Book Review: Broken Crowns by Lauren DeStefano

Release Date: March 22nd, 2016
Read: March 14th-15th, 2016
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Series: The Internment Chronicles, #3
Format: ARC, 272 pages
Source: McNally Robinson/Two Thumbs Up Program

Description from GoodReads:

   The city is falling out of the sky…

   Morgan always thought it was just a saying. A metaphor. The words of the dying. But as they look up at the floating island that was their home, Pen and Morgan make a horrible discovery—Internment is sinking.

   And it’s all Morgan’s fault.

   Corrupted from the inside by one terrible king and assailed from the outside for precious resources by another, Internment could be destroyed because Morgan couldn’t keep a secret. As two wars become one, Morgan must find a way to bring her two worlds together to stop the kings that wage them…

   Or face the furthest fall yet. 

Review:

   How can you tell which are good and which are bad?
   Lauren DeStefano doesn't write books the same way that other authors do, it doesn't matter if she writes Science Fiction or Fantasy, they always have a realness to them. I learnt this when reading her first series, The Chemical Garden series, and saw the same with the first two novels in The Internment Chronicles, Perfect Ruin and Burning Kingdom. It was no different when reading Broken Crowns.
   The biggest thing that stood out about DeStefano's writing is how she's able to put a new view on everything, especially when it came to Internment. She was able to make things that are usually boring or not usually viewed as interesting, intriguing. Like the sun disease, you couldn't help but be intrigued over it, but in reality it was actually cancer. Because the people of Internment were completely new to earth, the new vocabulary was expected, but you couldn't help but feel the same amazement and emotions as the newcomers when it came to the world, drawing you into the story all that more.
   The Internment Chronicles has a new way of viewing happy endings, not everyone has to be with their true love, with no complications with life. DeStefano shows you that you can live a happy life, even if it's not like the usual fairy tale ending.
   Broken Crowns was not what I expected, and in the end, it was everything that I didn't know I needed. With solving all the characters problems in a relatively realistic way, it made the story feel as if it could one day, perhaps actually be real.
  Leaving me content and satisfied, Broken Crowns is the perfect conclusion to an unique series.

Rating:

Favourite Quotes:

"A girl should never stop thinking. Otherwise we'll become what our world thinks of us."

Recommend to People Who Enjoy:

Young Adult, Fantasy, Sci Fi, Dystopian, Steampunk, Advenerture, New Worlds

Waiting on Wednesday: (54)

Broken Crowns

Lauren DeStefano

The Internment Chronicles, #3

Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers

Expected: March 22nd, 2016

Description from GoodReads:

   The city is falling out of the sky…

   Morgan always thought it was just a saying. A metaphor. The words of the dying. But as they look up at the floating island that was their home, Pen and Morgan make a horrible discovery—Internment is sinking.

   And it’s all Morgan’s fault.

   Corrupted from the inside by one terrible king and assailed from the outside for precious resources by another, Internment could be destroyed because Morgan couldn’t keep a secret. As two wars become one, Morgan must find a way to bring her two worlds together to stop the kings that wage them…


   Or face the furthest fall yet.

Why I Want It:

   I first received Perfect Ruin as a christmas present after I'd fallen in love with DeStefano's first trilogy, The Chemical Garden series. Then after falling in love with it, I requested it's sequel, Burning Kingdoms from the publisher and was lucky enough to receive a copy. And finally here we are, needing the final book in the trilogy. The idea of this series is just phenomenal, I would recommend this series to everyone and anyone who is interested in a unique read.

That's my Waiting on Wednesday this week! Will you be picking up Broken Crowns? What are you waiting on this week?

Book Review: Burning Kingdoms by Lauren DeStefano

Release Date: March 10th, 2015

Read: December 28th, 2014 - January 5th, 2015

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers

Series: The Internment Chronicles #2

Format: ARC Paperback, 320 pages

Source: Publisher in exchange for a review

Description from GoodReads:

   After escaping through the bottom of Internment, Morgan and her fellow fugitives aboard the great mechanical bird land on the ground to finally learn what has lived beneath their floating island home all these eons.

   The ground is a strange place where water falls from the sky as snow, and customers watch moving pictures and visit speakeasies. A place where families can have as many children as they want, their dead are buried in vast gardens of bodies, and Internment is the feature of an amusement park. 

   It is also a land at war. 

   Everyone who fled Internment had their own reasons to escape their corrupt haven. But caught under the watchful eye of another king that wants to dominate his world, they wonder if coming to the ground will drag Internment down with them.

Review:

   This story is the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard

   I first read Wither, DeStefanos first book back in 2014 right before Sever released. The series had one of the most intriguing styles I've ever read. Those styles were transferred into The Internment Chronicles. The styles were perhaps my favourite parts of Burning Kingdoms. With our beloved characters finally reaching the ground it was fun to see their reaction to everything new. The way everything was new to them was even better, or how they wondered how their gods created such things. It was all truly heart warming to read about.
   DeStephano's characters also show their weaknesses and faults, while some other dystopian or fantasy books show their characters weaknesses as loving other or such. The Internment characters actually have faults, blindness, alcoholism, parental issues. DeStefano shows us these characters and embraces them rather then hide them. She showed us how each of them go on with their lives, how they all truly would live their lives among us instead of making them like these breakable people that everyone has to protect at all costs.
   Through out the book I felt like DeStephano was showing us secrets about what we completely miss in our world. How the king 'protects' his kingdom, but rather he's ignorant to everything around him. How the truce was fully embraced when something was offered that helped the king. It all portrayed our world today, even if it is supposed to be a work of fiction.
   Besides the somewhat slow pacing of the book, Burning Kingdoms was a deep emotional book that everyone should give a chance. The Internment Chronicles started with Perfect Ruin and will end on October 5th, 2015 with the final book in the series. I will definitely be picking up myself a copy of the next book when it releases.


   At first I was a little disappointed with the cover change for Burning Kingdoms, but now I think I'm enjoying it more. The only thing I'm disappointed in now is the fact that my editions don't match each other.

Rating:

Favourite Quotes:

"Our little clouds have been holding out on us. Who knew?" - Pen

Recommend to People Who Enjoy:

Young Adult, Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Romance, Imperfection

Waiting on Wednesday (30)

Burning Kingdoms

Author: Lauren DeStefano

The Internment Chronicles #2

Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers

Expected: March 10th, 2015

Description from GoodReads:

   After escaping Internment, Morgan and her fellow fugitives land on the ground to finally learn about the world beneath their floating island home.

   The ground is a strange place where water falls from the sky as snow, and people watch moving pictures and visit speakeasies. A place where families can have as many children as they want, their dead are buried in vast gardens of bodies, and Internment is the feature of an amusement park.

   It is also a land at war.

  Everyone who fled Internment had their own reasons to escape their corrupt haven, but now they’re caught under the watchful eye of another king who wants to dominate his world. They may have made it to the ground, but have they dragged Internment with them?

Why I Want It:

   DeStefano writes some of the weirdest and unique stories I've ever read. If you've read her Chemical Garden Trilogy then you'd know what I mean. 

Why You Should Want It:

   DeStefano's books are as I said, some of the weirdest and most unique books I've ever read. It's hard to explain but you definitely have to give them a try!

   That's my Waiting on Wednesday for this week! What are you waiting on? Will you be picking up Burning Kingdoms when it comes out? Let me know in the comments!