Review: The Program by Suzanne Young

The Program (Program #1) by Suzanne Young

Published: 30 April 2013 by Simon Pulse

Pages: 416 (hardcover)

Genre/s: YA, Dystopian, Romance

Source: Publisher for review

Synopsis


In Sloane’s world, true feelings are forbidden, teen suicide is an epidemic, and the only solution is The Program.

Sloane knows better than to cry in front of anyone. With suicide now an international epidemic, one outburst could land her in The Program, the only proven course of treatment. Sloane’s parents have already lost one child; Sloane knows they’ll do anything to keep her alive. She also knows that everyone who’s been through The Program returns as a blank slate. Because their depression is gone—but so are their memories.

Under constant surveillance at home and at school, Sloane puts on a brave face and keeps her feelings buried as deep as she can. The only person Sloane can be herself with is James. He’s promised to keep them both safe and out of treatment, and Sloane knows their love is strong enough to withstand anything. But despite the promises they made to each other, it’s getting harder to hide the truth. They are both growing weaker. Depression is setting in. And The Program is coming for them.

My Thoughts

I've been so disappointed by YA dystopians lately that I've been purposefully avoiding them.  So often a book sounds amazing and then when I start reading it falls into every single trope and most of them aren't even done well - love triangles, insta-love, poor world building - all things that make me want to cry with frustration.  But The Program was a book that I'd been hoping would prove to me that not all is lost in the YA dystopian genre....

Although The Program is a dystopian, the world itself is quite contemporary and I really liked that blend.  It made the characters much easier to connect to as they had such normal teenage lives for the most part, and although The Program was quite a large shadow over them, everything else felt normal and natural.  And it's not that I don't enjoy a good total dystopian immersion, but it's different from what I've read recently and felt a little more fresh.

One thing I wasn't expecting from The Program is the strong focus on the romance between James and Sloane - and as they are already in a relationship when the book begins, it means that there's no insta-love between them.   I liked Sloane, she's tough, determined, loyal and quick-witted which doesn't make her completely unique but enough to have me cheering her on.  The relationship she has with James is quite passionate and feels pretty realistic, and although there are some points that it becomes a little obsessive and possessive, as a character James pretty much charmed me enough that I didn't dwell on it too much.

The plot itself is a little on the predictable side, but the world-building fits the tone of the book perfectly - I never felt like I was being info-dumped and there's a good balance of disclosure and mystery that will keep me interested in the next book.

I recently read Just Like Fate, which Suzanne Young co-authored with Cat Patrick and I can see some similarities in how the romance was written and it's definitely got me curious about reading more of Ms Young's work as she does a good job with making romances feel realistic.

There's a lot more I could say about The Program but the synopsis is pretty sparse and I don't want to spoil it for anyone, but if you like YA dystopians that are heavier on romance than normal, I can definitely recommend The Program.

Review: White Horse by Alex Adams

White Horse (White Horse #1) by Alex Adams

Published: 17 April 2012 by Atria

Pages: 306 (hardcover)

Genre/s: Post-apocalyptic

Source: Own library

Synopsis


Thirty-year-old Zoe leads an ordinary life until the end of the world arrives. She is cleaning cages and floors at Pope Pharmaceuticals when the President of the United States announces that human beings are no longer a viable species. When Zoe realizes that everyone she loves is disappearing, she starts running. Scared and alone in a shockingly changed world, she embarks on a remarkable journey of survival and redemption. Along the way, Zoe comes to see that humans are not defined by their genetic code, but rather by their actions and choices. White Horse offers hope for a broken world, where love can lead to the most unexpected places.

My Thoughts

For quite a few weeks I've been avoiding YA post-apocalyptic and dystopians - I think I've OD'ed a little and they all feel similar - love triangles, mediocre world-building and there is apparently something very wrong about writing stand-alone novels.  So I decided I would turn things on it's head a little and read a (very) adult post-apocalyptic that was originally intended to be a stand-alone.

White Horse is split into Then and Now, which I'm usually comfortable with, as long as the book doesn't lose pace because of it, and I'm happy to say that doesn't happen in White Horse.   The Then is mainly focused on the gradual apocalypse happening on everyone's doorstep but never specifically labelled, and the Now, where Zoe finds herself travelling across Italy and Greece to try and find her boyfriend.

Whilst the shock value is definitely there, there isn't ever a real explanation of what the apocalyptic event is other than what Zoe stumbles upon as the world disintegrates.   Normally this would bug the hell out of me, but in White Horse it works because it is true to the feel of the book itself.  There are a lot of hints at what possibly could be the catalyst, characters that have been affected in very different and disturbing ways, and quite a few mysteries that are either half resolved or just left hanging.  

Zoe's interactions with other characters range from instant bonding to awkward, and she seems lost and confused for quite a lot of the book.  Nevertheless I found her an easy character to connect with because she isn't an instant action hero, helpless bimbo or overly emotional.  There are many other characters, most appearing fleetingly and some dying pretty gruesome deaths, and whilst some are memorable, others are very difficult to like or sympathise with.

When I purchased White Horse, it was listed as a stand-alone, but a sequel is now in the works, and I'm not quite sure how I feel about that.  Although the ending doesn't resolve everything, it felt like a natural ending to the story and that everything that came after was left up to my imagination, but knowing there is a second book just makes the ending feel far too rushed without making me want to stalk the next book on release day.

I feel like I'm being incredibly negative, but I actually really liked this book - I enjoyed the juxtaposition between the dreamy pace and language and the dirty side of humanity, I liked that the amount of world-building was appropriate to the main characters reactions and level of interest, that the characters don't fall into stereotypes and there wasn't even a sniff of a love triangle.

Top Ten Tuesday: Best Covers of Books I've Read

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature hosted by The Broke and The Bookish. I heart lists!

1) In the Shadow of Blackbirds by Cat Winters
I wasn't 100% sure about this cover when I first saw it, but it's so closely connected to the book that by the end I was more than a little bit in love with it.

2) Angelfall (Penryn and the End of Days #1) by Susan Ee
I'm not the biggest fan of faces (or even people for that matter on covers), and nearly every single angel book ever has a person/couple/big fluffy wings on it.  I love that Angelfall has wings and they stand out, but they also look kinda gritty and dark too.

3) The First Days (As the World Dies #1) by Rhiannon Frater
There's several different covers to this book, but I love this one the most - it feels dark without being too intense, and even though there's two women on the cover they aren't too prominent.

4) Zombie, Ohio by Scott Kenemore
I love the use of the highway sign with the blood smear - how zombie is this one?!

5) Swan Song by Robert McCammon
One of my favourite books and favourite covers - I love the colours, the ruined buildings in the background and yet it's quite understated.

6) Afterlight (Last Light #2) by Alex Scarrow
Apart from the dead trees and the polluted stream, I love the faded, distressed effect of this cover - it perfectly fits the story too.

7) Meat by Joseph D'Lacey
It may be 'just' a bloody meat hook, but it's a huge part of the story too.  This is how I like my horror covers!

8) Anna Dressed in Blood (Anna #1) by Kendare Blake
It was a toss up between the first and second book covers in this series, but in the end the muted colours with the red highlights won me over.

9) Dead of Night (Dead of Night #1) by Jonathan Maberry
More orange!  There's a definite theme here, but I love the creepy hands, the fonts and its one of those covers that FEELS awesome too.

10) The Lifeboat by Charlotte Rogan
*gasp* not a ruined landscape, but instead a lifeboat adrift.  I love the colour and the simplicity.

So, it appears my taste in covers is pretty dark.  And in ten covers there are only three characters with people on them - and not a single facial close up or weird coloured eyes.  I rest my case.

What are your favourite covers?

Book Blogger Confessions: Extra Reviewers

Hosted by For What It's Worth and Midnyte Reader, Book Blogger Confessions is a bi-weekly feature where bloggers confess all about blogging or bookish topics.

Have you added or considered adding additional reviewers to your blog? Why or why not? If you have, please share how you found the right match when bringing new people to your established blog. Did you encounter any problems? 

Last year I put out a call for associate reviewers, and I was really lucky to find Ashley from the Bibliophile's Corner.  At the time I was feeling quite stressed out by book blogging and was looking for someone to help me out occasionally with reviews without having a set commitment.  I know a lot of people don't want to collaborate with someone that already has a blog, but it wasn't an issue for me.

It took a lot for me to admit that I needed help and I was really unsure about having an associate reviewer, but one thing that every reader has in common is a love of books and after a while I wondered why I was so worried - as well as relieving a bit of stress it's FUN.

Over time, what we have done together on my blog has evolved, and in the past few months we have focused more on dual reviews - we read the same book and write our individual reviews which are combined in one post.  It's a fun way to see two opinions side by side, especially as sometimes we completely agree and other times we are at completely different ends of the scale.

When Ashley first contacted me and I checked out her blog, I knew we'd be a good match.  Our tastes are somewhat similar but not exactly, so we have common ground but there's a lot of books Ashley reads that I haven't heard of before, or considered reading, and I'm sure it goes both ways.  It was a pure gut feeling, and it's worked out perfectly.

Bout of Books 7.0 Wrap Up

The Bout of Books read-a-thon is organized by Amanda @ On a Book Bender and Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal. It is a week long read-a-thon that begins 12:01am Monday, May 13th and runs through Sunday, May 19th in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low-pressure, and the only reading competition is between you and your usual number of books read in a week. There are challenges, giveaways, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional. For all Bout of Books 7.0 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. - From the Bout of Books team.

Well it's all over bar the wrap-ups, but this was definitely one of the best Bout of Books that I've participated in.

Highlights of the week:

Participating in two Twitter chats and meeting loads of awesome bloggers.

Discovering loads of blogs through the daily link ups.

Finishing four books - no mean feat considering I'd been in a huge reading slump.

The Final Stats:

Books read: 4 - Matterhorn by Karl Marlantes, The Night Lives On by Walter Lord, OCD Love Story by Corey Ann Haydu & The Program (Program #1) by Suzanne Young

Total pages read: 1685

Next time: I'm going to try starting without a list of books, considering I started this BoB with 7 specific books and only finished one of them!

Showcase Sunday #38

Showcase Sunday is hosted by the fabulous Vicky at Books, Biscuits and Tea and is all about sharing our new books - beg, borrowed or bought.

The restraint continues!  I'm not purposefully trying to not buy books, but my bank account cries every time I even THINK about it.  But fear not, I've still got some awesome sounding books!

Gated by Amy Christine Parker (thanks to Random House Childrens)
Leap of Faith by Jamie Blair (thanks to Simon & Schuster)
Mother, Mother by Koren Zailckas (thanks to Crown Publishing)

Review: September Girls by Bennett Madison

September Girls by Bennett Madison 

Expected Publication: 21 May 2013 by HarperTeen

Pages: 256 (hardcover)

Genre/s: Young Adult, Fantasy

Source: Publisher for review

Synopsis

When Sam's dad whisks him and his brother off to a remote beach town for the summer, he's all for it-- at first. Sam soon realizes, though, that this place is anything but ordinary. Time seems to slow down around here, and everywhere he looks, there are beautiful blond girls. Girls who seem inexplicably drawn to him.

Then Sam meets DeeDee, one of the Girls, and she's different from the others. Just as he starts to fall for her, she pulls away, leaving him more confused than ever. He knows that if he's going to get her back, he'll have to uncover the secret of this beach and the girls who live here.

My Thoughts


The first thing that attracted me to September Girls was the cover.  Despite the fact that coupled with the synopsis it strongly hinted at a mermaid story, which I have pretty mixed feelings about, it also sounded kinda mysterious too, which was an added drawcard.

The very first thing that struck me about the book was the language.  Not necessarily the swearing (I've got the mouth of a sailor so I can't really be that judgmental , but the mismatch between the dialogue and the story itself.  The language is quite lyrical and literary in parts, but the dialogue just made me think of chavs.  If you don't know what chavs are, you should totally Google them (if nothing else, it's great for a pick-me-up giggle).  And once I noticed that mismatch it really grated on me.

The characters try to be individual  but when it came to Sam and his brother and parents it felt like they were trying all a little bit too hard.  There's something of a mystery about Sam's mother which is never completely explained, and his brother is such a stereotype and goes from best-buddy-brother to almost non-existent, even before there is a good reason behind it.

Sam himself really wasn't very individual or memorable, and I think if I had found him more appealing I would have enjoyed September Girls much more.  After all, he's the main character, and it's his story, yet he almost fades into the background.

There's also a huge lull in the middle, where I was waiting for something to happen for what felt like 200 pages of back and forth, something bordering on insta-love, and a family dynamic that really just didn't mesh.

However, I was totally intrigued about the Girls.   Their POV is a gradual reveal rather than an information dump, and the writing of it is almost poetic.  I also liked that the ending was more open than a happily ever after story.

Overall, I'm completed conflicted about this book.  There were parts that I loved, such as the POV of the Girls themselves, parts that I was completely ambivalent about, such as the interactions between Sam and his family, and parts that frustrated me, such as Sam's plodding personality.  There are flashes of brilliance but there were just too many mismatches for me.