Wednesday, March 18, 2015

Matched
Crossed
Reached
 By Ally Condie

Cassia has always trusted the Society to make the right choices for her: what to read, what to watch, what to believe. So when Xander's face appears on-screen at her Matching ceremony, Cassia knows with complete certainty that he is her ideal mate... until she sees Ky Markham's face flash for an instant before the screen fades to black.

I went back and forth on this book if I should read it or not. It had mixed reviews and the few people I knew who read it didn’t care for it much so I was hesitant starting it. After reading it I’m still mixed about it. It was cute and fun kind of different from other books, but slow and dragged a lot. I do like that it wasn’t as dark and violent as the hunger games and divergent category but it was more on the romantic side like the selection and Delirium category.
The idea of this book was for society to make your choices for you to make life simple. Follow the rules and your life would be perfect and happy.
So the first book is all about setting up what life is like inside the society and what happens when you start questioning everything.
 The ending was left kind of unresolved and hinted at a lot of things but never really explained it so I will be reading the next two books in the series to see how it turns out.

The hotly awaited second book in the dystopian Matched trilogy....
In search of a future that may not exist and faced with the decision of who to share it with, Cassia journeys to the Outer Provinces in pursuit of Ky - taken by the Society to his certain death - only to find that he has escaped, leaving a series of clues in his wake.
Cassia's quest leads her to question much of what she holds dear, even as she finds glimmers of a different life across the border. But as Cassia nears resolve and certainty about her future with Ky, an invitation for rebellion, an unexpected betrayal, and a surprise visit from Xander - who may hold the key to the uprising and, still, to Cassia's heart - change the game once again. Nothing is as expected on the edge of Society, where crosses and double crosses make the path more twisted than ever.

I had a harder time reading this book it seemed to be slower and was just a filler of things to build up the last book.
I did enjoy getting to know more about the characters and it brought in more characters that helped move to the story a bit.
What I didn’t care for was, it has some much poetry in it. They use it as kind of a way to communicate so I can see the importance of it but I felt it was a bit overused saying the same one in many chapters.
Overall it was ok, I can see how it fit into the first book and opened up for the third book but nothing too exciting with this one.

After leaving Society and desperately searching for the Rising - and each other - Cassia and Ky have found what they were looking for, but at the cost of losing each other yet again: Cassia has been assigned to work for the Rising from within Society, while Ky has been stationed outside its borders. But nothing is as predicted, and all too soon the veil lifts and things shift once again.
In this gripping conclusion to the number-one New York Times-best-selling Matched Trilogy, Cassia will reconcile the difficulties of challenging a life too confining, seeking a freedom she never dreamed possible, and honoring a love she cannot live without.
So this got a little better than the 2nd one, which I figured would. It still wasn’t good enough to be a great book I would recommend but good enough to finish the trilogy.
I liked how it moved a little bit faster and got right into the Rising taking over but that was even anti climatic. It happened fast, back fired on them then took the rest of the book to fix things.
I think it also focused way too much on the love part of it and less action of defeating the Society. That’s something else that bugged me the society never really fought back, and then in the end it was meant to happen that way that the Society and the rebellion was basically the same thing, different, but the same. Didn’t make sense. It was like the author couldn’t decide who the enemy should be.
It did clear up some of the confusion of the first book and tied some of it in, but overall it was a very disappointing series.

I listen to most of the books at work and the narration of Ky was awful he sounded like he was 5. Here he was supposed to be Mr. Big hero of the book and he turned out to be pretty whinny and pathetic only thought of how much he loved Cassia. Pretty hard to sell as a strong character when he sounded like he did. 
Under the Never Sky
Through the Ever Night
Into the Still Blue

 By Veronica Rossi
Challenge:
Trilogy
Set in the future
Female author
Magic

      Since she’d been on the outside, she’d survived an Aether storm, she’d had a knife held to her throat, and she’d seen men murdered. This was worse. Exiled from her home, the enclosed city of Reverie, Aria knows her chances of surviving in the outer wasteland - known as The Death Shop - are slim. If the cannibals don’t get her, the violent, electrified energy storms will. She’s been taught that the very air she breathes can kill her. Then Aria meets an Outsider named Perry. He’s wild - a savage - and her only hope of staying alive.
This was another book that has been sitting in my wish list for a while that I have been putting off and once again I’m glad I finally got around to reading this one. I was surprised with it and enjoyed reading it. It was a little slower and I did get a little board at times and kind of lost trying to keep up with it bouncing around but overall it was good. Once it set up the story line I was able to follow better. I liked the different way this book took on a post-apocalyptic YA story  with plenty of action, emotion, and adventure.
I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a YA Dystopian story, but be prepared for a cliff hanger that will make you want to jump right into the next book.

It's been months since Aria learned of her mother's death.
Months since Perry became Blood Lord of the Tides, and months since Aria last saw him.
Now Aria and Perry are about to be reunited. It's a moment they've been longing for with countless expectations. And it's a moment that lives up to all of them. At least at first. Then it slips away. The Tides don't take kindly to former Dwellers like Aria. And the tribe is swirling out of Perry's control. With the Aether storms worsening every day, the only remaining hope for peace and safety is the Still Blue. But does this haven truly exist?
Threatened by false friends and powerful temptations, Aria and Perry wonder: Can their love survive through the ever night? In this second book in her spellbinding Under the Never Sky trilogy, Veronica Rossi combines fantasy and sci-fi elements to create a captivating adventure - and a love story as perilous as it is unforgettable.

This book jumped right into where it left off with plenty of action. I was worried that like every 2nd book in a series this was just going to be a book of fluff building up to the 3rd book. Thank goodness is wasn't. It had just as much action, some heartbreak which is bitter sweet. It’s always sad to lose a character especially of how it effects other characters, but at the same time it keeps the book more realistic of not having life be perfect. The book had some romance but not over the top and like the heartbreak, it was realistic. I also like how this book had a lot more character development with the main characters but also with some to of the other characters as.

I would also recommend this book as well. This series is becoming one of my favorites. If you read this book make sure to have the next book as well. As soon as I finished I immediately started reading the third book. It left on a bigger cliff hanger. I was glad I decided to pick up both the 2nd and 3rd book at the library so I could read them so close.

 The race to the Still Blue has reached a stalemate. Aria and Perry are determined to find this last safe haven from the Aether storms before Sable and Hess do - and they are just as determined to stay together. Within the confines of a cave they're using as a makeshift refuge, they struggle to reconcile their people, Dwellers and Outsiders, who are united only in their hatred of their desperate situation. Meanwhile, time is running out to rescue Cinder, who was abducted by Hess and Sable for his unique abilities. Then Roar arrives in a grief-stricken fury, endangering all with his need for revenge.
Out of options, Perry and Aria assemble an unlikely team for an impossible rescue mission. Cinder isn't just the key to unlocking the Still Blue and their only hope for survival - he's also their friend. And in a dying world, the bonds between people are what matter most.
In this final audiobook in her earth-shattering Under the Never Sky trilogy, Veronica Rossi raises the stakes to their absolute limit and brings her epic love story to an unforgettable close.
This book was a great finish of a good book series. It was nice to have all three books be enjoyable and not be hurriedly written with a bad ending as it seems most books have gone to. I will say this series is in my top 10 of favorite YA book series to read. It kept a fast pace plenty of action and twist and turns. A bit predictable but most books are this one was at least fun.
If you haven’t read them yet I would highly recommend them.