Title: Extraordinary Means
Author: Robin Schneider
Series: N/A, Standalone
Genre: Young Adult, Romance, Contemporary
Publication Date: May 26th, 2015
My Rating: 4 Stars
From the author of The Beginning of Everything: two teens with a deadly disease fall in love on the brink of a cure.
At seventeen, overachieving Lane finds himself at Latham House, a sanatorium for teens suffering from an incurable strain of tuberculosis. Part hospital and part boarding school, Latham is a place of endless rules and confusing rituals, where it's easier to fail breakfast than it is to flunk French.
There, Lane encounters a girl he knew years ago. Instead of the shy loner he remembers, Sadie has transformed. At Latham, she is sarcastic, fearless, and utterly compelling. Her friends, a group of eccentric troublemakers, fascinate Lane, who has never stepped out of bounds his whole life. And as he gradually becomes one of them, Sadie shows him their secrets: how to steal internet, how to sneak into town, and how to disable the med sensors they must wear at all times.
But there are consequences to having secrets, particularly at Latham House. And as Lane and Sadie begin to fall in love and their group begins to fall sicker, their insular world threatens to come crashing down.
Told in alternating points of view, Extraordinary Means is a darkly funny story about doomed friendships, first love, and the rare miracle of second chances.
I was provided an ARC copy of this book by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Note that all quotes mention below are from the ARC copy and not the final one.
Comparing this book to TFiOS. (You can skip this part)
I can't help but be reminded of The Fault in Our Stars by John Green and making a comparison. For those of you who know me, you know that I didn't enjoy The Fault in Our Stars and didn't shed a single tear reading the book or watching the movie.
The reason why I didn't like that book and like this one is mainly because I felt like the sole purpose of that book was to make people cry, whereas this book is more about belonging and being a part of a family outside your family. Take out the cancer in The Fault in Our Stars and the book would be degraded to almost nothing; but take out the Tuberculosis in this one and it would still have meaning. Which is why even though both are about doomed lovers with little odds of survival, I liked this one better than The Fault.
P.S. Sorry to TFiOS fans, I'm just stating my honest opinion. :)
ACTUAL REVIEW:
When I first read the synopsis of Extraordinary Means, I wasn't sure if I should request it or not. On one hand, it reminded me of The Fault in Our Stars which I didn't like, on the other there was something about it that just spoke to me. After an internal debate, the latter won and boy am I glad that it did! Turns out, Extraordinary Means is nothing like The Fault. It has it's own unique and captivating story, and I really enjoyed it!
I really applaud Robyn Schneider for writing about Tuberculosis and not Cancer for a change. She was right to say in the author's note that it's not very popular in YA novels, and she did a great job in raising awareness for this sickness. As I said in my comparison above, what I love about this book is although it's about Tuberculosis, it's not all the book is about. It's about belonging and finding and being a part of a family outside your family. It's not about dying, but about living.
I really enjoyed Robyn Schneider's writing style. I liked how this book made me laugh out loud while still not losing the seriousness of the subject of Tuberculosis. She has a certain way of playing with words and making them go her way, which is why there were so many quotable quotes in the novel. Plus, the book has Harry Potter references! How can I not like a book with Harry Potter references, right?
However, there are two things hindering me from giving this 5 stars. First is that it annoyed me how there were so many French sentences and how they weren't explained because I couldn't understand a single word. It was all guess-work for me. Second is I really hated how things ended. I mean, the book closed of in an amazing manner in terms of words, but in terms of events, it felt like it was not enough. There where still to many questions in my head after the ending. (view spoiler)
Anyway, overall, this was a really great book with a great story, and I recommend people to read it. I promise that it'll worth your time. And if you still aren't convinced enough, read it for the quotable quotes, humor, and Harry Potter references. :D
I can't help but be reminded of The Fault in Our Stars by John Green and making a comparison. For those of you who know me, you know that I didn't enjoy The Fault in Our Stars and didn't shed a single tear reading the book or watching the movie.
The reason why I didn't like that book and like this one is mainly because I felt like the sole purpose of that book was to make people cry, whereas this book is more about belonging and being a part of a family outside your family. Take out the cancer in The Fault in Our Stars and the book would be degraded to almost nothing; but take out the Tuberculosis in this one and it would still have meaning. Which is why even though both are about doomed lovers with little odds of survival, I liked this one better than The Fault.
P.S. Sorry to TFiOS fans, I'm just stating my honest opinion. :)
ACTUAL REVIEW:
When I first read the synopsis of Extraordinary Means, I wasn't sure if I should request it or not. On one hand, it reminded me of The Fault in Our Stars which I didn't like, on the other there was something about it that just spoke to me. After an internal debate, the latter won and boy am I glad that it did! Turns out, Extraordinary Means is nothing like The Fault. It has it's own unique and captivating story, and I really enjoyed it!
"It was like I misread the directions and had been trying to solve an unsolvable equation, when all I had to do was simplify."
I really applaud Robyn Schneider for writing about Tuberculosis and not Cancer for a change. She was right to say in the author's note that it's not very popular in YA novels, and she did a great job in raising awareness for this sickness. As I said in my comparison above, what I love about this book is although it's about Tuberculosis, it's not all the book is about. It's about belonging and finding and being a part of a family outside your family. It's not about dying, but about living.
"I didn't have a lot of stories, but ever since I'd arrived at Latham, it seemed I was collecting them."
I really enjoyed Robyn Schneider's writing style. I liked how this book made me laugh out loud while still not losing the seriousness of the subject of Tuberculosis. She has a certain way of playing with words and making them go her way, which is why there were so many quotable quotes in the novel. Plus, the book has Harry Potter references! How can I not like a book with Harry Potter references, right?
"Being temporary doesn't make something matter any less, because the point isn't for how long, the point is that it happened."
However, there are two things hindering me from giving this 5 stars. First is that it annoyed me how there were so many French sentences and how they weren't explained because I couldn't understand a single word. It was all guess-work for me. Second is I really hated how things ended. I mean, the book closed of in an amazing manner in terms of words, but in terms of events, it felt like it was not enough. There where still to many questions in my head after the ending. (view spoiler)
"We mourn the future because it's easier than admitting we're miserable in the present."
Anyway, overall, this was a really great book with a great story, and I recommend people to read it. I promise that it'll worth your time. And if you still aren't convinced enough, read it for the quotable quotes, humor, and Harry Potter references. :D
Title: Insurgent
Author: Veronica Roth
Series: Divergent #1
Genre: Young Adult, Dystopian, Science Fiction
Publication Date: March 18th, 2014
My Rating: 4.5 Stars
One choice can transform you—or it can destroy you. But every choice has consequences, and as unrest surges in the factions all around her, Tris Prior must continue trying to save those she loves—and herself—while grappling with haunting questions of grief and forgiveness, identity and loyalty, politics and love.
Tris's initiation day should have been marked by celebration and victory with her chosen faction; instead, the day ended with unspeakable horrors. War now looms as conflict between the factions and their ideologies grows. And in times of war, sides must be chosen, secrets will emerge, and choices will become even more irrevocable—and even more powerful. Transformed by her own decisions but also by haunting grief and guilt, radical new discoveries, and shifting relationships, Tris must fully embrace her Divergence, even if she does not know what she may lose by doing so.
I waited so long to read this one for the fear that I might be disappointed. As you can see from both my blog and Goodreads name, I am an avid fan of Divergent, the first book in this series. I loved the first book too much that I feared I would be disappointed by this one, but boy was I wrong! I loved this one, even though there were times that I felt like this was too action-packed. I was actually expecting action-packed, just not this much. And Tris was very annoying for the most part too. But, despite all that, I still can't help but give this five stars! I loved it! (Though I actually don't know why.)
I'm still not sure if I'm glad I waited so long to read this or not, but I can say that I loved this book. Probably not as much as the first book, but really close. I liked to enough to be able to say that the second book was not a disappointment and was able to live up to the amazing-ness of the first book.
This was an exciting and exhilarating book, and I couldn't put it down for even a second! I found myself constantly catching my breath because I was trying to follow the fast-paced action!
I'm so glad that I finally finally read this book, because I now know what the talk is about! But I guess the wait prepared me a lot too, so while I could have read this sooner, I think the wait made me enjoy the book even more. I'm just so glad that this one did not let me down, because what would I do with my blog name now, right? HAHA! :))
*I apologize, it was just so hard to write a coherent review of this one, because I was so afraid, and then so relieved, and all these feelings are just making my head so messy!
“Cruelty does not make a person dishonest, the same way bravery does not make a person kind.”
“We both have war inside us. Sometimes it keeps us alive. Sometimes it threatens to destroy us.”
“No matter how long you train someone to be brave, you never know if they are or not until something real happens.”
“Like a wild animal, the truth is too powerful to remain caged.”
“I’m not important. Everyone will do just fine without me,” I say.
“Who cares about everyone? What about me?”
“Insurgent, he says. Noun. A person who acts in opposition to the established authority, who is not necessarily regarded as a belligerent.”
How have your reading habits changed in the past few years? Did you get interested in a new genre? Do you read more? Less? Why do you think your habits changed, if they did.
I can say that my reading habits has changed since becoming a blogger. Before, I used to read from a site called Wattpad because as much as I want to read novels, I couldn't afford to spend that much money as I want in books, so I read in Wattpad instead. After becoming a blogger, I started receiving review copies, so I started reading more books. Also, before, back when Twilight was a hit, I loved reading vampire books. Fantasy and paranormal. But after discovering Wattpad, I realized that I liked contemporary romance better. Well, not that I knew what it was called back then. I learned the term 'contemporary romance' when I read Ten Things We Did, and that was a few months before I started blogging, that's why this blog is centered on contemporary romance. :)
Sorry, that was so lengthy, you guys probably won't have the time or patience to read it :))
Sorry, that was so lengthy, you guys probably won't have the time or patience to read it :))
