MaddAddam

MaddAddam (MaddAddam Trilogy #3)

Margaret Atwood, 2013

Picking up after the events of Oryx and Crake and The Year of the Flood, our characters are dealing with the aftermath of the man-made plague that has wiped out most of the population. Toby, Zeb, and the other God's Gardeners, have come across Snowman-the-Jimmy (delirious with fever) and the Crakers, and take it upon themselves to take care of them. Toby ends up filling in for Snowman as storyteller to the Crakers, who decide that they want to hear the story of Zeb. Through this, we find out Zeb's history and his relationship to the missing Adam One.

(If none of that paragraph made sense, please read Oryx and Crake and The Year of the Flood before reading MaddAddam. It's the only way that any of it will make sense.)

I liked Oryx and Crake and The Year of the Flood, but I didn't love them. I loved MaddAddam. This is the book that I wanted Oryx and Crake to be. The first two books set up the world - how the plague happened, who survived and why, who the Crakers were - and this final installment gave us the character development. There was a little bit of action, but this story was mostly about the characters, and I loved that, especially the Crakers. The Crakers gave the story an honesty and humanity that it really needed, as well as provided a lot of comic relief. Toby telling stories to the Crakers were definitely some of the highlights of the book.

Overall this was a great conclusion to the trilogy. I think the story was wrapped up nicely, giving us a solid ending as well as providing a little bit of hope for the future of this world. I definitely recommend reading the first two before getting to this one, since a lot of this book won't make sense unless you do, but it's definitely worth a read. One of my favorite books of the year. 

Captain's Fury

Captain's Fury (Codex Alera #4)

Jim Butcher, 2007

We join the story two years after the events in Cursor's Fury. Tavi is still leading the First Aleran Legion, now officially as its captain, in its stand against the invading Canim army. But after meeting with one of the Canim officers, Tavi realizes that there might be a simple solution, which would not only stop the war, but would give them an ally against a fierce common enemy. Meanwhile, the First Lord has enlisted the help of the Amara and Bernard in a mission against Kalare that could change the course of the war.

I really enjoyed this episode in the Codex Alera series. Tavi is getting much more powerful, although is still weak enough with his furies that it isn't too easy for him (because that would be boring). Plus, Kitai's abilities were a very interesting development. I wish that we could have had a little more of Max and his brother here, but with a lot of the action taking place away from the First Aleran, I guess it wasn't to be. Lots of surprises in this book, though, and I'm really looking forward to seeing where these events will take us to in the final two books.

Crank

Crank (Crank #1)

Ellen Hopkins, 2004

Written in verse, this is a story about one teenager's descent into crystal meth addiction. While visiting her absent father, Kristina - a studious good-girl - meets an attractive stranger who introduces her to the drug, as well as to her bad-girl alter-ego, Bree.

I realize that my summary made it sound a bit cheesy, but this is a spectacular book, and one that every teenager should try and get their hands on. It's not in any way preachy about the dangers of meth, but is rather a story about one girl who slips up and loses control and her struggle to get that control back. The characters are real and honest and very well developed, especially for a first-person narrative told only in verse. And I am usually not a fan of books told in verse, but Hopkins just writes it so well. I will definitely be picking up more of Hopkins' books after this, starting with the follow-up to Kristina's story - Glass.