Tag Archives: Dystopian

Re-Read — Catching Fire — Suzanne Collins

“You know, you could live a thousand lifetimes and not deserve him.”

Genre: Young Adult, Dystopian
Actual Rating: 5 stars
Spicy Meter: 1 fire emojis
Content Warnings: Too many content warnings to name, this book is about children being forced to kill each other, most literally against their will. Contains some romantic content, but nothing sexual.

“Catching Fire” follows Katniss Everdeen once again, a year after she’s been crowned victor along with her “star-crossed lover” Peeta Mellark, after the last Hunger Games took an unprecedented turn—a turn that seems to have ignited the start of a revolution.

Oh my God, now I remember why this book was always my favorite of the trilogy. “Catching Fire” is extremely suspenseful, ending with the twistiest of plot twists. We get to meet a ton of new characters that win your heart almost immediately, we get some more Katniss and Peeta frenemies ensamble, and of course, we get the action-packed show that this series by Suzanne Collins always guarantees. Good thing we now have both all the books and all the movies to resort to after finishing this “Catching Fire” re-read—I still remember how anxious I was waiting for the third book, “Mockingjay” to be published, back in 2010.

I would once again recommend either reading this or re-reading this book ASAP, it is the superior one out of this trilogy and the movie, in this case, truly can’t compare.

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Re-read — The Hunger Games — Suzanne Collins

“Here’s some advice. Stay alive.”

Genre: Young Adult, Dystopian
Actual Rating: 5 stars
Spicy Meter: 1 fire emojis
Content Warnings: Too many content warnings to name, this book is literally about children being forced to kill each other, most literally against their will. Contains some romantic content, but nothing sexual.

“The Hunger Games” follows Katniss Everdeen, a 16-year-old who volunteers to participate in a yearly, deadly, pointless, televised competition that pins down 24 teenagers against each other until only one victor remains. Why does she volunteer, you ask? Well, because her little sister, who’s only 12-years-old, had been randomly chosen as that Games tribute and she couldn’t simply let her die. As simple as that.

I rated this book at 5 stars back in 2010, and now, almost 13 years later, I will do it again this was an absolute amazing 5-star read. If I could’ve read it in a single sitting, I would’ve—all the characters are either extremely lovable or extremely easy to hate, so emotions are high and the adventurous, wildly dystopian world that is described does not disappoint. I am rereading this series to get ready to 1) read the prequel and then 2) watch the movie of said prequel, and I just must say that I am so happy I re-grabbed these books.

I would recommend either reading this or re-reading this book ASAP, the movies are pretty similar to the books but it’s a complete different experience—in the movies we see the world as a whole, while in the book we see the world through Katniss’s eyes (which is so so much better, in my opinion).

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King’s Cage — Victoria Aveyard — Red Queen #3

“Now I’m in a king’s cage. But so is he. My chains are Silent Stone. His is the crown.”

Genre: Young Adult, Dystopian, Fantasy
Actual Rating: 2 stars
Content Warnings: Contains violence and is extremely boring.

“King’s Cage” is the third installment in the Red Queen series. It follows Mare Barrow as she is kept as a war prisoner by the Silver royalty, a.k.a. by her ex-fiancé, now-boy-king Maven, and brother of her ex-love-interest Cal.

I guess this one is supposed to be about Stockholm syndrome—but is it? Mare is a “prisoner” in a palace, treated like no other normal prisoner would be treated. She literally gets everything she wants, except access to her powers… the powers she didn’t even know she had not too long ago. Her wining was excruciating and repetitive. There was no character development on any fronts and honestly all “different” points of view just sounded like the same narrators, they just happened to have different names and were supposed to be different characters.

Sadly, I won’t be embarking on the last book of this series. I tried, I really did, but it’s just really not worth the time.

I will not be recommending this series to pretty much anyone. The first book was the best one in my opinion, and it wasn’t even that good.

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Glass Sword — Victoria Aveyard — Red Queen #2

“If I am a sword, I am a sword made of glass, and I feel myself beginning to shatter.”

Genre: Young Adult, Dystopian, Fantasy
Actual Rating: 3.5 stars
Content Warnings: This one is so so so violent.

“Glass Sword” is the second book in the Red Queen series. This series takes place in a dystopian reality where people are born either into the upper class Silver bloods or the lower class Red bloods. Silvers have super powers while Reds are just regular humans… or are they? “Glass Sword” still follows Mare Barrow, this time around as she grows stronger and sets out to find others like her—Reds with super powers—with the help of the rebels, the Scarlet Guard.

This one was action packed to an extreme. Essentially all they did was fight and have conversations in between and as they traveled to their next attack site. Did I like it? Well, I liked it better than the last one. Will I keep reading this series? I’m not sure. I came to this series with the thought that it’d have more romance involved, but it really hasn’t (even though the publisher keeps marking it down under “YA Romance”).

If you like violent fantasy books, this series is for you. I wouldn’t recommend this to people that read the Hunger Games mostly for the love triangle and not for the adventurous action side of it.

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Red Queen — Victoria Aveyard — Red Queen #1

“Anyone can betray anyone.”

Genre: Young Adult, Dystopian, Romance
Actual Rating: 3 stars
Content Warnings: Discusses death, war, and discrimination. Mentions suicide.

“Red Queen” takes place in a dystopian future where everyone is defined by the color of their blood. Red versus Silvers, powerless versus powerful. Silver blood gives you superhero powers, while red blood confines you to a live of servitude… or does it? Mare Barrow is a 17-year-old red girl that discovers she actually does have a power of her own. This book follows her story, as she infiltrates the world of the Silvers and is set to be betrothed to one of the Silver princes.

The reason why I gave this book such a low rating is kind of ridiculous. I liked the story, I liked the plot twists, I liked the characters, but for some reason I wasn’t passionately invested in them. It’s like I was a witness to their story while having absolutely no sympathy for them. And for that I gave this book 3 stars. It’s a good story, but the characters feel distant at this point. I can’t wait to read the second installment in this series and see if it’s any better.

I would recommend this book to fans of dystopian novels, like The Hunger Games. But when thinking about dystopian novels, this wouldn’t be the first one I recommend.

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The Crown — Kiera Cass — The Selection #5

Genre: Young Adult, Dystopian, Romance
Actual Rating: 2 stars
Content Warning: Mentions of abuse.

“The Crown” is the last installment I’ll read from The Selection series. Having a radically different arc from the first three books, I must say the last two books have been my least favorite… And considering I did not like the first three all that much, it means a lot. This last book follows Eadlynas she comes to choose who’ll be her prince consort and as she becomes queen. There’s no other way to put this: it sucked.

Eadlyn’s faults were worse than the first time around. The only redeeming quality of this book was that the writing wasn’t terrible—but what’s good writing without a good story? Well, it’s a waste of your time, that’s what it is.

I would not recommend the second arc of The Selection at all. Maybe read The Selection #1-3, if you like reality TV shows like The Bachelor, but other than that, I wouldn’t even recommend those books that much either. Reading this series has been the worst decision I’ve made this year. What a shame.

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The Heir — Kiera Cass — The Selection #4

Genre: Young Adult, Dystopian, Romance
Actual Rating: 1.5 stars
Content Warnings: None that I can think of.

“The Heir”, although included within “The Selection” series, has basically nothing to do with the first three books of this series. This books follows Eadlyn, the eldest daughter of Maxon and America, as she goes through her own Selection, the first ever Selection where it’s a princess not a prince doing the choosing.

I understand the need to make Eadlyn’s personality as distant from America’s personality as you could, to differentiate the narrators… but really? So different? Eadlyn does not seem like someone who was raised by Maxon and America. She was so stubborn for the sake of being stubborn, so unpleasant for the sake of being unpleasant. The was almost nothing I liked about this book. I am giving it 1.5 stars only because of Kile and Erik, the only two characters I could tolerate.

I would not recommend this book at all. But I’ll be reading the next and last book in “The Selection” because if I’ve made it this far, I can’t give up now.

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The One — Kiera Cass — The Selection #3

Genre: Young Adult, Dystopian, Romance
Actual Rating: 3.5 stars
Content Warnings: None that I can think of.

If you’re looking at this review, I’ll assume you’ve read the other two books or at least know the premise to the series. But, essentially, America is a girl in a dystopian future who’s competing to get her country’s prince’s heart.

In my personal opinion, this third installment of The Selection series was so much better than the second one. The characters in “The One” resembled the ones we met in “The Selection” so much more. America was back to being her confident self.

To be honest, I was not happy with the ending. I feel like it was extremely rushed and slightly unnecessary. Oh, and let’s not even mention the epilogue. Is that really all we’re going to get from this book?

I guess I would recommend this book more than I would recommend the second book in this trilogy. There’s more suspense in this once, but honestly this series as a whole as a bit of a disappointment. I was expecting 3 5-star reads, when really the only one I truly enjoyed was the first book.

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The Elite — Kiera Cass — The Selection #2

Genre: Young Adult, Dystopian, Romance
Actual Rating: 2.5 stars
Content Warnings: Beatings and cheating.

In “The Elite”, the second book in The Selection series, America is still stuck fighting for love—she just isn’t sure whose love she’s fighting for. Following the exact same pace as the first book, just with less contestants and more rebel attacks, there is really nothing new to this series.

I think this is the definition of a filler book. I mean, honestly a filler series. It seems like The Selection, The Elite, and The One could have easily been condensed into a single book, tops two books.

And suddenly everything that I loved about America in the first book is completely lost this time around. Maxon and Aspen were both horrible, but America was even worse. Where is her independence? Compassion? Understanding? She seemed like an entirely different character. I’m hoping we get her back for the next book in the series, The One.

I would recommend this series to dystopian fiction and YA lovers. I described the first book in this series to The Hunger Games meets The Bachelor, but I don’t even think that description is accurate anymore. I’ll be reading “The One” because I’ve already committed too much time to this series only to leave it halfway through.

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The Selection — Kiera Cass — The Selection #1

“No, I’m not choosing him or you. I’m choosing me.”

Genre: Young Adult, Dystopian, Romance

Actual Rating: 4 stars

Content Warnings: None that I can think of.

Are you a fan of The Hunger Games and/or tv shows like The Bachelor/The Bachelorette? Well, this book is for you. The Selection follows a girl named America Singer, in a dystopian reality where the United States has a monarchy and people are divided into castes that define their job prospects and future. In a much anticipated tradition, America is selected, along with 34 others girls, to participate in a competition of sorts where the price to win is the prince’s heart (and crown).

The thing about this book is that it’s greatly predictable and there is some character development, but not as much as I expected. None the less, I love this series already. By the time you’ll be reading this, I might’ve even finished The Elite (The Selection #2). It’s that good. I loved how fast-paced this book was, there were no dull moments.

Would it be wrong if I said I fell in love with America? Like, I understand that the main focus is supposed to be loving Prince Maxon versus loving Aspen, but I was just completely blown away my America as a character. Her compassion, her originality, her dreams. I was moved by her greatly.

I guess I already set up the parameters for my recommendation in the introduction, but yeah. If you’ve liked series like The Hunger Games or Divergent, and if you enjoy dating shows like The Bachelor or The Bachelorette, then it seems like this series might be for you. This is a fun, young adult read, I would certainly recommend it as a gift for young, teenaged readers.

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