Teaser Tuesday (7)

Teaser Tuesdays are a meme hosted by Mizb of Should be Reading. Here are the rules if you wish to participate. 

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teaser

Here is my weeks teaser:

Again, he thought of World War II. A GI with a pack of cigarettes was a wealthy man, and to share one with another man, or even a captured or wounded enemy, was a significant gesture.

Page 129 of One Second After by William R. Forstchen.

Review: Across the Universe by Beth Revis

Title: Across the Universe

Author: Beth Revis

Published: 2011

Length: Hardcover, 396 pages

Genre: Young Adult, Science Fiction, Dystopia, Romance, Mystery 

Counts Towards: 

The Dystopia Challenge, Hogwarts ReadingChallenge

Summary:

Seventeen-year-old Amy joins her parents as frozen cargo aboard the vast spaceship Godspeed and expects to awaken on a new planet, three hundred years in the future. Never could she have known that her frozen slumber would come to an end fifty years too soon and that she would be thrust into the brave new world of a spaceship that lives by its own rules.

Amy quickly realies that her awakening was no mere computer malfunction. Someone-one of the few thousand inhabitants of the spaceship-tried to kill her. And if Amy doesn't do something soon, her parents will be next.

Now Amy must race to unlock Godspeed's hidden secrets. But out of her list of murder suspects, there's only one who matters: Elder, the future leader of the ship and the love she could never have seen coming.

First Line: 

Daddy said, “Let Mom go first.”

My Rambles:

First something that has been bothering me: 

Across the Universe reminds me of a TV show that I used to watch as a kid, called Silversun.  It's also set on a spaceship with carrying a cargo of 550 cryonically suspended colonists to their new home, Silversun. One of the new colonists, Zandie was illegally re-animatied by a crew member. Any of this sound familier to anyone? 

Nevertheless Across the Universe was a fast and fun read. It opens with an intense, emotional and detailed  first chapter. 

Amy was real, she was a character that I would want to be friends with. She could stand on her own two feet and yet she would accept help when she needed it. She was the type of character that you root for. And Elder - oh Elder, Elder, Elder, I adore Elder. I loved the way you could see him grow as a person. He starts out almost oblivious to what is happening around him and we are with him as his eyes finally open to his world. You could see his views shift and see him start to figure out just who he was and who he had the potential to be. You watched as he tried to break his old ways of thinking .You watched as he started to grow into the kind of leader that the Godspeed did and will need. Sure he has a long way to go but he is a character with so much potential and I look forward to seeing where his character will go in the next two books. Another stand out character would have to be Elder's best friend Harley. He was vibrant, brave, tragic, loveable and awesome. His storyline was heartbreaking but I think it actually suited his character. 

Eldest (one of the main "bad guys") could have far more sadistic and he lacked that true villain quality. But maybe thats how Beth Revis wanted him to be. Maybe she wanted him to be sympathetic and for people to understand some of the things he did. 

Overall good characters, fantastic plot, a breathless read. If you haven't already, go and pick up a copy of Across the Universe and see what everyone is raving about for yourself.

Review: Under The Dome by Stephen King

Title: Under the Dome
Author: Stephen King
Published: 2009
Length: Hardcover, 1072 pages
Genre: Horror, Science Fiction, Thriller, Mystery, Suspense

Found where: Borrowed from my local library

Counts Towards: 

Hogwarts Reading Challenge

Summary: 
On an entirely normal, beautiful fall day in Chester's Mill, Maine, the town is inexplicably and suddenly sealed off from the rest of the world by an invisible force field. Planes crash into it and fall from the sky in flaming wreckage, a gardener's hand is severed as "the dome" comes down on it, people running errands in the neighboring town are divided from their families, and cars explode on impact. No one can fathom what this barrier is, where it came from, and when -- or if -- it will go away.

Dale Barbara, Iraq vet and now a short-order cook, finds himself teamed with a few intrepid citizens -- town newspaper owner Julia Shumway, a physician's assistant at the hospital, a select-woman, and three brave kids. Against them stands Big Jim Rennie, a politician who will stop at nothing -- even murder -- to hold the reins of power, and his son, who is keeping a horrible secret in a dark pantry. But their main adversary is the Dome itself. Because time isn't just short. It's running out.


My Rambles:
This was my first King novel (when I say novel I really mean a Huge Ass Door-Stop masquerading as a novel), and I have to say that I'm impressed. I went in blind, not really knowing what to expect and I'm glad I did. Though over 1000 pages Under the Dome was a surprisingly fast read and was taut and exciting and keep me interesting the whole way through. It only took me four days and I did little else though. 


I loved the way King weaved SO many characters and story lines merging into one huge one.
The more I read, the more the characters wormed their way into my heart - even the bad ones. To me the characters came to life, I felt as if I was part of the story, standing next to the characters experiencing what they were. I laughed and teared up and burned with anger for them, with them. 


And apart from a few rape scenes (with weren't as detailed as they could have been - something I'm thankful for), some "gentle" necrophilia and very detailed violence (which I don't really mind but some people would/will have problems with) I had no problems with this book.

Review: Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer

Title: Life As We Knew It
Author: Susan Beth Pfeffer
Published: 2006
Length: 337 pages
Genre: Science Fiction, Apocalyptic/Dystopia, Young Adult, Adventure 
Found where: The amazing BookDepository 

Why did I read it? 
Loved the premise and had heard great things about this one. 


Counts towards: 

The Dystopia Challenge, Hogwarts Reading Challenge

Summary:

Miranda’s disbelief turns to fear in a split second when a meteor knocks the moon closer to the earth. How should her family prepare for the future when worldwide tsunamis wipe out the coasts, earthquakes rock the continents, and volcanic ash blocks out the sun? As summer turns to Arctic winter, Miranda, her two brothers, and their mother retreat to the unexpected safe haven of their sunroom, where they subsist on stockpiled food and limited water in the warmth of a wood-burning stove.

My Rambles: 

This book really got to me. The more I read, the more I HAD to read. I HAD to find out how this haunting story ended. At the same time I was almost reluctant to keep turning the pages, terrified of what awaited Miranda and her family. Books like this always get my thinking.. What if? What if it were me who this was happening to? What if this world we know so well was pulled out from underneath us? What would you do to survive? To make sure that your family lived? How would you survive? Would you fight to survive? Or just give up? What would you do about water, heating and cooling? About food?

Life As We Knew It started out a little slowly. We are introduced to Miranda and her family from Miranda's point of view, writing in her diary. I was just letting it plod along waiting for the story to really start, when it did. There was a certain scene in the book that when I got to it.. I knew that this would be a sensational read. And it was. Although is was not an action packed thriller, it was a psychological one. It gets under your skin and won't let you move on. 

I could go on and analyse and explain what happens and say my dislikes and likes.. but really, that would spoil this book. If you are at all interesting in reading Life As We Knew It, STOP reading reviews. Go and get the actual book!!

Teaser Tuesday (6)

I've been a little AWOL lately, but am now trying to get back into my blog. I have about 20 reviews that will come VERY soon.

Teaser Tuesdays are a meme hosted by Mizb of Should be Reading. Here are the rules if you wish to participate. 

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teaser

Here is my weeks teaser:

For one brief moment, the great black dog reared on to it's hind legs and placed it's front paws on Harry's shoulders, but Mrs Weasley shoved Harry away towards the train door, hissing, 'For heaven's sake, act more like a dog, Sirius!'

'See you!', Harry called out of the open window as the train began to move, while Ron, Hermione and Ginny waved beside him.

Page 166 of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (which I am re-reading)