Review Plague by Michael Grant

Title: Plague
Author: Michael Grant 

Published: April 5th, 2011 (Katherine Tegen Books)

Pages: 316

Source: bought
Series: Gone #4

Rating: 4 stars

Synopsis from Goodreads: It's been eight months since all the adults disappeared. Gone.

They've survived hunger. They've survived lies. But the stakes keep rising, and the dystopian horror keeps building. Yet despite the simmering unrest left behind by so many battles, power struggles, and angry divides, there is a momentary calm in Perdido Beach.

But enemies in the FAYZ don't just fade away, and in the quiet, deadly things are stirring, mutating, and finding their way free. The Darkness has found its way into the mind of its Nemesis at last and is controlling it through a haze of delirium and confusion. A highly contagious, fatal illness spreads at an alarming rate. Sinister, predatory insects terrorize Perdido Beach. And Sam, Astrid, Diana, and Caine are plagued by a growing doubt that they'll escape—or even survive—life in the FAYZ. With so much turmoil surrounding them, what desperate choices will they make when it comes to saving themselves and those they love?

This series gets better with every book! After finishing Lies I thought it couldn't get worse. I was so wrong. Michael Grant did it again. 

In Plague some kids get so sick they literary cough their lungs out. And that's not even the worst part. There were some really stomach turning parts in this book. I don't have the strongest stomach and at times I'm even a bit nauseated by the story! But I just can't stop reading it. Even now I can't wait to get my hands on the next book in the series! 

Michael Grant has an amazing writing style. When I read his books I do it everywhere. Just because I want to read it so badly! I don't have this with many books. When I'm on the train for ten minutes I mostly end up checking my phone, but some books are worth reading everywhere, even if it is for just ten minutes! (I'm a bit weird and don't like to end in the middle of a chapter and that's why I want to have more time when I read). 

If you're familiar with the series you know that there are multiple POV's. Some characters return in every book, like Sam, Astrid and Caine. Others are only there for one book or just one fragment. This makes the book so hard to put down. You want to know what happens next! So you continue reading. 
Most of the time I switch favorite characters. At first I really loved Sam, but in the second and third book there were times when I just wanted to scream at him. I've had the same with Astrid. I didn't like Astrid in Plague, she changed and not in a good way. But I did like Sam a bit more! He doesn't like to be looked upon as the leader, but he does take action when it's necessary. My favorite character in this book was Hunter. He becomes more and more like an animal and sometimes he just can't think straight and he knows. I was fascinated by his struggling! 

If you haven't read this series yet I definitely recommend it! The last book is coming this year and I can't wait to see how this series will end! But first I'm reading the fifth book!

Stacking the Shelves (25)

Stacking the Shelves is a weekly meme hosted by Tynga's Reviews. Bloggers share what new books (physical or virtual) they got this week. I like getting new books and showing them. So here's my haul for this week! 

I turned 24 yesterday! Yay for celebrating my birthday! Not so yay because it's right after Christmas and the books I asked hadn't arrived yet :P. So instead of a long list of books I only bought (yes bought, but with a birthday discount!) one book this week. Maybe that's a good thing, because I need some serious working on my TBR pile. One of my goals for next year! 

Bought 

Title: Plague

Author: Michael Grant

Published: April 5th, 2011 (Katherine Tegen Books)

Pages: 497
Series: Gone #4

What new books did you get this week?

Review BZRK by Michael Grant

Title: BZRK (Dutch edition)
Author: Michael Grant

Published: October 17th, 2012 (Van Goor)

Pages: 294

Source: for review
Series: BZRK #1

Rating: 3.5 stars

Synopsis from Goodreads: Set in the near future, BZRK is the story of a war for control of the human mind.  Charles and Benjamin Armstrong, conjoined twins and owners of the Armstrong Fancy Gifts Corporation, have a goal:  to turn the world into their vision of utopia.  No wars, no conflict, no hunger.  And no free will.  Opposing them is a guerrilla group of teens, code name BZRK, who are fighting to protect the right to be messed up, to be human.  This is no ordinary war, though.  Weapons are deployed on the nano-level. The battleground is the human brain.  And there are no stalemates here:  It’s victory . . . or madness.

BZRK unfolds with hurricane force around core themes of conspiracy and mystery, insanity and changing realities, engagement and empowerment, and the larger impact of personal choice. Which side would you choose?  How far would you go to win? 

If you've read the Gone series by Michael Grant you know what kind of stories he writes. BZRK is exactly like that. Most of the time it's wise to have a strong stomach. The story begins with a plane crash into a stadium. People die, burn and brains are splattered across the floor. If you don't like this / can't handle this, please don't read this book, because it's about to get worse.

With BZRK Michael Grant created a very creepy world. The twins Benjamin and Charles Armstrong are making the perfect world. One without cruelties. Through nanobots they manipulate the brains of humans, including the six world leaders as their ultimate goal. The world will function as one. Sadie and Noah are recruited by BZRK, a group who wants to stop the twins. They’re renamed to Plath and Keats and with their nanobots they will fight the Armstrongs.

The story is told from different perspectives. The story is full of tension, but it’s confusing sometimes. At the beginning of the story a lot of characters are introduced and it took me a while before I got them all in the right place. The ending brings all of this together en a lot is made clear. But not everything. There are still a lot of questions unanswered. If you like horror, than this is the book for you!

It took some time for me to get used to the subject, but this is what makes this book so special. I haven’t seen a book about nanobots before. So next to reading a good story I also learned a lot! Don’t let the subject scare you away! It may be confusing at the beginning, but if you love Michael Grant’s style you’ll love it. 

Still looking for a good story for Halloween, this should definitely be on your list!

Stacking the Shelves (14)

Stacking the Shelves is a weekly meme hosted by Tynga's Reviews. Bloggers share what new books (physical or virtual) they got these week. I like getting new books and showing them. So here's my haul for this week! 

I'm still on my book buying ban, although I did ignore it for one book this week! I'll show you next week what I ordered! I hope to get it in the mail by then. My reading slump isn't really over as well, so my TBR is still scary high. I'll probably break my book buying ban again before it's as low as I want it to be! 
And this week my won copy of Defiance arrived! I'm so happy!

For review

Title: BZRK (Dutch version)

Author: Michael Grant

Published: October 11th, 2012 (Van Goor)

Pages: 294
Series: BZRK #1

Won

Title: Defiance

Author: C.J. Redwine

Published: September 6th, 2012 (Atom)

Pages: 403
Series: Defiance #1

What's your haul?

Waiting on Wednesday (10)

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating. This week I'm waiting on 

Eve and Adam by Katherine Applegate & Micheal Grant

Title: Eve and Adam

Author: Katherine Applegate & Micheal Grant

Will be published on: October 2nd, 2012 (Feiwel & Friends)

Pages: 304

Synopsis from Goodreads: Sixteen-year-old Evening Spiker lives an affluent life in San Francisco with her mother, EmmaRose, a successful geneticist and owner of Spiker Biotech. Sure, Evening misses her father who died mysteriously, but she’s never really questioned it. Much like how she’s never stopped to think how off it is that she’s never been sick. That is, until she’s struck by a car and is exposed to extensive injuries. Injuries that seem to be healing faster than physically possible. 
While recuperating in Spiker Biotech’s lush facilities, she meets Solo Plissken, a very attractive, if off-putting boy her age who spent his life at Spiker Biotech. Like Evening, he’s never questioned anything... until now. Solo drops hints to Evening that something isn’t right, and Emma-Rose may be behind it. Evening puts this out of her mind and begins her summer internship project: To simulate the creation of the perfect boy. With the help of Solo, Evening uncovers secrets so big they could change the world completely.

I might pre-order this book, wait impatiently until October 2nd, sit guard next to my mail box and not leave my spot until I have this book in my hands. And than read it! 
Every time I see this book I want to scream. This is going to be so amazing I just know it!