Awaken

As violence in schools grew out of control, one man put a plan into action to protect the future: the Freeman Digital School.  Being the daughter of the man who is considered a hero and one of the most powerful in the nation, Maddie barely knows human contact is.  Now almost everything in Maddie's life is done digitally, but something about this bothers Maddie. When Maddie meets Justin, an exciting and people-loving young man who "rescues" others from a constantly plugged in life, she feels truly alive for the first time.    

Kate Kacvinsky creates a world that could eerily be not so far away from where society is right now, which is what makes this a very engaging read.  However, while there was an attraction written between Maddie and Justin, it fell a little flat for me because it was well, you know, scripted. I also had a seriously hard time not comparing this to Matched, which really knocked it out of the park.

There is a sequel coming that I think I'll still read because for a first novel, it's got a lot of potential.  

* Read for possible inclusion on the 2012/2013 YARP list.

Inheritance

Even though it was three very long years since Brisingr came out, Inheritance was more than worth the wait.  The detail of the story is so rich and I really felt like all the characters got to have a chance to shine, even Elva who creeps me right out.  The relationship between Eragon and Arya became both beautiful and excruciating.  My most favorite relationship was developed between two of the most unlikely people, but I can't say who in case you haven't read the book yet (even though you probably have because it's taken me so long to write the dang review).  But it's a really good one!  The only character I wanted to know just a little more about was Angela.  We never got her back story, but maybe that would have lessened her mystique too much.

One of the best parts of any of these books is figuring out who gets the dragon that's pictured on the cover, and this one is just as fantastic!  Oh and by the way, I want my own dragon.  So if anyone knows of one for cheap (let's face it, I'm a public servant), let me know.

My favorite part of the whole book though was the very end.  I rarely feel so satisfied at the end of a series.  Hats off to you Paolini for taking your time to bring closure to the story and not rush things.  After the big stuff is over, there are almost 100 pages that are used to tell the reader who ended up where and how.  With an ending like that, who needs an epilogue?  So thank you many times over Christopher! 

Waiting for me to blog again took about as long as it did for Inheritance to come out - or at least I bet it felt that way.  Or maybe none of you missed me.  Either way, apparently Blogger changed the way everything behind the scenes looks and I hate it.  Anyhoo, I'm back now so on with the show!