Destined By Aprilynne Pike-Book Review

After a busy week of going to the theatre and settling back into school I have finally managed to finish Destined by Aprilynne Pike this morning.

On Tuesday I was able to watch ‘Noises Off’ which transferred from the Old Vic to the West End. I have to say, I think it one of the funniest things I have ever seen. It is certainly the best play I’ve seen. Being a creative myself, I absolutely could relate to all the characters in the play. If you are thinking about going to the theatre this month you would be mad not to see it. You have to hurry as it finishes on the 30^th June. Anyway my point is that while on the train journey to Waterloo I was able to cram some valued reading time.

 If you follow me on Twitter @TellingitTeen then you will know how often I have tweeted to my friend about the book. In truth I haven’t been 100% loyal to the book I did have to stop reading it halfway through as I had a Maths Unit 2 exam which just about killed me! So without further ado here is the much anticipated Destined book review.

Destined is the fourth book in the Wings series by Aprilynne Pike. If you aren’t familiar with the series let me give you a bit of background info- continue review from beside the picture.

Laurel thinks she is an average human. Until one day strange petal like shapes start to grow on her back. Unsure what they are and struggling to settle in at her new school she doesn’t tell anyone. Eventually she befriends a handsome boy called David, a relationship starts to form and they become boyfriend and girlfriend.  After confiding in David about the strange petal like objects on her back, the two of them do some tests and they discover that Laurel is in fact a plant.

However Laurel is no ordinary plant (surprise, surprise) she is in fact a faerie!  A faerie from a magical city called Avalon, which she left when she was seven, had her memory wiped and placed in the care of a couple who coincidentally cannot have children. The couple live on land that is home to the gateway to Avalon. However this isn’t the end of the book, we read further and discover Tam; a young faerie that was sworn to protect Laurel and who is also madly in love with her. So amidst the danger of trolls and spells that disrupt the lives of the people she loves, a love triangle is formed.

Destined by Aprilynne Pike features with Wings and Wild also by
Aprilynne Pike. Louise Rennison in the background.

After three books we are now able to read the last one in the series. Destined continues directly from Wild and it may be helpful to read the last chapter of Wild before you start this book. A similar style to the other three books is used however apart from the fact that the entire book is written over a 24 hour period. The book is spilt between the point of view of Tam and Laurel however the narration flows effortlessly between the two characters so that you hardly notice the change.  The characters in Destined are very consistent and clear yet I would have liked to have seen more action from Chelsea.

I would recommend this book to those of you who like romance/fantasy novels such as The Iron King by Julie Kagwa. On the book it is recommend to readers over the age of 13 however I think people over the age of 11 would enjoy this book. I would definitely say this book is for girls, the main themes are romance and magic and the cover as you can see is very girly. Similar to most sequels I do always think it is important to have read the other books (Wings, Spells and Wild) before you read Destined as I mentioned earlier the book continues directly from the third book. Overall there were several twists which did keep the reader entertained for the majority of the book.

I regret to say that the book did have a few parts which let it down. The majority of the book was based on one main event and this meant that after a while you felt yourself drifting off. The best way to enjoy this book would be to read it all in one sitting- which is feasible as it only has 300-odd words. Several times I would pick Destined up and feel like I was rereading the same part. Saying this however there were quite a few twists which did add to the depth of the novel. I was pleased to see more involvement of the human characters David and Chelsea however I at times felt their reactions to the situation was unrealistic- particularly Chelsea.

 Maybe I was reading it quickly however I did feel that the ending was rushed however I didn’t think it was predictable. I do feel that is appropriate to add a warning to the readers here. Aprilynne Pike added an extra chapter to the end which I wish I hadn’t read now. It gave a more realistic ending to the story. If you are in any way happy with the ending then I recommend you refrain from reading the last part!

Overall I enjoyed Destined, however I do believe that I preferred the other books in the series much more. Due to the fact that there were a few parts towards the ending which were hard to follow I give Destined 6/10.

Please as always post your comments below and tell me what you thought of the book.

You can view the author’s website here http://www.aprilynnepike.com/

To find more about Noises Off visit http://www.oldvictheatre.com/noises-off-west-end/

To find out more about The Iron King series click here  http://www.juliekagawa.com/books.html

Starters by Lissa Price-Book Review

Hi everyone!

 What is up with the weather in London?!!! Anyway here is my latest review. Today it is of Lissa Price's new book Starters.


Brief outline of story

16-year-old Callie’s world has been turned upside down by the’ Spore Wars’ a deadly virus is released as a weapon to the general public. The young and elderly are vaccinated however the virus spreads too quickly and adults die. This leaves children (Starters) and the elderly (Enders) in charge of the world. New technological advancements mean that you can now live to the ripe old age of 200! In the ruined streets of America, Callie discovers Prime Destinations known as the Body Bank. At the Body Bank, Starters can sell their bodies so that Enders can experience youth again and participate in all kinds of activities. A large sum of cash is available and Callie desperately needs the money to ensure her and her seven-year-old brother, Tyler, have a safe place to sleep at night. However after renting out her body Callie discovers her renter wants more than just to party in Callie’s young body- she intends to murder. Can Callie fight hard enough to gain control of herself and her body?

Starters by Lissa Price photographed with similar books; Bumped and Thumped by Megan McCafferty, Birthmarked by Caragh O'Brien and Matched by Ally Condie

I first heard about Starters when I went to the cinema to see The Hunger Games for my friends party (I would totally go and see it, it is AMAZING!) There was a trailer for it and my friend and I both looked at each other and got very excited. So when I saw it in the bookshop 3 weeks ago I practically screamed. I knew I had to buy it and every day when I see it on my bookshelf it makes me smile.

Starters is a post-disaster novel, which after reading it, I would recommend to 13-16 year olds. However it still is fun to read if older. This book has all the qualities of a great novel; romance, friendship, love, adventure and a lot of dramatic action. If you enjoy reading all genres then this book is definitely for you.

I know you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, but this cover is perhaps one of the best I have seen. As you can tell by the picture, it features a girl with a brown eye and one blue eye- this has no relevance to the story itself. When you download the free Starters Book app from the App store or Android Marketplace and point your device at the front, the image comes to life.

Each character you can easily relate to especially Callie, however I would have liked more interaction with her brother and friend Michael. The honesty is this book is very realistic and even though some of the activities that Callie participates in aren’t necessarily 100% good, you cannot help but like and pity her character. My favourite aspect of this book is the contrast between the world Callie lives in and how she deals with it. Some of the events would freak people out, however Callie remains calm throughout. Even though this isn’t perhaps a realistic reactions I think readers accept and admire it.

I think my favourite part in Starters would have to be when Callie ditches her reservations and gets some spunk. She holds a gun to a man’s head and confidently orders him to start talking. When reading this I nearly caught myself yelling ‘Go Callie’!

However there were some down sides to this book. Like most books, the ending didn’t live up to my expectations. I felt it was a bit rushed and not very descriptive. Without giving anything away, there were a few curveballs thrown which made the ending rushed. In addition, Lissa Price introduced a few new characters in quick succession which made it hard to follow the storyline. Another slightly annoying thing is that in Starters there were several sub plots and these were quite vague, for example one involving another teenage girl. These hopefully will be clarified in Lissa’s second book, Enders which is released this winter.

In conclusion, Starters is a great book which has some negative aspects however these can hardly be helped since the book covers so many topics.

To find out more about Lissa Price and Starters visit http://www.lissaprice.com/

Life as We Knew It by Susan Pfeffer- Book Review

Hello there! Sorry I haven't posted in a while. Here is my latest review for Life as We Knew It published in 2006 by American writer Susan Pfeffer.

Picture this; you’re an average 16 year old girl in Pennsylvania, America. You're behind on your coursework and your mums disappointed because you didn’t get 100% in your maths test. This is the case for Miranda until the Moon is pushed out of its' orbit by a large piece of rock. Suddenly school is cancelled and tsunami's cause most of the land to flood. There no T.V and communication becomes near impossible- and defiantly no BBM!

Miranda , throughout this brilliant book, is pushed to her extremes as she watches her world around her and her family collapse. The relationships in Life as we knew it were realistic and at times tear jerking. Miranda’s emotional struggle was at the forefront of my mind throughout the story- perhaps this was because it was written like a journal- and this made it hard to put down the book. At times I found myself in fearful of what would happen to her and I would often find myself rereading the same page so that I didn’t have to turn over.

This book could be described as a sci-fi, however the bit of science was simple enough for the average reader to understand. So don’t be put off by the sci-fi label. My one and only negative comment about Life as we know it would be that the ending was slightly disappointing, if you have already read it then you will understand when I say this: a dramatic build-up for a simple solution.

I would recommend this book for those aged 12-16. Younger readers may find it hard to relate to the main character as she talks a lot about her school, social and family life.

Overall I enjoyed this book and I hope the sequel, The Dead and Gone, is as good.

Check out Susans' blog http://susanbethpfeffer.blogspot.com/