Teaser Tuesday[79]: Reached (Matched, #3) by Ally Condie

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (Make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

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Reached (Matched, #3) by Ally Condie

Genre: YA Dystopian Romance

Publisher: Dutton (Penguin)

Publish Date: November, 2012

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Book Depository. Powells.

Goodreads Synopsis:

After leaving Society to desperately seek The Rising, and each other, Cassia and Ky have found what they were looking for, but at the cost of losing each other yet again. Cassia is assigned undercover in Central city, Ky outside the borders, an airship pilot with Indie. Xander is a medic, with a secret. All too soon, everything shifts again.

Excerpt:

“‘I can’t stay,’ he says. ‘There’s an illness out there, worse than the Plague, and I’ve been exposed to it.’ His eyes look wild.” (Hardback, pg. 259)

Reading anything good?

Novel Review: Daylighters (The Morganville Vampires, #15) by Rachel Caine

Rating (Out of 5): ~4-4.5
Genre: YA/NA Paranormal Romance
Publisher: New American Library (Penguin)
Publish Date: November 5th, 2013
Spoilers?: No.
Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Book Depository. Powells.
Teaser Tuesday. Wishlist Thursday.

Goodreads Synopsis:

While Morganville, Texas, is often a troubled town, Claire Danvers and her friends are looking forward to coming home. But the Morganville they return to isn’t the one they know; it’s become a different place—a deadly one…

Something drastic has happened in Morganville while Claire and her friends were away. The town looks cleaner and happier than they’ve ever seen it before, but when their incoming group is arrested and separated—vampires from humans—they realize that the changes definitely aren’t for the better.

It seems that an organization called the Daylight Foundation has offered the population of Morganville something they’ve never had: hope of a vampire-free future. And while it sounds like salvation—even for the vampires themselves—the truth is far more sinister and deadly.

Now, Claire, Shane and Eve need to find a way to break their friends out of Daylighter custody, before the vampires of Morganville meet their untimely end

Quotes:

• "'Because no matter what any of you have done, you haven’t all done it. Because it’s not right to judge a class of people by the actions of one, or a few. That’s not justice. It’s prejudice, and I don’t like it. Justice means judging each person individually.’” (Hardback, pg. 180)

What Will I Miss?:
Everything. More specifically:

• Claire. I love her. She's smart, strong. She's one of my absolute favorite heroines, and I will definitely miss her.
• Shane. And Claire and Shane. I like him, and I love them together. They're possibly an OTP for me, which is weird, but I really love them that much. Their chemistry, their growing, their progress. I am really going to miss them.
• Myrnin. He is one of my absolute favorite characters in this series; he's awesome, I love how odd he is and how oblivious he is about it. I love his relationship with Claire. I will definitely miss him, as well.
• I'll also miss the town and the vampires, Michael and Eve, all of the relationships and how they all grew together, all of the problems they got into. But the first three are what/who I'll miss most.

The Cover:

I don't really have much to say about this cover--which is to say that I'm not a huge fan of it, but I don't hate it. The covers for this series have pretty much nothing to do with the books, the people barely ever resemble the characters. They're boring, have little to do with the books, don't inspire much of any reaction from me at all. I generally don't like having some plain person's face on my books, especially when they're so boring, which these ones are. The font for the title and author isn't even that great or eye-catching. So, yea, it could definitely be better.
 
Review:

I went into this book a little wary, but mostly optimistic and excited, with a little dread because this was the end. And all of those feelings pulled off, really.

Some serious stuff happened with the town, some really messed up stuff, some really good stuff, all which is to be expected of this series, really. And I really loved it. I know that some people were growing wary and annoyed with the series, some people had already stopped reading, and I did agree that the series needed to end, but I still love this series, unabashedly, unashamed.

Some very needed stuff happened in this book, and Claire’s conflict with it all was very understandable. Something happened with Shane that was kind of horrible. Something bad happened to Amelie. Some other stuff happened to Michael and Eve. All kinds of things. All needed. All very good and exciting. And then the ending came much too soon for me. But I must say that I’m very satisfied with the ending, I really love what happened, it was so sweet and cute and fitting. It didn’t even take me time to get used to it, either, which was nice. 

It kind of seems like Caine was saying sending some messages, one of which was about humans in general, how we can try to ignore the bad things in the world, pretend they're not happening because they're not in front of us, along with a couple others. I'm not sure how I feel about those things, some of them I agree with but some of them that I think either weren't needed or were pushed a little too hard. I don't want to get too into that, though.

I’m sad that the series is over, I’ll definitely miss it, but I will also definitely be re-reading it (as this is one of my top re-read series). I plan to read future books by Caine, although I’m a little wary of her next YA book (because I’m not a fan of Romeo and Juliet), but I will now have to read her adult Weather Warden series, of which I’ve already read the first book.

Manga Review: Strobe Edge, Volume 6, by Io Sakisaka

Rating (Out of 5): ~4-4.5

Publisher: Shojo Beat (VIZ Media)

Publish Date: September, 2013

Volumes: 10

Spoilers?: Yes for previous volumes, minor for this one.

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Powells. RightStuf!

Volume 1. Previous Volume. Next Volume.

Goodreads Synopsis:

A heartwarming story about first love that’s one of the most hotly anticipated new shojo series among U.S. fans.What is love, anyway? Ninako Kinoshita’s friends tell her it’s one thing, but Ninako wonders what this mysterious feeling really is. When she meets Ren Ichinose, the handsome, enigmatic guy that all the girls worship, her life takes an unexpected turn. With just a few words and a smile, he changes her world...

Reads R to L (Japanese Style) for teen audiences.

Review:

I don’t really understand what happened with this volume, but suddenly I’m kind of in love with this series again. And really wanting the next volume.

So, first off, something small. Manabu, a classmate of Ren’s, who’s kind of a busybody, but also a little gullible, but with a good heart. I kind of love him. I barely even remembered his name, but he’s shown up several times, he has a really fun relationship with Ninako (because they’re so alike), but I kind of love him. He’s just… really sweet, and adorable. I don’t know. I want more of him to show up.

Although, I mean, what is up with these characters, Sakisaka? I love way too many of them! Why are they so likable/loveable? I can’t stand it!

Okay, so, onto bigger things. News has gone around that Ren is now single, and all the girls are moving in on him. But he’s still getting over the break up. And Ninako, the only one it seems, understands this and is just giving him time. Despite that, however, there are a couple of moments where they end up very close, looking into each others eyes and get embarrassed, and hear the others’ conversations with someone else. There are obvious things brewing between them, as everyone knew there would be. And I’m kind of okay with that? I don’t know what happened, but I kind of am starting to love Ren.

I don’t know, you guys. I just don’t know.

Maybe it’s because he’s starting to try to find himself again? He’s been so lost in Mayuka, trying to stay with her, trying to identify with being with her, and now he’s on his own again. I don’t know, but I’m really enjoying it.

A big part is probably also that he had some guy moments with Ando, and they were just… It was weird, but I was fangirling, and grinning, and I don’t understand.

Let me explain. So, you know, what with Ren trying to find himself again and all, he’s realized that Ando is not really his friend anymore, and he doesn’t know how to deal with that. Ando, apparently, came into Ren’s life at a time when he needed someone, and then something happened (a girl) and some more stuff happened (another girl—this time Ninako), and Ando has been building up some hatred toward him. And so they talk a couple of times. Ninako intervenes, unknowingly, a couple of times, which gets them to actually clear the air. They still need to talk about some more stuff, I think, but at this point it seems like they’ve formed a truce, and are kind of brotherly competing for Ninako, although most of the competing is on Ando’s side. Ren doesn’t really have to do anything to win, and besides, he’s not ready to try yet anyway.

And really, their friendship at the moment is just hilarious. And while Ando is reluctant to admit how close they are, it has cheered Ren up a whole lot, and I like that.

Like I said, I kind of love Ren now, and I don’t know how that happened, but I think I’m goin’ with it.

Aside from them, it seems like Sayuri has some drama with Ren’s other friend, the tall blond one, and that does not speak good things for her and Daichi. I’m not looking forward to them fighting, but I am intrigued, and really hoping they end up on the winning side.

After that, there was an extra story, a one-shot that Sakisaka wrote before this series. It’s about a couple who live together, he’s a musician, and she’s insecure about their relationships. I had a problem with how they both seemed to act and think that their lives would be nothing without the other, but aside from that it was really cute. And the art, while still pretty good, was very obviously not as good as her current style. That was neat to see.

So I’m loving this series again, and I’m very happy about that. This volume was fantastic. And I’ve come to realize that, even when things aren’t super exciting or anything, there are still a lot of small moments that are just genuinely funny (like the interactions between Ninako and Manabu—those two are hilarious together; I love their friendship). 

I am very much looking forward to the next volume.

Manga Review: Attack on Titan, Volume 4, by Hajime Isayama

Rating (Out of 5): ~4

Publisher: Kodansha Comics

Publish Date: March, 2013

Volumes: 12+

Spoilers?: No.

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Book Depository. Powells. RightStuf!

Volume 1. Previous Volume. Next Volume.

Goodreads Synopsis:

HUMANITY PUSHES BACK!

The Survey Corps develop a risky gambit – have Eren in Titan form attempt to repair Wall Rose, reclaiming human territory from the monsters for the first time in a century. But Titan-Eren’s self-control is far from perfect, and when he goes on a rampage, not even Armin can stop him! With the survival of humanity on his massive shoulders, will Eren be able to return to his senses, or will he lose himself forever?

Review:

I am just so impressed with this series. And so surprisingly happy that I picked it up, because of how much I’m enjoying it.

I don’t really understand the logistics of what’s happening with Eren, but it’s really frickin’ cool. I like seeing Armin growing, standing up, helping his friends, using his smarts. I’m still just loving Mikasa, she’s so awesome. I’m really intrigued by Captain Levi. He seems supportive and nice, but also maybe arrogant and depressing (or just depressed, maybe, but that could just be his face). I’m still intrigued by where his relationship with Mikasa and Eren is going to go; and I think that him and Mikasa could work well together, because of how good they are.

There was a lot of backstory in this volume, of back when the three were still training. I like getting all this backstory mixed in with the current plot. It gives good insight, good background, and it lets us get to know the other, more minor, characters a lot better. I’m still getting used to all the other people. (Also, somewhat sidenote: on the back cover, there’s a lineup of characters. I’m pretty sure I recognized Mikasa and Eren, and some of the others, on it, but not Armin. Am I missing him, or is he really not there? Is there a reason behind that?)

I like Eren and Mikasa’s relationship. And I’m a little surprised that it doesn’t bother me that their relationship hasn’t been defined much aside from their obvious caring and loving of each other. They’ve taken on a somewhat brother-sister relationship, but it could also move beyond that. Someone even mistakenly called Eren Mikasa’s boyfriend at some point. I want to see their relationship explored, but romance isn’t important in this series, because they all have much more important things going on. Maybe it’s just a refreshing outlook for me or something and that’s why I wanted to point it out, seeing as how I read so much romance.

Anyway, this volume ended rather horribly, as most up to now have, and I’m very excited to read the next one.