In My Mailbox (18)

In My Mailbox is hosted by Kristi @ The Story Siren and is my first ever meme where you share all the books you received during the week whether it be from the library or in the mail post.

This week I got:

Forgiven ~ Jana Oliver (MKB)

EEEEEP!! I love this series a LOT, so I'm really excited to get into this one, especially as each book has got better and better! Plus, I just found out there's another one so I don't have to say goodbye just yet :P
Paper Towns ~ John Green (Library)
I've heard nothing but good things about this man, and I fairly enjoyed Looking For Alaska (review coming soon) so I'm hoping this is good :)


Forgot to take pictures again this week, but I promise I actually got them :S 

What did you guys get in your mailbox this week? Leave a comment and I'll be sure to check out your IMM :)

The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness

I always find it the most difficult to write reviews of books I loved; with awful books, I find it easy to rant why I disliked it, and put my feelings on finishing it into words, but with amazing books I never know what to put to be able to recommend so others have the chance to enjoy it as much as I did. This is the problem I have writing a review for The Knife of Never Letting Go, the first in the Chaos Walking trilogy.

Twelve-year-old Todd is going to be a man in just a month. He is the youngest boy in his town, and the only one who isn’t yet a man, thanks to the war that wiped out all of the women and half of the men in Prentisstown when he was a mere baby. One day whilst out walking with his dog, Manchee, Todd comes across a patch of silence, which, when you live in Prentisstown where everyone can hear everyone else’s thoughts is a very dangerous thing; it’s time for Todd to run…

The Knife of Never Letting go was very original and gripping, with a tight plot and fast pace, and lots of wonderful twists I never anticipated. I loved all of the characters, especially Manchee the dog and Viola, although I was annoyed because we didn’t get an explanation as to why she refused to talk at first.

The intentionally incorrect spelling and grammar, like tho and yer, severely irked the grammar Nazi in me, and almost caused me to put the book down, but I am SO glad I gritted my teeth and preserved as it does eventually add to its charm, and I would have missed out on this wonderful story. It takes a while to get into and to get used to Todd’s dystopian world, but when you do, it’s impossible to put down.  I have to warn you that there are a number of gory, brutal and violent moments that I can imagine the faint-hearted reader would not like. I can very highly recommend it, and can’t wait to get stuck into the sequel The Ask and The Answer. 

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[SYNOPSIS: Prentisstown isn't like other towns. Everyone can hear everyone else's thoughts in an overwhelming, never-ending stream of Noise. Just a month away from the birthday that will make him a man, Todd and his dog, Manchee -- whose thoughts Todd can hear too, whether he wants to or not -- stumble upon an area of complete silence. They find that in a town where privacy is impossible, something terrible has been hidden -- a secret so awful that Todd and Manchee must run for their lives. 

But how do you escape when your pursuers can hear your every thought?]

Dark Inside by Jeyn Roberts

An earthquake caused the end of the world; it triggered a change in people. Bloodthirsty crazy human ‘baggers’ possessed by a violent rage with black veins in their eyes perhaps wasn’t the way everyone expected it to happen, but they are certainly more efficient than global warming because in a matter of days civilisation has broken down and only a few survivors remain, clinging to life, or what’s left of it anyway; they include Mason, Michael, Clementine and Aries, whose stories of survival are the focus of Dark Inside.

This had such an excellent premise but I feel it was ever so slightly let down in its execution, particularly the lack of plot – the four were clearly trying to survive and, in one case, find loved ones, but there wasn’t much else, unlike the similar Enemy books which always feel well structured. Whilst reading, I felt it was a slight mistake on Roberts’ part to have four narrators as, although I did like the varied action, stories and a sense of the scale of destruction, I found it difficult to connect to any of them, none of them had a distinctive voice and I struggled to remember who was who, and what had happened to whom. I also found it annoying that you didn’t find out more about what caused people to become ‘baggers’ or whom Nothing, whose mysterious and confusing point of view we are also treated to, actually is, although it’s somewhat obvious; I have a hatred of purposefully unexplained stuff which can be easily explained in the first book – although I do appreciate you can’t reveal everything in the first book of a series – as I always get the impression it’s just to make you pick up the sequel.

Despite this, I was seriously gripped by Dark Inside and its fast pace throughout, staying up long into the night to find out what fates awaited our protagonists and only very reluctantly putting the book down – it’s incredibly easy to get lost into.

The horror was very well done and of course you should probably steer clear if you don’t like that kind of stuff, although it doesn’t exactly dominate the book as much as you may expect; if you are a fan, you should definitely check out Dark Inside as it is a very good book. I love the cover too – I feel a bit stupid that it took me a while to work out that our leads are portrayed in the crack, but I think it makes a wonderful effect when you finally do realise. White is such an underused colour as well, so it really helps the book to stand out, along with the contrasting black and striking red – it’s a cover that, to me at least, screams ‘look at me!’ and I love it.

If you’re a fan of post-apocalyptic horror, a gripping fast pace or just a good overall novel, you should be sure to check out Dark Inside. It’s not perfect and it has a lot of room for improvement, but you won’t regret picking it up.

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[SYNOPSIS: Four teenagers on the same road in a world gone mad. Struggling to survive, clinging on to love and meaning wherever it can be found. 

Since mankind began, civilizations have always fallen: the Romans, the Greeks, the Aztecs…. Now it’s our turn. Huge earthquakes rock the world. Cities are destroyed. But something even worse is happening. An ancient evil has been unleashed, hooking on to weakness, turning the unwary into hunters, killers, crazies. 

Mason: His mother is dying after a terrible car accident. As he endures a last vigil at her hospital bed, his school is bombed and razed to the ground. Everyone he knows is killed. 
Aries: A school bus, an aftershock and a crash. Pulled out of the wreckage by a mysterious stranger, she’s about to discover a world changed forever. 
Clementine: An emergency meeting at the town hall that descends into murderous chaos. Outside the rest of their community encircle with weapons. How can those you trust turn into savage strangers? 
Michael: A brutal road rage incident. When the police arrive on the scene they gun down the guilty and turn on the by-standing crowd. Where do you go for justice when even the lawmakers have turned bad?]

Cover Reveal: Dreamless UK/rambling apology/IMM (17)

Oh my days...isn't it beautiful? I think I prefer it to Starcrossed - I just LOVE that shade of red! :D This has got me even more excited now - I want the release date to hurry up!!!

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On a completely unrelated note, I owe you guys a bit of an apology as well - I'm aware of how terrible a blogger I've been recently, but I've had fairly valid reasons (namely sixth form work, extra curricular stuff and me being really bad at time management) and I hope to get back into reading and reviewing sometime soon and I will be making up for it come summer :) 

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I'd also like to do an extremely belated In My Mailbox and thank the wonderful MyKindaBook for giving me the amazing looking After The Snow by Sophie Crockett - I'm sorry I'm behind with reviews for you guys too, but I have some lined up with more to hopefully come :)