book roundup

Storm by Brigid Kemmerer 

I've been meaning to read Storm for a really long time, and I was so glad when I finally got my hands on it last weekend. 

Storm is about a bunch of teenagers who can control the elements of nature (fire, water, wind, stuff like that). This girl called Becca saves her classmate Chris Merrick from getting beaten up outside their school and then finds herself involved in the Merrick brothers' messed up lives (involving fighting from rival "elemental gangs", gunfights, family feuds, etc.). They also have time for love triangles when a new guy called Hunter joins school as well as parent problems. Good stuff.

Storm is a really fun book. There were some parts of the book which I found frustratingly slow-paced but it all worked out in a pretty interesting package. I personally really liked the characters, especially Chris and his brothers. The twins were really... fun to read about and I found the dynamic between the brothers interesting and believable. Becca is one YA heroine who isn't a piss off, isn't easily impressed by stupid stuff and doesn't let boys rule her life, which is a real blessing. I'm getting more jaded by YA with every progressing book simply because I cannot fathom why any character- male or female- would do a stupid (and the situations they find themselves in occur only due to their stupidity which the author tries to pass off as bravery) thing in the name of love. It's not love if you've known them for an hour and all they've done is stare at you during lunch and you guys have has one make out session! Lord.
And Becca still has some friend problems and most of all father problems which all happen for the greater good and stuff.

It's a good book. Definitely not the best book I've read and I don't think I'd be able to reread it, but I'd definitely recommend it for people looking for a new YA (paranormal) series. I think I'll probably pick up the second book in the series (it has one of the twins as the protagonist!).

Legend by Marie Lu

**spoiler alert** I actually don't see what the great deal is about the book. It's a futuristic society (judging from the clues from the book) about two people, June and Day. June's a rich military kid and Day's the most wanted person in the "Republic". This is going to contain spoilers. 

Thinking back, there seem to be some glaring plot holes. One thing that really confuses me is that for a Republic so advanced, a fifteen year old boy doesn't really fit the profile for the most wanted tag. Another really frustrating point is the the underdevelopment of the two main protagonists. They seem far too... forgiving of each others.  SPOILERS BELOW! 

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Day's mother was murdered. Murdered. As was Day's brother. And debatable or not, June was, in some way, responsible for their deaths. What I don't understand is Day's instant forgiveness. It just wasn't convincing enough as was the romance between Day and June.

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Spoilers end! 


It wasn't a bad book as such. it was just unconvincing. I also found myself skimming through several chapters towards the end. But judging by the other YA dystopian books I've been reading, this was definitely bearable. Just not great.