I don't think I can pass any The Works without having a look. It just so happens that the one I visit most often was having their "Summer Reading Sale" (also known as "Christmas stock is coming soon, clear out the warehouse"), so I obviously had to dive in.
I got to expand my Stephen King collection with some hardback editions of his books. Yes, those are all hardbacks for £1 each!!
-The Shining -definitely one of the best of Stephen King's works. I read it a few years back, but I didn't have a physical copy of it.
-Just After Sunset - a collection of short stories.
-Blaze - not one I'd heard of before, apparently it's less of a horror than some of his other stuff.
The Ray Bradbury is a paperback, the other is a ridiculously thick hardback!
-Songs Of The Dying Earth - a science fiction anthology, I am planning on reading the book that inspired this at some point.
-The Illustrated Man - another collection of shorter works! I've only read one Ray Bradbury before and I'm thrilled to be adding to my collection of classic sci-fi.
- Title: Warm Bodies (Warm Bodies #1)
- Author: Isaac Marion
- Page Count & Publisher: 239 | Vintage Books (Random House)
- Genre: Zombies, Apocalypse
- Format: Paperback
- Links: Amazon UK | Goodreads
Summary:
R is a zombie. All he should want from death is a peaceful shamble around his airport and enough brains to eat. But R is different. He meets a girl and, instead of killing her, he brings her home to keep her safe. The relationship they strike up changes him and could change the world, but their world won't change without a fight.
My Thoughts:
This book confused me. It was extremely well written, I wasn't sure how well a zombie romance could be written but this was just amazing. But confusing. Zombie society was something completely unexpected. They have (almost) religion and the Bonies are in charge. They can get married and raise children. They try and have sex, but nothing works the way it's supposed to.
This book is told from R's perspective. Inside his head he is intelligent and eloquent, but his lack of a properly functioning body leave his speech record at 5 syllables. Then, out on a hunt, he meets Julie. She's obviously wary of him but has no choice but to follow him.
The relationship that builds between them is sweet but weird at the same time. R is immediately forgiven for what he's done, it being played off as part of the plague, but he still feels the immense guilt. I wonder if R was a slightly more rotted zombie, would the relationship have built as it did? R's growth was the heart of the story though.
The parallels between the Bonies and Military leaders were interesting. They both had the same objectives and the same refusal to accept change. They were more intent on wiping each other out than finding out the world wasn't as they expected.
Julie is pretty awesome in this as well. She's adaptable and competent. She doesn't need to be rescued and is willing and capable of fighting her battles. Traits that are so often lacking in the female characters in zombie books (but certainly not in the Newsflesh series!!).
I'm not tagging this under young adult as many others have. It's just, no.
My Rating: 
- Title: Pretties (Uglies #2)
- Author: Scott Westerfeld
- Page Count & Publisher: 368 | Simon & Schuster
- Genre: Young Adult, Dystopia
- Format: Paperback
- Links: Amazon UK | Goodreads
Summary:
Tally has it all. She's now a Pretty, her clothes are amazing, she has a gorgeous boyfriend, she's about to be voted into the most popular group and she's going to the best parties. But there are times when she just can't escape the feeling that there's something not quite right. Then she gets a letter from her past and she remembers.
My Thoughts:
I wasn't expecting the Pretty world to be quite so creepy! It's non-stop fun and parties but something's seriously off. Throughout this book you find out more and more about why it seems so creepy and it really is not nice! We also find out more about the Specials, their utter ruthlessness and they seem to be somewhat separated from every body else.
I read through this one rather quickly again, the whole Uglies series was a fairly quick read. It's very enjoyable and well written. The world building is pretty good, we see more of the half of the city that the Pretties live in (it's much nicer than the Uglies part!) and then there's Andrew's tribe (which brings home more of how the Specials see themselves).
To be honest, I'm rather more interested in Shay's story. She's a very strong character who's forced to figure things out for herself, whereas Tally seems to always have a boyfriend to figure these things out for her and drag her along for the ride. Shay's hatred is obsessive and while part of it is explained in the events that happen in The Smoke, I wish we'd seen more of her character development. They're both driven to escape the city and find out the truth of what's going on. Shay's methods are a little more extreme than Tally's, but it turns out that Tally may be very special indeed...
My Rating: 
- Title: My Soul To Steal (Soul Screamers #4)
- Author: Rachel Vincent
- Page Count & Publisher: 375 | Mira Ink (Harlequin)
- Genre: Young Adult, Paranormal
- Format: Paperback
- Links: Amazon UK | Goodreads
Summary:
Still reeling after the events of My Soul To Keep, Kaylee is trying to figure things out with Nash. She still has deep feelings for him but can't work out how to trust him. But worse than that, his ex-girlfriend, Sabine, has started at their school and she fully intends on carrying on where she left off. After a spate of suspicious deaths at the school, Kaylee begins to suspect it has something to do with Sabine. It turns out Sabine is a mara, she feeds on people's deepest fears and Sabine isn't above using Kaylee's fears against her.
My Thoughts:
Four books into the series and it's not slowing down at all! We're still learning more about the Bean Sidhe world with Kaylee and a few new creatures are introduced. This book in particular was fast paced, never letting Kaylee relax for one minute!
I'm still feeling for Kaylee after the events of the last book and I'm somewhat stunned when I've seen reviews saying that she should just get over it and not leave Nash hanging. Kaylee was betrayed in a horrific way and she's got to deal with that before she can even think about a relationship again. Just as she's started talking to him again, the ex-girlfriend shows up. I liked Sabine, she knows what she wants and how to get it. Amazingly, she has no ill wishes towards Kaylee (until later in the book when events start spiraling) and offers to be friends once the whole Nash business is dealt with.
I'm liking Tod more and more as well. He seems to be offering some comic relief in the books, in this one he gets a new job to keep himself entertained between hospital shifts.
Perhaps this one had just a tad too much of a rushed ending. The long buildup was great, you're lead down one path of plot before it veers off and you see how wrong you were. But it all got resolved a bit too quickly and felt incomplete. Though I'm sure we'll be seeing more fall out from that in the next book.
My Rating:
- Title: Cell
- Author: Stephen King
- Page Count & Publisher: 473 | Hodder
- Genre: Apocalyptic, Horror, Zombies
- Format: Paperback
- Links: Amazon UK | Goodreads
Summary:
In one instant the world changes. Known as The Pulse, everyone using a mobile phone is infected with a virus. At first they're violent but later on begin to change and adapt to the world they're in. Clayton Riddell realises what's happening and he. and a group of uninfected "normies", travel across country to discover the fate of his estranged wife and son.
My Thoughts:
This starts fast and throws you straight into the gore. There's no build up: one minute the world makes sense, the next someone is eating their dog (seriously). Clayton Riddell watches as the world around him goes mad before realising what's happening and meeting up with other people without mobile phones.
I'm not a fan of the "hero travels across country to discover the fate of his family" stories, it always seems a little to convenient. Of course, this being Stephen King, the outcome is not what you'd expect. Clayton wasn't the most sympathetic character for me, I didn't actually care if he was killed or turned in the meantime or not. The psychological games played against him by the leader of the "zombies" were far more interesting than his traveling moments.
I thought conclusions were reached far too quickly at times. It doesn't take Clayton very long at all to realise that the phones were the source of the problem, despite no real evidence to show they were. People using phones has become so much a part of life that I'm pretty sure only someone utterly paranoid about mobile phones would come to that conclusion.
I don't think this was one of Stephen King's best stories. The characters lacked some of the complexity and depth that I'd seen in The Stand and Misery. Plus, the zombie plot line just got really, really silly.
My Rating:
- Title: My Soul To Keep (Soul Screamers #3)
- Author: Rachel Vincent
- Page Count & Publisher: 378 | Mira Ink (Harlequin)
- Genre: Young Adult, Paranormal
- Format: Paperback
- Links: Amazon UK | Goodreads
Summary:
Kaylee and Nash discover that Demon's Breath, a highly addictive and dangerous substance is being used by several people at their school. They need to cut off supply, and fast, as it is already having a disastrous effect on the people they know. Kaylee is devastated to learn that someone much closer to her is already addicted.
My Thoughts:
Oh gosh, this one utterly broke my heart. Kaylee has so much to deal with in this and she does it well. There's no immediate forgiveness after such an utter betrayal, she reacts with the shock and horror that I'd expect. She won't allow excuses and needs to work through things herself. She's growing into such an amazing character and I want to see where book 4 goes with this.
So far, this has got to be the best in the series. Well, I'm only 3 into it so far but this one hurt in a way that the others didn't. The writing is phenomenal. Addiction is hidden from friends and people are willing to go to drastic lengths to continue their access to Demon's Breath. That's not to say this is going to beat you about the head with the message "drugs are bad, m'kay". This is more "this is how addiction can screw up more than just one life".
We meet up with Addison again, who is somehow retaining her own sense of self and dignity despite the horrors she's subjected to in the Underworld. We also meet Alec, a human in the Underworld who is clearly going to be playing a large role in the future.
I cannot wait to read the next one, the Soul Screamers is turning out to be one of my favourite series.
My Rating:
