Reboot by Amy Tintera [REVIEW]

TITLE: Reboot (Reboot #1)
AUTHOR: Amy Tintera
PUBLISHER: HarperTeen
PUB DATE: May 7 2013

Summary from Goodreads:

"Five years ago, Wren Connolly was shot three times in the chest. After 178 minutes she came back as a Reboot: stronger, faster, able to heal, and less emotional. The longer Reboots are dead, the less human they are when they return. Wren 178 is the deadliest Reboot in the Republic of Texas. Now seventeen years old, she serves as a soldier for HARC (Human Advancement and Repopulation Corporation).

Wren’s favorite part of the job is training new Reboots, but her latest newbie is the worst she’s ever seen. As a 22, Callum Reyes is practically human. His reflexes are too slow, he’s always asking questions, and his ever-present smile is freaking her out. Yet there’s something about him she can’t ignore. When Callum refuses to follow an order, Wren is given one last chance to get him in line—or she’ll have to eliminate him. Wren has never disobeyed before and knows if she does, she’ll be eliminated, too. But she has also never felt as alive as she does around Callum.

The perfect soldier is done taking orders."

Rating:

“Humans had a brightness to them, a glow that only death extinguished.”

This is a zombie book…but not at all what it may seem. As all zombie stories begin, it starts with a virus. This virus turns humans, not into brain-eating undead creatures, but into the ultimate weapons of destruction they call reboots. They are killing machines, and they are the perfect set of soldiers to do our bidding. That sounds just as awesome as how Rebo0t turned out to be.

In the world of our protagonist, Wren, once the virus takes place in a human’s body, your time is right about up. But once you die, you come back to, uhm, well not life, but human bodies become reanimated. The longer you stay dead, the stronger of a reboot you become. Now, reboots pretty much look like your average human, the only difference is (aside from the undead factor) they’re faster, stronger and are able to heal themselves in a manner of seconds that no ordinary human is capable of. Our small but terrible heroine took 178 minutes before she woke up from death, making her one of the most lethal reboots to have existed. But here’s the catch, the greater the number, the less a reboot is likely to possess human emotion.

BLOG TOUR + GIVEAWAY: The Oathbreaker's Shadow by Amy McCulloch [REVIEW]

This post is part of THE OATHBREAKER'S SHADOW BLOG TOUR hosted by Pinoy Book Tours

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TITLE: The Oathbreaker's Shadow
(The Knot Sequence #1)
AUTHOR: Amy McCulloch
PUBLISHER: Random House 
Children's Publishers
PUB DATE: Jun 4 2013

Summary from Goodreads:

"Fifteen-year-old Raim lives in a world where you tie a knot for every promise that you make. Break that promise and you are scarred for life, and cast out into the desert.

Raim has worn a simple knot around his wrist for as long as he can remember. No one knows where it came from, and which promise of his it symbolises, but he barely thinks about it at all—not since becoming the most promising young fighter ever to train for the elite Yun guard. But on the most important day of his life, when he binds his life to his best friend (and future king) Khareh, the string bursts into flames and sears a dark mark into his skin.

Scarred now as an oath-breaker, Raim has two options: run, or be killed.

A gripping YA action-adventure fantasy, the first part of a planned duology."

Rating:

“Warrior. Traitor. Saviour.”

I must point out that the Young Adult world does not have enough male protagonists. So when The Oathbreaker’s Shadow featured a male character on the cover, I just had to know what this was all about. I say, “yay!” for male protagonists!

The setting seems to have that Middle Eastern theme to it. (If it is in fact the actual theme, forgive me, I didn’t read any extra information beforehand). The world building was quite elaborate, a bit lengthy too, which I find both has its upside and downside. The good thing about it is, it makes the scenery a lot more vivid and enriching, sadly the problem with this approach is it takes too long to get to its point.

I find Raim to be an ambitious kind of guy. And I mean that in a good way. The determination he has shown over wanting to become a Yun warrior is remarkable, and I like a guy who’s driven and passionate about what he wants. Not to mention that his loyalty to Khareh, his best friend, is not a bad factor either. Although who would have thought that this would become his downfall?

The first time I met Khareh, I had this gut feeling that he’s not a good friend for Raim. He seems to be such a spoiled brat, and he’s been dragging Raim to all sorts of trouble, little did I know that he would be the devil to unleash all evil in this world.

It was a little upsetting that Raim’s main agenda for going to Lazar got lost along the way, but maybe that means there is still a lot to be told before the story would get there.

Acid by Emma Pass [REVIEW]

TITLE: Acid
AUTHOR: Emma Pass
PUBLISHER: Corgi Children's Books,
  Random House Children's Publishing
PUB DATE: Apr 25 2013

Summary from Goodreads:

"2113. In Jenna Strong’s world, ACID – the most brutal, controlling police force in history – rule supreme. No throwaway comment or muttered dissent goes unnoticed – or unpunished. And it was ACID agents who locked Jenna away for life, for a bloody crime she struggles to remember.

The only female inmate in a violent high-security prison, Jenna has learned to survive by any means necessary. And when a mysterious rebel group breaks her out, she must use her strength, speed and skill to stay one step ahead of ACID – and to uncover the truth about what really happened on that dark night two years ago."

Rating:

Acid is a story told of a world a hundred years from now. This future world is controlled by the brutal, dictatorial ACID, which stands for Agency for Crime Investigation and Defense. Here, we meet Jenna Strong, the only female inmate in an all-male high security prison for a crime she can barely remember doing. She is given a chance for freedom when a group of rebels decided to break her out of prison. Now, she must learn to fight this oppressive government and eventually learn the truth behind the darkest days of her past.

The plot was very well laid out and I really liked the world building. Also, the fact that although this was a hundred years in the future, the author managed to make the sci-fi terms very simple and easy to settle in.

I also think the news clips, letters, feed updates, etc made excellent side stories and fill-ins between events that occurred in the book. It was a creative note from the usual way of having the protagonist tell the story through his/her point-of-view.

What I admire most was seeing a rebellion against a domineering government try to fight for their rights in a less aggressive way. They would go through the formal process, though it may be a slow progress, even though ACID had the upper hand. It’s nice to find a story that shows there are other ways to fight off cruelty without resulting to violence themselves.

2013 Debut Author Challenge

2013 Debut Author Challenge

Set Goal: 15 - 20 Books for 2013
[sorted according to date read]

1. LEVEL 2 by Lenore Appelhans
2. DUALED by Elsie Chapman
3. SPLINTERED by A.G. Howard
4. ACID by Emma Pass
5. CITY OF A THOUSAND DOLLS by Miriam Forster
6. THE MADMAN'S DAUGHTER by Megan Shepherd
7. THE OATHBREAKER'S SHADOW by Amy McCulloch
8. ALL OUR YESTERDAYS by Cristin Terrill
9. REBOOT by Amy Tintera

Level 2 by Lenore Appelhans [REVIEW]

TITLE: Level 2
           (The Memory Chronicles #1)
AUTHOR: Lenore Appelhans
PUBLISHER: Usborne Publishing
PUB DATE: Jan 15 2013

 Summary from Goodreads:

"I pause to look around the hive – all the podlike chambers are lit up as the drones shoot up on memories… I’ve wanted to get out of here before, but now the tight quarters start to choke me."

"Felicia Ward is dead. Trapped in Level 2, the waiting room between Earth and Heaven, she spends endless days replaying memories, of her family, friends, boyfriend…and of the guy who broke her heart. The guy who has just broken into Level 2 to find her…

Felicia learns that a rebellion is brewing in Level 2, and it seems she is the key. Suspended between Heaven and Earth, she must make a choice. Between two worlds, two lives and two loves. A choice that will change everything…

THREE LEVELS - TWO LOVES - ONE CHOICE"

Rating:

Weird and messy… That’s about what sums up how I feel after reading Level 2. And my review might probably be just as well since my thoughts are all over the place right now. My mind is barraging me with one complain after another. Thought you ought to know.

I was rather intrigued by the sci-fi twist on heaven, earth and the after life setting. I think it was kind of cool. The writing and storyline was easy enough to read through and I even find myself engrossed over the journey and adventure. But I had difficulty finding it appreciative.

For a moment I thought that the after-life thing was just a hoax and they all weren’t really dead, and Level 2 was actually a secret laboratory or something and all the people there were actually test subjects brainwashed and made to believe they were dead. It turns out that’s not really the case here. Yeah, I got a vivid imagination sometimes. Haha!

2013 Debut Author Challenge [GOAL & PARTIAL LIST]

Hello! My, have the year passed by so quickly, and less than two months from now we will be welcoming a whole new year. So have you thought about what you'll be reading for next year?

There are a lot of fabulous authors debuting on 2013 for YA and MG. I've chosen to set my goal around 15-20 books for this challenge. Anyway here's my partial list: