Book Review - The Selection by Kiera Cass | ★★★

America Singer is a five out of eight. That means she´s on the fourth lowest rank on Illéa´s, her country´s, caste system. Illéa is where the United States used to be and is now shaped by this futuristic society. America was born into the rank of artists and performers and has chosen to be a singer, playing the piano, violin and many other instruments. 

When the country´s prince comes of appropriate age, there will be a selection of his future wife and queen of Illéa. In the selection, 35 girls will participate to date the crown prince Maxon, and from all these girls, he has to choose one to marry. 

“Listen to me, kitten. Win or lose, you’ll always be a princess to me.” 

Book Review - Rebel Belle by Rachel Hawkins | ★★★

Harper Jane Price, 17 years old, has a wonderful life. Apart from her sisters death one year ago, she has a amazing boyfriend Ryan, wonderful friends, loving parents and a bright future. Harper is a southern belle and from the outside perfect. Perfect grades, school president, popular everywhere. But as she forgets her lip gloss in the night of her homecoming dance, her perfect world seems to fall apart. 

“Looking back, none of this would have happened if I’d brought lip gloss the night of the Homecoming Dance.” 

Harper borrows some lip gloss from her best friend and goes off to apply it in the ladies bathroom at school before her name is called for Homecoming Queen. While she is applying it, she is interrupted by the school´s janitor, Mr. Hall. He is mortally wounded and for his last breath, he grabs Harper and exhales inside her mouth. Her history teacher storms in and Harper figures out that he is the one who killed the janitor. As he notices Harper he tries to kill her too, but Harper finds herself with new abilities and fights her teacher, eventually kills him.

Book Review - The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin | ★★★★

Mara Dyer, a 17-year-old girl, wakes up in hospital with no memory of what had happened. She learns that she survived a horrible accident, in which her best friend, Rachel, her boyfriend, Jude, and his sister, Claire, died. Late at night, they went to an abandoned Asylum, and while they were going through all the rooms, Jude stopped Mara and forced her to do things she wasn´t ready to do. Before anything bad between the two could happen,  there was a loud creak and the building collapsed. Mara herself is physically unharmed but suffers from severe Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and hallucinations. Together with her parents and her brother, she moves to Florida in hopes to over come the tragedy. 

Book Review - Witch Child by Celia Rees | ★★★★

1659: Mary, a 14-year-old girl from England, was raised by her grandmother, her parents left her at an early age, in a cottage at the very edge of a forest. After her grandmother was hanged as a witch, Mary has to leave her home. She is brought to a noblewoman who helps her acquire a new identity. It turns out that this noblewoman is her long lost mother. To escape prosecution, her mother decides it is best for Mary to join the group of settlers heading to America.

“I looked into her eyes, and saw my own staring back, the same peculiar shade, pale grey, flecked with yellow, rimmed with black. Now I knew the nature of her debt. It had weighed on her conscience for fourteen years. I was looking into the eyes of mother and I knew that I would never see her again.” 

Book Haul - April 2015

I bought a few more books last month, even though I know there is not much more space available on my bookshelves. I try not to buy more books until I read through my TBR-pile...

These are the books I purchased:

• The Knife of never letting go by Patrick Ness
• A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness
• Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas
• Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas
• Heir of Fire by Sarah J. Maas
• Rebel Belle by Rachel Hawkings
• The Winner´s Curse by Marie Rutkoski
• The Winner´s Crime by Marie Rutoski
• The Diviners by Libba Bray

I just started reading Rebel Belle, but I am looking forward to reading all of these books. I´m very excited about the Throne of Glass Series!

I will try to write a review about all of them, but it may take a while. If you have any wishes which books I should read and review first (not just these, but the ones on my book list, too), let me know :)

Book Review - The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas by John Boyne | ★★★

Bruno is a nine year old boy, who grew up in Berlin during World War II. His family is wealthy and they live in a five-story house with servants. He has a 12-year-old sister, Gretel. 

Bruno doesn´t know his father´s profession, but he wears an impressive uniform and they have been visited by a very important man called the Fury. After that visit, Bruno´s father got an even nicer uniform, his title changed to Commandant and they move to a new home at a place called Out-With. 

The new home is smaller and always full of soldiers. Bruno doesn´t like it and the worst thing for him is that there is nobody to play with. He has a small window in his bedroom from which he can see a town of people all dressed in striped pyjamas. The strange thing was that they were separated from him by a large fence. He approaches his father about them and asks who they are, he responds that they aren´t really people.