Tuesday, November 15, 2016

[Review] Fate of Flames (Effigies #1) by Sarah Raughley

Fate of Flames by Sarah Raughley
Series: Effigies #1
Rating: 2 stars

Release Date: November 22nd 2016

Goodreads Synopsis: 
Four girls with the power to control the elements and save the world from a terrible evil must come together in the first epic novel in a brand-new series.
When Phantoms—massive beasts made from nightmares and darkness—suddenly appeared and began terrorizing the world, four girls, the Effigies, each gained a unique power to control one of the classical elements: earth, air, fire, and water. Since then, four girls across the world have continually fought against the Phantoms, fulfilling their cosmic duty. And when one Effigy dies, another girl gains her power as a replacement.
But now, with technologies in place to protect the world’s major cities from Phantom attacks, the Effigies have stopped defending humanity and, instead, have become international celebrities, with their heroic feats ranked, televised, and talked about in online fandoms.
Until the day that New York City’s protection against the Phantoms fails, a man seems to be able to control them by sheer force of will, and Maia, a high school student, unexpectedly becomes the Fire Effigy.
Now Maia has been thrown into battle with three girls who want nothing to do with one another. But with the first human villain that the girls have ever faced, and an army of Phantoms preparing for attack, there isn’t much time for the Effigies to learn how to work together.
Can the girls take control of their destinies before the world is destroyed forever?
I really wanted to like this one. Really.

But how can I like it when I hate the main character?

Tuesday, November 8, 2016

[Review] Scythe by Neal Shusterman

Scythe by Neal Shusterman
Rating: 4.5 stars 
Version: ARC Paperback
Release Date: November 22nd 2016

Goodreads Synopsis:
In a world where disease has been eliminated, the only way to die is to be randomly killed (“gleaned”) by professional reapers (“scythes”). Citra and Rowan are teenagers who have been selected to be scythe’s apprentices, and—despite wanting nothing to do with the vocation—they must learn the art of killing and come to understand the necessity of what they do.
Only one of them will be chosen as a scythe’s apprentice. And when it becomes clear that the winning apprentice’s first task will be to glean the loser, Citra and Rowan are pitted against one another in a fight for their lives.

"Immortality has turned us all into cartoons." - Scythe Curie

So I've had friends telling me how great Neal Shusterman was, how different his books were compared to other YA they've read... and when I got an ARC of his upcoming book, Scythe, I went into it with pretty high expectations.

Those expectations have been met. Scythe takes the controversial topic of death and brings it to life (hey, irony!). It even takes the dystopian genre and takes it to a different spectrum. I've tried to stay away from dystopians for fear of redundant and overused tropes and plots akin to The Hunger Games, but Scythe was compelling without any love triangles and drama to mar its story.