Doomboy by Tony Sandoval

Received from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

*** Rated 3 Stars ***

This is the story of a teenage boy. His girlfriend dies and he uses his music (heavy metal) to express his grief. What he doesn't know is that the whole town can hear him playing and he becomes a legend.

It takes you back to being a teenager, with all its teen angst, drama, friendship and rock music.

I found the artwork to be really good, and it fits the story really well. And at times it is downright beautiful. And it uses the images to tell the story just as much as with words. 
The only issue I had with the artwork was that in the beginning I had trouble figuring out if some of the characters were male or female. Long haired heavy metal boys looked a lot like the girls, which lead to some confusion.

The story is good, it includes a lot of standard teenage issues as well as dealing with the loss of someone you love.

I did however have an issue with the beginning of the story. I found it confusing, I wasn't sure what was happening or what the story was about. There seemed to be a lot of characters, and it took me a while to figure out who they were and what was happening. I'm glad I kept reading though, as it gets a lot better, and well worth reading.

All in all a good read. The story is pretty average, but the artwork makes it worth your time! 

Bird Box by Josh Malerman

*** Rated 3 Stars ***

Imagine a world where you need to keep your eyes closed. Or you might see something that will drive you crazy and you will kill those around you and then yourself. So you have to keep your windows covered, and every time you leave the house you have to wear a blindfold to make sure you will never look. Because there is something out there, something that shouldn't be seen...

I love the idea behind this book. For me the idea of having to go out into a world that is filled with creatures(?), but you have to go blindfolded or you will go mad... Knowing that they might be right next to you, and you wouldn't even know... It would be very, very freaky. So the book definitely gets points for originality. And some of the scenes described are tense and scary, making you want to keep reading to see what will happen. 

So why only 3 stars?

For me the jumping backwards and forward in time was just... too much. I don't mind getting some background story on what has happened in the past, but here it pretty much jumps for every chapter and it was just a bit too much for me. I do understand this is a way to build tension, but as I kept reading it was starting to get slightly annoying.

I also didn't like that some of the choices that were made by the characters were just... stupid and annoying. I know that people can make stupid decisions when they are under pressure, but... I still found it annoying.

And lastly: the ending. Obviously I'm not going to say a lot about it, as I don't want to ruin it for you if you want to read it yourself! But... I did not like it. There are so many other ways that the book could have ended that would have made it so much better in my opinion.

All in all a good read, and I would recommend if you're a lover of horror :)

The 100 (The Hundred #1) by Kass Morgan

I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

*** Rated 3 Stars ***

After the Earth is made inhabitable by radiation, the human race carries on living on a spaceship that orbits Earth while waiting for the day they can return home. Unfortunately there is a limit to how many people the spaceship can support, so the punishment for breaking the rules is normally execution. Teenagers get confined until they turn 18, and they get a retrial that also seems to always end in an execution. As the situation on the spaceship starts becoming desperate, the leaders comes up with a secret mission where 100 of the juvenile delinquents to Earth too see if it has become safe to live there.

I think this was an ok read. I think the story is good, though I'm not sure about some of the events in the book (I don't want to write spoilers, so I can't be more specific). Some of it seems a bit far-fetched, but I guess teenagers can come up with the strangest plans when they are in love?

It kept changing POV, which I normally struggle with, but for some reason I could keep up with this one. Barely.

But I will be looking into reading the other books in the series as I want to find out what happens next. This one ends in a bit of a cliffhanger, and the book is more then good enough that I'll happily read the rest of them.