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!