Book Review: Acid

Acid

by Emma Pass

Published: April 2013 by Random House 

Version: Ebook from publisher and Netgalley (review my own, honest opinion)

Rating: 4.5 sofas

The year is 2113. In Jenna Strong’s world, ACID—the most brutal controlling police force in history—rule supreme. No throwaway comment or whispered dissent goes unnoticed—or unpunished. And it was ACID agents who locked Jenna away for life, for a horrendous crime she struggles to remember. But Jenna’s violent prison time has taught her how to survive by any means necessary. 

When a mysterious rebel group breaks her out, she must use her strength, speed, and skill to stay one step ahead of ACID, and try to uncover the truth about what really happened on that terrible night two years ago. They have taken her life, her freedom, and her true memories away from her. How can she reclaim anything when she doesn’t know who to trust?

Strong, gritty writing, irresistible psychological suspense, and action consume the novel as Jenna struggles to survive against the all-controlling ACID. Seriously sinister stuff.

From the cover alone, I knew I had to read this book. It looks awesome with a powerful protagonist. I got approved on Netgalley for it around the release, but for one reason or another I never got round to it. BIG MISTAKE. I know other bloggers who absolutely adore it, and now I know why.

We meet Jenna in dystopian-Britain who has been put in jail for the murder of her parents. One of the things I love about dystopian novels is how real they can be, and scary to think that this COULD be our future. Acid does just that. In the future, ACID is the governing body, and they are not afraid to show it.

I think Jenna is one of my favourite female main characters. She has a lot of courage and spunk, especially when we learn about some of the things she has been through. Although she is continuously knocked down she never gives up, and I really admire her for that. There was a little bit of romance, but I liked that it didn’t overpower the story itself. 

The only reason I couldn’t give Acid 5 sofas was because the story was just a little too predictable. Although I think the storyline is great and there are several twists along the way, you just can’t get rid of the stereotypical dystopian storyline. As such, I kind of knew where the book was gonna end up, but its how we got there that really makes the story unique.

If Acid is a book that (like me) you didn’t read on its release, I implore you to do so now. It is original and thrilling, with plenty of twists to keep you on the edge of your seat. One of the most intense debut novels of this year! 4.5 sofas.

Top Ten: Books On my Autumn TBR List

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and The Bookish. 

The topic for today is Fall’s (Autumn’s) TBR List. For October I am going to try and eliminate as many ebooks as possible from my TBR pile. I have let them build up and it is not really fair on those authors and publishers. So I am going to try and clear my conscience before the year is out….  

Acid by Emma Pass: I’ve heard such awesome things about this one, I definitely need to read it soon. 

Brooklyn Girls by Gemma Burgess: This was hailed as one of the first major NA books without sex as a major feature. 

Keeping Her by Cora Carmack: One of my favourite authors, there is no good excuse why I haven’t already read this. 

              The Kissing Booth by Beth Reekles: This sounds like a really cute contemporary and I have her second book on my shelf as well, so I need to crack on with this one. 

Speechless by Hannah Harrington: Lots of people I know adore this one. The concept sounds really interesting, but it just keeps getting pushed down my pile.  

                            

                    

There are also some print copies that I can’t wait to delve into.

Are We There Yet? by David Levithan: David Levithan, yo! Loving his books at the minute. 

Another Way to Fall by Amanda Brooke: This sounds like its gonna be very emotional, but amazing. 

Friday Brown by Vikki Wakefield: I have heard nothing but awesomeness about this one. 

Metawars series by Jeff Norton: The first three books in this series are sitting on my shelf, with the fourth to be released soon. This sci-fi adventure set will make a nice break from all the contemporaries!       

Colin Fischer by Ashley Edward Miller & Zack Stentz: This sounds like a good ‘issues’ kind of books and is lovely and thin!  

                                       

                      

That’s the plan for my reading list, but what should I read first? Leave me some recommendations! Have you read any of these before? Link me to your TTT below!   

Letterbox Love #20

Letterbox Love is a meme hosted by Lynsey of Narratively Speaking whereby book lovers can exhibit the books they received this week.

This is actualy a 4 week post. I didn’t have time before my holiday to post the haul, and I’ve been away for two weeks! Luckily I haven’t bought a lot of books. I did, however, have masses of books to pick up from my library. For such a small authority (only 16 libraries) they get really great teen books, and I am excited about lots of these. 

First up is You Don’t Know Me by Sophia Bennett. This sounds like a really fun book AND it has blue edges. Win! Kite Spirit by Sita Brahmachari also looks like a good summer read.

There are lots of YA action/thrillers this week, which is something I’m really pleased about. I Hunt Killers by Barry Lyga is about the son of a serial killer, and Bodyguard: Hostage by Chris Bradford features a 14-year-old professional bodyguard. 

Two books that sound quite sad are Heroic by Phil Earle and Black Heart Blue by Louisa Reid. Both these books have gotten good reviews from fellow bloggers, so I’m very excited to read these. 

Shadow Runners by Daniel Blythe looks very similar to Alex Scarrow’s Timeriders series, so it intrigued me as this is a series I love. A book that I’ve had on my ebook shelf for a while is Hysteria by Megan Miranda. I ordered the paperback from my library to push myself to read it! 

Lastly, two adult chick fic books, to lighten the mood from all that hard hitting YA. Both authors I have read before, Country Loving by Cathy Woodman and Happy Families by Janey Fraser are books I will save for when I need a laugh. 

  I also got some books of my own. Shooting Stars by Allison Rushby was a book I ordered way back in Jan/Feb when Bloomsbury had a sale. Unfortunately the publication got delayed and I’ve only just received it! I couldn’t resist a trip to The Works where I snapped up Blood Red Road by Moira Young. I love this series and can’t wait till the third book comes out, which isn’t till 2014, so I will probably need to reread this nearer the release date. Even though I haven’t read Veronica Rossi’s first book yet, I decided to buy the second one, Through the Ever Night, as it is so cheap I didn’t want to miss out and I can always give it away if I don’t enjoy the first. I also picked up The Hunt by Andrew Fukuda as it sounded really cool. Having just looked on Goodreads, I think I may actually already have a copy of it but with a different cover. Damn those cover changes! 

I was lucky enough to win a giveaway for two signed Sarah Dessen books, What Happened to Goodbye and The Truth About Forever. I don’t think I have actually read any of her books, so this will be perfect in getting me started on her collection. Extra special thanks to Winterhaven Books for the giveaway, for signed books and for shipping it all this way for me! Thank you so much. 

 Now for those Ebooks:

I got an invitation to review Nowhere by Jon Robinson from Netgalley and Penguin. Described as a ‘fast-paced conspiracy thriller’ featuring teenagers locked inside a cube, I had to have it. Although the cover looks quite simple, I love the hands in the title! Its like the story is just seeping out the pages. Many thanks for the opportunity to read this 🙂

I love boarding school books, so The School for Good and Evil by Soman Chainani was a cert for me. Thanks to Netgalley and Harper Collins for this.

A book that I have been waiting to come out for ages is Unbreakable by Elizabeth Norris. I loved Unravelling (review here), so will try and fit this in soon! And I love the UK cover much more than the US 🙂 Thanks Netgalley and Harper Collins once more.

I couldn’t resist requesting a couple when I got back from holiday (I have no willpower, sue me). I adore the cover of Acid by Emma Pass, and I love action YA so I am really looking forward to this. Thanks for the speedy approval Random House!

It seemed like the whole world was getting proofs of Malorie Blackman’s Noble Conflict and I was itching to see what it was like. So when it popped up on Netgalley there was no hesitation before requesting! Many thanks Random House.

Happy Birthday To Me by Brian Rowe sounds like a funny and intriguing book about a boy who ages a year every day. Thanks to Brian for the Netgalley approval!

What did you receive this week? Have you read any of my books and do you think it should be at the top or the bottom of my to read pile?  I’d love to hear from you!