Review: Rapture by Lauren Kate

Rapture (Fallen #4)
by Lauren Kate
Publication Date: 12 June 2012
Publisher: Doubleday Childrens
Format: Paperback
Rating:3/4

Summary:
The sky is dark with wings....Like sand through an hourglass, time is running out for Luce and Daniel. To stop Lucifer from erasing the past, they must find the place where the angels fell to earth. Dark forces are after them, and Daniel doesn't know if he can do this — live only to lose Luce again and again. Yet together they face an epic battle that will end with lifeless bodies...and angel dust. Great sacrifices are made. Hearts are destroyed. And suddenly Luce knows what must happen. For she was meant to be with someone other than Daniel. The curse they've borne has always and only been about her — and the love she cast aside. The choice she makes now is the only one that truly matters. In the fight for Luce, who will win? Rapture is the astonishing conclusion to the Fallen series. Heaven can’t wait any longer.

Goodreads

Nothing tops an epic love story in the world of Young Adult fiction, and the story of Luce and Daniel is one of epic proportions. So it comes as no surprise that the final installment of the saga is a fast paced, heart-stopping adventure filled with plot twists and an ending that ties up the series perfectly. 

In Rapture Luce's destiny is finally revealed. We get to discover who she was, who's he is and whom she's destined to become. I particularly liked the Luce in Rapture considerably more than her character in the previous books, as she the most determined and headstrong in this final book. I also loved how she becomes one of the biggest key players in the end and how she never knew what potential she processed all along. The character development of Luce has been one of my favorite points of the Fallen series.

Naturally Daniel is amazing in all his swoon worthiness  glory but I liked that he took a step back and that the story was about Luce. Cam, Roland, Arrianne, and all the other side characters were amazing as usual and they each added their own dimension to the story. Whether it was Cam providing some much needed lighthearted humor, or Roland adding some of his deep thought wisdom, all played their roll perfectly and it would be great to see these characters in their own story one day.

The pacing of the book was very good and I always felt like I had to know what the next chapter would hold. I was so anxious to know the  how this series ended and I was not disappointed at all. The ending is amazing and there could be no better way to end this series. 

All in all, Rapture was the perfect conclusion to a heavenly series and,although I sad to say goodbye to these characters, I am excited to see what Lauren Kate has up sleeve for us next! 

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Review: The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

The Fault in Our Stars
by John Green
Publication Date: 10 January 2012
Publisher: Dutton Books
Format: Paperback
Rating: 5/5
Buy the Book: Amazon US/UK|B&N|Book Depo

Diagnosed with Stage IV thyroid cancer at 13, Hazel was prepared to die until, at 14, a medical miracle shrunk the tumours in her lungs... for now. Two years post-miracle, sixteen-year-old Hazel is post-everything else, too; post-high school, post-friends and post-normalcy. And even though she could live for a long time (whatever that means), Hazel lives tethered to an oxygen tank, the tumours tenuously kept at bay with a constant chemical assault. Enter Augustus Waters. A match made at cancer kid support group, Augustus is gorgeous, in remission, and shockingly to her, interested in Hazel. Being with Augustus is both an unexpected destination and a long-needed journey, pushing Hazel to re-examine how sickness and health, life and death, will define her and the legacy that everyone leaves behind.|Goodreads|

There comes a time in every avid reader’s ‘to-read pile’ when you pick up a book and have absolutely no clue that the book you hold in your hands will change the way you see or think about certain situations, forever. Sometimes that change is small, a minor blip in your day to day life. But, on the rare occasion, that change is like a huge bomb dive into a swimming pool, and it ripples through to the very core of your being. The Fault in Our Stars is one of those rare books that had that very effect on me.

The story centres around Hazel who, at sixteen, is a walking cancer miracle, having been diagnosed with stage 6 Thyroid cancer when she was 13. Thanks to the advancement in medicine and a powerful and effective drug, Hazel is still around, but she has become very disconnected from the world she was so prepared to leave 2 years earlier. Through her cancer support group she meets Augustus Waters, an attractive, smart and very funny guy whose cancer is in remission. Hazel and Augustus are seemingly perfect for each other and a beautiful romance ensues. But, this book wouldn’t be a perfect tear-jerker if there weren’t some heart-breaking twists along the way.

I fell in love with these characters from the moment I picked up this masterpiece of a novel. I found Hazel to be wonderfully charismatic and extremely funny when sharing her views on the world, which had me laughing at all the right moments. Even though she has a terminal illness, she never came across as depressed or self-centred, which made her even more endearing as a character to me. Augustus Waters has to be one of my all-time favourite male characters. He is such a kind, gentle and funny character and he makes the perfect match for Hazel. He is an all-round good guy and the world would be a much better place if we had more men like him around. He is, literally, the perfect boyfriend.

The plot made my heart ache at times and had me laughing out loud at times as well. The pacing was perfect, right down to the final full stop, and the writing was flawless. The Fault in Our Stars is a book I fell in over heels in love with and I cannot fault it in any way. The journey I went on with these characters was a magical rollercoaster ride of ups and downs, but I loved every minute of it. The Fault in Our Stars is a book that will stay with you for a very long time after you’ve turned the last page.

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Stacking the Shelves: A Haul of Epic Proportions!

Stacking the Shelves is hosted by Tynga's Reviews. Here's what is all about:

Stacking The Shelves is all about sharing the books you are adding to your shelves, may it be physical or virtual. This means you can include books you buy in physical store or online, books you borrow from friends or the library, review books, gifts and of course ebooks!

This is my first Stacking the Shelves post and I'm really excited to be a part of this fantastic meme. These are the books I've received/bought over the last 2 weeks:

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Review: Death of a Saint by Lily Herne

Death of a Saint (Mall Rats Trilogy #2)
by Lily Herne
Publication Date: 1 April 2012

Publisher: Puffin
Format: Paperback; Review Copy
Rating: 4/5

Buy the book: |Exclusive Books|*For now these books are only available in SA. But they will be published in the UK in 2013.*

Secrets. Everyone has them. But what if your secret is something so unthinkable that you can’t even admit it to yourself? Lily Herne returns with Death of a Saint , the next instalment in the Mall Rats series. Exiled from the city enclave for crimes against the Resurrectionist State, teen rebels Lele, Ginger, Ash and Saint — aka the Mall Rats — are hiding out in the Deadlands, a once-prosperous area now swarming with the living dead. With the sinister Guardians breathing down their necks, the Mall Rats face a stark choice: return to the enclave and try to evade capture or leave Cape Town in search of other survivors. But what if the rest of South Africa is nothing but a zombie-infested wasteland? Will they be able to survive on the road if all they have is each other, or will their secrets tear them apart? After all, only Lele knows the shocking truth as to why the dead leave the Mall Rats unscathed — knowledge that she can’t bring herself to share. And she’s not the only Mall Rat harbouring a dangerous secret….|Goodreads|

Death of a Saint follows on from where the first book, Deadlands, left off. Co-written by mother and daughter team, Sarah and Savanah Lotz, under the pen name Lilly Herne, Death of a Saint offers a refreshingly new take on the normally clichéd ‘zombie apocalypse’. The action packed storyline combined with an interesting array of characters makes Death of a Saint a fantastic addition to the South African literary shelves. 

The story alternates between the POV’s of Lele, the main character from Deadlands, and Saint, the fierce zombie butt-kicking member of the elusive ‘Mall Rats’. In the latest edition of the trilogy the group find themselves leaving the Cape Town area and venturing further north in search of fellow survivors who are also immune to the creepy zombies that haunt the towns and cities. As they make their way further north they encounter some friendly, but also not so friendly, survivors and they find themselves battling the humans rather than the zombies. Their journey leads them to discover that the zombies are the last things they should be worrying about, as the infestation has turned their fellow humans into ruthless and cold hearted beings, almost on par with the undead. They soon realise that they didn’t have it all that bad down in Cape Town.

I read Deadlands shortly after it was released and I really enjoyed it. I thought it added fantastic flare to local fiction and I loved that SA had its own YA author talent as well. Death of a Saint was just as exciting as Deadlands and I especially enjoyed reading from Saint’s POV. I love her character and I found her much more enjoyable than Lele, the original main character. Saint, being the tough zombie fighter, made Lele seem rather boring, and she overshadowed her in my opinion. I loved Ash in Deadlands and I loved him in Death of a Saint. He’s dark and mysterious and I hope to discover a bit more of his back story in the next instalment. Ginger adds humour throughout the story and he is a lovable character all around. I enjoyed being introduced to his love interest, Ember and I really hope that she features in the next book. The ending was an almighty cliffhanger, which I was really annoyed about, but in a good way. I hope it’s not too long a wait for The Army of the Left because I’m dying to know what happens next. 

The writing style was good although I did find the pace slightly slow-moving in some parts. But the story does pick up and by the end I was definitely sitting on the edge of my seat. 

All in all Death of a Saint was a good read and a great sequel to Deadlands. The fact that it takes place in my hometown, and features a shopping mall that I often frequent, made it even more entertaining for me. It adds an intriguing side to the multifaceted zombie genre and I eagerly await the last installment in the trilogy.

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From The Review Pile

From the Review Pile is a meme hosted by Stepping Out of the Page every Thursday.

The aim of this meme is to showcase books that you've received for review (or any book that you own and really want to read/review) but haven't yet got around to reading, in order to give the book some extra publicity.

This is my first 'From the Review Pile' post and I so excited that a meme like this has come around because it's so very true. We can't always get to those wonderful books for review, but that doesn't mean we can't share them on our blogs. So here we go:

Starters (Starters #1)
by Lissa Price
Publication Date: 13 March 2012
Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers
Format: Paperback (UK Version)

HER WORLD IS CHANGED FOREVER
Callie lost her parents when the Spore Wars wiped out everyone between the ages of twenty and sixty. She and her little brother, Tyler, go on the run, living as squatters with their friend Michael and fighting off renegades who would kill them for a cookie. Callie's only hope is Prime Destinations, a disturbing place in Beverly Hills run by a mysterious figure known as the Old Man. He hires teens to rent their bodies to Enders—seniors who want to be young again. Callie, desperate for the money that will keep her, Tyler, and Michael alive, agrees to be a donor. But the neurochip they place in Callie's head malfunctions and she wakes up in the life of her renter, living in her mansion, driving her cars, and going out with a senator's grandson. It feels almost like a fairy tale, until Callie discovers that her renter intends to do more than party—and that Prime Destinations' plans are more evil than Callie could ever have imagined. . . |Goodreads|

Wonder
by R.J. Palacio
Publication Date: 14 February 2012
Publisher: Random House Children's Books
Format: Paperback

I won't describe what I look like. Whatever you're thinking, it's probably worse. August (Auggie) Pullman was born with a facial deformity that prevented him from going to a mainstream school—until now. He's about to start 5th grade at Beecher Prep, and if you've ever been the new kid then you know how hard that can be. The thing is Auggie's just an ordinary kid, with an extraordinary face. But can he convince his new classmates that he's just like them, despite appearances?R. J. Palacio has written a spare, warm, uplifting story that will have readers laughing one minute and wiping away tears the next. With wonderfully realistic family interactions (flawed, but loving), lively school scenes, and short chapters, Wonder is accessible to readers of all levels.|Goodreads|

That's all from my review pile this week. Thanks for stopping by and, if you're a new follower (which I would appreciate very much), welcome to the blog!  

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It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

This is my first 'What Are You Reading?' post and I'm really excited because this seems like an awesome meme to be a part of. It's hosted by Book Journey. This week I'm reading....

Death of a Saint (Mall Rats #2)
by Lily Herne
Publication Date: 1 April 2012
Publisher: Puffin
Buy the book: |Exclusive Books|For now these books are only available in SA. But they will be published in the UK in 2013.   

Secrets. Everyone has them. But what if your secret is something so unthinkable that you can’t even admit it to yourself? Lily Herne returns with Death of a Saint , the next instalment in the Mall Rats series. Exiled from the city enclave for crimes against the Resurrectionist State, teen rebels Lele, Ginger, Ash and Saint — aka the Mall Rats — are hiding out in the Deadlands, a once-prosperous area now swarming with the living dead. With the sinister Guardians breathing down their necks, the Mall Rats face a stark choice: return to the enclave and try to evade capture or leave Cape Town in search of other survivors. But what if the rest of South Africa is nothing but a zombie-infested wasteland? Will they be able to survive on the road if all they have is each other, or will their secrets tear them apart? After all, only Lele knows the shocking truth as to why the dead leave the Mall Rats unscathed — knowledge that she can’t bring herself to share. And she’s not the only Mall Rat harbouring a dangerous secret….|Goodreads|

It's a Zombie book set in my local city, Cape Town South Africa. It's the second book in a series, the first is Deadlands. I loved the first one and I highly recommend this series to anyone who loves Zombie fiction. Here is some info on the first book, Deadlands:


Deadlands (Mall Rats #1)
by Lily Herne
Publication Date: February 2011
Publisher: Penguin
Buy the Book: |Exclusive Books|
Ten years after Cape Town was destroyed in the War with the living dead, zombies roam free in Cape Town's suburbs (known as the Deadlands), and the remaining living are either fenced in on farms or in urban shanty towns. The living are watched over by the mysteriously robed Guardians, a race of humanoid figures who appeared at the end of the War and who keep the living dead at bay, albeit at a steep price. Every year the Guardians stage a human Lottery and select five aspiring teenagers to be whisked out of the enclave for a secret purpose. To be one of the chosen five is a highly sought after and prestigious accolade. No one knows why the Guardians prize teenage bodies so highly, how they control the zombies or what they look like under the robes that cover their bodies...|Goodreads|

And that's what I plan on reading this week. Thanks for stopping by!

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Follow Friday & TGIF

Follow Friday is a weekly meme hosted by Alison Can Read & Parajunkee.This week's question is:

Q: Have you had a character that disappointed you? One that you fell in love with and then “broke up” with later on in either the series or a stand-alone book? Tell us about him or her.

The character that I recently fell 'in and out of love with' would have to be Gabriel from The Chemical Garden Trilogy, Wither & Fever by Lauren DeStefano. He comes to mind because I just finished reading Fever (read my review here) In Wither he comes across as kind and gentle, and very naive which made him very endearing. But in Fever he isn't that endearing at all. Instead of going after the woman he is supposedly in love with and fighting for her like guy in love would do, he stays locked away in his mansion with his other wife! And he leaves his evil, sadistic father to go out and capture her once again! I'm crossing my fingers that maybe he will redeem himself in the last book because, I do still have a soft spot for him. Gabriel, man up and fight for your lady! 

Reading Blues: We all get them from time to time. What helps you over come those reading slumps when nothing seems to grab your attention?
There has to be nothing worse than reading slumps. I hate them! I don't really have a set method on how to get rid of them but, like G mentioned in her post, they happen to occur always after I've finished an absolutely, down-right amazing book. Sometimes I just have to give myself a day to process the fantastic book I just read, come to terms with the story ending and then I push myself into another book that I've been excited to start reading. Once I'm in the middle of another book that I'm really enjoying, that's the end of my reading slump. If you have a remedy that you find works really well, please share it. I would love to get some new ideas as to what to do the next time I find myself in a slump. 

Thanks for stopping by and, if you're a new follower, welcome! Leave links in the comments and I'll follow back!

 Have a wonderful weekend!

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