The Bodies We Wear: Jeyn Roberts

The Bodies We Wear: Jeyn Roberts 

People say when you take Heam, your body momentarily dies and you catch a glimpse of heaven. Faye was only eleven when dealers forced the drug on her and her best friend, Christian. But Faye didn’t see heaven she saw hell. And Christian died. Faye spends her time keeping secrets from those around her and training to seek revenge on the dealers who took her life away. When a mysterious young man named Chael appears, Faye's life gets even more complicated. Chael seems to know everything about her, including her past. dom dom dom! Will her thirst for vengeance be worth the risk or will the need swallow her whole. 

So I spotted TBWW at my local B&N and it was with a lot of other Halloween/seasonal reads so I figured it was going to be spooky and would prep me for Halloween. Nope, turns out just the title is scary. I should go ahead and get this out of the way... THIS BOOK IS VERY PREDICTABLE. I figured out the whole thing by page fifty. That being said I still really enjoyed Roberts' writing style.

I had a love hate relationship with the leading lady. She's stubborn, irrational, and makes ridiculous choices. She has some pretty rad fighting scenes throughout this book and it's really the only thing I liked most about her. The thing I didn't like about her is that she was constantly saying she had no emotions... and for a girl with no emotions she sure did talk about hers a lot... Then there's the "mysterious" Chael. He's really not that mysterious... and by not really I mean he's not at all. *SLIGHT SPOILER AHEAD*. I figured out before page fifty that Chael was basically wearing a skin suit; and that Chael was actually Christian. Why he insist on being called Chael is beyond me. The main thing he has going for him is the fact that he sounds really hot. Black hair Green eyes sign me up... Besides that I didn't really feel all that connected to him. There are some sweet moments, and nice quotes scattered around this book, but plot is a little spotty. I was left having some underlying questions that never got answered. This book had one "twist" that sprung up that I didn't see coming but it didn't follow through. When the big moment following it happened it was a short sizzle and then was blown out. 

The author does quite a bit of flashbacks to Faye and Christian's childhood and those along with the few fight scenes were probably the two most favorable things about this book. TBWW had the potential to be a top pick, but just kind of fell flat.  I will say again that I did enjoy the way she wrote so more than likely I'll pick up other books by her in the future.

The Bodies We Wear was not one of those flip your table five-star reads, but it was enjoyable enough that I did get through it and wasn't mad I read it after.  

6/10 stars 
-Angela

Take Me Tomorrow: Shannon A. Thompson

Take Me Tomorrow by Shannon A. Thompson

"You have no filter do you?" "I have no fear, I think there's a difference." 

Two years after the massacre, the government enforces stricter rules and harsher punishments on anyone rumored to support tomo. Tomo is the clairvoyant drug that caused a regional uprising. Sophia Gray has other and bigger problems. Between her father’s illegal forgery and her friends secrets spilling out left and right the last thing Sophia sees coming is a boy. He’s wild, determined, and one step ahead of her. When Noah pulls her and her friends in too deep she has to decide, stay by his and their sides and fight for the future or stand aside and potentially sacrifice her loved ones.

Leah and I were contacted by Shannon A. Thompson and was asked if we would read a couple of her books and to do reviews on them. I'm kind of sad to say that until now I had never heard of her. I'm glad to say that's not the case anymore!

First let me state that I love the cover of this book... Did I say love, because Yes I  LOVE it. But to the important stuff... This book cuts right to things, Mrs. Thompson clearly has no time to play around. It goes right into action and introduces us to the kick ass Sophia Gray. When Sophia is making her rounds around her property she runs into a boy whose clearly running from something. After forcing him to leave her property, by force I mean she threatens him with a throwing knife, she knows that things aren't what they seem. Of course sticking with ya trend you know she is going to end up running into him again somewhere...  and I personally would love to run into Noah anywhere... whoosh ya boy sounds dirty hot! He makes my cheeks blush and my eyebrows wiggle. *pulls out paper fan and cools off in true southern fashion*


Even though this hottie is hot he is also dangerous. Mainly because he's all jacked up on drugs. Noah is a tomo addict and uses it to help himself out in planning his next steps and to try to keep ahead of everyone else. Not only is Noah doing the tomo he is constantly putting Sophia and her loved ones in danger. It also doesn't help that she is constantly being left in the dark by all of them *sigh so like guys to leave out important information*.  Even though she doesn't want her friends to have anything to do with bad boy Noah she finds herself struggling to keep her distance because somehow he keeps wiggling his way further in her life like a splinter. This bring me to something that Thompson did that I really liked. SHE DIDN'T DO INSTA LOVE!!!! The romance between Sophia and Noah built and I appreciated it. Yeah, so Noah might not be boyfriend material, but you know us girls love a good fixer upper and Sophia is no diff. (I also loved that she lays a WWE Raw Smack-down on him as well.)  This read is action packed and fast paced. It didn't slow down the whole time and had far from predictable twist that I really enjoyed.  I feel like normally books just slam action at the start and finish, but Thompson did an excellent job keeping the pace throughout the whole book.

I did want a little more world building. There's one part where Noah starts explaining that they aren't really where she thinks they are (Kansas), but it's never further discussed and I wish it would have been. I also wish there would have been more talk about what it was like when you do tomo. What do you see? Is it like the movie Limitless and you just see the next steps or do you see lots of things? So I felt there were a few pot holes in this story. I got so much out of Sophia and Noah that I wish I would have gotten out of the sub characters as well... I was hoping  her father would have been a more active character... I always find myself thinking during ya books "where are these kids parents, they all just can't be out of town on business all the time", but apparently they are. 

To wrap this all up I will say that when I started this book I was doing laundry at the same time, and before I knew it I had been sitting on the washer reading for thirty minutes and hadn't even noticed; I was that pulled in that the little bell at the end of the wash was the only thing that broke my focus. I still had a lot of unanswered questions when I finished reading that I wish I would have gotten more details on... I'm not going to point any fingers but someone better be writing a sequel to this *cough Shannon cough*.

I'm very much looking forward to reading the next book she has sent me and anything she write in the future. 

7/10 Stars

-Angela 

Proxy: Alex London

Proxy by Alex London is a story about Knox who was born into one of the wealthiest families. He has more than anyone should have along with owning his own proxy.  When Knox does something naughty his proxy takes the punishment.  When Knox breaks a vase, his proxy is beaten. When Knox plays a practical joke his proxy is forced to haul rocks. When Knox crashes a car killing the girl he’s trying to score with his proxy is branded and sentenced to death. Syd is Knox’s proxy. After being sentence Syd flees and “kidnaps” Knox.  They are forced to go cross country to find out the truth that's been hidden from both of them. They encounter gangs, thieves, death,  battles, and uncover the truth that could prove that some debts cannot be repaid.

Ok confession time... I bought Proxy because I wanted the free shipping from Barnes and Nobles. So I spent the extra 8 dollars and I couldn’t be happier that it did. The cover in my picture isn't the same cover as the hardback and I wish it was, the HC is so much prettier. This book isn’t your typical ya read it's a new futuristic spin on The Whipping Boy by Sid Fleischman.  I might just be speaking for myself, but I know as a female reader it is harder for me to get into a leading male characters and this book has two. I had no problem liking and relating to either of them and by the end I loved both of them more than I could have thought. I know I’ve said in the past I usually don’t go for books with male protagonist, gamer style, and no real romantic sub plot, but Proxy still held its own.

The writing is a little; ummm, different than I 
normally like and seems a little clunky in some parts, but in the long run it turn out the be a breath of fresh air. The characters themselves made up for the spotty plotty start as well. I can’t even express how much I loved that Syd is both a character of color and homosexual. Syd is also pretty broke, he's both living and working in a repair store for some pretty sketchy dude who he sees as a father figure. Knox the other main man is your typical prefect sarcastic a-hole from the upper class who you fall in love with by the end. Side note: YA BOYS DAD IS A D! One character has everything and one character has nothing. The sub characters hold their own as well through out the story, and Syd's best friend is too cute. I was hoping maybe for a little something something between them, but sadly it never arrived. In several parts of the story they do some chatting about Syd's childhood and it was probably some of the more favorable moments in the book. London does a great job on world building along with striking all emotional chords as the story progresses. The discussion on taking personal  responsibly make this a nice coming of age story. As Knox discovers that Syd is more than deserving of what is rightfully his you're left remember how lucky you are to have your own freedom. The risk London takes in his writing are risk that pay off.

This story however is a tortoise and the hare race of a read. It’s all about pacing yourself. The story’s slow start is worth it for the gripping ending. Another thing this book has going for it is character development! The relationship between Knox and Syd is so unusual it made for something really pleasant and surprising to experience. I will say it one more time THIS ENDING IS AMAZING and beautiful and had me so surprised.
 
I liked Proxy, but I didn't love it, just liked. I'd still definitely recommend it for anyone new to the dystopian thing but are looking for a new entry in the genre.  Overall Proxy is a light read that was nice to have around to catch a break from the norm. 

7/10 Stars
 
-Angela 

Maze Runner Movie Review

Haven’t seen The Maze Runner movie yet??!! Loved the books yet contemplating if your love will carry over to the soon to be movie trilogy… Have no fear Leah and I are here with all the skinny on the book to movie.

Much like the Divergent movie it was a film that you know you're going to go in to comparing with the book, but you just need to keep an open mind and try to remember one is a movie and one is the book. Another thing is that it was just around two hours long and should have been two and a half hours with them adding those tiny little extras that would have really take this movie to the next level. There were so pretty big and some small changes from the book. A few I noticed were these…

 • Thomas starts to remember things from his past almost right away. He smacks his head against the ground and wham he remembers the past and starts having flashbacks. It even shows him flashing back to being in the lab with Teresa and speaking with the Creators, when in the book that comes way later.
 • In the book the serum to save people from the stings is kind of taken for granted and even though it’s not readily available they do have it. To keep from using it they just keep from the grievers.
• Teresa doesn’t spend like anytime in a coma. (side-note: she is probably the only person I didn’t like who they choose to play her. She basically is like Kristen Stewart's cousin).
 • A device which Minho and Thomas take from a Griever they kill helps them find the Grievers entrance and unlocks hidden parts of the maze. There is no cliff to jump off either.
 • Teresa and Thomas aren’t telepathic
 • In the movie Alby and Thomas get along fairly well, which I didn’t really like. Alby didn't nearly come off as the BA leader that he does in the book.
 • Minho is more of a BA in the movie than in the book. (which we approve of). They left out the scene where Minho tries to make Thomas the Keeper of the Runners which I really thought would've added to the film.
 • The maze is constructed of 8 marked areas each which open up on different days. The patterns in the maze are different and the codes the kids need to use to escape is found in the numbers of the areas rather than the words spelled out by the maze over a long period of time. This did as far as watching the movie make it easier to follow.
 • There weren’t as many Griever attacks in the movie as there were in the book. Probably do to time constraints. Instead of them just taking kids here and there when they came they came hard. They were super scary too. I (Leah) kind of envisioned them in the book to be like robotic cow things whereas in the movie they are these robotic spider Predator creatures.
 • Gally takes over as the leader for a quick little minute. (side note- Gally's eyebrows are on point the whole movie. Why can't my eyebrows naturally arch like that?)
 • AND THE BIGGEST DIFFERENCE… THE ENDING!!! I don’t want to give away all the spoils but there were so big chunks of the ending missing.

But the good news is that there has been such a good turn out for the movie that The Scorch Trials already has a premiere date. Don't make any plans for September 18, 2015!

And if you needed any convincing whether you should see the movie or not... Well, I'm just going to leave this here:



Dylan O'Brien

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-A & L