Hey! Keep your filaments to yourself!

The Future We Left Behind, or 1.4, by Mike Lancaster.  I just found out that this book is a sequel. I had no idea! I was reading and reading, worrying to myself that I knew the end was coming and I my dread was growing. I didn't want it to end. Since I had not read the first book, I was dropped into a world like ours with obvious differences, but had no idea why everyone was treating the major changes as normal. The biggest being these filament things that let people network with each other - they kind of reminded me of the tails on the blue people from Avatar. And apparently, earth is just a giant living storage unit for some other race of beings or overlords unknown. We even get periodic updates. Sweet! Wait...hmm...can you see this being a bad thing? Yeah, me too. And that's why I couldn't stop reading. It was like watching mankind head towards an oncoming train and I couldn't decide if I should shout "Stop!" or just watch and see what happens. Great sci-fi mystery story here. I will be scurrying off to read Mr. Lancaster's first installment to see what gaps I am suffering with that are filled in there.  I give it 4.5 out of 5 robotic bees.

Splintered by A.G. Howard

I love Alice in Wonderland.  Not Disney's Alice in Wonderland.  The original Alice in Wonderland is far better to me, especially since Disney tends to side-step creepy.  I like creepy.  Creepy isn't gory, or obscene, or vulgar.  It's just creepy.  Enter Splintered.  Guess what?  It's creepy.  I love it.  I discovered that I would love it when I read the description of the "white rabbit."  *Appreciative shudder*  So, basically, Alyssa's family is living under a curse because Alice messed up Wonderland.  Every gal in Alyssa's bloodline gets kookier than the Mad Hatter.  Alyssas' own mother is in the looney bin and Alyssa fears her time there is fast approaching.  And (joy of joys!) she enters Wonderland.  A Wonderland, by the way, that is not blanketed in pixie dust, smiles, and "oh gosh, geee willikers!" kinds of characters.  This is Tim Burton, depressed, on Ritalin.  I loved it.  I loooooooved it.  I will read it again.  And then take a break because it creeps me out.  And then read the parts I highlighted.  And then read them out loud to friends.  And watch their faces change from interested to unsettled.  And then read it to myself and realize how creepy it was that I just read that to my best friend.  And then repeat the creepiest part just so we both shudder.  Oh the anticipation!  5 out of 5 hat boxes to A. G. Howard.  You wrote a romping good tale!

I'm Allergic to Daylight. It's like being a really uncool Vampire.

What We Saw at Night byJacquelyn Mitchardwas something of a mystery to me when I started reading it. I was sitting in my deer stand (hunting, yes) with no luck and decided a good murder mystery might bring me some good fortune. It took me a while to get into the story and I was thoroughly confused when the gymnastic-blackbelt-building-hopping showed up, but it all worked in its own way. The pace was a little slow (even for someone who was just passing time between deer sightings) and I found that the story spent a lot of time emphasizing elements that I just didn't care about i.e. Juliet's total self-absorption and Allie's secret lifelong love of Rob. I didn't ruin anything for you. This is YA we're talking about. If the lead character is a gal, there's going to be a guy - that's just where YA is stuck right now. The murder mystery itself was OK. For a while, the reader gets no insight into the events, which makes it frustrating if you are trying to outwit the writer, but eventually you are given a quick chance to guess the culprit before the reveal. AND THEN COMES A PLOT TWIST! That part, me likey. Then a totally abrupt ending. Me no likey. I didn't feel compelled to read a sequel, hoping for some stand-alone fun, but I may look it up on Wikipedia later just to see how things turned out.  I give it 3 out of 5 glow stars.

The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken

This is a first for me. I found a YA stand-alone novel that I want to be a series! We've got kids who start fires with their brains, kids who can control your thoughts, kids who are ridiculous smart, and kids with telekinesis! Oh, and we have the adults who have imprisoned them. ARE YOU INTRUIGUED? This book starts as a horrible re-creating of detention camp life and moves on to an economically broken, paranoid, dangerous United States which is seemingly devoid of all heart. *sigh* I'm in love. 5 out of 5 golden cleaning vans to this mind-blowing (that's funny if you've read it) novel by Alexandra Bracken. The descriptions were amazing, the plot interesting (and a little believable), and the characters actually evoked emotional responses in me. *sigh again* I recommend this book. No, I highly recommend it. No, wait, hold still and look into my eyes and I'll just MAKE you like it.

Addition: Just found out it will be a trilogy! Huzzah!

The title that made no sense to me:

Innocent Darkness by Suzanne Lazear.  I like faeries.  That's the fae. Not Tinkerbell.  And this story is really, really not Tinkerbell.  Alternate history here, with steam power ruling all and ladies' worlds reduced to dresses, decorum, and marriage prospects.  Oh, and the fae are all going to die unless a superbly special human girl glowing with imagination is sacrificed soon. *bites knuckles for emphasis*  So, Noli is our girl here and she's got a problem.  Mom has locked her away unknowingly in a ridiculously awful "school" that is bent on turning her into something of a Stepford Wife.  If that was her only problem, life would be easy.  But we have this handsome, charming, gentleman enter the scene who seems to be acting for Noli's benefit but has deep motives she doesn't know about.  And then there's the boy Noli likes back home...

Anyway, what would you do?  Would you sacrifice yourself to save a world for 7 years, knowing that someone will have die again in 7 years to let the world continue?  Would you look for a scapegoat?  Would you tell the boy you love him?

4 out of 5 faerie rings for Suzanne.  *sigh* Since this is going to be a series, can you please make the following installments as interesting as this one?

Poison Most Vial by Benedict Carey

This was a quick read but a surprisingly interesting one. I thoroughly enjoy mysteries. Give me Nancy Drew and Veronica Mars in a death match show down and I'm having a good time. This story had a lot of fun elements - quirky sidekick, mysterious old woman who is this crazy amazing source of intel, hidden (or at least, overlooked) passageways and, of course, MUUUUURRRDDDEEERRRR! I enjoyed the twists, the building urgency, and the simplicity of a good clue-hunt-style mystery. Great for middle school. I, however, got a little stuck on details, which were sometimes lacking. If I was, in fact, a middle-schooler, I would probably be giving it 5 out of 5 golden suspects, but, as an adult, I will give it a solid 3.5.

The trees...they're shiny

Imagine a world without plants.  Well, that sucks.  Oh, and no animals either.  Yep, Really sucks.  Oh, and you only get to eat popcorn because genetically modified corn is the only thing that the flesh-eating locusts can't devour.  Oh, and there are flesh-eating locusts.  You've got the setting for Rootless by Chris Howard, now you need a story and, let's face it, it had better be pretty darn good 'cuz that future is sounding pretty bleak.  NEVER FEAR!!!  Enter Banyan, our fearless hero...well, our fearless artists who creates metalwork forests for the rich.  He's got a real gift for it, especially considering that he's never seen a real tree.  But he hears that trees may still exist somewhere, so the quest begins!  There's a tattoo involved that kept giving me a strong Waterworld feeling, but that wasn't too distracting.  The action sometimes was a little slow for me, but the author was ready with a number of surprises to keep me reading.  The ending was great.  Unsettling, yes, but still so interesting.  I give this story 4 out of 5 golden leaves.  I think there is a book 2 in the works.  I'm not upset by that, but I don't need to read it.  Rootless stood very well on its own.

Life is better with more money...right?

The grass is always greener on the other side of the parallel dimension that you think will get you the perfect life but really turns out to be not so great and you regret your decision to even go there. Isn't that how the saying goes? Don't you Wish by Roxanne St. Claire explores exactly what happens when fates, science, and wishes combine to catapult a teenage girl into the dream life she always wanted.  Annie, the female lead in this story, is quite a 'real' character.  She feels complete; her decisions are in line with her personality.  And oh the hilarity as she throws everyone for a loop when she enters an alternate reality where nothing she does makes sense for the girl she's supposed to be.  Nice side plots about family, choices, and humanity.  It was a crazy ride, but I salute anyone who tries to talk quantum mechanics with teenagers.  Roxanne, I salute thee!  I also give you 4 out of 5 electronic mirrors as a bonus.

Alpha BETA Charlie Delta!!!

Ooo!  Cloning!  Something that thoroughly intrigues me in YA Lit.  Especially when the authors don't really have a good explanation for how it works so they just gloss over that part and dive right into all the meaty, cloney goodness.  Beta by Rachel Cohn was definitely a worthwhile addition to the cloning literature world.  I enjoyed the world within the world that Cohn created and completely believe that humans, in general, are arrogant and selfish enough to create an entire population of individuals with no rights to serve them day in and day out.  We can't have slaves? Let's get clones!  You know from the start, of course, that something is different about Elysia (seriously, that's her name) and you kind of figure she'll be a headliner for Clones Gone Wild, but the story execution was very well done. Kudos to the author.  There were enough twists and turns to make it all so interesting and definitely set up enough meat for a sequel, which some YA books lack and bank only on a superficial cliffhanger.  It gets 5 out of 5 strawberry shakes and I look forward to reading the next installment!

A father. A son. And a gun.

Ooooo! Sounds action-packed and crazy, right?  OK, maybe not. Maybe more angst-ridden and internal than I had hoped-for.  Fitz by Mick Cochrane is not a bad story, but it was not something I would have normally picked up.  It reminded me of Walter Dean Meyers' books, but I'm not entirely sure why...
If you're up for a romping good time spending the day with a boy and his dad as they visit the office, the zoo, catch lunch together, and have a jam session on the front porch, then find a different book.  You'll get all of that here, but what you really need to be looking for if you want to enjoy this book is awkward conversation, embarrassment, and frustration as a boy tries to connect with his estranged dad in a way that only would make sense in a teenage boy's mind.  It gets 3 out of 5 golden revolvers from me and I really hope that kid cheers up soon.

Oooo! The Harrowing!

Dark Star by Bethany Frenette.  This was an amusing read. I think, however, that the author bit off more than her audience can chew. We had this interesting Tarot card thing going on with the main character. Fine. We have a superhero mother. Fine. We have parallel dimensions housing demons bent on making everyone miserable just because they are. Hm. Yeah, think there were a few too many pies being sliced here. My favorite parts, by far, were the superhero sections. I just have a weakness for them, I suppose. Loved the main character's friends, but wasn't overly sold on the girl herself. I wasn't constantly annoyed by her or anything; she just won't make my top ten heroines list. 3 out of 5 homemade cookies. Yay for a YA stand-alone novel!

Loop-de-Loop

Flutter. What a great title. So many possibilities! And can I just say a little personal "Thank You!" to Gina Linko for choosing such an interesting concept? I can? OK. Thank you Gina Linko! I spent so much time reading this book that I got eye-strain and had to take a nap. Under duress because I did not want to stop reading. When our beloved protagonist Emery started "looping," I was very interested. I resolved to figure out what was happening before the author revealed it. So she's shifting back and forth between realities, visiting a few select ones more than others. Well into the book, I was patting myself on the back for having figured it out. I got this Gina Linko. I see where you're going. I think it's...I'M WRONG?!?! Yep, wrong. Totally wrongity-wrong wrong wrong. And I loved being wrong. It was great. The reveal was fantastic, if utterly sad. One of those times where you go "Oh! I'm so glad that things all worked out even though it's totally unfortunate." (Maybe you've never had one of those times. If not, read this book and you'll understand what I mean.) 4 out of 5 decorative ponies to Gina Linko. I had a fun time reading with you.

We'd like to extent your credit limit to...ridiculous

What the dickens just happened to me? I think I may have just gotten slapped with a halibut, or maybe I just read something completely original. Blood Zero Sky by J. Gabriel Gates has a believable, if unfortunate outlook on the future. Governments have been privatized and cash is pretty much debunk. Instead, everyone is given a line of credit, which they work to pay off. But hard work gives you more credit, opening up opportunity to get new shiny toys and go further in debt. Pretty much, every working person is in debt for their entire life. The point of the system is that you won't pay it off; you'll be indebted to the company forever. (Side note- Nabisco as a world superpower just cracks me up.) May is one of the few people that should be able to reach Blackie status and escape debt, but she's the company president's daughter, which could have something to do with it. So if you aren't going to be a Blackie...why not just dig yourself into bottomless debt and stop going to work? Because if your debt outweights your usefulness, you can be shipped off to a work camp. Believe me, you DON'T want to go to a work camp. So this is the backdrop for our story. Now May starts out being a little happy peon of the system, but I'm sure you can imagine that she doesn't necessarily end up there. I didn't always buy into May's motivations, but I really enjoyed learning about the world Gates created. I almost wish the latter half had included more fleshing out of the system and how others live in it than the completely removed world of the revolutionaries. I give it 4 out of 5 cross implants and hope that our televangelists have a little more moral fiber than this story's religious mogul.debt

My name? I saw it on a backpack. Call me Jansport.

Partials.  Now here was a book I could sink my teeth into. Yes, if I had read a hard copy and not an ebook version, I would have grasped it firmly in my jaws and torn out the first quarter of the book and discarded it. Then I would have nothing negative to say about it.

What I'm getting at is that it starts out much too slow. I read the first quarter of it and stopped, promising myself that I did not have to finish it if I didn't want to. Then I started reading something else. Then I forgot what Partials was about. A few months later I saw the title on my kindle and thought it looked interesting, only to discover I had already started it! By the time I realized it was a book I had chosen not to finish, the action had started and I really dug in!

So, people created a super race to pretty much be slaves. AND THEY REVOLTED?!?!?! Wow, big surprise. And now humans can't reproduce and the partials are dying out. And Kira, our protagonist, is the only person with a soul, apparently, who feels some empathy for the partials (whom we see in the character of Samm). I'm totally hooked.  We get to see Government Gone Wild (is that available on Blu-Ray?) and get to feel like we're sitting in on one of Dr. House's cases as Kira's work always seems like it's just about to work....and doesn't.

And the best part??? IT'S A STAND-ALONE NOVEL!!! Wait, what? It's not? Oh, well-played YA multi-book series trap, you've caught yourself another one. Dan Wells, did you jump in that pit, or were you pushed?

Yeah, well, MY grandpa was a super hero

I read Alienation without realizing it was the second in a series. The story, while not compelling to me, would definitely hold the interest of middle school-aged boys, whom I am hoping are the target audience. Alienation takes a nice angle on secret government agencies and extraterrestrial threats, but don't expect anything ground-breaking here (I mean, the kid is named Colt, c'mon). Just a solid punch-the-alien-in-the-face-and-call-it-a-day story, WITH JETPACKS! 3 out of 5 golden electrostatic repulsors to Mr. Jon Lewis. I may not read your other CHAOS stories, but this one was a fine way to pass the time.

Naomi and the Horse-flavored T-Shirt

I tried to have an open mind. I gave it a chance. It failed. All I could hear in my head while I read this was "Soylent Green is made of PEOPLE!" 1 out of 5 loaves of paste. Not a winner in my book.  Sorry Dan Boehl.

Quarantine by John Smolens

This story was...hmmm...interesting. I love historical fiction. Oh, and theres' a plague? BONUS! And a creepy, lecherous cretin with bad teeth and a lazy eye? OK, I could have done with less of him. I'm reading it thinking "This would be great for teens!" until I came to a certain scene where the mother of the house walks in on her adult son (THE CRETIN!) in a very compromising position and begins reaming him out while he continues his deplorable activities with a random young lady as if she never entered. There were a number of these scenes which just caught me off guard and made me wonder about the target audience age. For some reason, the gruesome details of the plague effects seemed fine to me - probably because you saw it coming if you knew what the book was about. But the gratuitous naughty bits could have been down-played without having a detrimental effect on the story. It gets 4 out of five clams, would have been a 5 if there was less of the cretin, or even just the removal of that one icky scene.

You're a PALE!

Oh why, WHY must you be a novella? When I read the blurb about Pale by Chris Wooding, I could not wait to read it. When I got it, it went straight to the top of my "to-read" pile and was quickly devoured. The concept is great - you can avoid death, but it makes you a pariah. Wonderful, WONDERFUL examples of bigotry and how senseless and cruel it is. I was invested in the story from the start and wish there had been about 200 pages longer!

The Deserter

A creative combination of Sharp North and The Matrix, this Peadar Ó Guilín book works well as a stand-alone novel even though it is a sequal.  The characters are shockingy authentic and the world is well-developed and complete.  I would recommend this story to high school and college students who enjoy sci-fi or dystopic novels.  It is a much faster read than its length suggests.

False Memory by Dan Krokos

"Go Go Power Rangers! The Mighty Morph..." oh, wait, that's something else. Sorry, I get so confused. Ahh, yes, False Memory by Dan Krokos. First off, I must have enjoyed the story. I read it in one sitting. But...but...is it ironic that I'm having trouble remembering it? I remember the basic storyline, but the details are lost....Nevertheless, we shall power on! OK, good things about this book: 1) fighting scenes 2) magnetic armor (want!) 3) cliffhanger leaves me wanting more, and 4) kids with superpowers! Alright, moving on to the things I didn't like so much about this book: 1) cliffhanger leaves me wanting more...not a whole new story, just a resolution 2) kids with superpowers! See how you can read that sentence two totally different ways? For once, I'd like the non-superpower kid to have his day. We can't all blow up cars with our minds...(no matter how hard we try...) So, I did enjoy this book, but I wish it had been a well-resolved stand-alone novel instead of falling into the multi-book scheme that's trapping all YA novels recently. HOLD ON DAN KROKOS! I'LL THROW YOU A ROPE! PULL YOURSELF FREE FROM THE YA TRILOGY PIT!

If all the raindrops were lemondrop and gumdrops...

Oooo, I was all excited to read The Sinister Sweetness of Splendid Academy and it did not disappoint! Horrify me! Shock me! Stun me! Feed me? Alright, so I felt a little squidgy every time someone started eating, but seriously, that was the point. I thought that it read a little like the Ramona Quimby books. Think of the possibilities! Ramona and the Overfed Class, Ramona and the Marzipan, or even Ramona and Her Stepmother. I liked the plot very much, though the ending was a tad weak. I was hoping that a certain diet-obsessed someone would have been involved in the climax (and not necessarily as a hero). Overall, it gets 4 out of 5 marzipan cookies and a fervent hope that Nikki Loftin rewrites more fairy tales.

Intentions by Deborah Heiligman

So, what happens to you when you lose all faith in humanity? Evidently, its' a mix of promiscuity, experimentation, and trouble with school. Now, to be fair, Intentions did a great job of finding a series of events that are *almost* believable. Almost. Meaning not. Not believable. What are the odds, really, of one spunky, happy-go-lucky teen falling down the slippery slope of substance abuse, crime, and pathetic woe-is-me depression and then be reborn from the ashes of understanding in under 300 pages? Any math majors out there want to tackle that one? This book was a means of passing time, but that time has passed, and so has my patience for this book. Read it if you want, but don't hold out for any warm fuzzies or personal epiphanies.

Shhhhh!!!!

The Silent by Rebecca Kenney was a breath of fresh, morally competent air for me in a swamp of angsty, spoiled, self-indulgent teens that so regularly romp through YA literature.  Threats come against our heroine's school and she is asked by local authorities not to act, but to watch and listen.  Much more likely to happen than her being secretly trained as an undercover spy, fitted out with a minicam and bullet-proof vest and storming the school with an assault rifle and high heels.  She's a regular, Christian girl dealing with real-world issues, and she handles them with integrity.  I recommend this story for anyone who needs a refreshing break from promiscuity, underage drinking, and kids with superpowers.  Read it.  You'll like it.

This is Erebos

Ursula Poznanski, you wily minx.  Erebos is about a highly addictive video game that spills over into real life.  You complete a quest in the game, then are asked to complete a random task in the 3-D world.  It may seem random, or weird, or dangerous, but you do it.  Why? Because the game won't let you back in until you do. And you have to play. You. HAVE. to. Play.  What struck me as funny was that the book mimicked the game a little too well.  I found myself ignoring my chores, running late, and missing sleep because I just wanted to read a little more (please just a little more!)  The story was addicting. I had to know how far Nick would go. I had to find out which schoolmates matched up with each game character.  I had to know why this game even existed.  And all of my hard work paid off.  I found the answers.  And Ms. Poznanski didn't leave a cliffhanger to allow for an easy fall into the YA trilogy pit of despair! She gets a cookie AND a full life meter for that feat!

Girls of a Feather

Feather by Susan Page Davis turned out to bee more than I dared hope for.  Historical fiction gives me tingles while post-apocalyptic stories give me shudders of anticipation.  I was tingling and shuddering all over the place!  Now, as you will quickly learn, not everything in life is all happy-go-lucky.  Getting kidnapped, in fact, has its downsides.  But the truly courageous rise above persecution and lift their fists in triumph!  Yeah, well, courage only gets you so far; it also helsp to have a marketable skill.  You fletch arrows?  We shoot arrows!  Ba-da-bing, Feather finds her place in the enemy camp and ends up doing alright for herself.  Her brother, poor little left behind Karsh, seems to be having a harder time with Feather's situation than she is.  I really did enjoy that it was not all sheer dumb luck that improved Feather's circumstances, but something she actively did.  Yay for adding value to a sitaution!  But can I say that her new buddy Tag's little pet seemed a tad far-fetched to me?  4 out of 5 golden arrows to Ms. Davis.  Nicely done.

Did I do that?

Did you ever read one of those books where you knew what was happening, knew what was going to happen, but still really enjoyed the way the author got from A to B?  That's how I felt about One Moment by Kristina McBride.  So Maggie and her beau are hanging out with friends when some tragedy strikes and he falls to his death off of a cliff!!! *GASP* (No spoiler alert here because you learn this in the first few pages.)  Maggie subsequently can't remember what happened. Convenient, eh?  I think you already have enough to go on to figure out whose fault the fall was...But it doesn't matter!  You get sucked into this annoyingly captivating high school world where it seems important that you FIND OUT WHY!  I wasn't completely moved by the story; I didn't have a great epiphany about what's important in life.  But I did enjoy the ride.  3 out of 5 beaded bracelets for this one.  Could have been 4 if the author had given teens more credit and foregone the underage drinking.  Yes, it happens, but not to everyone and those that abstain need more attention in recent literature.

I'll see your government secrets and I'll raise you a sweater

 My friend read half of Code Name Verity before I picked it up. Then she took a break while I read the entire thing. She asked me "Is it worth finishing?" I looked at her silently and nodded. I ccouldn't tell her anything about it. She already knew the plot. (Lady spy gets captured by Gestapo in France and starts spewing secrets to stay alive during WWII.) I can't say anything about it except this: If you ask me if it is worth reading, I will look at you silently and nod.

Hi, I'm Jason. Nice to meet you Jason. I'm Jason.

Replication by Jill Williamson was a great read. I am a huge fan of dystopic novels and this one, while not truly dystopic, had enough of the reveals of that genre to keep my interest. If I can take any issue with it, Martyr (you'll meet him early on) was a bit overdone in regards to what his name suggests. Give the guy a flaw, please. Then we can all sit and hope that we might meet someone like him someday. I liked that the Christian fiction aspects of it worked without being too overwhelming. Every once in a while, I knew it was going to get to be a little much, but I understood why and probably just seemed overdone because I am a strong Christian and have heard what was being said many times before. I liked this book and am fully prepared to give it 4 out of 5 orange napkin ties.

Chimera is the new sexy

Revealing Eden, Book 1 in the Save the Pearls series by Victoria Foyt, brought some very interesting concepts into play.  Caucasians becoming the lower class due to overwhelming numbers of other races?  I can't believe it hasn't happened yet.  Creating genetic mutations in people? Probably not too far out there.  Humans destroying their own world enough that living outside is toxic? Probably not too far out there, either.  We do have a tendency to mess up a good thing.  I enjoyed the plot line of the story, but found myself yawning every time the main gal inwardly oohed and ahhed over the main guy's flexing muscles, graceful lope, and penetrating eyes.  Are we ever going to come up with new ways to describe a teenage girl to fawn over a bad boy?  WAIT! Maybe if we turn him into a CHIMERA! ....hmmm, nope, that didn't work.

OK, maybe he's not really a chimera, because they left out the goat, but come on: take one part arrogant male eye-candy, add one part snake, one part bird of prey(not quite the chimeric dragon, but you get my drift), and one part jaguar and shake thoroughly.  What do you get?  Something that I couldn't picture clearly but closely resembled Panthro from Thundercats in my mind.  What started out as a dystopic adventure started morphing into Beauty and the Beast visit the Amazon.  I enjoyed the read, but am not overly enthralled by it.  I still give it 4 out of 5 stars, and will now be searching the internet for old episodes of Thundercats.

Did I Just Read The Help?

Well, yes I did, but Yellow Crocus by Laila Ibrahim was actually the book I finished.  It was like it was created to be a sister story to The Help. Not in a bad way.  Instead of free, much-overworked and abused Black housekeepers, it focused on a very not-free, much-overworked, and struggling house slave.  I enjoyed that the story was told from two very different viewpoints - something that became more and more significant as the book progressed.  I cheered for Mattie but found myself frustrated with Lisbeth (which is only to be expected based on the fact that she sometimes acted like a snooty little rich girl...which she is) but eventually liking her.  I give this book 4 out of 5 stars and think that anyone who enjoyed reading The Help would not be disappointed by this story.

My dear, aren't you a bit...Peculiar?

It's very hard for me to stop reading a book just because I'm not really enjoying it.  I always want to give the author the benefit of the doubt that things are going to get better/more exciting/different/etc.  Sometimes, though, the attempt is a lesson in futility.  The Peculiars by Maureen Doyle McQuerry was a good story, but I found myself raising my hand saying "Edit, please!"  The exciting parts went by too fast, the lead-up for exciting events was similar to the lead-up for not-so-exciting events, and I found myself wishing that a careful red pen or white-out would have shaved 50 pages from the book.
Now, the story itself was a fun steampunk-esque romp with the recently popular "otherworldly" elements scattered throughout.  The style of writing seemed to fit with the 1800's timeline and the author obviously did her homework on some historical things occurring at that time.  The characters were, perhaps, underdeveloped. I had trouble guessing what a character would do in a given situation, which you want in mysteries, but makes it hard to know if, in a more action/drama setting, if they are truly sincere.
I give it 3.5 out of 5, a score easily buoyed up by some skilled editing to polish the story.

Merlin, moonbeams, and memories

I received Without Tess by Marcella Pixley from Netgalley.com and was very excited! Then I received a few other books and kind of forgot about it.  Flashier covers and exciting-sounding titles kept getting in the way.  But I finally, FINALLY took the time to read this book. I was disappointed....in myself...for not reading it sooner!  This book amazes me.  I simultaneously feel the uncertain fear and the hopeful joy that Lizzie bounces between and have no trouble imagining a childhood so full of dreams, experiences, and heartaches.
Anyone who has ever hidden in a box and truly believed that it could take you to the moon will connect with this emotional rollercoaster as Lizzie tries to understand and come to grips with some very difficult experiences and memories.

This story will Change your Life!

It will! You'll roll your eyes so hard that they may just sink back into your skull or fall down your sinus cavity.  Halflings by Heather Burch was one of my most painful reads in recent history.  I'm not sure which got to me worse - the once-again need to have any and all YA female protagonists be saved time and time again by a romantic interest, or the cheesy lines that made me feel like I was reading a first-attempt at a romance novel. 
I'm sorry. I usually enjoy YA books, paranormal books, and other books that are very similar to this one. The problem is that there were no elements that jumped out (in a good way).  I will read 17 books about guardian angels, 86 books about demon hunters, and 6 books about pretend heavenly politics.  But this is 1 book that I will not be reading again.

Geek Girl by Cindy C Bennett

So I went into Geek Girl pretty much knowing what to expect.  "Let's turn the geek into a bad boy" books are highly predictable, but I also found this one touching. Awww.  It's like the stuff that teenage romantic comedies are made of.  Bad girl wants to prove she is bad by finding nerdy boy and turning him to the dark side.  But...but what happens when she starts to fall in love with him AND realizes he has nice abs???  I'm not going to tell you; find out for yourself.  Something that the ARC copy from NetGalley had that I hope is included in the regular release is a discussion question section at the end of the book.  I thought it added some depth to the story that I initially overlooked and made me sit and think about the choices that characters made in the book.

lNot a life-altering read, but one that I enjoyed. Recommended for teens - even though the "bad boy" crowd doesn't make the best choices, I think the author does a good job at pointing out that what they are doing is stupid without getting preachy about it.

Ashes, ashes, let's eat the adults

Ashes by Isla J Bick.  I am in love with this book. If I wasn't married, I would propose to this book. I read NOTHING about this book but the title before reading, and was so happy that I went in blind! I began thinking I was reading a book about dealing with a terminal illness, then BAM! I'm in a post-apocalyptic world without much in the way of electricity then BAM! Zomies show up! And just when I have all that tucked away, BAM! Enter slightly creepy distopic society. I love the fact that the author was able to surprise me so thoroughly and so often.

High schoolers to adults will enjoy this book, but the squidgy eating-people parts might make some people feel uncomfortable. I wouldn't necessarily say that this should be assigned reading, but it doesn't have to be. The story sells itself.

Buy this book. And feel the sheer terror I did at the end that the book had, in fact, ended. (I clicked 'next page' on my Kindle to no avail. It really was over.) It left me wanting more in a very good way!

Buried...and forgotten

Buried by Linda Joy Singleton.  Oooo...I so wanted to enjoy this book.  Cool cover art, mystery, AND goth?  That's like my quick-read guily pleasure hat trick.  Like I said, I so wanted to enjoy this book....but I just...didn't really.  Not a terrible concept, but also not completely original.  If you don't solve the mystery before the main character, you'll at least be close enough that you won't be surprised.  There were a lot of elements presented: parent trust issues, possible romance (because, evidently, all novels about teenage girls MUST include a romantic sub-plot), and search for identity. My problem is that none of them were covered thoroughly. I wanted more info. Not "please write a sequal" info, but "please flesh out what is there" info.  It was good for a weekend read, but not something I would have wanted to give up a week's worth of nightly reading for.

Samson and Delilah...and his wife...and his mom

I love Biblical fiction, and Desired did not disappoint. It was so interesting to hear the story of one of the Bible's famous "fallen heroes" from everyone's perspective BUT his own. Great historical context made the entire story feel alive and had me peeling open my Bible over and over to reread sections of Samson's story to see which parts were part of the Biblical record and which parts were fiction; they tied together so seamlessly that I had trouble differentiating between them. Gotta say, I really enjoyed this book!