A Girl With a Story

*I received this ARC as part of the Goodreads First Reads Giveaway from the publisher*On a day like any other day, the Others arrived. Their mothership lit up the sky and the human race was forever changed. The Others came in waves taking away electricity, bringing upon the world a plague, sending out evil drones to take care of the survivors, and now, they have taken on the form of humans. The idea of trust (or lack of there) and the depths that humans will sink to survive are constantly replayed over and over through the actions of the multiple protagonists that Yancey introduces in the story. We meet the main protagonist, Cassiopeia “Cassie” Sullivan when she is at her lowest point, alone in the woods for an extended period of time replaying the last day she saw her family and the promise she made to find her little brother Sammy. Cassie is smart, and tough, and not the girl she used to be before the invasion. She is willing to kill and fight for her life, and the only thing that keeps her going is the idea of being reunited with her brother. Cassie also knows that she has to stay isolated because she cannot trust that the people she meets on the road to her brother are human. Cassie’s mind starts to disintegrate as she becomes further and further removed from humanity and the life she once lived. All that changes, however, when she is rescued by Evan Walker, a mysterious farm boy with a special smile who only wants to help her get well enough to find her brother. Evan is charming and smart, but there is something about him Cassie cannot shake. He is too perfect, too sweet, and he knows all the right answers to her questions. Cassie has to put all of that doubt aside though, because Evan is her only hope in finding her brother and keeping her promise. Together these two teenagers and their choices could be the savior or destruction of humanity. As long as they can stop the 5th wave… This is by far and away, the best book I have read all year. The characters made me physically hurt when they hurt. Rick Yancey creates just the right amount of tension and despair to capture the reader and never let them go. The characters define this story, and while an alien invasion is what catapults the action, the aliens really take a back seat. It is Cassie, Evan, Sammy, Zombie, and their reactions to the invasion that really spoke to me. They all struggle internally with their new lives and the new people they have become. Yancey brings up the questions of: what makes us human? Is it the way we look? Is it the connections that we make? The way we behave? Or is it our capacity to love and care about each other that makes us human? If that is the case, how different are humans from the aliens?

I loved it! One of my favorite series and by far the best book of Bloodlines yet. Now I just have to wait for my Mema to finish it for a proper book discussion!

GRRR! I will give it to Marie Lu, she knows how to end a book and make you go insane wanting more.

O.m.g. Review to come...

The book has a really strong premise and I like that it sort of breaks free from the Alice and Wonderland type world. I am looking forward for the next book in the series.

This took me a lot longer to get interested in than I expected, but I have a soft spot for JK Rowling so I persevered. I really enjoyed her characters, but I think she spent way too much time introducing them and a little too slowly. It was nice to read an adult read for once though, but I was hoping for a bit more.

Listen....This review was always going to be biased. I was meant to love this book, but at the same time, it was honestly amazing. I have been in such a funk with books lately, nothing measuring up to what I wanted. Everything was predictable. Until this book fell, or rather smashed (its 600plus freaking pages), into my lap. The Diviners is a true masterpiece in fiction. While it is technically a young adult novel, there is nothing young about it. I find it hard to describe this book and do it justice. It really is something that I think readers need to go into with an open mind and no spoilers or clues as to what might occur (and I say this as a spoiler queen). There are the obviously the basic facts: Evie O’Neil is forced to live with her Uncle Will and help him with the Museum of Creepy Crawlies. She then forces her way into a murder investigation concerning the Pentacle Killer (Naughty John) who is stalking the streets of New York. Chaos ensues. But there is so much more to the novel than that.Libba Bray carefully crafts each chapter as if they are small stories within a larger whole. A random fact thrown here or there, a side story about cults lighting themselves on fire, children appearing in corn fields beckoning others to come play with them, crows following young Memphis Campbell around, they all come together piece by piece as the novel progresses. It slowly unfolds until the final battle of good versus evil, and even then, there is still something lurking around the corner. Evie and her friends are only at the precipice of their journey. Bray leaves clues throughout the novel of something much large coming. A storm is coming. I loved that the final chapters gave just the smallest hint of what is to come. There is no major cliffhanger, but at the same time the reader is left knowing that Naughty John was small time compared to that rabbit killing psycho grave walker. As I settled down to read this I felt such an overwhelming familiarity. Libba Bray manages to recapture that essence that made the Gemma Doyle Trilogy so unique and invigorating. While I have loved her other novels, nothing ever lived up to Gemma and her friends; until now. Evie has quickly become one of my favorite literary heroines. She is flawed, makes many mistakes, is overwhelming selfish; but she is also loyal, strong willed and fiercely protective of the ones she loves. I cannot wait to go on this journey with Evie, and knowing Libba Bray, I am preparing for some major heartbreak.Side Note: WHY WOULD ANYONE WALK UNDER A BRIDGE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT ALONE?!?!?! As character after character encounter Naughty John under that freaking bridge I wanted to scream. Every time I read the word bridge I held my breath. So, no bridges for me. Never Again. NEVER.

Blue knows that once she kisses her true love, he will die soon afterwards. She has always keep a distance from the opposite sex, especially the cocky and stuck up Raven Boys. Then, shortly after walking down the Corpse Road with her Aunt Neeve, Blue gets a glimpse of a boy who is destined to die. A boy whose appearance means either he is her true love, or she will be the cause of his death. While dealing with these emotions Blue is surprised when the boy from the Corpse Road shows up at her family psychic home and is in search of a mystical King who has been hidden from the world, an even more shocked to realize that he is a Raven Boy. Blue quickly becomes caught up in their quest to find Glendower, and learns that people are not always who they appear to be. I Love Maggie Stiefvater's writing style, and if you have in the past, this is for sure another great pick. All of the characters are extremely believable and I was so upset at the ending because I wanted it to continue. I am anxiously awaiting the next installment, and to see where Blue and the Raven Boys will end up next.

Ok the only reason I requested this was to read the first few chapters of the Diviners by Libba Bray....but there were alot of other sneak peaks in here that I found very interesting and now I have a ton more book on hold at the library...great... :)

This was such a hauntingly beautiful novel. I have been wanting to read something different and intense for a while and finally I found it. It was so tragic and I know I will be thinkning about it for the next few days, which good books always do for me!

Girl of Nightmares is one of the best books I have read all year. I have been waiting for something different to spark my interest and I could not put it down. There were some scenes that absolutely haunted me and I had to flip on all the lights in the room! I will read anything from Kendare Blake from now on, her writing style is so unique, I am a fan for life! :)