Mara Dyer Trilogy (Book 1-3) – Michelle Hodkin [SPOILER, obviously]

Hodkin, Michelle. 2011, 2012, 2014. The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer, The Evolution of Mara Dyer, The Retribution of Mara Dyer. New York: Simon & Schuster.

Overall Rating 2,5 stars.

Sigh. Another stellar debut, another love to give. I decided to pick it up and read it, solely because of the amazing cover on the first book of this series, the other two are not very satisfying but I couldn’t care less after I finished the first book. I think that is the kind of cover that will always attract my attention. You know, mysterious, dark, sharp picture, and doesn’t show any particular face to be judged. Totally my type of cover, yes. Safe to say, I knew nothing about this book until I read it, I even didn’t know its genre.

I know now, I should never judge a series if I don’t read its whole series. By that, maybe I did an unfair judgment with Marked, but that is one awful book though, ugh. I love the first two book of Mara Dyer Trilogy, but after reading the final installment, my love was fading pretty fast. I’m bumped because I can’t give more than 2,5 stars for this series, believe me, I really want to love this more. But the last book crushed me, and not in a good way either. Despite the failed ending of this series (I’m getting to that later), I really like Michelle Hodkin’s writing style (she has good humor) and I still will pick up her future novels, I guess. Now, shall we talk about who Mara Dyer is?

The Blood of Olympus - Rick Riordan (not sure if this is a review or not, but surely it contains SPOILER!)

Riordan, Rick. 2014. The Blood of Olympus. New York: Disney Hyperion.

Rating KYAAAAAA 5 STARS KYAAAAAAA!!!

I know it's early. I know this awesome thing just came out a couple days ago. I know you REALLY don't want to accidentally stumble in my blog and read this uncool spoiler. Oh by the way, SPOILER ALERT! SPOILER ALERT! Read on your own risk.

It's not exactly a review though. It's a jumble mess of my feelings. Yo, guys, I actually wanted to review this book along with its nine books before this, but I guess I'll settle with only this one for now. I don't know. I'm kind of planning to make reviews for Percy Jackson and the Olympians series and Heroes of Olympus series separately, but... what's the point? Based on this, I review books so I don't just forget what I've read. The problem is, I read this whole series repeatedly and I remember every bits in every scenes! I've read the other nine books ninth times each, so far. So, yeah.

Dear Rick Riordan, The Myth Master, I hope this is not really the end of Percy's adventure. Please plan to make something, anything, with Percy in it. I wish you work on Percy Jackson/Kane Chronicles crossover more. You've hinted (or so I wished) that there will be another story regarding to that. Well, just so you know, I'M PRAYING FOR IT!

The Transcriptionist - Amy Rowland [DNF!]

Rowland, Amy. 2014. The Transcriptionist. North Carolina: Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill.

Rating no star whatsoever!

(not going to review this in Indonesian, 'cause who cares anyway?)

I received this via NetGalley, but I wish I didn’t.

I don’t want to sound like an ungrateful douchebag because, well, I did requested it in the first place, and I didn’t finish reading it. Seriously, I had tried really hard to, at least, finish it. I even didn’t expect to be able enjoying the story anymore, I JUST WANTED TO FINISH IT.

Just now, I peeked reviews of this book in Goodreads... and shocked. I saw MANY glowing reviews about The Transcriptionist. Almost all the people that have read this, praise it. And now I get hesitated about my own brain capacity. The thing is, this book is constructed by supposedly ‘smart’ and ‘deep’ words and lines, and the author inserts some supposedly interesting facts and details (that BORED ME TO HELL). I felt the author just tries too hard to impress, really. And to be honest,

Tabula Rasa - Kristen Lippert-Martin

Lippert-Martin, Kristen. 2014. Tabula Rasa. New York: Egmont USA.

Rating 3,5 bintang
(review in English, click here)

Saya menerima buku ini melalui NetGalley, buku ini direncanakan akan terbit pada September 2014.

Pertama saya lihat buku ini di rak buku salah satu teman di Goodreads. Sampulnya keren, dan saya tertarik sekali setelah baca ringkasan bukunya. Katanya ini layaknya The Bourne Identity ketemu Divergent. Saya sih belum baca Divergent, tapi dinilai dari popularitasnya yang tinggi, kayaknya itu novel boleh juga. Dan tentu saja, saya penggemar berat The Bourne Identity, maka saya pun makin penasaran jadinya. Terus ternyata ini tentang perempuan yang semacam hilang ingatan begitu (selera saya banget, cuy). Kesimpulannya:

MAU MAU MAU! Kasiin ke gueee!

Dan saya coba minta ARC-nya (advance reader copy) ke NetGalley, walaupun penerbitnya bilang mereka cuma mengutamakan permintaan pembaca dari Amerika Serikat dan Kanada, saya tetap saja mengajukan permintaan ARC-nya, saya sudah kepingin banget! Dan saya pun dikasih ARC-nya. Reaksi saya:

Tabula Rasa - Kristen Lippert-Martin

Lippert-Martin, Kristen. 2014. Tabula Rasa. New York: Egmont USA.

Rating 3,5 stars
(review in Indonesian, click here)

I received this book via NetGalley, it is expected to be published in September 2014.

I first noticed about this book when I saw it in a shelf of a Goodreads fellow. The cover looks cool, and I became very interested when I read the blurb. It says, this book is The Bourne Identity meets Divergent. Well, I haven’t read Divergent yet, but judging from the hype so far, looks like it’s a pretty decent read. And of course, I was AND am a huge fan of The Bourne series, so I was instantly curious about this one. Further reading the blurb, this book is about a girl who lost her memories (my favorite kind of story!). In a nutshell:

Gimme da book! Me WANT!

So, I requested its ARC (advance reader copy) via NetGalley. Although the publisher notes that they are preferred members from US and Canada only, I couldn’t help but just tried my luck, I was really eager to be able reading this! Then, I got the book and I totally did this,

Menanti Cinta – Adam Aksara [DNF... kind of]

NOTE: Dearest readers, I’m not going to review this in English. No more people should care about this book. You're missing nothing.

Aksara, Adam. 2014. Menanti Cinta. Malang: Mozaik Indie Publisher.

Rating 1 bintang

Saya mendapat buku ini dari penerbitnya, jika kalian tertarik bisa beli di sini.

Setelah buku DNF pertama saya di blog ini, saya enggak menyangka bakal secepat ini ketemu buku DNF lagi, ada satu buku lagi sih bahkan tapi saya masih belum memutuskan akan menulis ulasannya atau tidak untuk yang itu. Uuugh saya enggak suka baca buku enggak sampai selesai, tapi seriusan deh, saya. Enggak. Sanggup. Baca. Habis. Buku. Ini. Dan kalau saya diminta berusaha sekali lagi untuk menyelesaikan buku ini...

Dan saya merasa enggak enak hati, kan saya dapat bukunya gratis.... Hei kamu, Adam Aksara, JANGAN baca ulasan ini. Enggak perlu marah atau sakit hati yah. Tidak, saya mungkin tidak akan memaki-maki. Mungkin tidak juga berkata kasar. Saya cuma akan ngomong apa adanya.

Cruel Beauty - Rosamund Hodge

Hodge, Rosamund. 2014. Cruel Beauty. United States: Balzer + Bray.

Rating 4 bintang
(review in English, click here)

Nah kan, ini dia masalahnya kalau ulasan buku dibuat DUA BULAN setelah bukunya selesai dibaca. Saya sudah hampir lupaaaaaa sama efek buku ini ke saya. Dan selama dua bulan ini pun banyak buku yang sudah saya baca (dan beberapa buku itu bikin saya tergila-gila!), jadi euforia Cruel Beauty di kepala saya sudah tipis banget. Ya sudahlah, mari kita lihat bagaimana saya menghancurkan ulasan ini.

Cruel Beauty - Rosamund Hodge

Hodge, Rosamund. 2014. Cruel Beauty. United States: Balzer + Bray.

Rating 4 stars
(review in Indonesian, click here)

Well, this is the problem if I write a book review after finished reading it TWO MONTHS ago. I almost forgot the effect of this book to me, it leaves a vague feeling now. And I’ve read many books in these two months (some of them I’m crazy about), so I’m not really euphoric anymore about Cruel Beauty. But anyway, let’s start the review which I’m sure will be a mess kind of review.

The Truth About Alice - Jennifer Mathieu

Mathieu, Jennifer. 2014. The Truth About Alice. New York: Roaring Brook Press.

Rating 4 bintang
(review in English, click here)

Saya menerima buku ini melalui NetGalley, buku ini direncanakan akan terbit pada Juni 2014.

“But mostly I just go through every day and I do what people expect of me.”-Josh

Alice Franklin, karakter utama buku ini, punya reputasi yang bagus di sekolahnya. Dia cantik, pandai bergaul, dan ramah. Namun, satu rumor buruk di kota kecil bisa berdampak panjang dan mengubah semuanya. Alice dicap sebagai wanita murahan karena Brandon Fitzsimmons mengaku meniduri Alice di pestanya Elaine O’Dea, dan di malam dan pesta yang sama, Tommy Cray juga meniduri Alice. Alice dicap sebagai pembunuh setelah Brandon Fitzsimmons meninggal dalam kecelakaan mobil karena saat menyetir dia sedang bertukar sms tidak senonoh dengan Alice. Keseharian Alice otomatis berubah sejak kematian Brandon Fitzsimmons, lelaki paling populer se-Healy, kota kecil di Texas. Rumor demi rumor tidak berhenti bermunculan sejak itu, orang-orang tidak segan menerima rumor-rumor itu sebagai kenyataan, sementara yang tahu kebenarannya hanya Alice, dan segelintir orang yang memilih untuk tidak mengungkapkannya.

The Truth About Alice - Jennifer Mathieu

Mathieu, Jennifer. 2014. The Truth About Alice. New York: Roaring Brook Press.

Rating 4 stars
(review in Indonesian, click here)

I received this book via NetGalley, it is expected to be published in June 2014.

“But mostly I just go through every day and I do what people expect of me.”-Josh

Alice Franklin, the main character in this book, has a good reputation in her school. But, one bad rumor in a small town can cause a long different story. Alice is known as a slut/ho/whore because Brandon Fitzsimmons says he slept with Alice in Elaine O’Dea’s party, and at the same night same party, Tommy Cray did it too. Alice is then known as a killer when Brandon Fitzsimmons is dead over a car crash because he’s sexting with Alice while driving. Alice’s days are not the same anymore since Brandon died, remembering this guy was the most popular guy in town. Rumor after rumor don’t stop after that. People don’t care if the rumors are true or not, they just believe it right away, because it’s easy to believe a rumor when everyone seems to talk about it and agreed on it. When really, the ones who know the truth are Alice and a few people who choose to not say it.