Reading round up (14)

Reading round up is a weekly journal where I record my daily reading progress and my thoughts on each book as I read it. I'm heavily in a sci fi thriller mood at the moment. Wonder if that'll break this week. I suspect so.

10th February

Currently reading: Ignite Me | Tahereh Mafi

Current page/percent: page 326

# of pages/percentage read today: 326 pages

Thoughts: !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I lost almost the entire day reading this.

11th February

Having a shitty day, so read nothing. Also I am pretty in denial about the Shatter Me series being over forever. Nope. Not happening.

12th February

Currently reading: Ignite Me | Tahereh Mafi

Current page/percent: page 416

# of pages/percentage read today: 90

Thoughts: I am dead. I've been slain. Go on without me.

13th February

Currently reading: The Murder Complex | Lindsay Cummings

Current page/percent: 84%

# of pages/percentage read today: 25%

Thoughts: Hmm. Doesn't seem like enough book left for what needs to happen.

14th February

Finished The Murder Complex (16%). Was hoping the ending would be high impact and insanely awesome, but it was just plain awesome. Still great, but I put a lot of expectations on this book. I also started Stolen Songbird by Danielle. L. Jensen. (4%)  Luc is so dreamy~~~~ *snorts* Not.

15th February

Currently reading: Stolen Songbird | Danielle. L. Jensen

Current page/percent: 18%

# of pages/percentage read today: 14%

Thoughts: I love Tristan. He's so sassy and sarcastic and scared - The Three S's of the tortured asshole.

16th February

Currently reading: Stolen Songbird | Danielle. L. Jensen

Current page/percent: 66%

# of pages/percentage read today: 48%

Thoughts: THIS IS SO FUCKING GOOD HOLY HELL.

Books finished this week: 2

The Murder Complex (ARC Review)

The Murder Complex: The Murder Complex | Lindsay Cummings

Published by: Greenwillow Books, June 10th 2014

Genre: YA, Science Fiction, Thriller

Pages: 400

Format: Ebook

Source: HarperCollins via Edelweiss (thank you so much!)

An action-packed, blood-soaked, futuristic debut thriller set in a world where the murder rate is higher than the birthrate. For fans of Moira Young’s Dust Lands series, La Femme Nikita, and the movie Hanna.

Meadow Woodson, a fifteen-year-old girl who has been trained by her father to fight, to kill, and to survive in any situation, lives with her family on a houseboat in Florida. The state is controlled by The Murder Complex, an organization that tracks the population with precision.

The plot starts to thicken when Meadow meets Zephyr James, who is—although he doesn’t know it—one of the MC’s programmed assassins. Is their meeting a coincidence? Destiny? Or part of a terrifying strategy? And will Zephyr keep Meadow from discovering the haunting truth about her family?

I've been waiting to read The Murder Complex since the day the deal was announced. And I put a lot of expectations on this book - a lot. And while it met some, it didn't meet others, but it was still pretty awesome.

The Murder Complex tells the story of Meadow, a girl whose father has trained her to survive to an insane degree, and Zephyr, a boy who is controlled against his will and made to kill people. Through some pretty untypical events, the two meet and try to kill each other, which was a lovely change to the usual means of going about a romance.

The thing I loved the most about this book was Meadow, and I reckon the rest of the series will see me falling deeper in love with her. She was fiesty, she was passionate, she didn't put up with any crap, and she'd literally kill a man to protect her family. Zephyr I liked but Meadow I loved. I'm not sold on their romance yet, but it feels like a genuine attraction and I can't wait to see it grow.

While there's a lot of action and blood and fights in this book, it lacked the edge that would make it epic. I'm not sure what it is, but some books just have it. This one didn't. Maybe it was because of my high expectations. Maybe it wasn't. But I was never hooked by this book like I wanted to be. 

That said, it's still a pretty amazing, high octane read, packed with action, unique characters, and a well imagined dystopian city. I'm interested to see where book two goes. I think this may be one of the series where the second book is better than the first.

Characters ★★★★☆

Setting/world building ★★★☆☆

Writing Style ★★★☆☆

Teaser Tuesday (2)

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. 

The Murder Complex | Lindsay Cummings

Published by: Greenwillow, June 10th 2014

Genre: YA, Contemporary, Mystery

Current opinion: Love it. Interesting characters, plot's thickening and becoming quite scary and high stakes. I suspect this is going to go from pretty awesome to holy shit.
Quote from: 59%

They are on the floor. On the metal walls. The ceiling. In different shades of red. Crimson. Scarlet. Maroon. Everywhere, like blood.