The Way We Fall by Megan Crewe {Review}

Publisher: Disney Hyperion

Publish Date: January 24, 2012

Source: Contest/Own

Goodreads

Pages: 309

Series: Fallen World #1

Rating: Direct Hit

It starts with an itch you just can't shake. Then comes a fever and a tickle in your throat. A few days later, you'll be blabbing your secrets and chatting with strangers like they're old friends. Three more, and the paranoid hallucinations kick n.And then you're dead.When sixteen-year-old Kaelyn lets her best friend leave for school without saying goodbye, she never dreams that she might not see him again. But then a strange virus begins to sweep through her small island community, infecting young and old alike. As the dead pile up, the government quarantines the island: no one can leave, and no one can come back.
Those still healthy must fight for the island's dwindling supplies, or lose all chance of survival. As everything familiar comes crashing down, Kaelyn joins forces with a former rival and discovers a new love in the midst of heartbreak. When the virus starts to rob her of friends and family, she clings to the belief that there must be a way to save the people she holds dearest.
Because how will she go on if there isn't?

I'm almost glad I hadn't heard that much about The Way We Fall because it made for a really nice surprise.

First off I want to talk about the format. Sometimes journal entries can bring a book down and make it feel a little too young or silly, but that's certainly not the case here. The journal style made me feel more connected to Kaelyn and I liked the way I made everything feel more personal. I don't think I would've gotten as attached to the characters if it was third person POV. Kaelyn's entries were so vulnerable, I couldn't help feeling for her. She writes about the kind of things people don't want to admit: she thinks she's the reason for people around her getting sick, she wonders what the point of it all is, she's mad at ___ for dying, etc.

You know how sometimes romances that bloom in the middle of a disaster can be a little hard to swallow? Well, that wasn't the case with The Way We Fall. For one, the romance wasn't even hinted at until page 127 (unless I'm just really oblivious.) I love the fact that we got some time to just be with Kaelyn and her thoughts before love started to sprout. I hate when the love interest is immediately introduced so all we get to see is the version of the main character who likes This Guy. It's not my favorite romance ever, but I thought it was sweet and intense at the same time which, in my opinion, works pretty well in a disaster situation. I mean, how can you not fear for someone when everyone around you is dying.

The island setting made it much more interesting than it otherwise would have been. It gave the story a little mystery because they were completely cut off from the mainland. Nobody knew what was going on on the outside. So while Kaelyn (and I) was worried about everything happening on the island, there was a little part of her that wondered what could be going on in the rest of the world.

The Nutshell: If you love a good disaster scenario then The Way We Fall is a good choice. The journal-style format makes it easier to connect with the characters and really get immersed in the story, the romance isn't the main focus, and Crewe isn't afraid to kill of characters.

Skylark by Megan Spooner {Review}

I'm terrible with library due dates &
forgot a pic before I returned it :P

Publisher: Carolrhoda Lab

Publish Date: August 1, 2012

Source: Library

Goodreads

Pages: 344

Series: Skylark #1

Rating: Direct Hit

Sixteen-year-old Lark Ainsley has never seen the sky.
Her world ends at the edge of the cast domed barrier of energy enclosing all that's left of humanity. For two hundred years the city has sustained this barrier by harvesting its children's innate magical energy when they reach adolescence.
When it's Lark's turn to be harvested, she finds herself trapped in a nightmarish web of experiments and learns she is something out of legend herself: a Renewable, able to regenerate her own power after it's been stripped.
Forced to flee the only home she knows to avoid life as a human battery, Lark must fight her way through the terrible wilderness beyond the edge of the world. With the city's clockwork creations close on her heels and a strange wild boy stalking her in the countryside, she must move quickly if she is to have any hope of survival. She's heard the stories that somewhere to the west are others like her, hidden in secret -- but can she stay live long enough to find them?

I've read a lot of just good and pretty meh books lately and let me tell you, Skylark was a breath of fresh air. This is the book I've been waiting for and silly me didn't pick it up until now.

Man, I just don't even know where to start because Skylark is just this explosion of awesomeness packed in between two covers. There's just enough action and suspense to keep me glued to the pages without being overwhelming. The little (and big) mysteries of the world and the story are subtly weaved in so it doesn't feel like the reader is constantly being bombarded with THIS IS A MYSTERY AND IT'S A MYSTERY SO I WON'T TELL YOU WHAT IT IS YET.

And oh my gosh, the twists. Yeah, I didn't see any of them coming. Well, there might be one, but I don't really think Spooner was hiding it from the reader, only Lark. It was so nice to actually not know what was going to happen which has been the case with most of my reads lately.

I'm not going to lie, it was kind of a lot to take in at first, but I got into the groove of the world after a bit and loved it. It's absolutely nothing like anything I've read before. I love the idea of magic being some kind of natural resource. And, as with any limited supply of anything, the government has complete control over it. So the magic isn't for personal use, instead, the city uses it to power itself. And we're talking everything from their artificial sun to little “pixies” which fly on their own and serve kind of as a police alarm (can that be a thing). I don't really want to spoil anything, so I'll just say that I found the pockets of magic fascinating (read it and you'll know what I mean ;])

And boy, does Spooner have a way with characters. I fell in love with all of them. Well, besides a certain guy (no, I didn't even like him from the moment he was introduced) and the rest of the evil city people.

Lark was stubborn and scared and realistic. She had some serious trust issues so I wanted to shake her and be like “just trust them!” but I can't exactly fault her for it. I wouldn't trust anything or anyone after what she'd been through either.

Ohmygosh, Nix. I liked it (always thought of it as a her for some reason) from the moment it entered the story. I can't really say much about it since 1) it's kind of confusing and 2) it's a little spoilery.

Oh, Oren. Despite all the reasons he wasn't to be trusted I just kept thinking “Lark and Oren 4evah.” He's such a complex and wonderful character. Talk about a tortured soul (not in the usual way, though. Ponder that one!)

The Nutshell: Basically, I could go on and on about Skylark so you should just trust me on this one and go read it. I mean it has magic, complex characters, twists you'll never see coming (unless you're the master of figuring things out), and a world that you've probably never seen the likes of before.