Because Books!

*slight spoilers*Well, in the middle of typing my long review, my internet did something and it all got erased. Now I'm very angry over that. My previous review had a few good points such as good writing and gripping story(after struggling through the first few chapters) now I'm getting straight to why I could only give this book a 2.5.The main characters.Sam and her best friends are horrible, cruel people. I don't care about their sob stories of insecurity and pain because that is never an excuse. We all deal with a lot of crap in our lives but we don't treat everyone who isn't part of out friendship group like dirt. We don't target and bully "outcasts" to an extent of them considering suicide. During this week of Sam re-living her life, we're supposed to sympathise with her and see a change in her. But she is still the same shallow, egotistical mean girl she always was. The only time I felt something for her was when she was interacting with her little sister. But of course, Lizzy is only 7 years old so I guess she's not a target right?Sam talks about how she never felt like she really fit in with her group of friends and Kent acts like there's so much good in her but I really don't see it. She's just like the rest of her drunkard, obnoxious friends. Yes, she tries to fix things but as she's doing this, she's only ruining someone else's life. She's stupid and fickle and I'm done with her.Never did it ever occur to her to research or deeply think about why she is re-living this one day. Instead she just worries about having sex with her boyfriend and her teacher and Kent and then talks about Lindsey like she hates her then makes friends only to not bother with them again. Honestly, Sammy was a horrible protagonist.I liked Kent and he deserves better than her. I'm glad Juliet didn't fall for Sam's speeches because you don't treat someone like that then say you're sorry and expect everything to be fine. No. I don't find what she did at the end brave or anything. I don't like her any better because of that. She is selfish and conniving and she judges everyone around her for living the way she lives.This book could have been deeper and more insightful but it gets weighed down by teenage drama and stereotypical characters. Also, the fashion choices that were described were ridiculous and I hope no one in America leaves the house for school wearing 4 inch heels and furry vest tops in winter.

David Levithan has done it again. I love this book. I love it so much I want to quote it everywhere and share it with everyone. It's beautifully written, it's short but has such a powerful meaning and it's devastatingly sad but hey, it is about love after all!The way it's written does require a lot of patience if you aren't familiar with a lot of the vocabulary used. And I admit, I wasn't. Thank you, Apple, because I was able to quickly search the real definition of the word before reading what it has to do with the story. I'm glad for this because my vocabulary has obviously improved.The two main characters are anonymous and only addressed as "I" and "you". The writer expresses his feelings over his relationship in an honest, real way. He doesn't paint her as perfect, nor does he villainise her.It's up to personal interpretation. I won't spoil this book for anyone who wants to experience it. But I will say it is different/unique and sometimes cute and hilarious but it's a story that doesn't leave you even after you put the book down.

Honestly, I am disappointed and angered by this book. But it's not all bad. There is still the dull memory of the excitement and thrill that was in Divergent that kept me reading till the end. Otherwise, I really was unimpressed by this book.Here's the thing, I read Divergent a little less than a month ago, but I have read other books since then so I don't remember every single detail/character. I was expecting a little reminder or explanation on the characters in Insurgent, but no. I didn't get that. I was confused and straining to remember what happened in Divergent the majority of the time.The plot in this book... I'll forgive Veronica Roth here and say maybe the lack of a gripping plot is due to this being the second book in the series and we all know usually second books are a flop, right? Because nothing really happened for at least 300 pages. It's just filled with angsty dialogue, Tris' stupid thoughts and blood and murder and evil forced together.The world building is still shaky and FOR CRYING OUT LOUD VERONICA ROTH, remind people of what this world is like thoroughly because I had completely forgotten it was fenced in until right at the end! And that cliffhanger really, I mean I get what you're trying to do and I am curious as to where this is going but all that build up FOR THAT? So, my anger has revealed itself now prepare for a rant: TRIS.What is wrong with her? From my review of Divergent, it is no surprise that I HATE THIS GIRL, but then this time around, whatever goodness I could salvage and use to attempt to like her was completely annihilated. Why must she be the protagonist of a book that is so promising and has such an interesting premise? She ruins it with her whiny, selfish and idiotic behaviour. She is so self-righteous yet acts like she isn't but every thought she has suggests just that.YOU ARE NOT IMPORTANT, TRIS. This is my main problem. They're making Tris into this special flake when she really hasn't done much other than being Divergent and acting superior towards everyone. I don't believe for a second that she's got Erudite in her. I just think everyone else is incredibly dumb. Her "smart ideas" where common sense and Tris, did you not spend the first half of Divergent mourning about how you are not Abnegation because you really aren't. Stop trying to be selfless because you are naturally a selfish brat. I understand she lost her parents and she shot Will but really Tris, can you just stop with the angst. If you're supposed to be the heroine of this book, pick yourself and your survival instinct up and kick ass.This doesn't mean trusting someone you don't even trust or know and just plunging into dangerous situations because you think you can fight and you think you're so special.I love YA Romance, usually. I love the chemistry and the intimacy but in this book, I was done with it. Yes, Tobias we get that you love Tris(although I still don't understand why) but can you stop with the angsty crap you two spent the majority of this book on each other's backs for? This is 400 pages of Tobias and Tris having relationship problems. Tobias is no longer appealing to me. He's needy and spends most of his time doing something like this:Tobias: TRIS JFC CAN YOU STOP TRYING TO KILL YOURSELF WAAH WHAT HAPPENED YOU CHANGED DON'T YOU WANT TO LIVE FOR ME ANYMORE DON'T YOU DON'T YOU OMG YOU ARE INCOMPETENT YOU CHILD YOU WILL GET HURTTobias: I love you Tris. You have such great judgmentTobias and Tris: *heavy making out until Tris stops because hehehe so Abnegation can't go there~*Tobias and Tris: *intense shouting at each other and tension and omfg why don't you tell me every single thought you ever had you don't trust me what leave me then waah wahh wahh*Me: stop. stop right now.And on that note, really not happy with this and I hope the next book is MUCH better.

I read this book in a little over two hours without taking a break. I'm still "jittery" from my experience with it. This is my first Ellen Hopkins novel and I have to say, it won't be my last. I adore her style of writing. She has such a beautiful way with words and some verses were so real they will be etched in my mind forever. So "Crank" is about a young teenage girl's battle with drugs and the lifestyle surrounding drugs. I've read "Go Ask Alice" and that book terrified me, in a good way. So in terms of the story line, it's nothing new. But knowing that only makes this book even more powerful. I don't want to start preaching "SAY NO TO DRUGS!" but here, Kristina is an ordinary "straight" teenage girl who becomes someone else within a week because of one little change. Meth.She was already struggling with her self esteem so she "invented" Bree, who comes out in situations Kristina would shy away from. I have tried that method before, I admit. I am a shy, anxious person so I have thought about channeling a better version of myself. So Bree wanting to impress a guy, gets a hit and the rest of the story unfolds in breathtaking verses and unusual structures.I found Kristina to be incredibly naive and all the characters and situations in this book were cliched. Which is why it's not a 5/5. But that doesn't mean this story is bland. Once again, credit to Ellen Hopkins' writing. There were some parts that made me wish to disconnect myself from the story and the characters because it was too much for me, but I carried on because I couldn't put it down!As a teenager, I am so very aware of drugs. I know and as far as I'm aware, all the teenagers know the risks of drugs and I think the reason teenagers and anyone else really tries them is because of the mentality that "I won't get addicted" or "just this once". Kristina is only 16 years old and she's inexperienced and she's going through what most teenagers go through; feelings of not fitting in and not being good enough etc. So it's easy to latch on to substances that diminish those feelings, and you do get friends through being part of that scene. And it's so sad because it's so real and I know it's happening.Without preaching, I'll just say I loved this book so much and I wish more people would read it and understand it. The descriptions were flawless.

I really loved this book. I wasn't expecting it to be the way it ended up being and that's a good thing!As someone who loves history, particularly Nazi Germany and the Holocaust, this book was perfect for me. As everyone knows, it's narrated by Death and I find this fitting considering the death total at the end of the war. Whilst you would expect Death to be cold and indifferent towards humans as he wears a dark cloak and carries a scythe, it is not the case here. Death is presented in a different colour; he is sympathetic and has a heart!I loved the way this book was written. The narrative was entertaining and the descriptions evoked powerful images, which is really what you need for a story like this. All the characters were well developed and they were real. What I got at the end of this book is that humans can have so much good in them just as they can be evil. I was crying over the acts of kindness some characters performed at a time when being human would have cost you your life. I have studied this topic before, so I know it happened. But I connected with it more here and I learned a lot about who I am as a person too. I recommend this book to everyone. It is a long read but it's worth it. I cried, I laughed and I was downright conflicted. It's wonderful.

Honestly, I don't know what to think of this book. It was pretty bad, but I still finished it which means it at least kept me interested. It's not usually the type of book I would jump up to buy anyway, I just bought it because it was part of a 3 for £5 deal and I needed one more book. It's really just about a terrible mother's influence on her children, leading them to be messed up through their childhood. At first, the mother was cool and understandable, I could sympathise with her in a way. And Kitty was just a child who loved her mother very much regardless of what they went through because of her. I liked the side characters, like the grandparents and one of her friends. But the rest were all vapid and evil, for no reason at all. I hated the constant change of setting. It became confusing and made me unable to connect to the story as well as I could have. There were too many characters who were introduced with the illusion of them being important to the story, only to be quickly ignored. Whilst I don't mind swearing and bad language as I do say a lot of "bad words", I felt it was too much in this book. Kitty was using words that even I don't say often because of how rude they are at the age of seven.This book was too obscene a lot of times. I felt uncomfortable. What kind of a mother lets their child get away with the things Kitty did? I don't care that she was a young, single mother. She could have raised Kitty much better than she did. Their downward spiral was appalling and I wanted to slap each and every single character in this book.The ending didn't do the story line any justice either. I get that the message is that Kitty turned her life around. But did she really? We don't know that because the ending was too abrupt. The writing itself is atrocious and did this book even get edited or was it taken straight from Sophie's computer and published? Because really, how do you let the wrong usage of "then/than" and messy apostrophe uses get printed?I think I'm sticking to books within my comfort zone from now on.

Firsly, I was extremely lucky to get this book in a Goodreads giveaway! Especially at this time when I'm too broke to afford new books, so thank you Susan Ee!Wow. I haven't felt this excited over a book in a while. I read this book in one sitting because it was that great. This is what I want from YA Dystopia. It's funny, it's riveting and it has sexy romance. It's just brilliant. I'm sorry for gushing.So I was skeptic over reading this because angels and YA haven't really mixed well at all. But this is how you do it and it's by a self-published author!I love Penryn. She is such a strong, badass, non-whiny protagonist. Her love for her family is real. She is a real character. Her thoughts were never one-sided and "pure". She wasn't portrayed as perfect with an immaculate sense of what is wrong and an undying loyalty to everyone. She had her doubts. She did not stray and get sidetracked by the "greater good" and suddenly lead on a rebellion. She is a teenage girl after all!Her relationship with Raffie is my favourite of this genre so far. They had funny, honest conversations and the sexual tension between them wasn't thrown at you, it was so subtle but so effective.The plot itself is very interesting and I hope it is better developed in the sequel. I thought it was a little shaky and relying too much on the common knowledge of the events that occur in this book. I want to know more about how or why the apocalypse happened and more about the angels and the remaining humans. The pacing is good enough, though some parts did feel too dragged on, only because I wanted to know more and I was so caught up in that world. It's very gripping, particularly toward the end. I usually have a hard time connecting with action scenes but Susan Ee wrote them in a way that helped me stay in the story. It's a dark, twisted story with a kickass heroine and I recommend it to everyone and anyone. Especially fans of Supernatural!

Well, Veronica Rossi, you have left me speechless. This book is on another league compared to the first one. Wow.So I probably wouldn't have read the sequel if I hadn't bought it when I bought the first book because they were on sale(3 books for £5!). Because if you read my review for "Under the Never Sky" you know I didn't like it. But I forced myself to read this book because it's the only book I have left to read and wow, I'm so glad I did!Firstly, the pacing is very slow. That's why I struggled to get into it. So much happens, but nothing really happens at all. That was my only problem with this book.This time around, the characters are more developed, more alive and the writing helps us connect with them. The world is still crafty, I still can't get a clear image of the setting in my head, but that's okay. The Aether and how the world as it is now became what it is then is finally explained! I enjoyed the dialogue between the characters this time because it was clever, funny and memorable. I love Liv. I love Reef. I love Cinder. I love everyone!Peregrine has definitely grown up, which is a good thing considering he is the Blood Lord now. Although he is constantly doubted, and he doubts himself too, he still follows his guts and instincts and that makes him a great leader, even if he still doesn't realise it. Aria finally came alive and I genuinely like her now. She's such a strong character and every action she did proved that. She never treated herself as the "damsel in distress" and waited to be told what to do by anyone else. She is fierce. She is brave. She is one of my favourite YA protagonists. Roar. I fell in love with Roar in a way most people fell in love with Perry. From the first book, I loved him. Then because he was more prominent in this one, I just fell head over heels for him. Please don't kill him off, Veronica Rossi! Please!I have to admit, the main reason I adore this book much more is because Aria and Perry are apart for 3/4 of it. Whilst I accept their relationship, I don't feel much for it. Yes, it has its sweet moments and in this book it was better developed, so I'll say my opinions are based on the first book and also how biased I am. When they're together, an otherwise complex book, is reduced to typical YA paranormal romance. There is the cheesy dialogue and the intimacy that leaves me thinking "do they really even know each other other than how their lips taste?" This time, Perry stopped thinking and talking about Aria's violet scent and Aria just stopped obsessing over her lust for him. This gave more to the story.Roar and Liv are great. Their stories and love for each other is great. Great, great, great.But I still can't not want Roar and Aria to be the endgame. I know it won't happen but wow, I love them together. Aria's thoughts about Roar are so pure and lovely and the way they interact makes me feel what I'm supposed to feel when Perry and Aria are together. I think Aria's feelings for Roar are deeper than she acknowledges and I really do think a love triangle might happen in the next book. I don't really care for love triangles though, but I just want it to be clear that Aria is feeling something that is more than friendship because she is. No doubt.Overall, incredible book after you get past the first 100 pages. I hope the pacing is sorted out in the next books, Rossi. That was a definite cliffhanger and I'm dying to find out what happens next. If like me, you hated the first book. Give this one a try and I bet you'll enjoy it.

I know I said I had low expectations and that's because I did have low expectations but I fooled myself into thinking maybe I would like it or maybe just not hate it. I was wrong. I couldn't finish it and I wish Goodreads let you give books 0 stars because this is definitely not worth a single star. I feel bad for the other books I've given one star to because I thought they were bad but this one takes the trophy.So, why did I hate it so much? Luce is a dumb, boring, protagonist with scary stalker-tendencies yet other characters find her alluring. I knew the entire plot of this book as soon as she noticed Daniel (personally I liked Cam, even he was a complete asshole though). And I was right. It was predictable and typical YA and I would rather eat my own limbs than continue this series.Oh, did I mention it's typical YA Fantasy? Because naturally for the protagonist and the love interest to have some kind of romance the love interest must be an utter controlling douche bag to the protagonist.Girls, if he treats you like shit, walk away. Don't stay and stalk him. If he flips you off, get angry and GET THE MESSAGE THAT YOU SHOULD NOT ASSOCIATE YOURSELF WITH SOMEONE LIKE HIM. Don't wonder what YOU did to make him angry. What is wrong with these authors?Daniel is such a jerk and I don't care if it 's for Luce's on "good". But Luce is somehow aroused by bad treatment in a way that makes my skin crawl and she proceeds to stalk him. There's a party that happens and Daniel hooks up with another girl and in typical misogyny, Luce boils up with hatred for the girl because of course Daniel MUST have been forced by her. He loves me, duh. Even though he treats me like gum stuck on his shoe. She does reckless things like getting in cars with people she doesn't know and you know what? I don't even care to continue. Luce is everything I hate and more.The pointless descriptions make me mad. I hate flowery prose. It takes up too much time. The other characters never really come alive and maybe they do later on, but you know what? I DON'T CARE.Lauren Kate, so much potential in your writing, but just right now? Nope. NO.NO.

This is obviously targeted towards a younger audience so I should not have been reading it. It's just a book and what you read is what you get. The characters are stereotypical and the dialogue between them generic and boring. Occasionally funny, but predictable. I'll admit, I skipped a lot of pages because I just didn't care.I only read this because I had nothing else to read.

After struggling for almost a week to get through this book, I finally did it! Now I know my current state of being is partly to blame for my feelings towards this book, but wow. What a bland, boring book.Firstly, the premise is pretty impressive and the first few pages of this book are quite good. Aria is not as dumb as some YA female protagonists. I liked that she wanted to learn to defend herself and be useful rather than stay back and be the damsel in distress seeking to be rescued all the time. So i'll say Aria is a fairly strong character. But it bothers me that she lost someone who was supposedly close to her and her reaction was "oh". Is she made of granite? This book is weird . Seriously, I get that it's paranormal/dystopia and it's meant to be unusual, but this was just freaking over-the-top strange. Too much but nothing was happening. One second the author's describing Aether storms, the next the Realms, then it's back to Aria and Peregrine(this name is a big NOPE!)'s friendship/romance. There wasn't really a plot. Just a lot of situations.It was never explained how our world came to be the world it was, and that always annoys me. There were just too many unexplained things and really, the ending had me rolling my eyes. Really tired of big-shot, powerful people putting their trust in teenage girls. Are you telling me one of your skilled, professional workers wouldn't be able to do the task you're assigning to a teenager? This idea has been used so many times, I'm just done with it.Aria and Perry's relationship was awkward at best. I preferred it when they hated each other. But of course the blurb and the genre tells you they'll fall in love. Whilst I think Perry's gifts are clever and cool, although eventually I got sick of being reminded of them, can I just point out that he only stopped seeing Aria as a pest when she got her first period? That scene will scar me forever.Basically Perry finds Aria and Aria's all "omfgg im dying" and Perry SNIFFS the air and guess what he finds out? Aria's menstruating and she smells like violets and apparently that's what menstruation smells like. So Aria's like "wtf i don't period" and Perry's now thinking "*BONER ALERT* Aria is..... A GIRL!!!" Apparently Perry didn't realise this before Aria got her period. So after that Perry keeps talking about her feminine menstrual scent and loving it and wanting to bury himself in it and Aria, well I don't even know.Some shit happens but still, nothing really ever happens. The pacing is ridiculously slow from start to finish. I never connected with any of the characters. This is due to the writing, because I'm sure I could have felt something for Aria or Perry but the way it's written, they never really come aliveI'm giving it 2 stars because I'm feeling polite tonight. But seriously, aside from the period scenting thing, this is the most forgettable book I've read. I just finished it and I've already forgotten 95% of what happens.

*minor spoilers*I'm giving this book a solid 4 rating. Because it succeeded to make me feel what I would like to feel when reading books: completely absorbed into that world.I read this book in one sitting, and it took me just four hours. It's such a gripping, fast-paced book and for that, well done Veronica Roth.I thought the whole world being divided into "factions" based on their strongest personality trait was a stretch. This aspect reminded me too much of the Hogwarts Sorting Hat. There were a lot of flaws/plot holes in this world. I find it hard to believe that only a few people would be Divergent. Those traits interlace with each other. Especially selflessness and bravery, as one of the characters pointed out. I liked the other characters. I loved Christina and Will the most. They were actually very good people never mind that Tris was a terrible person(I'll get to that), they still stuck by her till the end. There is a lot of violence in this book, and I do feel that we forget that these are 16 year olds. Yes, as I've seen many reviews mention this, there are some VERY strong similarities to The Hunger Games. Especially what happened with Four and Tris near the end (you know what I'm talking about, I rolled my eyes and put the book down because really that was like copy and paste). I haven't re-read The Hunger Games in a while but I remember being repulsed by the violence because those were kids! Kids were killing each other and some even enjoying it! In this book it's glossed over. Especially Peter and his gang. But we can blame all the problems I have with this book on one person: Tris.Oh My GOD.Now I have read some bad protagonists in my time. I have experienced whiny, bratty, stupid "heroines" so it does take a lot more to get under my skin . But Tris wins the award for being the WORST FEMALE PROTAGONIST. I absolutely despise this girl. I hate her so much I hope the author kills her off.So Tris is basically stupid, whiny, judgmental and mean. Just because she acknowledges how selfish she is, it doesn't make it any less bad. Her stupid questions over everything that happens got on my nerves. I hate you, Tris, I don't need to know that you're once again questioning something that is so damn clear. She is one of those kids who sit in the middle of the class in a complete daze when the teacher's explaining something then go "sorry, what are we doing?" as soon as the teacher finishes. UGH. Tris, your mother and Four tell you to tone down your Divergence for your own sake, but what do you do? You ignore it and you do every single thing that will just point a flashing, red "DIVERGENT" arrow at you for everyone to see. You whine about how mean Peter and his friends are, but wow your thoughts make me certain if I met you, I would punch you. As soon as you discover that you're on the lead, for some nonsensical reason, your arrogance astounds me.Crying does not make you weak, Tris. Get over yourself. When you scold Al and accuse him of being a coward or whatever because he's crying, I knew I hated you. Your attitude towards him doesn't change. You pity him and you are repulsed by his "cowardice". Do not get me started on those thoughts you have after Al's death. NO. NO. NO. Veronica Roth, it's a touchy subject you're handling, can you not?Tris continues being a little bitch to everyone. She whines about how she's not pretty and yet Four still likes her? Now I mention this because she doesn't have a personality to begin with, so at least if she was pretty it would make sense. Then Tris continues to upstage everyone although she's so tiny(eye roll). When her friends see that she's actually not who she appears to be, BECAUSE SHE ISN'T and they react "badly", she gets all high and mighty and contemplates whether she should even forgive the only friends she has ever had especially now that the super cool kids are paying attention to her. Ugh.I'm not done ranting, but I'll stop now.I really hope by some miracle, she isn't such a brat in the next books!Other than that, I really did enjoy this book and I look forward to completing this series!

To be fair, I think this book is targeted towards the first half of the "Young Adults". Because it's a typical "girl accidentally stumbles upon fame and learns that her life isn't is bad as she thought" book. The writing is straightforward and the "plot" has been done at least a thousand times. The characters were all stereotypical and boring.I would recommend this book to anyone under the age of 16. There is a hint of romance but when it's between two 15 year olds, you probably don't really want to know anymore about it. The humour is fair and there is a lot of useless facts and contrived situations. I had to skip a couple of pages because I knew exactly what would happen.So the message overall is of course: be yourself.Not a bad book, I'm just too old for it I suppose.

Honestly, I can guarantee this book will have very mixed reviews because it does elicit mixed emotions. It's very different from the previous Sarah Dessen books. So the question at the end of the day is, why do you like Sarah Dessen?Emeline( I'm sorry but this name, really?)is probably my least favourite heroine from Dessen's books. She made such bad choices and I never really connected or sympathised with her. Probably because we never really knew her. We never truly got into her mind, she had to have a lot of her feelings or reactions dictated to her by other characters. She is supposedly smart, but she didn't show it 3/4 of the time. There was no epic love in this book. As someone who still thinks about Dexter, Nate, Wes etc, I was very disappointed. I admit, one of the reasons I enjoy Sarah Dessen's books is because of the romance and the guys she writes. So when we met Theo and I wasn't swooning for him, then Luke did something that was very OOC, and Emeline made the situation worse(I could go on a long rant about this but bottom line is, you don't build three years of something just to throw it away within hours), I knew this book wouldn't be my favourite. I liked the side characters. Especially Morris. He was intriguing and I almost wish this book was written from Daisy's point of view. Yes, there is the absence of cute romance, but there is also a lot of focus on family dynamics. If you're a fan of that, you will love this book. It's always a theme in Sarah Dessen's books of course, but this time it's more prevalent unlike her previous work.This is a long but quick read and there are pages and pages of nothing really happening. But that fits the setting. It is summer after all. Through us knowing Emeline's monotonous days, we at least get to feel part of that world. I got to know the side characters well through that, and they are the only reason I liked this book. I hate the ending though. It was too rushed and it was too open for me.If it isn't clear, I have mixed feelings about this book. I would still recommend it because the writing is great however I can assure you if, like me, you don't usually go for "chick lit" but make an exception for this author because you love the guys and how the stories are usually poignant, this won't be your favourite. But that doesn't mean you won't like it.

I liked the premise of this book. It was strange, disturbing and downright intriguing. Especially since the girls who had to go through what they had to go through were the same age as me. The writing was pretty good. There were some really vivid descriptions and it was easy to picture what this world looked like. Most of the characters were well written. I loved Arden and her name is beautiful, just like her. Although when she confessed her past, I had predicted it already, I still felt sorry for her and I sympathised with her. I fell in love with Caleb and I'll give Anna Carey props for writing a YA love interest with both good looks and personality. Caleb was a nice and sweet guy. If I decide to read the rest of the series, it would be because of him. I want to know more about the King and his story because he seems too President Snow for me.Now, stupidity takes form in this protagonist, Eve. Firstly, I know she has been indoctrinated and sheltered by her School so maybe it makes sense why she behaves a certain way but I don't think her "feelings" have much to do with School but more with her being a crappy person.Spoilers ahead!Why I think Eve should be killed off and the rest of the series written in Arden's point of view:- Her stupidity is alarming, especially for someone who is so smart the King specifically wants her genes populating the world. Eve, what were you smoking when you thought a bear was cuddly? What were you doing sneaking outside in the dead of night in a camp full of men/boys and troops looking for you? Eve, if you are a guest and you have insomnia, you suck it up and you lie in that bed until sleep comes. You don't go snooping in the cupboards looking for a radio you aren't even aware of how to use because yes, it will end badly.When Caleb says she can't stay with them for HER OWN GOOD, she's all hurt because Caleb is so selfish boohoo when actually by being there she puts everyone in danger and she's the only one who's selfish.- She is dead inside. Who leaves their best friends they've known for at least 12 years behind to suffer what they are escaping? I don't even care if they all would have been caught, it would be better if they at least knew what happened to her! She gets three people killed and it escapes her mind as soon as Caleb arrives and do you know what she says? She says she's happy. I don't know but if someone who had taken me into their home died because of me, I would spiral into depression and guilt.Eve was either raped or nearly raped. And this is one of the things she has been taught to fear at School and with good reason. But when it happens to her, she forgets and she's not traumatised by this experience. No. She cries for Caleb. I find this hard to believe.Basically, Eve is a Mary Sue. And I hate Mary Sues. I would like to read the next books in this series, but I'll only do so if I find them in the library.It would have been an excellent book if the protagonist wasn't dumb as nails and the world was better explained because this Plague and angry dogs or something is too vague and lazy. Less time on Eve yammering on about her lust for Caleb and more on how this world came about and who this King is, please.

So I really did care for the idea. I liked that at the end of day, this story is about standing up for what you believe in and fighting for love.I didn't read this book because of the LGBT themes, I read it because I previously enjoyed David Levithan's writing. I'm not particularly religious either. So I didn't fit into the Christian/Jew themes of this book. I am not in American politics either. So it could be why I didn't enjoy this book as much as other people? I don't know.I read this book looking for what I look for in every other book. A great plot, great characterisation, wonderful insight, and if there must be, epic love. But this book lacked all those things.Firstly, the plot was centered around this election. But we knew how it would end, which meant the book was very anti-climatic. I felt this story was too preachy and political for me. I skimmed past the paragraphs on the "past" which is our present because it was too political. Maybe I should have paid more attention to who the target reader of this book is. Secondly, this future world. Whilst I'm glad in the future you could be openly part of the LGBT community, the rest of it sucked and I hope it was contained to America only. Because of the emphasis on religion. Like I said, I'm not religious but wow, this book made me mad. The "non-malls" thing was beyond stupid. This emphasis on what Jesus wants was too much for me. Can I point out that this future world is actually not that diverse? Where was the mention of other religions?The characters were all empty and the relationships just thrown in without much thought because they were shallow, stereotypical and uninteresting . I didn't care for any character and I felt they were all just used as props for Levithan's political views. Duncan was vapid and I didn't understand his relationship with Jimmy, who I also didn't know. Levithan did not develop his characters at all.This story lacked complexity that would have made it great. It was too black and white. Which is a shame because the greys are what make stories. You had the bad and the wrong. The kind and the mean. I wanted those lines blurred. I wanted someone who wasn't directly involved in this election to speak up. I wanted a straight, atheist person who believes in equality too. But there was no room for them. No. Not even at that rally when it was clear it was about being either a Christian or Jewish.That is why your world wouldn't work, Levithan. You may think you created a dream-like, diverse world, but you didn't. You still left the gaps in your diversity because you simply put people into religions then oversimplified. Now that I think about it, Levithan is preaching only to the LGBT Christian/Jewish community about standing up for what is right, which is equality. And that's great, of course. Maybe it's my fault for picking a book not targeted at me.