The Hunger Games Review

I finished reading The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins.  It was totally awesome!  The Smart Remarks Book Club has been raving over it so I thought I'd try it out and I'm really glad I did.  I am a super slow reader but it only took me two days to finish it.  I couldn't put it down!  My poor kids, I totally neglected them all day today.  I'll have to make it up to the tomorrow.  The book was great!  In short, it's about a televised event where a boy and a girl from each of the twelve districts compete in a fight to the death called the Hunger Games.  There's a sweet little romance intermixed that seems doomed from the beginning.  Also I'm not even ashamed to admit that there were times during this action packed story where I had to hold back a few tears.  It was good, really good!  I can't wait for book 2!

The Host Review

I recently finished reading Stephanie Myers' book The Host.  From the very beginning I was hooked.  I loved the premise.  I mean, super nice body snatching aliens and "the resistance".  Very interesting.  I even like the two conflicting personalities sharing one body.  Hmm... Even more interesting still, and a little weird, is that each personality is in love with a different person.  Can you say "love square"?  Has this ever been done before because I don't believe I've ever heard of it before.  The highlights for me were her adjusting to her new body, the conflicts between the two personalities, the few times they left the caves and the ending.  The only complaint I might have are that it did drag just a little in the middle when it goes into detail about the day to day life in the caves; chores, eat, sleep... All in all I really like it and would certainly recommend it to anyone.  I give it a 4.5 out of 5.

Uglies Series Book Review

Last month the Smart Remarks Book Club book was the first of a series of books called "Uglies".  I read he book and enjoyed it.  I'll admit, it wasn't my favorite book I've ever read but it kept me interested enough to read the next two books, Pretties and Specials, which is saying something.  For anyone who hasn't yet read the book it's about a world years ahead of our own.  Cities are totally self sufficiant and everyone lives within their city and never really ever has a reason to leave.  Kids ages 12-16 are seperated from everyone else and live in a part of town called Uglyville where they go to school and await the day when they turn 16.  At which point they have a "Pretty" operation that makes them supermodel beautiful.  But little do they know, the operation is just a cover for something far more sinister.  Ok, so it's pretty obvious from the beginning what the secret is but I won't give it away.  The book has a really interesting concept although I'm not sure I would have written it quite like the author did.  Here's the GOOD and the BAD...

GOOD:

* One thing I liked about the books is all the techie stuff n it; hoverboards, bungie jackets, walls that give you whatever you ask for and heat jackets.  Very cool!

* I also really loved the lingo especially in book two.  It was all bubbly-making for sure.

* They kept me interested! I couldn't stop wondering what was going to happen to Tally.  Just when I was starting to get bored of it something would pull me back it.

* Surprisingly, the parts I liked the best were when she was outside the city in the wild.

BAD:

*A few things I didn't like however where the lousy characters and the unrealistic bonds between them.  The relationships between the characters was totally unbelievable.  There was absolutely no chemistry between the leading lady and any of her male counterparts with the slight exception at the end of book two that totally fizzled out in book 3.  I had such a hard time believing any of it.  As for "love interests" in the book give me a break.  I lost total interest in David when Tally went on describing exactly how ugly he really was and then again in book one when he admitted to drinking his own urine, ewe.. I think I'd rather die.  Zane was a little better but I actually saw him as a little nerdy and creepy from the first time he came into play.  And then right when I started to like him...

*The main characters themselves had the worst personalities.  I would never want Shay as a friend, all jeolous and needy.  And Tally, come on.  She had absolutely no say in anything that happened and yet everyone looked at her like she was some kind of hero/leader.  Let's face it, without her friends she'd be nothing but a bubblehead and yet somehow everyone gives her all the credit.

And now for a rating...

I give this series a 2.5 out of 5

Also FYI: I don't know how you all feel about this so don't judge me but I found this really cool site Ebookhood.  I found this entire series and more there.