Review: Dare You To

Dare You To
Pushing the Limits, Book 2

Author: Katie McGarry
Pages: 462
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Read: May 18, 2013
Source: YA Books Central for review

Description from Goodreads:
Ryan lowers his lips to my ear. "Dance with me, Beth."

"No." I whisper the reply. I hate him and I hate myself for wanting him to touch me again....

"I dare you..."

If anyone knew the truth about Beth Risk's home life, they'd send her mother to jail and seventeen-year-old Beth who knows where. So she protects her mom at all costs. Until the day her uncle swoops in and forces Beth to choose between her mom's freedom and her own happiness. That's how Beth finds herself living with an aunt who doesn't want her and going to a school that doesn't understand her. At all. Except for the one guy who shouldn't get her, but does....

Ryan Stone is the town golden boy, a popular baseball star jock-with secrets he can't tell anyone. Not even the friends he shares everything with, including the constant dares to do crazy things. The craziest? Asking out the Skater girl who couldn't be less interested in him.

But what begins as a dare becomes an intense attraction neither Ryan nor Beth expected. Suddenly, the boy with the flawless image risks his dreams-and his life-for the girl he loves, and the girl who won't let anyone get too close is daring herself to want it all....

Previous Book in Series:
1: Pushing the Limits

First Sentence: "I'm not interested in second place."

Review:

Though I've not actually read any reviews of Dare You To, I've seen some ratings roll in and some status updates, so I'd seen enough to be wary. I was immensely impressed with McGarry's debut and very excited about her sophomore novel, but also hesitant in case my love for the first turned out to be a fluke. Thankfully, for me, Dare You To is, if anything a stronger read than Pushing the Limits, since, ultimately, I find both Beth and Ryan to be more compelling leads.

Now, I do warn you that Beth and Ryan are both rather awful people as the novel opens. Ryan starts out as that cocky jock asshole, used to always getting what he wants out of life. He's basically Freddie Prinze Jr. from She's All That, making dares with his buddies about girls. Specifically, he and his friend Chris dare each other to get girls' numbers at the beginning of the book. The way he thinks about girls made me want to smack the smirk off his face. Beth, too, is a handful. She makes horrible life choices, and is an asshole to the people trying to help her.

If you stick with them though, Beth and Ryan do really mature through the course of the book, as they realize what's important to them and face up to their demons. They're young and completely screwed up by their parents, so it's a wonder they make as much progress as they do. Both of them, though, have good hearts from the start, even if they don't apply them as well as they could. For example, though Ryan may think unflattering things about girls from time to time, he does treat them well, dares aside, even refusing to allow his friends to call his ex-girlfriend evil, despite her manipulative nature; he cared for her once and won't see her maligned.

Beth is pretty much emotionally ruined, unable to trust anyone but Isaiah and Noah. She has good reason, since most people either leave her or hit her or both. Her mother is an alcoholic and a junkie, unwilling to leave her drug dealing boyfriend, Trent, not even for her daughter's sake. Even so, Beth takes care of her, even to the degree of taking the fall and getting arrested for a crime her mother committed. Beth's determination to protect and save her mother is evidence of her good heart, but it's also tragic, keeping her from doing what's best for herself. Children really do want to love their parents, even when they shouldn't.

Speaking of bad parents, it's young adult fiction, so Ryan has them too. His mother and father live a life of social events and pretending to be the perfect family, when actually they just kicked his older brother out after Mark revealed his homosexuality. Ryan feels abandoned by Mark and stifled by his parents. What I love about Ryan's story is that he's actively making choices for the future: whether to pursue a career in major league baseball or to go for college and consider writing as a career. Not enough YA actually deals with thoughts of the life beyond high school.

As in Pushing the Limits, Katie McGarry wrote the book from the perspectives of both of the main characters. Yet again, she does a phenomenal job writing two distinct points of view, neither of which reads like Noah or Echo either. Color me impressed. McGarry even managed to sell me on their romance, though I was skeptical at first. Ryan's actually a really sweet, respectful guy under the swagger. He's very up front and good at communicating, and that's something Beth needs and isn't good at herself. This is another romance where the tropes are sort of turned on their head, with the tattooed bad girl and the more innocent guy. He embraces feelings and she just wants to keep things physical and temporary. Also, they become more social as they get closer, rather than descending into the couple cave, which is great too.

My only qualms are these: the melodrama and Ryan's writing. Though I think it's well done, the drama of it all did seem a bit over the top at times. I let that slide in Pushing the Limits, but having both teens have terrible parents again and dealing with a lot of the same issues was a bit too much for me. Then there's the apparently amazing story that Ryan has written, which gets him nominated for a literary award and scholarship. That's all fine, except that he apparently wrote Warm Bodies, which is weird to me.

In Dare You To, Katie McGarry dares to take a risk on characters who aren't as likable on the outset. If you can keep an open mind, that gamble pays off in the end, but, of course, that's not for everyone. With this, I can confidently declare myself a McGarry fan, and will be eagerly anticipating Crash Into You, Isaiah's story.

Rating: 4/5

Favorite Quote: "'You're a lot like that bird in the barn. You're so scared you're going to be caged in forever that you can't see the way out. You smack yourself against the wall again and again and again. The door is open, Beth. Stop running in circles and walk out.'"

Review: Invisibility

Invisibility

Author: Andrea Cremer & David Levithan
Pages: 358
Publisher: Philomel
Publication Date: May 7, 2013
Source: Publisher for review

Description from Goodreads:
Stephen has been invisible for practically his whole life — because of a curse his grandfather, a powerful cursecaster, bestowed on Stephen’s mother before Stephen was born. So when Elizabeth moves to Stephen’s NYC apartment building from Minnesota, no one is more surprised than he is that she can see him. A budding romance ensues, and when Stephen confides in Elizabeth about his predicament, the two of them decide to dive headfirst into the secret world of cursecasters and spellseekers to figure out a way to break the curse. But things don’t go as planned, especially when Stephen’s grandfather arrives in town, taking his anger out on everyone he sees. In the end, Elizabeth and Stephen must decide how big of a sacrifice they’re willing to make for Stephen to become visible — because the answer could mean the difference between life and death. At least for Elizabeth.

First Sentence: "I was born invisible."

Review:

Oh, expectations, you turncoats. Always there when I start out, and off who the fuck knows where as I suffer through an uninspired book. Before you start telling me I shouldn't have finished this book, believe me, I know that was an option. However, by the time I was sure I wouldn't like it, I was too far into the book to DNF. Once I've read twenty percent or so, it's happening, and that's all there is to it. Invisibility isn't necessarily a bad book, but it's certainly not what I was hoping for, and will likely only please those who have not yet tired of the standard paranormal romance formula and tropes. Warning: this review will contain some spoilers.

My mistake, and I will admit it was mine alone, was that I assumed Invisibility would be something like Levithan's Every Day. Admittedly, I have yet to read that book, but the premise blows my mind, and, based on friends' reviews and recommendation, I will love it. In that book, I understand that Levithan takes a sort of metaphysical and philosophical look at a unique way of existing, and uses that to reflect on sexuality and love. With Invisibility, I hoped for something similar. What I wanted was the tale of an invisible boy, born that way for no rhyme or reason, and how he comes to find meaning in his existence. Again, this was solely my mental creation. If you had similar hopes, quash them, because Invisibility is just a paranormal romance of magic and curses.

This is why I'm honest.

To give Cremer and Levithan their dues, the world building for the magic is unique, if strange. They did at least expend the effort to come up with something a bit out of the box. The curses, especially, are very cool, and some of them legitimately freaked me out, so that was well done. Unfortunately, their hearts weren't in that aspect of the book, so the world is uncovered and explained through a series of chapter-long infodumps. The teens go to an adult, ask for information, and receive and infodump. Then they go to another adult and repeat the process. It's a dulling way to receive information.

All of that could easily have been saved with well-done characters, though, since characters are where my true love lies as a reader anyway. Sadly, Stephen and Elizabeth are static, with no motivations except the ones given to them by their romance. Elizabeth does have a second motivation in protecting her mother and brother, but, when push comes to shove, she always chooses Stephen over them, so that hardly counts to me.

When two authors team up to write a novel in dual perspectives, I generally assume that they both take a perspective to write. Thus, I'm excited to read books composed in this way, because I love dual perspective done well, and it should be so easy for two separate authors to create two distinct perspectives. Somehow, though, I found that I had a lot of trouble distinguishing whether I was reading an Elizabeth chapter or a Stephen chapter until one of their names was said.

Perhaps, though, Elizabeth and Stephen are so indistinguishable because they lack individual interests and personalities. Very little effort is expended to make them feel like real people. Stephen, for example, has been on his own since his mother's death, but he apparently does nothing but order food to eat, angst, and people-watch. Though he has absolutely no one to talk to, he has no solitary hobbies to do while alone in his apartment. Um, Stephen, may I suggest the internet? I'm in my home alone right now, but, if I break from writing this review, I can go on Twitter and talk to any number of friends. Though no one can see him, he could make a network on the internet, where no one can see your physical form anyway, unless you choose to share a photo. Or, Stephen, how about reading? No wonder he's so miserable, since he doesn't ever do anything.

Then there's Elizabeth, who Cremer and Levithan really tried to make cool and nerdy. Her dream in life is to be a comic book writer and illustrator, both because doing just one is lame to her. Awesome, right? I should totally love this girl. And yet. For all her supposed love of comics, her interest in comic books has been added solely as a plot device by which she can realize her own special powers, which she has been secretly using to create the world in her comic book. When her brother, Laurie, introduces her to another comic book fan, she shows no interest in ever talking to him about them. When the group ends up going several times to a really bitching comic book shop with tons of special editions, Elizabeth never once stops to peruse the selection. Yeah, she's dealing with some serious stuff, but there is no universe where I would be able to walk through a bookstore without noting titles as I walked through or trailing my fingers along the spines. Don't try to connect to nerds with such a shallow attempt, because we do see through that.

The only characters I liked and cared about at all were Laurie, Elizabeth's brother, and Sean, a boy in the building Laurie is crushing on. After her parents' divorce, their mother moved the three of them to New York City to escape homophobia so severe that Laurie was hospitalized with multiple broken bones. The father basically blamed Laurie for provoking the attack, so the dad's obviously scum. Briefly, Laurie is a real plot point with a burgeoning romance, but we never get to find out how that's going for him, and he becomes just a pawn to be manipulated by the bad guy. Even then, Laurie's still more useful than Stephen. Laurie gets shit done.

Worst of all is the romance. First off, we have the invisible, personality-less boy and the pretending-to-be-a-nerd girl. Shock of shocks, she is the only person in the whole wide world who can see him! They touch and feel things. Their connection is made of magic and wondrousness and they fall in love in an unclear amount of time. However, their romance cannot have gone on for long, since she's still a ways from school starting and summer is not that long. Hello, instalove.

It gets better, though! Without establishing any real emotional connection between these two, which would be difficult, since they don't actually have personalities, they declare their love and begin arguing about who gets to die for the other one. Is anyone else sick of reading books about teens who are desperate to sacrifice themselves for someone they've only known for a month? Going back to what I mentioned earlier, Elizabeth is already willing to save Stephen's life over that of her brother's when forced to choose, though, obviously, she'll manage to save both. No, bitch, your brother comes first, not the invisible kid you've known for a month or less. Also, and here's where things really crossed the line, Cremer and Levithan never offer a convincing excuse for why Laurie can see Stephen, since her own powers don't explain shit. It was a convenient way to make them feel like they must have some mystical connection.

The ending did manage to surprise me just a bit, so I will give some credit for that. Cremer and Levithan didn't go for the obvious, easy ending that I'd predicted, so I will applaud them for finally stepping outside of the box, though I would have been grateful if it had happened 340 pages sooner.

If paranormal romances relying heavily on baseless instalove still work for you, by all means procure a copy of Invisibility. If, on the other hand, you were hoping for something deep and meaningful along the lines of Levithan's Every Day, you might want to spare yourself the disappointment. For some samples of the writing and further insights, you can check my status updates on Goodreads, which include a sampling of quotes.

Rating: 2/5

Favorite Quote: "'Lovebirds?' Laurie interjects. 'Can we put off the mating call for a sex? Methinks we have some bigger issues on the table.'"

Review: The 5th Wave

The 5th Wave
The 5th Wave, Book 1

Author: Rick Yancey
Pages: 480
Publisher: Putnam Juvenile
Publication Date: May 7, 2013
Source: Gifted - Thanks Audrey!

Description from Goodreads:
The Passage meets Ender’s Game in an epic new series from award-winning author Rick Yancey.

After the 1st wave, only darkness remains. After the 2nd, only the lucky escape. And after the 3rd, only the unlucky survive. After the 4th wave, only one rule applies: trust no one.

Now, it’s the dawn of the 5th wave, and on a lonely stretch of highway, Cassie runs from Them. The beings who only look human, who roam the countryside killing anyone they see. Who have scattered Earth’s last survivors. To stay alone is to stay alive, Cassie believes, until she meets Evan Walker. Beguiling and mysterious, Evan Walker may be Cassie’s only hope for rescuing her brother—or even saving herself. But Cassie must choose: between trust and despair, between defiance and surrender, between life and death. To give up or to get up.

First Sentence: "There will be no awakening."

Does It Pass the Bechdel Test? Only sort of. Cassie talks to a female doctor. It's not a long conversation, but I guess it counts. That's it, though. For the most part, the female characters (of which there are four that are alive) don't talk to one another.

Review:

Anyone who follows my book haul vlogs or my Twitter probably knows how excited I was for this book. The preliminary reviews convinced me that this book and I were destined to have a great love affair, that it would break me emotionally, and end the fairly long streak of lackluster post-apocalytpic/dystopian fiction I've been on. Well, The 5th Wave is good, and I can see why everyone's been loving it, but, perhaps because of the hype, it wasn't everything I dreamed it would be.

The 5th Wave hooked me right from the start. What really sets this book apart from the bulk of young adult fiction is the air of hopelessness that permeates this post-alien attack vision of Cincinnati. Cassie is a hard heroine, determined to survive for as long as she can, afraid she might be the last actual human alive. The 1st wave of the alien attack was an EMP, knocking out all technology in an instant. The 2nd wave stirred the oceans and killed those on the coast. The 3rd wave was a plague, carried by birds, that killed all but a few naturally immune or able to fight off the infection. The 4th wave consisted of the Silencers, sleeper agent aliens within human bodies. At this point, 7 billion people are dead, and the enemy could be anyone.

Too often, apocalypses in young adult fiction don't really wreak all that much destruction. Humanity seems to have a serious fighting chance, but Yancey's world is suitably bleak enough to please me. With the 5th wave feared and anticipated every moment, humanity hardly seems to have a chance in hell of surviving. I love how high the stakes are in this book, and that Yancey doesn't pull punches. The 5th Wave is dark and intense.

As the novel opens and we meet Cassie, we learn her rules for living, the first of which is to shoot anyone else she meets on sight. She knows that aliens are walking around in human guise, because she saw them murder her father, shortly after her brother, Sammy, and the other children were rescued by soldiers. As such, Cassie trusts no one. Cassie will kill to protect herself, without waiting to find out if the other person is human or alien, because there's no way to know, and she has to stay alive to find Sammy. It's not just Cassie, though. Every single surviving person in this world has blood on their hands. No one comes through these experiences innocent, and that is my favorite aspect of the novel.

Yancey's writing is beautiful too, complex and in no way talking down to the audience. He is even at turns poetic. This would be one of the rare YA books I would recommend to adults who normally turn up their noses at books for teens, because I think the writing and darkness of the subject matter will hold appeal for adult readers as well, even snobby ones.

However, much as I love the concept and the writing itself, Yancey's use of perspectives didn't really work for me. I had three main concerns with his use of multiple points of view. First, I had trouble discerning Cassie's narration from Zombie's, and was really thrown when the POV switched, even going so far as to wonder if Cassie was a boy all along and I'd missed something. I simply could not tell their voices apart except by seeing where they were or a gender reference.

Second, there are two perspectives used for only one chapter, while the rest of the story bounces between Cassie and Zombie. As a general rule, if a perspective is going to appear once, it's best not to use it at all, and I think that holds true here. Nothing was learned from those two single-use perspectives that could not have been discovered later with greater impact. The use of one of these even, whether intentionally or no, spoils a plot twist that could have been startling.

Third, the chapter from the perspective of Sammy is in third person, while the rest are in first. Rarely do I approve of this technique in multiple points of view either, however, it can be done to great stylistic effect, intentionally distancing the audience from a particular perspective to represent how closed off that character is. In this case, though, I fail to fathom this authorial decision. For what reason should the reader be distanced from Sammy? This section could have been emotionally resonant, following a scared, confused five-year-old through his experiences in this harsh landscape. Instead, the third person narration alternates between Sammy's childish thoughts and observations obviously coming from the narrator. Done in first person, this section could have highlighted Yancey's skill writing perspective, but, alas, this was not done.

Even though Cassie and Zombie were written in first person, I also failed to really connect with them. In Zombie's case, I suspect this was because he sounded like Cassie to me, so didn't really become his own person in my head. Cassie, though, I was well-disposed to like, and was bonding to in the beginning. Unfortunately, she stopped acting like the Cassie of the outset and embarked on an instalove romance. To be fair, the romance was not instalove from her side, but she pursued the relationship as well, and the whole thing made me roll my eyes. The one plus I will give the romance in this book is that I'm not entirely sure who Yancey wants Cassie to end up with in the end.

Overall, I very much enjoyed The 5th Wave and will be eagerly anticipating the sequel. Readers who enjoy dark, action-packed novels will want to pick this one up, as will those who liked The Host or Animorphs, but want something much more intense.

Rating: 3.5/5

Favorite Quote: 

"'From what you've told me about the Silencers, its not logical to rally anywhere.'
     'Or stay anywhere longer than a few days. Keep your numbers small and keep moving.'
     'Until . . . ?'
     'There is no until,' I snap at him. 'There's just unless.'"

Review + Giveaway: The Midnight Spell

The Midnight Spell

Authors: Rhiannon Frater & Kody Boye
Pages: 254 according to the Nook version
Publisher: self-published
Source: ecopy for blog tour hosted by Xpresso Book Tours

Description from Goodreads:
Best friends since kindergarten, Adam and Christy have always been the perpetual outsiders in their small town in Texas. The other kids call Adam gay and Christy a witch.

On both counts the bullies are right.

Their junior year in high school seems destined to be the same old same old until Christy decides to cast a love spell for Adam at the midnight hour. The next day an alluring and mysterious boy enrolls at school and sets hearts a flutter, including Adam’s. Meanwhile, Christy’s mad crush on the handsome football player Ian seems to be going nowhere fast and her witch puberty is making her life miserable.

When a great evil arrives in town that threatens everything they hold dear, the best friends realize that finding a boyfriend is the least of their worries. Soon Adam and Christy will have to battle a force of darkness that has killed in their town before, and will again.

First Sentence: "It all started with a spell."

Review:

As a book blogger, especially one who reads Giselle's reviews, it's hard to miss Rhiannon Frater. She apparently writes super awesome vampire and zombie books, but I haven't gotten around to those yet. When the tour came up for Frater's paranormal co-written with another author, I couldn't resist. Joining The Midnight Spell tour was a good choice. Frater and Boye's novel is light, humorous, and fun all the way through.

Like Sabrina, the Teenage Witch, Christy is approaching the age of her powers awakening. Christy desperately wants her full-blown witchy powers, and keeps trying to perform spells in hopes that they'll turn her powers on full blast. Her latest plan is a spell at midnight to bring her bestie Adam's perfect guy to town. Adam doesn't wholly believe in Christy's magical abilities, but he hopes, tired of being alone and picked on for his sexuality.

Adam and Christy both really stick out in their whitebread, small town. Christy's been called a witch since she was young, her tendency to wear dark clothing not really helping matters. Red-headed Adam has been picked on for being gay for years too, even though he hasn't actually come out. They're lucky to have each other, though, and their social butterfly friend, Drifter. I would have liked to see a bit more of Christy and Adam's friendship before the midnight spell kicked the plot into motion, but I love their bond, and that the story is told from the POV of a straight girl and her gay best friend.

The plot includes some paranormal mayhem, but definitely keeps more to the funny than the creepy, which is a nice change of pace from paranormal stories that take themselves super seriously. There are some paranormal creature reveals at the end that definitely made me chuckle. The focus, though, is really on the romances: Adam's with mysterious new hottie Mark and Christy's with her long-time crush Ian.

The one thing that cut down on my enjoyment a little bit was my indifference towards Mark and Christy. I don't dislike either of them, but I never got a real sense of them as people. I would have assumed that Boye and Frater each took one of the perspectives to write, but Christy and Adam read too similarly to me. I had a bit of trouble keeping whose section I was reading straight.

On the other hand, I loved the secondary characters. They are made of sass and awesomeness. Callie, Christy's cat familiar, and the broom really steal the show. They're also super dependable and a bit snarky. Yes, a broom can be kind of snarky. Oh, and both Adam and Christy have super caring, present parents, with the exception of Adam's dad who's gone months at a time for work but who obviously loves his family a lot. The three parents are all a hoot. Oh, also, there's Drifter, who I totally want to hook up with Christy, because he's way smarter and more interesting.

The Midnight Spell is a highly fun paranormal self-pub. The ARC version I read had very few errors, so I imagine the finished copy will be pretty spotless, so, if you're interested, feel no fear! I'm definitely looking forward to reading some of Frater's darker novels.

Rating: 3/5

Favorite Quote: "'You're never to come here again. You will never touch Adam. You will never so much as even look or talk to him, because if you do, I swear I will shoot you dead. And if you try anything at the school, I swear I will bring holy hell down upon you, because when you fuck with the cub, you mess with the fucking mama bear. Get out. Now.'"

Giveaway:
As part of the tour, I have one e-copy of The Midnight Spell to offer to a reader. Just fill out the Rafflecopter! 
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Review: Prodigy

Prodigy
Legend, Book 2

Author: Marie Lu
Pages: 384
Publisher: Putnam Juvenile
Source: ARC from BEA

Description from Goodreads:
June and Day arrive in Vegas just as the unthinkable happens: the Elector Primo dies, and his son Anden takes his place. With the Republic edging closer to chaos, the two join a group of Patriot rebels eager to help Day rescue his brother and offer passage to the Colonies. They have only one request—June and Day must assassinate the new Elector.

It’s their chance to change the nation, to give voice to a people silenced for too long.

But as June realizes this Elector is nothing like his father, she’s haunted by the choice ahead. What if Anden is a new beginning? What if revolution must be more than loss and vengeance, anger and blood—what if the Patriots are wrong?

In this highly-anticipated sequel, Lu delivers a breathtaking thriller with high stakes and cinematic action.

Prior Book in Series:
1: Legend (Review|Goodreads)

First Sentence: "Day jolts awake beside me."

Review:

At BEA, I waited in line for about an hour to get an ARC Prodigy, which I also got signed by Marie Lu. Though I was excited for her series, mostly I just wanted an excuse to sit down for an hour so I wouldn't have to be a pack mule for tote bags full of books for a while. At that point, I hadn't yet read Legend so there really was only a certain amount of excitement that can be mustered, even with all the good reports. Well, finally having read the ARC, shortly after publication because I fail, I can report that, with Prodigy Marie Lu solidifies her good start in Legend. Her plotting and characterization both improve, and the action and dystopian elements are just as strong as in the debut.

The plotting of Legend follows a pretty standard dystopian outline, but, in Prodigy, Marie Lu really does something different. The first book set the pieces perfectly for her to branch out. Without spoilers, I really cannot tell you much specifically about what is awesome, but just believe me that it is. The ending leaves the plot poised to be completely epic in the next book, but I hope Lu is cutthroat enough to do what she needs to do, because that's where a lot of young adult authors miss the mark in dystopian novels.

Where June spent most of Legend being an annoyingly perfect, almost robotic, girl, completely devoted to her role in the Republic, she really develops in Prodigy. Torn between her childhood leanings and her new alliances, June has to learn how to evaluate the world on her own, no longer accepting what other people tell her to be true. Smart as she is, she has to learn about independent thinking. Readers will find June much more sympathetic and likable in Prodigy. Day, of course, we all loved from the beginning. In some ways, I don't think I like him as much now, but in others he's even better. Where Day is practically perfect in Legend, the reader now gets to see more of his flaws, giving him depth and perhaps ultimately making him more admirable.

The budding relationship between June and Day, thankfully, does not become a huge focus of the plot. Lu does capture both their strong feelings for one another (or how strong they think they are) and the insecurity of their relationship. She stresses how little they've known each other, and how their mutual trust suffers as a result. Lu does introduce a love triangle or two (love square?), and I hope she uses this wisely.

For those who like their dystopian novels full of explosions, I have good news for you. There are fist fights, chase scenes, bombings, jumps off of high objects, and even aerial battles. Lu does a really nice job with her action scenes, keeping them tense and exciting. Also, I never felt confused about what she was describing, which can be tricky to accomplish. And was that a reference to Joss Whedon there towards the end? I hope so.

The only real detractor for the Legend series remains the youth of the protagonists. I know I complained about this in my review for Legend, but it really does bear reiterating. Both Day and June are 15, but they are brilliant, gorgeous, strong, and respected by all. Now, a prodigy can certainly be clever than adults, but I really question both of them being incredibly gorgeous on top of that. Seriously, just take a moment and think back to your yearbook from freshman year of high school, or, even better, go look at it. Do any of those teens look model perfect at all times and anywhere near capable of taking on the Republic? Shouldn't at least one of them suffer from acne?

I also question their incredible physical abilities. At 15, odds are, they wouldn't even be done growing yet, and they're not at their physical peak. I mean, at one point, June jumps onto a door knob and from their onto the top of a door as it opens without anyone noticing. Unless she's secretly a member of the X-Men with cat powers, I just cannot buy that. As for the respect, well, even as a prodigy, I really do not see everyone in a country rallying behind 15 year old rebels. At most, they would be cute figureheads, not viewed as actual leaders. Katniss, for example, powerful though she is at 16, she doesn't lead the revolution; she just serves as a symbol of it. The story would make so much more sense with main characters in the range of 18 to 20, and every person I talked to said that they also kept forgetting that Day and June were so young. Obviously, that can't be changed now, but how about we make it more realistic by giving them some pimples or something?

Marie Lu's Legend series is an excellent choice for readers looking for an action-packed dystopian novel. After that ending, I am pretty much desperate to read the next book, which is poised to be even better!

Rating: 4/5

Favorite Quote: "I'm telling you, Day—all it takes is one generation to brainwash a population and convince them that reality doesn't exist."

Review: Legend

Legend
Legend, Book 1

Author: Marie Lu
Pages: 305
Publisher: Putnam Juvenile
Source: Own

Description from Goodreads:
What was once the western United States is now home to the Republic, a nation perpetually at war with its neighbors. Born into an elite family in one of the Republic’s wealthiest districts, fifteen-year-old June is a prodigy being groomed for success in the Republic’s highest military circles. Born into the slums, fifteen-year-old Day is the country’s most wanted criminal. But his motives may not be as malicious as they seem.

From very different worlds, June and Day have no reason to cross paths—until the day June’s brother, Metias, is murdered and Day becomes the prime suspect. Caught in the ultimate game of cat and mouse, Day is in a race for his family’s survival, while June seeks to avenge Metias’s death. But in a shocking turn of events, the two uncover the truth of what has really brought them together, and the sinister lengths their country will go to keep its secrets.

Full of nonstop action, suspense, and romance, this novel is sure to move readers as much as it thrills.

First Sentence: "My mother thinks I'm dead."

Review:

A year or so ago, I changed my book-buying policy and bought two debuts I'd never read based on the incredibly positive reviews: Divergent by Veronica Roth and Legend by Marie Lu. Well, the former turned out to be an immense disappointment, one I disliked to the degree I resent my past self for having wasted hard-earned money on it. Thankfully, I do not need to invent time travel and break the time-space continuum by going back in time and killing my impulsive, past self, because Legend actually turned out to be good.

Marie Lu's debut is jam-packed with action. Where the derring-do in Divergent comes across as over-the-top and done merely because of how cool it sounds, the action scenes in Legend belong. Both Day and June commit seemingly impossible acts all of the time, but they also have the experience and the injuries to show for it. They do not come by their skills easily; they work for everything they earn, despite being prodigies.

Everyone who reviews this book gushes about Day, and, much as I like to feel unique, I cannot help but do the same thing. Day's chapters were my favorites all the way through. He's just such a noble criminal, and he reads very much like a boy. My love for Day is also inextricably bound up in the beauty of the formatting for his chapters. Day's sections are printed in a golden font, which might prove difficult to some readers, but which I love wholeheartedly. Also, and this is a bit of an odd criticism, but I think it's cool how June's chapters have a practical black font, and Days' are more ornate and unique, to represent their upbringings.

June is a tougher character to like, as she's meant to be. Where Day is the rebel with a heart (and font) of gold, June works for the evil dystopian government, and is rising quickly through the ranks. June believes wholeheartedly in what she's doing, and is determined to prove herself by catching Day, the killer of her brother. June grows as a character throughout, becoming someone you continually root for to make good decisions.

With slews of books coming out marketed as dystopians that really are not, I will have you all know that Legend truly is. The dystopian elements work quite well, though they are not all that unique. Having read so many of them, I recognized the various twists from other works and was not caught off  guard by any of them. Many readers will likely not have so much knowledge of the genre, though. Nor did my knowledge of where the book was heading impact my enjoyment of the novel in the slightest.

I do agree with a criticism I've seen around and about that Day and June both read too old. According to the novel, they are both fifteen. They are prodigies and I get that, but they should still be in puberty, and I'm really supposed to buy that they're the most powerful people in all of the Republic? I get that they're prodigies, but how are there no adults that can even begin to give them a run for their money? Every time the text mentioned them being fifteen, it would throw me out of the story because it just seemed off. The novel might make a bit more sense with 17-18 year old main characters.

Legend has well-written action scenes, solid world building, and convincing dual perspectives. I am so glad I have a copy of Prodigy ready to start soon, because I do not want to wait to learn what will happen to the characters next!

Rating: 3.5/5

Favorite Quote: "'Each day means a new twenty-four hours. Each day means everything's possible again. You live in the moment, you die in the moment, you take it all one day at a time.'"

Review: The Death of Bees

The Death of Bees

Author: Lisa O'Donnell
Pages: 336
Publisher: Harper
Source: Publisher via TLC Book Tours

Description from Goodreads:
A riveting, brilliantly written debut novel-a coming-of-age story with the strong voice and powerful resonance of Swamplandia! and The Secret Life of Bees-in which two young sisters attempt to hold the world at bay after the mysterious death of their parents.

Today is Christmas Eve. Today is my birthday. Today I am fifteen. Today I buried my parents in the backyard. Neither of them were beloved.

Marnie and her little sister Nelly are on their own now. Only they know what happened to their parents, Izzy and Gene, and they aren't telling. While life in Glasgow's Hazlehurst housing estate isn't grand, they do have each other. Besides, it's only one year until Marnie will be considered an adult and can legally take care of them both.

As the new year comes and goes, Lennie, the old man next door, realizes that his young neighbors are alone and need his help. Or does he need theirs? But he's not the only one who suspects something isn't right. Soon, the sisters' friends, their other neighbors, the authorities, and even Gene's nosy drug dealer begin to ask questions. As one lie leads to another, dark secrets about the girls' family surface, creating complications that threaten to tear them apart.

Written with fierce sympathy and beautiful precision, told in alternating voices, The Death of Bees is an enchanting, grimly comic tale of three lost souls who, unable to answer for themselves, can answer only for each other.

First Sentence: "Eugene Doyle. Born 19 June 1972. Died 17 December 2010, aged thirty-eight."

Review:

For those of you who don't know, I have a sizable obsession with British pop culture. When I signed up for the tour, I, admittedly, didn't know how British this book is, but when I figured that out, oh my, was I ever excited. As odd as this book is, I can compare it to a couple of things. To get The Death of Bees, combine the darker, more disturbing family elements of Shameless with the murder and hijinks of Keeping Mum. If you appreciate the sort of dark humour that Brits excel at, do not miss O'Donnell's brilliantly odd debut.

One of my very favorite narrative styles is multiple first person points of view, but finding one done correctly happens rarely. O'Donnell succeeds with her first novel. The Death of Bees rotates through three perspectives: the two sisters, Marnie and Nelly, and their neighbor, Lennie. Each one of them has a very distinct personality and thought pattern. Telling them apart is quite simple. The narratives are stream of consciousness, and, thus, occasionally quite strange, like the section in which Nelly is singing a song to herself. Though not generally a fan of stream of consciousness style writing, O'Donnell wields this method well.

Marnie and Nelly's parents are useless, on the dole and drug-addicted, the father abusive. When both parents die, in somewhat sketchy circumstances, Marnie and Nelly do the obvious thing: bury them in the background in the middle of winter. Well, actually, the ground's really hard and they got tired, so they just get Gene buried and leave Izzy in the shed for a while. They plant strong-smelling lavender atop Gene's grave, in an effort to cover the stench. Because they bury the body too shallowly, and the other not at all, the neighbor's dog keeps coming over and trying to find the bodies, a continual source of worry for the girls.

Many of the scenes in The Death of Bees, particularly early on, are of a fairly graphic nature. The body-disposal chapters will haunt me for quite a while. If you cannot handle descriptions of fluids and ickiness, this book may not be for you. This is comedy of the very darkest colour. The book also includes drug use, statutory rape, abuse, and probably some other touchy subjects I'm forgetting to list.

Marnie and Nelly were thinking when they buried their parents in the backyard; they did not want to be put into foster care, an inevitability, so better to pretend their parents are on a perpetual vacation. Lennie, their nosy but well-intentioned neighbor notices that they seem to be all alone. An old man living alone after the death of his lover and harassed because he was caught trying to solicit a male prostitute, Lennie desperately desires company, and he adopts the two girls, unofficially serving as guardian and grandfather to them. He gives them the first real parenting they've probably ever gotten.

Marnie is a brilliant girl, pulling straight As, despite the fact that she never does homework and runs with a bad crowd. She's a sassy one, a both entertaining and tragic figure. With all her life experience, it's very difficult to fathom that she's only fifteen. Her sister, Nelly, on the other hand, acts incredibly posh, an affectation she picked up who knows where. She plays the violin with great skill and looks lovely, but is clearly touched in the head. Though Marnie makes a lot of disastrously terrible life choices, Nelly's the one you really have to worry about, because there is some seriously crazy stuff happening in her mind.

O'Donnell's debut plumbs dark depths of humanity, showing both the best and worst of human interaction. This is an ideal read for those with a slightly morbid sense of humor.

Rating: 4/5

Favorite Quote: "My guidance teacher Mrs. MacLeod (middle-aged yah trying to do good among the peasants of Maryhill) said the only thing keeping me from the abyss of total delinquency is my gift for learning. Like Nelly I appear to possess qualities she believes to be wasted on a girl 'so utterly destructive in temperament'—she actually wrote that in my report—meaning I smoke and drink and have abortions, actually one abortion, but still, I have an A average that I maintain with little or no effort on my part and they despise me for it, mostly because they can't take credit for it; in other words intelligence should be the reward of the virginal nonsmokers of the world, not some morally corrupt teenager with dead junkies in her back garden."

Review: Dash & Lily's Book of Dares

Dash & Lily's Book of Dares

Authors: Rachel Cohn, David Levithan
Pages: 260
Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers
Source: Own

Description from Goodreads:
“I’ve left some clues for you. If you want them, turn the page. If you don’t, put the book back on the shelf, please.”

So begins the latest whirlwind romance from the bestselling authors of Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist. Lily has left a red notebook full of challenges on a favorite bookstore shelf, waiting for just the right guy to come along and accept its dares. But is Dash that right guy? Or are Dash and Lily only destined to trade dares, dreams, and desires in the notebook they pass back and forth at locations across New York? Could their in-person selves possibly connect as well as their notebook versions? Or will they be a comic mismatch of disastrous proportions?

Rachel Cohn and David Levithan have written a love story that will have readers perusing bookstore shelves, looking and longing for a love (and a red notebook) of their own.

First Sentence: "Imagine this: You're in your favorite bookstore, scanning the shelves."

Review:

Do you ever really enjoy a book, but also feel like you don't have a ton of complimentary things to say about it at the same time? This happens to me every so often, and Dash & Lily's Book of Dares is most definitely one such book for me. While I turned pages excitedly and squeed over the concept, a lot of the execution left me seriously cold and rolling my eyes.

Starting with the good stuff, Dash & Lily's hooked me immediately. Cohn & Levithan pretty much guarantee that no bookish person will be able to stop reading within the first couple of sentences. While perusing shelves in the Strand, Dash discovers a red Moleskine notebook tucked in among editions of one of his favorite books, Franny and Zooey by J.D. Salinger. Inside this notebook, he finds a little scavenger hunt of sorts, which takes him around the bookstore from awkward book to awkwarder book, in an effort to see if he just might be the right guy for the notebook's author Lily.

Turns out, though, that Lily was sort of put up to this little endeavor, largely out of the boredom of a holiday spent without her family (all off on romantic endeavors on their own). Dash, also left to his own devices for the Christmas holiday, instead of leaving a way to contact him as instructed, leaves Lily instructions for some dares of his own. For several days, they travel to some of the most famous of New York's sites, while falling in like with the person on the other side of the notebook. This whole concept was just completely adorable, and what bookish person hasn't wanted to find someone via the medium of bonding over a shared favorite book? This book also makes you feel like you're traveling around NYC yourself, which I always really love.

While the writing is quite well done and full of brilliant observations, I just felt like Cohn and Levithan were trying to hard. Dash and Lily both failed to really coalesce into actual people for me, as though the characters took a backseat to highlighting just how clever the authors are. Since I've read books by both of them and I know they don't always write this way, I'm not sure what happened here, but it just didn't have a natural cadence.

Dash made more sense as a character, and seemed much more consistent as a whole than Lily. However, he's also incredibly obnoxious. Basically, the whole time I was hoping they would meet and hate each other (which would have been really believable). I would even prefer Lily hooking up with Edgar, the smarmy guy who was an accessory to the tragic show-and-tell murder of her gerbil in elementary school, than with Dash. I just found him incredibly obnoxious and superior, the stereotypical annoying hipster. Also, everyone Lily asks describes Dash solely as 'snarly,' but when she meets him, she doesn't mention that at all, which struck me as hugely inconsistent. All of a sudden it's all about how he rocks a fedora and how incredibly gorgeous his blue eyes are. Changing his character entirely to sell the big ending doesn't work for me.

Lily, on the other hand, feels completely thrown together. She has so many unique component parts that do not seem to glue together into a person. For all that she has all the idiosyncrasies that should combine into a personality, she always bored me. Other than the filling out of the journal, she comes across as extremely young, constantly throwing temper tantrums (Shrilly), has no friends, which she seems hardly to notice, and doesn't make smart choices (like wearing one shoe and one boot around so her snarly prince can find her). Worse still, the journal, which would seem to evince what a clever person she is, was not even her idea in the first place. Her own challenges were much more poorly conceived than the original created by someone else. Dash annoyed me and Lily bored me.

The best character by far in this piece is Lily's incredibly sassy aunt, who she calls Mrs. Basil E., for the sassy older woman in Konigsburg's classic. Mrs. Basil will say absolutely anything, such as when she interrogates Dash about his intentions (frankly, they have more chemistry than he and Lily do). Lily's aunt will happily assist in any sort of fiendish plot and says things like "I never married because I was too easily bored" (154). Now, this is my kind of woman. If only she had had a larger part in the book.

Dash & Lily's is fun, no question, but I feel like it could easily have been so much better. In the end, it's just hard to sell a romance novel where I don't see the couple lasting for longer than a week, because Dash will find the bloom is off the Lily within a matter of hours, I suspect.

Rating: 3/5

Favorite Quote: "'If you tell me, I will leave you alone,' I said. 'And if you don't tell me, I am going to grab the nearest ghostwritten James Patterson romance novel and I am going to follow you through this store reading it out loud until you relent. Would you prefer me to read from Daphne's Three Tender Months with Harold or Cindy and John's House of Everlasting Love? I guarantee, your sanity and your indie street cred won't last a chapter. And they are very, very short chapters.'"

Review: From What I Remember...

From What I Remember...

Author: Stacy Kramer & Valerie Thomas
Pages: 462
Publisher: Hyperion
Source: Won from Hyperion in Twitter giveaway

Description from Goodreads:
KYLIE: Mexico? What a nightmare I should be putting the finishing touches on my valedictorian speech. Graduation is TODAY Wait Is this a wedding band on my finger?

MAX: It started with Kylie's laptop and a truck full of stolen electronics and it ended in Ensenada. It was hot, the way she broke us out like some chick in an action movie. But now we're stranded here, with less than twenty-four hours before graduation.

WILL: Saving Kylie Flores from herself is kind of a full-time occupation. Luckily, I, Will Bixby, was born for the job. And when I found out she was stuck in Mexico with dreamy Max Langston, sure, I agreed to bring their passports across the border - but there's no reason to rush back home right away. This party is just getting started. 

LILY: This cannot be happening. It's like some cruel joke. Or a bad dream. I close my eyes and when I reopen them, they're still there. Max and Kylie Flores, freak of the century. In bed together. If Kylie thinks I'm giving him up without a fight, she's dead wrong.

First Sentence: "I am jolted awake by sunlight flooding the room."

Review:
You know what, I didn't like movie The Hangover. Just putting that out there. Obviously, From What I Remember... is the YA equivalent of The Hangover, yet I still really wanted to read it. Welcome to my crazy brain. Anyway, I held out hopes that a YA version would be less crude and disgusting, and, hurrah!, I was rewarded with a ridiculous, fun read. Oh, another plus? That chihuahua on the cover? In the book for like five seconds.

From What I Remember... opens in classic hangover comedy style on the morning after. Kylie Flores, responsible misanthrope, Valedictorian, awakens on the morning of graduation in Mexico, all snuggled up with the hottest guy in school, Max Langston. Oh, and they're both wearing wedding rings. Not only that, but his enraged girlfriend, Lily, just showed up. Then, of course, the story jumps back into the past two days, and we begin the process of discovering just how this situation came about. As hooks go, this one's effective, though it did make me seriously impatient.

Now, obviously, the plot of this book is utterly absurd, which is, I believe, kind of the point. I mean, it starts with Kylie and Max getting partnered up for a lame assignment on the second to last day of school. Yeah right. Then, there's the whole chasing a mugger and ending up in a truck full of stolen goods headed for Mexico and getting stuck across the border without passports thing. If you can't look past the impossibilities, the book will be a struggle. Just embrace the crazy and enjoy the crazy tableaux in front of you.

Kramer and Thomas chose to write this in multiple first person points of view, which, of course, can be your best friend or your worst enemy. In this case, I think the story would have been much stronger told in a different way, either from just Kylie's perspective or perhaps third person limited. I just didn't feel like any of the characters had strong enough personalities to pull it off. Characterization is not something this novel is about, and it shows. Kylie's narration is the strongest, and, thankfully, the most frequent.

The narration of the three characters that weren't Kylie or Max really bothered me. Lily is a bitch. There's no getting past that. I kept expecting her to be redeemed in some way, and, sure, she does eventually show a glimmer of humanity, but she's really just a vain, selfish girl. Will, Kylie's gay best friend, should have been my favorite character; I love me some sassy gay friends. Unfortunately, I found him totally obnoxious, just so incredibly rude and over the top.

Worst of all, though, I'm sad to say, were the chapter's from Jake's perspective. Kylie's brother Jake has Asperger's and she has been very focused on his care, this crazy weekend her first chance to really cut loose. I have nothing against Jake, but he just didn't really belong in the narration, given that he wasn't part of the crazy Mexico adventure. His narration added nothing. My bet? His sections were added in an attempt to give the novel depth. Well, it didn't work. We all know what this book is for, and it's best to let it be. Every book doesn't need to be serious.

The relationships didn't hold true for me, either, as a result of the whole not feeling the characters difficulty. I did like the way Kylie and Will would communicate in movie quotes, but still didn't really feel their friendship. In both the friendships and the romantic relationships, it felt like everything relied on the narrators telling the reader how much Kylie and Will watch out for each other or how both Kylie and Max are falling in epic love in this one crazy day. Don't tell me; make me feel it.

What I did like were the themes of being yourself, going for what you want, and giving people a chance to surprise you. These aren't new themes, but I still appreciated their treatment here, particularly the latter, even if it was slightly heavy-handed. Pretty much everyone comes to realize through the course of their adventures that people have more to them than their social clique would suggest. Yeah, not mind-blowing, but, despite how much I know better than to pigeonhole people, I totally am still shocked to find that some people I'd marked down as assholes can turn out to be rather marvelous. Plus, sometimes we make our social isolation in high school without realizing it; I sure did, and I was totally blindsided by that revelation in college.

Listen, I know I sound hyper-critical, but this was a fun read. As much as I rolled my eyes, I was very much entertained. I do think it would have made a better movie, but it's got some laughs and lots of action. It's a bit long for the kind of book it is, but not a struggle to get through. If you love movies like The Hangover and Knocked Up, this book was written for you.

Rating: 3/5

Favorite Quote: "'So, kiss the girl. Buy the dress. Take a vacation. Join the circus. Order the fried frog legs. Try out for the play. Learn to snowboard. Do something that scares the shit out of you. Or something that makes you happy. Or something that makes you cry. Whatever it is, do something that makes you feel. Because feeling nothing is no way to go through life.'"

Love Hurts - Incubus

Black City
Black City, Book 1

Author: Elizabeth Richards
Pages: 373
Publisher: G. P. Putnam's Sons BFYR
Publication Date:  November 13, 2012
Source: Penguin at BEA

Description from Goodreads:
A dark and tender post-apocalyptic love story set in the aftermath of a bloody war.

In a city where humans and Darklings are now separated by a high wall and tensions between the two races still simmer after a terrible war, sixteen-year-olds Ash Fisher, a half-blood Darkling, and Natalie Buchanan, a human and the daughter of the Emissary, meet and do the unthinkable—they fall in love. Bonded by a mysterious connection that causes Ash’s long-dormant heart to beat, Ash and Natalie first deny and then struggle to fight their forbidden feelings for each other, knowing if they’re caught, they’ll be executed—but their feelings are too strong.

When Ash and Natalie then find themselves at the center of a deadly conspiracy that threatens to pull the humans and Darklings back into war, they must make hard choices that could result in both their deaths.

First Sentence: "An air raid siren wails in the distance, alerting Black City citizens to lock their doors and turn out the lights."

Review:
In a grim future filled with deadly creatures, a difficult romance blooms. Black City is a dark romance, a tale of star-crossed lovers in a post-apocalyptic world ruled over by a man setting up his own cult of personality. This series will appeal to Romeo and Juliet fans that like their stories dark, violent, vampiric, and want to give the lovers another chance to survive to the end.

What happened to the country is not entirely clear. Now, though, there are Darklings, which are much like vampires, and Bastets, half-cat creatures that can kill Darklings. Was there some sort of war that created these creatures? I don't know. On top of that, there are also Wraths, Darklings driven mad by a disease until they are nothing but hunger.

Humans, horrified by these monsters in their midst have taken over, having defeated the Darklings in a brutal war. They segregated the Darklings into camps behind high walls, killing any who escape. They have forbidden relationships between humans and Darklings, meaning that only a few twin-bloods like Ash exist. The Darklings' venom, conveyed by a bite, does not kill; instead, it serves a powerful narcotic, the Haze, to which many humans are addicted.

Purian Rose, who we don't really get to meet, looms in the background. He is the leader of the United Sentry States, a totalitarian government bent on keeping the Darklings down or, even better, killing them all. Really, though, Purian Rose is a cult leader. He has even created a religion to himself. Warning: if your leader makes a religion based around himself, it's time for the straitjacket.

The opening scene sets the tone for Black City and may make many readers uncomfortable. Ash, the hero of the piece, peddles his wares (aka Haze...and pleasure) to a young girl. She has some drug in her system already, which is against his rules, and he leaves her in the streets. He meets Natalie, the daughter of the Emissary who caught him in the act. He threatens her death and leaves. The rest of the book I would say is not quite as shocking as the opening, but, if it upsets you, you may not wish to continue.

As is very popular these days, Black City is told from the perspectives of Ash and Natalie. While I like Richards' writing, I had difficulty discerning which character I was reading at any given time if they were in the same location. I really just didn't get a sense of them from the writing itself. For one thing, Natalie seemed a lot more silly and girly from Ash's perspective than her narration conveyed. They just really read the same to me. There are chapter headings with their names, but if I forgot whose chapter I was in I had to rely on them seeing or thinking about the other one to clear things up for me. Also, it didn't help that they occasionally didn't alternate chapters.

As such, I wasn't bonded to the characters. I really just did not have a feel for them at all. Is Natalie the way she felt from Ash's perspective or how she is in her narration? I really just don't know. Ash, too, I have trouble getting a feel for, as that opening scene seemed a bit out of character for how he acts for most of the rest of the novel. Perhaps I'm supposed to see this as Natalie's affect on him, but I didn't really get that impression. Their romance really was pretty meh to me. It was so obviously coming, and I didn't find the build up or the fruition especially satisfying.

The most interesting aspect to the romance was actually the love triangle which appears along the way. I won't tell you what happens, but I can say that it opens up some philosophical questions about the nature of love that I found fascinating. I only wish more had been done with this, because these questions seemed much too easily dismissed. There should have been some more navel-gazing as a result, but that really wouldn't have gone with the epic true love angle Richards is going for.

I enjoyed reading Black City, although I was not pleased about the animal that died. Richards' writing held a lot of appeal and the world was interesting, though I would have appreciated more back story. I do plan to continue on with this series. If you like really dark tales and true love stories, Black City will be perfect for you.

Favorite Quote: "No fear, no power."

"Love hurts...
But sometimes it's a good hurt
And it feels like I'm alive.
Love sings,
When it transcends the bad things.
Have a heart and try me,
'cause without love I won't survive."

Remember: Every comment on a post during Dystopian August is an entry to win one of fourteen dystopian/post-apocalyptic novels IF you've filled out the form from this post.

Colors of the Wind - from Pocahontas

Under the Never Sky
Under the Never Sky, Book 1

Author: Veronica Rossi
Pages: 374
Publisher: HarperCollins
Source: Won from I Am a Reader, Not a Writer

Description from Goodreads:
Since she'd been on the outside, she'd survived an Aether storm, she'd had a knife held to her throat, and she'd seen men murdered. This was worse.

Exiled from her home, the enclosed city of Reverie, Aria knows her chances of surviving in the outer wasteland - known as The Death Shop - are slim. If the cannibals don't get her, the violent, electrified energy storms will. She's been taught that the very air she breathes can kill her. Then Aria meets an Outsider named Perry. He's wild - a savage - and her only hope of staying alive.

A hunter for his tribe in a merciless landscape, Perry views Aria as sheltered and fragile - everything he would expect from a Dweller. But he needs Aria's help too; she alone holds the key to his redemption. Opposites in nearly every way, Aria and Perry must accept each other to survive. Their unlikely alliance forges a bond that will determine the fate of all who live under the never sky.

First Sentence: "They called the world beyond the walls of the Pod 'the Death Shop.'"

Review:
When Under the Never Sky first came out, I was really excited, hoping to love it. I nearly ordered a copy for myself a couple of times, but, ultimately, decided against it. I feared this would be another disappointment, with a trap of a cover. For whatever reason, I was pretty sure this was going to be another instalove dystopia, but I'm glad to say that it's definitely not that.

Under the Never Sky is told in third person from the perspectives of Aria and Peregrine (aka Perry). Aria lives in Reverie, a Pod, safe from the aether outside. Most of her life is spent in the Realms, complex simulations that are thought to be even better than the real world. She has no issues with her life, except for her worries about being separated from her mother, a doctor working on a project in another Pod.

Having lost contact with her mother due to network issues for longer than usual, Aria decides to investigate. To do so, she befriends Soren, the son of a powerful man in Reverie, hoping to lure the information from him. Little does she know what a creep Steldor and his dad are. This first section made it difficult for me to relate to Aria, not so much because she found herself in a bad and stupid situation, but that she should have seen it coming. She has observed some weird behavior from him before, but did not think better of going somewhere with him. Not wise.

Peregrine, desperate and searching for a way to save his nephew's life, breaks into Reverie just in time to save Aria. Ultimately, though, this condemns both of them to expulsion from their respective homes, him from his tribe, The Tides, and her from the Pod. Even worse, a bit of tech he took from her brings Reverie's soldiers after him, during which attack they kidnap his nephew.

Gifted with night-vision and a crazy good sense of smell, Perry finds her, doomed for death in the desert and rescues her despite his loathing for her. Note: there's no instalove. They both hate one another for a good portion of the book. Real trust and affection are slow in coming. In fact, she thinks he's a monster, a savage, and he thinks she's useless, a mole. Circumstances require them to put their feelings aside and work together.

For the most part, I didn't particularly connect with Perry and Aria. With Aria especially, I just didn't really have a sense of her personality. Perhaps this stems from the fact that she wasn't a real person until she emerged from the pod and really got to experience life, but I found her very bland for roughly the first 3/4 of the book. Thankfully, a lot of the side characters grabbed my interest, particularly Roar.

What really caught my interest in Under the Never Sky were the powers possessed by folks on the Outside. These powers are essentially enhanced senses. Did they evolve? It's curious. I'm also really interested to know what's up with the aether. Is that from people having destroyed the environment? That's what I would guess, but I could be wrong.

While I was not blown away, I am definitely eager to read the next book, because I would like to learn more about this world and how it came to be this way. I also hope to see Aria really grow into a powerful heroine.

Favorite Quote: "She had no illusions about becoming a master knife fighter. This wasn't the Realms, where a thought delivered a result. But she also knew she'd given herself a better chance. And in life, at least in her new life, chances were the best she could hope for. They were like her rocks. Imperfect and surprising and maybe better in the long run than certainties. Chances, she thought, were life."

"You think I'm an ignorant savage
And you've been so many places
I guess it must be so
But still I cannot see
If the savage one is me
Now can there be so much that you don't know?
You don't know ..."

Remember: Every comment on a post during Dystopian August is an entry to win one of fourteen dystopian/post-apocalyptic novels IF you've filled out the form from this post.

I Can Make You a Man - Rocky Horror Picture Show

Eve & Adam
Eve & Adam, Book 1

Author: Michael Grant & Katherine Applegate
Pages: 291
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Publication Date: October 2, 2012
Source: Macmillan at BEA

Description from Goodreads:
Sixteen-year-old Evening Spiker lives an affluent life in San Francisco with her mother, Terra, a successful geneticist and owner of Spiker Biotech. Sure, Evening misses her father who died mysteriously, but she’s never really questioned it. Much like how she’s never stopped to think how off it is that she’s never been sick. That is, until she’s struck by a car and is exposed to extensive injuries. Injuries that seem to be healing faster than physically possible.

While recuperating in Spiker Biotech’s lush facilities, she meets Solo Plissken, a very attractive, if off-putting boy her age who spent his life at Spiker Biotech. Like Evening, he’s never questioned anything... until now. Solo drops hints to Evening that something isn’t right, and Emma-Rose may be behind it. Evening puts this out of her mind and begins her summer internship project: To simulate the creation of the perfect boy. With the help of Solo, Evening uncovers secrets so big they could change the world completely.

First Sentence: "I am thinking of an apple when the streetcar hits and my leg severs and my ribs crumble and my arm is no longer an arm but something unrecognizable, wet and red."

Review:
Initially, I really wasn't all that interested in this book. I sort of thought it was middle grade or children's from the cover, and, despite my childhood obsession with The Animorphs, the authors weren't big draws. I picked it up at BEA, because when I got my ticket for Crewel they gave me one for this as well and I thought why not. I'm glad I did pick it up, because I was definitely pleasantly surprised by this one.

First off, I have to say that this really isn't a dystopia. I mean, I guess you could call it a dystopia in microcosm sort of, since Evening does learn that her world is not what she thought it was, and that new knowledge is mostly negative. Still, society is no more dystopian than our current society so far as I can tell. I could remove this review from Dystopian August, but I prefer to read it and tell you that those souls on Goodreads that marked it thus were misguided.

Please do not judge this book from the description up there. It makes Evening (aka E.V. or Eve) sound like such an airhead. She's really not at all. In fact, she's a big part of why I thought this book was so much fun. Though I didn't bond with her character immediately (probably due to the fact that she was on heavy painkillers and not herself for the first several chapters), I soon found her to have a personality much like my own, so basically she's the best.

At the beginning of the book, she's in a crazy accident (see first sentence), then hijacked by her billionaire mother to be taken for private care at Striker (the family company). Solo works for her mom and, as the only person her age, becomes a sort of not-unwilling companion. Terra assigns her daughter a project to give Eve something to do, since she was going completely stir crazy: use new software to design the perfect man (in the virtual world of course), much like Dr. Frankenfurter did.

As you can no doubt guess from that, the plot really doesn't go anywhere particularly unique. I knew what the main plot arc was going to do as soon as I knew what the book was about. However, the story doesn't suffer too much from that. Grant and Applegate's writing primarily amused me (although some of the joke's did seem to try a bit too hard). I also liked that this most certainly didn't feel middle grade, what with all the sex jokes.

Eve & Adam is told from three perspectives: Eve's, Solo's and Adam's. Grant and Applegate, husband and wife team, pulled off multiple POV admirably. Each character felt clearly unique; I had no issues telling whose chapter I was in. Though Eve's sections were my favorites, I didn't mind the chapters told by the boys.

What made this book stand out more than the average book were the relationships between the characters. Obviously, I loved Eve, as already detailed, but I also really liked her relationship with her best friend Aislin. So many YA best friends are awful or boring. Aislin is seriously flawed, but she obviously has Eve's best interests at heart and vice versa. Their friendship really rang true, especially since it kind of reminded me of me and one of my friends, though she doesn't have a drug-running boyfriend, thank goodness. The romance in this was great, too. A lot of times, romance constitutes a weak point, but I thought it was very hilarious and well done here. The ending scene definitely made me clap in approval. Just saying.

If you're looking for a fun science fiction read with action and snark, Eve & Adam will do you right, and will not overwhelm you with Biblical references. Now I only wish I had time to break out my old Animorphs books...

Favorite Quote:

"It's not that I think I'm some kind of prize.
   No, wait, that's not true. I do think I'm some kind of prize. I'm smart and occasionally funny and I'm pretty. I don't see why I should have to spend long dates with some guy who expresses himself in single syllables and wants to go to slasher movies.
   Which does not answer my question: male or female?  
   I also don't understand why I should let some guy fondle me when I know the relationship has no future. I don't need to be groped that badly.
   So I've been on exactly three dates. The first when I was fourteen. The most recent two years ago.
   A guy tried to kiss me once. I didn't let him.
   I lived that part of my life vicariously through Aislin.
   I hear her stories. And I admit I'm fascinated most of the time. Sometimes kind of appalled. And then fascinated again.
   Sometimes I wonder what it would be like to be her. To be that . . . experimental. To be that 'what the hell?'. To actually have detailed, well-informed opinions on questions having to do with kissing. Or whatever."

"In just seven days, I can make you a man"