How to Save a Life by S.D. Robertson | The shot of positivity I desperately needed!

For my second book of June, I went with «How to Save a Life» by S.D. Robertson and I’m so glad that I did! After picking up several books and not really feeling any of them, I craved something light, fast-paced but meaningful at the same time. And that’s exactly what I received. 

«How to Save a Life» was the shot of positivity I so desperately needed. I just wish this book had a little bit more editing done to it, as it reads like it’s meant for an older generation while the message it carries is meant for everyone, and the sooner you learn it the better it will be.

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Wonderscape by Jennifer Bell | “Travel with wonder!”

The main reason why I love watching booktube videos so much is the opportunity to discover new amazing books! «Wonderscape» by Jennifer Bell is a new middle-grade sci-fi / fantasy that I first heard about from Jade @Jadeyraereads, and I was so excited to find it on NetGalley and also getting my request approved!

Currently, on Goodreads, this is not listed as part of a series, but I’d love to read more about Arthur, Ren, and Cecily, even their school and normal life shenanigans. I just miss them and want more of these characters, and hopefully more Wonderscape worlds (?!).

Cell by Stephen King | The perfect book for Halloween!

My first successful find at the local thrift bookshop, and also my first Stephen King novel (after a disastrous attempt to read «Carrie» many years ago) «Cell» was a great book to familiarize myself with King’s writing. It’s one of his dystopian books that isn’t scary at all, more of an atmospheric read, which was perfect for this time of the year. 

According to the blurb by Guardian on the front cover of my copy, I wouldn’t use my mobile for days after reading this book. That didn’t happen.

Science Fiction and Dystopian Books with numbers in the titles | Another Fall TBR!

I love TTT (Top Ten Tuesday) topics that I can put my own twist to. This week we are supposed to talk about Books with numbers in the titles, and I had a hard time deciding WHAT books exactly I wanted to talk about. There are just too many possibilities!

After starting to compile my lists for Books I read that had numbers in the titles and All Agatha Christie books with numbers in the titles. I decided to settle on a list of Dystopian and Sci-Fi books, creating another fall TBR! (this Autumn will be known as TBR Autumn). 

Just a few days ago I started reading a dystopian novel «Cell»* by Stephen King that reminded me why I used to love science fiction and apocalyptic books so much!

*This book is GREAT, btw! I’m more than half way through and have a trouble putting it down.

The Dreamers by Karen Thompson Walker | “Isn’t the future always an imaginary thing before it comes?”

If you go into this book hoping to get a thrilling science fiction world setting, you’ll be disappointed. This is a Literary Fiction with just a little bit of a dystopian element that helps to propel the plot forward. This is a book that focuses heavily on characters’ choices, believes, their wishes and dreams. 

«The Dreamers» by Karen Thompson Walker isn’t a book for everyone. Surprisingly, after a very “rough” start, I slowly fell in love with the story and many beautiful quotes.

The Hive by Barry Lyga, Morgan Baden | Not as good as I expected it to be.

I wish I could say that Barry Lyga swept me off my feet with his recently released new novel «The Hive». I wish I could say that it was the most amazing sci-fi I’ve read in a very long time. At least, these were my expectations going into this book. But it didn’t deliver. 

We all know that creating too many expectations can go very wrong sometimes, and this was probably the case. While I loved the somewhat dystopian world created by Barry Lyga, I didn’t care for Cassie and believed her character to be very shallow and undeveloped.

Kill Code by Clive Fleury | Action-packed adult dystopian for fans of the Divergent and the Hunger Games!

Ever since the Divergent series and the Walking Dead TV show, I fell in love with dystopian settings. There is something fascinating about the Earth crumbling to pieces and the need to survive. I’d probably be the first one to die if something would actually happen to our Earth, but that doesn’t mean that I cannot prepare myself in the only way I know – reading as many dystopian novels as I can. 

«Kill Code» by Clive Fleury is a fast-paced, action-packed adult dystopian novel, about an ex-cop joining the NSC (National Security Council) forces. The book isn’t long, a little above 200 pages, and the only reason I didn’t finish it in one sitting (even though I really wanted to!) was that I started reading it very late at night and kept falling asleep at around 70% of the book.

Scythe by Neal Shusterman | Immortality and Political Intrigue in the Utopian world where “murder” doesn’t exist! Or does it?

Neal Shusterman created a world where technological advances brought humanity to the point of immortality. There are no illnesses, no disease or viruses. The human system is equipped with smart nanites that can battle every natural cause of death. They provide the painkillers when necessary, they repair organs in case of damage. And if you happen to be “deadish”, the Thunderhead (the Artificial Intellect) employees will revive you in 3 to 4 days, without any consequences, and even offer the best ice cream you’ve ever had.

In this utopian world, where people can live for thousands of years, marry multiple times, have many children, the population growth has to be controlled. And that’s why the Sythedom was created. Separate from the Thunderhead, Scythedom is responsible for “gleaning” people.

Extinction of all Children by L. J. Apps | A forgettable plot and cliché tropes!

«Divergent», «The Hunger Games», «The 5th Wave», «Maze Runner» there was this period of time when authors were coming up with surprising dystopian settings. I’m always on the lookout for more interesting books set in the dystopian world, be it current or futuristic.

I was immediately intrigued by the world without children. The world tyrannized by the president that took pregnant women and their new-born babies away. My questions were: What is the reason for such anger? Or is it protectiveness of some sort? What stands behind her reasoning?

Whisperer family were good friends with President Esther a long time ago. Before she became this radical president. And it so happened that Emma, their younger daughter, is the last child in Craigluy. Every baby born after her has been murdered. What makes her special?

Steelheart (The Reckoners #1) by Brandon Sanderson | My first Brandon Sanderson book!

2019 has been the year of firsts.

There was the first book haul of 2019, the first disappointment of 2019 and now the first book by Brandon Sanderson. It’s exciting! What else do I get to try in 2019?

I’m not sure if this series was the best one to start with. I also own the first book in the Mistborn trilogy – «The Final Empire», however comparing these two books, Steelheart is much thinner with a bigger font. Seems like an obvious book choice to me! Besides, I love dystopian settings (I’m very excited to read Scythe which is next on my reading list! Technically it’s a Utopia, but still counts).

The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey | What makes dystopia so APPEALING

I was 100% sure that I had already written a review for the first book in the series – «The 5th Wave». I even spent good 20 minutes searching through my blog/drafts/posts and just any document that might contain a hidden almost 2-year-old review. I found nothing!

As I just finished the second book in the series, my hands are itching to write some feedback because it was AMAZING and I LOVED IT WITH ALL MY DYSTOPIAN HEART!

The New Dark by Lorraine Thomson | What was the turning point of this book?

I keep saying it over and over, but I really enjoy different dystopian settings that different authors come up with. So I am always on the lookout for new apocalyptic stand alones or series, and more often than not, they are quite disappointing.

In The New Dark we didn’t learn what happened to the world and why the civilization as we know was gone. There were snippets of what life was like for the characters and we saw the existence of mutants, but we weren’t given a lot of information just yet regarding WHY everything had changed so drastically.

The Dark Intercept by Julia Keller | How dangerous your emotions can be?

There were a few books this year that I picked up because of their amazing-sounding Blurb.  New Earth and Old Earth, Sci-fi and Dystopian, this new perfect life where noone can ever harm you, where there are no crimes, no illnesses, no hunger. Unfortunately, it didn’t live up to my expectations.

This keeps happening to me over and over again, and I’m starting to doubt my ability to choose good books for myself. Maybe I’m being particularly picky or maybe I am making poor choices. Or the blurbs tend to lie more often than not!

10 Reasons why you should read more Post-Apocalyptic Books!

Autumn is one of the best reading seasons – we finally start to pull out cosy blankets from the closets and light our candles (my first sandalwood candle of this seasons is burning right now as I am writing this post). There is nothing quite like the sound of wind and rain, grey clouds and mist, while travelling to the epic kingdoms, other planets or scary future Earth.

If that doesn’t sound perfect, I don’t know what does!

In the spirit of upcoming rainy days, here is a list of all reasons WHY YOU SHOULD READ MORE POST-APOCALYPTIC BOOKS. I’ve been ranting on and on about my love towards Sci-fi and Dystopian books, because frankly Utopia does not sound that interesting to read about! I mean, the perfect society is kind of boring.

August Wrap Up | Reading demotivation & Fall expectations

There are certain months that mean something for me. For example, December is filled with holiday spirit; March resembles the approximation of warmer Spring days and September marks a new working / school year, like a twin brother of January.

And then there are months that don’t provide anything but crowded beaches and hot weather, especially when you live at a tourist destination. That what August was like. Many people, many events, many cars on the roads and some extremely hot days.