Review of Powerless by Tera Lynn Childs & Tracy Deebs

Advance Review of Tera Lynn Childs & Tracy Deebs' Powerless

Release Date: June 2nd, 2015

Synopsis as found on Amazon.com:



Kenna is tired of being "normal."



The only thing special about her is that she isn't special at all. Which is frustrating when you're constantly surrounded by superheroes. Her best friend, her ex-boyfriend, practically everyone she knows has some talent or power. Sure, Kenna's smart and independent, but as an ordinary girl in an extraordinary world, it's hard not to feel inferior.



So when three villains break into the lab where she interns, Kenna refuses to be a victim. She's not about to let criminals steal the research that will make her extraordinary too.



But in the heat of battle, secrets are spilled and one of the villains saves her life. Twice. Suddenly, everything Kenna thought she knew about good and evil, heroes and villains is upended. And to protect her life and those she loves, she must team up with her sworn enemies on a mission that will redefine what it means to be powerful and powerless...



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From the time I was a very young child, up until around the age of 23, I read a lot of comic books. Although I do not still read them, I will always be a fan of superheroes. No a days, I get my superhero kicks through the movies that are released every year (X-Men, Avengers, Superman, Batman, etc) or the Television shows (Arrow, The Flash, Smallville, etc), as well as through books written about the topic like this one.



In a world where almost everyone is Super, Kenna is only ordinary. Even though she is only a teenager, she works in her mother's lab. While her mother is inventing new serums that help out heroes, Kenna is inventing a serum that will make her like everyone she knows... a Superhero.


This story definitely had some great points to it & a different perspective on what a hero really is. I saw some similarities to another book that I read, which has yet to be released, The School for Sidekicks, where in the main character wishes only to be Super and is caught in a war between Heroes & Villains. This story however, early on, has its main character questioning her beliefs. While she has always had a line drawn in black & white where the Villains are in society (Villains killed her father long before the story began), the people she meets make her looks at things differently.



I can't talk too much about the plot without giving away key bits of the storyline. So I will say that I enjoyed it. I loved the nods to superheroes that we know and love, like Superman & Iron Man, which makes me believe that the story is based in an alternate version of our world, where everyone knows that Heroes/Villains exist, but these characters were still created by DC & Marvel. I thought the romance portion of the story is adequate, but it was a little bit obvious.

Review of I'm With Cupid by Anna Staniszewski

Advance Review of Anna Staniszewski's I'm With Cupid

Release Date: July 7th, 2015

Synopsis as found on Amazon.com:



Marcus is a Cupid. Lena is a Reaper. Opposites attract in the exciting new Switched At First Kiss series by the acclaimed author of The Dirt Diary.



Dared to kiss the adorkable Marcus Torelli at a party, Lena thinks it's the perfect opportunity to cross First Kiss off her list of "Things to Accomplish Before I Turn Fourteen."



It's only when she gets sent on an assignment the next day she realizes something went horribly wrong. That ZING she felt wasn't the thrill of her first kiss – she and Marcus have swapped powers! Lena is not your average eighth grader, she's a soul collector with an serious job to do. And Marcus turns out to be a supernatural matchmaker (like cupid, but without the diaper).



Now logical Lena finds herself with the love touch, and sweet, sentimental Marcus has death at his fingertips. The truth is that Lena should never have taken that dare...because one little kiss has Lena and Marcus in a whole lotta trouble.



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I'm happy to read a quick and fun feel good book, because every once in a while I would like to feel a little mindless and get lost in a book. As an adult who reads YA & Juvie books, sometimes a book can seem a little young, but that is sometimes what I need. This book is definitely meant for Tween Middle Graders, seeing as how the main characters are 13 years old.



I'm With Cupid is read through the eyes of 2 characters; Marcus, who is a matchmaker, & Lena, who is a Soul Collector. They woke up on their respective birthdays, not only a year older, but also with a new important job to do. No one knows or can know about what they do... not even their own families. So what happens when they kiss at a party & switch powers? For a boy with a heart of gold and a sweet demeanor, becoming a Reaper is nothing he can fathom doing for the rest of his life. For a girl who believes love is a chemical reaction in the brain, how can she become a Cupid... when she doesn't even believe in Fate?

This book is definitely family friendly!! I have a lot of parents asking if a book is appropriate for their child, because even if a book is meant for a young reader, it still has profanity & sexual situations. This book does not have anything of the sort in it.

Review of The Rule of Thoughts by James Dashner

Review of James Dashner's The Rule of Thoughts

Release Date: August 26th, 2014

Synopsis as found on GoodReads.com:



From the New York Times bestselling author of the Maze Runner series comes The Rule of Thoughts, the exciting sequel to The Eye of Minds. Fans of the Divergent series by Veronica Roth and The Hunger Games will love the new Mortality Doctrine series.

Michael completed the Path. What he found at the end turned everything he’d ever known about his life—and the world—completely upside down.

He barely survived. But it was the only way VirtNet Security knew to find the cyber-terrorist Kaine—and to make the Sleep safe for gamers once again. And, the truth Michael discovered about Kaine is more complex than they anticipated, and more terrifying than even the worst of their fears.

Kaine is a tangent, a computer program that has become sentient. And Michael’s completing the Path was the first stage in turning Kaine’s master plan, the Mortality Doctrine, into a reality.

The Mortality Doctrine will populate Earth entirely with human bodies harboring tangent minds. Any gamer who sinks into the VirtNet risks coming out with a tangent intelligence in control of their body.

And the takeover has already begun.



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I will start out by saying that I wasn't the biggest fan of The Eye of Minds, but I liked it to an extent that I wanted to see where the story would go after they left off in book 1. Sadly, everything I did actually like from the first book is missing from book 2. There is no extensive gaming world where the characters fight off fictional players (called Tangents in the book) to beat games. There was less mystery and the believability factor went down exponentially.



The whole book takes place in the real world, where, after Michael found out that he had been a Tangent all along, he is now in the body of a human boy. While, the villain of the story, Kaine is still locked inside the game (or so we assume), he has downloaded Tangents in to the bodies of humans all over the world to wreak havoc and chaos.



After reading The Maze Runner series, I really had my hopes up for Dashner's new series, but sadly it is nowhere near as exciting. I realize the premise is completely different and maybe I am just more of a fan of dystopian books, but when there is no real mystery or excitement, the book is not fun to read. This book felt like it dragged on and on... well until the end. Then I just powered through it.



Books I found I liked better from this genre:



Julia Durango's The Leveller
Claudia Gabel & Cheryl Klam's Elusion
Eve Silver's The Game

To name a few...

Review of The Blackcoat Rebellion: Pawn by Aimee Carter

Review of Aimee Carter's The Blackcoat Rebellion: Pawn

Release Date: November 23rd, 2013

Synopsis as found on Amazon.com:



YOU CAN BE A VII. IF YOU GIVE UP EVERYTHING.

For Kitty Doe, it seems like an easy choice. She can either spend her life as a III in misery, looked down upon by the higher ranks and forced to leave the people she loves, or she can become a VII and join the most powerful family in the country.

If she says yes, Kitty will be Masked—surgically transformed into Lila Hart, the Prime Minister's niece, who died under mysterious circumstances. As a member of the Hart family, she will be famous. She will be adored. And for the first time, she will matter.

There's only one catch. She must also stop the rebellion that Lila secretly fostered, the same one that got her killed …and one Kitty believes in. Faced with threats, conspiracies and a life that's not her own, she must decide which path to choose—and learn how to become more than a pawn in a twisted game she's only beginning to understand.



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Excerpt from Pawn:



I'd seen the posters and heard the speeches. Everyone had. We all had our rightful place in society, and it was up to us to decide what that was. Study hard, earn good grades, learn everything we could, and prove we were special. And when we turned seventeen and took the test, we would be rewarded with a good job, a nice place to live, and the satisfaction that we contributed to our society - everything we would ever need to lead a meaningful life.

That was all I'd ever wanted: to prove myself, to prove that I was better than the Extra I really was. To prove I deserved to exist even though I was a second child. To prove the government hadn't made a mistake not sending me Elsewhere.

Now my chance was over, and I hadn't even earned an average IV. Instead of living the meaningful life I'd been promised since before I could remember, I'd managed a III. There was nothing special about me - I was just another Extra who should never have been born in the first place.

I was a waste.



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A great new series from the author of the Goddess Test.

I don't care how many dystopian novels are released, I will always flock to them like a child to candy. I am a huge fan of the genre. I picked this book up a while ago (a year ago, actually), but I get new books every week and am ALWAYS behind in reading no matter how many books I finish a week. It was put on the back burner like so many incredible books. After taking time this week to actually pick it up and read it, I have to say, I wish I had read it sooner. I LOVED it!!


Aimee Carter has crafted a believable world, bringing to mind The Hunger Games or The Jewel, with a casted based system consisting of numbers that are given to 17 year olds after they take a general education test. The public is under the belief that everyone is equal until tested and everyone gets the same fair chance at receiving the opportunity to become something great. Unfortunately, we all know that in most cases, the rich are getting richer, while the poor only stay poor.


For Kitty Doe, an orphan who has grown up in a group home, no amount of studying is enough. No matter how hard she tries, she can not learn to read, and when tested, she receives a III. A IV is all she wanted. She didn't dream big, she just wanted an average life. Now she is being sent away to become a sewer cleaner in a city far away, leaving behind the only "family" she has ever known.


Instead, she decides to leave it all behind and run away to a "club." The clubs are where girls go to make money and rich men go to pay for their companionship. When she is sold in an auction for her first night, it isn't just a senator or celebrity who pays for her company, but the Prime Minister of America, Daxton Hart. He offers her the chance of a lifetime. Leave the club with him, no questions asked, and become a VII, or stay a III forever. He doesn't tell her any more than that. Without much time passing, she chooses to become a VII.

This book was a fresh take on a world similar to some I have read before. There is oppression, cruelty, mystery, death, a strong female character, and the knowledge that at any moment, a character I have grown to love could be killed off. If that isn't suspense, I don't know what is!

Make sure to check out Pawn, and it's sequel, Captive, which was released in November of 2014.

Review of Bloodlines: The Ruby Circle by Richelle Mead

Review of Richelle Mead's Bloodlines: The Ruby Circle

Release Date: February 10th, 2015

Synopsis as found on GoodReads.com:




The epic conclusion to Richelle Mead's New York Times bestselling Bloodlines series is finally here...

Sydney Sage is an Alchemist, one of a group of humans who dabble in magic and serve to bridge the worlds of humans and vampires. They protect vampire secrets—and human lives.

After their secret romance is exposed, Sydney and Adrian find themselves facing the wrath of both the Alchemists and the Moroi in this electrifying conclusion to Richelle Mead’s New York Times bestselling Bloodlines series. When the life of someone they both love is put on the line, Sydney risks everything to hunt down a deadly former nemesis. Meanwhile, Adrian becomes enmeshed in a puzzle that could hold the key to a shocking secret about spirit magic, a secret that could shake the entire Moroi world.


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Wow! What a whirlwind this series has been. The world that Mead has created has gone on non-stop since 2006. A whopping 10 books have come out in both the Vampire Academy & Bloodlines series'. Now that it is over (for now, as Mead stated in the acknowledgements), I don't know how I feel. I thought when Vampire Academy was over, I would never feel sadness at the ending of a series as much as that, but now that I won't have Sydney & Adrian to look forward to every year, I know what true sadness is.


I loved this book!! Maybe not as much in content as the previous 4 books, but for sure in finality to a series. We lost characters, like any good series ending has, but I wasn't as sad with the loss as I have been in the past. The way that Mead has converged all characters into the finale, merging all of the stories, as well as giving (mostly) happy endings really warms my heart. This shows that you really can write a great series without killing off your main character (Divergent)... or her love interest (Too many to list!!!)... or her younger kid sister (Hunger Games)!


If you haven't read one of Richelle Mead's books yet... well then got off your bum and pick one up! If you are basing your ideas of the story on the box office flop (which I actually enjoyed... even if I imagined the characters hotter), then you are sadly missing out. This series is WAY BETTER! Although, most books I've read are immensely better than their movies!

Review of Resonance by Erica O'Rourke

Advance Review of Erica O'Rourke's Resonance

Release Date: July 21st, 2015

Synopsis as found on GoodReads.com:




As a Walker between worlds, Del is responsible for the love of her life—and the fate of millions—in this thrilling sequel to Dissonance.

Del risked everything to save Simon, and now he’s gone, off in another world with no way for Del to find him.

She’s back at the Consort—training to be a Walker like everyone in her family. But the Free Walkers have other plans for her. This rebel group is trying to convince Del that the Consort is evil, and that her parents are unwittingly helping the Consort kill millions of people. The Free Walkers make Del the ultimate promise: if Del joins their fight, she will be reunited with Simon.

In agreeing, Del might be endangering her family. But if she doesn’t, innocent people will die, and Simon will be lost to her forever. The fate of the multiverse depends on her choice...




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Excerpt from Resonance:




Worlds are made by choices both big and small. A pivot forms the instant a decision is made, but it takes on its final resonance gradually, as consequences unfold. Deciding between a hamburger or a hot dog seems minor - but if you choke to death on the hot dog, the effect is huge, and so is the pivot.


High School is full of choices. Some feel monumental but aren't; some feel insignificant but alter everything. Originals don't notice pivots; they move through life only seeing the consequences that affect them directly. Walkers, on the other hand, can't create worlds. We can only visit them. It's for the best; otherwise we'd be paralyzed by the weight of our decisions.




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In the sequel to her imaginative story about a alternate reality walking sub-culture of humans, properly called Walkers, O'Rourke has brought us the continuation of the story of Delancey, or as her friends and family call her, Del.


We are thrown back in right where we left off in the story like no time has passed. Del has just lost Simon, the boy she has pined over since she was in grade school, who she just started dating. They just found out that he was half Walker, on his father's side, and now the reality he was hiding out in has been cleaved from existence. So, she is going through the devastation of that... as well as the realization that she turned her grandfather in for being a Free Walker, a rebel sect of Walkers whose mission is to take down the Consort. So as you can imagine, there is a lot going on from the very beginning.


It comes as a big surprise when she finds out that her music teacher is actually a Free Walker. Mrs. Powell keeps Del after class to throw yet another surprise at her... Simon isn't actually dead. The Free Walkers saved him. But the only way she can ever be with him is to join the Free Walkers.


What should she do? Can she believe that they really have Simon?


This story is so packed with action and surprise after surprise, that my review can't even put a dent in the info without telling you too much. You only 4 months until it comes out... you can make it. If you haven't read Dissonance yet, pick up your copy. This series is one you won't soon forget.

Review of The Leveller by Julia Durango

Advance Review of Julia Durango's The Leveller

Release Date: June 23rd, 2015

Synopsis as found on GoodReads.com:




Nixy Bauer is a self-made Leveller. Her job? Dragging kids out of virtual reality and back to their parents in the real world. It’s normally easy cash, but Nixy’s latest mission is fraught with real danger, intrigue, and romance.

Nixy Bauer is used to her classmates being very, very unhappy to see her. After all, she’s a bounty hunter in a virtual reality gaming world. Kids in the MEEP, as they call it, play entirely with their minds, while their bodies languish in a sleeplike state on the couch. Irritated parents, looking to wrench their kids back to reality, hire Nixy to jump into the game and retrieve them.

But when the game’s billionaire developer loses track of his own son in the MEEP, Nixy is in for the biggest challenge of her bounty-hunting career. Wyn Salvador isn’t some lazy kid looking to escape his homework: Wyn does not want to be found. And he’s left behind a suicide note. Nixy takes the job but quickly discovers that Wyn’s not hiding—he’s being held inside the game against his will. But who is holding him captive, and why?

Nixy and Wyn attempt to fight their way out of a mind game unlike any they’ve encountered, and the battle brings them closer than either could have imagined. But when the whole world is virtual, how can Nixy possibly know if her feelings are real?

Gamers and action fans of all types will dive straight into the MEEP, thanks to Julia Durango’s cinematic storytelling. A touch of romance adds some heart to Nixy’s vivid, multidimensional journey through Wyn’s tricked-out virtual city, and constant twists keep readers flying through to the breathtaking end.  




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Excerpt from The Leveller:




My ear trans begins the frequency code and a few seconds later I wake up in the Landing, the MEEP entry zone. A three-story virtual mall of glass and gold, the Landing sparkles like a shopaholic heaven, enticing faithful spenders into the fold. Filled with dozens of flashy boutiques, stores, and salons, here you can purchase character enhancements for your avatar, as well as costumes, weapons, tools... anything you might want or need for the world you've created.


I usually skip the shopping spree. First of all, it costs real money, and I need every penny I earn to go to my college savings, not pretend makeovers. And second, I like my avatar to look like me, no enhancements; it's one of my personal rules, and I pride myself of it.




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An enticing look into what could happen if the world of gaming became a whole lot more realistic. This story was packed full of action, because what video game isn't... as well as mystery, and romance.


Nixy is a Leveller. She is tasked by parents to bring their children out of  the virtual world and back into the real. Her motto is Nixy Bauer, home in an hour... and she doesn't get paid unless she follows that. When she gets a new contract, the son of her parent's boss has gone missing, her motto will be the least of her worries. Wyn Salvador has been missing for days into his personal world inside of the MEEP. His father, Diego Salvador, is the creator of MeaParadisus Inc (MEEP for short), as well as Nixy's parent's boss. Quite a few trained computer programmers have gone in to find Wyn, but all have failed. Now it's her turn! Where grown adults have failed, a 16 year old girl is sent to do what no one else can.


Inside the MEEP she will find horrors like she can't imagine, a plot by a mysterious hacking group to shut down MeaParadisus, a beautiful boy who will both save her and be saved by her... and all of it will change her. But will she be able to save the day?


I have read a few Virtual Reality/Gaming books that had similar ideas, so I know that sometimes stories can be very similar in idea, but so different execution. This story is a breathe of fresh air. Although I was able to guess in quite a few places where the plot was going to be taken, I was still surprised by a lot.


If the synopsis entices you, I say you should definitely pick up this book when it is released in June! Here are some other books that are about Virtual Reality or Gaming:


James Dashner's The Eye of Minds
Claudia Gabel & Cheryl Klam's Elusion
Carol Snow's Bubble World
Eve Silver's The Game series

Review of A Wicked Thing by Rhiannon Thomas

Advance Review of Rhiannon Thomas' A Wicked Thing

Release Date: February 4th, 2015

Synopsis as found on GoodReads.com:




Rhiannon Thomas's dazzling debut novel is a spellbinding reimagining of Sleeping Beauty and what happens after happily ever after.

One hundred years after falling asleep, Princess Aurora wakes up to the kiss of a handsome prince and a broken kingdom that has been dreaming of her return. All the books say that she should be living happily ever after. But as Aurora understands all too well, the truth is nothing like the fairy tale.

Her family is long dead. Her "true love" is a kind stranger. And her whole life has been planned out by political foes while she slept.

As Aurora struggles to make sense of her new world, she begins to fear that the curse has left its mark on her, a fiery and dangerous thing that might be as wicked as the witch who once ensnared her. With her wedding day drawing near, Aurora must make the ultimate decision on how to save her kingdom: marry the prince or run.

Rhiannon Thomas weaves together vivid scenes of action, romance, and gorgeous gowns to reveal a richly imagined world … and Sleeping Beauty as she’s never been seen before.  




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This beautiful re-telling of after Sleeping Beauty wakes from her 100 year sleep brings a totally new perspective on what happens when the happily ever after that was always promised isn't so happy.


It has been many years since I read any version of the Sleeping Beauty tale, so I had to look up what happened in the original. Like most people, I mainly remember Disney's version, which like most fairy tales is skewed for a younger audience. It was hard to separate all the versions in my head, so at times I found that I was confusing myself.


I enjoyed this story, once I read up on the original, but wish Thomas had stated in an Author's Note which version that her story is based around... or maybe even wrote her own version of the tale. But maybe that can be a task for another book in the series, a prequel.


Seeing as how this is an Advance of the book, I don't want to give anything away. I will give you a little of what I liked that will not ruin the story for you. Once we began hearing Aurora's back story, I liked that Thomas had not made the tale centered on Magic. While there was a curse and an evil witch, there are not a ton of Fairies around trying to save the day. While I would enjoy one or two Fairies, I am not a huge fan of stories centering on Fair Folk. I am very happy that this is not your typical happily ever after. If it was, it wouldn't be as exciting as it was. The Prince is not the perfect, manly, swoon worthy character you expect. He is young, scrawny, and awkward. This opens up the door for other love interests, or maybe she will pick the nerd. That would change things up, right? I am happy that this is 1 of a series of books that will center on Sleeping Beauty. While I love series like Cinder, I want to know more about Aurora.


I hope you enjoyed what I've told you about this story, because I am very happy with the outcome so far. It was a beautiful tale that was anything but predictable. I definitely recommend this to fans of classic fairy tale re-telling's, as well as fans of strong female characters. If you have any questions about what you should read, please feel free to message me at any time or comment in this blog entry.

Review of Frozen by Erin Bowman

Review of Erin Bowman's Frozen

Release Date: April 15th, 2014

Synopsis as found on GoodReads.com:


The Heists were only the beginning.

Gray Weathersby escaped from the primitive town of Claysoot expecting to find answers, but what he discovered shook him to the core: A ruthless dictator with absolute power. An army of young soldiers blinded by lies. And a growing rebellion determined to fight back.

Now Gray has joined a team of rebels on a harsh, icy journey in search of allies who can help them set things right. But in a world built on lies, Gray must constantly question whether any ally—or enemy—is truly what they seem…


Synopsis as found on Amazon.com:


The second book in Erin Bowman's gripping Taken trilogy, Frozen, will thrill fans of dystopian sci-fi series like Michael Grant's Gone and James Dashner's The Maze Runner.


Gray Weathersby has escaped Claysoot and uncovered the truth behind the Laicos Project and the Order's twisted plans. Determined to fight back, his small group of rebels is on the hunt for more answers and more allies—a search that will take them on a harrowing journey across a frozen wasteland, and even deeper into a world built on the Order's lies.


In Frozen, discover more of the nonstop action and riveting plot twists that made Marie Lu, New York Times bestselling author of the Legend trilogy, call Taken "an action-packed thrill ride from beginning to end."

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Excerpt from Frozen:


I tell him everything.


I explain how Frank set up five test groups across AmEast. How he forced societies under various living conditions to create his own brand of soldiers. How he Heisted boys at eighteen, and in the case of Saltwater, the occasional girl at sixteen. I tell him about the Forgeries, Frank's plan to replicate each Heisted subject for his ongoing battle with AmWest, and his end goal of limitless replicas, an expendable army of soldiers, which I fear he's finally accomplished. I end with how the Rebels spotted Group A's people on the screens in Frank's control room and decided to investigate.


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It had been too long since I read the first book in this series, Taken, so like I regularly do, I played catch up while I read. Now I remembered the basis of the book, but it was the names, back stories, and anything minor that happened before that I do not always retain. By the 3rd or 4th Chapter, I was pretty much caught up.


I liked the plot behind this series when I first picked up Taken. A city blocked off by a wall that loses some of their men at the age of 18, while anyone who tries to climb the wall are found dead. It was once we found out who was behind the people being trapped in this city and why they were being kept there that my interest died a little. I have to say, though, I still enjoyed the first book a lot.


In reading book 2, I feel the story lost some of its momentum. So from the beginning, it felt like it was struggling to pick up. I like how the story unfolded, because I definitely did not see Frozen ending like it did.


We find the characters on their journey to the only walled city that did not survive, Group A. The rebels have seen movement on the cameras that are still active in the city, even though all of the test subjects have supposedly been killed off or died. The journey across AmEast to get there is a dangerous one. They have to stay off of the Order's radar and getting to their destination without any casualties. Along the way, they find out that not everything is as it seems... as well as not everyone is who they seem? Could it be that one of Frank's Forgeries has invaded their team?


They not only have to try to find survivors to recruit for the coming fight, but also try not to give away the location of Headquarters. The Order will stop at nothing to stop this rebellion and it is hard trying to figure out who to trust when not everyone is who they thought they were.


Get ready for a lot of twists, turns, and deceit!

Review of The Lunar Chronicles: Fairest by Marissa Meyer

Review of Marissa Meyer's The Lunar Chronicles: Fairest

Release Date: January 27th, 2015

Synopsis as found on GoodReads.com:


In this stunning bridge book between Cress and Winter in the bestselling Lunar Chronicles, Queen Levana’s story is finally told.
Mirror, mirror on the wall,
Who is the fairest of them all?

Fans of the Lunar Chronicles know Queen Levana as a ruler who uses her “glamour” to gain power. But long before she crossed paths with Cinder, Scarlet, and Cress, Levana lived a very different story – a story that has never been told . . . until now.

Marissa Meyer spins yet another unforgettable tale about love and war, deceit and death. This extraordinary book includes full-color art and an excerpt from Winter, the next book in the Lunar Chronicles series.


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Excerpt from Fairest:


Having control over the blue planet would solve all of her political problems. Luna's need for resources and land and a larger labor force. She did not want to go down in history as the fairest queen this little moon had ever known. She wanted to be known through history as the fairest queen of the galaxy. As the ruler who united Luna and Earth under one monarchy.


The yearning grew quietly at first, taking the place in her belly where a child should have been. It thrived somewhere so deep inside her she hadn't even known it existed until one day she looked up at the planet hanging, mocking her, just out of reach, and she almost fell to her knees with the strength of her want.


The more time that passed, the more that desire dug its talons into her.


She deserved Earth.


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I love the Lunar Chronicles so much and as I've said before, I am a huge fan of Fairy Tales re-told in a new way. Each of Meyer's books in this series pertains to a different Fairy Tale: Cinder (Cinderella), Scarlet (Little Red Riding Hood), and Cress (Rapunzel). This book, Fairest, is actually a companion book to the next and final book that is supposed to be released later this year, Winter. While Fairest is about Levana's back story and how she became the Evil ruler she is, Winter will be a re-telling of Snow White.


I was actually shocked after the first 3 books painted Levana as the evil tyrant, I was happy to find out that she does have a softer side... well, did is probably the more proper terminology. Fairest shows us what can turn a sweet innocent child into a power crazed murderer. We find out exactly what happened to her to give her the scars that cover her body (which are the reason she is constantly veiled and glamoured) as well as what made her attempt to murder her baby neice, Selene (Cinder). And while this book may be only a companion book and consist of 217 pages (as well as the excerpt from the upcoming final book, Winter), it does really pack in a lot of information and back story.


Marissa Meyer knows how to captivate an audience with her writing. She could write about anything and I would read it... well maybe not anything, but you get the picture. I will say that I did not read the excerpt for Winter, because I don't like starting a book without being able to finish it. I would rather just read the entire book at once. I am already excited to find out how the series ends, I don't want to torture myself with only a small taste.


If you love this series, be sure to check out to check out The School for Good and Evil by Soman Chainani, Cruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodge, Tiger's Curse by Colleen Houck, Of Beast and Beauty by Stacey Jay, and Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine... just to name a few.