Review: The Last Voyage of Poe Blythe by Ally Condie

Book info:

Title:  The Last Voyage of Poe Blythe
Author:  Ally Condie
Genre:  YA dystopian
Release Date:  March 26th, 2019
Publisher:  Dutton Books for Young Readers/Penguin Teen
Source:  ARC won on Bookish First which did not influence my opinion
My rating:  4 stars

Synopsis:
Who do you become when you have nothing left to lose?

There is something Poe Blythe, the seventeen-year-old captain of the Outpost’s last mining ship, wants far more than the gold they tear from the Serpentine River. 

Revenge. 

Poe has vowed to annihilate the river raiders who robbed her of everything two years ago. But as she navigates the treacherous waters of the Serpentine and realizes there might be a traitor among her crew, she must also reckon with who she has become, who she wants to be, and the ways love can change and shape you. Even—and especially—when you think all is lost.

Ally Condie, the international bestselling author of the Matched trilogy, returns with an intricately crafted and emotionally gripping story of one young woman’s journey to move beyond the grief and anger that control her and find the inner strength to chart her own course.


My Review:
Honestly, when I first started this, I wasn't sure what to expect.  I had really enjoyed the author's first series, or at least the first book in that series, Matched, but I hasn't read anything else by her since then.  I got the chance to read a snippet of this on Bookish First, and it was intriguing enough that I wanted to read more and find out what this world was really all about.  The book kept my interest as I tried to figure out what exactly was going on in this world.  And honestly, a lot of that was kind of kept vague, so not sure if it would really be a dystopian, as I'm not sure it is an Earth like world really.  The further I got into it, it got better and better, so many twists and turns and who was really an ally and who was really an enemy, and how would it all end up.  Definitely a unique story with a lot to keep your interest as you read.  I'll put it in my school library for students who enjoy this type of story, or her other books, although as I mentioned, this isn't quite the same thing as that first series.    

Review - Enthralled: Paranormal Diversions - A collection of short stories by 16 different authors

I checked this book out from the high school library where I work because I really wanted to read it.  I'm glad I did, as I can now say I have read a story by one of the authors I'll be moderating a panel with in May, just in case I don't get a chance to read her newest book before then.  That author is Kelley Armstrong.  Along with some authors I haven't read before, there were a few of my favorite authors in this book:  Sarah Rees Brennan, Ally Condie, Carrie Ryan, and Rachel Vincent to name a few.  One of my new favorites, Kimberly Derting was also a part of this.

Some of the stories go along with series of books, such as Rachel Vincent's Soul Screamers series, and Rachel Caine's Morganville Vampire series.  Even Carrie Ryan's story fits into the world of her Forest of Hands and Teeth series.  While I haven't read the Morganville Vampire series, and still don't know that I will, I really did like the story in this book, Automatic.  It reminded me a bit of the whole True Blood idea of making synthetic blood.  Only in this story, they were putting the blood into cans, and into a vending machine.  But something went wrong with it.  The recipe/formula was more calculated for the vampires that had been around longer, and caused the younger ones to lose themselves to the monster inside.

I haven't read Claudia Gray before, unless it was another short story, but her story, Giovanni's Farewell, the first one in the book, was one I really enjoyed.  Ravenna and Cairo were twins, who have a very close connection.  But they have kind of grown apart a bit, until a class trip to Italy.  She finds out that the little episodes her brother has are because he can hear/see what everyone around him is thinking, and it is a lot to take in.  At the same time, Ravenna learns while in one of the tombs that she can see dead people.  I won't tell too much more, just wanted to point out that I really liked this story, and now will have to read the other books Claudia Gray has written.

Another of my favorite stories in the book was Red Run by Kami Garcia.  It's based on one of those old stories about there being a ghost on a stretch of road that if you stopped to pick him up, you would die in an automobile accident or something.  I enjoyed the twist on the story that Garcia put to make it different.

The final story I'll talk about is by another author I haven't read before, Jeri Smith-Ready.  It is called Bridge, and is written in a prose sort of way.  It's about a future when people born after a certain time can often see ghosts.  And there is a ghost who wants to talk to his brother, to save his brother from killing himself out of guilt that it was his fault his brother died.

Sixteen paranormal stories, some better than others, but I think everyone will like different ones based on what types of stories and writing they prefer or enjoy.

A to Z April - Letter D: Dystopia

 

For the letter D, I've chosen a genre (not sure if that's the correct term for that) of literature that is currently very popular, and is one that is one of my favorites.  I will share five of my favorite dystopian series today.

1.  The Giver Series by Lois Lowry

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I had read all of them, and then got an ARC of the 4th book, Son, when I went to BEA 2 years ago.  I'm sorry to say I have yet to read it though.  I saw that they are doing a movie, and I'm excited, although from the preview I saw, it doesn't match what I saw in my head when I read The Giver.  Looks like I'll be doing a re-read of that in the near future.

2.  The Hunger Games Trilogy by Suzanne Collins:

I first learned of this book when I read it for the state library association book award list.  I loved The Hunger Games so much that I began teaching it in a class we had every day that was for enrichment.  Now, I think because I did that, the first movie was a big disappointment to me. So much left out.  However since I hadn't read the second book, Catching Fire, more than 2 or 3 times, and it had been a while, I was able to enjoy the 2nd movie more.

3.  Divergent Trilogy by Veronica Roth:

This is a series that I was lucky enough to receive an ARC of the first book.  But then, I didn't get one of the 2nd book, and didn't get it until two months after it was published.  So while I got a bit behind between one and two, when number three came out, I bought it on the publishing date (which happened to be my birthday last year), and read it right away!  Also, LOVED the first movie, I think they did a really good job compared to how some movies from books have been done lately.

4.  Matched Trilogy by Ally Condie:

This is a book that I also got an ARC of the first in the series, but then had to wait till the books were published to read on.  I LOVED the first one, the 2nd one was okay, and the third was maybe a bit long for me.

5.  The Shadow Children series by Margaret Peterson Haddix:

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I can't remember for sure when I read this series, and yes, it is a bit younger than the others, but it is a really good series, and Margaret Peterson Haddix is one of my favorite authors.  I have the picture on the left showing all the books, and then the one on the right is one I found when searching for images to use for this post.  I like the cover of it a bit better, I think it would be more appealing to kids today, maybe make them not see it as such a young book and give it a chance.

Are you a dystopia fan?  I haven't listed here all the ones I've read, just chose the top five, and the top five that all of the books in the series are out and I have read, well except for the The Giver series I mean. 

And hey, while you're here, go enter my giveaway on the Fool for Books Giveaway Hop.

Reached (Matched #3) by Ally Condie

I was so eager to read the conclusion to this series that I checked it out from the bookstore where I worked and read the over 500 page thing in just a smidge over 3 days.  And I wasn't disappointed at all.  We learn soooooo much more about the society, as well as the Pilot, and our characters backgrounds, Ky and Xander specifically, that we didn't know before.  I mean really we knew quite a bit about Cassia, as she was kind of the main character to start with.  I loved how this Society kind of met it's match with the whole Plague.  It was an interesting way to show that what they thought was best for everyone, was not really.  And that even though they knew this could be an issue, they didn't take the time to make sure if it did ever become an issue they could really solve it and make sure it didn't become the disaster it did.  One thing in the book that I didn't necessarily remember from the first book is that not only were there only the 100 paintings saved, and 100 songs, 100 movies, etc., there were also the 100 science lessons.  And wow.  I just can't imagine only 100 science lessons. There are so many facts in science that to shorten them to that?  And then to hear that the people in the Society didn't realize just what the world was really like because of what the Society deemed to be the most important science lessons.  I loved going back to all the little clues there were in the past that added up to the final cure.  And we did even learn some things about Cassia's past that she had even "forgotten".  While I will say this book did seem a little long, it wasn't that it became uninteresting in any part or anything, it just seemed maybe a little longer than necessary.  But as you can tell, it was interesting enough that I couldn't get through it fast enough!  IN fact, if I could have, I would have taken it with me to read in line at the Breaking Dawn Part 2 premiere.  Of course it turned out we were able to go at 10:30 instead of midnight, so didn't have quite a long a wait as in the past.
Normally I'll give a bit of a summary of the book in my review, but I just feel to do too much summary would give away too much of the story.  Basically Xander, Ky, Cassia, and Indie were all working for the Rising, and the pilot now, but each in their own way.  Xander as an "Official" more specifically a medic type for the society.  Ky as a pilot with Indie.  And Cassia as a sorter.  Xander ends up being in a center when the Plague begins.  And is able to help a lot of people.  And even is helpful when the plague mutates.  Ky is able to fly the cure into villages to help save people, and later the immunizations to try to prevent the plague.  In the end it is Cassia's sorting that even helps to find the true cure.  Her sorting, and memories from her mother's work with plants in the past.  While there are deaths that are very sad, it is part of the story, and works well.  So I just have to say you probably won't be disappointed in this book if you are a fan of the trilogy.  It is a good ending to the series.  And was well worth the wait.
If you'd like, you may read my reviews on the first two in the trilogy here:  Matched, Crossed.

Desperately Wanting Wednesday (1): Books that give me evil thoughts!

Saw this on A Soul Unsung's blog and it is so much what I've been feeling with all my jealousy about the Insurgent ARC's that I thought I'd join in this week!  This was created by Parajunkee so that we don't only have to talk about upcoming releases, but can also talk about books that we've missed, have already been released, or that you want and haven't purchased yet.  So here is my list, a few anyway.

Books that give me evil/illegal thoughts:

Well, I have to start with Insurgent.  I got an ARC of Divergent at the bookstore where I worked I think, and so I'm kind of sad I didn't get the ARC of Insurgent as well.  I really wish I could get all the ARCs in a series if I get to start the series out that way.  Especially when I really LOVED the series!  So, I am overcoming my evil thoughts or my jealousy in that a couple of the people who did get them for these really cool contests, are also doing giveaways for the ARCs.  So I'm trying that way.  :-)  In fact, to show how NOT jealous I am, here are some links to the different factions:

The Divergent Lexicon is leading Team Amity
Divergent Fans are leading Team Dauntless
The Divergent Examiner is Team Abegnation
The Story Siren is Team Candor
Bookalicious is Team Erudite

Because we're talking about books that could be older ones, I was sooooo jealous of anyone who got a Fever ARC.  Since I also got the ARC for Wither, I wanted to keep reading that series in all ARCs too.  I loved Wither, and so am again disappionted I didn't get an ARC.  However Fever wasn't AS good as Wither, it was good, and I kind of would like the matching set of ARCs. 

And another one that I got as an ARC for the first book, but not the 2nd, was Crossed.  I loved Matched.  In fact my ARC of Matched didn't even have a picture on it, so I don't even have the pretty cover of the published book.  But I still wanted a matching set.  Again, Crossed was not as good as Matched, but like Fever, it carried the story on just right.






So, there are others, but I'm going to end this post for now.  What books give you evil thoughts?

Crossed by Ally Condie

Crossed by Ally Condie

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


First let me say that I need to take a cue from something I saw The Story Siren say, that she doesn't read other reviews. Because in the case of this book, I wonder how much of my dissatisfaction is because I read other reviews of people that were not completely pleased with this book. I also wonder how much is because it is the "sophomore" book in the series, which often aren't as good as the first. Let me be clear, it wasn't bad, it was a good story, but it just didn't live up to how much I loved the first book in the series,Matched. After thinking about it, here is why I think that is. I liked the whole society part of the first book, the 100 books, movies, songs, etc. I liked being a part of all that. This book took our characters out of that society and put them out in the wilderness basically. And while I do enjoy books like that, it just didn't keep up with where the first story went. It reminds me of my displeasure with Mockingjay, the 3rd in the Hunger Games trilogy. I think I didn't enjoy the 3rd book because there was no "hunger games" in it. It sounds as if the 3rd book in the Matched series may get back to the setting that pulled me in to the series in the first place. And I did like learning more about Ky, as well as about the people who weren't in the society, and why things became the society like that. All in all I believe it furthered the story, told us what we needed to know, but I'm ready to read on and hopefully get back into the society.



View all my reviews

November RAK

Well, I signed up to do RAK last month, and got 3 different books! It was awesome! I'm sure a lot of that was because it was my birthday month. However, I'm a little ticked at myself because I can't find the emails to remember the people that sent me the books. And I know I saved them just to have for this blog post! Well, I did send a book, a Nook e-book to one of the people that sent me a book. So you'd think I'd still have their information somewhere, but no, again, something happened and I can't find it. I wonder if when I was trying to save my school emails as they were changing our system at the district where I teach, if somehow they got mixed up in those emails and I'll have to search through that mess. Hopefully at some point I can find them, and come back and edit this post to give thanks publicly to those people who made it a great birthday month.

I received Hunger by Jackie Morse Kessler, which I've already read and reviewed. The Near Witch by Victoria Schwab, which is on the list to probably read later this month. And finally, The Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare, which I do still have the email from Erika at http://readspect.blogspot.com who sent this to me. I still have hers because the book came with a Karma seed for me to pass on. Which is part of why I am doing RAK this month. I need to pass this along. You can read about the Karma seed program here: http://thekarmaseed.org/home

Here is my wishlist from Amazon.com: http://amzn.com/w/16GT1JWQAYZ35

And my top 5 that I'm hoping for this month are:

Dark Eden by Patrick Carman

Crossed by Ally Condie

Darker Still by Leanna Renee Hieber

The Future of Us by Jay Asher and Carolyn Mackler

The Death Cure by James Dashner.

If you're interested in participating this month, here are the links you need:

First, go sign up here: http://booksoulmates.blogspot.com/2011/11/random-acts-of-kindness-november-sign.html

To see who else is participating so you can choose who to send a gift to, go here:https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0As4fr55TjlOydHpyV1VVNUFSMUxlS0ZmWmtya1VpdUE#gid=0

Hope you'll join in as this is a great thing to be a part of.