Noble Conflict by Malorie Blackman

(4 stars)

Noble Conflict

| Goodreads | Buy it here | Malorie's Twitter |

Published: 2nd January 2014 (UK)

Synopsis: Years after a violent war destroyed much of the world, Kaspar has grown up in a society based on peace and harmony. But beyond the city walls, a vicious band of rebels are plotting to tear this peace apart. It is up to the Guardians - an elite peacekeeping force - to protect the city, without ever resorting to the brutal methods of their enemy.

When Kaspar joins the Guardians, he has a chance encounter with a rebel - a beautiful girl named Rhea. Haunted from that moment on by strange visions and memories - memories that could only belong to Rhea - he realises he hasn't been told the truth about what the rebels really want, and what he's really fighting for.

Review: *I received my copy from the publisher via Netgalley (thank you!)*

"Books and knowledge don't make for a safe world. Just the opposite. Books and knowledge are facets of the truth and the truth can be dangerous."

As a huge, huge fan of the Noughts & Crosses series by Malorie Blackman, I was so excited to receive Noble Conflict to review! I had heard of it before and so when I started reading it, I was so happy to get stuck into another book with Blackman's wit and humour, mixed in with all the serious stuff. I know a lot of people are getting tired of dystopia but personally, I still absolutely love it. I thought that the plot of Noble Conflict was really fresh and unlike other dystopia novels I've read recently.

Starting with our protagonist, I thought that Kaspar was really interesting. At first, I wasn't so sure whether I would like him but as the novel progressed I found myself really rooting for him to discover the truth behind all the lies he had been told. In one particular scene at the end of Noble Conflict, I really felt for him. He was a hero through and through, but had to realise that he could not save everyone as he struggled to choose the moral thing to do. Alongside him there was Mac, a girl who features heavily in the book and who I absolutely love! She was funny and engaging, and I always enjoyed the scenes she was in. I only wish I could read more about her and Kaspar's developing friendship and possible relationship, because they were such an entertaining team when they worked together. 

The blurb mentioned Rhea and so I honestly thought it would be a forbidden love type story between an Insurgent and a Guardian, but in reality Rhea did not really appear very much in the novel, and I felt like I never got chance to know her properly. She was a fascinating character with so much potential, and I would love to read more about her. 

Other characters worth mentioning are Voss, Dillon, and Janna. I loved the banter between Voss and Kaspar, they were some of the scenes that had me laughing out loud, especially when Kaspar took himself so seriously. Dillon as well, was so entertaining and really showed off everything I love about Malorie Blackman's writing style. Janna teasing Kaspar about Mac really added some comic relief to the serious aspects of the book, and I loved that her sexuality was not made to be the most important thing about her character.

The twists and turns throughout the novel were amazing. As the bits and pieces of clues scattered through the story finally started to make sense, it was pretty amusing to work some things out before Kaspar and then have him figure it out. Some of the twists, I honestly didn't see coming, which was  a lot of fun. Although the plot could be described as fairly typical of dystopia, I really thought that Noble Conflict brought some great new ideas to the table – especially with the way captured Insurgents were (really) treated. On the outside, the Alliance's treatment is almost frustratingly humane, but beneath the surface, their motives and actions are much, much more sinister and gruesome. 

Overall, I thought Noble Conflict was a brilliant book which was wonderfully written. I am such a huge fan of Malorie Blackman's writing style, and Noble Conflict really delivered. As always, I love how Blackman does not dumb down her literature when writing for Young Adults. There are truly gritty moments in her books which are often uncomfortable to read, but she never shies away from it. Growing up reading Noughts & Crosses in my early teens, I absolutely loved that about her books, and I still love it now as I enter my twenties. 

For fans of dystopia who love witty humour mixed in with serious issues relevant to our society today, lots of twists and turns and secrets, and entertaining characters,  I would absolutely recommend Noble Conflict! For as long as Malorie Blackman writes books, I'll be reading them.

Have you read Noble Conflict? What were your thoughts?

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Dorothy Must Die by Danielle Paige

(5 Stars)

        

Dorothy Must Die

Published: July 3rd 2014 (UK)

Synopsis: 

I didn't ask for any of this. I didn't ask to be some kind of hero.

But when your whole life gets swept up by a tornado—taking you with it—you have no choice but to go along, you know? Sure, I've read the books. I've seen the movies. I know the song about the rainbow and the happy little blue birds. But I never expected Oz to look like this. To be a place where Good Witches can't be trusted, Wicked Witches may just be the good guys, and winged monkeys can be executed for acts of rebellion. There's still the yellow brick road, though—but even that's crumbling. 

What happened? Dorothy.

 They say she found a way to come back to Oz. They say she seized power and the power went to her head. And now no one is safe. My name is Amy Gumm—and I'm the other girl from Kansas. I've been recruited by the Revolutionary Order of the Wicked. I've been trained to fight. 

And I have been given a mission: Remove the Tin Woodman's heart. Steal the Scarecrow's brain. Take the Lion's courage. And then – Dorothy must die.

Review: *I received Dorothy Must Die from Harper Collins at Harper360 and I'm so thankful!*

Dorothy Must Die was a rollercoaster from start to finish! I ended up procrastinating with reading it just because I didn't want it to be over. I never would have thought, before hearing about Dorothy Must Die, that I would go for a book revolving around The Wizard of Oz. But when I read the synopsis I just thought, how can I possibly reject reading a book about a wicked Dorothy and a dystopian Oz? It appeals to me in every way.

Our protagonist is Amy Gumm, a girl from Kansas who has not had the easiest of lives, growing up among snobby rich girls at school and having an alcoholic mother. She definitely would never put herself into the role of the heroine, until the tornado hits and she is forced into taking control of her life due to a once-kind Dorothy in Oz wreaking havoc in her greed for magic.

At first I wasn't sure whether I would warm to Amy, probably because she is such an unlikely hero and she really had no trust in herself to do what is right. As it turned out, I ended up adoring her character and I loved watching her grow throughout the novel. It was good to see the contest between the girl she was in Kansas, and the girl she becomes in Oz. I was completely swept along with the drama that unfolded around her and I immersed myself into the world of Oz right along with her. In so many books that I've read the protagonist just accepts mysterious half-answered questions, but Amy refuses to be kept in the dark. I also like that Amy didn't just go simply from naive Kansas girl to potential assassin. She realised her potential slowly, and a chain of events led up to her doing things she had never thought she was capable of. I can't wait for the next book because I want to read more about Amy!

As big as the book is in size, the pacing and the writing style was brilliant. I never felt bored at all, and the cast of characters, from witches to flying monkeys, were so vibrant and individual that they carried the story and made it come to life. All of the Revolutionary Order of the Wicked, and the caves, were so much fun to read about and I almost wanted to be right there with them, getting ready to take down Dorothy.  

As fun as the story is on the whole, the darker elements really brought out the serious side of the situation. Oz is not a happy, cheerful place. Magic is being taken for Dorothy's own use (for things such as making her skin perfect, seriously) and in turn, the whole of Oz has changed, including the Scarecrow, the Lion and the Tin Woodman. In Dorothy Must Die, their characters have taken a dark turn like Dorothy, and they are each terrifying in their own ways. The Scarecrow is going to horrific lengths to give himself more knowledge, the Tin Woodman is performing evil experiments, and the Lion is obsessed with taking fear to give himself ever more physical power. Some scenes involving them honestly made me cringe. I never thought I'd be scared of the main characters from The Wizard of Oz, but Danielle Paige more than achieved it.

In addition to that, Amy asks herself a lot of questions about the plan to kill Dorothy. It sounds easy in theory, but standing face to face with Dorothy, a young girl who has done terrible things, would Amy be able to do it? What if the sweet Dorothy from Kansas is still in there, fighting against the Wickedness which has taken over?  What if Amy is just being used by the people she considers friends and they're not telling her the real risks? Is it right to kill one person for the good of the many? All of these questions made Dorothy Must Die one of the most interesting reads I've had in a while, and I love books that can make me think like that, and make me work to figure out my own moral stance on the situation.

Personally, Dorothy's character left me extremely conflicted. I wanted to believe there was a reason for her turning power-hungry and, frankly, evil. I wanted to know exactly what went wrong between being a friendly, slightly naive farm girl, to becoming something terrifying and having the whole of Oz beneath her cruel control. With her character, deciding whether she would deserve reception is really hard question, which is just part of why I loved Dorothy Must Die.

AND THE ENDING, the ending was amazing and unexpected and so well-written. When I was almost done I had no idea how it was going to end because the story is constantly evolving, with new characters and new potential situations, and I absolutely loved the way it ended. One of my favourite quotes in the book was from Nox, who said, "You don't have to know every turn of the road to walk down it." With that in mind, I'm so excited for book two, I think Dorothy Must Die could very easily become one of my favourite series!

In her acknowledgements (I'm a total acknowledgements lover) Danielle Paige wrote, "I hope it has what I love in a book – takes you to another place, makes you think, makes you feel, and gives you a touch of magic." And honestly, it really did. I completely, one hundred percent, recommend Dorothy Must Die. I think it could be a book that takes people by surprise and is a huge hit. I'm glad I had to opportunity to read it and I'll join the other readers who are eagerly awaiting book two!

“Be brave. Be angry. Don't trust anyone.”

If you want to buy Dorothy Must Die (and I totally recommend you do) you can find it here: http://amzn.to/1p9DNuD. Also, if you're not convinced yet (which you really should be) check out the book trailer because it's amazing, and I rarely say that about book trailers – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RbKJoaSWAFc and have a look at the Facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/dorothymustdie. And last but not least, make sure to find Danielle Paige on twitter here: https://twitter.com/daniellempaige and Harper360 here: https://twitter.com/Harper360UK!

Thank you for reading! If you've read Dorothy Must Die let me know what you thought! If you haven't then put it on your to-read list immediately :)