Soundtrack Saturday | Waterfall by Lisa Tawn Bergren

This is a meme hosted by Erin @ The Hardcover Lover. In this meme, I make a soundtrack of about 10 or 15 songs for a book I recently read, provide brief descriptions of the songs and what I feel they represent, and I'll have a link to the Spotify playlist.

This week's book is Waterfall by Lisa Tawn Bergren.

Review | Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes

Flowers for Algernon

Author: Daniel Keyes

Release Date: 1959

Pages: 311

Review by: Cassia

Charlie has never been...the brightest being on earth. With an IQ of 68 and a big heart, he is taken advantage of by everyone, teased, and exiled by his own family. When the opportunity arises for him to have an operation that will increase his intelligence, he is eager to do it, despite the risks. As his intelligence increases, he remembers things about his childhood he never knew, learns about that world around him, and his morals become compromised, especially when he finds out that he’s been a laughing stock of society.

Soundtrack Saturday | Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes

Hey everyone! Cassia here! I know y'all haven't heard from me for a while, and I apologize. My life's been crazy the past couple months, but I'm back, and I'm starting up Soundtrack Saturdays again, like Tessa promised (quite a while ago, actually). So, here's my first post since "coming back" to the blog: a playlist for Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes (review to come).

This is a meme hosted by Erin @ The Hardcover Lover. In this meme, I make a soundtrack of about 15 or 20 songs for a book I recently read, provide brief descriptions of the songs and what I feel they represent, and I'll have a link to the Spotify playlist.

Soundtrack Saturday #2: To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

This is a meme hosted by Erin @ The Hardcover Lover. In this meme, I make a soundtrack of about 15 or 20 songs for a book I recently read, provide brief descriptions of the songs and what I feel they represent, and I'll have a link to the Spotify playlist.

This week, I'm doing a classic I recently re-read. I love this book so much. It might sound a little odd, though, with modern music as a soundtrack for a book set in the '30s.


To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

Review | The Coldest Girl in Coldtown by Holly Black

The Coldest Girl in Coldtown 

Author: Holly Black
Release Date: September 3, 2013
Pages: 419
Review by: Cassia

When Tana wakes up the bathroom of her friend Lance’s farmhouse, hungover, she can’t believe that she was passed out that long, and that nobody woke her up. When she walks out into the living room, however, she finds a massacre: all her friends, dead. Blood everywhere. Their blood drained. After gaining the courage to walk into the next room for her keys and phone, she finds her ex-boyfriend, Aidan, and a vampire in chains. As soon as she makes the choice to save them, she is thrown into a rollercoaster of action, courage, determination, and blood.

I’m going to say this right now: I am not a vampire person. I never have been. However, I did enjoy this book. As you all know, I absolutely love Holly Black. I’ll read anything she writes. She always comes up with such unique ideas. I’ve never heard of anything close to the vampire world she creates in Coldtown: any vampires or infected humans are quarantined. Once they go in, they never get out. Even children that are born in Coldtowns never get out. No exceptions. To go along with that, she comes up with some pretty creepy stuff. Like, some of the characters want to become vampires and they use all these terms that are completely wacko, even for a world that crazy. It makes Tana’s world much more real.

There’s not much I can say about Black’s writing that I haven’t already said in other reviews, but I have to say it again. The vocabulary she uses is incredible. In a lot of young adult books, you don’t see a whole lot of vocabulary that makes you pull out a dictionary (or in my case, the dicitonary.com app on my phone). In her books, though (and some other authors), she forces you to think, and I love that. Even if I don’t particularly like the book she writes, I enjoy reading it.

Honestly, not too much happens in this book. Well, it does, but what I mean is, it’s not as action-packed as other books. However, something always comes up. Just as Tana clears one hurdle, another one jumps up in her path, from ground that looked safe. Another interesting thing is that when Tana does some things, she doesn’t really know why she does it, and I like the mystery it gives the reader about her. There are themes in this book, as there are in every book, but mostly I was entertained by the plot.

On to the characters! First we have Tana, our protagonist. Tana is a born survivor. Her surviving skills aren’t as much physical as they are mental. She might not know exactly what she’s doing, but she’s smart enough to figure it out as she goes. Also, she’s extremely compassionate. She’s in the middle of a massacre, and instead of giving in to her instinct to run, she decides to save her ex-boyfriend and a bloodthirsty, crazy vampire. Because they’re in chains and helpless. That takes a lot of kindness and courage. Now, this vampire that’s with Aidan (her ex)... I promised myself I would never fall for a vampire in a book. But I did. I fell so hard. Oh, by the way, this guy’s name is Gavriel. (Yes, I spelled it right. ;)) You all probably know this, but I love the interesting characters; they’re the ones I fall for. Gavriel is mysterious, dark, hurt, and insane. No, I’m not kidding: his mind isn’t totally right. He likes to speak in metaphors and quote poets. (AHHHHH how awesome is that?!?!) Which is also another reason why I fell for him. His relationship with Tana is interesting, too. Then you’ve got Tana’s ex, Aidan. I don’t really like him too much. I feel bad for him, mostly. He’s broken, too, but he’s kind of a baby about it. You can’t blame him, but I just don’t like that in characters. There are some other minor characters along the way that are eccentric, and some of them I like. Two of them are Midnight and Winter. They’re just crazy if you ask me. I like Valentina, though, but she comes in later, so I won’t way too much about her.

Black creates complex relationships between unique characters that are worth reading for, and a world that is different from the stereotypes.

Four stars!

Goodbye for now,

Cassia

Soundtrack Saturday #1: The Coldest Girl in Coldtown by Holly Black

Hi everybody! Cassia here! Just a little introduction to the first one before I actually start the post. I'll be doing this meme weekly, unless Max or Tessa want to do it every once in a while. Also, we now have a Spotify account! The account will be managed by Max and I, and I'll kind of "take charge" of it since she's already doing Pinterest. So go follow us on Spotify @ crazyforya !

This is a meme hosted by Erin @ The Hardcover Lover. In this meme, I make a soundtrack of about 15 or 20 songs for a book I recently read, provide brief descriptions of the songs and what I feel they represent, and I'll have a link to the Spotify playlist.





The Coldest Girl in Coldtown by Holly Black

"Hello, Brooklyn" by All Time Low

 This song represents Coldtowns--big cities, partying all night long.

"Burning Bright" by Shinedown

Tana's life before the party at Lance's house. She mentions that before the party, she never really felt alive, like she was hiding and distant from the world.

"I Get Off" by Halestorm

For Tana and Aidan, and their relationship. This song perfectly describes it.

"Prosthetic Head" by Green Day

Not relating to this book, this song is about celebrities, how the narrator thinks they're all fake. Relating to the book, it represents Lucien and his publicity, in regards to what the song is actually about.

"Viva la Vida" by Coldplay

This is the first of many on this playlist about Gavriel. For me, this one represents his "fall from grace," so to speak; how he changed when he was physically changed into a vampire.

"Stay Awake" by All Time Low

This is how Tana survives throughout the book. I picked this one mainly for the title, because that's Tana's mantra, but the song also goes with how Tana keeps herself alive.

"Bring Me to Life" by Evanescence
 What Winter and Midnight believe the Cold will do for them.
"Shed Some Light" by Shinedown
This is the only one I picked for Aidan specifically, and to me, this is him crying out to Tana. He's so scared, and doesn't want her to abandon him.

"Boulevard of Broken Dreams" by Green Day

Another one for Gavriel. :) This one describes his life: he walks alone.

"Breaking Inside" by Shinedown

Throughout the book, a lot of times, Tana feels as if she's losing it. This one is about that.

"I'm Not Alright" by Shinedown

This song is hilarious, and insane, and is a perfect fit for Gavriel. If you only have time to listen to one song on this playlist, listen to this one.

"21 Guns" by Green Day

This song is another one about Tana, about how broken she is, how she never really healed from what happened to her as a little girl. It's also about her fight to feel whole and alive again.

"Hallelujah" by Rufus Wainwright

Gavriel really is a broken "hallelujah." Behind his insanity, this is him.

"Peacemaker" by Green Day

For me, this describes Gavriel's life before the book: a vendetta, and utter craziness.

"The Forgotten" by Green Day

This is for both Tana and Gavriel. Here's how I imagine it in my head: Gavriel is singing the verse, about how lost and hopeless he is, and Tana is there singing the chorus to him, telling him not to run away, not to be afraid. I picture them singing it at the end of the book.

The Coldest Girl in Coldtown by Holly Black on Spotify

Hope you all enjoyed the first Soundtrack Saturday! A review of this book is coming soon. Let me know what you think of the songs I chose and any suggestions you might have in the comments!

Goodbye for now,

Cassia 

The Seven Deadly Sins Tag

Hi everybody! Cassia here! Sorry you haven't seen much of me for a while, my life's been hectic, to say the least. I'm making an effort to do more in the fall, starting now. ;) I've got a review coming, and a new meme I'll be doing, so keep an eye out for that.

So, since I haven't been doing much lately, I've decided to do this tag. Thanks again to Gloria Lo @ Gloria the Violinist for tagging us!

1. Greed~ What is your most inexpensive book? What is your most expensive book?
Most inexpensive that I can recall is Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick ($5 at Target), and the most expensive would be The Moon and More by Sarah Dessen ($20 at Books-a-Million, and I bought it right after it came out).

 










2. Wrath~ What author do you have a love/hate relationship with?
I don't really have a love/hate relationship with any author, but if I had to pick one it would be Veronica Roth. I love her writing, she's one of my favorite authors, and I would read anything she wrote, but that ending to Allegiant...still can't get over it.

 

3. Gluttony~ What book have you devoured over and over again with no shame?
Wicked Lovely and Darkest Mercy by Melissa Marr. Without question.

 










4. Sloth~ What book have you neglected reading due to laziness?
There are lots of those. See, I have a habit of buying books, putting them on my bookshelf (which is organized alphabetically by author's last name), and then forgetting I ever bought it. The one I have neglected the most is probably Switched by Amanda Hocking. 

5. Pride~ What book do you talk about most in order to sound like an intellectual reader?
I don't really do this a lot, actually. But if I had to pick one it would be Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card. It's sci-fi and along with technology stuff, there's a lot of psychology, so it makes me feel smarter to talk about it.

 
6. Lust~ What attributes do you find attractive in male characters?
Oooh, I like this one. :D Hmm...I usually go for the bad boys in books: tortured, moody, passionate, broken. As for physical attributes--(usually) dark hair, green or blue or brown eyes, basically Mr. Tall, Dark, and Handsome.

[I don't really have a picture for this one, so picture one of these three: Seth from Wicked Lovely, Four from Divergent (but not Theo James), or Will Herondale from The Infernal Devices. Okay, mainly Will. ;)] 

7. Envy~ What book would you most like to receive as a gift?
This changes, but right now it's City of Heavenly Fire by Cassandra Clare, and all of the TMI books. I haven't bought it because (1) it's expensive and (2) it's big and I don't want to get it from the library and be rushed to finish it.

 
I'm tagging Beatrice M @ Confessions of a Pinay Bookaholic and Erin @ The Hardcover Lover. Have fun!

Goodbye for now,
Cassia

Red Glove by Holly Black

Hey everybody! Cassia here! I finished this book a couple days ago, but I was on vacation when I finished it and I wasn't able to review it until now. Enjoy!

WARNING: This is the second book in the Curseworker Series by Holly Black. If you have not read the first book in the series, White Cat, I highly suggest you stop reading now. If you have read it, read on! Thank you!

Red Glove by Holly Black

Cassel is a transformation worker: the most powerful worker in the United States, maybe even North America. When his brother Philip is murdered, the Feds come to Cassel. Cassel has no idea who could have murdered his brother. He knows who has a motive, but those people wouldn’t be so careless as to get caught by a security camera. None of it makes sense. Not to mention that his first--and current--love, Lila, has been worked to love him. He knows it’s not real, but he can’t help falling for the illusion. Cassel is on a rollercoaster of emotions, plots, and secrets, and he can’t seem to get off of it.

Black does not disappoint in the second book of the Curseworker Series. I prefer the first book to this one, I think, but this book was different than the first, and I really liked it. This book has a mystery flair to it. It’s very different from White Cat and I think it’s better like that. There aren’t a whole lot of big secrets anymore, with Cassel’s being a transformation worker revealed. Most authors would try to bring in another character, have another secret and probably lose the reader. But Black keeps the same characters, kills one of them, and then writes a mystery novel with brilliantly interwoven plot lines. It’s genius, if you ask me. I would never think to do that. I absolutely love Black’s writing. Here’s one--of many-- examples: “Barron shrugs philosophically.” How do you shrug philosophically? Yet “philosophically” is the perfect word for it. At that time, Barron was wordlessly suggesting something, and Black sums it all up in one word. That takes skill. Just the words she uses...it amazes me. I admire her as an author, and I love her writing.

The ending is great. I won’t say what it is, but I can still talk about it. I am a huge mystery fan, even though I don’t read mysteries a lot. I love love love the Sherlock Holmes stories and novels. (No, I have not seen the BBC TV show. Please don’t kill me. ;)) The end is kind of set up like that: the hero reveals the solution through events, and then goes to the murderer and tells them how they did it. I loved it! It was set up very well, and you can tell that Black put a lot of thought into it.

Not only was there a mystery element to this book, Black brings in politics. There were some politics in the first book, but they were kind of in the background. In the second book, Black brings them a little more to the forefront. In White Cat, we hear about proposition two, which says that in the state of New Jersey, everyone is required to take the hypobathygammic (did I spell that right?) test. Of course, the government would somehow get ahold of the information, diminishing worker rights. Daneca is a huge worker rights supporter, and is determined to not let proposition two get passed into law. With her being more of a main character, not just in the background, the worker rights comes with her. You get to find out a lot more about her.

And Lila...I really don’t know what to say about her. Yes, she is in this book a lot, but it’s not really her. She’s cursed to love Cassel, and that kind of takes over her life, so she ends up going to school at Wallingford with him. In the last book, you only saw a little bit of her, too, at the end. That was the real her. Almost the whole book (Red Glove), she’s cursed, so you don’t really see who she really is. Therefore, I can’t really say anything about her, except that I think I might like her. But I don’t know, it’s hard to tell.

Now to Cassel. Okay, I’ll be honest, I haven’t fallen this hard for a fictional character in a while. It’s hard not to like him. He’s smart, even though he’s convinced that he’s stupid. Maybe he’s not book smart, but he’s street genius. Just look at the cons he sets up; they’re very clever. Even if he forgets some small details, he covers up for them fast. Forget to come up with one part of a story? He makes it up on the fly, and it makes sense with the rest of the story. I think the thing that I love the most about him is how utterly good he is, and he doesn’t even realize it. Even though he’s done so many bad things for so many bad reasons, he’s a good person. For example, look at the murders he committed. He did it because he wanted to be in on the jokes, in on the “fun.” And yes, he lies, he cheats, he steals. But that’s all he knows how to do. I’m not saying that makes it right; I’m saying he still has his priorities straight. It’s really hard to explain, but he really is good. And the kicker is that he hates himself for everything he’s done. Like I said in my review of White Cat, he accepts his faults. He knows the things he does are bad. Yet he’s a good person. Does that make sense? It’s really hard to explain; I apologize for any confusion.

Black continues the story of her curseworkers with gorgeous writing, new themes, and a messed up society.

Four stars!

Goodbye for now,

Cassia

Elixir by Ted Galdi: Review and Author Interview

Hey everybody! Cassia here! On Goodreads, through The YA Book Club, Ted Galdi offered to send a free copy of his debut novel to anyone who would write an honest review in return. So of course I offered to review it. Once again, thank you Mr. Galdi! Here's my review, and he has kindly offered to do an author interview, so that's after the review. Enjoy!

Elixir 

by Ted Galdi

Released on July 31, 2014
259 pages
Young Adult, Thriller, Action

Sean Malone is a genius. At age 11, he was the champion of Jeopardy!, winning over one million dollars. At 14, he comes up with a dangerous formula and becomes tangled in a deadly plot with the NSA. Unable to do anything else, he flees the country. Years later, he falls in love. But his girlfriend contracts one of the world’s worst diseases. Sean believes he can cure her, but to do that would mean to return to the demons of his past. Elixir follows Sean as he fights against the world in an effort to save the life of the girl he loves.

North of Beautiful by Justina Chen Headley

Hey everybody! Here's another review for you all. I finished this book and reviewed it a while ago, and I just got around to posting it. Sorry about that. Anywho, here you go!

North of Beautiful by Justina Chen Headley

Terra is beautiful. From behind. Her body is perfectly toned and in shape. However, when she turns around, her face isn’t so beautiful. Or that’s what she and her classmates think, even her boyfriend. But when she runs into--literally runs into--Jacob, she starts to doubt herself even more than she has before. However, it’s not in a bad way. Can Terra work up the courage to face her fears and become comfortable in her own skin?

As some of you may have seen from our Friday 56 post, I just couldn’t get into this book. I usually love books like this, but I didn’t love this one. I don’t normally compare books to other stereotypical books, but here I will:

Review | White Cat by Holly Black

White Cat 

Author: Holly Black
Series: Curse Workers #1
Release Date: May 4, 2010
Pages: 310
Review by: Cassia

Cassel Sharpe comes from a family of curse workers: people who, with the touch of a bare hand, can make you love someone, break your leg, give you good luck, take your memories, or even kill you, depending on what type of worker they are. But Cassel isn’t a worker, and he’s an outsider in the one place he should feel like he belongs: his family. Oh, and he killed his best friend Lila when he was fourteen.

But he doesn’t know why. All he can remember is the feeling of gleefulness as he stared down at her body. When Cassel starts sleepwalking and having weird dreams about a white cat, he knows he’s being worked. What he doesn’t know is who could be doing it.

Keeping the Moon by Sarah Dessen

Hey everybody! Cassia here! Happy Memorial Day! And to all veterans who might be reading this: Thank you so much for your service from all of us here at Crazy For YA, and we are remembering you and all of those who died serving our country. Also, here's another review for you all.

Keeping the Moon by Sarah Dessen

When Colie goes to live with her aunt for the summer, she expects the worst summer ever. What she doesn't expect is to meet Morgan and Isabel. As Colie spends more time there, she starts to realize things about herself and what she can do. Can she overcome her fear of being judged?

Okay you all know I love Sarah Dessen. But, I just didn't like this book as much. I don't know if it was because it was hard to get through or what, but it wasn't the best of her books. It was well written, yes, but even though Colie's history was interesting, she herself was not. The plot was a little slow, and it seemed...I don't want to say this...stereotypical. Stereotypical books aren't bad, but you need something to make it its own. This book just didn't do that.

Now for the characters. None of them really jumped out at me as great characters. Not that the main characters didn't have good qualities, they just weren't that...interesting. Colie, the protagonist, is likeable, but I mostly felt sorry for her. She was bullied all her life and had it all kept up inside her and never told anybody, not even her mom. In the book, her mom isn't really in the picture. She goes off to tour Europe and leaves Colie behind, but it turns out to be a good thing. I think my favorite character was Isabel. I liked her, but again, she wasn't extremely interesting. I liked Morgan, too, and I also felt sorry for her. Norman...yeah I like him. If there was a guy like him in reality, I would possibly have a crush on him. Not in the book, though. Well, okay, a little bit. :)

Now, don't get me wrong, I love Dessen's writing style. This book was very well written, as all of her books are. I liked it and it was good, but it just wasn't a book that stood out to me.

Dessen shows that even people who live in their past and hurt from it can turn their life around through a world of friendship and music.

Three stars!

Goodbye for now,

Cassia

Cascade by Lisa Tawn Bergren

Hey everybody! Cassia here! I figured it was time for another review, so here you go! Enjoy!

WARNING: This is the second book in the River of Time series by Lisa Tawn Bergren. I highly suggest that you read the first book, Waterfall, before reading this review. Thank you!

Cascade by Lisa Tawn Bergren

Now that Gabriella knows that she is in love with Marcello Forelli, she must convince her mother and her sister to come and stay in medieval Tuscany. With her mother starting to get used to the time period and Lia liking it more and more, Gabi and Macello fall even more in love with each other as they try to avoid war between Siena and Florence. Now that they are fully reunited, Gabi starts to wonder just what the tunnel is capable of, and if she can stay with Marcello forever…

If you’ve read the review of the first book in this series, Waterfall, you know that I love love love this series. While I didn’t like this book as much as the first, it was still amazing. It was not as fast-paced as Waterfall, but there was a lot more romance, which made me happy. Gabi knows that Marcello holds her heart, and she his. So, that makes it more interesting as far as their relationship goes. You get to really know Marcello, which is really nice. This book focuses more on the politics between Siena and Florence, and even the politics between families (*cough* Rossis *cough*). Lucky for me, Bergren makes these politics easy to understand.

For my thoughts on Bergren’s writing style and stuff like that, you can read my review of Waterfall here.

The characters are mostly the same, with some new additions. Well, one, really. Maybe some minor ones, but only one big one: Lord Rodolfo Greco. (Isn’t his name awesome? I like that name, Rodolfo.) He’s the exact opposite of Marcello: Tall, Dark, and Handsome. Not that Marcello isn’t tall and handsome, it just sounds cool. Rodolfo is dark and mysterious, and Gabi cannot figure him out. *****SPOILER***** Later in the series, he sort of kind of makes it a little bit of a love triangle, adding some drama for Marcello and Gabi. But only a teeny tiny bit. He has good intentions. *****END SPOILER***** I really like him, but I like Marcello better. Rodolfo made some choices that I personally think he shouldn’t have based on his position, but you can’t blame him. Gabi has changed a lot, and it is for the better. She has realized some things about life, and has turned to God to guide her in her new world. (That’s another reason I love these books so much: Christian fiction!!) Marcello has changed a little bit, but it may be one of those occasions in which you just come to know more about the character so it appears that they have changed when they really haven’t, you just see some qualities that were there all along but just became apparent. Frankly, I love when characters change, especially when they change for the better, and Bergren has done it here, and done it well.

Bergren continues Gabi’s story in a thrilling sequel that gives both action and romance to satisfy every reader.

Five stars!

Goodbye for now,

Cassia

Review | Waterfall by Lisa Tawn Bergren

Waterfall

Author: Lisa Tawn Bergren

Series: River of Time #1

Release Date: February 1, 2011

Pages: 369

Review by: Cassia

Gabriella’s life hasn’t been all that interesting. Except for the fact that, you know, her parents are archeologists. Their home is in Colorado, but they’ve made a second home in Italy, where her parents search for Etruscan tombs during the summer. While her and her sister Lia love Italy and think it’s beautiful, they do not like spending their summers at digs. Their summer is just like any other--boring--until Gabi discovers two handprints in Tomb Two. They match her and her sister’s handprints exactly. When they touch them, they get thrown back in time. In another time period (literally), Gabi is drawn to young Marcello Forelli. He has been promised to another since birth, and she knows she can’t get between them. Yet she can’t stop thinking about him…

I loved this book. Yes, I know, I say that about a lot of books. (I just love books in general, so I naturally like a lot of books, but if I don’t like it, or even one thing about it, you’ll know it.) But...this one has quickly become one of my favorites, for many reasons: (1) it’s historical fiction, (2) it’s set in medieval times, (3) it’s very well-written, and (4) it has a great cast of characters. Oh, and it’s fast-paced.

The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux

Hey everybody! Cassia here! I finally have another review for you all, and I'm working on another. There's more (a lot more), but I have to re-read those before I can provide an accurate review. So, here you go! (Note: the cover below is the original edition, and I read the public domain version in English.)

The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux

Christine Daae still thinks of her deceased father every day; his companionship, stories, and the music they made. Soon, her career takes off at the Paris Opera House when she is tutored by the mysterious Angel of Music. However, she has never seen him. Eventually she finds out that he is what the regulars of the opera refer to as the “opera ghost.” When his orders--which are made to help Christine--are dismissed as jokes, he terrorizes the opera with threats and murders to get what he wants. Christine’s love, Raoul, vows to save Christine from his grip before he can take her forever.

For those of you who don’t already know, I love musicals. One of them happens to be “The Phantom of the Opera.” So, when I found out that it was a book, and the book was in public domain on Amazon,

Here, There Be Dragons by James A. Owen

Hey hey everybody happy New Year! Cassia here! I finally have another review for you all, and one of my--well, my only--New Year's resolutions is to re-read the books I picked to review (all of which I haven't read in a while). So, here you go!

Here, There Be Dragons by James A. Owen

John, Charles, and Jack never knew another world existed besides their own, England during World War I. They find out that there is, and that they have to keep the atlas to it safe pretty quick when they find themselves being chased by a pack of Wendigo. And they don’t even know what Wendigo are, just that they better follow a peculiar man named Bert to safety to avoid being killed by them. They soon find themselves in the Archipelago of Dreams, where every tale they’ve ever been told is real, and they’re caught in the middle of a dark battle for control over the Archipelago.

The first thing that hooked me with this book was the title: Here, There Be Dragons. I’ll admit that I don’t know much about maps and sailing, but I do know that the phrase “Here, there be dragons” is a phrase used by early mapmakers to indicate that they have no idea what’s beyond the edge of their map, as it’s uncharted territory.

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Hey everybody! Cassia here! So, the Catching Fire movie came out last night, so I thought I would review The Hunger Games. I did not go last night, but I am going tomorrow, opening weekend again like the first movie. ;) Without further ado, here's the review!

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Katniss Everdeen is disgusted by her society. Not necessarily the people, but the way it’s run: everyone is poor, taken advantage of, the favorites are treated special, and the Hunger Games. Every year, one male and one female from the ages of 12 to 18 are forced to compete in a fight to the death. On live TV. What could possibly be more horrific? The people of the Capitol enjoy it. It is accepted as a fact, but for people like Katniss, people that fight just to survive, who are starving, it is the worst possible fate, especially if you’re from District 12. When her sister Prim is picked to basically go to her death, Katniss volunteers to save her. Does Katniss have the heart to kill 23 other teenagers, in self defense or not?

Alright, everyone’s heard of this book. Or the movie. Or something. However, I am still going to keep it spoiler-free. Now, I have read better books, but something about Collins’ style and storytelling drew me in.