Need by Carrie Jones Review

Need

Carrie Jones

306 pages

 

               Zara White hasn't been herself since her father died. She has become obsessed with phobias, and shipped off to Maine to live with her grandmother. Zara is convinced someone is following her, and soon after she discovers her suspicions are true-someone is in fact stalking her, leaving behind a trail of gold dust wherever they go. Additionally, teenage boys start to mysteriously dissappear around town. There is something not quite right about this isolated Maine town, and Zara is determined to get to the bottom of it with the help of her friends Izzy, Devon and Nick, despite her grandmother's warnings to stop hunting for clues.

 

 

               I applaud Carrie Jones on her ability to turn a classic fairy tale and twist it around to make a compelling story about the harsh 'reality' of pixies. I loved the main character and how naive she was to her new surroundings. This book reminded me so much of Twilight. A girl from a sunny city moves out to an  isolated town with a family member who happens to be on the police force. She meets a nice boy who is willing to help her, and then proceeds to fall in love with the mysterious one in the novel. Sound familiar? I loved her grandmother. Favourite character, no doubt. She added the bit of humour to the novel to get the ball rolling and making sure the reader stays interested, even throughout the less exciting parts of the book.

 

 

If I was to change one part of the book, it would probably be the grammar. Lines like "His jaw is so straight and his eyes are so deep, like a tree where the bark is all textured." or "He doesn't move his hand off my mouth and his eyes twinkle like he thinks I am so amusing. I am not amusing," had me a little frustrated. If Carrie Jones had  used better dialoge, this book would have been 10x better.

 

 

I would rate this book 4/5 stars. Overall, I loved the plot, but the writing had a few errors that really needed to be fixed. I would suggest this book to young adult readers who enjoy fairy tales in real life situations. I am excited to read the sequels and I will try to post a review when I do.

 

-Claire ♥

The Giver by Lois Lowry Review

The Giver

Lois Lowry

179 pages

 



 

 

                Jonas lives in what seems to be a perfect world. There are no wars. There is no hunger. There is no poverty. There are no choices. When Jonas turns 12 years old, he is specially selected to receive training from The Giver. The Giver's job is to transmit memories to Jonas which he will carry for the rest of his life. Little does Jonas know, there is no turning back.

 

               I read this book for a language class, similar to my review of Never to be Told by Becky Citra . It was really good even from the start, despite being a bit confusing. As you got deeper and deeper into the story, more information was uncovered and the more the story made sense. I loved how the author really made you think and infer a lot of the information in the book. My favourite part of the novel was when The Giver was transferring all the memories to Jonas because of how detailed they were. In my point of view, the more details in the story, the more believable it is! All the minor parts really made the story come alive.

 

              If I had to change one part of the novel, I would definitely have a concrete ending instead of an open ending. I prefer closure to books, and Lois Lowry unquestionably left her readers with a cliff-hanger! The ending to this book played with your heart strings and made you feel the emotions  of the characters in the book, and these are the books I like to read!

 

I would rate this book 4.5/5 stars. I loved this book so much, and the only thing keeping this novel from getting 5 stars was merely opinion. I recommend this book to young adult readers of all genders, maybe looking for a light read, but also looking for a high-drama novel. I really do hope Lois Lowry writes a sequel and finishes off the story.

 

-Claire ♥