LUX: Beginnings

Guess what we have here?! The LUX: Beginnings cover! Love it!! <3 LUX: Consequences cover to be revealed shortly! So dearest Jenn mentioned that Beginnings, which, if you haven't heard of it yet, contains both Obsidian and Onyx books, also contains never seen before exclusive content; probably to try and tire us over till Opposition ;D Soooo, without further ado *elegant flourish*:

Anywayss, who's ready for Opposition? I certainly am!! :DD

—MissBloodsucker™ All Sucked Out!

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The Maze Runner by James Dashner

Source of pic: Wikipedia.

The Maze Runner by James Dashner
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Current Rating on Goodreads: 3.99 of 5 stars
Pages: 374
Synopsis (via Goodreads):

“If you ain't scared, you ain't human.”

When Thomas wakes up in the lift, the only thing he can remember is his name. He's surrounded by strangers--boys whose memories are also gone.

Outside the towering stone walls that surround the Glade is a limitless, ever-changing maze. It's the only way out--and no one's ever made it through alive.

Then a girl arrives. The first girl ever. And the message she delivers is terrifying.

Wow. I simply LOVED the plot! Such a creative and inventive story! I was left guessing and making up elaborate half formed theories through most of the book! (view spoiler)
The problem for me is that I feel I couldn't connect with the characters enough. They felt a bit distant, in a queer sense. But that plot is magnificent! :D
I did like that Teresa was a strong character, though I would have liked to have been given more of her character; I feel I don't know her enough.
Chuck was the only character I felt I knew. He was under-confident and scared; he was young, too young, just wishing for a family and for everything to be alright. He never stopped talking because talking soothed him, helped him take his mind off his life, he was enthusiastic and hopeful, always trying to lift spirits and not give up, and he was loyal to his friends (view spoiler).
Thomas character seemed hard to pin down, as did many of the other characters.
The morals are also interesting. Would you say that we humanity as a whole should NEVER sacrifice some for a believed greater good? Or should sacrifices be made to keep us alive as a whole species? And why should any one person or group of persons be able to deliberate the right morals for us all? And even if there were a consensus from all, would that really make the answer acceptable? When you are a single person living your life around others, you would see 'the sacrifices' different, more relevant, and thus most likely immoral. And yet if you were to be an elected or self-elected dictator, you would most likely view 'the sacrifices' more distantly, insignificant on the big scale and scheme, and thus be more accepting of the deaths if you viewed them as necessary to the survival of your species as a whole. I find it quite interesting...........
So my conclusion is that everything was masterfully set out. My only disappointment is that I would have liked more, idk, 'flavour' to the characters (except for Chuck of course).
4 stars.

Until next time,
MissBloodsucker™ All Sucked Out! XD

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The Winner's curse by Marie Ruthkoski

The Winner's Curse 

By: Marie Ruthkoski

The Winner's Curse by Marie Ruthkoski

355 pages

Mad: Likes; It was a super intense read. Slavery and murder plots, evil guys, cool heroines named after birds and a fiiiiiiine love interest. And that ending.... O.O WELL then...

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Winning what you want may cost you everything you love 

As a general’s daughter in a vast empire that revels in war and enslaves those it conquers, seventeen-year-old Kestrel has two choices: she can join the military or get married. But Kestrel has other intentions. 

One day, she is startled to find a kindred spirit in a young slave up for auction. Arin’s eyes seem to defy everything and everyone. Following her instinct, Kestrel buys him—with unexpected consequences. It’s not long before she has to hide her growing love for Arin. 

But he, too, has a secret, and Kestrel quickly learns that the price she paid for a fellow human is much higher than she ever could have imagined. 

Set in a richly imagined new world, The Winner’s Curse by Marie Rutkoski is a story of deadly games where everything is at stake, and the gamble is whether you will keep your head or lose your heart. (Goodreads)

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Reviewed by Mad <3

Okay coming into this book I reeeeeeeeealy wanted to hate it because of Kestrel's name. Not because I hate it, the opposite in fact. I write stories and I could not find a good name for my MC for FOREVER so I looked on baby name sites and looked up translations of words in other languages and looked at animal names that could be used as names. After very extensive research I decided to do a bird name and found KESTREL! It was PERFECT for my character and I was so proud of myself because it's not a real name so OBVIOUSLY no other main character would have it. and then SHE COMES ALONG AND HAS THE SAME NAME! 

But I most certainly did not hate it. It was too dang good. (to my utter dismay)

I am obsessed with the idea of slaves in YA novels so I just couldn't resist this book. I wish she would've gone a little more into the slavery system of her world though. 

Kestrel was an amazing character even if she did steal my name. I kinda love and kinda hate that she didn't have kick butt ninja skills like most female heroines in the the YA genre. But she was kick butt in so many other ways, she was stronger in mind than body and  I found that really unique and refreshing. 

Arin is a lovely love interest. I found myself  adoring him or wanting to hate him right along with Kestrel He may not be in the category I classify as 'sexy beast' but I feel like he might obtain that coveted position sometime throughout the coming books in this series, because he's pretttttty dang close to it. Quiet and broody? check. Silent inner passion? check. Nice to look at? (wellllll figuratively speaking anyways.... *grins*) check. Kick butt battle skills? check. Need to protect his lovey? check. Yep. Very close to being sexy beast. 

I loved the world she created. It was so.... real. I especially loved the way she created her villains. Not just one villain who dies and then magically reappears over and over again as the plot demands. No, I really liked how her villains act the way they do in real life, they act with an actual purpose and  even when she finally takes care of one there's another one lurking around the corner.

And the FEELS. Oh my goodness! I felt myself constantly having to fight back tears. Their lives and relationships go through so much in this book and instead of those sappy, happy lets-go-lie-in-a-meadow-and-run-our-fingers-over-each-other's-lips scene's there's "Is he/she dead? I really hope not, because I love them and am going to spend my life and death in misery if he/she died hating me." scenes.

So yep. I pretty much loved this book. Not the best book I ever read but, very, VERY good. If you don't like cliff hangers you'll probably have a problem with this book though.

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Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher

Source of pic: Wikipedia.

Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Current Rating on Goodreads: 4.07 of 5 stars
Pages: 304
Synopsis (via Goodreads):

Clay Jensen returns home from school to find a mysterious box with his name on it lying on his porch. Inside he discovers thirteen cassette tapes recorded by Hannah Baker, his classmate and crush who committed suicide two weeks earlier.

On tape, Hannah explains that there are thirteen reasons why she decided to end her life. Clay is one of them. If he listens, he'll find out how he made the list.

Through Hannah and Clay's dual narratives, debut author Jay Asher weaves an intricate and heartrending story of confusion and desperation that will deeply affect teen readers.

Right. Well I actually read this book a little while ago; I can't remember the date. But whatever. I read it quite quickly and I wasn't sure if I should re-read it before I wrote my review. But while I was on a drama camp recently the subject of bullying, snowball effects, and depression came up, I decided to just write it up. So here goes.

My understanding is that Hannah sent the tapes to every single person that influenced her decision to die — or in Clay's case, could have influenced her NOT to commit suicide — so that they could become more aware of how THEIR decisions during the time period shown in the book influenced HER decision to commit suicide.
(view spoiler) I wanted to appear into this fictional Hannah's life and drag her away and somehow help her, and it was really mood dampening at times, because as the story progressed you as the reader could clearly see her spiral and you were helpless to stop it and argghhhh it was painful to read and yet I just had keep reading it 'cause I couldn't just stop, which sucked because I felt like it was almost my fault because I got so wrapped up in the story, which is why it's not one of my favs of favs; since those kinds of depressing feelings I tend to shy away from in books, but I still loved the story because I thought the message was so touching and inspirational.
I've heard some people say that this book was life changing, and others say it was garbage because the reasons were so meagre (and I just wanted to mention that they might seem meagre to some people, but that should be expected, because individually each reason might be meagre, but it was the reasons as a whole, one after the other in relentless succession that had a significant effect on Hannah's mental wellbeing and eventually her suicide. The snowball effect).
For me, tho I thought it was a really interesting and thought provoking book, it wasn't personally life altering. What I mean is, while it made me think about how what I or anyone else does or doesn't do could effect those around me, I didn't completely reinvent my ideals or whatever.
Anyway, what I felt the author was trying to express and put across to us by writing this book is that everything you do, or don't do, has an effect on others. Whether good or bad, conscious or not, there are always causes and effects to your actions or lack of. And I guess the purpose was to open our minds more to that concept, and demonstrate how people can become more aware of this, (view spoiler) I really liked this ending because it felt like Hannah's death and the tapes had been a success. That all of it wasn't meaningless because at least one person who received the tapes had truly understood what she was trying to say even in death, and THAT was gratifying to read.
5 stars.

—MissBloodsucker™ All Sucked Out!

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Graceling by Kristin Cashore

Well this is Mad :D...

Anyhoo... so (duh duh duh DUH!)

GRACELING

BY: Kristin Cashore

Graceling by Kristin Cashore

471 pages

Mad: LOVES. Katsa is a kick butt ninja, the story line is awesome, the scenery's great and Po is what happens when you combine sexy beast and adorable.
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  Katsa has been able to kill a man with her bare hands since she was eight - she's a Graceling, one of the rare people in her land born with an extreme skill. As niece of the king, she should be able to live a life of privilege, but Graced as she is with killing, she is forced to work as the king's thug.

When she first meets Prince Po, Graced with combat skills, Katsa has no hint of how her life is about to change.

She never expects to become Po's friend.

She never expects to learn a new truth about her own Grace - or about a terrible secret that lies hidden far away...  (Goodreads)

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-Mad's Review-
  
  I LOVE this book. I love it soooo much. Did I mention I love it? I do. Yep.

  You HAVE to read this books. This was one of the first books I read when I was just getting into YA fiction and it's still by far one of the best I've ever read. 

  I love the world that Cashore created, the mystical mixed in with what could have been kingdom's in our worlds past. The surroundings immediately suck you into the story and hold you there. 
  
  Then there are the gracelings. I love this idea so much. That some people are randomly born with a certain talent. Like seriously HOW COOL IS THAT?! But wait. It gets cooler, the way they tell who's graced is by their eyes. GRACELINGS EYE'S ARE TWO DIFFERENT COLORS. I don't know about you, but I kinda have an eye fetish and that's right up my alley. DIFFERENT COLORED EYES! Not just plain ole brown and blue though! NOPE! They have to be all legit colors like violet, and silver, and gold. I would kill for purple eyes. You think I'm joking. I'm not.

  Another amazing aspect: Katsa. Can a heroine get anymore kick butt ninja than her? NO. No, I think not. She, by nature is a bit violent and her grace just gives her even more of an edge. She is SCARY. I love this soooo much in a heroine. Like: "oh hey Katsa, you're uncle is trying to turn you into a monster and you're starting to feel like one and you're all confuzzed and stuff... you wanna go hide in a corner and sob now? I prolly would..." but she's all like: "Nah. I gots this... Imma go kill something and demonstrate my mad ninja skills and work this out logically without having a major meltdown and needing someone to come save me." Yeah. I like Katsa.

  And then there's Po. Oh Po.... You can make even having the unfortunate name choice a fat kung fu panda seem sexy. He is a fricken sexy BEAST (and I really do not use that term all that lightly... You might hear it a lot at first as I'll be reviewing my favorites first... but for realzies, it beith a term of honor) His eyes are SILER AND GOLD... SILVER AND GOLD!!! *swoons* He'd have me there, but he gets even better. He's also a kick butt ninja, maybe slightly less so then Katsa, but the way he handles being less kick butt then her is so swoon worthy that it makes up for his lack of ninja which is still WAY more ninja than anyone beside's Katsa's ninja. The way he handles Katsa is so so so swoon worthy too. Not one of those guys who has to be more macho than his lady but not a weenie who just sits around and waits for her to saves him either. They act like equals which is rare in books like these. He lets her be her own person and I love that they're two separate entities instead of just an extension of each other as some YA novels tend to make their characters. The romance is different and refreshing and one of my personal favorites.

  You MUST read this book. If I had a grace that allowed me to influence your thoughts through the computer screen I'd be using it right now. *tries to use graceling mind powers* But sadly my eyes are not all awesomely violet and gold... or maybe one a scarlettey crimson color OH! Or maybe like a super bright neon color (What colors would you choose? It's harder than you'd think to pick... so many options! *giggles giddily*) Anyhoo.... READ IT. You won't be sorry. (cuz it's amazing, also wonderful... did I mention amazing?) READ IT!

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First ever........

Ookayy. So I'm just gonna throw it to the winds and POST SUMFIN!!!!! Nothing, really XD Just a hellooooo to anyone who might be reading this. I've never shared a blog before.....in fact I've never even had my OWN blog.....it's all very new and all that jazzz :P So yeahh, everything might be weirdddd and amateurish for a bit (but if you know anything about us, we'll figure it out fast 'cause we're BOSS!!!! *winks*) while we get to our feet, so to speak lol! But thanks for reading this.......anyone who is in fact reading this right now XD Which is anyone getting this message anywhoo.......

Hiyaaaaaa!! *waves*

—MissBloodsucker™ All Sucked Out!

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