The Farm

The Farm

Written by Emily Mckay

About The Author
Emily Mckay has an English degree from the Texas A&M University. After finishing college, she went onto teach literature to middle school students, teaching them how to appreciate it. After following the advice "Write what you love to read" she began to look back on the so many romance novels she had read in the past, and decided to give up teaching to write full time.

The Story
In "The Before", Lily and Mel were just an ordinary pair of twin sisters, with a little more to tackle in life than others. Mel was suffering from Autism, whilst Lily tried her hardest to take care of her. After a genetic "accident" outbreak causes humans to mutate into monsters known as Ticks, they drive away the citizens of America, all teenagers are sent to "Farms". These "Farms" are situated in every state of America holding young people, donating teenagers blood every week to feed the Ticks living on the outside of the Farm fences.
Carter is an old friend of Lily's. When he arrives on the farm, Lily is a little cautious about Carter and doesn't want to warm to him as much as he wishes. When Carter discovers Lily's plan to escape the farm with Mel in tow, he offers to help her whilst requesting assistance from his very strong, very fast vampire military officer, Sebastian. With the Farm Dean chasing them down every road, and monstrous Ticks in tow at every turn, it is fight for safety or die trying.
Will Lily and Mel make it out of the Farm alive and safely to the border of Canada? Or will they get tracked by the Ticks and eaten alive?

Characterisation
A fine group of characters are built into this story and made to mix perfectly:

• Lily - Lead female protagonist, twin sister of Mel, fighting for survival in the dystopian world, and suspected human Abducturae
• Mel - Lily's twin sister, suffering from Autism and always talking in nursery rhymes.
• Carter - Lily's old friend and high school crush in "The Before". He was sent to military school after stealing his fathers car.
• Joe - Another friend of Lily's from school, he also lives on the farm and sells survival equipment to fellow teens.
• Sebastian - A Military officer and intimidating vampire, leading Carter and fellow military staff to farms around the country searching for his Abducturae.

When Lily and Mel were sent to the Farm in order to escape the Ticks, their mother made Lily promise to keep Mel safe at all times. Mel has always suffered badly with autism, and when she was younger, she went through a phase of talking in nursery rhymes, which has recently resurfaced. Lily can't seem to understand why, but has a feeling it's because of the situation they have found themselves in.
Lily and Mel have both been on the Farm for the last 6 months, and are ready to fight their way to to Canada. Canada has since closed the border due to the infection and Lily has a feeling the Ticks wont follow them.
Carter is an old friend of Lily's from The Before. After attending high school for a while together Carter got himself into a lot of trouble after stealing his fathers very expensive car. He was caught by the police, charged and sent to military school. After meeting Sebastian, Carter finds out that there is a being on earth known as an "Abducturae", who is able to control the thoughts and feelings of the people around them, and also unintentionally manipulating other peoples emotions in accordance with the Abducturae's own. After hearing this from Sebastian, Carter has a feeling that Lily may be the one they are looking for, and so the search for Lily begins.

Plot Lines
Whilst reading The Farm, I noticed that the story was constantly going up and up. It never seemed to reach a point in which you needed to read a little while before an event began. From meeting Lily and Mel, the story goes into Lily beginning to put her escape plan into action, and then Carter is introduced into the story. After this an action escape is performed, however Lily and Mel fail, we them meet someone new. But after all this, the story is constantly on the go, never slowing down. Its a constant survival in the story, and so things cant slow down for a second.
The highest point in the storyline, the part that had me hooked to the page, was when Carter explains to Lily what an Abducturae is, and how he thinks she is connected to it. We start to learn about a lot of important and key points in the story. The points in the story which brings everything together as one huge story. Roberto, the Vampire leader in the States, is mentioned and explained into the story and how he links with the Abducturae theory.
Its a simple part of the story, but you are learning about everything together and realising the point to the story. You learn how Ticks become indestructible and how an Abducturae could change all of that.

OVERALL

Story: 8/10

Characterisation: 7/10

Re-readable: Yes 

Recommendable: Yes 

Overall I rate this book: 8/10

Over the past few years I have read a variety of different genres when it came to picking the perfect books to share with friends. Also over the years, when being given a book as a gift on a special occasion people never know what to get me in specific, and so they usually would look at a cover of a book and debate whether or not it would be something I would read. A few years ago all I would read were Fantasy and Vampire Fiction, typical teenage girl novels. And so people would buy me something to do with that. But after changing my taste and reading more widely I still allow myself to be attracted to a cover of a book to decide what I want to read. After seeing The Farm sitting on a shelf in a store, I was immediately attracted to it. I don't know what it was exactly, but once I had read the blurb I was hooked.
In no way does the book mention Vampires, or romance, or Fantasy or anything along those lines. But one I started I noticed that all three of those things were involved. Even though it wasn't your typical Vampire novel, whether you like sparkles or not, it wasn't a vampire romance.  It has a small love story, and a separate fantasy feel to it.

I would recommend this book to fans of Fantasy/Young Fiction readers.

The Fault In Our Stars

The Fault In Our Stars
Written by John Green

"I can't be a regular teenager... I'm a grenade waiting to go off."

About the Author
John Green grew up in Orlando, Florida, and after graduating Kenyon College in 2000, he went onto work with terminally ill children. His work with these youngsters inspired him to write The Fault In Our Stars.
He moved to Chicago where he worked as a Publishing Assistant whilst working on his novel Looking For Alaska. Green is also a online Vlogger and Educationalist.

The Story
The Fault In Our Stars is the story of Hazel Grace, 16 year old cancer patient from Indiana and her struggle against the monsters inside her body. She was diagnosed with Stage 4 Thyroid Cancer when she was only 13 years old. Hazels mother pushes her to attend group therapy meetings every week, and that is where she meets Augustus "Gus" Waters. Gus was a former basketball star who lost his right leg to osteosarcoma. Gus becomes infatuated with Hazel after her first words spoken to him. He persuades Hazel to spend some time with him and watch a movie at his house, she agrees. After swapping knowledge on films and books, Hazel tells Gus about her favourite book An Imperial Affliction. After becoming obsessed with it himself he goes out of his way to try and contact the author after Hazel had tried many times in the past.
When Gus is successful, Hazel asks for the email address he discovered and writes her own letter to the famous author, Peter Van Houten. The "Genies" (Fictional version of the Make a Wish Foundation) allow sick children to have one wish to do or see whatever they want. After Hazel had wasted hers a few years earlier on Disneyland, Gus offers to use his wish to fly her to Amsterdam to meet Peter Van Houten himself.

Characterisation
Character leads in the storyline include;

• Hazel Grace Lancaster - The stories lead protagonist and main character, she also acts as the narrator, as the story is told from her point of view.
• Augustus "Gus" Waters - Male lead character, young heartthrob and cancer survivor we follow in the story.
• Isaac - Gus's blind best friend and another fellow cancer survivor.
• Peter Van Houten - One time best seller of An Imperial Affliction, Hazels idol and all around freak show of a character.

Hazel was diagnosed with cancer when she was only 13 years old, just 3 months after her first period. She lives with both her mum and dad, as she is an only child. Which in the story worries her because she classes herself as a ticking time bomb. "A grenade waiting to go off." She worries that when she does finally pass on, her parents will be unable to carry on with life without her.

Gus is in remission after losing one of his legs to osteosarcoma. He is tall, slim and very good looking, and he knows it. Gus is first intrigued by Hazel because she resembles his late ex-girlfriend Caroline Mathers. Gus uses his "Genies Wish" to allow Hazel and himself to go and meet Peter Van Houten.
Isaac is Gus's best friend. At the start of our story he has only one eye after losing it to eye cancer, but he then goes completely blind further in due to the surgery he has to remove the cancer. Isaac is dating a young lady named Monica, but he is shortly dumped by her before he goes 100% blind because she "Didn't want to dump a blind guy" Isaac assumes.
Peter Van Houten comes into our story a little later than everyone else and also plays a major part in our connection between Hazel and Gus. After Gus offers to take Hazel to Amsterdam to meet her idol, they are disappointed to find that the man that they though was so great is actually a worthless drunk, and all around horrible guy. Hazel and Gus have been portrayed in a way in which you know that no matter what good or bad things may come along in their lives, they have found a place for each other and shall be there for each other every time.

Plot Lines
One of my favourite plot lines in the story is when Hazel and Gus are first on the plane, flying over the ocean on their way to Amsterdam when Gus asks Hazel to read him the poem that she was currently reading. But she tells him it isn't the sort of poem you can read out aloud. So he asks if she knows anything off the top of her head, and suddenly she starts to read out aloud a poem she had memorized. She memorizes the poem out aloud to Gus slowly, and when she finishes Gus turns to Hazel and tells her that he is in love with her. And Hazel replies in shock by just saying his name. This small scene in the book actually made a little voice in side of me say "AWW" with a very long "WWWWWWWWW" on the end of it.
From this event onwards, both Hazel and Gus start to grow closer. Hazel was shocked by his revelation as she told him that she didn't want to date him, as she was classing herself as a grenade waiting to go off, and didn't want the same thing to happen to him when he lost Caroline.
This was the scene in the book that made the whole book worth reading. Knowing that no matter what Hazel did, how much she fought to not be with Gus, fighting her feelings for him, he still wasn't going to give up on her. He was determined to be with her and he fought for her.

OVERALL

Story: 9/10

Characterisation: 9/10 (Purely for the detail of the characters and their connections to each other)

Re-readable: Yes

Recommendable: Yes

Overall I rate this book: 9/10

When reading a story that is touching to you, or heart warming, you get to a certain point where you literally do not want to have to put the book down again. You know in your heart that an author has done well with a novel when they are able to make you cry whilst reading. I got to a point in this book where I was crying so much, I couldn't control myself and had to put the book down and take a break before I could go back to it. The Fault In Our Stars is so BEAUTIFULLY written. It makes you wish you could write like that. John Green has honestly touched my heart with this book. It allows you to connect to the characters on another level, and if you have family member that has or had cancer, it really relates to you.

I look forward to reading more from John Green in the future, and I hope I am able to find another author that is able to make me feel the way that this book did.

A news story I found on the Internet allowed to me confirm that there will be a movie adaptation of this novel, to be released in 2014. I look forward to it already. I just hope it isn't going to be like My Sisters Keeper all over again. Blubbering and weeping like a baby at every turn point in the story.

I would recommend this book to fans of General Fiction

If you liked this, You will also like:

• My Sisters Keeper
• The Lovely Bones
• The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas

Sister Assasin

Sister Assasin
Written by Kierstan White

Trusting your instincts, could break your heart.

About the Author
Kiersten White is the NY Times Best selling author of Paranormalcy.
She lives with her husband and two children by the ocean, after moving from the mountains.

The Story
Seventeen year old Sofia has always worked to look after her older sister Annie. After Annie became blind, Sofia promises her parents to always take care of and watch over her sister. But then a tragic accident causes the girls parents to die, and they are made to go and live with their aunt. Until one day they are invited to attend a new school in which Annie is promised to have her eyesight restored.
The girls have been at the school for a few years when Sofia starts to release that the school is "wrong".
One day Sofia is sent out to perform an assassination on a young man she has never met and knows nothing about, but she changes her mind at the last minute and completely loses focus on her task at hand. Instead she saves the boys life.  The story then starts to revolve around how Sofia was trained to assassinate, to trick and fool others around her. But other students in the school are tested to see if they have psychic abilities. Which Annie does. She is able to see into the future, whereas Sofia does not have an ability. Sofia must fight to save her sister, while Annie blindly tries to do the same.

7 years ago our parents died.

5 years ago we came to this prison.

4 years ago I found out the truth.

3 years ago she killed for the first time.

An hour ago we fought back.

Characterisation

Our story revolves around our two main characters Sofia and her sister Annie.

To start off, I was really impressed in this story how one of the main characters has a certain characteristic that doesn't make them useless to the reader. Annie is blind, and has been from a very young age. But this didn't stop Kiersten White from allowing Annie to be fully apart of the story. Sofia has worked hard over the years to make sure that Annie is kept safe and that nothing comes in between them. Especially when they are moved to the new Keane institute, which passes for a school, when in fact it is a institute in which young girls are tested for psychic abilities.

James Keane, the son of the owner of the Keane institute, works hard in his everyday life to make sure that Sofia is kept alive. Each chapter in the story is based at a different moment over the last 7 years, which allows us to follow what happens to the characters and explain what is going on in the present tense.

James is your typical young gentleman. Slim, sexy and always being chased after by girls. Sofia has liked James for a long time, but after James takes a small interest in Sofia, things turn around on Sofia.

At the start of our story, Sofia is sent out to kill a young man who we come to find is names Adam. Adam is a nineteen year old boy who is also described as, slim, sexy and has eyes to die for. Adam is a minor character, but most of the storyline revolves around how Sofia and him eventually come to bumping into each other again.

Plot Lines

Each chapter in the story takes turns in the girls point of view. Chapter one is from Sofia's point of view, and chapter two shall be from Annie's. And so on and so forth. I liked how this was done also for the fact the chapters are set at different points in time. For example, a chapter may be from Annies point of view from 5 years ago, the next chapter may then be told by Sofia in the present, and then the next might be Sofia again, but from 4 years ago. It allows us to engage in what has happened to the girls in the past and link it to the present at the same time. Whilst still following the story line and learning about the goings on.

My favourite plot line within the story is Sofia's fight scene in the present tense. After saving Adams life, she is met by three very tall and very dark coated men. Sensing danger she goes into panic mode and pushes forward to kick ass. It takes your through her emotions at the time, the way she felt about the situation, everything she did in that moment, what moves she made and how it also affected Adam too.

OVERALL

Story:  7/10

Characterisation: 6/10

Re-readable: Maybe

Recommendable: Yes

Overall I rate this book: 7½/10

Only a few small things annoyed me with the way this book was written. And that was firstly, the way the ending turned out. It got to the end and suddenly you didn't know what to do with yourself. Sofia decides she wants to fight back against the Keane institute, but that is it. Sofia may as well have walked off into the sunset because we shall never know what actually happens at the end. Does she fight? Does she walk away?

Another small thing that seemed to irritate me after a while is the way Sofia used to talk. On occasion, she would repeat a single word 3 times, and it would be the most random word to actually repeat. Out of the ordinary, it had no reason to be repeated in the first place.

Apart from those two bad points, I was very impressed with the book as a whole. 

I was reading about how the Author like to write about love scenes, action and paranormal stuff. She managed to work in the action, and a minimal amount of love scenes, which was good because you don't want too much love to ruin action, and she made it the perfect teen action novel.