Chasing Stars: Review

Synopsis:

The boy Eden loves just saved her life. Now she must save his. To do so she must make a huge sacrifice. Eden can never see her friends or family again, as she travels a hundred years into the future. But the dangerous risk Ryan took to rescue Eden has been uncovered, and now Ryan faces an exile ...which will leave Eden separated from him - the one person she can't live without - and stuck in the future. She must fight to save both of them.

The mesmerising sequel to the author's wonderful debut, After Eden.

***

I have two major problems with this book, however entertaining I find it to be. The plot is way too straight. I mean, Eden is not just dealing with her friend. Eden has to deal with people from the future. Surely people from the future are smarter, whether by knowledge or genetics, if the world isn't in an apocalypse? The whole thing seems to be way too easy for Eden to tackle, which in my eyes is so strange it's almost ridiculous. *Spoiler* How can a bunch of teenagers, in a desperate attempt to rescue one of their own, can succeed without much of a consequence whatsoever, and even their plan is just too simple to be believable? Sorry, either people from the future are way too stupid for their own good, or the plot is just way too simple to be believable.

Another big problem I have with is with Eden herself. Or more like about a certain personality of hers, which I don't even know whether it's a good thing or not. But I'm certainly pissed of by that personality. It's like she never prepares for the possible aftermath of her actions. I mean, she's making one of the most powerful men in the future world her enemy, and it's like she expects nothing bad from him directing towards her. She always think of the best of all situation, which can be a nice character strength, except she hardly prepares for the worst, which is very thoughtless of her considering she's supposed to be very smart and realistic. Over-optimistic much, Eden?

Despite these two major problems, I still find Chasing Stars enjoyable. There are a lot of fun character dialogues between Eden and a new character that I really like. I have a feeling if Eden was not so devoted to Ryan, I have zero problem with her getting close with this character. A lot of people are nice in the book, which is mostly a good thing or a relief, though it still feels a little awkward for me because I kind of expect them to be cautious (maybe a little too cautious, which is understandable, as much as it's sick), instead of that welcoming. Welcoming is good though, because I'm getting slightly tired of people being nasty in the name of cautiousness.

It's an entertaining read if you don't find the big plot holes annoying.

Rating: 6/10

After Eden: Review

Synopsis:

Eden Anfield loves puzzles, so when mysterious new boy Ryan Westland shows up at her school she's hooked. On the face of it, he's a typical American teenager. So why doesn't he recognise pizza? And how come he hasn't heard of Hitler? What puzzles Eden the most, however, is the interest he's taking in her.

As Eden starts to fall in love with Ryan, she begins to unravel his secret. Her breakthrough comes one rainy afternoon when she stumbles across a book in Ryan's bedroom - a biography of her best friend - written over fifty years in the future. Confronting Ryan, she discovers that he is there with one unbelievably important purpose ... and she might just have destroyed his only chance of success.

***

Apparently I'm not putting enough faith on new series. After Eden is better than I thought. No, it's actually very good. It's not about multiverse but TIME TRAVELLING for god's sake. It's infinitely more interesting than jumping between universes and more dangerous. The characters are mostly very likable in their own way and very strong. It has every aspect to become a big thing in its sequel.

Okay, so here's Eden, an average teenage girl living in Britain. When she encounters Ryan, a boyi knows things that normal people doesn't know and doesn't know things everyone knows. Curious, Eden is determined to figure him out, only finding herself unraveling a bunch of best-untold secrets and getting into a vortex of trouble and excitement. 

It's fast-paced throughout the book. Not the action-packed kind of fast-paced, more like the "omg did that really just happened" kind of fast-paced. Just the speed I like. It's not too long, which means the story hasn't been dragging through and that's good, since I hate hate HATE stories dragging. Eden is a very practical girl, more practical than I thought she would be. She's very realistic and not that stubborn. Which is good. Stubborn girls in a world where time travelling is possible can get into more trouble than they dare to think about.

Fast-paced and twisted. I think this is a book worth reading.

Rating: 7.5/10