(buddy read with Hooked on Books)
The first book of the trilogy introduces us to the land of Internment: a floating piece of Earth. That element alone made me want to read this book and I was not disappointed!

 

The story takes place on this floating city, where a long list of rules are enforced to its citizens. One girl's murder will question the beliefs of our heroine Morgan, who has to deal with her own family drama.

 

The story was a bit slow in the beginning, but it was very engaging. Overall, I found the descriptions of Internment to be excellent: I could picture myself living on a floating island, where instead of water, all I could see was sky and clouds all around me. Like I said, the setting was highly intriguing and makes this book a bit more unique than all the other dystopian ones out there.

 

It wouldn't be a dystopian story, however, without the proper amount of negative elements: here is the restriction of one's freedom. You might be able to choose any career you fancy, but there are rules about how long you'll live, when you'll have children and of course with whom you will spend the rest of your life with. The edge of this "world" holds a great appeal to people who don't want to continue living like that. It sort of lures them to jump with nothing but dreadful consequences: if they don't die, they suffer from a physical impairment. (They won't land on earth and die because the winds around Internment are so strong that make them jump back up.)

 

Things will start to change when this "safe" place is no longer safe. A teenage girl is found murdered. This level of violence is highly unusual and the suspect must be found. The story's protagonist is another teenage girl, Morgan, whose brother is a jumper. He tried to jump unsuccessfully and the price he paid was his eyesight. And the edge calls to Morgan too...

"Every star has been set in the sky. We mistakenly think they were put there for us."

Every chapter begins with parts of the deceased girl's essay. She wrote about her land questioning their practices and their belief system. I loved these bits as they were very poetic: (they were also constantly highlighted, as I think most of them are general truths)

"As a child, I trusted the god in the sky with decisions like life and death. It wasn't until I began studying medicine that I learned these are decisions made by humans. Flawed humans - as though there are any other kind."

 

"With free will comes inevitable error and misjudgement."

These quotes remind me of Lauren Oliver's lyrical prose on the "Delirium" series. Lauren DeStefano's writing was almost as good as Oliver's.

I can't wait to read on these series and find out the rest of Morgan's tale..

(buddy read with Hooked on Books)

We're all living on borrowed time, on a floating city he allows in his domain with his clouds and his stars."

The first book of the trilogy introduces us to the land of Internment: a floating piece of Earth. That element alone made me want to read this book and I was not disappointed!

The story takes place on this floating city, where a long list of rules are enforced to its citizens. One girl's murder will question the beliefs of our heroine Morgan, who has to deal with her own family drama.

The story was a bit slow in the beginning, but it was very engaging. Overall, I found the descriptions of Internment to be excellent: I could picture myself living on a floating island, where instead of water, all I could see was sky and clouds all around me. Like I said, the setting was highly intriguing and makes this book a bit more unique than all the other dystopian ones out there.

It wouldn't be a dystopian story, however, without the proper amount of negative elements: here is the restriction of one's freedom. You might be able to choose any career you fancy, but there are rules about how long you'll live, when you'll have children and of course with whom you will spend the rest of your life with. The edge of this "world" holds a great appeal to people who don't want to continue living like that. It sort of lures them to jump with nothing but dreadful consequences: if they don't die, they suffer from a physical impairment. (They won't land on earth and die because the winds around Internment are so strong that make them jump back up.)

Things will start to change when this "safe" place is no longer safe. A teenage girl is found murdered. This level of violence is highly unusual and the suspect must be found. The story's protagonist is another teenage girl, Morgan, whose brother is a jumper. He tried to jump unsuccessfully and the price he paid was his eyesight. And the edge calls to Morgan too...

"Every star has been set in the sky. We mistakenly think they were put there for us."

Every chapter begins with parts of the deceased girl's essay. She wrote about her land questioning their practices and their belief system. I loved these bits as they were very poetic: (they were also constantly highlighted, as I think most of them are general truths)

"As a child, I trusted the god in the sky with decisions like life and death. It wasn't until I began studying medicine that I learned these are decisions made by humans. Flawed humans - as though there are any other kind."

"With free will comes inevitable error and misjudgement."

These quotes remind me of Lauren Oliver's lyrical prose on the "Delirium" series. Lauren DeStefano's writing was almost as good as Oliver's.
I can't wait to read on these series and find out the rest of Morgan's tale..

First off, the covers for this series are just gorgeous! But what I fell in love with the most, was the concept -a floating city in the sky where you can be anything you want to be as long as you follow one rule. Don't go close to the edge!

 

The world building was really unique and well thought out. I enjoyed learning about the city of Internment and the society that they live in. The main characters were also really likable and I even enjoyed the romance between Morgan & Basil. The story though was a little slow moving and I felt like it was just missing that extra spark to make it a 5 star read for me. I also found several grammatical errors which I was very surprised by since this series is contracted under a well known publisher. I've been going back and forth on whether or not to rate this 3.5 or 4 stars. The ending though was very good and really what finally pushed me over to 4 stars. Either way, I am definitely going to continue the series. I am thoroughly invested in the characters and want to see how the story plays out for them.

 

*I want to again thank my blind valentine, Rachel the Book Harlot, for this wonderful gift which allowed me to escape to an amazing floating city in the sky for a few hours! 

Bring on book 2!
Mostly because the ending left me hanging so awful.... gawd.
I've read good and bad reviews for this one before I read it, and I feel I fall in the middle somewhere. I liked the setting, kinda neat to think this other place but not planet living in the sky. Even cooler is how they got off this place. But somehow I still wasn't wowed or fell in love with the story. Maybe the next book, with my body off the cliff, I might get into it more. I'm willing to try anyway.
Sci-fi or dystopian fans will probably devour this one. The strange setting is enough to pull a curious reader in, so give it a try anyway.

 

Top Ten Tuesday is an original and weekly meme hosted @ The Broke and the Bookish! Each week, a new topic is put into place and bloggers share their top ten accordingly. 

 

This week's selection is Top Ten Books on my spring TBR pile: (in no particular order)

 

1. Where They Found Her: A Novel - Kimberly McCreight 

I have read 'Reconstructing Amelia' and really enjoyed Kimberly's writing so this book has been on my list far too long

1. Perfect Ruin (The Internment Chronicles) - Lauren DeStefano 

I'll buddy read this one with Hooked on Books and this is a very interesting fantasy story on a freaking floating world.

1. The Night Circus - Erin Morgenstern 

I've read so many good things about this one and it's been on my tbr pile so long. It's time!

1. The Graveyard Book - Neil Gaiman 

Although I wasn't very fond of Stardust I haven't given up on Gaiman: 'the graveyard' was highly recommended!

1. Red Rising - Pierce Brown 

I know - I'm in the minority of people who haven't read this one yet but I was waiting for the series to be complete. Now that they are and I have them all I can't wait to start them!

1. Thorn - Intisar Khanani 

Standalone fantasy with an interesting storyline.

1. The Fellowship of the Ring - J.R.R. Tolkien 

I have made up my mind - this is the year I will finally read Lord of the Rings. Or listen to the audio. Yep I think I'll start with the audio.

1. Cruel Beauty - Rosamund Hodge 

I have most of Rosamund's books and I'm positive I'll like them, the problem is which to pick up first?

Six of Crows - Leigh Bardugo 

One of the highly praised books that made it to my tbr list. I'm reluctant to pick a book when I don't have the next one available, so I will read this one after I am done with the Grisha trilogy and the second book is released.