Summerlost

Goodreads Says:    It's the first real summer since the devastating accident that killed Cedar's father and younger brother, Ben. But now Cedar and what’s left of her family are returning to the town of Iron Creek for the summer. They’re just settling into their new house when a boy named Leo, dressed in costume, rides by on his bike. Intrigued, Cedar follows him to the renowned Summerlost theatre festival. Soon, she not only has a new friend in Leo and a job working concessions at the festival, she finds herself surrounded by mystery. The mystery of the tragic, too-short life of the Hollywood actress who haunts the halls of Summerlost. And the mystery of the strange gifts that keep appearing for Cedar. 

Infused with emotion and rich with understanding, Summerlost is the touching middle grade debut from Ally Condie, the international bestselling author of the Matched series, that highlights the strength of family and personal resilience in the face of tragedy.

My Thoughts:

-    A perfect read for summer time. 

-    Ally has such a way with words. While this book wasn't as poetic as her other works, it was still beautiful and flowed like only Ally Condie can write. 

-    I really like that this is a tribute to The Shakespeare Festival in Cedar City. I have never been to the festival, but this makes me really want to go. I thought it was canny that the main character's name was Cedar. Ha!

-    The story is a very sweet one filled with friendship, a little mystery, and a tad of sadness. I felt a lot of emotions for Cedar. I wanted to give her hug.

-    I really liked Leo, and I liked that Cedar and Leo were just friends. You can have a great story with kids just being kids and a boy and a girl just being friends! THANK YOU!

-    Even though this is a middle grade book, I think adults will really like it too. 

Atlantia

Goodreads Synopsis:    Can you hear Atlantia breathing?

For as long as she can remember, Rio has dreamt of the sand and sky Above—of life beyond her underwater city of Atlantia. But in a single moment, all her plans for the future are thwarted when her twin sister, Bay, makes an unexpected decision, stranding Rio Below. Alone, ripped away from the last person who knew Rio’s true self—and the powerful siren voice she has long hidden—she has nothing left to lose.

Guided by a dangerous and unlikely mentor, Rio formulates a plan that leads to increasingly treacherous questions about her mother’s death, her own destiny, and the complex system constructed to govern the divide between land and sea. Her life and her city depend on Rio to listen to the voices of the past and to speak long-hidden truths.

My Thoughts:

-    I love Ally Condie! She is amazing! I liked her Matched Trilogy better, but this was still good.

-    Ally said this book was based on The Littler Mermaid by Hans Christian Anderson. I was excited about that, but the story was VERY loosely based on the fairy tale. I don't know if I would even call this an retelling. It was its own story and pretty original. 

-    The best part of this book is the world building! Wow! It was so visual and beautiful. I loved the gondolas, the silver trees, the whole atmosphere of Atlantia. It was great!

-    The characters were a little flat for me. I didn't really connect with any of them. I wasn't very sympathetic towards Rio's predicament until towards the end. I wish she had done some more growing as an individual. Her identity was centered on her family and others, and I wish she had become more independent. 

-    The story and the idea of Atlantia were fascinating to me, but the story as a whole was a little bland. Not a lot of exciting stuff happened. 

-    On the flip side, I appreciate the subtly of the story. Ally is a very poetic writer, and I loved when that came through. 

-    Despite the things that were flat, I still enjoyed the book. I recommend it to any Ally Condie fan. 

Kiersten White and Ally Condie

There are so many author events going on!!!

Kiersten White at Teen Book Fest

Kiersten had a fun presentation. She talked about how we don't live in a book, and we aren't the chosen one, but it's okay.

Kiersten never got a letter from Hogwarts

She never developed cool mutant powers and joined the X-men. 

She never got to choose a faction and be divergent (and date Theo James).

It was a fun speech. Since we don't live in a book and aren't the chosen ones, our choices won't destroy the world, we won't have a crappy 2nd book, and we aren't in peril. She also talked about choosing ourselves and becoming whoever we want to be.

Kiersten signing my book. I'm so excited to read this one!

Ally Condie's Launch Party

Ally talked about her new book, Atlantia.

It is a Little Mermaid retelling in a Dystopian world. I'm really excited to read it!

Here is me and Jenni talking to Courtney.

Suey and me and our books!

Jenni won an extra copy of Atlantia, and she gave it to me!!! SO AWESOME! Jenni is the best! (And not because she gave me a book)

The three musketeers!

These two have become my besties! Love these ladies!

Ally signing her book!

Upcoming Events:

Shallee McArthur's Launch Party

Orem Library @ 6:30

Nov 4

Jessica Day George

Provo Library @ 7

Nov 13

Ally Condie Spotlight

Author Spotlight

Ally Condie

Author of

I feel like Ally Condie and her books are pretty well known in Utah, so instead of talking about how awesome her books are, I want to do something a little different. I'm going to spotlight her fans!

Raving Reviews:

Matched

It's All About Books:  "The best thing about this book is that it makes you think about how important our every day choices are, and how we should never never take that for granted."

Alison Can Read:  "I read the first two pages of Matched, smiled, and said 'I'm going to like this.' Ally Condie is a fabulous writer. She created a Utopian dystopian love story with strong, likeable main characters."

Crossed 

Squeaky Books:  "The first thing that struck me was how poetic this book is. Matched has a lot of poetry, and it's a big theme in the book. Crossed IS poetry. Some of the chapters are actually written in stanzas! The story flows together beautifully, and I was on the edge of my seat the entire time."

Emily's Reading Room:  "Honestly, this book ruined me. After reading it in back in September I still have not been able to find a book that spoke to me as much as Crossed did...Each page of this novel is a work of art. With each turn of the page I found myself pointing to a passage and saying, 'Yes! I've felt this way before! That's exactly what it's like.' And what is remarkable is that I don't live in a dystopian society where everything is chosen for me. Ally does a magnificent job of taking a society so different from our own, and relating it to the human experience that so many of us share."

Reached

Books: A True Story:  "All of the characters are reaching for something.  Some of them make it and some of them don’t.  I loved how significant the title was to the whole story.  The colors red, green, and blue are woven throughout the narrative, tying the whole thing together in a beautiful way."

Rampant Readers:  Overall, Reached was a great story about fighting for whats right, becoming leaders, and giving the chance to choose; about reaching and being reached.

Fan Art:

Reached

From Goodreads:    After leaving Society and desperately searching for the Rising—and each other—Cassia and Ky have found what they were looking for, but at the cost of losing each other yet again: Cassia has been assigned to work for the Rising from within Society, while Ky has been stationed outside its borders. But nothing is as predicted, and all too soon the veil lifts and things shift once again.

In this gripping conclusion to the #1 New York Times-bestselling Matched trilogy, Cassia will reconcile the difficulties of challenging a life too confining, seeking a freedom she never dreamed possible, and honoring a love she cannot live without.

My Thoughts:

-    The story is told from 3 perspectives:  Xander, Cassia, and Ky.  I really loved that we got to see more of Xander.

-    The book is kinda slow, but I savored each word.  It really isn't the plot that sucked me into the series, it was the characters!

-    This is such a different kind of rebellion.  It is so fresh and unique to see this kind of resolve.

-    The love triangle is settled, but I'm not completely happy about it.  I understand why it went down the way it did, but I'm still not happy.

-    This book really made me take a deep breath and think.  The gears in my head were turning the whole way through.  It is kind of a somber ending.

-    I enjoyed this book, but I think Matched is my favorite in the series.  

-    There are so many little things in the previous books that come back in this one.  I must go back to read the trilogy over again to really get the connections.  Some of the stuff is brilliant!!

-    I love reading Utah Author books because things like Sego Lilies pop up, and I love that Sego Lilies play a big role in the story!  Go Utah Heritage!!  Random fun state fact:  Sego Lilies are our state flower. 

-    The covers of the book are wonderful.  They really represent Cassia's journey.  I even think the covers kind of correlate with Cassia and her experience with each Society pill.

-    I'd love to see a sort of prequel book about Cassia's Grandfather.  It would be so interesting.

-    The book is very well written.  There were some really beautiful moments.


Series Info:

Reached is the 3rd book in the Matched Trilogy.  Reviews for the previous books will show up some day.