Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard

“The gods rule us still. They have come down from the stars. And they are no longer kind.” - Victoria Aveyard, Red Queen

17-year-old Mare is waiting for the day when she is conscripted into the army the same way her older brothers were before her. She knows that her conscription is inevitable, even while she doesn’t want to fight a war for the Silver-bloods.

When her best friend loses his job and is also headed for the army, she knows that she has to do something to save the both of them.
Can Mare really save herself from conscription? Or are there worse fates in store for her?

This was an okay story, but I lost interest.

This one took some time for me to really get into and enjoy. I think there was a lot of build up from friends who OMG LOVED IT. My expectations were really high and the story lacked a spark that I was looking for. 

I have so many mixed feelings about this book. This story has been so over-hyped lately so I was expecting this book to easily become one of my new favorites and it was just okay. This book was really difficult for me to get into, it was very slow in the beginning and for the first 100 pages I wasn't sure if I was gonna be able to get into it. 

I  love a great romance as much as the next girl (in fact romances are my favorite!) but I guess I just don't like them as much in this type of novel. Maybe it's because the romance aspect feels teeny boppy and immature since the protagonist changes her mind so often about who she may or may not love? It boggles my mind how easily they fall in and out of love. I just don't get it. 

The ending to this was again, predictable, and slow. I was glad about certain aspects, but I still had trouble staying focused. I’m not sure if I want to read the next book in the series. But there was also some great storytelling to keep me interested in a second book. I don't really know.

 I can understand why people love it and I get the appeal, but it was a miss for me.

Goodreads: Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard

The Age of Miracles by Karen Thomas Walker

“And this one fact seemed to point to other facts and others still: Love frays and humans fail, time passes, eras end.” - Karen Thomas Walker, The Age of Miracles

It took me forever to finish this book, and to be honest, I don't really know why. But now I'm here to tell you my opinion.

The main character, Julia, is twelve years old girl like any others. She has plenty of teenage problems that she has to faces. To choose the right shape of bra, deal with her other, prettier classmates and, of course, her first love Seth Moren, who barely knows she exist. Her best friend no longer talks to her, her beloved grandfather disappeared, his dad is cheating on her mom with Julia's piano teacher. Her life can be consider to tragedy. But all this is just background of the biggest catastrophe that can possible happen to human race.

In the beginning it looks like every other day. But it's not. The Earth is spinning more and more slowly. Days are longer, night are longer and people are separated to two groups. Those, who recognize old time, meaning: One day is equal to 24 hours. This group also include Julia and her parents. And then there are those who recognize the new time. Meaning: Days re longer, night are longer and finally the day and night lasts a whopping 72 hours! Those people think that their bodies will adapts. But soon both groups will find out, that none of these works.

Funny, sad, interesting, savvy and sassy dystopian story about world we don't know anything about.

 In the end, you need to think about the book for a while. At the beginning you say: "What the heck? This is the book I spend my money for? No, thanks." Trust me when I say, more you think about the story, more you love it.

Yes, Julia is annoying at the times, she thinks that she ate all the wisdom of the world, doesn't really know about what's going on around her and the biggest catastrophe for her is her unrequited love, but tell me, who twelve years old girl is not like that?

I think, that author could make Julia little older, but in the end is still doesn't matter. Every character is special and interesting in their own way. Mother, whose acting career only includes shampoo commercials, father, gynecologist, who loves both of them, but just want more, grandfather who always talk just about his two years in Alaska, and is getting ready for end of the World, best friend who left, then came back, pretending Julia doesn't exist or little girl who fell in love with a boy on the Internet.

While I was reading the book I had mixed feelings. There were parts where I couldn't take my eyes off the pages, and then there were parts where I preferred to put the book away. But that doesn't mean the book wasn't good.  Or that it was just good.

Like the book says: "An unforgettable novel about growing up in the background of completely changed world"

Goodreads: The Age of Miracles by Karen Thomas Walker