Bar Code Tattoo Trilogy

Hey all! This next review is on the Bar Code Tattoo trilogy by Suzanne Weyn. I thought this series was okay. It's another dystopian novel set in the year 2025. I finished the last book about an hour ago actually after getting it from the library. 

Here's a brief summary of the series. Basically it's the year 2025 and the government has become corrupted by the President who is working with this government organization called Global-1, or G-1 for short. The President has forced everyone 17 and older to get the Bar Code Tattoo, a tattoo that stores all your genetic and money information with nanobots. You no longer have to carry around a wallet or credit card. Sounds pretty great huh? No. Not at all. It is destroying people's lives! It won't let some people pay bills or even get into a store! 

17 year old Kayla Reed's life has exploded with the Bar Code. Everything in her life has fallen apart just because she choose not to get the Bar Code Tattoo. Kayla had joined a Bar Code resistance group called Decode that is against getting the Bar Code. She then falls in love with one of her fellow resisters and they run away together to the Adirondack Mountains after tragedy strikes within Kayla's family.

So I don't want to spoil too much of the series, but I just want to say that I was greatly disappointed by the second book. It was kind of a let down and it felt that that Weyn had a good idea, but it fell apart on paper. The final book, however, was so much like the Uglies series by Scott Westerfeld. Like the Uglies series book Extras, The Bar Code Prophecy starts out with a new character that has not been talked about in the previous books, and introduces a love interest for the new character. The main characters from the previous books also come back in the middle or near the end of the books. All in all, I think the first book was my favorite. It was the beginning and I think it showed the most character development for Kayla. It also showed the beginnings of the strong bond between Kayla and Mfumbe, her boyfriend.

To conclude, I thought this series was okay. It's definitely not going on my Top Ten List, but I think I would reread it given the chance. The reason I got the first book out was it was written by one of my favorite authors. Weyn also write the book Distant Waves, which I've read over three time! I love that book so much! I would totally recommend it over The Bar Code Tattoo series. Until next time!

Important!

Hey everyone! I just wanted to announce something. I, Carly Jensen, and hopefully my admin as well, will be doing our Top Ten Books of 2014 list December 22, the first day of our winter break and Thalia Grace's from PJO birthday! We will tell you them from 10 being the least favorite, to 1 being the best book we've read this year! I have read so many book this year so I don't know how I'll choose! I'll keep you posted on more details when they arise! I'm super excited! Are you? 

When We Wake

Hey all! I know! Sorry for not getting this review out earlier! This one is on the book When We Wake bye Karen Healey! I read this one a couple of weeks ago too and really enjoyed it! 

I bet you all are wonder what it's about, so here we go! Australian native Tegan Oglietti is dead. Or she was before scientist brought her back to life 100 years after she died. The future isn't what she (or anyone else) thought it would be. Dark and dangerous secrets arise, and Tegan must make a choice: fight for a better world, or ignore the horrors and live like a good little government puppet? Healey spins a tale of what she imagines the future like, and leaves it up to us to change it. 

This story is a lot like the Uglies series by Scott Westerfield. The main character has her main love interest at the beginning of the book go away or not like her back so she finds a new one who is completely different from her old flame. In this case, Tegan's boyfriend happens to be dead, and now she finds a boy who looks a lot like him in looks, but isn't like him in personality at all. It's also like the Bar Code Tattoo trilogy by Scott Blake, in the way that it's a dystopian novel that empowers a girl to choose between saving her country or bowing down to the government.

I honestly really, really liked this book. I thought it was well written and reminded me of those other books I read. This is a hard genre to write in, in the way that all of the books are very similar in plot base. But I thought Healey was able to spin this wonderful tale and make it stand out to me. Not that she wrote it specifically for me, but it seemed like that at times during the book! I got my hands on the sequel While We Run, and I'm really enjoying it! It was a bit more confusing than the beginning of When We Wake, but I was able to figure it out, and now I really love it!

My favorite character in this book had to be Tegan. Being the main character I felt I could really understand her better than any of the other characters. Healey really allowed me to connect with her in the form of music. Tegan really likes the band The Beatles, who I listen to all the time! Just check my iPod! I have an whole Greatest Hits album on there! She also likes to play guitar, which I really, really want to learn (but have no ambition)! She's also funny and has a very dry sense of humor. But thing I like most about her is her relationship with Abdi. He's this guy she meets in the future who looks exactly like the boy she had a crush on in the past. At first Abdi acted really cold and distant toward him, but after some time they slowly developed a friendship that turned into something more. I think they are one of the cutest book couples I've ever read about (which is saying something because I've read a lot of books!).

To sum this up, I LOVED THIS BOOK! It was well written and the characters were well developed. I can't wait to finish the sequel While We Run! Until next time!
~Carly