Delirium (Delirium #1) by Lauren Oliver

Delirium is set in a post modern society where love is seen as a disease and even speaking the word is blasphemous. The only way around not contracting it is to get the cure, something which, by legal rights, every 16 year old must get. The authorities even lock away uncured people who show symptoms of the deliria, symptoms such as sweaty palms and a racing heart, wild excitement and ecstasy, intoxication or a disturbed state of mind, caused by heart break. 

1) The Concept

I tend to avoid reading Dystopias now as I can only take in so many of these genre/themed prose before they all morph together in my mind and I forget about them, simply because they have become tedious,unoriginal and therefor unmemorable. However, Delirium is completely unique to the others. It's obvious that Lauren Oliver has taken a lot of time into planning everything, as the concept is thoroughly detailed, deep and meaningful so much so that it could actually be believable. 

2) The Writing

 Lauren Oliver depicts a scene perfectly, catering to all of the senses: sight, sound and touch. Her sentences and descriptions are elegantly strung together providing us with beautifully vivid prose. Vivid in a way that I feel as though I have experienced a Portland sunset or being in the Wilds all by myself. Every aspect of the society has been covered and every bit of Oliver's writing is thorough.

The characters in the book are fully rounded, each with their individual back story to furthermore support the development of them as people, and their personality traits. Nothing is rushed, the pace is slow and deliberate and while I did find myself scanning through some of the pages hungry for a bit of action and character dialogue, I appraise Oliver for not packing in too much repetitive and typical YA character encounters. I think the pace of the book is actually part of what made it feel real to me. Nothing was rushed. 

3) The Characters and Plot.

I could connect emotionally with the characters. I identified with Lena on many levels and enjoyed reading the book from her perspective. She was definitely a reliable source of information that was vital for the readers understanding, yet she was still identifiable with her thoughts and feelings. And ALex? Well. I fell in love with Alex, just as much as Lena did. He was sweet and brave and also a believable character. I don't know what it is about Oliver's depiction of this character because despite how perfect and admirable he is, he is still to me, realistic. Other secondary characters such as Hana, Carol, Gracie and Jenny also reminded me of people I know in real life. Especially Gracie. She was so cute and completely reminds me of my cousin Megan, while Jenny resembled my neighbour's daughter in character and antics.

Conclusively, I am definitely impressed with this series. It stands out among it's kind. Oliver's writing is incredible and I was completely addicted to this book, so much so that I played up my "winter flu" to give myself a day off from college to read it. Addictive is not the word. The ending definitely leaves you craving for more. Pandemonium, the sequencing book in the series gives you that. 

Dirty Red (Love Me With Lies #2) by Tarryn Fisher

Holy Cow, I could eat this shit up! Marry me Tarryn?  With a busy college/work schedule I've allowed myself a good couple of month to mull over the occurring events in Dirty Red before giving you my take on it.

As always, I love Tarryn Fisher's writing and character portrayal and development. Seeing things from Leah's point of view and being inside her head was exactly how I imagined it and hoped for. I'm glad that Tarryn came at us full force with Leah's villainy and that we got the full extent of it. When it comes to Leah, she certainly doesn't hold back on basic human morals or lack thereof, which makes Dirty Red that more honest and believable. 

I really hated Leah in TO and prayed that the purpose of Dirty Red was not to soften us to her and make us feel at least a little empathy because i'm really a stubborn and unsympathetic bitch when I want to be. 

I'm stingy with my compassions; a person or character has to be extra deserving for me to feel any traces of sympathy for them, and I certainly didn't feel it for Leah, not once. Even when her life began to fall apart, I craved Karma, more and more, to come and slap Leah in the face with a fish before I jumped in the book and did so myself. 

Speaking of bitches however, Leah is the perfect poisonous woman. She has definitely met her match with Olivia. On the contrary to all of my hate fueled Leah rantings, I have to admit that if it wasn't for her being such a horrid and selfish evil minded woman, the only reason for my disliking of her would be because I kind of love Olivia. #TeamBrunette

Another thing I loved seeing in Dirty Red was that Caleb finally stopped pussy footing around Leah and her never ending demands for his constant attention. With Caleb, I feel like his life is a constant battle of decision making. For this guy, it's always been Rationality Vs Emotions. Or what he thought was rational. However I think he has finally found the balance between the two- especially towards the ending of Dirty Red. 

One thing I will say is that I had withdrawal symptoms for Olivia. I missed her as she was too absent from this book for me, but I suppose it's part of the build up to the conclusion of the series. It all makes for an exciting third and final book of the Love Me With Lies trilogy. 

Caleb, Caleb, CALEBBBB!!! Arhhhh I can't wait to get inside his mind. He holds all of the answers to my questions!

Click here for The Opportunist (Love Me With Lies #1) Review

New!: Click here for Thief (Love Me With Lies #3) Review

The Girl Of Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson

I really enjoyed reading this. It was a nice treat for me reading something outside of my usual preferred genres so when I read this historical/fantasy/dystopian based fiction, I was completely taken with the land, the characters and the culture of the time period and the people. The whole setting is described in all it's richness which makes the imagery so captivating and visually vivid.

Call me crazy but it reminds me of an exotic Arabian/middle eastern version of the third Hunger Games book, Mockingjay in the ways which we follow the protagonist develop into a leading figure of inspiration and power.

It was an adventure following Elisa grow up and mature into a young woman. We are introduced to the unconfident, naive little girl who we watch develop into a strong and independent-thinking young woman. It's a coming of age experience.

Sempre (Forever) by J.M. Darhower

This review will be brief as to not give anything away. I don't think there needs to be too many teasers in order to entice anyone to read this without hesitation as it's such a dense book with a intriguing content and story line.

Sempre gives us an insight into the cruel and shocking reality of issues that still (surprisingly) take place within our global community and modern society. Things such as secret organisations (Mafia's), slavery and human trafficking, physical and emotional abuse and crime.

There are twists, revelations and mysteries revealed throughout the unraveling of the plot as two fates: those of Carmine DeMarco and Haven Antonelli (our male and female protagonist duo) intermingle until the romance between them blossoms into an intense relationship with both heart breaking and beautiful moments. 

It truly is an astonishingly realistic portrayal of what could be; what really goes on behind closed doors. Cathartic and touching.

Personal comment: My god this book is amazing, one of my all time favorites. I love romance based mafia shit. I urge anyone who is reading this review right now, to not hesitate picking this book up. You certainly won't regret it. 

Cazzo, io amo questo libro!

The Opportunist (Love Me With Lies #1) by Tarryn Fisher

Wow! Where do I even begin with this book? I am obsessed with the series and the characters and the author and the plot and the whole story and everything about this! Gaaah. I need help, yes but what I really need is Thief (book 3 which is yet to be released).

The Opportunist is a book about fate, manipulation, jealousy, lies, love, luck, honesty,  betrayal and everything in between. It's so juicy like a medium-rare beef fillet steak- and we all love steak right? ;)

What I appraise the author for more than anything else is for her characters. Tarryn Fisher depicts them so that they are so phenomenally realistic that the story is believable. Half the time, when I'm discussing this in a topic with fellow Opportunist lovers on Goodreads, I find myself speaking as if they are real life and I know them personally, then forgetting that this is fiction prose. Now that's how much of an awesome writer and caricaturist Tarryn Fisher is. I imagine myself window shopping one day and spotting Leah on the other side of the pane buying the most expensive piece of jewelry or spotting Olivia sitting in Starbucks grimacing at the floor. When I read this, visually speaking, the characters and images in my mind produced by Tarryns writing are clear as day, definitive.

I read a few (a very select few) negative reviews where readers ranted and gave low ratings all based on the fact that they despised the characters. While this may be true to them, I think the characters are aboslutely perfect. Perfectly written, portrayed and summarized. It's the main thing that hooked me the most- that because the character's are so relatable and flawed, I feel like I know them and see these qualities in other people. They are individual and unique yet realistic and identifiable which is so very important to me when reading a book- especially anything that is a contemporary YA/NA novel because a lot of the character's for me all seem to morph together within the same expected personality and traits. So reading The Opportunist was so refreshing. The characters stand out and now have a lodged holding in my mind along with other incredibly developed all time memorable characters.

The next best thing about this is the lies and manipulation. There are so many mysteries and loose ends that do eventually tie up nicely throughout the plot and it's subtle revelations, if ever a revelation could be subtle. A lot of my questions remain unanswered which makes me absolutely skitzy for the conclusions and answers which I presume will be revealed in book 3.  The unsolved mysteries are revealed throughout the following book Dirty Red and also Thief, the third and last book of the series. 

A seriously addictive, emotive and effective read. If you love anything like a fiction that reflects and relates to real life situations, people and themes, then pick this up NOW. Go go go!! 5*  <3

Click here for Dirty Red (Love Me With Lies #2) Review.

New!: Caleb's book, Thief (Love Me With Lies #3) Review

March 2013: Update

It's been a while since I have posted any reviews on here solely because of my hectic schedule and a need for sharing and balancing out my time between A level coursework and reading as well as being in London so here's a brief update on all of the books I've read since the last time I posted a review. 

• Sphinx's Queen by Esther Freisner
• Girl Of Fire And Thorns by Rae Carson
• Crown Of Embers by Rae Carson
• Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi
• Destory Me by Tahereh Mafi
• Unravel Me by Taherer Mafi
• Delirium by Lauren Oliver
• Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver
• Requiem by Lauren Oliver
• Fally guy by Liz Reinhardt
• Sempre by J.M. Darhower
• The Opportunist by Tarryn Fisher
• Dirty Red by Tarryn Fisher
• Reason To Breathe by Rebecca Donovan
• Barely Breathing by Rebecca Donovan
• Brenna Brixen: Double Clutch by Liz Reinhardt
• Slammed by Colleen Hoover
• Point Of Retreat by Colleen Hoover
• Hopeless by Colleen Hoover
• The Boy Who Sneaks In My Bedroom Window by Kirsty Moseley
• Beautiful Disaster by Jamie Mcguire
• The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han
• It's Not Summer Without You by Jenny Han
• We'll Always Have Summer by Jenny Han

Reviews for the above will be done within the next couple of weeks! :)

The Sphinx's Princess by Esther Friesner

This book- I liked it, don't get me wrong but it just didn't quite fulfill my expectations. Maybe that's because i'm used to reading so many steamy romance or action packed adventure novels with strong sections of dialogue and action lately that I needed to adjust to how quite uneventful this was. It is a book that is more focused on the details of the settings and the time period and the mythology and beliefs of the ancient Egyptian society- which I totally loved reading. 

The author did do a good job of keeping the book realistic by not having anything too over-dramatic or high fantasy but at the same time still linked in the gods,cultures and certain characters in history relating to the mythology. It is, I would say as realistic as a book about ancient Egypt can be because really any author that writes from the perspective of such a character as Nefertiti is really just guessing and improvising on the beliefs of those people and Friesner did a great job at that.

It doesn't seem to have much of a plot going on although i'm sure it will be greatly expanded on and put to conclusion in the second book. I'd say the story really picked up at about 4/5 into the book and then suddenly ended right in the middle of the some what only real action- a cliffhanger that didn't really make me want more. I will give it to the author for putting a real shocking twist to the character of Thutmose - just when I thought he'd turned into a sweetheart and I started to warm to his character when BAM! I too, like Nefertiti began to fall for Thutmose's charm and I was really annoyed and felt for Nefertiti when I realized it was all just a plot-scheme-act. Arghhh what a ****.

As for Nefertiti, I thought that throughout the book I would see her come of age and become a mature strong and defined character however there is nothing that really speaks volumes to me of her at all. she's too... hmmmm...bland for my liking. To me, with Nefertiti being such a grand and historic figure in history, she deserves to be a lot more definite, complex and developed. 

Despite my criticism I am still going to read the next book 'Spinx's Queen' to see if the tale will draw to a satisfying end. Especially since there wasn't really a conclusion to the end of this book. 

Also, one more thing that I would like to commend the author on and that is for the character Amenophis. He is a clumsy unattractive and a seemingly weak character but that is only his exterior. I love hot sexy attractive males in my fictions however the author did a grand job on avoiding having him inherit the "typical-male-protagonist syndrome"  and steered clear from having Amenophis become that common stereotype, yet still managed to make me as the reader, love him for who he is. Kudos to dat. 

The Edge Of Never by J.A Redmerski

Me a few hours earlier:
"HOLY FUCKING SHIT AJBFNSDLBTHAENRFSJHBGNM  DOES HE DIE IN THE END? IF HE FUCKING DIES THEN I AM NOT READING ANY MORE ... MY HEART CAN'T FUCKING TAKE IT!!!!!! BLAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH I..I....I CAN'T :'( "

Okay just finished it. The whole book just blew me away. Since I've been reading this my bed time has been at 4/5 in the morning so i'm gonna take an early night and give this the amazing 4* review it deserves when I wake up. <3
P.s- Now I want to drop every thing, pack up a few things and travel around America! 

Okay, just wow. I can't stop thinking about this book now. It is easily one of the best I've ever read and if not for the authenticity that Wuthering Height's, in my opinion, has on fantastic literature, then it surely beats it. But this is contemporary and completely different so lets not go into that.  

Not all great prose consist of having characters that you will love but I really did love these two: Camryn and Andrew. It was beautiful following the journey of their relationship and of their travels. It was like being on an adventure and through reading this, I feel like I have experienced every single different form of love. I don't think I've ever laughed and cried so much from a book like a I have this one. It's definitely one hell of an emotional roller coaster and through the utterly heart breaking parts when I found my self struggling to keep composure and not burst out screaming in tears, I could barely comprehend that it's all just fiction. The characters are so believable, the scenes are brought to life by the authors writing style and there is so much raw emotion. That's how realistic this book is and that's why I love it so much; because it's a possibilty. 

Also, if you haven't yet read this and expect it to be YA then THINK AGAIN. This is NA stuff and I love this genre now! The sex scenes are just far too juicy and erotic for that and a lot of the themes are too complex to be light- not that I'm complaining. :) As a matter of fact, I let my friend read an extract from the 2nd sex scene and she said it's a whole lot more intense and dirty than Fifty Shades of Grey! Don't get me wrong, the book is not about sex and is incomparable to Fifty Shades however I just had to get that out there. Right now I really just want someone else who has read this, to talk about it with. 

I will not give away any hints or spoilers at all because it's such an effective and exciting read that no one really needs them. I also need to mention how the author did an incredible job on not just the full thing but especially the last 1/5 of the book and it's conclusion. I couldn't have hoped for a better ending. I was on edge, excited, crazy, happy and satisfied with how it all turned out, just when we thought there was no hope! :D  Beautiful story, beautiful realistic writing style and a beautiful ending. Please don't even hesitate to read this! You won't be disappointed, I assure you. 

Oh yeah, and you should listen to this classic while reading TEoN. 

The Sea Of Tranquility by Katja Millay

This book! This book!!!! I picked up this book because so many people on Goodreads have been recommending it to me and talking about how good it is and let me tell you, I was not disappointed. I know it's only three days into the new year but I have a feeling this is going to be one of the best books i'll have read this year. 

Although not an action book, it has so much drama, suspense and tension between characters which is always exciting to read. The story was also very haunting and emotional as the author allows us to experience and explore characters through a mixed narrative of the different perspectives of Josh and Nastya/Emilia/Sunshine. So many times throughout the book, I felt like my heart was in my mouth and I just wanted to scream, laugh and cry all at once. 

The primary and secondary characters are well rounded and hold many personality traits to those of some people I know in college. This story is very realistic and lets us delve into the situation given. It also gives us a small insight of how effectively damaged peoples lives can get; how easily a person can be broken and ruined whether it's due to having been raped, assaulted, bullied or having lost someone they love. 

“People like to say love is unconditional, but it's not, and even if it was unconditional, it's still never free. There's always an expectation attached. They always want something in return. Like they want you to be happy or whatever and that makes you automatically responsible for their happiness because they won't be happy unless you are ... I just don't want that responsibility.” 

I love how slowly paced the plot is revealed throughout and how subtly we are given revelations and clues into the two main characters' past at the beginning of every chapter and throughout some intense dialogue pieces. The structure of this book is perfect. I like how the author used the concept of the "Russian Whore", the mysterious identity of Nastya Kasnikov to mask the pain and horror that lived beneath the facade. I'm sure many people who have been troubled or stunned can identify with Emilia. 

Despite the overwhelming sympathy I always felt for Nastya/Emilia, I couldn't help but  be inspired, at awe and annoyed with her. Her way of thinking and the things she did I rarely ever understood. Like for example, I could never just walk into a random boys garage all the time and watch him work at 1am in the morning! She is somehow bold, and I wish I was more like that. These are all signs of a well developed, deep character with flaws like every body else. 

Also, imagine how sweet it would be to have a beautiful boy call you sunshine? awwwhhh. Did I mention how addictive this book was? I started reading it at 5pm on Tuesday and continued reading through the night finishing it at 11am the following day. 

This review is a mess so I'm just going to wrap it up here and say I'd definitely recommend for a heart felt, disturbing and emotional read.

Love In The Time Of Cholera/El Amor En El Tiempo Del Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

Since I read this a good couple of years ago, in fact in the summer of 2010, I can't really remember having much of an opinion on it concerning whether I liked the idea of the book or not. Its definitely different; very different from other books I've read. I will say that one thing I know I was definitely grateful for and found interesting to read was that of the perspective of an 70/80+ year old man who spent his life waiting for one woman whom he fell in love with at a young age. He waited all of his life, while constituting street whores for Fermina Daza until she became "back on the market again" fifty-one years, nine months and four days later exactly.

This book is about, though I hate to say it, unrequited and eternal love. I don't agree that the majority of this book really is about genuine true love- rather it is better suited to be classed as being about lust, obsession and infatuation.  

There are many things I hated about the leading character, Florentino Ariza, like how he was the cause of death to a few of his short term 'lovers' yet showed no remorse or regret what so ever, or like how he also was sleeping with the 13 year old school girl he was supposed to be baby sitting.  Come on, just think about how perverse that is- an OAP doing things like that to a little girl who then, through heart break, kills herself! It's just wrong. On the contrary, however, I do admire his determination, persistence, strong willingness and endurance but that is ALL I admire about this character. There simply are no other redeeming qualities about Florentino Ariza what so ever.

In conclusion, and in spite of the above reasons, I would recommend this as I think it is a deep and interesting book to read. It displays a great contrast to other books that contain typical 'Love' stories and allows the reader to consider love in many different forms other than the most common representations of it. Also, if you are interested in reading about equality and how women were treat and thought of during the turn of the 18th century, then definitely give it a try. Whether this book is enjoyable enough to consider reading it is really a question of what you as the reader expect of a great prose. If you think the main ingredient to a great story is a likable heroic main character then AVOID this book at all costs.

Readability factor -4.5*

Enjoyablilty factor- 3.5*

Motion Picture Soundtrack: 

(Credits: Todo de Shakira y Gabriel Garcia Marquez)
*Pienso En Ti
*La Despedida
*Hay Amores


-Alisha

Atonement by Ian McEwen

Hmmm... Where to start with Atonement. This book is so emotionally impacting on the reader, I feel that McEwen very cleverly did an amazing job on making the structure provide effective enough shocks and surprises without needing the book to be hugely action packed or quick paced. I like that McEwen didn't rush through book but took his time illustrating a beautifully detailed picture, in the mind of the reader, of the characters thought process and their surroundings. 

"...the damp patch on the gravel had evaporated. Now there was nothing left of the dumb show by the fountain beyond what survived in memory....The truth had become as ghostly as invention"

Despite this being written from a third person narrative, the author was successful in including a lot of familiar psychological thoughts. Like for example when Briony considers her existence and the existence of others and wonders whether their actions are real or if they just live through her imagination. 

“Was everyone else really as alive as she was? For example, did her sister really matter to herself, was she as valuable to herself as Briony was?” 

This, I think, is the pivotal point that primarily leads Briony to commit her crime and stick with that decision as she mulls over the water fountain scene she'd just recently witnessed involving her newly cast "characters".

In Parts One and Two of the book, I hated Briony. Although many argue she was just a little girl who didn't know the extent of what she was doing, which she really was, I still despised her. Excuse my unemphatic way of thinking but I really thought she was a pathetic annoying bratty little girl who loved being the center of attention and only thought about herself. I still think this, given the account of the older Briony, however *SPOILER ALERT* as this is a book within a book, we really don't know if this publication of the young Briony was purposely written by older Briony so that we dislike her, as a way of the narrators atonement OR if the older Briony was just being brutally honest about herself.  

I really could go on forever and ever discussing Atonement, but since this is just supposed to be a quick and snappy review, I have to say that Atonement is definitely an interesting and mind blowing emotionally impacting read. 

Based on it's enjoyability factor I'd give it a 4*.

-Alisha

Insurgent by Veronica Roth

Wowowowoww. I LOVED the first book but loved this one even more!! Super hot character Tobias- what a dream. I love how Roth has developed the characters from fresh new comers to Dauntless unaware of the revolution of their world to heroes and heroins, especially Tris. Also, during the development of Tris's character through this book, I feel like 1/3 of the way through she kind of lost the plot and was slightly suicidal. That was quite sad but interesting. Of course, near the end she was okay; a brave, perceptive, smart and courageous soul. 

If you loved Divergent, it's definitely a good idea to follow the journey through on to the second book of the series. I found it to be even better than the first one, in fact so much so that I read it in one and a half days; I couldn't turn the pages fast enough. It is a lot more fast paced and you really get to see a different side to all of the characters involved, especially Tobias as he and Tris' relationship is put through strains caused by dishonesty and unloyalty. These two are both deeply challenged with the return of Tobias' long lost mother and loathed abusive father.

I'd love to know what other people think about these books and others so please feel welcome to post comments and let me know what YOU think.

Recommend for a 5* read. 

-Alisha.