Top Ten Book Worlds I'd Like to Experience for a Day

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly post hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. This week's post is a freebie and I chose to do Top Ten Book Worlds I'd Like to Experience for a Day.

So, I had a difficult time deciding what kind of top ten I wanted to do for my freebie.  And then I thought about all the book worlds I'd like to live in or experience.  Because let's face it, you can't get into a book if you don't understand the environment.  And then I realized that some books that I'd add to this list, I wouldn't really want to live in their world, but I'd like to experience it so I could relate.  Hence I went from "Top Ten Book Worlds I'd Want to Live In" to "Top Ten Worlds I'd Like to Experience for a Day".

1.  Across the Universe by Beth Revis

Amazon | Book Depository | Goodreads

Notice how I had to change my original top ten from actually living in the world to just experiencing it for a day?  Yes, this book would be one of the reasons why.  I want to be on Godspeed and experience the life there.  However, I wouldn't want to be one of those mindless drones like most of the people on the ship (with my luck, I would be, but it's only for a day).

2.  Blood Red Road by Moira Young

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I'm doing an awesome job picking nice, peaceful worlds, aren't I?  So what if I'm looking for a little adventure?  Again, I'd want to experience this world and the journey Saba takes to save her brother.  And did you know there will be a second book?  (Girly squeal and jumping up and down has just occurred.)

3.  Firelight by Sophie Jordan

Amazon | Book Depository | Goodreads

I'll admit that I only want to enter this world because I want to be a dragon for a day.  Wings and scales, awesome!  And flying?  Oh yeah.  But I'll happily stay away from those pesky love triangles and those bonding-for-life rituals...

4.  The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan

Amazon | Book Depository | Goodreads

Another world that I'd probably only want to experience for an hour.  I mean zombies, who doesn't want to see one?  Of course with the hopelessness of the situation and the fact that I have absolutely no survival skills, I'd probably be the zombie everyone would be staring it (or killing if you have some sort of survival skills).

5.  The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

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Again, a world I'd only want to be in for a little bit.  And I'm sure some people are going to hate me for saying this, but I'd want to live in the city of Panem as a rich kid with cool stuff.  Don't think for a second I'd want to enter this world as a tribute to the Hunger Games (again, refer to the fact that I have zero survival skills).

6.  The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness

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So sue me if I'm a little curious as to how a man's mind sounds...  Granted, I'd probably get sick of this world very quickly.  Always hearing men's thoughts would definitely keep away the silence.  And all the turmoil and wreckage that Prentisstown caused.  Let's just say I definitely don't want to be from Prentisstown if I was from this world.

7.  Kushiel's Legacy by Jacqueline Carey

Amazon | Book Depository | Goodreads

Let me travel back in time to a land of kingdoms, intrigue, betrayal, and mysticism.  How cool would it be to be trained as a spy.  However, I would not want to experience Phedre's plight at all (to experience pain and pleasure as one). However, I'll take the opportunity to be queen for a day...

8.  Mortal Instruments by Cassandra Clare

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I'll admit that this series has just about any kind of paranormal creature that I love in it.  But where I'd really like to be in this world is the City of Glass.  That's right, I want to see the shadowhunters' home base.  And maybe I could be shadowhunter for a day (that's a big maybe).

9.  Switched by Amanda Hocking

Amazon | Book Depository | Goodreads

I want to be a part of the Trylle heritage.  Let me tell you, I thought the world Wendy entered was super cool and exciting.  I want magical powers (suddenly I feel so left out with the fact that I'm only human).

10.  Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead

Amazon | Book Depository | Goodreads

I would have to say out of all the worlds I've listed, this is the one I'd be most excited about.  It doesn't matter whether I'd be a dhampir or a moroi, I'd be happy with either.  However, I wouldn't want to enter this world for the school but for the moroi city.  That's where I'd want to go.

Revived by Cat Patrick

Genre:  YA Paranormal Contemporary

Expected publication date:  May 8, 2012

Cat Patrick's website

Amazon | Book Depository | Goodreads

Description (taken from Cat Patrick's website):

As a little girl, Daisy Appleby was killed in a school bus crash. Moments after the accident, she was brought back to life.

A secret government agency has developed a drug called Revive that can bring people back from the dead, and Daisy Appleby, a test subject, has been Revived five times in fifteen years. Daisy takes extraordinary risks, knowing that she can beat death, but each new death also means a new name, a new city, and a new life. When she meets Matt McKean, Daisy begins to question the moral implications of Revive, and as she discovers the agency’s true goals, she realizes she’s at the center of something much larger — and more sinister — than she ever imagined.

This wasn't what I expected.  Let me first mention this: the paranormal aspect (Revive) isn't super huge in this book.  I mean yes it's what the book's about, but this book reminded me more of a contemporary than a paranormal.  If there wasn't revive, I would totally classify this book as contemporary.  So, it wasn't what I was expecting...

But I really enjoyed it!  It's a typical girl meets boy (after coming back from dying of course).  I would have to say the interactions between Matt and Daisy feel so life-like and that's why I loved the romance in this book.  There's a twist in the story, and I absolutely loved Daisy's reactions to her life.  They felt so real.

Would I recommend this book to you?  Absolutely.  Although, I would not recommend it as a paranormal read, I'd recommend it as a contemporary read.  Cat Patrick was spot on with her story.

Challenges:  Young Adult Reading Challenge

Matched by Ally Condie

Genre:  YA Dystopian Romance

Matched Series, Book 1

Ally Condie's website

Amazon | Book Depository | Goodreads

Description (taken from Goodreads):

Cassia has always trusted the Society to make the right choices for her: what to read, what to watch, what to believe. So when Xander's face appears on-screen at her Matching ceremony, Cassia knows with complete certainty that he is her ideal mate... until she sees Ky Markham's face flash for an instant before the screen fades to black.

The Society tells her it's a glitch, a rare malfunction, and that she should focus on the happy life she's destined to lead with Xander. But Cassia can't stop thinking about Ky, and as they slowly fall in love, Cassia begins to doubt the Society's infallibility and is faced with an impossible choice: between Xander and Ky, between the only life she's known and a path that no one else has dared to follow.

I really wish people would warn me that I'm about to read a romance-focused book before I read it.  That way, I'm prepared.  I enjoy a good romance here and there, but I have a hard time when the book's main focus is romance, and I'm not prepared for it.

This world that Cassia lives in was very captivating.  I wanted to know more.  I wasn't really hooked to Cassia's story as I was hooked to the world she lived in.  A world where Society controls everything and choice isn't really a choice (but you think it is).  And the emotions Cassia had in the book felt very realistic (and I could totally relate).

With that being said, will I continue the series?  I really don't know.  I haven't heard great things about the second book.  And when it comes to purely romantic plot lines, I usually dislike the second one.  But I recommend this book to anyone who's looking for a good romance in a futuristic world.

Challenges:  TBR Pile Challenge and Young Adult Reading Challenge

Daphne and the Mysterious Girls Secret Bathroom Society by Robert Shields

Genre:  YA Urban Fantasy

Robert Shields' website

Amazon | Goodreads

Description (taken from Robert Shields' website):

Following years of persecution at the hands of Vivica Vance, Daphne Downing levels the playing field wielding her No. 2 Ticonderoga pencil as she belatedly enters the world of witchcraft. Daphne becomes part of the Mysterious Girls’ Secret Bathroom Society and finds out that the politics governing witchcraft are daunting and sometimes deadly. She realizes she is aligned with the Charmers in this political battle with the Spiters led by her nemesis, Vivica. Along the way, she discovers that witches do not perform magic or witchcraft but a differentiated form of physics that only some women have mastered. The story deepens as she learns about the long history of witches’ domination and annihilation of wizards.

It felt like entering the persecution of high school all over again.  But with the addition of witchcraft.  There were some really funny moments in this book, and I enjoyed learning more about Daphne's world and her new world of witchcraft.  However, I wanted more.  More explanations about the Daughters of Spite and the Daughters of Charm.  There was a lot of great background about specific witches and wars in the past, but I wanted a better explanation of why witches and wizards are at odds with each other.  And of course, more funny moments.

This was a different read in the fact that it wasn't super-depressing, there were funny moments, and the book wasn't focused on swooning over a boy.  I would recommend it to young teens and tweens (with the assumption that they are accustomed to swear words which weren't used too often in the book).  I will look forward to the next one (because the books will only get better, right?).

Thanks goes to Robert Shields for providing me a review copy of this book.

Challenges:  Young Adult Reading Challenge

Waiting on Wednesday

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly post hosted by Breaking the Spine, and it spotlights upcoming books that we as readers are anxiously awaiting...

Survive by Alex Morel

Genre:  YA Thriller

Expected publication date:  August 2, 2012

Amazon | Book Depository | Goodreads

Description (taken from Goodreads):

Jane runs away from Life House, a facility for kids with mental health disorders and addictions. She boards a plane to Montclair, New Jersey, though her destination does not matter—she doesn’t plan to be alive when the plane lands. Jane has planned the perfect suicide: she’ll fall asleep on the plane and never wake up. As she’s reaching for her pills in the cabin’s bathroom, the plane hits turbulence. Another jolt, and the engine’s down. The plane crashes into the mountains of Montana, and Jane and a boy named Paul are the only two survivors.

What starts out as a death mission quickly becomes a fight for life.

When I first read the description, I instantly added it to my to-read list.  What causes someone to do a complete 180 turn in their decisions?  A catastrophe, that's what.  And I'm really looking forward to reading this one.