Review: Never Fade by Alexandra Bracken

Title: Never Fade
Author: Alexandra Bracken
Source/Format: Hardback, Borrowed from the Library
More Details: Young Adult, Dystopian
Publisher/Publication Date: Disney Hyperion, October 15, 2013

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Synopsis from Goodreads...

Ruby never asked for the abilities that almost cost her her life. Now she must call upon them on a daily basis, leading dangerous missions to bring down a corrupt government and breaking into the minds of her enemies. Other kids in the Children’s League call Ruby “Leader”, but she knows what she really is: a monster. When Ruby is entrusted with an explosive secret, she must embark on her most dangerous mission yet: leaving the Children’s League behind. Crucial information about the disease that killed most of America’s children—and turned Ruby and the others who lived into feared and hated outcasts—has survived every attempt to destroy it. But the truth is only saved in one place: a flashdrive in the hands of Liam Stewart, the boy Ruby once believed was her future—and who now wouldn’t recognize her. As Ruby sets out across a desperate, lawless country to find Liam—and answers about the catastrophe that has ripped both her life and America apart—she is torn between old friends and the promise she made to serve the League. Ruby will do anything to protect the people she loves. But what if winning the war means losing herself?

Whenever I pick up a sequel to a book I really like there’s always that lingering worry that it’s not going to be good—that it might suffer from middle book syndrome where nothing happens, no plot development or otherwise. But thankfully, with Never Fade by Alexandra Bracken, stuff happens, lots of it actually.

Ruby is back and dealing with the consequences of her decisions from the end of book 1. She’s in the Children’s League, and right from the start I already knew that it wasn’t everything it first appeared to be, and the truth behind some of the agents was pretty much terrible—but their mindset tied in with the attitude that was often cast at the children. It wasn’t justified since Ruby and the others had no control over what happened to them, but at the same time these details fit with the established world set up by The Darkest Minds.

There were a few additions to the cast such as Liam’s older brother Caleb, along with Vida, Jude, and a few other kids she meets in the Children’s League. There were appearances by a few of my favorite characters from book 1, but they were changed by their circumstances and partially by some of Ruby’s decisions.

The plot was very interesting, and I felt like Bracken did a pretty good job with expanding the world. The pacing was excellent. The opening chapter really set up the tone of the story, and it was consistent throughout. There was never a point that I got bored with the book.

Really, my only complaint was that Ruby seemed to make some questionable choices again. But that minor details didn’t detract much from the story.

Overall, I really enjoyed Never Fade and look forward to eventually finishing this trilogy.

Quarterly Recap: July-September

Welcome to the third Quarterly Recap in which I'm going to quickly go over what's happened on the blog over the past three months. As always, I'm going to jump right in and start with reviews...

July Reviews:

• Jupiter Ascending (2015)
• Oleah Chronicles: Truth
• Shiver
• A Swiftly Tilting Planet
• Doctor Who: The Drosten's Curse

August Reviews:

• The Darkest Minds
• Splintered

September Reviews:

• Scorched
• The Body in the Woods
• The Madman's Daughter
• Doctor Who: Royal Blood

I'm making some changes to this section of the post (cleaning it up a bit). I'm going to list other post that have appeared on the blog except for weekly meme's.

Other July Posts:

• Quarterly Recap April-June
• Nintendo Book Tag

Other August Posts:

• Sweet Madness Release Day Launch
• Weekend Tidbits #5

Other September Posts:

• Queen of Shadows Release Day Blitz
• Sweet Temptation Release Week Blitz
• The Pirate Code Release Week Blitz
• Walk on Earth a Stranger Release Day Blitz
• Sisterhood of the World Bloggers Award (Take 2)
• Q&A with author Michelle Johnson
• Summer Lovin' Book Tag

It's been a long time coming but I finally went to my local library, and I look forward to going more often. Plus, I feel like I've started a lot of series and I really need to finish them. But yeah, that's about it for now. Anyway, happy reading!

The Friday 56 (38) Never Fade by Alexandra Bracken

The Friday 56 is a weekly meme hosted by Freda's Voice where every Friday you pick a book and turn to page 56 or 56%, and select a sentence or a few, as long as it's not a spoiler. For the full rules, visit the the page HERE

Synopsis from Goodreads...

Ruby never asked for the abilities that almost cost her her life. Now she must call upon them on a daily basis, leading dangerous missions to bring down a corrupt government and breaking into the minds of her enemies. Other kids in the Children’s League call Ruby “Leader”, but she knows what she really is: a monster. When Ruby is entrusted with an explosive secret, she must embark on her most dangerous mission yet: leaving the Children’s League behind. Crucial information about the disease that killed most of America’s children—and turned Ruby and the others who lived into feared and hated outcasts—has survived every attempt to destroy it. But the truth is only saved in one place: a flashdrive in the hands of Liam Stewart, the boy Ruby once believed was her future—and who now wouldn’t recognize her. As Ruby sets out across a desperate, lawless country to find Liam—and answers about the catastrophe that has ripped both her life and America apart—she is torn between old friends and the promise she made to serve the League. Ruby will do anything to protect the people she loves. But what if winning the war means losing herself?

"Rob did not like this, that much was clear, but he also had no choice. The door shut so hard behind him, it actually rattled the old glass Coke bottles lining the shelf over it."--Never Fade by Alexandra Bracken


What's on your page 56 this week?

Review: Scorched by Mari Mancusi

Title: Scorched
Author: Mari Mancusi
Source/Format: Won, Hardback
More Details: Young Adult, Fantasy, Science Fiction, Time Travel
Publisher/Publication Date: Sourcebooks Fire, September 3, 2013

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Synopsis from Goodreads...

Trinity...Don’t leave me here... It starts with a whisper. At first Trinity thinks she’s going crazy. It wouldn’t be a big surprise—her grandpa firmly believes there’s a genuine dragon egg in their dusty little West Texas town. But this voice is real, and it’s begging for her protection. Even if no one else can hear it...

Connor...He’s come from a future scorched by dragonfire. His mission: Find the girl. Destroy the egg. Save the world.

Caleb...He’s everything his twin brother Connor hates: cocky, undisciplined, and obsessed with saving dragons.

Trinity has no idea which brother to believe. All she has to go by is the voice in her head—a dragon that won’t be tamed...

 Dragons and time travel...

By the end of this novel I was firmly on Team Dragon, nuff said…

Scorched by Mari Mancusi clearly ended up being my kind of book. With the concept—which combined dragons, time travel, and the warning of an impending apocalypse—it definitely made for one heck of a novel! Going into Scorched I really had no expectations beyond looking for an entertaining read, and I did enjoy it. The pacing was handled well, and right from the start I was pretty much hooked by the opening chapters. I was really interested in the concept of dragons and their role in the events hinted at throughout the book, and needless to say I got my answers and then some. One thing worth noting was the villains in Scorched. Initially, it was difficult to tell who was who, which was great, because it added some suspense to the novel. Trinity was a pretty interesting character, and overall I liked her personality. She had her reasons for being the way she was and it was easy to understand why she was protective of what family she had left. Now, Connor, his personality seemed straight forward, but as the novel progressed he changed as more of his past was revealed and he got to know Trinity better. His twin brother Caleb—a dragon sympathizer—was an alright character who had his own motivations and a desire to prove his worth. The dynamics of the relationships throughout the novel was one of the highlights for me, and I really kept reading because I wanted to know what happened to the characters at the end. The dragons were another highlight, and I enjoyed Mancusi’s take on the subject.

So yeah, this is probably one of the best books I’ve read this year. And I would consider getting the rest of the trilogy simply because more dragons, and that’s always a good thing.

Sisterhood of the World Bloggers Award (Take 2)

Oh man, I completely forgot to do this post. Well better late than never! I've done this tag before but I'm going to do it again because I absolutely love these questions. So, a huge thank you to Ria @Lilac Diaries for nominating me and coming up with the questions!







First the rules...

1. Thank the blogger who nominated you and link their website
2. Use the award logo on your post
3. Answer the 10 questions provided by the blogger who tagged you
4. Nominate 10 bloggers
5. Ask them 10 questions

What got you into reading?

It was a long time ago and it was out of necessity (for school), but then I just started to enjoy reading more and I wanted to get to as many great stories as possible.

Do you judge a book by its cover?

I like cover art but I don't judge a book based solely off of that (It could look like the prettiest thing in the world but the story might not be something I'm looking for). Usually I look at the synopsis first and consider it for a while before I even decide to read it.

What do you love the most about blogging? 

Being able to share my thoughts about books is pretty fun, plus I've discovered a lot of great novels that I wouldn't have normally picked up.

How did you come up with your blog title?

My co-blogger and I decided on the title because it sounded catchy (plus it was short and to the point).

Do you collect bookish items? Which is your favorite item, then?

Actually, I don't really collect bookish items (well besides books and bookmarks), but I do love my sketchbook with all of the quotes on it...so, uh, I guess it counts.

Have you ever wished to have a super power? What did you wish for?

If I could have any super power it would be Teleportation, because it would make moving a whole lot easier if I could just move things from point A to point B in a matter of seconds. *Sigh* Sadly, its just wishful thinking.

Which is your favorite Christmas book/novel/novella/short story?

I don't have one (yet), but I do want to read the Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. Because why not? I've seen the movie(s) and really want to see how the book is.

Have you ever wished to live in a fantasy world? If yes, which one would you choose? (like Hogwarts, Austen world, The Hobbit, Alice's Wonderland, The land of OZ etc).

Well a lot of the ones I've read about make me cringe, because, you know, they're pretty terrible most of the time (but totally interesting to read about). However, I would visit the version of Wonderland from A.G. Howard's Splintered. Take into account that I said I would visit, because I certainly wouldn't live there.

Did you hear about J.K. Rowling's tweet mentioning Harry Potter's son, James's first year at Hogwarts. What do you think of it? Are you excited?

What is this? I have not heard of it! Somehow, someway I've missed that news. *quietly googles it* Oh, ok, yeah, it is pretty exciting.

'Happily ever after' exists only in books. Is it true? What do you think of it?

Who knows, but I think it could exist depending on the circumstances (I'm choosing the most optimistic answer).

So I'm just going to break rules 4 and 5. I'm not nominating any blogger specifically and I don't have any questions right now. Anyway, happy reading!