Review of The School for Good & Evil by Soman Chainani

Review of Soman Chainani's The School for Good & Evil: The Last Ever After

Release Date: July 21st, 2015

Synopsis as found on Amazon.com:

In the stunning conclusion to the New York Times bestselling School for Good and Evil trilogy, everything old is new again, as Sophie and Agatha fight the past as well as the present to find the perfect end to their fairy tale.

Former best friends Sophie and Agatha thought their ending was sealed when they went their separate ways, but their storybook is about to be rewritten—and this time theirs isn't the only one. With the girls apart, Evil has taken over and the forces of Good are in deathly peril. Will Agatha and Sophie be able to work together to save them? Will they find their way to being friends again? And will their new ending be the last Ever After they've been searching for?

Soman Chainani delivers action, adventure, laughter, romance, and more twists than ever before in this extraordinary end to his epic series.

Synopsis as found on GoodReads.com:

In the epic conclusion to Soman Chainani’s New York Times bestselling series, The School for Good and Evil, everything old is new again as Sophie and Agatha fight the past as well as the present to find the perfect end to their story.

As A World Without Princes closed, the end was written and former best friends Sophie and Agatha went their separate ways. Agatha was whisked back to Gavaldon with Tedros and Sophie stayed behind with the beautiful young School Master.

But as they settle into their new lives, their story begs to be re-written, and this time, theirs isn’t the only one. With the girls apart, Evil has taken over and the villains of the past have come back to change their tales and turn the world of Good and Evil upside down.

Readers around the world are eagerly awaiting the third book in The School for Good and Evil series, The Last Ever After. This extraordinary conclusion delivers more action, adventure, laughter, romance and fairy tale twists and turns than you could ever dream of!

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I have been in a reading slump as of the past few months. This past month was the worst for me in reading. I have had a lot going on and can attribute some of my lack of focus in reading to that... but it is still super upsetting. I have loved this series ever since I picked up an ARC of the first book 3 years ago. While portions of story were slow & not as exciting as the previous books, it did pick up closer to the end.

I love the morals behind the story. Whether it be about beauty being in the eye of the beholder, having to find beauty within yourself, not to judge a book by its cover, or that there is true love out there for everyone, the story had some beautiful undertones.

My biggest dislike for the series ender is that the book was quite a bit too long. Seeing as how this book is written for the Juvie section, I think that 655 pages is a little excessive. If some of the more boring parts had been cut, it could have been much more to the level of the rest of the series.

If you enjoy fairy tales or the retelling of fairy tales, you will absolutely love this book.

Review of Me & Earl & The Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews

Review of Jesse Andrews' Me & Earl & the Dying Girl

Release Date: March 1st, 2012

Synopsis as found on GoodReads.com:

Greg Gaines is the last master of high school espionage, able to disappear at will into any social environment. He has only one friend, Earl, and together they spend their time making movies, their own incomprehensible versions of Coppola and Herzog cult classics.

Until Greg’s mother forces him to rekindle his childhood friendship with Rachel.

Rachel has been diagnosed with leukemia—-cue extreme adolescent awkwardness—-but a parental mandate has been issued and must be obeyed. When Rachel stops treatment, Greg and Earl decide the thing to do is to make a film for her, which turns into the Worst Film Ever Made and becomes a turning point in each of their lives.

And all at once Greg must abandon invisibility and stand in the spotlight.

Synopsis as found on Amazon.com:

Sundance U.S. Dramatic Audience Award
Sundance Grand Jury Prize

This is the funniest book you’ll ever read about death.

It is a universally acknowledged truth that high school sucks. But on the first day of his senior year, Greg Gaines thinks he’s figured it out. The answer to the basic existential question: How is it possible to exist in a place that sucks so bad? His strategy: remain at the periphery at all times. Keep an insanely low profile. Make mediocre films with the one person who is even sort of his friend, Earl.

         This plan works for exactly eight hours. Then Greg’s mom forces him to become friends with a girl who has cancer. This brings about the destruction of Greg’s entire life.

         Fiercely funny, honest, heart-breaking—this is an unforgettable novel from a bright talent, now also a film that critics are calling "a touchstone for its generation" and "an instant classic."

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I have found that I have gotten more interested in reading books about terminally ill children recently with the realization that they were actually great books after reading John Green's The Fault In Our Stars and Robyn Schneider's Extraordinary Means. When I saw this book was being made into a movie I wanted to read it before seeing it in theaters. I also heard great reviews about it from a friend at work.

Maybe it is my reading funk of lately, but I did not enjoy this story as much as I had been hoping. I found the narrator a bit annoying and the writing style of going back and forth from novel, bullet point, and play script styles a little too hectic. The character talks a lot about how you will hate this book and how he doesn't understand why you haven't put it down already. I was hoping that the main character would have been a more successful filmmaker, but I guess he wouldn't have been as realistic.

I just felt like the story had no real ending and lacked a reason for being. It wasn't about Rachel "the Dying Girl's" Life, because you don't find out much about her of substance until the end of the book. I'm just a little confused by it.

Another book bites the dust.

Review of The Dollhouse Asylum by Mary Gray

Review of Mary Gray's The Dollhouse Asylum

Release Date: October 22nd, 2013

Synopsis as found on GoodReads.com:

A virus that had once been contained has returned, and soon no place will be left untouched by its destruction. But when Cheyenne wakes up in Elysian Fields--a subdivision cut off from the world and its monster-creating virus--she is thrilled to have a chance at survival.

At first, Elysian Fields,with its beautiful houses and manicured lawns, is perfect. Teo Richardson, the older man who stole Cheyenne's heart, built it so they could be together. But when Teo tells Cheyenne there are tests that she and seven other couples must pass to be worthy of salvation, Cheyenne begins to question the perfection of his world.

The people they were before are gone. Cheyenne is now "Persephone," and each couple has been re-named to reflect the most tragic romances ever told. Everyone is fighting to pass the test, to remain in Elysian Fields. Teo dresses them up, tells them when to move and how to act, and in order to pass the test, they must play along.

If they play it right, then they'll be safe.

But if they play it wrong, they'll die.

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So I just finished The Dollhouse Asylum... my slump in reading continues. I need a good book or series to get me out of this funk. While this book had good moments, the plot was confusing and the characters were given poor personalities. The whole book had potential, but in the end was just poorly written. I am not one to stop reading a book, because I always want to know what happened to the characters. I'm sorry to say that for the characters that lived in the end, they were the unlucky ones. Had they died early, they would have been saved the embarrassment of continuing on.

I know that every author puts a lot of work into writing a book and I hate giving negative reviews for any book, but I am just a little upset with this one. Upset... confused... just over it!

Here's to hoping the author keeps this story at only 1 book. Maybe her next series will more thought out... and here's to hoping my next book keeps me entertained. 2015 has been my worst year in reading in almost 6 years.

Review of The Scorpion Rules by Erin Bow

Advance Review of Erin Bow's The Scorpion Rules

Release Date: September 22nd, 2015

Synopsis as found on GoodReads.com:

A world battered by climate shift and war turns to an ancient method of keeping peace: the exchange of hostages. The Children of Peace - sons and daughters of kings and presidents and generals - are raised together in small, isolated schools called Preceptures. There, they learn history and political theory, and are taught to gracefully accept what may well be their fate: to die if their countries declare war.

Greta Gustafsen Stuart, Duchess of Halifax and Crown Princess of the Pan-Polar Confederation, is the pride of the North American Prefecture. Learned and disciplined, Greta is proud of her role in keeping the global peace, even though, with her country controlling two-thirds of the world’s most war-worthy resource — water — she has little chance of reaching adulthood alive.

Enter Elián Palnik, the Prefecture’s newest hostage and biggest problem. Greta’s world begins to tilt the moment she sees Elián dragged into the school in chains. The Prefecture’s insidious surveillance, its small punishments and rewards, can make no dent in Elián, who is not interested in dignity and tradition, and doesn’t even accept the right of the UN to keep hostages.

What will happen to Elián and Greta as their two nations inch closer to war?

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So... I'm conflicted. I really loved the plot of this book. What would happen if Man-made Artificial Intelligent Computer Programs became sentient and to stop war all over the world, they held hostage the first born child of every world leader? It sounds like an amazing story. And for more than half of the book it was amazing. It had me on the edge of my seat. Then it went down hill really fast. By the end of the book, I was over it. I hate when books end so weirdly. I'm distraught, confused, and angry all at once.

Greta is a child of peace. Although she is the crown princess of the Pan-Polar Confederation (we know it as Canada), she has lived in the prefecture since she was 5 years old. She has seen friends be dragged away to be killed and all because their parent's country went to war... because when a country goes to war with another country, both of the first born children for either country are put to death. That is the threat that the AI, Talis has controlled world leaders with for the last 400 years.

When Elian arrives at the prefecture, Greta knows she is in trouble. He is the grandchild of the ruler of the country that is most closely bordering her own. The look in his eyes when he recognizes her tells her all she needs to know. Their countries are about to go to war and if they do, she is going to die.

With a plot like that, you know you are in for a wild ride. Maybe by the time the book comes out, the ending will change?!? I highly doubt it, but I can always dream right? I don't know how the author will be able to continue this into a series. Oh well! I am still rating this book 3 out of 5 stars, because I did enjoy most of it. Let me know what you think of it when it comes out in September!

Review of The Killing Jar by Jennifer Bosworth

Advance Review of Jennifer Bosworth's The Killing Jar

Release Date: January 12th, 2016

Synopsis as found on GoodReads.com:


“I try not to think about it, what I did to that boy.”

Seventeen-year-old Kenna Marsden has a secret.

She’s haunted by a violent tragedy she can’t explain. Kenna’s past has kept people—even her own mother—at a distance for years. Just when she finds a friend who loves her and life begins to improve, she’s plunged into a new nightmare. Her mom and twin sister are attacked, and the dark powers Kenna has struggled to suppress awaken with a vengeance.

On the heels of the assault, Kenna is exiled to a nearby commune, known as Eclipse, to live with a relative she never knew she had. There, she discovers an extraordinary new way of life as she learns who she really is, and the wonders she’s capable of. For the first time, she starts to feel like she belongs somewhere. That her terrible secret makes her beautiful and strong, not dangerous. But the longer she stays at Eclipse, the more she senses there is something malignant lurking underneath it all. And she begins to suspect that her new family has sinister plans for her…

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It makes me so sad thinking how long you will have to wait to read this book. Words can not express how much I loved it. When it has been stop and go this year for the quality in Young Adult Literature for me and I have started to get bored with reading, because I haven't read as many books that I have truly loved... Bosworth's The Killing Jar brought me out of my reading funk.

A flawed girl with a dangerous power finds herself trapped between losing her family and using a gift that can make her lose herself. Kenna is a teenager who has only known sadness through out her life. Her twin sister, Erin, is dying from a debilitating affliction and there is nothing she can do. They don't know their father, so their mother, Anya, has had to raise them on her own while running her bakery in a small town. She is so afraid to get close to anyone, because of a freak accident from when she was a child, in fear that she will be the cause of another death... so she won't let her cute neighbor and best friend, Blake, get within arms reach. With all these day to day obstacles, its a wonder that she even gets out of bed.

When she is forced to use her power to stop a man who is hell bent on destroying her family, she is sent away to the family she didn't know she had so that she can recover... kind of like a rehab in the mountains, Eclipse is a secretive commune that does not look kindly upon outsiders trespassing. There she will meet a grandmother she didn't know she had, a hot new young suitor named Cyrus, find the truth about her mother's past, and meet more people like herself. Whereas she has always been a loner, believing she is the only one with this dark power... now she will have a new family full of people with the same secret she has. But for Kenna, finding the truth behind one secret, only opens up the door to many many more.

I hope that in January of next year, you will pick this book up and read for yourself just how incredible it is. It may be 6 plus months away, but it is definitely worth the wait!!

Review of Alive by Scott Sigler

Advance Review of Scott Sigler's Alive

Release Date: July 14th, 2015

Synopsis as found on Amazon.com:

For fans of The Hunger Games, Divergent, and Red Rising comes a gripping sci-fi adventure in which a group of teenagers wake up in a mysterious corridor with no knowledge of who they are or how they got trapped. Their only hope lies with an indomitable young woman who must lead them not only to answers but to survival.  
“I open my eyes to darkness. Total darkness. I hear my own breathing, but nothing else. I lift my head . . . it thumps against something solid and unmoving. There is a board right in front of my face. No, not a board . . . a lid.”
 
A teenage girl awakens to find herself trapped in a coffin. She has no idea who she is, where she is, or how she got there. Fighting her way free brings little relief—she discovers only a room lined with caskets and a handful of equally mystified survivors. Beyond their room lies a corridor filled with bones and dust, but no people . . . and no answers.

She knows only one thing about herself—her name, M. Savage, which was engraved on the foot of her coffin—yet she finds herself in charge. She is not the biggest among them, or the boldest, but for some reason the others trust her. Now, if they’re to have any chance, she must get them to trust one another.

Whatever the truth is, she is determined to find it and confront it. If she has to lead, she will make sure they survive. Maybe there’s a way out, a rational explanation, and a fighting chance against the dangers to come. Or maybe a reality they cannot comprehend lies just beyond the next turn.

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Ahhhhh... Finally a book that I really am truly happy with this year. I have read quite a few that I loved so far in 2015, but more often than not I have read books that have disappointed me. Now, the pattern has been for the past few years that I read the first book in the series and love it, but the sequels are no where near as good as the first... so we will have to wait and see if Sigler can match the success of this book with the next.

A girl wakes up in the dark, unable to move or see anything. She doesn't remember her name, where she came from, or anything about herself, except that she is 12 and today is her birthday. As she is screaming for her mother and father, she thrashes around trying to get herself loose from the binds holding her arms and legs down. She fights to get herself free, even as something slithers up to her neck and bites her. This first chapter really is foreshadowing for the rest of the book, because she ends up being a fighter all the way until the end.

When she finally frees herself, she sees that she is in a room with 11 other coffins. She finds a tag on the one that she just busted herself from that says M. Savage. The name resonates somewhere inside of herself and she knows that it is her name. When she hears someone wake screaming from inside of a coffin near her own, she makes it her mission to get this person out. She finds some kind of tool against the wall and with strength she didn't know she had, pries open the box to find a girl inside. The girl is incredibly beautiful and everything she has always wished she would grow up to look like.

They both notice symbols on each other's heads, but the symbols are never really explained in this book. They also realize through talking that they both are 12 and today is their birthday. The only problem is, neither looks 12 years old. The both are wearing clothes that are too tight and do not fit. Each believes the other looks closer to 16 or 17 years old. After their talk and introductions (the name on the new girls coffin being T. Spingate), together they look into the other coffins. While some of them hold shriveled up dead children, there are 3 boys and 1 more girl that are still alive.

These 6 children all believe that they are 12 years old and that they are waking on their birthday. They will begin referring to themselves as the Birthday Children. Together they will set out to discover why they were locked in coffins and where all of the adults are.

I loved this book so much and don't want to spoil anything for you, as the reader. I will say this much... I had multiple clear ideas as to what and why the story was going a certain way, as well as how I expected the story to end... I was wrong. It is not about what I thought at all. That plot twist is what made me truly entranced. I hope you will find it as exciting as I did.

Review of Unleashed by Sophie Jordan

Review of Sophie Jordan's Unleashed

Release Date: February 24th, 2015

Synopsis as found on Amazon.com:

Unleashed, the romantic, high-stakes sequel to New York Times bestselling author Sophie Jordan's Uninvited, is perfect for fans of James Patterson's Confessions of a Murder Suspect.

Davy has spent the last few months trying to come to terms with the fact that she tested positive for the kill gene HTS (also known as Homicidal Tendency Syndrome). She swore she would not let it change her, and that her DNA did not define her . . . but then she killed a man.

Now on the run, Davy must decide whether she'll be ruled by the kill gene or if she'll follow her heart and fight for her right to live free. But with her own potential for violence lying right beneath the surface, Davy doesn't even know if she can trust herself.

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I just finished Unleashed and I have to say, I'm a little confused. Not about the story, because for the most part, that was explained. I just don't know how the progression from the beginning of Uninvited could get us to the ending of Unleashed. When I read Uninvited, I felt the author's excitement about the new book series. I was a huge fan of the Firelight series, so I know she can write beautifully... Unleashed felt almost like a new author took over the series. It felt disjointed and disconnected from the over all story.

Davy and her friends are on the run. They are trying to get to Mexico, where people with HTS are not yet being persecuted as they are in America. They are hoping for some semblance of freedom in a place where they wont have to live in a Camp for people with the "Kill Gene." For Davy though, she will always be looking over her shoulder. She is now haunted by the man she killed. The man who is also the reason she ran.

When a Davy is shot during their escape attempt into Mexico, she gets separated from her friends. She is luckily picked up by Caden, one of the head's of a resistance group. This may be a stroke of luck of misfortune, because even though she wants to get better and get back to her friends/boyfriend, she finds herself drawn to Caden. Even when she is falling in love with him, she is still pulling away. Will she stay and make some kind of life in the resistance or will she go out in search of her friends and lost love?

So, the love story from book 1 is completely lost in book 2. I liked how that story was going, but it seems as from the beginning of Unleashed, before there ever was a Caden, you could tell they were over. Did Sophie Jordan meet a Sean that made her hate all men with that name? I don't know what happened to flow that she had going in the story, but it was lost somewhere in between. Is that why this book ended the series? I'm not sure what happened Mrs. Jordan, but I hope by the time you write your next YA series, you get your Mojo back. I miss the writing from Firelight!

Review of Nil Unlocked by Lynne Matson

Review of Lynne Matson's Nil Unlocked

Release Date: May 12th, 2015

Synopsis as found on Amazon.com:

On the island of Nil, the rules are set. You have exactly 365 days to escape--or you die. Rives is now the undisputed Leader of Nil City, but keeping the City united is tougher than ever.

Raiders have grown bolder, supplies are dwindling, and non-human inhabitants have taken a turn toward the deadly. New arrivals cause rifts within the City, putting the Search system at risk, and calling everything Rives knows into question. Desperate for answers, he teams up with the only other person searching for them: Skye, a new arrival with a mysterious past of her own. Soon the duo find themselves locked in a desperate race to save all the residents of Nil--and possibly destroy the island forever. But at what cost? And who will pay the price?

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As the days, weeks, and months of 2015 roll by, I realize I am getting further and further behind in my reading. I have been taking more time to watch television, sleep, relax after work... I've even been reading manga. I look at my bookshelves and the fact that they are more full is disappointing enough as it is. Knowing I am not taking enough time to buckle down and read makes me very sad. Seeing as how I absolutely love this book/series (if you can call 2 books a series), it is sad it took me a week to read it.

Matson's Nil Unlocked is not only a sequel to her first book, Nil, but it is the book that gives the reader exactly what they have been waiting for. The knowledge on what has become of the people who escaped the island, who is left still alive, and the history of why teenagers keep appearing on Nil. With Charley & Thad having caught gates home, it leaves Rives in charge of the cities inhabitants. With new kids dropping in from the incoming gates, the ever fluctuating population keeps him busy. But teenagers are not the only thing being dropped off.

Skye is on a journey with her father to find a mysterious island that his twin brother wrote about in a journal. The journal was written when his brother returned after he had been missing for 10 months around his 16th birthday. While everyone else just thought his brother was crazy, Skye's father believed that what he wrote was from experience and he was going to find this island called Nil and rescue the children he believed were left on it.

With the unlocking of the island comes new characters and shocking information on the history of how the island came to be. Expect the sequel to have all the mystery and action of the first book, but with the answers to all the questions left you may have been left with after reading Nil. This book is definitely worth picking up... I should know, I spent a week on reading it.

Review of Burn by Walter Jury & Sarah Fine

Review of Walter Jury & Sarah Fine's Burn

Release Date: May 12th, 2015

Synopsis as found on Amazon.com:

"Car chases, explosions and action galore—awesome."—Kirkus Reviews on Scan
At the cliffhanger ending of Scan, Tate loses the very thing he was fighting to protect, what his father had called the key to human survival. Tate doesn't have much time to worry about it because he needs to get away, to ensure he and Christina are safe. His father left him one last thing that can do just that—a safe house, which turns out to be a clue to what's really threatening the planet. As Tate follows the clues his father left behind, he starts to uncover the truth, realizing he's up against an enemy he's only beginning to understand.

A riveting, fast-paced "we are not alone" adventure, Burn thrills to the very end.

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So it's been a couple weeks, I believe, since my last review. I have been taking my time reading books, as well as sleeping a lot more. Oh! And I have been reading some manga... so I've just been a lazy reader. I also didn't review the last book I finished. So in total, I suck! Well, now I'm back!

When we ended Scan, Tate had found out his father's invention was a detection device that identified an alien race that was living on earth. They had been there for hundreds of years, breeding with Humans and now two-thirds of the world's population had some H2 (as they call themselves) DNA. At the end of the book, Tate sees a screen that gives the exact total of how many complete humans there are on earth, as well as people with H2 DNA and an unknown variable number. It had a question mark instead of a name for the species.

Burn picks up where its predecessor left off. Tate and his girlfriend Christina are holed up at one of his father's safe houses trying to plan out their next move. They believe that they are safe for the time being, but when they least expect it, in walks Leo. He claims to be the orphan nephew of Tate's father's best friend, George Fisher, who was killed in Scan. Frederick Archer was like a second father to Leo and helped train him, similarly to the way he trained Tate, when he was away on his "business" trips. Leo brings with him a brotherly quality that was lacking from the first book. I thought from the entrance of the character that he would also be a rival for Christina's love, but that theory did not pan out. When Tate sees a surveillance video from his home, where one of the Core H2 bosses is threatening Christina's Mom's life if he does not surrender himself, he decides to be the hero.

This book brings a whole different perspective into the world that Jury & Fine had created. We meet another alien race, the Sicarii, which end up being a violent parasitic race that prolongs their own lives by stealing the DNA of other beings. This new race of alien ends up bringing humanity & the H2 together in order to stop them from invading earth.

While there was no definitive finale to the book, I did get a feeling of an ending to the series. I enjoyed Burn, but I did not love it as much as I loved Scan. Their was an excitement in the action of the first book that was not as prominent in the second.

Review of Love Fortunes & Other Disasters by Kimberly Karalius

Advance Review of Kimberly Karalius' Love Fortunes & Other Disasters

Release Date: May 12th, 2015

Synopsis as found on GoodReads.com:

In the tradition of Alice Hoffman’s Practical Magic, one girl chooses to change her fortune and her fate by falling in love.

Love is real in the town of Grimbaud, and Fallon Dupree has dreamed of attending high school there for years. After all, generations of Duprees have successfully followed the (100% accurate!) love fortunes from Zita’s famous Love Charms Shop to happily marry their high school sweethearts. It’s a tradition. So she is both stunned and devastated when her fortune states that she will NEVER find love.

Fortunately, Fallon isn’t the only student with a terrible love fortune, and a rebellion is brewing. Fallon is determined to take control of her own fate—even if it means working with a notorious heartbreaker like Sebastian.

Will Fallon and Sebastian be able to overthrow Zita’s tyranny and fall in love?

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Okay... So my advance read is actually 2 weeks after the book came out, but seeing as how the version I read was an Advanced Copy, I went ahead and counted it as such.

A group of people from work had planned on reading this book, because the author is doing a signing at the Barnes & Noble where I work in Wesley Chapel, Florida the beginning of next month. In normal circumstances, I would probably not have picked up this book. By what the synopsis has written, I gathered that this book was teen fiction. I only read regular teen fiction if a friend tells me I have to pick it up or if the movie version of the book is being released. I am a fan of some form of fantasy. Little did I know, this book had a bit of fantasy to spare.

I will start by saying that this book is much different than I expected. I did expect teen angst and got it in spades, but I didn't know that there would be some form of magic involved. The preface of the book has Love (Cupid would be a more common name for the character) in the flesh on earth. That alone showed me that this book was more than it was packaged as being. Although that character is not in the majority of the book, from that first taste, you know that there is going to be something fantastical.

Not only do the characters in this story rely on the fortunes given to them from a coin operated machine attached to a Love Charm shop, but they alter their entire lives based on the fortunes they receive. When the main character receives a fortune she never expected, with the help of a ragtag team of characters, she sets out to change her fate. I think that the author really fleshed out a few of the characters, but multiple of them were unrelatable and could have used more spotlight. Maybe this is a chance for novellas to be released on eReaders so that we the readers can get a better feel for them.

While I would not have initially picked this book up without nudging from a friend, I am very happy I read it. I don't see it as becoming a series, because Karalius did have a very cut and dry ending, but I am interested in what she writes in the future.

Review of The Fog Diver by Joel Ross

Advance Review of Joel Ross' The Fog Diver

Release Date: May 26th, 2015

Synopsis as found on GoodReads.com:

A deadly white mist has cloaked the earth for hundreds of years. Humanity clings to the highest mountain peaks, where the wealthy Five Families rule over the teeming lower slopes and rambling junkyards. As the ruthless Lord Kodoc patrols the skies to enforce order, thirteen-year-old Chess and his crew scavenge in the Fog-shrouded ruins for anything they can sell to survive.

Hazel is the captain of their salvage raft: bold and daring. Swedish is the pilot: suspicious and strong. Bea is the mechanic: cheerful and brilliant. And Chess is the tetherboy: quiet and quick…and tougher than he looks. But Chess has a secret, one he’s kept hidden his whole life. One that Lord Kodoc is desperate to exploit for his own evil plans. And even as Chess unearths the crew’s biggest treasure ever, they are running out of time...  

Synopsis as found on Amazon.com:

Joel Ross debuts a thrilling adventure series in which living in the sky is the new reality and a few determined slum kids just might become heroes. Perfect for fans of Rick Riordan and Brandon Mull, this fantasy is filled with daring and hope and a wonderfully imaginative world.

Once the Fog started rising, the earth was covered with a deadly white mist until nothing remained but the mountaintops. Now humanity clings to its highest peaks, called the Rooftop, where the wealthy Five Families rule over the lower slopes and floating junkyards.

Thirteen-year-old Chess and his friends Hazel, Bea, and Swedish sail their rickety air raft over the deadly Fog, scavenging the ruins for anything they can sell to survive. But now survival isn't enough. They must risk everything to get to the miraculous city of Port Oro, the only place where their beloved Mrs. E can be cured of fogsickness. Yet the ruthless Lord Kodoc is hot on their trail, for Chess has a precious secret, one that Kodoc is desperate to use against him. Now Chess will face any danger to protect his friends, even if it means confronting what he fears the most.

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A dystopian tale in which the entire earth has been covered in a deadly fog. Most of the human race has died and man is slowly going extinct. If you ingest the poisonous mist, you will die. It may be tomorrow, it may be a year from now, it may be 20... the length it takes for the poison to take effect varies, but it always ends the same way, in your death. What is left of humanity clings to life, living on the highest points in the world.

The protagonist of the story is Chess. He is one of multiple children adopted by a kind woman named Ekaterina, or Mrs. E to the kids. His mother was killed in an awful experiment done by Kodoc, the head of the 5 families who founded their home on the mountaintop called the Rooftop. Mrs. E actually saved baby Chess from the cage he was being kept in, dangling in the fog, but was unable to save his mother. Now, 13 years later, she is dying from fog sickness.

Kodoc was trying to create a child that was immune to the fog so that he could find a legendary device that is supposed to be able to control the fog. The fog is the result of an experiment gone wrong hundreds of years ago. Scientists had been trying to destroy a smog that had covered the earth and was killing not only humans, but also plant life, vegetation, animals... everything. In their search to solve one problem, they released tiny nanites into atmosphere. These nanites were made to destroy every pollution and they did, but then they started destroying the things that created the pollution... humans.

In the experiment that killed his mother, Chess was born inside the fog. Not only is he immune to the poisonous nanites, but they are actually a part of him. He has grown his hair out to cover his left eye, because when you look into it, you can see a swirling fog of grey. When Chess is at home living in the slums, he is a regular boy... but when he dives into the fog, he can do amazing things. He becomes faster, stronger, can jump to incredible heights, and many things he doesn't yet know he can do.

Kodoc does not know that Chess is alive. He believes all the children from the experiment died. But when a rumor that a child with a swirling eye of fog is spotted in the slums of the Rooftop, he builds an army to look for and capture Chess.

The entire book is about trying to find a cure for Mrs. E so that she doesn't die and also keeping Chess out of the hands of Kodoc. It is a well thought out plot with many highs and lows, a lot of character development, and is definitely opened up for sequels. I didn't talk about the rest of the characters, because it is worth picking up and reading for yourself. It goes on sale on Tuesday!!

Review of The Isle of the Lost by Melissa De La Cruz

Review of Melissa De La Cruz' Descendants: The Isle of the Lost

Release Date: May 5th, 2015

Synopsis as found on GoodReads.com:

Twenty years ago, all the evil villains were banished from the kingdom of Auradon and made to live in virtual imprisonment on the Isle of the Lost. The island is surrounded by a magical force field that keeps the villains and their descendants safely locked up and away from the mainland. Life on the island is dark and dreary. It is a dirty, decrepit place that's been left to rot and forgotten by the world.

But hidden in the mysterious Forbidden Fortress is a dragon's eye: the key to true darkness and the villains' only hope of escape. Only the cleverest, evilest, nastiest little villain can find it...who will it be?

Maleficent, Mistress of the Dark: As the self-proclaimed ruler of the isle, Maleficent has no tolerance for anything less than pure evil. She has little time for her subjects, who have still not mastered life without magic. Her only concern is getting off the Isle of the Lost.

Mal: At sixteen, Maleficent's daughter is the most talented student at Dragon Hall, best known for her evil schemes. And when she hears about the dragon's eye, Mal thinks this could be her chance to prove herself as the cruelest of them all.

Evie: Having been castle-schooled for years, Evil Queen's daughter, Evie, doesn't know the ins and outs of Dragon Hall. But she's a quick study, especially after she falls for one too many of Mal's little tricks.

Jay: As the son of Jafar, Jay is a boy of many talents: stealing and lying to name a few. Jay and Mal have been frenemies forever and he's not about to miss out on the hunt for the dragon's eye.

Carlos: Cruella de Vil's son may not be bravest, but he's certainly clever. Carlos's inventions may be the missing piece in locating the dragon's eye and ending the banishment for good.

Mal soon learns from her mother that the dragon's eye is cursed and whoever retrieves it will be knocked into a deep sleep for a thousand years. But Mal has a plan to capture it. She'll just need a little help from her "friends." In their quest for the dragon's eye, these kids begin to realize that just because you come from an evil family tree, being good ain't so bad.

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Let me start by saying that I was a fan of Cruz' Blue Blood series... in the beginning. Like many series with more than 5 books, the story sometimes can become drawn out and seem long winded. So I did love the series, but I got tired of it. So tired of it that I still have yet to read the last book. I also read the first book in the Witches of East End series, which was a spin-off series of Blue Bloods. I liked the story/plot behind it, but I am not a fan of books with gratuitous sex.

The Isle of the Lost is a big change for Cruz. It is definitely different from the books that I have read of hers before. Seeing as how she was paid to write a series of books that coincide with a made for TV movie release, so the plot and characters were chosen for her. That being said, I was not a huge fan of the book. Of course it is about the descendants of some of Disney's greatest villains. We also see multiple cameos from the villains themselves throughout the story and it is supposed to be a what happens after "Ever After" type of story.

I struggled to get through the story and fell asleep while reading it 2 times. I'm not sure if that just says that I'm tired or that the story was, but to me, I need a little more excitement to keep me motivated.

On a brighter note, I know the movie is both separate from this story, but the characters will remain the same. I am excited to see what Disney does with it. I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

Review of The Heir by Kiera Cass

Review of Kiera Cass' The Heir

Release Date: May 5th, 2015

Synopsis as found on GoodReads.com:

Princess Eadlyn has grown up hearing endless stories about how her mother and father met. Twenty years ago, America Singer entered the Selection and won the heart of Prince Maxon—and they lived happily ever after. Eadlyn has always found their fairy-tale story romantic, but she has no interest in trying to repeat it. If it were up to her, she'd put off marriage for as long as possible.

But a princess's life is never entirely her own, and Eadlyn can't escape her very own Selection—no matter how fervently she protests.

Eadlyn doesn't expect her story to end in romance. But as the competition begins, one entry may just capture Eadlyn's heart, showing her all the possibilities that lie in front of her . . . and proving that finding her own happily ever after isn't as impossible as she's always thought.  

Synopsis as found on Amazon.com:

Kiera Cass's #1 New York Times bestselling Selection series has enchanted readers from the very first page. In this fourth romantic novel, follow Illéa's royal family into a whole new Selection—and find out what happens after happily ever after.

Twenty years ago, America Singer entered the Selection and won Prince Maxon's heart. Now the time has come for Princess Eadlyn to hold a Selection of her own. Eadlyn doesn't expect her Selection to be anything like her parents' fairy-tale love story...but as the competition begins, she may discover that finding her own happily ever after isn't as impossible as she's always thought.

A new generation of swoonworthy characters and captivating romance awaits in the fourth book of the Selection series!

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I was upset when The One wrapped up The Selection series, because I knew that it was all over. I loved America & Maxon's story, so when this book was announced, I was very excited. Although this book is set in the same world as the first 3 books, it is set 20 years into the future and is written through the perspective of their first born daughter, Eadlyn. The world they lived in has been changed for the better. They did the impossible and have abolished the caste system that has been in place since the founding of Ilea. While they thought all of their problems were over, a rebellion has been brewing.

Although Eadlyn has been promised her whole life that the Selection system is not in her future and that she will be able to decide who she marries in her own time frame, the promises are being revoked. To settle the unrest that is brewing, there is only one thing they feel they can do... bring back the Selection.

While the first 3 books were through the eyes of America Singer, one of the contestants vying for the Prince's hand in marriage, this book is set through the eyes of a Princess. We get the complete opposite point of view. In some ways it is nice to see the other side of things, but it also completely changes the dynamic of the story. I, as a reader, am used to the strong and adventurous personality of Eadlyn's mother, America, I am now left with a character who is at times vapid, vain, and bratty. My opinion of Eadlyn was set very early on in the book, but as I read further, I started to like her more and more.

While I do not love the main character as much as I would have hoped, seeing as how she is the offspring of 2 of my favorite characters of all time, it is nice to see what became of all of the other characters we grew to love from the series. I'm really hoping that the series goes on for at least 2 more books, because I really need that time to prepare again for the true ending.

Review of Messenger of Fear: The Tattooed Heart by Michael Grant

Advance Review of Michael Grant's Messenger of Fear: The Tattooed Heart

Release Date: September 22nd, 2015

Synopsis as found on GoodReads.com:

The games continue in New York Times bestselling author Michael Grant’s sequel to Messenger of Fear: a haunting tale for fans of Stephen King that combines fantasy with real-world horror stories.

Mara has learned to punish the wicked as the Messenger’s apprentice. Those who act out of selfishness and greed, and others who become violent because of prejudice and hate, pay the ultimate price. But Mara is constantly reminded that Messengers are serving their own kind of punishment—for every person who is offered justice, they wear a tattoo that symbolizes the heart of the crime. As Mara delves deeper into her harsh reality, she will discover that in spite of all the terror she and Messenger inflict, caring in this world is the hardest part of all.

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I found the first book in this series, Messenger of Fear, a darkly intense and interesting read. I have never read a book that was similar, so it is a little difficult to categorize it. It's sequel, The Tattooed Heart, picks up where we left off in book 1. We already know the truth behind who Mara is and why she was chosen to apprentice with Messenger, so we are not trying to solve a great mystery in this story.

This book is all about getting down to the job at hand. Finding people who have wronged someone in a truly cruel way and having them be judged and sentenced... with a dark and sinister twist of course. Those found guilty are made to compete for their lives. If they win, they walk away free. If they lose, their worst fears are inflicted on them. Messenger and Mara search through a person's life by speeding through time to watch the exact turning point that made them go down the wrong path. They find out who helped them down that path and those that hurt them the most are the ones they sentence.

While The Tattooed Heart follows the characters in their lives, it also gives us the much needed back story for Messenger that I have been craving for since I picked up book 1. We find out who he was and how he became this emotionless, unfeeling character, as well as who Ariadne was... his long lost love.

After finishing the book, I was sad, because it seems as if the story has ended. While researching on GoodReads for my review, I found that there is going to be a book 3... how will Grant continue it from here? I guess I'll have to wait until 2016 to find out.

Review of Extraordinary Means by Robyn Schneider

Advance Review of Robyn Schneider's Extraordinary Means

Release Date: May 26th, 2015

Synopsis as found on Amazon.com:

John Green's The Fault in Our Stars meets Rainbow Rowell's Eleanor & Park in this darkly funny novel from the critically acclaimed author of The Beginning of Everything.

Up until his diagnosis, Lane lived a fairly predictable life. But when he finds himself at a tuberculosis sanatorium called Latham House, he discovers an insular world with paradoxical rules, med sensors, and an eccentric yet utterly compelling confidante named Sadie—and life as Lane knows it will never be the same.

Robyn Schneider's Extraordinary Means is a heart-wrenching yet ultimately hopeful story about the miracles of first love and second chances.

Synopsis as found on GoodReads.com:

From the author of The Beginning of Everything: two teens with a deadly disease fall in love on the brink of a cure.

At seventeen, overachieving Lane finds himself at Latham House, a sanatorium for teens suffering from an incurable strain of tuberculosis. Part hospital and part boarding school, Latham is a place of endless rules and confusing rituals, where it's easier to fail breakfast than it is to flunk French.

There, Lane encounters a girl he knew years ago. Instead of the shy loner he remembers, Sadie has transformed. At Latham, she is sarcastic, fearless, and utterly compelling. Her friends, a group of eccentric troublemakers, fascinate Lane, who has never stepped out of bounds his whole life. And as he gradually becomes one of them, Sadie shows him their secrets: how to steal internet, how to sneak into town, and how to disable the med sensors they must wear at all times.

But there are consequences to having secrets, particularly at Latham House. And as Lane and Sadie begin to fall in love and their group begins to fall sicker, their insular world threatens to come crashing down. Told in alternating points of view, Extraordinary Means is a darkly funny story about doomed friendships, first love, and the rare miracle of second chances.

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Excerpt from Extraordinary Means:

I could almost imagine that we were at camp. That we'd pull a prank on the counselors and toast s'mores at the campfire. That we'd go home tanned, our clothes smelling of bug spray. That we'd go home.

But it was possible not all of us would. Four out of five residents returned home from Latham House. That fact was in the brochure, and it was part of all this that had struck me the most deeply. Deeper than the day I'd fainted in phys ed from the cardio conditioning sprints and wound up in the ER in my embarrassingly unwashed gray jersey gym set. Deeper than how Dr. Crane had gotten my test results and, staring straight through me, had said, "There is an active case of tuberculosis," a sentence hauntingly absent of a pronoun. Like, I had once been there, but my personhood was now irrelevant, because when anyone looked at me from that moment on, all they would see was a grim and incurable disease.

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I am not usually one to pick up regular old Teen Fiction, unless a friend tells me I just have to read it: For example, The Fault In Our Stars. I was looking for a change from my regular picks and when I read the synopsis for Extraordinary Means, I decided to give it a try. I have a love/hate relationship with books that make me cry. On the one hand, I love it when a book can make me care about a character so deeply and then rip them away, thus making me cry with exclamations of "How Could You?" and "Why Them?" While on the other hand... WHY?

I am very in love with Schneider's writing style. And while, this book may be out of my genre of preferred reading, it does bring a new genre to my eyes. While I didn't read Eleanor & Park, I did read The Fault In Our Stars. I could definitely see similarities in both TFIOS & Extraordinary Means, but in my eyes, the similarities end at the terminally ill kids.

EM is about love and loss... about chance encounters and making new friends... and above all else, it is about making every moment count, because it might just be your last. I felt every loss like it was my own and wept with the characters when they were mourning a friend. My one and only complaint is that the book wasn't long enough and the ending was very definitive... leaving no room for a sequel. I with I could ask Schneider about her characters... where they are now? If they are still friends? Do they find love after all of that loss? And of course... WHY?

Review of The White Rose by Amy Ewing

Advance Review of Amy Ewing's The Lone City: The White Rose

Release Date: October 6th, 2015

Synopsis as found on Amazon.com:

The compelling and gripping sequel to Amy Ewing's debut, The Jewel, which BCCB said "Will have fans of Oliver's Delirium, Cass's The Selection, and DeStefano's Wither breathless."

Violet is on the run—away from the Jewel, away from a lifetime of servitude, away from the Duchess of the Lake, who bought her at auction. With Ash and Raven traveling with her, Violet will need all of her powers to get her friends, and herself, out of the Jewel alive.

But no matter how far Violet runs, she can't escape the rebellion brewing just beneath the Jewel's glittering surface, and her role in it. Violet must decide if she is strong enough to rise against the Jewel and everything she has ever known.

Synopsis as found on GoodReads.com:

Violet is on the run. After the Duchess of the Lake catches Violet with Ash, the hired companion at the Palace of the Lake, Violet has no choice but to escape the Jewel or face certain death. So along with Ash and her best friend, Raven, Violet runs away from her unbearable life of servitude.

But no one said leaving the Jewel would be easy. As they make their way through the circles of the Lone City, Regimentals track their every move, and the trio barely manages to make it out unscathed and into the safe haven they were promised—a mysterious house in the Farm.

But there’s a rebellion brewing, and Violet has found herself in the middle of it. Alongside a new ally, Violet discovers her Auguries are much more powerful than she ever imagined. But is she strong enough to rise up against the Jewel and everything she has ever known?

The White Rose is a raw, captivating sequel to The Jewel that fans won’t be able to put down until the final shocking moments.  

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So let me start by saying that The Jewel was one of my 2 favorite books that I read in 2014 (the other being Red Rising). Needless to say, I have been praying that I would get the Advanced Copy of it to read... and I did!!!

This book picks up exactly where we left off in the Jewel. Violet is locked in her room after the Duchess has caught her with Ash, the Companion that was purchased for the niece of the Duchess of the Lake. They had committed the ultimate sin by falling in love. Seeing as how both Violet and Ash are property, they have no hopes of ever being together. Or do they?

I can't give too much away, but seeing as how the synopsis does say this, I'm happy to re-enlighten you... By chance fate, they are broken out of their respective "prisons" (the how and by who you will have to wait for), thus beginning their journey through the rings of the Lone City. While Ash's disappearance is announced in the news and his face printed on flyers posted everywhere, after the Duchess says that he has committed a crime by raping her surrogate. So now the Regimentals (the royal's version of a police force) are after him, as well as everyone else who is out to get the reward on his head.

We also see the return of Raven, Violet's surrogate friend who was being abused by the Duchess of the Stone. In The Jewel, Violet had given Raven a serum, that would make the user seem dead after ingested, which was meant to be taken by herself. She knew that Raven needed to get out much more than she herself did.

So now they are all on the run together. With the help from members of a secret society that goes by the name of The Black Key, they make it to a house in The Farm, one of the outer rings of the Lone City, and meet a new ally who will help Violet find her true potential.

This book was filled with just as much excitement as The Jewel, but in different ways. We learn a lot more about some of my favorite characters and their back stories. We also meet a bevy of new characters who will be joining the fight against the Royalty. Unfortunately, the Villain from the first book whom I loved to hate, the Duchess of the Lake, is not in much of this book. I'm sure we will see her return in the third installment though. This book was quite incredible from the very beginning, up until the cliff hanger ending.

I don't want to rub it in, but I really don't know how you are going to wait all those months until it comes out.

If you want a couple of other books to read while you are waiting:

Pierce Brown - Red Rising
Kate Jarvik Birch - Perfected
Kiera Cass - The Selection

Review of The Aftermath by Jen Alexander

Review of Jen Alexander's The Aftermath

Release Date: August 26th, 2014

Synopsis as found on Amazon.com:

Sometimes, I dream that I'm someone else.

A girl with dark hair who doesn't worry about hunger or thirst or running from flesh-eaters.

In her world, those sorts of things don't exist….

Since the spring of 2036, when the world changed forever, Claudia and a small clan of survivors have roamed the streets of a very altered Nashville—polluted and desolate, except for the ever-present threat of cannibals. Together they must undergo punishing tests of endurance and psychological challenge—sometimes with devastating consequences—all just to live another day.

With food and water in dwindling supply, and with danger lurking around every corner, no one can be trusted. And as her world starts to make less and less sense, Claudia begins to realize something terrifying: she is just a pawn in some sort of game, and all of her actions are being controlled from afar by a mysterious gamer. So when she meets a maddening and fascinating outsider named Declan, who claims to be a game moderator, she must decide whether to join him in exchange for protection and access to the border.

If they play the game right, they are each other's best hope for survival—and a life beyond the only world Claudia's ever known: the terrifying live-action game known as The Aftermath.

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Excerpt from The Aftermath:

Missions to free captured Survivors from flesh-eater dens, and the fraying bonds between the members of our clan, are the only remnants of the humanity we'd once known - a time in my life I can't even remember because I had awakened in this world with no recollection of my past. Who was I before all this? Was I carefree and loved, a girl with a family and a real home? Or was I manipulative, like the person I've become, this person who has killed other people time and time again? Even though everything I've done is out of necessity - the need to survive - the longer we live this way, the less human I feel.

Sooner or later, there won't be any humanity left to salvage.

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Claudia Virtue isn't sure who she is anymore. Her thoughts contradict with her feelings, she is no longer in control of her own actions, and she keeps having these dreams about a girl that looks just like her, but is in a completely different world. She is the leader of her clan and she is in charge of making sure they aren't killed by flesh-eaters (Savage Cannibals), as well as making sure they have enough food, water, and supplies by taking them on missions. She is just starting to realize that her weird behavior and the unexplained blackouts that she keeps having are not the result of something she is doing.

From the very beginning, you know something is wrong. It all seems too surreal and there is something sinister going on. When she is knocked out while on a raid with her boyfriend, she wakes up to find that she can finally see what is really happening. Claudia and her friends are living inside of a video game. They are only characters being played by real people in the real world. While her friends are still oblivious, she has become sentient. When her player logs off, she used to black out and only wake back up when her player logged back on... but now, she is able to control herself for that period of time.

Claudia is the result of a glitch in the program. She can't let anyone find out or the game moderators will delete her. All she wants to do is find a way out. So when an attractive dark haired boy offers to help her escape if she can help him find someone, there is only 1 thing to do.

This book is not what I expected when I purchased it... but in so many ways, it is better than I could have ever imagined. So much happens that I didn't see coming that every page kept me on my toes. I enjoyed every second of reading it and now I'm aching for more. The ending is a cliff-hanger that only gives you half of the answers that you were searching for and I need to know what happens next.

I love a book that makes me beg for more and The Aftermath is definitely that book!!

Review of Michael Vey: Battle of the Ampere by Richard Paul Evans

Review of Richard Paul Evans' Michael Vey: Battle of the Ampere

Release Date: May 6th, 2014

Synopsis as found on GoodReads.com:

The hair-raising action continues for Michael Vey in this charged third installment of the #1 New York Times bestselling series.

Michael, Taylor, Ostin and the rest of the Electroclan have destroyed the largest of the Elgen Starxource plants, but now they’re scattered across the Amazon jungle. The Elgen have joined forces with the Peruvian army to capture the Electroclan, and only Michael has managed to remain free. With his friends due to stand trial for terrorism—a charge that may carry the death penalty—Michael will need all his wits and his abilities if he’s to save them.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the world, Dr. Hatch and his loyal Electric Children have seized control of the E.S. Ampere—the super yacht the Elgen use as their headquarters. With the Elgen fleet now under his control, Hatch heads back to Peru to pick up his army and then begin his quest for global domination.

Michael will have to free his friends then find a way to stop Hatch, but the organization behind the mysterious voice that has guided him to this point has been compromised. Hatch knows Michael and the Electroclan are coming. And he’s ready for them.

Can the Electroclan win the battle of the Ampere? Or has Michael’s luck finally run out?

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I really have enjoyed Evans' Michael Vey series so far. It brings to mind the earlier books in the Maximum Ride series by James Patterson (before it started to drag on, that is). The characters are well thought out, complicated and yet relatable. Michael in particular, with his Turrets Syndrome, is especially relatable in the sense that he has a disability and yet is still able to fight through his problems. It is always great to have a main character who isn't the picture perfect boy next door. 

While I did enjoy this book, I do agree with many readers in the thought that the plot was not as well thought out as the first 2 books. Book 3 is all about the aftermath of Book 2, Rise of the Elgen. They traveled to the jungles of Peru to save Michael's mother from a Starxource plant and in the process blew it up. The may have saved his mother, but in destroying the plant, they have destroyed the power source for the majority of Peru's electricity. So now, not only are they running from Dr. Hatch & Elgen, but the Peruvian government has labeled them terrorists and dispatched its army to hunt them down. They have already captured over half of the Electroclan and now it is up to Michael to save them.

While the plot focuses on the saving of Michael's friends, the fact that most of the book lacks the action of the first 2 really does lose a lot of what I loved about the series. In my eyes, this book could have been seriously condensed and made into a novella... but I know that some of the things that happened in it have opened it up for Book 4. I am just hoping that when I read the next book it picks back up and doesn't slow back down when the book after that is released.

Review of Magisterium: The Iron Trial by Holly Black & Cassandra Clare

Review of Holly Black & Cassandra Clare's Magisterium: The Iron Trial

Release Date: September 9th, 2014

Synopsis as found on GoodReads.com:

Most kids would do anything to pass the Iron Trial.

Not Callum Hunt. He wants to fail.

All his life, Call has been warned by his father to stay away from magic. If he succeeds at the Iron Trial and is admitted into the Magisterium, he is sure it can only mean bad things for him.

So he tries his best to do his worst - and fails at failing.

Now the Magisterium awaits him. It's a place that's both sensational and sinister, with dark ties to his past and a twisty path to his future.

The Iron Trial is just the beginning, for the biggest test is still to come . . .

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Excerpts from The Iron Trial:

Fire wants to burn, water wants to flow, air wants to rise, earth wants to bind, chaos wants to devour.

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"I see through the masks of skin you wear," the Devoured continued. "I see your future. One of you will fail. One of you will die. And one of you is already dead."

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My friends and family know how much I love Cassandra Clare. I have been a fan of hers since the first Mortal Instruments book came out and have been a loyal follower of everything she does. I even drove one time to meet her at a small book store 3 hours away (Holly Black was also doing a signing there on the same night, so I met them both). I have also read most of Holly Black's books (Minus the Tithe series, because I am not a big fan of books about Faeries... the see the irony). With all that, I was still nervous to pick up this book. I waited until a friend told me to read it before I even thought about it. I loved the Harry Potter series and this book sounded a little too close to an American version of it.

The characters are different from any either of the authors have written about before. They are each flawed in different ways and that difference is what draws you into the story. Call has been raised thinking all magic is bad and has a limp from the debilitating break in his leg that happened in infancy. You definitely feel for him when he is being picked on and as the story progresses cheer for him when he does well. Tamara comes from a wealthy family of magic users who push her to do well. She has an older sister named Kimiya who also goes to the Magisterium, so she always has that person to look down on her when she isn't doing her best. Aaron has nothing. While he finished as number 1 in the Trial to be accepted into the Magisterium, he comes from a family of regular humans. That is as far as he knows they were human, seeing as how his mother is dead and his father left him when he was a child.

While the characters and general plot may be different than their previous work, there were quite a few scenes in the story where I saw similarities to Clare's previous work. The named blade that Call carries is similar to the Seraph blades that Shadowhunters carry in the Mortal Instruments series. There is a scene where the characters come in contact with a man who was once devoured by fire that brings to mind a scene from City of Bones where a witch with a Demon inside of her fights with the characters in that story. These are just 2 examples and though they might be small, they are noticeable.

I will say this, there is a twist in the story almost to the end. I didn't see it coming and it really made the whole book worth reading. I love when a story ends up being the opposite of what I thought.

Do not read this thinking about Harry Potter or the Mortal Instruments, because I don't want you to pick it apart like I did. I'm going to have to read it again just to love it as much as I was hoping to.