The Body Electric

Hello!
It's been a while but I am signing up for this exciting book giveaway by the incredible Beth Revis. I've previously blogged about her book, 'Across The Universe'. The trilogy is honestly my favorite ever and I talk about how amazing Beth is to a lot of my blogger/book reading friends. I haven't been given the chance to read her new book called, 'The Body Electric' but I can't wait until I get the chance to because I know it will be every bit of perfect as her other books.
If you're wondering what it's about, here's the description from Amazon;

The future world is at peace.

Ella Shepherd has dedicated her life to using her unique gift--the ability to enter people's dreams and memories using technology developed by her mother--to help others relive their happy memories.

But not all is at it seems.

Ella starts seeing impossible things--images of her dead father, warnings of who she cannot trust. Her government recruits her to spy on a rebel group, using her ability to experience--and influence--the memories of traitors. But the leader of the rebels claims they used to be in love--even though Ella's never met him before in her life. Which can only mean one thing...

Someone's altered her memory.

Ella's gift is enough to overthrow a corrupt government or crush a growing rebel group. She is the key to stopping a war she didn't even know was happening. But if someone else has been inside Ella's head, she cannot trust her own memories, thoughts, or feelings.

So who can she trust?

Skyla

The world as we know it doesn’t exist anymore. Humanity has retreated to the skies after being almost obliterated by the deadly Ghost Virus. Man-made islands floating in the troposphere house those that survived. The System, a new form of government, now controls and regulates everyone’s lives in an effort to preserve the human race. Skyla Deep is not your average orphan in this sky born world; abused, neglected and in need of something the System doesn’t offer…freedom. Desperate to live instead of merely exist, Skyla runs away. She aligns herself with one of the notorious sects who control the outer edges of the islands. There’s just one problem. On an island this small you can only run from the System for so long. As events escalate, Skyla will come to question all that she’s been taught to believe. She’s always felt the System wasn’t what it claimed to be, but wonders just how deep their treachery runs? And with the Ghost Virus making a reappearance on the islands, will humanity survive? - Amazon.com

I was lucky enough to get to read this amazing book because my sister Kristen works with this author and I couldn't be happier that she does because I would be seriously missing out on a good book. But I'm a huge fan of dystopian and was excited to start it and trust me when I say that when I actually DID start it, I literally could not put it down. There's so many twists and turns and it kept me going wanting to know more and more! Every new character introduced was interesting and had secrets and I want to know more of everyone and everything and where Skyla will end up because this book had a VERY intriguing cliff hanger to it. This was a really good start to a series that had more to come and I can only imagine what Skyla will have in store for us! There's not much I can think to say that doesn't include a spoiler and I wouldn't want to ruin anything so you'll just have to read for yourself.
A. E. Field has just became one of my new favorite authors seeing as I'm already addicted to her writing and am craving more. I can't wait for book number 2!

The Murmurings

A teen girl starts hearing the same voices that drove her sister to commit suicide in this creepy, suspenseful novel.
Everyone thinks Sophie’s sister, Nell, went crazy. After all, she heard strange voices that drove her to commit suicide. But Sophie doesn’t believe that Nell would take her own life, and she’s convinced that Nell’s doctor knows more than he’s letting on. As Sophie starts to piece together Nell’s last days, every lead ends in a web of lies. And the deeper Sophie digs, the more danger she’s in—because now she’s hearing the same haunting whispers. Sophie’s starting to think she’s going crazy too. Or worse, that maybe she’s not… - Amazon.com

I think the only thing I didn't like about this book was the fast romance, honestly. I HATE those! What I did like about it was that it was realistic and that it didn't have to have violence to scare you. It used your own mind and thoughts- what could be more terrifying? It has a good storyline and keeps you guessing. Dr. Keller and the rest of the staff made my skin crawl. Spread throughout the book are passages from Nell's diary and blog posts from Adam, an orderly at the institution. I didn't know if I could trust him or not, which added to the twists in the book. But in the end, it wasn't as full of horror as the summary implied. It's hard to explain why without spoiling too much, but I felt like there was a lot of focus on a supernatural element that could have been better, I feel like if she really wanted to scare you she could have. I'm still not sure if I liked the ending or not, I won't spoil it but it didn't feel like a good enough closure for me. Though I liked the characters well enough, I wanted more. Sophie with more substance would be one awesome character and maybe from her aunt too, I liked her.
I will definitely read more from this author, I just fee like I have mixed emotions about this book in all. I liked it but yet I didn't.

The Selection

For thirty-five girls, the Selection is the chance of a lifetime. The opportunity to escape the life laid out for them since birth. To be swept up in a world of glittering gowns and priceless jewels. To live in a palace and compete for the heart of gorgeous Prince Maxon. But for America Singer, being Selected is a nightmare. It means turning her back on her secret love with Aspen, who is a caste below her. Leaving her home to enter a fierce competition for a crown she doesn't want. Living in a palace that is constantly threatened by violent rebel attacks. Then America meets Prince Maxon. Gradually, she starts to question all the plans she's made for herself—and realizes that the life she's always dreamed of may not compare to a future she never imagined. - Amazon.com

Oh boy, where do I begin? I literally devoured this book in a day, it was that good. I had been wanting to read it for a very long time because I met the author in Chicago at a book convention and she cracked me up! I read 'The Chemical Garden' series and loved the concept of them so this was obviously a must read for me. And it was AMAZING! I think the only thing I didn't like was how fast the Maxon and America's relationship happened, but I liked how they interacted with each other. This book had me laughing an don the edge of my seat the whole time. It did remind me a little of 'The Hunger Games' but people are getting annoyed with it being compared to that so maybe I shouldn't say that. I found the characters likeable, especially the different girls who were selected and their different personalities and how they treated America. As for the romance, whenever America and Maxon were together I rooted for them completely, I like them together because they have the same personality and I personally don't like Aspen much. I liked that it kept me on my toes and it was a love triangle that did not annoy me. I can't wait to find out what the rebels have in store for Illea and what they are really looking for. I also can't wait to see who America chooses, of course and I'd like to hear more from and about May Singer, she was ADORABLE.
All in all, I loved this book and can't wait for paperback because I NEED to finish it!

Cinder

Humans and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. A deadly plague ravages the population. From space, a ruthless lunar people watch, waiting to make their move. No one knows that Earth’s fate hinges on one girl. Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg. She’s a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister’s illness. But when her life becomes intertwined with the handsome Prince Kai’s, she suddenly finds herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle, and a forbidden attraction. Caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal, she must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect her world’s future. - Amazon.com


I have wanted to buy this book for a very long time and now that I finally have it, I can honestly say that I LOVE this book and everything about it. I love the whole concept of it all and the characters and the descriptions she gives. I loved all of the characters, especially Iko, and it was nice to have one of the stepsisters on the nice side and it was nice to have them with life in them. I'm excited to see how their relationship with Cinder continues through out the books. I also loved Price Kai and how he took time to come and see her and not get all caught up in the royalty and himself.
This book was sort of predictable for me, I saw it all coming which kind of sucked but that's alright I still loved this book! Throughout the book, I couldn't enough of Cinder's world. I wanted to know why everything was the way it was as well as more about the mysterious and deadly Lunar and their society. While everything wasn't reveled in Cinder, Marissa Meyer did a fabulous job of slowly doling out the necessary tidbits, ones that always came at the most perfect of times and always left me craving for more, more, and more! I also enjoyed that this book contained a slow burning romance instead of insta-love, because not only did it create for a more believable relationship, but it also allowed for other important plot parts to take center stage. I absolutely loved this debut and cannot wait to read the rest of this series. I flew through this book and had such trouble putting it down; I was actually really surprised at how quickly I got through this novel because this font is on the small side and it is 400 pages long. But Meyer's prose flowed so well and her characters were really interesting.
I most definitely recommend it!

 

Book of Curses

Meet Raine Renning, your average teenager and her Twin brother, Thomas. Their lives are pretty normal - if you count moving from house to house, and town to town normal. Since the death of their father Leland, their mother Tori has shown her true colors. On their 18th birthday Tom decides to have his ex-girlfriend, and best friend, Christie come over for a small party and give Raine her gift - the one that will change all of their lives forever. A book - While reading it and joking around they're mysteriously pulled within it's cursed, bound pages and told of the prophecy they are to fulfill. Vampyre's. Faerie's. Lycan's. Creature's they thought were only stories take their places as the Renning's Guardians, from Region to Region they learn more and more about it. Dragon's. Human's. Nephilim. Now, if only they can figure out how to take down four god's in the middle of this entire mess, and still save their world from destruction - Oh, and don't forget choosing what immortal creature to become... - Amazon.

My Review
I really liked this author. Leah is really nice and really sweet and funny too. I'm happy she had me read this book and review it for her because it really really is an amazing book. Reading it, I can completely agree with others, that I definately was taken to another world. Lots of characters and I loved them all - especially Lupus. He made me giggle. I loved this book, it had funny moments and serious moments and a great story line. I can't wait for it to continue. There was always something happening so I wasn't ever bored with it, and it wasn't really a 'love story' like most books these days, kinda short but still great. I'd love to read more of her books, her writing is amazing. :)

Wither

By age sixteen, Rhine Ellery has four years left to live. A botched effort to create a perfect race has left all males born with a lifespan of 25 years, and females a lifespan of 20 years--leaving the world in a state of panic. Geneticists seek a miracle antidote to restore the human race, desperate orphans crowd the population, crime and poverty have skyrocketed, and young girls are being kidnapped and sold as polygamous brides to bear more children. When Rhine is sold as a bride, she vows to do all she can to escape. Yet her husband, Linden, is hopelessly in love with her, and Rhine can’t bring herself to hate him as much as she’d like to. He opens her to a magical world of wealth and illusion she never thought existed, and it almost makes it possible to ignore the clock ticking away her short life. But Rhine quickly learns that not everything in her new husband’s strange world is what it seems. Her father-in-law, an eccentric doctor bent on finding the antidote, is hoarding corpses in the basement; her fellow sister wives are to be trusted one day and feared the next; and Rhine has no way to communicate to her twin brother that she is safe and alive. Together with one of Linden's servants, Gabriel, Rhine attempts to escape just before her seventeenth birthday. But in a world that continues to spiral into anarchy, is there any hope for freedom? - Amazon

My Review
I started this book earlier in the year and stopped because someone else had wanted to read before they moved. It was hard to give it up but in the end I gave in. I am just now done with it and I can't even explain how much I loved it. The first paragraph is chilling and the author certainly has a way with words ("They keep us in the dark for so long that we lose sense of our eyelids"). I liked how the characters and situations in this story were not simply good or bad but various shades of grey. Housemaster Vaughn is a villain but the purpose behind his horrific acts is to find a cure, an ends justifies the means kind of guy. Even though Rhine was forced to become part of a polygamous lifestyle, she uses Linden to make her own life more comfortable. It was interesting to see how inner morals either bend or break when survival is at stake. There isn't much of a love triangle between Rhine, Linden and Gabriel in the usual sense but that's a good thing. I did wish that Rhine would have stayed. I didn't really like Gabriel. Linden was so innocent, couldn't she see that? It really wasn't that bad, to me and Linden's father was weird... he left me quite curious and wanting to know what he meant. Linden had really started to love her and care. Rhine should have told him what happened to the other girls who didn't make it. What happened to Rose after she died. Maybe she does in the sequel, I don't know but I'm veeeeerrrrrryyy curious to know what happens! I saw that most people didn't like it - but I, myself loved it.