Book Six: Matched- Ally Condie

This book was a recommendation from Busy Bee Lauren, she posted about it on her blog and after checking out what the book was about I know that I HAD TO HAVE IT! I figured easy right... I work in a bookstore... nope not the case. Turned out that we were like the only store in the province not to have it, and since I'm dedicated to my store I didn't go anywhere else, I waited it out and eventually this book came in and I wasn't disappointed at all. Let's share what it's about already....

Book Info: taken from http://matched-book.com/info.html

In the Society, Officials decide. Who you love. Where you work. When you die.

Cassia has always trusted their choices. It’s hardly any price to pay for a long life, the perfect job, the ideal mate. So when her best friend appears on the Matching screen, Cassia knows with complete certainty that he is the one… until she sees another face flash for an instant before the screen fades to black. Now Cassia is faced with impossible choices: between Xander and Ky, between the only life she’s known and a path no one else has ever dared follow — between perfection and passion.

Seriously, doesn't this book sound so fantastic...

So I really enjoyed this book, and it is part of a series which excites me, and what excites me even more is that the next book in the series comes out in November of this year, but I'll get to that in a minute. So this book is along the same lines as Hunger Games and Maze Runner, a society in the future where things are ruled by a government. In this book those, things seem almost perfect, people seem to be happy with their way of life, they have all they need, jobs that are fit perfectly for them, enough food to keep them healthy, family and friends. They are even matched with the perfect person for them. BUT... things aren't as perfect as they seem, they never are right, and there are things in this society that you learn about that are just not right. Who would want their entire life planned out for them, right up to their death. It looks into these questions, and even more. It really makes you think. It also explores the question of who the perfect match for a person can be. I loved that it also considers the debate between what you do when your torn between two people that you love, one person who had been a lifelong BEST friend and seems to be a perfect fit and someone who is a friend, but unknown in so many ways to you, but that is someone you are drawn to... it's sooooo INTERESTING!!! Check it out for sure, you will fall in love with the characters, and really care what happens to them all. The question looms though... are you for Xander or Ky??

Don't continue reading if you have not read Matched yet, I don't want to give anything away and this next portion is about Book 2 Crossed.... Coming out November 2011...

The Next Cover...

It’s beautiful.

Perfect.

I love the way she has shattered the bubble and is breaking free. LOVE. It’s exactly what happens in this part of Cassia’s story.

And I love the color. (And yes, for those of you who asked, the green cover of MATCHED and the blue cover of CROSSED do represent the tablets, as well as other thematic elements in the books.)

http://www.allysoncondie.com/

The Next Story in the Series....

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.

http://www.thematcheddepartment.com/

eek... I am so excited and plan to buy it as soon as I can this fall!!

Book Five:The Reckoning- Kelley Armstrong

I'd been waiting to read this book for awhile. It's the end of a trilogy, and I needed to see what was going to happen. I was recommended the first book in this series by my friend and practicum teacher Michelle, she was reading the first one while I was in her classroom and she loaned it to me. I loved the book and was hooked on the series... sadly other books got in the way and prevented me from getting through the series as quickly as I would have liked to. The books in the series go in the following order, just in case you were wanting to check them out:

1-The Summoning

2- The Awakening

3- The Reckoning

If this is a book series you think you might be interested in reading, don't continue down. When I was looking on Kelley Armstrong's website she said that there is no way to summarize a book in a trilogy without giving something away from the previous books. I will tell you a few things about these books... they deal with the supernatural- let's see werewolves, witches, necromancers etc. They are teen fiction, and they don't have sexy scenes, so they are great for teens. It's an interesting story line that is filled with excitement... I found reading the first book that I did get a little creeped out at some points, but that could be because I am a big wimp, I was reading late at night and Brandon wasn't home. My imagination seems to run wild when I'm alone at home and can hear strange noises... okay back to The Reckoning...

The Reckoning

Same problem here as with The Awakening. In a trilogy, after the first book, it gets really hard to describe the next book without giving away serious spoilers. If you’ve read The Summoning and The Awakening, read the below description of The Reckoning. If you haven’t read the first two, don’t do it!

---

My name is Chloe Saunders. I’m fifteen, and I would love to be normal.

But normal is one thing I’m not.

For one thing, I’m having these feelings for a certain antisocial werewolf and his sweet-tempered brother–who just happens to be a sorcerer–but, between you and me, I’m leaning toward the werewolf.

Not normal.

My friends and I are also on the run from an evil corporation that wants to get rid of us…permanently.

Definitely not normal.

And finally, I’m a genetically altered necromancer who can raise the dead, rotting corpses and all, without even trying.

As far away from normal as it gets.

Taken from: http://www.kelleyarmstrong.com/the-reckoning/

I really enjoyed this series and specifically this book. The characters have a lot of thinking and trusting to do in this book, and you are always wondering if they are trusting the right people, it is quite suspenseful and exciting. There is a love story in here too which you could kind of suspect throughout the entire book but it was great to see if come front and centre in this book. I'd love to see these books made into a movie, I'd love to see who they choose as the characters and to see if they look like how I imagine them. The only thing that I would change is then ending... I wasn't satisfied with how it ended... I'm one who likes to have all my questions answered and they were not in this book. For the end of a series it didn't seem complete, doesn't mean that I don't love the books, I DO... but it almost seemed like they were leaving room for maybe more books to come. I'd for sure love to see what happens to these characters in the future! Maybe, just maybe I'll get my wish!! Check out another interesting trilogy

Book Four: The Scorch Trials- James Dashner

So I finished book four back in February. I spent a morning during February break in bed finishing this book and I was not disappointed at all. The only thing that made me sad was that the next book in the series isn't out yet.... blah I just hate waiting...before I keep going, let me share a summary of what this book is about....

Synopsis found on the Chapters Website... woo woo Chapters!!

Solving the Maze was supposed to be the end. No more puzzles. No more variables. And no more running. Thomas was sure that escape meant he and the Gladers would get their lives back. But no one really knew what sort of life they were going back to.

In the Maze, life was easy. They had food, and shelter, and safety . . . until Teresa triggered the end. In the world outside the Maze, however, the end was triggered long ago.

Burned by sun flares and baked by a new, brutal climate, the earth is a wasteland. Government has disintegrated-and with it, order-and now Cranks, people covered in festering wounds and driven to murderous insanity by the infectious disease known as the Flare, roam the crumbling cities hunting for their next victim . . . and meal.

The Gladers are far from finished with running. Instead of freedom, they find themselves faced with another trial. They must cross the Scorch, the most burned-out section of the world, and arrive at a safe haven in two weeks. And WICKED has made sure to adjust the variables and stack the odds against them.

Thomas can only wonder-does he hold the secret of freedom somewhere in his mind? Or will he forever be at the mercy of WICKED?

This book in the series definitely was just as exciting as The Maze Runner, just when you think Thomas can't face anymore, a whole new adventure begins. The characters are out in this changed world, facing everything that's our there from crazy weather to crazy people. There is doubt, fear, distrust, stress all wrapped up in this novel, but there is also excitement, love and friendship. It has a little bit of everything and you start to wonder what WICKED will do to them next. There are some new characters introduced in this book, which I liked a lot, I'm never sure with new characters, you love the originals, but these characters were good additions. I'm excited to see what will happen to Thomas and his crew next, I have no clue what will happen and where the story will go. It's kind of exciting to be reading a book and have no idea where it can even end! It's fantastic and I'd say for sure to check this book out, you won't be sad!