The Elysium Chronicles: RENEGADE (Book 1)

I wasn't planning on buying this book at all considering I only had $20 in my pocket (okay that wasn't an intentional pun to Thrift Shop...but...). During the Miami International Book Fair last year, 2012, I stumbled upon thousands of books, and so... I passed by the booth where Jessica was at.

Yes, I also met Jessica, the author of The Elysium Chronicles: Renegade. I was caught by the very haunting book cover. It was really awks because I am very terrible when it comes to meeting people for the first time. But... she signed my book!!! :D


Now, onto the book:



SUMMARY:


“MY LIFE IS JUST ABOUT PERFECT.”

Since the age of three, sixteen-year-old Evelyn Winters has been trained to be Daughter of the People in the underwater utopia known as Elysium. Selected from hundreds of children for her ideal genes, all her life she’s thought that everything was perfect; her world. Her people. The Law.
But when Gavin Hunter, a Surface Dweller, accidentally stumbles into their secluded little world, she’s forced to come to a startling realization: everything she knows is a lie. Her memories have been altered. Her mind and body aren’t under her own control. And the person she knows as Mother is a monster.

Together with Gavin she plans her escape, only to learn that her own mind is a ticking time bomb… and Mother has one last secret that will destroy them all.


From reading the first sentence of the summary, it's already foreshadowing everything. Well, you'll realize this after you've read the book. Truthfully, it was the first time I've read something being the setting underwater, and it was really interesting. The people in Elysium have thought of the place as utopia, but while I was reading it, I've always thought it was too perfect, something has to be going on in the background.

The secrets that Mother has been hiding were really shocking. Yes, I wasn't expecting ANY of those!

By the way... I am absolutely infatuated with the book cover. Obviously, it's Evelyn. And look how haunting her background is.

This book's genre are romance, thriller, and quite a mystery. It's really interesting. And so, I am giving it a 5 out of 5. Also because quite a read for a first novel. I am hoping to read the next book by the end of this year! Don't forget to support the author!

Poison Princess (The Arcana Chronicles Book 1) by Kresley Cole

 Kresley Cole's #1 debut in the Young Adult world is a rave for months now! I stumbled upon Cole's Poison Princess in a poll for whom the award for Best Young Adult Book 2012 will be given too. May contain spoilers, so be warned.

It was Christmas break (2012) when I decided to read this book. Okay, before I delve into the wonders and mystique of this book, let me first share you what it is about: (taken from Kresley Cole's website)

22 Arcana cards. 22 Chosen Teens. Let the cards fall where they may. Sixteen-year-old Evie Greene’s horrific hallucinations predicted the apocalypse, and the end of the world brought her all sorts of new powers. With the earth scorched and few survivors, Evie teams up with handsome and dangerous Jack Deveaux in a race to find answers. They discover that that an ancient prophesy is being played out, and Evie is not the only one with special powers. A group of teens have been chosen to reenact the ultimate battle between good and evil. But it’s not always clear who is on which side…

Evie, the protagonist in the story gets these apocalyptic visions. With no one to talk to she decides to draw them. She can't even tell her own mother because she spent a good summer in an institution! What a way for the popular girl in school to spend summer, so it stayed a secret. She then meets Jackson Deveaux. Am I the only one who loves repeating his last name? Deveaux. Anyway, Evie calls him Jack. And as always... Jack is the bad boy. Like seriously THE bad boy! No doubt about that after reading the book! Wait, why did I even put as always there? Because I must have fallen in love with Jack. Ahh... figures. You guys! You gotta read the book before continuing on this post!!! But if not... then go ahead...

The story about their high school life went on for several chapters. Literally! I was ready to give up because I really thought there would be apocalyptic things, but alas... half-way through the book, it finally happened. I was thinking, why would the author drag on the story for that long, and only to get rid of A LOT of characters in the end. When I finished the book, I thought the first half did make sense, the series is a chronicle, so they have to document pretty much every thing that happens, right? Makes me think that Evie's best friend and ex-boyfriend are alive, but that's impossible now isn't it?

I saw Evie as an annoying brat throughout the first half of the book. She was just an annoying character to begin with. I don't know if it's just me or I have something against popular kids (that just means I was unpopular to begin with in the real world) but seriously though, why didn't she do anything about her visions? Well, it was part of the story so I had to trek through the cornfield and kept on reading. Then it happened. One thing you would want to know about me is that I really reading action scenes. I love it when authors find the perfect descriptive words for a scene.

I'm going to fast forward a bit...

I'm telling you, I didn't expect any of the events and things that happened in the story at all. Well, maybe for the part about Jack coming back for Evie, and his accent. Zombies... or aliens?? I'm not really sure. I'm always up for anything when it comes to zombies. In a way, her visions did give her an advantage. They eventually led her to the other characters in the Arcana. The Tarot Cards. This is the first book I've encountered which evolves around the Tarot Cards. I am not an expert when it comes to tarot cards, because I've only known those cards in the occult (blame all the horror films I've seen throughout my childhood, but kept me interested). So in the Arcana Chronicles, the author is using the Major Arcana (the Trump cards), which consists of 22 cards, hence 22 teens. In Poison Princess, they already introduced four of them. Jack believed that Evie has some kind of powers and more than what she is now. But, what's going to happen when he eventually witnesses how powerful Evie is?

And for that... we have to wait for book two!

So, about Jack. I hate how he acts so bad but deep inside he's actually this strong and sensible guy who speaks Cajun. That night when they celebrated Evie's party, they had a moment there and the scene really pulled me in the book. Then he tries to make Evie jealous right after he failed to make her his that night in the pool. I also hate how he's such an asshole, a jerk, and all a bad-boy could ever be described to Evie! Although he's like that, I am betting he has fallen in love with Evie. Seriously!

Evie's character really build up throughout the story. I really like the ending part of this book. I was blown away by the originality of the story.

Overall I give the book 4 out of 5 star ratings. Taking one out because of that pre-apocalyptic episode in Evie's life. It was too long for me. The rest is all greatness could ever be! Can't wait for book 2!

Any comments or questions, let me know! You might want to ask a specific question because I tend to be a confuzzled (confused and puzzling) person when blogging about something. Everything just pours in. :D