Author: Victoria Aveyard 
Release Date: February 10th 2015
Publishers: Hachette
Pages: 383
Genre: Dystopia
Links: Goodreads | Author's Website | Book Depository | Hachette

The poverty stricken Reds are commoners, living under the rule of the Silvers, elite warriors with god-like powers.

To Mare Barrow, a 17-year-old Red girl from The Stilts, it looks like nothing will ever change.

Mare finds herself working in the Silver Palace, at the centre of
those she hates the most. She quickly discovers that, despite her red blood, she possesses a deadly power of her own. One that threatens to destroy Silver control.

But power is a dangerous game. And in this world divided by blood, who will win?

Review

Red Queen is such a hard novel to write a review on because I have such mixed feelings about it. I can't say that I didn't enjoy it because I did, I really did but I couldn't help but think that this was a cliche dystopian novel. From the summary I'm sure you can already tell but I was looking for something more.

The world building was well done in Red Queen which is what you need to make a good dystopian. I loved the way Victoria Aveyard described the slum area the Reds lived in since It created such vivid imagery in my head. I could easily picture what everything looked like and I really think it could be a good movie one day. The only thing I would have liked to know more about is the history of how everything got like that. There were many unanswered questions like why there was a divide between each class? If these small little holes were fixed it would be perfect ;) 

I loved Mare as the protagonist! She was so funny and she could be very arrogant at times. But I liked her keen sense of survival and to be honest I think she could have done well in The Hunger Games! She had a strong sense of duty to her family and would do anything to save her family. Mare was very relatable because she always felt second best to her sister and I think a lot of people can relate to that.

The romance didn't completely overtake the storyline which was good. A lot of it was focused on the war between the Reds and Silvers which I liked. I hate it when the romance take over completely like in The Selection. This novel had a good balance between romance and the conflict that's going on. 

I really liked Red Queen but there were a few faults. Not to say I didn't enjoy it and I'm excited to see what happens in the next one. Hopefully all the unanswered questions will be solved then. I definitely recommend it if you feel like a dystopian read at the moment because you will become so invested with the characters.

I give it 3.5 Stars!

Author: Michelle Hodkin
Series: Mara Dyer #1 
Release Date: September 27th 2011
Publishers: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Pages: 456
Genre: Paranormal
Links: Goodreads | Author's Website | Book Depository | Amazon |

Mara Dyer believes life can't get any stranger than waking up in a hospital with no memory of how she got there.
It can.

She believes there must be more to the accident she can't remember that killed her friends and left her strangely unharmed.
There is.

She doesn't believe that after everything she's been through, she can fall in love.
She's wrong.

Review

The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer has always been a trilogy I've seen around but never have heard much about it. It was not until Sunny recommended it did I give it a chance and I'm so glad I did!  This novel took me on a whirlwind of emotions as I had to second guess every twist and turn the plot took.

Mara was the only survivor in a tragic accident with her friends. It was a miracle she survived but she didn't come out completely unscathed. She now suffers from severe PTSD from the traumatic experience of losing her friends and boyfriend in the accident. Mara doesn't remember anything from the accident, except from what her parents told her. She and her friends were in an abandoned asylum late at night and it collapsed. That's all that's to it right? Because she has PTSD she sometimes hallucinates and it's a battle to figure out what are hallucinations and what aren't.  

Mara and her family move towns in an attempt to start life anew in a new house and a new school. She thought that after losing her boyfriend that she could never love again, that was until she met a boy who was more alike her than she first thought. 

If I had to sum up this book in one word it would be creepy. Michelle Hodkin doesn't hold back when it comes to describing in detail. She succeeds in creating such vivid imagery and exploring some dark themes that authors tend to avoid. Since it's been ages since I've last read, it's been interesting reading in Hodkin's writing style. The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer is a perfect read for getting back into the swing of things because it jumps straight into the storyline. 

This book is not predictable. It was exactly what I needed to keep me engaged in the storyline. The whole time I was thinking, "What's going to happen next?" and I could not stop turning the pages. Throughout the novel it's like you're seeing everything as Mara and you never know what's a hallucination and what's reality. It's extremely confusing but in the good kind of way. By the end of the novel there's a bit of a cliffhanger that makes you second guess a lot that happened in the novel and you can't help but start the next novel immediately. So my advice, is to have the whole trilogy when you start this. 

The one thing that I praise this book for, is not having the "No-Parent Syndrome!" You know what I mean right? YA literature is notorious for having it and so many authors fall under the trap. The "No-Parent syndrome" is when the parents are at the beginning of the novel and then suddenly they just disappear and are absent from the whole plot. 

The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer was centred around Mara's recovery from the accident. Her mum and her elder brother are always there for her if not overbearingly. This made the novel so much more realistic and I love how the book wasn't solely about the romance but also about family. It was just small things like this that made it just the perfect balance.

Now I'm sure you've been waiting on my thoughts of the romance! Am I right? Noah Shaw is the love interest in this book and can I just say that he is now my #1 book boyfriend! Let's just take a little look at his description:

“These were the things that added up to Noah that morning, from bottom to top:
Shoes: gray Chucks.
Pants: charcoal tweed.
Shirt: slim cut, untucked, thin and pinstriped dress shirt. Super skinny tie, knotted loose around his open collar, exposing the shadow of a screen-printed t-shirt beneath it.
Days unshaven: somewhere between three and five.
Half-smile: treacherous.
Eyes: blue and infinite.
Hair: a beautiful, beautiful mess.
”
- The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer eBook

Has that got you interested yet? Not to mention he has a British accent!!! Noah Shaw is sooooo totally swoon worthy! He is the epitome of 'tall, dark and handsome' which is exactly my type. 

Mara and Noah's relationship was all about the banter. Witty and sarcastic comments thrown back and forth. It was a love/hate relationship at it's best. I'm not going to tell you much more, you're just going to have to read it ;)

In the end The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer was a highly enjoyable read. There were a couple plot holes and unanswered questions but I feel like they'll be solved in the next books. It's one of those books that you can't help but love and fall in love with the characters. I definitely recommend it and please comment if you've read it. I need someone to fangirl with!

Do you like paranormal fiction?

Have you read this yet?

Author: Becca Fitzpatrick
Series: Standalone 
Release Date: October 7th 2014
Publishers: Simon & Schuster
Pages: 390
Genre: Thriller
Links: Goodreads | Author's Website | Book Depository | Amazon | Simon & Schuster

Britt Phieffer has never been that adventurous, but that's about to change. Wanting to impress her ex-boyfriend, Britt convinces best friend, Korbie, to take a trip with her and go trekking through the Grand Teton Mountains in Wyoming.

But when a freak storm leaves the girls stranded they seek shelter in a cabin, and find two knights in shining armour, Shaun and Mason, who are also hiding out.

But all is not as it seems, and Britt quickly discovers that the guys are there for reasons other than hiking…dangerous reasons that mean they need to get off the mountain, fast. In exchange for her life, Britt is forced to guide them down, and as they set out on a harrowing journey through the cold and snow, Britt realises the only way to get out of this alive is to pretend she is on their side.

But playing nice is hard, especially when Britt is unsure whether Mason, gorgeous and sexy, is the enemy or an ally. And as she begins to lose track of who is in control it is only a matter of time before things turn deadly…

*I'd like to thank Simon & Schuster Australia for sending me this for review, it does not influence my opinion.*

Oh. My. God. I cannot even express in words how much I loved this book! It was so different from Becca Fitzpatrick's other series Hush Hush and in no way should you compare these novels. It was a completely new experience for me since I haven't ever read a thriller (I love thriller movies though) before but lets just say it was great exposure to this genre.

Summer break is approaching and Britt Phieffer wants to do something adventures at least once in her life. Britt and her best friend Korbie take a trip to the mountains where Korbie's family own a holiday house. Britt has been preparing for this vacation all year so she was well prepared. So she thought. An unpredicted snow storm hit the two girls on the way up the mountain leaving them stranded in Britt's car. Knowing they couldn't survive sitting in the vehicle, they make the decision to try and find shelter. Finally they found two men who were willing to take them in but soon Britt realised they made the wrong choice in trusting these men. Their motives were tainted. In a battle to save their lives, Britt leads the men through the mountain range in an attempt to keep out of harms way.

The plot in this novel was something you never want to find yourself in. The whole time I could just picture myself in this dire situation and thinking, "What would I actually do?" It's like everyone's worst nightmare; being stuck in the mountains where you could freeze to death and on top of everything you're trapped with two guys who could kill you. You're low on supplies and the possibility of dying due to starvation or dehydration is high. What else could posibbly happen? This is what you think when you're halfway through the book but somehow Becca Fitzpatrick manages to create even more plot twists.

If 'page turner' had a definition, the cover of this novel would be the picture beside it because the whole time I was on the edge of my seat. I could not put it down once and I read it all in one sitting. The things that Britt had to do to survive was crazy, there were so many situations where I thought, this is it for sure! But she still managed to push through.

Britt was a great protagonist and I could clearly see her character development throughout the novel. Prior to the dangerous trip (that will soon change her life), she was that sort of person who relied heavily on the people around her. She wasn't very independent as she had always been babied by her brother and her father. But since they weren't there to protect her, she had to rely on using her own intelligence to get out of the situation. I have to say that Britt wasn't a stupid character. She had great instinct and common sense which I value so much when it comes to main characters nowadays. She continued on even though there were so many situations where a normal person would give up.

A lot of the plot surrounds heavily on the topic of her ex-boyfriend who dumped britt a while ago. She clearly wasn't over him which got a little annoying at times but this helped add to her character development. It also added depth to the story as there were many flashbacks to Britt's childhood. Her ex-boyfriend was her best friend Korbie's older brother so it put a little strain on their relationship. I really didn't like Korbie's character as I didn't think she was a loyal, trustworthy friend. She was incredibly whiny and useless but thankfully she wasn't there for majority of the novel. I don't even know how Britt considered her to be a friend!

Overall I enjoyed this book immensely! I liked reading the familiar writing of Becca Fitzpatrick but like I said before, you shouldn't compare the novels. If you like suspenseful thrillers with a strong protagonist then I think this is the book for you! If you're new to the genre like me, this is great novel to introduce you to it. I ended up finishing the novel on the bus and I think I was grinning like an idiot. (People gave me weird stares haha!) The ending is so sweet and I like that this novel isn't rushed.

Have you read anything by Becca Fitzpatrick before?

Do you like thrillers?