The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness

My sister visited from college two weeks ago and during our traditional trip to Barnes and Noble I stumbled upon this book. I was a little suspicious at first but it turned out to be great!

Story:

Todd Hewitt is almost grown up. After twelve years of thirteen months on New World he is counting down the days until he turns 13 and finally becomes a man. But, to his great frustration, the day is not coming nearly soon enough and for now, he's stuck picking apples and tending to the sheep. He's the only boy left in Prentisstown, the only boy in a down with 147 men. All of the women, including Todd's mother, were killed by the Noise Germ only a little while after he was born. Besides the lack of women in their society, Prentisstown has many qualities that set it apart from the Old World. For example, everyone has Noise. Meaning everyone in the town can hear everyone else's thoughts. After being sent to the crocodile-infested swamp to pick apples Todd stumbles upon something, or rather, nothing. There's a space in the swamp where there is absolutely no noise. The silence is deafening to Todd, it feels like there's something cut out from inside of him when he gets closer to it and although he's made a staggering discovery, one that might even help Prentisstown he can't shake the feeling that he needs to keep it to himself, but how can he when everyone can hear and search his Noise? After being forced to leave Prentisstown, almost being murdered numerous times and finding something so strange that Todd can hardly even comprehend it, he must try to make it to the a settlement that is rumored to have a cure for the Noise. The journey is difficult enough for a 12 (technically 14 year old if you're counting by 12 month years) year old boy without all the dangers he meets along the way and the fact that there's an entire army after him.

"No one knows why. Still don't. Our scientists were mainly agriculturalists and the doctors couldn't find a reason and so for a while, there was chaos. Just...chaos like you wouldn't believe. Chaos and confusion and Noise, Noise, Noise."

This was an amazing book! It got to the point where whenever I had to stop reading I would almost cry and say "do I have to put it down?!" The main characters are amazing, it makes me feel like I've lost friends by finishing it, and not having the second book is torturing me. I'd highly recommend it to Sci-fi fans and people who like a lot of action in books. As for a rating I would give this story a 10 out of 5!

thanks for reading!

zibz

Nobody's Princess by Esther Friesner

An adventure at Barnes and Noble with some awesome friends of mine led me to getting this book...

Story:

Helen is the princess of Sparta. Her future is laid out before her with every fashionable, glamorous detail in order. She will be marry, become queen, rule the city of Sparta with her perfect new husband and have a daughter who will take her place one day. Helen will spend her days making clothing, weaving and doing embroidery with her sister, Clytemnestra, forever sheltered from the things her brothers, Castor and Polydeuces, get to do. And that, well... that's just not good enough for Helen. At the age of seven she decides that she wants to learn how to fight because she's sick of getting everything just because she's "beautiful." After being told by her brother that he'll teach her as soon as she can catch him (and failing miserably to do so as he raced down the hall away from her) she begins running whenever she has the chance. Three years later, she follows her brothers to their lesson with high hopes of learning some of their skills for herself. Two years later it is announced that Clytemnestra will be leaving the kingdom to go marry a prince in one of the neighboring cities. Polydeuces, Castor, a group of guards and, after some smooth talking on her part, Helen accompany her and thus begins the journey of a lifetime. Doing everything from hunting a rabid boar to falling backwards off of a horse to befriending people she never thought she would even talk to, Helen gets a taste of the addicting flavor of freedom.

"'...you're beauty will make Zeus himself fall in love with you and put your image up there as well, for us ordinary men to see and envy.'

'I can think of better reasons to end up among the stars,' I said, smiling."

So I had my expectations set pretty dang high when I began this book, I had gotten many recommendations and such for it, and I have to say... it failed to meet them. It had promise when it started out but the plot line was so repetitive that I felt like I could recite the main theme backwards and forwards by the time I was finished. Though it wasn't as gripping as I'd hoped I have to admit that the descriptions were amazing and it was very easy to picture everything the author was describing. So, if you can put up with repetition and like Greek mythology I would recommend this book, but otherwise I'm going to have to give an "eh" kind of rating. I would say it was about a 2.5-3 out of 5.

thanks for reading,

zibz

The Exiled Queen by Cinda Williams Chima

So this trilogy is my latest obsession, my last post talked about The Demon King, which is the first book and now it's my pleasure to introduce to you The Exiled Queen.

Story: WARNING: THIS WILL CONTAIN SPOILERS FOR PEOPLE WHO HAVEN'T READ THE FIRST BOOK!!

Han Alister, along with his list of names has had many titles. He's been a streetlord, a trader, a guardian, a student, an older brother, a best friend and a son. Now he gets to add another word to the list: wizard. After having lost his mother, sister and house, he is hiding, yet again, in Marisa Pines Camp. He and his best friend Dancer, who turns out to be a wizard himself, are packing and reading themselves to go to Mystwerk Academy, the wizarding school in Oden's Ford. Trekking across lands where wizards are despised, they meet all sorts of obstacles, including Han's old girlfriend Cat, who ends up joining them, intending to enroll in the Temple School at Oden's Ford. But the challenges don't end once they enter the so called peace of the schools, in fact, they've hardly begun. Micha and Fiona Bayar are also attending Mystwerk and they are determined to get the amulet the Han stole from the back at all costs. Not to mention the fact that Han runs into the girl he kidnapped a few months prior, Rebecca.

Meanwhile, after running from a forced marriage, Princess Heir Raisa ana'Marianna, a.k.a. Rebecca Morley, is traveling with Amon and his triple of guards to Wien House, the school for training soldiers in Oden's Ford. After suffering through the journey there, she settles into her new life at school rather nicely. That is until she sees Cuffs Alister riding onto campus two weeks into classes. She successfully avoids any contact with him until the night of solstice when she is jumped by a drunk teacher and Cuffs was apparently following her. She knows that Cuffs, or Han as he is now known, is dangerous, but she is still drawn to him by something more than his devastatingly good looks and brilliant smile. More surprising than him even showing up in wizarding school (since last time they were together there was nothing magical about him) is the request he comes to her with: tutoring. Hesitantly at first she accepts, skipping over telling Amon that she is spending most of her free time with a known criminal and, instead, enjoying the intoxicating way that Han smiles at her. That is until things go horribly wrong.

"'Rai,' Amon said, taking her hands in his. 'Whatever you do, don't fall in love with him.'

Raisa nodded, knowing it was already too late."

This series is now one of my favorites. The first one was great, but this one was mind-blowing. I couldn't put it down and every moment that it wasn't within arms reach I slipped into a mini panic attack. Han, Raisa, Dancer and Amon are as awesome and lovable as ever, just as Micha and Fiona are even more vile than they were in the first book. I give this book an 11 out of 5 and highly recommend it to, well, everyone.

thanks for reading!

~zibz