Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver

Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver
Delirium #2
Release Date: February 28, 2012
Publisher: HarperCollins
Rating: Essential

I’m pushing aside the memory of my nightmare,
pushing aside thoughts of Alex,
pushing aside thoughts of Hana and my old school,
push,
push,
push,
like Raven taught me to do.
The old life is dead.
But the old Lena is dead too.
I buried her.
I left her beyond a fence,
behind a wall of smoke and flame. - Goodreads

Has everyone bought their copy? I hope so!

Pandemonium was, quite simply, BRILLIANT. I have been waiting for this book for an entire year and I have been dying to read it. I definitely wasn't disappointed, despite having expectations that were pretty much through the roof.

Lauren Oliver has written Pandemonium in a slightly different style to Delirium. The chapters alternate between "Then" and "Now", with the "Now" chapters taking place in a city and the "Then" chapters starting when Lena was running around in the wilderness after escaping her city in the previous novel.

I really liked the new style this book had going on. I don't think I've read a book that was set out quite like this, and I found that it enhanced the story by having non-stop action right from the beginning. I think the book would have been good if it had been written the usual way - from start to finish - but the alternating chapters gave us two different views on Lena and the other characters, as well as making sure there were no boring points in the novel, and it made Pandemonium FANTASTIC. Something was always happening, and my heart was almost jumping out of my chest through most of it.

Lena did annoy me, though. She thought about Alex a lot, which was understandable seeing as she lost him, but she also compared Julian to Alex CONSTANTLY and it got on my nerves. I wish she could have been able to see him for who he is instead of a comparison to Alex.

She also kept talking about love being a disease, and I was disappointed because after everything she had been through in Delirium - and everything she goes through in this novel - I would have thought the government's brainwashing would have worn off. I guess not, though. I hope to see some improvement with her views in the final book. Other than that, Lena was a strong character and watching her grow between "Then" and "Now" was beautiful to watch.

Julian is the new love interest, and I thought he was adorable. I won't say too much about who he is or what his role is in this novel, but I loved him.

The cliffhanger got to me. WHAT WAS THAT?!?!?!?! Now I have to wait ANOTHER year for the third - and final - book in the trilogy. I'm dying to know what happens. I did see the ending coming, not because I read spoilers but because it was just something I was expecting to happen. However, there are several suprises in this novel that I wasn't expecting, and I was thoroughly impressed at how well Lauren Oliver hid these things from me.

As for if I enjoyed it more or less than Delirium, I really don't know. I think I like them both the same, some things I preferred in Delirium and other things I enjoyed more in Pandemonium. It's the same series, and I don't think it's necessary for me to compare the two. I loved them both so, so much! (I also love Before I Fall, Lauren's first novel, but that's besides the point. /book pushing).

Please go out and buy this book if you haven't already. I promise you will not regret it!

Waiting on Wednesday: Breathe by Sarah Crossan

Series: Breathe #1

Release Date: October 2, 2012

Publisher: Greenwillow (US), Bloomsbury (UK)

Goodreads

The world is dead. The survivors live under the protection of Breathe, the corporation that found a way to manufacture oxygen-rich air.

ALINA has been stealing for a long time. She’s a little jittery, but not terrified. All she knows is that she’s never been caught before. If she’s careful, it’ll be easy. If she’s careful.

QUINN should be worried about Alina and a bit afraid for himself, too, but even though this is dangerous, it’s also the most interesting thing to happen to him in ages. It isn’t every day that the girl of your dreams asks you to rescue her. 

BEA wants to tell him that none of this is fair; they’d planned a trip together, the two of them, and she’d hoped he’d discover her out here, not another girl. 

And as they walk into the Outlands with two days’ worth of oxygen in their tanks, everything they believe will be shattered. Will they be able to make it back? Will they want to?

Thanks to Daph for bringing this to my attention! I know this isn't out for AGES but I am dying to read it, especially after hearing how much Daph liked it! It sounds as though this dystopian has some great world building going on, so I can't wait for its release.

Forgiven by Jana Oliver

Forgiven by Jana Oliver
The Demon Trappers #3
Release Date: March 1, 2012 (UK)
Publisher: MacMillan Children's Books
Source: For Review
Rating: Bland

Riley has made a bargain with Heaven, and now they've come to collect.

Lucifer's finest are ruling the streets and it seems that Armageddon might be even closer than Riley imagined. But with her soul and her heart in play it's all she can do to keep herself alive, let alone save the world. Riley's not afraid of kicking some major demon butt, but when it comes to a battle between Heaven and Hell, she might need a little help... - Goodreads

Forgiven begins where the previous book left us, with people hunting for Riley, and Riley's dad being reanimated. I liked the first book well enough to read the second, and I found that the second book was brilliant! I really enjoyed it, and was really looking forward to reading this book because I was so interested in finding out what happened next. Unfortunately, Forgiven didn't meet my expectations after such a good second book.

The plot was kind of boring in this book, there was a lot of getting from Point A to Point B without there being much substance. The romance aspect takes over the action and plotting, and it really irked me. I know Beck and Riley care for each other - even if they're both too frustratingly stubborn to say anything - but I wanted more fighting and more demons rather than scenes of the two of them bickering constantly over nothing.

Riley and Beck also really annoyed me in this book. I wasn't a huge fan of Beck in the first book, but in the second he started to grow on me. I was hoping to like him even more in this one now that he had come to terms with his feelings - even slightly - but that just wasn't the case.

The pair of them whined about each other SO MUCH; it was beyond frustrated. Every page there were at least a couple of mentions of Beck (when reading from Riley's point of view) and what she thought he would think of her. Excuse me? Why do you care so much what he thinks of you? If he judges you then that's his problem. Come on, you're meant to be a fierce protagonist!

It was the same case with Beck and his point of view, except he annoyed me even more. He was so angry all of the time! I couldn't handle the complaining from him or Riley, so in the end I had to skim those bits. There was too much complaining and no character growth, and after reading about the same stuff throughout three novels now, it got old fast.

I did enjoy reading about Riley's father's reanimated. He was sweet, I guess.

This book leaves you on a little bit of a cliffhanger, which I think those of you who like the romance and relationship between the two of them will enjoy, but it didn't leave me intrigued. I couldn't wait to put this book down, I'm sorry to say, and I am not interested in continuing with the series any more.

New Releases (3)

I really need to get a picture for this feature... Is anyone skilled in that department? Because I'm definitely not. Just look at the picture below if you don't believe me. This week I've linked the books to Amazon UK and I've linked to either the hard copy or the Kindle edition on Amazon, depending on which is cheaper. I hope that helps!

March 6 - March 12

March 6:

March 8: 

Wings of the Wicked by Courtney Allison Moulton

Wings of the Wicked by Courtney Allison Moulton
Angelfire #2
Release Date: January 31, 2012
Publisher: HarperCollins
Rating: Enjoyable

Life as the Preliator is harder than Ellie ever imagined.
Balancing real life with the responsibility of being Heaven’s warrior is a challenge for Ellie. Her relationship with Will has become all business, though they both long for each other. And now that the secret of who she really is has come out, so have Hell’s strongest reapers. Grown bold and more vicious, the demonic threaten her in the light of day and stalk her in the night.

She’s been warned.
Cadan, a demonic reaper, comes to her with information about Bastian’s new plan to destroy Ellie’s soul and use an ancient relic to wake all the souls of the damned and unleash them upon humanity. As she fights to stay ahead of Bastian’s schemes , the revelations about those closest to her awaken a dark power within Ellie that threatens to destroy everything—including herself.

She’ll be betrayed.
Treachery comes even from those whom she loves, and Ellie is broken by the deaths of those who stood beside her in this Heavenly war. Still, she must find a way to save the world, herself, and her love for Will. If she fails, there will be hell to pay. - Goodreads

Was anyone else really looking forward to this book after reading Angelfire? I definitely was. I LOVED the first book in this trilogy and have been waiting for a whole year for WotW to come out. Unfortunately, I didn't end up enjoying it as much as I had hoped.

The story picks up just after Angelfire ends - I think a couple of weeks have passed - and it throws us straight into a fight scene. These action scenes were some of my favourite parts of the book (when I wasn't getting frustrated with Ellie, but I'll talk about that later) and I they were really well written for the most part.

The book was fast paced to begin with and kept this up until it suddenly slumped in the middle. I feel as though the plot could have been tightened a bit more to make the book flow better. The beginning of the end (XD) was full of action, but then it died down until the very end. It ended on a cliffhanger, and while I have a pretty good idea of how this is going to turn out, it's enough to keep me reading despite the problems I had with this book.

I think that this book focused too much on the romance. The book is over 500 pages long, and I feel it could have been condensed if there was more focus on the actual story and the characters rather than having Ellie whine about Will.

I have to say, though, that the scenes between Ellie and Will were VERY steamy! Courtney Allison Moulton has SKILLS.

Now I'm going to rant about Ellie. Be warned.

She was SO bloody ANNOYING. First of all, she whined about everything. I understand that she may be having a tough time balancing her normal life with her angel stuff but really, this was ridiculous. She bitched about Will when he saved her from getting raped at a party. Ugh.

Secondly, Ellie is meant to be this badass angel warrior, yet it was the others (Will and the others) that ended up protecting her in almost every single fight scene.  Ellie just stood there like a plank of wood, watching while people died for her. I can't deal with this. Fair enough if she TRIED to help, but instead she just observed, as if she was too worried about breaking a damn nail. She was so useless, why didn't she fight?!?!

And last but not least, she's a hypocrite. She got upset about Will keeping secrets from her, and yet she decides to keep MAJOR secrets from Will. Even worse, she has told these secrets to practically everyone BUT Will. Talk about not being able to keep your mouth shut.

As for Will, I LOVED HIM. He is so adorable <3 He doesn't deserve to be stuck loving someone like Ellie for centuries. I hope he can move on, but I doubt that will happen.

Cadan was a character we met in Angelfire, and I was really looking forward to seeing more of him in this book. I loved him in Angelfire and he had great potential to become one of those snarky yet lovable antagonist/slash/love interests that I love. But nope, that was all ruined. I hate what Moulton did with his character, and I am really upset because of the potential I feel was lost. This is a slight spoiler, so move on to the next paragraph if you want to remain completely spoiler free. Apparently Cadan has fallen in love with Ellie ALREADY. They've only seen each other, at most, six times since the incident on the boat, and these scenes were terribly short. And yet he's going around telling her he's in love with her and will do anything for her. Why does his character have to be ruined by insta-love? This may be down to Ellie's abilities - or something, I didn't really pay attention because she said something about everyone being made to love her OF COURSE - but nonetheless, it completely ruined his character for me.

Overall I enjoyed Wings of the Wicked for Will and the fast paced plot, but Ellie has become one of the most useless protagonists I have ever read about. And Cadan was a huge disappointment. I'll be reading the next book for Will and Will alone.