Book Review: The Maze Runner

The Maze Runner
By James Dashner

My edition:
Paperback, 374 pages
2009, Delacorte Press
ISBN: 9780385737951

Thomas wakes up in a lift, no memory of where he is or who he is, only his first name. He soon discovers he’s been trapped in The Maze with about 50 other boys, all clueless as to their past and striving to solve this impossible puzzle and make their escape. The Maze changes daily and is full of dangerous creatures, but all the boys hold the hope that whoever put them in this place, left them with a way out. Thomas is determined to become a Runner, someone who explores the maze and find an escape route. The day after Thomas’s arrival, however, a girl arrives – the first to be sent to The Maze – and everything changes.

Book Review: Vampire Academy

Vampire Academy
By Richelle Mead

My edition:
Paperback, 332 pages
2007, Razorbill
ISBN: 9781595141743

2/5 stars

Lissa is a Moroi princess – a mortal vampire with a magical connection to the earth’s elements. Rose, her best friend, is a dhampir – half human, half vampire, dedicated to protecting Lissa from the Strigoi. The Strigoi are Moroi who have lost their powers but gained immortality and immense strength and speed. They are determined to continue to turn Moroi and eventually destroy them. Lissa and Rose ran from St. Vladimir’s school, but have been brought back to the secluded Montana woods to continue their junior year of high school. But the girls discover the school may be more dangerous than the outside world.

I apologize if my summary is a little muddled – I don’t always like to quote from the back of the book, but this book has a lot going on and it was hard to be concise.

Book Review: Paper Towns

Paper Towns
By John Green

My edition:
Paperback, 305 pages
2008, Speak
ISBN: 9780142414934

3/5 stars

From the moment I read The Fault in Our Stars, I decided I loved John Green – at this point, I’m happy to read anything he’s written. Paper Towns is the third Green book I’ve read (Looking For Alaska is the other) and I’d say it’s third on my list of his books, thus far. I think that even had I read something else first, Fault would be my favorite, however, I still have three more of his books to read, so anything is possible!

Book Review: Sunlight and Shadow

Sunlight and Shadow
By Cameron Dokey

My edition:
Paperback, 184 pages
2004, Simon Pulse
ISBN: 0689869991

2/5 stars

Mina is the child of the Queen of the Night and the Mage of the Day. They’ve married to complete the world and join light and dark forever. Mina spent the first sixteen years of her life with her mother before being abducted by her father to marry a man of his choosing, due to a prophecy he overheard. Mina’s mother enlists the help of Mina’s childhood friend, Lapin, and a prince, Tern, to save Mina. Together, Mina and Tern must face deadly trials to prove their love and wisdom.

This book is part of a series of novels called Once Upon a Time, which are all retellings of fairy tales featuring teenage heroines and written by female authors – Cameron Dokey, Tracy Lynn, Debbie Viguie, Nancy Holder and Suzanne Weyn. Sunlight and Shadow is a revamp of a work by Mozart called The Magic Flute, which premiered in 1791.

April Wrap Up

So I keep a little notebook and I write down each book I read, how many pages it is, and any quotes I like and at the end of the month I total up my numbers for some nerdy statistics! My goal is to read at least 100 books each year (to try to catch up my overwhelmingly massive ‘to be read’ pile!) and I use a neat little Excel file that a friend created for me to total up all my numbers.