Paradigm (Paradigm #1) by Ceri A. Lowe

Title: Paradigm
Author: Ceri A. Lowe
Pages: 382
Published: June 13th by Bookouture
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Notes: This was given to me by NetGalley for an honest opinion.

Summary: What if the end of the world was just the beginning? 

Alice Davenport awakens from a fever to find her mother gone and the city she lives in ravaged by storms – with few survivors. 

When Alice is finally rescued, she is taken to a huge underground bunker owned by the mysterious Paradigm Industries. As the storms worsen, the hatches close.87 years later, amidst the ruins of London, the survivors of the Storms have reinvented society. The Model maintains a perfect balance – with inhabitants routinely frozen until they are needed by the Industry. 

Fifteen-year-old Carter Warren knows his time has come. Awoken from the catacombs as a contender for the role of Controller General, it is his destiny to succeed – where his parents failed. 

But Carter soon discovers that the world has changed, in ways that make him begin to question everything that he believes in. As Carter is forced to fight for those he loves and even for his life, it seems that the key to the future lies in the secrets of the past...

MY REVIEW 

This is a story about Carter and Alice. It jumps between the two. Alice is a 12 year old girl who witnesses

the storms from the beginning, and Carter is a 15 year old kid who sees the effects after the storms many years later. Carter has been under grown for many years, and comes back in what he hopes to a new position but he finds out that he came back for a much bigger reason.

Unfortunately I could not finish this book. I tried. I loved how much detail went into this book from the author. You could tell that she spent a lot of time on it, and with her own creative world. However, I was waiting for that spark. That point in the novel that hooked me. I got almost half way through, and it didn't do that to me. I could see parts where it might for someone else, but I didn't find it.

I don't really see this as being a young adult novel. It's too detailed and too long of chapters, but maybe a new adult. Other wise, the author has good potential.

The Rule of Thre3 by Eric Walters

The Rule of Thre3
By Eric Walters
Published January 21st 2014 by Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Pages: 405
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Summary: One shocking afternoon, computers around the globe shut down in a viral catastrophe. At sixteen-year-old Adam Daley’s high school, the problem first seems to be a typical electrical outage, until students discover that cell phones are down, municipal utilities are failing, and a few computer-free cars like Adam’s are the only vehicles that function. Driving home, Adam encounters a storm tide of anger and fear as the region becomes paralyzed. Soon—as resources dwindle, crises mount, and chaos descends—he will see his suburban neighborhood band together for protection. And Adam will understand that having a police captain for a mother and a retired government spy living next door are not just the facts of his life but the keys to his survival

MY REVIEW

The Rule of Thre3 is a story about sixteen year old Adam who one day at school experiences a shut down of electronics; computers, cell phones, and anything in the 21st century loses it's power. While at first it seems like it just be their side of town, the students find out that the electronic shut off isn't just on their side of town. It's across the globe. Adam's family and town struggle with their new way of living with out communication, and find the best way they can to survive. 

While this book didn't really grab out at me, I felt like it wasn't a complete waste of my time. Sometimes when books don't pop out at you, you feel you want that time. This series definitely has potential once I stopped comparing and just enjoy the book for what it was. I compared it too much to Revolution's general set up, but there's a lot of difference between the two. The writing is great for a young adult novel, and the writer knows a lot of background for what was needed in the novel. 

A couple other things that bummed me a little was that Todd and Adam didn't have a lot of time together. I though their banter was great, and when it died out towards the middle of the book I wish it stated. They went their separate ways as jobs needed to get done, but I think it would have been great to have the banter keep the humor in between. They were thrown randomly together in the book at times, but I wanted more of their friendship to unfold. The other issue I had was that I didn't find a character that stood out to me. I usually find at least one that I enjoy, and this I didn't. 

Overall, I found this book enjoyable for a dystophian read. I will definitely read the second one. I'm hoping this is a series that gets better with each book in the series. 

Divergent (Divergent #1) by Veronica Roth

Title: Divergent
Author: Veronica Roth
Pages: 487
Published: January 1st, 2011 by Katherine Tegen Books
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Summary: In Beatrice Prior's dystopian Chicago, society is divided into five factions, each dedicated to the cultivation of a particular virtue--Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). On an appointed day of every year, all sixteen-year-olds must select the faction to which they will devote the rest of their lives. For Beatrice, the decision is between staying with her family and being who she really is--she can't have both. So she makes a choice that surprises everyone, including herself.

During the highly competitive initiation that follows, Beatrice renames herself Tris and struggles to determine who her friends really are--and where, exactly, a romance with a sometimes fascinating, sometimes infuriating boy fits into the life she's chosen. But Tris also has a secret, one she's kept hidden from everyone because she's been warned it can mean death. And as she discovers a growing conflict that threatens to unravel her seemingly perfect society, she also learns that her secret might help her save those she loves . . . or it might destroy her.

MY REVIEW

Beatrice Prior is from a dystophian Chicago where there are five fractions. At the age of sixteen, everyone takes a test to determine which fraction they will spend the rest of their life in.  Because of some choices children no longer speak to their parents, or the parents no longer wish to speak to their children because of the choices that they make. Divergent is the first part of the story of Beatrice, who changes her name to Trice when she arrives in her new fraction, initiation process. 

I despised this book.  It has been on my Goodreads list since I joined the site, and I finally got around to reading it. It took me two weeks to finish, and it was a struggle to get through it. I don't understand the hype of the story, and let alone, why everyone is sectioned off into fractions to cause a war. The characters were all a dull and so was the romance. This book falls into the 'I can't' category along with Gillian Flynn's Gone Girl. Both just make me boil. 

Mechanical by Pauline C. Harris

Title: Mechanical
Author: Pauline C. Harris
Pages: unknown
Published: April 28th 2013 by Fire and Ice Young Adult Books
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Notes: This was given to me through Author Alliance for an honest review. Thank you!

Summary: Drew is an android. From the very beginning of her existence, she has been programmed by her creators to understand her superiority and overwhelming responsibilities. She was created for a mission, a mission more important than anything she could ever have imagined.

Drew is sent to a high school to observe the humans and report back to her creators. But when she begins to form friendships with these humans and starts feeling strange human emotions, she doubts the creators’ ways of dealing with her and wonders whether her mission is as wonderful as it once seemed.

As Drew falls deeper and deeper into the mystery surrounding her mission and her creation, she’s suddenly left with a choice. Does she follow through with what she’s known all her life or does she act on what she now knows is right?

MY REVIEW

Mechanical is a story about a high school student named Drew. Drew is much different from the typical student. She is an android, and she is perfect. She has been asleep for many years until the creators turned her on again. Drew is given a mission and she must follow through with it. She is sent to a local high school, and observes the humans. Things start to change for Drew. She starts to make friends with the humans, and starts to fall in love with one. This is where things start to get difficult. Drew’s mission changes and Drew starts to question her creators and why exactly she had been turned back on from years of being shut off. 

Mechanical is your classic droid vs maker and good vs. evil. I really enjoyed this book. It isn’t the typical YA book that I read, and it was the first sci-fi one that I’ve read. I loved Drew. It was interesting to watch her go through the process of what she was used to doing to what she thought was right; being with the humans changed her ways of thinking on the creators. It was a struggle for her, and that struggle made her more human. She also has to work at blending in with the humans. Picking up on how they laugh, talk, and behave around each other so she fits in. 

It wasn’t until half way through the book that Drew started to see the real picture. She hears that her roommate Yvonne’s mission changed, and she wants to empress the creators so bad. However, when she starts to realize what she’s doing she again fights her inner morals. She begins to rebel. 

Overall this book was a fast and enjoyable read. At the end, I literally said ‘Oh man!’ out loud because I wanted more, and it does leave you hanging. It’s a perfect set up for a trilogy. I can’t wait to read the next ones!