I loved the action in this book. Typical fantastic writing and originality by Riordan. The only thing that still got me was the lack of differentiation between Carter and Sadie's POVs. I still had trouble figuring out who was narrating unless I flipped back to the beginning of the chapter or they mentioned the other sibling by name. It would be nice to have a little more obvious changes in personality or thoughts. I loved Bes, and the hippo lady, and senile Ra. Can't wait to read the final book!

Very well written, but it made me SO STRESSED OUT. I could not stop for more than a few hours before I needed to know what happened next even though the entire book made me so depressed.

Possible spoilers, idk yet.

I understand Jack's destructive tendencies and why therefore the author felt the need to put in the F*** you, Jack every other sentence, but it still got old to me. It took away from the storyline.
I worry a bit about the consequences of writing a book for YA that depicts something terrible happening to someone and having them not talk to anyone about it who could help them (except for his friend).
I wish we had ended this book with a few more answers than we did - I don't really feel strongly that any of the questions raised in the book actually got answers, it just set us up for the next book (I guess?). Maybe just pick one of the following to answer: What's the point of Marbury? What happened in that world? What was the "war?" Why didn't Wynn and Stella seem to care more that they rarely heard from their grandson?

The parts of the book that made me the most miserable and uncomfortable were whenever Jack would come to and not have any memories from hours or days. I think it's a personal thing, because nothing terrifies me more than losing my memory or having someone tell me I did something that I have no recollection of. This happens to me a lot when I'm napping because I'll have nightmares that I forget things. Scary.

I'm obviously going to read book 2 because I just have to know. But not because I want to.

Well.
Eh.
Meh.
Okay.
Huh.

^ my overall reactions to this book. I just want to see more of Adrian so I'm gonna keep reading. I just felt like for all that Sydney has already been through in her life and the epicness that was the finale of Vampire Academy I wasn't impressed with being put in the high school setting.

But you know, beggars can't be choosers. I just want more of that world.

I think I may have liked this one better than Looking for Alaska. Nope, I definitely did. I loved the footnotes and I loved that it was nerdy without going over my head. Normally it's hard for me to get into a book with a male protagonist (except Harry Potter obviously), but I was able to empathize with Colin while at the same time wishing I could just tell him to snap out of it!

Well played John Green. Paper Towns next!

*loaned to S.C.

I think what it really comes down to is that Frankie is too smart and clever for her own good. She is still at an age where she thinks having a relationship at all is more important than having a good relationship. This mentality leads to some of the funniest musings and situations I've ever read.

Only time I've ever wished I could give a 4.5/5. It wasn't epic, but it was very original and got exciting by the end. Unfortunately I really wasn't pulled in to the story from the very beginning. Not sure why, but it took until about halfway through the book for me to stay up all night just to finish. Glad I can go get Prodigy right now!

There would be more stars for this book if it hadn't taken me a good 100 pages to really get into it. Also since I've been so busy moving, etc, those 100 pages took about a month. Gross.

Once I was interested in the story enough to read it on a regular basis I really started to like Emaline. I like that she doesn't let the boys in her life run or dictate her decisions. She's snarky and sarcastic when she wants to be, and she takes on so much that she gets overwhelmed which I definitely empathize with.

Spoilers now.

I was not a fan of the way Emaline and Luke broke up. For a couple together for 4 years, even a high school one, the break was short and not reflected upon much it seemed by either party. There was one moment where Emaline mentioned still being sad sometimes even with Theo but there didn't seem to be any real heartbreak over the boy that was her first love and with whom she lost her virginity. I do understand that I think some of the point was that Emaline was watching her life happen from the sidelines, but she lacked a certain amount of emotion felt in most teenagers. I don't know.

I really liked that the ending wasn't completely focused on Emaline and a happy ever after, especially with a boy. It was just her, figuring out how people are and how to live her life in a way she can manage. Great Dessen novel.

10/2013 loaned to Collin.

Oh my god.

Dare I say it? I will. I'm going to.
BEST BOOK I'VE READ SO FAR THIS YEAR.

I was hooked from page one and I'm still hooked because I refuse to believe that this book is over. The first thing I did after I finished was rush over to Goodreads to make sure this was the first in a series and didn't just stand alone. I might have attacked Yancey had this been a solo novel.

SPOILERS BELOW! SERIOUSLY. STOP READING NOW IF YOU HAVEN'T READ THE BOOK.

First wave: Electromagnetic pulse.
Second: Tsunamis on all coasts.
Third: Plague.
Fourth: They were inside a select few the whole time.
Fifth: Revealed toward the end of the book - will BLOW YOUR MIND.

This book genuinely captivated me. I loved the writing style and the reflections brought up by the characters at various moments. I was surprised that the book didn't spend more time in Cassie's POV, but I really appreciated getting to know the other characters as well. I loved that Ben got so attached to Nugget/Sam and the epic meeting at the end between Ben and Cassie was awesomely satisfying.
I wish we had gotten more of Evan's POV other than before we even knew it was him. I want to know more about why they've come to Earth, how long they've been looking for a habitable planet, what they looked like before they were just consciousness, how they developed their technology, etc etc... More more more!

I'm dying for more books and don't even want to know how long I'll have to wait.

10/2013 loaned to Collin.