Hunted by Cheryl Rainfield

I just finished reading this book, Hunted by Cheryl Rainfield. I've read two of her other books and I wrote a blog post about one of them. But this book has got to be the best book I've read of hers, and that's saying something because I really liked Scars, I felt like I related to that book in a way that I had never related to any other. But this book is just so intense that I literally could not put it down.

This book is about this dystopian society in which some people are considered "Normal" and some "Paranormal". The Normals are just regular people, and the Paranormals are gifted with varying types and intensities of mind power. Some people have telekinesis, some people can control others' emotions and make that person empathize with the person controlling them. Some people like the main character Caitlyn can read other people's minds and have conversations with Normals and Paranormals alike without speaking aloud.

In this dystopian world, although the Paranormals are the ones with the mind power, it is the Normals who ultimately hold all of the control, or most of it at least. The Normals have control of the government and they spread propaganda telling the Normals that the Paranormals are a threat and that if they suspect someone of being a Paranormal they are to turn them in. Once a Para has been turned in to the government, they are owned by them. The Paras get trackers made of cobalt in their tongues because the mind power they possess is used on an electromagnetic wave length and the magnetic metal lessens their power and their defenses. Every registered Para has a Paratrooper that watches their every move and shocks them if they do something wrong. The Government Paras are forced to seek out unregistered Paras and turn them in or else be tortured for their failure.

It is because of these ridiculous views that the government portrays to its citizens, the insane laws and Caitlyn's own strong power that causes her and her mother to live their lives on the run. Always looking over their shoulders and always trying to blend in and failing to. Where the story starts they are on the road fleeing from the previous town they were in and being sensed by a Government Para. They lose them eventually with the help of their friend John, another Para who has only ever communicated with them through mind conversations. They have never met face to face.

To understand the whole story I should say that before all the Para hate started spreading Caitlyn and her mother lived with her father and her bother, Daniel. But years earlier, on the day known as Para Cleansing Day Caitlyn's father was killed brutally by a mob of Para haters, and Daniel was stolen away by a Government Para. So that left just Caitlyn and her mother to fend for themselves and to stay off of the government's radar. When Caitlyn lost her father it was as if the place where his presence was in her mind was ripped away leaving an empty space, and when she lost her father her mother lost the ability to use her Paranormal powers. Caitlyn described this as being worse than a Normal, she couldn't feel any thoughts or emotions coming off her mother, it was as if she was almost as far away for Caitlyn as her father was.

When Caitlyn and her mother move in to the next city, Caitlyn does something she's never allowed herself to do before: get close to other people. On her first day of school, Caitlyn is entranced by this boy named Alex, but he's a Normal. To Caitlyn it seems entirely ludicrous that a Normal could have this sort of effect on her. She has never felt so calm around anyone let alone a Normal. Also, on her first day there she meets this girl named Rachel who is a lesbian and has a crush on her. 

Caitlyn befriends the two of them and it's as of they're fighting over her, neither likes it when the other is hanging out with Caitlyn, and neither of them like each other. But they think they're hiding this from Caitlyn because neither knows that she is a Paranormal. 

A few weeks in, Caitlyn finally meets face to face with her friend John. The crazy thing is that as soom as she sees him she realizes that this boy is not John, he's her brother, Daniel. And he's a Government Para. She's completely baffled by his ability to hide the fact that she is his sister. As far as Caitlyn knew it was impossible for Paras to keep things from each other. Daniel tells her that he doesn't want her to tell their mother, and she doesn't, but then horrible things start to happen.

A bank robbery and other attacks done by Paras are claimed to have been done in the name of Teen Para, a blog run by Caitlyn. On top of that there is a murderer on the loose known as the Para Reaper. They sap the energy of other Paras until they die. Upon walking home one day, Caitlyn feels the attack and tries to save the Para, but she doesn't get there in time and the girl dies. She feels the slightest hint of the pleasure and glee the murderer gets from this and then it's gone, and instead she hears her brother telling her to get as far away from there as she can.

Along with the public attacks there is an attack in her school on Alex. He is stuffed in a locker, and only survives because Caitlyn hears his thoughts and gets a janitor to get him out. After searching through Alex's memories of being stuffed in the locker she realizes that it was Daniel, a few other Paras and some Normals' that they tricked into helping them do it. She realizes that Daniel is trying to have people get suspicious of her. And it succeeds, Daniel puts Caitlyn on the principal's radar. After that Daniel sets a fire in the drama room and Caitlyn realizes this because she can sense the students' panic. She knows that she can't go help them herself because that would be too suspicious, so she tells Alex and Rachel that she sensed the fire through a mind conversation. Rachel asks to go to the washroom and instead pulls the fire alarm. Once Caitlyn is out of the classroom, she heads straight for the drama room. They manage to get everyone out, but then they are questioned by reporters and Paratroopers. Caitlyn's excuse for why she knew there was a fire is that she smelled it from the classroom she was in. They were skeptical about it, but no one questioned that theory very profusely.

Caitlyn senses the danger of being found out by the reporters and troopers and even her own brother who is on the verge of outing her. She desperately calls out to her mother in the hopes that she will hear her although she knows it is unlikely since her powers are out of her reach, but surprisingly and impressively her mother manages to reign in her talent and comes to pick her up. This is when she finds out that Caitlyn has found Daniel. She is furious at Caitlyn for not telling her and rightly so. 

Caitlyn tries to explain to her mother that Daniel isn't the person he was years earlier and that he is now filled with hatred and pain. Her mother doesn't listen. She almost sets them on the run again, but Rachel and Alex come and help Caitlyn convince her mother to stay for just one more day. Caitlyn has realized at this point that Daniel plans on reversing the roles of Normal's and Paranormal's. He wants to ensure the control and power of the Paranormal's and his plan to do that is to kill anyone and everyone who is a Normal despite their views on Paranormal's and any Paranormal's who aren't clearly on his side, which includes Caitlyn.

So the next day Caitlyn hides out in the library and uses all of her strength to bring Daniel down. She does eventually, but then he disappears, and she is left to deal with the Paratroopers. When she exits the school ready to give herself up she is attacked. They shock her and beat her up, and the people watching this, Normal's and Paranormal's alike, protest and demand her freedom. She gets people so riled up that a revolution is started.

That's where the book ends. My concern with that is that this ending makes it seem as though everything is wonderful now: Normal's aren't afraid of Paranormal's; Paranormal's no longer need to hide. But that doesn't seem believable to me. It's only one city not the entire world. Not even the entire country. I wish there was a look into what happens a few weeks or months later. It would be more plausible if a month or two later the reader was told that although equality isn't yet found Caitlyn and the other supporters she's gained are working towards that being the end result.

Ask the Passengers by A.S. King

I've read this book Ask the Passengers twice now, and I think that it's not quite as good as I thought it was the second time around.

The main character is a girl named Astrid, and she moves to this small town called Unity Valley from the big city of New York. In Unity Valley everyone knows everyone, and everyone knows everyone else's business, at least that's what it seems like. In reality, everyone knows things about other people that that person wants them to know, and no one knows anybody in New York or so it seems. And it's never said outright, but it's paradoxical that nobody knows anyone in New York because they don't know them personally but people in New York I would think aren't as fake as people that live in small towns like Unity Valley. People in the big city don't care about what strangers think of them so they don't hide who they really are, but since people in Unity Valley have "reputations" that they have to live up to, they lie about things that they know they will be judged harshly for.

Kristina and Justin, Astrid's two best friends, are the perfect couple to the town of Unity Valley. They are perfect for each other and they go on double dates every Friday. It's as if it's something out of a 1950's movie. Except that it's not.

Kristina and Justin are both gay and the double dates they're going on aren't really what they appear to be. Kristina is actually dating this girl named Donna, and Justin is dating a guy named Chad. Now that would seem like a huge secret and it is throughout a large portion of the book, but there's an even bigger secret that Kristina and Justin don't know and that's that Astrid is dating a girl, named Dee. But for her this doesn't mean that she's gay because she doesn't really know if she just fell in love with a girl or if she is only attracted to girls. So she doesn't tell anyone, the only people who know about her girlfriend are herself and Dee.

In the city near Unity Valley is a gay bar called Atlantis. Kristina and Donna and Justin and Chad go there all the time and Kristina tries to get Astrid to go with them. Not because she thinks Astrid might be gay, but just because she wants Astrid to go out. They are underage, but the people there never card them. Astrid eventually gives in and goes with them to Atlantis, but they use this guy, Jeff, who really likes Astrid, as a cover. They tell Astrid's mother that Jeff is taking her out to a midnight movie so that she can stay out later than she would be able to otherwise. But what Kristina, Justin and Astrid really do is go out to dinner with Jeff as a double date and then go to Atlantis afterwards without him.

The first few times Astrid goes with them to Atlantis are pretty fun, but Kristina gets skeptical about whether Astrid really is straight or not. Kristina eventually pries the truth out of her and tells her to bring her girlfriend to Atlantis with them, and she does. They go to Atlantis twice and the second time they go it get's busted by the police, and they end up having to call their parents to come pick them up or they couldn't leave. 

So Astrid calls her father to come pick her up, and when they get home at around four in the morning, Astrid's mother is waiting for her. She wakes up her sister Ellis for this "big news" that she thinks Astrid is going to tell them. And her mother always likes to think that she is more open-minded than the people of Unity Valley, and she always talks about how she had a lot of gay friends in New York, but living in a small town with small-minded people has changed the way she thinks. She tries to say that she's mad at Astrid for going to a bar when she's underage, but it's obvious to everyone except her that she's mad at Astrid for going to a gay bar.

Anyway, Astrid doesn't tell that she's gay, she tells her that she only went to the bar to dance and hang out with her friends. Surprisingly, her parents bought that, but she slowly changes her answer until she eventually says that she is gay, until further notice. She's studying Socrates in school and her class talks about how he questioned everything, and he didn't like the labels that everyone has for everything, and Astrid tries to get away from the labels too, but she realizes that people need labels to differentiate between each other, so she says that she's a lesbian for the time being. 

Now the things I noticed this time that kind of bother me are that Astrid will say on one page that she misses the time before she started going to Atlantis when she told the truth all the time and wasn't sneaking around, but then two pages later she would complain about she's such a terrible liar. But really she's been sneaking around and lying the whole time. She's been hiding Dee from everyone and she's been sneaking around with her. And she's been helping Kristina and Justin lie about their "perfect" relationship. I just hated the back and forth and her complaining that she can't lie, and her complaining that she doesn't want to lie anymore. She's just all over the place and it drives me nuts. 

So Donna is in college and her sorority house is LGBTQ friendly. And one night Donna brings Kristina and Astrid to a party at her sorority house, and this part that I'm not too happy about is that Astrid cheats on Dee with a complete stranger named Kim. She only makes out with her, but still it bothers me. I get that she's trying to explore her sexuality and figure out if shes attracted to girls or just Dee, but I really don't think that's the way to go about it. Something in the book that she thinks is ignorant is that people think that with gay people, relationships are only physical, and if she wants to prove her case then going around and cheating on Dee with a stranger is definitely not helping her case. And the worst part is, nothing even comes from it. She doesn't tell Dee, and Kristina catches her and sees her making out with another girl, when she knows that she's dating Dee and she doesn't say anything to her about it. Hell, it doesn't even seem like Astrid feels guilty at all, and that pisses me off. Why doesn't she care that she was sneaking around and lying to Dee?? Why does that seem like such a non-issue compared to lying about going on a date?

Now don't get me wrong, the book was pretty good, and it shone a light on LGBTQ people which is admirable, but it also shines a light that says cheating and not saying anything about it is okay. And it didn't seem so much to me that Astrid's character developed much throughout the book, she was just all over the place. It was only at the end where she truly wasn't telling anymore lies, that is if you don't count the fact that she never told Dee.

Rumble by Ellen Hopkins

Like other books I've reviewed by Ellen Hopkins, Rumble proves to be a suspenseful and brilliantly written book. I really enjoyed this one because unlike most of her others books that I've read, the main character in this one is a male by the name of Matt. Where it starts off, Matt is the only son of a father who only finds pleasure in the local high school's basketball team of which he is the coach, and a distant and cold mother who prefers to spend her free time drinking rather than spending time with her family. Not that Wyatt, Matt's father doesn't get his fill of late nights spent drinking, whenever his team wins a basketball game or even when they don't he'll spend hours after the game at bars with some buddies.

Matt gets concerned adults cornering him from every angle over an essay he wrote dismissing the existence of God. In that essay he also talks about his brother Luke who recently committed suicide. He was pushed into committing suicide because he was bullied and abused by his fellow classmates, specifically Christians who Matt describes as "troglodytes" who tortured his brother because he was gay. People at his school anonymously posted gay porn photoshopped with Luke's face in it, on his social media and on the basketball team's Facebook page. That was also how his father found out about the whole thing, and this revealed to Luke and Matt just how homophobic and intolerant their father really is. 

But through all of his struggles with convincing the adults in his life that the essay he wrote was in fact harmless, his parents neglect and his little brother's suicide, he has an amazing, thoughtful and understanding Christian girlfriend, Hayden. Or so he thinks. After Luke's death, Hayden becomes more and more distant. They argue more often and Matt finds himself seeking comfort in the arms of Alexa, Hayden's ex-best friend.

Now I don't want to give away too much more, but even if I did, I'm not sure I explain the book justice. It is a very thought-provoking and emotional book, i know when I read it I got extremely emotionally invested, it broke my heart and it made me smile; it made me cry and it made me laugh, it was all over the place, but it wasn't too all over the place. Some books are and the succession of events makes it hard to follow but in this book despite the large number of things happening in a very short period of time, it wasn't hard to follow along.

I loved this book and strongly recommend it to anyone looking for a good read.

Smoke by Ellen Hopkins

http://bit.ly/1cSsjp6

     This book is the sequel to Burned, which is the book from my last post. I won't really be able to say much because I would give away a lot if I did, but I'll say the basics of what happens.

     In this book Pattyn is living in California as a maid for some strangers. The only person she knows is a guy named Angel. The family she lives with is a family of four. There's the mister and missus and their daughters Sophie and Dierdre. Sophie is 3 years old and emotionally neglected, and Dierdre is in her late teens and hangs out with troublesome people. She is hostile, threatening and an anarchist in the making.

     Pattyn is stressed about the questionable research she finds on Dierdre's computer and finds solace in the one person she can trust, Angel. She tells him about her worries and he gives her advice, which is to keep quiet. But that results in the death of Angel's friend, and the near death experience for Angel himself.

     But that's not all. This book switched off between Pattyn and her younger sister Jackie. Jackie is faced with heartbreaking gut-wrenching pain, too. She get involved with a boy named Caleb McCain. All she wanted was a kiss and to be loved, but that's not what he had in mind. After her painful experience with Caleb her mother forces her not to speak about what transpired between them. Not only that, but her mother also invites Caleb and his father over for dinner, and speaks highly of Caleb until Jackie simply cannot take it anymore.

     But the good thing is that Jackie finds comfort from her tutor Gavin. He cares about her and wants the best for her. He tries to help her the best he can and soon they fall in love. But Jackie has a secret, and it is  a terrible secret that would break them apart. She can't tell him the truth but she knows it breaks his heart that she doesn't trust him enough to tell him. 

     Will the Von Stratten girls find true love? True happiness? Well there's only one way to find out, you'll have to read the books yourself, which I highly recommend. They are heartbreaking yet wonderful. It will leave you wanting more.

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

http://bit.ly/1cBUixg

     I had to read this book for English, and normally I don't really like the books I have to read for class, but this one wasn't too bad. It takes a while to really get into it but when I did I really liked it. It's probably one of the saddest books I've ever read.

     The main character is a boy named Amir. Amir lives in Afghanistan with his father who he calls Baba. They are pretty well off, they live in a big house and have two Hazara servants who are father and son. Their names are Ali and Hassan.

     Amir and his father are Pashtun and normally the Pashtun don't get along with the Hazaras because they follow different types of Muslim religion. But Baba and Ali have been friends for 40 years. Amir and Hassan get along quite well, but because Hassan is a Hazara Amir doesn't think of him as a friend.

     Amir and Hassan differ greatly in character. Amir is unable to stand up for himself and is unnecessarily rude to Hassan. Amir lies and is often jealous of Hassan because Baba never forgets his birthday, and always tries to include him in the things he and Amir do together. Hassan on the other hand is always honest, and always fights off bullies for Amir. Even when Amir is rude to him, he doesn't fight back, but rather encourages him in hopes that whatever anger has come over him will pass.

     Every winter there is a kite fight. A kite fight is an event where dozens of people get together with kites and try to cut down other kites and the winner is the last one standing. The book is called The Kite Runner because when a kite gets cut down people try to catch them because they are considered trophies and the ultimate trophy is the last one cut down.

     Hassan is an amazing kite runner and in 1975 they won the kite fight. Hassan got the last cut down kite, but something happens that changes Amir and Hassan's relationship forever.

*SPOILER ALERT*

If you haven't read the book skip over this next paragraph.

     The thing that changes their relationship is that while Hassan was getting the kite the same bullies that he had fought off before chase after him trying to take the kite from him. Amir is looking for him and when he finds him the scene he sees is a gory sight. Hassan is cornered by the 3 bullies, Assef, Wali, and Kamal in an alley and they are trying to take the kite from him, but Hassan being the honourable person her is, refuses to give it to them. Assef then says that it's fine he can keep it as a reminder of what he's about to do to him. He then proceeds to rape Hassan. Amir has seen the whole thing and being the coward he is, he doesn't stop them, he doesn't help Hassan. He doesn't want to risk losing his prize kite. And after Assef and his friends leave Amir finds Hassan and wonders if he knows that Amir knows what happened. later on it is evident that he did.

*SPOILER ALERT*

     After the kite fight in 1975, Amir and Hassan's friendship was never the same. Amir tried his best to avoid Hassan, but he was persistent in having their friendship be the way it was before. Amir never gave in though.
     He eventually did something that he thought would make his father kick Ali and Hassan to the curb, but that wasn't the case. Instead they resigned, and left the house the very same day. After that Amir never saw Hassan again.
     Amir and Baba moved to San Francisco when Amir was 18. They moved to a small apartment building. Baba worked at a gas station and Amir was in school to become a writer. they made some extra money by buying things at garage sales and reselling them at a market. There Amir met his future wife.
     Near the end Amir returns to Pakistan because a family friend named Rahim Khan calls him and asks him to come see him. The end has a shocking twist that I won't give away. This book teaches repentance and atonement, and most of all the crushing effects of guilt.

Burned by Ellen Hopkins

http://bit.ly/1dxNvlr

     This is another book by Ellen Hopkins. It may seem repetitive but her books are each very unique and different from anything else I've read.

     The main character in this book is Pattyn Scarlet Von Stratten. She lives in a Mormon family of 9. She sees her mother as a baby-making machine, and her father as an abusive alcoholic. Her mother keeps having babies because after 7 girls her father is still hoping for a boy.

     Pattyn is generally a good Mormon girl, but she has not good dreams about an attractive boy named Justin at her school. She knows she shouldn't think about boys, least of all Justin because he isn't a Mormon.

     One day, when Pattyn is out on the desert doing some target practice Justin, and few of his friends happen to be 4 wheeling and notice her.

     Justin is with his girlfriend but he takes interest in shooting targets, while his friend Derek begins to take interest in Pattyn. They eventually start dating, but her dad soon finds out and forbids her to see him.

     Pattyn thinks that they can find a way to be together anyway, but Derek disagrees and breaks up with her. Derek was Pattyn's first boyfriend, and she overreacted when he broke up with her.

     After that, her life only goes downhill until eventually she gets suspended from school for the last month before summer.

     After a cruel outburst towards her mother Pattyn is sent off to live with her Aunt Jeanette in Nevada for the summer. Her father tells her the there's no way she can get into trouble out there, but she finds a way.

     Soon after she moves in, she meets a college student named Ethan. They start to see more and more of each other and eventually fall in love.

     Sounds like a classic love story ending doesn't it? Well that is not the case. After a tragic car accident Pattyn's life will never be the same. The ending of this book will leave you wanting more with the sequel Smoke.

Identical by Ellen Hopkins

http://bit.ly/1djrBVn

     From my experience with Ellen Hopkins's books, they are very dark and they all bring mental illness into it. Her books are written in verse rather than prose.
     This book is about the mental struggles, inevitable self-destruction of twin girls Kaeleigh and Raeanne. On the outside, their family is picture perfect. Their mother is a politician, and their father is a district court judge. They are living the dream, or so it seems. In reality, their mother is emotionally and physically absent, and their father is an abusive alcoholic. Both girls do well in school, but they also both seek their own form of escape. Raeanne retreats towards sex and drugs, and Kaeleigh binges and cuts herself.
     It is revealed in brief confessions that there is history of sexual and emotional abuse. This book is horrifying and shocking. It will make you almost not want to read but also hard to put down.
     The twisted ending will appall and amaze you. I recommend reading this book, even if it's not the type of book you read or even if you don't like reading you will like this one.