Review of The Inquisitor's Mark by Dianne K Salerni

Advance Review of Dianne K Salerni's The Inquisitor's Mark

Release Date: January 27th, 2015

Synopsis as found on GoodReads.com:

After the all-out Eighth Day war in Mexico, Jax, Riley, and Evangeline have gone into hiding. There are still rogue Transitioners and evil Kin lords who want to use Riley, a descendant of King Arthur, and Evangeline, a powerful wizard with bloodlines to Merlin, to get control over the Eighth Day.

So when Finn Ambrose, a mysterious stranger, contacts Jax claiming to be his uncle, Jax’s defenses go up—especially when Finn tells Jax that he’s holding Jax’s best friend, Billy, hostage. To rescue Billy and keep Riley and Evangeline out of the fray, Jax sneaks off to New York City on his own. But once there, he discovers a surprising truth: Finn is his uncle and Jax is closely related to the Dulacs—a notoriously corrupt and dangerous Transitioner clan who have been dying to get their hands on Riley and Evangeline. And family or not, these people will stop at nothing to get what they want.

With suspense, action, and intrigue lurking around every corner, this fast-paced fantasy series will be a welcome addition for fans of Percy Jackson and Harry Potter.

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The sequel to Salerni's freshman novel, The Eighth Day, was just as exciting and action-packed as it's predecessor. The Inquisitor's Mark picks up right where we left off. Jax, Riley, Evangeline, & the Crandall's are on the run, moving from place to place so that they wont be found by any Kin families who are after them. With the reality that Evangeline's younger brother had been killed without her knowing it, they decide to seek out her only remaining relative, her sister Adeline.

This book also gives up a look into the lives of another Transistioner clan, the Dulacs. When Jax's friend Billy is kidnapped, he finds out that the ones holding him hostage are non-other than the family he didn't know he had. Jax's father had actually ran away from home & changed his name from Ambrose to Aubrey. The Ambrose clan is related closely to the Dulacs. Where the Dulac women are the most powerful, it is the opposite for the Ambrose's.

I found myself enjoying the sequel almost more than the first. I already understood the back story, so I didn't have to rush to keep up. There are evil people out to destroy the world, but they are not at the forefront of this story.

If you are a fan of Arthurian Legends, you will definitely enjoy this series.

(Sorry if my review is a little short, but I am under the weather. I took a day off from work because I have been running a fever & got some reading in. Thanks for a great book year!! Happy New Year to all my readers!)

Review of Ever After High: Once Upon a Time by Shannon Hale

Review of Shannon Hale's Ever After High: Once Upon a Time

Release Date: October 21st, 2014

Synopsis as found on Amazon.com:

Read these exclusive introductions to all your favorite characters to find out what their lives are like at home! A new chapter is about to begin at Ever After High, and all the students are preparing to start their Legacy Year. In just a few weeks it will be Legacy Day when they will sign the Storybook of Legends and commit to live out their fairy-tale destiny, repeating the famous stories of their parents.

This volume collects together for the first time 12 short tales, including five BRAND-NEW stories. For the first time, find out what Dexter and Darling Charming, Cedar Wood, Lizzie Hearts and Kitty Cheshire were doing just before school started. This collection also includes the stories of Apple White, Raven Queen, Madeline Hatter, Briar Beauty, Ashlynn Ella and Hunter Huntsman, and the fairy tale The Tale of Two Sisters, which were previously only available online.

Don't miss this Once Upon a Time special edition of enchanting stories by bestselling and Newbery honor-winning author Shannon Hale.

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This collection of stories is a prequel to the 3 stories already published from this series. There are 12 stories, which includes 5 never before released, about where the characters are before the start of their Legacy Year. I had read a few of the stories on my digital device after I read The Storybook of Legends, so was familiar with some of them.

I am a huge fan of stories that retell fairy tales in a different perspective and this series does just that. Of course, the series is also targeted at a Juvenile reader & I am an adult, so it was a very quick read for me. I am not too proud to say that I am a collector of Ever After & Monster High Dolls, so anytime one of the books that corresponds to the videos & dolls comes out, I am right there purchasing it as well.

If you are a fan of Monster High or Ever After High, you will be sure to appreciate this book. I was very excited to read a couple stories that had characters that were not in the prior books. I am very excited to see what they do with those characters in the stories to come.

This will probably be my last review of 2014... so until next year, keep reading! Check back with me in a couple days for what I've chosen to read to start of the new year! Thanks Everyone for a great 2014!!!

Review of Through the Zombie Glass by Gena Showalter

Review of Gena Showalter's White Rabbit Chronicles: Through the Zombie Glass

Release Date: July 29th, 2014

Synopsis as found on Amazon.com:

Zombies stalk the night.

Forget blood and brains. These monsters hunger for human souls.

Sadly, they've got mine…

Alice Bell has lost so much. Family. Friends. A home. She thought she had nothing else to give. She was wrong.

After a new zombie attack, strange things begin to happen to her. Mirrors come to life, and the whispers of the dead assault her ears. But the worst? A terrible darkness blooms inside her, urging her to do very wicked things.

She's never needed her team of zombie slayers more, but ultra bad-boy Cole Holland, the leader and her boyfriend, suddenly withdraws from her…from everyone. Now, with her best friend, Kat, at her side, Ali must kill the zombies, uncover Cole's secret and learn to fight the darkness.

But the clock is ticking…and if she fails at a single task, they're all doomed.

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Sequels can sometimes be a big let down when you become a huge fan of its predecessor. You can read a book over and over waiting on the next to be released hoping that the author depicts their character in the fashion you want them to be. In the case of Alice in Zombieland, I wasn't the biggest fan. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the book. I am a lover of classic tales retold in a new updated way. Unfortunately for me, there were hardly any correlation to Alice in Wonderland beyond the name "Alice Bell" and the fact that when the zombies attack, she sees a cloud shaped like a White Rabbit. 

The zombies are also not your typical zombies... these feed off of the human spirit instead of brains. I love cheesy zombie movies, The Walking Dead, any good zombie book that comes across my path, so I've read and seen a lot of different kinds of zombies. So that book got a plus for giving me something I had never seen before.

Through the Zombie Glass continues in the same way the first book left off. There is a lot of teenage angst, a lot of anger, fighting... to the point of sometimes repetitive ideas. I enjoy a lot of the characters, but I wish their further development beyond fighting, making up, and sexual desires came to the forefront of the story. I love the strength of Ali's best friend Kat, while she fights the disease that is eating away at her kidneys and am very happy with how Showalter depicts her.

I find Cole to be an intriguing character, but the sequel was not as good to him as I'd wished. He was as jealous as the first book, but for all the strength you see in him as a Zombie Slayer, he sure does quickly run from their relationship at the first sign of trouble. He seems very whiney at times and angry at others. I'm unsure if his character is supposed to seem bipolar, but he does come off that way.

I will be interested to see how Showalter ends her story in The Queen of Zombie Hearts, which was released in September of this year. I will be reading some other book before I get to it, but make sure to check back for my review on the conclusion of this story.

If you would like to check out some other books I really enjoyed on similar subject matter, pick up the following... they were incredible stories:

Marissa Meyer - The Lunar Chronicles: Cinder
Carrie Ryan - The Forest of Hands & Teeth
Anna Sheehan - A Long, Long Sleep

Review of Lux: Onyx by Jennifer L Armentrout

Review of Jennifer L Armentrout's Lux: Onyx

Release Date: August 7th, 2012

Synopsis as found on GoodReads.com:

Being connected to Daemon Black sucks…

Thanks to his alien mojo, Daemon’s determined to prove what he feels for me is more than a product of our bizarro connection. So I’ve sworn him off, even though he’s running more hot than cold these days. But we’ve got bigger problems.

Something worse than the Arum has come to town…

The Department of Defense are here. If they ever find out what Daemon can do and that we're linked, I’m a goner. So is he. And there's this new boy in school who’s got a secret of his own. He knows what’s happened to me and he can help, but to do so, I have to lie to Daemon and stay away from him. Like that's possible. Against all common sense, I'm falling for Daemon. Hard.

But then everything changes…

I’ve seen someone who shouldn’t be alive. And I have to tell Daemon, even though I know he’s never going to stop searching until he gets the truth. What happened to his brother? Who betrayed him? And what does the DOD want from them—from me?

No one is who they seem. And not everyone will survive the lies…

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An exciting sequel to Armentrout's first Lux book, Obsidian, that introduces a new & possible love interest for Katy, and some form of competition for Daemon.

In the end of Obsidian, Katy destroys the Arum who is hell bent on killing Daemon & Dee to steal their powers. As she is lying on her own death bed, Daemon heals her & brings her back to life. What they didn't know is that being healed by a Luxen changes you forever. When she begins to have odd things happen around her (objects moving when she thinks about them, doors opening when she walks towards them), she realizes that something more may have happened to her.

When a new transfer student  named Blake begins to take interest in her, Katy thinks she may be able to get a little more normal back into her life, and agrees to go on a date with him... but she sadly can't get away from the abnormal. During their dinner, an Arum attacks. Suddenly everyone in the restaurant is frozen & Blake is attacking the Alien like he's a Ninja. He tells Katy that he is like her. He was mutated by a Luxen who healed him & is now able to use all the same powers as that Luxen, only his powers are stronger. He lets her know how lucky she is, because not all humans survive the transition. He promises to train her & help her get control of the powers she is forming.

Little by little, knowledge opens up for Katy & Daemon. The things the thought they knew about the Department of Defense (DOD) & the world they live in is nothing like they thought. The DOD knows about their powers & they are hunting for Mutated Humans to become their own little army. They don't want Daemon for his powers, they want Katy for hers.

In book 2, there is a lot of action & suspense. The reader gets the obligatory love triangle, no matter how violent that triangle becomes. We also learn more about what happened to Daemon & Dee's brother, which is greatly appreciated as a reader. If you enjoyed book 1, you will be blown away by book 2.

Review of The Remedy by Suzanne Young

Advance Review of Suzanne Young's The Remedy

Release Date: April 21st, 2015

Synopsis as found on Amazon.com:

Can one girl take on so many identities without losing her own? Find out in this riveting companion to The Program and the New York Times bestselling The Treatment.

In a world before The Program…

Quinlan McKee is a closer. Since the age of seven, Quinn has held the responsibility of providing closure to grieving families with a special skill—she can “become” anyone.

Recommended by grief counselors, Quinn is hired by families to take on the short-term role of a deceased loved one between the ages of fifteen and twenty. She’s not an exact copy, of course, but she wears their clothes and changes her hair, studies them through pictures and videos, and soon, Quinn can act like them, smell like them, and be them for all intents and purposes. But to do her job successfully, she can’t get attached.

Now seventeen, Quinn is deft at recreating herself, sometimes confusing her own past with those of the people she’s portrayed. When she’s given her longest assignment, playing the role of Catalina Barnes, Quinn begins to bond with the deceased girl’s boyfriend. But that’s only the beginning of the complications, especially when Quinn finds out the truth about Catalina’s death. And the epidemic it could start.

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Quinlan McKee has been a closer as long as she can remember. She goes in to the home of a recently deceased girl and for all intents & purposes becomes that girl to help the family get closure. Her father is the head of this program to help the grieving families move forward, but what happens when she can't seem to move forward herself?

Quinn begins to lose herself little by little in every closing she is involved in. She assumes the role of these girls, but she can never quite lose them completely when she is done. She is one of the best at what she does. She can emulate, act, look (with the help of wigs & make-up), and speak like any girl she chooses. After each closing, she gets time off. Time she spends remembering who she is with family and friends, but after the last one, she is rushed back into another... which is supposed to be against the rules.

Catalina Barnes is a closing like she has never experienced. First, there is the death certificate in her file. Quinn doesn't usually get those, but when she does, it never says Undetermined under cause of death. Secondly, closings only consist of family members, but this one includes Catalina's boyfriend. Thirdly, Quinn always gets the girl's diary... but Catalina's is missing a large chunk at the back. Something weird is going on and she is determined to find out.

When Quinn begins to find clues into Catalina's death (missing diary pages with conflicting stories from the family, pages of swirling black pen marks in the boyfriend's car, a friend that happens to be the daughter of the creator of the Closer program), she sets out to find out what is different with this closing... while at the same time, helping this grieving family.

Set in a time before the Program, The Remedy is beautifully written story about a girl who can become any one she chooses, but loses a piece of herself each time she does. I love Suzanne Young's writing style & was very sad when I thought The Treatment was the final book in this series. So I am overjoyed knowing there will be at least one more book after this one.

Review of School for Sidekicks by Kelly McCullough

Advance Review of Kelly McCullough's School for Sidekicks

Release Date: August 4th, 2015

Synopsis as found on GoodReads.com:

Being a hero isn't always what it's cracked up to be in this funny and genuine novel from adult fantasy author Kelly McCullough.

Evan Quick is a GIANT superhero geek who dreams of one day becoming a superhero himself. Every morning he checks to see if he's developed his powers overnight, and every day there's nothing. No flying, no super strength, no invulnerability—that always hurts to check—no telepathy, no magic. Not even the ability to turn off the alarm clock without smacking the switch.

But then Evan somehow manages to survive a supervillian's death ray, and is sent to the Academy for Metahuman Operatives. Unfortunately, his new school is not what he expected, and instead of fighting bad guys, Evan finds himself blacklisted, and on the wrong side of the school's director. If Evan ever wants to realize his dream, he must convince his "mentor" Foxman, a semi-retired has-been, to become a real hero once again.

Synopsis as found on Amazon.com:

“Evan Quick, Hero’s Log, May the 25th… and darn it – I just can’t do this. I’m never going to be a Mask. Get over it Evan.”

Evan Quick has spent his whole life dreaming of becoming a hero. Every morning he wakes up and runs through a checklist of test to see if he’s developed powers over night, and every day it is the same thing – nothing. No flying, no super strength, no heat rays or cold beams. No invulnerability – that always hurt to check – no telepathy, no magic. Not even the ability to light a light bulb without flipping a switch. And now, he’s finally ready to give up.

But then, the class field trip to the Mask Museum is interrupted by a super villain attack, and Evan somehow manages to survive a death ray. Even better, Evan’s favorite Mask, Captain Commanding, shows up to save them all -- and when things go very wrong, it’s Evan who finds the strength to come to Captain Commanding’s rescue.

Yet the hero’s reception Evan is expecting never happens. Before he even gets the chance to say hello, Evan is bundled away to The Academy, an institution derisively called The School for Sidekicks by its students. Forced to take classes like Banter Basics and Combat with Dinnerware, while being assigned as an ‘apprentice’ to Foxman – a Mask widely considered a has-been -- Evan starts to worry that he’ll never be able to save the day…
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This is an insanely witty & entertaining book geared for Young Readers, but smart & funny enough for Readers of ANY age. It takes me back to being a child with the comic books I grew up on & I think this could be the book that brings an avid reader to a new world of Graphics or an avid Graphic Novel reader to a new world of books.

In the mind of the great Golden Age in comics when there were not more Heroic characters than human ones... and when it was more about the character development than the story arc... School for Sidekicks transports you to a world where Heroes & Villains fight in a modern day Minneapolis, now called Heropolis, which was renamed after the events of Metamorphosis Day in 1988 that created most of the Metahumans alive today.

The Heroes are like celebrities that every kid wants to be. And like every celebrity, there are some that are just a cut above the rest. For Evan Quick, and most of the kids he knows, that hero is Captain Commanding. He has action figures, cereal, a line of t-shirts... even a Theme Park.

When Evan unwittingly saves the day during a school fieldtrip at the Hero Museum, saving his idol in the process and defeating the villainous Spartanicus, he is whisked away to begin training as a Hero... or so he thinks at first. What he soon learns is that nothing at his school, or in the Hero World, is as he once thought.

This book will have something for every reader. It reminds me in part of many different series I have loved. It has the school life that reminds me in part to Harry Potter, the Hero teamwork you would find in any X-men-esque book, the subplot... well I can't exactly tell you that, because it would ruin the whole book for you... and what's the fun it that!

Review of Unchanged by Jessica Brody

Advance Review of Jessica Brody's Unchanged

Release Date: February 24th, 2015

Synopsis as found on GoodReads.com:

So many secrets are buried within these compound walls.
I used to be one of those secrets.
After returning to the Diotech compound and undergoing an experimental new memory alteration, Seraphina is now a loyal, obedient servant to Dr. Alixter and the powerful company that created her. Happy and in love with Kaelen, another scientifically-enhanced human designed to be her perfect match, Sera’s history with a boy named Zen is just a distant memory from a rebellious past she longs to forget.

But as Sera and Kaelen embark on a nationwide tour to promote Diotech’s new product line—a collection of controversial genetic modifications available to the public—Sera’s mind starts to rebel. She can’t stop the memories of Zen from creeping back in.

As more secrets are revealed, more enemies are uncovered, and the reality of a Diotech-controlled world grows closer every day, Sera will have to choose where her true loyalties lie, but it’s a choice that may cost her everything she’s ever loved.

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Excerpt from Unchanged:

The Genesis Project began in the year 2101. Dr. A likes to recount the chronicles of its success like it's a children's bedtime story.

          Sequence: A/ Recombination: A - Failed
          Sequence: B/ Recombination: F - Failed
          Sequence: D/ Recombination: R - Failed

One hundred and four disappointments until finally they stumbled upon the one that worked.

          Sequence: E/ Recombination: A.

S:E/R:A was a success.

That was almost three years ago, in the early summer of 2114. June 27 to be exact. The date has been etched into my mind thanks to the DigiPlaque that hangs in the hallway outside my bedroom, cycling through the dates of the failed attempts until finally landing on the only date that mattered from then on.

My "birth" day.

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Unchanged has been an interesting end to this epic journey that Jessica Brody has taken us on. From Seraphina's escape from the lab she was created in at Diotech Industries with the boy she loves, Zen, to an adventure through time to stay out of the grasps of the boy Diotech created to be her perfect match, Kaelen, and now, to having her memory's altered to make every emotion she has had for Zen & her escape seem like one very big mistake. Although not every moment was as action packed or heart pounding as I like in a Suspenseful story, it has been thoroughly thought out & planned perfectly to make for the perfect ending.

In the final book to the series that started with Unremembered, Sera has let herself be captured by Diotech for a chance to save the boy she loves. The transession gene that allows humans to time travel also destroys their bodies from the inside out & the only thing that can save Zen is a blocker that she can only get from Dr. Alixter. So after all her running, she is back. The first part of the book, which is setup into 4 different parts, is all about the year it has been for her since she returned to Diotech. To Sera, her adventures with Zen were all a mistake. The results of a girl that had been tricked by a boy who was only trying to use her. Dr. Rio shows up from time to time as the groundskeeper, but he is no longer the same person he was. His memories have been stolen & he is nothing but a shell of his former self. Kaelen is now the only love she thinks about. Seeing as how he was created to be her "Print Mate," a manufactured scientific version of a Soul Mate, she sees nothing in him but her equal.

As odd things begin to happen, Sera is consistently brought to the memory labs to erase what she witnesses, so not to upset or confuse her from Diotech's ultimate goal. The Objective, as it is called by Dr. A, is to release a product line to the world, that sells advanced DNA coding to make people as special as Sera & Kaelen. They are to be unveiled in a series of Press Junkets on a tour around the US. They have taken a year to get her ready for this tour, but it only takes a second for 1 word uttered by Rio in a chance passing for her to start doubting anything... Sariana. Sera uses her datapad to search for the word & finds out about the child that Rio lost 3 years ago when she fell from a tree & broke her neck.

Different actions lead Sera to a data cube buried beneath the bench where she & Zen would hide secret messages for each other. She can not open the file on Diotech property, because they monitor everything she does, so she waits until the tour begins & opens it in a hotel, thinking she has 1 month until they will check her memories again after the tour is over. It is a message from Zen, 3 months after she left him in 2032. He looks unkempt & distraught without her. Obviously he could not follow her, because he no longer had the transession gene, so how did he get the cube to their spot in the first place? Questions keep piling up for her & she isn't sure what to think. Before she even gets to hotel, she witnesses Kaelen attack 3 paparazzi who are hidden trying to get pictures of them before the tour starts. It is like a switch has been flipped & he brutally beats 2 of them to death. This event along with everything else happening, it is only confusing her more.

When she is called by Dr. A soon after to have her memories checked, she comes to the realization that they are going to see that she has kept the data cube a secret & she is going to lose everything she has learned.

What is she going to do?

I don't want to give you the whole story, because there is so much to give. So much happens that I can't even do it justice by listing it all. There is a plethora of foreshadowing, an undercover plot, a fanatical religious cult, & a lot of backstories that explain the reasoning behind everything that has happened so far. In my opinion, every question I had from the first 2 books is answered in this one.

As of August of 2014, it was announced that Unremembered, the book that started the trilogy, will be heading to the big screen. It is being produced by the people who brought you The Vampire Academy, Zero Dark Thirty, & Life of Pi.

Review of Lux: Obsidian by Jennifer L Armentrout

Review of Jennifer L Armentrout's Lux: Obsidian

Release Date: May 8th, 2012

Synopsis as found on GoodReads.com:

Starting over sucks.

When we moved to West Virginia right before my senior year, I'd pretty much resigned myself to thick accents, dodgy internet access, and a whole lot of boring... until I spotted my hot neighbor, with his looming height and eerie green eyes. Things were looking up.

And then he opened his mouth.

Daemon is infuriating. Arrogant. Stab-worthy. We do not get along. At all. But when a stranger attacks me and Daemon literally freezes time with a wave of his hand, well, something... unexpected happens.

The hot alien living next door marks me.

You heard me. Alien. Turns out Daemon and his sister have a galaxy of enemies wanting to steal their abilities, and Daemon's touch has me lit up like the Vegas Strip. The only way I'm getting out of this alive is by sticking close to Daemon until my alien mojo fades.

If I don't kill him first, that is.

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As always, Jennifer L Armentrout has written another beautifully poignant tale. Kat is a girl who is moved from her home in Florida to a rural town in West Virginia by her mother who only wants to get away from the memory of Kat's father who passed away 3 years ago from Brain Cancer. They just so happen to move in next door to a family with 2 children her age: Dee is immensely welcoming and quickly becomes a close friend to Kat, but Daemon, Dee's incredibly gorgeous twin brother, is anything but. He quickly forbids Dee from seeing her, saying she is not worthy of being her friend, but Dee doesn't take what he says with more than a grain of sand.

Dee forces Daemon to befriend Kat, if only to appease his sister, so that she can have 1 "normal" friend. While they begin to hang out, Kat begins to notice many odd things about the siblings, but she can't quite put her finger on what is going on. Daemon's personality & the chemistry between he and Kat become so hot and cold, that during a walk they take together he finally tells her to leave his sister alone and they would all be better off. Kat doesn't want him to see her cry & runs off, not paying attention to where she is going... right into the path of a speeding truck. When it seems like she has taken her last breath, she realizes that the truck is no longer moving. Daemon has stopped it with his mind.

He can no longer hide the truth from her... he & his sister are Aliens, along with a large amount of the population in their town. He expects this jaw dropping realization to send Kat running, but she defies all logic by not running anywhere. These Aliens, known as Luxen, are only known by eachother and the Department of Defense, who give them the money to live in secret. They live by a certain standard amount of rules, among which are: no humans can know about them & they are not allowed to have romantic relationships with humans. He also tells her about the race of Aliens, called Arum, who destroyed his home planet & are hunting his kind on Earth. Hell bent on stealing their life force & powers.

This knowledge would bring forth the beginning of an adventure in keeping herself & her new friends alive, as well as the realization that there is something more between Daemon & Kat than just the love/hate relationship they have known so far. There might just be some sexual frustration & attraction between them. But there love is forbidden.

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I love everything that Armentrout writes. She has a way of drawing the reader in & making you fall in love with her characters. I see much of myself in the character Kat (even if she is female & I am not) & I could easily fall in love the character Daemon. I love the snarky brooding type, I guess.

This series reminds me in some ways of Becca Fitzpatrick's Hush Hush, even if it isn't about Angels. So if you were a fan of Hush Hush, check it out. Also for fans of Eve Silver's The Game series, Melissa Landers' Alienated, & Rick Yancey's The Fifth Wave... just to name a few.

Review of The Defiant by Lisa M Stasse

Review of Lisa M Stasse's The Defiant

Release Date: July 8th, 2014

Synopsis as found on GoodReads.com:

In this gripping conclusion to The Forsaken Trilogy, Alenna’s loyalties are put the ultimate test—and it’s one of life and death.

Alenna Shawcross and the others who escaped the wheel are working toward an all-out assault on the United Northern Alliance. The plan is to dismantle it from the inside—and Alenna is one of the few people who can access the organization’s inner sanctum. But when she returns to the home she has nearly forgotten, she encounters old friends and is swept into a secret plan that puts everything she loves in danger.

Knowing what is at stake for her and her friends, Alenna ventures into the heart of the treacherous UNA. She’s determined to bring them down, because freedom is the only choice. Or is it?

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I am both happy and sad to read the final book in the Forsaken series. I am happy that I got an Epilogue to find out what happened after the final battle, but sad that this book was not as great as the first two. There were quite a few moments in The Defiant where I thought, maybe if we stay on this track and work with this, it could be great. Sadly, a lot of it felt rushed and not properly descripted.

I loved how The Forsaken felt very similar to The Maze Runner, Hunger Games, or Lord of the Flies, but that same feeling wasn't present in this book. When I read a series, I just expect the whole series to work together as one. This book was the progression of the first two, but it definitely could not stand on its own.

It wasn't all bad, because I got to see where Alenna and her friends ended up. I know how the author wanted it to end and maybe she will write another series that gripped me like The Forsaken & The Uprising did.

Review of Reckoning by Kerry Wilkinson

Review of Kerry Wilkinson's Reckoning

Release Date: July 1st, 2014

Synopsis as found on Amazon.com:

One girl. One chance. One destiny.

In the village of Martindale, hundreds of miles north of the new English capital of Windsor, sixteen-year-old Silver Blackthorne takes the Reckoning. This coming-of- age test not only decides her place in society – Elite, Member, Inter or Trog – but also determines that Silver is to become an Offering for King Victor.
But these are uncertain times and no one really knows what happens to the teenagers who disappear into Windsor Castle. Is being an Offering the privilege everyone assumes it to be, or do the walls of the castle have something to hide? Trapped in a maze of ancient corridors, Silver finds herself in a warped world of suspicion where it is difficult to know who to trust and who to fear. The one thing Silver does know is that she must find a way out . . . The heart-stopping first book in a new trilogy by UK author Kerry Wilkinson, Reckoning is the story of one girl's determination to escape the whims of a cruel king, and what she must do to survive against all odds.
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Set in a Dystopian United Kingdom, Reckoning is the first book in the proposed Trilogy of Silver Blackthorne. Following the life of Silver, we see a future England that has been rebuilt after a war over oil that ended 25 years ago. All children must take the Reckoning on the 1st of July in their 16th year to find out how they can better serve their society. There are 4 levels that you can be categorized in: Elite, Member, Intermediate, & Trog. Elite being the best & highest paid with the best jobs and Trogs end up with the most menial jobs that no one else wants.

In this future England, the country has been split in to four parts: North, South, East, & West. From the Reckoning, 30 Children are selected to become Offerings to the King. This is thought to be a great honor, but what the Offering entails, no one knows. Once someone has been selected, they are never heard from again. Each of the 4 Realms must offer 2 boy & 2 girl Elites, 1 boy & 1 girl Member, 1 Member from each Realm (alternating boys & girls each year), & 2 Trogs total (each year alternates as well). Once a child is selected, the remaining family is showered with money & food.

On Silver's Reckoning day, she is categorized as Member & later chosen to be an Offering. While her town is cheering for her, her family is weeping that they will never see her again. She may know it is a great honor to be chosen, but she only wants to live the life she has always known.

The only transportation in this future England is train, because their is no longer any oil left, there are no other vehicles. All Offerings are picked up one by one from their respective Realms and arrive to the King's castle on the same day. They will quickly learn that the happy & honorable King they thought they were being sent to serve is nothing like what they were led to believe. The Offerings would end up being play toys for a greedy tyrant, being used & thrown away 1 by 1.

This story started out reminding me of some of my favorites, including The Selection, The Jewel, & even shades of Hunger Games, but went on to be completely different than I thought it would. There was a lot Suspense in parts, but there were many times when I knew what was going to happen next. I enjoyed it as a whole, but I wished we learned more about the King, Minister Prime, or multiple other character's stories. There was a lot of character development for Silver, but I would have enjoyed the development of a few other characters.

I will definitely be checking out the sequel to see how the story progresses.

Review of Chaos by Lanie Bross

Advance Review of Lanie Bross' Chaos

Release Date: January 27th, 2015

Synopsis as found on GoodReads.com:

Can they change their destiny?

They kissed only once—and it was electric, like the air before a storm. But Corinthe and Luc broke the rules of the universe, and learned too late that their love would have consequences. In the dizzying aftermath, Luc refuses to accept his destiny—not if it means a life without Corinthe. As a fire rages through the Crossroads that connect worlds, Luc must find a way to turn back time and save Corinthe once and for all.

Meanwhile, Luc's 15-year-old sister Jasmine starts to realize things are not as they seem when time begins stuttering, sending her everyday life in San Francisco spinning into chaos. She’s thrown into the path of Ford, a troubled soul with a secret past, who helps her unravel the mysterious threads that connect them all.

Two breathtaking romances interweave across time in this story of what lies on the other side of Fate, as both Jas and Luc discover the incredible lengths they will go for love.

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Excerpt from Chaos:
She didn't really believe in miracles - had not even known the word until coming to Humana. Fate was controlled by the Unseen Ones. Everything that happened was orchestrated and carried out exactly as planned. There were no last-minute reprieves. No changes in plan. No sudden moments of salvation.

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I have always been a fan of books that have their base in Mythology (mainly Greek), so I was excited to read Fates when it first crossed my path earlier this year. I absolutely loved the story. As a Fate, Corinthe was tasked with sorting people's destinies into the right path. She was not allowed to ask questions at all. But when she becomes too inquisitive, she is cast out of her home world, the only existence she has ever known, and sentenced to Earth. She now has to make sure that everyone's fate is followed according to plan.

Book 1, Fates, had a lot of world jumping via the Crossroads to find Luc's sister, Jasmine. There was a lot of excitement, fighting, action, & suspense. There was also the inevitable love story between Corinthe & Luc, which all led up to death of Corinthe & the saving of Jasmine.

Chaos begins right where Fates left off. The only difference is that we read the story in the eyes of Luc & Jasmine alternately. Luc wants to fulfill his promise to Corinthe & find a way to be with her, even if he has to turn back time to do so. Jasmine has lost days from her memory & when Luc runs off, she goes in search of a way to recall what she has lost. Now that Jasmine has been saved, the Unseen Ones send out Executors to hunt her down, because even though she was brought back to life, her fate is still to die.

Where Fates is full of World-Hopping, Chaos has a lot of Time-Jumping. While Luc is searching for Corinthe, Jasmine is running from Executors. Every so often, she blacks out & finds herself in a different day. There is a lot of back & forth, which is much different than the fluid grace of the adventure in book 1. But this book introduces a new character & love interest for Jasmine, Ford.

If you are a fan of Green Mythology, check out Aimee Carter's The Goddess Test, Meg Cabot's Abandon, Jennifer L Armentrout's Covenant series, and Kendare Blake's The Goddess War series... to name a few.

Review of Now That You're Here by Amy K Nichols

Advanced Review of Amy K Nichols' Now That You're Here

Release Date: December 9th, 2014

Synopsis as found on GoodReads.com:

In a parallel universe, the classic bad boy falls for the class science geek.

One minute Danny was running from the cops, and the next, he jolted awake in an unfamiliar body--his own, but different. Somehow, he's crossed into a parallel universe. Now his friends are his enemies, his parents are long dead, and studious Eevee is not the mysterious femme fatale he once kissed back home. Then again, this Eevee--a girl who'd rather land an internship at NASA than a date to the prom--may be his only hope of getting home.

Eevee tells herself she's only helping him in the name of quantum physics, but there's something undeniably fascinating about this boy from another dimension . . . a boy who makes her question who she is, and who she might be in another place and time.

And, coming soon, Duplexity, Part II: While You Were Gone flips this story on its head and tells the tale of the alternate Danny and the alternate Eevee, living in Danny's parallel world.

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This is a compelling story of Danny, a boy who wakes up in an alternate universe, still in his body, but just an alternate version of himself. His parents, who are alive in his universe, died 6 years ago in this universe and every landmark he knew is just gone. The only thing familiar to him is one girl, Eevee. She only knows him as the lazy stoner who sleeps through class, but when he wakes up, it is like a whole new world has opened up to her as well.

Eevee is a science nerd & when Danny tells her that he is lost, she begins to help. With the help of her best friend Warren, they attempt to find a way for Danny to get back to his family. The only problem is, the more time Danny & Eevee spend together, the more they begin to fall in love.

I have read multiple alternate reality/teleportation stories & have loved many of them. This one is a very good & quick read. If you are a fan of Claudia Gray's A Thousand Pieces of You, definitely pick up this book.