Reading round up (13)

Reading round up is a weekly journal where I record my daily reading progress and my thoughts on each book as I read it. Blitzing through galleys, this week ...

3rd February

Currently reading: Rebel | Amy Tintera

Current page/percent: 28%

# of pages/percentage read today: 17%

Thoughts: I missed these dorks and I don't want this duology to end!! D:

4th February

Currently reading: Rebel | Amy Tintera

Current page/percent: 63%

# of pages/percentage read today: 35%

Thoughts: Well, everything's going to shit.

5th February

I shouldn't have got Riot | Sarah Mussi from Netgalley BUT BRITISH DYSTOPIA! Let's be real, I was always gonna read this. And I am so glad I did. By far the best hidden gem I have ever found on Netgalley. It's completely, overwhelmingly brilliant. I read 67% of it one day and I'm in love.

6th February

Currently reading: Rebel | Amy Tintera // Riot | Sarah Mussi

Current page/percent: 63% // 100%

# of pages/percentage read today: 0% // 33%

Thoughts: N/A // Best stand alone I have read since Scorpio Races. Highly recommend.

7th February

Currently reading: Rebel | Amy Tintera

Current page/percent: 100%

# of pages/percentage read today: 37%

Thoughts: Callum scared the ever-loving shit out of me for a chapter there.

8th February

Currently reading: The Murder Complex | Lindsay Cummings

Current page/percent: 20%

# of pages/percentage read today: 20%

Thoughts: Love that it's set by the sea/in a boat house. Not many of those in YA sci fi. Zephyr is also a cutie pie.

9th February

Currently reading: The Murder Complex | Lindsay Cummings

Current page/percent: 59%

# of pages/percentage read today: 39%

Thoughts: This isn't blowing me away like I hoped it would.

Books finished this week: 2

Rebel (ARC Review)

Reboot: Rebel | Amy Tintera

Published by: HarperTeen, May 13th 2014

Genre: YA, Science Fiction, Thriller

Pages: 352

Format: Ebook

Source: HarperTeen vis Edelweiss (thank you so much!)

The sequel to the action-packed Reboot is a can't-miss thrill ride, perfect for fans of James Patterson, Veronica Roth, and Marie Lu.

After coming back from death as Reboots and being trained by HARC as soldiers, Wren and Callum have finally escaped north, where they hope to find a life of freedom. But when they arrive at the Reboot Reservation, it isn't what they expected. Under the rule of a bloodthirsty leader, Micah, the Reboots are about to wage an all-out war on the humans. Although Wren's instincts are telling her to set off into the wilderness on their own and leave the battle far behind, Callum is unwilling to let his human family be murdered. When Micah commits the ultimate betrayal, the choice is made for them. But Micah has also made a fatal mistake . . . he's underestimated Wren and Callum.

The explosive finale to the Reboot duology is full of riveting action and steamy love scenes as Wren and Callum become rebels against their own kind.

Reboot was one of my favourite 2013 reads, so I jumped at the chance to review the sequel, Rebel. And it didn't disappoint. While I didn't love Rebel quite as much as Reboot, it has every component about the first book that I adored. 

Callum and Wren's relationship developed perfectly. Their romance and intimacy was genuine, not forced at all like some of the relationships I read. I just love Callum and Wren together. There's something so natural and effortless about the way they are, and I can't help but feel for them, and scream at the book when they get separated.

The action and stakes in Rebel didn't feel as high as Reboot, and I think maybe that's the thing it was lacking. Don't get me wrong, there's some pretty bad moments, but the endgame feels a little pointless. Maybe that's just me and my lack of empathy, but they maybe should have left the rest of the reboots. I'm a little ruthless sometimes, and I expected the same from Wren, but I get that she had to grow and soften a little. It would have been weird had she not, with Callum's influence and her questioning her own emotions.

The thing I love the most about this duology is how unique it is. It's science fiction without being overly focused on the science side, it's horror without being obvious, it's romance without being solely focused on kissing and stuff (though, don't worry, there's definitely kissing and stuff), and it's also a high impact thriller and a subtle dystopia.

I highly recommend this book, and this duology, to everyone.

Characters ★★★★★

Setting/world building ★★★★☆

Writing Style ★★★☆☆

Reboot (Review)

Reboot: Reboot | Amy Tintera
YA, Sci-Fi, Dystopia

Characters ★★★★☆

Setting ★★★★☆

Writing Style ★★★★☆

Five years ago, Wren Connolly was shot three times in the chest. After 178 minutes she came back as a Reboot: stronger, faster, able to heal, and less emotional. The longer Reboots are dead, the less human they are when they return. Wren 178 is the deadliest Reboot in the Republic of Texas. Now seventeen years old, she serves as a soldier for HARC (Human Advancement and Repopulation Corporation).

Wren’s favorite part of the job is training new Reboots, but her latest newbie is the worst she’s ever seen. As a 22, Callum Reyes is practically human. His reflexes are too slow, he’s always asking questions, and his ever-present smile is freaking her out. Yet there’s something about him she can’t ignore. When Callum refuses to follow an order, Wren is given one last chance to get him in line—or she’ll have to eliminate him. Wren has never disobeyed before and knows if she does, she’ll be eliminated, too. But she has also never felt as alive as she does around Callum.

The perfect soldier is done taking orders.

REVIEW

Exciting, dark, heart-wrenching.

Oh, this book! *sighs* This book!

Reboot took everything I thought I knew about robots, zombies, people who have come back from the dead, and turned it on its head. It's a pretty common thing to think of people who have returned from the dead as emotionless machines, and the beginning of this book goes along with that. Wren, a girl who was dead for 178 minutes before coming back, is a thoughtless cog in the machine known as HARC. She is a soldier and she follows every order without a second thought or a single question. Pretty in-keeping with what I expected.

But then a new Reboot, comes to the facility - a guy who was dead for only 22 seconds - and he shakes up Wren's world. He still has a lot of human emotions, he questions everything, and he refuses to carry out orders to kill. He changes her, makes her question things she hadn't before. Amy Tintera creates a world where the undead can have emotions, thoughts, and desires like a living person. Personally I haven't read anything like this before.

It's a lot sci-fi, a little bit dystopian, and a hell of a lot of 'Lets kill the establishment'. From start to finish I enjoyed it. It was thrilling, chilling, and other things that end with illing. As a long time fan of science fiction I adored how this book read and I flew through it. Wren was a unique MC, and Callum was an adorably human Reboot love interest. The antagonists were not your usual antagonists, and the concept of the book should have felt overdone but didn't.

Overall, a fresh science fiction with heart-warming emotion and a chilling danger. Would recommend to everyone who likes their books edgy and different.