Bibliofille

Title: Panic
Author: Lauren Oliver
Pages: 408

Released: March, 2014

Where to Buy: Bookdepository | Amazon

Synopsis

Panic began as so many things do in Carp, a dead-end town of 12,000 people in the middle of nowhere: because it was summer, and there was nothing else to do.

Heather never thought she would compete in Panic, a legendary game played by graduating seniors, where the stakes are high and the payoff is even higher. She’d never thought of herself as fearless, the kind of person who would fight to stand out. But when she finds something, and someone, to fight for, she will discover that she is braver than she ever thought.

Dodge has never been afraid of Panic. His secret will fuel him, and get him all the way through the game, he’s sure of it. But what he doesn't know is that he’s not the only one with a secret. Everyone has something to play for.

There's a Goodreads group with people from an online community and we decided we could start a book club and read one book every month. This month Panic was the book of choice and actually I was quite happy with it. That was because I planned on reading this book since the release in March.

The book follows two post-graduates, Heather Nill and Dodge Mason, they have been in the same year during their school careers, but they barely know each other. Heather did not plan on competing in the game called Panic, but in a moment of impulse she makes the jump and she's in. Dodge, however, already planned on competing two years earlier, because of something that happened during Panic two years ago. Heather's best friend Natalie also participates and Heather and Nat decided to play it together. Heather's other best friend Bishop doesn't compete but he support Heather and Nat during the weird game of Panic.

I read this book in two days, but that was only because I had school and other thing I had to attend, if I didn't have anything to do, I think I would have read this book in one day. Only I had to do these things, so it took me a little longer. 

Did I enjoy this book? Yes, I really enjoyed reading this. The two sides of the four main characters made me hate them in some parts but love them a couple of paragraphs later. Every character has flaws and that made it so realistic, because some sides of people annoy you, but other sides are the things that make you like them. 

While reading the book I predicted a couple of things that would happen later on, only one came true but that was okay. There were a lot of twists and turns in the plot that it was so difficult to predict the ending and that is a good point. 

The story is packed with action and the anticipation of action. The feeling when you know something is going to happen, that it will be dreadful, but you don't know what and when. So it wasn't just a story about heroic deeds, but also about being afraid of something that will happen. 

So yes, you could say I really enjoyed reading this book, but it did not feel like like I was sucked in to the story. It felt like I was a spectator, not a participant. That's why I rated it 4.5 instead of 5.0 stars. But that's still a pretty damn good score.

Title: Rebel Belle

Author: Rachel Hawkins
Pages: 352

Released: April, 2014

Where to buy: Bookdepository | Amazon

Synopsis

Harper Price, peerless Southern belle, was born ready for a Homecoming tiara. But after a strange run-in at the dance imbues her with incredible abilities, Harper's destiny takes a turn for the seriously weird. She becomes a Paladin, one of an ancient line of guardians with agility, super strength and lethal fighting instincts.

Just when life can't get any more disastrously crazy, Harper finds out who she's charged to protect: David Stark, school reporter, subject of a mysterious prophecy and possibly Harper's least favorite person. But things get complicated when Harper starts falling for him--and discovers that David's own fate could very well be to destroy Earth

 

The story starts at the night of homecoming, the perfect girl Harper Price knows she will be crowned as Homecoming Queen. However, during the dinner before they went to homecoming, she wiped here lipgloss off and now her lips are naked. Wow such disaster, she manages to borrow a lipgloss (in the wrong colour) from her best friend Bee and she goes to the bathroom to apply it. 

Then a series of weird events occur while she is in the bathroom. At first the janitor Mr. Hall runs into the bathroom and he is dying because of blood loss. He starts talking to her and after a while he approaches Harper and kisses her in a weird way with cold air. This 'kiss' changes Harper's life, she becomes a Paladin. Then the history teacher enters the bathroon and he is carrying a sword, he goes after Harper and they start to fight. The fight lasts a while and Harper kills him. Harper finds out she has to protect her rival David Stark and she is not quite happy with it.

Yesterday afternoon I started reading this book and finished it that night, so I think it is a quick read and perfect for one sitting. The two main characters, Harper and David are different, but have some things in common. While reading this I enjoyed the fact that Harper was acting like a normal girl and that she wasn't as perfect as you would think in the beginning. 

In the story you can see Harper change, in the beginning she would freak out about the colour of her lipgloss and later on she did not care about a torn dress. 

The pacing in the book made it an easy read, it is action-packed and there weren't any boring parts where all the magic was explained or parts where she is brushing her teeth or something like that. To be honest, I really enjoyed reading this book but the ending was quite an anti-climax. Of course, a sequel of this book will come out, but after I've read it, it felt like a part of the story changed and needed to be explained later on. 

However, I really enjoyed reading this book and I would recommend it to everyone who loves YA low-key fantasy and action packed books. So 3.5 out of five stars.

Oh yeah, the month of April was an amazing reading month, even though I went on a schooltrip to England (where I bought too many books), I did read thirteen books. Some of them weren't that big like the books in the Pretty Little Liars Series, which I was marathoning in the beginning of the month, but I also read quite a few chunky books like A Game of Thrones and The Book Thief. Last month was also an amazing month to discover new favourites and I am happy about that

The books I have read in April are:

- Wicked by Sara Shepard

- Killer by Sara Shepard

- Heartless by Sara Shepard

- Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell*

- The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky (reread)

- The Book Thief by Markus Zusak*

- Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell*

- Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins *

- An Abundance of Katherines by John Green (reread)

- A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin*

- The Mark of Athena by Rick Riordan

- The Shock of the Fall by Nathan Filer

* My favourites of this month

Even though we are already three days in May and I have already finished two books, I think it is still in time to show the books I plan on reading this month. There are actually only two books I plan on reading this month. The first one is A Clash of Kings by George R.R. Martin, the sequel to A Game of Thrones. 

The other book is Panic by Lauren Oliver and this book is the book of the month of a little bookclub of a online forum. I already own A Clash of Kings but because of being broke I will not be able to buy Panic, so I will have to read the (illegally downloaded) ebook on my Kobo Glo, which is totally fine I guess.

What  do you plan on reading in May?

Title: The Fault in Our Stars

Authour: John Green

Pages: 318

Released: January, 2012

Source: John Green Boxed set | Bol.com

Where to buy: Bookdepository | Amazon

Synopsis

Despite the tumor-shrinking medical miracle that has bought her a few years, Hazel has never been anything but terminal, her final chapter inscribed upon diagnosis. But when a gorgeous plot twist named Augustus Waters suddenly appears at Cancer Kid Support Group, Hazel's story is about to be completely rewritten.

Sometimes a guy tells a story through a book, this book travels around the world and an incredible amount of copies are sold. Almost everyone at an certain age knows about this book and have been (unfortunately) spoiled for the ending. The Fault in Our Stars by John Green is that kind of book, ask my Dutch classmates and they know how the story goes.

I have read this book almost two years ago and I really enjoyed it, I loved the story and the characters. But around the time this book became a hype, I turned sceptical. I only remembered a couple of things of the book and said it was overrated. Maybe that was because it had become one of my favourites and everyone was ranting about it. I do not know.

For our English class we were given a list of books from which we should pick one and read for an upcoming test. The first book on this list was TFIOS and even though I'd already read it, with the film coming up it felt like I should read it again.

To be honest, I am so happy I reread this book. The dark humour of Hazel Grace Lancaster, the sad but funny Isaac and the vain metaphors of Augustus Waters, are maybe the reason I fell in love with this book. The writing style of John Green made me love it even more and all the descriptions of how Hazel perceived the Netherlands and everything else was amazing. 

The rare thing called emotional investment occurred and while reading this book it felt like I was on a roller-coaster that only goes up. At a lot of points during the book I laughed out loud, but a couple of paragraphs later salty rivers of tears were finding their way down my cheeks. 

Before I reread this book and people would ask me what I thought about it, I would answer something like: "I like it, but it is overhyped". But now I would answer something like: "I love it like the sun loves the moon and that is quite a lot". 

If you have not read The Fault in Our Stars by John Green, I think most people already have, you should really read it before the film comes out in June. 

What did you think about The Fault in Our Stars? And are you excited for the film?