lcmarie19's reviews
2173 reviews

Gahhhh I hate Ruby, but I love her at the same damn time! For about two-thirds of the book, I really did not like her. But the final third turned me onto her a bit more. The character development in this story was AMAZING! Chubs, Zu, and Liam were fantastic together. Ruby was way more tolerable around them.

She had too much of a "woe is me" attitude about herself and it got old really fast but, like I said, I got over it around the final third of the book.

The ending damn near KILLED me and I am SO glad that the second book is coming out soon! So many loose ends to tie up.

All I have to say is LIAM, LIAM, LIAM... What a wonderfully naive, yet amazing boy. Can't wait to see more of him in the next book as well!

I highly recommend this book.

Very enlightening. Made me think about how I see art and also how I see myself in the realm of creativity. Didn't agree with EVERYTHING that was said, but I'd say about 80% of it was spot on for me.

Madeleine actually shares the exact same perspective as I do when it comes to labeling one self, as per societal standards. It's unnecessary. You don't want to box yourself into a corner that you can't get out of. Nor do you want to run the risk of excluding various audience members due to said unnecessary labels.

Personally, most of my enlightenment came in the first half of the book. The second half got a tiny bit repetitive, which wasn't a big problem, but it didn't hit home for me as well as the first half did.

Overall, it was a good read. One that I think ALL creative types (writers, composers, artists, etc.) should read. It's amazing how we do notice how we unintentionally slip into roles that aren't necessarily aiding us in becoming the best that we can be. This book definitely calls you on those things, in a compassionate way, and makes you do a bit of soul searching.

AMAZING story! Great pace and a quick read. I absolutely LOVED Callum and Wren's developing relationship! The plotline was very entertaining. I will admit, as it looked like the story was ending, I was puzzled as to what would warrant a continuation. But when I finally got to the end of the book, I said "oh.". With that being said, I am very interested to see what the next book has in store for us!

OMG! This book was fantastic! And it was one Book One! I need to buy the rest of the series! Such great story and the characters were SO awesome. It's almost like a Vampiric version of Mean Girls. But the paranormal aspect to it makes it that much more intriguing. I love Dimitri from the start! Very brooding, silent type. Rose is a gung-ho kick ass girl, who sometimes got on my nerves with her sporatic tendencies. Lissa was a character that I had to warm up to. But towards the last third of the book, I liked her a lot more. Surprise favorite character is definitely Christian, but I knew I would end up liking him. He didn't take ANYONE'S crap. A few jaw dropping shockers towards the end of the book, at least for me. And I loved it! Can't wait for book two!

THIS BOOK IS AMAZING!!! I read it in 12 hours! Such great characters. Such great world building! Camp Halfblood ROCKS (in the "only when Percy is there" kind of way). I enjoyed watching Percy learn about who he is AND seeing his interactions with the gods.

His disobedience and smart mouth was my favorite part of the book. He refused to let ANYONE pit him against what he felt was right.

The plot of the book was genius. It was almost like a mystery novel, trying to figure out "whodunnit". And when you see how it all unfolds, you're like "Whoa! This is awesome!"

Cannot wait to read Book 2!

I don't even know what to frickin' feel. I'm reeling from this book. It was SO good! I was on the edge of my seat. This book held me by my heartstrings and REFUSED to let go!

The characters were FLAWLESS! And real and funny and infuriating and passionate. And EVERYTHING!

The fact that Sarah Rees Brennan could keep me intrigued, keep me guessing, and keep me questioning is pure brilliance. I NEVER for one second could say I knew what was going on until it was finally revealed to me. And when it was revealed, it was a SHOCK.

I was utterly in love with this story and felt myself being pulled into it that it was difficult to bring myself back to reality.

Bring on Book 2 because the ending of Book 1 did NOT suffice. I MUST know more!

OMG. OMG. OMG. I am in awe.

Neal Shusterman, you are a BRILLIANT author. You are genius. You are amazing. You are SICK! You are insane! You are touched in the head!

And I loved every minute of it.

I was hooked on this book from the very beginning. I remember thinking, once I hit page six, "Wow, I already can't put this book down!". The world that was painted before me was absolutely jaw-dropping and I NEVER want to live in it. EVER. Neal did a fabulous job telling the story of a world that I refuse to associate with. He did his job.

Unwinding your children?! Who the eff does something like that?! How is that even an ethical practice? I debated with the happenings in this books constantly. I felt all of the emotions and the feels that I was supposed to experience. At the time that I was supposed to experience them. This book was intense. Truly intense.

Let's talk about these characters -- I loved ALL of them. Even the ones I hated, I loved hating them! Risa, Connor, Lev, Roland, CyFy, Mai, Hayden, everyone! They played crucial roles in this plot and had excellent character development. I loved seeing the growth in Connor and Lev. Truly wonderful to witness. Connor's transformation was slow, yet paced perfectly. But Lev's transformation was what threw me over the edge with this book. To know where he came from and what his beliefs were, and to see where he ended up by the conclusion of the book? Brilliantly done.

There are SO many real life correlations in this book. And honestly, I can see almost everything as a metaphor for reality in some way. Granted, I'm past the age of ever needing to worry about being "unwound", but I related to Risa, to Connor, to Lev, to CyFy -- to so many of these characters on a personal level. At one point in our lives, I'm sure we've all felt some inkling of what they were feeling throughout this book. It may not have been to the same extent, but I could definitely remember a time where I felt cornered, or neglected, or unwanted... whatever the occasion. Neal Shusterman did a PHENOMENAL job portraying those emotions.

ROLAND! My goodness, Roland! I dislike that boy with a fierce and fiery passion, but I was heartbroken over what happened to him. I sat with my mouth agape and my face smothered in tears. I had to stop reading. I put the book down and called a friend. I couldn't handle the emotions that experience brought to me. I'm so glad that Neal put it in there, though. I really think it made the book THAT much better. Especially after knowing what Connor gets from Roland in the end. And Risa's response to that, just made me cry even harder.

The relationship between Connor and Risa developed at a perfect pace and blossomed into something that I greatly approve of. I can only read on to see what happens with them next!

I am ready to continue the adventure with Book Two. Especially with the knowledge of Risa, Connor, and Lev -- their situations prompt TONS of questions and I cannot wait to see how this unfolds.

I really enjoyed this book. Westerfeld is definitely one of the more creative authors that I've come across. His ability to paint a picture of a world where machines and animals (Clankers and Darwinists) co-exist during wartime? I mean, WHO thinks of that?! Westerfeld, that's who. And he's brilliant at it.

Right off the bat, I can tell you that this is not meant to be a fast-paced story. It builds and is very detail-oriented. Westefeld and Keith Thompson, who illustrated the novel, had to work together to bring us visuals that depicted Scott's mind child that is the Leviathan. I guarantee you, that without these illustrations, you wouldn't have been able to picture these machines and the animal fabrications. The story was woven together beautifully with pictures and plot that showed how two very different characters come together. And how their lives overlap.

We are introduced to Alek, a teenage royal boy. His upbringing was very affluent, but he's a victim of his circumstances. His family encounters a tragic end, forcing Alek to run. To avoid being killed-by the enemy and by his own people. His parents left him in quite the sticky situation, but luckily he is kept in check by two close family advisers, Klopp and Volger. Alek discovers a life-altering secret about himself that sends his life on a whirlwind. As the story progresses, we learn how important he really is to the war.

At first, I'm not too sure about Volger. He was quite upsetting to me, mainly because I didn't understand his motives for why he treated Alek the way that he did. We, of course, later find out why and then it begins to make sense, but it still left a bitter taste in my mouth for a bit. Klopp was a pretty likable guy from the beginning, definitely an immediate ally of Alek, when I wasn't sure about Volger.

Then there's Deryn, a young British airman, whose biological makeup (she's actually a girl) should actually prevent her from being able to join the military. She was born to fly and it's been a lifelong passion of hers. So because of that passion, she decides to disguise herself as a boy (with the help of her brother, Jaspert). Her adventure in the military begins, but she MUST protect her secret at all costs.

I really like that Westefeld alternated between perspectives every couple of chapters. It gave a broader understanding of the plot, as well as to how the society functioned. While we are on both Alek's and Deryn's journeys as youngsters during wartime, there is also the subplot of two systems existing together, but not really working together (i.e. Clankers vs. Darwinists).

Deryn is a Darwinist, while Alek is a Clanker. Their understandings of how the world works are very different from each other, so when they first meet, there's a bit of tension. Between being attacked by Germans (their common enemy), hunger, injury, etc., they learn how to work together and combine their knowledge and resources.

One of the supporting characters, Dr. Barlow, was introduced into the story through Deryn's storyline and I wasn't quite sure what to make of her. Only that she was an important diplomat that needed to be transported by the military. But by the end of the book, it becomes a bit clearer who Dr. Barlow is and what her role is in all of the chaos.

The book ends on a very satisfactory notes that allows proper closure (at least for this book, not necessarily the whole story), but it also left me with tons of questions.

Leviathan is a very detailed, very interesting book. It introduced me to a world that I NEVER could have dreamed up on my own. Not in a million years. This was my first steam punk novel and I think I like.

Ok, first of all, what's Tana & Gavriel ship name??! I need one NOW! Tanvriel? Gavrana?! What?! I LOVED them together! They made the entire story for me. All the feels. All the creepy, intense feels that I got from their twisted, morbid relationship! Should it freak me out that I was feeling things during their scene together at Lucien's party where they were drinking each other's blood? I mean, how whacked out am I to have loved that scene so much?!

This world that Holly Black built was absolutely amazing. Infected, Cold, Vampire, Human. It was all so fascinating. I don't think I've ever encountered a vampire story that has affected me as much as this one has. The characters were amazing. There were SO many of them, that at times it was hard to keep up, but I was so engrossed in the story that I forced myself to remember every single character.

Let me just say that -- favorite characters? Tana, Gavriel, Jameson, Valentina. I couldn't get enough of them. And the funny part? Jameson and Valentina were supporting characters and really were only in about half of the story. That's how great of a job Holly did with their development. I really liked them by the end of the book. I also like how she made Valentina out to be more than she initially is. Great little surprise.

Now for the characters I loved to hate - Aidan, Lucien, and Midnight. Aidan was a good guy, inherently, but he just got on my nerves to the point where I was like, no I'm over it. I think it mainly had to do with the fact that I just couldn't enjoy him and Gavriel at the same time. Nothing against him as a character. Lucien was just a manipulative SOB who you couldn't trust as far you could throw him. I really enjoyed his entanglements with Gavriel, especially after learning about how their relationship came to be. And Midnight (or Jenny) was just a biatch. I didn't like her when I first met her because I could tell that her ways were going to be trouble. She didn't listen to anyone and she was rash in her decision making. So I wasn't surprised at what happened to Winter (her twin brother) and then to her. I just wanted to shake her!

Tana was a badass. I really enjoy her development and how she just had so much mercy for people, whether they were vampires, infected, etc. But of course, there were times when her gracious ways got her in trouble. People were obviously going to take advantage ** cough, cough** Aidan.

But OMG Gavriel, I want a Gavriel for myself. His story was one of the most interesting vampire stories. All I will say is that there is SO much more to him that it takes the ENTIRE book to reveal it all. And I loved it! With each uncovered secret, I kept squealing like a little girl. I just loved Gavriel and how intense he was. His relationship with Tana, from start to finish, was so much fun to read about. There are THREE major scene between them in the book that I just get SO many feels over -- when they enter the Coldtown, when they're at Lucien's party, and then at the end. I just got butterflies in my stomach from how appropriate it all was.

Gah, the feels!

I LOVED this book! I'm bummed that it's a stand alone, but I'm also happy because I don't enjoy many stand alone novels and I REALLY enjoyed this one. It ended in a place where I was satisfied, but I still wanted more. Not many authors can do that too well. But Holly nailed it.