Book Review: The Passage by Justin Cronin

My Copy of The Passage

Book: The Passage - Justin Cronin

Publication Date: January 1st 2011

Genre: Adult Fiction,Science Fiction,Mystery

Pages: 963

Publisher: Orion Publishing Group

My Copy: Bought (Paperback)

Buy: Amazon India | Flipkart

Goodreads Summary: 

An epic and gripping tale of catastrophe and survival, The Passage is the story of Amy—abandoned by her mother at the age of six, pursued and then imprisoned by the shadowy figures behind a government experiment of apocalyptic proportions. But Special Agent Brad Wolgast, the lawman sent to track her down, is disarmed by the curiously quiet girl and risks everything to save her. As the experiment goes nightmarishly wrong, Wolgast secures her escape—but he can’t stop society’s collapse. And as Amy walks alone, across miles and decades, into a future dark with violence and despair, she is filled with the mysterious and terrifying knowledge that only she has the power to save the ruined world.

My Views:

This book is a beast and i was intimated by it for a long time. It sat on the shelf collecting dust for over an year but once i started it, it was hard to put it down. It is a first part of a trilogy and in that context it reads like an origin story. A government experiment gone bad which results in the collapse of the world as we know it. 

The books starts and you are hooked within the first fifty pages. You connect with the characters and are interested in knowing what happens to them. Then something happens which threw you off completely. Personally, it took me sometime to get used to the change in story but once you get past the initial shock and the story moves forward it becomes this page turning epic survival saga. 

It's essentially a vampire novel and before that puts you off, trust me it's one of the good ones. I enjoyed every bit of it. Justin Cronin's writing is exquisite. The characters are multi layered and the story is fast paced. The book is very intense at times and has been compared to The Road by Cormac McCarthy (I haven't read that one) and Stephen Kings works.

The amazing thing about this books is that even after reading almost 1000 pages and still wanted more by the end. It was that interesting. I loved the start, there were some hiccups in the middle but the end made up for it. I would definitely will be picking up the next books in the series. Give this book a read, i promise you won't regret it.

I am Alive & Some Changes

After an absence of two years I've decided to revive my blog. The only reason being that still read a lot and there are not a lot of people around me that i can talk books with. But there are going to be some changes and some new features, which are as follows:

1. I will still be reviewing books but in addition I will also review movies, Tv shows, music albums or whatever take my fancy.
2. I will not be participating the weekly meme's.
3. My style of review will change from what it was before.
4. I will try to review every book I read.
5. And as the whole idea is to connect with follow readers and fellow Geeks, I will try to comment more and follow more people on twitter and ask you to follow me on twitter as well so that we can talk books.

That's all for now. Thanks for sticking around!!  

In My Mailbox #9

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by The Story Siren. It's a way to share the books that we've bought,borrowed,received for review etc. every week.

This week I got:

• The Alchemy of Forever - Avery Williams
• The Fine Art of Truth or Dare - Melissa Jensen
• Never Eighteen - Megan Bostic
• Forbidden - Syrie James & Ryan M. James 
• Slide - Jill Hathaway

Have you read any of these? What did you got in your mailbox? Post your links in the comment so that i can check them out!

Quarterly Challenge #5 (March 2012 - May 2012)

I am a member of goodreads YA Book Club and every three months they come up with these awesome challenges. As like last time I am totally in for this one as well. 

The Rules:

Duration: March 1, 2012 - May 31, 2012.

We are a YA Book Club, so all books should be young adult.

You have 3 months to read 10 YA books that satisfy following requirements:

1) Read a book which was nominated for or won the William C. Morris award. This reward recognizes debut writers. Information about the award is here.

2) Read a book that is a new release published in March, April or May of 2012. Goodreads offers lists of the most popular new releases by month, they might help you to make your choices - March, Apriland May. (If you have difficulties obtaining these new books, you can read a release from the same months in 2011).

3) Read a book set with a cover that has something botanical on it - flowers, trees, grass, etc.

4) Read a book whose title starts with one of the letters of the word SPRING.

5) With the rise of the popularity of Australian authors, I think it is time for us all to read at least one YA book written by an author from Australia. Some titles here.

6) Read a book that involves traveling - a road trip, a trip or moving to another state, country or continent.

7) Read a book that is funny!

8) Read a book which has a character who is a fighter or warrior of some sort.

9) Read a book with a sick character - recovering from an injury, disabled, terminally ill, etc.

10) Read a book written by a male author.

My List:

1) William C. Morris Award: Hold Still by Nina LaCour

2) Published March,April,May 2012: Slide by Jill Hathaway

3) Botanical On Cover: The Goddess Test by Aimee Carter 

4) Spring: The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

5) Australian Author: Good Oil by Laura Buzo

6) Travel: Paper Towns by John Green

7) Funny: The Boy Book: A Study of Habits and Behaviors, Plus Techniques for Taming Them by E. Lockhart

8) Warrior/Fighter: City of Bones by Cassandra Clare

9) Sick Character: Wither by Lauren DeStefano

10) Male Author: Emily the Strange: The Lost Days by Rob Reger

That's all for this challenge. Hopefully with my crazy schedule i will be able to read all these amazing books.

Friday Follow #9

Follow Friday is a weekly meme hosted by Parajunkee and Alison Can Read.

Q: Do you read one book at a time or do you switch back and forth between two or more?

Answer: I am one book at a time kind of gal. It works as a motivation for me to finish one book so that i can get on with the next one. Plus, i feel i enjoy a book more if i read one at a time. 

I love to know your opinions. So dash me a comment and I will check out your answers.

Lets Talk #1

First and foremost I want to apologize for the lack of posts lately. I have been really busy with work and didn't get much time. But now I am back and hopefully my post will be more frequent. 

When I started this blog about three months ago I wanted it to be a so much more then just a book blog. I wanted it to be an extension of myself and yet it somehow is just about books and nothing else. Don't get me wrong, I love books and I love talking and reviewing them as well but there is so much more I love and like to talk about. 

Let's start with a few of my favorite things in the world:

#1 I love Movies and I have a degree to prove it. I have been obsessed with movies since childhood. My parents are a rare breed and I have been exposed to a great variety of movies since childhood. My mom is a horror addict and I pretty much grew up with Hitchcock movies and on other hand my dad is a War film lover so I have seen 
Tora! Tora! Tora! and The Bridge on the River Kwai a million times. So, it was pretty easy for me to decide this is what I want to do with my life. I wanted to study films and that's what I did in Uni for three years and made some short movies. But now I work with a media firm not making movies. And as every human being on planet earth I am not satisfied with my job. I like it but I don't love it. 

#2 Music: I feel every creative person on this planet earth have to love music. I simply adore music and I can't imagine my life without it. It's  so weird that when I am sad, happy, angry or annoyed i search my music library to find a song that suites my mood. Strange I know! I am addicted to music. I will be found with my earphones on at all times. I love almost all sorts of music. My biggest regret is that i never learned to play music. I would have really love to learn to play an instrument of some kind. I hope there is still time to do that though.

#3 Dancing: Again never learned and I don't do it professionally but I do enjoy and appreciate it in any form. I sometimes feel I am the happiest when I dance. I just forget about everything and enjoy myself too much. I love watching people dance and it is such an awesome medium to express yourself without talking. 

I think I should end this post right here. I hope with this you know me a little more and understand where i am coming from. I want to make this medium my personal space and I hope it came out as that. I plan to share more with you guys and I hope to hear from you. Again, I want to say I love books and that's the main reason I started this blog but I seems pretty mechanical and sort of boring at times. 

Till the next time. Ciao and take care!

Book Review: You Against Me by Jenny Downham

Book: You Against Me - Jenny Downham


Publication Date: July 7th 2011 


Read from February 25 to March 04, 2012

Genre: Young Adult, Contemperary, Romance

Goodreads Summary:

If someone hurts your sister and you're any kind of man, you seek revenge, right? If your brother's been accused of a terrible crime and you're the main witness, then you banish all doubt and defend him. Isn't that what families do? When Mikey's sister claims a boy assaulted her at a party, his world of work and girls begins to fall apart. When Ellie's brother is charged with the crime, but says he didn't do it, her world of revision, exams and fitting in at a new school begins to unravel. When Mikey and Ellie meet, two worlds collide. Brave and unflinching, this is a novel of extraordinary skillfulness and almost unbearable tension. It's a book about loyalty and the choices that come with it. But above all it's a book about love - for one's family and for another.

My Views:

I have heard great things about Jenny Downham first book Before I Die, but for some reason I just can't get my hands on it. So, when I came across this book i just picked it up without giving it a second thought.

I went into this book without any knowledge about it and I was really surprised with the plot and it's treatment. The story and the treatment is very true to life. Rape is a very tricky subject and this book deals with it in a very mature manner. 

I liked the characters and it was not difficult for me to relate to them. I really liked Ellie and Mikey. I like the family dynamics and the conversations between the characters.

The book is great, it could have been a little better but I still ended up loving it loads. 

The Good:

• The story and the subject matter. It's different!
• The characters feels real and they talk like real people.
• The love story and the back story of Ellie and Mikey.
• The mystery part of the book. There is not much of it but whatever is there is done very well. 
• Thought provoking. It really made me think and i genuinely like that in a book. 

The Bad:

• I just wished the book to be a little more darker, grittier and intense. Other then that I don't really have any complains.

Overall: 4/5 and a thumbs up!

Writing: 4/5
Plot: 4/5
Characters: 4/5
Romance: 4/5
LoL Moments: 3/5
Cover: 3/5

Favorite Quote: “If you want a girl to like you, you have to listen like a woman and love like a man.”

Favorite Character: Mikey