Book Review: City of Ember

Lina is a wishful twelve-year-old girl who dreams of a colorful, flamboyant place far beyond her underground home. Doon is a serious twelve-year-old boy who wishes to change the world for the better. What do they have in common? The means to make both dreams come true if they work together.

On the last day of school, Lina and the rest of her classmates are assigned a job that will be theirs for as long as they live in City of Ember, an underground city. Lina wishes to be assigned the job as a messenger, being the quick paced, light-on-her-feet person she is.

Unfortunately, she receives the most unwanted job: Pipeworks Laborer. Doon, who wants to make a difference in the City of Ember, wanted to work in the Pipeworks the most, but he happened to get the job as messenger. He quickly finds that the job as a messenger has little promise to fulfill his goals.

Doon and Lina end up trading jobs and they part ways, both feeling as if they got the better end of the deal.

Circumstances such as the city's supplies running low, and even worse, the generator's life coming to an end brings Doon and Lina together. They both realize what they must do. Lina and Doon must find another place to live for the City of Ember's inhabitants before they are forced to live underground in constant darkness.

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This book was an awesome read, the first book in my second favorite series! I loved the characters and the language and description the author used. What I adored the most about this book is the originality. No doubt, I have never read a tale even close to this one's plot. Just the thought of living underground perks my interest!

The only thing I slightly disliked was the fact that sometimes the voice of the book felt as if it were talking to someone younger. But this made the book so much easier to understand and retain than books with more difficult language.

I give this book an obvious 5 stars!

Book Review: Wings

Laurel is nervous about her very first day learning in a public school. Having been home schooled her entire life, she wasn't very keen on the idea of going to school under the pressure of her peers. For one, she wasn't at all familiar with public schools, and she, like many people, disliked change.

She then meets David, a boy who seems set on befriending Laurel, and eats outside with him during lunch hour. David then introduces her to his friends, and Laurel begins to ease into the drastic changes inflicted on her life. But her troubles don't stop right there.

One day, Laurel wakes up to find a zit the size of a quarter on her back. She disregards it until it grows into the size of a softball. Only then does she start to think of possibilities, such as spinal cancer. Laurel fights with herself on whether she should tell her parents or not, and decides to wait until a certain date to tell them, in hopes that the large lump would disappear.

The date approaches, and Laurel finds that the possibly cancerous lump has disappeared - only to be replaced by a pair of sweet smelling flowers that reminisce wings.

From there, Laurel finds out what she truly is . . . not human, but a fairy.
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I absolutely adore this book! Everything about it is just so enchanting and lovely. I absolutely loved the characters involved, especially David. There is also a hint of romance in the form a love triangle, and who doesn't like that?

The only thing I disliked about this tale is the small amount of cliches involved. You know, girl goes to new school and meets boy and the supernatural/fantasy factor as well. But then again, just about every book has some cliches!

Five stars!

Book Review: Chains

Chains is about a slave girl and her little sister in the beginning of the Revolutionary War, without any parents or other family members in their lives.

Upon the death of their master, Isabel and Ruth were promised freedom, but under cruel circumstances they become the property of an even crueler couple. Even little Ruth is given task after task to complete every single day.

Eventually, Isabel meets Curzon, who offers her a priceless reward if she agreed to spy on the Lockton couple who owned her: Freedom. Isabel, discovering that her owners knew details of the planned British invasion, wished not to get involved in the messy business of war.

As Mrs. Lockton develops more and more of an interest in Ruth and Isabel's fear of being separated from her sister like she was her father increases, her quest for freedom begins to overwhelm. And when her fears come true and Ruth is sold, she finds she'll do anything to get it.
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Isabel is one of those characters, in one of those sad stories that you can't help but root for! Some parts of the book, especially the ones demonstrating how much she loved her sister and when she was branded, made a few tears leak from my eyes. I loved this book because of it's realistic characters and beatiful description that made me feel like I was there.

The only complaints I have of this book is the way Isabel sometimes acted. I really didn't understand why she got mad when Mrs. Lockton began to show interest in her little sister. Really, I believed she would've been happy that her sister was being dressed in pretty clothes and doesn't have to do any hardwork, and I'm sure it wasn't jealously. Perhaps it was some sort of pride thing...

Anyways, I give it a five out of five for it's touching and emotionally-moving story! ^^

Book Review: Into the Wild

Are you a cat lover? Do you love reading about animal clans fending for survival?

One day, Rusty decides to leave his backyard to venture into the dark woods behind it. Far beyond the safety of 'Twoleg' territory, he tries to snare a plump mouse in what happens to be ThunderClan territory. One of four clans that don't appreciate other cats hunting on their home.

The bright orange Tom finds itself in a brawl with a gray ThunderClan warrior-in-training, who later becomes his best friend. Graypaw and Rusty are then confronted by Bluestar, the clan leader of ThunderClan.

Bluestar applauds Graypaw on his efforts and offers Rusty the chance to give up his 'soft' life in exchange for the harsh but free life as a warrior.

Despite loud protests of Rusty being a 'kittypet' and not a warrior by blood from the clan, the Tom is welcomed into the clan and is bestowed a new name: Firepaw.

Read the book to find out whether or not Firepaw can survive warrior life if the wrath of the clan doesn't get to him first.
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This is one of the few books that I can honestly say have no faults. I enjoyed the juiciness and the freshness of the plot, not to mention that there are five more books to this series.

For five more books, five more stars!