Half Baked Reviews: Cinder by Marissa Meyer

I picked up Cinder because A) I've heard great things about it, and B) The author is doing a book signing at the nearby library, so I plan on marathoning what is out of the series before then.

Currently, I am on page 285, which is the start of Book Four.
This book is placed in a very strange and futuristic setting. There's really cool technology, androids, robots, and a deadly plague. Oh, and there's also an evil colony of mind controlling aliens called Lunars on the moon.
Our main character is Cinder, and she is a cyborg mechanic.

Now, I'm not exactly sure if there is a plot yet. It's definitely an interesting book, but I don't feel like everything has come together quite yet, but there are some things I'd like to talk about.

• I like that the romance in this book is a bit more political. The prince is trying to get Cinder to go to the ball with him because he doesn't want to have to go with the Lunar queen in fear that she might somehow brainwash him. I like that it's not exactly a "OMG, I like, really like this hot guy" kind of book.
• I like the concept. Cinderella in the future sounds pretty cool to me.
• There is some vocabulary in here that I really like. It doesn't exactly feel like the author just had a thesaurus beside her because the words are used so conservatively, but there are some that I definitely like: Thaumaturge (which my computer is telling me isn't a real word, but I at least like the word it derived from), stippled, befitting, condolences (love that word), diffused, congregate, lingering, diplomatic--these words aren't exactly big words, but I love them, and I could go on forever.
• It's a little predictable. Any time you hear "Oh, but she died in a fire thirteen years ago" in a story, you know. You know. Or any time there's an emphasis on a certain subject, (lunar *cough* lunar) you know that it will personally affect the main character.
• The evil stepsisters didn't seem that evil. Sure, Pearl seems a little rude, but it seemed like Peony and Cinder were very close.
• I'm really glad that the plague is a part of the story. Without it, it would be very dull. But it leads to a lot of cool discoveries concerning the main character, and I'm enjoying my read so far.

There's not much else I can say about this book because not too much has really happened yet. Full review is coming soon.
*Also, more publishers should do this.

Half Baked Reviews: Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell

Currently, I am on chapter 37 of Eleanor & Park, and oh my gosh. It's so friggin' adorable.
It's about these two characters; one is Eleanor. She's the new student. She's a little overweight, has really really red curly hair, she's very quiet, and when she does speak, she's usually pretty funny or sarcastic.
The other character is Park. He's pretty normal. He's Asian, he wears band t shirts, he reads comics, and he leads a pretty normal life.
One day, Eleanor walks onto the bus, and immediately, Park thinks "She's asking for it." Eleanor is really quirky and she's an easy target for bullies. So, when we tries to find a seat on the bus, everyone says mean things to her, and tells her that she can't sit in a certain seat. Finally, Park just says "Sit down!" (plus some unkind words) and she sits next to him.
That is how this amazing story begins.

There are some things I really like about this book so far.

• The main characters sound like teenagers. Unlike in TFiOS, the main characters didn't read genius scripts. They just said what came to mind. They say "like" and "um" but they don't sound completely stupid. They both seem to have decent vocabularies, but they sound like teenagers. Because teenagers throw words like "frazzled" and "gruesome" into sentences, but they also take time to develop their thoughts and fill that time with "ummm . . ." Basically, they sound like they're actually talking to each other, not like the author is just sitting behind her computer, searching for clever comments and synonyms on the internet.
• It is not instaluv. At first, they pretty much hated each other. Slowly, they got used to each other. However, once their relationship picked up steam, it picked up pretty quickly. I almost feel like they found out that they liked each other too quickly, but it wasn't love at first sight, and I really appreciate that in a book.
• The book pretty much captures teenage life. It shows that teenagers do have actual problems to deal with. Eleanor has to deal with a drunken stepdad, and Park has less problems. He just had to pass his classes and stay out of trouble. But the book shows you that they are dealing with bad things.
• There are parental figures. In most books, the parents are usually dead or disappear somewhere along the way as the main characters deal with other things. This book, however, really shows you the negative and positive effects of a certain style of parenting. In Eleanor's case, her parents divorced and she remarried someone who just wasn't right for the family, and I think that has contributed a lot to her shyness and her inability to feel like she belongs and to trust people. In Park's case, his parents really cared a lot about the things he did, and I think that the eyeliner is Park's way of rebelling against that somewhat strict parenting.
• I really like how the author kind of justified their love. This might not make sense with what I'm about to say, but hear me out. Park said that in the ninth (?) grade he kissed a girl and thought he was gay. But he said that when he was around Eleanor, he just felt a really strong connection to her that he didn't feel with anyone else, and I think that just kind of proved to me, the reader, that he actually really cared about Eleanor.
• So, I think about people a lot. One day during lunch, one of my acquaintances (I currently don't have friends) left a Tupperware container on the lunch table. I didn't have a lunch bag, so I asked my other acquaintance if she could put the Tupperware in her lunch bag. She did, and I was just thinking all day if she would bring the Tupperware container back to school the next day, and if it would be awkward, and mehjkhgh. This book just showed me that thinking about stupid things like that is perfectly normal.

Other than that, this book is ruining my life because I was busy reading it yesterday instead of like, posting on this blog. I would recommend this book, but I first have to make sure that the ending's not crap, so we'll see at a later date.
Until then . . .

Half Baked Reviews: The 57 Lives of Alex Wayfare by MG Buerhlen

Currently, I am on page 223 of 410, which is a little more than halfway through according to math.
It's about a girl who has been reincarnated 56 times, and she is capable of traveling back in time to her past lives. However, someone doesn't want her to be able to do that, and they want to kill her.

The book is so far, a fairly easy read. The size of the book is kind of deceiving, because I was able to get through these pages relatively quickly.

What this book is doing well so far:

• It's a very interesting concept. I just have a very beautiful image in my mind when I imagine Limbo, and it's very entertaining so far.
• I like the writing style. It will have a short description, one of the character's funny thoughts, and then some dialogue. There's very good balance and the author uses very good imagery.
• It seems to be dealing with time travel in a way that makes sense, but it's a very daunting task for an author to write about time travel. There are so many potential plot holes that can be made and things that can be misinterpreted. The author is doing a pretty good job with it so far, though.

What is making me seriously consider throwing this book against the wall:

• Instaluv. And a lot of it. I knew when I opened the book and the first thing I saw was "This is the way my story begins. Not with a bang but a whimper. Nothing more than a calm voice, a careful smile, and a pair of spectacles perched on the tip of a thin nose. But don't let that deter you. You'll be happy to know a bang comes in the end. Literally. Along with a kiss, a promise, a death, a broken heart, and an end to life as you and I would have known it" that this book would be a hit or a miss. But OH MY GOSH. The main character meets this guy with muscles and blue green eyes and he's very kind and instantly she's drawn to him. The next day, they go on a date, make out, and the main character wants to have sex with him. WHAT??!
• Long information dumps. The author tried to disguise them and casually weave them into conversations, but when you have a page of information with no indents that indicate a new paragraph, you can't disguise it.
• The author usually used very nice sentences, but there was one sentence in particular that just killed me so much that I felt the need to fold the end of the page it was contaminating just so I could point it out in this review. "Every muscle was stiff, and my stomach growled, demanding a living sacrifice." page 208. WHAT? DEMANDING A LIVING SACRIFICE? That one sentence just changed the mood of that entire page so much. There was this kind waiter serving her pancakes an other yummy stuff, and I'm just laughing and shaking and crying all at once because I'm imagine her stomach tearing bloody birds apart and devouring their feathers one at a time and screaming "GIVE ME MORE!" Not imagery I needed.
• I hate the main character. She's kind of stupid and impatient. She's too emotionally attached to people, and I'm partially just saying that because I'm emotionally detached and I can't relate to her. But she's kind of an idiot, she seems really dependent on other people, and it seems like she overreacts to certain situations a bit more than the situation calls for.

My feelings are kind of mixed about this book, but I'm enjoying it so far. It's pretty fast paced, it's not very boring, and I'd like to see where this leads.

Half Baked Reviews: The Barcode Tattoo by Suzanne Weyn

Currently, I am on page 91 of 250.

This book is about a girl named Kayla who lives in the future, 2025ish. Her society is so crazy about this cool new thing: the barcode tattoo. Basically, it's like a credit card, an ID permanently attached to your skin. It's supposed to make your life so much easier. Cashiers really appreciate when you use the tattoo. It's kind of like giving a cashier 5 dollars instead of 500 pennies. Anyway, when you turn 17, you're allowed to get the tattoo. Kayla is almost 17, and she doesn't really like the tattoo. Some creepy stuff is going on with it, too. Her dad committed suicide, and her mom says that it was because of the tattoo. Her friend's family had to move away because of it.
Despite all of this, her friend still urges her to get one.
But there are some people who agree with Kayla--people who agree that something is up with the barcode.

That was a pretty long summary.
This book isn't bad so far. It has an average of 3.6/5 on Goodreads, which is pretty terrible. But the first few pages aren't bad. It seems like your normal dystopian, YA book.
Female protagonist who is now old enough to face some sort of problem (Divergent, Uglies): check.
Male protagonist that the female says is attractive (The Hunger Games, Divergent, The Darkest Minds, The 5th Wave, The Fault in Our Stars, Twilight, [I am also ashamed that I mentioned TFiOS and Twilight in the same sentence] every YA book ever): check.
Those other random characters that no one cares about (Divergent and The Hunger Games are great examples, because everyone dies and no one really cares until Allegiant and Mockingjay): check.
That best friend that disappears somewhere along the way (The Fault in Our Stars, The Darkest Minds, Uglies): check.
Slang that can be kind of annoying (The Maze Runner, The Knife of Never Letting Go): check.

But that doesn't necessarily make it a bad book.
There are a lot of really blatant messages in this book. There are a lot of themes about being different and denying the popular trends. There seems to be some rebellion forming, and the plot is oddly intriguing.

One thing that I noticed is that in the beginning, Kayla is so worried about her grades and not being able to pass and not getting into college with an art scholarship. That has slowly started disappearing. She doesn't even seem to worry about it anymore, and I hate when an author forgets to incorporate the details. If the author doesn't mention the art thing after this, then the whole art fiasco would just be a "clever" way to introduce the world in this book. I hate how the author thinks she's being so clever with everything. She is making really obvious points in the book and it almost feels like she's saying "You're going to need to know that later."

Another thing is that the technology in this book is not far from where we're at today, and it might even be a little beneath us. Basically, kindles have replaced textbooks, and the world is very dependent on technology. I can see that happening in the near future, and I see some of it happening today. I just feel like the author wasn't creative enough with the world she built for a society in 2025, but this is Suzanne Weyn, not Raven Symone. Besides the fact that the technology isn't as advanced as it should be, the world seems fairly plausible.

I thought it would be fun to rewrite the first few chapters of The Barcode Tattoo.

 

***STORY TIME! YAYYY!!!!***

Everyone's using the hashtag. It's everywhere: on book covers, all over the internet, in everyday speech; it's ruining my life.
It all started from Twitter. It was supposed to be an easier way to search for the posts you want to see, but society has abused it. It's taken a strong following from people who use the hashtag ironically and people who use it because they genuinely find it useful.
But I'm different. I know that there's something wrong with the hashtag.
My name is Kiara.

We were sitting on the stairsteps by the main hallway of the school. I pulled out my phone to do my hourly tweet. "Sitting on the stairs with my BFF. Soooo booored."
I hit send. My best friend, Rachel, leaned over my shoulder and scoffed.
"What?" I demanded.
She rolled her eyes. "You need to use the hashtag, Kiara," she replied. "Listen, if you don't use the hashtag, nobody is going to see your tweet, and you'll never be Twitter famous."
I let out a small laugh. "Does it even matter, Rachel?"
"Yes! It totally matters! Listen--if you're not Twitter famous, you'll be, like, an outcast." Rachel held her phone in front of me and began to punch in some letters. "At school. #Boredoutofmymind #bigbooty #celeb #chanel #taylorswift #iluvhaters #justinbieber #themostadorablekittensyouwilleversee."
"There," Rachel said proudly, sending the tweet with enthusiasm.
She played a game on her phone for a minute before returning to Twitter. "Oh my gawwwsh. I have, like, 100 retweets already. How many do you have?"
I sighed, staring unhappily down at my phone. "2."
Rachel laughed. "And I was one of them. Listen girl, just use the hashtag."
The bell rang, and Rachel bounded up the stairs. I began to tear up. Why couldn't I just be normal? What's wrong with me?!
I began to sob and found refuge beneath the stairs.

"Hey, what are you doing down there?" an extremely attractive and nice guy who rescues abused kittens and has biceps bigger than my head asked.
"It's nothing. I'm find. Gosh," I replied.
The extremely attractive guy nodded sympathetically and proceeded to take off his shirt. His abs were well defined, kind of like the spaces between the bricks on a brick building. He was also very tan and attractive, and hot, and attractive. He handed it to me.
"It makes me feel better when I'm sad," he said. I snatched the shirt from his hands and hugged it close to my chest.

Then I do normal teenage girl things--take selfies at da mall. I drove home in my cruddy car, because no teenager deserves to have a nice car, and saw flashing red lights by my house.
I immediately leaped out of my car to see what all of the fuss was about.
Someone grabbed my shoulders from behind. I whipped around and saw my mom, an absolute wreck. Her mascara was smeared, and black tears streamed from her eyes.
"It killed him!" she screamed.
"What?! Who?!" I demanded.
"IT KILLED HIM!" she repeated, louder this time. "THE HASHTAG!"


I'm just going to stop there. I'm having far too much fun with this.
I hope you enjoyed that half baked review. It was . . . interesting.

Halfed Baked Reviews: The Ghost of Crutchfield Hall by Mary Downing Hahn

I recently noticed that a lot of reviews where the people didn't finish the book are very different from the reviews where people did finish the book. And, I read too many books at one time, and I feel like I don't finish books quickly enough. So, this is a way for me to update you on my reading.

Currently, I am reading The Ghost of Crutchfield Hall by Mary Downing Hahn. I'm on page 67 of 153. It's a pretty stereotypical ghost story. Girl's parents are dead. Girl lives in a terrible orphanage. Girl finds out she has rich relatives and goes to live with them. The mean aunt hates the girl. The kind, fat uncle welcomes the girl. The servants are treated poorly and talk about how something strange is happening in the house. Girl hears whispering and laughter and says "No. Ghosts don't exist. Silly me."

I'm not giving away anything by saying that the girl, Florence, eventually comes in contact with the ghost. It doesn't outright say it on the back of the book, but it's no surprise. What really bothers me is that Florence is so spooked when she hears the whispering, but when the ghost actually shows herself to her, she's just like, "Okay. Cool."

I also hate that the author is withholding some information for some stupid reason. One of the characters in this book is sick, and the aunt says that Florence can't see him, even though he lives in the same house. You know. Because he's sick.
Really? Florence can't just pop in and say "Hello, nice to meet you. I'm your cousin" because this kid is sick? And from the way the author says it, it makes it sound like this kid has just become a major recluse.

Another thing that I hate: the cover. It looks stupid. What really bothers me, though, is that there's a description of the cover in the book. Apparently, it's a photograph. But the people on the cover and the description in the book do not match up. Come on, guys. We have photoshop. Step it up.

By picking up this book, I was expecting nothing high quality or anything. I was expecting for there to be no redeeming factors in this book. So far, I'm right.

A-Z Marathon! The Maze Runner by James Dashner

I am going to be honest. I have not finished this book yet.
I started reading it a few months ago and haven't picked it up since.
I'm about a third of the way through, and I'm doing this post so that I can somehow motivate myself to read more of it.

• This book had an interesting start. I was intrigued, excited to keep reading. Enthralled for ten pages. Bored the rest.
• I hate the language they use in the Glade. I get so annoyed whenever the author uses apostrophes 'ike this to sho' tha' th' 'aracters drop G's 'n stuff. I could not get over it.
• I hate all of the characters. They can all die in the maze for all I care. Thomas is annoying and all of the other characters are complete asswipes.
• The girl comes into the maze and then: nothing. She just sits in the hospital. And what if Thomas falls in love with her and they somehow get out of the maze and the people who made the maze (I'm assuming that someone made the maze) say "Ha ha. Funny story--that's your sister."
• There is no suspense. I'm only annoyed. A third of the way in and there still isn't a plot.
• This is something that I see in every book. The main character is the only one who does anything nice. Thomas rushed in to save someone from being squashed by the walls. I have a problem with this because he is the least experienced person there. Why is the newbie always the bravest one?

I'll finish this book soon, maybe, but if the rest of the books are like this, I will probably not continue the series.

However, the movie will probably be better. The part of this book that bores me is all of the explaining, and I feel like the movie will be able to zip right through that to the exciting part, provided there is an exciting part.