The Summoning

By Kelley (Oops, almost posted Jelley...) Armstrong

490 Pages

Published by HarperCollins

★★

By Em

So, I had the pleasure of reading this book for our school book club. For some reason, some of the people were just dying to read it, or reread it, or rereread it. And I can't help but ask, "WHY!?!?!?!" What do you people see in this book? Please, tell me. Maybe I missed something. But as far as I can comprehend, this book was terrible. I get it, yes. It is the beloved teenage paranormal genre, but just because you throw in a teenage girl, some teenage boys, a couple ghost, and a zombie here and there, that doesn't make it a good book. Now, by my little description there, some people might go, "Aww yeah! Zombies and ghosts! What doesn't she see in this book?" I would have reacted that way too. But listen to my tale and you shall quickly see the flaws in this sad little book.

The Summoning is about this girl named Chloe. When she was little, she saw ghosts in her basement. And I'm not talking bed sheet ghosts either. No, this little girl is seeing people who hanged themselves dangling behind the furnace. When I first read this, I thought this book could end up rather interesting. But then I started chapter two. Chloe lives with her rich father (or rather her rich father's maid) and goes to a fancy art school. And she's still seeing ghosts. Before she knows it she's placed in a home for "troubled" teens. But like her, these other teenagers aren't all that they seem.

MAY BE SPOILERS
So, problem numero uno with this book is that the pace is all askew. One minute were rushing through things so fast I feel like I'm reading a book hopped up on caffeine. And then the book hits that rut when all the coffee has run out of it's system. It would drag and drag and drag. The book either kept me frantically rereading to try and understand what is going on or going in slow motion.

Problem two; the main character is an idiot! I mean, I always thought it was a bit of a stereotype when privileged kids are portrayed as being rather stupid, but this privileged girl is D-U-M-B! Let me elaborate. One of the worst scenes in the entire book is the one where Chloe is sitting in pitch dark, locked in a cellar, and there is a possibility that zombies are closing in on her. And, she spends half of a page talking about how she doesn't know how to light a match. Are you kidding me?! You don't know how to light a match? I mean, the zombies are getting closer and you sit there going, "Now, how do I light these magical little matches?" I almost wish the zombies had gotten to her. Let's not forget her other reoccurring stupid move. We see Chloe as a rather quiet and shy gal. But, the one guy she decided to smart off to a lot happens to be the really giant guy who is in their troubled home for breaking a guy's back! Are you seriously telling me that he's the guy you're giving attitude to? Smart choice my friend...

One of my other problems was (SPOILER FOR THE END) that they tell us that while there are necromancers and sorcerers and all of that fun stuff, there were no vampires and werewolves. I started to think, "Oh yeah, at least this sad little book isn't going to take influence from a lot of other cliché teen paranormal novels." But oh no. In the end, we get the lovely little surprise that, yes, there are werewolves. It just can't be paranormal without grabbing characters right out of Twilight can it? That just makes me really sad.

So, now that I'm done with my little displeased rant, I can say with the utmost confidence that I shall not be continuing this series that is apparently "fabulous". There was little to no appeal in this for me, and the author just kept making things worse. She would through us through these "loops" where we'd go, "That was stupid," or, "Or that was a completely random twist that was unplanned and not well executed." I mean no disrespect to Kelley Armstrong or any crazy devoted fans, but that was just not good. I'm really hoping we get some better book club books in the future.

Hunger

By Michael Grant

Pages: 590

Published by Harper Teen

★★★★

By Mel

 After reading Gone I was skeptical about reading its sequel Hunger. I enjoyed reading Gone but I had feared that like many series the books would become worse. Luckily, that was not the case. In fact, I think Hunger was better than Gone. I felt more captivated by it and I by the end I had trouble putting the book down.

 

 WARNING: Spoiler Alert for Gone up ahead

To recap, in the first book, Gone everyone fifteen and older disappeared. Just like that, gone. Then, with only kids left, they all raided the stores for candy and chips. Eventually a leader had to step up and tell the kids what to do. At first, the hero Sam declined to becoming "mayor" so bullies took over. Then, the troubled kids from Coates Academy came and their leader, Caine gave his speech and took over Perdido Beach. Sam, who turned out to be Caine's long-lost twin brother, disagreed with what Caine was doing and was the only one who was powerful enough to stop him. The book ended with a huge battle between the brothers and Sam coming out on top. Also, Sam and Caine turned fifteen and time slowed down. They figured out how to stay in the FAYZ (Fallout Ally Youth Zone). All they had to do was say no to leaving which is easier said then done. 

 

Now, in Hunger, it is three months later and food has run out. After all the kids raided the stores for junk food, all the fresh produce has rotted, and the kids are surviving on dog food and hot dog relish. Everyone is starving and some are even thinking about cannibalism. Poor Sam is the new leader and he is becoming stressed out under all this pressure. Children are dieing and the rest are starving. Everyone is blaming Sam and asking him why he isn't doing anything to stop it. Meanwhile, they all sit back and watch DVDs and refuse to work. I love how realistic that is. It's hard to reason with six and seven year-old children. They don't want to work. That was their parents job. They can't understand the seriousness of their situation, at least not as well as Sam, Edilio, Albert, Astrid, or any of the older kids do.

 

Also, Caine is back. But this time there's something different about him. A new monster, the Darkness or Gaiaphage is corrupting multiple kids such as Lana, Caine, and Drake (although I don't think Drake's craziness came from the Darkness). This battle seems to involve more then just the Perdido Beach kids vs the Coates Acadamy kids. Something else is there too.

 

This is definitely a great book and now I'm excited to read the next book, Lies! It was super good and very interesting. It almost reminds me of the colonial times in America when the colonists were trying to make a new and improved government. That's what is happening in the FAYZ. They are trying to make a good government with rules and restrictions. But the only difference is that kids are the leaders and children are the only citizens. This obviously poses my complications.

 

Gone

By Michael Grant

Pages: 558

Published by Harper Teen

★★★★

By Mel

 

  First of all, I must apologize. School came in a whirl-wind of homework and all sorts of after-school activities. I barely find time to read anymore (a sad fact I am desperately trying to change) and thus I find it hard to write reviews for the books I do complete. So, I am sorry to admit that I am in fact not reviewing the many books I read in August, September, and October. There are just too many to find the time to review and some of them I have forgotten too much about to write a review for them. But (with much nagging from Emma) I am finally sitting at my computer and writing a review for the last book I read, Gone.

 

This book was recommended to me by Emma. You may have even read her earlier review of this story. I have not found Gone as exciting as Emma had. Don't get me wrong, I do still love this book. But, after reading Emma's review of it and then reading it myself I have to say that it was not at all what I expected.

In Gone, one seemingly random day everyone from fifteen and older just disappear in Perdido Beach, they 'poof' as Quinn says. At first all the children are confused. What happened to their teachers? But they quickly recover and run away from the school and raid the stores and gas stations for candy with no adults to stop them. Then, by night time they start to miss their mommies and daddies. They all become scared and don't know what to do. Everyone looks up to fourteen-year old Sam Temple for help and answers. A few years ago he earned the nick-name School-Bus Sam after saving a school-bus of children from a fatal plunge into the ocean off a cliff. Now with his hero status he could easily become mayor. When Sam declines, not wanting to be a leader, bullies take his place. In a world with no adults, bullies rule.

 Soon, even worse bullies from Coates Academy (the school for troubled kids) take over Perdido Beach. Caine is the new mayor with is superior powers and great speech. Not only are all the adults gone, but children are also developing special powers. Some can run at super speed, move objects with their minds, or shoot light beams from their hands. It's a crazy world of endless terror for these children and who's going to save them from a terrible leader? Where did the adults go? And what happens when you turn fifteen? The kids call it the FAYZ (Fallout Alley Youth Zone) but no one actually knows what this new world is and why it happened.

While I loved the book and its story line, it was a bit slow for me. It seemed to drag on. But, it is still a great book to read that I encourage others to give it a try. I am currently reading the second book, Hunger.

Between Shades of Gray

By Ruta Sepetys 

Pages: 338

Published by Philomel Books

★★★★★

By Mel

 

Just to get this straight, this book is not Fifty Shades of Gray. When I told my mom that I wanted to read Between Shades of Gray she freaked out and said that it was too inappropriate, thinking that I was referring to Fifty Shades of Gray. So I just had to make sure you understand that there is a HUGE difference between the two.

 

 This book was really good. I loved how it was written and the ending was satisfying. My friend/ cousin Sami suggested it to me about a year ago. It's very interesting. It's about a family from Lithuania in 1941. The Soviet police came in and arrested fifteen-year-old Lina and her ten-year-old brother Jonas, and their mom and dad. They are deported to Siberia in harsh conditions with a bunch of other prisoners. It's really sad.

 

 Between Shades of Grey takes you along with Lina and her family through the horrors that these prisoners faced. Its the story you rarely hear about. These people were not Jewish and weren't freed until after the Jews. Yet, their story is just as terrifying. I definitely encourage everyone to read this. I personally have an interest in WWII but I don't think you need to have that interest to enjoy this book.