Book Tour: Shutdown- Review and Giveaway

Thanks to Shane, from Itching for Books, for organizing this blog tour. To see other stops on the tour click here

 Shutdown by Heather Anastasiu

Glitch #3

320 pages- Fiction, Young Adult, Scifi/Fantasy/post-apocalyptic

July 2,2013

http://www.heatheranastasiu.com/

Facebook- Yes

Twitter-@h_Anastasiu

Source: Netgalley, and Itching For Books

Purpose: Review, Blog Tour

Disclaimer: I was given a copy of this digital galley, free, in exchange for my honest opinion.

From Goodreads: The battle is all but over, and hope seems to be lost. Zoe and her fellow Resistance fighters are on the run, having lost their home, their protection, and their leader. They are outnumbered and outmatched by the powerful corporation that controls the world, and the cruel Chancellor is inches away from completing a scheme that would kill most of humanity. Zoe's only remaining option is to chase the impossible dream of upending the Link system, freeing the world from the hardware that controls their thoughts and emotions, and hope it will trigger a revolution.  The plot requires a nearly impossible mission to infiltrate the dangerous Community, and it is a task that Zoe must unfortunately complete alone. With challenges and surprises at every turn, nothing goes according to plan. Adrien's visions of the future now show two possible outcomes: one in which they succeed, and one in which humanity falls. It all lies in Zoe's hands. 

My Thoughts: 

                Have you been following my reviews? Have you been listening to my thoughts about this series so far? In case you haven’t, or if you want a refresher, here it goes. Glitch didn’t do it for me. I was excited about the series, but in the end was completely disappointed. In fact, I even considered giving up on the series altogether. Override was a lot better. Though it didn’t make me want to go out and purchase a copy, it did make me very grateful that I chose to continue the series. But then . . .but then I read Shutdown.  I am a fan! Finally. Okay, yes I still had my doubts. Yes I was still hypercritical and hyperaware of the pitfalls. Yes there were moments that I groaned because I felt that Zoe was regressing into her whiny naïve self. And perhaps she was, but she didn’t stay there! She grew and blossomed into a very flawed, a very human hero.  I couldn’t say for sure whether or not she would survive ‘til the end, but I was right there with her.

                I don’t want to make this super long, and go overboard with my happiness, but I will say this. I am even more grateful that I was convinced that I needed to continue the series.  Let’s rewind a bit, and cover the cons of this story. Honestly, they are minor and I can’t say that they lie in Anastasiu’s control. First, I am not sure if it was just the galley or if it effects the print edition, but there were quite a few areas where words were misspelled, words were left out or extra words were left in. It was distracting, but not too detrimental. Zoe was whiny, to the point that it got a little annoying.

                But here is the good. There was action, there was danger and doubt. There was hope, there was strength, acceptance and humanity. There was redemption, beauty and redefining.  Zoe turned out to be an awesome hero, one who carried the guilt and truth of things but also the hope and strength to push on. The things that didn’t make sense seemed believable. The romance… Finally it was believable and it didn’t read as being too much. The end came and it didn’t turn out the way that anyone expeted it to. I really liked the conclusion to this series; it may not be a favorite of 2013. But it does get the title of the most improved and I plan on buying this series-all because of Shutdown – the best in the trilogy.

4.5 Stars ***

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Always Shine, 

Starr K

Review: Override

Override by Heather Anastasiu

Glitch #2

320 pages- Fiction, Young Adult, Scifi/Fantasy/post-apocalyptic

February 12,2013

http://www.heatheranastasiu.com/

Facebook- Yes

Twitter-@h_Anastasiu

Source: Netgalley

Purpose: Review

Disclaimer: I was given a copy of this digital galley, free, in exchange for my honest opinion.

From Goodreads: Zoe is free. She has escaped the enslavement of the Community, disconnected from the hardware that had controlled her every thought and emotion, and evaded capture by the Chancellor intent on killing her. She is finally free, but she is far from safe. Zoe and Adrien hide themselves from detection at the Foundation, an academy that trains teen glitchers to fight in the Resistance movement. Together, Zoe and her new team of superhuman fighters must risk their lives to rescue other glitchers and humans from the Chancellor's control. Challenges abound at every turn, and Adrien, who has become silent, distant, and tormented by his visions of the future, only adds to the growing certainty of defeat. But worst of all, as Zoe's team fights against impossible odds, distrust and betrayal leads to the terrible discovery that their greatest threat could already be lurking behind the safe walls of the Foundation.

                Did anyone read my review of Glitch? Well, this is not going to be the same. I liked this Override. Did I love it? Almost, but not quite. I have learned a valuable lesson in keeping an open mind when continuing a series, and to finish all review books. Yep, it’ll be hard and irritating, but you never know what will surprise. Where I didn’t feel Glitch was worth reading, Override definitely was. I couldn’t put this one down. It still had it flaws, but they weren’t so in-your-face. I was able to overlook them and get into them. That’s something I can appreciate, since it is hard to write the perfect story for more than one person. Override was redeeming to the series. I am once again looking forward to this series.

                There are only a couple of minor things that I didn’t like, so I won’t talk about those. I will talk about the major flaws that I saw. Of course, the first one is the romance. I get it, I really do, but gag! They are teenagers so their hormones are going crazy. Their emotions are still fairly new so they are strong and overwhelming. But, really?  Come on! Is it really necessary to do some serious kissing and light touching, then sneak away and insinuate they’re going to have sex only to pull back at the last moment? At this point, either do it to get it over with or move on. Personally, the passion is too much for such young and naive people. I can understand the tension that’s being created, but there are much better ways to do that.

                The second major thing is the twist. Well, it sucked. It read as if it was thrown in there because Anastasiu didn’t know how to get to point A to point B with what was already happening in the story, so she just pulled something out of the air. What’s sad about the twist is two things. The first is the writing is better than that, she cut herself short doing this. The other is that this would have been an awesome twist, and an emotional pivot point in the story – had it been believable. I won’t spoil it, but if there had been an earlier clue to put the possibility out there this would have been amazing.

Now on to what I liked about it. This time, the characters had emotional depth. It wasn’t just because they were able to openly share and experience emotions. Each had a story and as it was shared, I was able to understand them a little better. With this understanding came a connection. There was a whole lot of action and second guessing. The pacing was strong and the storyline was engaging. Finally, Zoe. When I started reading and she was the same whiny, annoying glitcher I groaned and thought the books was doomed before I started it. But-she grew, she changed. She developed into someone who really stood a chance at being a hero.
3.5 Stars

Review: Red Heart Tattoo

Red Heart Tattoo by Lurlene McDaniel

Delacorte for Young Readers – July 24, 2012

224 pages

http://www.lurlenemcdaniel.net/

Facebook: Yes

Twitter: @LurleneMcdaniel

Source: Publisher via Netgalley

Rating: This was an okay read for me. I am disappointed that it did not live up to its potential.

I received a copy of this book, free, in exchange for my honest review.

Read what this book is about here

            The lives of Edison High School students are changed dramatically and permanently after a bomb is set off inside the atrium. Morgan, the student council president and Trent the football star are the cutest couple. Mark, another football stara dn Kelli, the tumbler for the cheerleading squad are best friends with Morgan and Trent. All are part of the popular crowd. Roth is the local bad boy, an image protected as a shield to cover childhood pain. Liza, best friends with Roth and carries a long-hidden crush and another dangerous secret. Executioner and Apocalypse are students that exist on the fringes of the high school world.

                I have to admit that I was really looking forward to Red Heart Tattoo. I was excited that someone had decided to fictionally tackle the violence and terror of school bombings. Unfortunately, it fell flat in way too many ways for me to say that I enjoyed this story.  I remember the Paducah, Kentucky School shooting of 1997. I remember the Columbine School shooting that followed two years later. I remember the icy fingers of terror that stretched across the entire United States and the extreme reactions that followed.  There were the desperate attempts to protect all the students but also to understand how people could reach this point or terror, violence and deeply-rooted hurt.

                I won’t remember Red Heart Tattoo.  I don’t want to because it did nothing, it didn’t put me in the mind of the bomber(s) or the victims. While, I don’t think the bombing should be glorified, there should be enough to feel something- anything. Instead, it was treated as if the school shut down for renovations.  The bombing barely touched the community surrounding Edison High School, so it’s not surprising that no one else cared about what happened.  Even the ending upset me.  Out 224 pages, the ending sounds more of a wrap –up summary than a conclusion.  I don’t agree with the reason that was given by the bombers and the diagnosis given to the lead bomber. (“Because I can” and sociopath). I think that just shows how little effort the author did to understand the mind of those who perpetuate school violence. While narcissistic sociopaths may exist in high school, they tend to do things more complicated than bombings (tend to be more like a serial killer than a mass murderer). I’m not sure if the reactions of the victims were believable.

                Besides not getting into the story, I feel a little offended that this wasn’t handled better.  Maybe I feel this way because I remember, I’m not sure.

Recommendation: I would not recommend this book to anyone.

What’s Next? Her website has not been updated with any news of upcoming books. 

Cover Art

Always Shine, 

Starr K

Review: Starring Me

Starring Me by Krista McGee

Thomas Nelson, July 10 2012

http://www.kristamcgeebooks.com/

Facebook: yes

Twitter: @Krista__McGee

 

Source: The publisher, for review

Rating: Light, funny, a perfect summer read and a new favorite

Clickhere to read what this book is about.

Yes, you saw correctly. This is the second book that I have said has been a favorite.  This is McGee’s second book, and it takes place sometime after First Date.  I have not read this, but I will be soon, so I don’t know if this is a series or just another stand alone with the same characters. From what I’ve gathered First Date focuses on Addy, who is best friends with Kara. Kara is the focus of Starring Me.  I don’t feel like I’ve missed anything and probably wouldn’t have known that this was not the first if I had not been looking for more by this author.

Kara McCormick has always wanted to act. Her dream has been to end up on TV. She gets her shot when she is one out of ten girls vying for a slot on a new teen variety show. Chad Beacon, recent winner of America’s Next Star, wants to do something more than singing. Neither really knows what it is that God has in store for them.

Wow! I have to say that I loved this book. Kara is such a funny girl. She is all about family, which makes sense since she has a huge one. I’m glad that she stands out form the other girls because of the goodness in her character.  That is not most often the case. Regardless of where she’s at and how far she makes it in the contest, she remains down to earth. She doesn’t get sucked into the glitz and the glamour of stardom. She’s still flawed-still human. She gets nervous and she second-guesses her talent. She has her own insecurities that are definitely relatable. The auditions and select people around her, begin to show Kara that there is more to life than acting, television and fame. At first Kara doesn’t get it, but then she starts seeking.

Her seeking is the critical part of the story. It has the potential to being overdone where it would have come across as cheesy. If it was underdone it would have been a complete miss, ruining the entire book. Instead, the seeking was perfect and fitting of Kara’s personality.  Chad is discontent but grateful for the opportunities that he has been given since winning America’s Next Star. He wants to do something that will allow him use more of his talents and gifts. He takes a step of faith,  despite his moments of doubt, and agrees to do the variety show. Though he’s nervous about what his decision will mean, he is excited about the show. It was refreshing to see the main characters not be your typical obnoxious teenagers. They had to deal with some real situations and find out the answers to their questions themselves.  Their faith was authentic and showed just how God meets people where they are.

Recommendation: I would recommend this to youth who are curious about Christianity, what it means to live out their faith, and to anyone who is looking for a good, clean, enjoyable read.

What’s next:   So far future works are not mentioned.  

This book was given to me, free, in exchange for my honest opinion.  

I participate in Thomas Nelson’s Booksneeze Blogger program.

Always Shine,

Starr K