Dorothy Must Die

Dorothy Must Die
author: Danielle Paige
published by: HarperCollins
released: April 1st 2014
pages: 452
my rating: 4 stars












I didn't ask for any of this. I didn't ask to be some kind of hero.
But when your whole life gets swept up by a tornado - taking you with it - you have no choice but to go along, you know?
Sure, I've read the books. I've seen the movies. I know the song about the rainbow and the happy little bluebirds. But I never expected Oz to look like this. To be a place where Good Witches can't be trusted, Wicked Witches may just be the good guys, and winged monkeys can be executed for acts of rebellion. There's still a yellow brick road - but even that's crumbling.

What happened? Dorothy.

They say she found a way to come back to Oz. They say she seized power and the power went to her head. And now no one is safe.

My name is Amy Gumm - and I'm the other girl from Kansas.

I've been recruited by the Revolutionary Order of the Wicked.
I've been trained to fight.
And I have a mission.

Everyone knows "The Wizard of Oz" and even though Amy Gumm, the main character in "Dorothy Must Die", goes through the main things Dorothy went through- being swept away by a tornado, following the yellow brick road- this book created a completely new Oz than the one we are all familiar with.
I read this as a buddy read and it was so much fun! Maybe that has an influence as to how I feel about this book, so consider yourselves warned.
Before everything else, I think it must be said, that I was in love with the Oz portrayed in Dorothy Must Die! I did not expect it to be as dark and gory as it was but it made the whole book so much cooler.

Amy Gumm was also way cooler than Dorothy in my opinion. She lives in a trailer and gets bullied. Her parents are divorced and her mother is an alcoholic and drug addict. Basically her life is pretty crappy. Also she goes through a lot of character development throughout this book, which makes her even more badass
When she lands in Oz she has to realize that Dorothy and her friends aren't the heroes anymore- they are the villains.
I wasn't really scared of Dorothy but she is so twisted and evil, you can't help but wonder how she ended up like this.
Her friends (The lion, the tin man and the lion) were way more creepy in my opinion. I was totally freaked out by them, especially by the scarecrow and exactly like Dorothy they were all a darker, more evil version of their selves in the "Wizard of Oz"

The book was very easy to read, it was fast paced and the writing wasn't too complicated. I felt like I flew through the chapters, even though with 452 pages, it is rather big.

Still I had a few problems with it.
First of all Amy excepted everything way too quickly. Her landing in Oz didn't seem to surprise her at all. She basically just thought: "I got transported to Oz by a tornado? That makes total sense!". See what I mean?
Also the ending was a bit anticlimactic, there was all that build up for an epic finale which wasn't all that epic in my opinion, but since it's the first book in a trilogy I'm hoping I'll get a great ending later on.

Overall the atmosphere in this book was great and makes me want to read on in the series. If you liked "The Wizard of Oz" you have to pick this up, as long as you can get over Dorothy being the bad guy. For everyone who hasn't read "The Wizard of Oz" : just read "Dorothy must Die" anyway.

The Girl on the Train

The Girl on the Train
author: Paula Hawkins
published by: Riverhead Books
released: January 13th 2015
pages: 325
my rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars



I think it is best to go into this book without knowing anything about it. So even if I personally think this review doesn't contain spoilers you might still want to stop reading here and come back after you read it. I highly recommend this book!






A debut psychological thriller that will forever change the way you look at other people’s lives.

Rachel takes the same commuter train every morning. Every day she rattles down the track, flashes past a stretch of cozy suburban homes, and stops at the signal that allows her to daily watch the same couple breakfasting on their deck. She’s even started to feel like she knows them. “Jess and Jason,” she calls them. Their life—as she sees it—is perfect. Not unlike the life she recently lost.

And then she sees something shocking. It’s only a minute until the train moves on, but it’s enough. Now everything’s changed. Unable to keep it to herself, Rachel offers what she knows to the police, and becomes inextricably entwined in what happens next, as well as in the lives of everyone involved. Has she done more harm than good?

“Sometimes I catch myself trying to remember the last time I had meaningful physical contact with another person, just a hug or a heartfelt squeeze of my hand, and my heart twitches.”

One thing you can learn from this book? Nothing is as it seems. Nobody in this book is perfect and I think thats one reason why I like this book so much. I know I didn't give it five stars but I have a feeling "The Girl on the Train" will stick to my mind for a while.

Rachel feels like she knows the two people living in the house she waches from the train but when she actually learns more about them she has to realize that the perfect couple she imagined doesn't actually exist. I found it fascinating to see how the seemingly happy and perfect wife "Jess" slowly transformed into Megan, a woman with lots of problems, so many, not even her husband knew about them all. Her story made me want to cry in more than one occasion, that's how sad it is.

"This isn't a good idea. I know it's not a good idea. But what harm can it do?"

When I first started reading, I thought Rachel herself was happy and content with her life but it turns out fairly quick that this isn't the case either. Personally, I couldn't help but feel with her while she struggles to get herself together but I was also glad to see that it wasn't displayed as to easy. She is an alcoholic and also depressed and doesn't get better over night. Also she does make lots of mistakes throughout the book and sometimes I felt like shaking her, yet I continued to like her.

Another thing I liked about this book was how quickly Paula Hawkins managed to make me hate Tom and Anna, Rachel's ex-husband and his new wife. I especially loathed Anna and the chapters written from her perspective made me hate her even more. Really I don't think I despised someone that much for a while but Anna managed it without problem.

Something every thriller should do is keep you guessing. At least for me this was no problem. Maybe I'm just bad in catching plot twists, but I had no idea where the story was going until the very end and even though it seems logical now and I think I should have known earlier, I didn't.

I think you should be in a good mood while reading this, because it is a little depressing at times but other than that I highly recommend this book!

Soundless

Soundless
author: Richelle Mead
published by: Razorbill
released: November 10th 2015
pages: 266
my rating: 4 out of 5 stars












For as long as Fei can remember, no one in her village has been able to hear. Rocky terrain and frequent avalanches make it impossible to leave the village, so Fei and her people are at the mercy of a zipline that carries food up the treacherous cliffs from Beiguo, a mysterious faraway kingdom. 

When villagers begin to lose their sight, deliveries from the zipline shrink. Many go hungry. Fei and all the people she loves are plunged into crisis, with nothing to look forward to but darkness and starvation.

One girl hears a call to action…

Until one night, Fei is awoken by a searing noise. Sound becomes her weapon.

She sets out to uncover what’s happened to her and to fight the dangers threatening her village. A handsome miner with a revolutionary spirit accompanies Fei on her quest, bringing with him new risks and the possibility of romance. They embark on a majestic journey from the peak of their jagged mountain village to the valley of Beiguo, where a startling truth will change their lives forever…

And unlocks a power that will save her people.

This book had me interested from the moment I heard about it. A fantasy stand alone book about Chinese Folklore? I definitely haven't ever seen something like that before. Also this book has gotten amazing reviews from a lot of people so I was really excited to start reading it. I didn't love this book like I hoped I would, but I still really enjoyed it.

My biggest problem with this book was that it was only 266 pages long. I really wished it would have been longer, because I loved reading about Fei's world and 266 pages weren't enough for me. Also the pacing in this book was a little of in my opinion. The book takes about 80 pages to really get going but the middle and ending sometimes felt a little rushed with some parts that have way too much information at a time. The ending wrapped up nicely, but a bit too perfect - at some point every problem was solved with hardly anything going wrong.

The fantasy part of this book is something I'm still conflicted about. It practically was non-existent in the majority of this book and I think it wasn't really necessary to bring it in at all.
As for the Chinese folklore: I've heard some people say it isn't like Asian culture at all, but since I don't know all that much about that topic I can't say if it was represented well in this book or not. I felt this aspect of the book was very interesting and well written, but once again I don't know if it's actually accurate.

I loved reading about Fei's romance with Li Wei but I had my issues with it in the beginning. The two grew up together and also already in love with each other but broke up, all before this book starts, which made it hard to me to understand the attraction Fei felt for Li Wei at first. After I learned more about Li Wei and their past however, I totally got it.

This is the first book of Richelle Mead I've read so far and I discovered that I absolutely adore her writing style. The way she describes Fei regaining her hearing and her and Li Wei discovering the unknown outside of their village was truly amazing. The fact that no one actually speaks in the entire book and only communicates in sign language didn't bother me at all but rather gave this book a unique touch I definitely enjoyed.

It may not have been as mind-blowing as I would have liked it to be, but it was still very good. I recommend it for everyone who is looking for an enjoyable read!

The Raft

The Raft
author: S. A. Bodeen
published by: Feiwel & Friends
released: August 21st 2012
my rating: 5 out of 5 stars











Robie is an experienced traveler. She's taken the flight from Honolulu to the Midway Atoll, a group of Pacific islands where her parents live, many times. When she has to get to Midway in a hurry after a visit with her aunt in Hawaii, she gets on the next cargo flight at the last minute. She knows the pilot, but on this flight, there's a new co-pilot named Max. All systems are go until a storm hits during the flight. The only passenger, Robie doesn't panic until the engine suddenly cuts out and Max shouts at her to put on a life jacket. They are over miles of Pacific Ocean. She sees Max struggle with a raft.

And then . . . she's in the water. Fighting for her life. Max pulls her onto the raft, and that's when the real terror begins. They have no water. Their only food is a bag of Skittles. There are sharks. There is an island. But there's no sign of help on the way.

First of all, this book is the reason I'm not to eager to board a plane again anytime soon (or get my nose pierced).
The summary really made me want to read this book and to be honest the cover as well. When I finally picked it up it sucked me in from page one and I read it in probably two hours. It's a fast paced book as well and has only 231 pages, so it's a very quick read. Also there was no part in this book, where I was bored, which was a fear of mine before I started reading it.

Since the main plot consists of their survival on the raft, there's not really much to say except that I loved it. I don't know what it's really like to try to survive in the ocean, but the way it's described here sounds very convincing and realistic.
And the plot twist in this book! Looking back, it may have been obvious but I did not expect what happened at all and was totally surprised. I had to sit there for a moment and process what just happened, but then it started to make sense and I seriously don't know how I managed to miss it.

Except for a short part in the beginning and the ending the two main characters are the only people we meet.
Robie was an amazing character, I absolutely loved her. She has no idea what to do in her situation, which is totally understandable and tries to figure everything out regardless. I like how she isn't fearless and doesn't stay completely calm all the time but instead is scared and almost giving up in some parts, but is still tough (if that makes any sense at all) and does her best to get a grip and manage the situation the best she can.
I didn't know what to think of Max and I still don't know if I like him yet. He is older than Robie, but doesn't do that much and sleeps or is unconscious a lot, but since that get explained later on I was OK with that.

If the plot line of this book interested you even just a little, you should read it and will not be disappointed. Maybe not read it on a plane or ship, but otherwise I think this is a book everyone will enjoy. I'm already looking forward to reading more books from this author.

the Murder Complex

the Murder Complex
Author: Lindsay Cummings
published by: Greenwillow Books
released: June 10th, 2014
my rating: 3 out of 5 stars












Meadow Woodson, a fifteen-year-old girl who has been trained by her father to fight, to kill, and to survive in any situation, lives with her family on a houseboat in Florida. The state is controlled by The Murder Complex, an organization that tracks the population with precision.

The plot starts to thicken when Meadow meets Zephyr James, who is—although he doesn’t know it—one of the MC’s programmed assassins. Is their meeting a coincidence? Destiny? Or part of a terrifying strategy? And will Zephyr keep Meadow from discovering the haunting truth about her family?

I really wanted to love this book and was almost sure I would when I picked it up. But instead of absolutely blowing my mind, this book was just... OK. The idea and main plot really amazed and intrigued me but it was just executed poorly. It wasn't bad or anything but since I thought this was going to be an amazing book, I was disappointed.

The beginning of the book was definitely the worst part of the book for me. There were only a few explanations concerning the world they live in and even though thats the case in a lot of books I felt like the author had to work out the details herself while writing. This may not have been the case at all, but thats just what I thought while reading it.

The main characters also bothered me while reading. The book jumps between Meadow's and Zephyr's POV every chapter, which wouldn't be a problem, but some chapters were only two or three pages long and their thoughts sounded so similar, I got confused to who the narrater was once or twice.

Reading about their thoughts and emotions was a little like watching the story play out from behind a screen. Don't get me wrong, I liked their characters, they just didn't seem to have a lot of depth.    Especially Meadow seemed to have only few to no feelings or emotions at all. I get that she's supposed to be really tough but that doesn't mean she can't show any sort of emotions.
This bothered me in particular when she learns about some major secrets, because she just accepts everything she finds out without being surprised at all which lead to me not feeling particular wowed by the plot twists either. Zephyr is similar in the beginning, but I feel like his character got better with time.

For a moment it seemed like there would be Insta love which would have made me really mad, but that luckily wasn't the case.

But even though, I feel like this book has a lot of flaws the storyline still made me like this book. This certainly isn't the average dystopian world and it definitely has a lot of blood and violence. I did really like some of the side characters, especially Peri and Talan and overall I felt like the book got gradually better. I can definitely see why lots of people love this book but I didn't love it and I'm not sure yet if I'll continue with this series.