alolanvulpix777

[alolanvulpix777]

Title: Scythe

Author: Neal Shusterman

Genre: Science|Dystopian|Adventure Fiction / Biopunk

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

I found this book searching through my school’s library (again) wanting to find something interesting. I recognized the cover from seeing it a lot back when it first came out in 2016. Realizing it was set in a dystopian land, I was instantly hooked and started reading. To put it short, this was one of the best books I’ve ever read. It was so good that the second I finished reading it, I headed straight to the library to pick up its sequel, “Thunderhead” (that review is coming later :D). Scythe is set in the year 2042, when modern advancements have been able to make people practically immortal. People are able to heal their body with nanites and, in the case they die, they can be resurrected at revival centers. However, immortality comes with a price to pay: overpopulation. To solve this, the government created a group of people called Scythes. Scythes are tasked with the depressing job of killing individuals at random. In exchange,the Scythe and their family would be granted immunity from gleanings, the term used for when a Scythe has to kill someone. The reader is introduced to the two main characters, Rowan and Citra, and the book switches from each point of view around every time there is a new chapter. Rowan and Citra are soon chosen by Honorable Scythe Faraday to become his apprentices so that one day, they could become Scythes as well. There's an issue however: having two apprentices is not permitted, and so Citra and Rowan are forced to fight against each other in trials and tests to see who could become the next Scythe… and who would be gleaned. I absolutely loved this book and would read it every time I had the chance to (which wasn’t very often honestly). I would stay up until the wee hours of the morning all because I was so captivated by the storyline and the unexpected it explored. The ending was fabulous in my opinion, mainly because I never expected one of the final plot twists to even happen. This was rare for me, as reading and watching so many mystery and crime based novels and shows sort of trained me to see “beyond the future” and locate plot twists before they even happened! Not knowing what would occur was refreshing and exciting for me and made me love this book even more. All in all this book deserves a 5/5 star rating and I highly recommend it for those like me who want to truly be surprised and shocked by the wonders that this book has to offer.

[alolanvulpix777]

Title: Animal Farm

Author: George Orwell

Genre: Dystopian Fiction / Political Satire

Rating: ☆☆☆☆

I found this book at my high school's library actually, where I'd been searching for a good couple books to read in the few minutes I have before my USH2 class or my Computer Science class. I picked it up mainly because of its enticing cover (yes I know the phrase "don't judge a book by its cover but please, bear with me here) as it only depicted a simple painting of a pigs front portion. Clearly its back portion was found on the other printing of the book.

Needless to say my curiosity was piqued and I checked it out. Yes I couldn't read it for a week due to midterms but that's besides the point! Animal Farm is a political satire starring animal members of a farm against their human enemy counterparts. The story is set on the dirt plot of the Manor farm, where the farm animals of the Jones family reside and are overworked. Old Major, an (obviously) old and respected boar, gathers the animals and revolts against Mr. Jones and his tyrannical methods. Soon, they are successful in their efforts, and are able to drive Mr. Jones and his people out.The farm animals, pleased by their newfound fame, decide to create a farm which enlightens the naïve and creates a new farm hierarchy where there are no humans involved and every animal must work their share. Similarly to the Constitution, Old Major creates a set of 7 commandments in which each animal must follow each rule to the T. The most important commandment: "All animals are equal". Life is great on the farm, as each animal does their share and teamwork is evident, until Old Major dies and power is given to 2 younger pigs, Napoleon and Snowball. However, as John Dalberg-Acton would say, "Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupt's absolutely", and soon, one ruler banishes the other, and all that was well seems to crumble into tyranny and despair. I quite liked this book, as I usually like unrealistic stories (they're so unique and interesting) and I loved the wordplay and how the letters and punctuation helped the book move along smoothly, especially at the end. I think this is a very very well written book that I would read once more in the future and tell others to read as well. I think it's perfect for people and students in my age range that are already familiar with this type of book, as high schoolers usually read classics such as Animal Farm  for their English classes. I think this is the perfect book for lovers of the short story The Lotteryby Shirley Jackson and especially for those who have read and enjoyed Lord of the Flies by William Golding, as I think these two books are very similar. Though I personally prefer Lord of the Flies, it's worth picking up both, as they both have a unique way of portraying the use and abuse of power. Overall this was a very good read and I recommend that those who read more often than not should definitely give this book a try, as I rate this a 4 1/2 stars out of 5 (I would show it up there but I dont have a half star emoji) for its captivating storyline and intelligent word use. 

[alolanvulpix777]

Title: Then She Was Gone

Author: Lisa Jewell

Genre: Suspense/Mystery/Thriller

Rating: ☆☆☆☆

I actually found this book in the airport, travelling from India back to the U.S. During my time in India, I developed a newfound interest of mystery/thriller books, which probably influenced my choice of "Dark Room Etiquette" (see previous post). I picked it up and read it for the entire flight back (that's how you know it was good; I didn't watch a single airplane movie!). The book starts out with Laurel entering her middle child's, Hanna's, flat. Soon, the scene takes a turn of emotion as Laurel begins to panic, realizing Hanna isn't home. Frantically, she calls her only daughter and thankfully, she picks up. Laurel disconnects the call after hearing her daughters voice and the story goes on from there. The next chapters move back to the past, where they describe Laurel's panic to find her youngest daughter, Ellie, missing after leaving the house one morning; Paul's , Laurel's husband's, indifference to her disappearance, and Hanna's confusion. The chapters soon start to begin with the word "then", signifying a jump to the past where Ellie hadn't gone missing. We get to meet a new character, Noelle, Ellie's tutor, who takes a strange fascination in Ellie, bringing her trinkets and toys whenever they have a session together. After Ellie begins to feel uncomfortable by Noelle, she requests of her mother that she get a new tutor. This, in turn, upsets Noelle. 

Deeply. 

The story cuts from the present to the past at random intervals, where we go from seeing Laurel on the chase for answers to her daughters disappearance to Ellie's perspective of the hell she's living in. After Laurel comes to small peace with Ellie's disappearance, she divorces Paul and meets a new man, Floyd Dunn, and his two children Poppy and Sara-Jade. However, when she meets his kids, she's met with the horrific discovery that Poppy looks exactly like Ellie. The story continues onto a whole plethora of loopholes, unknown connections, and close calls. I enjoyed reading this book a lot, however, I would like to warn the reader that during Ellie's point of view, the story gets quite sickening, which I won't get into right now. If your stomach can't handle the extreme description of bodily function then I suggest putting this book down and reading something else (maybe my next book review 👀). This book was so good that while writing this review, I got distracted by it and was absorbed into Ellie's story for a good 15 minutes before realizing that I had a deadline. I highly recommend this book as its ending is a 5/5 and the chapters connect smoothly even though there is a mix of point of views. This book is also perfect for those who want to pick up reading again and I'd like to quote the Daily Express; "I defy you to put this addictive book down".

[alolanvulpix777]

Title: Dark Room Etiquette

Author: Robin Roe

Genre: Crime

Rating: ☆☆☆☆

I picked up this book at my local library's "$1 books" cart, as I'd never tried to buy one before. Needless to say,  I went back to that cart after that day, picking up a book anytime I found a dollar on myself. The book starts out with our main character Sayers Wayte, a stereotypical spoiled kid who doesn't really have a passion or goal in life. He has a big house, tons of friends, a girlfriend, what else could he want? After the story begins, vague foreshadowing lets us understand that something terrible is about to happen to Sayers, the question is, what? After the plot grows a bit more, Sayers crashes into the forest after a failed U-turn. A truck driver that was following behind him checks if he's okay and offers him a ride home. Sayers agrees and gets into the truck with the man. After some time passes, Sayers realizes that they're going farther than he anticipated. He tells the truck driver to let him off, but instead he reaches for Sayers and he gets knocked out cold. After Sayers comes too, he realizes that he's in some sort of house. After the man who took him calms him down a bit, he states that Sayers is his "long lost son" that had been taken away from him by the government. The story then goes from there; Sayers soon begins to truly believe he is a 7  year old child who lived a life of lies until the man "kidnapped" him back. Dark Room Etiquette in my opinion really showcases how ones life can change so quickly, and shows more how manipulation works to convince people that they aren't who they think they are. I quite liked this book, as it was my first after a season of not reading anything besides Harry Potter, and I think its a good starter for those who want to get back into book reading. Close to the end of the book it took a bit of a gory turn, which I enjoyed personally, as it deepened the plot, however some might not want to gag so early in the day, so this just serves as a warning. The book ended nicely as well; no cliffhangers or things that didn't make total sense. I do have to say, I shed a couple tears over this, as it becomes more emotional as you progress through the book. This book was so good that its one of the three books/series (The Harry Potter series, A Little Princess, and this book)  that I've read over 2 times before. I rate this a 4 stars out of 5 because I havent read it over 3 times yet (mainly because I forget most of the content and shed harder tears than the previous time). I think this is a well written book by Robin Roe and I'll definitely pick up her book "A List of Cages' someday as well.