Incarceron -Catherine Fisher - Nov 2011-Jan 2012

Also a movie in 2013 with Twilights wolf-Taylor Lautner- but seriously the book made me unhappy.

Finn lives in Incarceron a prison made out of valleys, cities, forests and endless paths with no end to an exit. Incarceron has a mighty eye and is a living organism: always watching and even recycling its material to sustain population and growth of the place.

Outside the prison the Warden's daughter Claudia, always secluded and destined to marry the prince of the land after a betrothal agreed by her father and the mighty Queen. She is stubborn to find where the prison is since only the Warden knows its workings and whereabouts.

So the chase begins when a key is found with a replica inside the prison and the two heroes begin their unraveling of their past and secrets that had been witheld.

The world of Incarceron is extraordinary where the prison recycles everything, the history that it was a utopia at first where the human race would survive (at first it wasnt meant to be a prison but a safe haven!!But the story telling of the within-the-prison adventures was a bit extent without any reason. Finn's 'brother' at arms seems to have more to offer as a character and now that i think of it, more of the 'extra' that tired me were linked to enhance their relationship-which didnt work out in the end as I thought nothing of the brother.

Matched

Well, I was looking forward to this book because of its plot - sci fi / different view of reality. Well, I also chose to 'read' it in audiobook. So 2 strikes- the book is a copy of 1984 without the political aspects and the teenage drama exceeding the cuteness of it all. Plus, the audiobook read by .. well I don't know but she is a slow one!!!9 hours!!!for 380 pages!geezz - and so it took me a week to 'read' it. So as for the blue pill, the green and the red - seriously try to work it better:

the blue is a nutrition pill, the green a relaxation pill and the red a forget the last 12 hours pill. Every citizen has to carry all three in a box in case they are ordered to take any. But seriously every time they are ordered can't they just give them then???the green is taken by choice and limited to 1 per week...

I only liked Kay- he was smart but played the games and lost, was mediocre at work and knew alot but never talked, he was wise. I also liked the name Cassia -cashews anyone?:P

Graceling

A fantasy novel of another world all together!No scifi, no distant future, just imagination!But Katsa has so many common features with Katniss. She is a survivor as well!

I adore the theme of the Graced - one eye different color of the other shown up a while after birth, when graced owned by the king till the grace shows and see if the king can use it. Amazing concept with alot of conformity to logic.

Also, it is kind of relaxing not having to worry about cams, police and the over-civilized world where everyone knows everything. This book's setting is 7 kingdoms, where forests, mountains and valleys supplying Katsa with alot of time with Po in their travels.

I believe I was getting anxious just to forsee any problems the main character may have in case the author let it show as a mistake and then make them pay for it. Like when you see the holes and hints the director gives you in a movie and you kinda figure out the ending from the first 30 minutes....

Ba-bye Tally Youngblood

The protagonist is not Tally in this book, it is Aya, she is japanese from what I gather - bows when greeting, a thousand oregamy hand-made when a girl turns thirteen and eventually when she meets Tally on the second half of the book she switches to english. Scott did an amazing job - keeping the nice qualities that Tally's character had and giving them to Aya's way of story-telling and protraying everything. But at some point after they meet and collaborate Aya goes off on her own and after some revelations on the plot she seeks Tally out from some bombing-making activities and I saw that I missed knowing what Tally was up to!!!!
It seems I liked Tally alot but thanks to the Aya character it won't be so dificult to let her go!:)

Pretties, Scott Westerfeld

She is pretty, finally. But no of the reasons of anticipations of being pretty give rise in this book. They don't matter any more as more problems are to be dealt with. She has a boy friend, she has a clique to get voted into and then all goes wooshy as she is coming to her senses as 'bubbly'. Her best friend Shay is angry because she didn't get the cure, shan's her and becomes leader of her own colt the 'Cutters' who cut themselves to get a fraction of 'bubbly'. Then she goes 'Special' and eventually when captured she's the one to tell Tally she's going 'Special' as well.
Tally when escaping she ended up into a village of 'hommo sapiens' who live like savages, sleep all together in one hut and have no sense of privacy, literacy, or higene. Also, they have a rival tribe with whom they have a vendeta and kill one person from the rival in response to the previous kill the other tribe did. A vicious cirle that is produced and watched by anthopologists and neurologists to help develop the lenients on the brain that contain anger and vegence and from being 'bubbly'. This part did nothing for me and greatly hope that it will mean a great lot for the next book because its whole meaning ends up only to Tally's delay to the New Smoke by 2 weeks.
BO.

The Uglies

At first I thought it was gonna be a story about teenage drama and insecurities and it turned out a rebel against the Capitol kind of thing!I found it in the 'others buy' options at amazon when searching for the Hunger Games. The fact is that after the Hunger Games I was hungry for more Kantiss but no fourth book or anything and the closure had had to be satisfying-nothing was missing... Eventhough it sais in wikipedia that the love triangle between Katniss , Gale and Peeta remains unsolved but it does, quite quietly:P
So this book is exactly in the spirit of rebellion-with serious problems not just insecurities or puberty!But the only setback holding me back from flying through the story and shows some cracks is the abilities of the main character, Tally, to do alot of stuff out of nowhere with no disconfort. First she survives the wilderness, she accepts the limitations of the Smoke with no complaint, she accepts that Pretties also sustain brain damage in their transformation, she kicks ass and fights with almost no fear-the thoughts include only storytelling in the action scenes.
Still I'm up for the second book!cheers

The Hunger Games - Mockingjay

War, shootings, blood, bombings, fear, fire, politics and war.
“Are you preparing for another war, Plutarch?” I ask.

“Oh, not now. Now we’re in that sweet period where everyone agrees that our recent horrors should never be repeated,” he says. “But collective thinking is usually short-lived. We’re fickle, stupid beings with poor memories and a great gift for self-destruction. Although who knows? Maybe this will be it, Katniss.”

I the ending chapters I liked that phrase 'a great gift for self-destruction'. No matter the destruction to our planet, of each other, of our health, of our economies, of our intelligence and of course our humanity. People have accepted as normal sitting indoors all day in front of a box supplying a fraction of communication with other people. Knowledge is commonly known as boring. And most of all the gift of wisdom is more and more difficult to acquire.
As for Katniss, the pour girl lost her mind at least 3 times. I wonder how can I go berserk!? But that is the fundamental, I see her out of wits and I wonder how I can get to that so I can feel better about my self, for myself. Human beings need to lose in order to grow, to learn and earn wisdom in order to appreciate and accept their life's challenges. Why is that? Why can't we be a constant flow of positive energy that empowers us to be better?Not to overpower someone else but to succeed for our own fulfilment?
Where is this going?Geez..
I am tired of self-loathing and ready to self-appreciate but eventhough I know all the ground rules, I cannot seem to follow them. Is it because I don't want to deep down?nop I do, then what???