My mom is part of a kind of subscription where she can choose one book every 3 months, so I often look at the catalogue because my mom only reads on holiday (such a pity) so I get to choose the book. I found this one and decided that I would give it a try. I don’t usually read YA in French because it seems off for me. I feel like it’s more childish than in English, maybe because French is my mothertongue. Anyway, last time I read YA in French it was amazing so why not try it again?!

The idea behind this book is simple: one virus killed everyone except the teenagers and the important people (military, government…). The power is off and everything is chaos. Jules lives in Paris and found himself alone with corpses in his building, so he is trying to find a way to survive. I told you: really basic and simple idea. What is really interesting is that this book is part of a 4 book series, each book relating the same story but from a different point of view, and you can read them in any order you wish.

The books are in French and I’m not sure there is an English version (yet), but for those of you who speak French it could be something you’re interested in.

Like I said, the idea was simple, but great. The characters were likable and seem just ordinary, at least the main character in this one. He is a regular teenager who used to spend time playing games online. The others though are more like badass survivalists and it was weird, especially the girls, it made them seem less real. I’m curious about discovering their stories in the other books.

The plot was easy to follow but seems a bit off. As the other characters have their own books, they sometimes meet Jules and then disappear without a good explanation. I did not like that, it did not feel really natural. I guess it was because the other books are centered around them, so they need to have their time “alone”, but it was often rushed.

The writing was simple, but not bad. I liked the fact that it took place in Europe (most specifically France) and I was thus really familiar with the cultural references (what can be a problem when I read books taking place in the United States for example where I don’t often get all the references). The book also describes Paris thoroughly and as I’m going there next month for the first time, I’m even more excited now (yes, I live something like 200km from Paris and I’ve never been there, except to Disneyland, which is not really in Paris. Such a shame).

It was a great book but some elements were a bit annoying, like the fact that characters disappear suddenly (for the purpose of the other books, I’m sure). Apart from that, I enjoyed it a lot and I will read the other books in the series.

I read this book for "Main Street Station". It was recommended by BrokenTune, and it was such a great recommendation!

I had heard a lot about this book and about the movie (that I have to watch now that I finished the book). There is an episode of Gilmore Girls were Lorelai attempt to do "Wild". I did not know a lot about it when I watched this episode, so it was great to finally understand what it was about.

I love hiking and I always have. With the girls scouts (the equivalent of it in my country) we used to go hiking during our summer camp and it was always the best part of it. I enjoyed a lot walking with my huge bag pack, trying to find food and trying not to get lost. I have so many great memories and this book reminded me of them. Ok, it was often for 2 or 3 days and I was not alone, Cheryl’s experience was really different but still. I have always wanted to do something like that, but I’m way too scared to do it alone. I’m really impressed by what she did and I admire her a lot for that.

What I love the most about Cheryl is her honesty. She does not try to be someone perfect, she just tries to find herself and discover who she is. She made mistakes, but she doesn’t seem to regret it, because they are part of who she is. She is also really, really funny. I love learning about her experience.

The writing was also so good. I mean, it is just Cheryl walking for 300 pages, you would think it was going to be boring… but it never gets boring! It is always so dynamic and you are anxious about what is going to happen and excited as well. I really did not want to stop reading and I often thought about the book while I was not reading it. My boyfriend was getting crazy because I was always like “yeah, you know that Cheryl lost her toenails?”, “oh, it reminds me when Cheryl lost her boot, it must have been awful”. And I was going on and on; All. The. Time.

The day after I finished this book, we went to a festival. I had to carry my bag for like a mile and I thought I was going to die (ok, the bag was full of beer, beers are heavy. But I don’t think my bag was as heavy as Cheryl’s). And every time I was like “can you imagine how hard it must have been for Cheryl?”. My boyfriend just did not answered… (I can be really annoying).

Anyway, this ramling review to say that this book was amazing and I really recommend it to everyone. You won’t be disappointed!!

First thing I liked about this book: the main character is not perfect. She is actually part of the “mean girls”. Sam, Lindsay, Ally and Elody really reminded me of Cady and her friends in Mean Girls, something I really enjoyed (I’ve always been a huge fan of this movie; every time I see my friend from primary school, we watch it together. We even used to do the choreography.) Perfect MCs are really something I’m getting tired of, so it was great to have those characters. It reminded me of high school (this part was not that great actually), of what I had done to people and of what people had done to me. Being a teenager is hard. And teenagers can be really stupid. You don’t always think about how your acts can affect other people’s lives. I think this book is important in that way.

I loved the Delirium series and Panic was great too, so I was excited to read another Lauren Oliver book (especially as this one was her debut novel). And I was not disappointed. The writing was fantastic. I loved how things escalated, how it was going faster and how Sam was falling into darkness. 

The book was different from what I expected. Every day is different; I was expecting it to be exactly the same, the main character being trapped in it. She managed to change it and it was also great to see how a small thing could have such an effect on the day’s events; butterfly effect. It was well done.

This book has some strong themes: underage drinking (which is not such a big deal where I live, you can drink beer when you’re 16 and strong alcohol when you turn 18, so that part was not that big a deal for me, but I still think it should not be that way), driving under the influence of alcohol (which is something really hard for me to understand. People do it every day, my friends do it, my dad does it… And it is driving me crazy. They just don’t understand, it’s insane), sex, suicide, bullying… It is done in a non moralistic way, but at the end of the book you still think these things are bad. Without someone having to tell you: drinking is bad. I don’t know how to explain that, but I think it was great.

It was also really emotional. Can you imagine living the same day again, and again, going to sleep without know if you will wake up? Knowing you died the day before, without being sure of it, not being able to tell anybody… It is creepy as hell. Sam got lost along the way, she went crazy; she totally lost herself. Only to be found again. The story with Kent was everything to me, it was so good and beautiful!

I really, really recommend this book. It is short and fast-paced. It is also kind of easy to read despite the content that can be really hard.

** I received a free copy through NetGalley in exchange for a honest review**

A sci-fi book about a game that is part of everyday life AND written by Marie Lu, sign me in!

I was way too excited about this book and I almost broke my phone when I get the e-mail saying I got the galley.

Warcross is more than just a game, it is a way of live and is part of everyone's daily life. Emika Chen is an orphan with rainbow hair (that detail was too cool not to be mentioned) who is trying to earn some money by tracking down illegal players. But her life is about to change completely.

The idea of Warcross is amazing, not that it has never been done before, but I liked how it was handled. I am almost sure that this kind of game will happen someday and we may be closer to it than we think. 

Emika is a lovable character, I actually admire her. She manages to follow her heart without rushing into decisions, and thus making bad ones. She knows what she wants and what she had to do to get it. She sometimes also wants to give up, because life can be hard, but she never does. Emika is rational but she is not afraid of her feelings either. She was the perfect MC for me! The other characters were not developed enough to be able to say anything about them. It was not a bad thing, it actually was a plus for me. Most of the books I read try to focus on multiple characters at once and it can get messy. Warcross is told through Emika, all the focus is on her and I really liked that fact.

The plot was neither too fast, nor too slow; the flow of events was coherent. I thought it was a standalone at first, so when I reach the middle of the book I was skeptical about how it was going to end, then I understand it was part of a series and I was really happy and really angry at the same time. I just need the second book right now!!

I love discovering this new sci-fi world, full of gadgets and stuff I would love to have. Marie Lu is great at creating this kind of things.

I enjoyed every single page of this book, it will probably be the best new series of the year!

Feed is the story of Georgia and Shaun Mason, two bloggers living in a post apocalyptic world full of zombies. They are working on the biggest story of their lives; that could also end it.

Feed is not your typical zombie story. It is actually really different from the post apocalyptic stories I’ve read. The people on earth managed to rebuild a society, really different from the one we live in, but it still is a functioning one. Gatherings of many people are not common and for young people, born after The Rising, this is something they are not familiar with. They live in fear, but still, they live.

Shaun and Georgia are great characters. They are both funny and sassy and they will do anything for the truth. I did not really connect with any of them, but I still like them. I also really enjoyed Rick and Steve, even if they are not that present in the book, they were great side characters.

I sometimes struggled with reading; some parts were a bit too long where nothing was really happening and I found myself not wanting to read. Nonetheless, it was a great story and the ending was fabulous. I could not believe what was happening.

Some events were actually really tragic and sad, but it never made me cry. Reading a book set in a post apocalyptic world where zombies are part of the scenery; you know it will not end well for everybody. You expect it. So, not really cry worthy, but still really tragic.

I definitely recommend this book if you enjoy post apocalyptic stories but are not there for the survival aspect of it. If you like scandals, politics and geeky stuff, with a lot of humor, this is for you.

I read this book for New Orleans Square 19 and I earned 5$ for it (571 pages).

Bank: 64$