Vlogging with Fanatical About Fiction (3)

This has been the first week of two in which we will be participating in the Why We Like Reading tag, enjoy! This week Theta of Resolution Corner has done a feature post about us, hooray and thank you very much. Keep spreading the word and love ;)

June Page Count Overall Progress

Angela from Reading Angel is hosting her monthly page count contest and I figured I'd join in this month, unfortunately I know I wont get a high number because this is for YA and Adult books only - no children's or picture books, comics of graphic novels or mangas and no audio books - and I know the majority of my reads this month will be graphic novels. Never the less here I am taking part so I can get into the flow of things and hopefully I can take part next month too! 

Week 1:

Divergent by Veronica Roth - 487 pages

Free Four: Tobias Tells the Story by Veronica Roth - 13 pages

Total: 500 pages

Week 2:

Graphic Novels only

Week 3:

Dark Kiss by Michelle Rowan - 348 pages

Tallis by M.C. Rae - 58 pages

Pushing the Limits by Katie McGarry - 384 pages

Total: 790 pages

Overall: 1,290

Week 4:

Bloodlines by Richelle Mead - 421 pages

Overall: 1,711 pages
I think I'll take part next month too, even though I didn't make it to the top 20 list and I doubt I will next time either, but I do think it'll be interesting to see whether I can beat my own record.

Follow Friday (13)

Q. Birthday Wishes - Blow out the candles and imagine what character could pop out of your  cake... Who is it and what book are they from?

Lauren: How many crazy girls are wishing for a Mr Grey right now? A lot probably, but certainly not me. No way. Never ever. I'm thinking more along the lines of Eric from the Sookie Stackhouse series (even though I've only read about 5) or maybe Jonas from Intangible, either way its a Vampire and I'm not passing up on this chance to meet one!

Nia: Wow a hard one if I had to choose I'd probably say Eric Northman who is coincidentally also mentioned above, or maybe Jace from the Mortal instruments, or Aragorn from Lord of the Rings god there's so many I could drive myself crazy thinking about it so lets just leave it at that.  

Review: FLCL Omnibus

FLCL Omnibus by  GAINAX and Hajime Ueda.

Publish: May 29th 2012
Pulbisher: Dark Horse Comics
Page Count: 392
Synopsis: The complete FLCL manga adaptation-now with bonus color illustrations and remastered story pages! In this surreal sci-fi romp, a sullen Japanese boy finds himself in the middle of an interstellar conspiracy. As his home life unravels, a sexy space assassin becomes his family maid, and his own head becomes a portal for armed robots. Life as he knows it is quickly falling apart, and Naota doesn't know who's friend or foe! One thing's for certain-he has to grow up quick and save his hometown, whether he wants to or not! With Dark Horse's FLCL Omnibus, fans will not only get every chapter in Hajime Ueda's acclaimed FLCL adaptation, but this collection will also include revised story pages and over a dozen color FLCL illustrations by Ueda. 
Review: I honestly have no idea what I just read. It's bizzare, confusing and all over the place. I don't know whether it has something to do with me being tired every time I tried reading it or if it was due to the fact I was reading it on my laptop. I just don't really think I took any of this manga in. There is a girl with a vespa, a boy who grows a robot out of a lump of his head (not the mention the semi-naked girl dressed as a bunny), another girl who has a jellyfish-looking-thing growing out of her head and cats that seem to be some form of higher beings or Gods. I just - what? I enjoyed what I understood but I just couldn't follow the storyline and was left so utterly confused that I almost almost gave up. I think one day I'd like to try and reread this in a hard copy because I think that would really help for me to take in what the hell was going on and it'd be a lot easier to flick back and read or double check the previous pages. I'd try and write more but I don't really think I can do it justice from this readthrough.

Recommend? Yes simply so you can explain to me what I read.

GR

Amazon: UK | US

GAINAX: GR | Website

Hajime Ueda: GR

Wishlist Wednesday (5)

Wishlist Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Pen to Paper where we can share books that are on our wishlist. 

This sounds like a pretty creepy read, one that you'd stay up by torchlight to read. I can't remember how I stumbled across it but it sounds fab - All The Pretty Girls by J.T. Ellison.

GR: Some secrets should stay buried. When a local girl falls prey to a sadistic serial killer, Nashville Homicide Lieutenant Taylor Jackson and her lover, FBI profiler Dr. John Baldwin, find themselves in a joint investigation pursuing a vicious murderer. The Southern Strangler is slaughtering his way through the Southeast, leaving a gruesome memento at each crime scene -- the prior victim's severed hand. Ambitious TV reporter Whitney Connolly is certain the Southern Strangler is her ticket out of Nashville; she's got a scoop that could break the case. She has no idea how close this story really is -- or what it will cost her. As the killer spirals out of control, everyone involved must face a horrible truth -- that the purest evil is born of private lies.

This weeks choice wasn't very hard. I should have read this ages ago but I forget to buy it every time I make a trip to Waterstones, or they only have the hard backed version which is usually £11.99 which for me is just to much to pay for a book. I love the idea of this book and it sounds fantastic I just need to try and make time and get round to reading it.

GR: In Mary's world there are simple truths. The Sisterhood always knows best. The Guardians will protect and serve. The Unconsecrated will never relent. And you must always mind the fence that surrounds the village; the fence that protects the village from the Forest of Hands and Teeth. But, slowly, Mary’s truths are failing her. She’s learning things she never wanted to know about the Sisterhood and its secrets, and the Guardians and their power, and about the Unconsecrated and their relentlessness. When the fence is breached and her world is thrown into chaos, she must choose between her village and her future between the one she loves and the one who loves her. And she must face the truth about the Forest of Hands and Teeth. Could there be life outside a world surrounded in so much death?

Wicked Wildfire Read-a-Thon Wrap Up

Wow. That went by super quickly. Like super super quickly. One minute we're all wearing party hats, talking about Vampires and planning to live with one and another and now its over. I hope I can take part next time round - in fact I'm pretty sure I will regardless of when it happens because I met some wonderful people!

At the start of the read-a-thon I decided I'd aim to read 5 books as I figured I'd be reading some graphic novels which help bump numbers up a lot, unfortunately I only read 2 books and 54% of another which honestly I'm pretty happy about considering I only finished off one comic. 

I also aimed to read for a minimum of 7 hours. I thought I'd struggle with this but Pushing the Limits was a book I didn't want to put down and I almost reached 7 hours on the second day and smashed it by the end.

Overall I read 3 books, read for 9 hours 19 minutes which is a total of 784 pages. Not bad considering the 23rd was a really slow reading day. 

I also took part in both twitter chats - the first one all the way through, and the second only for the first 55 minutes. They were a lot of fun and during the first one I won a $5 Amazon voucher which I used to pay for the postage for a book that wasn't prime eligible *o* but I'll be super happy to get my hands on it!
My entries to the challenges can be seen here.

The books I finished reading/read/currently reading are:FLCL by Gainax - review completed (posting on 28th June).The complete FLCL manga adaptation-now with bonus color illustrations and remastered story pages! In this surreal sci-fi romp, a sullen Japanese boy finds himself in the middle of an interstellar conspiracy. As his home life unravels, a sexy space assassin becomes his family maid, and his own head becomes a portal for armed robots. Life as he knows it is quickly falling apart, and Naota doesn't know who's friend or foe! One thing's for certain-he has to grow up quick and save his hometown, whether he wants to or not! With Dark Horse's FLCL Omnibus, fans will not only get every chapter in Hajime Ueda's acclaimed FLCL adaptation, but this collection will also include revised story pages and over a dozen color FLCL illustrations by Ueda. 
 Pushing the Limits by Katie McGarry  - review in progress (posting on 26th July)."I won't tell anyone, Echo. I promise." Noah tucked a curl behind my ear. It had been so long since someone touched me like he did. Why did it have to be Noah Hutchins? His dark brown eyes shifted to my covered arms. "You didn't do that-did you? It was done to you?" No one ever asked that question. They stared. They whispered. They laughed. But they never asked. "An edgy romance that pulls you in and never lets go. I was hooked!"-Gena Showalter,  New York Times bestselling author of the Intertwined series . So wrong for each other...and yet so right. No one knows what happened the night Echo Emerson went from popular girl with jock boyfriend to gossiped-about outsider with "freaky" scars on her arms. Even Echo can't remember the whole truth of that horrible night. All she knows is that she wants everything to go back to normal. But when Noah Hutchins, the smoking-hot, girl-using loner in the black leather jacket, explodes into her life with his tough attitude and surprising understanding, Echo's world shifts in ways she could never have imagined. They should have nothing in common. And with the secrets they both keep, being together is pretty much impossible.  Yet the crazy attraction between them refuses to go away. And Echo has to ask herself just how far they can push the limits and what she'll risk for the one guy who might teach her how to love again.
Bloodlines by Richelle Mead - still readingSydney protects vampire secrets - and human lives. Sydney belongs to a secret group who dabble in magic and serve to bridge the world of humans and vampires. But when Sydney is torn from her bed in the middle of the night, she fears she's still being punished for her complicated alliance with dhampir Rose Hathaway. What unfolds is far worse. The sister of Moroi queen Lissa Dragomir is in mortal danger, and goes into hiding. Now Sydney must act as her protector. The last thing Sydney wants is to be accused of sympathizing with vampires. And now she has to live with one...  

Review: Dark Kiss

Dark Kiss by Michelle Rowen

Published: May 29th 2012

Publisher: Harlequin Teen

Page Count: 348

Synopsis: I don't do dangerous.  Smart, über-careful, ordinary Samantha-that's me. But I just couldn't pass up a surprise kiss from my number-one unattainable crush. A kiss that did something to me...something strange. Now I feel hungry all the time, but not for food. It's like part of me is missing-and I don't know if I can get it back. Then there's Bishop. At first I thought he was just a street kid, but the secrets he's keeping are as intense as his unearthly blue eyes. If he's what I think he is, he may be the only one who can help me. But something terrifying is closing in, and the one chance Bishop and I have to stop it means losing everything I ever wanted and embracing the darkness inside me....

Review: I wasn't really sure what to expect from this book as I've never read a book with an angel in before. Or at least not one that I can remember. But this book definitely made an impression on me. I did almost gave it 4 stars instead of 3.5 and though I enjoyed what I read I have a feeling the second book will be a lot better and this really set up for a great sequel. This story follows Sam who is a normal teen in every sense possible, bland looking, good grades and a bit of thievery whilst he parents were going through a divorce. Well... I say normal because she starts off that way, until she gets kissed by the boy next door. Ooops big mistake! Soon afterwards, before she realises how much of a mistake the kiss was, she stumbles into the path of an Angel and shortly afterwards a Demon. The Angel and Demon are currently on Earth to protect the area from another being that is taking peoples souls, creating others who can take their soul through a simple but deadly kiss and now Sam has to help. Or does she? Sam is left in a difficult position because lets face it having all this dumped on you in one night is not something easily dealt with and did I mention she witnessed a murder too? Its not something normal people can deal with easily which is why I guess its a good job that with Sam no longer having a soul, it makes her (and only her) very special indeed. I do have to nit pick with a few things about Sam, I enjoyed the male characters a lot more than I did her and I also feel like we can expect a huge flip in personality if we meet Carly again, but as for Sam I think sometimes she needed to trust her gut instincts a bit more and not be pushed about my other characters because lets be honest *spoiler* it was so obvious that the Source was simply using her and toying with her emotions and it was completely her own fault for misunderstanding Bishop's promise  and sometimes I felt like she was reading Bishop's emotions a bit too well through his eyes considering she'd never been involved with someone before but I was happy to dismiss this because it could also be down to her new found powers.*end spoiler*. 

Image from Life Ambrosia

Side Note: This book made me crave chicken wings, constantly. I want some now just thinking about it and reviewing it. Man can someone please give me some chicken wings? I finished this book on the 14th June and still haven't had any! Le sigh. Here lets just look at some yummy pictures instead.
Recommend? Yes.

Rating: 3.5/5

GR

Amazon: UK | US

Michelle Rowen: GR | Website | Twitter | Facebook

Bought, Borrowed & Bagged (8)

Bought, Borrowed and Bagged is a weekly event hosted by Talk Supe where you can share the books you have bought, borrowed or bagged (won) plus a recap of the previous week's reviews, upcoming reviews and on going events. 

Bagged (Won eBook):
Enchantment and Taken (Channie #1 & #2) by Charlotte Abel

GR                                              GR

Bagged (NetGalley):
Poltergeeks by Sean Cummings
 
GR

League of Strays by L.B. Schulman

GR

Bound (Torn Trilogy #3) by Erico O'Rourke
 
GR


Bought:
50 Shades of Grey by E.L James 

GR
Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovitch 

GR

Borrowed:
Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte 

GR

This week on Northern Plunder:
Review: Unwind
Review: Tallis
Wishlist Wednesday
Wicked Wildfire Read-a-thon Goal, Progress & Challenges
100 Follower Giveaway Winner
Follow Friday
Vlogging with Fanatical About Fiction (2)

This week Lauren read:
Tallis by M.C Rae
FLCL by GAINAX
Pushing the Limits by Katie McGarry
This week Nia read:
50 Shades of Grey by E.L James

In other news:
The Fanatical About Fiction Saturday post will be a weekly post now seeing as though you were happy for me to post here, we know a lot people tend to spend more time on here than YT anyway so hopefully this helps to get the word out about us, if you know anyone else who would enjoy our videos send them our way.
Nia started a Book vlogging channel because she has absolutely fallen in love with reviewing with Fanatical about Fiction, so the link is HERE just in case anyone wants to take a look.

Vlogging with Fanatical About Fiction (2)

You spoke and I listened, you wanted more vlogs. We are now at the end of our first section of vlogs. Here is what you may have missed during the week! Don't forget to subscribe if you like what you see (or hear, yes sometimes I'll play a vlog and go elsewhere on the web and if they say something that sticks out to me I'll go back to see if they showed anything). Kayla will be back at the start of July.

Follow Friday (12)

Q: If you could “unread” a book, which one would it be? Is it because you want to start over and experience it again for the first time? Or because it was THAT bad?

Lauren's Answer: I read, or should I say partially read Death of a Murderer earlier this year and to be honest my review wasn't a very nice one but I'm surprised I even stuck it out for 100+ pages, it was drab and boring - totally not up my street. I wasted hours even getting that far. I really wish I had just given up with it.

Nia's Answer: I recently finished 50 Shades of Grey and it horrified me. I was dared to read it by a few of my friends and the experience of actually reading it almost made me want to forfeit. Its mostly because the sex scenes made me want to tear out my eyes (I'm not a prude by the way, the sex scenes were just that bad). I honestly feel like what remained of my innocence has been stolen by this book, and I wish I could go back in time and delete everything.

100 Follower Giveaway Winner

Congrats to Kathryne, she selected The Gathering Dark (The Grisha Trilogy

#1) by Leigh Bardugo which I'll be placing an order for tomorrow as I have no idea where I placed my purse - whoops! Which means Kathryne you should have it in your hands on Saturday. I hope you enjoy it!

Wicked Wildfire Read-a-Thon Goals, Progress & Challenges.

Rebecca at Kindle Fever and April at My Shelf Confessions is hosting the Wicked Wildfire Read-a-Thon that lasts for 5 days! This is the second Read-a-thon I will be taking part in but the first time joining in with Wicked Wildfire. I'm excited to get started as the last few days have been a little slow on the reading side.

During these five days I want to meet a few goals which I'm going to list below;

Time goal: I'd like to read for a minimum of 7 hours.

Book goal: I'd like get through 5 books minimum - whether that be finishing of books already started or starting and finishing completely new books.

As I have themed June as "review reading" month it means that a lot of the books I have on my to read list are graphic novels so I'm pretty sure I'll meet the 5 book target, though my reviews will be posted at a later date. I would also like to keep up to date with reviewing the books I read during this read-a-thon so I don't have a lot to do after these five days of hardcore reading. Each day I will be updating this post with my reading progress and any of the challenges I take part in then at the end of the Read-a-thon I will also create a wrap up post. I'll also be updating my progress of the read-a-thon at Twitter under the tag #WWReadathon and at Goodreads on my Wicked Wildfire Vol 3 shelf - feel free to add me as a friend or follow me anywhere! After all, the more the merrier right?

P.S. You can still sign up just head to this page.

20th June Progress:

FLCL

Time Read: 30 minutes

Pages Read: 173

Pushing the Limits

Time Read: 1 hour 17 minutes

Pages Read: 21% 

Books Completed: 1

Current Status: 1 hour 47 minutes (173 pages + 21%)

Something Wicked This Way Comes...

Q. “A wildfire is quickly coming your way! What thing/s do you grab when you only have a few minutes to make it out?” 

(I’ve saved any people or pets in there already!) 

A. Well seeing as though you've already saved people and pets then I guessed I'd probably grab my Emilie Autumn book seeing as though its signed and cost about £50, my external hard drive with all my photographs on (its only small), my kindle so at least some of my books are saved and Larry the Lamb cause I got him when I was born and to leave him burning would be horrific.

21st June Progress:

Pushing the Limits

Time Read: 4 hours 15 minutes

Pages Read: 73%

Bloodlines

Time Read: 25 minutes

Pages Read: 25 

Books Completed: 2

Current Status: 6 hours 27 minutes (557 pages)

Wicked Title Trouble...

Using at least 3 of the titles of the books listed...make up the most interesting, creative, funny, romantic, mysterious, or simply ridiculous sentence that you can!

That Summer, The Sandcastle Girls were Born Wicked in The Beach House that was Catching Fire in the middle of the Solstice that caused a Heat Wave with its Rising Sun. Talk about How to Ruin a Summer Vacation.

Yup I used every cover ;)

22nd June Progress: 

Bloodlines

Time Read: 55 minutes

Pages Read: 63

Books Completed: 2

Current Status: 7 hours 22 minutes (620 pages) 

23rd June Progress: 

Bloodlines

Time Read: 23 minutes

Pages Read: 24

Books Completed: 2

Current Status: 7 hours 46 (644 pages)

24th June Progress:

Bloodlines

Time Read: 1 hour 33 minutes

Pages Read: 140 pages

Books Completed: 2

Current Status: 9 hours 19 minutes (784 pages)
Wicked Summer Scorcher...

For this Wicked Wildfire Challenge you are a VAMPIRE who cannot be out in the sun or – you guessed it, you get scorched. Szzzzzz. Smoking skin, you get the picture. It’s not going to be pretty. However, YOU don’t have a choice! You see you have several beloved objects you must grab otherwise they will be forever lost to you. What are those objects? Well we’ve peaked inside your minds and made sure to grab 3 of your MOST treasured belongings, which since they are unique will be different for each of you – but you know what they are. So knowing two things, that you’re a vampire who HAS to run in the sun to grab 3 precious items, you have some thinking to do. How are you going to protect yourself from the sun; from getting scorched to a little vampire crisp? Tell me what you’d do and how you’d do it and HOPEFULLY you’ll survive to see another sunset.

Ouch. Me and the Sun aren't friends as it is, never mind now that I'm a vampire. Obviously to get out there I'm going to soak my bed covers in freezing cold water and cover myself up in them so hopefully the thickness of the duvet will protect me and if I should catch fire the dampness will help me out. Right? Please don't let me burn. As for those precious items, one of them is my charm bracelet from my boyfriend (it is beautiful and has a charm that represents our turtles too), I'd also pick up Clio who is soft and cuddley (also a present from the boyfriend) and last but not least my laptop so I have contact with the outside world - which I'd use to keep in contact with you lovely people and persuade you to share your blood, you'd do that right? For me? Please *blinks eyes like an Angel* Pretty please!

Wishlist Wednesday (4)

Wishlist Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Pen to Paper where we can share books that are on our wishlist. 

Back to my usual selection of books, Feed by Mira Grant, it is the first in a trilogy and I've heard a lot of good things about it, I've seen it in store many times and wanted to buy it but money only stretches so far, right?

GR: In 2014, two experimental viruses—a genetically engineered flu strain designed by Dr. Alexander Kellis, intended to act as a cure for the common cold, and a cancer-killing strain of Marburg, known as "Marburg Amberlee"—escaped the lab and combined to form a single airborne pathogen that swept around the world in a matter of days. It cured cancer. It stopped a thousand cold and flu viruses in their tracks. It raised the dead. Millions died in the chaos that followed. The summer of 2014 was dubbed "The Rising," and only the lessons learned from a thousand zombie movies allowed mankind to survive. Even then, the world was changed forever. The mainstream media fell, Internet news acquired an undeniable new legitimacy, and the CDC rose to a new level of power. Set twenty years after the Rising, the Newsflesh trilogy follows a team of bloggers, led by Georgia and Shaun Mason, as they search for the brutal truths behind the infection. Danger, deceit, and betrayal lurk around every corner, as does the hardest question of them all: When will you rise?

The Lies of Locke Lamora is me indulging my love of historical fiction although I suppose its not exactly historical fiction. Unlike last weeks book this one has been on my wishlist for awhile now, so I'm quite looking forward to eventually getting round to reading it. The Goodreads blurb (which I will post below) made it sound like a story with a bit of mystery which is what I feel like reading at the moment.
GR: An orphan’s life is harsh and often short in the island city of Camorr, built on the ruins of a mysterious alien race. But born with a quick wit and a gift for thieving, Locke Lamora has dodged both death and slavery, only to fall into the hands of an eyeless priest known as Chains a man who is neither blind nor a priest. A con artist of extraordinary talent, Chains passes his skills on to his carefully selected “family” of orphans a group known as the Gentlemen Bastards. Under his tutelage, Locke grows to lead the Bastards, delightedly pulling off one outrageous confidence game after another. Soon he is infamous as the Thorn of Camorr, and no wealthy noble is safe from his sting. Passing themselves off as petty thieves, the brilliant Locke and his tightly knit band of light-fingered brothers have fooled even the criminal underworld’s most feared ruler, Capa Barsavi. But there is someone in the shadows more powerful and more ambitious than Locke has yet imagined. Known as the Gray King, he is slowly killing Capa Barsavi’s most trusted men and using Locke as a pawn in his plot to take control of Camorr’s underworld. With a bloody coup under way threatening to destroy everyone and everything that holds meaning in his mercenary life, Locke vows to beat the Gray King at his own brutal game or die trying.

Review: Tallis

Tallis by M.C. Rae

Published: April 2012

Publisher: Tulipe Noire Press

Page Count: 58

Synopsis: The Empire of Andresium is threatened by the corruption of the immortals, ancient beings given the gift of eternal life after the death of the last reigning empress. A prophecy speaks of their eventual downfall at the hands of one of their own, however. Tallis is known by most simply as "The Loren," and seeks to avoid her destiny while trying herself to remain untainted by the decaying morals and indifference to the fates of men that plague her kind. As the events of the prophecy begin to unfold, Tallis finds herself conflicted between upholding her dedication to justice, and falling victim to the ramifications of following the desires of her own heart.

Review: After entering the giveaway for this book on Goodreads I noticed that the author was willing to provide review copies so I quickly got in contact with her because I was intrigued by the synopsis and boy I am super happy I did, I'm also kicking myself for not picking it up quicker as I have the eBook version I wasn't aware it was a lovely short read at 58 pages. You're probably sat there thinking "psssh how can a wonderful fantasy story be told in 58 pages" and I'm here to tell you that this book right here does exactly that by being beautifully written, seriously I felt like I was reading poetry! I was a little lost for the first few pages whilst being introduced to the world but soon figured out what was what even with all this long and wacky names, that I'm pretty sure I couldn't pronounce if I tried but it doesn't matter one bit. I really enjoyed this book specifically due to the fact its was a welcome change of scenery to all the YA I've been reading lately, with some of the characters being immortals it obviously had a much maturer writing style on none of the teenage setting I've been reading so much of lately, it so great.  The story follows Tallis, an immortal with wings who shows no emotion, whilst her "doomday" fate draws closer and she's fighting which path to go down... It's a little difficult to talk about this book and to not give spoilers away because at the end of the day it is a short one (and a lot happens) so if you don't want any spoilers you should probably look away now, what I do write though I'll try to leave vague-ish. As mentioned Tallis is brought up to show no emotion for one reason or another but as the day draws closer where she could potentially die she opens up her heart and body to some very strong emotions - love, lust, passion and desire - which in the end turns out to be a very big mistake! The ending was so emotional I felt like my heart had been physically ripped out of my chest  and it's a complete cliffhanger, but not in the sense that you expect another book in the sense that Tallis could go in either direction as their is closure for the reader but not Tallis. Its a little hard to explain, poor Tarameen :(
Recommend? Yup! Its a great read

 

GR

Amazon: UK | US

M.C. Rae: GR | Website | Twitter

Review: Unwind

Unwind by Neal Shusterman 

Published: November 6th 2007

Publisher: Simon & Schuster books

Page Count: 335

Series: Unwind Trilogy #1

Synopsis: The Second Civil War was fought over reproductive rights. The chilling resolution: Life is inviolable from the moment of conception until age thirteen. Between the ages of thirteen and eighteen, however, parents can have their child "unwound," whereby all of the child's organs are transplanted into different donors, so life doesn't technically end. Connor is too difficult for his parents to control. Risa, a ward of the state is not enough to be kept alive. And Lev is a tithe, a child conceived and raised to be unwound. Together, they may have a chance to escape and to survive.

Review: This book has now become one of my favorites because its one of those books that really makes you think. Neal Shusterman manages to make everything that happens in this book seem entirely plausible but still manages to make the reader understand that what happens to these kids is completely wrong. This book is honestly quite disturbing and left me with chills because it was so fantastic. I think one of the most disturbing things is the fact that these adults manage to convince kids like Lev that what they are doing is right, so in the beginning all Lev wants to do is be unwound.

Through the book you follow Connor, Risa and Lev's point of view so you only really know what they know about unwinding and the other atrocities in their world. This is a wonderful way to write it because it builds up suspense by using mysterious stories that they have heard about the camps where children are taken to be unwound, it can be a little confusing at times but it really keeps you reading. You do occasionally deviate from the three main characters to look at some  more minor characters that you meet along the way. This really only adds to the story because you get to understand others experiences's including some adults. My only real problem with this book is because it swaps point of view so many times I found it hard to become really attached to any of the characters. 

The three main characters and the friends and enemies they made along the way were all  realistic and quite relatable. All the characters have his or hers own faults but you soon realize that no one no matter how much you dislike them they should never been unwound.

This book is one that I don't think I'll ever forget, it really made me think and I'm sure that I'll still be thinking about it in the future and this for me personally is what makes a really fantastic book. I honestly can't wait to read the sequel which comes out in august this year.

Recommend: If you like YA books that are really thought provoking and just a little bit dark then this is the book for you.  

                                              Rating: 4.5/5 

                                                                              GR

                                                               Amazon: UK/US

                                         Neal Shusterman: GR/Website/Blog/Twitter

Bought, Borrowed & Bagged (7)

Bought, Borrowed and Bagged is a weekly event hosted by Talk Supe where you can share the books you have bought, borrowed or bagged (won) plus a recap of the previous week's reviews, upcoming reviews and on going events. 

Bought (paperback):

Channel Zero by Brian Wood

GR

Borrowed (library):

Bloodlines by Richelle Mead & Enthralled: Paranormal Diversions by Melissa Marr

GR                              GR

Bagged (Won):

Murder of Crows by Athena (paperback)
thanks to Goodreads.

GR

Bonds of Fenris by S.J. Bell (eBook)

thanks to Wolfman Bell

GR

Witchfull Thinking by H.P. Mallory (paperback)

extra thanks to Susan Grimshaw

GR

Bagged (NetGalley):
Blades of Winter by G.T. Almasi

GR

Circle of Silence by Carol M. Tanzman

GR


Bought (ebook):
Unwind by Neal Shusterman 

GR

Bagged (recieved for review):
Hit and Stay by Ninette Swann

Borrowed (library):
VIII by H.M Castor

GR

A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness 

GR

This week on Northern Plunder:

 Welcoming Nia!

Musing Mondays

All Series, All Summer

Wishlist Wednesday

Follow Friday

Vlogging with Fanatical About Fiction

This week Lauren read:

Orchid by Tomo Morello

Dark Kiss by Michelle Rowen

This week Nia read:

Unwind by Neal Shusterman

A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness

In Other News:

Keep your eyes peeled for a few reviews next week from both of us, a lot of the books that Lauren has been reading will be publish during July so she has scheduled the reviews for then instead! Keep reading, check out the giveaway as there is still 4 days left and subscribe to Fanatical About Fiction ;)