Books: Great Reads

I wanted to add a couple more books to this post, but I need to write my thoughts on these three before I confuse any detail.

I recommend The Infernal Devices Series to anyone who likes YA fantasy with a romantic and/or steampunk bend. I'm not a great fan of the love triangle, but it mostly works here. The author's treatment of each relationship will appease readers.

In my opinion, the epilogue in Clockwork Princess needed a little work. "Let's see the world!" is not the most romantic declaration, so the ending of the series was just less than satisfactory for me. Nevertheless, I will happily reread the series and my favorite passages.

I've been to Hiroshima, its Peace Memorial Museum, and seen evidence of the devastating and mutational effects of the atomic bomb - none is for the faint of heart. Baggott has used this imagery in The Pure Trilogy to transform our world into a bomb-ravaged, desolate, desperate place where survivors are genetically altered and fused to whatever item(s), person(s), animal(s), or natural element(s) they were near at the time of detonation.

Excepting those "blessed" few protected by the Dome. By design, those in the Dome remain pure, untouched, and unadultered. Understandably, those outside the Dome resent those within. And several on the inside want to reclaim their place on the outside. Both sides are on the brink of revolution, and when a youth escapes the Dome and allies with survivors, events are set into motion none will expect.

I have thoroughly enjoyed Pure and Fuse. The books, while based on fact, are highly imaginative. Both books are well-paced and adrenaline-fueled, every scene is vividly brought to life, and the characters run the full spectrum. I anxiously await the third installment.