Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver

Goodreads Blurb

I’m pushing aside the memory of my nightmare,
pushing aside thoughts of Alex,
pushing aside thoughts of Hana and my old school,
push,
push,
push,
like Raven taught me to do.
The old life is dead.
But the old Lena is dead too.
I buried her.
I left her beyond a fence,
behind a wall of smoke and flame.

One spoiler, but come one, like you weren’t expecting it.

Pandemonium, called the “Most Awaited Book of the Year” was absolutely amazing! As the sequel to Delirium, one of my favorite books, I was a bit afraid to read it. I mean, no Alex!? Crazy! It’s just not possible to make Pandemonium as good as Delirium with no Alex! Was I ever wrong. If possible, Pandemonium was even better than Delirium…except for Julian. I absolutely hate Julian.

Lena’s struggling to remove Alex from her memories, but that’s pretty hard to do when she was in love with him. Now, she’s an Invalid. Pretending to be a citizen. A spy! That’s what Lena is now, and there’s no turning back. Especially when in the middle of a ceremony, “Invalids” (the bad ones) raid the place and take her hostage as well as one other person named Julian. And maybe, maybe, she just falls one more time. Life for Lena is getting tougher and harder by the second.

Pandemonium switches between two different times, “then” and “now” and as confusing as it seems, it really wasn’t. The “then” chapters gave you more information on how hard it was for Lena to let Alex go. He was dead. Gone. But I couldn’t help wishing otherwise. I mean, if you’ve read Delirium, you have to love Alex! He was sweet, strong, protective, and definitely sacrificing. Who couldn’t love him? But when he…no. Just no! I was with Lena all along the way as she struggled with the nightmares that came to her, and the memories that haunted her. I loved Lena. She was strong in her own way, she stood up for herself, and she now realizes the lies she had been fed her entire life. In other words, she’s a great heroine. Not one that has always been strong, but someone who learns the hard way, what it really means to love, to fight for it. Seeing (or reading) Lena go back to her society with a new view on things made you realize how blind humans can be when told the right lies at the right times. How as long as we are safe, we won’t care as much.

We meet new characters, Raven, Julian, and really? I didn’t like either of them. Raven, because although she’s been through much, she’s hardened so much that she’s like stone. Barely anything can penetrate the wall she’s built, and no one can go in. Julian because well, Alex! I couldn’t believe it when Lena fell in love with him! It was just…shocking to say the least. The difference between Alex and Lena and Julian and Lena was that now, Lena was the Invalid pretending to be someone else, teaching someone what love truly means instead of Alex.

The writing was as good as Lauren Oliver’s other books. Her writing was like thoughts, a journal, not like someone was actually recording every little thing, smell, touch. It just made Pandemonium more enjoyable. The writing, the plot, it just pulls you in until you can’t breathe, can’t sleep. Lauren Oliver has done it again with Pandemonium and I’m not even sure where she’s going to take Requiem. There are many different directions the story can go. Which one will she pick? With an ending like Pandemonium had, there’s no way that readers will lose interest. It was fast-paced, adventure-filled, and romantic at all the right levels. Some questions will be left unanswered, others will make you gasp or scream. Pandemonium will leave you at the edge of your seat, willing for everything to be okay.

Pages: 375

Series: Delirium #2

Genre: Dystopian/Romance

Rating: 5 stars

"Everything is chaos: hot bodies and panting. There’s an elbow in my chest and thick arms encircling me, choking out my breath."



Showcase Sunday

So I decided to do In My Mailbox. I limit myself to only three memes and since I, regretfully, deleted Goodsies and Badsies (Don't worry, I'll restart it. Though you may see some I already did.) and think I will delete Song of the Week, I have room for In My Mailbox! Showcase Sunday

Of course, all credit goes to The Story Siren Books, Biscuits, and Tea who I think is the mother of all book blogs. Seriously.

For those of you who don't know, In My Mailbox Showcase Sunday is a meme where I share all of the books that I'll be reading/reviewing. Keep in mind that I won't have time to review every single one, but at least you'll know what's going on behind the scenes.

Books I bought:

                   

Books I recieved from other bloggers: 

         

Library:

I'm dying to read Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver, also known as the "Most Awaited Book of 2012". Of course, Delirium amazed me, so it was a given that I would read Pandemonium! Obsidian, I'm not so sure about. Aliens? Not really my thing. Everyone's been ranting about it though, as well as Half-Blood which I  haven't read, so I decided to give it a try. It can't be that bad though.

Illuminate seems interesting enough, but I've read some negative reviews. So far so good though! Secret Sisterhood of Heartbreakers captred my interest. It looks like it has a good plot and a a lot of character developement.

Rules of Attraction is the second book to Perfect Chemisty, which I rated 5 stars. Yeah, it was that good! I can't wait to read Rules of Attraction!

The Hunt Audiobook Giveaway

Here's one more giveaway for all of you guys! The Macmillan Audio Company is generously giving the audiobook of the Hunt to one winner on my blog. The Hunt was amazing, and for my full review, click here . To enter, all you have to do is fill out the rafflecopter below (which I have just discovered) and pray that you win!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Remembrance by Michelle Madow

Goodreads Blurb

Lizzie Davenport has been reincarnated from Regency Era, England ... but she doesn't know it yet.

Then Drew Carmichael transfers into Lizzie's high school at the beginning of the year, and she feels a connection to him, almost like she knows him. She can't stop thinking about him, but whenever she tries talking with him about the mysteries behind her feelings, he makes it clear that he wants nothing to do with her. Reaching him is even more difficult because she has a boyfriend, Jeremy, who has started to become full of himself after being elected co-captain of the varsity soccer team, and her flirtatious best friend Chelsea starts dating Drew soon after his arrival. So why can't she get him out of her mind?

Even though Lizzie knows she should let go of her fascination with Drew, fighting fate isn't going to be easy.



Warning: this review may contain minor spoilers.

A disappointment. That’s the first word that pops into my head when I think of Remembrance. I will not be saying “I hated it, I hated it, I hated it.” over and over, so no need to worry. I’ll try to keep this as non-hateful as possible. Oops. I guess some just spilled out…

Remembrance captured my interest because a) it was inspired by “Love Story”, one of my favorite songs ever, b) almost everyone was talking about it, and c) I love reincarnation. The blurb was very cliché, yes, but all books have at least a little cliché in them. I mean, can you think of one that doesn’t? But Remembrance didn’t have a little. 100% was cheesy and very, very, unreal. For those of you who just love fairytales, I guess this one’s for you, but I am not that kind of person who reads that stuff. Sweet and sappy and totally cheesy. Kind of like melted cheese; it melted a few of my brain cells. I’ve also heard it sounds eerily familiar to Twilight so if you like Twilight, I guess that you’d like this too? I mean, a “connection” when the new guy enters scene 1 left stage? The “noise melting into a hum”? I mean, that’s fine and dandy, but when Drew starts dating Chelsea, and she says she think she loves him, you’d think that Liz would tell Chels about her feelings, right? Or at least in the beginning. It’s perfectly fine for two best friends to have a crush on the same guy. Giggle over the same guy, it happens all the time. But having feelings and moving on them while your friend starts loving him? No. I disliked Lizzie. And poor Jeremy. I mean, he was a jerk and all: a dou*** even, but he really loved Lizzie. And she just stomped on his heart. If you’ve read Remembrance, then you should know what I mean by the car speeding part. Those are not words you should lie about. Especially when you know what he feels. So what’s with all this hate towards Chelsea and Jeremy? They’re my favorite characters actually.

I never even understood how Lizzie could take all the info about past lives so easily. I mean, she accepted it, no questions asked. No “what?!” “You’re kidding!” or even a hesitation to believe it. One more thing: I couldn’t even find out where he told her about the past lives. She definitely didn’t figure it out herself. For someone who believed her visions were hallucinations, she sure took it easy. And how did Drew find out? He’s not immortal, at least I think he’s not, he even said that he felt it, knew it, when he first saw her! So how did he figure it out? Obviously he must be very, very, very smart. As in, unrealistically smart. As in, way smarter than any normal person. So yeah.

The writing and pace were wonderful though. Michelle Madow has great potential, she just needs to tap into her imagination a bit more for something more original. I’ve seen a lot of 5-star reviews, so I guess it’s only me who feels this way. I’m sincerely sorry to those of you who love this book, but I guess it just wasn’t for me!  I think I was just a bit cranky when I read the book, and maybe later I’ll re-read Remembrance.

Pages: 314

Series: Transcend Time #1

Genre: Fantasy/Romance

Rating: 2.5 stars

 "But it was time to realize that I wasn't Cinderella, and no matter how hard I wished it were true, life wasn't a fairy tale where everyone lives happily ever after.”

My First Giveaway!

As my first ever giveaway, I decided to do something a bit...pratical. Instead of giving away popular YA books (I know, I know!) I will be giving away the entire Hunger Games series to ONE lucky winner! After all, we all know the movie comes out today! Contest ends on April 15, and the winer will be announced on the 20th.

RULES:

• All you have to do is tell me why you hate/love the Hunger Games.
• Most creative response will get 5 entries!
• No entering twice. Only one entry per person.
• If you tweet about this giveaway, +1 entry
• Like my facebook is +1
• Follow my twitter is +1
• Follow my blog is +5!

Author Interview: Ann Redisch Stampler

I had the chance to talk to the absolutely wonderful author of Where it Began (you can find my review here), Ann Redisch Stampler!

Fiction Freak:  What first inspired you to write about a teen with absolutely no memory of what happened?

Ann Redisch Stmapler: When I was in my early teens, coming out from under anesthesia, I had an odd, disassociative experience of being half-conscious and half-asleep, and not remembering who I was.  I wanted to remember who I was, though, and I kept having very clear visual images of aspects of my life, as if they were still photos or video clips with distorted sound, but I couldn’t put it together for what seemed like a very long time. 

This stayed with me and I think it informed some of Gabby’s experiences.

FF: The world of Where it Began is very well-thought out and very realistic. Do you have any personal experience/knowledge with anything that happened in the book?

ARS: The book really is a work of fiction, and isn’t based on specific personal experiences.

Geographically, I’ve spent my adult life in Gabby’s world.  I wrote this book in Brentwood.  My kids attended private school in the hills, although Winston is not based on their school. And while I made up Estrada for Gabby to live on and created a fictional school for her to attend, I have a feel for the concrete aspects of her environment.  I know those restaurants (although I renamed a couple that were amalgams) and street corners, and neighborhoods.

But have I been up close and personal with a car crash with the ramifications of Gabby’s accident, or a relationship just like Gabby and Billy’s, or the level of corruption that’s depicted in the book? No.

FF: Do you think that anyone goes through what Gabby does? And if they could?

ARS: I do think that sometimes people—male and female, and not always teenagers—can fall in love and become obsessed with people who don’t reciprocate their feelings in the way they would hope.  And certainly, manipulation and betrayal are not unheard of in human relationships.  Unfortunately.

FF: What is the funniest moment you've ever witnessed?

ARS: Visually, okay, my husband was walking down the street with my daughter in a baby carrier slung over his chest.  He was eating a Dove bar, vanilla ice cream with a chocolate coating.  And people kept grinning at us and kind of giggling, as if there were something in the air and our neighborhood was suddenly slightly loony. 

                                                              

But when we got home, and pulled our daughter out of the carrier, we saw that chocolate from the ice cream bar had fallen onto her.  Her face and hands and arms were covered with chocolate; it was smeared all over her face, especially around her mouth, and she was completely blissed out, not unlike all the people who’d been laughing at the chocolate-coated baby.

FF: Can you relate to any characters in Where It Began?

ARS: All of them.

FF: What is your personal opinions about some of your characters?

ARS: I’ve tried to present the characters as three dimensional and as having motivation, sometimes conflicted, for their actions.  I would hate to influence readers’ reactions to the book by going beyond this.

FF: Would you rather read with an eReader or with the book in your hands?

ARS: A book.  I have nothing against eReaders on principle; I think they’re a wonderful thing if they make literature more accessible to more people.  But personally, I like the experience of reading a book.

FF: Tell us something no one else knows about you!

                                                             

ARS: Hmmmm. I’m usually a pretty open person, but if there’s something about me that literally no one else knows, it’s a deep, dark secret!

FF: What is your absolute favorite meal/dessert?

ARS: Anything chocolate.  Cake, milkshakes, chocolate chip cookies, pastilles, mousse, soufflé, cupcakes, brownies.  Do you have all day?  I could go on…

FF: Do you think that reviewers can be too harsh on their reviews or that it's their opinion? And why?

ARS: I’ve been very fortunate with reviews of Where It Began.  There are a couple of bloggers and goodreads folks who have really, really hated it, but the vast majority have been very positive.  So I feel very well supported rather than beaten up.

It’s interesting, before the internet, there were formal reviewers in respected publications, and popular magazine and newspaper reviewers, and that was pretty much it.  And those formal venues for reviews are still there; I very much want my books to be well-reviewed there.  (And so far, Where It Began has been.)

But now, every single person who reads a book has a very public way to express his or her feelings.  And it’s inevitable that some people just won’t like a book.  It’s their prerogative to say so, although, one would hope, not in vitriolic way.  I have seen some bizarre, nasty stuff, but I suspect it is more a reflection of the reviewer than the book in question.

FF: What is your favorite passtime?

ARS: Other than writing?

Alone: reading.  With others: hanging out over a meal, going to movies.  With or without company:  Anything to do with a beach. 

FF: Have you ever experienced writer's block when writing Where It Began? And what parts?

ARS: I don’t want to tempt fate here, so I’m tossing imaginary salt over my shoulder (Truly superstitious people with an Eastern European background will understand!) but I really haven’t experienced writer’s block.  It was challenging to go from the first to the second draft, but that was more of a structural issue than an issue of somehow finding myself unable to put words on paper.

FF: What is the corniest joke you've ever heard?

ARS: This was my son’s favorite joke when he was three or so.  I love it.

Knock knock?  Who’s there?  Banana.  Banana who?  Knock knock.  Who’s there?  Banana.  Banana Who? (Repeat about a dozen times.) Who’s there? Orange.  Orange who?  Orange you glad I didn’t say banana?

FF: Favorite book?

ARS: Pride and Prejudice

FF: If you went into the world of Where It Began and told the Gabby that you wrote her story, what do you think her reaction will be?

ARS: Gabby is tweeting about this a lot at @gabbygardiner.  She is quite annoyed.  At one point she wanted a restraining order and she has a whole series of complaints called “Disasters thanks to Where It Began.” 

Also, if anyone wants to ask Gabby a question directly, there is an “Ask Gabby” function at my website at www.annstampler.com.

FF: Anything to say to us readers?

ARS: Keep reading! 

Where it Began Blurb:

Gabby lived under the radar until her makeover. Way under. But when she started her senior year as a blonder, better-dressed version of herself, she struck gold: Billy Nash believed she was a the flawless girl she was pretending to be. The next eight months with Billy were bliss...Until the night Gabby woke up on the ground next to the remains of his BMW without a single memory of how she got there.

And Billy's nowhere to be found.

All Gabby wants is to make everything perfect again. But getting her life back isn't difficult, it's impossible. Because nothing is the same, and Gabby's beginning to realize she's missed more than a few danger signs along the way.

It's time for Gabby to face the truth, even if it means everything changes.

Especially if it means everything changes

Short Author Bio:

Where it Began marks the YA debut of Ann Redisch Stampler. She is the author of several picture books, including The Rooster Prince of Breslov. Her books have been an Aesop Accolade winner, Sydney Taylor notable books and an honor book, a National Jewish Book Awards finalist and winner, and Bank Street Best Books of the Year. Ann has two adult children and lives in Los Angeles, California with her husband.

Contact Info

Ann Stampler's Facebook

Where it Began Facebook

Ann Stampler's Website

Ann Stampler's Twitter

Ann Stampler's Blog

Ann Stampler's Goodreads