Sunday, January 29, 2017

BOOKREVIEW: Vinyl by Sophia Elaine Hanson

Hello bookreaders!
Welcome back to my blog!




Today's blog, as you might have gathered from the title, is another bookreview! I'm going to talk to all of you about Vinyl, by Sophia Elaine Hanson! This review containts 0 spoilers, so feel free to read this! It will have references to pages of the book, but again 0 spoilers!


"May your song guide you home", she whispered.

If you don't know anything about the Vinyl Trilogy:

  • It's a YA Dystopian trilogy
  • I'd say there's a small dose of magical realism too (but I'm not sure if anyone else would say so)
  • It's fast-paced and action-packed
  • It has a ton of talk about music and its meaning to humans who have lost it
  • Goodreads:
Legend meets Leviathan in this gritty dystopian fiction by debut author Sophia Elaine Hanson. All citizens within the soaring black walls of Revinia have metal Singers grafted into their skulls at birth. The parasitic machines issue a form of auditory hypnosis called The Music, which keeps their minds malleable and emotions flat. All artistic expression—especially real music—is strictly prohibited.

On the edge of the city, nineteen year old Ronja struggles to support her cousins and disabled mother. A chance meeting leads to her kidnapping by an underground resistance striving to preserve the human spirit. Violently severed from her Singer by the brash young agent Roark, Ronja revels in her newfound freedom until the consequences of her disappearance begin to unfold.




✨ I'd also like to let you know that I hosted a readalong on instagram for Vinyl, and it was super fun! If you'd like to check out the participants' and my posts check this hashtag: #stefansreadalong



"You know they're all dead?"

"The stars?" she prompted.

"Yeah," he confirmed, switching his gaze to her face. "They've been dead for millions of years. Their light is just reaching us now."

Ronja mulled this over for a time, then spoke. "At least they left a mark."

✨First of all: I'd like to thank Ms Sophia for sending me her book for review! I'm glad I had this opportunity! However, the full review and rating are all mine! This does not affect my review.



✨I like the fact that Sophia didn't give away too much from the beginning. For example, she mentioned the word "mutt" and from the text you obviously realiaze that that's something bad, but she still doesn't explain what a mutt is, so you have to keep reading to find out! And that's really cool because the author manages to keep you into the story and also keep you interested.
The book also has humour, because: page 44 middle of the page #sorrynotsorry + page 93 the "liar - kidnapper" line
I also like how Ronja is sassy and sarcastic. The latter doesn't always do her good, but her responses remind me of myself and how mean I can be lol (page 97, "feels like... to me").
 Remember the sassy part I mentioned above? Page 99 " "Family?" "Fractured." " lol.



I love the fact that Ronja's character felt so real. She wasn't just afraid of the people in the Belly, and then the next second she wasn't. I don't know if that makes sense, but for example here: when she broke that pot or clay or whatever it was the man was carrying, you can practically feel the fear and horror radiating off her.
And also, Sophia showed us Ronja's past in a very interesting way. She chose to make us meet Ronja and her past slowly slowly, and added her backstory in, as a part of the plot of the book. She didn't just make Ronja lie down in bed during a random night and just say things like "I'm so not worthy of all this, when I was younger and blah blah blah" which would have been a total (and also annoying) cliché for a YA book.
However, I did not like how quickly she trusted Roark. Like one minute he tortures and cuts your ear, and the next one you're all besties. I mean yes, Ronja did throw the occasional shade towards him, but I still feel like some more time before she completely trusted him would have been better! 
The rest of the characters: Evie, Iris, Henry and Roark were really nice! I was glad that they all had backstories and didn't, just you know, end up being there. All of them, including Ronja have a major improvement. They were also relatable, which made it more fun!
Some things were definitely unpredictable, and I can't mention them as I did with other parts because: spoilers (duhhhh). But once you get to the ending, you'll know what I mean (insert a sad and crying emoji lol).
Another thing that I usually mention in my reviews is my love for short chapters. Sophia's chapters were really short and that was a great thing! First of all it makes the reader feel like he's reading more, since he can be on chapter 10 but still on page 50 or something like that!
I like the fact that during the ending, a lot of things happen. Yes, some or more likely most, you did see coming but that did not stop you from going into a state of shock. Others, you could not have predicted! 
Oh and the book has also got diverse characters (ex. Iris-Evie).
Most of my questions were answered by the end of the book, so I'm really curious about what happens next!
Just know that this book was so worth it! The cover is gorgeous too! 
I can't wait for Radio! Make sure you read Vinyl so that you can join my Radio Readalong which is coming soon on instagram! (Keep an eye on the hashtag: #stefansreadalong).
✨Final Rating: 4.5/5 STARS 
✨Recommend it? HIGHLY!


"....And Ronja... maybe the stars are alive after all."




Radio's release date is set for March 2017!
✨Paperbacks and ebooks are available on bookdepository, amazon, nook, ibooks and kindle unlimited!

P.S: When someone tells you to not ask questions, you shouldn't ask any. Look at what happened to Ronja! Lol

Stay tuned because I have an amazing giveaway coming soon here on my blog!

Extra Credits: The last photo was borrowed from Sophia's own instagram! The rest were taken from my personal IG account: @stefansbooks

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