I wanted to like this book more then I did. It’s not that I didn’t like it but I found it hard to get into it and stay into it. I’m not sure if it was the writing style or the characters or the pacing. I just never truly connected with it fully. Maybe I have hit my threshold on Hunger Gamesish type dystopian.
Red Rising is about Darrow, who is a miner on Mars. He and his family are Reds. The lowest of the color castes. Their job is to mine precious elements to prepare the surface of Mars for colonization. They were told they were colonist but really they are slaves. Mars was colonized for centuries and the ruling color castes, Golds, have been living it up on the surface, while Reds toil away below. All this is revealed to Darrow after his wife, Eo, is executed and Darrow joins the Army of Ares to take down the Golds and the Society from the inside.
Maybe for me it’s more of a question of pacing then anything else. Eo, is executed so early in the book, that I was never able to get to know her or Darrow or their relationship. Obviously they were in love. I got that much and apparently Eo was someone that everyone loved. True, it’s sad when anyone is killed at such a young age. Especially over something that is a simple as a song but it was a blink and you miss her and she’s gone. Oh, ok. Then Darrow is whisked away by the Army of Ares, told the truth about how the Society really is and joins the rebellion. I guess I never felt I had time to know who Darrow was before all this happened. I didn’t get to know where he came from before he was set out on his revenge. I think this is also a problem of the author because to compare to the Hunger Games, the reaping happens very early on in the book and Katniss and Peeta are on the train to the capital by the third chapter but by then the connection for me was already made. I was invested.
After a lengthy process of changing Darrow from a Red to a Gold, which includes surgeries, we finally get to the Institute that turns Golds into the leaders and rulers of the Society. The Institute is nothing but a Hunger Games style of live action game of Risk. The students are set up into different houses where they try to invade, conquer and slave the other students. Again with the pacing. At times, it was exciting and I hated that I was at my stop on the train and had to stop reading to get off but then momentum would end and I was like “can we get on with it” The ending itself was also a little meh. I guess it does set up nicely for the sequel, Golden Son, which is out now.
It was ok. I’ll probably will read the sequel eventually but not right away. I think this was Pierce Brown’s first book, so hopefully the next one will be better. I like the concept, I do. The execution just wasn’t quite up the the task.
I once described the first book in the The Academy Series, Game On, to friends as Gossip Girl meets Bollettieri’s. For those not in the know, Bollettieri’s is a tennis academy in Florida that has produced such great champions as Andre Agassi, Jim Courier, Maria Sharapova and Seles herself. In Game On we are introduced to Maya, a tennis player who dreams of playing professionally. She has earned an 
Now, these are not the greatest books but I don’t think anyone who picked them up were looking for them to be. They are fun beach reads with not a lot of substance but a whole lot of drama. It turns out that Maya has more to worry about than just her tennis. She also has to contend with possible endorsement deals, internet gossip, jealous rivals and boys’ fickle affection. Life at the Academy is a lot harder than Maya thought it would be. The best thing about Game on and it’s sequel, Love Match is the friendship between Maya, Cleo and Renee. Renee is clearly in the Haves and Maya and Cleo, the Haves-not but they make it work. You don’t always get books with good female friendships. (You don’t really get it in movies or TV for that matter either.) Girls are often rivals for grades, boys, beauty, etc. I really dug the friendship of these girls. They are vastly different. Cleo is a free spirit and a lesbian. Renee is super rich and beautiful and Maya is your average American girl from Buffalo. They are constantly supporting each other and pushing each other forward. They sometimes get jealous of each other but they do always find ways back to each other. Oh and they talk to each other. What a concept! What I don’t really like about the series is the lack of tennis. Maya is determined to make it as a player. It’s her dream but tennis often falls to the back burner as soon as she has an opportunity to pose for an ad campaign or audition for a movie or Travis or Jake start to show interest in her. It’s not until one of those things falls apart that she recommits herself to tennis. Promising to focus on tennis from then on or until, you know, the next thing pops up. Not exactly the best message for young girls.
When I first read the description of Talon, I thought it sounded very familiar to another Teen series, Firelight by Sophie Jordan. They both feature a protaganist who are dragons or a form of dragons, that can blend in with humans. A human boy love interest, who is also a form of Dragon hunter/slayer and another boy dragon to complete the love triangle. As Talon progresses the similarities start to fade. Not completely, though. Readers of both will see them but it’s not the same.
On Tuesday, the second book in the Bone Season series, The Mime Order comes out. If you have read the other posts you know that Kate and I loved the first book, The Bone Season and a certain character, Warden. So we both were anxiously waiting the sequel. I already had a chance to read The Mime Order. There are a few perks of being a bookseller. Having the opportunity to read books before they are officially released is just one of them. The problem with reading books before the release is that when I’m done, I can’t talk about them because no one else had read them. I know, I know. I’m probably not getting much sympathy out there so I’ll stop complaining. I am very happy that it will finally get to be released so Kate and our cousin Sarah, who suggested The Bone Season to us can finally read about it so we can discuss it. Finally!
Holly Black is no stranger to Fairies. This is her third foray into the world of the fair folk. She first co-authored the Spiderwick Chronicles with Tony DiTerlizzi and then went solo on Modern Faerie Tales, Tithe, Valiant and Ironside. She knows her fairy mythology. The Darkest Part of the Forest is a return to her fairy roots, so to speak.
This is one of the best vampire stories I have read. It’s very modern and with the times. Vampires were content to staying under the radar until one went rogue and started spreading the disease of vampirism rampant. The government, in response has quarantined cities where it was the most widespead. No one was allowed to go in or leave without permission, even if they weren’t infected. Vampires however, discovered the internet and live feeds and made the forced quarantine into reality shows and full of stars.
The novellas I read came from very different series. The first is The Queen from the Selection series by Kiera Cass. This is actually the third novella from this series and the first that is a prequel, taking place long before the action of the first book, The Selection. First, if you are not familiar with this series. It’s been dubbed as the Bachelor version of the Hunger Games. I think that’s not a very good description because the only thing they have in common is that they both take place in a dystopian society and both plots revolve around a sort of Reality TV show premise. In The Selection, America Singer is one of 35 girls picked to compete in the Selection, and win the heart of Prince Maxon. It’s all taped and televised and other things happen too. The Queen is about the Queen Amberly, Prince Maxon’s mother’s own Selection, that she obviously won since she is now the Queen. It doesn’t add too much to series but it does gives more of a look at King Clarkson, who is sort of the villain in the series. Why he is who he is and also a little sadness for Queen Amberly. She is a good person who truly loves him and he likes her because he knows she will do whatever he says and is easy to manipulate. Not exactly a romance.
The second is Burnt Sugar, a prequel novella of Firebug by Lish Mcbride. You may remember that Firebug was one of 
And finally Carnival of Lies is a novella from the Untamed City series by Melissa Marr. The first book, Carnival of Souls (now published as 
I finished A Dance of Dragons and now I am where everyone else is the world is. Waiting. So many questions. This goes without saying but the following will spoil things if you haven’t read them.
2 Women, So Many Books 