Have you ever had a problem with making a decision? A small one, like what to wear today? Or a big one, like which college to choose? Have you ever thought that it would be a lot easier if someone else was making those decisions for you? 
Well then, this book should be in your to-read list!
The MC lives in the society where all decisions are made by an app. It literally knows everything about you and, therefore, what is better for you. It says what you should drink, which way to go, what you should eat – this app has a full control over your life.
People are obsessed with their phones, feeling completely helpless without them. Though, the story takes place in the future, our society is very much alike. We don’t have Lux, but we depend on our iPhones. Let me show you one example:
«He held the camera out for me to see. It was a woman, obviously homeless, her sunken eyes looking straight at the camera. I don’t want your money, her cardboard sign read. Just look at me, so I know I exist. The words and her expression were arresting on their own, but they weren’t what made the photograph so compelling. It was the people in the foreground, the passersby, eyes glued to their phones as they hurried to wherever they were going at lunch hour, completely oblivious to the woman with the sign.»
Sounds familiar, isn’t it?
There are also people, who are labeled as ill, because they hear the Doubt – which is something between an intuition and a God’s blessing. Scientists say that it makes you do stupid and risky things, it leads to no good, and it’s basically an illness. All children have it, this voice in their heads, but they must ignore it and, eventually, it’ll disappear. But there are some people who still hear it and who refuse to use Lux.
Rory is just a normal girl, she lives with her father and stepmother, her mother died when she was born. She dreams about going to Theden – a college for special kids with either a huge brain or a huge bank account. Lucky for Rory, she’s very smart, so Theden accepts her application. She simultaneously finds out, that her mother also was in Theden, but something made her leave it. She also starts to hear the Doubt, but tries not to show it. There is no place for the Doubt in a privileged boarding school. But when it helps her to find out the truth about her academy, she thinks about changing her opinion.
Coming to college, Rory quickly finds friends, or rather they find her. Meet Hershey, one of those typical queen bees with rich family, who ends up being not so typical as it seemed. She and Rory were classmates before, but Hershey never paid much attention to girls like Rory. Now she suddenly claims to be her BFF. That’s suspicious, isn’t it?
Then she meets North (what a name, huh?), supposedly a hot guy with tattoos and some secrets. Honestly, this romance was the only thing with which I wasn’t satisfied in this book. I mean, they were a sweet couple, but I didn’t feel the chemistry between them.
Theden is a dream of a hi-tech society, having the latest Gnosis gadgets, and walls that project light (seriously, I’m not kidding), with special classes with some sort of simulation cabins for each student. However, there is clearly something going wrong. Soon Rory starts to unravel a tangle of mysteries about her family, about Theden Academy, about Gnosis and Lux and most important, about their society and their right to fall. Will she and her friends succeed in their fight for freedom to fall? You shall find out!
«I formed them free and free they must remain. I saw the quote from Paradise Lost differently now. With Lux, people were simply choosing not to choose. We had to remind them that they still could.»
This is a very believable story with a scientific explanation to everything, and that’s what I liked the most. I don’t know how Lauren Miller did it, science isn’t my strong side, but I understood what she wrote about. I also just loved the psychological part of this novel, which shows how easily we can be manipulated.
Rory was a lovable character: she’s very smart and kind, and a perfect example of what can happen if your heart and brain collaborate with each other.
This book teaches us that every decision, good or bad, makes us who we are. People, who are free to fall. It’s not always easy, but it’s what makes us human, a person. Without it, we are just a bunch of zombies who do what they are said to do.
So, think with your heart and don’t be afraid to doubt :)
The flames rise, and I twist and scream, trying to get away, but the iron shackles on my wrist keep me bound to this stake.
I’m a witch. And witches burn.
I was looking for a book about good old witches for a long time, and this one rocked my world!
This is the story about Lily. At the beginning we see her as a normal girl who has a hard life, being allergic and having a bit crazy mom. She’s in love with her best friend who finally started to notice her in a romantic way. Soon she won’t be able to go to school because of her illness, and the only thing she dreams about is to go for a party with her boyfriend best friend, even though it’s dangerous for her health. But something goes wrong, and now she has her heart broken. That’s the moment when she thinks that she’s ready to leave it all; that she had enough. Beckoned by her inner voice (as she thought), she accidentally travels to another world. There she meets her evil doppelganger, becomes a member of the riot against the government, falls in love and becomes a strong woman.
I loved the worldbuilding. Lily transports to the same Salem she was living in, but, at the same time, they couldn’t be more different. This new world is ruled by the most powerful witch, her Coven and by Council, which represents interest of usual citizens. They all wear special stones that help them to do magic. Witches also have mechanics – people who tend to them, their personal knights. There are also Outlenders – poor people who are forbidden to live in the city. They don’t get help from the government – no medical treatment, no food, no shelter. And when they tried to survive by themselves, without magic and with the help of science, it made them traitors. But why is Lillian – the main Witch of this Salem – so against science, that she’s ready to kill thousands of people to get rid of it? That’s the question.
All characters in this book are well-written. I loved Lily – brave, funny, stubborn. She often made me laugh. I imagined her like that:
I loved Rowan – her swoon-worthy love interest. He is a perfect book boyfriend. I’m sure you’ll love him! Secondary characters took a big part in this story, they were as important, as the main ones. But, most of all, I was interested in Lillian.
I remember what I must do, even if it makes me the villain of my own story. Most importantly, I remember that the good of the many really does outweigh the good of the few. Even if one of those few is me.
I just loooove those villains who are happen to be not so villain. She wasn’t born evil, nor does she enjoy doing it. Her story is one of the most heartbreaking I’ve ever read about. She lost everything for a greater cause, or at least that’s what she thinks. I could see logic in her doing.
All in all, this book has everything I needed: a well thought-out plot, detailed worldbuilding, lovable characters, swoony romance, hilarious jokes and lot’s of magic!
And now… keep calm and wait for the sequel.
«Beware the Wild» is a dark and creepy gothic fairytale. It lures you into its mysterious swamp, makes you forget about your life and captures on the pages of its story. 
Have you ever heard of Sticks, Louisiana? Nobody has. It’s a secluded small town with own secrets, and the biggest one of them – is the swamp. Nobody knows why it is fenced, why are everyone scared of it, but they know one thing for sure – you better stay the hell away from it. Don’t mind the swamp and it won’t mind you.
That is what everybody in Sticks does, until one girl loses her brother.
Sterling Saucier is the main protagonist. At the beginning we see her as a girl who was always under protection of her a bit aggressive brother. Their father was a cruel man who liked to beat his wife and children, and the only person who tried to protect them was Phin Saucier. But after some stressful fight over his moving to college, the boy leaves his home and goes into the swamp. Sterling waits for him the whole day and then she sees like someone climbs over the fence… but it’s not Phin. It’s a girl, Lenora May, who claims the spot of her brother.
Nobody remembers him anymore… Nobody believes that he ever existed… except for Heath, the boy at school with whom she had a brief romance and who experienced the same situation. What is more important, hebelieves her. He remembers.
What I really liked, was the development of Sterling’s character. At the beginning she was just a scared girl with eating disorder because of a fear of losing her brother – her only protector. But now it is he who needs her help. As it turns out, Sterling has the courage of a lion. She is strong, smart and desperate to save her beloved brother.
There is also Heath, Sterling’s love interest, but I can’t say much about him. I was not into this romance. He is a good boy with the dark past, and the reason to it is the swamp. But if Sterling became strong because of her burden, Heath became weak. And that’s my only problem with him. I love it when main heroes are equal.
But this book is not about love between a boy and a girl. It’s about brother and sister relationships. That our love to someone and the need to protect can be twisted into something entirely else. That we must learn to stand for ourselves and stop depending on other people. Because everything has a price.
The plot and the writing were incredibly good. It made me want to go to the swamp, so vivid was the description of it, with its lights that are always leading people into its depth, with magical cherry trees and monsters, waiting for you in the dark. I also loved the secondary characters and the main villain. It’s not easy to guess here who is good and who is evil. Everyone has their reasons. Somebody can surprise you.
Overall, this book is a must-read for fans of gothic romances. I’ve read it a couple of days ago and its atmosphere still haunts me. And I love it!
Once upon a time, there was a great Kingdom of Winter. It was full of magic, rich, gorgeous with its sparkling ice, soft snow and blinding whiteness. But the Kingdom of Spring decided that Winter didn’t deserve what it had and conquered it. The Kingdom was ruined; people were killed or taken into slavery. Spring had no mercy for his captors or their home and queen. But 25 winterians were able to run away—to survive. And one of them was a child of the queen… the future ruler.
Meira, the main heroine, is a sixteen years old girl who was orphaned as an infant during Winter’s defeat by the queen’s general, who was saving his prince. She was growing as a fighter; a warrior who, one day, must save her Kingdom and its people, and help the future king to take back his throne.
Unfortunately, only 8 from 25 winterians survived. They’re the only hope of Winter. The problem is, the conduit that contained magic of their Kingdom was broken in two pieces and now is guarded by Spring. And even if they can get it back, the conduit is female-blooded, and their only heir is male.
Meira has never even seen Winter, she was too small to remember anything, but now she is so ready to fight for it. And it’s not so strange, when you grow up in a company of patriotic warriors and the future king, who’s, by the way, also the love of her life her best friend. Meira desperately wants to prove that her Kingdom needs her and she can be useful. But what she wants to do and what she needs to do are two different things.
There are seven more kingdoms who clearly don’t want to mess with Spring and look at winterians like they are dirt under their nails. But Cordell, one of the four Kingdoms of Rhyme, has its own interest in Winter. In order to become Winter’s ally, they want to marry their prince with Meira – a representative of her Kingdom. It’s the only way Winter can get help in a war with Spring. But the girl dreams of fighting, not of the crown and noble title.
«And now this is it. This is how I will matter to Winter. As a marriage pawn.»
As a character, Meira is wonderful. I can’t say she’s smart, but brave and determined, loyal and strong. She is one of those warriors who doesn’t pay much attention to the strategy and logic, but who can die fighting for a stranger in need. Most of all, she wants to find her place in life and do everything to deserve it.
«No matter what happens, no matter who turns on me, no matter what pompous swine thinks he has power over me, I am still me. I will always be me.»
Her character develops through the book. At the beginning I was a bit tired of her constant rambling about how she wants to matter to her Kingdom, how she wants to help. The deal is, her help often brings more problems. She seems to be just an ambitious child in desperate need of appreciation. But when there appears a real chance to help her people, just not the one that was in her ideal scenario, she begins to wrinkle her nose and spit her rage on everyone because of the injustice of her destiny.
But then, when she happens to see how her people live in slavery, in what condition is her Kingdom, she grows some balls and starts to kick asses. After that she was a heroine I admired.
The world building was great, though a bit tough to understand at the beginning, too many kingdoms and detailed information about them. I also loved the writing style, the words were beautiful. Even I started to feel a bit patriotic toward Winter. What I liked the most, saving the kingdom wasn’t just a background plot to add a spice to the romance, but the main theme of the story.
Also, there is a love triangle, which, strangely enough, didn’t annoy me. Mather is the future king of Winter and Meira`s best friend. They grew up together and, naturally, fell in love. But he is a king with GREAT responsibilities, since he is a male with a female-blooded conduit and, technically, has no country to rule. He can’t be with a peasant girl, no matter what he feels. What he needs is to make a powerful alliance. He would be a great king, though his temper often takes the best of him.
Theron is a prince of Cordell, his farther is a king who likes to push on his son and make him his little puppet. His mother was from kingdom known for art; he inherited her talent for poetry and love for books and paintings. While others 7 winterians try to use Meira as they need, he understands her wanting to be a hero, not just a pawn. After all, he is in the same situation with his farther.
Both boys were good and had their pros and cons, I still haven’t decided what team to choose. Meira also thought more about her duty than about boys, which is one of the reason I want to shake hands with Sara Raasch, because god forbid YA authors to write about independent and strong woman! Though, the last statement isn’t very fair, because now we have more and more of such heroines.
Overall, the book was very good, I was pleased with the plot, though the twist wasn’t surprising, with writing, with ALL the characters and I can’t wait to read the sequel!
"And then I noticed the birds.Black-feathered corpses. Everywhere. Piled up on steps, kicked into snow piles, dangling by their necks from lampposts and signs. There were eight nailed to the door of the dark, abandoned-looking Youngman’s Inn, and five hanging by their feet from the iron church gate.The four of us walked down the center of the road. Still and silent. I saw lights in windows, but there was no one in the street. Not a soul."
You know how you sometimes stamble on a book that is just insane, it has no logic, just the flourishing madness? And you end up loving it? Well, that was the case.
Violet, and her rather big crew, lives in a Citizen Cane. It’s Christmas, time for laughing and happiness. But that`s for normal families, right? And this one doesn`t have anything to do with them. After Reddings broke into Violet`s life, all turned upside down. Brodie disappeared in an unknown direction, River vanished to work on his "glow" and madness, and only Neely stayed close. Violet tries to recover from her nearly-death. But no matter how much time had passed, she can`t forget River.
One day, Violet finds a diary of her grandmother Freddie, retelling about her relationships with Redding. Reading an extracts from it was very interesting: rich, spoiled kids, doing what they want, full of passion and madness. Then she and Neely decide to listen to the radio, which tells them about the strange supernatural events that occur in different cities. Missing people, murderings, suicides. All this leads them to the idea of Brodie and River.
They decide that it's time to stop waiting, time to act. Taking Sunshine and Luke in company, they go on a quest.
«The landscape had stayed roughly the same since we turned away from the sea . . . winter, winter, winter, with barren trees and green pines and wooden fences and open fields full of crows. But we were up higher now, and the sky was bigger. Even the clouds were bigger..»
Places they’ve visited were extraordinary. Kids go to the mountains, to the quaint village where people pour blood on the graves, and boy with the crows steals the dreams of girls. Could it be River? Or Brodie? Or they are working together? Violet decides she’s tired of fear; she wants to look danger in the face, and not sit around. And though she’s homesick, she is brave enough to leave everything behind, no matter what, and go in search of adventure.
In the village they are introduced to a red-haired boy, who was accused by citizens in all crimes, and decide to save him from certain death. After it, Violet, Finch and Neely follow the trail of the Redding boys. Along with the characters, we are going to visit islands, where wild horses run throughout the neighborhood and people worship the sea god, or the city, where trees whisper strange thoughts in your ear and children disappear.
The writing style is just incredible. Everything was described in very atmospheric way, words were scary and beautiful, frightful and delightful.
«The nursery. Sunshine opened the door, but none of us went in. Boy things, everywhere, shoes and toys and books and a rocking horse and . . . And all I could think about was a small crushed boy body, tangled in leaves and shadows»
I also liked the developing of the characters. Violet became move brave, though she is still very submissive and does what she is told to do.Neely is a breakout of this book. In the first book I didn’t really care about him, but that has changed in the sequel. He is a strong person who loves his brother more than himself. I was really interested in Finch, the new character. A quiet boy who has no family and who spent most of his life in the woods. He is attentive and kind, and brave, and smart. But the thing that I liked the most was a total insanity of each one of them. They didn’t think like normal people. They didn’t react like normal people.
The ending was… well, I don’t know how I feel about it. More feels like there was none. It leaves a lot of space for imagination, but personally I like it more when everything is said in the story. Overall, I loved this series. It surprised me, fascinated me. Sometimes it made me happy, sometimes sad. Sometimes it creeped me out. But I loved it through and through. Thank you, Ms. Tucholke!