Midnighters - The Secret Hour

Read the review of the other books in this serie.

Strange things happen at midnight in the town of Bixby, Oklahoma. Time freezes. Nobody moves.

For one secret hour each night, the town belongs to the dark creatures that haunt the shadows. Only a small group of people know about the secret hour -- only they are free to move about the midnight time.

These people call themselves Midnighters. Each one has a different power that is strongest at midnight: Seer, Mindcaster, Acrobat, Polymath. For years the Midnighters and the dark creatures have shared the secret hour, uneasily avoiding one another. All that changes when the new girl with an unmistakable midnight aura appears at Bixby High School.

Jessica Day is not an outsider like the other Midnighters. She acts perfectly normal in every way. But it soon becomes clear that the dark creatures sense a hidden power in Jessica . . . and they're determined to stop her before she can use it.

Here's a fast pace and original new story by Scott Westerfield, acclaimed author of the Uglies serie.

Westerfield seems to never be short on neat plots and ideas. I really loved the whole setting of the story; the 25th hour, all the things related to the number thirteen, the power of metal against the Darklings... The book has a very errie and supernatural feel to it.

This book's characters are very interesting and intriguing. They are very likable with their different personalities and attitudes. Only Jessica seemed a bit flat to me. Contrary to the others, she's very plain. There isn't anything about her that bugged me to a wide extant, though. She's not mary-sueish or annoying, but there isn't anything standing out about her either. She also holds the status of 'the one that every antagonist fears', but she doesn't even live up to this status with her plainness. In my opinion, she could have been more developed. It's a good thing the point of view changes from character to character, because I would have gotten enough of her after an entire book.

I liked how the story centers on a new generation of teens with special aptitudes, and how they are digging for knowledge in the past, around the mid of the 20th century, and how the plot is linked to the beginning of industrialization and how it affected the way of people. Westerfield always uses subjects that directly impact and make the readers reflect.

On another note, the writing is as enthralling as always. Descriptive, engaging, smooth. The Secret Hour is a book you read fast and that lets you asking for me. I can't say it's better than Uglies and its continuation, but it's another good work by Westerfield.

-Beryl

The Secret Hour by Scott Westerfield
Rating: 8,2 /10

Checkmate

Can the future ever erase the past? Rose has a Cross mother and a Nought father in a society where the pale-skinned Noughts are treated as inferiors and those with dual heritage face a life-long battle against deep-rooted prejudices. Sephy, her mother, has told Rose virtually nothing about her father, but as Rose grows up she becomes determined to find out more about her parentage. As Rose takes her first steps away from Sephy and into her father’s world, she finds herself drawn inexorably into danger.

Here's Malorie Blackman's last installment in her trilogy, the first volume being Noughts & Crosses and the second Knife Edge.

Well, I must say I enjoyed reading these books very much. In Checkmate, the story relates Callie's childhood, switching from the present to the past. It's actually concentrated on merely a few hours in the present, and most of Callie's life in between.

The book, just like all the others,has many point of views, Callie's and Sephy's mainly, but also Jude, Jasmine and Meggy. I found that it was a very interesting thing to spin the POV's around, letting the reader have a clear view of how every character was feeling and reacting. It also avoided getting the reader bored with one character.

I found Sephy annoying, though. She was being a terrible mother, making all those ridiculous mistakes and making the situation even worse. Nonetheless, I think that this kind of attitude was needed to make things unravel the way they did. The story wouldn't have held the same impact if everything had solved out too early.

What I liked about Checkmate was how Callie lived through her childhood, and how her attitude changed with everything that happened. It was interesting to see the evolution of her vision on certain things as the story progressed. Sonny was ridiculous, though. I didn't really understand his issues and why he acted as he did.

The descriptions improved once again. The writing is as always concentrated on feelings and emotions. Checkmate didn't cover striking issues, or at least not as Noughts & Crosses did. It was more subject to the power of love than discrimination and racism. Rights have actually been slightly readjusted for the Noughts at the time when the story takes place, and equality is on its way for everyone.

In any case, it was an enjoyable read. A very good serie I recommend to both boys and girls. Checkmate covers the cliffhangers of Knife Edge, so fans of the two previous books absolutely need to read it! It has such a nice ending, too. Very satisfying.

-Beryl

Checkmate by Malorie Blackman
Rating: 9,1/10

The Haunting of Alaizabel Cray

The wych-kin have roamed the streets of London for the past twenty years. Young Thaniel Fox, son of the famous wych-hunter Jedriah Fox and a hunter himself, is out to get them. One night, as he is hunting a Cradlejack, a wych who steals infants in their sleep, he encounters a half-crazed young girl called Alaizabel Cray. As the story unfolds and she regains memories, the plot thickens and soon, it is made obvious that something larger than man is watching the world. And it isn’t benevolent.

For an odd reason – I cannot begin to fathom why – I found it hard to get into the story at first. Maybe it was my state of fatigue, or the setting in which I was reading it, because this novel quickly proved itself to be a remarkable book that is a must for all readers. I was drawn in almost immediately after my first, first impression, and could hardly set the book down.

The writing is excellent, with many elaborate descriptions and a beautiful, yet strange imagery. Also, even the most useless characters were lengthily enough described to give them a past, a physique, a mentality, without at all boring the reader.

The story itself was excellent, with new, interesting elements added on every page. The plot just kept getting thicker and darker. New places and characters were nicely introduced, and even though the excuse “My father was his friend” was slightly overused, the storyline was overall excellent. Even if the story did end up being of a we-must-save-the-world type, the author did it well, and it only became evident that the fate of the world was at stake rather late into the book.

I loved how the wych-kin weren’t your typical, invulnerable demons. In fact, they were quite vulnerable and not the brightest lot. They weren’t super-beings and humans could kill them, with the right weapons. There was an actual explanation behind their existence, too; this made me intensely happy. Too often, mysteries in books were left unresolved, and this frustrates me greatly.

The characters weren’t cliché or Mary-Sues. They were unique, had their own weaknesses, knew their limits, and were sometimes actually wounded. They were excellently developed, and beautifully described with the author’s usual talent. They lived, for the duration of the novel. Not once did their character falter or change abruptly, they stayed in character all along.

I also greatly appreciated how, without stating any explicit facts, the author told us the approximate era in which this book took place. Quite early on, it was established that the events took place in a fantasist London of the industrial revolution era. Because of this, it had a very steam punk feel to it, and was highly enjoyable. The explanations were subtly introduced and given away slowly, almost as if reluctantly. The book let the knowledge previously acquired seep in before throwing out more information. This gave suspense to the story, and the reader desired the missing bits and pieces greatly before understanding finally.

The realities in this book are brashly displayed. The lives of people aren’t necessarily perfect and beautiful. There is prostitution, death, violence, sickness, disfiguration, crippling, blood. The realism of it all, even if it is sometimes sickening, makes this novel even more enjoyable.

A little drawback was the titles of the chapters; they were like short résumés of the chapter and often contained spoilers. I jumped over them systematically to avoid the deception of knowing something beforehand.

Finally, there was an actual explanation to the wych-kin. This made me intensely happy, as some books would not even provide vital information of the sort.

With a feel-good aftermath and just the right amount of moral, The Haunting of Alaizabel Cray by Chris Wooding was an excellent novel that I passionately loved.

-Aithen

The Haunting of Alaizabel Cray by Chris Wooding Rating : 9,4/10

Catching Fire

Against all odds, Katniss Everdeen has won the annual Hunger Games with fellow district tribute Peeta Mellark. But it was a victory won by defiance of the Capitol and their harsh rules. Katniss and Peeta should be happy. After all, they have just won for themselves and their families a life of safety and plenty. But there are rumors of rebellion among the subjects, and Katniss and Peeta, to their horror, are the faces of that rebellion. The Capitol is angry. The Capitol wants revenge.

Catching Fire, the sequel to The Hunger Games, is just another amazing piece of drama, romance and gore. I can't say it was better than THG, the previous volume dealing with much heavier issues and having more of an impact to the reader, but has its own share twists and turns.

I think that Catching Fire's story line wasn't as good as THG's, it was repetitive actually with Katsa and Peeta going back into the arena for the 75th anniversary of The Hunger Games , this time called the Quarter Quell. I thought this second book would be more about political issues, yet it is pretty much of a recap from the first volume; ceremonies, interviews, training and then the games. Only the good action, the new dangers in the new arena, the drama, twists and the cliffhangers payed that off and so I was at ease with the rest of the reading.

Katniss is as strong as ever, and she's probably the strongest female protagonist I got to meet in a long time. Even if she weavers between her feelings for Peeta and Gale, she's determined, strong, and straightforward. She's sometimes as naive as Peeta and also, as he says, pure. It's really a pleasure to read through a book where the protagonist is so well mannered and actually witty.

Peeta is as adorable as ever, and even if Gale is the handsome brooding manly type that also fits my liking, I prefer Peeta. He's just so sweet, loyal and protecting. Makes you go all bwaaa. The book also covers a lot of Katniss' love triangle, which I'm sure many have and will enjoy, but I personally want it to end. I hope that in the third book, Katniss will finally decided for who she goes, and that she chooses Peeta.

I also loved Finnick, a previous Game winner and the new addition to the character crew, with his enchanting beauty but strong mind. Cinna and his crazy crew come back, and so does Effie and Haymitch with his sarcastic humor. We also get to know a bit more about Haymitch in this book!

The action is constant and Collins never seems at loss for dramatic and amazing events. Her writing is as good as in the last book, and maneuvers all the action amazingly. I don't know how someone can be bored with Catching Fire's reading. This book also contains the worst cliffhangers ever. Or maybe the best. Depends how you see it. It's literally a pain to try not to devour the book down and every chapter has you standing on edge for what comes next. It's as if Collins enjoys torturing us with all the suspense and her own characters that can't seem to have enough drama and action. The ending leaves you gasping for the sequel and the last book. I don't know how I'll survive through those months of wait for The Mockingjay, the last book in this trilogy.

-Beryl

Catching fire by Suzanne Collins
Rating: 9,2/10

Read The Hunger Game's review here, the first volume in this serie.

Knife Edge

Warning, this review contains spoilers regarding Noughts & Crosses, the first volume in the serie.

Persephone (Sephy) Hadley, now an 18-year-old single parent, is raising her biracial daughter in a sharply divided alternate England, where black Crosses suppress the white Noughts. She faces pressure from both her less-than-understanding Cross family and her disintegrating Naught family, and everyone in between. When her brother-in-law's violent behavior leads to murder, Sephy provides a false alibi to save Jude, but doing so irreparably damages other lives.

This time the story is told by many points of view; Sephy and Jude mainly, but also by Minerva, Meggie and Jasmine (Sephy's mother).

After Callum's death, Sephy wishes harder than ever that her daughter Callie Rose was dead and that Callum was back. Yet, she loves her daughter so much, which is the proof of her and Callum's love for each other. We see how mature she has become since the events of Noughts & Crosses, how she takes things with a cool seriousness and determination. I liked Sephy a lot in this book until depression gained over her. After she received Callum's letter - which contents you will only know if you read the book - foolishness heaved a bit too much on her actions. Seeing in what state she was and what she was going through, it's understandable, but still irritable to me.

Jude was deliciously cruel, mean, arrogant and bad-boyish than ever. His side of the story was very interesting to watch and so was his character. I really loved how he tried to be indifferent and cold to everything and how he failed against what he considers his biggest enemy. I was disappointed that he didn't succeed in seeing things properly and didn't give in his true feelings (those who read the book, you know what I mean. ;] ), but I guess that with such a story he just couldn't.

I found Jasmine and Meggie a bit too 'out-of-character', or at least I didn't see the peculiar touch that distinguished them from other characters originated from Noughts & Crosses. They were too soft. Yet again, I guess their personalities have been altered after the dramatic events of the previous volume, and just like every one else, they were trying to start from the beginning.

I found the ending strangely-described though. Not described enough, actually, which left me perplexed on the unraveling of those last moments.

This second book had its own share of drama that I enjoyed greatly. There was less romance, more doubt, fears and sadness. There were also more details this time without forgetting the evident underlining of emotions and feelings. I drank it as fast as I drank the first book, and Malorie has a talent of presenting the most atrocious things gracefully. I think fans of Noughts & Crosses will enjoy this second volume even if it wasn't as good as the first, and will be impatient about reading the follow-up.

-Beryl

Knife Edge by Malorie Blackman
Rating: 8,9/10

Book Blogs Roll

Here are links to some other great book review blogs and sites we like to hang around:

YA reads
A Flight of Minds
Bookworming in the 21st Century

We'll hopefully be adding more soon!

-The PIB Crew

Leviathan Appetizer

Hello all! Do you know Scott Westerfield, author of the Uglies and Midnighters series? If you have enjoyed his books as much as we have, than you'll surely enjoy this little appetizer from his next book; Leviathan!

It is the cusp of World War I, and all the European powers are arming up. The Austro-Hungarians and Germans have their Clankers, steam-driven iron machines loaded with guns and ammunition. The British Darwinists employ fabricated animals as their weaponry. The Leviathan is a living airship, the most formidable airbeast in the skies of Europe.

Aleksandar Ferdinand, prince of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, is on the run. His own people have turned on him. His title is worthless. All he has is a battle-torn Stormwalker and a loyal crew of men.

Deryn Sharp is a commoner, a girl disguised as a boy in the British Air Service. She's a brilliant airman. But her secret is in constant danger of being discovered.

With the Great War brewing, Alek's and Deryn's paths cross in the most unexpected way and taking them both aboard the Leviathan on a fantastical, around-the-world adventure. One that will change both their lives forever.

We all can't wait to read his next book which just looks so enticing! Steampunk is very dandy to both of us, and we hope it is to you too! And so, here's the first chapter posted online. You can also watch an amazing trailer here.

Also be on the look out for our upcoming review!

-The PIB Crew