Book Review: Sleeping Giants by Sylvain Neuvel // mysterious ancient technology and world politics

Title: Sleeping Giants

Author: Sylvain Neuvel

Published: April 26, 2016

Pages: 320

Genre: Science Fiction

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Goodreads Description:  A girl named Rose is riding her new bike near home in Deadwood, South Dakota, when she falls through the earth. She wakes up at the bottom of a square-shaped hole, its walls glowing with intricate carvings. But the firemen who come to save her peer down upon something even stranger: a little girl in the palm of a giant metal hand.

Seventeen years later, the mystery of the bizarre artifact remains unsolved – the object’s origins, architects, and purpose unknown.

But some can never stop searching for answers.

Rose Franklin is now a highly trained physicist leading a top-secret team to crack the hand’s code. And along with her colleagues, she is being interviewed by a nameless interrogator whose power and purview are as enigmatic as the relic they seek. What’s clear is that Rose and her compatriots are on the edge of unravelling history’s most perplexing discovery-and finally figuring out what it portends for humanity. But once the pieces of the puzzle are in place, will the result be an instrument of lasting peace or a weapon of mass destruction?

“I was smart enough to know it was wrong, but not brave enough to stop them.”

Sleeping Giants was the first book in Themis Files, a sci-fi series by Sylvain Neuvel. Through a chronicle of interviews and documents, the reader learned about the discovery of an ancient artifact and the tantalizing story that transpired.

I’ll leave the summary to one sentence because I believe this is one novel that is best to dive into blind.

Audiobook Review: Suspicious Minds by Gwenda Bond // a prequel to stranger things

Title: Suspicious Minds

Author: Gwenda Bond

Length: 9 hours

Genre: Science Fiction

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I had no idea this book existed until the day I listened to it.

I found Suspicious Minds by chance while I scrolled through available audiobooks on my Libby app. The cover captured my attention first with its unmistakable Stranger Things title design, and then I read the blurb.

Book Review: Otherworld by Jason Segel and Kirsten Miller // a disturbing YA, sci-fi novel

Title: Otherworld

Author: Jason Segel, Kirsten Miller

Published: October 31, 2017

Pages: 355

Genre: Young Adult, Science Fiction

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Goodreads Description: The company says Otherworld is amazing — like nothing you’ve ever seen before. They say it’s addictive — that you’ll want to stay forever. They promise Otherworld will make all your dreams come true.

Simon thought Otherworld was a game. Turns out he knew nothing. Otherworld is the next phase of reality. It’s everything you’ve ever wanted.

And it’s about to change humanity forever.

Welcome to the Otherworld. No one could have seen it coming.

Two words that will guarantee me to pick up any book? Virtual reality.

The first book in the Last Reality series, Otherworld by Jason Segel and Kristen Miller was a dark, speculative rework of virtual reality fan favorites such as Ready Player One and Heir Apparent. It was the story of Simon, a troublesome, boarding-school boy, and his journey to rescue his best friend, Kat, through the relentless, digital landscape of the video game, Otherworld. I’ll spare you the details because this was one book that hinged on its numerous mysteries and tiny unveilings to keep the reader engrossed. 

Why I Love Science Fiction // five reasons it’s my favorite literary genre

🤖: Beep beep boop boop.

I really didn’t know how to open this post, so I hope robot noises are enough to capture you attention 😬.

Science fiction is my favorite literary genre.

Now, I don’t think any genre is better than another, but I do think you can certainly like one better. In this case, I like science fiction better than all the other genres.

But why?

Is it because I’m naturally fascinated by science?

How does my interest in the study crossover to my love for its companion fiction?

Do robots actually make beeping noises?

. . .

Huh. Learn something new.

I tried my best to put my feelings into words and came up with this incomplete list of reasons I love sci-fi. Maybe some of you can relate 💃:

Book Review: Feed by Mira Grant // zombies make politics more complicated

Title: Feed

Author: Mira Grant

Published: May 1, 2010

Pages: 599

Genre: Horror, Science Fiction

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Goodreads Description: The year was 2014. We had cured cancer. We had beaten the common cold. But in doing so we created something new, something terrible that no one could stop.

The infection spread, virus blocks taking over bodies and minds with one, unstoppable command: FEED. Now, twenty years after the Rising, bloggers Georgia and Shaun Mason are on the trail of the biggest story of their lives—the dark conspiracy behind the infected.

The truth will get out, even if it kills them.

If you told me ten years ago that I’d be a fan of zombie books, I would’ve told you that you must not know me. Turns out, I’m the one who doesn’t know myself (*cue the X-Files theme song*).

Feed is the first book in the Newsflesh trilogy by Mira Grant. The story takes place in a post-apocalyptic world where zombies roam the United States and people have adapted to live not among, but around them. New age journalists like the main character, George, and her brother, Shaun, help people in their daily endeavors by providing unbiased and truthful media coverage through their blogs. As the U.S. gears up for their presidential election, George and her team of blogger-journalists are selected by up-and-coming candidate, Steve Ryman, to honestly cover his campaign. The already difficult job of journalism is made harder in this story as George’s team encounters zombies, targeted attacks, and dangerous conspiracies.

Book Review: Ruby Red by Kerstin Gier // two stars for fantasy and time travel

Title: Ruby Red

Author: Kerstin Gier

Published: May 10, 2011

Pages: 324

Genre: Fantasy, Young Adult, Science Fiction

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Ruby Red is the first book in the Edelstein series. It follows sixteen year-old Gwyneth who unexpectedly replaces her cousin Charlotte in a secret time travel society when it’s discovered that she has the female time traveling gene, not Charlotte. After being kept out of the loop of the society’s mysteries all her life, Gwyneth has to learn what the rules are of time traveling and her duties as a time traveler. She’s not alone in learning as she has Gideon, the obnoxious male equivalent of Gywenth from another family, to help her learn the ropes of time travel.

Book Review: Wildcard by Marie Lu // an anticlimactic end

Title: Wildcard

Author: Marie Lu

Published: September 18, 2018

Pages: 352

Genre: Young Adult, Science Fiction

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Goodreads Description: Emika Chen barely made it out of the Warcross Championships alive. Now that she knows the truth behind Hideo’s new NeuroLink algorithm, she can no longer trust the one person she’s always looked up to, who she once thought was on her side.

Determined to put a stop to Hideo’s grim plans, Emika and the Phoenix Riders band together, only to find a new threat lurking on the neon-lit streets of Tokyo. Someone’s put a bounty on Emika’s head, and her sole chance for survival lies with Zero and the Blackcoats, his ruthless crew. But Emika soon learns that Zero isn’t all that he seems–and his protection comes at a price.

Caught in a web of betrayal, with the future of free will at risk, just how far will Emika go to take down the man she loves?

Let’s get right into it: this book was disappointing.

Wildcard was the much-anticipated, second book in the Warcross duology by Marie Lu. It bums me out that I didn’t enjoy this book as much as I thought I would because I was so blown away by the first book, Warcross. The technology, asian american representation, and eventual shocking plot twist in Warcross had me itching for Wildcard’s release. Needless to say, I had high expectations—and that’s my fault.

Honestly, I didn’t learn anything after reading Warcross though. Like, ᴅᴏɴ’ᴛ ʜᴀᴠᴇ ᴇxᴘᴇᴄᴛᴀᴛɪᴏɴs. (Specifically, don’t expect that a book is a standalone—but you can read more about that particular frustration in my book review for Warcross.)

Book Review: Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel // an unsettling reflection on civilization

Title: Station Eleven

Author: Emily St. John Mandel

Published: September 9, 2014

Pages: 336

Genre: Science Fiction, Dystopia

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Goodreads Description:An audacious, darkly glittering novel set in the eerie days of civilization’s collapse, Station Eleven tells the spellbinding story of a Hollywood star, his would-be savior, and a nomadic group of actors roaming the scattered outposts of the Great Lakes region, risking everything for art and humanity.

One snowy night a famous Hollywood actor slumps over and dies onstage during a production of King Lear. Hours later, the world as we know it begins to dissolve. Moving back and forth in time—from the actor’s early days as a film star to fifteen years in the future, when a theater troupe known as the Traveling Symphony roams the wasteland of what remains—this suspenseful, elegiac, spellbinding novel charts the strange twists of fate that connect five people: the actor, the man who tried to save him, the actor’s first wife, his oldest friend, and a young actress with the Traveling Symphony, caught in the crosshairs of a dangerous self-proclaimed prophet.

Sometimes terrifying, sometimes tender, Station Eleven tells a story about the relationships that sustain us, the ephemeral nature of fame, and the beauty of the world as we know it.

After putting this book on the back-burner for over two years, it has officially made it to my all-time favorites list.

First off, it was not what I was expecting at all. I committed the age-old crime of judging Station Eleven by its cover and, based off the (truly minimal) stars on the front, I assumed the story would take place in space. That, plus the fact that Station Eleven sounded like a space station (which I technically wasn’t wrong to believe), the book gave me the impression of being a space opera. While that wasn’t the case, I was pleasantly surprised that the book was so much better than my initial estimation of it.

I know some of you are thinking, “But, the book is clearly not about space in the synopsis,” and, I agree. Buuuut, 𝘐 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯’𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘺𝘯𝘰𝘱𝘴𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘬𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘺𝘱𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘵 𝘴𝘰 𝘴𝘩𝘩𝘩𝘩𝘩. We’ve already established that I’m a sheep.

Book Review: Warcross by Marie Lu // a solid YA, sci-fi book

Title: Warcross

Author: Marie Lu

Published: September 12, 2017

Pages: 353

Genre: Young Adult, Science Fiction

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I am so mad right now. I’ve ruined myself.

For some reason, I went into Warcross thinking that it’s a standalone, BUT IT’S NOT‼️ And now it has ended in a cliffhanger and I can’t binge-read the series because the second book doesn’t come out until September 😤.

🍃 Deep breaths, Belle.

Honestly, I brought this upon myself because I kept thinking to myself that the book seemed so predictable and would need a good plot twist to spice it up. Little did I know that I DID NOT WANT THIS PLOT TWIST.

Breathe in, breathe out. 🍃

Anyways, let’s see what I thought about the book until the last twenty pages. 

Book Series Review: The Reckoners by Brandon Sanderson // fantastically written, but not without its faults

Welcome to my first series review!

Writing this review was an interesting experience for me. For starters, it encompasses my thoughts and feelings for three different books instead of one. I also wrote it well after finishing all the books so my memory of them is kind of fuzzy. Usually, I jot notes while reading books I’m going to review, but I had no intention of making this post until I was almost finished with the third book.

Here’s to firsts!