Review: Gone by Michael Grant

In the blink of an eye. Everyone disappears. GONE.
Except for the young. Teens. Middle schoolers. Toddlers. But not one single adult. No teachers, no cops, no doctors, no parents. Just as suddenly, there are no phones, no Internet, no television. No way to get help. And no way to figure out what's happened.

Hunger threatens. Bullies rule. A sinister creature lurks. Animals are mutating. And the teens themselves are changing, developing new talents—unimaginable, dangerous, deadly powers—that grow stronger by the day.

It's a terrifying new world. Sides are being chosen, a fight is shaping up. Townies against rich kids. Bullies against the weak. Powerful against powerless. And time is running out: On your birthday, you disappear just like everyone else...

Released: July 1st, 2008
Published by: HarperTeen
Series: Gone, 1
Overall Rating: 4 out of 5
Source: Library
Page Amount: 558

I know I say this about most novels that I have been reviewing lately, but I loved GONE by Michael Grant. Lately I have been reading really amazing books, and I have been wanting to read books that I know won’t be good since I can show you how I am not just reviewing the good books that I read. I am honestly reading just amazing books lately.

GONE is one of those novels that you just have to read. You are missing out on some amusingness if you do not pick up this novel this moment.

The plot, and I am not kidding, is one of the most unique and unheard of plots that I have ever read or even heard of. Before I picked this novel up, all I knew that it has been getting amazing reviews by every huge blogger that I know (for example, The Story Siren,) and I knew that sooner or later I would have to pick this novel up. It wasn’t until I saw the huge lettering on the spin in my school library that I was totally serious about reading it.

I loved GONE. Can I say that enough? For any of those crazy people who have not read this book, you must pick it up now. There was everything that you could ever possibly want in a novel. Like able characters, amazing writing style, and much more!

The cover of GONE is not my favourite and I honestly don’t get it. There are just a bunch of random people standing staring off into space. I am guessing that the people are characters from the book, but it is not obvious which ones. I love that it is a wrap around cover, though. I find that whenever I find a book with a wrap around cover, I fall in love with it. I don’t know for certain why though. Maybe not a lot of books have wrap around covers? I have no idea.
Like I said, if you are one of those crazy people who have not read GONE, than you must go to your nearest book store and buy it. Right now. Because it is amazing.

Plot 10/10
Like able Characters 9/10
Problem Development 10/10
Solution Effectiveness 10/10
Writing Style 10/10
Character Development 10/10
Cover 7/10
Setting 10/10
Ending 10/10
Beginning 6/10
=
92%

Love,
Sierra

Semi-New Rating Scale!

Hello guys! I just posted in my mailbox, but I decided to post another post for you guys since it has been awhile since I have posted.





I am going to try some new rating scale type thing. I will still be doing the percentage scale type thing, but I will be adding a A and B scale to it. If a book's percentage is from 0-50, it is rated a B. If a book is from 51-100, it is rated and A. I decided to only use As and Bs because I wanted to have an even group of numbers (sort of, it is hard to explain).





The B books are ones that were not for me or I didn't enjoy every well, and A books are ones that I enjoyed a lot. So before you even read the review you will know if I rated it a A or a B because I will have a large image just like this:








or this:
































So, what do you guys think? I personally think that it is genius. Not to be full of myself or anything. I just think it is a really good idea and that is why I am using it. I want to know what you guys think, though, because my followers are really important to me too, and I want to know when you like something or other. I would really love to know.

Love,
Sierra

In My Mailbox (13)

Hey guys! I am sorry I have kind of been away for a little while, but I am back now! I just have been super busy with school and such that I haven't had much time for blogging purposes. But, here is IMM!

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In my mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by Kristi over at the Story Siren. It allows readers and bloggers to drool over new books and swag!

I had an awesome week this week for in my mailbox. I received my first book that an author has wanted me to review! My first review copy! For me, this is super exciting and I couldn't wait to share it with you guys! Want to know what it is?

It is Solid by Shelley Workinger! I am currently reading this, so a review for it should be up soon. I was excited to get this because this is my first book by an indie author, so I was excited to check one out.

That is all for me this week. My mailbox was certainly happy, and my question is, what did you get this week?

Love,
Sierra



Special thanks to:
Shelley Workinger

In My Mailbox (12)

In My Mailbox is a weekley meme hosted by The Story Siren. It gives readers a chance to drool over new books.

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No books for me this week. ):
But there will definatly be something waiting for you guys next week!

Love,
Sierra

Author Interview with Ellen Hopkins!

Hey guys, I have another author interview for you guys! This time it is with Ellen Hopkins, the author of IMPULSE, which I reviewed on my blog a little while ago. I hope you enjoy!


1. What was it like growing up in adopted family?

My parents were older, so any differences between an adopted family and a birth family stemmed from that. We didn't do things like ski, for instance. But I had a great childhood.

2. Why did you decide to write your novels in verse?

I started CRANK in prose, but the voice was too angry. It was my voice, not “Kristina’s” voice. I’ve always written poetry and when I saw another verse novelist, Sonya Sones, speak at a conference, I knew it was the right way to tell the story. Verse is about how the poet views his or her world, and I wanted to view Kristina’s world. Verse allowed me inside her. Then I discovered a talent for it, and that many readers do like it.

3. What is your favourite colour?

Please see my FAQ page on ellenhopkins.com

4. Any new projects you can tell us about?

Please see my FAQ page on ellenhopkins.com.....news on upcoming projects is on the home page.

5. Did you have any say in your beautiful cover art?

Not really, except for some input on color. My cover designer, Sammy Yuen Jr., is brilliant. I'm happy with his choices.


6. How long did it take you to write Impulse?

Answers in 8.

7. How long did it take you to write Crank?

'' ''
8. How long did it take you to write Glass?


CRANK took me about a year and a lot of that was developing the format. The others took around 6-8 months.

10. Thank you so much for the interview. One last question, what is your biggest advice for aspiring authors?

To read, read, read. And read cross-genre. And to write, write, write. And to write cross-genre. You won't know where you belong as a writer until you try lots of different kinds of writing. Not everyone is a novelist or a poet, or belongs writing Dystopian. Experiment!

Thanks so much to Ellen Hopkins for the wonderful interview! I love your novels and I can't wait for upcoming projects!

Author Interview with Diane Chamberlain!

Yes, it's finally here! My author interview with Diane Chamberlain is finally mine! Well, and yours. Anyways, enjoy:


1. You are the first adult author that I have reviewed on my blog. How does that make you feel?

I’m honored that you were willing to give one of my books a try and that you enjoyed it enough that you wanted to chat with me about it.

2. Before The Storm is a novel that covers many topic that I love to read about, (crime, love, loss, ect.) what was the inspiration for this novel?
I came up with the setting before I came up with the story. I visited Topsail Island, North Carolina for an ‘authors and readers’ event and fell in love with it and knew I wanted to set a story there. Around the same time, I had an idea for a story involving an “unlikely hero,” an unpopular boy who rescues people from a fire. That’s how Andy was born. When I first “heard” Andy speak in my mind, I recognized his voice as similar to that of children I used to work with as a psychotherapist and knew he had fetal alcohol syndrome. The way he spoke reminded me of those children. But that meant I had to come up with a reason why his mother, Laurel, drank while she was pregnant with him. Plotting is like that—it’s circular. You think of one idea and then have to puzzle out how to fit that idea into the story. I love solving those problems. Another scene that was very strong in my mind even before I started writing Before the Storm was the scene with Andy’s sister, Maggie, sitting on the demolished porch of an old beach house, communing with the spirit of her father who had been killed by a whale. I loved that scene, but I didn’t know what it meant until I wrote some of the story.

3. How long have you been writing?
I wrote a few truly terrible books when I was twelve, but then I forgot about writing until I was in my early thirties and in the midst of a career as a social worker and psychotherapist working in hospitals and a private practice with teenagers. I’ve been at it more than twenty years.

4. What made you want to write adult novels? Or did it just end up like that?
I never set out to write any particular sort of novel. The story comes to me and I just write it down, but I do find that teenagers often worm their way into my stories. I enjoyed working with teens professionally very much and they make an interesting addition to most stories. Basically, though, I like to write intergenerational stories where all ages are represented, just as in real life. `

5. How old were you when you started writing novels?
See number 3.

6. What is your favourite colour?
Red!

7. How long did it take you to write Before the Storm?
About ten months.

8. In your own words, summarize Before the Storm.
I think of Before the Storm as part mystery, part suspense and one hundred percent family drama. It’s the story of how far a family will go to protect one another. It’s about the choices people make that come back to haunt them. And it’s about the gradual unfolding of truths that keep the characters on edge and those pages turning.


9. Did you have any say in your novel covers?
Authors have very little say in their covers, unfortunately. I like most of my covers, but not all of them.

10. Is there any other projects that you are working on right now that you can tell us about?
The book I just finished is called The Midwife’s Confession. It will be out in the United States in May, and yes, there are a few teenage characters in the story!

11. Thank you so much for the wonderful interview. One last question, what is your biggest advice for aspiring authors?
My advice is to learn all you can about the craft of writing. Learn the basics of grammar and punctuation and how to string words together in a way that makes sense and sounds good. You really need to know all of that to tell a great story. And then you need to figure out that great story to tell! My strongest advice is to not give up. If you love writing and have a tale to tell, just keep working at it until you get it right.

Thank you so much Diane Chamberlain for the wonderful interview! You answered so many questions that I had rolling around in my head when I finished Before the Storm. Also, I would like to add to Diane Chamberlain's comment on my review of Before the Storm, that I did know that there is a sequel and I should be reading that soon because I love her books!

Once again, I thank Diane so much for the wonderful interview and I would like to inform you guys that I will be featured on her blog sometime soon! I will let you guys know more about that at a later date and hopefully that will be sooner rather than later!

Love,
Sierra

In My Mailbox (11)

In my Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by the Story Siren. It allows bloggers to drool over new books.
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No new books for me this week, but I did re-new GONE by Michael Grant, and I also have an exciting thing coming soon, so I hope that will be here in about two weeks or so.

What did you get in your mailbox?

Love,

Sierra