Nomansland

Nomansland by Lesley Hauge was recommended to me on Librarything.com and I am very glad it did. This book was great!

The book follows the life of a young girl named Keller who was born and raised in a small community of women only, called Foundland. Keller and the other teenage girls live tough lives, training to become the Patrol over Foundland.
These girls have been told of a great disease that killed almost everyone in the "Time Before" and now the few remaining men in the world are mutant creatures who are the enemy.


But, Keller soon discovers secrets about the older women in Foundland and realize that everything they have been preaching is a lie!

I loved the way this story was written. Because Keller couldn't share her findings with anyone, she had to figure it out on her own and as the pieces fell into place I felt like I was discovering the secrets with her.

The ending of the book leaves the reader on a kind of cliff hanger that points to a definite sequel but the author has said she's currently working on a prequel, which could be just as interesting!

I look forward to that, and a possible conclusion :)

XVI

XVI by Julia Karr was fantastic! It has renewed my faith in teen dystopia novels.

It's the year 2150 and the world is completely different, at least in the way that women are treated. On a girls 16th birthday she is required to get a tattoo on her wrist, a XVI, to let people around her know that she is "legal". Originally, this law was passed to protect girls but now the tattoo is a free pass for men to do what they want to these girls, no matter what the girl wants.

Nina, a 15 year old girl, is dead nervous about turning sixteen, or as the other teens call it, sexteen. But, with her birthday looming, it's not the only thing she has to worry about. Tragedy strikes her family and as she slowly begins to discover family secrets she realizes her life is in danger.

What I absolutely love about this book is how SMART Nina is. Unlike other female protagonists in dytopia novels, Nina isn't convinced she needs to deal with all of her troubles on her own. She seeks the help of her friends and family, making sure they know what's going on. Also, even though she does have a love interest in this book, Nina doesn't drop her entire life to be with this guy, she doesn't even drop her less than sensible best friend. This is the strong heroine that's been missing from the last few books I've read.

Great book. Great characters. Ending leaves a little to be desired. But, of course, there is a sequel.

The Forest of Hands and Teeth

The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan was not the greatest book I've ever read but it wasn't the worst either.
The story follows the life of a young woman named Mary. Mary lives in a small, highly religious village within a forest. Sounds simple enough except that the village is gated off from the forest. Why? Because the forest is invested with zombie-like "Unconsecrated".... oh my.

Mary grew up with her mother telling her stories about what the world was like before the Unconsecrated took over and forced people to stay in the village. Stories about buildings that touched the sky and water that went on for miles and were unbelievably deep. Mary always thought of these wonders but it was not until she was betrothed to a man she didn't like and the man she did like was betrothed to someone else that she started to question her continued existence in the village. (hmm...)

The book is filled with romance, mystery, suspense, action, murder and so much more but yet it feels like it was lacking something, I don't know what... maybe it was how INFURIATING Mary is.

There are so many instances in this book where I found myself mentally screaming at Mary to stop fussing over whether Travis loves her and pay attention to what's going on! Also, even though the author tries to make the ending suspenseful (Will she live? Will she end up with Harry or Travis?!) I knew how it was going to end at about the middle of the book.

That said, it's still an interesting story that's worth the read, I guess. If you like the Peeta-Katniss-Gale esque kind of romance and you're into zombie and post-apocalyptic stories - then this is for you!