Fire Country Birthday & Giveaway

Today, Fire Country by David Estes turns one year old. In the first year since Fire Country was born, so much has happened. David signed with an agent, sold more than 10,000 books, wrote five more books and published a further three). He knew he just had to celebrate and he'd love for you to be a part of it! David owes so much of his support to the blogger community, and he wants everyone to have the chance to be a part of the Fire Country Birthday Bash.

Everyone goes home a winner, simply follow the prompts below and swipe your eCopy of Fire Country from Smashwords. Read and leave a review on Amazon if you enjoyed it. Feel free to share the code with your friends, family, neighbours and literary inclined pets.

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/280371

Coupon Code: WH62C

Expiration: March 1, 2014

What's a party without prizes? Yes, David is not only giving everyone a chance to download their own copy of Fire Country, book one in the Country Saga for free, but he's also giving you stuff too. You could win an Amazon giftcard open internationally, U.S residents can win a signed copy of the David Estes book of your choice, or a handful of David Estes eBooks of your choice. Awesome.

Visit David via his Blog • Facebook • Twitter and via Goodreads

Pay Perry the Prickler a visit on Twitter and Goodreads

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Elixir

Elixir (Elixir, #1) by Hilary Duff and Elise Allen

Genre: YA Paranormal Romance

Pages: 327

Favourite Quotes: "How dare he? After what we did last night, how the hell dare he? If he was my soulmate, my soul needed to develop better taste."

"What are you doing? I can't do that. It's impossible. My hips don't go like that. How do your hips go like that?"

"He always believed that people live up or down the amount of trust you put in them."

Seventeen year old Clay Raymond has felt the glare of the spotlight her entire life. The daughter of a renowned surgeon and a prominent politician, she had become a talented photojournalist who takes refuge in a world that allows her to travel to many exotic places. But after Clea's father disappears while on a humanitarian mission, Clea begins to notice eerie, shadowy images in her photos of a strange and beautiful young man - a man she has never seen before.

When fate brings Clea and this man together, she is stunned by the immediate and powerful connection she feels with him. As they grow closer, they are drawn deep into the mystery behind her father's disappearance, and they discover the centuries-old truth behind their intense bond. Torn by a dangerous love triangle and haunted by a powerful secret that holds their fates, together they race against time to unravel their pasts in order to save their lives - and their futures.

I have a lot of respect for Hilary Duff for what she has achieved in her life, despite the constant scrutiny of the media she has to deal with. So, when I discovered that she was writing a book series, I was more than eager to read it and also quite surprised at this potentially risky move. It's hard enough to put your own work out there when you aren't famous. But, when you are? It's like giving people a VIP card to rip you apart. Because of this, I ended up having rather high expectations of this novel, especially after I read the plot summary (and that beautiful cover!). The concept of a mysterious stranger in your photos? Give me. Now.

I think Hilary Duff and Elise Allen did a great job when it comes to the relationship between the characters. I liked the friendship Rayna, Clea and Ben shared. It wasn't the sophisticated kind, like some novels like to create, in the pretense that that's how friend's interact. Theirs was silly, comfortable and real. I also think Duff and Allen did a good job (in the majority) of portraying Clea. It's not easy to write a character that is so clearly privileged without making her seem spoiled. In fact, Clea's social status never seemed particularly relevant in the story compared to who she was as a person. Bonus points, as well, for creating a likable personality for her, without making it unrealistic.

Unfortunately, as a whole, I was rather disappointed with the novel. While I enjoyed many aspects of it, I can't help but be bothered by the strong similarities with Elixir and The Immortal series by Alyson Noël and the predictable story line. I didn't enjoy how the story focused on Sage and Clea's love life when I felt that there were far more relevant and interesting directions the story could have taken instead. I think it would have made far more sense to integrate the romance in a stronger story line rather than let it become the focus.

Of course, there were several strong plot points involved, but I don't think they have been explored to their full potential and I also think that the path the authors took from getting to one plot point to the other was too weak. I think this was most notable given the strong beginning of the story. At first, Clea was easily a very independent and intelligent young woman. As the story progressed however, readers are literally watching her IQ drop as her involvement with Sage grew. I hated that. There was one particular moment, when she stopped questioning her dreams, where you can actually see intelligent Clea being replaced by irrational love-struck Clea.

Finally, what got me the most out of everything in the novel, is Clea's treatment of Ben at the end of the book. If you've read it, you'll know what I mean, and if you haven't, or haven't predicted it, I won't spoil it for you. I just feel that what happened, and the aftermath thereof, was very out of character for both Clea and Ben. It didn't make sense and appeared to be only a crutch to enable a similarity between Clea and the, uh, thing (there you go, still spoiler free). I'm hoping that there will be this sneaky plot-twist in the next book(s) that will explain the necessity for this behavior. Please.

Although Clea's character development backtracked, and I was downright disgusted with her behaviour at the end of the book, I still enjoyed reading through her. She was still a far better YA heroine than a significant others that are out there. This is most clearly seen in her reaction to Sage after he did the avoiding thing, which I won't got into details about to keep this spoiler free. She was upset, sure, but compared to the usual, well, Bella Swan reaction of pinning-after-him-hopelessly-with-no-mind-of-her-own, she actually respected herself (yes, you  heard that right. She's got self-respect, cue back to the 'better YA heroine than a significant others out there') and downright refused to be treated that way.

I'm serious. Stop gaping. That actually happened.

In conclusion, while the book was not as great as I hoped it would be, it was actually a pretty decent read. I particularly recommend it if you enjoy tragic love stories and don't mind love triangles (I personally don't like them, which probably contributed to my annoyance at the heavy romance story line). The characters are all great, although Clea has her moments of being ridiculous and Sage was too attractive for my liking, and I again have to comment on the excellent portrayal of friendship until the end/aftermath scenes. This book was definitely a credit to YA books, although it had several shortcomings and wasn't very original. I will be reading the sequels, and if you're into books that take place in various countries, heavily feature romance, sort-of involve the elixir of life and are not too serious, I would absolutely suggest you pick this up.

The Demon's Lexicon

The Demon's Lexicon by Sarah Rees Brennan

Genre: YA Urban Fantasy
Pages: 322
Favourite Quotes: "Get down", he whispered. "I'm way ahead of you", Jamie said from the floor.

On the morning of the fourth day, Jamie tipped a switchblade out of his box of cornflakes. "I think these promotional campaigns have really gone out of hand", he said, freezing with his hand on the milk carton. "One shiny free knife with every packet of cereal bought is not a good message to send out to the kiddies."

Nick and his brother Alan are on the run with their mother, who was once the lover of a powerful magician. When she left him, she stole an important charm - and he will stop at nothing to reclaim it. Now Alan has been marked with the sign of death by the magician's demon, and only Nick can save him. But to do so he must face those he has fled from all his life - the magicians - and kill them. So the hunted becomes the hunter... but in saving his brother, Nick discovers something that will unravel his whole past.

Now this is not the kind of narrator you often get, ladies. Cassandra Clare was on to something when she described this story as "Witty, Dark and Moving". Nick, is your typical bad boy: moody, witty and sarcastic with handsome features and dark thoughts. Oh, and he happens to have a hobby of killing demons too. Bonus points for swords wielding *wiggles eyebrows*.

But really, Nick is a unique cup of narrator tea (aside from the part where, every second page, we are reminded of his unbelievable attractive appearance *rolls eyes*). He's negative, angry, rude and downright hateful towards everything but his brother Alan. He has absolutely no problem with threatening others and cares little about other people's welfare, including his own mother's...  And then there's Alan, who appears to have gotten all the kindness and care and overall niceness for both of them. You wouldn't think they'd make this relationship work... but you'd be surprised.


The relationship between these two characters is unparalleled. There is nothing Nick would not do for Alan and, by the end of the book, you'll easily see that the feeling is mutual. In this aspect, they remind me a lot of the Winchesters... with one key difference that I won't dare mention.

Brennan has this fantastic way of making characters come alive and developing them in the middle of a hostage situation (literally). From the very beginning, it is all hands on and practical, in a pack your shit we're going adventuring theme. Even as a reader, you don't get a break. This book, you don't put down until it's done or otherwise fear that it might go on without you. And let's talk about the way she lets those brilliant characters interact:

The drab brown front of the house made it look as if it had been built from rusty spare parts. Someone always put lace curtains in the windows of dreary houses, and Nick was unsurprised to see the curtains making their attempts in every window of this place. There was a china garden gnome on the doorstep, wearing a desperate, crazy smile.

"It's not so bad", Alan said.

"You never take me nice places anymore, baby", said Nick, and was mildly gratified by Alan's ring of laughter, like a living bell that had been caught by surprise when it was struck.

The author also goes all out on three dimensional secondary characters, which is about the biggest thumbs up I can give to an author. Mae and Jamie are both well developed, in their own clearly defined sibling relationship and personalities. It is very refreshing to find a book that has not only an interesting world, but also strong, interesting characters. Now don't get me wrong; they're not all bad-asses with a license to kill tons of demons. In fact, Jamie is quite the opposite. However, his representation is incredibly strong. He might be easily intimidated and spends an unhealthy (well, probably healthy considering) amount of time curled up on the ground being protected by Nick, Alan or Mae, but he nevertheless is a very strongly written character. Kind of like a geeky version of Neville that becomes more adorable in the same way that Neville gets hotter; slowly and then all at once.

What I loved most about this book though, is the witty dialogue. It's never out of place, yet it always takes you by surprise and never fails to elicit a laugh, at the very least, a smile. It's the most charming aspect of Nick's personality, actually and he pulls it off well.

"You're dressed for dancing", she said in her throaty stage voice.

"Being undressed for dancing occurred to me, but I didn't think Merris would like it."

Of course, we are not going to forget the undeniably unforgettable plot. I won't go into details, since I don't want to spoil the surprise, but let me tell you: this book has one book slamming ending that will send you straight into the line for its sequel (Demon's Covenant, if you're interested).

For the love of witty banter and cantankerous narrators, get on this book. Just try to skip the constant mention of the narrator's incredibly hot appearance, and you'll love the reading experience.

The Program

Hey guys! Halloween is over, and we have now sailed off to the land of NaNoWriMo. Which is probably why you may or may not be surprised that I am presenting you with a new review. I figured that I ought to start the month with one, given that I've been reading so much last month while, well, abandoning you all to the abyss of unknown books.

That sounded a lot more dramatic than it was meant to. See? Novel writing is following me. (I just finished my first dramatic scene. Let's just say it involved blood and demons and secrets.)

I AM SO EAGER TO PRESENT THIS BOOK TO YOU SO LET'S GO:

The Program by Suzanne Young

Genre: Young Adult Dystopian
Pages: 405
Favourite Quotes: "After all, suicide is contagious." "Some things are better left in the past, and true things are destined to repeat themselves." "The only real thing is now."

Sloane knows better than to cry in front of anyone. With suicide now an international epidemic, one outburst could land her in The Program, the only proven course of treatment. Sloane's parents have already lost one child; Sloane knows they'll do anything to keep her alive. She also knows that everyone who's been through The Program returns as a blank slate. Because their depression is gone - but so are their memories.

Under constant surveillance at home and at school, Sloane puts on a brave face and keeps her feelings buried as deep as she can. The only person Sloane can be herself with is James. He's promised to keep them both safe and out of treatment, and Sloane knows their love is strong enough to withstand anything. But despite the promises they've made to each other, it's getting harder to hide the truth. They are both growing weaker. Depression is setting in.

And The Program is coming for them.

I am really eager to write about this book, not only because it is such an interesting and mind-blowing novel, but also because I have never heard of it prior to reading it. Ever. I literally stumbled across it on BookDepository and then just yolo'ed it. It wasn't like I was deeply entranced with the book at first, or anything. It wasn't love at first sight. I didn't really have an opinion on it, even. It was more like, meh, let's just shove a bunch of books into my cart and hope for the best.

I don't know what exactly the best was, but this definitely beat it.

I opened the book and BAM. Hooked. Gone. Don't even try to talk to me, I'm out of this world. And if I wasn't reading it, then I was curled up in a corner with some stuffed animals and my blankie, bawling my eyes out.

I feel like I should warn you all now - this book is a hardcore ride. Don't say I didn't warn you.

Anyhow, to the actual book. As the blurb says, it's about a world where suicide is considered an epidemic, and anyone under 18 is closely watched for the 'signs' - if you are considered as infected, you are 'flagged' and sent to the Program. And, that is NOT something you want - because whoever enters the Program isn't the same person that leaves it. Why? They're memories are erased.

Obviously, James and Sloane are trying their hardest to stick it out, hold up a happy front, until they're 18 and the Program loses its jurisdiction over them. The story is narrated in first person, from Sloane's point of view, and I personally believe that this was executed beautifully. Her character changes a lot during the novel - it has to - and you can see the change happen before your eyes, so gradually that sometimes you are taken aback when you finally notice it. I think the best thing about this book is not just how realistic the characters are - all of them are individual fireworks, unique, three dimensional and so, undeniably human - but with how we see those characters evolve throughout the book. It's hard enough to paint a realistic world with realistic characters, but it's another thing entirely to take those characters, unravel them, and put them back together in a way that doesn't destroy them or the story. It's this that I feel in love with in the book. Basically, you get to know these characters, James and Sloane, and their relationship, as they themselves fall apart. You see them while they're healthy and you see them unraveling, being affected, and build up again. You see their memories as they forget them and you see them try to navigate around those lost memories, around the rules and careful eyes that follow them. And you cry. Because, although they can't, you can. It even feels like that - like you have to cry because they can't. As if they shove all their own emotions on to you. And not in a bad way, of course. In a you-give-me-the-feels-I-swear-you-can't-be-fictional.

I mean, just look at the relationship between Sloane and James. That was beautiful. The memories you see, they way they are together, everything. It's just beautiful. It felt like a real relationship. Not a twilight, obsessed, unhealthy, ridiculous relationship, but just complete. They just were. Not rushed or forced or idiotically written. In fact, this was perhaps the best written relationship I ever had the luck to read about. And it was fun. Despite everything, it was genuinely fun to read about them, not only together, but also individually.

It's always difficult to accurately write about themes such as suicide. And usually, the books that do write about them glorify the subjects. They focus on the strength of the people that go through and, basically hero-fy characters with these issues. This book does not do that. In fact, it does not specifically delve into the issue at all. Now this can be a good or bad thing, but in this case, it was a good thing. By not delving into it, Suzanne Young refrained from giving the issue any special meaning. And, sure, it's important to discuss these issues but I felt that with, not quite rendering it unimportant, but, I suppose, removing the hype around suicide, the author was able to just simply tell us a story. And I think that's important, to see people have this disease without focusing solely on it. I suppose, what I am trying to say and what I think the message of this book is, is that suicide does not define a person. The book simply gave the reader insight on it. In a very well written manner, I might add.

I don't have anything negative to say against this book. I think my greatest problem with it is the fact that the sequel doesn't come out in, oh, another six months. (It's called The Treatment, by the way).

Recommendation? READ IT. DEFINITELY READ IT.

The Wake Trilogy (Wake #1, Fade #2, Gone #3)

Guess who acquired and read a book trilogy the other day! Yes, me. You guessed it. Go ahead and grab a cookie, sweetie. I never had the chance to read the last book in this trilogy (despite having been deeply intrigued about it when they first came out). Anyhow, let's get on with it.

The Wake Trilogy

Genre: Paranormal Young Adult fiction

Pages: 225 (Wake #1), 248 (Fade #2), 214 (Gone #3)

Favourite Quotes: Wake: "Once you read something, you can't erase it from your brain." "Carrie doesn't seem to want to talk about anything with sharp edges. Maybe she's afraid they might poke her and then she'd burst." "Get me outta here. Fuckin' creepy cheerleaders."

Fade: "There is something about a guy who admits he's a jerk that makes him forgivable." "Janie always hated Bashful. Stupidest. Dwarf. Ever."

Gone: "You wanna go get Jimmy a raincoat and we'll take care of you?"

Janie Hannagan gets sucked into other people's dreams. It's an ability she always kept secret—until she met Cabel, and found herself with the best (secret) boyfriend ever. But Janie and Cabel are about to find out just how dark Janie's future as a Dream Catcher is... and whether Cabel will be a part of it.

I feel that it is necessary for me to talk about the individual books first before I sum up the trilogy, mostly due to how differently I responded to the three books and my own change in perception regarding the characters.

Wake: I'm going to say it upfront: I loved this book. I was intrigued by the concept of dream catchers, of Janie as a character and the whole mystery surrounding her existence, her abilities and the town itself. I saw endless possibilities with this story and was extremely eager to see what sort of path the author would shove these characters through. The characters were well-fleshed out, no two the same, and had valid reasons for their actions. I liked seeing the relationships between the characters - both their strengths and flaws. If there is anything that I particularly loved about this book, it would be Lisa McMann's authentic ability to portray the characters hardships and choices in a believable, realistic and valid manner. Janie was a character in the story that I found myself respecting - and not because of her narration. The author does not state her qualities, does not give her any defining features besides the dream catching. Her character is build from her actions, which are all impossibly (in a good way) upright and human. McMann does not simply throw a ready made character at you - she let's you figure out who Janie - and the other characters at that - is alone.

Fade: Of all the books, I would have to say that I enjoyed Fade the least. Despite the promising and intriguing story that I followed in Wake, I couldn't find myself pulled in into this story at all. While the writing was still perfect to the story, and the characters themselves are still amazingly constructed, I did not enjoy the actual plot of this book. From the countless of things that I imagined it to be, this was definitely not it. I didn't feel like there was an actual specific plot that was being followed - in fact, I thought that this book could have easily been integrated into Gone or omitted completely. Other than the progress and further insight into Janie and her life, this book did not add much to the story at hand - dream catchers. Why is she so caught up on school and her boyfriend? Sure, they are important things for the average teenager, but she is a dream catcher. I mean, this concept is unique. The characters are fabulous. What the hell happened to the plot? Come on guys, I'm sure you know what I'm talking about. She's so focused on everything but the nature of her dreams - aside from her teaching herself to control them better - which defeats the point of reading this series. While her life intrigued me, I wanted to know more about the dream catchers. It left me reeling - what is the cause, why is it necessary, how does it work? How many others? Yes, I wanted to see some kick-ass Janie, but the dream catchers dammit. 

Now, I'm not saying that I hated the book. It still left me wanting to continue the series and was overall an alright read, but it could have been much better. If anything, I think I'm just disappointed because I anticipated it to be even better than Wake (see what expectations do to you? Tragic.) Still, I can't help but me annoyed that the series now appears to be focusing on how her ability conflicts with normality instead of the mystery and wonder of the ability. The limitations. Anything, but this plot, really, just please give my questions some answers.

Gone: I'm all winded up now that I have been thinking about Fade's inability to meet my expectations (they were not unreasonably high, right?). Alright. By the time I read the first couple of pages of this book, I resigned myself to the fact that this series was not going anywhere close to where I wanted it to go. Not that that was a bad thing necessarily - I really enjoyed these books, despite their unrelenting nature to disregard my wants (needs even; you know how emotional I get over books). I just wanted some closure to my questions. Now, the good thing about Gone is that it focuses on Janie's abilities and the choices she has to make because of them. With some surprising (I personally expected something like this to happen from the moment her mother's dream appeared hint hint nudge nudge) appearances in the book that lead to - finally - the right questions and answers (well, to an extent at least, ugh). I really liked how Janie focused on her own needs in this book - she approached her situation the way it should be approached in real life: by considering herself and whether, though she wants it, she is truly willing to pay the costs of her decisions. I've seen plenty of books that don't regard this issue at all, where the characters simply hold a person above everything else (not that I mind, if it is written well) so it's quite refreshing to encounter this different type of book. I have to say though, I found that the part where she actually makes her decision far too rushed - it was built up beautifully and the ending just didn't deliver (again, tragic.)

Overall: I loved the concept, there is no denying that. The idea was original and unique, a very interesting story to think and read about. While I'm disappointed with how it was integrated with Janie's life, the books were still great reads. The writing style that the author pursued was well chosen - any other writing format would not have offered the same feel and effect of the story. All the characters were excellently used. They were well fleshed out and realistic. The secondary characters weren't flat or blended together and I found myself genuinely interested in every one of them, especially their interactions. I liked Janie's personality in particularly, and her approach to who she is - not depended on others, but on herself. I also liked that, despite the character development, her essence stayed the same. Her relationship with Caleb, for instance, taught her many things. Yet, she still remained Janie. As I stated earlier, I am quite disappointed in the progression of the story - I kept waiting for something to happen, but I felt that the last two books consisted of several sub-plots thrown together rather than an actual main plot. I don't believe that there was an actual plot in the books, and that brought the whole series down a lot. In conclusion, I think these books are definitely a good read, and I recommend Wake in particularly, but I advice you all to not get your hopes up when it comes to the sequels. At. All.

Me and Earl and the Dying Girl

I have a very large TBR pile, and while I don't exactly have a list on what to read next, if I did, the following book would not have been on it. Given the amount of books I'm dying to read (*cough* lunar chronicles *cough*), I have absolutely no clue how I suddenly found myself engrossed in this one. Do I regret it? Nopseys. Nopsey Nope. It was le good thingé.

Me and Earl and the Dying Girl

Genre: Young Adult Contemporary, Humour
Pages: 295
Favourite Quotes: This book is absolutely hilarious. I can't even pick one out properly. Let me just give you a chapter ending that I particularly liked:
"Also, what the hell does 'weird' even mean? I've just written it like five times and all of a sudden I'm staring at it and it doesn't even mean anything anymore. I just murdered the word 'weird'. Now it's just a bunch of letters. It's like there's all these dead bodies all over the page now.
I'm sort of close to having a freak-out about this. I have to eat some snacks or leftovers or something.
Ok, I'm back.
Although, let's just do a new chapter, because this chapter got really fucked up somehow and I'm afraid of what will happen if I continue with it."

Me: My name is Greg Gaines. I am seventeen. I am the one who wrote this book. My physical appearance is unsatisfactory, and there is probably a fungus eating my brain. I'm not even sure I'm human.
Earl: Earl Jackson is the only person who is even sort of my friend. We make mediocre films together. Werner Herzog is our biggest influence. Earl is generally filled with violent rage.
Dying Girl: During my senior year, my mom forced me to become friends with a girl who had cancer. This brought about the destruction of my entire life.

Let me just start with saying that this book is brilliantly written. Everything, from the unconventional format (getting to that later) to the breaking the fourth wall to insult the writing and the humour and lack of, as Greg put it, "This book contains precisely zero Important Life Lessons, or Little-Known Facts About Love, or sappy tear-jerking Moments When We Knew We Had Left Our Childhood Behind for Good, or whatever." And he wasn't kidding. There is basically no plot - but you don't figure that out until half way through said book, after some particularly vulgar jokes when you briefly wonder where the book is going, but decide not to care because you're too invested in it already. In summary: this is the only book you'll ever read that you'll love despite it not having a plot, character development or a point in general. In fact, the main character, Greg, who is doubling as the author of the book, is an ass. Earl is insane, and the Dying Girl, Rachel, is not really focused on like you thought she would be and by no means hero-fied. In fact, Greg makes a point of including the way she snorts when she laughs.

When you read the blurb of the book, you'd think it's a cancer book, right? Wrong. It has about the least amount of anything to do with cancer that you could possibly have in a cancer book without it being a not-cancer book, if that makes sense. So why would you want to read this book? With all I've said in the past two paragraphs, it sounds pretty crappy, except for the humour and unconventional writing that I haven't divulged to you yet. But you should read it. The reason I recommend this book isn't because what is in the book, but what isn't. Greg's blunt and unapologetic honesty allows you to grasp a perception that no other book I have read accurately dealt with. Greg knows from the very beginning that Rachel will die. And that sucks. But, in his words, 'I knew I was going to make it.' My point is, he doesn't glorify her death. She dies, that sucks, he cries a bit, and he moves on.

That's it.

As he stated, there's no important life lesson learned, though you could argue that one is given to you in form of Earl. Keep in mind that this is the closest this book ever came to having a profound moment, and that it was followed up with a discussion of whether or not there was a Goat nutsack floating around their soup. "... This is the first negative thing that happened to your life. And you can't be overreacting to it and making big-ass expensive decisions based on it. I'm just saying. People die. Other people do stupid shit. I'm surrounded by family members doing stupid shit. I used a think I had to do shit for them. I still wanna do shit for them. But you gotta live your own life. You gotta take care a your own shit before you get started doing things for errybody else."

I suppose, what I'm trying to say is that Greg's jerk tendencies and Earl's roughness leave this gap where you can find this whole new angle on terminal illnesses that is loosely protected by a series of vulgar jokes and tons of swearing (in fact, you could probably read the book just for the jokes). And let's not forget the format. It's absolutely perfect for the book. Jesse Andrews did a brilliant thing when he decided to ignore conventional writing by replacing his role with Greg, allowing his character to do basically anything. For instance, one part of the book was completely written in point form before Greg literally states that he was getting tired of it and just randomly changes back. It's written like you would expect it to be written from a character like Greg. The way the book is written, in fact, showed you a lot more about the character than Greg himself with his self-degrading statements. And let's not forget that the dialogue is written in film script:

The writing is just so random and you turn the page and start each chapter with absolutely no clue what is going to happen next, how Greg is going to show you, and what jokes will follow. Really the only thing you know for certain is that Rachel will die. It's a lot less morbid than it sounds, I swear.

Of course, the book is not absolutely mega brilliant. It's not amazing and it didn't completely turn my life on its head. It was a very good read, though I quickly got irritated with Greg on several occasions, which I believe was the author's intention anyway. I think he created this exaggerated annoying and unlikable character so that you can shape the way you think about what's happening and get you to where he wants you to go. And that's a very difficult thing to do; to make a reader who dislikes a character and his actions understand and appreciate what that character is doing. So, Kudos to you Jesse Andrews. You did a very difficult thing very well.

Splintered

I'm on a roll! Third review of the day. I didn't lie when I said that I wasn't slack on the reading front during my holiday. Anyhow, this book was particularly interesting. If you don't know, I have a thing for both re-tellings and Wonderland, so I present to you:

Splintered by A. G. Howard

Genre: Young Adult, Re-telling, Paranormal Romance
Pages: 371
Favourite Quotes: "Jen said some guy asked you but you didn't want to go. Why not?" I shrug. "I have this character flaw? Called dignity?"
"No one knows what he or she is capable of until things are at their darkest."
"Sometimes a flame must level a forest to ash before new growth can begin. I believe Wonderland needed scouring."

Alyssa Gardner hears the thoughts of plants and animals. She hides her delusions for now, but she knows her fate: she will end up like her mother, in an institution. Madness has run in her family ever since her great-great-great-grandmother Alice Liddell told Lewis Carroll her strange dreams, inspiring his classic Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.
But perhaps she's not mad. And perhaps Carroll's stories aren't as whimsical as they first seem.
To break the curse of insanity, Alyssa must go down the rabbit hole and right the wrongs of Wonderland, a place full of strange beings with dark agendas. Alyssa brings her real-world crush - the protective Jeb - with her, but once her journey begins, she's torn between his solidity and the enchanting, dangerous magic of Morpheus, her guide to Wonderland.
But no one in Wonderland is who they seem to be - not even Alyssa herself.

I am weak when it comes to re-tellings, particularly those that have writing as eloquent and enchanting as this one. And the plot? Consider me sold. However, before I go on, if you happen to own a hardcover copy, remove the dust jacket. You are welcome. Personally, I prefer to read hardcover books without the dust jacket and, every now and then, you get these wonderful books that have these fantastic yet simple designs hidden beneath their covers. I was pleasantly surprised with what I've found underneath this one. Also, let me take a moment to give a shout out to the author, Anita Grace Howard, for her vivid imagination and her ability to accurately grasp a fascinatingly morbid and gruesome Wonderland. It has been a very thrilling ride and I thank you for it.

Now, to the story itself. The concept of a curse following the descendants of Alice Liddell intrigued me, and I regret not reading this book sooner, since I've had it for almost a year now. I can't even decide what my favourite aspect of the book is - the warped versions of the Wonderland characters, the matching explanations linking it to the original book, or the characters and events themselves. I mean, Alyssa is an artist that uses dead bugs for her creations. Or, in her words: "I've been collecting bugs since I was ten; it's the only way I can stop their whispers. Sticking a pin through the gut of an insect shuts it up pretty quick." Ladies and Gentlemen, that was the opening line. I hope that gives you an understanding over just how difficult it was for me to rip myself away from this book, though I had to on several occasions. It's one of those books that force you to step away for a minute to absorb the sheer detail so that you can accurately grasp the mass of awesomeness that it's made of. To be honest, I wouldn't be surprised if the book was made of Netherling dust, it's that unique.

I mean, the history the book deals with alone is massive. There's the history of the Red and White court, the thing I cannot name because it's a spoiler and the other thing I cannot name because... Oh, well, let's just say that the history is massive, okay?

There's also a love triangle. I personally have grown to dislike those a lot, but I think this book pulls it off, mainly because I feel that Jeb represents Alyssa's humanity, whereas Morpheus represents the part she plays in Wonderland. I don't actually like Jeb as much as I think I should. It's become a theme to have a very protective character boyfriend thing, and I just really disliked Jeb for some of his actions. And his relationship with Taelor... But he does come through at some points (*cough* recognition *cough*), so I'm going to peg my feelings as skeptical.

Morpheus is another story entirely though. He's shady, to say the least, but I adore him. He is easily my favorite character, to be honest, though I should probably condemn him for some of his actions. But no, I think he's a genius and a very well written one at that. You can never quite tell where his motives are, and that keeps you on your toes. I love it.

Alyssa? I love her reasonableness. There are things I don't like about her, such as the swooning over Jeb in inappropriate situations, but other than that I think she is a great character and very intelligent at that. I like what she did to her Wish (it's not a spoiler since I don't tell you what she does, ha!) and her defiance to what is happening, while not morphing into a rebel without a cause. The way she narrates things is excellent to and you can really see the emotions she feels lift off the page.

The tension in the book is surreal. There's the time limit to remove the curse, due to Alison, and the pressure to get Jeb back into the real world. Also, the tension between Morpheus and the Alyssa is rather intriguing as well, especially their history (I did say there was a lot of history). And the Red Queen! Don't get me started on her. The revelation on who everyone was and what that meant... It was unfathomable and absolutely perfect. I absolutely loved the complexity of the plot and I'm thrilled that there it's actually a trilogy. So, my advice to you? Get on that band wagon. Get on it now - you won't regret it (except for the wait for the next two books, that is. I know, I'm close to crying myself.)