Matched by Ally Condie

Title: Matched

Author: Ally Condie

Type: Young Adult Novel
Genre: Fantasy

Series: Yes book one

Pages: 369
Copyright: 2010
Publisher: Penguin Group

Rating: 2.5 out of 5


Summary: From Good Reads

Cassia has always trusted the Society to make the right choices for her: what to read, what to watch, what to believe. So when Xander's face appears on-screen at her Matching ceremony, Cassia knows with complete certainty that he is her ideal mate... until she sees Ky Markham's face flash for an instant before the screen fades to black.

The Society tells her it's a glitch, a rare malfunction, and that she should focus on the happy life she's destined to lead with Xander. But Cassia can't stop thinking about Ky, and as they slowly fall in love, Cassia begins to doubt the Society's infallibility and is faced with an impossible choice: between Xander and Ky, between the only life she's known and a path that no one else has dared to follow.

Feelings:
So many post-American series recently: Hunger Games series, The Selection series, and of course Mathched. Another similarity is that all of these are stories told in the first person. This limits the amount that we know about the society and how it came to be the way it is today. I admit this bothered me in each case, Hunger Games fans sorry but it was not an exception. In fact I'm not sure if it didn't bother me more in the Hunger Games as that was the first of the three that I read (listened to audiobooks but will say I read the Hunger Games for the sake of making it easier). It prepared me for what was coming in Matched and The Selection thus making the holes in the history easier for me to deal with.

My problem with this book was the world I might have liked it more if it weren't for the world that is created here. I know I'm not supposed to like the officials, and I don't, but I would like to understand them a little more than I did through Cassia. The characters did seem a little bit predictable to me but in a world were everything is planed out I guess things would be predictable.

I did enjoy the story. It has to be pretty bad for me not to find something to like, and the writing wasn't bad. First person narratives often bothers me in that I want to know more but I can't because the narrator doesn't know what I want to know.

I would recommend this to readers than enjoyed The Selection there are similarities and they are both love stories with a bit of politics.

The Selection by Kiera Cass

Title: The Selection
Author: Kiera Cass
Type: Young Adult Novel
Genre: Fantasy
Series: Yes
Pages:327
Copyright: 2012
Publisher: HarperTeen
Rating: 2.5 out of 5


Summary: From Good Reads


For thirty-five girls, the Selection is the chance of a lifetime. The opportunity to escape the life laid out for them since birth. To be swept up in a world of glittering gowns and priceless jewels. To live in a palace and compete for the heart of gorgeous Prince Maxon.

But for America Singer, being Selected is a nightmare. It means turning her back on her secret love with Aspen, who is a caste below her. Leaving her home to enter a fierce competition for a crown she doesn't want. Living in a palace that is constantly threatened by violent rebel attacks.

Then America meets Prince Maxon. Gradually, she starts to question all the plans she's made for herself—and realizes that the life she's always dreamed of may not compare to a future she never imagined. 

Feelings:
This book took me a while to start enjoying. It was an easy read but I didn't care for the beginning and all of the "I wasn't going to be selected" stuff when there wouldn't be a book if she wasn't selected. Sometimes I really just don't care for knowing more than the narrator does and this book was an example of that. I had seen the book in lots of places so I thought I would give it a try at least two chapters. By then I was starting to like America Singer and the post World War IV America, Illea. The society with an eight tiered caste system was interesting but largely unexplained. I felt like it was alright at first but then after a while I started to wonder why it wasn't getting explained, there aren't any history books, was the explanation given. I would have liked more there.

I did wonder at first if the characters in here would stand up and they are a bit wobbly but I'm willing to look past that when I'm reading young adult romance. I have come to realize that there are many young adult novels that could use a little something more but because they are young adult I forgive them for this where I wouldn't if I wasn't reading young adult. The Selection was not a strong book but the plot and the world were interesting enough to keep me interested. 

Because I wasn't really looking for more than brain candy when I picked the book up to read, cover as evidence, it I admit I was satisfied and will read the next books. 

Lost Lake by Sarah Addison Allen

Genre: Southern Fiction 
Series: No 
Pages: 296 
Copyright:  2014 
Publisher: St. Martin's Press 
Buy: Amazon

Reviews of other books by Sarah Addison Allen: Garden Spells, First Frost, The Sugar Queen, The Girl Who Chased the Moon, and The Peach Keeper

Summary: From Good Reads.
From the New York Times bestselling author of Garden Spells comes a novel about heartbroken people finding hope at a magical place in Georgia called Lost Lake.

Suley, Georgia, is home to Lost Lake Cottages and not much else. Which is why it's the perfect place for newly-widowed Kate and her eccentric eight-year-old daughter Devin to heal. Kate spent one memorable childhood summer at Lost Lake, had her first almost-kiss at Lost Lake, and met a boy named Wes at Lost Lake. It was a place for dreaming. But Kate doesn't believe in dreams anymore, and her Aunt Eby, Lost Lake's owner, wants to sell the place and move on. Lost Lake's magic is gone. As Kate discovers that time has a way of standing still at Lost Lake can she bring the cottages—and her heart—back to life? Because sometimes the things you love have a funny way of turning up again. And sometimes you never even know they were lost . . . until they are found.

Feelings: 
I enjoyed reading Lost Lake the newest book from Sarah Addison Allen; however, I liked some of her older books more than this one. The magical parts of her other books that I really enjoyed, seemed to be something that the adults didn't really believe in but that only really Devin did in this novel.

The setting for the story a lake with summer cottages that are becoming run down and don't have the same beauty they did fifteen years ago when Kate visited with her parents for the first time. Now Lost Lake is very different from her memories but it is still a place where she finds peace. As the story unfolds the relationship between characters begins to change. It is clear that the changes taking place started happening long before the opening of the novel.

This is enjoyable light reading with a little magic. I would recommend this book to readers that have enjoyed Sarah Addison Allen's other novels.  

Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas

Title: Crown of Midnight
Author: Sarah J. Maas
Type: Young Adult Novel
Genre: Fantasy
Series: Yes. A Throne of Glass Novel
Pages: 418
Copyright: 2013
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Rating: 3.5 out of 5


Summary: from Good reads.

After a year of hard labor in the Salt Mines of Endovier, eighteen-year-old assassin Celaena Sardothien has won the king's contest to become the new royal assassin. Yet Celaena is far from loyal to the crown – a secret she hides from even her most intimate confidantes.

Keeping up the deadly charade—while pretending to do the king's bidding—will test her in frightening new ways, especially when she's given a task that could jeopardize everything she's come to care for. And there are far more dangerous forces gathering on the horizon -- forces that threaten to destroy her entire world, and will surely force Celaena to make a choice.

Where do the assassin’s loyalties lie, and who is she most willing to fight for?

Feelings: 
The second in the Throne of Glass series carried on the story of Celaena after she becomes the Kings Champion. I wondered if the second would hold together as well as the first and it did. The story was intriguing and the characters continued to grow and changed.

Without giving away to much of the plot from the first book I would say that the story after the competition is really much more political than the first book. While characters have developed in different ways we see more of Prince Dorian and from his point of view as well. In the first book he was a good character that we grew to like but this book really looks at who he is and I think that was a good thing. Captain Westfall is also expanded as a character which was necessary for the story. Celaena has more of a back story in this book as well. The past which was largely over looked in the first book is delved into in this one which helps us to understand the characters.

I would recommend this book to those who enjoyed the first in the series as well as people who love a strong young female character.