Book Review: Across the Universe

Author: Beth Revis

Pages: 398

Rating: 5/5

The book cover suggests that it is a love story with heavy romance. It’s a trick! It’s more of sci-fi/ mystery/ suspense/ dystopia genre. Sure it has lil bit of romance but it in this first installment of ATU the story focused in developing the whole scenario, describing how the vessel looks like, how people manage to live there, and all the mysteries involved. So basically in this book, a group people live in a ship (a space vehicle) and they are led by Eldest and Elder. They are the future of the human race. This ship is alleged to be flying for at least 250 years already and it is supposed to land in Centauri-Earth (this is another planet not the same as OUR so called earth) for another 50 years. Sleeping in cryo chambers which are hidden in the ship are people who specializes in particular things necessary for people’s survival when they land in the Centauri-Earth. These frozen people in cryo chambers are supposed to stay there for another 50 years. However, one girl was melted by an unknown person (it will be revealed near the end who woke her up) and from there, it all changed everything.

“I never thought about how important the sky was until I didn’t have one.” -Beth Revis, Across the Universe

Book Review: Warm Bodies

Author: Isaac Marion

Number of pages: 240

Rating: 4.5/5

I read this book just because my friend is so obsessed with the movie. He said even said that it’s better than Twilight. Warm Bodies shows what happens when a zombie and a human fall in love. At first I thought that it is just the typical zombie apocalypse storyline. But it’s totally unique, I assure you. Just like normal zombie world in books and films, the place is infected with plague and zombies are all scattered all over, eating human brains, and there’s an isolated place called the Stadium where humans live. One day, ‘R’, the zombie protagonist, met Julie, a normal human. From then on, R protected Julie from other zombies. He even brought him to their hideout. Somehow or another, R and Julie fell in love and it somehow change R. It’s making him more human. This spark between R and Julie affected the other zombies and somehow the plague is like disappearing. The story goes like that. Just read it. It’s just a very fast read and the manner of writing is so easy to understand.

“We are where we are, however we got here. What matters is where we go next.” -Isaac Marion, Warm Bodies

Book Review: Outpost

Author: Ann Aguirre

Number of pages: 320

Rating: 5/5

Deuce, Fade, Stalker, and Tegan are now all in the topside called Salvation. This place seems like paradise for them…. at first. They have their own adoptive families, friends, and new responsibilities. Duece and Fade developed and expressed their feelings for each other. However, it’s difficult for Deuce to learn all the girl things expected from her. She always gets in trouble because of this. The huntress lurking inside of her still boils and becomes alive when she sees Freaks. Deuce and Fade joined the security group where they guard the persons growing the crops from Freaks. But one day, the Freaks stole their fire. And then another more day, they kidnapped Fade. Deuce rescued Fade. What Fade told her from his experience is so chillingly unbelievable. The persons captured by the Freaks are first put into a fenced pen, and before they are eaten they will first be mashed to make them tender and then deboned. Even though most people in Salvation do not like Deuce, it’s all in her hands to save them before history repeats itself.

“People try to make sense of things, and if they don’t know the answers, they make them up,because for some, a wrong answer is better than none.”

Book Review: Inside Out (Insider #1)

Inside Out

Author: Maria Snyder

Pages: 315

Rating: 4.5/5

The whole story happened in this place so called Inside. It’s a very big cube divided into 3 rows and 3 columns with 4 floors and assigned as sectors or quadrants. The people living in the upper most floor are called the Uppers, they live in a life of luxury where they are allowed to have a family and a space of their own. The lower level people are called Scrubs. They are called such because their main job is to scrub clean the pipes that sustain their everyday needs, air, water, electricity. The main protagonist is Trella, she is labeled as the Queen of the Pipes because she knows basically all the cris crossing of the pipes and the gaps. One time, her friend Cog introduced her to a prophet who knows something about the Gateway or the way to the Outside. It all started on that and as the story progressed Trella became the hope of everyone both the Scrubs and the Uppers. There where people helping her and with much sacrifice she found the gateway but only to discover that they are currently traversing the outer space and only on the millionth week will they be able to arrive to their final destination, the planet Earth.

“No hope, is worse than fear.” ~Maria Snyder, Inside Out

Book Review: Ship Breaker (Ship Breaker #1)

Ship Breaker

Author: Paolo Bacigalupi

Pages: 326

Rating: 5/5

In an isolated island in America’s Gulf Coast Region, Nailer, a light teenage boy with protruding rib cage, works as a ship breaker. One day after a hurricane passed their place, Nailer and Pima, his friend, saw a sunken clipper ship. They decided to scavenge the whole ship but as they searched the area, there was a beautiful girl, Nita, a swank, who was trapped inside the sunken clipper. Nailer chose to save the girl first before breaking the ship apart. The girl turned out to be a real swank who was being chased by his father’s business enemy. Unfortunately, while Nailer and his friends were recuperating, his father, Richard Lopez came and saw them, then for the mean time they were held prisoners. After some days, the men who were looking for Nita arrived in the beach so, Nailer and Nita escaped to go to a place where Nita’s ships could be. After some excruciating events, they arrived the place as planned and after some nights, they saw the ship that could save Nita. When they were about to go to the ship, Nailer saw his father and his half man-crew lurking looking for him and Nita so, they went to their hideout first. That night, Nailer volunteered to check the ship so, he left Nita and went alone. Face to face, he talked to the captain and realized that they truly were loyal to Nita and her family. They decided to go to were Nita was but she was not there, she was taken by the enemies. The captain together with Nailer followed the ship where Nita was and with Nailer’s idea they succeeded in getting Nita out of the enemy’s ship.

At first I was unsure if I will read this book or not because I don’t know anything about ship breaking and so I thought I’ll get bored with it. But that was not the case, I was superbly engrossed in reading this book, it was written in a way a where you could vividly imagine what was happening. And so, I recommend this to anyone who wants to learn and feel what ship breaking is all about, and to those lovers of apocalyptic genre.

“The enemy of your enemy is your friend.” ~Paolo Bacagalupi, Ship Breaker

 

Book Review: The Maze Runner (The Maze Runner #1)

The Maze Runner

Author: James Dashner
Pages: 384
Rating: 5/5

When Thomas woke up, the only thing he could remember was his name. Kids were flocking around him and he was told that he was in the Glade, a small community inside giant stone walls. Later on, he learned that they were being experimented like lab rats and to get out of that living hell, they have to fight themselves out the Maze where metallic beetles and Grievers lurk ready to shred the Gladers to pieces. A day after Thomas arrived in the Glade, to everybody’s surprise another unconscious girl was sent (they were baffled because it was supposed to be just one glader a month). When Thomas tried to see the girl when she was still unconscious, he was stunned because it seemed like he can hear the girl speaking to him on his mind. At one time, Thomas voluntarily let a griever bite him so he could enter the Changing with the thought that he would remember everything. Well, he was basically right but what he remembered was way more than what he expected, it turned out that he was one of the Creators of the Maze and Teresa was his bestfriend. It was a shocked to him of course but it kind of helped them solved the Maze.

I haven’t read any novel with the same kind of idea that is why I enjoyed The Maze Runner very much. I like how I do not know anything at the start and I only got to know things when Thomas discovers things. It’s like I only know what Thomas knows. What enforced me to finish this novel is the cluelessness (is there such a word? ) of Thomas. I recommend this to dystopian and science fiction lovers.

What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. ~The Maze Runner