Battle of the Books: The Epic Battle

In my school district we have this reading competition called battle of the books. I do not think this exists any where else, so boy am I glad that we have it. Essentially, you read around 10 books over a two-three month period and then you answer crazy detailed questions about the books. An example would be like, in which book do characters have to think about a clock? Then you pick which book out of the 10 this would happen. (The answer to this one is Eye of Minds). So yeah, its difficult. Well my team of lovely ladies are our school champions and we made it to semi finals at the district battle. (I know very impressive, especially considering we never finished reading all of the books!) I thought I would share some of the fun we had by sharing my reviews of the books we read. I did not finish all of the books because I was way too busy so a review of These Shallow Graves will hopefully come soon. Other books that I had already read that were part of the battle were Everything Everything, 1984, and the Red Queen, but I had not read them recently enough to give a good review. Happy Reading!

1. Yes, the Book Title is Cheesily Mentioned in the Book Several Times 

This book was one of my favorites that I read for battle of the books. Unfortunately, I was not very good at answering questions about it because so much happens over the course of the book. One thing this book severely lacked was humor (as I find with many thrillers or action packed books. They can't all be Sara J Mass or Cassandra Clare). Also, if you know how to code, this book will bug you because it makes it look like hacking is extremely easy, so be warned. Do not read this book if you want something to keep coming back to over a month, it won't be as good as just powering through and reading it all in one week. 

Zero Day by Jan Gangsei
My rating: ❤❤❤❤
Similar books: Diplomatic Immunity (I don't know why it just feels similar. If you want a little bit a mystery, an interesting main character, and a whole lot of romance try this)
The Fixer (Also about the government, warning, the beginning was so bland I could not keep reading)

Kidnapping, hacking into complex technology, the fate of the world at stake, and a fast paced look at the US government, what more could you want from a book? (Romance of course, but guess what, this book has that too!) Addie Webster was kidnapped eight years ago, leaving her family, her best friend, and her country mourning her loss. Now her father, Mark Webster is the President of the United States and is desperately trying o fight against cyber terrorists. After tragedy strikes, Addie is suddenly returned, seeming to be the same lost little girl she had been eight years previously. But nothing is the way it seems and when the secrets start pouring out, the fate of the entire country becomes placed in Addie's hands. When I saw the cover of this book, I immediately assumed it was some historical fiction war novel that I had no interest in reading. When I actually looked at the back cover and read the synopsis I almost jumped for joy. This book hits all my book wants with a thrilling plot, tons of secrets, a little romance (I wish there was a bit more), and a contemporary setting that still feels adventurous. I also happen to love books with a political theme to them because I love government (might be why I hope to be a judge some day). I had three issues with this book. First, the characterization of Addie was done in a way that was meant to keep you asking questions about her secrets, but it wasn't pulled off. The author either needed to be more ambiguous or give Addie a slightly more relatable and believable personality, because she feels very robotic and fake. Second, the point of view was constantly changing up and we would get information from an unnamed character or the main character, or some minor character. Now this when done right (cough cough Cassandra Clare) can be a really great way to tell a story, especially if it is a series and we get lots of time for characterization of our main character. This book is a standalone and this style resulted in a lot of confusion and missed opportunities for us to relate to Addie more. Finally, while the book had a lot of twists and turns, the areas that were meant to be big shockers were easily predictable, and that made them big disappointments. There were too many hints about what was coming and that made the book a lot less enjoyable. Overall, this book was super entertaining and a fast read. I gave it four stars because despite its faults, the author got their message across and created a very enjoyable read. I would recommend this if you are in a reading slump and need a fast paced standalone to get you back in the reading mood.