Dark Days by Kate Ormand

 

“Then he told me the worst part.  The part that shattered me.  The part that made me feel as though I’d been kicked in the stomach and had the wind knocked out of me.  He told me that those who aren’t chosen will be slaughtered by an army.  A cyborg army.” –Dark Days by Kate Ormand

In a future divided into sectors, there has come the time to choose the elite from the group and create a better society.  Sia is one of the many that has not been selected for a better future; however, she has been selected to die by cyborg army.  She, and everyone else, has 15 days left.  Sia wants to enjoy these last few days, but with the depressing air around her she needs to figure out what to do with her time, and she also is thinking of ways to survive.  A very quick read, set in a span of 15 days, full of action, questions , and consequences.

3 out of 5 stars, thanks Edelweiss

We Are the Goldens by Dana Reinhardt

We Are the Goldens by Dana Reinhardt seems like an open letter from a younger sister to an older sister.  Layla is the perfect daughter.  Her parents spent a lot of money and energy to conceive her and her beauty is one that seems set in high definition.  Nell is the unplanned second child, who constantly lives in the shadow of her sister Layla, and will be starting high school this year.  Nell and Layla have been inseparable, and Nell is excited to be close with her sister at school again, especially since Layla is a cool junior.  Soon Nell starts to figure out that not everything is as it seems.   Layla is hiding something, and that something is that she is having a relationship with her teacher.  This is the story of one sister, who loves her sister, but cannot understand how or why that sister is spiraling out of control.  Nell must finally find out who she is without Layla, and how to find her voice.

3 out of 5 stars, thanks Edelweiss.

The Girl Who Never Was by Skylar Dorset

“One day, my father walked into his Back Bay apartment to find a blond woman asleep on his couch.  Nine months later, I appeared on his doorstep.  One year later, my aunts succeeded in getting him committed to a psychiatric hospital.”

 

The Girl Who Never Was by Skylar Dorset is the story of Selkie Stewart, who lives with her two great aunts and her father has been committed to the psych ward.  Selkie has never met her mother, and only knows what her father has told her, which sounds like gibberish.  All she knows are her great-aunts, her father, and Ben, a street vendor that she has been quietly loving and is constantly making her feel happy.  After one trip to Salem, MA and entering a weird museum, Selkie begins to ask the wrong questions or the right ones, depending on what side you are on.  The secret behind Selkie is that she is half fey and half ogre, and she is part of a great prophecy.  Depending on what side you are on, she is the best or the worst thing to happen to the fey and other-worlders.    Just to add another ingredient to this mess, her mother is the fairy queen, who rules with an iron fist, like most fey do.  Selkie must now choose which side she’s on, how she will help the people she loves, and find out how to get out of her mother’s clutches.  Quick urban fantasy read.

3 out of 5 stars, Thanks Net Galley. 

The Feral Child by Che Golden

The Feral Child by Che Golden is an inventive twist on fairy tales.  Maddy is an orphan living with her grandparents in Ireland.  Dealing with the recent death of her parents, uprooting from London, and having her cousins and aunts make her feel un-welcomed are not the only issues that Maddy has to deal with; on top of everything else she is dealing with fairies.  After a night excursion in an abandoned castle Maddy encounters a fairy that steals children and replaces them with changelings.  She could have pretended that those stores about fairies her grandfather tells her are made; she could have just let it go, but not when the child that is stolen is none other than her next door neighbor Stephen.  Now Maddy is determined to go into the fairy world and rescue Stephen before it is too late.

I really liked how quickly the story developed and carried on.  There was never a dull moment and the imagery was very vivid.  The only complaint is that the series doesn't seem to have any continuity, I don’t know if it is because it was first published in the UK.  I hope this will be fixed in the US.

4 out of 5 stars!  Thanks Edelweiss.  

The Immortal Crown by Richelle Mead

The Immortal Crown is the second book in Richelle Mead’s Age of X series.  In her new adult series we continue to follow Mae and Justin in their search for the Elects and godly influences mixed with human lies.  Mae and Justin are still dancing around their emotions, Justin is still hiding things that could help Mae discover who this new god is that is communicating with her, and they have stumbled onto some crazy stuff.  On top of dealing with all this Elects turning on each other, which causes them to hide their true natures with charms, they are also helping Lucian Darling on a diplomatic assignment.  This assignment deals with a society outside of the RUNA, in Arcadia, where men are polygamist and women are treated as if they must uphold the Taliban rules.  On top of all this Mae is also investigating where her niece might be, and rumor has it she might be located near Arcadia.  This is not a sophomore slump book at all, filled with action and adventure, along with some interesting introductions to new gods it is a book to keep the audience captivate.  Mae and Justin still keep the reader interested with their tension and wit, and frankly the end is very promising for an exciting next book.

3.5 Stars out of 5  Thank You Edelweiss  

The Lost by Sarah Beth Durst

The Lost by Sarah Beth Durst can be explained by the following quote: “I fell in love the way you fall asleep: slowly, and then all at once.”  That line is not of this book, but from The Fault in Our Stars, what can I say that was exactly how I felt about this book.  Once I started reading I didn’t figure out, until towards the end how much I really liked this book and cared about the characters.  Lauren is running away from the pain that is waiting for her.  Her mother was diagnosed with cancer and every time she comes back from a test result, or consultation there is never any good news.  Lauren cannot take another piece of bad news, especially if it means her mother is at the end of her life.  She does the only thing she can think of, she gets in her car and starts driving until she gets completely lost.  One second she’s driving and reflecting on her selfish behavior and the next she is in a town that doesn’t seem to have reception or a gas station.  Lauren has just stumbled on the town of Lost, where people go when they are missing something essential in their life until they retrieve what they are missing and then they can go home. 

There are two important people in the town of Lost, Peter (The Finder) and the Missing Man.  Peter finds those that are lost in the void, before they completely disappears, and places them in the town.  The Missing Man helps guide that person in finding what they lost in the void; once the person is complete he sends them home.  No one can leave without the Missing Man, so Lauren asks for his help, but he leaves with an abrupt No, and Lauren has now a whole town of enemies since they fault her for the Missing Man going missing.  Lauren finds a friend in Peter, the wild man who is beautiful and startlingly crazy (quotes poetry and literature, likes to jump on things, and has a weird fetish for sleeping in closets) and Claire, a six year old who is also lost finds Lauren and together the 3 become a solid unit.  Lauren’s main objective is to get back home for her mother and Peter’s objective is to help Lauren but he also has a secret.  Lauren doesn’t realize that the town of Lost might put her back together again, but in the end there will be decision that needs to be made and it will be tough one, because the town will need her and Peter will need her… but do they need her as much as her mother?

Great story, rich in characters and the supernatural is not overdone… it’s not even fully described, which lets the reader focus on the action unfolding and the characters’ personalities.  Really enjoyed this and cannot wait to continue in the next book The Missing.

4 out of 5 stars.  Thanks NetGalley!!!

V is for Villain by Peter Moore

 

V is for Villain is a quick read, mirrored to the movie Sky High.  The children of superheroes all go to the same academy; however, if your powers are not super and you are not an excellent fit (basically a conformist and one who worships heroes) than you are sent to the alternative school… and known as an A-hole.  This is what has happened to our main character Brad.  Being the younger brother of one of the well-known and worshiped heroes out there, life has never been great for him, especially since he doesn’t have any superpowers of his own.  Being dumped into the alternative program only proves that he is a disappointment to his family, but then he begins to hang out with a group of other A-holes and starts questioning the system of justice vs what the heroes call justice.  Slowly but surely, the questioning beings to form into action. 

There is a lot going on in this short read, but not so much that you cannot follow what is going on.  Between genetics, heroes vs villains, and sibling rivalry there are a lot of aspects for every audience to enjoy.  I am curious to see if this is a standalone, because the book lends perfectly into creating a platform for a long series of villains vs heroes.  If you like action and sarcastic wit, you will definitely be pleased with this selection.

Thanks NetGalley, 3 out of 5 stars.