•The Fifth Wave by Rick Yancey comments and thoughts•

During this last month, I was lucky enough to meet up with some fellow bookworms and we all got to watch The Fifth Wave which is a book to movie adaptation. Of course, we had all read the book before ; never the less, everyone had very different opinions about the movie and the book. So I have decided to let you know what they all said!

Quick summary (from shmoop.com)

The human race stands on the brink of extinction as a series of alien attacks decimate the planet, causing earthquakes, tsunamis and disease. Separated from her family, Ohio teenager Cassie Sullivan will do whatever it takes to reunite with her brother Sam. Fate leads her to form an alliance with Evan Walker, a mysterious young man who may be her last hope. Forced to trust each other, Cassie and Evan fight for survival during the fifth assault from the invaders.

Questions

 Can you describe the book in 3 words?

• Interesting, dangerous and Divergent-like

• Amazing, hot characters

• Fictional, mainstream and... boring?

• End of Earth

• Classic teen novel

 What was your favourite thing about the book|movie?

• I liked the way Rick showed that the human race has a real chance of surviving against aliens if we are smart enough.

• My favourite thing would have to be the badass characters who managed to stay alive. 

• Surprisingly, there was one thing I did enjoy about both the book and the movie, and that was the fact that there was a huge plot twist... (spoiler free post).

• I liked to see the way the main character and her brother acted towards each other after so much had happened (the end of the world). I really enjoyed seeing that people still have human feeling even when they believe nothing could get any worse.

• Even though this novel was very much like any other teen-book that is out right now, I enjoyed the way the author came up with the different waves rather than just making it a normal invasion. 

 What was your least favourite thing about the book|movie?

• Honestly, even though the book was entertaining, at a few different points throughout the novel i felt like it would never end since whenever it seemed like it was coming to an end, another problem would pop up. The same thing happened to the movie. 

• The one thing that I didn't love was the way they made the aliens in the movie. I pictured them so differently in my head while I was reading and when I saw them on the screen... I wasn't disappointed, I just wasn't expecting it.

• As mentioned when I described the book in three words, I didn't really like the storyline of this novel|movie because it's just like any other teen book that it out on the market right now. The end of the world..., survivors, aliens, love... I didn't really enjoy reading it. It didn't have a special twist to it. 

• I didn't like how the story didn't have a final cut. I HATE CLIFF HANGERS!

 Who was your favourite character and why? 
• My favourite character is probably Ben because although he goes through a lot during the story, he is still alway able to find a way to keep everybody calm. He is also the smartest character, from my point of view. 
• The character whose story I enjoyed reading best was Evan because he was the one who went through the most character development. 
• Definitely Cassie! She is a badass but she is also loyal to her family. She is quiet and shy at first but then you find out that she is willing to fight anyone when she know what the right thing to do is. She is AMAZING!
• Honestly, I didn't really connect with any of the character.... but if I had to choose one, it would have to be Sammy, Cassie's young brother. This is mainly because she was really cute, not because he had any specific skills I liked. 
• BEN!!!! He was smart, a leader, a strong character. Overall, a really lovable character!

 What score would you give this book out of 10?
• 8 because it was fairly good. It was a really nice easy read. Probably won't read it again, but during the time I was reading it, I really enjoyed it. 
• 7... A fun quick read! 
• 8 because some of the characters had a really interesting and unique story! I definitely recommend it for any young adult reader. 
• 4 because it wasn't too bad but I though it was quite stereotypical. It was kind of like any other YoungAdult book that is out in market at the moment. The characters weren't great and there wasn't a lot of character development. 

• 10!!!! It was amazing! I absolutely tell in love with the book and I can't wait to read the Infinite Sea!

What is better, the book or the movie? 

• ALL THE READERS ANSWERED BOOK!!!! yet they all agreed that it was one of the best book to movie adaptations from a YA book they had watched. 

Looking For Alibrandi by Melina Marchetta - A.K.A. greatest book ever written

Hello Readers! 
I recently re-read one of my favourite books and it is easy to say that it is now my favourite book! I think that the reasons why I didn't like it as much when I read it the first time as the second time was because I was younger and couldn't really read between the lines as much. So! I'm going to tell you everything there is to the book without spoilers!

The first thing you should know are the facts about the actual book:

Author: Melina Marchetta

Adaptations: Looking for Alibrandi (2000)

Country: Australia

Genres: Young-adult fiction, Bildungsroman

Originally published: October 5, 1992

The book summary:

Josie Alibrandi is an girl from Italian descent who is growing up in Sydney, Australia. Josie is on scholarship at a prestigious Catholic school where it matters what her father does. Josie doesn't know who her father is as she lives with her mum, Christina, all she knows was that her mother had her against her fathers wishes when she was in her late teens. Josie and her mother's lives are interfered with by Nonna Katia, Christina's mother. 
Josie's father, Michael Andretti, comes back into Josie's life with no idea that he had a daughter. When he finds out he and Josie decide to have nothing to do with each other.

At school Josie hangs out with her misfit friends, Sera, Anna and Lee. She has a crush on the school caption of their brother school, John Barton. She also meets Jacob Coote, the school caption from the local state school, who asks her out... and I know you guys probably want to know more but I can't write any spoilers! 

The main characters:

Josephine Alibrandi

• The main character in the book

• The school vice captain of a high class school

• She is Italian

• She is the only child of single mother

Jacob Coote 

• The school captain from a local state school

• Has a crush on Josie 

• Is kind of a badass

• Is Australian

Christina Alibrandi
• She is Josie's mother
• Had Josie at 17
• She's not married
• She constantly gets told off by her mother
• She is Italian

Katia Alibrandi
• She is Josie's grandmother and Christina's mother
• She is referred to as Nona
• She treats her daughter badly because she is an only mother
• She is Italian











Michael Andretti
• Josie's father
• Lives in Adelaide
• He is unaware that Josie exists
• He owns a fair amount of money









John Barton 
• He's the school captain of a hight class school
• He has been Josie's crush since as far as sh can remember
• Josie's closes boy friend
• His father puts a lot of pressure on him

So now that you have brief idea of what the story is about the characters are in going to tell you what were the best things and the not so great things about this book:

Best Things:

-Such an fast and easy book to read
-Amazing and interesting storyline that makes you wanna keep reading and never let go of the book
-Really good character development throughout the book
-Makes you realise a lot of good and bad things about having different cultures 
-Teaches you so much about Australia

Not so good things:-Cliffhanger at the end! So if that annoys you...

-When I read the book, I would have liked to know more about how Jacob was feeling through the book
-Even though it will teach you a lot about Australian culture, there are some things that you could miss if you don't know a lot about Australia.

 Michael Andretti and Christina

Josie, Nona Katia and Christina Alibrandi

Josie Alibarndi and Jacob Coote

And for you guys who like watching movies... There's a Looking for Alibrandi movie!

Initial release: May 4, 2000
Director: Kate Woods
Running time: 1h 43m
Adapted from: Looking for Alibrandi 
Movie summary and actors:  Josie (Pia Miranda) is struggling to cope with her teenage existence. She lives with her single mother, Christina (Greta Scacchi), and attends a prestigious private school, where her snobbish classmates mock her Sicilian heritage. She contends with the dramas of teen romance, divided between John (Matthew Newton) and Jacob (Kick Gurry). When her family receives a visit from Michael (Anthony LaPaglia), her mother's former lover, Josie is overwhelmed when she discovers that he is also her father.

 

Top books published in 2015

Hey Guys!
2016 has arrived! And that also means that 2015 has ended. I'm really happy to say that 2015 has been a great year and regarding my reading this year, its been great. This blog is officially 1 year old! Wohoo! I don't think it's normal for blogs to have birthdays, but im just so happy that i've been able to keep this blog going for 1 whole year! i actually thought it was going to be impossible but in the end I've done it! So thanks so much to you amazing people reading this blog who have been encouraging me! 
So now, 2015 has been a really good year for young adult readers. A lot of series have ended with an amazing ending, but then again, other series have begun and look like they are going to be awesome. That's one of the reasons why I'm so excited about 2016. I mean! who isn't excited for Sword of Glass!? 

Number 1

RED QUEEN  (Red Queen, #1) by Victoria Aveyard 

Originally published: February 10, 2015
Author: Victoria Aveyard
Genres: Young-adult fiction
Page count: 388
Publisher: HarperCollins
Awards: Goodreads Choice Awards Best Debut Goodreads Author

Nominations: Goodreads Choice Awards Best Young Adult Fantasy & Science Fiction

Summary:
 This is a world divided by blood – red or silver.
The Reds are commoners, ruled by a Silver elite in possession of god-like superpowers. And to Mare Barrow, a seventeen-year-old Red girl from the poverty-stricken Stilts, it seems like nothing will ever change.
That is, until she finds herself working in the Silver Palace. Here, surrounded by the people she hates the most, Mare discovers that, despite her red blood, she possesses a deadly power of her own. One that threatens to destroy the balance of power.
Fearful of Mare’s potential, the Silvers hide her in plain view, declaring her a long-lost Silver princess, now engaged to a Silver prince. Despite knowing that one misstep would mean her death, Mare works silently to help the Red Guard, a militant resistance group, and bring down the Silver regime.
But this is a world of betrayal and lies, and Mare has entered a dangerous dance – Reds against Silvers, prince against prince, and Mare against her own heart ... 

Number 2

WINTER (The Lunar Chronicles, #4) by Marissa Meyer Originally published: November 10, 2015 Author: Marissa Meyer Preceded by: Cress Page count: 832 Genres: Young-adult fiction, Romance novel, Science Fiction, Utopian and dystopian fiction Nominations: Goodreads Choice Awards Best Young Adult Fantasy & Science Fiction Summary:  Princess Winter is admired by the Lunar people for her grace and kindness, and despite the scars that mar her face, her beauty is said to be even more breathtaking than that of her stepmother, Queen Levana. Winter despises her stepmother, and knows Levana won’t approve of her feelings for her childhood friend—the handsome palace guard, Jacin. But Winter isn’t as weak as Levana believes her to be and she’s been undermining her stepmother’s wishes for years. Together with the cyborg mechanic, Cinder, and her allies, Winter might even have the power to launch a revolution and win a war that’s been raging for far too long.Can Cinder, Scarlet, Cress, and Winter defeat Levana and find their happily ever afters? Number 3 QUEEN OF SHADOWS  (Throne of Glass, #4) by Sarah J Maas Originally published: September 1, 2015 Author: Sarah J. Maas Page count: 656 Age range: 13 and up Awards: Goodreads Choice Awards Best Young Adult Fantasy & Science Fiction Summary:  The queen has returned. Everyone Celaena Sardothien loves has been taken from her. But she’s at last returned to the empire—for vengeance, to rescue her once-glorious kingdom, and to confront the shadows of her past… She has embraced her identity as Aelin Galathynius, Queen of Terrasen. But before she can reclaim her throne, she must fight. She will fight for her cousin, a warrior prepared to die for her. She will fight for her friend, a young man trapped in an unspeakable prison. And she will fight for her people, enslaved to a brutal king and awaiting their lost queen’s triumphant return. Number 4 I WAS HERE by Gayle Forman Originally published: January 27, 2015 Author: Gayle Forman Page count: 288 Age range: 14 and up Nominations: Goodreads Choice Awards Best Young Adult Fiction Summary:  Cody and Meg were inseparable. Two peas in a pod. Until . . . they weren’t anymore. When her best friend Meg drinks a bottle of industrial-strength cleaner alone in a motel room, Cody is understandably shocked and devastated. She and Meg shared everything—so how was there no warning? But when Cody travels to Meg’s college town to pack up the belongings left behind, she discovers that there’s a lot that Meg never told her. About her old roommates, the sort of people Cody never would have met in her dead-end small town in Washington. About Ben McAllister, the boy with a guitar and a sneer, who broke Meg’s heart. And about an encrypted computer file that Cody can’t open—until she does, and suddenly everything Cody thought she knew about her best friend’s death gets thrown into question. Number 5 THE WRATH AND THE DAWN (The Wrath and the Dawn, #1) by Renee Ahdieh Originally published: May 2015 Author: Renée Ahdieh Page count: 404 Age range: 12 and up Summary:  One Life to One Dawn. In a land ruled by a murderous boy-king, each dawn brings heartache to a new family. Khalid, the eighteen-year-old Caliph of Khorasan, is a monster. Each night he takes a new bride only to have a silk cord wrapped around her throat come morning. When sixteen-year-old Shahrzad's dearest friend falls victim to Khalid, Shahrzad vows vengeance and volunteers to be his next bride. Shahrzad is determined not only to stay alive, but to end the caliph's reign of terror once and for all. Night after night, Shahrzad beguiles Khalid, weaving stories that enchant, ensuring her survival, though she knows each dawn could be her last. But something she never expected begins to happen: Khalid is nothing like what she'd imagined him to be. This monster is a boy with a tormented heart. Incredibly, Shahrzad finds herself falling in love. How is this possible? It's an unforgivable betrayal. Still, Shahrzad has come to understand all is not as it seems in this palace of marble and stone. She resolves to uncover whatever secrets lurk and, despite her love, be ready to take Khalid's life as retribution for the many lives he's stolen. Can their love survive this world of stories and secrets?