Wither

"Wither (The Chemical Garden #1)" by Lauren DeStefano
Hardcover: 358 pages
Published: Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing (March 22, 2011)

Description:
Obviously, something went terribly wrong. Genetic mutations have festered, reducing human longevity to twenty-five, even less for most women. To prevent extinction, young girls are kidnapped, mated in polygamous marriages with men eager to procreate. Sixteen-year-old Rhine Ellery, a recent victim of this breeding farm mentality, has vowed to break loose from its fetters; but finding allies and a safe way out is a challenge she can only hope she will survive. A dystopian fantasy series starter with wings.

This was a fantastic book!  I absolutely can't wait to continue this series when the new books are published.  I only wish that I didn't have to wait.

This book reminds me a lot of the book "Matched" that I did a review on.  I really like these kinds of futuristic events type books.  This book is about a future society that has women only living until the age of 20 and men until the age 25 due to messing with genetics in the past.  A perfect genetic society is created from the remnants of the older society with health problems, diseases, etc.  They create a society that doesn't get sick and get cancer, etc.  Only after creating them, do they realize that they don't live long.  Many of this new society become experiments to determine the exact cause in hopes of finding a cure.  The children born of this new society also are the subject of experimentation.  Many of the women/girls of this perfect society are married off and auctioned off to help create a new generation.  This book is the story of one such girl that is kidnapped against her will, and forced to marry.  She is constantly trying to find a way out of her prison.  The imagery in this book is wonderful and beautiful.  I really loved it.

The next book in this series: "Fever" due out on 2-21-12

Beastly

"Beastly" by Alex Flinn
Paperback: 336 pages
Publisher: Harper Teen (October 1, 2007)

Description:
Now a major motion picture starring Vanessa Hudgens and Alex Pettyfer
I am a beast.
A beast!
Not quite wolf or bear, gorilla or dog but a horrible new creature who walks upright. I am a monster.
You think I'm talking fairy tales? No way. The place is New York City. The time is now. It's no deformity, no disease. And I'll, stay this way forever ruined unless I can break the spell.
Yes, the spell, the one the witch in my English class cast on me. Why did she turn me into a beast who hides by day and prowls by night? I'll tell you. I'll tell you how I used to be Kyle Kingsbury, the guy you wished you were, with money, perfect looks, and the perfect life. And then, I'll tell you how I became perfectly...beastly.

I thought this book was way better than "Cloaked" by Alex Flinn.  If all of Alex's books were like this, then maybe more would be made into movies.  I didn't think I would enjoy this after reading "Cloaked" but I was wrong.  It was cheesy in some parts, but it is after all a re-tell of the classic "Beauty and the Beast".  Just make it in today's time period, and there you go.  I'm looking forward to seeing the movie now that I've read the book, but I've heard that they changed some very important parts in the movie that should have been left alone.  We'll see, I guess.

Not Enough Time

Uughh!!!  I just can't find the time to read this summer...I'm quite bummed by this.  I really wanted to read "Delirium" but had to return it to the library because it was due.  This is the second time that has happened with this book...maybe it's a sign?  Anyway, I'm back to trying to start to read "Uglies".  Hopefully I will finish it before summer is over.

"Beauty Queens"

"Beauty Queens" by Libba Bray
Hardcover: 390 pages
Published: Scholastic Press (May 24, 2011)

Book Description:
From bestselling, Printz Award-winning author Libba Bray, the story of a plane of beauty pageant contestants that crashes on a desert island.
Teen beauty queens. A "Lost"-like island. Mysteries and dangers. No access to email. And the spirit of fierce, feral competition that lives underground in girls, a savage brutality that can only be revealed by a journey into the heart of non-exfoliated darkness. Oh, the horror, the horror! Only funnier. With evening gowns. And a body count.

This book was a really great fun read!  I read this in no time, and had fun doing so.  If you are in the mood for a good beach/summer read, then pick this one up!

The storyline reads as that of a movie or television show including commercial breaks.  Very interesting that way, too.  Was fun to see how these beauty queen characters handled being stranded on an island.  You can almost imagine these events actually happening to teenage beauty queen contestants with hilarious results!  A very fun and funny book!

Cloaked

"Cloaked" by Alex Flinn
Hardcover: 341 pages
Published: Harper Collins (February 8th, 2011)

Description:
I'm not your average hero. I actually wasn't your average anything. Just a poor guy working an after-school job at a South Beach shoe repair shop to help his mom make ends meet. But a little magic changed it all.
It all started with a curse. And a frognapping. And one hot-looking princess, who asked me to lead a rescue mission.
There wasn't a fairy godmother or any of that. And even though I fell in love along the way, what happened to me is unlike any fairy tale I've ever heard. Before I knew it, I was spying with a flock of enchanted swans, talking (yes, talking!) to a fox named Todd, and nearly trampled by giants in the Everglades.
Don't believe me? I didn't believe it either. But you'll see. Because I knew it all was true, the second I got cloaked.

Hmmm...where to begin on this review?  There were times when I liked this book, but mostly I thought it was too cheesy and fairytale-like.  I know that this is the whole point of this book, and if you like that kind of stuff then you'll enjoy it.  I tend to prefer books that are at least believable in their fiction.  This was an interesting read, and I didn't stop reading it.  It took me a while tho, since I wasn't anticipating reading more.  I probably won't read any others by this author, although her book "Beastly" is wildly popular and made into a movie.  I guess if you liked that movie, then you might like this book also.

To my German friend:

Wie geht es dir mein deutscher Freund?
Wie gefällt Ihnen mein Blog?

I just won a free book!

I am a subscriber to the blog: www.addicted2novels.blogspot.com and signed up for one of her giveaways, and I won a free book from anything YA that was published in April!  Yippeee!  Thanks, Lena!