Ender's Game

Hola. This was recommended to me by many people, and they were right. Ender's Game is by Orson Scott Card. In the future, the world will be on the brink of chaos and the military will be recruiting kindergartners. Ender is one such six-year-old, harassed by his pugnacious (Vocab word, ha!) brother and the bullies at school, he is not a happy child. But when Colonel Graff comes to collect Ender, more than just his safety is at risk. Humans are fighting a war against the buggers, insect-like aliens, and if we don't win soon, we never will. And the winning is up to Ender. This book is so complicated! Here is some advice: read the introduction last, it made me very confused. The author said the book had been ridiculed for being simple, straight forward. I had a hard time just figuring out if I liked Ender or not! Let alone if the rest of the people are good or bad. I really enjoyed this book, but I was disturbed by the fact that I was so confused. And there are some parts that are horrible, they add much to the story, but are still awful. And the ending was just odd. I really liked this book, but if you read it, be ready for a ride. Four stars!

Starcrossed

Hola! It's been so long! Okay, Starcrossed by Josephine Angelini. When a mysterious family of wealthy but reclusive people move to the minute island on the East Coast that Helen Hamilton lives on, she can't help but be curious. However, the minute she sets eyes on Lucas Delos, the unbelievably attractive but very odd middle child, Helen knows that there is something different about them. With the truth about her family only beginning to come to light, Helen must learn to control The Fates, and herself. Sorry that was so vague, but it's hard to describe without completely giving everything away. Whatever. So, it was a good book. A bit of Oh. My. Gods. vibe, but there was some City of Bones as well. Though there were some Twilight-esque plot twists. And Lucas was totally Edward, just read it. Really what I'm saying is, entertaining book, sort of cliche but bearable. It looks long but a very easy read. Although, the ending was infuriating, big surprise. Three stars.

Athena's Favorite Things

Hola! Welcome to Athena's Favorite Things, where I give you the KNOWLEDGE of five things that I like. (See, I was channeling Oprah but I don't think I can give you all cars...)

1. Blogs. http://thebestfunnymusicblogever.blogspot.com/ (Because I am so outrageously tech savvy, I totally know how to name URLs!) This is The Best Funny Music Blog Ever, written by one of my friends, Alex. He is a very talented chap who I have been trying to make a YouTube channel, oh well. I can truthfully tell you that I died laughing while reading this.

2. YouTube! I happen to be a horrible YouTube addict. My favorite people include charlieisocoollike, nerimon, and communitychannel. I definitely recommend checking them out. 

3. Clothes? This is a secret, keep it on the down-low! TeeFury is the most magnificent website in the history of the world. Each day they have ONE t-shirt for ONE day, $10, and after that it is gone, so each day there is something new! http://www.teefury.com/

4. Music. Okay I admit to knowing next to nothing about music but for the fellow nerd I say check out Wizard Love on YouTube or iTunes for that matter. I may not love Meekakitty, though HeyHiHello is good and the song is hilarious.

5. Video Games... I am not saying I am some sort of Nintendo expert but, if you happen to have a DS I HIGHLY recommend any of the Professor Layton Saga. They are absolutely amazing games where you solve a mystery by completing rather difficult puzzles. It is incredibly addicting, one of those, "Oh my god, I have been playing this for four hours, and I didn't even notice!"

Possession

Hola, Possession is by Elana Johnson. Violet lives in a world of rules. Always wear the hat, don't walk with boys, don't touch anyone, listen to the transmissions every night, but she doesn't want that anymore. She rebels against the Thinkers, the strangely persuasive people that set the numerous laws, in her own ways. But one day she goes a step too far. Violet learns that she has an important role to play in the world, and that she must choose who to follow. Jag, an odd but unusually compelling boy, or Zenn, her oldest and best friend. This book was really weird. It was kinda Hunger Games-like, overlords oppressing the submissive population. The end was awful, it kind of made me want to forget I read the book in the first place. What is with authors these days? All they want to do is torture us with endings! If it had an alternate finish it might have gotten a higher score, because the book itself wasn't all that bad. As a whole, though, bizarre and rather blah. And it annoyed me that she could never give up Zenn! Okay, two stars.

Son of Neptune

HOLA!!! Son of Neptune, by Rick Riordan! YAY! Okay, so Percy is back, but he can't remember what happened before. After spending a few weeks living with wolves and fighting-off working-class gorgons, Percy is a little more than confused. The only thing he can remember from his past is Annabeth, a girl he knows he cares for, but he can't seem to recall anything else. When he stumbles into a camp full of Roman soldiers, his memory starts to come back, but even more exciting are his new adventures. Traveling with Hazel, a girl who seems to have even more problems than Percy, and Frank, a nice but kind of goofy guy only realizing his true talent. Together they take on the newest threat; Mother Earth. This book was really good. It was a satisfying follow-up to The Lost Hero, though I could have used a bit more about Percy. The characters are different and rather refreshing after so many books about the same people. However, the ending was horrific! The biggest cliffhanger ever! And I bet some people are with me when I say that it should be against the law to stop a book right before Annabeth turns up. Overall, a solid and deserving book, four stars.

The Future of Us

Hola... Ready for the strangest concept of a book I have ever laid eyes on? The Future of Us by Jay Asher and Carolyn Mackler. Josh and Emma are teenagers who manipulate their lives (set in 1969...) using their Facebook accounts from the future. They are high-schoolers in a town on the East Coast, with plans of doing something with their lives. But when they get to see their real futures laid out before them, it suddenly doesn't seem so good. By coming to terms with the present, maybe the future won't seem so bleak. It was actually better than I thought it would be, but it was still seriously odd. The characters weren't bad, it was really just the plot that threw me. Maybe this is someone's thing but it isn't mine. Two stars?

Shatter Me

Hola! Shatter Me is by Tahereh Mafi (I agree, totally awesome name). Juliette Ferrars is not sure if she is sane. Which is perfectly sane considering that she hasn't touched a fellow human being in 264 days. But she doesn't want to touch anyone, because she is a monster. After living alone in a world of screams and blank white walls for so long, the shock of meeting a person, someone kind, is overwhelming to Juliette. So when Adam enters her life everything is different, but is it for the better? With the Reestablishment controlling the whole world, it will be a hard journey for Juliette to regain her lost life. This book was weird but good. It was a bit confusing because there are all these crossed-out bits, which are presumably thoughts of Juliette's that she doesn't like or want. And at the end it went totally Xmen! (I will give you a hint of her power, think Rouge.) Adam was lovable and a good balance to the bizarre story, but Warner is still a mystery. The ending was rather abrupt, I wouldn't have minded a few more chapters to tie up the numerous loose ends. Three stars, good enough that I will follow the series for the rest of the story.