Kindred Reads {12}

Kindred Reads is my weekly feature highlighting YA book recommendations based on their similarities to each other. Each week a theme or idea is chosen, and a few books will be highlighted for dealing with that theme.
This week's theme: Revolutionary dystopian heroines
I LITERALLY mean revolutionary for this one. These girls all end up breaking out of society's expectations for them and end up fighting against the society for what they believe in.

Eve (Eve #1) by Anna Carey
The year is 2032, sixteen years after a deadly virus—and the vaccine intended to protect against it—wiped out most of the earth’s population. The night before eighteen-year-old Eve’s graduation from her all-girls school she discovers what really happens to new graduates, and the horrifying fate that awaits her.

Fleeing the only home she’s ever known, Eve sets off on a long, treacherous journey, searching for a place she can survive. Along the way she encounters Caleb, a rough, rebellious boy living in the wild. Separated from men her whole life, Eve has been taught to fear them, but Caleb slowly wins her trust...and her heart. He promises to protect her, but when soldiers begin hunting them, Eve must choose between true love and her life.

My review for Eve.

Delirium (Delirium #1) by Lauren Oliver
Before scientists found the cure, people thought love was a good thing. They didn’t understand that once love -- the deliria -- blooms in your blood, there is no escaping its hold. Things are different now. Scientists are able to eradicate love, and the government demands that all citizens receive the cure upon turning eighteen. Lena Holoway has always looked forward to the day when she’ll be cured. A life without love is a life without pain: safe, measured, predictable, and happy.

But with ninety-five days left until her treatment, Lena does the unthinkable: She falls in love.

My review for the audiobook of Delirium.

Matched (Matched #1) by Ally Condie
Cassia has always trusted the Society to make the right choices for her: what to read, what to watch, what to believe. So when Xander's face appears on-screen at her Matching ceremony, Cassia knows with complete certainty that he is her ideal mate... until she sees Ky Markham's face flash for an instant before the screen fades to black.

The Society tells her it's a glitch, a rare malfunction, and that she should focus on the happy life she's destined to lead with Xander. But Cassia can't stop thinking about Ky, and as they slowly fall in love, Cassia begins to doubt the Society's infallibility and is faced with an impossible choice: between Xander and Ky, between the only life she's known and a path that no one else has dared to follow.

My review for Crossed (Matched #2).

All three of these books have strong lead female protaganists who ultimately make a decision that will not only change thier lives, but the future of their society altogether. If you're a fan of stories like this, then make sure to check out all three for more! (Although I have to say that Delirium is my favourite by far!) So, so good.

Let me know what you think of any or all of these books if you've read them!

Crossed

Crossed (Matched #2) by Ally Condie
Release Date: November 1, 2011
Penguin: Dutton Juvenile
ISBN13: 9780525423652

5/5 Stars!

Goodreads Synopsis:
In search of a future that may not exist and faced with the decision of who to share it with, Cassia journeys to the Outer Provinces in pursuit of Ky - taken by the Society to his certain death - only to find that he has escaped, leaving a series of clues in his wake.

Cassia's quest leads her to question much of what she holds dear, even as she finds glimmers of a different life across the border. But as Cassia nears resolve and certainty about her future with Ky, an invitation for rebellion, an unexpected betrayal, and a surprise visit from Xander - who may hold the key to the uprising and, still, to Cassia's heart - change the game once again. Nothing is as expected on the edge of Society, where crosses and double crosses make the path more twisted than ever.

So while I liked Matched, I have to say that I simply LOVED Crossed. Crossed made up for all the things I found Matched to be lacking (besides more Xander. There can never be enough Xander).

First of all, I think Ally Condie is a brilliant writer. She really is able to capture ambience with words, and she sets up Crossed with such an atmosphere of lost hope and desparate dreams that it's almost overpowering. And unlike Matched, there's even more action and adventure in Crossed (although I'm not sure I'd quite classify it as being action-packed yet).

But my favourite part about Crossed was Ky. I confess, he has finally grown on me a little bit. In Matched, I barely saw the appeal in Ky over Xander, besides the fact that it was forbidden and therefore appealling. But in Crossed, we finally get to know Ky a bit more and he really is sympathetic. And I have to praise Condie for finally creating a real love triangle; one where both boys are appealing in their own way, and neither one stands out as a total jerk.

Plus, the chapters from Ky's perspective are filled with the most beautiful descriptions of love. He is such a hopeful, strong character and completely atypical from most YA love interests. And this brings up so many questions about what loving someone means; and as Crossed asks, is it better that the person you love be safe or have a choice? It isn't as easy to answer that as you might initially think.

The one thing that can make it difficult to follow along with is that the overlap chronology of the two POVs can make it hard to follow; there were times when it took me a few pages and some rereading to understand that Cassia's chapter began in the middle of the previous Ky chapter.

Regardless, Crossed is the perfect set up for the final book, which I am so incredibly anxious for now!

ARC received from Penguin Canada; no other compensation was received for my review.

Kindred Reads {7}

Kindred Reads is my weekly feature where I recommend similar books. There's a mix of popular books, and fairly unknown authors and indie books as well. This is something that I personally wish I saw more of; after reading a book I enjoy, I often want to read similar books but they can be hard to discover!

These books contain similar elements, whether it's content, writing style, or other themes found in the stories. They are always books which I have read, and clicking on the title of the book will take you to my review of that book.

If you like... Delirium by Lauren Oliver

Then you might want to read...

Matched by Ally Condie

I want to make it clear that I was really hesitant to compare any books to Delirium, simply because of how much I love it and how I really don't think there's anything quite like it. But I can say that about any books I truly, deeply love (including the Hunger Games) and sometimes that just doesn't feel like a fair comparison.

But I do think that some books out there share similar charactersitics, and I found Matched and Delirium to be two books like that. At a very basic level, and on the surface as well, they're similar books although their exexcution is very different. These are stories of literally forbidden love; a dysoptian world where the government controls everything right down to their conception of love. It isn't fair, and it's up to the characters to decide how much their willing to fight for it.

Eve by Anna Carey

As soon as my review goes up, you'll see that I didn't love Eve. But I didn't hate it either. To me, it really felt like a Delirium story that just fell... flat. There wasn't quite as much passion, but it's the same idea of overprotected girl meets rebellious boy, but it just really isn't done as well. But if you're as much of a fan as I am of these kinds of stories, then it's worth a read even just to satisfy your hunger for more of it (and while you're anxiously awaiting Pandemonium... ahem).