Skylark by Meagan Spooner

Sixteen-year-old Lark Ainsley has never seen the sky.

Her world ends at the edge of the vast domed barrier of energy enclosing all that’s left of humanity. For two hundred years the city has sustained this barrier by harvesting its children's innate magical energy when they reach adolescence. When it’s Lark’s turn to be harvested, she finds herself trapped in a nightmarish web of experiments and learns she is something out of legend itself: a Renewable, able to regenerate her own power after it’s been stripped.

Forced to flee the only home she knows to avoid life as a human battery, Lark must fight her way through the terrible wilderness beyond the edge of the world. With the city’s clockwork creations close on her heels and a strange wild boy stalking her in the countryside, she must move quickly if she is to have any hope of survival. She’s heard the stories that somewhere to the west are others like her, hidden in secret—but can she stay alive long enough to find them?

I had high hopes for this book.  The premise seemed very interesting and the cover was so pretty that I really wanted to like it.  I'm sad that the book didn't live up to my standards, although I think part of that is me building them up too high.  The book wasn't a complete disappointment, but it was not much more than average.  I think its major problem was in pacing.  There were some major lulls where not much happens or some very repetitious events happen for quite a while.  I wish they could have been broken up better with twists or some other event.  The plotting is bare bones and really could have been thought through a little more.  I did like the characterization.  Lark was easy to love, and Oren is realistic and consistent even if he is a little harder to identify with.  I loved Nix and her development (I dunno why, but Nix is a her).  The worldbuilding is solid and consistent, and unlike other reviewers I didn't mind that they never explained the magic or how it works.  I guess I'm such a fantasy fan that magic just is and doesn't need a why.  The dystopian society, though, was thoroughly realistic, and I felt that the best parts of the book were while Lark was trying to escape her fate there.  Afterwards things got rather hazy, and I got frustrated at the lack of direction.

Prized by Caragh M. O'Brien

Striking out into the wasteland with nothing but her baby sister, a handful of supplies, and a rumor to guide her, sixteen-year-old midwife Gaia Stone survives only to be captured by the people of Sylum, a dystopian society where women rule the men who drastically outnumber them, and a kiss is a crime. In order to see her sister again, Gaia must submit to their strict social code, but how can she deny her sense of justice, her curiosity, and everything in her heart that makes her whole?

I read this right before Outpost by Ann Aguirre and the similarities made the books clash a lot.  Where Outpost was boring in its description of an overly-religious post-apocalyptic isolated society, Prized was full of action.  The interpersonal conflict and defiance really made the story clip along.  Gaia had a good bit of character development, and we meet a lot of great new people for her to interact with.  On the other hand, the romantic tension and issues between Gaia and Leon seemed a little contrived and was harder to get behind.  However, I was okay with the love triangle (square?  pentagon?) because in this case it seemed to make sense and worked out well and without the usual drama-angst.  The climax of the book is great, and the ending is closed but with enough promise that the next book will be amazing!  I can't wait to get my hands on it!

Tortured by Caragh M. O'Brien

Now, in this new story that bridges the gap between Birthmarked and Prized, Caragh M. O’Brien answers her readers’ most common question with a tale of suffering and determination from Leon’s perspective. Be warned. The story is a spoiler for the first book in the award-winning trilogy.

This short story had great characterization.  I loved getting to know a bit more about Genevieve.  It also provided some very good clues to bridge the time between Birthmarked and Prized, but even better it was a coherent story in and of itself.  Recommended to readers between the two books.  Read it for free at http://www.tor.com/stories/2011/12/tortured.

Birthmarked by Caragh M. O'Brien

In the future, in a world baked dry by the harsh sun, there are those who live inside the walled Enclave and those, like sixteen-year-old Gaia Stone, who live outside. Following in her mother’s footsteps Gaia has become a midwife, delivering babies in the world outside the wall and handing a quota over to be "advanced" into the privileged society of the Enclave. Gaia has always believed this is her duty, until the night her mother and father are arrested by the very people they so loyally serve.

Now Gaia is forced to question everything she has been taught, but her choice is simple: enter the world of the Enclave to rescue her parents, or die trying.

A stunning adventure brought to life by a memorable heroine, this dystopian debut will have readers racing all the way to the dramatic finish.

I am ashamed that it took a Cybils nomination of the third book in this series to get me to go back and read the first one.  I am so glad I did though!  I immediately fell in love with Gaia and her crazy messed up world!  The first thing I noticed about this book is the language.  It is so beautiful!  It's not long or prosey, but it does have a lyrical feel to it, as if the book is really an old epic poem.  My next favorite was the character Gaia.  She is so realistically painted!  I loved her obsession with her burn, even though I saw the twist with it a mile away.  I also liked her determination and her caring and dedication to the women around her and the principles her mother instilled in her.  Grey is a great foil and the romance in the book is subtle verging on barely existing, which is nice because Gaia really doesn't have much time for romance with the breakneck plot that she's embroiled in.  That was the third thing I liked: the mystery.  This book has a great unknown and the pacing in revealing the details is genius.  I had to keep reading because we were always on the verge of discovering something new and very important!  Those discoveries always led to more questions than they answered, though, which keeps the plot rolling.  And this breakneck pace keeps the reader on the edge of their seat right up until the ending which, while not a cliffhanger, definitely leaves room for sequels and doesn't try to tie up the questions asked in a pretty bow.  I read the book in one setting and immediately ordered the next it was so good, I highly recommend you try this book.

Son by Lois Lowry

They called her Water Claire. When she washed up on their shore, no one knew that she came from a society where emotions and colors didn’t exist. That she had become a Vessel at age thirteen. That she had carried a Product at age fourteen. That it had been stolen from her body. Claire had a son. But what became of him she never knew. What was his name? Was he even alive?　 She was supposed to forget him, but that was impossible. Now Claire will stop at nothing to find her child, even if it means making an unimaginable sacrifice. Son thrusts readers once again into the chilling world of the Newbery Medal winning book, The Giver,　as well as Gathering Blue　and　Messenger　where a new hero emerges. In this thrilling series finale, the startling and long-awaited conclusion to Lois Lowry’s epic tale culminates in a final clash between good and evil

The first thing I noticed about Son is that it is huge in comparison to the other books.  In fact, it could have been split into three books, one each the length and location of The Giver, Gathering Blue, and The Messenger.  In many places this book seems to serve as the answers to all the FAQs Lowry has received over the years about those three books.  As a result some things seem a little contrived, a little convenient, a little too carefully placed.  I really enjoyed the first part.  Seeing the events of The Giver from a different perspective was interesting.  It also helped to really get invested in Claire and why she was different from everyone else in the community.  I was not so big on the second part. 

****MANY SPOILERS****


I think that Claire's memory loss was unnecessary and took up too much time.  Claire could have just as easily skipped to her fight to climb out.  The reintroduction of Trademaster was chilling, but I hate how the point of view and action shifts from Claire to Gabe in the last part of the book.  Claire has been such a proactive, vivacious character that I don't see how something as simple as age can make her give up so easily.  I would have liked to see her take more ownership and more action in the scenes.  I didn't mind that Gabe was the ultimate victor, but him doing it without even talking to his mother made it seem kind of hollow, as if he was fighting for an archetype rather than a person.  In all I found the ending rather unsettling and unsatisfying, and not in the what-happens-next way that The Giver did.


****END SPOILERS****

Overall the book is good but not great, but any fan of The Giver series should read it to see how the story wraps up and to get to know Claire.

Adaptation by Malinda Lo

Reese can’t remember anything from the time between the accident and the day she woke up almost a month later. She only knows one thing: She’s different now. Across North America, flocks of birds hurl themselves into airplanes, causing at least a dozen to crash. Thousands of people die. Fearing terrorism, the United States government grounds all flights, and millions of travelers are stranded. Reese and her debate team partner and longtime crush David are in Arizona when it happens. Everyone knows the world will never be the same. On their drive home to San Francisco, along a stretch of empty highway at night in the middle of Nevada, a bird flies into their headlights. The car flips over. When they wake up in a military hospital, the doctor won’t tell them what happened, where they are—or how they’ve been miraculously healed. Things become even stranger when Reese returns home. San Francisco feels like a different place with police enforcing curfew, hazmat teams collecting dead birds, and a strange presence that seems to be following her. When Reese unexpectedly collides with the beautiful Amber Gray, her search for the truth is forced in an entirely new direction—and threatens to expose a vast global conspiracy that the government has worked for decades to keep secret.

As science fiction goes I thought this was really good. A little predictable, maybe, but exploring things that are kinda rare out there right now, which is always a plus in my book.  The best thing I think this book has going for it is its voice.  It has such an honest, believable tone that it really cuts to the quick of what being a teenager and exploring your sexuality and boundaries is really like.  Wrapping up the tone is a thriller plot that kept me on the edge of my seat the entire book.  The pacing had a few issues, especially with the romance which seemed to really stall out the plot, but Lo really knows where to twist the knife, and although I had predicted many of the twists they came up in such an original way that I didn't mind that they were sci-fi standard.  I believe fans of Cory Doctorow's Little Brother should pick up this book, it seemed very similar in tone and overarching theme.


I received this book for free from the publisher in exchange for an unbiased review.

For Darkness Shows the Stars by Diana Peterfreund

It's been several generations since a genetic experiment gone wrong caused the Reduction, decimating humanity and giving rise to a Luddite nobility who outlawed most technology.

Elliot North has always known her place in this world. Four years ago Elliot refused to run away with her childhood sweetheart, the servant Kai, choosing duty to her family's estate over love. Since then the world has changed: a new class of Post-Reductionists is jumpstarting the wheel of progress, and Elliot's estate is foundering, forcing her to rent land to the mysterious Cloud Fleet, a group of shipbuilders that includes renowned explorer Captain Malakai Wentforth--an almost unrecognizable Kai. And while Elliot wonders if this could be their second chance, Kai seems determined to show Elliot exactly what she gave up when she let him go.

But Elliot soon discovers her old friend carries a secret--one that could change their society . . . or bring it to its knees. And again, she's faced with a choice: cling to what she's been raised to believe, or cast her lot with the only boy she's ever loved, even if she's lost him forever.

Inspired by Jane Austen's persuasion, "For Darkness Shows the Stars" is a breathtaking romance about opening your mind to the future and your heart to the one person you know can break it.

Reading this book was a complete joy.  I loved it from the first minute to the very last page.  It was a great modern update on the Austen classic, making it understandable and relatable.  Elliot was less passionate a narrator than Kai, but more steady and reliable.  Kai was less mature and more volatile, and I liked the differences between them and how they complimented each other nicely.  It was great to see this grow and develop not only in the narration but also in the past letters.  The letters fit nicely into the world Peterfreund built for us.

And what a world it is.  I loved the backstory of genetic manipulation and uncertainty about the world.  It fit well into making a futuristic world that had science and yet didn't choose to use it, something that many authors try to create and fail at.  Rather than use dry paragraphs telling about the new world Peterfreund expertly used characters to show what the world was, from Reductionist Ro and her amazing abilities for her kind to the Luddite Baron North and his disdain for the Reductionists and "CoR"s on his farm.  In fact, if I had to find something wrong with this story it's that the worldbuilding is so amazing I'm disappointed to know that there's nothing more coming from it.  Peterfreund has said that this is definitely a one-off, and yet I really want to know what is beyond the islands and what is found on the long voyage.

I will caution readers that there's no deep meaning to the story.  It seems as if it could be a treatise on the dangers of science and genetics, or how we need to take caution with our experiments, or how science can fix what it hurts, or even where the line should be drawn between religion and science in lawmaking; but in the end Elliot seems to flip back and forth between beliefs before she seems to throw her hands up in the air and ignore the whole issue.  I don't know if this is good or bad, I was left wanting a bit more but it is a hard subject to have a definite "side" to fall on.

Among the Nameless Stars by Diana Peterfreund

Before Kai joined the Cloud Fleet, he wandered… AMONG THE NAMELESS STARS

Four years before the events of FOR DARKNESS SHOWS THE STARS, the servant Kai left the North Estate, the only home he’d ever known, and Elliot North, the only girl he ever loved, in search of a better life. But the journey was not an easy one.

Featuring narrow escapes, thrilling boat races and at least one deadly volcanic wasteland.

This was a great introduction to “For Darkness Shows the Stars”. Kai is a compelling narrator, and he shows the worldbuilding and setting without making it seem heavy-handed. His experiences make the reader really feel for him, admiring his passion and tenacity and feeling heartache for his failures. I think the only downpoint for me was Kai’s age. I was very surprised to learn that Kai was only 14. He felt like a much more mature narrator than that, and his feeling of connection and his harshness towards Elliott both felt like they had a dated bitterness and a maturity to them. Perhaps making Kai 14 was the only way to make the timeline work for the longer book, but I feel that Kai should have been a bit more age-appropriate.


**note 1** - this review was written before I read “For Darkness Shows the Stars”.

**note 2** - you can download and read this story here.

Forgiven by Jana Oliver

For Father's Day I review the latest book in my favorite father-daughter relationship series.

Jana Oliver's third spellbinding Demon Trappers novel - following The Demon Trapper's Daughter and Soul Thief - brings all new thrills, as Riley Blackthorne takes on demons, love... and the future of the human race.

The days are growing darker for 17-year-old demon trapper Riley Blackthorne. With her father’s reanimated body back safely, Beck barely speaking to her because of a certain hunky Fallen angel, and a freshly-made deal with Lucifer, she has enough on her hands to last a normal teenage lifetime. Though she bargained with Heaven to save his life, her ex-boyfriend Simon has told the Vatican’s Demon Hunters that she’s working with Hell. So now she’s in hiding, at the top of everyone’s most-wanted list.

But it’s becoming clear that this is bigger than Riley, and rapidly getting out of control: something sinister is happening in Atlanta… or someone. The demons are working together for the first time ever and refusing to die, putting civilians in harm’s way. Riley thinks she might know who’s behind it all, but who’s going to believe her? Caught between her bargain with Heaven and her promise to Lucifer, Riley fears the final war is coming – and it may be closer than anyone thinks…

Oh, Riley! Break my heart again why don’t you!?! When I said that book 1 was a love story, not of romance but of the love between a father and a daughter, I didn’t know that it would rip my heart out and stomp on it a bit after. This book really had me feeling for Riley and her grief over losing her father. Riley has a great character arc and follows a realistic grieving process while still dealing with other plot points, and her friends are supportive without being crutches or pure plot devices. Riley’s relationship with Beck is nice, solid and grounded in something other than lust, but also realistic and only as perfect as the two people in it (which is to say: not very). Throughout everything Riley and Beck have to deal with a doozy of a plot. Things in this book go at breakneck pace, which makes the character development even more remarkable because it uses so few introspective lulls. I like how the plot ties up things from previous books and yet opens even more questions for the future. It always seemed natural and yet unexpected which is very hard to do. I burned through this book very quickly due to the pace, and now I can’t wait for book 4!

The Selection by Kiera Cass

For thirty-five girls, the Selection is the chance of a lifetime. The opportunity to escape the life laid out for them since birth. To be swept up in a world of glittering gowns and priceless jewels. To live in the palace and compete for the heart of the gorgeous Prince Maxon.

But for America Singer, being Selected is a nightmare. It means turning her back on her secret love with Aspen, who is a caste below her. Leaving her home to enter a fierce competition for a crown she doesn't want. Living in a palace that is constantly threatened by violent rebel attacks.

Then America meets Prince Maxon. Gradually, she starts to question all the plans she's made for herself- and realizes that the life she's always dreamed of may not compare to a future she never imagined.

Although this story was a bit predictable (and not in a “this is a fairytale retelling” kinda way) I still liked it. The love triangle is underdeveloped, and I don’t think Maxon or Aspen are fully developed (and America’s relationship with Aspen seems to have little motivation or history that explains it, so it seems rather tenuous), but even though this story is about the love triangle I really enjoyed the plot of America discovering herself and trying to figure out what she wants and who she is while still protecting her family and friends. The worldbuilding seems solid, at least what we see of it. I’m not sure where Illéa is located, or if it consists of all of current day US, but what details we do get are dealt out in a manner that seems neither heavy-handed nor authoritarian. I felt we had just enough information to get the story without having long and boring exposition sections (the only part that even comes close is the “history lesson”). The dystopian aspects are a bit shrouded in mystery, both from the reader and from America, but it isn’t developed far enough to feel like a real plot line so I can’t comment much on that. I was a bit upset at the abrupt ending to the book, it felt less like a well-crafted cliffhanger and more like the editor just chopped a longer book in half, but there was enough excitement in the book and I fell in love with America so I can’t wait to see where the second book takes her!

Beauty Queens by Libba Bray

The fifty contestants in the Miss Teen Dream pageant thought this was going to be a fun trip to the beach, where they could parade in their state-appropriate costumes and compete in front of the cameras. But sadly, their airplane had another idea, crashing on a desert island and leaving the survivors stranded with little food, little water, and practically no eyeliner.

What's a beauty queen to do? Continue to practice for the talent portion of the program - or wrestle snakes to the ground? Get a perfect tan - or learn to run wild? And what should happen when the sexy pirates show up?

Welcome to the heart of non-exfoliated darkness. Your tour guide? None other than Libba Bray, the hilarious, sensational, Printz Award-winning author of A Great and Terrible Beauty and Going Bovine. The result is a novel that will make you laugh, make you think, and make you never see beauty the same way again.

This book is full of laughs.  In fact, the acknowledgements kinda make it seem like the whole premise started as a joke, and at times it really comes off as one: very tongue-in-cheek and good at making fun of itself.  That doesn’t mean Beauty Queens doesn’t have a serious message, though, nor that it isn’t a good book.  It’s a great book that can look at itself and laugh too.

The book’s loosely based off Lord of the Flies in a semi-dystopian future where The Corporation seems to own the country and The Corporation’s head is a shoo-in for President of the country.  There isn’t that much technological or societal change, though, other than some increasingly violent and stupid reality tv shows, so it could very well be a next-year kinda future.  I know, barely speculative fiction, but I liked this book so much I’m gonna call it good.  The characters are well fleshed out, and Bray does an excellent job of giving them distinct and separate personalities that hide under their perfect beauty queen veneer.  The plot twists are great as well, although the sheer number of people that end up on the ‘deserted’ island is a little unrealistic.  Mostly, though, this book is about its message.  It’s rather hard to pinpoint what it is, other than feminist, because it jumps around to many different things: you can be what you want to be, break your parents’ mold, don’t listen to society’s expectations of you, exploring sexuality is good, girls are strong and smart and just as capable as guys.  They’re delivered in such a satirical, laughable way, though, that they never get too preachy or seem droll.  They’re almost preachy, almost, but never quite there.   I highly recommend this book, it is worthy of the award accolades it has garnered.

Truth by Julia Karr

In this sequel to "XVI," Nina Oberon's life has changed enormously. After her mother was killed, Nina discovered the truth about her father, the leader of the Resistance. And now she sports the same Governing Council-ordered tattoo of XVI on her wrist that all 16-year-old girls have. But Nina won't be anyone's stereotype. Original.

Review of XVI. 

As action-packed as XVI was it was not nearly as absorbing as Truth. That is especially hard to do in a middle book in a series as well as in a book that is mostly worldbuilding, character building, and exposition. Karr certainly knows how to handle tension so that there is just enough without pushing over into too much. Although Nina has a great character arc I think the thing I loved most about this book was getting to know Dee. It was great seeing the little sister develop into a young adult on her own. Unlike Prim in the Hunger Games I think Dee is going to be a much more major player in future books, and probably present many problems for Nina, especially in how much information Nina is hiding from Dee. Nina’s arc is great, too. I was a little disappointed that it seems that there is another love triangle in the offing, but Chris seems like a much more mature boy that I’m not too upset. I am more upset about the girls’ club that’s forming in this book. It is so cliché to have a girl that’s mad just because she wants to “steal your man” and I’m a little sorry that Karr stooped so low. I hope that in future books it’s revealed that all the animosity is for a totally different reason and that Nina was just jumping to conclusions.

Little Brother by Cory Doctorow

Marcus, a.k.a “w1n5t0n,” is only seventeen years old, but he figures he already knows how the system works–and how to work the system. Smart, fast, and wise to the ways of the networked world, he has no trouble outwitting his high school’s intrusive but clumsy surveillance systems. But his whole world changes when he and his friends find themselves caught in the aftermath of a major terrorist attack on San Francisco. In the wrong place at the wrong time, Marcus and his crew are apprehended by the Department of Homeland Security and whisked away to a secret prison where they’re mercilessly interrogated for days. When the DHS finally releases them, Marcus discovers that his city has become a police state where every citizen is treated like a potential terrorist. He knows that no one will believe his story, which leaves him only one option: to take down the DHS himself.

Little Brother was a thoroughly chilling book in that way that only a truly realistic near-future dystopian is. It took me a while to finish this book because though the plot was engrossing I just couldn’t push through more of the scary, realistic prose. The plight of Marcus and his friends was crazy, but in a way that made me imagine that it could be happening right outside my front door and I would never know. There are a few times where the plot gets a bit preachy and the characters break so you can see the author talking, but it’s not so often that I got annoyed with it. Perhaps because I see it too: people are really quick to hurt other people when they’re afraid, and right now people are most afraid of terrorism. Or perhaps it is because Marcus is just a teenager. I don’t approve of some of the things he does, but teenagers often take things to extremes without meticulously thinking things through, and Marcus’ bullheaded plow through the government forces helped to make the book more real. Also, Marcus himself was a thoroughly realistic character. I liked how he was sarcastic but not over the top with it, just like his tech knowledge and his rebellion against authority. Doctorow’s way of breaking down and describing what Marcus and his friends do in a way that is thoroughly accessible to all but the most conservative luddite is one of the high points of the book. It is true science fiction that explains the science and what is happening and doesn’t just leave the reader to figure things out or have faith.

Angelfall by Susan Ee

It's been six weeks since angels of the apocalypse descended to demolish the modern world. Street gangs rule the day while fear and superstition rule the night. When warrior angels fly away with a helpless little girl, her seventeen-year-old sister Penryn will do anything to get her back. Anything, including making a deal with an enemy angel. Raffe is a warrior who lies broken and wingless on the street. After eons of fighting his own battles, he finds himself being rescued from a desperate situation by a half-starved teenage girl. Traveling through a dark and twisted Northern California, they have only each other to rely on for survival. Together, they journey toward the angels' stronghold in San Francisco where she'll risk everything to rescue her sister and he'll put himself at the mercy of his greatest enemies for the chance to be made whole again.

Angel books, they are so difficult to review. This one is especially hard. It had great pacing. It’s the kind of book that picks you up in the first chapter and you just can’t put it down until you get to the end and even then you want more. I loved how the plot slowed at just the right points to keep the reader wanting more, and sped up when it needed to but not so much that it left the reader behind. The climax is particularly well paced, with a series of mini-climaxes that hit at just the right spots. Even the cliffhanger ending is so well done that I’m not as mad about it as I am about some books. There is obvious resolution and yet also an obvious need for the characters to continue the story. The character development works well, too. I identified with Penryn almost immediately. She is resourceful, tough, and loyal to her sister. It is a little hard to contrast with her relationship to her mother, but I can see how her mother’s illness and history with Paige has made their relationship more strained. However, my major issue with this book is with the angels. Raffe is fully fleshed out as a character, but he doesn’t fit into the angel mythology. It’s very hard for me to believe that beings who are without sin can curse or be agnostic or be as aimless as the angels in the story. Even without the voice of God to tell them what to do I can’t believe that angels would go on a killing spree. And it is with the angel mythos that the worldbuilding fell apart for me. The angels just seemed too human, with human motivations and politics and pettiness. It’s as Penryn thinks in the book "The thought of superhuman beings with human temptations and flaws sent a chill through me." But angels are supposed to be different from humans. They’re not supposed to have human temptations and flaws. If Ee had claimed the angels were actually alien beings directed as an army and their communication with their home planet was cut off I think the story would have worked out. However, Ee takes all the angel mythology as it is and just takes out the part where angels cannot commit sin. For me, taking all the mythology as true except for one part and never mentioning why that one part is untrue just doesn’t work. If something is discarded from myth then it needs to be explained somehow. I’m sad that it wasn’t, because this was a really, really good book but that flaw ruined it for me. However, I will pick up anything that Ee writes and devour it because her writing is so superb, but it may be me over in the corner pouting and grumbling about angel mythos.

Soul Thief / Forbidden by Jana Oliver

Riley's beginning to think being a demon trapper isn't all it's cracked up to be. Her dad's been stolen by a necromancer, her boyfriend's gone all weird and she's getting warm and fuzzy feelings for someone who's seriously bad news. It's tempting to give it all up and try to be normal, but that's not an option. Because the demons have plans for Riley. And they're not the only ones.

WARNING: Review contains SPOILERS for The Demon Trapper’s Daughter (also published as “Forsaken”).

Another great book and a great sequel, I couldn’t wait to devour Soul Thief after I finished The Demon Trapper’s Daughter. Riley is a remarkably likeable character. Even though she has demons after her and some kind of huge destiny looming she still deals with things like bills, boy troubles, and the misogyny in the demon trapper guilds, and it makes her very relatable. And although bills and misogyny are problems for Riley this book slows down in order to really be all about the boy troubles. Don’t get me wrong, there is still plenty of demon hunting, killing, and side issues for Riley to deal with. But I also like how the romantic plots developed along reasonable, realistic lines. I really liked how the realism wasn’t only a realistic relationship, but also realistic for a girl of Riley’s age. It seems that sometimes adult authors put too much of their current relationships into books and forget that when you’re a teenager romance is different and permanence seems like such a tenuous thing.

I liked the relationship with Simon. He seemed like a nice, normal boy that was safe and relatable for Riley. A relationship like that is something that every teen girl needs, and it’s nice to see her get in a few relationships before she finds that head-over-heels forever kinda love. I can really understand how Riley could see the forever kinda love staring her in the face and run away to a safe, boring relationship because she’s just not ready for commitment and scared of forever at that point in her life. I’ve been there, and even if Oliver has not she’s got the feelings and actions down well enough to make Riley very convincing at it. The ending to their relationship is also logical, and I like how Riley still has feelings for Simon while she’s also developing feelings for Beck and while Simon is having serious doubts about her (and trying his hardest to hurt her in the process in order to push her away). Beck is also great, you can see his conflict between his developing feelings for Riley and his desire to honor and avenge the memory of her father. Ory, though, I just don’t know about. Although he puts himself out as Riley’s protector there is something suspicious about him that makes me not trust him as a romantic interest. Perhaps it is because I suspect he is more supernatural than he lets on, and I just don’t want the series to turn into a demon/human or angel/human romance thing. I really like how romance isn’t a priority with Riley, and I hope the series continues to be about her problems with demon-hunting and her relationships only form a side-plot.

The only real problem I had with this book is the twist ending. It was brilliant move, totally in keeping with everything before it and yet entirely unexpected, but it makes me way too anxious for the next book! I’m also a little upset that the series is being republished under different names and covers, but that’s just because I like my book series to be the same and I’d rather not repurchase books just to get covers in the same theme. I may, though, if I ever get to see Jana Oliver again. I’m very glad she attended Dragon*Con last year because it made me pick up her books, and I only regret that I had to lecture myself during her signing in the dealer’s room and wasn’t able to get her to autograph the books. I’m rather sad that I can’t go back to Dragon*Con next year, because I seem to find the best books and authors by just walking through the dealer’s room or sitting in the Young Adult Literature track and hearing them speak about what’s good. I can’t thank them enough for Diana Peterfreund and Beth Revis, and now I also owe then for Jana Oliver. Hopefully soon WorldCon and Dragon*Con will diverge again and I will be able to come back.

Legend by Marie Lu

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.

This book started out kind of confusing. It took me a while to catch on that we were switching perspective between Day and June, and not that June was secretly Day. That made it very confusing when talking about Day as a boy, I kept expecting them to reveal him as a girl in disguise even after I had gotten the Day/June part straight. However, even with that confusion I really liked this book. I really got into the character of June, she sounded so realistic, and I felt for her as she started having doubts and liking Day. I didn’t identify as much with Day’s point of view, but I never identify with male characters as much as females. Day did provide some much-needed exposition, and his point of view as a poor criminal was needed to show the dystopia for what it was. I liked that Day had a female friend that didn’t have any romantic relationship with him and that June didn’t really care, either. In fact I think this book is worth reading for the character’s relationships. June and Day have a very healthy relationship built on each others’ strengths and supporting the other’s accomplishments. Although June suffers from no-parent syndrome (a common trope in YA literature) her older brother Metias seems to encourage her more than shelter her, and only keeps secrets from her that he was keeping from everyone else, too. Even June’s relationship withThomas shows that the dystopia Lu has built has a very realistic gender parity, and although Thomas is power hungry and his attempt at a relationship is not good or healthy it is colored by the power differential of status, not gender. I did feel that although this aspect of the worldbuilding of Los Angeles was interesting the rest of the world seemed sparing, as if Lu only invented what she needed, but that could be because the book concentrated on characters and not place, or because to reveal to much is to spoil the future. Either way, I can forgive and I will be placing the sequel on my must be read list!

all these things i’ve done by Gabrielle Zevin

In 2083, chocolate and coffee are illegal, paper is hard to find, water is carefully rationed, and New York City is rife with crime and poverty. And yet, for Anya Balanchine, the sixteen-year-old daughter of the city's most notorious (and dead) crime boss, life is fairly routine. It consists of going to school, taking care of her siblings and her dying grandmother, trying to avoid falling in love with the new assistant D.A.'s son, and avoiding her loser ex-boyfriend. That is until her ex is accidently poisoned by the chocolate her family manufactures and the police think she's to blame. Suddenly, Anya finds herself thrust unwillingly into the spotlight--at school, in the news, and most importantly, within her mafia family. Engrossing and suspenseful, All These Things I've Done is an utterly unique, unputdownable read that blends both the familiar and the fantastic.

Throughout the book I identified most not with Anya, but with Scarlett. I like how she’s a loyal friend and is present throughout the book, not just as the plot needs her. That doesn’t mean that Anya is a bad character, though. On the contrary, she is smart and crafty, always thinking five steps ahead of everyone else and never giving in to impulse. I think this is why I didn’t identify with her as much as Scarlett because Anya seems to have super-human restraint, something that I don’t care for much. However, I like how Win is Anya’s only weakness, which makes her seem at least a little more human, and how he tries to win her over in a way that is not stalker-y or threatening but is sweet, patient, and normal for a teenage boy. I also like how he in the beginning he is willing to give up if that is what Anya wants, showing that Anya is not the beginning and end of his whole existence but just someone cool he would like to hang around with. The plot of the book is rather difficult to deal with. Anya lives in an apartment with her ailing grandmother, a mentally injured older brother, and a twelve year old sister. Add in the common YA trope that her parents are dead this makes Anya a wise-beyond-her-years teenager as well as caretaker of her family. I find it a little unrealistic, though. If Anya’s father was the mob leader and her grandmother is the mother of the current mob boss I don’t think the mob would leave the family alone as much as the Balanchines ignore Anya. It’s intimated many times that Anya’s maturity means she would be a much better mob boss, and I wish Zevin had explored this a little more in the book. Perhaps she’s saving it for a sequel. If she is I’ll be buying. This review was of an ARC I got through a YA blogger trade. I received no compensation for this review.

The Demon Trapper’s Daughter / Forsaken by Jana Oliver

Demon Trapper Riley Blackthorne just needs a chance to prove herself—and that’s exactly what Lucifer is counting on… It’s the year 2018, and with human society seriously disrupted by the economic upheavals of the previous decade, Lucifer has increased the number of demons in all major cities. Atlanta is no exception. Fortunately, humans are protected by Demon Trappers, who work to keep homes and streets safe from the things that go bump in the night. Seventeen-year-old Riley, only daughter of legendary Demon Trapper Paul Blackthorne, has always dreamed of following in her father’s footsteps. When she’s not keeping up with her homework or trying to manage her growing attraction to fellow Trapper apprentice, Simon, Riley’s out saving citizens from Grade One Hellspawn. Business as usual, really, for a demon-trapping teen. When a Grade Five Geo-Fiend crashes Riley’s routine assignment at a library, jeopardizing her life and her chosen livelihood, she realizes that she’s caught in the middle of a battle between Heaven and Hell.

I think I’m going to surprise a lot of people when I say that what I found in The Demon Trapper’s Daughter was a great love story. It’s not apparent on the surface. The story is about Riley Blackthorne and her adventures (and problems) fighting demons and trying to become the first female demon trapper. Riley is a typical sarcastic teenager, but Oliver writes the sarcasm and teen angst very well and it seems to be natural in both the dialogue and in the narration. Riley’s romantic interest in the book is Beck, her father’s apprentice demon hunter, but there is little room for romance because they are busy fighting demons and Beck is twice as sarcastic and guarded as Riley is. No, this is not the great love story I found. The love story is between Riley and her father, Paul. The touching relationship between the two is a well developed pairing of the parental relationship of independent older teenagers and their authority figures, and you can really tell that loyalty and love are the foundation of Riley and Paul’s lives. Riley’s drive to be a demon trapper like her father is a result of this “daddy’s girl” relationship is the impetus behind the entire plot, but it never seems stilted or flimsy because Oliver set up the parental relationship so well. Riley herself is a great character and it is through her eyes that we see the future of Atlanta. I really liked how the plot was very specific about the places Riley lived, worked, and existed in. I could pinpoint on a map where the battle with the level-five or the old hotel sat in the city. Of course you can skip over these fun details and still find an action-packed read full of demon fights and strife, so there really is a little bit of something for everyone in this book.

Bumped by Megan McCafferty

When a virus makes everyone over the age of eighteen infertile, would-be parents are forced to pay teen girls to conceive and give birth to their children, making teens the most prized members of society. Girls sport fake baby bumps and the school cafeteria stocks folic-acid infused food.

Sixteen-year-old identical twins Melody and Harmony were separated at birth and have never met until the day Harmony shows up on Melody’s doorstep. Until now, the twins have followed completely opposite paths. Melody has scored an enviable conception contract with a couple called the Jaydens. While they are searching for the perfect partner for Melody to bump with, she is fighting her attraction to her best friend Zen, who is way too short for the job.

Harmony has spent her whole life in Goodside, a religious community, preparing to be a wife and mother. She believes her calling is to bring Melody back to Goodside and convince her that pregging for profit is a sin. But Harmony has secrets of her own that she is running from.

When Melody is finally matched with the world-famous, genetically flawless Jondoe, both girls’ lives are changed forever. A case of mistaken identity takes them on a journey neither could have ever imagined, one that makes Melody and Harmony realize they have so much more than just DNA in common.

From New York Times bestselling author Megan McCafferty comes a strikingly original look at friendship, love, and sisterhood—in a future that is eerily believable.

Bumped is an interesting tale of a future society when people become infertile after their teenage years, and so teenagers are encouraged, and paid, to have children for older couples. It is told through the eyes of two teenagers, Melody and Harmony, who were separated at birth and adopted by two separate families. When they turned 16 they opened their birth records and found eachother. One is a contractual birth-mother waiting for a "male contributor" before having her first pregnancy, and the other is a spiritual girl awaiting a marriage that will allow her to have children before she is too old and becomes infertile. The two characters are very well crafted. Melody is a driven young woman who reminds me a lot of many teenagers today who are pushing to get into a great school: filling their lives with activities, creating and running school groups, hinging on grades and test scores and always being pushed by parents who want the best for them. Harmony seemed very believable as well, a religous girl who was raised by a close religious family who joined every facet of her life to religion and the missions behind it. The conflict of their intersections is a great twist, and gives very believable plot twists.

However, while I liked a lot of things about this book, I also felt there were a lot of missed opportunities and confusions. The turning points for both Melody and Harmony felt a little sudden, as if there should have been a bit more lead-up to their change of heart. While they were understandable given the backgrounds of the two girls I did feel that I wanted to see more indecision and confusion leading up to their change of heart to make it seem a little less sudden. I also felt that there were so many other angles that the author could have explored, such as the fact that girls can only have one paid pregnancy a year while boys can have hundreds, and thus have the potential to possibly get paid more due to their frequency or less due to their commonality, causing gender issues. There is also the issue of teenagers wanting to keep their baby, which is dealt with by drugging them but is only brushed slightly over in the third person as a disease rather than tackled head-on. While the issue of genetics comes up when Melody's contract is made due to her good genetics the only markers mentioned are height and beauty, leaving aside issues such as racial equality and access to income aside. Melody's large plot twist also hinges on a commodification issue that I won't spoil, but I will say I found problematic especially because it seemed to be brushed under the rug. The world created in Bumped is so rich I would have liked to see more about it and the darker sides of the issues it raised. Hopefully the author will have that chance in further books and will explore more about the problems created by having teenagers be the only fertile people in a society.

I received a copy of this book free through NetGalley in exchange for an unbiased review. I have since purchased a copy for my personal library.

Crossed by Ally Condie

In search of a future that may not exist and faced with the decision of who to share it with, Cassia journeys to the Outer Provinces in pursuit of Ky - taken by the Society to his certain death - only to find that he has escaped, leaving a series of clues in his wake.

Cassia's quest leads her to question much of what she holds dear, even as she finds glimmers of a different life across the border. But as Cassia nears resolve and certainty about her future with Ky, an invitation for rebellion, an unexpected betrayal, and a surprise visit from Xander - who may hold the key to the uprising and, still, to Cassia's heart - change the game once again. Nothing is as expected on the edge of Society, where crosses and double crosses make the path more twisted than ever.

***Spoiler Review***

Such high hopes for this book, and I don’t feel they were met. Don’t get me wrong, this wasn’t a bad book by any means. I just feel that it’s not worth its hype, and definitely not the next Hunger Games like it was marketed. This sequel to Matched turns Cassia from a potentially strong female lead with agency and a tendency to act for herself into a passive woman following the instructions of her love interest and the authorities around her. This is a huge character change for Cassia. Instead of manipulating the people and technologies around her to find out information like Matched, Cassia drifts around in work camps until she happens upon someone who knows of Ky. Instead of preparing food and water for her escape like Ky Cassia relies wholly on the unnamed boy and her stock of useless blue pills. When she finds Ky Cassia follows him and his goals, having made no plan for survival or her future further than “I will find my boyfriend”. Even when they get to the Rising Cassia goes along with what the Others tell her to do, and when they decide to send her back as a spy there is little emotional reaction. Combine this with a snail-like pace of plot as the group travels through a barren wasteland and you get a book that suffers from middle-trilogy syndrome as well as the character issues. I am so sad that the promise of Matched wasn’t met, and I will probably sadly pass on the third book in this series.