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.