Review on Requiem by Lauren Oliver

Though I read most of the book at one time, I'm only giving it 3 stars.  It was building toward something, and I feel like that something never really came.  Did Raven really have to die?  What happened to everyone after the end?  What happened to Portland, and the whole country?  What if all the Invalids ended up dead anyway, even if they managed to kill Fred?

Alex and Lena's "reunion", if you can even call it that, is short-lived.  I have yet to read Oliver's character short stories, but I hope Alex's talks about his time in the Crypts and his feelings.

I enjoyed the writing as I've enjoyed Oliver's 3 other books, but I didn't feel like this was a strong finish for the trilogy after everything that had happened.

Review of Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver

I liked the time jumps in this book, then to now.  It was so much better than just telling Lena's story in a linear fashion.  And while it was predictable what happened with Julian and a certain other character at the end, that doesn't mean I don't want to run out and get the last book now!

There are a lot of loose ends that will hopefully get tied up in Requiem.  I'm still on the fence as to how I feel about Raven and Tack, after knowing they put Lena through that on purpose.  Did they really not trust her??  And what will happen with Julian if his cancer returns?

Once I saw the last chapter encompassed 60+ pages, I couldn't stop reading.  I think Oliver's writing is beautiful and poetic yet again.  She can capture a moment with the best authors.  In this world, the fleeting moments are all these characters have...

Review on Someday, Someday, Maybe by Lauren Graham

I liked this book.  It certainly had its good moments, and Franny is a wonderful protagonist.  However, it felt a little forced at times, like it was trying too hard.  Franny's "relationships" were questionable.  She, like a lot of us, couldn't see what was right in front of her.  I'm kind of glad everything didn't end too neatly, but I was very happy that she finally seemed to get her big break.  I love the title, and Franny's quirks.  I didn't feel that the other characters were very developed, even her best friend.  I liked spending time in Franny's world, but I'm not aching that I'm finished.

I read it because it was by Lauren Graham, and I'm guessing a lot of people would say the same.

Review on The Goddess Legacy by Aimee Carter

I liked this collection of stories much better than book 2 in the series!  Book one I found to be somewhere in the middle.  The stories explain a lot -- it probably would have been better to read them after the first book.  Finally I understand all the background Carter has created and all the baggage these gods and goddesses carry with them.  The rivalries and battle lines are much more clear.  I still don't know if I want to read the third book.  If I do read it, it won't be because of Kate.  It'll be because I want to know how things turn out for Henry.  He is by far the most interesting character.

Review on Delirium by Lauren Oliver

I wasn't so sure about this book, honestly, until about halfway through.  I loved Before I Fall, so I knew I had to give Oliver's 2nd book a chance.  She dazzled me again, I'm happy to say!

Her writing is so beautiful and moving.  I feel like I made the transition with Lena from ignorance to knowing.  In Lena's world, love is a disease that humans have learned to eradicate with a procedure administered on a person's 18th birthday.  Lena has been raised by her aunt and uncle because her mother had the disease and killed herself when Lena was just 8.  Lena's cousin also was taken away (she was a "resistor"), so her children Grace and Jenny also live in the same house.  Everyone views Lean's family as tainted.

In the beginning, Lena counts down to her procedure, but that all changes once her evaluation is messed up because of a protest.  Good thing too, because she was actually giving real responses that the evaluators weren't liking.  That's also the moment she first sees Alex.

For awhile, not much changes.  But then she goes to find her friend Hana at an illegal party and hears music that isn't "allowed". It changes her, and of course, she find Alex there as well.  Later, she tries to save Hana and Alex during a raid night, and though she ends up injured, she also begins to fall in love.  Love, the forbidden word in a world where Romeo and Juliet is a cautionary tale instead of a tragic love story.

During the brief weeks that Alex and Lena steal time to be together, my heart broke for them.  You just know that something horrible will prevent them escaping.  When they finally do make their plans to escape to the Wilds, where Alex comes from (only after Lena learns something horrific about her mother), they are caught.  The ending leaves you wondering what happened to one character, while another makes it over the fence.  Such a compelling read once it got going!

Review on Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver

This book was absolutely captivating. Lauren Oliver is a beautiful writer able to capture detail and emotion so precisely. The main character, Sam, manages to redeem herself in the only catastrophic way possible by the end of the book.  It's both beautiful and tragic.

It starts with Sam and her 3 popular friends tormenting and harassing everyone on "Cupid Day" senior year. At a party, Lindsay drives them home drunk, but instead of dying outright, Sam wakes up to relive the day. This happens 7 times...7 February 12ths.  She dies the same way the 2nd time, sleeps at Ally's house and learns of a suicide the 3rd, goes completely crazy the 4th, spends time with her little sister and tries and fails to save Juliet, and wakes before/during a kiss with Kent the 5th, gets closer to redemption on the 6th and has a real kiss, and finally gets it right the last time. She somehow knew it would be her last try.

I raced to get to the end of this book.  I wanted to know if she really was dead, though I knew. There are some great life lessons in this book about enjoying your life and all the precious moments, putting yourself in others' shoes, and accepting yourself, flaws and all.  I highly recommend it, and I can't wait to read more of Oliver's books!

Review on True Colors by Kristin Hannah

This is a short one:

I'm not sure why I finished this one.  It's not the first of Hannah's I've been disappointed with, but I guess I read the whole thing because I enjoyed the beginning so much.  After Dallas was accused and tried, I lost interest.  The characters crumbled, not that there were more than 2 developed characters to begin with.  It's really sad to think about anyone spending that much time in prison if s/he is innocent.  I would recommend her book "Winter Garden" over this one any day.