Soulbound by Heather Brewer

This is the first novel in the Legacy of Tril series by Heather Brewer.

Kaya has grown up living with the Unskilled - humans who known nothing about the Barrons and Healers who are in a 100 year war. But Kaya knows enough about them since her parents are both Barrons.

The only problem is that Kaya has not been introduced to that world. She has been told that she is a Healer by her parents, but because her mother and father are both Barrons, they broke the rule where they could not marry one of their own. It needs to be Barrons married to Healers.

Because her parents did that, they have been hiding with the Unskilled and have made sure that Kaya has stayed out of trouble.

But when a Graplar comes into her town, a creature that's soul purpose is to kill humans, and kills Avery, Kaya's best friend, the location of Kaya and her parents was revealed. Now, Kaya got an "invitation" to go to the Shadow Academy to be trained as a Healer. Only in the invite, it basically said that if Kaya doesn't go, her parents will pay the punishment.

Now Kaya is stuck in a place where Healers are snobs and Barrons are cocky. She has a guard, since Healers are not allowed to fight and are "weak" unless they have a Soulbound or a Bound where they can protect their Healer.

Kaya is not having it. She wants to learn how to take care of herself instead of waiting for someone to save her in a fight. But that is against Protocol. No one is willing to teach her how to protect herself, except for maybe one person.

Darius.

But for some reason, Darius, who is the only Unskilled at the Academy who trains all of the Barrons to fight, seems to hate Kaya on sight. And Trayton, Kaya's Bound who she is to be with at all times in case he gets hurt and needs Kaya to heal him, won't help her because it is his responsibility to protect Kaya if she is in trouble.

Somehow, though, the Graplars are able to come inside of the walls protecting Shadow Academy. And Kaya keeps getting caught by them. She will find a way to defend herself, even if it is against the law at Shadow Academy.

But can Kaya find a way to protect all of the ones she's come to care about at the Academy before it is too late? Read Soulbound by Heather Brewer to find out!

My Thoughts/Reflections
I have not yet had a chance to read any of Heather Brewer's novels, but I really loved this first novel of her new series! I wasn't sure what to expect going in, but after reading the synopsis about a girl wanting to find someone to train her to fight, I knew I would like it!

And I just have to say, once I met all of the characters I knew exactly where this was going to go. Especially because of the tension and the intensity with both male characters in Kaya's life, I knew exactly what was going to happen and I was waiting at the edge of my seat for it to occur.

But to have it happen on the last page?!? Gah, it just about killed me. I cannot wait until August to find out more of Kaya's adventure! Should have waited until closer to August before grabbing this and falling in love with this storyline.

So, as you can see, I really did like this novel. Actually, I liked it more than I thought I will.

Kaya is a great character. She knows she is a Healer and is anxious to learn more about Healing, but she also wants to learn how to protect the ones she loves. After seeing her best friend get attacked in her village  she never wants to be defenseless again.

And the love interest in this book! I definitely have a favorite and hope it goes in that path because I think they were made for one another.

Now I will have to look into Brewer's other series to see if they are as good as this novel. Maybe I will get a new favorite author!

I would definitely recommend this novel to young readers and try to explain the amazingness of this book to them! Can't wait for the sequel to come out!

Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas

This is the first book in the Throne of Glass series by Sarah J. Maas.

After being in the salt mines of Endovier for a year, Celaena was given an opportunity to get out. Endovier almost broke the 18 year old assassin, so she was game for pretty much anything.

But when the Crown Prince Dorian was the man she was presented with a deal, she wasn't sure if she should take it. Dorian's father has created a competition for someone to be the King's Champion for 6 years and will do the kings biddings and "dirty work".

Celaena, before getting caught and sent to Endovier, was Adarlan's Assassin. She was the most feared assassin in Adarlan and she was such a good assassin that no one knew who she was. They especially didn't know she was younger than 17 or a girl.

So the thought of working for the king made her ill. But after 6 years, she would have her freedom - no more running from the authorities and she wouldn't have to be an assassin anymore because she would get a reward from the king.

After debating with the Crown Prince, they made a deal that she would be Dorian's candidate if she could take leave after 4 years, not 6, when she won. Because she knew she would win against any other candidate - that wasn't the issue.

Now Celaena is living in the castle under watch of numerous guards. But the one guard that is always around and trains with Celaena to get back into shape is the Captain of the Royal Guards, Captain Chaol Westfall.

Chaol does not trust Celaena - not one tiny bit. She is the feared and trained assassin that has no emotions and will do anything to survive, so he keeps both eyes on her and makes sure she can't harm the royal family.

But the more he gets to know Celaena, the more he might have misjudged her. That doesn't stop him from not trusting her, though. And the same is happening with the Crown Prince. Both men are surprised by how much they enjoy Celaena's company. Some times they even forget she's a trained assassin that will kill in a second.

Strange things are happening at the palace, though. The candidates are being murdered by a monster that tears through their skin and pieces are missing. With so many thieves  killers, assassins or hunters in the palace for the competition, anyone is a suspect, even Celaena.

And even though magic has been banned from the world, it seems that there might be someone who found a way to use the forbidden magic.

Can Celaena figure out who is doing the killings? Can she win against the other candidates, especially Cain who keeps getting stronger and bigger after each trial and test? And what will Celaena do if she does become the King's Champion, because she definitely doesn't want to work for the horrible king? Read Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas to find out!

My Thoughts/Reflections
I've been wanting to read this book for awhile and I'm glad I finally did! If there are any die-hard fans of The Hunger Games this might be a great novel for you to pick up! It has the same idea: a group of people fighting to the end to a prized title.

Even though this is more science fiction than dystopian, I didn't have any trouble keeping up with the different world that Maas created. It was nice and I loved how Celaena was the complete opposite of the other "proper" women in the novel.

Celaena was by far my favorite character! She has spunk, she talked back, and she is a survivor; she will do anything that needs to be done in order to live another day, even if it means becoming a killer and getting paid to do it.

And the interactions with the Crown Prince Dorian and Captain Westfall are amazing. The reader can tell that she has feelings for both men, but she doesn't know what to do with them or how to act on them. Plus, she knows nothing can come from it since they are located in the palace and she is just trying to get out of it.

Out of the two men, I like Captain Westfall the most. He doesn't say much, a man of little words, but he is always watching Celaena and, because we get multiple narrations in this novel, we know a little of what he is thinking when it comes to Celaena.

Overall, I really enjoyed this novel and I think other readers will as well. Maybe if the cover was changed to make it gender neutral  more readers would pick it up and realize it's a different version of The Hunger Games, because the cover probably sends guy readers away.

I would definitely recommend this to other readers and I cannot wait to read the second novel later this year! Now I just have to play the waiting game!

Altered by Jennifer Rush

This is the first novel in the Altered series by Jennifer Rush.

For five years, Anna has been sneaking down to the basement to see the four boys that are being experimented on. Her father is observing them and giving them tests - tests for what, they are not sure, but the boys have been altered someway so they are faster, stronger, smarter than guys their age.

Trev, Cas, Nick and Sam are her only friends - well not Nick because he hates Anna - because Anna is homeschooled and is an only child.

Just recently, her father is letting her come down to the lab during the day to help with the records and testing procedure. But Anna still likes to sneak down around midnight to see the boys when her father isn't around.

While Cas and Trev are funny and she can talk to them about anything, Sam is a different story. Anna has always been attracted to him, much more than a friend to talk to. But Sam is hard to read, so she's not sure what he thinks about.

After the authorities of the project come and try to take the boys away, Sam is able to escape and kill all of the guards. When him and the other boys are leaving, Anna's father says to take Anna with them, to protect her.

So now Anna is running off with the boys she's grown up with, away from everything she's grown used to.

The more the boys try to remember their past and why they are being experimented on, the more questions seem to pop up. Like, why do the boys feel the need to protect Anna? She's just the scientist's daughter - they should despise her.

And why is Anna getting headaches like the boys are? They are having headaches because of the lack of treatment... but Anna never got treatments.

With all of these questions building up, the five of them are still running away from Connor and Riley, the head of the project. They are not going to stop until they capture all of them - even Anna.

Will the group be able to get away and keep their freedom, or will they get captured and be forced to go back to a cage? What is Anna's part in all of this, because it seems that she might not be just the scientist's daughter? Read Altered by Jennifer Rush to find out!

My Thoughts/Reflections
This is the author's debut novel?!? I would never have guessed, assuming that she has written many before! That's how good I thought this book was!

Right from the beginning I was sucked into this book and read it all in one sitting within a few hours. The world that Rush created was very intense.

Anna is such a sweetheart. She snuck down to see the boys and formed a bond with them. She brought them cookies, books, games, hair products, whatever they wanted. And she talked about outside, what color the sky was, if it was warm or cold. She was their outside source and most of the guys adored her.

But I liked that she wasn't completely a sweetheart - she also took self defense classes once every two weeks, so she was also able to defend herself if the situation ever needed her to do so. And she sure did need them when her and the boys were running from the special ops that were chasing them down.

All of the secrets that slowly came about was very refreshing, and I didn't see all of them coming, which I liked because I hate figuring things out before hand.

My favorite parts were with Cas and Trev - they were the goofy ones of the bunch, especially Cas. No matter how serious the situation was, Cas was always there to make a joke of something.

I really, really liked this novel and I can't wait to read the second one in the series! But Goodreads says it won't be out until January 2014 so I have a while to wait before I can find out what happens after the ending of this one!

I would definitely recommend this novel to other readers, because I think they will appreciate the freshness and action that this novel gives. Really great job!

Scarlet by Marissa Meyer

This is the second novel in the Lunar Chronicles series by Melissa Meyer.

My review of #1: Cinder.

WARNING - There will be spoilers from the first novel! Proceed reading with caution!

Near Paris, Scarlet's grandmother has been missing for 2 weeks when she got the comm saying that the police were going to stop searching for her. The police thinks that her grandmother, Michelle, ran away instead of being kidnapped like Scarlet believes.

Now that the police are no longer a part of it, it's up to Scarlet to find her grandmother. And she gets a hint as to how to find her when her father lets out a clue after he had been taken by the same men: they have a tattoo on their bicep of letters and numbers.

And Scarlet just happened to meet a man who had that same kind of tattoo on his arm.

So she went hunting for Wolf, the street fighter, to get her answers. And he has answers, just not the one that she's looking for. But Wolf decided that he will help her find her grandmother, since he knows the people who took her and where they are located.

On the other side of the world, Cinder is escaping the prison she was put into after the horrible ball Prince Kai held and where Kai found out that not only is Cinder a cyborg, she is also Lunar.

Now Cinder needs to run away, and fast, before she is exchanged to Queen Levana, queen of Luna, where Cinder will be executed for being a "runaway Lunar". Or that's what the whole world believes. In fact, she is going to be killed because Cinder is the missing Princess Selene, the little girl Levana tried to kill when she was only 3 years old so she would be the only ruler of Luna.

She successfully escaped prison with the help of Captain Thorne, who just happen to steal an American spaceship before he was caught. And so they are two fugitives who are running to survive for their lives.

But Cinder needs to know more about what happened when she was younger, as the Princess Selene. And the one living person who might have some answers is Michelle Benoit - Scarlet's mother.

So the two cross paths together, both having their very own big problems to deal with, but mutually trying to find the same solution: Michelle Benoit and the answers to their pending questions.

It won't be easy though. Wolf is not a normal man, and the men who stole Michelle are really not normal. Things are about to change for Kai, as well, when an attack occurs on Earth, by command of Queen Levana herself.

Can each character find what they are looking for, or will they run out of time and find that everything will crumble? Read Scarlet by Melissa Meyer to find out!

My Thoughts/Reflections
I flew through this novel! Since I was already introduced to this setting, I didn't have the troubles that I had throughout the first novel so I was able to understand what was going on and didn't need to pause to understand certain things.

I loved Scarlet even more than Cinder, I think! She's spunky. She knows how to fly a ship, has a permit for a gun, and even used a few throughout the novel! And she is always looking for the good in everyone, no matter what the situation may look like.

The one thing she wanted the most was to find her grandmother, so when she found out that Wolf may have had a part in her kidnapping, she took charge and confronted the undefeated street fighter - very brave for a small female.

And I also liked how this book had different narrators, unlike the first who was only Cinder's point of view. The reader got to experience Cinder, Scarlet, Captain Thorne and Kai's viewpoint, along with one small chapter from Queen Levana.

It was nice to view all of these viewpoints because we got more of a feeling from each characters and what they were thinking about the events from Cinders revealing at the Ball of being Lunar and a cyborg.

I think the most entertaining character was Captain Thorne. He thinks he's hot stuff and is a ladies man, so the introduction between him and Cinder when she busted through his jail cell was very entertaining.

Cinder is one heck of a fighter, though. Not only is she trying to escape her fate from Queen Levana, but she is also trying to figure out how to control her Lunar powers. She doesn't want to mind control anyone, or make anyone do her bidding or see what she wants to see, which makes her polar opposite of Queen Levana.

I very much enjoyed this novel and I cannot wait for more to come! Unfortunately, the third novel, Cress, won't come out until 2014!! It's just now 2013... I don't want to wait that long! However, it's going to have the RAPUNZEL character in it, and I really love that character :) I do hope Scarlet and Wolf will be in it too, though the small synopsis on Goodreads doesn't say as of yet.

This is turning out to be an amazing series, so I would definitely recommend it to other readers!

Cinder by Marissa Meyer

This is the first novel in the Lunar Chronicles series by Melissa Meyer.

Cinder is a cyborg. When she was eleven, she went through a procedure after a hoover craft accident that crushed most of her bones, and now those bones are metal and she has a computer programmed inside of her head.

That was also when she was adopted and taken to the states with her new family. Unfortunately, her new mother and the eldest girl, Pearl, didn't appreciate having a cyborg as a family member. And the adopted father passed away not too long after bringing Cinder with him.

But Cinder has Peony, the younger sibling, and Iko, the android of the house, to keep her company.

When her adopted father died, though, Adri, her adopted mother, made her work for her keep and treated her just like an android to do her every bidding. Otherwise, Adri could sell her for money, since she was technically her ward, and Cinder didn't want that to happen.

It just so happens that Cinder is very good at fixing technical problems, so a lot of people bring their adroids, communication devices, and other technical devices to her and she charges them to fix it. It keeps her busy and brings in money to keep her stay at home.

One day, Prince Kai showed up at her shop, needing her to fix his android from his childhood. That was the day everything changed. Kai thought that she was just a normal human, and Cinder wasn't about to tell him that she was a cyborg.

Then her sister, Peony, got sick - critically sick - and Cinder was sold to use as parts and other materials to try to find a cure for this horrible disease. It just so happens that Cinder is immune to this disease. And the doctor who was treating her seems to know a lot more than he is telling Cinder...

Things go from bad to worse as the Queen of Luna comes to try to marry Prince Kai after his father, the king, passes away. Queen Levana has the ability to make anyone see any illusion she comes up with - so no one knows exactly what she looks like. To have a person of that power in control of the Commonwealth would be horrible, but a war is about to occur with the Lunars if Kai can't find a different solution.

Cinder is stuck in the middle, being immune to the disease and having attracted Kai's attention, but she doesn't realize just how in the middle she is until the doctor finding a cure informs Cinder of just who she really is.

Can Cinder help with the cure since she is immune? Will Kai be able to find another way to save his people now that he is king? Or will a war break out between the two species? And just who is Cinder? Read Cinder by Melissa Meyer to find out!

My Thoughts/Reflections
Many of my friends have read this and rated it very high, so I was intrigued to start reading it. But for some reason I found it very slow going at first. I think it's because this novel is a dystopian plus science fiction and I haven't read too many of that genre to really get into the setting.

However, I've heard that the sequel novel is superb and I knew I needed to get through this novel in order to fully enjoy Scarlet, since it's published now, so I trucked through it and actually enjoyed the story!

Cinder has accepted her fate of being a cyborg slave since she has lived with Adri, but she has used her skills for good and was able to fend for herself to fix machines and technology on hand. When Kai showed up at her shop, she was extremely shocked, but flattered that he would come to her and ask for her help.

I really liked Cinder. Even though I didn't understand half of the things she was fixing or how she was fixing them, she is a girl who does what she needs to do in order to survive. And she has perfected her talent for fixing objects, giving her a great image of a mechanic.

Like I said earlier, the setting is what threw me off, but I got used to it after reading past the first 200 pages. It did take awhile for me, but now that I've delved into this world that Meyer created, I can't wait to read more!

There really isn't a lot of similarities between this story and Disney's version of Cinderella, which I found refreshing and unique to other retellings. Meyer had a great way of detail to the point where I couldn't figure out what the heck was being done, but it seemed very legit that I didn't care if I understood it or not - that's how I could tell that Cinder knew what she was doing.

I'm really hoping that this series gets better, like everyone keeps reviewing about. It was a very interesting viewpoint of this story and I'm glad I finally got a chance to see why my friends gave a steller review for this novel.

So if you want a very unique, techy version of Cinderella, that also dabbles in other planet colonization and the world on a brink of another war, this would be the perfect book for you. I would recommend sticking this book out if you have trouble at the beginning, because it does get better and you'll want more by the end of the novel!

Gravity by Melissa West

This is the first novel in The Taking series by Melissa West.

It's the year 2140. A lot of things have changed, including an invasion against the Ancients - otherworldly people who participated in World War IV. Otherwise known as aliens.

After most of the population died, a treaty was formed between the rest of the humans and the Ancients: they will stop fighting if the humans will allow the Ancients to "take" certain supplements from the humans when they are asleep.

It's called The Taking.

And the one rule is: never peek.

When 17 year old Ari lost her patch - a smooth cloth that clings to the persons face, not allowing them to move, see or feel - she has to go through the Taking very much alert.

And she couldn't help but peek...just a little bit.

Turns out, her Ancient is none other than Jackson Locke - a classmate who competing her for the top spot in  Force Training.

He's supposed to be human, but he is very much not. Instead of reporting Jackson to her father, the Commander, Jackson talks to Ari and she realizes that another war is about to occur. So either Ari helps Jackson stop the war, or she jump starts it by telling her father.

Now Ari is between two worlds, trying to figure out which way is the right decision for everyone she loves and cares about.

But the government doesn't see it the way Ari does, and they go to drastic measures. Ari needs to decide what to do, but either way she will get hurt in the end by losing someone she cares about.

Can Ari find a way to save both humans and Ancients? Or will another war wipe out all of mankind this time? Read Gravity by Melissa West to find out!

My Thoughts/Reflections
Another alien novel! Seems this is going to be a topic to write about now? Not that I'm complaining - I really love the Lux series by Jennifer L. Armentrout and will definitely take more sexy aliens.

This novel is a little different though. It's dystopian and more "governmental" than some others, making it almost realistic because the reader can see this happening with the amount of detail West put into the description of the world in 2140.

Ari is amazing. Growing up as the Commanders daughter, she got no slack and was expected to one day take her father's places as the new Commander. She got up every morning to fight and train with her father, making her one of the best in her class as a Force Training.

She also has a clear head and can see both sides, rather than her father who only sees the world where humans are concerned.

So yeah, I really liked Ari. She stood up for what she believed in rather than what was expected, and I really like female roles that do that.

Jackson is very mysterious and kept a lot of information to himself, making it hard for Ari to trust him. Even at the end of the novel he was still being mysterious! Which is a little aggravating after awhile!

This was definitely set up to be part of a series, and I'm glad because I want to go back to this world and see what happens after this ending! (Read it if you want to know the ending :P)

Unfortunately I have to wait until August 2013!! Way too long for me, but I will get it as soon as it's released.

If you want a governmental, dystopian, alien filled novel to read, this one is for you. I would highly recommend it!

Struck by Jennifer Bosworth

Mia is a lightning addict. Ever since she got struck the first time, she knows when a storm is coming and wants to chase after it to get struck by lightning again.

Yes, it hurts. Yes, she has marks all over her body every time she gets struck by lightning.

But that doesn't stop her from wanting the sensation she gets every time it happens.

After an incident occurred in Arizona, her and her family (mother and younger brother Parker) moved to L.A. because there wasn't too many storms that occurred there.

Lightning storms that is. Earthquakes, on the other hand, happen. And just over a month ago, a horrible earthquake came through her town and destroyed homes and killed people.

Right before the earthquake hit, a Prophet claimed that it was going to come. He told them, even though no one believed. But after it hit, he got Followers who started to believe everything he said. Which was basically the end of the world was coming.

On the other hand, there was another group forming against the Followers - the Seekers. They think they can stop the end of the world, as long as they can get a lot of people on their side.

And for some reason, Mia is in the middle of these two groups. Both want her for their own purposes. Mia wants neither of them, just to take care of her mother, who was mentally and physically hurt in the earthquake, and her young brother.

When a mysterious boy comes into the picture, someone Mia has never met before, she feels torn about what to do. And Jeremey is telling her she shouldn't do anything, but not telling her why he's saying something like that.

Will Mia pick a side between the Followers or the Seekers? And what is her purpose in this upcoming storm the Prophet is talking about? More importantly, can the storm be stopped before it wipes out the whole world? Read Struck by Jennifer Bosworth to find out!

My Thoughts/Reflections
This book did not work for me. Right from the beginning, I had to force myself to read it and then I started skimming trying to find dialogue rather than 5-7 paragraphs about religion.

I really wanted to like it. I got to the end of the novel, so I worked really hard to find out what happens to Mia. But I feel like I've wasted a good part of my day reading something that I will never think about again and I don't like doing that.

Even the romance between Mia and Jeremy didn't cut it for me, and that's an unusual thing to happen because the romantic couple can always get me to look forward to their scenes in the novel.

I'm not sure if it's because it had a lot of religion in the novel. I'm not anit-religious, I just think it was on overdrive in this novel and every other word was about God. It got a little repetitive after awhile.

I see on Goodreads that it is part of a series, but I know for a fact that I will not read the second novel if/when it comes out. I'm just happy that I got through this novel as a whole, even with the skimming of pages I did every once in awhile.

For anyone who doesn't mind reading a supernatural novel that also has a lot of content about religion, this might be up your alley. It just didn't go over well for me and I'm glad I just got it from the library instead of buying at the store - which I might have done since it's about a topic I would normally enjoy reading.

Destiny's Fire by Trisha Wolfe

This is the first novel in the Kythan Guardians series by Trisha Wolfe.

In 2040, Dez is fighting against her own people. She's a Shythe, a race of shape-shifters descended from the Egyptian pharaohs. At the age of 17, she gains her full Charge power and will be assigned to humans to protect them from any harm.

The enemy of Shythe's are Narcos, who are also shape-shifters but instead of having a Charge, they have Flame in order to produce steam, fire, and other substances of flame to help humans.

Together, they help the human race, but the Narco's have been killing the Kythan species for years. Now, it's  just the Narco's and Shythe's, who are still mortal enemies, but are now told from the council that they have to live together to keep their race alive.

While this is going on in the Kythan world, Dez is fighting her own battles. She was part of an experiment when she was conceived, and was the only one who survived.

She's half Narco and half Shythe, raised in a Shythe world. Her friends are Shythe. Her mother ran away when the creators of the experiment starting killing everyone, saying the procedure went wrong. So they came to Haven and changed their names, fitting in with the Shythe world.

But she doesn't know if she will have the Charge power, or the Flame power when her abilities come the day she turns 17.

Dez is starting to grow feelings for one of her best friends, Jace, who is a Shythe, and is also one of the council members son. But right when things might be looking up for them, a Narco comes barreling through when they are forced to live with Shythes: Reece.

For some reason, Dez is strangely connected to Reece - in a bigger way than she can imagine. When she turns 17 and gets her immense power, it's not Jace she turns to for help, but Reece.

Things are not as they seem, though, between the Narco's and the Shythe's. Peace is not the only thing they are striving for, and Dez is caught right in the middle of this battle between two races.

Can Dez find a way to contain her massive power of both Narco and Shythe? Can she do it in time to save the ones she loves? Read Destiny's Fire by Trisha Wolfe to find out!

My Thoughts/Reflections
Now I know I have a lot of labels for this book review that don't make sense, like Supernatural, Dystopian, Science Fiction, but for me, this book had all of these genres! It was amazing!

I haven't read too many Sci Fi novels lately - especially YA novels - so it was great to get lost into another world with different rules than I'm used to.

And I found the way the author wrote this novel was fantastic! She didn't overly explain things but gradually let the reader figure out how this world was with the rules and the setting. It wasn't a whole paragraph where it was narration to the reader of what was going on - we have to read it longer than a chapter to figure everything out, which I found refreshing.

Dez is amazing. She has been keeping this secret for years and is scared to death as to what is going to happen when she receives her full power. And then, when she does get it, she's able to use some of it before it gets out of control.

Now, the first scene, directly when the reader starts, is HOT. But then it gets hotter with another boy.

As much as I liked Reece, I think the acceptance of him that Dez gave him was a little odd. He's supposed to be her mortal enemy and after revealing the truth about himself, she trusts him with her life? Yeah, not very realistic or smart, I think.

I think Wolfe did an amazing job with this novel. It sucked me into another world, gave me a different viewpoint on different topics, and kept me wanting a lot more throughout the novel and at the end. It's not a cliffhanger, but the reader will definitely know that there is more to this amazing world.

I cannot wait until the next book comes out. Unfortunately, I can't find any information on Goodreads about the sequel, but I'm hoping that I won't have too long of a wait for it?!?

I would definitely recommend this to any female reader who wants an other worldly novel to read and one with a kick a$$ female lead character to read about! I won't be forgetting this world any time soon!

Monument 14 by Emmy Laybourne

The year is 2024. Gas is low, so everyone is required to travel by public transportation. Electronics are run by a main corporation: National Connectivity. They control every single electronic and none have failed to work since the switch.

Until now.

Dean and his brother Alex were running late for their bus for school. But they should have missed it.

While they were in the bus, a severe hailstorm came - hail the size of basketballs. Fortunately, they were able to get to a secure location: a supermarket (think Walmart).

However, the bus drive that survived decided to go to the ER and see who survived and what was going on.

So that left 14 kids in the store, alone. Caroline, Henry, Ulysses, Max, Bastiste, Chloe, Sahalia, Alex, Josie, Dean, Astrid, Brayden, Jake, and Niko. That was all.

When the bus driver left, they decided that Jake would be in charge, though the jock wasn't a good leader in this crisis.

The kids went to the multimedia center after finding out that their electronics didn't work and found an "old" television that connected to CNN (our TV's now are considered "old").

There was a huge natural disaster that started with the volcano on La Palma in the Canary Islands errupting. It covered the whole western front of the island which set off a megatsunami.

When the megatsunami hit the eastern coast of the U.S., that also set off a severe weather condition including the Rocky area in Colorado where hail came down fiercly and triggered an 8.2 earthquake.

Then the chemical plant in Colorado Springs blew up, sending a toxic cloud 800 miles from the plant. The chemicals affect by blood type. O Type becomes rabid - killing everyone in sight. AB Type becomes paronoid; A Type gets blisters all over their body. B Type stays normal but they become sterile after being in the toxic air.

So the kids are trapped in the store. Thankfully they have enough provisions to last for over a year, hopefully waiting out the toxics in the air.

But people from outside are trying to get inside the building. The kids are keeping their territory under lock and key, but can they keep it safe forever? Read Monument 14 by Emmy Laybourne to find out!

My Thoughts/Reflections
When I read the back of this novel, I was very intrigued and wanted to find out more. The idea of kids being locked inside a supermarket seemed so out of the ordinary that I thought I would like it.

And I did like it... for the most part. I think I would have liked it more if it were just high school kids and no little kids. The little kids, for the most part, annoyed me.

But then again, I think the little kids were more mature than most of the high schoolers, so I take that back.

I dunno. There was something missing from this book that made me love it.

I did like the idea of a natural disaster trigger other disasters all over the world. It's a possibility in the future which makes this book possible to see the future.

It was an interesting read, and I think it was very realistic if a group of kids were trapped inside of a super center. They would whine, complain, fight, cry, play excitedly with toys and eat all of the junk food.

Maybe that's why I didn't enjoy it - it was too kidish and not grown up. ...Dare I say I wanted it to be more my age?! 0_0

Anywho, there were some good parts to this novel and I really enjoyed the topic. I think readers who are interested in apocalypse and dystopian will really enjoy this.

Also, Dean is the narrator of this novel, so I think that guy readers will like it because it's not a girl complaining about being stuck with a bunch of kids, but rather what Dead was thinking through the 12 days being stuck in the supermarket.

This is the first novel in the series and the sequel, Monument 14: Sky on Fire, will be released sometime in 2014. If I happen to see it, I might read it but I'm not sure if I will go out of my way to get it.

Nerve by Jeanne Ryan

Vee has a boring life compared to her best friend, Sydney, who is the star in the school play and is amazing at whatever she does.

But when Sydney kisses Vee's crush for over a month longer during the play than was necessary, Vee feels betrayed and decides to do a dare for the online reality hit NERVE.

NERVE is basically real live dares that are filmed live onto the Internet. Each dare has a prize for completing each dare to entice the player. The more dares, the bigger and better the prizes are until the players get a chance to participate in the Final Round.

Along with NERVE the players have to deal with Watchers: people who've paid to watch the players either online or in person, where they can win money for whomever posts the best live stream of the dares as they are happening.

Vee didn't really think her little dare would get that much attention. But after her and her wingman, Tommy, post it on NERVE's website, she's wanted for another dare - this time with a new partner to do dares with, Ian.

What started off as a way to do something daring and different than her normal personality is now becoming very serious.

And Vee's prizes are becoming more and more useful for when she finishes high school.

But are the dares becoming too hard? Can Vee handle the intensity of the dares or will she finally give up and lose all of the prizes that she has won? What is NERVE worth to Vee? Read Nerve by Jeanne Ryan to find out!

My Thoughts/Reflections
When I first read the synopsis of this book on Goodreads, I had the impression that it would be an online version of The Hunger Games, but I was definitely wrong.

This is just a very real and public game of Truth or Dare only without the "truth" option.

But don't be fooled - NERVE is not nice in all of their dares and they definitely hit home for every one of their players to make the dares hard to complete for the juicy prizes.

Vee is a hard character to love. She's easily likable but there are times when I either want to strangle her or slap her.

She does a great job with the dares, though, and trying to find ways around the rules that NERVE gave her for each dare. She's known as shy by her friends, but after this night of dares she won't be called that again.

So, yes, I did like this book. It was different, especially the topics in this novel making it fresh and new in today's YA literature.

But it wasn't a novel that I fell in love with automatically. I find time to set it down rather than staying up ungodly hours to finish it.

One thing I did like was the twists. A friend backstabs Vee, a new friendship occurs, and truths are revealed throughout each dare. It kept me on my toes til the last page.

I would definitely recommend this to teens who are looking for a bit of an adventure and a side book from The Hunger Games, even though it's considerable different. And anyone looking for a futuristic/sci-fi novel might find this rather interesting, especially with the different technology that's in this novel.

Also, so far this is a standalone novel so I won't be biting my nails to wait for the sequel, even though Ryans did leave it open at the end for another novel to be written.

Night of the Purple Moon by Scott Cramer

I received this paperback novel for free by the author for an honest review.

Abby, her younger siblings Jordan and Toucan, and her father are very excited to see the comet fly across the sky. It's said that it will change the moon purple and will alter the colors of the sunrise and sunset for a couple of weeks after the comet shower.

But when all 3 wake up after falling asleep before the comet flew by, their life had been changed... All because of the purple moon.

All of the adults are dead. Abby found her dad outside on the lawn; He never made it back inside.

Older teenagers, around the ages of 14 and older, also didn't make it past the night of the comet.

With her neighbors, Kevin and Emily, the group of adolescents find a working radio station 2 days after the comet. Thankfully, Kevin is science smart and can understand that the CDC is creating a cure.

Because they find out that once teens hit puberty, they will be infected as well and won't survive the attack.

Abby and Kevin are 13. Emily and Jordan are 12. They have gathered all of the children on Castine Island and have built their own community in order to survive: cleaning up the town, finding and planting food, preserving water, and more.

But if a cure isn't found soon, will human kind cease to exist? Will Abby and Kevin stay young long enough to take the cure? Or will they have to leave their siblings and new family before they are ready? Read Night of the Purple Moon by Scott Cramer to find out!

My Thoughts/Reflections
I labeled this as a science fiction genre, but it could also be post apocalyptic or dystopian as well. It seems that this type of story is becoming very popular. I just reviewed another novel, Ashes, where adults died and teens were the only survivors, but there was more to the story than what Night of the Purple Moon is about.

This is a short novel, just 177 pages long, and it reads very quick because the reader wants to know what will happen next.

I also think this can appeal both male and female readers as the narration bounces between the two Leigh siblings Jordan and Abby.

The thought of having no adults around might be appealing to pre-teens and teens, but after they read this book, they will think twice about saying that, or wanting to grow up and be an adult before they are!

I enjoyed this novel and am grateful I got a free copy to read and review this novel.

I believe this is Scott Cramer's first novel? Don't quote me on that, I just can't find any more books by him on websites to prove otherwise. For his first novel, I thought he did a great job keeping the story concise and had great character development.

Who would have thought that 12 and 13 year olds would be able to create a community and take care of multiple little kids? Being able to farm, do laundry, find clothes, etc.

I would recommend this to any reader and ages 12/13 and older, since the main characters are around 12 and 13 - the "adults" of the characters that is. Also, for anyone who likes science fiction and "end of the world" novels, this will be up their alley as well.

Unraveling by Elizabeth Norris

Janelle thought she had a lot going on in her life. Her father is an FBI agent, her mother is fading away - living in a shell, so Janelle has been taking care of her 14-year-old brother Jared.

And to add to Janelle's problems, she gets hit by a truck that came out of nowhere and dies by the impact.

Only she wakes up... And Ben Michaels is standing over her, a boy she has never talked to before. But Janelle knows, deep down inside, that Ben brought her back to life.

And she's set to prove it one way or another.

There happens to be more that's going on besides Janelle dying. There are people in her town that are dying from radiation burns - horrible burns. Only no one can find out who these people are. There are no records about them; the Feds can't even get a match on their dental records.

Janelle and her best friend Alex like to snoop in her father's FBI cases, so they get in a little too deep in this radiation case.

And find out that there is a bomb ticking down to 40 days before it blows up... Which will destroy Earth.

But then Janelle finds out Ben's secret... And it links to her father's FBI cases...

After her father was killed by 3 gunshots, Janelle is even more determined to figure out this case.

Because solving this case could mean the survival of the whole planet. And finding out her father's killer.

My Thoughts/Reflections
I tagged this as a science fiction novel because it does go into alternate universes and non-human abilities. This is also one of the very few Young Adult science fiction novels I have read and I was really impressed with it!

Janelle is a character that I really liked. She was the head of the house since both of her parents were MIA - in person and in spirit. That's enough for a 17-year-old to handle with a younger brother.

But she also wanted to help her father in his cases before he died. And she caught on to certain aspects very quickly that even her father was impressed - and he was in charge of his own group in the FBI.

While I'm not a sciencey person, I was sucked into this story and wanted to know all of the answers to the mysteries in this novel. And the author, Elizabeth Norris, wrote it well enough for a non sciencey person to understand, which I really appreciated!

I do have to warn any interested readers - this is a sad novel. I can count right now 4 sad parts to this book, and most of them were right at the end.

So it's a tearjerker, but good news is that there will be a second novel coming out in this series. It won't be out until April 2013, but we will get to delve more into the world that Norris has created and maybe get some happy news rather than crying some more.

I definitely recommend this novel to anyone wanted a "forbidden" love with a bad boy, a science fiction setting, or a novel about survival.