I’ve heard so much about The Selection series by Kiera Cass that I finally gave in and started it. The first book of the series, Selection, is a fun, light read about the rags to riches story of America Singer, a teenage girl. This is set in a future time where what once was America is now the country of Illéia. There is a royal family who rules and a caste system in place. America’s family are “fives” which are made up of musicians and artists. Just one level above “sixes” who are servants which is the caste Aspen is in. Aspen and America are in a serious relationship but have to keep it secret since they are in different castes. One day America gets a letter that could change her life forever, inviting her to apply to be Prince Maxon’s princess. Thirty-five girls will be selected for him to get to know and choose his princess from. During the selection process, their families will be compensated for allowing their daughters to participate in the selection. This first book is about the girls being selected and the process of Prince Maxon trying to narrow down the number.
I enjoyed this book because it is entertaining and reminded me of the show, The Bachelor. Prince Maxon, however, is a nice guy and not a sleeze at all. I like the humor throughout the book and how America slowly discovers that Maxon is not the snob she expected him to be. In fact, he is nothing but exceptionally nice to her! The love triangle that develops between her, Aspen and Maxon gets a push when Aspen is drafted as a guard at the palace and is assigned to guard America’s room. This is a quick read and I am anxious to continue on with this series. This is a pretty uplifting read with lots of happy moments.
(Karen’s review, 4 stars)
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In Under Rose-Tainted Skies by Louise Gornall, Norah is 17 and has accepted that the four walls of her house will be her life. She cannot possibly go outside and heaven forbid she should come in contact with a stranger. However, when a new family moves in and a young teen boy notices her, will Norah do something that she could not have imagined she would do or is she just headed for heartache?
This book is based on the author's own experiences. I enjoyed it because Norah was a fun character and thought the ending was good too!
(Gerard's review, 5 stars)
Have you read this one? What did you think of it? If you reviewed this too, feel free to share your link to your review in the comments. To find books on a specific topic, scroll to the bottom and click on the topic you want. Happy Reading!
Karen's: Mom screamed by my ear, and May jumped up, sending popcorn everywhere. Gerad got excited too and started dancing. Dad . . it's hard to say, but I think he was secretly smiling behind his book.
From page 56 of The Selection by Kiera Cass.
"Maybe we shouldn't go," Jonathan repeated. "Maybe we shouldn't tell what happened. Yet."
"Do you really want to do this?" She wagged her finger between them. "A battle of wits? It's not even fun to destroy you because you're too dim to understand you're getting destroyed."
My fingers curl into the door frame so tightly it's a wonder they don't pierce the wood. But I can do it, one whole foot outside my front door, without my chest getting tight.
From page 24 of Under Rose-Tainted Skies by Louise Gornall.
Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by The Purple Booker. Anyone can play along, so I thought I would play for fun! Just pick two sentences from the book you are reading. Happy Reading!
The Serpent King by Jeff Zentner is told by three teens starting their senior year in high school in a small town. Dill, Lydia and Travis take turns telling the way this book goes. They all have different family relationships. What they do have in common is a strong bond of friendship.
I enjoyed all the three teens very much. This book kept me interested throughout and has a very good ending.
(Gerard's review, 5 stars)
Have you read this one? What did you think of it? If you reviewed this too, feel free to share your link to your review in the comments. To find books on a specific topic, scroll to the bottom and click on the topic you want. Happy Reading!
Scar Island by Dan Gemeinhart, my favorite children’s author, is about boys at Slabhenge Reformatory School for troubled boys located on an island and run with torture techniques. Jonathan is the new boy sentenced to 10 weeks which is longer than usual because of the bad thing he did. Jonathan is overwhelmed with feelings of guilt and believes he deserves to be there, unlike the others. A couple boys befriend him and eventually he even wins over the bully who bosses everyone around when all the grownups running the place meet an unfortunate death.
This book is dark but not as dark as Lord of the Flies although there are some similarities. I liked this book because of the exploration of group dynamics, the interaction and growth among the boys, and also because of the suspense. I even got to like that huge rat that Jonathan mistook for a cat. Jonathan is a great character who I admired because he was so kind and compassionate throughout the book. I would recommend this book to boys, but don’t think too many girls would enjoy it since there are no girls in it. I liked both this author’s other books better: The Honest Truth and Some Kind of Courage, because they seemed more believable and not as dark as this one.
SPOILER ALERT – STOP NOW IF YOU INTEND TO READ THIS BOOK. I really liked the librarian and his pet rat. I thought that was a cool surprise and liked how the librarian encouraged Jonathan to take a book every time he came. I was surprised Colin didn’t stay with him when he left the others. There were a few things I felt were farfetched: (1) How all the grownups got electrocuted and died at once; (2) that the boys would put the dead bodies in the freezer where the food would be, yuck!; (3) that the first thing they did wasn’t to all join in to destroy the sinner’s sorrow torture device that they all hated; (4) I didn’t understand why Sebastian got so mad at Colin when he left since at the beginning he announce the boys to go wherever they wanted and do whatever they wanted. When Colin took some chocolates saying they were just Sebastian’s, I was surprised the other boys didn’t back him up and (5) how the majority just followed whatever Sebastian said, letting him take the lead instead of following Colin or Jonathan, who were smarter and nicer, especially at the end.
(Karen’s review, 4 stars)
Gerard read this first 1-9-17, here's his review, 4.5 stars: In Scar Island by Dan Gemeinhart, Jonathan is the new boy at Slabhenge. It is a reform school for boys who are troubled to say the least. Now Jonathan is there and he is happy to be there. But soon he will have to make decisions that will affect him and his fellow boys. I really enjoyed the characters in this book. It has good action and the end has a good twist. I liked this author's first two books better, The Honest Truth and Some Kind of Courage, but this one is not bad at all!
Have you read this one? What did you think of it? If you reviewed this too, feel free to share your link to your review in the comments. To find books on a specific topic, scroll to the bottom and click on the topic you want. Happy Reading!
