There is nothing better to pump students up about reading and writing (at least in my opinion) than bringing in the authors they love to read to the classroom. This year I was lucky enough to receive a grant which is allowing me to do just that. I am super excited to welcome
Thanks to modern science, every human being has become a ticking genetic time bomb—males only live to age twenty-five, and females only live to age twenty. In this bleak landscape, young girls are kidnapped and forced into polygamous marriages to keep the population from dying out.
When sixteen-year-old Rhine Ellery is taken by the Gatherers to become a bride, she enters a world of wealth and privilege. Despite her husband Linden's genuine love for her, and a tenuous trust among her sister wives, Rhine has one purpose: to escape—to find her twin brother and go home.
But Rhine has more to contend with than losing her freedom. Linden's eccentric father is bent on finding an antidote to the genetic virus that is getting closer to taking his son, even if it means collecting corpses in order to test his experiments. With the help of Gabriel, a servant Rhine is growing dangerously attracted to, Rhine attempts to break free, in the limited time she has left.
Today’s review is a joint review! I was lucky enough to receive two ARC’s of this one and one of my students read the novel with me. Without further ado, here is Hannah’s review…
I thought Lauren DeStefano did a fabulous job creating the setting of the story.At times it seemed like a crazy, unimaginable place that I would love to visit and then she would sneak in something that reminded me why Rhine so desperately wants to get out. I love how she developed each character piece by piece.Throughout the entire book, you learned tid-bits more of each character that helps you realize something else about them as individuals as well as how they are intertwined with the other characters.The relationships in the book are formed brilliantly.The distinction of feelings between characters helps you see each character’s perspective on everyone and their situation.It gets to a point where you can’t put it down.You feel like you are too involved to stop reading.I loved this book! Can’t wait for the next one!
~Hannah S.
8th grade student
I loved Hannah’s review because it says everything I was going to say. I could not put this one down and was lucky the students were having testing this week. Shh… don’t tell!Rhine is such a strong character and her assertiveness is quiet which I love. She is determined to find her way back to her life and will do whatever it takes to get back there. I can’t imagine being sixteen years old and being through all that Rhine has been through. Her sister-wives play such an important role in this even though one would drive anyone crazy and one has seemingly given it up on it all. I have to say that besides Rhine, my favorite character is her husband, Governor Linden. I think there is so much more to him and DeStefano did a great job alluding to these things and heightening our curiosity for the future.
It was so easy to see everything that DeStefano has going on in her debut novel because it was so very well-written. I love that she has taken a genre that is quickly becoming a favorite to many and found a way to weave current topics within this dystopian fiction (human trafficking, genetic engineering, etc.). This is an amazing debut novel and deserves all the praise it is getting. I absolutely cannot wait for the second in this series.
Visit Lauren HERE to find out more about her and even more about the series HERE. Read the first chapter of Wither HERE.
Nora Grey's life is still far from perfect. Surviving an attempt on her life wasn't pleasant, but at least she got a guardian angel out of it: a mysterious, magnetic, gorgeous guardian angel. But, despite his role in her life, Patch has been acting anything but angelic. He's more elusive than ever and even worse, he's started spending time with Nora's arch-enemy, Marcie Millar.
Nora would have hardly noticed Scott Parnell, an old family friend who has moved back to town, if Path hadn’t been acting so distant. Even with Scott's totally infuriating attitude Nora finds herself drawn to him - despite her lingering feeling that he's hiding something.
Haunted by images of her murdered father, and questioning whether her nephilim bloodline has anything to do with his death, Nora puts herself increasingly in dangerous situations as she desperately searches for answers. But maybe some things are better left buried, because the truth could destroy everything - and everyone - she trusts.
I loved Becca’s debut Hush, Hush and couldn’t wait to read this one. It did not disappoint! I actually think that this one is better than the first and can’t wait to see where we go with the third.
Patch and Nora have more complications than most teenagers in love and it seems as if they can’t get a break no matter how hard they try. I love that they are written like a normal couple with issues like the guy not thinking that being honest will be better in the long run even if he thinks it is insignificant. So many novels make it seem like all couples (teen and adult) are these happy, loving, no problem having couples. That is not reality. Becca does a great job portraying this in Crescendo.
There is more action, more suspense and even more drama introduced in this novel and it only complicates things even more for Nora and Patch. Minor characters are brought to the forefront and we are able to see what roles more and more play as the plot thickens. The ending… man! If I had Becca’s number I would have called her when I finished and offered anything I could to get the next book! Good endings make or break the book and this one definitely made it!
Silence (number 3) hits shelves on October 4, 2011! For now, here is the trailer for Crescendo :)
Genre: YA Romance, Modern Fairy Tale Pages: Hardcover, 304 pages Publisher: HarperTeen (October 1, 2007)
I am a beast.
A beast! Not quite wolf or bear, gorilla or dog but a horrible new creature who walks upright. I am a monster.
You think I'm talking fairy tales? No way. The place is New York City. The time is now. It's no deformity, no disease. And I'll, stay this way forever ruined unless I can break the spell.
Yes, the spell, the one the witch in my English class cast on me. Why did she turn me into a beast who hides by day and prowls by night? I'll tell you. I'll tell you how I used to be Kyle Kingsbury, the guy you wished you were, with money, perfect looks, and the perfect life. And then, I'll tell you how I became perfectly...beastly.
** SPOILERS MAY BE IN HERE… BEWARE **
I am a sucker for a good retelling. I have had this one on my shelf and wanted to wait until closer to movie time to read it because I love to compare movies and books… we all know the books are better- most of the time. I will get onto that later though.
I love the plot behind the book and how the Kyle is portrayed.
He is arrogant. He is a jerk. He gets what he deserves.
Enter the witch. Someone has to put him in his place, right? There are many modern retellings that have taken the story and twisted it. I was really hoping that the author was going to do that here- make him not the hairy, scary beast but one who became ugly or the “nerd” or something more modern. That wasn’t the case. I was able to get over it though because the plot was very well written and there were some crazy things going on. I loved getting the “beasts” side of things and getting into his psyche.
He went through a major transformation internally thanks to Lindy. By the end of the story he is a new person and I enjoyed seeing him change and learn from his sentencing of beastliness. The ending, however, was my downfall. I felt like it was rushed and slapped together to fill the pages. Needless to say, I was disappointed. I was looking forward to an ending that matched the rest of the book and I don’t feel that it did. Overall, it was a great read and I cannot wait to see the movie adaptation.
There are obviously going to be differences in this movie based on the previews (hairy man vs. veiny man) but I think it is going to be great!
In case you haven't seen it, here is the trailer for Beastly which hits theater's Friday March 4, 2011!!
I am a middle school Reading teacher and coach, an avid reader and book lover, a mom to Kylie and Jaxon, wife to Chris, and am dedicated to getting the good books in the hands of others!
