Breathless by Lurlene McDaniel

"Travis Morrison is a champion diver and one of the most popular kids at school. On the first day of summer vacation, while boating on the lake with his friends, Travis attempts a silly stunt dive that goes wrong. He fears he has broken his leg. Instead, his trip to the hospital reveals he has a rare form of cancer, and to save him, the doctors tell his parents they must amputate. In an instant, Travis’s life and the lives of everyone around him are forever changed.

Travis is determined that he and only he should decide the course of his life. He has a plan, but he can’t carry it out alone. Will he convince one of his friends to fulfill his most important request?"

A very thought provoking read, Breathless confronts the very difficult subject of euthanasia.  I was expecting it to be somewhat short due to it's small size but I was not expecting the quickness of the book.  Once Travis discovers he has euthanasia, ever thing moves in fast forward.  It's just decision after decision.  No room for the characters to grow. Unlike books with good character development, I did not feel as though I knew the characters.  For me they were just as foreign as in the beginning. The book moves so fast that if feels as though you dont' have time to catch your breath.  

Breathless does make you think though about life and what it is worth.  Lurlene does not push one side or another leaving room for you to decide for yourself on what is the right thing to do.  That is something that I greatly appreciate. 

I was not overly fond of the book at all.  Even though it was written well, it just didn't have enough redeeming qualities.  

Can't wait!!!

I can't wait till Torment by Lauren Kate comes out!!! OK, I take it back, I can wait, I just don't want to.  The officail release date is....September 28th!! Coming right up.  Look for my review of Torment some time next month. If I can I would like to get it up this month but I'm not sure I can.

Birthmarked by Caragh M. O'Brien

"After climate change, on the north shore of Unlake Superior, a dystopian world is divided between those who live inside the wall, and those, like sixteen-year-old midwife Gaia Stone, who live outside. It’s Gaia’s job to “advance” a quota of infants from poverty into the walled Enclave, until the night one agonized mother objects, and Gaia’s parents are arrested. 

Badly scarred since childhood, Gaia is a strong, resourceful loner who begins to question her society. As Gaia’s efforts to save her parents take her within the wall, she herself is arrested and imprisoned. 

Fraught with difficult moral choices and rich with intricate layers of codes, BIRTHMARKED explores a colorful, cruel, eerily familiar world where one girl can make all the difference, and a real hero makes her own moral code."

Written in a utterly complex and highly detailed manner, Birthmarked an amazing  contribution to the literary world.  At first I was a little wary that I would not enjoy this read and yet now, I have rated it as my favorite read of the year! It was a extremely enjoyable book.  

To be perfectly honest though, I was very tempted to put Birthmarked down at first.  For the first 40 or so pages it was quite boring.  Not the most catchy beginning chapters.  But when Gaia goes through that wall, it's like BAM! Excitement!  The characters evolve well by the end of the book.  I was so impressed with the plot, I've actually not read a plot so thought out and creative for a long time.  In the very beginning O'Brien's writing was rather bland, a bit too dry and stiff for my likings. But as I said above, about the time the plot starts to pick up so does the writing.  Absolutely amazing. 

Gaia is an stunning character, in both her actions and thoughts. I love the way that once she makes up her mind on what's the right thing to do, she will do it and no one is stopping her.  Very strong.  Not only does this novel entertain you though, it also makes you think on what is right.  The choices that Gaia faces are extraordinarily tough to gauge what is right. At first glance you seem to know  what is right and yet once you see the other side your confidence begins to waver.  

I look forward to what Caragh O'Brien brings us next.

Stargazer by Claudia Grey

Both Bianca and Lucas will stop at nothing to see each other again—even if it means living a life of secrets and lies. But even as Bianca finds herself torn between two worlds, she soon discovers they aren't the only ones keeping secrets. Will powerful forces within Evernight Academy keep her from deciding her own fate, or claim her forever?

I was actually really impressed with Stargazer.  The plot is noticeably better. No weird nonsensical plot turns in this book, thank goodness! I really appreciated it that Claudia Grey put in some major character development on Balthazar's part.  Seriously I like him better than Lucius.  Charity was honestly not that villain like though.  A very lame villain indeed.  Once again Claudia Gray astounds me with her unique writing capabilities.  I will review Hourglass as soon as I can.   Happy Reading!!!!!

Linger by Maggie Steifvater

Grace: "This is the story of a boy who used to be a wolf and a girl who was becoming one. 

Just a few months ago, it was Sam who was the mythical creature. His was the disease we couldn't cure. His was the good-bye that meant the most. He had the body that was a mystery, too strange and wonderful and terrifying to comprehend. 

But now it is spring. With the heat, the remaining wolves will soon be falling out of their wolf pelts and back into their human bodies. Sam stays Sam, and Cole stays Cole, and it's only me who's not firmly in my own skin."

OK! I began reading this wondering how Maggie Stiefvater was going to pull off writing a book that even begins to measure up to the greatness of the first installment in the Wolves of Mercy Falls series. And yet, by the end of the book, I was so impressed.  Not only did the author manage to create a book that is just as good, she also managed to produce a book that is even better!  While Shivers plot was sad with a sense of urgency to it, Linger was a bit more relaxed until the last 30 pages or so when it got pretty  intense.  

I totally loved the way that Ms. Steifvater brought in two new narrators in addition to Sam and Grace.  Cole and Isabel are wonderful characters.  I really look forward to seeing how they play out in the next book,  Forever.  

The characters develop even more in this book making them so realistic and alive. I have heard that some people on the web have problems with Graces parents.  They claim that they just seem to be in the story in order to complicate the romance between Sam and Grace.  I felt none of that.  To me, the only reason that they came into the book and were hitting so hard is simple.  They fond Sam and Grace sleeping together! For goodness sakes, if you had a daughter and found her sleeping with her boyfriend in your house, would you not be at least a little concerned?  They just  don't want Sam breaking Graces heart.  I did think that their way of acting on those beliefs were a bit to much and the way that they would not listen to the kids side of the story was very unfair though.  

I can not wait to see what Maggie Striefvater has to offer next year

I am completely confident that she will again blow readers off their feet.  The Wolves of Mercy Falls are must reads!   

Recommendations

If anyone would like to recommend books to review, can you email them to me at nessa4books@yahoo.com.  I really do welcome recommendations and comments so please feel free to email me.

Reading Linger

I'm reading Linger right now and I just have to , so far it is even better than Shiver! I'm loving it!. Lets just hope it stays that way....If all goes as planned, I should have the review up tomorrow.  Stargazer by Claudia Gray will be next after that.