The Twelve Books of Christmas: Day 8

Day 8:
The Selection, Kiera Cass

The Selection is a sweet dystopian YA with a very cool premise: America Singer enters the nationwide competition to marry Prince Maxom. Even though she doesn't love Maxom (she's never even met him, and besides, she has her own boyfriend at home... even though he broke up with her and broke her heart), the girls who get into the Selection move up in life, and America uses the money she gets to help her family live more comfortably.
The problem is, Maxom is actually quite sweet and handsome, and being around him all the time, it's hard to remember Aspen back home, especially since she's not even so sure she should try to remember him, since he's made it so clear he wants nothing to do with her. And even though she doesn't want the crown, America has to decide if her feelings for Maxom are worth the trouble of being a Queen... or if she should just tell him to send her home.
It's fun, it's spunky but it's not all pretty balls and parties; the palace is constantly in danger from rebels - some of whom storm it and leave with few casualties... another group is much more violent. And they could attack at any time.

Under my Skin

Title: Under my Skin (The Immortality Strain #1)
Author: Shawntelle Madison
Genre: YA dystopia
Rating: 4.5/5
Cover: 10/10
Publication Date: December 9th

I was given an ARC of this book from the publisher via netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was one of those 'oh my god I love that cover... and oh yay the blurb looks amazing' kind of situation. And let me tell you, I just love it when the first impressions turn out to be right.

Tate was a very engaging character - and even if she wasn't, the nemesis would make sure that we'd all be rooting for her. Her independence and self-reliance aren't seen enough in YA protagonists, and it made her so much more special. Her love for her family was really touching - and I really liked how Madison kept reminding us of them. Tate didn't forget about her family even in the face of her own astronomical problems.
Zoe was a delight to read about. I know she's about the same age as Tate, but her excitement over all the luxury was very childlike and endearing, even though we just know everything's going to go to hell soon.
The whole idea of the Guild was very original, I thought. The two-minds-one-body thing did, at times, remind me of The Host, but obviously the similarities pretty much start and end there, since the person who's taken over Tate's body isn't a friendly alien, but a ruthless general.
And of course this review wouldn't be complete if I didn't mention Quinn. His character intrigued me from the start. It was obvious that he'd be love interest, so of course I payed special attention to him. I liked his backstory, but quite honestly, I'd like to maybe hear more about him in the next book. Surely he'd be pretty pissed off that she had told the General everything he needed to know to mess up his life?
Anyway, so if it's so awesome, why 4.5/5? While the characters were fabulous and the plot was brilliant, there were moments, particularly towards the end of the novel, where the descriptions grew weirdly vague. It wasn't at a point where description was particularly needed, but it felt almost like a too-casual treatment of what was happening.
Definitely read this one! I'd say this is a weird mix between The Host and The Selection, with an awesome main character who just won't take no for an answer.

Allegiant

Title: Allegiant (Divergent #3)
Author: Veronica Ross
Genre: Dystopia
Rating: 4.5/5
Cover: 10/10

Contrary to popular reaction, I quite liked the ending.
It's such a massive spoiler, that I won't discuss it directly here (there will be some hints to it though, so don't read on if you don't wanna know), but can I just say that I found it very interesting that I asked a friend, when the negative reactions started coming in, if Four died. She replied "no, thank god. I don't think I could have dealt with that". So I just assumed everyone was mad because they broke up.
I really want to go back to her now and ask her why she couldn't have dealt with Four dying, but was only 'disappointed' with what actually happened. I don't know, it sounds wrong. It feels ALL wrong that if the love interest dies, we all cry, but the second the author choses to kill off someone else, then suddenly it's a crap book.
Naw, guys. Stop.
You're embarrassing yourselves.
Personally, I'd like to congratulate Ms Roth. The thing about her books have always been how emotionally true they have been. In a dystopian world, Tris shone through to me as one of the few YA MCs who actually reacted to the crap that happened in her life in a plausible way. There's only so many super-enduring girls I can read about before I start feeling like the most useless piece of shit for not being able to pick myself up so fast. But not Tris. She mourned, she grieved, she got mad, she went a little nuts, and she loved so, so fiercely.
So, in a strange way, this ending was very satisfying.
Of course, it won't make watching it in the movie any easier, but a good, dignified ending that did right by the characters.

Novembro!

Nossa, gente! Já tava mais na hora de eu dar as caras por aqui, certo?
Só posso pedir desculpas por deixar o blog parado por dois meses. Prometo não deixar isso acontecer de novo; a minha vida pessoal virou de ponta cabeça e pelo avesso, mas agora as coisas já se arrumaram e cá estou eu de novo!

E venho com boas novas! Em dezembro vocês vão ganhar a resenha do ARC do terceiro livro da série de demônios da autora Michelle Rowen.

Por agora, vamos nos satisfazer com os lançamentos da semana? :)

A continuação mega esperada de Matched chegou! Vou dizer já de cara que a capa de Matched tava bem mais linda do que essa! ;)


Aguenta, coração! É o último livro da nossa amado Dru Anderson, e com ele, vem aquela perguntinha; a dúvida cruel que só fica mais cruel com esse final que a Lili deu pro livro... afinal de contas: Christophe, o djamphir lindo, ou Graves, o loup-garou trapalhão? ;)
Meu coração vai com o Garoto das Tortas de Maçã <3


No mesmo dia em que a Dru chega ao fim de sua jornada, outra protagonista da Lili vai junto: Jill Kismet se despede do mundo não com um baque, mas com uma tremenda despedida de sacudir o mundo nas bases. É uma épica batalha entre anjos e demônios, e mais uma vez, a nossa Kiss se vê metida bem no meio do furacão. Claro, com ajuda do dedinho intrometido do Perry, que parece que veio pra ficar... ou será que não?

E finalmente, olhem só a fofura que a Kiersten White revelou hoje:



O que acharam dessa capa nova?