Review: Lockdown by Alexander Gordon Smith

Title: Lockdown

Author: Alexander Gordon Smith

Published: 2009

Length:  292 pages

Genre:  

Thriller, Horror, Dystopia, 

S

ci-Fi

Where Found: The wonderful BookDepository 

Counts Towards: The Dystopia Challenge, Hogwarts Reading Challenge

Summary:

My name is Alex and I'm not a killer. The framed me for murder, condemned me to life in Furnace with its punishments and pain.

I've got to get out of here. 

If I don't, it could be me the Wheezers come for.

Me who's dragged screaming from my cell.

Me who's brought back scarred, twisted and hungry for blood.

I've got to get out of here. Before they turn my into a monster.

Review:

Wow! Thats the first thing I thought when I turned the final page of Lockdown by Alexander Gordon Smith. My next thought was Holy Sh*t, I have to get my hands on the next book in the series. I finished this book late at night.. and I have to admit that it really freaked me out, more than most books do anyway. There were some truly creepy characters in there. There were also c

haracters I loved and characters I loved to hate. Lockdown was a mix of character driven scenes action scenes and violence. Which is a brilliant mix if you ask me. 

This book is definently not a book for the faint of heart. It was very g

raphic at times, and my heart pounded it's way trough the pages. It also has some 

psychological horror here, building up through the novel. I like that the characters feel real.

The main character Alex 

Sawyer. Alex isn’t really a bad kid, yeah, sure, 

he’s been living a life of petty crime, robbing houses with his best mate. But o

n their last fateful job, the boys are caught – but not by the police. Instead, a group of huge, fast and strong men in dark suits corners them, kills Toby, and frames Alex for the murder of his friend. Because of a no-tolerance policy for underage crime, Alex is given the harshest sentence – imprisonment in Furnace (an underground 

penitentiary for teenagers) for life, with no hope of parole. 

Once in the Furnace, Alex is lucky his cellmate, Donovan, is willing to be his friend. They also befriend Zee, another boy who was framed for crimes he didn’t commit.

Things happen that lead up to the boys planning an escape. 

There are, naturally, complications. Including other prisoners, avoiding all the prion gangs, the guards and their terrifying mutant dogs, the prison warden and Wheezers.

There is some information missing from the pages of this book. Why was Alex and others chosen and framed? 

Where do all the female prisioners go? Is there a separate chamber in the prison for them? Do we just not see them or do females not get sentenced to the Furnace?

Overall a spectacular read and a new series for me to obsess over. 

P.S I 

love that this book is British.

*Warning: if you are prone to nightmares, do not read this book before bed.

Teaser Tuesday (3)

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:

I sat on the lower bed and stared out of the bars, which made up one whole wall of the cell. All I could see, on the other side of the giant pit, were more cells and more prisoners, their grey faces a reflection of my own.

page 58 from Lockdown (The first book in the Furnace series) by Alexander Gordon Smith.

 

Review: The Virgin of Small Plains by Nancy Pickard

Title: The Virgin of Small Plains

Author: Nancy Pickard

Published: 2006

Length:  335 pages

Genre:  Mystery 

Where Found: Borrowed from my local library

Counts Towards: Hide and Seek Mini Challenge, What's In A Name Challenge

Summary:
Small Plains, Kansas, January 23, 1987: In the midst of a deadly blizzard, eighteen-year-old Rex Shellenberger scours his father’s pasture, looking for helpless newborn calves. Then he makes a shocking discovery: the naked, frozen body of a teenage girl, her skin as white as the snow around her. Even dead, she is the most beautiful girl he’s ever seen. It is a moment that will forever change his life and the lives of everyone around him. The mysterious dead girl–the “Virgin of Small Plains”–inspires local reverence. In the two decades following her death, strange miracles visit those who faithfully tend to her grave; some even believe that her spirit can cure deadly illnesses. Slowly, word of the legend spreads.

But what really happened in that snow-covered field? Why did young Mitch Newquist disappear the day after the Virgin’s body was found, leaving behind his distraught girlfriend, Abby Reynolds? Why do the town’s three most powerful men–Dr. Quentin Reynolds, former sheriff Nathan Shellenberger, and Judge, Tom Newquist–all seem to be hiding the details of that night? 


Review:
On a bitterly cold, snowy night in January 1987, a sequence of events unfold that will forever change the lives of a whole town. A young girl is found dead and naked, with no one willing to identify her. The town, horrified that no one knows who she is, all pitch in to give her a proper burial and headstone. Her death remains unsolved for 17 years, bringing a mystery upon the town. Known as The Virgin in the years that follow people believe she can bring miracles to them from beyond the grave. 

This was my first time reading Nancy Pickard and I was pleasantly surprised. I adored her characters and she kept me  turning the pages to find out what had happened all those years ago. Her writing was lovely and she painted a gorgeous picture of Kansas for the reader. 

Teaser Tuesday (2)

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:

 

"The moon was bright, but clouds scudding across it keep throwing them into darkness. Ahead, Harry could see the lighted windows of Hagrids hut."

Page 181 from Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone (Which I am currently re-reading)

Review: The Giver by Lois Lowry

Title: The Giver
Author: Lois Lowry

Published: 1993

Length:  223 pages

Genre:  Dystopia, Young Adult

Where Found: Borrowed from my local library

Summary:
"There was absolutely nothing remarkable about the apple. Jonas has tossed it back and forth between his hands a few times, then thrown it. And - in the air, for an instant only - it had changed."


Jonas lives safely within the community, a place where there is no war, no hunger and no pain. But when he is selected as the Receiver of Memory, her starts to discover dark secrets that lie beneath the surface of his perfect world, secrets that will lead him to undertake an incredible journey...


Review:
I'm positive that I'm missing something. Because people adore and RAVE this book. 
I really wanted to like this book, but just couldn't quite get there. I can only stretch this to an OK book. The story, the setting, hell even the characters are... sparse, lacking and not at all as fleshed out as it could (and should) have been.   


I'm not really enjoying reading at the moment. I'm in a reading rut, and I only picked this book up because it's already over due and I thought I'd try and finish it so it can be returned. 


Ok so far this review is.. not making much sense and is even confusing me. I'm flitting from one thing to another. 
Let me lay it out like this.


Problems I had with this book:
1. I couldn't properly connect with any of the characters. Not even the main character Jonas. We don't get to really know his family or friends. I mean at the start of the novel you are introduced to Jonas friends, Asher and Fiona and you assume they will play greater roles in the book than they do. My favourite character in this novel was actually the baby Gabriel. 


2. Frankly I didn't fully understand this book or the bloody ending - I mean WTF! Is it meant to be symbolic or something? My brain doesnt pick up symbolism easily.. that may be part of the problem.... But still.. bit of a shoddy ending.

3. The book is shortish at around 200 pages. A lot happens but nothing really HAPPENS. Does that make sense?


4. No real explanation of Jonas' world. The book started off very mysterious. And that was fine.. but THERE WAS NO REAL EXPLANATION OF.. well ANYTHING.


5. The more I try to understand this book.. the less I can. Making me like it even less.


Overall.. it was an OK book. I'm glad I read it. And I hope to re-read it some day and get the full meaning. 


And may this review go in the Hall of Bad reviews.




This book counts towards the Book in the Day Mini Challenge = 10 points

Review: Battle Royale by Koushun Takami

Title: Battle Royale
Author: Koushun Takami

Published: 1999

Length:  617 pages

Genre:  Dystopia, Survival

Where Found: Borrowed from my local library

Cover: Not the most visually appealing cover, but it suits the book and I like it.

Summary:
Koushun Takami's notorious high-octane thriller is based on an irresistible premise: a class of 42 junior high school students are taken to a deserted island where, as part of a ruthless authoritarian program, they are electronically collared, provided with weapons of varying potency, and sent out onto the island. If they are in the wrong part of the island at the wrong time, their collars will explode. If they band together to save themselves a collar will explode at random. If they try to escape from the island, they will be blown up. Their only chance for survival lies in killing their classmates. Criticized as violent exploitation when first published in Japan - where it then proceeded to become a runaway bestseller - Battle Royale is a Lord of the Flies for the 21st century, and a potent story of politics and survival in a dog-eat-dog world. Made into a controversial hit movie of the same name, Battle Royale is already a contemporary Japanese pulp classic, and is now available for the first time to the UK mainstream.


Review:
This book took me a few weeks to read. I'm normally a much faster reader, but I did enjoy taking my time reading this one. And oh, how I love this book. It had been on my TBR list for ages and I finally borrowed it from the library for my Challenges. I've been really slack about my reading and not really in the mood for it, so that's another reason why this one took me so long to finish. 


Basically the story is about this: in an alternate present-day Japan, 50 year 10 classes from across the country are forced into the Program, a Government-run scheme, which is designed to repress and subdue the population. Shirowai Junior High School Class B. is supposedly on a school trip when their bus is gassed.As they wake they are in  isolated locations (a tiny island somewhere off Japan) - with collars around their necks, and are ordered to kill each other, until there is only on person left (who is deemed the winner). There are 42 students are each student is given a bag, containing water, bread, map, flashlight and a weapon. Their weapons range from  all-out machine guns to a fork. The students must avoid the Forbidden Zones (or else their collars will explode), each other, and the deadline. If no one dies within 24 hours, everyone's collar will explode. Some students are playing the game...


Let me just say that this book is violently, gut wrenchingly, fantastic. The only thing that I could mark it down was the opening prelude. The translation from Japanese to English didn't quite convey what it was meant to be and was difficult to understand. 




This book is not for the faint hearted, there is a great deal of violence - with particularly detailed descriptions. Starting out with 42 different students, all with hard to pronounce (well to someone who doesn't speak Japanese) names, I was kind of glad when they started dying... it was easier to keep track of a small group of students. Some characters you will like, others you will hate. But all are interesting. I really don't want to give anything thing anyway.. because this book are some serious twists and turns and to give them away would ruin the book.




Rating: 5 out of 5.


This book counts towards the Book in the Day Mini Challenge = 10 points

Review: Alas, Babylon by Pat Frank

Ugh. My internet has been.. misbehaving for the last week. It'll take at least 10 minutes for this post go load! Having little internet is driving me batty! I don't mind as much not being about to surf the net. But I cannot even access my email.. oh and don't get me started on trying to use it for my school work.

Onwards to the review! I should have a few more of them coming in the next few days.

Title: Alas Babylon
Author: Pat Frank

Published: 1959

Length:  323 pages

Genre:  Classic, Post Apocalyptic, Survival

Where Found: The wonderful BookDepository

Cover: Isn't the cover just gorgeous?  It'a part of what drew me to this classic.

Summary:

The survivors of a nuclear holocaust are forced to rely on their own resources as they join together in the struggle for survival amidst the ruins of Fort Repose, a small town in Florida.

Review:

I'm often weary about classics because some of them are disappointing reads. But 

I had been looking forward to reading this book for months now, and I had heard fantastic things about it. 

Honestly it wasn't the breathtaking, sleep stealing, obsessive read I was hoping for. But it was a great read. 

There were a few problems I had with this book. 

Alas, Babylon was first published in 1959 and while sometimes doesn't feel dated, you can tell it's age. The racism and sexism were blatantly obvious. For example at on point in the book our main character had this to say at one point - 

"The more he learned about women the more there was to learn except that he had learned this: they needed a man around." 

As a modern day girl I was quite offended by this, but do understand that's how things were back in the days. 

The next thing that I had a problem with that was by the time I had got though a 1/3 of the book, it felt like nothing had happened. Sure you get introduced to the characters, but we still didn't learn that much about them. Pat Frank's writing was a little wooden but readable but it wasn't fleshed out enough - for me anyway. There was just not enough for me to truly care and cry and laugh with and for the characters. Sure I liked some of them.. but again they just weren't.. fleshed out and real.

Despite all that I did like the book. And i'm glad that I read it.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

Teaser Tuesday (1)

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

- 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 teasers!

My first weeks teaser comes from Battle Royale by Koushun Takami:

"Once your opponent attacks you with a weapon, you don't hesitate. Otherwise you'll die."

Page 146.