After a year of being missing after a horrifying 'accident', Anneliese Rose Gordon stumbles out of a forest. She can't remember anything about herself. She only knows she's not the Anneliese everybody thinks she is.Slowly, she is getting back her memories - memories that don't belong to Anneliese but to other girls who also went missing. And then there's the hunger deep inside of her.
4.5/5 stars
I can't even really summarize this because the ending was really confusing to me, but nevertheless, I enjoyed this book. It was supposed to be the last read of my summer holidays even though I finished it on the first day of school. Do you know those books that stay in your mind for a while even after you finish it? This was definitely one of them.
This book will suck you in and leave you wanting more. Except there won't be more, because it's a stand alone book. But considering it is a YA stand alone, everything did end up pretty neat.
One thing I really liked about Another Little Piece is how the narrator told the story. You really felt that this girl wasn't Anneliese because of the way how she talked. 'The mom/dad' instead of 'mom/dad' is a strong way to show that she definitely wasn't Anneliese.
Another thing was how well the gore-y things were described. It's one thing to see some gore in a movie and be freaked out, but it's another thing when the author can describe it and you just feel like you saw it in a movie. Needless to say, I had to take a break from reading for a few minutes before I could continue.
Her backstory was confusing, because the memories didn't come in a chronological order and you needed some time to place them right. But once you had most of those memories, you understood the backstory perfectly. I could even understand why she's become like that, even if it's nothing you'd do in your real life (except you're a sociopath or something along those lines).
While Another Little Piece could leave you with some confusion, I highly suggest you give this a try. If you enjoy good horror in a YA standalone, chances are you will be sucked in and really like (maybe even love? idk) this book.
So far this was one of my favourite books this year, right next to The Fault in our Stars.
Let me tell you why the first thing I thought about Beta was: 'Oh god, this sounds so amazing!'Not only did Rachel Cohn do a good job with the world setting and with the clones and the overall idea sounded good.
The world has been changed by the Water Wars, and the richest people now created an island, Demesne, to live on. The air on the island has been scientifically changed to have a similar effect like a drug called 'raxia, that makes the people feel better all the time. The same thing's happened with the water around the island.
Clones are used as servants, although the firsts of the clones had to die before the clones could be made. They don't have emotions or an own opinion, they are soulless vessels.
The protagonist Elysia is a teenage beta, not yet perfected although she looks like it. She's bought by the family of the Governor, his wife and the two children on the island. Elysia kind of replaces Astrid, the third child who's on the mainland to study.
Elysia soon notices that she has her own opinion on a few things, and also has feelings. She falls in love with the son of the wealthiest family, Tahir, on Demesne and finds out his secret.
But there's another guy who appears in visions whenever she dives in the water and she finds out that it used to be her firsts first love.
I loved the first half (or a little more) of Beta. Really, I did. It was well written, the story seemed interesting and you could understand why Elysia felt or thought something. Even the many physical descriptions of how Tahir or her firsts love didn't really bother me that much, but I can understand that it's just too much at some points.
Why did I give Beta only 3/5 if I thought it was so good?
Well, first of all, Elysia fell in love with Tahir because of how he looked and only later found out how he really is. Not to mention that he also seemed to immediately love her just as much as she did.
The next thing was the last few pages. It was just rushed and unbelievable. Rachel just used one plot twist after another, and not those plot twists that make sense but really unnecessary plot twists.
Ivan, Elysia's 'brother', also used to be a well written supporting character, but at the ending, his actions were just... no. I can't even explain it. And Elysia's reaction... Nope, I can't.
So why did I give it 3/5 instead of 2/5? Because I still want to read the next book and I really believe it can be better then this one. The concept is good. Also, I hate cliffhangers, so that's another reason why I'm going to read the next book.
Okay, so for my first book review here I've decided to review "The Host". Why? Because now that they're making it into a movie, another hype will start, just like it happened with the twilight series. And I have a feeling that the movie might destroy my feelings towards this book (after all, I don't even like the actors they've chosen). And for everybody, who is interested in the book, but doesn't know if he/she should read it, I'm writing this review. After all, it takes some courage for some people to read a book by Stephenie Meyer after twilight, even though this is still a lot better than twilight, in my opinion. So let's go on to the 'real' review.
Aliens have invaded the earth, and they're taking over the minds of humans. It's not like they're bad, actually the aliens are more peaceful than the humans, always wanting the best for the others. But when they possess the minds, that part of the humans passes away, most of the time. But Melanie Stryder refuses to pass away, and Wanderer has to deal with it, since she doesn't want to start this life as a child but as an adult. Melanie, being one of the last 'free' humans, knows other humans, whose minds aren't possesed, but she won't show Wanderer where they are. But after a while, Wanderer finds out about a man called Jared, and she starts feeling affection towards him. She and Melanie go on an adventure to find him, and her brother Jamie, that is not as easy as it sounds.
So, what did I like about this book? Obviously the storysetting and the characters, most of all Ian. As well as the friendship of Melanie and Wanderer, and also kind of the love triangle (since those are my weakness).
I'll be honest, it took me a while to get into it, I think the first hundred pages were a bit slow, for me. But after that, I couldn't stop reading. I finished it within two days because I was so engrossed in it.
At some points the writing was really sappy, but I don't remember being bothered by it, since I've always liked sappy stories. If you are bothered by it, you should probably skip those parts, as they're not that important... I think. Well, you need them to understand the feelings of Melanie, but you don't have to read all of it, since the style of Meyers writing is not the best (though it improved from twilight!) I don't want to say it's bad, it's just that I've read better styles for sappy scenes.
And the ending, I adored it so much. I honestly didn't know how she was going to end that book without destroying the atmosphere, like some auhora do, and I'm so glad she didn't. For me, it had a perfect ending, that's also why I don't want it to have a sequel. But oh well, it's not up to me.
What I also quite enjoyed was Wanderers history, being on so many different planets and everything. I could imagine these scenes perfectly in my mind, as if they really happened.
I'm giving this book 4 stars, although I think it is a rather amazig book. The storysetting, the characters and the feelings all were they, and as a reader I was able to discover it all. The perfect ending made the last star. The missing star, because of the slow start... But I think it's really worth the read. :)