The Host

The Host

This Picture shows the theme sacrifice because soldiers sacrifice their safety and lives to protect our country

 

  The Host, by Stephanie Meyer is a great book about an alien, named Wanderer, who defies her entire species' culture. After living on many planets, Wanda decides to try out planet Earth, and gets put into one of the last humans, Melanie Stryder. Driven by the love of her brother and boyfriend, Melanie is determined not to disappear, and to stay alive in her mind, but usually a host is lost when an alien soul takes over the body. Haunted by the memories of Melanie's loves, Wanda starts to love them herself. When Wanda, and Melanie, who is still alive in, make their way to Mel's uncle's rebel camp, they find Jared and Jamie, Mel's brother and love.. Automatically, no one trusts her, how could they? She's one of them, except for one person, Melanie's uncle, Jeb.Slowly,more people begin to trust Wanda, and one in particular, Ian, begins having feelings for her. With Melanie's love for Jared, Wand is unsure of her feelings toward Ian, since her host's body is in love with Jared. Meanwhile, a seeker, like a police for the aliens, is out looking for Wanda, but the rebels capture her, and Wanda reveals how to remove the soul without harming the human body. Wanda decides she has to give Mel her life back, and her love, Jared, but that means she must leave the one planet she loves. After removing Wanda, the soul. from Melanie's body, instead of sending her to another planet, the rebels find her a new body to inhabit, one where the human is already dead, so she's not taking another humans body from them. The operation works perfectly and Melanie and Jared have each other back, and Wanda gets to have feelings for Ian, without the confusion of Mel's love for Jared. That's what The Host, by Stephanie Meyer is about. 

The main character in this book is Wanda, the alien soul that takes over Melanie Stryder's body. Wanda has lived on 8 different planets before coming to Earth, and hasn't felt attached to any of them, hasn't felt at home. When she comes to planet Earth, she is overwhelmed by all the emotions and senses, it's not like any other planet she's lived on. Wanda feels everything so strongly, she is not used to hormones, and when she feels something, she feels it hard, "It's like pain, this pleasure." (Meyer) Wanda is very strong, and gracious, she would do anything to help someone she loved, or even didn't love, if it meant helping someone. Wanda was a great main character, and I enjoyed reading about her journey on Earth, her 9th planet.

One theme I found in the book, The Host, was sacrifice. There are many forms of sacrifice in this book, some are good, others aren't. Wanda would sacrifice her life on the only planet that she loves, and Ian, the only person she would stay on a planet for, to give Melanie her life back. One of the sacrifices that you could consider bad in this book, is the fact that Jared would let Wanda leave, to get Mel back, he would sacrifice Wanda for Mel, without thinking twice. On the other hand, Ian would sacrifice Mel so he could have Wanda, he would leave Mel in trapped in Wanda's brain, so he wouldn't lose Wanda. Another character willing to make a big sacrifice is Melanie. Mel is willing to stay trapped in her head, while Wanda controls her body, just so Wanda can stay on Earth. Many characters in the book, The Host would make a sacrifice to save somebody, but Wanda and Melanie are really the only ones willing to sacrifice themselves to save someone, and they would do it for each other. That's why I thought that one of the main themes in the book, The Host, was sacrifice. 

I loved The Host! This book has a great plot and has many twists and turns that you weren't expecting. The book started off good and ended good, there was no in-between. I think that any one would like this book, boys or girls, it has different aspects to it, appealing to everyone. While this book is a little long, I think the great story, and writing would keep even someone who doesn't particularly like to read interested. I loved this book and can't wait for the rest of the series to come out. Overall, this book keeps you at the edge of your seat every word, and more people should read this amazing book.

Stephanie Meyer has written many other books, other than The Host. One of the most popular series, that everyone hears about, that has thousands of teenage girls obsessed is, of course, the Twilight Series. I have not read this series, but have heard much about it. Twilight is the first book in the series, followed by, New Moon, Eclipse, Breaking Dawn, and Midnight Sun, which is not yet released. While reading The Host, I thought Stephanie Meyer was an amazing writer, and thought she captured Wanda's feeling of being an outsider, in the world of humans very well. Stephanie Meyer is a spectacular writer, and I hope she writes more books like The Host in her future career.

I got this photo from: http://www.howstuffworks.com/economics/volunteer/opportunities/become-volunteer-military-officer.htm

Catching Fire

Catching Fire

 

Catching Fire, by Suzanne Collins, is the second book in the Hunger Games series. IN the previous book, Katniss Everdeen took her sister's place in the Hunger Games, a fight to the death performed by 24 children from the ages of 12 to 18. She and Peeta, the boy from her district in the games, survive. Now it's the 75th Hunger Games, and it's time for a Quarter Quell, the Hunger Games, with a twist. This Quarter Quell's twist is that the participants will all be previous victors. Katniss, the only girl victor from her district is automatically chosen, and Peeta joins her, again. While in the arena, Katniss and Peeta ally with Finnick Odair, a career from district 4, and Mags, an elderly lady. As the games are coming to an end, where allies begin to turn against each other, the unthinkable happens. The tributes break out of the arena, with the help of the head game maker, Plutarch Heavensbee. They go back to district 12, where they discover that it was destroyed by the capital. Then they go to the newly discovered district 13, where Katniss becomes the face of the uprising, the Mockingjay.

 

Katniss Everdeen is the main character in Catching Fire. Katniss has many personality traits, and throughout the book you see her act like many different people. Sometimes shes the strong girl who pushes her emotions down, and others, she's the emotional girl who needs someone to depend on. One thing you can say about Katniss is she's passionate, and she never gives up. Katniss always fights for what she believes in, no matter what the cost is. Katniss is a very strong person, but one bad thing about her is that she never thinks through situations. You find her reacting to problems before thinking about what she's doing. I love Katniss everdeen, and think she's a courageous, passionate, and inspirational character.

 

There are many sub-themes in this book, but one of the main ones that you see throughout the entire book is courage. Every single character in this book has courage, especially the tributes. Both Katniss and Peeta are ready to die for each other, at any second. Mags, the elderly woman Katniss allied with, gave up her own life to save Finnick, Katniss, and Peeta. "I can't let President Snow condemn me to this. Even if it means taking my own life. Before that, though, I'd try to run away. What would they do if I simply vanished? Disappeared into the woods and never came out? Could i even manage to take everyone I love with me, start a new life deep in the wild? Highly unlikely but not impossible." (Collins) I think this quote definitely shows courage. Katniss would rather do anything, but give up, even if it means dying. She would rather risk the lives of her loved ones than let President Snow win that easily, and I think that shows an incredible amount of bravery and courage. That is why I think courage is one of the main themes in the book, Catching Fire.

Suzanne Collins has written many books. There's the rest of the Hunger Games series, including, the first one, The Hunger Games, and the third one, Mockingjay. I think Suzanne Collins is an amazing writer and really enjoyed reading this series. Another series that Suzanne has written is the Gregor and the Overlander series. I read, and loved, this series. I think the thing that makes Suzanne's book truly unique is the fact that she is very creative and writes about things no one would would even imagine. Suzanne Collins is an amazing writer and I hope she writes more incredible, creative books.

Catching Fire is an amazing book. It has a great plot, and a lot of action. I would recommend this book to everyone. Most books are a lot of just one thing, wither a lot of romance, or action, but this book has a little bit of everything. I think both girls, and boys would love this book, which I find is a rare thing. Overall, I thought this book put you at the edge of your seat up until the last sentence. Everyone should read this book!

Picture from: http://animefrenzy17.deviantart.com/art/The-Hunger-Games-Mockingjay-258962978


Pretties

Pretties

Pretties, by Scott Westerfield, is the second book in the Uglies series. The book starts off with Tally Youngblood, the heroine, in New Pretty Town, as a pretty. In her previous adventure. Tally found herself in the wild, and in love with an ugly, but she turned herself in, in order to test a cure for pretty heads, and to save Shay, who get's turned into a bubble-headed pretty in the midst of Tally's betrayal. Tally get's conflicted when a Smokey brings the cure to her, but she splits it with Zane, a new companion. She finds herself slowly being cured, and falling in love fast. Zane and Tally plot an escape, and when they finally do it, Tally gets held up, and ends up in a scientific reservation. After escaping, Tally makes her way to the Rusty Ruins, where David, the ugly she fell in love with before she had the pretty operation, is waiting for her. When she gets to The New Smoke, Zane is very sick, turns out, the cure wasn't meant to be split, one pill contains nanos that eat the lesions from pretty minds, and the other stops the nanos. Zane got the nano pill and after eating the lesions, they continued to eat away at his brain. The Smokies discover a tracker in Zane's tooth, attached to the root, and flee, but Tally stays behind with him, and they both get caught. That's what Pretties, by Scott Westerfield, is about.

Tally Youngblood is a lot things. She is brave, strong willed, and a little crazy. One thing about Tally, is she can't be alone, as an ugly she had Peris. Then when he turned Pretty, she got Shay, then David. Now, as a pretty she has Zane . Another thing, no matter what, Tally always manages to make things complicated, whether she means to or not. I really like Tally, although she doesn't believe it, she's very strong, and can survive on her own. Tally is also caring, at the end of the book, Tally didn't leave Zane behind, even if it meant going back to New Pretty Town. As David left, Tally said, "No. It's because I love him." I think this definitely shows Tally cares about Zane, no matter what it means for her. Tally is the perfect main character for this series, and I really enjoyed reading about her.

One theme I found in the book, Pretties, is looks don't matter. The pretties are very gorgeous, with no outward flaws, but have many imperfections on the inside. They can't even think for themselves, because of the lesions. Another example of this, is Shay, she is beautiful, but that doesn't matter, because deep inside she is still furious at Tally because of Ugly days. Also, Tally's city seems perfect, full of high technology, that gives them everything they want, and it seems strong and stable, but they're not. An example out of the book is when Tally is escaping the reservation, she steals a doctor's hovercar, and as she trapping the doctor he says, "But you're pretty." (Westerfield) Tally answers him by saying "I'm very ugly in the mind." (Westerfield) The doctor is surprised because she's a pretty, she shouldn't do anything bad, because she can't think that far. That's why I think, looks don't matter, is a theme in the book, Pretties.

Scott Westerfield has written many other books other than Pretties. There's the other books in the Uglies series, all of which I have read, and thoroughly enjoyed. He has also written the Midnighters Series, Leviathan, is yet another series of books written by Scott Westerfield, I have not read these, but they look very interesting. Those are some other books that were written by Scott Westerfield

Pretties, by Scott Westerfield, was an amazing book. I've read it 2 times, and loved it both times. This book is a little long, but flies by, and leaves you wanting more. Overall, I though this was one of the best books I've read. I would recommend this books to any girl who likes to read about a strong girl living in a messed up world. Although, I don't think many boys would find enjoyment in this book. That is what I thought about the book, Pretties.

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Pandemonium

Pandemonium

      Pandemonium, by Lauren Oliver, is the second book in the Delirium series. In the quake of the death of Alex the book begins with Lena running in the Wilds, she has no idea where she is going, but she is doing what Alex told her to, run. Lena eventually passes out and she wakes up with people around her, she is a in an underground home. Raven, the leader of the people living there, takes care of Lena. When Lena is well enough, she begins working, hauling buckets, cleaning, although it takes much work and hassling from Raven. Lena slowly begins to feel like that is her home, until one day when she is checking for signals from the sympathizers inside the city, red, red means run, as Lena runs towards camp the bombs begin. Most of the campers survive, and Lena, Raven, and Tack, a camper who is really close to Raven, all decide to live in disguise in one of the city's. Once there, Lena is given a mission, to help out the rebels, she has to follow Julian, the son of the founder of the club that reminds people of the importance of the cure. When the scavengers, people who don't believe in the cure, but resort to violence, unlike the Invalids, attack, Julian is kidnapped along with Lena. eventually they escape, but not before they fall in love. Lena finds Raven and Tack and learn that this was all a test to see if she was deserving to really join the rebel group, of course she passed, but she isn't sure she wants in. Lena wants to take Julian and live in the Wilds with him, like she was going to do with Alex, and go back to the old camp, where she met Raven and Tack, and live with all her old friends, but Raven won't allow it. Julian is taken to be cured, and Lena need to find him to help him escape, when Lena gets to the hospital she finds Raven and Tack, who came to help  her after all. Lena breaks Julian out, and learns that her mother, who was thought to commit suicide was really alive, and had been in prison, and broke out. When Raven, Tack, Lena, and Julian are getting ready to escape the city and go back to the Wilds, Raven brings in a boy who had been in the same prison as Lena's mom, and was going to help Lena answer questions about her. It's Alex, he's alive, he was taken to prison, he was never killed. That's what Pandemonium, by Lauren Oliver, is about.

      Lena is a completely different character in this book than she was in Delirium. The pain of losing Alex has made her so much stronger, and the fog blocking the reality of the real world is gone and she knows now what confusing really is and what it really feels like to be sad. Also, I felt like it wasn't Alex that Lena fell in love with in Delirium, I think she could have fallen in love with anyone that loved her, because she didn't know what love was, it was the pure fact that Alex knew he loved her and showed her what it was like to truly love somebody. This time, Lena isn't as quick to like Julian, she doesn't have any interest in him until she really gets to know him, unlike Alex who she starts dating without knowing anything about him. Also Lena is not annoying anymore, while she toughened up in the Wilds she grew up and she isn't so fickle anymore, she is quicker to know what she wants. Lena is a better, more improved character in Pandemonium, and is completely different from what she was like in Delirium.

      One theme I found in the book is survival. I think survival is one of the themes in Pandemonium because Lena is constantly fighting for her life. One example of this is when she is thrust in the world of the Wilds, with no Alex to care for her, and be by her side, Lena must fight for herself, and when she is threatened to be kicked out of the homestead she must do her share of the work. Lena also has to fight for her life when she is very sick and must fight to get better. Another example of survival is when Lena and Julian are kidnapped, Lena must be resourceful and adapt to her new environment, and find a way to escape. Lena also has to find a way for her love for Julian to survive, and she has to keep him in love with her. While reading this book, I saw Lena in life or death situations all the time, and every time she over comes them, that's what makes her so strong. That's why I think survival is one of the themes in the book, Pandemonium.

      I loved the book, Pandemonium, even more than Delirium. Although I found Delirium to be entrapping and hard to put down, Pandemonium was even more entrapping, and harder to put down. With the Wilds included more in the book there is more violence and action, I found Delirium to be a little dull after reading Pandemonium. I definitely would recommend this book to all girls, although I wouldn't recommend a boy to read it, Pandemonium is the perfect balance between romance and action. I think almost any girl would read this book, and enjoy it. Although it's a little long to some people, it obtains much detail and a great story plot. Overall, I thought Pandemonium was amazing, and engulfing, and I can't wait until Requiem, the third book in the series comes out.

     I love Lauren Oliver's style of writing. I think she has a beautiful voice, and the way she writes the story, it's hard to describe. Lauren has some great dialog in this book that could be used as inspirational quotes. One quote I liked from the book is, "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." I think this quote is perfect for something Lena would say, it holds her attitude and emotions. Another quote I like from Lena is, "Everything you were, the life you had, the people you knew... dust." She shakes her head and says, a little more firmly, "There is no before. There is only now, and what comes next." I love the way Lauren Oliver writes and the quotes she says, and I hope she writes more books so I can read them.

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Eve

Eve

      

 
  Eve, by Anna Carey, is a great fiction novel about a girl named Eve who unveils a great lie in her society. When Eve discovers that when girls graduate high school and supposedly go to college to learn a trade, they're really held hostage and used as birthing monkeys. It's even worse for Eve, since she's her class's valedictorian, she property of the king, meaning she will bear his children.  In this future world men are supposedly evil, except the king, and all they do is abuse and rape women, and create war. When Eve discovers the real truth about her future, she runs a way, looking for a safe camp, she comes upon a fellow classmate, named Arden, who was never nice to Eve, who's also running away. They meet a guy named Caleb, who takes them to his home, when Eve and Arden get there, Arden is very sick, Leif, the leader of the home Caleb lives in, gives Eve and Arden a room. While Arden is sick, Eve begins teaching the little kids living in the home how to read. Eve is still very frightened by Caleb, she knows deep down that he is not going to hurt her, but she has trouble shaking the base of the knowledge she had been taught her entire life. Right as Eve has fallen in love with Caleb, Leif tells someone the king is looking for her and she and Arden are taken. After she is taken, Eve must choose between true love, or life. She chooses true love, and escapes, she stays with a women and her husband who don't agree with the city's new rules and chose to live outside the city with each other, but when Eve tries to send a signal to Caleb, the police track it and find them. Eve and Arden escape, but the woman and husband are killed. Eve finds Caleb and she, Arden, and him go to a different camp, the one she starting her journey looking for. Eventually they get there, but when they do they discover it's an all girls camp and she stays there while Caleb leaves, to protect her. That's what the book, Eve, is about.

      Eve is not like any other character I've read about before. She actually listens in school, unlike most main characters in books. Eve has let the information she was taught in school sink in and, influence her life. I think Eve is really brave, she found out the truth about her city, and ran away, all in the same night. Considering how difficult it would have been to take in that fact that all she was going to do for the rest of her life was give birth the old man, she called a king's babies. Eve is also very intelligent, she survived in the wild all by herself, she had never even been camping and she was just thrust into a completely different world, and she survived. Eve has bright red hair, she is short, and small. I think Eve is an interesting person to read about, although she sometimes is sappy, I think she was a pretty solid main character. That's what Eve, the main character in the book, is like.

      One theme I found in the book, Eve, is obviously love. Eve loved her mother, even though she died, Eve explained this to one of the little kids living in the camp that Caleb lived in, "I loved my mother, too. I still do. That's the thing - it never goes away, even if the person does." Eve also loved Arden, in a way different than her mother, even though Arden was mean to her when they went to school, they bonded, in a way that they couldn't break, during their multiple near death experiences together. Another person that Eve loved was, of course, Caleb. Eve and Caleb had this conversation, "What if I still want to go?" "Then you'll go," he said. "But I wanted you to know the danger." "There's always danger." "His green eyes met mine. I was starting to see it, how it could happen-me and Caleb." Also, Eve thought this, "I loved every part of him. The smell of his skin, the scar on his cheek, the feel of his fingers pressing into my back. The way he could tell what I was thinking just by looking at me." I think that these quotes from Eve make it clear that she loves Caleb. That's why love is one themes in the book, Eve.

      I thought that Eve was a really good book. I think it had a good balance between romance and action, it wasn't round the clock romance, but not constant action either, which I though was a good thing. I would recommend this book to girls, not boys. I think girls that like romance novels would like this book, but girls that find romance sickening should not read this book. Eve is a fairly long book at 376 pages, but those pages go by fast, as you read 75 pages and don't even realize it. Although I found the novel to be overly sappy at times, the action later in the book makes up for it. Overall, I think that Eve was a really good book, and I will read the rest of the trilogy.

      Anna Carey has written other books, not just Eve. First off, there's the second book in the Eve series, Once. Then there's the final book in the trilogy, Rise. Also, Eve was put into a larger novel called Pitch Dark: Dark Days of Fall Sampler, along with books, Supernaturally, Fateful, Cold Kiss, and A Beautiful Dark. I like the things that Anna Carey writes for Eve. I think she writes beautiful quotes, that are inspirational and almost like poetry. One quote I liked from the book Eve was, "Sometimes it feels like all the things I need to know, I don't. And all the things I do know are completely wrong." Another quote from Eve that I liked is, "Loving someone meant knowing your life would be worse without them in it." Those are some other books that Anna Carey has written. 

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(I edited it and put the words on it.)

Delirium

                                Delirium

   
      Delirium, by Lauren Oliver, is a great story about a girl named Lena, who's fighting between her heart and her society.In this future world, love is considered a disease, called amor deliria nervosa. The book begins with Lena counting the days until her brain surgery, to make her immune to falling in love. Lena looks at herself as an in between girl, not pretty, but not ugly. Since Lena's mom committed suicide, because the brain surgery didn't work on her, and they had done the operation on her 3 times and were coming to do it again, Lena lives with her aunt. Lena meets a guy  named Alex, who makes her question whether or not love is a bad thing. When Lena's best friend show signs of being a rebel, Lena gets scared, but she ends up going to an illegal music party with her. As she's about to leave, someone calls her name, Lena turns around to find Alex, they talk, and she agrees to meet him the next day. Lena feels safe around him, he has the procedure mark, he told her he was safe, and he couldn't giver the deliria, or could he? When they're swimming at the beach , Alex tells Lena that he's an Invalid, and lives in the Wilds. After Lena forgives Alex, and stops caring about what her society thinks of her, or if she is labeled a sympathizer they decide to run away together and live in the Wilds. When they meet to gather supplies, the police catch them, Lena is taken home, and put on lock down, but where did Alex disappear to? When Alex comes for Lena on a motorcycle, they escape, they drive to the city's border, Alex convinces Lena to jump over the fence when the motorcycle is in midair, telling her he'll jump right after her. When Lena gets over the fence she sees Alex, he's not jumping over the fence, he's being attacked by the police, Alex is dead, but before he is engulfed by the attackers, he tells Lena to run. That is what the book Delirium, by Lauren Oliver is about.

      Lena is a very interesting character. She obviously doesn't think very much of herself, she always talks about how she isn't ugly, but not pretty. Lena also cannot make up her mind, should I be with Alex, or not, or, should I break the rules? Frankly, I think Lena is a bit of an annoying character to read about. Lena is not good under pressure, "Sometimes I feel as though there are two me's, one coasting directly on top of the other: the superficial me, who nods when she supposed to nod and says what she's supposed to say, and some, deeper part, the part that worries and dreams and says 'gray.'" (Oliver,  ) Lena has dark hair, and her birthday is on September 3. I think Lena is afraid of authority in beginning of the book, because she never does anything wrong and does everything her aunt says, and doesn't act like a normal teenager. Also, when she does do something wrong she acts like she's murdered somebody, but by the end of the book, she's breaking all the rules, and sneaking out, which, I think, makes her less annoying of a character to read. That's what Lena, the main character in Delirium, is like.

       One theme I found in the book is sacrifice. I think sacrifice is one of the themes in the book because Lena sacrificed her whole life to be with Alex. She gave up her family, who would never approve, just to be with him. Also, she gave up the fairy tale of a perfect life with no problems, she could have kept on living the life she was, then had the procedure and she wouldn't even know what love felt like. If she had never agreed to meet him, then she wouldn't have had to go through the pain of losing him, but she sacrificed that too, her emotions, and she gave them to Alex.  Now the biggest sacrifice of all, Alex gave his life for Lena, He knew she would make it far into the Wilds if he distracted the police, he gave his life, knowing she would get to keep hers. That's why I think sacrifice is one of the themes in the book, Delirium.

      I thoroughly enjoyed Delirium, by Lauren Oliver. I found it to be entrapping, and hard to put down. Although some people may look at it and say it's too long, it goes by fast, and when it's over you want more. Even though I found Lena's character whinny and annoying, Delirium was still a really good read. Overall, I thought Delirium was a complete page turner. I would recommend this book to girls looking for something good to read, and doesn't mind a 450 page book. I think this book would appeal to almost any girl, because it has a little bit of everything in it, romance, sci-FY, and action. I enjoyed Delirium and hope to read more books by Lauren Oliver.

      Lauren Oliver has written a lot of books. First of all there's Pandemonium, the second book in the Delirium series. Then there's the third one, Requiem, which comes out in March next year! Lauren Oliver has also written the books Before I Fall, Hanna, Annabel, and Raven. I hope to read some of her other books and will definitely finish the Delirium series. I like Lauren Oliver's style of writing, I find it poetic like and easy to read. Those are some other books by Lauren Oliver.

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