The third and final book in the Hunger Games trilogy, Mockingjay is solid.  Perhaps the bloodiest of all the novels, Collins juxtaposition of media and war is clearest here.  Collins forces her readers to reexamine mindless reality t.v. and even the news’ “if it bleeds, it leads” motto.  I think most spectacularly, Collins has written a series that is for teens and adults, without giving in to the expectations of either audience.  She interweaves the love triangle without pandering (ahem, Stephanie Meyers) and the sad, cruel realities of war are far more prevalent in Mockingjay than the romance anyways.  The growth of Katniss, the protagonist, from The Hunger Games to Mockingjay is not unexpected, but so pronounced by the end of Mockingjay, given all she has been through.  Mockingjay’s plot is deliberate at times and Collins’ development of some characters is thinly veiled from time to time, but Mockingjay and this series as a whole, is both a compelling read and relevant.  I can’t wait to re-read this with a more focused eye on the media aspect.  

This is the 2nd book in the Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins and BOW HOWDY, it is good.  Sure, the pacing is slow in some places and whirlwind fast at others, but Catching Fire does not suffer from middle book syndrome.  That is, Catching Fire is not all filler while the first book was action and exposition and the action in the final book.  Whereas the first book, Hunger Games, is predictable in that you know the ultimate outcome, but not the journey of how Katniss Everdeen gets there, this book has no certain outcome.  And certainly, the pacing of the story leaves you guessing where Collins will leave you at the end.  

Collins masters the cliffhanger to cruel effect (I was up until late’o’clock reading this last night because I couldn’t stop reading) and the end of this book might be one of the most wicked cliffhangers EVER.  EVER.  I am grateful that I waited to begin reading this series until now because the final book of the series, Mockingjay, will be in my hot little hands in less than two hours.  Anyone who has waited more than a week with Catching Fire’s cliffhanger deserves a gold star.

Fun fact: Suzanne Collins was a writer on Clarissa Explains It All.  The Hunger Games is about as far from Clarissa as could be, but Collins’ background in t.v. writing shines in this series.

Okay: Catching Fire is not as gruesome (but still gruesome enough) as the Hunger Games, but it is solid.

Oh Suzanne Collins, I see what you did there.  You made a sci-fi story in a distant future broken apart America where death, media sponsors, and celebrity come together.  Where annually, teenagers get thrown into an arena to battle to the death to show the citizens who controls them.  So topical and timely, you are, Suzanne Collins.  Katniss, our badass heroine, is fighting for her life in the Hunger Games.  Oh this book is so good.  It is a quick read too.  I’m skeptical that this would be classified in YA fiction because its gruesome and brutal and Collins spares no character from death, destruction, and/or being flawed.  Despite the bloody gruesomeness of the Hunger Games, I could not put this book down.  

The 2nd & 3rd books in the Mysterious Benedict Society series.  I found myself underwhelmed by these books because the author sets you up for certain outcomes and takes you there, but doesn’t necessarily flesh out the plot or ideas fully.  Certainly, the balance of obvious conclusions with less predictable explanations is a fine line between giving your reader what they want and still keeping them surprised.  All this aside, these YA novels are charming and the main characters are lovable and this is a YA series I would say is appropriate for adults and kids, but mostly kids.  I like YA fiction, but this was perhaps *too* youth-oriented for the adult me.

A friend pressed this book into my hand and said, “Read this.”  Not emphatically or anything, just “Hey, read this.”  So I did because I like: puzzles, mysteries, and YA fiction.  Do you like these things?  If you do, then read this book (and perhaps the sequels, which I am now reading.)  If you don’t like those things, then I’m not sure why you’re reading my Tumblrblog because 99% of the books I review here are those things.  You should find a blog more suited to your interests!  Right, the actual review.  What an imaginative story this is, though the bad guy (Mr. Curtain) and his quest for world domination via subliminal messages seemed a bit heavy-handed.  Besides, didn’t the Josie and the Pussycats movie already tackle this subject with absolute perfection?  (The answer is yes.  Yes it did.)  I was also disappointed that once the kids got to the school, there were less puzzles.  Did I mention I like puzzles?  This book could have been the Da Vinci Code meets Harry Potter minus magic for kids, and yet, lack of puzzles.  I liked this book, and look forward to reading the next two.  Also, this book series has the cutest and most engaging website (with more puzzley goodness!)  

Generally, I’m not a fan of stories with unreliable narrators, but NPR said that Liar was an overlooked book of 2009, so I decided to give it try.  (The NPR reviewer also said she wasn’t a fan of unreliable narrators and she enjoyed this novel, so I thought I’d at least try it.)  Micah, the unreliable narrator of this novel, is a liar.  About anything, about everything.  And suddenly, her classmate, Zach, turns up dead.  So this is the premise and its hard for me to review this without giving anything away.  I will say this: this book requires careful reading- when, if ever, is Micah telling the truth?  At times, that was a daunting challenge because Micah is a teenager and Larbalestier has written her quite believably as one, but have you listened to kids talk these days?! (Get off my lawn.)  This book can be read and interpreted in many ways and even though I didn’t particularly LOVE this book, I’m curious to go back and read it with a different filter than before.  Oh, and I still dislike unreliable narrators.

Book 1: A Great and Terrible Beauty

Book 2: Rebel Angels

Book 3: The Sweet Far Thing

Imagine Pride & Prejudice meets Harry Potter meets Dead Poet’s Society and you have the Gemma Doyle trilogy.  Libba Bray has crafted this imaginative, lovely story of Miss Gemma Doyle, the 17 year old heroine of this Victorian era.  I may have a soft spot for Libba Bray, who lives in my neighborhood, but she weaves together India, Victorian England, and fantasy in a solid YA series.  Bray’s themes of rebellious girls breaking free from what is expected of them (a recurring theme of my own rebellious teenage years certainly), is perhaps what makes this “YA fiction” more than anything else, but still there’s a lot of classic good vs. evil storytelling at play here.  With all apologies to the author, the Harry Potter series is the standard by which I judge all other YA fiction (particularly series), and while this series is no Harry Potter, I don’t think it attempts to be that at all.  Bray is clever and she treats her characters with great care.  I could not put these books down.  I look forward to re-reading the adventures of Gemma later and Bray’s newest novel, Going Bovine, and hopefully more trilogies from her in the future.  (And secretly, I hope to run into her at the coffee shop!)

Oh Percy Jackson.  You filled a hole in my heart that’s been empty since the end of Harry Potter.  This is a great series based on the gods of Greek mythology set in present day New York City.  My only regret is that I whipped through the series so quickly that I am longing for more.  Rick Riordan is a master of cliffhanger endings and he crafts this series thoughtfully, however, there are times when his explanations feel rushed or forced, but given that this is a series for kids, I won’t hold that against this series about children of the gods trying to stay alive as they battle monsters and adolescence.  Good summer reading.

This is a companion to Harry Potter and the Quidditch history.  See my review of the Quidditch book.

A Harry Potter companion book!  Perhaps you were curious about the long storied history of the game Quidditch from the Harry Potter series.  If you were, then you should read this book.  If you are not concerned about the history of Quidditch, then….skip this one.  J.K. Rowling astounds me with the level of details that she has hammered out in the Harry Potter world and this book proved that to me.

I found this book at the vacation home we stayed at over New Year’s.  Witty and dry, but actually some decent advice.  Don’t be a perfectionist because nobody is perfect.  But don’t be a lazy bum either because that won’t get you anywhere.  Beyond the satire of this self-help book, Bennett’s message is all about moderation.  And I can support that.

A lovely, but forgettable romance story that takes place during World War I.  Gene Wilder (yes, that Gene Wilder) writes a heartbreaking, but lovely love story.  This is a quick read, but not a MUST read.  But a nice read.

I have not seen Precious yet.  But oh my, this book was challenging.  Not on a comprehension level, but emotionally.  Your heart hurts reading this story about a teenage girl that is trying to break out of a world where she has been abused her whole life.  And she just keeps getting shit on.  The story is incredibly well written, but don’t come looking for a good feeling story.  This is not it.

Another book from NPR’s Best YA Fiction of 2009 list.  Though classified as YA, Marcelo’s story rings true for adults as well.  Marcelo is a young man who falls close to Asperger’s on the autism spectrum and the story takes off when his father insists that Marcelo get a summer job at his law firm.  Marcelo suddenly finds himself navigating situations, questioning his beliefs, and reframing his own reality without the preparation or safety net of his old school.  I really enjoyed this book; Stork gives voice to Marcelo with compassion, truth, and grace.  If you enjoyed The Curious Incident of the Dog in Night Time, I would encourage you to read Marcelo in the Real World.  I can see why it was on NPR’s Best YA List for the year.

Oh, this book!  Found it on one of NPR’s best of 2009 lists.  The premise and style of writing has a very Tom Robbins-esque quality to it, but the story Ron Currie tells is far more classic than anything Mr. Robbins would write.  I was captivated by the story, but wished the author had used less hyperbole to illustrate his point.  As one reviewer wrote, there is major geography between Nothing Matters and Everything Matters.  And Currie seems only to care for the two ends of the spectrum and not the subtleties in between.  I really adored how Currie carefully and lovingly constructs his characters though.  That alone made this book well worth it.  Currie understands (unlike other authors ahemStephanieMeyersahem) that you can love your characters, but giving them everything they could ever want does not make for an interesting read.