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Category: Science Fiction & Fantasy

Review: Switched by Amanda Hocking

[ 4 ] February 2, 2012
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Rating: +1 (from 1 vote)

Reviewed by Elizabeth Talbott

Wendy Everly has never felt as if she fit in anywhere. When she was six, her own mother tried to murder her in a fit of delusion, convinced that she replaced her real child. People seem to dislike her upon meeting without knowing anything about her and she just seems to stumble into trouble without meaning to.

At seventeen, she’s living with her brother and her aunt, trying to be good and do well in school, and stay out of trouble for their sake. Then Finn, a boy at her school, starts to stalk her, making Wendy suspicious but interested. He reveals that she is a changeling and tells her that she must return to her true family or be kidnapped by an opposing faction. Is this new place where she truly belongs or will she be just as alien there as she is in the human world?

Switched is a typical teen fantasy book that is supposedly about trolls (AKA trylles). This aspect isn’t necessary at all and seems like an easy way to market it as something unique, when it’s actually just a typical fairy story.

There were some things I liked about the book, such as the trylle society and the dynamic of her blood family as opposed to her human family. The society has a rigid caste system that doesn’t allow for upward mobility. The regular, peasant trylles don’t have any special abilities, so they work in order to contribute. Those in the aristocracy have magical abilities of some sort, but they don’t know how to defend themselves. Trackers only have abilities that go with their trade and are considered very low on the totem pole, but humans hold the lowest position. The blatant hatred of humans and behavior of trylles and people at different levels of the caste system really intrigued me.

The rest of the story was fairly typical for a teen fantasy read. Of course there was a hot guy named Finn that made Wendy act completely senseless and melodramatic. Finn’s character was the most annoying aspect of the book for me; I really liked Wendy except when she acted as if she would die without Finn, as so many heroines do these days. It was also quite creepy that she found it sexy to be stalked instead of meeting and getting to know each other like real people. The plot was a little uneven with pacing and did not pick up until Wendy arrived in the trylle world.

Overall, Switched was enjoyable, but not a spectacular read. The writing was all right and the story kept my interest, but I don’t have a burning need to read the next book in the series.

Rating: ★★★☆☆ 

Elizabeth is a student at Cal State Long Beach. She laughs a lot, loves cats, and lives for music and books. You can read her blog here: http://titania86-fishmuffins.blogspot.com/.

Review copy was provided free of any obligation by St. Martin’s Griffin. No monetary or any other form of compensation was received.

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Review & Giveaway: The Way We Fall by Megan Crewe

[ 71 ] January 23, 2012
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Rating: +1 (from 1 vote)

Reviewed by Meghan Saldecki

Kaelyn’s town has come down with a mysterious – and deadly – virus. First, you’re itching and you cannot stop. Next, you’re acting like you’re friends with everyone. Then there are paranoid hallucinations. And lastly, you’re dead.

The Way We Fall is about exactly that: a falling civilization, hindered not only by the deadly virus, but by the healthy inhabitants inside doing anything it takes to survive – even if that means killing someone.

Kaelyn holds her own and shines as a brave heroine, risking her life to help those with the virus and her family. She sometimes breaks down, sure, but who wouldn’t when the town you grew up in is crumbling beneath you? I felt proud of Kaelyn and would definitely want her on my side, should a deadly virus ever hit my town.

The romance in The Way We Fall was wonderful and very appropriate for the circumstances. Gav was sweet and was always saving Kaelyn, which got annoying at times but was easily overlooked. He provided a shoulder to lean on and not once did I feel that their relationship was forced.

In addition to the great heroine, Megan Crewe’s writing really shined. The plot wouldn’t be anything without her intense, page-turning writing. She made you feel just how desperate the inhabitants of Kaelyn’s town were. Some of them going so far as to form a gang and horde all the food and medicine for themselves and even killing the sick.

Overall, I loved The Way We Fall and would strongly recommend it to anyone. Megan Crewe paints a fantastic story of what could very well happen someday and the story left me breathless and wanting more, but also scared to have more.

Rating: ★★★★★ 

Visit Megan Crewe’s website and check out the book trailer to learn more

Meghan is a 18-year-old book blogger. She likes to read and write in her spare time and would like to become a published author one day. She plans on going to college soon.

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Giveaway:
One winner will receive a Minimergency Kit and a copy of The Way We Fall!

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This giveaway is open to US and Canada residents. Deadline to enter is midnight on February 6, 2012.

Review and giveaway copies were provided free of any obligation by Big Honcho Media. No monetary or any other form of compensation was received.

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Review: Everneath by Brodi Ashton

[ 5 ] January 19, 2012
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Rating: 0 (from 0 votes)

Reviewed by Megan Saldecki

Nikki Beckett mysteriously vanished last spring, leaving her family, her friend Jules, and her boyfriend Jack devastated. She was taken to the Everneath, a place where immortals feed on humans’ emotions to sustain their immortality.

So when Nikki suddenly comes back to her old town, everyone is surprised. She tries to slowly get back into the flow of things, but she harbours a secret that’ll devastate her loved ones even more: she has to go back to the Everneath in six months. And this time forever.

Nikki must find a way to stay above the ground, or lose everyone and everything again…

I found the premise of Everneath by Brodi Ashton extremely interesting, but because of a few problems, I just couldn’t like this book as much as I wanted to.

Nikki was all over the place for me. One minute she’d be entirely selfless and the next very selfish about having to go to the Tunnels at the end of her six months. She spent entirely too much time whining about the fact that she had to go back and that she wanted to make her disappearance up to her friends and family. Considering that her dad and her brother, Tommy, hardly entered the story, I didn’t feel that she made things better with them. This was also the case with her “best” friend, Jules, whom she hardly ever talked to or hung out with.

Now this is not to say I didn’t like Nikki at all. When she and Jack were actually making progress with each other and figuring out how to keep Nikki on Earth, I really enjoyed her character.

I did like Jack from the beginning of the story, however. I thought he was sweet and incredibly brave and understanding. I thought that he accepted Nikki’s story about the Everneath and her being a Forfeit way too fast, though.

Ashton’s writing was pretty simple, which was good in a way since it balanced out the complexity of the plot. I found the plot complex because it basically forced me to come up with explanations for the new vocabulary words such as Everliving, Tunnels, Forfeit and Feed. Some things were explained briefly in the beginning, but I thought the full answers were given too late, after I had already figured out what most things meant by the context clues.

Two things I definitely enjoyed, though, were the mythology incorporated in the story and the ending. The ending was executed perfectly in my opinion and I wish the rest of the novel was of the same quality.

Overall, once I looked past these flaws, I did enjoy Everneath quite a bit, but since so many things fell flat for me, I couldn’t give it a better rating. I would recommend this to fans of paranormal romance, though with some hesitation.

Rating: ★★★½☆ 

Meghan is a 18-year-old book blogger. She likes to read and write in her spare time and would like to become a published author one day. She plans on going to college soon.

Review copy was provided free of any obligation by Balzer + Bray. No monetary or any other form of compensation was received.

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Review: Elphame’s Choice by P.C. Cast

[ 4 ] January 14, 2012
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Rating: 0 (from 0 votes)

Reviewed by Jennifer Jensen

Elphame, daughter of the goddess Epona’s Beloved, has always been treated differently by the citizens of Partholon. Born a combination of human, goddess, and centaur, Elphame’s uniquely beautiful figure is met with awe and shock by all she meets. Having never been comfortable with being an object of worship among her mother Etain’s people, Elphame is led by her prophetic dreams to set out on her own and rebuild the castle of her ancestors. Damaged in the war against the Fomorians centuries earlier, the MacCallan Castle requires all the assistance it can get to be restored to its former glory.

With the assistance of her centaur brother Cuchulainn and a small group of followers, Elphame makes the MacCallan Castle her new home. Instead of looking at her through worshipful eyes, the new tenants of MacCallan Castle become the friends that Elphame has always longed for. It is in the surrounding forest that Elphame will meet her destined lifemate, a man damned by the sins of his ancestors, the Fomorians. Like Elphame, Lochlan is of two worlds. Will he fulfill the prophecy that calls for the blood of a dying goddess and end the madness that plagues his people? Or will Lochlan forsake those like him for true love?

First published in 2004 by Luna, P.C. Cast’s coming-of-age story Elphame’s Choice has been beautifully repackaged and marketed toward teens under the Harlequin Teen publishing house. Fans of the House of Night series will undoubtedly be drawn to Elphame’s Choice, which promises “a different world…where the blood-suckers are truly dangerous”.

Elphame’s Choice takes place in the same world as Divine by Mistake (originally published as Goddess by Mistake) and Divine by Choice. Though each book could be enjoyed as a stand alone story, I highly recommend reading the Partholon books in the following order as suggested by goodreads.com: Divine by Mistake, Elphame’s Choice, Brighid’s Quest, Divine by Choice, and Divine by Blood.

Like Cast’s previous works, there are dark themes and adult sexual situations presented throughout the novel that may not be suitable for less mature teen readers. Adults shouldn’t shy away from this book, as I believe it was originally intended for that audience. Cast’s writing style is definitely appealing to younger readers; I especially found her use of foreshadowing in this novel to be too “telling.” When the events foreshadowed finally occurred, there was no element of surprise. For teen readers especially, Elphame’s Choice will be the perfect bridge to Cast’s adult-oriented novels.

Rating: ★★★½☆ 

Jennifer graduated from the University of Utah with a BA in English. She occasionally dabbles with her own fiction writing, particularly with the Young Adult and Paranormal genres. She currently resides in Utah with her husband and daughter.

Review copy was provided free of any obligation by Harlequin. No monetary or any other form of compensation was received.

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Review: The Secret Sisterhood of Heartbreakers by Lynn Weingarten

[ 3 ] December 22, 2011
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Rating: 0 (from 0 votes)

Reviewed by Garret Rose

Ever had your heart broken? Do you remember the feeling when your first love dealt you the blow of breaking up with you? If so, this is the novel for you. Lynn Weingarten introduces the reader to the magical sorority of heartbreakers in her new novel (aptly titled) The Secret Sisterhood of Heartbreakers. Weingarten takes the reader into the world of magic, mischief, and ultimately compassion in this novel.

Lucy Wrenn is so excited for her boyfriend to come back from Colorado where he has been all summer. As she runs to greet him on their first day of sophomore year, he quickly crushes her when he announces that they are no longer a couple. With her heart wrenched, she runs into a mysterious stranger who offers condolences. As Lucy’s world tailspins, this stranger invites her to a party where Lucy is introduced to Gil, Liza, and Olivia, members of the “The Secret Sisterhood of Heartbreakers.”

As Lucy feigns over whether or not she should join the sorority, she questions her relationship with Alex, the boy who broke her heart; Tristan, her best friend, as well as the new kinship she strikes with the sisterhood. Will she or won’t she join the mysterious and magical group and are her intensions genuine? Lucy knows that she cannot run away from her problems (even though she has tried to do so) and is unsure about how she will face them.

The Secret Sisterhood of Heartbreakers is a quick and fun read for those who have been wronged before by a loved one or have had their heart broken by someone they trusted. There are aspects of sex, alcohol, and partying, all involving teens, that make this a read for those mature, or above sixteen years of age. Although several characters are cliché and flat, Weingarten is effective in investigating the dynamics of different types of relationships as well as different aspects of love.

Rating: ★★★½☆ 

Garret loves literature! He is creating the Vernal Journal for his students as well as anyone else that is interested in literature – be it fiction, non-fiction, poetry, drama, or even miscellaneous! Garret’s goal is to share, review and make connections to the world and each other.

Review copy was provided free of any obligation by HarperTeen. No monetary or any other form of compensation was received.

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Review: Airel by Aaron Patterson & Chris White

[ 5 ] December 14, 2011
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Rating: 0 (from 0 votes)

Reviewed by Jennifer Jensen

Airel is instantly drawn to Michael Alexander, the new boy in school. She is excited beyond belief when they begin to start dating, but things take a turn for the worst when Airel witnesses a murder in the movie theatre on one of their dates. Airel cannot get the image of the blonde man out of her head. She begins to fear for her own safety when she finds a message in her mailbox that says, “I know what you are”.

When Airel and Michael are both taken captive, the mysterious Kale–the man from the movie theatre–begins to educate Airel on her heritage. He also begins to train her for battle against the Brotherhood, a group intent on taking down those who are also like Airel.

When I first started to read Airel by authors Aaron Patterson and Chris White, I immediately wanted to stop reading it. Both of the authors are male, and their attempt to write from a teenage girl’s perspective was offensive and intolerable to me. Airel comes across as thinking really highly of herself, and has no substance. She’s portrayed as boy crazy (she instantly falls in love with Michael) and materialistic, though the authors try to add some depth to her with mentioning that she loves to read. Airel was simply not an enjoyable character in the first few sections of the book. Michael, on the other hand, has a lot of layers to him, but they aren’t made known until close to the end of the book.

I had to keep stepping away from Airel because my mind would start to wander and I couldn’t focus on the story. Overall, the story idea for Airel is a good one; it’s different enough from the other fallen angel/Nephilim type books that are currently published. The characters and the writing, however, needed some more fine tuning.

Airel seemed like a different character by the second half of the book, and Michael suddenly became very fascinating. The writing was very irritating to me; while they definitely captured the teenage essence to some degree, I got very tired of seeing almost every sentence in the first section of the book begin with “I”.

Airel redeemed itself in the end with a few interesting twists, but even those could not persuade me to want to read the next book in the series, called Michael.

Rating: 1.5/5

Jennifer graduated from the University of Utah with a BA in English. She occasionally dabbles with her own fiction writing, particularly with the Young Adult and Paranormal genres. She currently resides in Utah with her husband and daughter.

Review copy was provided free of any obligation by Stonehouse Ink. No monetary or any other form of compensation was received.

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Review: Possession by Elana Johnson

[ 5 ] December 5, 2011
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Rating: 0 (from 0 votes)

Reviewed by Christen Krumm

I had high hopes for Elana Johnson’s Possession. With other dystopian books such as Hunger Games and Matched flying off store shelves, I was excited about the possibility of another great dystopian series. However, Possession falls way short.

Possession follows fifteen (almost sixteen) year old Violet (Vi), a Goodie from the Goodlands. Vi is “matched” with Zenn and is “madly” in love with him. After committing a series of small misdemeanors, such as walking in the park with a boy (Zenn), Vi is thrown into prison. Here is my first confusion as I was never quite sure why Zenn never got thrown into prison as well since he committed most of the small forbidden acts with Vi.

While in prison, Vi meets Jag, who is a bad boy or Baddie from the Badlands. After three pages, it seems, Vi is already in love with Jag. Together they break out of prison and head to the Badlands. Why? I am not exactly sure as the Thinkers, who are the law enforcers, can get them just as easily as in the Goodlands. Before reaching the Badlands, Vi and Jag have an argument and split up. Vi, alone, does reach the Badlands where she quickly bumps into Jag who is overjoyed to see her (obviously their argument is quickly forgotten). Jag is quickly found and apprehended at a friend’s house while Vi is outside waiting for him to return. When she realizes that Jag is captured, she quickly rescues him and they run off into the woods to hide in Jag’s tree house.

Vi soon realizes that she can “hear” Jag’s thoughts while they are sleeping. Since Jag decides not to tell her what he is thinking about, and she does not want to let him in on her little secret of “reading his dreams”, she takes off in the woods. She almost bumps into the three Thinkers from the prison and the ones who first captured Jag, however, she hides behind a tree just in time to over hear their conversation about how she was “let” to break out of prison. She is almost caught again when Jag begins to look for her by yelling her name (for a kid on the run with Thinker’s after him, he is not very subtle). The Thinkers, hearing Jag yelling, decide to let them go to catch another day and they “disappear over the ridge.” Vi quickly runs to Jag and they return to the tree house, only to be captured a short time later by none other than Zenn – Vi’s supposed true love.

Vi is torn by her feelings for Zenn and Jag, until she realizes that Zenn apparently has been brainwashed and has betrayed her.

I feel like there were too many inconsistencies throughout Possession. The characters seemed flat, and I was not fond of any particular one. Vi kept bouncing between Zenn and Jag trying to decide who she loved more when it really did not matter to me either way. The light profanity sprinkled throughout just seemed misplaced. I did not really understand the difference between the Badlands and Goodlands as the Thinkers could be in either land – the only big difference seemed the occupants of the city and what technology they were or were not allowed to use.

Johnson’s dystopian world appeared to be a small mix of Hunger Games and Matched with a little Star Wars thrown in for flavor. And with names such as Goodies and Badies, the whole things just left a sour taste in my mouth. You will not be missing much if you decide to skip this one all together.

Rating: 1/5

Christen graduated from the University of Arkansas Fort Smith with a BA in English. She’s a coffee drinking stay at home mom by day and a freelance writer/editor by night. She currently resides in Arkansas with her husband and daughter and welcomed a son in August.

The review copy of this book was provided free of any obligation by Simon Pulse. No monetary or any other form of compensation was received.

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Review: Laddertop, Volume 1 by Orson Scott Card & Emily Janice Card

[ 2 ] December 4, 2011
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Rating: 0 (from 0 votes)

Reviewed by Caleb Shadis

Laddertop, Volume 1 is, as the title suggests, the first book in the Laddertop series and I certainly hope not the last. This is a young adult graphic novel. I was a little leery at first partly because I was afraid the graphics would be focused on young girls. After all, the main characters are, in fact, young girls. I’m happy to say that while Laddertop is about these kids, it’s not a just a story about being a young girl.

While reading Laddertop, I felt echoes of Ender’s Game; there was the brush with a mostly unknown extra-terrestial culture; military personnel training children for a job; most people unaware of what is really going on. There was also the feel of Gunnerkrigg Court, another graphic novel about a girl going away to school where mysteries abound.

Twenty five years ago, the ‘givers’ came and shared their technology, including instructions for towers or elevators that extend 36,000 miles into space. These towers provide power to Earth, make it easier to put things into orbit and bring materials back from asteroids. The ladders were designed in such a way that using children for the repair work was found to be most efficient. Therefore, children have grown up competing to be chosen for the job.

Laddertop, Volume 1 is primarily about Robbi and her trials on her way to Laddertop; it stops shortly after. This book is really just to prime the pump, if you will. It is all setup and much explaining is left for future volumes.

I enjoyed the book more than I thought I would and look forward to the next installment. I need a couple more books before I can tell if the series are going to be great, but it certainly shows promise.

Rating: 4/5

Caleb is a software engineer and amature woodworker living in southern Minnesota. He has more hobbies than he has time or money for, and enjoys his quiet time reading.

The review copy of this book was provided free of any obligation by Tor/Seven Seas. No monetary or any other form of compensation was received.

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