Emilia's Review on Silence

Silence
Author: Becca Fitzpatrick (@becfitzpatrick)
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Release Date: October 4, 2011
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 448
Source: Bought
Rating: Escapable
Series: Hush, Hush #3
The Other Books: Hush, Hush, Crescendo, Finale
Extras: Trailer, Series Website
Seek: Amazon, Goodreads

WHEN SILENCE IS ALL THAT'S LEFT, CAN THE TRUTH FINALLY BE HEARD?

Nora Grey can't remember the past five months of her life. After the initial shock of waking up in a cemetery and being told that she has been missing for weeks - with no one knowing where she was or who she was with - she tried to get her life back on track. Go to school, hang out with her best friend, Vee, and dodge mom's creepy new boyfriend.

But there is this voice in the back of her head, an idea that she can almost reach out and touch. Visions of angel wings and unearthly creatures that have nothing to do with the life she knows.

And this unshakable feeling that a part of her is missing.

Then Nora crosses paths with a sexy stranger, whom she feels a mesmerizing connection to. He seems to hold all the answers...and her heart. Every minute she spends with him grows more and more intense until she realizes she could be falling in love. Again.

I like how the covers, for the entire series, doesn't change too much. This one however, I am a little disappointed. Patch doesn't have his wings in this book. For once, I just want to see his black upside-down V scars. Those scars keep popping up in the story, so I keep hoping we get to see them. Also, if Nora was passed out, wouldn't her head be...I don't know... dangling? In this photo, it looks like the model is straining herself to keep her head up. Not pretty.

He steepled his fingers over his mouth. All the while, his eyes never wavered from my face. "I'm hoping to keep you alive."

My mind lagged, unable to understand enough of the dream to read a deeper message. The only thought pounding through me was, I found him. After all this time, I found Patch. And instead of of matching my excitement, the only feeling he harbors is . . . cold detachment.

I have had a love/hate relationship with the Hush, Hush Saga. I fell in love with Hush, Hush. I hated the beginning of Crescendo, but was very intrigued by the ending. I was going to pick up Silence right away, but I was afraid to. It was a good thing I waited because I don’t think I would have like Silence as much as I do, if I read it right after Crescendo. Nora just gets on my nerves sometimes.

I am not the only one that has some mixed feelings about this series. Just let me say this though. If you like paranormal romance or just angels, then this is a series to check out. I just want to finish the series, to have it forever checked off my to-be-read pile, so I never have to pick them up again. However if there’s going to be movie, then I might read them again.

Beware, there are a couple of spoilers up ahead.

Emilia's Review on Beta

Beta
Author: Rachel Cohn (@RachelCohn)
Publisher: Hyperion
Release Date: October 16, 2012
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 331
Source: Bought
Rating: Reachable
Series: Annex #1
The Other Books:
Challenge: None
Extras: Facebook
Seek: Goodreads, Amazon

Elysia is created in a laboratory, born as a sixteen-year-old girl, an empty vessel with no life experience to draw from. She is a Beta, an experimental model of a teenage clone. She was replicated from another teenage girl, who had to die in order for Elysia to exist.

Elysia's purpose is to serve the inhabitants of Demesne, an island paradise for the wealthiest people on earth. Everything about Demesne is bioengineered for perfection. Even the air induces a strange, euphoric high, which only the island's workers--soulless clones like Elysia--are immune to.

At first, Elysia's life is idyllic and pampered. But she soon sees that Demesne's human residents, who should want for nothing, yearn. But for what, exactly? She also comes to realize that beneath the island's flawless exterior, there is an under-current of discontent among Demesne's worker clones. She knows she is soulless and cannot feel and should not care--so why are overpowering sensations cloud-ing Elysia's mind?

If anyone discovers that Elysia isn't the unfeeling clone she must pretend to be, she will suffer a fate too terrible to imagine. When her one chance at happi-ness is ripped away with breathtaking cruelty, emotions she's always had but never understood are unleashed. As rage, terror, and desire threaten to overwhelm her, Elysia must find the will to survive.

The first in a dazzlingly original science fiction series from best-selling author Rachel Cohn, "Beta "is a haunting, unforgettable story of courage and love in a cor-rupted world.

Love the cover! The model actually looks like what I pictured Elysia to look like. I wish would could see her other imprint on her left side. I also love the colors of purple, blue, and pink mixing together. So shiny.

Xanthe leans in close to whisper to me.

"Do you wish?" she asks.

My heart suddenly beats faster, as if I am being threatened, when I know I am only being reassured about my duties. "I do not wish," I state. "I serve."

This book had a lot of potential of being one of my favorites. It was just too damn long! Not a lot of things happened in this book. To me, it was another contemporary mixed with science fiction. There were just too many slow moments, not enough wow moments.

The beginning had me hook. I was interested to see what Rachel did with this unemotional character. Elysia is a clone of a teen human, with no soul. She is not supposed to feel anything, but has the knowledge on how to react to humans. She pretty much fakes everything. Clones are supposed to work/serve, not wish or dream or care about anything. So you can see why I was interested in viewing her point of view on things.

Emilia's Review on Renegade

Renegade
Author: J. A. Souders (@JASouders)
Publisher: Tor Teen
Release Date: November 13, 2012
Format: E-galley
Pages: 368
Source: Netgalley
Rating: Escapable!
Series: The Elysium Chronicles #1
The Other Books:
Challenge: Debut Reads of 2012
Extras: Facebook
Seek: Goodreads, Amazon

Since the age of three, sixteen-year-old Evelyn Winters has been trained to be Daughter of the People in the underwater utopia known as Elysium. Selected from hundreds of children for her ideal genes, all her life she’s thought that everything was perfect; her world. Her people. The Law.

But when Gavin Hunter, a Surface Dweller, accidentally stumbles into their secluded little world, she’s forced to come to a startling realization: everything she knows is a lie.

Her memories have been altered.

Her mind and body aren’t under her own control.

And the person she knows as Mother is a monster.

Together with Gavin she plans her escape, only to learn that her own mind is a ticking time bomb... and Mother has one last secret that will destroy them all.

Beautiful and haunting. This cover just fits perfectly with the story. If you look closely, you can see that window is showing you that the girl is actually in an underwater society. I didn't notice it at first but ah, I love it.

The Surface could never compare. Not that I’ve ever seen the Surface. It is forbidden, even for me.

Which is fine. My life is just about perfect.

My mind is totally blown away. I literally can’t say enough on how awesome and thrilling this book was. This is definitely one of my favorites of 2012. Might even be number 1, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves. The year isn’t over, and there are still lots of books coming out. But still, it might just stay in that spot.

Emilia's Review on Eve and Adam

Eve & Adam
Author: Michael Grant and Katherine Applegate
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Release Date: October 2, 2012
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 291
Source: Publisher
Rating: Reachable
Challenge: None
Extras: Trailer
Seek: Goodreads, Amazon

And girl created boy…

In the beginning, there was an apple—

And then there was a car crash, a horrible injury, and a hospital. But before Evening Spiker’s head clears a strange boy named Solo is rushing her to her mother’s research facility. There, under the best care available, Eve is left alone to heal.

Just when Eve thinks she will die—not from her injuries, but from boredom—her mother gives her a special project: Create the perfect boy.

Using an amazingly detailed simulation, Eve starts building a boy from the ground up. Eve is creating Adam. And he will be just perfect... won’t he?

I love the cover. It has that sciencey touch to it and tells you who came first. Instead of Adam and Eve, we have Eve creating Adam. It sounds like it's going to be an awesome read.

“We will soon have the ability to design and create the new human. Evolution still, but guided evolution.”

There is a long pause. I am not entirely sure if she expects us to applaud.

“Of course,” she adds, coming down off her high, “only in computer simulation.”

This book had a lot of potential but in the end, it was just okay. I couldn’t really take anything seriously because the characters weren’t. When something bad was going on, the characters always seemed to have a joke. Mad scientists, indeed. Also note, this is not a dystopian. It is set in our time and has a bunch of science fiction.

The story resolves around Spiker Biotech and the secrets that need to be revealed. This is one crazy, and yet helpful, science lab. The scientists here are creating vaccines for small cases of diseases and helping save lives. But underneath all the good, these scientists are creating… life. However, the things they are creating are not at all good.