"Horde" by Ann Aguirre

Warning: Horde is the third and final book in the Razorland Trilogy if you haven't read the first & second book you may not want to read this.


Horde by Ann Aguirre was an extremely suspenseful book. I love dystopian or post-apocalyptic books, anything that says 'For Fans of the Hunger Games' usually sells me. I loved how in this book, there was no real government each remaining town had their own rules. Some towns had better rules then others, better defenses,  some stood a real chance. Other towns would be wiped in just a short matter of time. 


The Horde has Salvation surrounded. Duece and her friends have to sneak out and leave their new families behind in hopes of retrieving help. As it turns out the muties are growing braver and smarter, attacking more and more settlements. They're running out of time to figure out why the muties are getting smarter. They'll have to develop a solution soon. They'll have to find a way to take them all out despite their massive numbers, or be wiped out themselves. They can't seem to come up with any other ideas.


I LOVED! Loved! Loved, the trilogy. I sincerely hate ebooks, but i'm tempted to go and buy the ebooks for like the bonus/ in between short stories, telling the tales of certain characters or before the virus. That's how good they are. If you haven't read these books, and you love dystopian, survival themed books; it is a must read trilogy! Too make it even better, it's a first person perspective read. My favorite!


Note: Endurance and Foundation are the two ebooks i'm probably buying for myself so I know all the ins and outs of the Razorland books. Check them out!                                                                                            
                                                                              Rating 5 out of 5.

"Outpost" by Ann Aguirre

Warning: Outpost  is the second book in the Razorland Trilogy, if you haven't read the first book you may not want to read this.


Outpost just like Enclave, was an extremely suspenseful book.I love dystopian or post-apocalyptic books, anything that says 'For Fans of the Hunger Games' usually sells me. What I really loved about this book though, was that its post-apocalyptic alright, but the world is still a mess there's no real establishments or government yet. It's all about the will to survive. 


After having discovered the town Salvation, you'd think things for Duece would have started getting  better, but they're only getting worse. In the Enclave at fifteen she was considered an adult, capable of fighting and making her own rational decisions, but here in Salvation she's just another dumb kid in need of learning. She doesn't fit in with anyone here, and even Fade has distanced himself from her. After struggling along like this for a while, things eventually start to look up. She could see herself being rooted to the town and some of the people in it, only to have tragedy start to strike. Anyone who disliked her before, may quickly come to realize how much Salvation needs her. Duece and her friends may be their only chance of survival.


OH. MY. WORD. I never really know what to expect in these books. I don't know what characters are safe to get attached too. I'd like to think the main characters are safe, but after reading this, like Duece said saftey is an illusion. Through out this book, I was so back and forth. I would be happy one minute, then be scared for the characters the next minute. I've never cried reading a book, but I can honestly say I was almost brought to tears near the end of this book. It's seriously freaking awesome, and Ann Aguirre really new what she was doing. I'm already half way through the third book, Horde. Honestly, if you love any of the following: dystopian themes, love triangles, post-apocalypses, action, suspense, and so on; This trilogy really is a must read!


Note: If you were wondering what completely happened to the Enclave, and Thimble and Stone, Amazon has an ebook strictly about that called Endurance. I thought i'd mention that because it personally was driving me insane not 100% knowing.
                                                                              Rating 5 out of 5.

"Enclave" by Ann Aguirre

Enclaveby Ann Aguirre was an extremely suspenseful dystopian book. The first in the Razorland Trilogy.
I love dystopian or post-apocalyptic books, anything that says 'For Fans of the Hunger Games' usually sells me. What I really loved about this book though, was that its post-apocalyptic alright, but the world is still a mess there's no real establishments or government yet. It's all about the will to survive.


It's about a girl who turns fifteen, she's finally old enough to claim a name. After being referred to as girl number whatever. Claiming a name, claim a job, earning her place in the enclave, it's the most exciting day. She wants to be huntress, to defend the enclave and everyone inside it. She thinks everything the enclave elders do is for the people's good, for the enclave. Until. She meets her hunting partner. Fade. He's the only outsider to have been given the permission to stay. He lived on his own in the tunnels for close to four years. He was barely human when they found him. That was a few years ago now, he's been trained since then. They made frequent trips into the tunnels looking for food, fighting any mutations they call 'freaks'. Freaks look like they could have been human once, but now they have yellowing skin, they smell of rotting flesh, they can smell blood a mile a way, they have razor teeth & nails, and will eat anything they can get their hands on, even each other if one of their kin dies. The girl's enclave, called College, had always struggled fighting them off no matter how stupid and easy the freaks were to trick, but now after being in the tunnels several times with Fade, it seems the Freaks are showing signs of intelligence. That could mean then end of College, the end of all the enclaves. The girl and Fade, race back to tell the elders, only to have the elders brush them off, and find ways to keep them quiet. The elders have been hiding something or some things, and now the whole enclave is at risk. My enclave, my people, my home. I am the girl, the name I've claimed is Duece.  


This book is a wonderful first person perspective read, as you may know if you've read any of my other posts, I LOVE first person reads. I loved the fact that Ann made a world that was post apocalyptic, and literally falling apart still. Usually, like in the Hunger Games, the books are post apocalyptic, yes, but there's a government and things already fixed up and cities established. Duece and Fade have nothing. There were so many parts in the book I never saw coming. They're living in a world where they not only have to fear Freaks, but corrupt people too.Who should Duece trust, who shouldn't she trust? This book was action packed and kept me on the "edge of my seat" sort of speak, yet it had some calm parts and a fantastic story line. I literally picked the second book, Outpost, up right after I finished reading it. It's a must must must must read! 


The only thing I DISLIKED, was that for the first two chapters, I felt like it kind of jumped around or something. There were a few sentences I had to re-read to make sure I understood what I just read, maybe I was just tired, I don't know. By the third chapter though it was "normal" or well written. I didn't have to re-read anything after that. If you read the book let me know what you thought, maybe it was just me.
                                                                                                      Rating 5 out of 5.          

"Prophet of Yonwood" by Jeanne Duprau

Warning: This is the third book in the series, The Books of Ember. If you haven't read the first two you may not want to read this.

The Prophet of Yonwood by Jeanne Duprau is actually more of a prequel for The Books of Ember. It gives a glimpse of what went on the last 50 years before the Disaster took place, and Lina and Doon came into existence. The main character battles with her self on deciding the difference between right and wrong. She wants answers, and not any answers. She wants the truth, as do we all.


Nickie goes with her Aunt Crystal to Yonwood with some secret motives. Her great-grandfather has passed away and left Nickie's mom and her aunt his house, which the family has owned for over 150 years. They want to sell it. Nickie goes claiming she just wants to see it, but really she wants to find a way to convince her aunt and mother to keep it. She dreams of living there one day with her mother and father, once her father returns of course. He left on an official government job, but wasn't allowed to tell them where he was headed or when he'd return. This was understandable with the world ready to burst at the seems. Threats of terrorist attacks, missiles, and so on had everyone on edge these days. Nickie had thought that the small town her great-grandfather had lived in might be different, but everyone there was just as scared. There was weirder stuff happening there too, opposed to the city Nickie came from. There was a woman with a vision. A vision of the world's destruction. 


It was cool to see what exactly happened that caused so much destruction in the world Lina and Doon currently live in. We got to see who created Ember, and who exactly left the journal that Lina found. Once again this book just like the first two can and does appeal to all age groups. Young, old, or in between. It's scary to think about, because we, the real world, have a lot of the weapons and anger built up that you see in these books. It just goes to show, if everyone can't "grow up" a little bit and work out our differences, these books could be our future. We have the power to cause are own world's demise. I happily purchased the fourth and final book, The Diamond of Darkhold, which picks up where The People of Sparks left off. Continuing the journey of Lina Mayfleet and Doon Harrow. I can't wait to read it later tonight. Happy reading to you all!

                                                                  Rating 4 out of 5.

"The People of Sparks" by Jeanne Duprau

 

Warning: this is the second book in a series, if you haven't read the first book, The City of Ember, you may not want to read this.

The People of Sparks by Jeanne Duprau is the continuation of The City of Ember. It's a Dystopian themed novel, filled with Love, Betrayal, Curiosity, and the Killer Instinct to survive. 

It only took a day or two for more people to emerge from Ember, filling Lina and Doon with great relief. The good feelings faded quickly though, because they were short on food, and had no idea where to go in this new world they had discovered. They all decided to head towards the gray looking pavement, at one time it looks like it could have been a road. With their food depleting at an alarmingly fast rate people begin to panic. Until they stumble upon the town called Sparks. Lina and the other Emberites aren't exactly welcomed with open arms, but they are fed and given a place to sleep. Temporarily. Things start to head downhill rather quickly and now the people of Sparks intentions may be to do more harm to the Emberites then good. What will they do now? Fight or flee? Will all the Emberites be able to decide on what is right or wrong?

This book was pretty good, I'm sure not if I liked it as much as the first book or not, but it was still pretty interesting. I really enjoyed the development of the main characters, and just seeing how they people of Ember adapted to the "new" world they discovered. This book still had the fearful urgency to survive vibe going on like the first book, which I loved.  I greatly disliked some of the new characters. Like Torren for example, however; I suppose in some ways he was "misunderstood" and attention seeking. I still recommend reading it, the world Jeanne created in the book shows exactly what hate, revenge, and war could do to man kind in the near or far future. I actually just bought the third book,The Prophet of Yonwood, and plan on diving into it here later this evening. Happy reading to you all!

                                                              Rating 3.5 out of 5.

"Gregor and the Prophecy of Bane" by Suzanne Collins

  

Warning: This is the second book in a series. If you haven't read the first book you may not want to read this.

Gregor and the Prophecy of Bane is the sequel to the wonderful novel Gregor The Overlander written by The Hunger Games author, Suzanne Collins.  This book and the ones after it are not Dystopian themed like her well known Hunger Games Trilogy. This series takes place in modern time with a big fantasy twist.

It's been a few months since Gregor and Boots left the Underland. Gregor swears that he will never go back to that place and it's dangers, but the Underlanders have other plans. They need his help, and they plan on getting it by any means necessary. Their first step of action is to get Gregor to come back down. In order to lure him back, they do the unthinkable. They kidnap his sister. Gregor finds himself in harms way once more, and has bigger difficulties to over come this time. Will he be lucky enough to get back to New York again? Or will he not survive that long?

I loved this book as much as the first one. The series in and of itself is just really good. Even though it was originally targeted for a younger audience, more and more of the young adult audience seems to be picking it up and falling in love with it. The book has you racing through the pages to see what will become of Gregor's rather unfortunate  predicament. Like I said before in the first books review, It cracks me up when people are like "OMG! I am the biggest Suzanne Collins fan!", to which I reply, "Oh what did you think of Gregor?", then they get completely lost. Yeah biggest fan alright. If you're the "biggest fan" I highly recommend you go ahead and read Gregor and the Underland Chronicles if you haven't started too already.You won't be disappointed!              

                                                                Rating 5 out of 5.

"Gregor the Overlander" by Suzanne Collins

Gregor The Overlander  is another wonderful novel by The Hunger Games author, Suzanne Collins.  This book and it's sequels are not Dystopian themed like her well known Hunger Games Trilogy. This series takes place in modern time with a fantasy twist. 

In wonderful New York City, lived Gregor and his family. Gregor was kept home from camp this year to watch his sister Boots while their mother worked. They're father had disappeared years before, and now their grandma was too ill to watch her. Gregor was rather bitter about it and thought his whole summer would be a total bust. Until the unthinkable happened. Gregor and his sister went to do the laundry in the laudromat in their apartment building.  Gregor was loading the washer while Boots played ball. Then his sister's ball fell behind a washer and when she went to retrieve it she was sucked down a rather large air vent. Gregor tried to look down to see if he could see boots, but it seemed to go on forever fading into blackness. He knew he couldn't leave her so he went after her. It seemed he was falling down the air shaft forever, riding the air current down. Once he reached the bottom, he knew he was far away from the city's surface. He had no idea how to get back either. He found Boots right away, but then something or actually a group of something or someone was coming out of the dark corners. Fear over took him quickly and he couldn't believe what he was looking at.

I loved this book, they had a different style then The Hunger Games.I wouldn't even had guessed Suzanne wrote it. I believe originally this book and it's sequels were intended for a younger audience, but after having my friends read them, myself read them, and seeing several reviews I believe the Young Adult audience took over. In other words I guess it reminds me of the Harry Potter Books, not because there's witches or wizards or anything, but because it appeals to such a large age group. It was definitely interesting to read and rather strange to think about. It's something I honestly wouldn't mind re-reading sometime soon. It cracks me up when people are like "OMG! I am the biggest Suzanne Collins fan!", to which I reply, "Oh what did you think of Gregor?", then they get completely lost. Yeah biggest fan alright. If you're the "biggest fan" I highly recommend you go ahead and read Gregor and the Underland Chronicles. Young, old, or in between, you won't be disappointed.                    

                                                                                                  Rating 5 out of 5.