A Colloquy on Books

Josh and his sister are visiting the Isles of Wonder when a terrorist group biologically attacks the world, killing all of the adults. Josh and his sister are stranded on the island of the Isles of Wonder with other children who were visiting or live there. They come together to help each other but when accusations are aspersed small groups form. The islanders are on the brink of a war that will determine the future of the islanders. Will Josh and his sister come out safe and sound or will they lose their lives in this war? When I read the blurb for Neptune's Children , my first thought was: Gone  by Michael Grant. The basic idea of both novels is the same, all the adults disappear, the children are left to fend for themselves, cliques form etc. I thought that I would like it considering it was like Gone . But I didn't like it. I didn't like it very much because it was very predictable. You always knew who was going to cause problems. Another reason I didn't ...

Unwind  is the story of Connor, a boy who has been sent to be unwound because he gets into too many fights; Risa a ward of the state who doesn't make the cut and is sent to be unwound; and Lev a tithe. Lev is being sent to be unwound because his family believes they should give 10% of everything to God. Lev is their 10th child and therefore the 10% that needs to be given to God. Connor uses Lev as a human shield to escape while Risa uses the commotion caused by Connor and Lev to escape as well. The three form and iffy alliance to escaped the unwinding process. Will they avoid capture with support from each other or will they be unwound? The first time I heard about Unwind  I was skeptical. People taking kids apart to use their "parts?" I didn't think it would be a very interesting book in terms of how interesting the plot would be. I was definitely surprised at how it sucked me in. My favorite and least favorite thing about the book was how short the chapters ...

The Maze of Bones  is the story of Amy and Dan Cahill. After the death of their beloved grandmother Amy and Dan find out that they are members of one the most powerful families in the world. In her will Grace Cahill, Amy and Dan's grandmother, issues a select number of Cahills a challenge: take one million dollars and leave or join the hunt for the 39 clues which will make you the most powerful person in the world. Amy and Dan decide to join the hunt for the clues. Will they be successful in finding the clues or will their competitors beat them to it? I recently started reading the 39 clues series. I really regret not reading it when I was younger because I would have loved it. I really liked the way Amy and Dan were so normal yet abnormal. I also liked the mystery that shrouded the whole book. You thought you knew what was going on and then BOOM! Another piece of information was revealed and it changes your mind on everything. I would give The Maze of B...

Code Name Verity  is a story about a British spy who has been captured. She tell us her story through the story of her friend Maddie. The spy openly admits that she is a coward and that her death is two weeks away. She gives away sets of wireless codes to delay her death. Does she somehow escape or does she meet Death like an old friend? Code Name Verity  is a book that I normally wouldn't read on my own. I read it for a competition.. The thing about it is that Code Name Verity  totally surprised me. I thought it would be one of those boring historical books but no it was actually very interesting. It was very mysterious which made me want to keep reading. I liked it very much. One of my friends had already read it and she didn't like it. Since I have very similar tastes in books as she does, I was a bit apprehensive when I started reading it. But it totally sucked me in. I would give it 5 stars just because of the amazing plot and sudden twists and turns that shock...

Defiance is the story of Rachel, the daughter of Baalbodem’s most skilled tracker. Jared, Rachel’s father has been on a mission for three months. On the last day of the three months Jared is declared dead by the leader of the city, the Commander. Rachel is assigned a new Protector, Logan. Logan is Jared’s apprentice and also the boy who was loved by Rachel two years ago. Rachel believes that her father is still alive. She formulates a plan with the help of Logan to go out of the city and and search for her father. Will she find her father or will she uncover something far bigger? My first impression of Defiance was, “This book is dystopian.” But as I got into it a bit more I realized it was fantasy. With a title like Defiance it sounds like a dystopian novel. But it wasn’t meant to be. The book was good but I expected a bit more on the Cursed One. I would have liked a better explanation of the Cursed One. The only thing I got from it was that it was a dragon-like creature th...

When I started reading Son , I was really excited. I couldn’t wait to see how Lois Lowry would tie up The Giver , Gathering Blue , and The Messenger . I was really surprised at the point of view. I did not expect it to be from the view of a birthmother. After I finished Part I I had an idea of how of how she would tie everything up but I never imagined what came next. She took all the unanswered questions from all the other books and answered them. Lois Lowry went beyond just answering the questions she put in a very huge unexpected twist at the end. I would give it 5 stars just because of the fact that she finally finished the story with a memorable ending. Here is the Goodreads link for Son :  http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13324841-son Note: The reason for this book not having a blurb or summary is that Son   is the fourth book in a series and I do not want to spoil the first three books for people who haven't read them yet.

The  House of the Scorpion is a story about Matt, a clone. Matt is the clone of Matteo Alacrán or El Patrón, the ruler of Opium. Opium is a country that is between the United States and Aztlán (formerly Mexico). Opium is a part of the Dope Confederacy which consists of a bunch of countries that produce various drugs. Matt lives the first 6 years of his life happily. Then he sees Steven, Emilia, and María through his window and wants to join them. He breaks the window and jumps out, landing on the glass. His feet get cut by the glass and Steven, Emilia, and María carry him back to their house. There he is treated. He lives luxuriously for a little while. But Steven’s father, Mr. Alacrán figures out that Matt is clone and tells a maid to take him away. He is locked into a room filled with sawdust for his “litter”. That begins the long line hardships Matt is to face. When I began reading The House of the Scorpion I had no idea what it was about. I just opened it and started r...