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The Top Ten Books with Amazing Settings

I did my own take on this prompt this week. Rather than settle for just one type of setting, I'm going with allllll of the amazing settings we're offered in the genres we read...and there are a lot. So, without further ado. Here are my favourite books with absolutely epic settings.

1. The Harry Potter Series - Let's be really, really honest here, guys. Does it get better than Hogwarts, Diagon Alley, The Burrow, the Ministry of Magic, The Forbidden Forest...yeah, the list goes on. Let me answer you. No, it doesn't get better.

2. The Raft - It takes a really, really strong novel to have a book with one main setting and one sole character on said setting to make it work so well. The raft and the island were terrifyingly realistic - and awesome - places to be.

3. The Lightning Thief - Despite my initial hesitance to become invested in this series, I couldn't help but fall in love with it. I really would give my right leg to go to Camp Half-Blood.

4. Across the Universe - There's something about a novel set in space that makes it a zillion times more awesome. That's not even an approximate. That's just a real number, my friends. Plus, the good ship Godspeed is both awesome and scary. Love.

5. The Diviners - New York City? Check. The roaring 20's? Check. Really wish I had a time machine? Yeah, check, check, check. Seriously, how awesome would it be to experience the amazing backdrop of this book in person?

6. Graceling - Well, technically, there are seven different kingdoms in this novel, which gives us a whole lot to choose from in terms of settings. I loved the Middluns though. It was very medieval, and it was totally alive.

7. Raw Blue - Who doesn't want to read about life on a beach in Australia? Carly's world is one of breaking waves, sunshine and sand, and it's our immersion in her world that brings light into her very dark and painful past.

8. 172 Hours on the Moon - But really, like I said before, guys. Space. It's vast, it's empty, and it's a whole lot of nothingness filled with incredible mystery and terror. Give me that any day, and I'm sold.

9. The Forest of Hands and Teeth - In a very character-driven novel, the Forest of Hands and Teeth actually feels like a character in its own right in this novel. It's a terrifying possibility, and the probability is even that much better.

10. Carnival of Souls - Though I wasn't the biggest fan of this book, I have to say that Melissa Marr succeeded in bringing the City of Daimons alive. Dang, that place is brutal. I don't know that I'd want to go, but it's sure awesome to explore through the pages.

Title: The Raft
Author: S.A. Bodeen
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Publish Date: August 21, 2012
Genre: YA, Contemporary
Pages: 231
Source: Publisher

Robie is an experienced traveler. She’s taken the flight from Honolulu to the Midway Atoll, a group of Pacific islands where her parents live, many times. When she has to get to Midway in a hurry after a visit with her aunt in Hawaii, she gets on the next cargo flight at the last minute. She knows the pilot, but on this flight, there’s a new co-pilot named Max. All systems are go until a storm hits during the flight. The only passenger, Robie doesn’t panic until the engine suddenly cuts out and Max shouts at her to put on a life jacket. They are over miles of Pacific Ocean. She sees Max struggle with a raft.

And then...she’s in the water. Fighting for her life. Max pulls her onto the raft, and that’s when the real terror begins. They have no water. Their only food is a bag of Skittles. There are sharks. There is an island. But there’s no sign of help on the way.

It's a normal day for Robie. She knows traveling, she knows flying and nothing seems to be out of the ordinary on the day's flight except for the new co-pilot, whom she's never seen before. But things suddenly go from routine, to bad, to deadly in a matter of minutes when turbulence becomes severe and the plane starts to crash. Max manages to get Robie out and follow after her, but they're far from safe as the plane sinks beneath the dark, stormy water. With Max gravely injured and Robie struggling to hang on, how long can the two possibly survive at sea?

The Raft is unlike any book I've ever read before, and that's a testament in and of itself because, let's be real here, the YA genre is crowded. S.A. Bodeen truly makes a name for herself with this novel, giving us a powerful character who is easy to relate to, a gripping and dramatic plot and edge-of-your-seat action throughout. With powerful prose, The Raft is a swift novel, sweeping you into its dramatic and painful embrace in a way that almost makes you feel that you're stranded with Robie on that raft in the middle of the open sea where the struggle to survive will twist and turn you in its deadly embrace.

If I've said it once, I've said it a thousand times, but if a book actually manages to surprise me these days - in a good way - it's as good as solid gold to me. The Raft did that and so much more. There are so many books out there that are swimming with characters, and illustrious details, and locations and more, but The Raft sets itself apart from the masses simply by being so amazingly sparse. We're literally given a main character, a secondary character who lapses in and out of consciousness, leaving the Robie to her own devices and a singular location - the raft upon which these two survivors are struggling to live. If I'd known that going in, I would have been highly dubious about how there could possibly have been enough action to fill a novel of this size. However, because of the unique setup, we're given an insider's look at this teenage girl's immediate need for growth, and yes, she grows up. She gradually and believably transforms into a powerful character in her own right, and dang it - that girl is strong to make it through these harrowing events. Max, too, is a powerful character that is interjected throughout, but boy does this man of secrets. His character was one of the best secondary characters I've read in a very long time. I kid you not when I say that The Raft had me reeling and begging for the end. It wasn't that I wanted the book to be over, but rather I was so invested in the story that I, too, felt as though I was being rescued. 

The Raft was, in my humble opinion, incredible. Plot twists abound and the utter originality in setup had me begging for more. It's one of those books that I'm not going to forget for a very long time. I give it a 4.5 out of 5, and I highly recommend it to fans of YA, especially those who enjoy action, adventure, survival and contemporary fiction stories.

I received this book free of charge from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This, in no way, affected my opinion or review of this book.