Afterworlds by Scott Westerfield

*based on an ARC edition

Afterworlds is not just one book, it's two. One is the tale of a debutante young adult author as she leaves for Manhattan at the age of 18 after selling her first book for an enormous advance, growing with adult and authorly responsibility, and discovering her own sexuality. The other is the book she sold, told in between living her life. Darcy, our author, is both bold (because she left home to live by herself in NYC) and the most timid character I've ever met. She is rife with insecurities and the feeling of impending failure, even jeopardizing her fledgling relationship because of it. In her book, which is the titular Afterworlds, we have Lizzie who was the sole survivor of a terrorist attack and came out being able to travel to the Other Side. She grows quickly into her role as something of a grim reaper without the reaping, meeting the ghost of a young girl who has lived with her all her life. She does some questionable things through her journey. She falls in love with what is essentially the Hindu Lord of Death, Yama.

Honestly, I am not sure what to write about this book. I am a big fan of Scott Westerfield. And I enjoyed seeing a reference to his other work thrown in there for faithful readers. But Afterworlds read like a love letter to the publishing world, or maybe a warning to all potential YA authors, I can't decide. Darcy doesn't seem to grow very much throughout. The two stories didn't have enough juxposition to give us a reason to really want to read Darcy's book. It wasn't that I didn't enjoy reading Afterworlds (the actual book, not Darcy's book) at times, but many times it dragged and was written too much as though it was written for only published authors to read, as they would be the only ones who would truly be able to understand. I liked the mythos of Darcy's story, and it probably would have been a good book on its own. But combined as it was with the author's life, with characters who were merely window dressing, it lost what appeal it could have had. My final conclusion is that Afterworlds isn't a complete waste of time but anyone expecting something like the rest of Scott Westerfield's work is going to be very disappointed.

Stitching Snow by RC Lewis

First and foremost, I was deeply pleased that this book was not the first part of a trilogy. I have read too many trilogies in the past few years and I am overjoyed to be able to enjoy a story from start to finish and not have to wait another year for the next part. Seriously cannot say how much that pleases me. As for the story itself, I was also pleased by just about everything. With elements of fairy tale, fantasy and steampunk, Stitching Snow was an excellent read. Essie, the titular Snow, is an exceptionally strong main character who I had a good time following. The story had many twists and turns, some of which were of course easy to forsee but still satisfying. The story takes place, we find out subtley, 1000 years into our future, in which different planets are under the control of an evil king and queen. The ruling planet is apparently under attack by the Exiles, waging a bloody battle for revolution. But not everything is as it seems and hope lies with Essie. The only flaw I saw at all, if one could call it that, is that the Exiles have a power to Transition, or basically take over the mind of someone else they touch. That detail doesn't do much to further the story other than to reveal a secret, and I felt that could have been accomplished another way. Other than that, however, Stitching Snow was solid and well-written with well-drawn main characters and (cannot be said enough) a real and enjoyable final conclusion.

Love is the Drug by Alaya Dawn Johnson

Love is the Drug took me a long time to finish. I am normally a speed reader and go through things fairly quickly. I consider the fact that it took me so long a complement to Alaya Johnson. This story is very layered and intricate, and full of every element of a suspense novel you could ask for. There is a influenza outbreak. There is a black girl with a scientist mother who disapproves of anything that might prevent her daughter from fitting in with the white upper crust. There is a mysterious forgotten night after a drugging by a nefarious CIA agent who thinks our Emily Bird knows more than she says she does. There is love and transformation, because it is still geared towards young adults. But I very much appreciated the way the love affair was handled. Emily awakens through this terrifying time into Bird, a tough, self-accepting woman who knows what she wants, who she wants, and how to get what she wants. If she can get away from the CIA and her mother, that is. The end was satisfying and was clearly written well enough to make my heart clench a little when I thought it was headed a different way. I would definitely recommend this book for those who love a little suspense and a solid story.

Day 21 by Kass Morgan

At first I thought that Day 21 had the misfortune of being weighed down by the superior TV show- to read this book, even after reading the first, is to call to mind how different the show is from the original material, and also how much better the show seems in comparison. However, as I continued and got to the end I was once again hooked almost against my better judgement. I am not sure how Kass Morgan accomplishes this, but she does. Despite the fact that none of the characters listen worth a damn and honestly have very little depth to speak of, the story is still extremely captivating in its way. It's written well, if not spectacularly; the TV Clarke is portrayed with much more strength and character than the literary version but is still somehow likable. I have hated Bellamy in the the books, and this sequel does only a little to improve my feelings. So taken on its own merits, both the first and second book in what I assume will be a trilogy or series are extremely entertaining if not a masterpiece of literature. I call these books bubblegum books because they are great when you are reading them but they quickly lose their flavor and you forget about them quickly. If not for the TV bolstering the series I would fear for the story but I think this series will do just fine. Definitely worth the read. I consider it an improvement from the first; my only suggestion is that if you watch the CW series, re-read the first book to re-introduce yourself to the story. The two are vastly different. I found myself missing a few characters that are in the show but now in the books. 

Tear You Apart by Sarah Cross

*based on an ARC edition (out January 15, 2015)


Tear You Apart is the follow-up to Sarah Cross's Kill Me Softly, which are both set in the fairy tale driven town of Belle Rivage. Everyone who lives there have been Cursed by either evil fairies or Good fairies, and they are destined to carry out these fairy tales curses, no matter how hard they try to fight against it. Some have the Sombulence curses, like Snow White and Sleeping Beauty- and our two main female characters in either book have one of those. Some have the Rumplestilskin curse, some have the Beauty and the Beast curse, but they all know they have it and that one day they will be forced to live the tale out to it's conclusion. In Tear You Apart we follow Viv and Henley, a Snow White and her Huntsman. We met them in the first book, and we know that this Curse is so much more complicated then your average girl meets boy, boy is fated to cut out girl's heart kind of tale. Viv and Henley are in love, but as they get older they get closer to the inevitable conclusion- one day soon Viv's stepmother will task Henley with taking Viv out into the woods and cutting out her heart. How can love survive that? When it becomes apparent that the her stepmother Regina is about to finish the curse, Viv runs to the Underworld, which is less a place for the dead and more just another kingdom with it's own curses and secrets. There's always a prince in these tales, and Viv's prince-the one who is fated to save her from her cursed sleep-got tired of waiting for her to die and offers her protection in his castle as his princess. With no other choice but to flee, Viv does; but her heart, still intact, still only belongs to her Huntsman. Once she arrives she discovers there is much more than meets the eye in this castle- the king of the Underworld is a Rumplestilskin troll, and not a very nice guy. She's trapped now, and the only way to get out and to salvage her own future is to finish the tale. 

I truly enjoyed both Kill Me Softly and Tear You Apart. I loved thinking about these fairy tale characters- the real ones, by the way, from the Grimm stories and not Disney- living in this place. I never really thought about what it would be like to know you have this destiny and are fairly powerless to stop it. But I think the moral of these two stories is that if you fight hard enough you can weave your own tale, and it can have the ending of your choosing. I loved these characters, and the stories, and I especially enjoyed the mention of how dark the Grimm tales really were. Red-hot iron shoes. Sleeping Beauty wasn't always woken up with a kiss, if you get my drift. These were terrifying stories. So I loved how it was all portrayed and they were both excellently written. A definite must for everyone who loves a good tale. 

A Song For Ella Grey by David Almond

*based on an ARC edition

Not being British it took me a little bit to get used to the different way of punctuation and how the author wrote the dialog essentially phonetically (so the characters read in a Northern England accent) but once I got through that I fell in love. This is a book about love. It is a retelling of the Greek tale of Orpheus and Eurydice (Eurydice in this case being our titular Ella Grey) and it is of course about the love between Orpheus and Ella, an insane, magical, cosmic event; but it also more about the love of Ella's best friend Claire who narrates the story. She is the one who bears the tale because she says she must as she knew them both. But more she was in love with Ella as much as Orpheus ever could be. Anyone familiar with the myth knows how things end up and as with all Greek tales it isn't happy. So we know that there is loss and pain and magic but more than anything what touches you is Claire's love of Ella. It doesn't read as exactly romantic, but maybe it is. Some kinds of love are greater than friendship or romance, and if that was the intention of the author, to portray that of Claire and Ella, he does so admirably. I loved this book. It was written like poetry and it flowed like water over rocks. We feel through Claire Ella's love for Orpheus and his for her; we feel the pain of their loss and his struggle to retrieve Ella from the depths because only he could. Orpheus isn't even human, not really, is more Pied Piper than flesh and we feel that as we read, but at the end his loss and end is more human than anything. I highly recommend this book for just about anyone. Young or old. 

Breaking Butterflies by M. Anjelais

*based on an ARC edition

     I will say before I begin that I may not be the best audience for this book. I have degrees in psychology so the subject matter involving the sociopathic Cadence did nothing but annoy my sensibilities. I have to say with regret that I did not like or enjoy this book. Sphynx and Cadence are the children of life-long friends, their mothers having been best friends since they were seven; so much so that at seven they decided on their "life plan". This plan involved their children one day being best friends and then getting married and having children of their own. They didn't plan on Cadence being a monster. When the children were ten Cadence cuts open Sphynx's face, leaving a scar and causing his mother to take them both to live in England, away from Sphynx and her mother. When the kids were even younger, Cadence catches a butterfly and crushes it emotionlessly in his hand, only crying when he saw what the appropriate reaction was. Given my education (and people without it would probably know too) I immediately knew that the character was a sociopath. I admit I thought the story was about something else; namely a teenage couple who had an abusive relationship. This was a whole lot worse. Cadence is diagnosed with leukemia when they are 16 and asks that Sphynx come to England to see him, and for some unknown reason she agrees. Not only that she decides she has to stay until the end, even though he is nothing but cruel and terrible and on several occasions physically attacks her. She learns that he was diagnosed as a sociopath and for another unknown reason feels sorry for him. She thinks of all the emotions he can't feel and somehow thinks this is something to empathize with. Perhaps this is because the author was very young, but sociopaths cannot miss what they never had. The author paints the character of Cadence as someone to sympathize with, but that is akin to feeling sorry for Ted Bundy because he killed all those people. The final straw for me was that for quite some time Sphynx debates killing herself to die with him simply because he tells her they are meant to die together. This is ridiculous and made me really dislike her character. Then she tells him she loves him, because, presumably, she heard a line in a song that said "love means watching someone die". There was not even one aspect of Cadence worth such emotion, and if someone had such emotion that person would also be mentally ill. So while I very rarely give very bad reviews, this book unfortunately warranted one. The writing was actually very good, it was just the plot, if for no other reason than it must have been very poorly researched. And slightly dangerous. Every day a teenage girl decides she can fix the monster she loves and trust me it never goes well. They aren't all sociopaths of course, but to give the emotionless depth they don't possess is not something any author should do when writing for a teenage audience. 

Since You've Been Gone by Mary Jennifer Payne

*based on ARC edition


     Since You've Been Gone is about a girl who has been on the run with her mother 

since she was ten years old. She's never been able to take root, make true friends...fall 

in love. This last stop on the run is to London and things are even harder there than in 

her native Canada. She doesn't understand the way people speak or the way the 

streets are made or why one particular girl in her school has decided she needs to be 

crushed like a bug. And on top of it, after only a short while there her mother goes to 

work one night and never comes home. Knowing she would be put in foster care if 

someone found out Edie enlists the help of the school misfit to find her mother. I 

enjoyed Since You've Been Gone. It wasn't the best written book I have ever read but 

while it was fairly predictable, Edie and the her partner Jermaine were well-drawn out 

and empathetic. There is some social commentary on racism in England that seemed 

almost unnecessary but as I am not from there it may be a bigger problem than I know 

of. Edie and Jermaine's eventual relationship over only a couple days seemed very pat 

to me, but then that is a part of the genre. The story was, like I said, predictable, but 

somehow Ms. Payne still managed to provide a suspenseful feel to the book which I 

appreciated. Overall I would recommend this book for a quick read and a good way of 

passing some time. 

Still Point by Katie Kacvinsky

*based on ARC edition*

     As I always do with the final books of a trilogy, I went back to re-read Awaken and Middle Ground before finishing off with Still Point. I have been impressed with the story since its beginning, because out of all of the dystopian type novels this trilogy came closer than any to what I fear the future could eventually become. The Awaken trilogy tells of a society that has gotten so immersed into their digital lives that they no longer can effectively function in face-to-face society. In fact, digital school, or DS, has become the law of the land, and there are no in-person schools anymore. On the surface that may not seem so bad, but the government has seen how effective this digital life is; crime is nearly non-existent, the economy has been buffed up from the ads and everyone's life is planned out and decided for them...designed to make them no longer want to be in the real world. But there is a faction of revolutionaries who can see the dangerous path the world is on, so they do everything they can to fight them. Kids are getting arrested and taken to detention centers for brainwashing for even the smallest indication that they are wanting to come back to reality. The Digital School Dropouts, led by a kid named Justin Salvi, are notorious; as part of their recruitment process they intercept the arrests in order to gain more dedicated members for their fight. One night, the daughter of the creator of digital school, Maddie Freeman, is arrested and is intercepted by Justin. She becomes an ardent fighter, determined to bring down both her father and the Digital School, by any means necessary. Maddie and Justin fall in love in the early books, but it clear that Justin's heart belongs to the fight. By the time Still Point begins, Maddie has been tortured in a detention center but agrees to come back to her family with the agreement that she stops her crusade. Maddie has accepted the arrangement but has no intention of stopping her battle against her father. Still Point had several twists and turns that I enjoyed, and overall I think it was a solid finish to the trilogy. My gripe is that Maddie's realization that Justin will never be able to truly commit to her brings about a turn in the story that I wish had been better fleshed out. An important character seems to be important just because the story deems it to be so; with Justin Maddie's feelings grew and developed, like they should be. The ending resolution also seemed a bit rushed to me. On one page everything is lost and literally the next everything is saved. I gave this title four stars for the trilogy as a whole, because all trilogies should be taken as a whole story rather than pieces. All in all, a great look at the dangers of living too much in the digital and not enough in the real.

I, Morgana by Felicity Portman

*based on an ARC edition*


Let me start off by saying that the legend and stories of King Arthur are my favorite literary thing...ever. The story is nearly holy to me. In fact, my bloodline goes back to the Tudors in England who believed they were Arthur's descendants. Now of course that part was probably not true, but this gives one an idea of how deep my love goes for King Arthur, his Queen, his sister, and his knights. I have read every book, every adaptation, every allusion. So perhaps I am overly brutal when I say that I, Morgana does not measure up. There are many different takes you go about making when it comes to the character of Morgan (or Morgana, Morgaine, etc). In some she's a dark witch bent on destruction. In some she's a sympathetic and powerful woman in a time when power in women was seen as evil. In still others she barely exists, having been sent early to a nunnery. But this legend, this tale that is nearly 800 years old, deserves a beauty and a gravitas that is lacking in this adaptation. I, Morgana follows the tale closely enough, with a few side tracks I found interesting; for instance Morgana can use her magic to pass into parallel worlds, explaining perhaps how King Arthur could exist at the same time our own history did. I liked the mention of the Mother Goddess, I was ok with Morgana having three children. However, there was no depth to this story. The tale of Arthur and Camelot is ultimately one of the greatest love stories ever written, as well as one of the greatest tragedies. But there was not one character that had even one redeeming value. It is told from Morgana's perspective but as a reader I hated her. Arthur is written as weak and stupidly blind to the connection between his wife and his greatest knight, not as the once and future king who will one day again save a divided Britain. Gueniviere is portrayed as a jealous harpy, cruel to her husband as much as her lover, and totally loathsome to Morgana (perhaps rightfully so in that regard). Lancelot is nothing but a cad who is magicked into loving his queen, but even before that he treats Morgana carelessly. Merlin is written much the way he usually is, but his presence ends quickly, because he is just one of the many people our main character murders in her quest for her inheritance. I found it impossible to care for any of these people, which pains me since I love the characters so. 

There are a couple of time issues but they are relatively minor; Morgana speaks of the Tower and the River Thames in London that she walked along with Gorlois, her father, but neither the Tower nor London (at least in name) was there at the time the legend of King Arthur takes place. Perhaps in this telling the parallel worlds explains this, and instead of it being the 5th century it's much later in the world. But it wasn't properly explained, either way. 

It's possible others would not be as critical as I; however, the one-dimensional portrayal of some of the most famous literary characters in history begs my criticism. Ultimately, while I liked some of the new artistic takes on the story, I desperately missed the life these characters deserved to have. 

The Last Human by Ink Piper

*based on ARC edition*


I very much enjoyed this book. The Last Human is a strange one, though, and a bit of a misnomer until you get to the end and understand why it was called that.It is an apocalypse story, in so much that the world has been destroyed by a virus, but it is really more of a story about the humanity that is either gained, lost, or maintained under such circumstances. Clay, the voice we hear in the telling, struggles to maintain his humanity under extreme torture and abuse by those who claim they want to save the world. There is the stereotypical "everyone turns bad" scenario in which the world ends and 99% of the humans left are caricatures of evil, sometimes for no real reason except to be evil. While from a reality standpoint I don't think this holds true, the story is written so incredibly well that I forgave that. This story is about love where there shouldn't be any, struggling when it would be easier to die, and finding a home in a place in which that concept no longer exists. My one gripe is the ending twist, because we aren't hearing Clay, we're hearing someone else tell the story as they think Clay would tell it. It was a bit jarring, honestly, but again the writing is so well done that even though I instantly disliked a character that I previously cared for, you have to give the author credit for being able to switch both tone and character so effortlessly. This is a good read and should be experienced, especially for anyone who is as much a fan of the genre as I am. 

Fragile Line by Brooklyn Skye

*based on an ARC edition

     I was wildly impressed by Fragile Line. The novel takes us into the shared brain of Ellie and Gwen, who share the memories of horrific abuse in their childhood. The thing is, Gwen was created by Ellie to protect her from the pain; it's called dissociative personality disorder (what used to be called multiple personality disorder). Ellie starts experiencing blackouts, losing time, discovering things she did without remembering she did them. She meets a boy named Griffin who calls her Gwen. She punches her boyfriend's best friend and doesn't know why. Slowly memories start seeping in from the first 6 years of her life, and they start to paint a picture of why she is covered in scars and has no memory of why. 
    I have a degree in psychology, and initially I was concerned on how DID was going to be portrayed here. There is a lot of discussion among psychologists on whether or not it exists at all; there's only been two documented cases ever. Many more have claimed it but have been debunked. However, Fragile Line manages to illustrate the dichotomy of what is real and what is not for someone with this disorder. Gwen is an alter, created after Ellie was born, and thus we can think she's not real. But as I read the story from her perspective I felt truly sad for her, because she is as real as Ellie. I felt the most sympathy for Ellie's alter; more, in fact, than I did for Ellie herself. 
   If I have a complaint, it's not about the writing, or the story, it's about the character of Shane, who is Ellie's boyfriend and most likely the least understanding boy on the planet (until a doctor confirms what Ellie had been trying to explain to him throughout the first half of the book). If I told my boyfriend I was having blackouts, and losing time, and along with that I was exhibiting behavior totally contrary to my personality, and all he did was say I was making it up and I was a total bitch...well, I wouldn't care too much about whether or not he forgave anything I did. Seriously, if he loved her he would have listened to her when she told him something was really wrong with her. But other than that, Fragile Line was masterfully done. It was suspenseful, well-researched, and compelling. 

We Are The Goldens by Dana Reinhardt

*based on an ARC edition

   We Are The Goldens is a solid, enjoyable novel for the 15 to 18 set. The novel is written in the form of a long letter from one sibling, Nell, to her older sister, Layla, who has gotten herself into a situation she shouldn't be in. Nell's voice is candid, funny, and dry, and she is engaging as a narrator. She is a younger sister whose entire life and self-worth has been wrapped up in her hero worship of her sibling, and as these things often do, Layla has grown past her. And Nell, too, is experiencing the highs and lows of being a teenager starting high school, with confusing feelings for her male best friend to an ill-fated crush on the wrong boy. She is describing her perception of their lives to Layla, trying to make her understand why she is going to do this thing she is going to do, and is desperately hoping that the good times she remembers with Layla won't be a thing of the past.
     I'll be honest, I thought this was going in a more sinister direction than it actually took. I would consider this a snapshot into these two girl's lives, seen through the eyes of the sibling who knows her whole world is going to change as soon as she puts down the pen. As an older reader, I could appreciate the bond of sisterhood through the filter of time, as well as the bad boy experiences, so I would say that even the older readers could find something to appreciate in this straightforward and candid book. It's a definite recommend. 

Tabula Rasa by Kristen Lippert-Martin

*based on ARC edition

I very much enjoyed this book. I can't find any other titles for this author so I assume this is her debut novel; she hit it out of the park for me. Near the top of my list of why I enjoyed it so much is that it is a stand-alone novel. While there is room for another, theoretically, it ends instead of being yet another first book in a trilogy. I wish I knew whoever started that trilogy trend so I could give them a piece of my mind. Anyway, our main character is under the impression she is getting a memory modifying surgery because she suffers from PTSD, although she does not know what event caused her suffering or whether or not she was a victim or the perpetrator. But things don't make much sense. She and the few other patients are in a massive hospital, the surgeon who works on her isn't even in the same part of the world as she is, and one of the orderlies is acting very strange whenever he is with her. She doesn't know her name or what she looks like, or why Larry keeps quoting Hamlet to her. Then one night, the night she is supposed to get her final surgery, Larry pushes three pills in her hand with a note that says to take one every 24 hours. Then things really hit the fan when the power starts going off and what looks to be a whole army of Special Ops soldiers invade the hospital during a horrific snowstorm. And it doesn't take long before she realizes they are hunting for her. Now she is on the run through the hospital trying to search for answers, her memories, and most importantly, herself.


There is a lot of action, suspense, a little romance, some humor and a big bad you really really want to see be taken down. Tabula Rasa is well-written and well-developed with an engaging and unique story that will undoubtedly hook readers just like it hooked me.

Quarantine: The Burnouts By Lex Thomas

*based on an ARC edition

Well...very rarely am I forced to write a truly negative review, and I am disappointed that this is the one for which I must write one. I loved the first two books of the Quarantine trilogy, The Loners and The Saints, respectively. The trilogy follows the aftermath of a virus that affects only teenagers, in the sense that they carry a disease that makes them deadly to adults. Instantly deadly. So when the virus breaks from a lab, carried by one boy, our main characters are locked into a quarantine inside their high school. Over two years pass in the span of the trilogy and what occurs puts Lord of the Flies to shame. The kids break into gangs; these include the Freaks, the Geeks, the Varsity, the Pretty Ones, the Sluts, and the Loners, kids who couldn't find a gang but made one of their own. There are other kids that have kind of gone insane and live in the ruins of the school with the dead and refuse. As expected the Varsity and the Pretty Ones rule the school, and they do it violently. There is sex, murder, beatings, cruelty, and horror throughout the books, but I thought the first two did a very impressive job. The main three characters are two brothers, David and Will, who have always had a kind of strained relationship mostly due to their shared affection of Lucy. David has been taken out of the picture after the first book, as the kids who "graduate" (they pass out of the holding of the virus and are now susceptible) leave the school. David always loved Lucy and then Will and Lucy found something too.

And boy did they. The Burnouts is a poor way to end such a promising series. The second book ended with a huge gang fight that killed several important people, leaving Lucy hated and hunted, while Will graduates and is gets a shock upon getting to the outside. But Lucy is pregnant with Will's child and when that news reaches him, he can't leave her inside, so he must risk his life to try to save her- somehow. I mean, she can't actually leave so I don't know exactly why this was an option. This isn't the bad part of the book, though. What was upsetting to me is really just the last few chapters. The adults on the outside have decided to just kill all the teenagers and let God sort them out, and because of that things get "resolved" in a messy and too fast way. Two of the main people survive and it seemed to me the one who bought it was the worst kind of deus ex machina. Plus despite living as monsters for two years, none of the very real consequences of their actions was ever addressed in some kind of epilogue; no tying up ends of any kind. And finally, the ending was so abrupt and silly I kept trying to swipe the page on my Kindle, convinced it was broken and there really was more to the ending than that. Authors can make many mistakes when they right, but if you don't write a good ending, the entire thing is toast. Unfortunately this is what happened to The Burnouts. 

I would recommend reading this if you are the type that really needs closure, but it will tick you right off. I give it two stars only because I liked the first two as much as I did. 

Fire & Blood by Victoria Scott

I was upset when I got to the end of Fire & Flood and realized it was yet another Book One of a Series/Trilogy, so I believe that means I enjoyed it. Actually, I did enjoy it quite a bit. Fire & Flood is about a contest, the Brimstone Bleed, which requires people to go through four terrains for the chance to receive a Cure which will "heal any sickness". Tella, our voice, has a brother who is dying and no doctor can figure out why. So she accepts the challenge into the contest, stealing off into the night from her home. It is clear that her parents knew she could be called, but just how involved they are or were is a question for the next book. It is an interesting concept. To help the players they have creatures called Pandoras, animal-like beings with certain abilities that are loyal only to their Contender. As the story continues we figure out more about the background of the contest and of the Pandoras, and it is set up well for the next book. There is a love story, but it is somewhat muted, so I didn't get that feeling I sometimes get when two characters fall in love simply because they are main characters. I have a weakness for unavailable love interests in fiction, so it could be that, too. 

While the writing wasn't perfect throughout, it was fairly consistent and I grew to like the main character, Tella, and her group of other Contenders who are working together until they get closer to the end. There are a few surprises, a villain, and many questions to answer. All in all, a very satisfying novel which I hope has a sequel very quickly. 

She Is Not Invisible

*SPOILERS*


If there is one thing I appreciate, it is an author with cleverness and dedication. I enjoyed reading this book a great deal, but it wasn't until the end when he alluded to a message written from every first word of every chapter that I truly appreciated it. Because instead of just thinking that there was a message, I had to go find it; so I did. I went back to the first word of every chapter and I wrote down the message, which was a sweet one. Because I did kind of love the blind girl, the one who understands patterns and sees nothing, loves her brother, and loves her father so much she would abduct said brother and go to another country just to find him when she thinks he is missing. 

The mystery of the story isn't an actual mystery. And I think that's the joy of it. Throughout, we hear the thoughts of Laureth's father, who is an author and obsessor of coincidence, because he had lost his notebook that contained his ideas. It was this notebook that led to the brother abduction and the chasing of coincidence through the streets of Manhattan. He sees patterns and coincidences everywhere, he is obsessed with the number 354 and thinks he sees it everywhere. We almost watch his apparently descend into madness and we think maybe something untoward really has happened to him. But in reality, much like all coincidence, all that happened was a series of events that led to another series of events. No mystery, no coincidence. And that made this book truly exemplary, that even though all of us get that cold chill when something eerie happens that seems like a strange and destined coincidence, it truly is nothing but simplicity and chance. 

"One thing: when you learn what she deals with you might love the blind girl who knows that it's never been her sight that she needs; that it's trust, love, and faith, also."

Don't Even Think About It by Sarah Mlynowski

*based on an ARC edition

     I truly adored this book. As an older person who just happens to be obsessed with the young adult genre, the setting for Don't Even Think of It was a little more juvenile than I usually go for, but that wasn't even as a factor as I read. I finished in one sitting. This is a book about a bunch of teenagers from the same homeroom who are given a flu shot that has been tainted and results in some...unusual side effects. They call themselves the Espies because they all have the power of telepathy (ESP...Espies...get it?). They can hear everyone's thoughts. As a group of 22 they become "we" instead of the individual because as they say, it's the only way they know how to do it now. Hearing everyone's thoughts sounds great, and useful- there is some cheating on tests, one very shy member can make the perfect relationship- even though the guy is less than perfect- and there are no secrets. And that's the problem; there are NO secrets. There are friendships tested, infidelity revealed, feelings overheard, and new loves discovered. 
     Don't Even Think of It is a lighthearted, extremely funny escape from reality. It's just a fun book. There's no need to overthink anything, and the ending is perfect. It's not a book to read if you want deep thoughts, but who wants that all the time? 

The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August by Claire North

*based on an ARC edition

Put simply, I loved this book. Harry August is a kalachakra, a person who is blessed/cursed with living his lifetime over and over...forever. Every time he dies who is born again in the same place and time, with full recall of the previous life. He's not the only one. There is the Cronus Club, all kalachakras who task themselves with helping each generation with the transition into each new lifetime- and also to keep all of their kind from changing the course of human events. However, as we start his story we are told the world is ending; one of their kind has introduced technologies decades before they were meant to be, rushing the collapse of the linear world. It has only happened once before, and the methods the Cronus Club utilized were...thorough. But this time it is Harry's closest friend, someone that has to be stopped, no matter how many lives it takes or what the cost must be. 

Harry immediately sucks you into his story. He is talking to someone, explaining his lives, sharing everything. We don't know to whom he is speaking until the end, but when it is revealed it packs a punch. I greatly enjoyed the ride of Harry's lives, and Harry himself. His "voice" is dry, droll, and matter of fact, a voice you can easily imagine carried the burden of almost a thousand years of collective life and experience. And as long as you ignore any scientific or philosophic thinking about the mechanics of his kind, the idea of living lifetimes over again and collaborating with those who can do the same is infinitely appealing. From what I surmised, each time a kalachakra dies another universe is born, an alternate future is set that parallels all their other lifetimes. Like I said, try to ignore the practicalities of it. Honestly, the science isn't that important. Where the science is important, it was so beyond my understanding I had no problem suspending my disbelief. 

This is a book that demands to be read. I look forward to everything Ms. North comes out with next. She has earned a lifelong fan.

After the End by Amy Plum

*based on an ARC edition*

To be honest, this book kinda ticked me off. I gave it two stars because I was able to read it, and was not forced to throw my Kindle across a room so as to get away from it. I liked the concept; Juneau was raised in the wilds of Alaska, led to believe by the adults in her small "clan" that World War 3 happened in 1984 and they were some of the few survivors. She and the other children were all born with a starburst pattern in their irises. They are all taught to tap into something called the Yara, which is basically Mother Nature. At a certain age they undergo a rite that ties them to the Yara for life- and it will be a long commitment because their clan does not get sick and does not age. But while she is out hunting one day she hears helicopters (which she knows about because of the small library they have which includes the Encyclopedia Brittanica) and returns to find her clan gone. Her mentor, Whit, was supposedly out on a walkabout not far from them so she goes to seek him out. When he is not where he should be, using her skills as the next Sage, she communes with the earth and it shows her where she must go. She ends up in Anchorage and is shocked to find out that there never was a war, and the world has been going on just fine. But things are not fine with her, as she soon finds out that not only are the helicopter men after her, it seems as though Whit is as well. She discovers that the head of a drug company wants her because he believes she knows how to make a drug that is essentially the fountain of youth.  
    Then there is Miles, the son of Blackwell, the drug company guy. We meet him right away. He has been kicked out of school and Yale has said they are holding his enrollment until he gets help for his behavior issues. Thinking he could make his father grease some wheels if he finds this teenage girl Miles overhears him talking about, he sets out for Seattle, the last place his father's men saw her. Now Miles does find her, and Juneau has been told by oracle that she must tell him the truth because he is the key to her finding her clan. But Miles thinks she's a lunatic. He's also a bit of a dick.
    And that's where the story lost me. I'm intrigued by where the nature/drug/lies story is going (and I'll have to wait because I assume by the abrupt ending that this is the beginning of another trilogy) but the romance vibe is ludicrous. I like Juneau. I hate Miles. He has zero redeeming value and it stretches the imagination too thin to believe that they would ever like each other. He's an ass. He does start believing her, and start helping her for unselfish reasons, but it takes the whole book to get there. There's a kiss, and the requisite "No, I can't allow myself to feel that way towards him/her" but it's too forced and I hated it. I get that romance is a key element to YA fiction, and ordinarily I am ok with that, and there have been many beautifully written relationships in YA. This one, to me, is not the start of a beautiful relationship. Perhaps the second book will make me buy it. I suppose we'll see.
   I can't say that I would recommend buying this when it comes out. I think the book would have been leagues better if it had been told solely in Juneau's perspective, and there was no thrown together romance between her and Miles. As I said, the story itself has merit, but the execution, in my opinion, was flawed. 

Plus One by Elizabeth Fama

*based on an ARC edition

     I wanted to like this book a lot more than I actually did. Plus One was pretty well written, and the story was engrossing, but I felt that there was a few things missing. The book takes place in an "alternate history" (which I thought was a very interesting concept) in which after the Spanish flu epidemic of 1918, the U.S. government decided that the population would be divided into two different times. Meaning half the people are allowed out during the day, and are colloquially known as Rays; and the other half are only allowed out at night, and are known as Smudges. According to the story, this policy helped stop the spread of disease by reducing the amount of people around at any given time. As society is wont to do, one side treats the others as scum. In this instance it is the Smudges who are downtrodden, poor, and treated like criminals. However, the sides weren't decided by any special criteria, so I was confused as to why that was. 

     Soleil is a Smudge, and her grandfather is dying. Her older brother was recruited into the Day because of his special computer skills, and she hasn't seen him in two years. But he just had a daughter, and Sol wants to make sure her grandfather can hold the baby just once before he's gone. To this end she pulls together an elaborate kidnapping plan that depends on her injuring herself at her Night job so that she will be in the hospital during the Day. She manages to get the baby with the unwitting help of a Medical Apprentice- but it's not the right baby. It turns out to be the baby of the head of the Night Ministry (the government of the Night people). So this is bad. 

     There are important things about Soleil and Ciel (her brother); their parents were terrorists trying to bring down the division of Night and Day, Ciel works with a shady crowd, and there is much more about this baby Sol kidnapped than she knows. She and the Medical Apprentice fall in love, inevitably, and it turns out maybe it was fate that brought them together that day. 

     The thing is that while I actually did enjoy the details, and the story, so much of it was kinda unexplained. For instance, it seems like the Day people all speak French, as does Sol and Ciel (their names mean sun and sky in French, respectively) but there's no reason for that given. There's no explanation, really, for why on Earth Sol thought this kidnapping plan was anything but a horrible idea. The end, for me, is unsatisfactory; had I been Sol it would have worked out a lot differently! It could have done well with an epilogue, as well. 

    Perhaps there will be some reworking by the time the book is released. Overall I did like the book, just not as much as I wished to. I feel like there was a great deal of promise and potential but it ultimately fell a little short.