Wednesday, September 17, 2014

Review: The Vault of Dreamers

Info: 
Title: The Vault of Dreamers
Author: Caragh M. O'Brien
Series: Untitled #1
Publisher: Roaring Brook Press
Publication Date: September 16, 2014
Source: I received a complimentary copy in exchange for a honest review.

Synopsis:
From the author of the Birthmarked trilogy comes a fast-paced, psychologically thrilling novel about what happens when your dreams are not your own.

The Forge School is the most prestigious arts school in the country. The secret to its success:  every moment of the students' lives is televised as part of the insanely popular Forge Show, and the students' schedule includes twelve hours of induced sleep meant to enhance creativity. But when first year student Rosie Sinclair skips her sleeping pill, she discovers there is something off about Forge. In fact, she suspects that there are sinister things going on deep below the reaches of the cameras in the school. What's worse is, she starts to notice that the edges of her consciousness do not feel quite right. And soon, she unearths the ghastly secret that the Forge School is hiding—and what it truly means to dream there.

Review:
I've put off writing this review (something I almost never do) because I'm really not sure what to say about this one. The ending really threw me for a loop and left me unsure of how to review this one. But here it goes:

The story takes place at the Forge school, which is a weird hybrid of fancy art school and crazy reality tv show. There are cameras everywhere recording each of the students and people can tune in online to watch their favourites. Students are all ranked based on the number of people watching their feed and their family get some ad revenue from their pages. To make things even crazier, they let in 100 first year students for the first two weeks, then cut half of them.

This is where we meet Rosie, our heroine. She's a film student fighting to make it into the top 50 and stay at the Forge school, but she's not doing so great. It was pretty easy to feel for Rosie, since she has it pretty tough at home. Her mom seems nice enough, but works a lot. Her step-dad is a dick and is also unemployed (technically on strike, but it's been over a year), so money is pretty tight. She also has a little sister named Dubbs, who she clearly loves a lot. Rosie has been placed on a crappy track at school that has her bound for, at best, a dead-end job. So clearly the opportunity at Forge is huge for her.

Another weird thing about the Forge school is that all students are forced to sleep 12 hours per day. They claim it boosts creativity. Rosie is a bit of a rebel and starts skipping her sleeping pill and wandering around at night. She sees some crazy stuff, but is in a bit of a tough spot, since Forge is her only chance out of a dead-end life back home.

There's also a boy (of course). I was a bit worried for a bit that a love triangle was being set up, but thankfully that was not the case. Linus seems like a pretty nice guy overall, although he occasionally gets pissed at Rosie and I totally understand. While he's not my newest book boyfriend, I could definitely understand why Rosie liked him.

But the ending! I still have no clue what happened. Like, I was mostly following until the very last page and then- I don't know. I think it's meant to be like that, but I don't even know. I guess it's enough to make me want to read the next book when it comes out, but a fair warning to anyone who can't handle endings like that.

Overall, I enjoyed The Vault of Dreamers for the most part, but the ending still has me majorly confused.





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Monday, September 8, 2014

Cover Compare: The Scandalous Sisterhood of Prickwillow Place

Another book coming up in my reading queue. Super excited for this one.

US
German




















I don't mind the US cover, but I do prefer the German one! It's more colourful and less cluttered.

Wednesday, September 3, 2014

August 2014 Recap

So it's a little late, but I wanted to start doing monthly wrap up posts.

Books Reviewed in August:
A Study in Silks - 3.5 Hearts
Jex Malone - 3 Hearts
Sabriel - 4 Hearts
Madame Tussaud's Apprentice - 3.5 Hearts

Average rating: 3.5 Hearts


Incoming Books:

Bought:
Sister's Fate
Dearly Beloved

Review:
Madame Tussaud's Apprentice



Giant TBR Challenge:

Previous TBR Total: 173
Incoming Books: 3
TBR Books Read: 4
Current TBR Total: 172

I had 3 books to add to the shelf this month, but I read 2 of them already, so I managed to still drop my total!


I can't believe it's already September. Where did the summer go?

Tuesday, September 2, 2014

Review: Sister's Fate

Info: 
Title: Sister's Fate
Author: Jessica Spotswood
Series: The Cahill Witch Chronicls #3
Publisher: Putnam Juvenile
Publication Date: August 14, 2014
Source: Purchased.

Synopsis:
CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR STAR CURSED!!

A fever ravages New London, but with the Brotherhood sending suspected witches straight to the gallows, the Sisters are powerless against the disease. They can’t help without revealing their powers—as Cate learns when a potent display of magic turns her into the most wanted witch in all of New England. 

To make matters worse, Cate has been erased from the memory of her beloved Finn. While she’s torn between protecting him from further attacks and encouraging him to fall for her all over again, she’s certain she can never forgive Maura’s betrayal. And now that Tess’s visions have taken a deadly turn, the prophecy that one Cahill sister will murder another looms ever closer to its fulfillment.

Review:
I'm going to miss this series so bad! After the huge ending of Star Curses, I could not wait for this book and it delivered everything I was hoping for.

I really loved Cate throughout the series, imperfections and all. I appreciated how much she did care about her sisters, despite everything that was going on. I also loved Tess. I really felt for her, with everything going on with the prophecy, but also with the more mundane struggle of growing up, especially with a big sister as protective as Cate. Maura drove me bit up the wall. I know she was opinionated and her opinions differed from Cate's, but she really was painfully stubborn and I have so much trouble forgiving her for the end of Star Cursed.

It was a bit tough to watch Cate and Finn, after the ending of Star Cursed. But I did enjoy the development there and I don't really want to say too much more for the sake of spoilers.

There is a ton of action in this one, which was to be expected in the final book of a trilogy. I loved seeing a bit of all of Cate's friends in the finale. I really loved Mei and Rilla, so I was glad they had parts in this story.

Overall, I'm sad to see this series end and I can't wait to see what Jessica Spotswood does next!





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Monday, September 1, 2014

Cover Compare: Salt and Storm

I've decided to bring back my Cover Compare posts. Yay! Salt and Storm is coming up in my reading queue and it has a few different covers to show off.

UK
US



German
I think the US cover is my favourite for this one. I like the contrast, the simplicity and the colour. I really like how all of the covers have something nautical about them, whether it's waves, ropes or anchors. Which is your favourite?