I'm back!

It's been two years since I had posted anything, so I thought I'd comeback and give the whole book blogging thing a go again! Even though we're not very far into the year, I've read some really, really great books this year already. Here are a couple:

Synopsis from Goodreads: It's been six weeks since angels of the apocalypse descended to demolish the modern world. Street gangs rule the day while fear and superstition rule the night. When warrior angels fly away with a helpless little girl, her seventeen-year-old sister Penryn will do anything to get her back.

Anything, including making a deal with an enemy angel.

Raffe is a warrior who lies broken and wingless on the street. After eons of fighting his own battles, he finds himself being rescued from a desperate situation by a half-starved teenage girl.

Traveling through a dark and twisted Northern California, they have only each other to rely on for survival. Together, they journey toward the angels' stronghold in San Francisco where she'll risk everything to rescue her sister and he'll put himself at the mercy of his greatest enemies for the chance to be made whole again.

--

If you're a big fan of the fantasy genre, like myself, chances are that you've read your share of terribly written angel books. And let met tell you now, this is not one of them. As soon as the story starts, the authors writing sucks you in, and you're transported into Penryn's dangerous world. The book contains lots of action, twists and turns, romance and fantastic (and also odd) characters. It's a great, fast paced story and it's only 99c! How great is that?! I definitely recommend this one!

Synopsis from Goodreads: Melina Marchetta's brilliant, heart-wrenching new novel takes up the story of the group of friends from her best-selling, much-loved book Saving Francesca - only this time it's five years later and Thomas Mackee is the one who needs saving.

Thomas Mackee wants oblivion. Wants to forget parents who leave and friends he used to care about and a string of one-night stands, and favourite uncles being blown to smithereens on their way to work on the other side of the world.

But when his flatmates turn him out of the house, Tom moves in with his single, pregnant aunt, Georgie. And starts working at the Union pub with his former friends. And winds up living with his grieving father again. And remembers how he abandoned Tara Finke two years ago, after his uncle's death.

And in a year when everything's broken, Tom realises that his family and friends need him to help put the pieces back together as much as he needs them.

--

As a big Marchetta fan, I went into reading this book with very high expectations, because her books are always nothing short of fantastic. And boy, was I blown away with this book. As it says in the synopsis above, this book is set five years after Saving Francesca, and all the characters in that book are now in their 20s. But instead of it being in Francesca's point of view this time, the POV switches between Tom and his 40-something-year old Aunt, Georgie. 


While I think Saving Francesca is a great novel, this one, I find, is so much more heartfelt and amazing. One thing I always say about Marchetta's books is that I always find her characters and the situations their in to be so real. I can't tell you how many times I've been in a similar situation, or something has struck home, and while I'm not exactly in my 20's yet, just like Tom, I've sort of felt kind of lost.


But anyways, although this book will make you cry, it's also filled with lots of humor and heartwarming moments and it will leave you thinking about long after you've read the last page. Definitely recommend.


(Also, if you've read On The Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta, one of the characters from that book shows up in this one!)