Eigene Meinung: Cover: Düstere Farben. Ein geheimnisvolles Symbol. Ein seltsames Format. Macht mich neugierig. Will ich lesen. Auf jeden Fall ein Hingucker. Inhalt/Geschichte: Wenn ich mehrere Bücher parallel lese, so wie hier, dann schneiden die meist schlechter ab, als ein Buch, auf das ich mich voll und ganz konzentrieren kann. Doch ich glaube, hier wäre ich auch dann nicht ganz mitgerissen worden. Die Idee mit dem Virus, an dem man entweder stirbt oder es mit neuen “Kräften” überlebt, fand ich ganz nett. Doch erinnert uns das nicht ein bisschen an “Obsidian” von Armentrout, nur dass es da Außerirdische Kräfte sind? Und auch wenn das Buch das etwas offen hält, scheint der Virus ja für die Kräfte verwantwortlich zu sein. Vielleicht verändert er die DNA. Das wird aber nicht geklärt: wieso haben die überlebenden Kinder solche Kräfte? Doch vielleicht kommt das ja später in der Trilogie. Und dann die Erwachsenen? Die würden ihre Kinder so einfach as Feinde sehen? Und sie dem Staat auf Nimmerwiedersehen geben? Als Mutter kann ich das nur bezweifeln. Und was darf in einer YA-Dystopie nicht fehlen? Ja, richtig ein Love-Triangle. Aber eines der schwächsten, das ich je gelesen habe. Clansey hat meine Sympathien jedenfalls nie auf seiner Seite. Und auch wenn ich Liam mochte, waren seine Gefühle für Ruby nie nachvollziehbar. Charaktere: Die Figuren konnten mich nicht ganz überzeugen. Die Protagonistin, Ruby, stürzt irgendwie von einer “Dummheit” in die nächste. Was Liam an ihr findet, ist nicht nachvollziehbar. Liam und auch Chubs sind Rubys Freunde, die sie auf der Flucht trifft. Die beiden Jungs sind zum Knuddeln, vor allem Chubs. Und dann noch die kleine Zu. Doch irgendwie fehlt das Zwischenmenschliche. Die Beziehungen bleiben irgendwie hölzern. Stil/Gliederung: Einigen gefällt ihr Schreibstil ja nicht. Mich hat da wenig gestört. Doch auch mir sind als Nicht-Mutter-Sprachler einige grammatikalische Kuriositäten oder einfach Druckfehler aufgefallen. Und das ist jetzt immerhin das zweite Buch in Folge, wo das so drastisch auffällt. Liegt das am Lektor oder am Autor? Ich weiß nicht, aber auf jeden Fall gab es das früher so nicht. Fazit: Leider überzeigt mich dieses Buch nicht ganz. Die Idee an sich hatte Potential, aber die Umsetzung und die Charakterinteraktion konnten mich dann nicht ganz überzeugen. Das wirkte alles noch nicht ganz ausgereift. Da ich Liam aber doch mochte und ich neugierig bin, ob er in den nächsten Teilen weiter vorkommt und wie es weiter mit ihm geht, werde ich mir wohl zu Weihnachten den nächsten Teil wünschen. Dann habe ich genug Abstand :-).

Honestly, I don't even know where to begin. How about by adding another book-boyfriend to my endlessly growing list? Sounds like a good plan, right? Soooo ... Welcome, Liam Stewart, please enjoy your stay! No, seriously though, Alexandra Bracken is simply amazing. I only heard good about this series and therefore I was a bit sceptical because of all the hype around it but I can gladly say that it didn't disappoint! At first, the story is a little bit slow and confusing because the author introduces a loooot in just a few chapters. All the abilities and colors weren't that easy to differ in the beginning, at least for me. But once everything picks up on pace it gets so much better! Alexandra managed to pull me completely into the story and made me so excited and curious for EVERYTHING. "The Darkest Minds tend to hide behind the most unlikely faces." The characters, for example, are all brilliant! I immediately liked Ruby and loved her even more, when she finally stood up for herself and got stronger. She was a shy, little girl in the beginning and was just too scared to do something about her situation but once she meets Liam and the others, she's awesome! She's brave and wants to protect the people she loves, no matter what! Then we have Liam, Chubs and Zu. I freaking looooove them! Liam is such an amazing human being with a big heart, who wants to protect and safe everyone and who also always seeks the good in people - that can be a positive thing but could also be dangerous, oh well. He's the leader of their little group but still worships and values everyone's opinion, which only made me like him more. Chubs is the clever one, mostly grumpy and/or annoyed by everything and everyone but equally awesome! Especially towards the end I loved him loads and just wanted to hug him to death. The same goes for Zu - she was always quiet but totally fascinating with her ability and also really cute! "Ruby, give me one reason why we can’t be together, and I’ll give you a hundred why we can. We can go anywhere you want. I’m not your parents. I’m not going to abandon you or send you away, not ever." Like I mentioned before, after the slow start it's all action-packed and fast-paced and you just rush through the pages. The "villains" of the book are ... confusing? No, I don't really know. I guess I'm just suspicious of everyone, now that I finished it. I really want to mention one specific person ... I kind of believed him at first because he seemed nice and honest but then again I never trusted him. How could you ever trust someone who's capable of playing you the way he wants you - without you even noticing it? Exactly. You can't. Not really. And the ending itself ... oh my god. That completely ruined me. I was a wreck. It was a rollercoaster of emotions and I still don't fully believe what I just read. I understood why certain things had to be done but that doesn't make them any less awful or sad. I'm just soooo curious for the second book now! I need answers! Good ones. Soon. "Never, never, never. I am never going to forget you." I guess I don't really have to say how much I'd recommend the book? In case you haven't read it, just go and buy it. Don't read too many reviews - read it without too high expectations or knowledge of what it is about and you'll love it! It's definitely a promising start and I can't wait to find out more about the world, the characters and the "villains" in the next book! www.aworldbetweenfoldedpages.blogspot.com

As far as world-building goes, this novel is top notch. I really enjoyed how realistic it was, the "downfall" of society was only 6 years ago and the world the story presented was very believable. The Situation made sense, I understood the way people reacted, how some were afraid of their own children and even handed them over themselves. The characters were sadly quite plain in comparison to the world. I enjoyed the diversity they presented, although saying Zu was "asian" isn't a very specific description, but with only one out of the four main kids being white that is quite diverse. Zu is the most interesting character to me and she doesn't even speak. We get to hear all of Ruby's inner working and I still thought she was kinda boring and not easily understood. I enjoyed her at first, because we rarely ever get mains that aren't immediately brave and ready to save the world in some way. Her reluctance made her more approachable to me. I don't think I would have been as harsh on her, had she not been lovestruck after like two weeks of hanging with her new friends. They really address it later in the book, that she only knew him for such a short time. I'm not really gonna comment on the other possible romance they push her into, because that felt even more forced and weird and this whole other character basically felt uncomfortable to me. If you read the book, you know what I mean. It was really hard for me though, cause I really enjoyed that character at first, I felt really connected and wanted to know more, but well. Everything around that character felt forced and too fast, just saying. Overall I gotta say I feel zero motivation to continue with the series. I thought I'd watch the movie and continue with the series if I liked that, but turns out I didn't even feel like watchman that so I guess this is a done deal now. I might try getting into the authors other works, since I really enjoyed her writing style and world building and I heard great things about the Passenger Duology.

I had quite a good beginning of the new year - in sense of books.This book really caught me, sucked me in and spit me out with a broken heart. I wonder how I haven't read it before, I just recently saw a lot about it on my Tumblr dash and just had to get my hands on it - I'm very glad I did! At first, I was a little bit reminded of The Darkest Powers series by Kelley Armstrong (which is honestly amazing, go check it out!). First, the name of the book and then some parts of the plot are quite similar. A girl, in a facility with other teenagers and they all have a special kind of power. Parents who think that their kids get treated for just some sickness and who think their kids are in good hands. An escape. But basically, that's where the similarity ends because they both go in very different directions, positively spoken. The book's names of the whole series form a sentence. "The Darkest Minds", first book. Then "Never Fade", second book. "In Time", an e-book novel that isn't necessary to the story. And then the third book, but the title hasn't been released yet. I really like that, just imagine how amazing it'll look on your shelf when you have all books? I love the idea. Alexandra Bracken's writing style is just amazing, unique even. It is thrilling and somehow poetic, the way she described the world and the characters. It got me hooked really quickly and it still hasn't let me go. There was even a scene that had me crying - and I usually don't cry. I'm a very unemotional person so that means something, right? Looking back now, the characters are probably the best about the whole book. A book can survive with a bad story if it has amazing characters but it can't if it has a good plot and boring, flat characters. If the book has amazing characters AND a good plot, it can be a good book, a fantastic book. The Darkest Minds belongs to the third category, without a doubt! There are many positive aspects about this book that are worth mentioning. For example, we know exactly how the situation is in other countries. I've heard a lot of complaining about this, that it was never mentioned how other countries are doing or if they're even affected by the catastrophe claiming the USA. In this book, it was clearly stated that the crisis only affected the USA and that other countries keep their borders up to keep the USA out. Furthermore there are so many funny and remarkable quotes, most coming from Chubs (whom I have fallen in love with) and just an overall humorous atmosphere when it was just the kids being together. I really liked that. This book amazed me, I really liked it and I would totally recommend to read it, if you haven't already! I cannot wait to read Never Fade soon! Visit my blog: http://chaoticbookworld.blogspot.de/

I can't believe how this book ended. I mean, I'm not surprised or something, this book was published back in cliffhanger-all-the-way-time. But! I still am a bit broken because it was sad, but understandable, but sad .... And I now have the feeling that this was just one huge long prologue for the other books. Now we know enough to continue into the series. I'm excited to see how Ruby will change and what she'll become. I have to admit that it was predictable in a lot of things, but it didn't matter that much for me, I know what I was going into and like that the details are making this book special. For example the characters. I liked Liam so much, I'm now torn between him and Peeta as my favorite male protagonists in dystopian books. I also think that I was a lot like Chups in my teenage years (that sounds so old, haha) and he was the one I liked the least in the beginning - ups. How am I supposed to be a good person now and don't spend a lot of money on the other books?!