"Specials"

Post: 11-20-10

So today's book is Specials by Scott Westerfeld.

Blurb:
"Special Circumstances" ... the words have sent chills down Tally's spine since her days as a repellent, rebellious Ugly. Back then, the Specials were a sinister rumour - frighteningly beautiful, dangerously strong, and breathtakingly fast.

And now Tally's become one of them: a super-amped fighting machine, engineered to keep the Uglies down and the Pretties stupid. But one tiny corner of Tally's heart still remembers something different.

When she is ordered to stamp out the rebels of New Smoke, she is forced to make one last choice: carry out the mission she's been programmed to complete, or listen to that faint yet persistent heartbeat telling her that something's wrong ...

Plot:

The third novel in the Uglies series begins two months after events in Pretties, when Tally Youngblood has become a member of an elite group of "Specials" - surgically enhanced super-humans - called the Cutters. The Cutters were originally founded by Shay, who invented the use of ritual self-harm to become "bubbly" and clear-headed in spite of brain lesions used to make her pretty-minded. They were adopted into Special Circumstances and given enhanced senses, strength and reflexes, and are among the youngest agents working for Dr Cable.

The Cutters disguise themselves as Uglies in order to crash a party in Uglyville and search for members of the New Smoke. Tally successfully finds a girl giving out pills which cure the pretty lesions, which she encourages the Uglies to take to the Crims - Tally and Shay's old clique. The Cutters attempt to capture the girl, but she escapes on a hoverboard with David's help. Giving chase, the Cutters are ambushed by Smokies with unusually advanced technology, including infra-red masking sneak suits and electical weapons. The Smokies kidnap Fausto, one of the Cutters, and leave Shay and Tachs injured.

Hearing that the pills are intended for Zane, Tally insists on going to see her boyfriend, who suffered brain damage in New Pretty Town and has been hospitalised since Tally turned Special. Tally discovers that while Zane is free of the pretty lesions, his brain has been damaged and his physical infirmity now disgusts her.

She begins to wonder if she received a brain operation when being made Special which has given her feelings of superiority.

Eager to show Dr. Cable that Zane is cured so that he will be made Special, Shay and Tally break into the city armory to steal something to cut off Zane's tracking necklace. They succeed, but in the attempt, they accidentally destroy much of the armory, putting the city on high alert. They then begin to secretly track Zane and the Crims as they journey to the New Smoke, although the pair split up when Tally receives a guide to the New Smoke from her friend Andrew Simpson Smith, an escapee from a reservation of primitive culture. Shay follows the guide straight to the Smoke, but Tally insists on staying with Zane.

On the journey, Zane notices Tally and confronts her about her reasons for following him. The pair kiss, but Tally is still repulsed by Zane's tremors and runs away from him. Tally continues to follow the group to the New Smoke - a city called Diego, which accepts runaways freely, having widely adopted the pretty cure and rejected the rules about surgery, allowing anyone to look how they please rather than following the international standard. Tally is amazed by this, but horrified to hear that Diego is beginning to expand into the wild, clear-cutting forest like the Rusties did.

Tally finds Fausto at a party for newly arrived runaways, but realises his Special brain surgery has been cured and only just escapes being forcibly injected. Her escape attempt leaves her helpless, and she is picked up by Diego's authorities and locked up for her lethal strength and weapon-sharp teeth and fingernails, which they insist on removing. The doctors inform her that she has received brain surgery to give her flashes of anger and euphoria, along with feelings of superiority, although they will not change this without her consent. With Shay's help, Tally escapes just before the surgery begins.

Shay and the other Cutters have all been cured by Fausto, but they want Tally's help to protect Diego from imminent attack by Dr Cable, who is blaming the so-called New System for the attack on the armory. Tally assists in the evacuation of the hospital, but learns after the attack that Zane, having just received surgery to cure his tremors, died of complications during the confusion of the attack. Grief stricken, Tally leaves immediately to tell Dr Cable the truth about the attack on the armory. Just before she reaches the city, she meets David, who took a helicopter to talk to her in time. He tells her that he still believes she can think her own way out of her brain surgery, but gives her an injector full of the cure so that she has the option of curing herself.

Arriving at Special Circumstances headquarters, Tally finds Dr Cable and the Specials have taken control of the city. Dr Cable knows that Tally was responsible for the attack, but has chosen to use the attack as a way to seize control over both this city and Diego. Tally tricks Dr Cable into stabbing herself on the injector, and is imprisoned underground for a month, watching the feeds as Dr. Cable slowly looses her grip on the city and the cure begins to spread. Diego publishes scans of Tally's Special body and the world is outraged by Dr Cable's "secret" experiments on unconsenting teenagers.

Eventually, Tally is taken as the last remaining Special to be "despecialized", but she resists the surgeons and breaks out with Dr. Cable's help, becoming the only true Special left. She returns to David, still waiting at the Rusty Ruins, and realises that her other friends have all found their places in the New System. She decides that she wishes to remain in the wild, free from surgery, and with David she will form the "New Special Circumstances", ensuring that nature is protected from mankind's excesses

Option: 
I LOVED IT lol

"Pretties"

Post: 11-19-10

heh heh heh...

Sorry, I felt like I had to. Spice things up a bit ya know, actually i got that heh heh heh. from an anime called Please Twins! it's so cute but anyways here's today's book... Pretties by Scott Westerfeld. so here we go.

Blurb:

Tally has finally become Pretty. Now her looks are beyond perfect, her clothes are cool, her boyfriend is totally gorgeous, and she's completely popular. It's everything she's ever wanted.

But beneath all the fun - the non-stop parties, the high-tech luxury, the total freedom - is the nagging sense that something is very wrong. Something important. Then a message from Tally's Ugly past arrives. Reading it, Tally remembers what's wrong with Pretty life, and the fun stops cold. Now she has to choose between fighting to forget what she knows and fighting for her life ...

Plot:

Tally is enjoying life as a new pretty, hoping to be voted into Shay's "Crims" clique, when the party she is at gets crashed by Croy, a Smokie who brings back faded memories of her time in the wild. With the help of Zane, leader of the Crims, Tally follows Croy's instructions and retrieves two pills - the cure for the pretty brain lesions - and panics about taking them. To avoid detection before the Specials arrive, Tally and Zane agree to split the cure, each taking one of the pills.

The pills quickly cure the pair of them, although they are affected differently, with Zane's cure apparently more effective, but having the side effect of crippling headaches. Suspicious of Tally's unusual behaviour, the Specials fit her and Zane with tracking cuffs, which spy on them constantly and thwart their plans to escape together to the New Smoke. However, they still encourage the other Crims to make themselves "bubbly" with adrenalin and caffeine, both of which help to combat the affect of the lesions. This culminates in a prank which results in all the Crims falling onto a soccer field during the pre-game fireworks, making the clique famous.

The prank also has some unintended consequences. With the adrenalin rush, Shay remembers Tally's betrayal of the Smoke and breaks off their friendship. The prank also attracts the attention of Dr Cable, who offers Tally a job as a Special, which Tally strongly refuses. Several days later, Tally and Zane decide to journey into Uglytown to try and contact the New Smoke, and meet up with Sussy and Dex, uglies who helped Tally break the Smokies out of Special Circumstances. Sussy and Dex inform Tally and Zane that the New Smoke has recently returned to the Rusty Ruins, and then take them to see Shay, who, with some other Crims, has formed a clique based around self-harm, which she calls the Cutters. Cutting their arms with a knife....

Suddenly, Zane collapses from one of his headaches, and Tally insists on taking him to the hospital, although they mask their real reason for going there. Zane realises that he desperately needs Maddy's help to cure himself, and threatens to use an industrial tool to remove the cuff, in spite of the risk it would destroy his entire arm. Just before he can go through with the plan, Tally realizes that they could use heat to expand the cuffs and remove them. The Crims steal a hot air balloon and Tally and Zane use heat proof gloves to remove the cuffs safely before jumping from the balloon with hoverboards. Tally, the last to jump, is distracted by Peris who has changed his mind about escaping, and chooses to stay, is too late to jump over the city's metal grid.

Instead, she jumps over a river, and lands safely but loses her hoverboard in the process. Walking through the forest, she is shocked to discover a pre-Rusty tribe living there, existing in a state of constant warfare with nearby tribes and viewing pretties as gods. She befriends the tribe's holy man, Andrew Simpson Smith, and realises that the group is an anthropology project used to study violence and test the effectiveness of the pretty lesions on a violent mind. Tally encourages Andrew Simpson Smith to escape from the boundaries set for him, and to ignore the false gods, and with his help she steals a hovercraft of a visiting pretty scientist and flies to the Rusty Ruins.

At the Rusty Ruins, Tally is met by David, an awkward reunion as she reacts instinctively to his "uglie" face. As they travel to the New Smoke together, Tally becomes increasingly conflicted between her old feelings for David and her new feelings for Zane. When they arrive, she learns that Zane has suffered severe damage from the nanorobots in the cure, which Tally's pill was intended to stop from happening - Tally's pill in fact had no effect on the lesions whatsoever, and the cure she experienced was self-motivated. Fortunately, the damage is not permanent, and Tally resolves to help Zane recover.

However, the Smokies suddenly realize a tracking signal has been activated, which is hidden inside Zane's tooth with no chance of removal because it is conected to bone. The New Smoke must move on, leaving Zane behind, and Tally insists on staying with him, realizing that she truly loves him and needs to help him recover. David feels hurt by this, and tries to make her leave, accusing her of choosing Zane merely for his looks, so Tally insults him to make him leave her behind. The Specials arrive, with Shay and the Cutters having been turned into a new clique of Specials, and Shay informs Tally that, rather than return to her pretty life, Tally will become Special.....

Option:

I think that this one actually shows us the consequences of some of the things we do. I can't say much but that i enjoyed this book.

"Uglies"

Post: 11-18-10

Sorry for not updating for a while. I've had way too much homework lately but I'm hoping that I'll be able to update more often now that homework is dying down thanks to Thanksgiving break being soon. :D! But D: Sadly I broke a promise that I made to myself, I promised that if I made a review a day that I'd donate with my own money, I'd donate $50 to a cancer organization. But I'm gonna try again, not this month of course but maybe next month... sigh where am I gonna get that amount of money...

Ok today's post is The Uglies by Scott Westerfeld.

Blurb: Tally can't wait to turn sixteen and become Pretty. Sixteen is the magic number that brings a transformation from a repellent Ugly into a stunningly attractive Pretty, and catapults you into a high-tech paradise where your only job is to have a really great time. In just a few weeks, Tally will be there.

But Tally's new friend, Shay, isn't sure she wants to be Pretty. She'd rather risk life on the outside. When Shay runs away, Tally learns about a whole new side of the Pretty world - and it isn't very pretty. the authorities offer Tally the worst choice she can imagine: find her friend and turn her in, or never turn Pretty at all. The choice Tally makes changes her world forever.

Plot:

Tally Youngblood, a fifteen year old "ugly", sneaks across the river to find her best friend Peris, a "pretty" living in New Pretty Town. After meeting Peris, and finding that he does not want to see her until she turns sixteen and is made pretty, she escapes with the help of another ugly, called Shay.

After discovering that they share a birthday, Tally and Shay become close friends. Shay teaches Tally to hoverboard, and takes her out of the city to the nearby Rusty Ruins. Gradually, Tally realizes that Shay does not want to become a pretty, which culminates in Shay running away from the city shortly before her birthday, leaving Tally a cryptic note of instructions on how to follow her.

Although Tally is upset by Shay's disappearance, she still plans on becoming a pretty. However, on the day of her operation, she is taken to meet Dr. Cable, head of Special Circumstances, a group of "cruel pretties" who ensure the city's security. They inform her that she will not be allowed to become pretty unless she follows after Shay and lets the Specials track her to the Smoke - a group of runaway Uglies. Reluctantly, Tally agrees, and sets off on a long journey across the wilderness. After many days of travelling, during which Tally faces several life-threatening situations, she makes it to the Smoke.

In the Smoke, Tally is initially horrified by the primitive way of life, but gradually begins to see the benefits of freedom, and learns to enjoy the rough lifestyle. She does not activate the tracking beacon Dr.Cable gave her, although she keeps it while deliberating whether to stay or return to the City. Tally begins to fall in love with David, the son of the founders of the Smoke who was born outside the cities. Meeting David's parents, she learns that a part of the pretty operation creates brain lesions, which force all pretties to be happy and compliant. Between this, and her feelings for David, she decides to destroy the tracking beacon.

Unfortunately, Tally accidentally activates the tracker when she tries to destroy it, and the Smoke is invaded by Special Circumstances who take all the uglies back to their home cities. Tally only just escapes, and with David, who was outside the Smoke when the attack began, she makes her way back to the city to free her friends and David's parents. In a daring raid on Special Circumstances headquarters, they rescue the Smokies from Tally's city. However, they are horrified to discover that Shay has already been made pretty, and that David's father Az was killed in an experimental procedure to make him forget the lesions.

David's mother, Maddy, explains that she has fabricated a cure for the lesions, but refuses to use them on Shay without her consent. Realizing the only sensible course of action, Tally confesses to her betrayal of the Smoke, shocking the other Smokies. She then gives full consent to taking the cure, and surrenders to the city to become Pretty.

Option: 

I personally think that this novel is an amazing read for teenagers. Because it gives you something to think about. also it delivers quite a few moral questions that us as humans, as teens, and people of this generation that we should already be thinking about. I believe that it will ensnare readers of this generation to think about our moral standings as humans. It also shows us the; danger of trying to fit in, what we could end up doing to our environment, the tragedy of the clicks, and why we need to be ourselves.

"Runt"

Post # 6 11-4-10

This post's a little late and I'm really sorry about that but at least I'm here now! [I know I'll shut up now...]

Blurb:

Deep in the Minnesota forests,  where only the strong survive, four regular-sized pups—Leader, Sniffer, Runner, and Thinker—are pushed into the world. Then one last, very small pup is born into the wolf pack. He is called Runt.

From the very start, Runt struggles in the harsh world of the wolves. He tries to learn along with his brothers and sisters, but he makes serious mistakes. It is hard to please his father, King, and the other wolves. If only Runt could prove himself to his family, and to his powerful father.

PLOT:

One spring day in the forests of Minnesota, a litter of five is born into a wolf pack led by King and his mate Silver. Of the five, four pups are of regular size: Leader, Sniffer, Runner, and Thinker.

But the fifth-born is smaller than his siblings, christened "Runt" by his father. As he grows up, Runt must be able to show everyone that he isn't worthless because of his size and earn himself a new name.

Option:

It was an amazing novel to me when I was younger, But now that I'm a teenager it's even more inspiring. It tells the reader to "Believe in yourself, no matter what, you are amazing and most definitely worth it!" As a teenager in the modern world, bulling and harassment are common, expected even. The suffering in our day to day lives make it hard for us to feel like we're worth anything, especially the effort that we put into ourselves... This book is an amazing book for kids, and is a must read for all teenagers.

"Raised By Wolves"

Post # 5 11-3-10
Internet down again sorry...

The Post's book is "Raised by Wolves" by Jennifer Lynn Barnes.

Adopted by the Alpha of a werewolf pack after a rogue wolf brutally killed her parents right before her eyes, fifteen-year-old Bryn knows only pack life, and the rigid social hierarchy that controls it. That doesn't mean that she's averse to breaking a rule or two.

But when her curiosity gets the better of her and she discovers Chase, a new teen locked in a cage in her guardian's basement, and witnesses him turn into a wolf before her eyes, the horrific memories of her parents' murders return. Bryn becomes obsessed with getting her questions answered, and Chase is the only one who can provide the information she needs.

But in her drive to find the truth, will Bryn push too far beyond the constraints of the pack, forcing her to leave behind her friends, her family, and the identity that she's shaped?

Option:
I really don't know what to say but that it's a book and the plot line is amazing I really can't tell you much about this one without ruining the surprise.

"The Awakening"

EDIT: Sorry this came in today(11-4) instead of two days ago(11-2) My internet crashed as I posted it and it didn't go through. TT.TT

Today's Post is "The Awakening" by Kelley Armstrong...

If you had met me a few weeks ago, you probably would have described me as an average teenage girl—someone normal. Now my life has changed forever and I'm as far away from normal as it gets. A living science experiment—not only can I see ghosts, but I was genetically altered by a sinister organization called the Edison Group. What does that mean? For starters, I'm a teenage necromancer whose powers are out of control; I raise the dead without even trying. Trust me, that is not a power you want to have. Ever.

Now I'm running for my life with three of my supernatural friends—a charming sorcerer, a cynical werewolf, and a disgruntled witch—and we have to find someone who can help us before the Edison Group finds us first. Or die trying.

 PLOT:
The Awakening takes place directly after the events in The Summoning. Chloe has been recaptured by The Edison Group, a team of supernatural scientists responsible for manipulating her DNA, therefore enhancing her necromantic abilities. The novel starts after fifteen year old Chloe Saunders has been moved to an unknown location. She realizes that her Aunt Lauren, who works as a doctor for The Edison Group, has betrayed her. She is visited by the spirit of her friend, Liz Delaney, and is now certain that her belief that Liz was killed by The Edison Group is correct. Liz, who is unaware of her death, takes the news badly and disappears.
Chloe attempts to contact her but accidentally summons the ghost of a former patient of Lyle House, Brady Hirsch. Brady confirms that he was purposely murdered by members of The Edison Group. He informs Chloe of a conversation he overheard between Dr.Davidoff and her Aunt Lauren in which they discuss Chloe's fellow escapee, a young werewolf called Derek Souza. Worried by Lauren's assertion that Derek should be killed, Chloe decides to escape again so she can warn Derek and his adoptive brother, Simon Bae. In the meantime, she realizes that both Rachelle Rogers and Victoria Enright, both of whom were patients at Lyle House, are being held at the same facility.
Considering the circumstances, Chloe is surprised by Dr.Davidoff's friendliness. He informs her that he, and everyone else who is a member of The Edison Group, are also supernaturals. He is a half demon and Diane Enright, Tori's mother, is a witch. He assures her that he only wants to help her and the others. The group, named after Thomas Edison, aimed to improve the lifestyles of supernaturals, giving them more moderate abilities in order to help them better assimilate into human society. He takes Chloe to his office and gives her a book about her specific abilities. She feigns interest but as soon as Dr.Davidoff leaves for lunch, she searches through his computers- aided in finding the password from a mysterious demi-demon. During her search, she finds more information about The Edison Group and discovers that she, and others like her, are experimental subjects who were genetically modified at birth. However, some of the experiments backfired, increasing their powers and making them volatile and unstable. Those 'failures' who could not be rehabilitated at Lyle House were considered a threat and, to ensure that the secrecy and safety of the supernatural world remained unthreatened, were removed from Lyle House and killed.
During her stay at the facility, in which Chloe tries to find a way to escape, Dr Davidoff asks her to help the group recapture Derek and Simon, who according to Davidoff, is a diabetic in urgent need of insulin. Chloe believes that Davidoff is trying to trick her and resists, giving in only when she considers the possibilities for escape. She cites concern for Simon as the reason for her change of heart and Davidoff asks her to lead him, and Diane Enright, to the location where Chloe was supposed to meet the boys. Tori, overhearing the conversation, demands to go with them. Having recently discovered that she is in fact a witch, she is angry, irritated and wants to go shopping. When Dr. Davidoff refuses, Tori whispers something in his ear that quickly makes him change his mind. Chloe is impressed with her successful attempts at blackmail.
Chloe leads them to the factory where she was supposed to meet Derek and Simon. She is careful to steer them away from the actual meeting point but after a few unsuccessful searches, is paired with Diane Enright. Chloe attempts to overpower her with the help of Liz and a plank of wood but is unsuccessful. After a few threats and warnings, Diane expresses her admiration of Chloe's abilities and negatively compares them to her daughter's. Overhearing this, Tori attacks her mother though her limited knowledge of spells make it hard for her to do much damage. When her mother calls her a spoiled brat, Tori tells her that she doesn't really know her at all.
Diane eventually overpowers Tori until Chloe takes her out with a lead pipe. Both Diane and Aunt Lauren track them down. The scuffle ends with Diane hitting Lauren with a seemingly fatal spell. As Chloe tries to go to her Aunt, Tori drags her away, explaining that they need to leave or they'll be recaptured- or worse. The two girls run and hide. While hiding out, Chloe reads a letter her Aunt Lauren gave her which explains her reasons for taking part in the experiments. She only ever wanted to help young supernaturals but it wasn't until her own niece was in danger that she realized exactly what she had become a part of. Tori and Chloe continue to hide out though their relationship is still as antagonistic as ever. The following day, Derek and Simon track them down. Chloe notes how good it is to see Derek and how he looks so much better than he did a few days ago. Both of the guys grumble at Tori's presence though Derek takes it a step further when he demands that she leaves and fends for herself. He doesn't trust her and doesn't want her with them. Chloe is horrified and tells him that if Tori has to leave, then she will go with her. After Simon shows his discomfort at Derek's attitude and backs Chloe's decision, Derek relents and tells Tori that she can stay but he'll be keeping an eye on her.
The four of them decide to stick to the plan devised in the first novel. They are going to try and find Kit Bae, Simon and Derek's father, who will be able to help them all. They bed down in an abandoned house where Chloe accidentally raises a corpse while sleeping. Derek helps her release the spirit from its decomposing body, though not before Chloe realizes that she can control the zombie and that the zombie isn't very happy about that fact. Her effort gains the attention of Simon and Tori, who upon seeing the zombie, screams the place down. Derek tells them that they have to leave quickly in case anyone heard Tori's screaming.
Derek implores Chloe and Tori to hide while he and Simon try to find shelter. Tori, irritated at being ordered around, runs off to find somewhere warm and Chloe follows her. Their presence attracts the attention of a girl gang who threaten them and demand Tori's jacket and Chloe's shoes. Tori refuses, attacking the girls with spells when they come at her with a knife. While the girls recover, Tori and Chloe run off, though Tori doesn't stop to help when one of the gang members catch up with Chloe. Without Tori's spells, Chloe is defenseless. She tries to talk her way out of the situation but to no avail. As the girl goes to cut her cheek, she is thrown off by Derek who rages at Chloe for not doing as she was told and following Tori.
While there is still bad feeling between Chloe and Derek, the group make plans to travel to Albany to find Andrew, a friend of their father's. Derek is worried at the prospect of traveling through Pack territory. Simon brushes off his concerns telling him that the Pack who as far as Derek knows, relegate the comings and goings of werewolves through fear and force, will hardly be checking the bus-stops for teenage werewolves. Later on, Chloe is woken by Derek who tells her that he feels another change coming on. Knowing that the metamorphosis from human to werewolf is a scary process and even more so for Derek who still hasn't been able to complete a full change, she offers to go with him and asks Tori to inform Simon that if they don't make it back to the bus, they will meet up in Albany.
After finding a secluded spot in the woods, Derek attempts to change but only makes it halfway before his body forces the change back to human. His efforts leave him exhausted and he falls asleep. While waiting for him to wake, and not wanting to disturb him, Chloe is left watching a ghost echo of a young woman being murdered. The experience leaves her terrified and when she confides in Derek the next morning, he gently chides her for not waking him. They set off for Albany but are thwarted by lack of money and unhelpful ticket sellers. Eventually, they hide in the back of a truck until they are discovered by the driver. Despite his misguided attempts to help them, Derek overpowers him and ties him up. He tells Chloe that they can't really trust anyone. Even those who try to help them could end up making things worse. Chloe unhappily accepts this fact.
The two get to know each other better as they walk into the next town, though their peace is soon disrupted by an encounter with two werewolves, Liam and Ramon. Derek quickly notes them as a threat and tries to talk his way out of a fight but the werewolves are having none of it. They threaten Chloe, leaving one of them to comment that she must be Derek's mate, judging by how protective he is towards her. The standoff ends in a brutal fight. Chloe intervenes, stabbing Liam in the leg and after another altercation, she and Derek manage to escape. Once safe, Derek leads her to a bathroom and urgently wipes blood off her face, worried that she may become infected and turn into a werewolf. He tells her that according to his father, the change isn't that simple but he still wants to make sure. Chloe notes that Derek seems pretty beat up himself.
They manage to catch a bus heading to Albany and Chloe falls asleep on Derek's shoulder. They make it to Andrew's house and are concerned to find it empty. Though everything seems in place, there are subtle signs that someone has left in a rush. They are still looking around when they find Tori and Simon bedding down in the guesthouse. After having spent some time alone with him, Tori is apparently over her crush on Simon and they bicker back and forth until told to stop. They decide to lay low there for the night and figure out how to proceed in the morning. Chloe takes Derek some food while he is outside guarding the property. She confesses her concerns over the strength of her powers and her inability to use them properly. Derek suggests that she experiments on dead animals and offers to help her. While they are testing Chloe's abilities, the Edison Group attacks them.
They try to outwit and escape the group, though Chloe notes that this time they are firing actual bullets. Derek leads them off so the others can escape. While hiding, Chloe hears a voice, that sounds a lot like Aunt Lauren's, guiding her to safety. She realizes with some panic, that she wouldn't hear Lauren unless she was dead and wonders if The Edison Group have killed her Aunt for trying to help her escape. Chloe meets up with Derek and Simon and they hear over the radio that Tori has been captured. Derek begrudgingly decides to go look for her though he implies that if he doesn't find her, they'll have to leave her behind. Chloe notes with some guilt that she is willing to forfeit Tori's life in order to keep herself, Simon and Derek safe. While Derek is looking for Tori, Chloe and Simon are approached by a man that Simon recognizes as Andrew Carson, the man they've been looking for. Andrew helps them to safety and Derek arrive with Tori, who apparently stumbled upon him while escaping. Andrew seems wary around Derek. They escape to a van and Andrew tells them that he's taking them to a safe house for supernaturals where they can rest up and eventually help take down The Edison Group.
The book ends with Chloe reflecting on everything that has happened and how easy her life was before. Everything has been tipped upside down and things will never be the same again. She's different and this is her normal now.

Option:
I was thrilled with how this novel picked right back up from where the first left off. It offered too me and other readers a more in-depth description into showing the progression of Chloe's powers  and abilities and it lets the reader delves into the mind of a 15 year-old Necromancer, struggling with who she wanted to be and with what she'll have to make of her life, because of her finding out that she was a living science experiment...

"City of Bones"

Book of the Day #3
Three books in three days Muhahahahahaha! This post's novel is "City of Bones" by Cassandra Clare the first novel in the 'Mortal Instruments' series.

Here's the blurb:
When Clary Fray heads out to the Pandemonium Club in New York City, she hardly expects to witness a murder. Much less a murder committed by three teenagers covered with odd markings. This is Clary's first meeting with the Shadowhunters, warriors dedicated to ridding the world of demons-and keeping the odd werewolves and vampires in line. It's also her first meeting with gorgeous, golden-haired Jace. Within twenty-four hours Clary is pulled into Jace's world with a vengeance when her mother disappears and Clary herself is attacked by a demon. But why would demons be interested in an ordinary mundane like Clary? And how did she suddenly get the sight? The Shadowhunters would like to know...


Plot:

The main characters, Clary Fray and Simon Lewis, are at a club where Clary witnesses a murder by a group of teens, and is shocked that Simon and the club's security guard, cannot see the culprit—a boy called Jace, who claims that the boy he murdered was a demon. The next day, Jace offers to take Clary to meet his tutor, but before she can do so, she receives a distressing phone call from her mother. She returns home to find her mother missing, the apartment trashed, and a monstrous creature, a Ravenor demon, lying in wait for her. She defeats the creature, but is injured in the process, and Jace takes her to his home. His home is called "the Institute", an old gothic cathedral in New York that humans, or mundanes, can't see, because it is concealed magically by glamour. Here, she recuperates. She also meets Hodge Starkweather, Jace's tutor, as well as his siblings Isabelle and Alec Lightwood.
Returning to her apartment with Jace, Clary is attacked again by a monster called a "Forsaken", which Jace kills. They escape through a magical portal to Luke's, a family friend's, house, where they meet Simon and overhear a conversation between Luke and two men who Jace reveals to have killed his father. They return, with Simon, to the Institute and recount the conversation to Hodge, who in return tells them the tale of a group of '"Shadowhunters", or demon hunters who are invisible to humans, known as "the Circle", who attempted to kill all "Downworlders", or demons. Although their leader, Valentine, was supposedly burned to death, Hodge feels that Valentine may have survived. Hodge also reveals that he, the Lightwoods, Luke, and Clary's mother were all members of the Circle.
Hodge then acquires the help of a monk with magical powers, called a "Silent Brother", Jeremiah, to discover how Clary is able to see Shadowhunters and why she was attacked. Jeremiah discovers a block on Clary's mind, and takes her and Jace to the City of Bones, where the Silent Brothers attempt to break it. Although the attempt fails, Clary discovers flashes of information, particularly the name Magnus Bane, which, with Isabelle's help, Clary traces to a party, which she attends with Jace, Simon, Alec and Isabelle. There, they discover that Magnus is the High Warlock of Brooklyn, and he placed the block on Clary, although his attempts to help her remember are unhelpful. During the party, Simon is turned into a rat by a faerie drink, and Jace and Clary have to rescue him after he is taken home by a vampire.
After returning to the Institute, Jace and Clary talk and eventually kiss, but when Simon catches them and gets angry they argue with each other. Clary begins to draw, and draws a rune which allows her to make her drawing real, leading her to believe that this was how her mother hid the Mortal Cup, within a Tarot card. They return to Clary's apartment, and are attacked by a demon who is searching for the Mortal Cup. The battle leaves Alec badly injured and Simon saves their lives. They return to the Institute and give Hodge the Cup, but he betrays them and gives the Cup, and Jace, to Valentine. When he tries to escape, Hodge is attacked by Luke in werewolf form. Luke then tells Clary that Valentine was her father, before he and his pack attack Valentine's HQ.
During the attack, Luke and Clary get inside, and while Luke is distracted, Clary finds Valentine and Jace. Valentine reveals that he is also Jace's father, making them siblings. Luke then returns to fight Valentine, with Jace's help, but Valentine escapes to Idris, where he has hidden the Cup. Clary retrieves her mother, who is in a coma, and takes her to a hospital. In the meantime, Alec has been healed by Magnus Bane. Clary and Jace meet at the Institute and express their frustration that they cannot be together forever like they once believed.

My Option:
I would have to say it's a good read but it took me a little while to read in one sitting because it is a long novel. But the book is totally worth the wait, to get to the point of the novel where the story really starts to pick up an i believe that readers will totally agree with me and will actually adore this book by the end of it and will adore the sequels that are already out in print.

"Darkest Powers"

OK... well.

Hey Guys, this is the second book of the day report in three days and I gotta say I'm pretty proud of myself in venturing out of my dusty cave and even trying to write another one so dang fast. But I love my non-existent audience so I'm gonna keep working on it. So today's book is "The Summoning" by Kelley Armstrong, and it's the first book in a trilogy called 'Darkest Powers'. Currently all three books are out in print and are one of the most amazing series I've ever read.

So here's the blurb:

She sees dead people-and they see her.
Chloe Saunders used to have a pretty normal life. But that changed on the day when she met her first ghost. locked up in Lyle House, a group home for troubled teens, she finds out that there's more to the home's teen residents than meets the eye. Will Chloe be able to uncover the dangerous secrets of Lyle House... or will its skeletons come back to haunt her?



Outline:

The novel starts twelve years prior to the present, and introduces Chloe Saunders, a three year old girl. Her mother and father are going out for dinner, and she has a babysitter named Emily, who has her get a soda from the basement. Chloe did not mind the basement at first, she used to go down and talk to the nice ghosts, remembering not to look behind the furnace. She calls them her friends except one, Mrs. Hobbs. Mrs. Hobbs scared away the rest and "tortured" Chloe. Chloe agrees after being threatened with punishment, but while in the basement, she sees Mrs. Hobbs, who had tricked her by imitating the babysitter's voice.
Twelve years later, Chloe is fifteen and going to a Fine Arts school. Her father is working as a contractor in Berlin, Germany and she is taken care of by her aunt, Lauren Fellows, a nurse. At school, she is asked out to the dance by a boy named Nate Bozian, and has her first period. The effect of this, however, causes Chloe to ultimately sees a ghost, with his face almost completely melted off, and begins screaming, running, and attacking a teacher accidentally, culminating in her being removed from school and locked up in Lyle House, a group home for "troubled teens."
She is introduced to the nurses, Mrs. Talbot, Mrs. Wang, and Miss Van Dop. While unpacking, Chloe meets her roommate, Liz, a sixteen-year old, who introduces her to the others, Tori, fifteen, Rae, sixteen, Simon and Derek, foster brothers, both sixteen, and Peter, an eighth grader. Derek, as she soon learns, is extremely quiet, often frightening her, and Tori (who has an unrequited crush on Simon) does not get along with Rae very well, although she and Liz are best friends. Each teen is assigned chores and does their regular schoolwork independently, so while doing laundry one day, Chloe encounters another ghost. After her first day, Chloe visits the psychiatrist Dr. Gill, who diagnoses her with schizophrenia.
Liz is later accused of throwing a pencil at Ms. Wang, who threatens to have her transferred, and quit teaching the children in the house. Rae and Chloe talk more, and she learns that Rae supposedly is a pyromaniac; the two quickly become friends. That night, Chloe is woken by a fearful Liz, who believes that she has a poltergeist- hence the pencil throwing- and convinces her to help with a seance to ward it off. However, it goes horribly wrong, with a picture crashing down on Chloe and the nurses discovering. Liz is transferred that day, but Chloe sees her that night, with Liz apparently unaware of her transfer. As the situation is being explained, Chloe passes her hand through her, and begins to suspect that Liz's ghost appeared to her, meaning that she would be dead. Tori, stricken, stays in her room, and Peter is released from Lyle House. While surfing the Internet with the intention of contacting her friends, Chloe researches necromancy at Derek's suggestion, learning that necromancers raise ghosts from the dead. Beginning to suspect she might be one, she realizes that the medication given to her might be hindering her from seeing ghosts (as the ghosts she saw only spoke broken English) and resolves to stop taking them. She also receives a note from Simon asking to talk with her in the basement.
Upon entering the basement, she discovers that it was Derek who wrote the note -pointing out that she would come down for Simon, but not for him- , and he asked her what she thinks about necromancy. Thinking he is trying to frighten her, Chloe tries to get away, but Derek throws her across the room with his enormous strength, leaving marks on her arm. After talking it over with Rae, she resolves to get Derek's files and learn more about him; she finds out from his file that he has demonstrated enormous strength in the past, severely harming someone once, and often has violent outbursts. Chloe receives her old necklace- which helps ward off ghosts- and is permitted to go out to lunch with Aunt Lauren, who forces the truth about her encounter with Derek out, and Derek is warned not to touch her, angering Simon. Tori eventually comes out of her room and brings her attitude back as well, confronting Chloe about her "special treatment" and Rae about the fact her parents are never around. Rae shows her family, and a scientist, Dr. Marcel Davidoff, visits Lyle House.
Later that night, Simon talks more with her, revealing that he has the power to cast spells- such as levitating a basketball- although his powers are still heavily hindered, and explains a bit more about Derek. They run into Tori, who sees their talk as Chloe stealing him from her. Chloe sees another ghost, but forces it away, and sees Liz, who remembers the last thing as being the seance. Rae confronts her about not telling her. She visits Dr. Gill again, who begins having her urine tested, and Derek asks to meet her again- this time in his room. Rae and her make up, and they visit the attic where Chloe has been seeing the ghost, breaking in, but they only find a little chest of belongings. She goes to speak with Derek, who takes a shower, while Simon explains that he and his foster brother are supernaturals, and their father, Christopher Bae, searched for specific types. He is a sorcerer, they suspect Liz was a shaman who could astral project, Chloe is a necromancer, and Derek is indeterminate (he is a werewolf, but does not want Chloe to know). After learning about her meds, Derek and Simon decide that she needs to be off them to see ghosts, and have her put her urine in a glass jar, so that she won't have to get rid of them and arouse suspicion.
After asking to visit Liz, Chloe is refused, further arousing her suspicions that she was killed. Tori's mother, Mrs. Enright, visits Lyle House, and commands Tori to stop hanging out with Simon and to start getting better. Tori, distraught and angry, visits Chloe while the others (except Derek) are out swimming, and declares a truce, claiming to know of something she might want to see. The girls go down to the basement crawl space, and Tori knocks Chloe out with a broken brick, ties her up, and gags her. After waking up, Chloe discovers her plight, and unexpectedly raises the ghosts from the graves there. Frightened, she tries to escape, and encounters Derek, who helps her put the dead to rest again. Dr. Gill discovers them covered in dirt, and Aunt Lauren later learns about it; they assume that the two had gotten together alone because they like each other, and Davidoff puts them both on notice. Rae hears her version of the story, and she talks with Simon about her aspirations to become a movie director. Simon explains about Derek's previous incident, and they make plans to escape with Derek's help. She confronts Derek about it, explaining that the only reason she is escaping is because someone needs to help Simon out, and he won't. On a favor, she asks Derek's help to summon the dead again; she summons the ghost but cannot understand him and so summons the ghost of a witch, who explains that Samuel Lyle, who built the house, was a sorcerer and experimented on her and her companion because of their powers, before murdering them.
Chloe and Derek escape for the night, noting key locations to hide in for the escape. Rae, having learned about their plan, asks in on it, claiming to be able to produce fire from her skin. Next day, after telling Derek and Simon about Rae, Simon relates the details of Derek's incident, revealing that he had stood up for him because Simon, having gotten in a fight over some kid disliking Vietnamese, had been unable to keep quiet. Derek comes in, announcing that he and Chloe need to leave that night; he will not come because Simon might notice, as Chloe has, that his powers have been bothering him lately, causing him to sweat and be more irritable. They decide to take Rae along after she produces smoke from her hand; Chloe, now convinced Liz is dead, retrieves her sweater from Tori's room, who knows about and has little objection to their escape. After leaving, they discover Derek is gone, and Chloe, convincing Rae and Simon to go ahead, searches for him.
She finds him extremely sick and volatile. Chloe chooses to stay with him as he turns into a werewolf, then back to a human. However, Dr. Gill and the others are after them, so Chloe talks to Gill, who wants to take her back to Lyle House, but Derek knocks her unconscious. They keep moving until they reach Simon and Rae at an abandoned warehouse, and enter, despite being pursued now by Dr. Davidoff. Chloe has severely damaged her arm, due to cutting her arm on a stray shard of glass while climbing out of a broken window to escape, not only that, and they are being shot at by tranquilizer guns, and Derek convinces her to go ahead with Rae while he and Simon distract them. After going back for the dart, Rae convinces Chloe to go to Aunt Lauren with proof. They do so, taking a taxi, and explain about Lyle House, and Aunt Lauren takes Chloe to a hospital, where she is revealed to have betrayed her by drugging her. Chloe is put in a cell just before drifting off, and after waking, contacts Liz's ghost to help her escape.

My Option:

Heck, I really don't even know what to say but that this book is amazing! The attention to detail is astounding and I can really see the characters with how finely Ms. Armstrong described them. But I must admit that book is almost overly described for a novel that I believe has a time-line of two weeks max. but the story drags the reader in and shows them an alternate reality of the world that we really live in. It really gives the reader a good perceptive of a teenager in this period of time. It can help a lot of adults to understand what a "pretty-average" American teenage girl feels when her life is thrown into complete chaos and disarray.