Showing posts with label teen dystopian lit. Show all posts
Showing posts with label teen dystopian lit. Show all posts

Friday, May 31, 2013

Twisted Fairy Tales, The Martian Chronicles, Wither


Twisted Fairy Tales
I'm getting better about reading more often. I think it's a combination of being exhausted after waitressing and wanting nothing more than reading for two hours in the peaceful quiet of my own bed and also the beautiful weather outside making me want to soak up some rays while devouring a book. 
I finished Twisted Fairy Tales by Maura McHugh a few days ago in the sun in my backyard. I love creepy fairy tales (also it's YA, quelle surprise) which is why I loved this book. Despite the stories being well known, I think many of the stories were original. The illustrations were also pretty awesome. Many of the stories are classics such as Beauty and the Beast and Sleeping Beauty, but there are lesser known fairy tales, too, which was good, too.
 The Snow White story was exactly like that K-Stew movie that came out a year or so ago, Snow White and the Huntsman, which seemed weird to me.
The only thing that drove me crazy was the editing - I found several typos throughout (but I'm a freak about it).  If that sort of thing doesn't bother you, this is a great book for a beach read.The stories are short, yet creepy enough that you'll find yourself thinking about certain grisly scenes later on.


The Martian Chronicles
 I also just finished The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury. I know it's a classic, but somehow I just got around to reading it. Previously, my favorite Bradbury book was The Illustrated Man.
I love anything Bradbury writes, so naturally I was sucked right into The Martian Chronicles.  This book is for anyone who loves sci-fi. And Bradbury's choice of details always astounds me. I love the portrayal of the martians as a peaceful people invaded by humans. Every story leaves me wanting more, which I think is the most important thing about a short story.








Wither (The Chemical Garden, #1)I'm currently reading Wither by Laura DeStefano, which is a YA fluff read for me. I surprisingly haven't even noticed a typo yet. The story is dystopian YA lit (obviously). The plot revolves around Rhine, a sixteen year old girl, who lives in a futuristic America  where men don't live past the age of twenty-five and women only live until the age of twenty due to a viral infection. Because of the sharp decline in the population and because of the massive amounts of doctors who are researching for an antidote to this virus, young, pretty girls are swiped off the streets and sold into wifery by wealthy families. Rhine is one of these girls. Pulled off the street with thirty other girls and chosen with just two others, she is sold to a wealthy family and her new husband (and two sister wives) have to deal with being treated as property.

It's a pretty fascinating premise and I'm loving it. The only problem is that there are three of these books, so now that I'm sucked in, I have two more books to read afterwards. SIGH. This is an issue because I have at least six books waiting at home to be read next.

Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween, readers!

For the past few weeks, I've been reading a variety of things! In the spirit of Halloween, I'm actually reading a horror story. That's right - the girl who sleeps with a night light every night is reading a HORROR story. It's amazing, too. Cheesy, but amazing - and I'm loving it.
It's entitled Breed by Chase Novak.


I think I enjoy it so much because it's sci-fi horror, really. The basic plot is that Alex and Leslie want to get pregnant and cannot. They have no lack of money (since Alex is from the famous Twisden family) and try everything they can to no avail. Alex refuses to adopt and finally they decide to try one more fertility treatment from a Dr. Kis in Slovenia. Leslie immediately becomes pregnant (with twins no less) after their trip and although Dr. Kis is a weird dude, they go along with his treatments which include getting painful injections of a goby fish (SPOILER ALERT: The doctor fails to realize until it's too late that the goby fish eat their own young - yikes!) 
Fast forward ten years later and the twins are ten years old and are afraid of their parents who have very strange tendencies...
So all in all, I'm very enjoying this animalistic sci-fi. At least for now. 



My little sister (not very little, she's eighteen) is reading Cinder by Marissa Meyer, which I'm going to read next. It's about a cyborg, Cinder, who is eighteen and going to a ball. That's all she's told me thus far, but I'm excited to read it next since I'm all about the dystopian teen lit this year apparently. 



Now for a bit of personal stuff - I was able to dress up and be two different characters because I just adore Halloween so much. Last Friday night I was Elle Driver from Kill Bill and Saturday night I was Daenerys Targaryen from Game of Thrones! Note my awesome tattoo that says "Fire and Blood" drawn by my lovely boyfriend (who was Walter White from Breaking Bad!) Unfortunately, I don't have a picture of me being Elle Driver AKA California Mountain Snake because all the pictures that I had were taken AFTER my eye patch broke. Boo. (At least it was only 99 cents at iParty!)



Hope you all have an amazing Halloween!