Archive for Book Reviews

Publisher: HarperCollins
Publication Date: April 16, 2013
Format: ARC
Source: Received from the publisher for review.
Status: Fourth in the Body Finder series, following:

The Body Finder

Desires of the Dead

The Last Echo

Genre: Teen Paranormal
Other Info: For some very bizarre reason, (that probably made sense to me at the time), I’ve only reviewed Desires of the Dead on this blog. I would like you to know that, despite that fact, I am current with this series.
Description and link from Goodreads):

Violet thought she’d made peace with her unique ability to sense the echoes of the dead and the imprints that cling to their killers…that is until she acquired an imprint of her own. Forced to carry a reminder of the horrible events of her kidnapping, Violet is more determined than ever to lead a normal life. However, the people who run the special investigative team Violet works for have no intention of letting her go.

When someone close to Violet becomes a suspect in a horrific murder, she finds herself pulled into a deadly hunt for a madman with an army of devoted followers. Violet has survived dangerous situations before, but she quickly discovers that protecting those closest to her is far more difficult than protecting herself.

Now I’m an “adult,” I sometimes reconnect with old, childhood friends. I’m always delighted to see them and I always enjoy the time we spend catching up. After we part ways, I have pleasant memories and, while I’ll likely say to myself, “It would be nice to see him/her again,” I won’t be counting down the days until we are reunited. I think about those friends occasionally and tell myself I should call them, but mostly, it’s out of sight, out of mind. Until the next time, when I’m just as thrilled to see them as I was before life swept me up in its busy tide.

I have much the same relationship with The Body Finder books. I know that Kimberly Derting will always show me a good time, and I know I’ll want to read her books as they are published, but my liking for her lacks the urgency I feel for, say, Kelley Armstrong’s YA novels. Which is a shame, really. I always think I should appreciate The Body Finder books more than I do but, hey, if I don’t feel it, I don’t feel it–right?

Dead Silence follows the same formula as the previous books–Violet senses an echo and is unable to resist following it. So far, despite her ability to sense and hear echoes, Violet has kept her school life at school and her crime-fighting life…not. This time the murders bring Violet’s two worlds to a collision point. And it doesn’t help that Rafe and Gemma have enrolled in her high school.

The collision of Violet’s two worlds is further emphasized by her relationships with the two males in her life. Jay, her best friend and boy friend is a constant–always has been, always will be. But then there’s Rafe. Dead Silence flirts on the edge of the idea of a love triangle and goes not a step further. There’s obviously some connection between Violet and Rafe but what it is and what it means for her relationship with Jay is murky at best. I’m getting mixed signals from Derting. One minute Violet’s world is complete with Jay. The next, Rafe has dug up a dead body to help Violet. Can Violet have both boys? I’m starting to wish it was possible. And if I had to pick the main characters in these books, they’d be Violet and Rafe, not Violet and Jay.

While Dead Silence is another solid entry in this solid series, I’d label it as its weakest. The story didn’t really go anywhere and even the emotional arc felt muddled. I found myself wondering if Derting herself knew where her series was headed. Furthermore, I had a really hard time remembering the details of Violet’s school life and friends, which made it difficult for me to care about the storyline with her best friend, Chelsea. At this point, even Jay is starting to blend into the background. Too many characters and flitting in and out of the story and I fail to become emotionally invested.

What I think (or maybe just what I’d like to see) is an end to Violet’s story (or maybe a firm direction for it). Then I’d like Rafe to have a story of his own. Rafe is clearly the male lead and the male lead needs to get his girl. If it’s not going to be Violet (and I sure hope it’s not Chelsea) then he needs a story of his own. I’d totally read that.

Questions to nibble on:

• Do you agree that Rafe is the male lead?
• What would you like to see happen next in this series?
• Why do think we saw so little of Jay in Dead Silence?
• If you haven’t read the book yet: How do you feel about a love interest that isn’t the male lead?

Publisher: HarperTeen
Publication Date: April 16, 2013
Format: ARC
Source: Received from the publisher for review.
Status: First in the Taken series.
Genre: Teen, Dystopian, Science Fiction
Other Info: Taken is Erin Bowman’s debut.
Description and link from Goodreads):

There are no men in Claysoot. There are boys—but every one of them vanishes at midnight on his eighteenth birthday. The ground shakes, the wind howls, a blinding light descends…and he’s gone.

They call it the Heist.

Gray Weathersby’s eighteenth birthday is mere months away, and he’s prepared to meet his fate–until he finds a strange note from his mother and starts to question everything he’s been raised to accept: the Council leaders and their obvious secrets. The Heist itself. And what lies beyond the Wall that surrounds Claysoot–a structure that no one can cross and survive.

Climbing the Wall is suicide, but what comes after the Heist could be worse. Should he sit back and wait to be taken–or risk everything on the hope of the other side?

Okay, confession: When I first found Taken on Goodreads I thought it was the sophomore novel by the author of Plain Kate. My bad! It’s actually the debut of a talented new author, one with surprising vision and delightful skill as a writer. While Taken won’t make my list of top books this April, it was plenty enjoyable and a quick read with lots of positive elements.

Chief among Taken‘s attributes are the characters. Gray, the main character, is smart, brave, vulnerable and annoying all at once. His two love interests (yes, two) are both equally three-dimensional. Unfortunately, even though two interesting romantic leads should be a good thing, I’d made my choice about who I wanted Gray to be with before I even met the alternative. And even though the love triangle doesn’t really come into fruition until the last part of the book, it became the worst kind of love triangle when it did, meaning that I ended the book on a sour note.

While the love triangle didn’t really work for me, there were other elements to appreciate. The world-building is interesting, though it was reminiscent of another other book I couldn’t place. Or maybe I just experienced book-long deja vu. Bowman doesn’t believe in letting the grass grow underneath her plot or characters. Secrets are shared and problems are solved with a straight-forwardness that speeds you through the book.

I enjoyed Taken even though I had issues with it, the love triangle being the primary one. If the love triangle lasts long into the series, I’ll probably stop reading. I find it difficult to respect an MC who fools around with one love interest when he knows he still has feelings for another girl. Taking both the flaws and attributes into account, Taken lacked whatever it is that makes a book special for me.

Publisher: Walker Childrens
Publication Date: April 2, 2013
Format: eARC
Source: Received from the publisher for review via NetGalley.
Status: Stand-alone
Genre: Teen, Dystopian, Science Fiction
Other Info: I read and enjoyed Wiggins’ debut novel, Shifting.
Description and link from Goodreads):

There is no cure for being stung.

Fiona doesn’t remember going to sleep. But when she opens her eyes, she discovers her entire world has been altered—her house is abandoned and broken, and the entire neighborhood is barren and dead. Even stranger is the tattoo on her right hand—a black oval with five marks on either side—that she doesn’t remember getting but somehow knows she must cover at any cost. She’s right.

Those bearing the tattoo have turned into mindless, violent beasts that roam the streets and sewers, preying upon the unbranded while a select few live protected inside a fortress-like wall, their lives devoted to rebuilding society and killing all who bear the mark.

Now Fiona has awakened branded, alone—and on the wrong side of the wall.

One of the things I enjoy about Dystopians is the myriad of ways in which they come about. Global warming? Civil War? Genetically engineered bees? Check, check and check. I more than just enjoy, though. I believe that back story is key to any good Dystopian. If the author doesn’t have a solid, believable reason for his/her oligarchic, misogynist love/water/air/land-less world, I’m going to be dissatisfied. End of story.

Sadly, an easily comprehensible back story wasn’t enough to make Stung a success. In a word, it felt rushed. There wasn’t enough time for anything. For Fiona to make up for her lost years (the ones between 13 and 16 are not to be missed), for the romance to develop, for the corruption to be revealed, for the Dystopia to become…not. I can’t believe I’m saying this–since stand-alones are so rare that I’m usually rooting in the opposite direction–but Stung should have had at least two more volumes.

However, even if more books had allowed Bethany Wiggins to slow the pace of her story, I’m not sure it would have worked for me. I was very much struck by the fact that the last age Fiona remembered being was 13. Even if she was physically 16, she’d missed three years of psychological development. Because of this, I was the slightest bit skeeved by the romance, and I have serious doubts about Fiona’s state of mind. That kind of thing has got to mess with you. Hence the need for more volumes–time for Fiona to process and adjust a little. Or, even better, Wiggins could have left that twist out entirely. I wouldn’t have minded.

The neatly packaged ending didn’t work for me, either. Everything is resolved and wrapped up nicely in a tidy bow. Don’t get me wrong–I’m all for resolution and happy endings! I just don’t like it when they’re too easy. For one thing, it makes things unrealistic. For another, they feel perfunctory. I want my MCs to earn their happy endings. In Stung, I simply made a face and turned off my Kindle.

Don’t miss my interview with Bethany Wiggins–or the giveaway!

Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Publication Date: April 23, 2013
Format: ARC
Source: Received from the publisher for review.
Status: First in the Project Paper Doll series.
Genre: Teen Science Fiction
Other Info: Stacey Kade is also the author the Ghost and the Goth series.
Description and link from Goodreads):

1. Never trust anyone.

2. Remember they are always searching.

3. Don’t get involved.

4. Keep your head down.

5. Don’t fall in love.

Five simple rules. Ariane Tucker has followed them since the night she escaped from the genetics lab where she was created, the result of combining human and extraterrestrial DNA. Ariane’s survival—and that of her adoptive father—depends on her ability to blend in among the full-blooded humans in a small Wisconsin town, to hide in plain sight at her high school from those who seek to recover their lost (and expensive) “project.”

But when a cruel prank at school goes awry, it puts her in the path of Zane Bradshaw, the police chief’s son and someone who sees too much. Someone who really sees her. After years of trying to be invisible, Ariane finds the attention frightening—and utterly intoxicating. Suddenly, nothing is simple anymore, especially not the rules…

I went into The Rules with few expectations. As mentioned above, I hadn’t read anything by Stacey Kade before–I hadn’t even read any reviews of the series or, frankly, heard anything about it. Still, the description of The Rules was enough to pique my interest. I liked that it was SciFi rather than paranormal. And I hoped that would be enough to put an interesting spin on the “girl with a secret” storyline that is currently so prevalent in YA.

Reading it, there were some things I liked. I thought the premise had potential…I just wasn’t impressed with the execution. Plus, I had issues with Ariane’s decision to risk revealing her identity. Although the description suggests she does it in order to defend the weak, she really does it to get revenge on the school’s mean girl. Perhaps my sense of self-preservation is over-developed, but that wouldn’t be a good enough reason for me to risk capture. I also thought it lessened the stakes of what was, essentially, driving the story.

If my issues with Ariane weren’t enough, I was also lukewarm about Zane. He’s supposed to be a reformed Big Man on Campus, complete with a rep as a jock and a “cool” clique. At the beginning of the book, Zane is good friends with the mean girl that Ariane wants to teach a lesson. Due to personal tragedy, Zane has supposedly seen the error of his ways. I didn’t buy it. If the mean girl was as mean as Kade painted her, and Zane went along with her shenanigans, he had a lot to make up for. Falling for a social nobody and regretting his actions wasn’t enough of a reformation. And the mean girl? She was so mean as to be one-dimensional. I felt that way about a lot of characters–Zane’s dad being another example.

The big question with any series is: did I like it enough to read the next book? Well, The Rules was a mediocre read for me. I didn’t love it, but I didn’t really feel enough to hate it, either. I didn’t particularly connect with any of the characters and I read with minimal interest in the plot. When I got to the end, I set it aside and didn’t think about it again until I picked up my (metaphorical) pen to write this review. So, I think I’ll be skipping the next one.

Don’t miss my interview with Stacey Kade–and your chance to win a copy of The Rules!

Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Publication Date: April 23, 2013
Format: ARC
Source: Received from the publisher for review.
Status: Second in the Unraveling series, following Unraveling.
Genre: Teen Apocalyptic/Parallel/Alternate Universes
Other Info:
Description and link from Goodreads):

Four months after Ben disappeared through the portal to his home universe, Janelle believes she’ll never see him again. Her world is still devastated, but life is finally starting to resume some kind of normalcy. Until Interverse Agent Taylor Barclay shows up. Somebody from an alternate universe is running a human trafficking ring, kidnapping people and selling them on different Earths—and Ben is the prime suspect. Now his family has been imprisoned and will be executed if Ben doesn’t turn himself over within five days.

And when Janelle learns that someone she cares about—someone from her own world—has become one of the missing, she knows that she has to help Barclay, regardless of the danger. Now Janelle has five days to track down the real culprit. Five days to locate the missing people before they’re lost forever. Five days to reunite with the boy who stole her heart. But as the clues begin to add up, Janelle realizes that she’s in way over her head—and that she may not have known Ben as well as she thought. Can she uncover the truth before everyone she cares about is killed?

Last year, when I read Unraveling, it was a nice surprise. I’d missed all the buzz about it and hadn’t read a single review (and I remember how weird that felt!) and I really only picked it up on a whim. As soon as I started, though, I was hooked. I read it from cover to cover. I downed it like it was peanut sauce. And when I got to the last page, I began waiting for Unbreakable to be released.

Unbreakable picks up about four months after the end of Unraveling. Janelle’s (our) world is in chaos. Martial law has been declared, school is pretty much cancelled, and untold numbers are missing. At first this appears to be related to the disasters caused by two universes almost colliding (oops! I spoiled Unraveling!), but Janelle soon finds out that something far more sinister is going on. Well, more sinister than IAD agent Taylor Barclay showing up, seeking Janelle’s help.

Although reluctant at first, Janelle eventually agrees to help Barclay solve the mystery of the missing people. What they discovers is that the people aren’t just going missing–they’re being kidnapped and sold into slavery. And Ben is somehow involved. Grudgingly teaming up with Barclay, Janelle leaves her world for Prima, in the hope of finding Ben, her friend Cecily, and stopping the kidnappings.

Unbreakable does some awesome things. It brings back Janelle, whom I love for her down-to-earth-kick-ass-ness. That girl is all, “I’m too old for this shiz” and she’s not even 18 yet. It also transforms Barclay from “kind of douche-y” to swoon-worthy. Which brings me to this: I totally don’t like Ben anymore (spoiler rant below). I’m TEAM BARCLAY all the way. There’s one particular scene where Janelle and Barclay are hiding in close proximity…it’s hot. And possibly entirely in my mind but, well, an obsession was born, folks. An obsession. Was. Born. Which is why I hated the ending. I can’t find out if this book is the last in the series, but I sure hope not. I will be incredibly sad if it is. My overriding thought on reading the last page of Unbreakable? This better NOT BE THE END.

SPOILER RANT BELOW

DO NOT READ IF YOU DON’T WANT TO BE SPOILED

A few words about Ben: I liked Ben in Unraveling. He wasn’t my favorite hero ever, but I liked him. In this book, he managed to entirely lose my favor. Sure, he’s placed in an impossible situation and he has to make impossible choices, but I still feel like he made crummy ones. In this book, Ben kidnaps people for the slavery ring because he thinks he’s saving Janelle’s life. Honorable? Er, not really. Romantic? Nope. Girls are being kidnapped and sold into sexual slavery. Lots of them. Would I subject anyone to that to save someone I loved? I don’t know and I hope I’ll never have to find out. BUT. I can’t believe that Ben could have thought that Janelle would have been able to live with herself knowing what her existence cost other people. Is any of this fair to Ben? Probably not, but my heart doesn’t really care.

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