to look for a cure herself. There are great amounts of data on how the virus works in the infants it infects, but not much in how the survivors became immune to it. After a lot of researching, she comes to the conclusion that the ones who created the virus should have the cure in their blood. Kira gathers all her most trustworthy friends and asks them for help with capturing a Partial for study. After a lot of debate and hesitation, they have it all planned out, but the Partials are so much more powerful than they could have imagined, and only with much luck do they get one as a prisoner... just so the soldiers of the Senate can have him killed. But the Partial is saved by the bell. The senators decide they want to 'interview'

Kira intervenes and is allowed to study him for five days, on the agreement that afterwards the specimen is to be exterminated. The Partial, Samm, turns out to be brighter, more complex and more human than she was led to believe. He may also carry the secret to cure the virus. A virus he insists his kind did not create. Samm starts to make Kira doubt everything she's ever been taught. He also needs her help. Their only hope, for either of them, is to work together.

Sometimes your enemies aren't as bad as you were led to believe... and your heroes aren't nearly as good as they claim to be.

Partials was just pure action, packed with a whole lot of tension, drama and polemic issues. Teenagers being forced to breed like cattle for the survival of the species, a government controlling every single breath you take, hiding and distorting every piece of information to keep you under their thumbs, machines that are also part human...

You won't regret it. I bet my firstborn on it. Well....maybe. LOL. Seriously, you'll love it. When I first saw that cover, I just knew I had to read it. The synopsis almost blew my head off, it sounded so good. I'm glad it delivered everything it promised and more!! I devoured the whole thing in one afternoon, in one sitting. I just wish I had the next volume in my hands already. Oh, the waiting!!! Dan Wells, will you hurry up, pretty please? *-* (BTW, a love triangle with Samm really wouldn't hurt, now, would it? ;))

If you like creative, fast-paced Young Adult books with science fiction,post Apocalyptic and dystopian themes, GO FOR IT. If you don't, just read it, anyway! Or you'll be missing out on a really awesome new series. ;P

Early Review: Yesterday by C.K. Kelly Martin

 

Yesterday
by C.K. Kelly Martin

Expected publication: September 25th 2012 by Random House, Inc

THEN: The formation of the UNA, the high threat of eco-terrorism, the mammoth rates of unemployment and subsequent escape into a world of virtual reality are things any student can read about in their 21st century textbooks and part of the normal background noise to Freya Kallas's life. Until that world starts to crumble.

NOW: It's 1985. Freya Kallas has just moved across the world and into a new life. On the outside, she fits in at her new high school, but Freya feels nothing but removed. Her mother blames it on the grief over her father's death, but how does that explain the headaches and why do her memories feel so foggy?

When Freya lays eyes on Garren Lowe, she can't get him out of her head. She's sure that she knows him, despite his insistence that they've never met. As Freya follows her instincts and pushes towards hidden truths, the two of them unveil a strange and dangerous world where their days may be numbered.

Unsure who to trust, Freya and Garren go on the run from powerful forces determined to tear them apart and keep them from discovering the truth about their shared pasts (and futures), her visions, and the time and place they really came from.

Genre: Young Adult, Dystopian

Publication Date: September 25th 2012

Publisher: Random House

Format: eARC, 368 pages 

Series: no

Source: Netgalley

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My Review

It's the year of 1985 and Freya Kallas has returned to Canada after her diplomat father died in an accident. Freya has been having very strange headaches all day and even stranger dreams at night. Her dreams feel more real to her than her real life does. Almost everything she experiences feel like it's happening for the first time, and that her other memories are quite... not memorable. It's almost as if they are fake memories. Her sister doesn't feel like her sister. She can see and feel things before they happen. Her life doesn't feel like her own. But how? Why?

When she sees a very familiar guy walking on the street she decides to follow him and try to discover why she feels so deeply like she knows him. Garren Lowe doesn't recognize her and thinks she's completely insane, but when they start to find many strange things in common between them, they agree that something must up. Something very big.

And when they start asking too many questions, the men in black with weapons come for them. Suddenly Freya and Garren are on the run, and they can't trust anyone but themselves. A visit to a hypnotist uncovers much more than they could ever have imagined. They came from the future. A future where technology controls everything and everyone and  ecoterrorism is a great threat to citizens. But why were they sent to the past? And why are people trying so hard to erase that knowledge form their minds?

Weeeell....That has got to be one of the most boring books I have ever read. I was bored out of my mind. It was a struggle not to just put it down. The heroine is absolutely soulless and uninteresting. Things go veeeeery slow, nothing is ever said or explained about the situation, and not much happens at all until the very middle of the book. >.> Everything is do dull. I was expecting a nice, crazy future in a dystopian society, but we see nothing of it until we're over halfway through the book. And even then, we don't see this world. We're just told about them. 

Gah, it really pisses me off when authors do that. I can't even begin to express how much. DON'T TELL, SHOW! This book could have been so much better. Better planned and executed. But the way it is now... it's just a waste of pages. Really, I couldn't bring myself to care about Freya at all. Not even for one moment. I wanted to know what happened, why things changed so much after that very strange prologue and confusing first chapters... but you have to survive over 200 pages until things start to get even remotely interesting. It's exasperating. 

I have to say, that dark, creepy cover and intense blurb really fooled me. I felt like I found the wrong book inside of that cool cover.

If you like slow books that build-up, not very active characters and don't mind being told about what happens instead of seeing it, then you should give Yesterday a chance. The futuristic dystopian world was quite interesting.

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

Early Review: Defiance by C.J. Redwine

Defiance (Defiance #1)
by C.J. Redwine

Expected publication: August 28th 2012 by Balzer + Bray

Within the walls of Baalboden, beneath the shadow of the city’s brutal leader, Rachel Adams has a secret. While other girls sew dresses, host dinner parties, and obey their male Protectors, Rachel knows how to survive in the wilderness and deftly wield a sword. When her father, Jared, fails to return from a courier mission and is declared dead, the Commander assigns Rachel a new Protector, her father’s apprentice, Logan—the same boy Rachel declared her love for two years ago, and the same boy who handed her heart right back to her. Left with nothing but fierce belief in her father’s survival, Rachel decides to escape and find him herself. But treason against the Commander carries a heavy price, and what awaits her in the Wasteland could destroy her.

At nineteen, Logan McEntire is many things. Orphan. Outcast. Inventor. As apprentice to the city’s top courier, Logan is focused on learning his trade so he can escape the tyranny of Baalboden. But his plan never included being responsible for his mentor’s impulsive daughter. Logan is determined to protect her, but when his escape plan goes wrong and Rachel pays the price, he realizes he has more at stake than disappointing Jared.

As Rachel and Logan battle their way through the Wasteland, stalked by a monster that can’t be killed and an army of assassins out for blood, they discover romance, heartbreak, and a truth that will incite a war decades in the making.

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy

Publication Date: August 28th 2012

Publisher: Balzer + Bray

Format: eARC, 416 pages 

Series: yes

Source: Edelweiss

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My Review

First line: The weight of their pity is like a stone tied about my neck.

Favorite quotes: "I never thought it was fair that anatomy decided what my brain was fit for."

"His knives are nice. Mine is better."

"Besides, what do I know about being a wife? There are much more important qualities to have than a docile disposition."

"I love how you still think if you tell me to do something, I'll just check my brain at the door and do it."

Sixteen year-old Rachel Adams is not like the other girls from Baalboden. She is not obedient, subservient and submissive. Nope, she can read,write, think, and, best of all, fight. But even though she's so special, it doesn't matter much, because, in the end, she still needs a male Protector to walk her to places and make any and all decisions for her. At least for show. And that was almost acceptable... until her father never came back from his last courier mission and was pronounced dead by the tyrant Commander... and his will required that cutie nineteen year-old Logan, his apprentice, and not sweet Oliver, her almost grandfather, would become her new Protector.

Rachel never quite forgave Logan for turning her down when she declared her undying love to him a year ago, so how can she ever go live with him as her Protector? Especially when she is certain her father can't be dead. Now she needs Logan's help to try and escape over the Wall and into the Wasteland, to look for him. But the Commander won't make things easy for them. He know her father had something important in his possession when he went missing. Something that can help strengthen his already very solid tyranny. Something that has to do with the Cursed Ones, terrible beasts that know only destruction and death.

Written with alternate POVs, Defiance is a lovely tale of adventure, action, mystery and budding romance. I love male POVs, so this was a real treat. Logan was such a great character. Smart, corageous, strong and confident, but at the same time, uncertain of his worth and of making the right decisions... in particular the ones involving his beautiful, innocent and stubborn new ward, Rachel. He needs to constantly save her from herself and her impulsive reactions, and, at the same time, think of how he can get her out of the wall safely and, also, find her father along with the highly sought-after mysterious package.

All the 'women are weak and need to shut up and stop thinking and just rely on their men, 'cause they know what's best for them' did annoy me quite a bit, but Rachel was always trying to rebel and show-off her strength, so that made things much better. Even if she could be a bit too reckless for my taste, sometimes. She had so much stress, sadness, anger and despair building up inside her... I almost could feel it, myself. She really grew during the book. She was forced to 'harden up' and do things that changed her forever, but she never strayed fom her path. Some people might not like their heroines with so much blood and vengeance and anger, but it fit her very well.  The romance wasn't thrown in there very often, but when it was... oh, man. Sparks flew. LOL.

There is just one thing that bothered me. Okay, I get it that it's very 'in' now to write series, but this is the kind of book that could have been a stand-alone. Everything could have been explained and wrapped up in one go... if only the author wanted to.  It was a good book, sure, but it irritated me a bit at the 'end'. This one really shouldn't have been made into a series. I liked it, but there's nothing that really makes me look forward to the next one. A lot has already been explained and what hasn't, I can certainly imagine. 

Anyway, if you like strong heroines, cute heroes and fast-paced books, then give this one a go! :D

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

Have you read Defiance? What did you think of it?