Top Ten Tuesday: Ten Books I Feel Differently About After Time Has Passed

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Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish.

   Ten Books I Feel Differently About After Time Has Passed (This will be a mix of books that I loved less, loved more, complicated feelings, indifference, thought it was great in a genre until you became more well read in that genre etc.)

Book Review: Afterworld by Scott Westerfeld

Afterworld
Author: Scott Westerfeld
Reading Level: Young Adult
Genre: Fantasy
Released: September 23rd 2014
Review Source: Simon Pulse

Darcy Patel has put college and everything else on hold to publish her teen novel, Afterworlds. Arriving in New York with no apartment or friends she wonders whether she's made the right decision until she falls in with a crowd of other seasoned and fledgling writers who take her under their wings…

Told in alternating chapters is Darcy's novel, a suspenseful thriller about Lizzie, a teen who slips into the 'Afterworld' to survive a terrorist attack. But the Afterworld is a place between the living and the dead and as Lizzie drifts between our world and that of the Afterworld, she discovers that many unsolved - and terrifying - stories need to be reconciled. And when a new threat resurfaces, Lizzie learns her special gifts may not be enough to protect those she loves and cares about most.

Afterworlds is a book within a book, Darcy Patel is a freshly graduated girl who's on her way to becoming a printed author. She is signed with a popular publishing company and has moved to New York to focus on her dream of writing. The book alternates between Darcy's life and her book- a paranormal romance that involves a girl who comes too close to death and a death god she seems to be in love with.

I have to admit, I had high expectations for Afterworlds. Terrorist attacks, book signings, paranormal romance, and late night rewrites? Sign me up! Unfortunately I was very disappointed with the outcome. There were quite a few things that bothered me, but what I almost couldn't stand was the romance, BOTH of them. Darcy and her character, Lizzie, both fell in love at around the same part of the book. At first it was okay, but after awhile it became too much like instalove. Both characters became so dependent on the person they were in love with. Their lives literally revolved around this significant other and they wouldn't think or act for themselves. They would only do what the other wanted which I found extremely annoying.

Despite the romance, I enjoyed the book. It was really interesting to see the everyday life of a debut author. Darcy attended parties, book signings, and met/ became friends with some of her favorite authors. She struggled through rewrites and coming up with a viable idea to write about in her sequel. Darcy's novel was entertaining as well, Lizzie survives a traumatic experience and has to cope with how it has changed her. I had a difficult time deciding whether I liked Darcy's or Lizzie's story more, but in the end I liked them both equally.

Trailer Thursday: Afterworlds by Scott Westerfeld

Afterworlds

Author: Scott Westerfeld

Expected Publication: September 23rd 2014

Publisher: Simon Pulse

Darcy Patel has put college and everything else on hold to publish her teen novel, Afterworlds. Arriving in New York with no apartment or friends she wonders whether she's made the right decision until she falls in with a crowd of other seasoned and fledgling writers who take her under their wings…

Told in alternating chapters is Darcy's novel, a suspenseful thriller about Lizzie, a teen who slips into the 'Afterworld' to survive a terrorist attack. But the Afterworld is a place between the living and the dead and as Lizzie drifts between our world and that of the Afterworld, she discovers that many unsolved - and terrifying - stories need to be reconciled. And when a new threat resurfaces, Lizzie learns her special gifts may not be enough to protect those she loves and cares about most.

Book Review: Extras

Extras
Uglies #4
Author: Scott Westerfeld
Audiobook: 11 hours and 36 min.
Reading Level: YA
Published: March 17th 2008
Review Source: Library
Available: Amazon / Barnes & Noble / Borders

Summary: (from goodreads) The world has become a different place since Tally Youngblood upset the Uglies, Pretties, Specials applecart. What it's like? Well, visualize an all-day, everyday version of American Idol, where every body's a contestant and there are cameras everywhere. In this constant competition, teenager Aya Fuse ranks as a nobody; 451,369 to be exact. Of course, such obscurity has its small rewards, all of which have now become endangered by her friendship with the Sly Girls. Another futuristic thriller by Uglies trilogy author Scott Westerfeld.

This story was a continuation of the Uglies series, but focused on a new set of characters. I listened to the audiobook in my car on my commute to/from work. It felt like it was taking forever to get through the story, so I ended up skipping a few of the CDs because I wanted to see how it ended. Aya Fuse wanted to become famous, sort of like how Tally Youngblood wanted to become a Pretty in the first part of the series. Aya and her brother Hiro and friend Ren are called "kickers" and they try to get the scoop on stories so they can get a higher "face rank", in other words be famous.

Tally becomes friends with an elusive group called the Sly Girls and comes across a secret that turns out to be a danger to the world as humanity knows it. She kicks the story and starts to become famous...and that's where I started to get bored with the story and decided to fast forward a bit.

When I came back to the story, Tally and David, Fausto and Andrew and some of the characters from the first 3 books in the series were a part of the storyline. I enjoyed how Scott incorporated them into this book and continued the storyline. I also liked how Scott wove technology and futuristic terms and ideas into the entire series.

Book Review: Specials

Specials
Uglies #3
Author: Scott Westerfeld
Pages: 384 pgs
Reading Level: YA
Published: May 3rd 2011 (new cover)
Review Source: Library
Available: Amazon / Barnes & Noble / Borders

Summary: (from goodreads) "Special Circumstances":
The words have sent chills down Tally's spine since her days as a repellent, rebellious ugly. Back then Specials were a sinister rumor — frighteningly beautiful, dangerously strong, breathtakingly fast. Ordinary pretties might live their whole lives without meeting a Special. But Tally's never been ordinary. And now she's been turned into one of them: asuperamped fighting machine, engineered to keep the uglies down and the pretties stupid. The strength, the speed, and the clarity and focus of her thinking feel better than anything Tally can remember. Most of the time. One tiny corner of her heart still remembers something more. Still, it's easy to tune that out — until Tally's offered a chance to stamp out the rebels of the New Smoke permanently. It all comes down to one last choice: listen to that tiny, faint heartbeat, or carry out the mission she's programmed to complete. Either way, Tally's world will never be the same.

I listened to the audio book for this one, also. I enjoyed reading about the adventures that Tally and Shay had while members of Special Circumstances. I admit that I cringed every time that Tally called Shay "Boss", even though she was the one responsible for making Tally "Special". I just feel that Tally is too independent of a character to be calling anyone "boss". And throughout the whole series their friendship goes through many ups and downs, which is really both of their faults.

Things I liked: Shay and Tally becoming friends again, and getting to see David again. Oh, and I liked what happens to Dr. Cable in the end.

Things that I wish would have been different: I didn't like how the "cutters" (Tally and Shay's group of Specials) stayed "icy", and I wasn't happy with Zane's storyline. I also was a little surprised by the ending. Not what I expected (but I guess I shouldn't have been surprised), but I'm not giving anything away. If you want to see what happens, you'll need to pick this one up.

Overall, this is a good series. I'm not disappointed that I read them, but I can't say that I absolutely loved them or anything. The best part of this trilogy, for me, was seeing how the main characters: Tally, Shay, and David developed throughout the series. There is one more book in this series called Extras, but it is told from a different point of view than Tally's.

Book Review: Pretties

Pretties
Uglies #2
Author: Scott Westerfeld
Pages: 368 pgs
Reading Level: YA
Published: May 3rd 2011 (new cover)
Review Source: Library
Available: Amazon / Barnes & Noble / Borders

Summary: (from goodreads) Tally has finally become pretty. Now her looks are beyond perfect, her clothes are awesome, her boyfriend is totally hot, and she's completely popular. It's everything she's ever wanted. But beneath all the fun -- the nonstop parties, the high-tech luxury, the total freedom -- is a nagging sense that something's wrong. Something important. Then a message from Tally's ugly past arrives. Reading it, Tally remembers what's wrong with pretty life, and the fun stops cold. Now she has to choose between fighting to forget what she knows and fighting for her life -- because the authorities don't intend to let anyone with this information survive.

I listened to the audio book for this book in my car on the way to/from work. Scott Westerfeld continues to weave new worlds in this futuristic society and brings some new characters into the mix. In this second story from the Uglies series, Tally has finally become Pretty, but doesn't remember that she chose to have the operation. She becomes part of a new group of friends, who are Pretties, called the Crims. Tally also finds love and rekindles her friendship with Shay, for now.

There are some twists and turns in this book and I was not pleased with the way some of them went. I see the way the storyline is going for a few of the characters and I hope that I am wrong. I really enjoyed watching Tally change throughout this story and how her relationships with her friends changed (for better or worse). Another good story from the Uglies series, and I cannot wait to see what Specials has in store...especially after the ending to this one.

Book Review: Uglies

Uglies
Uglies #1
Author: Scott Westerfeld
Pages: 448 pgs
Reading Level: YA
Published: May 3rd 2011 (new cover)
Review Source: Library
Available: Amazon / Barnes & Noble / Borders

Summary: (from goodreads) Tally is about to turn sixteen, and she can't wait. Not for her license -- for turning pretty. In Tally's world, your sixteenth birthday brings an operation that turns you from a repellent ugly into a stunningly attractive pretty and catapults you into a high-tech paradise where your only job is to have a really great time. In just a few weeks Tally will be there.

But Tally's new friend Shay isn't sure she wants to be pretty. She'd rather risk life on the outside. When Shay runs away, Tally learns about a whole new side of the pretty world -- and it isn't very pretty. The authorities offer Tally the worst choice she can imagine: find her friend and turn her in, or never turn pretty at all. The choice Tally makes changes her world forever.

I listened to the audio book for this book in my car on the way to/from work. Scott Westerfeld describes this futuristic society in such a way that you feel like you could step right into that world. The characters were well developed and I liked watching them grow throughout this story. A customer of mine from Etsy recommended this series to me and I thought I'd give it a try.

I enjoyed getting to know the characters in the first story in this series. Tally Youngblood really only wants to become pretty, like her best friend Paris. Paris had the operation when he turned 16 to turn from an Ugly to Pretty. He moved from Ugly-ville to Pretty-town and left his "best friend forever" behind. Tally counts down the days until her operation, until she meets a new friend, Shay. Shay doesn't want to become Pretty, she likes her Ugly face the way it is. Shay ends up running away to the Smoke (rebels of the City who are against the operation that turns Uglies into Pretties). Tally is forced by a secret society to follow Shay and spy on her and the rebels of the Smoke. Throughout the story Tally begins to question everything she was taught, what she wants and what she believes in. She makes new friends, fiends love and commits the ultimate betrayal. I am one of those people who love a happy ending, so dystopian lit isn't always my favorite, but I enjoyed this story and couldn't wait to see what was in store for these characters in the next installment of the series-Pretties.

Midnighters The secret Hour Book review

MIDNIGHTERS The Secret Hour
by: Scott Westerfeld
Pages: 297

My Stars: 1

This book was extremely hard to get thru, it written for the very young. I don't recommend anyone above the age of 15 to read it. I didnt find it fast paces at all.

Product Description

Nobody is safe in the secret hour.Strange things happen at midnight in the town of Bixby, Oklahoma.
Time freezes.
Nobody moves.
For one secret hour each night, the town belongs to the dark creatures that haunt the shadows. Only a small group of people know about the secret hour -- only they are free to move about the midnight time.
These people call themselves Midnighters. Each one has a different power that is strongest at midnight: Seer, Mindcaster, Acrobat, Polymath. For years the Midnighters and the dark creatures have shared the secret hour, uneasily avoiding one another. All that changes when the new girl with an unmistakable midnight aura appears at Bixby High School.
Jessica Day is not an outsider like the other Midnighters. She acts perfectly normal in every way. But it soon becomes clear that the dark creatures sense a hidden power in Jessica . . . and they're determined to stop her before she can use it.
A story of courage, shadowy perils, and unexpected destiny, the secret hour is the first volume of the mesmerizing Midnighters trilogy by acclaimed author Scott Westerfeld.