Matched By:Allie Condie

I really loved this book. If you enjoyed the hunger games I would really recommended reading this. It’s a dystopian romance book and it is very entertaining!!

The book is about a dystopian community. A community where the government decides who people love, where they work and when they die. The system is perfect it makes everything fair for everybody and keeps everyone in optimal health. 

When a boy or girl turns 17 they go to a match banquet were they are then put with their perfect match, the person they will spend the rest of their lives with. The story starts on the way to the match banquet for a 17 year old girl named Cassia. She is nervous knowing that the boy she could end up being matched with could be living in a whole other providence. Despite her nerves her banquet is perfect everything has fallen into perfect place. Until after the banquet when Cassia goes home and later watches the card they gave her about her match and comes to find that things aren't as perfect as they had come to seem. 

Read this book and go along with Cassia as she watches her "perfect world" gets turned upside down. And that her decisions that will not only change her life but the life of everybody living. A+

 

Surviving Antarctica: Reality TV 2083

Book By: Andrea White

Review By: Brendan Larsen

        Historical Survivor is a TV show where kids are sent back to reenact important journies, and events of the past (20th and 21st century). But here is the catch. It is real. In Historical Survivor: The Alamo; those are real bullets that are ringing out around the kids, and there is no medical team that will try to save them. They are all on their own. They have to depend on each other to stay alive. 

       This time, five kids have to go and reenact Robert F. Scott's journey to the South Pole. And it would be a stretch to say that the kid's journey is much easier than Scott's. There is another thing that you will want to know. There is an Editing Team. Two, actually. There is the Day Shift, who play by the rules, and a Night Shift, who, well... doesn't. And Steve has been appointed to Night Shift. Steve has seen the dark side of things, and knows that the Entertainment based government is really screwed up. After a while, things start to get ugly. The Secretary of Entertainment, a.k.a. "Hot Sauce," has taken things too far. One of the kids is dying, the supplies are running low, and they have no way of getting out. That is when Steve decides to interfere. 

        

        I really loved this book, and would suggest it to any one who liked the Hunger Games, which is, to say, basically everyone. I am pretty sure that the Hunger Games was based off of this book, and yes, Surviving Antarctica came out a good time before Hunger games. This book is an action book, with plenty of suspence, and political points. It can also go to show just how messed up our government can become.

The Scorch Trials

     The Scorch Trials, written by James Dashner, is the second book in the Maze Runner Trilogy.  In the first book, The Maze Runner, teenagers are put into a maze to test their skills.  Their goal is to try to get out of the maze.  These teenagers are called gladers.  After the gladers make it out of the maze in the first book they are taken by unknown people to a "safe place".  All the gladers are so happy that they are out of the maze and are safe.  They go to bed with the thought of it being all over, but they couldn't be more wrong!

     The Scorch Trials begins with the main character, Thomas, sleeping.  Thomas has a friend named Teresa.  Thomas and Teresa can speak to each other in their minds.  While he sleeps, Thomas' mind hears that she has been taken again by other people.  Suddenly loud screams come bursting from outside of his room.  He wakes up and sees zombie like people outside the windows of the room.  Thomas gathers up the gladers and decide that they should leave the room.  They open the door and it is pitch black!  They feel like they are running into something, and turn on the lights.  There are dead bodies hung from their feet.  They keep going and find where Teresa is supposed to be, but instead they find the name Aris next to Teresa's door.  They go inside the room and find a boy that is all alone.  He tells the gladers that there were two mazes and he was in group B.  Instead of a ton of boys and one girls, in his maze there was him and a ton of girls.  Then the gladers walk outside and the bodies are gone and right away they know that they are being watched.  A couple days latter a man appears in the main part of the building and tells them that they have caught a disease called the flare and that they need to find the cure.  He tells them that they need to get to a place called the safe haven.  Although that seems easy, they have difficult challenges ahead.  Right away the gladers know that this is just another silly test.
     This was a great book that interested me very much.  One night I read 160 pages straight just because it was so entertaining.  Books aren't usually what I do for leisure time, but this book was my leisure time.  Instead of watching television, computer, or video games I chose to read.  In the past month James Dashner became my favorite author.  It seems to me that he knows me, and what I like to read.  This book made me think about how our country would be like if people didn't work together, and if we didn't have our freedom.  It made me appreciate our country's government, although it isn't perfect.

     All in all, this book was an amazing book.  It was very interesting and mind blowing how an author can create a whole different world for his readers.  I would encourage you to read the Maze Runner trilogy because I know that it will fascinate you like it fascinated me. 

Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver (SPOILERS!) 

 Pandemonium is the second of three books in the Delirium trilogy. It's begins somewhat close to the end of  Delirium. Alex has died, and Lena is now on her own. The book switches off from Lena in the Wilds to Lena while she is living with a fake identity in the city. In the wilds chapters, Lena is extremely unsure at the beginning of everything. She cries and thinks about Alex constantly, and she is extremely weak. Later, she becomes stronger, beginning to show a new Lena. In the city chapters, Lena is living with the name of Lena Morgan Jones, along with her friends Raven and Tack. Lena is now shown as rock a hard, not at all the person the previous book has shown us. She pretends she is cured, and goes to an all girls school, and attending a group for early cures. One day, Lena is kidnapped along with a boy named Julian Fineman. Throughout the book and escaping from being held captive, Julian becomes Lena's second love interest since Alex. In the end, Lena does something pretty risky to help him and an extremely surprising ending.

    I'm going to be straight to the point. I loved an hated this book. I loved it, mainly because it was part of Delirium, but also because it shows Lena building up herself. I hated it for more reasons than loved. Again, the swearing ALL OVER THE BOOK. Second, the way Oliver set up the chapters. Yes, it is two stories. Yes, the both have good parts. But, I felt like it was all over the place and I had no idea what was going on. Not to mention the fact that I felt like not one of the characters is as fun and Hana and Alex were. Overall, it was a good book, but it didn't live up to what I expected. I mean, it was probably because Delirium was so amazing, but I felt like it just wasn't that good. B-. 

      Spoiler Alert

            Mockingjay is the final book in Suzanne Collins Hunger Games Trilogy. The book begins right where Catching Fire left off where Katniss was taken away from the battle arena in an aircraft. When she finally gained conscience she learns that all this time she has been set up starting with Haymitch telling her allies to protect Katniss not matter what happens. She also learns that there is a District 13 and people living there.

            When Katniss arrives in District 13 she becomes the icon of the rebellion, a mockingjay. The population of District 13 consists of the people of its district and any other refugees that came from other districts. Their entire district is underground and no one is allowed to go outside. Other than hunting Katniss was required to attend training classes in order to learn battle skills and go into the field. She also has to participate in many videos acting as the mockingjay showing that she survived and is preparing to kill President Snow

            Throughout the book Katniss goes around to the different districts to convince the people to join the rebellion and fight against President Snow. After districts have been under attack, more and more are look to Katniss to help and lead them. Katniss later learns that Peeta had been rescued and was being monitored since he had been manipulated by Snow. When Katniss visited him she learned that all of their good memories had been changed into nightmares in Peeta’s mind. As Katniss tries to get past the old Peeta and accept the new one, she prepares to go the capitol and fulfill her goal.

            Surprisingly, Mockingjay wasn’t as terrible as I’ve heard it is. I know that the first two books were far better, but still this was a pretty good book. However, I didn’t really like how the first quarter of the book was where she was stuck underground in District 13. I understand that she was limited on the things she could do, I just wish that Collins would’ve made it a little more interesting to read. I am glad that she kept practically the same issues because I was able to see how some things are easier to change for the better than others. For example, it’s hard to change whether it is for the better or the worse. Also, I didn’t really like how the book ended, I know that there was really no other way that Collins could’ve ended the series. With that being said, I agree that what she did was a good decision and the whole series ended up great!

            In conclusion, Suzanne Collins’s trilogy has been amazing to read about. I have loved reading the series and I can’t wait to see what Collins will write about next. I look forward to seeing the movies and seeing how the book will come to life. For those who haven’t read this series yet have truly missed out and should read it soon. 

Delirium by Lauren Oliver

(warning! Possible spoilers!)

    This book is told from the point of view of Lena Haloway, a seventeen year old girl living in the town of Portland, Maine in the future United States. In the future, love is seen as a disease. They have named this disease "Amor Deliria Nervosa", but many people just call it the deliria. Lena is afraid of the disease, mainly because her mother committed suicide do to the affects of it. However, she is counting the days until she receives her cure, a surgery which can make you immune to the deliria, when she turns eighteen years old. Then, in a strange turn of events, Lena meets a boy by the name of Alex Sheathes, who is cured, while she and her friend Hana Tate are on a run. They have met once before, when Lena received her evaluation, which was disastrous. Lena then begins to fall in love with Alex, but she is blind to it because of her knowledge Alex is cured. But when Alex reveals to Lena he in fact not cured, and was born in The Wilds (where those who resist the cure live), she is terrified for her life. 

   Delirium is a wonderful book. I absolutely adored the idea and also the well development of characters in it as well. It is well written, adventurous, and romantic all in one. There is a lot of swearing in the book, including the mother of all curse words twice. There is also one love scene where it gets a little steamy, but nothing much really happens. Overall, Delirium was fabulous, but it did have a little short of an ending and some inappropriate scenes. In the end, I give this book and A-.

Animal farm

In the book Animal farm by George Orwell the animals of the barnyard are tired of their owners treating them horribly so they decide to run it themselves. As the orginal leader Major, a thoughtful old boar who introduces their new way of life animalism. While the animals try the new way of governing  one pig, Napoleon, works to achieve power by driving out the leaders. The pig who challenges him is snowball a caring less deviant counterpart. The leaders fight but to no avail, the farm falls under Napoleon's control with help of his nine loyal attack dogs. while he governs them by the terms that all animals are equal but some are more equal than others. With Napoleon as leader the farm plummets into a totalitarian government where their best horse boxer.
This book was a very thrilling play through of the early soviet union in WWII. It was very fun to learn about the soviet union in this book. Although i learned a lot I felt like it could have expanded more in detail on how it played out in the barnyard but instead it just ended. This is a very good read to learn about Russia back then but a little bit short. B.

 Insurgent by: Veronica Roth

     Insurgent picks up right where the first book, Divergent, left off: the Abnegation compound has been taken over by the Dauntless soldiers under the attack simulation, leaving behind a broken city.  After Tris and Tobias have managed to turn off the simulation forcing people to wake up and see the blood they now have on their hands.  Some choose to join the cause they we're just fighting for and others choose to fight it.  The one's who try to fight against it must now flee to the other compounds to protect themselves, but this is officially war and no one can just say neutral.

     Veronica Roth did a great job writing this book.  The first book to the series was beautifully written and doesn't disappoint her readers with it's sequel.  Were there times when I thought the pacing was a little off and wanted the story to move a little faster, yes, but that is to be expected.  What I love about this book is the way Veronica Roth manages to develop every character in the series no matter how small they may be.  You are introduced to each character in the first book but you get to see how far they have come and who they now are.  Another thing I really like about the book is the way that after Tris and Tobias begin their relationship they don't fall into the cliche of living happily ever after.  They have problems and it is clearly shown and I love that.

     After reading this book it really makes you look at the world in a new light.  Everyone can't just fit into one category like they are trying to do in this society.  One person is not just smart, or just fearless.  We each have a little bit of everything in us.  Everyone in their own way is smart, brave, selfless, kind, and honest.  You can't just take a human being and put them in a box of what they are and what they're not.  That just limits the person, and they can't show who they really are.  If we do that what kind of person does that make us?

    Overall this book was absolutely fantastic.  Though be forewarned there are some heated kissing scenes, but it really just adds to the story.  I would recommend this series to anyone but start with the first book (the review can be found here). I give this book two thumbs up and an A+.

Divergent: Veronica Roth

             Divergent, by Veronica Roth is a Dystopian book, set in the future in what is now Chicago, where the world is divided into 5 different groups, or factions as they are called in the book. The five different factions in the book are, Abnegation, Amity, Dauntless, Erudite, and Candor. Abnegation, is a faction that is completely selfless, and sometimes overly too selfless, and some of their rules on what you can and cannot do, are pretty crazy. The Political leaders that rule the government are all Abnegation. Amity is a faction where life is peaceful and they farm, and they try to find as much happiness as they can. Dauntless are brave and have a lot of courage, and are also very strong. They are the ones that run the military and army. Erudite value knowledge above all other things, they are very smart and intelligent. All the teachers at the schools are Erudite. Candor is a faction that is completely honest, and all they are is honest and they never tell a lie. So, there is some background knowledge on the different factions.

             

           Beatrice (later called Tris) is a 16 year old girl who lives in the Abnegation faction and is approaching the point where she will have to choose which faction she will live and work. But before she does this she goes through a series of tests. These tests are suppose to help to decide which faction you should choose. But when she goes through these tests the results she gets back aren't great. Beatrice found out that she is divergent, meaning that she doesn't fit into anyone faction, and being divergent, might get you killed. So, which faction will she choose? Will she leave her family or stay will them? Remember Faction is before blood. So, to find out what happens, just read the book.

          Some of the issues the book brings up is facing your fears. Many times in the book Tris goes through tests in which she has to face her fears. In the tests that she goes though, she cannot continue on until she has faced that fear. Somethings that I would have liked better is that I think that there should have been a bigger conflict. Really, the big conflict doesn't really start till the end of the book, and I won't tell you what that is. Pretty much during the whole book it is just Beatrice going through initiation.(read the book to find out what that is)

         Overall I like the book, and I would recommend anybody reading it, even though it may take a long time to get to the big conflict, the book still kept me up at night and still is a well written book, and I would give it a grade of an A. 

Marked at Birth?

   Have you ever thought that a birthmark might mean something? Most seem random but, what if there were countless people with that same mark? What could these mean?
    In Birthmarked by Caragh M. O'Brien, Gaia Stone, a sixteen year old midwife, is faced with a challenge. Her parents have been arrested and she has no clue why. All she knows is they are now inside the wall that separates their community from the city known as the Enclave. As she continues with her duties birthing babies and advancing the first three she delivers each month, she has lots of time to think. As she ponders the mystery behind her parents arrest she decides she must go where no one else has gone, inside the Enclave to rescue her parents.
    Once she is inside the city, things don't go quite as planned. As she herself get captured and must decipher a code that belonged to her mother. Trying to escape proved difficult for her, because of the scar that covered half her face. As she finds the truth behind her scar and the birthmarks she gave to each baby as it was born she will have to find herself.
    In this book one of the main issues is the government hiding all their actions. Gaia wanted to know why her parents were arrested and why the code was so important. The only response she was given simply stated, keep going and when you need to know you will. Many of the basic freedoms were taken away, because the government didn't want this society to end up like the last one, gone without a trace. But the government officials kind of forgot to mention this to the general public, so there is a lot of resistance against many laws. After I finished reading this book, I couldn't wait to read the sequel. It is very well written, with a balance of wit and suspense. This book does not have the "happy ending" instead, it sets the scene for the next book as the plot thickens and the story continues. I would give this book a solid A because, I could not put it down until I had read it cover to cover, twice.

           Catching Fire is the second book of Suzanne Collins hunger games trilogy. The book starts with Katniss and Peeta celebrating their victory of the 74th hunger games and is on their victory tour to each district. While on this tour Peeta discovers that Katniss did not really love him and just acted like she did just for the sake of the viewers. From then on Peeta stays his distance while Katniss needs to prove to President Snow that the two are truly in love.

            Every twenty five year there is something called the Quarter Quell and a twist on the hunger games. All that Katniss remembers hearing about the previous Quarter Quell is that they sent twice as many tributes into the arena. For the 75th annual hunger games the tributes are chosen out of previous victors of the hunger games. With this unexpected surprise Katniss prepares to return to the battle arena once again. Between Peeta and Haymitch, it was quite obvious that the star crossed lovers would be reunited in the games again.

            As Katniss and Peeta are preparing for the games, they are faced with the challenge of not knowing the strategies of the victors before them. The thing about the hunger games this year is that it is nobody’s first time. Their strategy of being I love with each other is the same as the previous year, but along with their opponents President Snow does not believe their act. During training Katniss and Peeta spilt up into separate stations to get as many allies as possible for the games. Once in the arena the clock is ticking to stay alive and get out safely. The question is will Katniss and Peeta be able to survive the challenges that the arena poses yet again?

            I really loved how Collin was able to describe a totally different arena compare to the one in the first book. I also enjoyed how Collins was able to describe the other tributes more in Catching Fire opposed to her first book. I loved how Catching Fire had the same topics like an over powering government, family, friends, and trust.

            Ultimately Catching Fire is a phenomenal book filled with science fiction, suspense, action, and romance. It is a very interesting book that is hard to put down. I loved reading this book and I would highly recommend those who have not read to read it soon. I cannot wait until the movie comes out in November and compare the similarities and differences with the book.

Specials - Scott Westerfield

      To introduce this book, you should know this is the 3rd book of a series of 4. This book along with all the others revolves around the characters and the corrupt government, and how it is to be run. To understand these books, you have to understand that the setting begins in the future and not present day. Although there are many things in this book that do have ties to present days, but have the main idea of it expanded and taken to a higher extreme.
      Alright here we go, diving in, this book is a bit hard to explain without giving everything away but, it all starts right after Tally has joined the 'cutter' a group that uses cutting themselves as a way to keep their heads clear and focused. In the book prior to this Tally was a normal 'pretty' but sense joining the 'honorary' cutters she has became a special. By this Tally has had to undergo a surge that will make her beyond superhuman. With that, it proves itself to make it a crucial point throughout this book.
      I honestly liked this book but it wasn't my favorite out of the series. I think it did a great job at leaving little cliff hangers at parts though-out the book, they left you dying to read the next chapter and keep flipping the pages. Although I do have to admit that other parts of this book killed me, metaphorically. It seemed as if they we're dragging on too long, but I'm sort of an impatient person so that may explain it but that's just my personal take on it.
      "A government big enough to give you everything you want, is a government big enough to take away everything that you have" - Thomas Jefferson. Without ruining this book I will leave you with this quote and mention that it surprisingly has a ton to do with this book.

Divergent by: Veronica Roth

     Divergent is a post apocalyptic novel that starts out as any other book of it's kind, the worst of man kind has been brought out and must be fixed.  Set in  futuristic Chicago, society has been split into five different factions, each with a different characteristic.  They are know as the Dauntless, the brave, Erudite, the intelligent, Candor, the honest, Abnegation, the selfless, and Amity, the friendly.  When you are sixteen   you take an aptitude test to decide which of these factions you belong to, and then chose which one you want to spend the rest of your life in.  Although these results are not always conclusive, as the main character, Beatrice Prior, soon finds out, these people are known as Divergent, and that can be dangerous.

      Even though these people may belong to more than one faction they  can only be part of one.  This makes Beatrice's decision very hard.  She could stay with her family in the Abnegation compound or go find a life someplace else.  The worst part is she can't even talk to family about her situation because no one must know that she is Divergent, and when she goes to the Choosing Ceremony to pick her faction her choice changes her whole life, and let's just say it's not Abnegation.  In her new faction she must learn how to adjust to her new life quickly, and along the way makes a number of friends as well as enemies, especially with a young man who is just simply known as Four.

     I find this book to be very interesting as well as one of my favorites.  At the beginning it sounds just like any other dystopian novel you may have read, but your mind shortly changes with the fact that there is not some all powerful government controlling everyone.  Everyone uses their skills and talents to work together and make a simple peaceful place to live, although it doesn't always stay that way. Also, the way the plot is developed, and the romance that happens in it is made is truly unique.  You know what the one thing is this book doesn't have that most young adult books have these days, a love triangle.  I love the way that this book doesn't have two guys fighting over a clearly confused girl, is has instant chemistry that is made between two characters that is built on through out the book.   You may feel at times that a love triangle is slowly forming but that idea is soon shot down with new events that happen, 'though the product of these events aren't always happy.

     This book makes you see how amazing humans really are and how diversity really shouldn't be taken for granted.  It's all the little things of our personality that add who we are and it is important to have a little of everything.  For example, people in Abnegation are completely selfless and that's really basically all they are.  They take the idea to selflessness to a whole new level.  Seriously, they are not allowed to eat hamburgers or chocolate cake or any thing that is truly delicious because it is considered self indulgent and is thus for selfish, but at times we do need to be a little selfish and think of our needs before others.  We shouldn't center the whole world around us but we still need to keep in mind what we want after all that is one of the many things that make us human.

     Overall this book was really fantastic.  Although, it is pretty gruesome and at times does have a few sexual comments but these parts add to the characters and the overall story line.  This book became a fast favorite of mine and would highly suggest it to any one.  I give it a big fat A+.

   

     

     

   The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins takes place in, Panem, built in the ruins of future America ruled by a controlling government. Every year each district of Panem (12 districts) sends two tributes to participate in the hunger games (one boy and one girl) to fight to the death in an arena. These tributes are chosen by a big bowl of names of all between the ages of twelve and eighteen and as you get older the more times your name is entered.  

     The book begins when Katniss Everdeen volunteers for the games when her younger sister, Prim, was chosen as a tribute. Katniss and baker's son, Peeta are the two tributes chosen from district 12 to compete in the 74th annual Hunger Games. As soon as they are chosen they have just a short amount of time before they begin their journey to the Capitol where the games will be held. The two are coached by Haymitch (a previous winner of the Hunger Games) and assistant Effie. Katniss also meets her designer Cinna and his team of stylists. Haymitch helps prepare the two tributes for the games and creates a strategy that Katniss and Peeta have to use in the arena to impress people and get extra sponsorship.  After weeks of hard training, Katniss and Peeta were ready to fight in the games. 

     In the arena there are of all sorts of challenges that these tributes are faced with created by the game makers who oversee the whole game. The lack of food, survival supplies,  knowledge of their surroundings, and who they can trust are just a few problems that the tributes face.

     I really enjoyed how the book was constantly able to hold on to my attention. I loved how detailed Collins described everything including what future America might be like. I also enjoyed how the districts were all different and each had their own characteristics. It was interesting how the environment between each district was just like how our country has separate social classes. For example rich, high class capitol people and the poor people of district 12. It was also interesting how severe the conditions were that they had to fight to the death in order to survive.

     Although, I do need to warn the reader that there is a lot of violence and should be something considered before reading the book. I would also like to suggest watching the movie to see how the story was presented differently.

Delirium

  Love is a disease. Or at least in Lauren Oliver's Delirium it is. Delirium is a post apocalyptic, teen romance, dystopian, science fiction adventure. Wow! Now try saying that five times fast! In this book, Lena, the main character, is rebelling against the government, even if she doesn't in the beginning. She's in a world that everyone gets cured of amor deliria nervosa, or love.  She is terrified of the disease, because it is what killed her mother.
     Lena is counting down the days until it's her turn to get cured. She is trying to avoid the disease at all costs, until she meets Alex. This smart, nice, and most importantly CURED boy begins to capture Lena's attention. She keeps telling herself that what happened to her mother can’t happen to her, Alex is safe, Alex is cured. As time goes on, she begins seeing symptoms of the disease, but she doesn't think much of it. Then she finds out that Alex lied about being cured. Her mind tries to process this information, but she can’t take it in.  And there’s a good reason she doesn’t want to accept the consequence. She's in love. She's caught the disease, but now, she wants the disease. 
     This story held my interest throughout the entire book. It had a feeling like you were her thoughts, as if your were there firsthand when everything happened. Oliver was able to do something many books can’t, and that’s weave together multiple plots. If you look deeper into this extraordinary piece of literature, you find some amazing things. Of course, you see that love is a disease, and that she’s caught it. But you also see her struggle because her mother isn’t there, and then on top of that she is having trouble with her best friend, who is also rebelling. And then, an essential part of all teen books, you have her love life. Which, by the way, isn’t supposed to exist. It’s amazing how some authors can weave a web like this.
This book is similar to Uglies, another teen book. Both books express that some part of human nature is wrong. In Delirium, it is that they fall in love, while in Uglies, it’s the way that humans look. Lena and Tally, who is the heroine of Uglies, both want to be "fixed." They both want to fit in to society, start the perfect section of their life. The thing is, both have something happen that widens their perspective.  Lena and Tally both want to learn more, and neither of them want to go back.
     I think everyone should read this book. It makes you wonder, a little, what could happen to our world in the future. Is something truly wrong with simply humans? Lauren Oliver has created a wonderful book, which is to be part of a three book series. This book can appeal to everyone, because, as mentioned before, it fits in almost every category! Delirium is fascinating, because you watch as this girl goes against everything she's been taught, even though she has no idea what her future holds. A. 

Matched By Ally Condie

       How would it feel to have the government make all your decisions for you? Where you live, who you marry, your occupation, what you eat, when you die? Pretty much what you do and when you do it. That's exactly how it is in the world of Matched. The government controls all aspects of your life. The main character, Cassia, has grown up in this world being taught that the government is always right. When she watches her *micro card with the information about her *match at first, she sees her best best friend Xander. But for a moment another boy flashes across the screen. And the strange thing is she knows him too. From that moment on Cassia struggles with the decision of who was meant to be her match and who she's going to choose. This book has romance between both Cassia and Xander, and Cassia and Ky as she tries to decide who she wants to choose. Throughout the book Cassia finds herself disagreeing with the government and how it works. She also starts to question it's control and power, and begins to rebel in small ways.

      This book is really good. It seems a lot like the Hunger Games, with similar ideas and storylines. This book has a theme that I believe everyone needs to hear: stand up for what you believe in even if it's not popular.

      Also, another them that occurs often throughout the book is to stay determined. You can accomplish anything you set your mind to if you are determined and ready to fight for what you believe in.

      I think this book was well written and, overall, the author did a great job portraying the characters. I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys romance mixed with dystopia. 

* Micro card- A card similar to a CD or computer chip that has information stored on it. 
*  Match- The person that is chosen by the government for someone to marry. In other words a forced husband or wife.

Delirium by Lauren Oliver

Delirium by Lauren Oliver is a dystopian novel full of mystery, danger, and a lot of romance. However, the romance in this novel may not be what you had in mind. In Delirium, a new disease called amor deliria nervosa, or in other words, love has spread throughout America, and is dangerous to everyone who hasn't gotten the cure.

As soon as the age of 18, all citizens are cured of the deliria and are assigned a life to live and a partner to be with. A life without love, they say, is a life without pain. What could go wrong?

Lena Holloway is a timid, unrebelious teen living in the city of Portland. She's just like any other teenage girl, counting down the days until her procedure will cure her of the deliria running through her veins. Lena's mother had gone through the procedure 3 times, and had never been cured. Lena knew she was different, even from a young age, but it was a shock to Lena and her whole family when her mother commited suicide. Ever since, Lena has been living with her aunt and cousins and has gone by the name, Lena Tiddle. She has always been worried that her family history of amor deliria nervosa would show up in her. But with just 95 days left until her procedure, she discovers her fear may be a reality. She falls in love.

Lena becomes obsessed with a Alex, a young boy who is not only off limits, but is an invalid. An orphan, who has been living in the wilds, away from society. Lena is scared, and thrilled. She is confused. Has everything she has been told wrong? She and Alex keep their love a secret from all but Lena's best friend, Hana. They establish a secret meeting place, experience new thrills, and even visit Alex's secret home. But when they are caught together, Lena is tied to her own bed, with little hope for her future with Alex.

Delirium by Lauren Oliver is an amazing book, that raises many questions. It makes you think what a life without love might be like. Would it be worth in a catatonic like state, just to avoid the pain and heartbreak of love? Should we be scared of love, or celebrate it? Dilerium is a dramatic, romantic, and symbolic novel that won't let you down. I give it an A+, and reccomend it to everyone!

Specials by Scott Westerfield

First of all, I must inform you that this book is the third one in a series of four by Scott Westerfield, and you probably shouldn't read this book if you haven't read the first two.
The story starts out pretty much like the rest of them, smack-dab in the middle of an event that Tally Youngblood, the main protagonist, is diving into. You start out sort of blind, but everything is explained as the book progresses. 
Basically, this clique's members were Shay's Cutters and anyone else special enough to fight off the brain lesions on their own. Dr. Cable engineered them specifically to find and put a stop the New Smoke, at any cost. Besides the normal special abilities like strength and reflexes, they were built for the wild. Judging by the other books and Tally's actions, they probably have new brain lesions, which cause heightened anger and other over-reactants. 
In the beginning, some of their fellow Cutters are kidnapped and that provides fuel to the fire that yearns for revenge inside both Tally and Shay. Tally causes some trouble with Shay and there are some tense situations between them, because Tally's main goal is to help her boyfriend Zane, while Shay wants to use him to find the New Smoke.
All eventually get to the New Smoke, and are surprised when they find out they hadn't planned for what the New Smoke had been up to. This triggers a series of events that include imprisonment (multiple times), and a new cure made just for specials.
I gave this book a B, because other than some surprising twists and turns, the book is pretty repetitive and predictable. The few action-packed scenes didn't quench my thirst I gained from the previous books. It took me the longest time to get into it, and by that time it was over.
I did pick up on a few themes in this book. One was how damaging plastic surgery could be. Of course, I'm sure the surgeons today don't put "bubblehead" lesions in your brain (well, as far as I know). But I meant how dangerous being a special made the cutters, and even without lesions, plastic surgery can't be doing such a favor for your mindset of yourself. Another was how often our generations are cutting themselves to feel something, and how misleading it can be. 
I only recommend this book if you really liked the previous books, because I wanted to quit reading that series right then and there.

The Giver by: Lois Lowry

     The Giver is a truly inspiring book. Its not some baloney book that isn't worth the read. I almost read the book straight through. It has a great message, a cool story line and it is very symbolic.(I'm not saying you have to believe in Christ or anything, it just relates to that a lot.) I honestly think the world would be better if everybody read this book.

     Jonah does not know what diversity is. The most different things get is probably between a boy and a girl. There is no color, there is no pain, there is no sorrow. No being sad? That sounds great! But, with no sorrow you will never be able to experience happiness. Everything is the same.

     When kids become 12 years old they are chosen a job. This job is chosen very carefully by the elders. Jonah does not know what he wants to be. Many kids have a real talent for something or enjoy doing a certain job.  Finally, Jonah is chosen to be the Receiver of Memories. Very little is known about this job except for one person, the Giver.

    Being the Receiver of Memories Jonah gets to experience diversity. He now knows what colors are and can see them, he knows what sunshine feels like, he knows what real pain is like. The way he obtains all these things is through memories. The Giver has memories from a very long time ago. He transmits them for Jonah to feel. Once he gives the memories to Jonah he does not have them anymore. The reason for this very important job is to give advice to the elders in big arguments and just to remember what the world used to look like. It's a heavy job.

     Jonah wants everybody to feel the joys he feels. So him and the Giver devise a plan. If Jonah were to die or dissapear all the memories would go to the people. The Giver can help them handle it though. Jonah has to run away to where there is no sameness. Nobody knows what lies beyond so their plan is a risk. I don't want to give away anymore than I have to.

     This book is amazing and provides many different lessons and themes. The main one of course is diversity. Without bad there can be no good. Without cold you don't know what it is like to be hot. Do you get what I'm saying? We need diversity so we better appreciate it. Also, this may sound kind of cheesy but another theme could be love. Not like boyfriend and girlfriend but with family and friends. He understands what real love is when most people don't and he wants others to feel it too.

     This book is symbolic because(you don't have to believe any of this) Christ took on all the sins of the world and the pain so he could understand how we felt. Jonah has to endure all the pain and suffering but he also gets to remember the good things too. To sum everything up, I loved this book! I recommend it  to everybody and give it an A+

Mockingjay- Suzanne Collins

I had always heard good things and bad things about Mockingjay, so I decided to read it for myself. Since The Hunger Games and Catching Fire were so good I thought this book would be even better. Sadly, I didn't think this book was that great and it took me forever to read!
Since District 12 was destroyed, Katniss and the rest of the rebels, not including Peeta (who was captured by the Capitol) , go to District 13. The nation is in a war with the Capitol. The people and the president of District 13 encourage Katniss to be the "mockingjay". A symbol of rebellion. As always Katniss is very stubborn and being the "mockingjay" comes with a price. Saving Peeta of course.
Throughout the book Katniss and her team go through the districts one by one trying to get them to side with the rebels. They do this all the way to the Capitol, though there are a ton of hardships on the way. Also, her relationships with Gale and Peeta take a bad turn. This book is not what you would think, there are many things that happen that you would never expect.
All in all I thought this book was okay, but it could've been much better. I had such high expectations that I was dissapointed with how the book was. Towards the end, though, I got a little more into it.
I think the message that Suzanne Collins was trying to send was the bad things that can result in war and also how bad poverty is. This book has a great message, even if it isn't my favorite book. I would probably recommend it to people that are curious about what happens after reading Catching Fire.