Book Review: The Infinite Sea

How do you rid the Earth of seven billion humans? Rid the humans of their humanity.

Surviving the first four waves was nearly impossible. Now Cassie Sullivan finds herself in a new world, a world in which the fundamental trust that binds us together is gone. As the 5th Wave rolls across the landscape, Cassie, Ben, and Ringer are forced to confront the Others’ ultimate goal: the extermination of the human race.
Cassie and her friends haven’t seen the depths to which the Others will sink, nor have the Others seen the heights to which humanity will rise, in the ultimate battle between life and death, hope and despair, love and hate.  Quoted from Goodreads

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I hardly know what to say about this book.  Did I enjoy it? Of course.  But it's in a hard position.  There was so much hype after the first one, that how could the second one live up to it?  Personally, I think it did a pretty good job. Did I have a few issues?  Sure.  Does it suffer a bit from second book syndrome? Yes. But it's still a well written, adventure filled book in a devastatingly tragic world.

This is a fast read.  Things happen and keep happening, breaking off at the worst possible moments so you have to keep reading or skip ahead, just to know if the characters you love survive . . . because some of them don't.

Just a heads up, the format in this book is a bit different.  The first two thirds is a nice rotation between the main characters we got in The 5th Wave, with the addition of Ringer (which, I'll be honest, kind of bugged me a bit. It's not that I didn't like her story or find it compelling because it was.  I just didn't care as much about her as I did Cassie, Ben, Sam, or Evan).  Then the last third is entirely Ringer, so while I came to care about her as a character and her story was interesting, I wanted to see more of the characters I loved so well from the first book.

Of course, loving characters is always a danger in this series.  People die.  It's sad.  It's shocking. and it tears your heart out just a little.  At the same time, there's just enough hope and mystery that you can't help but keep caring about the different characters in their struggle to survive. 

One of the things I enjoyed most was the mystery of why the aliens were destroying humanity the way they were. They talk about the dinosaurs being wiped out with one meteor, so why the different waves?  It's cruel, intended to destroy what makes people human, and I found it to be an interesting question I can't wait to explore in the next book.  

I read several reviews before reading the book, trying to gage how much I should lower my expectations, and one thing I found completely wrong was the repeated statement that there was basically no romance in this book. There is. In fact, it's the realistic, perfect amount for the situation. Sure, there's no great declarations of love or overly-detailed make-out scenes, but that would not have fit into the world that's created or the characters. 

I realize this book review is rather vague.  I just didn't want to give anything away and spoil the book for you. So, should you read this?  Absolutely---especially if you loved the first book. It's a nail-biting, heart-pounding adventure, full of betrayal, death, compassion, consequences, and promises.  I'm giving it a strong 4 stars. Now I'm forced to endure until the third book comes out, answers all the questions, and I know who survives this roller coaster.

Book Review: Dissonance

Delancy Sullivan has always known there’s more to reality than what people see. Every time someone makes a choice, a new, parallel world branches off from the existing one. Eating breakfast or skipping it, turning left instead of right, sneaking out instead of staying in bed ~ all of these choices create an alternate universe in which an echo self takes the road not travelled and makes the opposite decision. As a Walker, someone who can navigate between these worlds, Del’s job is to keep all of the dimensions in harmony.

Normally, Del can hear the dissonant frequency that each world emits as clear as a bell. But when a training session in an off-key world goes horribly wrong, she is forbidden from Walking by the Council. But Del’s not big on following the rules and she secretly starts to investigate these other worlds. Something strange is connecting them and it’s not just her random encounters with echo versions of the guy she likes, Simon Lane.But Del’s decisions have unimaginable consequences and, as she begins to fall for the Echo Simons in each world, she draws closer to a truth that the Council of Walkers is trying to hide ~ a secret that threatens the fate of the entire multiverse.  Quoted from Goodreads

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This book was so much fun.  I love the whole idea: the different worlds, the variations on echoes, how much one choice can make a difference.  I'll be honest, when I read the description it reminded me a little bit of this really cheesy TV show from the nineties called Sliders, but this is so much better. First, because she's not just exploring possible worlds, but she's fixing them.  I also love the inclusion of music in the role the Walkers play.

As for Del, herself, she is a delightfully flawed character.  She's impulsive, plucky, and disobedient, with little respect for rules and an extraordinary talent she loves: sort of the perfect protagonist mixture, if you ask me. She makes mistakes.  Big ones.  There are a few times she makes me cringe with her choices, but they're always consistent with her character and keep her human.  It's these flaws and talents mixed together that helps move the story along and makes her relatable. I couldn't help but root for her throughout the story. 

As for the world building, it's excellent.  It's one of those tricky sci-fi situations, where you have to pay attention to the world building or it would be easy to get lost. She's crafted so much detail into this world and the science of Walking.  As I mention before, everything relates to music, which I adore, but it's more that that.  I loved the different worlds Del visited and the different versions of the same characters that we get to see over and over again.  I'll admit, she could have taken that farther, but for a first book, I liked the different worlds she chose to visit. I loved the science of cleaving and tuning, inversions and Baroque events.  It was cleaver in intriguing, and I really appreciated the time she spent crafting this world.

As for the rest of the characters, they were fully fleshed out, even some of the smaller ones.  I especially adored her grandfather. He's quirky and supportive, full of secrets and insanity, which made for a delightful contrast against her overly annoying, straight-laced sister.  Then, of course, there's Elliot, the boy that could morph into one corner of a love triangle but never quite makes it out of the friendzone, and Simon.  If you're in the mood for a nice little dose of romance, Merry Christmas.  This book has just the right amount, especially with the mystery surrounding him and all his echoes.

So should you read this book?  Absolutely.  It's fun, with an exciting concept, great world building, and delightful characters.  I realize I'm just finished reading this, so am sort of suffering from a book hangover, but I'm going to give this book a solid 4.5 with the possibility of being upgraded to a 5 star review later.  It was fun, intriguing, and  different, with shadow societies, conspiracies, and much more to look forward to in the next two books.

Book Review: After the End

She’s searching for answers to her past. They’re hunting her to save their future.

World War III has left the world ravaged by nuclear radiation. A lucky few escaped to the Alaskan wilderness. They've survived for the last thirty years by living off the land, being one with nature, and hiding from whoever else might still be out there.

At least, this is what Juneau has been told her entire life.

When Juneau returns from a hunting trip to discover that everyone in her clan has vanished, she sets off to find them. Leaving the boundaries of their land for the very first time, she learns something horrifying: There never was a war. Cities were never destroyed. The world is intact. Everything was a lie.
Now Juneau is adrift in a modern-day world she never knew existed. But while she's trying to find a way to rescue her friends and family, someone else is looking for her. Someone who knows the extraordinary truth about the secrets of her past.  Quoted from Goodreads

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I enjoyed Amy Plum's Die for Me series, so when I saw she was writing a new book, it went straight on my to-read list.  The one downside to this was I never actually read the little blurb accompanying it.  I looked at the title, the barren cover with a city in the distance, and thought I knew what this book was about.   I was 90% wrong.

This isn't a post-apocalyptic survival story or even a dystopian one (though those are on the outs, so I didn't really expect that), though Juneau thinks that's her life.  No, it's much more a journey to uncover the truth after a lifetime of being lied to while, at the same time, avoiding people who want to capture her just like they did the rest of her village. What the blurb doesn't tell you is it's dual POV, so only half the story is Juneau's.  The rest belongs to Miles, and while his path joins hers pretty quickly, his half the story is, for the most part, pretty different.

I'm not sure how I feel about the dual POV.  I really liked Juneau as a character.  She's different, independent, responsible, smart, and very determined.  With her we get the whole fish-out-of-water with a mystical twist that makes her a superb character.  Miles, on the other hand, is your typical misunderstood rich boy, and honestly, his story is a lot less exciting.  Sure, it's fun to see exactly how odd Juneau is from another person's perspective and I liked knowing exactly why Miles was with her, but half of his chapters (especially the first half) could have easily been taken out.  The good news is he looks to become a much more interesting character in the second book and I really did appreciate his growth.

There's a lot of betrayal (which I love) and manipulation to keep the plot moving.  We also get a bunch of separate groups looking for Juneau, so there are different sorts of threats for them to watch out for, especially right at the beginning and the very end, but a lot of this book is a semi-mystical road trip/mystery.  The magic/science in this book is also really interesting.  I enjoyed the juxtaposition of   the two different elements and how both work together to form Juneau's world.

As for the romance, I appreciate the lack of insta-love, though I still felt like the characters grew close a little too fast.  I'm going to be vague to avoid spoilers, but I liked how Juneau put finding her family before Miles and how Miles reacted when she did something a little too off the wall/creepy.  It made their relationship more realistic, and while that may have made it less "romantic," it made the characters ring more true.

All in all this was an enjoyable read, despite the fact that it really wasn't what I was expecting at all.  It ended up being very 2014, and while this could have hurt the book, I actually really liked it.  I enjoyed the mystery and the lies that tore Juneau's world apart, and despite this, she's still determined to find her family and the father that deceived her.  This is a solid 3.5 stars for me. It was an interesting beginning to a new adventure, and based off her previous series, I'm looking forward to seeing where this goes next.

Book Review: The Hunt

Ariane Tucker has finally escaped GTX, the research facility that created her. While on the run, Zane Bradshaw is the only person she can trust. He knows who-and what-she is and still wants to be part of her life. 

But accepting Zane's help means putting him in danger.

Dr. Jacobs, head of GTX, is not the only one hunting for Ariane. Two rival corporations have their sights set on taking down their competition. Permanently. To protect Zane and herself, Ariane needs allies. She needs the other hybrids. The hybrids who are way more alien and a lot less human. Can Ariane win them over before they turn on her? Or will she be forced to choose sides, to decide who lives and who dies?  Quoted from Goodreads

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This was surprisingly excellent for a second book in a series.  It also avoids a lot of the pitfalls and things that annoyed me in The Rules, for example all the high school drama, the mean girl, the vapid/annoying best friend, etc.  So if you read the first one and are on the fence about this second one, I definitely recommend picking it up.

Basically this book takes everything that was amazing/nail-biting at the end of The Rules and keeps going.  Ariane is on the run with Zane, and instead of just having GTX to worry about, we now get two more evil corporations looking for her, but instead of capture, their intent is to kill, and they don't care about collateral damage.  We also get, not one. Not two. But three new hybrids for Ariane to contend with, and their methods and intentions are dubious at best.  Sounds fun, right?

I actually really enjoyed this book, though I will admit it suffers a little bit from middle book syndrome. The entire thing is action packed, starting the second the first book left off and finishing with an absolutely delightful cliff-hanger.  Seriously, it made me so excited for the next book, and I'm really curious to see how the author plays with this.  Despite a pretty decent recap, you need to read the first book to really appreciate everything that's going on and the emotional burdens Ariane and Zane are carrying throughout the story.

As for Ariane and Zane, I loved them.  The book is told in dual POV, and while I found in the first book Zane's chapters were kind of boring in the beginning,  they never suffered from that in this book. In fact, it's kind of fun to see each of their thoughts on the  issues that both characters are dealing with as they grow and develop.  The romance is cute, though it did get a little bit strong at times, and I wanted to shout at both of them to focus and deal with their issues later.  Still, I actually thing the author did a great job of portraying how their situation would exacerbate so many issues and insecurities that they both carry.

All in all, this is a great second book in a series, and while it does feel like a second book, it continues all the good things and drops a lot of the bad.  It's sort of the book I think I was hoping to read in the first one, so I'm glad I kept going.  I'm going to give it a solid 3.5 stars.  It's fun, action packed, and has such a great ending, I'm dying for the third book to come out. 

Book Review: Dangerous

Maisie Danger Brown just wanted to get away from home for a bit, see something new. She never intended to fall in love. And she never imagined stumbling into a frightening plot that kills her friends and just might kill her, too. A plot that is already changing life on Earth as we know it. There's no going back. She is the only thing standing between danger and annihilation.
From NY Times bestselling author Shannon Hale comes a novel that asks, How far would you go to save the ones you love? And how far would you go to save everyone else?  Quoted from Goodreads

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I'm a huge Shannon Hale fan, so even in an over-crowded book release date, this one topped my list.  Plus it's so different from all the other books she's written, and I really admire her courage to change things up.

I'll be the first to admit, the above blurb doesn't do much to explain the book.  I knew a little bit more about what to expect because I follow her blog, but even so, I was going it knowing very little.  First, it's science fiction---as in aliens and space camp---not exactly what you might expect from the writer of Goose Girl and Princess Academy. Still, I thought it was a great adventure, and I really appreciate the stand alone status.  That's almost impossible to find these days.

I love Maisie Danger Brown, and yes, Shannon Hale really went there and made her middle name Danger.  In fact some of the names were the absolutely awesome.  I adore Jonathan Ingles Wilder (What can I say? The Little House books are among my top favorite books of all time) and even Dragon.  Back to Maisie, she's a great main character.  She's strong, doesn't accept her limitations (she only has one arm) an adorable science geek, and a dreamer all at the same time. She also feels like a genuine teenager, not overly adult or what an adult thinks a teenager is.  I love no matter what crazy thing happens to her (and a lot of crazy stuff does) she keeps fighting and does her best with whatever comes her way.

The adventure itself is unexpected (and I say that, knowing science fiction is really popular right now). There are a lot of aspects that you just never see in YA books. For example, Maisie goes on the run at one point and her parents come with her!  That literally never happens, but it worked really well and didn't diminish the responsibility on  Maisie's shoulders or the decisions she had to make.  Plus, along with some common ones, we get some great new super powers to play with (sorry if that's a spoiler), rather terrifying and absurd (I'm talking pink, here) aliens, greedy criminals, shifting loyalties, life on the run, genius children, and a fun, all-around adventure.

Really my only complaint is that I felt the book started rather slow.  I realize that we needed to establish Maisie as a character and her life pre-space camp, but besides a few need-to-know details, I felt like the story really started at the end of space camp and there could have been other ways to learn all those little pesky details that make Maisie who she is.  Still, it's always interesting, and once the adventure starts, I couldn't put the book down.

All in all, this is a strong 4 stars for me.  I love that the author tried (and succeeded) in doing something new.  I love the main character and Hale's version of our not too distant future.  So if you're looking for a fun, exciting read, you should check this out.  Just remember it is different from Hale's other work, and it's supposed to be.  Plus, once you've read this, you can check off book one of the five books Shannon Hale's putting out this year.  It's going to be great.

Book Review: Cress

Rapunzel’s tower is a satellite. She can’t let down her hair—or her guard.

In this third book in the bestselling Lunar Chronicles series, Cinder and Captain Thorne are fugitives on the run, with Scarlet and Wolf in tow. Together, they’re plotting to overthrow Queen Levana and her army. 

Their best hope lies with Cress, who has been trapped on a satellite since childhood with only her netscreens as company. All that screen time has made Cress an excellent hacker—unfortunately, she’s just received orders from Levana to track down Cinder and her handsome accomplice. 

When a daring rescue goes awry, the group is separated. Cress finally has her freedom, but it comes at a high price. Meanwhile, Queen Levana will let nothing stop her marriage to Emperor Kai. Cress, Scarlet, and Cinder may not have signed up to save the world, but they may be the only ones who can.  Quoted from Goodreads

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Love, love, love!  This was one of my most anticipated books for this year, and it absolutely did not disappoint.  Right up front, 5 stars!  Yes, that is how much I love this series.  I'm not saying it's everyone's cup of tea, but for me it's just about perfect.

I'm a bit in awe of Marissa Meyer's ability to add new main characters and elements of an new fairy tale and not leave the characters from her earlier books behind.  With Scarlet I thought I'd loose Cinder, and then with Cress, I was afraid Scarlet's story would fade into the background.  Sure, no one gets quite as much page time as Cinder did in the first book, but I felt she did an excellent job on juggling all her plot points, keeping each character essential to the story, and furthering the small story arcs as well as the big ones. 

She's also amazing an incorporating so many elements of the fairy tale she's focusing on while keeping her setting and plot so completely different.  I'm pretty sure she might just be a genius. 

As for Cress, I absolutely adore her.  The characterization of this series is so completely realized.  Every character, big or small, is perfectly put together, thought out, and fully realized.  Here we really get to meet Cress. She's so different from Cinder and Scarlet, with her own voice and mannerisms.  She's sweeter than they are, a bit more naive, but wither hew own, distinctive skill set and voice.  Then there's the lovely Captain Thorne, who we got to know in the last book, and he just keeps getting better and better.  Plus, each goes through some pretty horrible challenges that changes them, causes them to grow, and I love how their relationship builds.

As for everything else, this book is packed.  We get kidnappings (lots of these, folks), survival stories (man vs. nature), betrayal, chase scenes, fights, deceptions, reunions, broken hearts, new loves, secret tunnels, hacking, torture, gambling, shooting, and magic (of the lunar variety)!  

Have I sold you yet?  Really, you need to read this series. 5 stars, remember!  Check it out.  Read the first two if you haven't started yet, and then pick this up.  It's absolutely worth it.

Book Review: These Broken Stars

It's a night like any other on board the Icarus. Then, catastrophe strikes: the massive luxury spaceliner is yanked out of hyperspace and plummets into the nearest planet. Lilac LaRoux and Tarver Merendsen survive. And they seem to be alone. 

Lilac is the daughter of the richest man in the universe. Tarver comes from nothing, a young war hero who learned long ago that girls like Lilac are more trouble than they’re worth. But with only each other to rely on, Lilac and Tarver must work together, making a tortuous journey across the eerie, deserted terrain to seek help. 

Then, against all odds, Lilac and Tarver find a strange blessing in the tragedy that has thrown them into each other’s arms. Without the hope of a future together in their own world, they begin to wonder—would they be better off staying here forever?
Everything changes when they uncover the truth behind the chilling whispers that haunt their every step. Lilac and Tarver may find a way off this planet. But they won’t be the same people who landed on it.  Quoted from Goodreads

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This book is the scifi version of Titanic meets Hatchet. 

Seriously. The first fifth is completely Titanic, including the ridiculously rich girl trapped in her life who meets the poor boy who is dragged to parties with the rich because he's a war hero, but they know he doesn't fit in. She even has red hair. And the ship is called the Icarus! I love, love, love that the author decided to name her doomed ship this.  It says so much about Lilac's father, his hubris, and the aurthors' love of foreshadowing.

Once they get down on the planet, the story changes and really comes into its own. It's creepy, mysterious, and gruesomely tragic. It's not that the first part isn't good, because it is.  It's just a twist on something everyone's already seen, but I really liked how the author developed and established the world before the crash.  After, it's half survival story, one third mystery and a spattering of romance, which rounds everything out nicely.  We get wild animals, a strange planet, and Lilac's questionable sanity.

The book is told from duel POVs, and I'll be honest, I found Lilac rather annoying at first, especially contrasted with Tarver.  She's so spoiled and rather cruel.  It's not that the author doesn't give her justification for her actions, but I didn't enjoy her POV at first as much as Tarver's.  Still, she's probably the one who develops most as the book progresses, and I ended up really enjoying her character and the person she becomes.

Each chapter begins with an interview/debriefing about what happened on the planet, which I have mixed feelings about. Half of me liked it because it adds another layer of tension.  You see what Tarver lies about and how what happened down there is part of a bigger picture.  There are also some rather ominous questions that foreshadow larger events in the story. On the other hand, I'm not sure how well I liked knowing Tarver would get off the planet.  Of course I hoped he would.  Knowing how the death of a certain character in another YA series affected my affection for it, I'd be really angry if he didn't, but it did remove all doubt, so when bad things happened to him, you knew it would all work out in the end.

The book isn't particularly fast paced, though it has it's mad-dash moments.  It's a long survival journey though a mysterious planet full of whispers, ghosts, and visions, along with the more mundane problems like wild animals, harsh weather, crashed pieces of the Icarus, and the planet's lack of inhabitants.

As far as plot goes, it's kind of crazy, full of twists and turns.  Just remember this is a scifi story. It's easy to forget for a while after the crash when Tarver and Lilac are trying to survive, roughing it in the wild, but the mystery is grounded in science fiction in a rather mind-boggling sort of way. I won't say anything more because I don't want to give it away, but I did enjoy it. I'm actually quite curious where the second book is going to go because this could end right here and be a perfectly excellent stand-alone novel.

All in all, I'm going to award this book a high 4 stars.  It's fun, inventive, and different from a lot of YA out there. Plus, it's got a little something for everyone.  Action? Check.  Romance? Check. Interesting characters? Check. Mystery? Check.  Survival?  Check. Opulence? Check.  Horror? Check.  Man vs. Nature? Check.  The list just keeps going.

Book Review: Crewel and Altered

I read these books, one after another, so while I could probably do a review of each of them separately, I thought I'd stick them both together.

Incapable. Awkward. Artless. 

That’s what the other girls whisper behind her back. But sixteen-year-old Adelice Lewys has a secret: She wants to fail. 

Gifted with the ability to weave time with matter, she’s exactly what the Guild is looking for, and in the world of Arras, being chosen to work the looms is everything a girl could want. It means privilege, eternal beauty, and being something other than a secretary. It also means the power to manipulate the very fabric of reality. But if controlling what people eat, where they live, and how many children they have is the price of having it all, Adelice isn’t interested.

Not that her feelings matter, because she slipped and used her hidden talent for a moment. Now she has one hour to eat her mom’s overcooked pot roast. One hour to listen to her sister’s academy gossip and laugh at her dad’s jokes. One hour to pretend everything’s okay. And one hour to escape.
Because tonight, they’ll come for her.   Quoted from Goodreads

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I absolutely adore this series. This is another one of those I knew it would be good, but I was waiting for the second book to come out sort of reads, and I wasn't disappointed. Plus, do these covers remind anyone of Matched?  Maybe it's the color scheme, maybe the girl in glass thing, but that's totally what I think of when I see them.

This is one of those series you can't put down.  It's such a unique world and concept, mashing dystopia and science fiction together in a unique, mind-bending sort of way.  I love the idea of women being able to weave time and matter.  At the same time, it's a horrifying idea.  The amount of control  it gives a group or organization is terrifying, which is what the whole book is about.

It's hard to review both books at the same time.  I love the world building in each.  This may give something away, but while they both take place in very different locations, the tension and plot twists are similar. Adelice is an excellent main character---the perfect blend of powerful and controlled, clueless and smart, so there's plenty of room for growth but we can see her potential and the sort of person she could become. Plus, the different locations really add depth to the world building and flesh out a lot of the history.  It also helps keep the books separate and gives Adelice new, interesting challenges to overcome.

The villains in this are absolutely excellent. They're a mixture of evil people (Cormack honestly makes me shudder, he's so creepy), and even tougher situations.  I really liked how the author balanced the levels of antagonists, from mildly annoying to shudderingly bad, so we get annoyed with some people, angry at others, and horrified by a few.  There are different levels and extents of evil Adelice has to overcome, and each aspect brings out a different strength in her.

As for the romantic sub-plot, I kind of adore it.  It definitely stays a sub-plot for which I'm grateful,  but I really like the direction it's taking.  While it does take on triangle-like aspects from time to time, Adelice never becomes wishy-whashy about what/who she wants.  Each boy is a full fleshed character, and each one offers, and needs from Adelice, different things.

Basically, these books are amazing. The concept is unique, the characters fantastic, and the tension builds sky high.   I absolutely recommend this series, especially if you want a fresh twist on a dystopiaesque tale.  I'm giving this series a bold 4 stars, with a good chance of achieving 5 stars depending on the last book. I'll admit, part of me wishes I had waited, because there's a horrible cliff-hanger at the end, but there's something wonderful about looking forward to the next great book in a series.

Book Review: The 100

In the future, humans live in city-like spaceships orbiting far above Earth's toxic atmosphere. No one knows when, or even if, the long-abandoned planet will be habitable again. But faced with dwindling resources and a growing populace, government leaders know they must reclaim their homeland... before it's too late.Now, one hundred juvenile delinquents are being sent on a high-stakes mission to recolonize Earth. After a brutal crash landing, the teens arrive on a savagely beautiful planet they've only seen from space. Confronting the dangers of this rugged new world, they struggle to form a tentative community. But they're haunted by their past and uncertain about the future. To survive, they must learn to trust - and even love - again.   Quoted from Goodreads

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I have mixed feelings about The 100.  Don't get me wrong.  I totally get why the CW decided to adapt this for television. We have four main characters, everyone has a secret, there's survival, life in space vs. returning to earth, lies, romance, a lot of teenagers running around without adult supervision, dystopia meets science fiction, etc. Something is always happening.  There are cliffhangers and flashbacks galore.  It's really perfect for television with seasons and seasons of episodes and plenty of material to play with, I can see this going far.

That's really part of the reason I decided to read it now.  I wanted to form my own opinions, get to know the characters for myself before the CW takes over my imagination.

Like I said before, there's lots of action, secrets, lies, etc.  All our main characters have been convicted, everyone is hiding something horrible, and it takes most of the book to find out what it is. Which was half my problem.  I loved the mystery aspect, but I had a hard time connecting with our main characters.  It doesn't help that we only get each one's POV ever four chapters.  The book's a fast read, but it wasn't a long time to make a real connection.  Then there are all the secrets.  Everyone's a bit shady, even if they did bad things for good reasons.  Everyone is broken.  It makes for great storytelling and intriguing characters, but at least for me, it made them hard to connect to.  

The ending was absolutely horrible. I'm all for cliff-hangers, but leaving each of our four main characters on a different sort of problem is just mean.  It's so exhausting that it's hard to really feel for them individually.  You just get a nice lump of dread in the pit of your stomach as the book ends.

I also wanted a little more world building.  The book was so short---okay 277 pages, but with two very different locations, multiple story lines, flashbacks,  and four POVs, it's hard to cram much in. We have forbidden love, a love triangle (note: these are two very different plots with different characters), survival on a "new" world, establishing a good group dynamic/organized labor/power play, medical emergencies, everyone's backstory to establish, etc. While it's all interesting (and again perfect for TV) this first book seemed a little rushed and everything was a tad underdeveloped for me.

Still, this is the sort of read that's hard to put down.  Something is always happening, secrets are spilled, discoveries made, and you have to keep turning pages.  Honestly, I'm intrigued to see where the author will take the rest of the series.  This book throws the reader into a much larger story, and I can see the next few books getting better and better.  For me, it's a nice, 3 stars. Really, it's got everything you look for in a book, I just wished it would have focused a little bit more, maybe concentrated on one or two story plots and really developed them.  But it's only the first book, like I said, and I'm excited to see what happens next. 

Book Review: The Rules

1. Never trust anyone.

2. Remember they are always searching.

3. Don’t get involved.

4. Keep your head down.

5. Don’t fall in love.

Five simple rules. Ariane Tucker has followed them since the night she escaped from the genetics lab where she was created, the result of combining human and extraterrestrial DNA. Ariane’s survival—and that of her adoptive father—depends on her ability to blend in among the full-blooded humans in a small Wisconsin town, to hide in plain sight at her high school from those who seek to recover their lost (and expensive) “project.”
But when a cruel prank at school goes awry, it puts her in the path of Zane Bradshaw, the police chief’s son and someone who sees too much. Someone who really sees her. After years of trying to be invisible, Ariane finds the attention frightening—and utterly intoxicating. Suddenly, nothing is simple anymore, especially not the rules . . . Quoted from Goodreads

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I enjoyed this so much more than I expected! Don't get me wrong, I liked Stacey Kade's Ghost and the Goth series.  They were light, cute, and had fun characters. Still, this could have gone wrong.  Some authors really only have one great series in them, and then they fizzle and die.  This one absolutely lives up to it's predecessors.

I read a lot of mixed reviews on this, which ended up helping a lot, so I'm going to kind of give you a heads up so you won't go into this blind. This isn't one of those on-the-run adventures that have become so popular this year.  Most of this takes place in high school, which I was fine with.  It's more about her hiding in plain sight, learning to standing up to the class bully, and falling in love.  Besides the constant threat of being discovered, all real involvement with GHX (the company who created her) doesn't really get involved in the plot until the last quarter of the book.

Now you  know what to expect, this really is a fun book.  I like Ariana.  She's cute, albeit very into not being noticed.  Plus, she's half alien.  And not all the new, modern ideas we have about aliens, but the stereotypical alien (black eyes, grey skin, move things with their minds, hear our thoughts sort of thing) from the '50s, which was sort of refreshing.  She gave the old stereotype just enough of a twist (human combined with alien DNA) that it didn't need to be new or groundbreaking.  

The book is told in alternating chapters between Ariana and Zane's POV.  Zane is an interesting lead.  I liked seeing Ariana from a completely human POV.  You get to observe her quirks without her internal analysis as to whether what she is doning will blend into the background and come across as completely human.  He also has his own issues to deal with, but on a completely human level, that adds another layer of anxiety to the story.  Plus, he looks like Clark Kent---I mean, how can a girl resist?

All in all, I ended up really enjoying this book, probably a 4 star masterpiece.  Yes, if you're looking for one long chase, explore the Roswell conspiracy, car chases, and men in black, this is not the book for you.  If you'd like a coming of age, hidden in plain sight, high school drama, this is right up your alley.  

Book Review: The 5th Wave

After the 1st wave, only darkness remains. 

After the 2nd, only the lucky escape. 

And after the 3rd, only the unlucky survive. 

After the 4th wave, only one rule applies: trust no one.

Now, it’s the dawn of the 5th wave, and on a lonely stretch of highway, Cassie runs from Them. The beings who only look human, who roam the countryside killing anyone they see. Who have scattered Earth’s last survivors. To stay alone is to stay alive, Cassie believes, until she meets Evan Walker. Beguiling and mysterious, Evan Walker may be Cassie’s only hope for rescuing her brother—or even saving herself. But Cassie must choose: between trust and despair, between defiance and surrender, between life and death. To give up or to get up. Quoted from Goodreads

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There's so much hype for this book, it's almost crazy.  It's been called the next Hunger Games or Ender's Game (yeah, at least it avoided the word game it it's title, or it would come off as too cliche).  I'll be honest, though, that's the real reason I picked it up. After the Ender's Game and Catching Fire previews, plus the trailers for the book itself, I was in the mood for a great Scifi story, and The 5th Wave did not disappoint.

One of the biggest selling points of the story, one that gives it an added urgency, is Cassie has to get to her little brother.  It's like talking about Hunger Games without including Rue.  Cassie can't just hide or survive.  She has to keep her promise to her brother.  In the beginning she doesn't know where he is or what's been done with him, but he's the only person she has left, and going after him is worth risking everything for.

 Plus, action, action action.  But also relationships in case you're scared, but mostly action.  I mean, when the enemy looks just like your friends, who can you trust? Most of the population has been wiped out.  Basically everyone you've ever known is gone, but how can you believe anyone enough to be their friend, when at any moment they could turn on you?  The first three Waves were bad enough, ripping apart the world and killing almost all of it's inhabitants. The 4th (and titular  5th) are a different level of mean. 

 It starts off with Cassie.  Alone.  Who, by luck, bravery, and an unwillingness not to give up, has survived the first 4 waves. The first part has a lot of flashbacks leading up to where she is now.  It explores each of the waves, how they affected Cassie and her family, and what turned her into the person she has become.  Honestly, Cassie is one of those heroins you can't help but root for.  She's not perfect, but in some ways, she's perfect for the world that has fallen apart around her. 

But it's not just Cassie's POV we get.  We also get a good portion from Ben Parish, her little brother Sammie, and even the mysterious Silencer. I liked the back and forth POV.  It let us see more of the world, and leveled up the conflict, exposing us to so much more than one person alone could have experienced.

As for twist, wel, most of them you can see coming, but honestly that didn't really bother me.  maybe it's because there's still so much tension without it, or maybe it's just the way it was handled, but (like in Cinder) I was okay sort of guessing what was really going on.  Sometimes it almost makes the suspense worse. For example, you know someone is bad, but because the character doesn't yet, you're afraid of what they will do while buying into the villain's twisted machinations.  Sometimes that's even worse.

All in all, this is a edge-of-your-seat, keep-you-up-past-midnight sort of read.  It's a strong 4.5 stars for me, with a good chance it will migrate up to 5 with time.  Now it is the first in a trilogy, so there are two more installments, and while it wraps up a lot of stuff, there are a lot of cliffhangers left to keep you chomping on the bit waiting for the next book.  So if you're stuck waiting for some amazing November movie releases, you need to pick this up. Just a quick warning, there' some language and a couple of pretty violent moments, so not really for the younger young adult readers.  Still, for everyone else, it's fast-paced, exciting, and a great take on alien invasions. 

Saturday Shorts: The Queen's Army

It is time. The boy must leave his family to serve in the Queen's army. To be chosen is an honor. To decline is impossible. The boy is modified. He is trained for several years, and learns to fight to the death. He proves to the Queen—and to himself—that he is capable of evil. He is just the kind of soldier the Queen wants: the alpha of his pack. Quoted from Goodreads

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Yes, I know I've raved a lot about the Lunar Chronicles (Cinder and Scarlet) lately, but this was anther wonderful surprise.  It's labeled The Lunar Chronicles 1.5, which makes sense, but I discovered it after I read Scarlet, and I enjoyed it just as much because it was a bout a character I cared about from that book. 

It's a short novella, but there are so many reasons to like it.  First, we get to see the queen from her people's POV. We experience how far she is willing to go to create her army, and what she does to those selected.  

Then we get Z's coming of age story.  It's rather dark and bleak watching him fight for his humanity when they're literally turning him into something else, but it's also fascinating.  You can't help but like and sympathize with him, especially when he seems like one of the only ones who is bothered by what the queen did to them.  

Anyway, you need to read this book. It's an excellent compliment to Cinder and Scarlet, and we get to see the origin of "the big, bad wolf." It's absolutely4 stars for me. If you love the Lunar Chronicles, you have to pick this up, and if you're just thinking about reading this series, this is a great introduction (though it's more a lead in for Scarlet than Cinder).

Book Review: Unbreakable

Four months after Ben disappeared through the portal to his home universe, Janelle believes she’ll never see him again. Her world is still devastated, but life is finally starting to resume some kind of normalcy. Until Interverse Agent Taylor Barclay shows up. Somebody from an alternate universe is running a human trafficking ring, kidnapping people and selling them on different Earths—and Ben is the prime suspect. Now his family has been imprisoned and will be executed if Ben doesn’t turn himself over within five days.

And when Janelle learns that someone she cares about—someone from her own world—has become one of the missing, she knows that she has to help Barclay, regardless of the danger. Now Janelle has five days to track down the real culprit. Five days to locate the missing people before they’re lost forever. Five days to reunite with the boy who stole her heart. But as the clues begin to add up, Janelle realizes that she’s in way over her head—and that she may not have known Ben as well as she thought. Can she uncover the truth before everyone she cares about is killed? Quoted from Goodreads

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I thoroughly enjoyed this book.  Too much, maybe.  I stayed up until 1:00 last night just to finish it, it was that nail-biting, heart-pumpin, must keep reading until the end.  So if you're looking for a great action read, (or really something just plain different for a YA read) this is it. 

Seriously, everything about this book is designed to keep you turning pages.  We have the countdown, so 5 day time limit right there.  Then the chapters are short, most with a sort of cliff-hanger that practically forces you to read the next one.  Finally, so much action: fighting, prison breaks (yes, there are multiple), missing people, world jumping, kidnapping, conspiracies, human trafficking, corruption, doppelgangers, torture, mistaken identity, and the list goes on.  

I loved Unraveling. I loved the characters, the plot, the way we got an end of the world scenario, all of it.  This book is similar but different.  It's not quite so "small" town, one location, one problem causing others.  It's much bigger.  It's world hopping, and reflects the bigger backdrop for the story.  There's also a little less romance.  The first book is Janelle and Ben falling in love (and, of course, the countdown to the end of the world).  This book still has the romance, the longing, but Ben doesn't even show up for the first half.  Much of what Janelle does is motivated by what she feels for Ben, but the story is about something much bigger.

The biggest surprise, at least for me (and don't worry, I'm not talking twist/spoiler surprise here) was how much I grew to like Taylor Barclay.  Sure, he's still arrogant and thinks he knows better than anyone, but I love his snarky relationship with Janelle.  I love how ambiguous he is in the beginning, then love what he becomes. 

I'm also glad I read Elizabeth Norris's novella, Undone.  It's not that you have to read it before this second book, but you really should.  It fills in a few of the gaps and gives you a greater understanding of what's been going on with Ben.  Don't worry, though, it doesn't really ruin any of the spoilers for Unbreakable.

Probably the most difficult thing for me about this book is expectations. I thought this series was a trilogy.  Who knows, maybe it still is, but I don't think so.  The end of this book felt like the end of the series, which made me kind of sad.  Don't get me wrong, it's a satisfying ending, but at the same time, I loved reading it, knowing there was at least one more book with these characters, so in the end, I kind of felt a little cheated. So take note, there are (probably) only two books in this series.  Knowing that, this book is a wonderful continuation/conclusion.

All in all, this is an action packed 4 stars for me.  It's one of those books you can't put down, and I loved it.  It's exciting, thrilling, and full of action, while not just being action.  There's a depth to everything.  We get those brief moments of introspection before the next emergency.  So, if you're looking for a great read, pick up Unraveling, then Unbreakable.  You won't regret it.