Book Review: THE BODY ELECTRIC by Beth Revis

Photo credit: Goodreads

As is my general MO with book reviews, I like to start with the Goodreads summary, and so here it

is:

“The future world is at peace. 

Ella Shepherd has dedicated her life to using her unique gift—the ability to enter people’s dreams and memories using technology developed by her mother—to help others relive their happy memories. 

But not all is at it seems. 

Ella starts seeing impossible things—images of her dead father, warnings of who she cannot trust. Her government recruits her to spy on a rebel group, using her ability to experience—and influence—the memories of traitors. But the leader of the rebels claims they used to be in love—even though Ella’s never met him before in her life. Which can only mean one thing… 

Someone’s altered her memory. 

Ella’s gift is enough to overthrow a corrupt government or crush a growing rebel group. She is the key to stopping a war she didn’t even know was happening. But if someone else has been inside Ella’s head, she cannot trust her own memories, thoughts, or feelings. 

So who can she trust?”

Right! So as I’ve mentioned before and will probably mention again, Beth Revis is one of my all-time favorite YA Sci-Fi authors. I very much credit Across the Universe for showing me I actually really like YA Sci-Fi and dual POV. Anything she writes is basically an instal-buy for me, but you can imagine how excited I was when I won a signed, limited print edition (aka: VERY excited). 

While I did find the opening to be a little on the slow side, the rest of the plot more than made up for it. I generally expect action, explosions, swoons and lots of twists from Revis, and in those respects, The Body Electric did not disappoint. I was expecting some sort of Inception-type elements, which were definitely present, but the twists in the book went so beyond what I was expecting and I really enjoyed the direction the book went in. 

The Body Electric is very Sci-Fi with a fascinating futuristic world set in Malta (which was totally fun to read about) with ties to the Across the Universe series that were really fun to come across. Between cyborgs, androids, nanobots and more, I was totally immersed in The Body Electric’s otherworldy-yet-not-unrealistic setting. As a bonus, the protagonist is a PoC and there are several PoC secondary characters, which was really nice to see. 

I did notice that there were quite a few filter phrases throughout the work (which, to be honest, is more of a peeve I only notice because I’m a writer), and I did feel that the villain near the end bordered on a little too unequivocally evil—I tend to prefer my villains to be more nuanced and, at best, even somewhat sympathetic. But those flaws in no way ruined my enjoyment of the novel. I’m giving The Body Electric 4/5 stars, and I recommend it to those who like YA Sci-Fi rife with plot twists. 

I can’t wait to see what Revis comes up with next! 

What have you been reading lately?

Twitter-sized bites: 

.@Ava_Jae gives 4/5 stars to THE BODY ELECTRIC by Beth Revis. Have you read this twisty YA Sci-Fi? (Click to tweet)    

Looking for a twisty & exciting YA SF read? Check out THE BODY ELECTRIC by Beth Revis. (Click to tweet)

Vlog: Top 5 TBR Books

I've been doing a lot of reading lately, and so I thought I'd share the top five books in my (already-owned) TBR list.

THE BOOKS:

• I'll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson
• The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin
• The Body Electric by Beth Revis
• The Infinite Sea by Rick Yancey
• Days of Blood and Starlight by Laini Taylor

What are the top five books in your TBR list?

Twitter-sized bite:

.@Ava_Jae vlogs about 5 books at the top of her TBR list. What books are at the top of yours? (Click to tweet)

For YA Readers: Read These Now

So I've been reading a lot, lately. While I haven't written any book reviews in a while, I'd like to share with you some fantastic YA novels that I've had the pleasure of reading recently that more than deserve an enthusiastic recommendation.

So, without further ado, and in no particular order, I give you three YA books that you really must read.

Graceling (Graceling Realm #1) by Kristin Cashore.

Goodreads summary:

Photo credit: Goodreads

"In a world where people born with an extreme skill—called a Grace—are feared and exploited, Katsa carries the burden of the skill even she despises: the Grace of killing. She lives under the command of her uncle Randa, King of the Middluns, and is expected to execute his dirty work, punishing and torturing anyone who displeases him. 

When she first meets Prince Po, who is Graced with combat skills, Katsa has no hint of how her life is about to change. 

She never expects to become Po's friend. 

She never expects to learn a new truth about her own Grace—or about a terrible secret that lies hidden far away...a secret that could destroy all seven kingdoms with words alone."

I'm not sure why I put off reading this for so long, but I am so glad I finally sat down with it. Graceling was my favorite combination of elements: action, romance, loss, victory and a supernatural twist. The romance especially stuck with me—it was realistic, perfectly paced, and at times heartbreaking. It didn't fall for typical YA tropes and I found Cashore's take on Katsa and Po's relationship refreshing.

As for the characters themselves, Katsa was a breath of fresh air. She's easily one of the strongest female protagonists I've ever read—stubborn without being unlikable, and caring without being weak. I’ve added the companion novels (Fire and Bitterblue) to my TBR list and I look forward to reading more about the Graceling realm.

Unravel Me (Shatter Me #2) by Tahereh Mafi.

Photo credit: Goodreads

Goodreads summary:

"tick 

tick 

tick 

tick 

tick 

it's almost 

time for war. 

Juliette has escaped to Omega Point. It is a place for people like her—people with gifts—and it is also the headquarters of the rebel resistance. 

She's finally free from The Reestablishment, free from their plan to use her as a weapon, and free to love Adam. But Juliette will never be free from her lethal touch. 

Or from Warner, who wants Juliette more than she ever thought possible. 

In this exhilarating sequel to Shatter Me, Juliette has to make life-changing decisions between what she wants and what she thinks is right. Decisions that might involve choosing between her heart—and Adam's life."

This book. THIS BOOK.

If you caught my review for Shatter Me way back when, you know that I absolutely love Tahereh Mafi's unique writing style. She is truly an author whose voice you can't mistake for anyone else's, and she manages time and time again to blend poetry with high-action, emotion-packed novels. I devoured Unravel Me in 48 hours, and I loved it.

I will say that there were moments were I got a little frustrated with Juliette (the protagonist), but I was glad to see her growth in the story. Unravel Me will take your emotions, rip them up, stomp on them, set them on fire, then hand them back to you with a wink and a smile. I need to know what happens next.

Shades of Earth (Across the Universe #3) by Beth Revis.

Goodreads summary:

Photo credit: Goodreads

"Amy and Elder have finally left the oppressive walls of the spaceship Godspeed behind. They're ready to start life afresh—to build a home—on Centauri-Earth, the planet that Amy has traveled 25 trillion miles across the universe to experience. 

But this new Earth isn't the paradise Amy had been hoping for. There are giant pterodactyl-like birds, purple flowers with mind-numbing toxins, and mysterious, unexplained ruins that hold more secrets than their stone walls first let on. The biggest secret of all? Godspeed's former passengers aren't alone on this planet. And if they're going to stay, they'll have to fight. 

Amy and Elder must race to discover who—or what—else is out there if they are to have any hope of saving their struggling colony and building a future together. They will have to look inward to the very core of what makes them human on this, their most harrowing journey yet. Because if the colony collapses? Then everything they have sacrificed—friends, family, life on Earth—will have been for nothing. 

FUELED BY LIES. 

RULED BY CHAOS. 

ALMOST HOME."

So, as of this writing, I haven't actually finished Shades of Earth yet, but I couldn't leave it out because it is so good thus far. Seriously.

I don't usually read sci-fi, but the Across the Universe trilogy has easily become one of my favorite trilogies. I've reviewed the first two books (or should I say, rambled about how awesome they are) and the final book is turning out to be a doozy.

If you like exciting, twisty mysteries and with lots of deaths, I definitely recommend you give Across the Universe (and the rest of the trilogy) a try.

Has anyone else read these? If so, what did you think? And for those of you who enjoy YA, feel free to recommend some of your favorites—I'm always happy to add to the ever-growing TBR list. 

The Heart of Social Media

Photo credit: PV KS on Flickr

Social media is a funny thing. When offline, people tend to talk about it in terms of promotional use—how many people they can get to see the ad about their book or business, how many followers they can get on Twitter or likes on Facebook and how many people in turn buy their product.

And I’m not going to pretend that social media isn’t great for that—just about every business knows that social media is key to getting exposure and ultimately getting clients or buyers. But the thing is, social media isn’t just about the numbers—if it was, it wouldn’t work because all we’d do is spam each other with Follow me!s and Buy my book!s and Hire me now!s and God knows that’s not what social media is about.

The heart of social media is something that I didn’t really discover until I was neck-deep in Twitter and tumblr and Facebook. I went in expecting it to be very much about the numbers, but I quickly realized it was about something else entirely: it was about the people. The relationships. The connections. It’s about helping and encouraging each other and celebrating victories as a community and mourning tragedies together.

The heart of social media is the community. It’s you and me. Your first Twitter follower and your last Facebook like and everyone in between. And that’s something that we should all be thankful for.

I’ve found that the writing community is especially wonderful—you see, the nice thing about us is that we can be genuinely happy for every new writer that gets signed or book that gets published, because the beauty of it is that we aren’t really each other’s competition. Many products rely on the fact that a buyer will only choose one product—one iPad or Surface or Android tablet. Writers, however, don’t live in that kind of cutthroat competitive environment—readers can and will buy multiple books, so when a new author is signed or a new book is published, we don’t have to feel threatened. We can be genuinely happy and help each other.

When used correctly, social media is truly a fantastic asset and using it is a joy. It enables us to be kind and lend a helping hand with minimal cost or effort, and it gives us opportunities to make new connections and relationships that would have been impossible otherwise. We are the heart of social media.

As an example of this, I’d like to give a shout-out to one of my favorite authors Beth Revis (Across the Universe), who is currently running a very cool contest with authors Marie Lu (Legend), Marissa Meyer (Cinder), Victoria Schwab (The Near Witch) and Megan Shepherd (The Madman's Daughter) called Bringing YA to You.

In short, these five authors will be taking a book tour trip to any city in the continental US or Canada that gets the most votes, so if you’ve ever wanted a YA book tour to take a trip to your hometown, now’s your chance to speak up and let them know. All you have to do to enter is fill out this form and you get extra votes for spreading the word about the contest. It seems like a really fun way to get readers involved and gives everyone a unique opportunity to have a say in where the book tour will go, so I wanted to share it with you guys. As a bonus, if you share the word about the contest, you could qualify to win ten signed books from the authors. Pretty cool, right?

The thing is, contests, giveaways and opportunities like these to really get readers involved would be impossible without social media. And if you ask me, there’s something really special about that.

So let’s make a point to remember to keep social media special and support each other this year, and it can start right here: what blog or social media account would you like to give a shout-out to?

When Writing, Cannibalize Everything

Photo credit: Jody Art on Flickr

It happened again! One of you fabulous readers (thank you, Robin) asked a question I haven’t yet answered that I thought most certainly merited a post (yay!). The question was this:

“I read your post about reading what you write, and coming to love your genre. So I was wondering, what if one incorporates other genres and mediums? One of my WIPs is a YA-fantasy adventure with a lot of fairytale elements, but I've taken what I learned reading horror (mostly of Poe) to create dread in my story, and I've paid attention to cinematic techniques seen in films by Studio Ghibli to create an endearing and living world. What is your perspective on cross-referencing genres and mediums?”

I’m sure most of you have heard that you should write what you know. While I partially agree with that (more on that topic some other time), I think it applies especially well when referencing incorporating what you have learned from creative mediums, whether writing, movies, music, etc. You see, I’ve written in the past about why it’s so important for writers to be well-read, and this question right here is one of the many reasons why.

While I tend to read a lot of YA and some MG novels, within those age groups I read from various genres: paranormal fantasy, straight fantasy, sci-fi, dystopian, etc. And from every book that I’ve read, regardless of the genre, I’ve learned something—whether it’s the importance of voice, or including poetry in prose, or what a good opening and memorable characters look like. And when I write and revise, I make a point to look back on those lessons and continue to learn new ones from whatever books I read throughout the course of the year.

One of the most important tasks a writer has is to absorb everything possible—what rain feels like in November when you’ve forgotten an umbrella, how that movie gave you the chills, why that book was so gripping that you stayed up until three in the morning on a work night to finish it, how that song makes you pause every time it comes up on your playlist. Nothing is sacred to the writer—not that terrible cut that required stitches, or your first kiss, or the first time you laid eyes on your newborn. Writers make note of and store their experiences for writing reference later on.

In short, writers cannibalize everything. Or at least, they should. And when it comes to genre, I don’t believe it’s any different.

Let’s think for a moment: when is the last time you read a book or watched a movie that was 150% one genre? Nearly every non-romance genre has some sort of romantic subplot (even The Lord of the Rings which is as straight fantasy as it gets has romance) and many non-mystery novels have some sort of mysterious intrigue and so on. Don’t believe me? Let’s take a look at a couple novels.

• Across the Universe by Beth Revis—Across the Universe is undoubtedly a YA Sci-Fi novel, but it certainly cross-references other genres as well, the most obvious of which include a romantic subplot and murder mystery. That doesn’t make it a mystery or romance novel, but it still has elements of those genres. To further draw a point, it’s listen on Amazon under “Teens > Mysteries” and at Barnes & Noble.com under “Teens- Romance & Friendship” and “Teens- Science Fiction.” 


• The Fault in Our Stars by John Green—I would have thought that The Fault in Our Stars would be listed under YA Contemporary, but I’ve found that it is often listed under romance. Regardless, it has elements of romance, realistic fiction, humor and even tragedy. That doesn’t mean you’re going to find it in the Humor section at Barnes & Noble (if you do, it’s been terribly misplaced), but you can’t deny that elements of those genres exist within the novel. It’s listed on Amazon under “Teens > Love & Romance” and at Barnes & Noble.com under “Teens: Realistic.” 

Just two examples of many, but the point is this: genre is rarely cut and dry and you certainly shouldn’t be afraid of drawing from absolutely everything you’ve learned along the way. Your writing will be better for it.

How do you pull from other genres, mediums and experiences in your work? What multi-genre novels can you think of as examples?

Why Use Multiple POVs?

Photo credit: --Tico-- on Flickr

So not too long ago I wrote a post on how to choose a POV character and once again, one of you fantabulous commenters asked a question that inspired a post—this time, on using multiple POVs. 

Adding a second or third POV into your story isn’t a decision to be taken lightly—it’s much more challenging to write two or three (or more) distinctive voices than it is to write one, and creating effective transitions between the POV shifts is tricky. On top of the technical challenges behind crafting multiple POVs into a novel, there’s the added obstacle that some readers just don’t like multiple POVs because they find the head-hopping jarring and difficult to follow. When you write multiple POVs, you run the risk that a reader may put your book down simply because they didn’t like the way you handled having more than one POV character.

However, when done correctly, multiple POVs can add an interesting dimension to your story.

Multiple POVs allow your reader to see your story from many angles—they don’t necessarily have to take one character’s word for granted, and the ability to hop between many characters’ heads can be especially interesting when the characters don’t necessarily see eye to eye. As an added bonus, it also allows you to give the reader more information than either one character has—not only do they know what Character A knows, but they have access to Character B’s mind as well.

In Across the Universe (Beth Revis), for example, the readers have access to both Amy and Elder’s thoughts, who see the events that unfold in the story from completely different perspectives as Amy is a passenger on the spaceship Godspeed who was cryogenically frozen and accidentally awakened many decades before she was supposed to be woken up, while Elder is a ship-born teenager who is being raised to become the next leader of Godspeed. Readers very quickly learn the customs, beliefs and shifts in language (i.e.: “frex” instead of another four-letter word) from Elder’s thoughts, while we sympathize with Amy who is, in essence, one of us—an Earth born girl trying to understand the new world she was thrust into.

Unlike Across the Universe, however, The Iron Fey series (Julie Kagawa) used multiple POVs in an entirely different way—while the first three books were told from Meghan Chase’s POV, the final book of the series, The Iron Knight gave readers a glimpse into winter fey Ash’s mind. Without spoiling anything, this shift in POV was necessary due to events that happened in the third book that led to Meghan and Ash’s separation, and The Iron Knight is largely about Ash trying to return to her. While the POV shift was a little more jarring as readers were already accustomed to hearing from Meghan (not Ash), I personally found the extra insight into Ash’s mind to be a fascinating experience.

There are many different ways of handling multiple POVs, but the key to writing it is to make sure that both POVs are absolutely necessary to the story. If so, it can be a great way to add an extra layer of complexity to your plot, but if not, you run the risk of losing readers who will wonder why the extra POV was necessary to begin with.

What do you think of multiple POVs in books? Do you enjoy reading or writing them? Why or why not?

The (Not So) Surprising Key to Writing Quickly

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So not too long ago, fabulous author Beth Revis mentioned this guest post on Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America about how one writer (Rachel Aaron) increased her daily word count output from 2,000 words a day to 10,000 words a day. No, you didn’t read that incorrectly. If you have time to read the full article, I highly recommend it, (you can also read Beth’s take on it here) but if there’s one bit that really stuck with me, it’s this: it is much easier to write quickly when you know what you’re going to write.

Now I’ve written in the past about the pros and cons of both plotting and pantsing, and for those of you who aren’t too keen on plotting, I don’t think it’s a requirement to intricately plot out your entire novel in order to write quickly. However, as someone who has in the past indeed pantsed an entire novel (and enjoyed the process), I can say from experience that if writing quickly is your goal, it helps to know where you’re going.

The reasoning behind this is pretty obvious—as many of you are aware, I’m sure, the times when we don’t know what to write next tend to be the slowest and most excruciating writing days. They’re the days that we write a sentence, then stare at the screen, then decide we’re hungry and grab a snack, then think maybe I’ll find inspiration on the internet! and spend precious writing time trolling Twitter and tumblr (don’t deny it—you’ve done it). Even when we don’t seek distraction, the times we don’t know what to write next tend to not-so-coincidentally also be the times where you have to fight for every word (at least, it is in my experience).

So by setting down some landmarks and deciding what you’re going to write today ahead of time, you can save yourself the headache of slamming your head into the wall and jump right into the writing bit.

Although I pantsed the last WIP that I drafted up, I decided to actually outline the one I’m currently working on in a checklist format—and I have to say, it has made all the difference. No, I didn’t plan every intricate detail, and yes, I’ve changed things around as I started writing, but having a checklist of plot points that need to happen along the way has saved me huge amounts of time that would otherwise been spent wondering where to go next. With the outline kept close at hand, I have a pretty good idea what I’m going to write every time I sit down, and this has allowed me to really boost my output.

While I’m not writing 10,000 words a day (yet, anyway), this one change (combined with previously discussed speed writing techniques) has allowed me to achieve an average of 900 some-odd words per 30 minute #wordmongering session.

Now, if you’re a pantser you’re probably thinking, but I hate outlining. That sort of ruins the point of pantsing. Which would be true, except I’m not saying you have to outline your entire novel (I did, but you don’t have to). 

What I am saying is that before you sit down to write, it helps tremendously if you go in with a good idea as to what is going to happen. For Rachel, it meant writing down a brief list of things that had to happen in the scene she was going to write. For me, it meant looking at the next point on my outline and thinking about how my character would get there and what would happen during the scene before I actually started writing.

And just like that, writing quickly became easier.

What do you think? Do you have any tips for writing quickly?

Mini Book Reviews 2: Spaceships and Faeries

As far as reading goes, this month has been pretty excellent. It has also been a month of sequels.

Photo credit: Goodreads

I mentioned I was reading The Iron Fey series by Julie Kagawa last month, and as I’ve continued the series, I’ve been pleasantly surprised. The Iron King (the first book) was a good read, The Iron Daughter was interesting, but The Iron Queen simply blew my expectations out of the water and became my favorite of the series thus far. I’m now currently reading The Iron Knight, which has been different from the previous three in many obvious ways (such as a complete change in POV), but has been so far equally good, in my opinion.

As far as the series goes, what I said last month stands: the series is definitely targeted towards the female half of the population, with swoon-worthy characters, a couple love triangles and pretty eyes, and although there were a couple things that bugged me along the way (i.e.: a certain female protagonist who is lost without her man), the series certainly never gets boring, the characters are memorable and the faery world Kagawa created is just fantastic.

Now, the spaceships—or rather, spaceship.

I read and reviewed Across the Universe by Beth Revis in this post way back when, and as I thoroughly enjoyed it, I’d been waiting quite eagerly for the sequel, A Million Suns.

Photo credit: Goodreads

Well. Before I go any further, I’ll share with you the Goodreads summary:

Godspeed was once fueled by lies. Now it is ruled by chaos. It’s been three months. In that time, Amy has learned to hide who she is. Elder is trying to be the leader he’s always wanted to be. But as the ship gets more and more out of control, only one thing is certain: They have to get off the ship.

I’m not even sure where to start, because A Million Suns was simply amazing—so amazing, that I’ve told more than a few people that it’s one of the best sequels I’ve read thus far.

I think what I loved most about it was that it doesn’t read like a sequel—it was full of action, intrigue, slam-your-head-against-the-wall moments and mystery—can’t forget the mystery. The characters make mistakes, the love interest is far from perfect and with every solution, two more problems crops up until the climax.

In short, A Million Suns was a fantastic read and if you’ve read Across the Universe, you have to pick up the sequel. If you haven’t read Across the Universe I suggest that you give it a try.

What’s the best book you’ve read this month? Any recommendations? 

What Are You Thankful For?

So Beth Revis is having a HUGENORMOUS giveaway on her blog like you would not believe. The prize is something like 19 signed YA books (including an ARC of A MILLION SUNS), plus a box of Turkish Delight, plus signed goodies and swag.

And it all goes to one very thankful person.

Besides the allure of such a huge prize, I really like her giveaway because it focuses on something we often overlook—gratitude. You see, to enter, you need to write a post about the book that you’re most thankful for.

Let me tell you, this is a lot harder than it looks. It’s like asking what your favorite book or band or anything is—so many options, how do you choose one?

Well, after much thought, I managed. Sort of.

I didn’t pick one book, per say, I picked one author. Many of you can probably guess who.

I’m thankful for Ted Dekker.

I read my first Dekker book (Showdown) shortly before I started writing. I wouldn’t say necessarily that he inspired me to write, but with over twenty novels on the shelves and growing, I always had a Dekker book to turn to throughout my writing career, and I have no doubt in my mind that his style influenced mine. I’ve learned a lot about writing from reading his novels—like how one-line paragraphs are acceptable and not every sentence has to be a grammatically correct sentence every single time.

So although he didn’t start out as my inspiration for writing, he certainly became a role model for me as I developed my craft. Not only that, but his belief system aligned with mine and I learned a lot about the power of love—real, indiscriminating love—from his novels and non-fiction works like Tea with Hezbollah. 

Then I had the amazing opportunity of meeting him in person and he completely blew me away—his passion and charisma were contagious. I walked away with a grin on my face because the author I imagined behind my favorite novels was even better in person than I expected.

So why am I thankful for Ted Dekker?

He impacted my writing, forced me to really redefine the way I look at love, and has filled my bookshelf with consistent awesomeness.  

Plenty to be thankful for, I think.

Your turn! What books or authors are you thankful for? 

Book Review: Across the Universe by Beth Revis

Picture credit: Mine!

So I’m going to change the way I do book reviews.

Turns out, at least this year, my choices of what to read have been pretty stupendous, because ever since I’ve started writing reviews I’ve read books that I thought deserved five stars. Call me soft or just really good at choosing good books, but it doesn’t help you guys if I rate every book the same way.

So! Rather than rating every book on a number of stars, I’m just going to tell you guys what I did and didn’t like about it and whether or not I recommend it. Fair? I thought so. To sweeten the pot, if you still want a numeric rating, you can friend me on Goodreads, where I will still be handing out the sparkly golden stars.

Onto the review!

I’ll start off by saying that I don’t normally read sci-fi, so if you’re not a hard-core sci-fi lover, don’t give up on this one yet—in fact, Across the Universe is the first sci-fi-ish book I’ve read in years.

So if I don’t read sci-fi, why did I pick up this book? Truth be told, the cover had a lot to do with it—it caught my eye on the shelf and I picked it up and liked the summary, and the first chapter. Not only that, but I read Beth Revis’ blog and she seemed like a pretty cool author. Plus she interacts on both Twitter and tumblr which is a pretty nice bonus if you ask me.

So what’s the book about, you ask?

From Goodreads:

“Seventeen-year-old Amy joins her parents as frozen cargo aboard the vast spaceship Godspeed and expects to awaken on a new planet, three hundred years in the future. Never could she have known that her frozen slumber would come to an end fifty years too soon and that she would be thrust into the brave new world of a spaceship that lives by its own rules.

Amy quickly realizes that her awakening was no mere computer malfunction. Someone - one of the few thousand inhabitants of the spaceship - tried to kill her. And if Amy doesn't do something soon, her parents will be next.

Now, Amy must race to unlock Godspeed's hidden secrets. But out of her list of murder suspects, there's only one who matters: Elder, the future leader of the ship and the love she could never have seen coming.”

I really enjoyed this book. I was worried that it might be too spacey for my tastes (since, as I said, I don’t often read sci-fi), but Across the Universe had me hooked. There’s a murder mystery, romance that isn’t overdone (which, I have to say, is pretty refreshing) and some memorable characters. The only thing that bothered me was the dual-POV—the book is told both from Amy and Elder’s alternating first person POV, which was a little difficult to adjust to at first, but I actually enjoyed it later on. In fact, the dual POV really made the ending particularly fantastic stylistically, in my opinion.

Oh, and have I mentioned the twists? There aren’t many books that have surprised me like Across the Universe did, and I can count on one hand how many book surprised me more than once (Across the Universe, of course, being one of them).

Mystery. Romance. Twists. I highly recommend this one. It’s a great read and I’m definitely looking forward to the sequel.

So I’ve got to ask—what are you guys reading right now? 

To Be Read: The Ever-Growing List

So since I thought I might change things up a little, I decided to talk about books. Specifically, my to be read pile.

Because I write YA, it should be no surprised that my favorite genre to read just so happens to be YA. Specifically dystopian or paranormal. Something about those genres gets me excited every time, provided it has a decent story behind it.

Have I mentioned I’m a little picky with what I read?

Anyway, here we go. My TBR pile. I got all the pictures and summaries off of Goodreads. 

1.        Across the Universe by Beth Revis
   “Seventeen-year-old Amy joins her parents as frozen cargo aboard the vast spaceship Godspeed and expects to awaken on a new planet, three hundred years in the future. Never could she have known that her frozen slumber would come to an end fifty years too soon and that she would be thrust into the brave new world of a spaceship that lives by its own rules.
   
   Amy quickly realizes that her awakening was no mere computer malfunction. Someone - one of the few thousand inhabitants of the spaceship - tried to kill her. And if Amy doesn't do something soon, her parents will be next.
   
   Now, Amy must race to unlock Godspeed's hidden secrets. But out of her list of murder suspects, there's only one who matters: Elder, the future leader of the ship and the love she could never have seen coming.”
   
   
   I picked this one up at Borders and was drawn in immediately. Something about the nasty, painful procedure that makes you “frozen cargo” and the first person POV pulled me in. The book alternates in POVs between Amy and Elder (I’m assuming her future love interest) and though I found that a little jarring, I think it still works. From the little bit I read, anyway. I suppose I’ll find out.
2. 
   

   2.    Matched by Allie Condie

   

          “Cassia has always trusted the Society to make the right choices for her: what  to read, what to watch, what to believe. So when Xander's face appears on-screen at her Matching ceremony, Cassia knows with complete certainty that he is her ideal mate . . . until she sees Ky Markham's face flash for an instant before the screen fades to black.
   
   The Society tells her it's a glitch, a rare malfunction, and that she should focus on the happy life she's destined to lead with Xander. But Cassia can't stop thinking about Ky, and as they slowly fall in love, Cassia begins to doubt the Society's infallibility and is faced with an impossible choice: between Xander and Ky, between the only life she's known and a path that no one else has dared to follow.”

   
   

         I read the first page of this one at Borders, too. I like the voice, and I’m a sucker for the occasional love triangle. Looks interesting and I currently can’t get enough of dystopia so…added to the list!
   
   
3.        Forbidden by Ted Dekker and Tosca Lee (September 13, 2011)
   

   “A terrible truth has been revealed to one man: the entire human race has been drained of every emotion except one— fear. To bring life back to the world, Rom must embark on a journey that will end either in his own demise or a reawakening of humanity. But to bring love and passion back into existence will also threaten the powers of the world with the revolution and anarchy that had nearly destroyed them previously.
   
   
   After happening upon a journal through strange circumstance, Rom's world is shattered. He learns that humanity long ago ceased to "live," that it exists today in a living death of emotions. In a terrible risk, Rom exposes himself to the vial of blood folded into the old leather of the journal. His change is fearful and fraught with mind-bending emotion. A once-pious observer of the Order's passionless statues, he is filled with uncontrollable impulses. He is filled with love.
   
   
   He is undone, terrified, and alone in the desolate world.”
   
   
   Ok, I was ready to preorder this one before I even knew it was about, but that’s because Ted Dekker co-authored it and well…I’ve mentioned my Dekker obsession before. ANYWAY. This book isn’t out yet, but I seriously can’t wait. I’ll be preordering it without a doubt.
   
   
4.        Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi (November 15, 2011)
   “Juliette hasn't touched anyone in exactly 264 days. The last time she did, it was an accident, but The Reestablishment locked her up for murder. No one knows why Juliette's touch is fatal. As long as she doesn't hurt anyone else, no one really cares. The world is too busy crumbling to pieces to pay attention to a 17-year-old-girl. Diseases are destroying the population, food is hard to find, birds don't fly anymore, and the clouds are the wrong color. 
   
   The Reestablishment said their way was the only way to fix things, so they threw Juliette in a cell. Now so many people are dead that the survivors are whispering war- and The Reestablishment has changed its mind. Maybe Juliette is more than a tortured soul stuffed into a poisonous body. Maybe she's exactly what they need right now. 
   
   Juliette has to make a choice: Be a weapon. Or be a warrior.”
   
   
   Sadly, the cover hasn’t been released for this one yet, but I am very excited about this. Dystopian novel AND paranormal elements? C’mon, that’s like combining my two favorite genres in one. IN ONE. Needless to say, I’ll be preordering this one, too.
   
   
5.          Insurgent by Veronica Roth
   Ok, ok, I know it’s a little presumptuous to put this on my TBR pile before it has a blurb or a cover, but Divergent was just that amazing. I loved it and as soon as there’s a release date for Insurgent, I’ll be preordering it. 

So for the sake of not drowning you in a ridiculously long post, I’m ending it there, even though there ARE more.

Now! The fun part! I want to know, peeps, what’s in YOUR TBR pile?