Champion by Marie Lu (Legend #3)

Title: Champion 

Author: Marie Lu

Rating: 8/10

*Sighs* the last wonderful, glorious, perfect book from the series left to review....

oh well.. all good things must come to an end. here we go...

I just realised describing this book will be very difficult if you haven't read the first two. To avoid upsetting anyone with horrible spoilers i'll try to keep everything vague but clear enough so that those who have read the book will know what I'm talking about ;) 

So Champion begins a short while after Prodigy (Legend #2), with Day living peacefully living in his fancy flat and June back at her home working with Anden. The story moves along at a nice pace just like all the other books and (for me atleast) it wasn't too hard to remember what was going on at the end of Prodigy and being able to connect it to the beginning of this book. But that might also just be because i read it maybe a week before this one xp

Something this book definitely improved and fixed up-was Tess. I felt like Marie Lu read my Prodigy review, understood what a silly potato of a character she'd changed Tess into, and then tweaked her back into the innocent, sweet girl she was in Legend. So thank you Marie Lu! I know you proabably didn't read my review..but thank you nevertheless =)

This was  probably my least favourite book from the series- Prodigy being first and Legend second. I felt like there was alot less action in this book than the others, which was probably because alot of the story went on through political discussions and meetings. There was also less surprises and plot twists. Some of the things that happened seemed really obvious where they were heading, which was a bit boring and annoying :P I did enjoy the character development hroughout the books between both main characters. The rare, special, fluffy moments June and Day got were adorable and much appreciated ^_^

“You drive me insane June. You're the scariest, most clever, bravest person I know, and sometimes I can't catch my breath because I'm trying so hard to keep up. There will never be another like you. You realize that, don't you? Billions of people will come and go in this world, but there will never be another like you.” 

gaaaa i love that quote ^_^

And now on to the interesting finale. The way the plot progressed throughout all three books I had uber high hopes for the ending. For some strange reason I had an intuitive feeling that the news we found out at the end of Prodigy  wasn't going to affect the finale. I was soo sure it was gonna be one of those perfect, everything-is-wrapped-up-nice-and-fine-ish endings. But no, ofcourse not. Following the depressing pattern of the last few books I'd read, this one had to go down the lets-surprise-everyone-by-stabbing-their-heart's route. 

Alright I'll confess. It wasn't as bad as some atrocious endings i've read ..*cough, cough..Allegiant..cough* it just..well. I just don't understand why Marie Lu couldn't give us a nice, smooth happy ending. Especially when it would've been sooooo easy. All she had to do was change and remove the last (i think) 2 chapters. 

 My overall impression of the last book (mostly due to the ending) was a bit like this:

 Despite my dislike for the ending, I would say that the trilogy alltogether was brilliant =) The consistency in the characters and their developments was lovely to read throughout all three books and  I'd say one of the
best things about all of them was that no matter how suckish times got, you never wanted to stop reading! It was like Marie Lu cast a spell on all the books to keep you wanting to read on forever 0.o The action, the drama, the tears... all of it ;) If i could rate the entire series overall, i think I'd give it a 8.5/10. It'll definitely stick with me as one of my favourite trilogies I've ever read =) So yes- go read it now! All of them!




“No matter what happens in the future, no matter where our paths take us, this moment will be ours.”
~The potterhead panemaniac pancake lover ~

The Maze Runner by James Dashner (The Maze Runner #1)

Title: The Maze Runner

Author: James Dashner

Rating: 9/10

So I had been avoiding this book for a while.. I can't really explain why but for some reason the plot seemed a little too typical dystopian to me. Add that to the fact that i knew there was only going to be one girl (in the first book) and i thought mehh..don't wanna read a book about annoying, helpless teenage boys stuck in a maze. But The Maze Runner definitely took me by surprise ;)

The Maze Runner starts with a boy waking up in a box confused and unable to remember anything apart from his name- Thomas. He wakes up to find he's been transported into a place full of teenage boys (the Gladers) in an area they all nickname the Glade. The Glade is closed off with walls and around it is a huge maze that basically has no exit and lets just say keeps them terrified from entering it due to the robotic, disgusting, terrifying creatures/ machines called Grievers which move around the maze (mostly at night). Every month a new boy has always appeared in the Glade for the past two years until the day after Thomas arrives a girl comes with a message that will change everything. Oooh what is that message you ask? Read the book and find out ;) 

Ok so first of all maybe the only think that stopped me from giving this book a lovely 10/10 was the beginning. I found it a little hard to actually get into the book or want to continue reading the book because i felt way too confused at first and just wanted some answers (aha just like Thomas :P ). Also it felt a little slow at first and i just wanted things to move forward a little. I was glad that finally after the first..maybe 20 pages the story definitely took off and after that..everything was awesome 0.o

The plot was really interesting and cleverly thought out and written. I loved the fact that even for me, someone that always loves predicting whats going to happen next (and  is usually right ^.^ ) was surprised at times and was able to enjoy the different twists and turns the story took and how Thomas managed to get through all sorts of things. Knowing the series was a trilogy, i also loved the fact that enough was revealed in the first book to not make you frustrated and annoyed and that (it's very hard to explain this without any spoilers) with the way the book ends you can tell all the books won't be the same situations, atmosphere and themes repeated over and over again. It won't (hopefully) be like the show Prison break, where every season their breaking out of a new prison or running from the same people over and over again (No hate on Prison Break! I do love the show but i hope you get what I'm trying to say ;P ).

I also liked the reasoning behind the whole scenario of why the boys were in this place. We still don't know all the details by the end of the first book, but i liked the fact that it wasn't one of those moments where you're dying to know why  and then when you find out your like -.- ARE YOU SERIOUS. I COULD'VE COME UP WITH A BETTER EXCUSE.

The characters are all loveable and grow on you. I didn't actually hate anyone..maybe this is the first time for that xp lol. My favourite is definitely Minho because he's just chilled out and all his reactions to everything the Gladers went through seemed the most mature, relatable and ..epic ;) (Yes i am thinking of that epic Gathering scene where everyone wants to hear his decision..and then he tells them ^.^ ) I also loved Chuck cus' well.. who wouldn't ;) My least favourite, but not disliked, was probably Teresa. She just seemed a little plain and well randomly put in there for the sake of having a girl in the book but without much personality. I mean don't get me wrong she wasn't annoying and she was definitely essential for the story and she did alot of stuff but..I don't know..something about her seemed a little boring to me. Thomas ( the protagonist) seemed like a typical main male lead and in my opinion was a bit too much of a stereotypical hero at times. Some of his reactions for me felt a unrealistic and are-you-serious-wth-no-non-suicidal-normal-person-does-that ish. Don't get me wrong..he wasn't terrible. I mean I guess if I like the book this much the main character must have been ok. He just wasn't my favourite.

All together this book was definitely worth reading and after the first few pages, is a wonderful action packed gripping read. Alot of people say Hunger Games fans would love this, and I'm sure they would.. but I think the closest book it relates to for me is the Gone series by Micheal Grant. So ya.. if you've read the Gone series and you loved it..you'll definitely most positively love this too!

Some quotes:

“Holy crap, I’m scared.”
“Holy crap, you’re human. You should be scared.”

"Can’t take a chance that one day, in one spot, somewhere, an exit might appear. We can’t give up. Ever.”

Also..it's going to be a movie and will apparently ( according to a rumour i read) will be released on September 19th 2014 !!! Here's some cool photos from the movie:





Ooooh fancy shmancy.. something tells me I'll probably love movie Thomas more than book Thomas. hehehe

~The potterhead panemaniac pancake lover~
PS. ooh btw HAPPY PANCAKE DAY EVERYONE!