Tori's Review: Mind Games (Mind Games #1) by Kiersten White

Mind Games by Kiersten White
Series: Mind Games #1
Genre: Young Adult, Paranormal, Fantasy
Rating: ♚♚
Pages: 237
Published by HarperTeen on February 19, 2013
Amazon | B&N

Fia was born with flawless instincts. Her first impulse, her gut feeling, is always exactly right. Her sister, Annie, is blind to the world around her—except when her mind is gripped by strange visions of the future.

Trapped in a school that uses girls with extraordinary powers as tools for corporate espionage, Annie and Fia are forced to choose over and over between using their abilities in twisted, unthinkable ways…or risking each other’s lives by refusing to obey.

In a stunning departure from her New York Times bestselling Paranormalcy trilogy, Kiersten White delivers a slick, edgy, heartstoppingly intense psychological thriller about two sisters determined to protect each other—no matter the cost.

The thing about Mind Games is that I was terribly detached to all the characters right from the start. If I made any connection with any of the characters, it would have to be James. He actually had a compelling "backstory," and he actually had normal, human feelings, unlike Fia and Annie. For one, Fia really doesn't have a personality. Or if she does, it just describes her as one word—crazy. She's legitimately crazy. And her sister Annie isn't much better. Annie might not be crazy, but I'm certainly not crazy about her.

Right off the bat this book caught my attention, but within 20 pages, it lost it. I thought Adam was going to be an interesting character to read about, but he wasn't present for the majority of the novel. The idea of Fia being trained from a young age to assassinate people and then choose not to assassinate a geeky teenage boy over a dog is ludicrous. (Fia sees Adam petting a dog on the side of the street, and she decides to not kill him. Like what?)

Enough about the characters. The world-building/writing is a whole other matter. For one, as a reader you're thrown into the plot unexpectedly. At first, that worked toward the book's advantage, instantly showing the reader action. But as the book went along, the lack of world-building really irritated me. I never really knew what was going on. I picked up on certain aspects of the novel, but it took the entire 237 pages to figure out the majority of the plot. And it took me a good 30-50 pages to figure out that Annie was blind.

Also, the writing was enough to get me to groan. Fia did things three times. Three. Freaking. Times. She tap, tap, tapped and pop, pop, popped. Yeah, well, she drove, drove, drove me insane. OH, YES. And Annie had NO REGARD for her sister whatsoever. Annie was always talking/thinking about how she loved her sister, but she didn't really show it. In my mind, Annie was holding Fia back unknowingly.

I really don't know what to say about this book, because there really isn't much to say. After 50%, the plot got really slow and somewhat meaningless. I felt like it was a gigantic prologue, especially with the constant flashbacks. I would've been semi-okay with the flashbacks if they actually moved the plot along, but the thing is, the flashbacks did nothing for the novel, which once again lowered my rating for the book.

Despite my two star rating, I didn't dislike this book, but I didn't like it either. I don't really have any strong feelings toward it (okay, maybe strong feelings toward snapping Fia's fingers off if she tap, tap, taps them one more time, but that's beside the point); I'm pretty neutral about the whole book. I won an ARC for Perfect Lies, so I'll be reading the next book, but it's not high on my TBR. I wouldn't really recommend this book unless you're looking for a quick read and don't mind not feeling anything for the characters/plot/world-building.

Lindsay's Review: Asylum (Asylum #1) by Madeleine Roux

Asylum by Madeleine Roux
Series: Asylum #1
Genre: Horror, Young Adult, Mystery
Rating: ★★★★
Pages: 310
Published by HarperTeen on August 20th, 2013
Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Asylum is a thrilling and creepy photo-novel perfect for fans of the New York Times bestseller Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children.

For sixteen-year-old Dan Crawford, New Hampshire College Prep is more than a summer program—it's a lifeline. An outcast at his high school, Dan is excited to finally make some friends in his last summer before college. But when he arrives at the program, Dan learns that his dorm for the summer used to be a sanatorium, more commonly known as an asylum. And not just any asylum—a last resort for the criminally insane.

As Dan and his new friends, Abby and Jordan, explore the hidden recesses of their creepy summer home, they soon discover it's no coincidence that the three of them ended up here. Because the asylum holds the key to a terrifying past. And there are some secrets that refuse to stay buried.

Featuring found photos of unsettling history and real abandoned asylums and filled with chilling mystery and page-turning suspense, Madeleine Roux's teen debut, Asylum, is a horror story that treads the line between genius and insanity.

Did you read the title of this post? Did you notice it rhymed? Did you smile a little on the inside? Yes? No? Great.

The first time I saw this book I was looking at the Halloween Reads table in a bookstore with my boyfriend. I wanted it so bad but couldn't decide whether to flesh out the high cost for a hardcover or not. And if you know me, I'm terrible when it comes to decisions. On top of that, my boyfriend is the exact opposite so when asked his opinion he said just get it, and when I told him of the cost he said, just don't get it, and then when I couldn't come to a conclusion that would satisfy my little anxious, awful decision making heart, I left without the book.

And for months, I couldn't remember the title or author. But while back in the bookstore in January, months later, I finally found it - I knew I couldn't pass it up the second time around. So I bought it and here we are today.

Before anyone considers reading this, I want to get something out there. There are real pictures throughout the book taken in real asylums over the years, and though some mind not agree with me, I found some of them to be a bit disturbing. They weren't gory, but the ones showing real people freaked me out, especially the one with the little girl with the scar and the other with the nurses and doctor outside the one asylum. It gave me such chills that I actually went to my mom and said, "you need to smudge this, right now, because I am freaking the **** out."

If you don't know what smudging is, it's when you take a smudge stick or put some in a bowl, light it on fire and move the smoke around your house or over an object to clear the bad energy from it. It's a practice common in natives and my mom does it around the house a lot.

So to sum this up because I'm dilly-daddling, she smudged it, I didn't touch the book for a day and when I came back I actually wasn't freaked out anymore and any negative energy I associated with the pictures was gone. Basically what I'm trying to say is that if you don't like creepy pictures, you might want to flip through the book in a bookstore before reading it. I, being the weird me, actually loved the creepy pictures after I stopped being a scaredy-cat.

Plot-wise, I think Roux did a great job creating suspense, cliffhangers and adding mystery around the characters that built up throughout the novel. Certain situations kept me pointing fingers in different directions and kept me on the edge of my seat for the entire book. I enjoyed reading about the characters, though they are easily forgettable, and I think the renovated asylum could have been creepier than it was described.

But just a little note about something that annoyed me about the characters - somebody dies, somebody else almost dies, somebody almost kills them, AND THEY STAY AT THE SCHOOL. ANY RATIONAL PERSON WOULD LEAVE, WHY WOULD YOU STAY?

Now onto the part I didn't like about the book - and there aren't going to be any spoilers because that's too mean, but I warn you, if you read ahead, you might be expecting something if you read the book. What I didn't like was the ending. In fact, I think I'm being pretty generous in giving the book four stars because the ending ruined almost the entire book for me. Not only did it make so little sense that you had to piece it together yourself, it was stupid. And I don't mean like it was a stupid idea, I mean it like there was no elaboration whatsoever, no reason for what happened to happen unless maybe piece it together yourself. And then it ends. Sure, every good book should leave a few threads untied, but this was just RIDICULOUS. I literally closed the book and said, "I don't know what just happened."

Overall, it was actually a great read despite what I just said, and the pictures were really good to look at while I read. I recommend it to anyone who likes the horror genre, or wants to dip their toes into it!

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Tori's Review: In the After (In the After #1) by Demitria Lunetta

In the After by Demitria Lunetta

Series: In the After #1

Genre: Young Adult, Dystopia, Science Fiction

Rating: ★★★★

Pages: 455

Published by HarperTeen on June 25, 2013

Amazon | Barnes & Noble

They hear the most silent of footsteps.
They are faster than anything you've ever seen.
And They won't stop chasing you...until you are dead.

Amy is watching TV when it happens, when the world is attacked by Them. These vile creatures are rapidly devouring mankind. Most of the population is overtaken, but Amy manages to escape—and even rescue “Baby,” a toddler left behind in the chaos. Marooned in Amy’s house, the girls do everything they can to survive—and avoid Them at all costs.

After years of hiding, they are miraculously rescued and taken to New Hope, a colony of survivors living in a former government research compound. While at first the colony seems like a dream with plenty of food, safety, and shelter, New Hope slowly reveals that it is far from ideal. And Amy soon realizes that unless things change, she’ll lose Baby—and much more.

Rebellious, courageous, and tender, this unforgettable duo will have you on the edge of your seat as you tear through the pulse-pounding narrow escapes and horrifying twists of fate in this thrilling debut from author Demitria Lunetta.

NOTE: I'm counting this for my 2014 Dystopia Reading Challenge, because I've read this book and have decided that it's dystopian. New Hope isn't all sunshine and rainbows.

I read in a review by Emily May on Goodreads regarding this book and she said that anyone who wasn't too fond of The 5th Wave would enjoy this book and vice versa, (as in, if you loved The 5th Wave then you probably won't like In the After) and after reading In the After, I've decided that I agree with her. In my review of The 5th Wave I said that I loved it yet hated it at the same time. I still stand by that. On one hand, I loved the aliens and just the premise of the book, but on the other hand I didn't really enjoy the characters. Yes, I'm going to compare The 5th Wave and In the After in some aspects during this review. I apologize if you don't like reviewers who do that, but it's my opinion.

In the After is about a girl named Amy. Amy is a survivor in the alien apocalypse. One day, she's lounging on her couch watching TV when all of a sudden her TV turns off. Immediately, she blames her dad for messing with the solar panels (he's a eco-freak). But then the TV turns on and it's the president, explaining that he has the situation under control. And then the president is interrupted, broadcasting the news station who informs the US population that they have been invaded by extraterrestrial lifeforms.

Amy survives the apocalypse on her own for three years with only the help of a three year old (now six after the three years) named Baby who unnervingly has the ability to be super quiet and seemingly has unbelievable hearing. Amy and Baby live a comfortable lifestyle...until they simply don't anymore.

I think the biggest issue I had with this book was the pacing. The book is split into three sections. If I had to rate each section, it would go a little like this:

Section 1: Four Stars
Section 2: Three Stars
Section 3: Five Stars

Most people who reviewed this book would disagree with me and say that the first section was the most interesting, but it's really a matter of preference. Although I liked the survival section, Amy daydreamed a lot, thinking back on her past a but like Cassie from The 5th Wave liked to do. Daydreaming in the past really isn't my cup of tea even though it's not completely non-enjoyable. The second section was fairly interesting if not a bit slow. It's really just about Amy meandering around New Hope, trying to find answers about the aliens that have taken over her planet. Not boring but not nail-biting interesting either.

But the third section. Oh my gosh, the third section was the part that made me fall in love (okay, like. I didn't love this book, but I did like it a lot) with In the After. Amy basically does daydream in the past in this section, but it's done in a way that intrigues me. It's not the boring "this happened and then this happened and then this happened and then this happened" rather than "okay here's a scene from the present, now we're going to jumpcut into the past, oh look now we're in the present" and back and forth, back and forth. I don't like books that experiment with different tenses...usually. But this book just did it so wonderfully.

Another thing I really enjoyed about In the After was the characters. They were fairly realistic. Amy's actions and responses to certain situations didn't seem forced or executed in a bad way. But you know what did seem forced? Amy and Rice's relationship.

In the After isn't the type of book to be drowned in romance, which was one of the worst things about The 5th Wave, but the fact that Rice and Amy's relationship was barely grazed on the top made it seem forced and a bit unrealistic. The two didn't really have any chemistry other than the fact that Amy was the only girl Rice's age at New Hope (which turned out to be false because there were two or three girls in the same class as Amy). It just seemed more like a relationship out of necessity rather than passion. And that kiss. It was...unexpected.

The last thing I wanted to address about this book was the book's ending. It wasn't all that surprising. At first, I thought that what I had guessed couldn't be right because it was too obvious, but it ended up being right. But the ending was done so well that I really don't care that I sniffed out the ending before it even happened, which is a good thing I suppose.

In conclusion, this book is full of suspense, action, and sisterly love. I found this book to intense as well as heartwarming, which is something rare for an apocalyptic/dystopian book these days (or is it just the books I pick?). I absolutely cannot wait for the second book In the End to come out June this year! I'm definitely getting my hands on a copy.

If you haven't already read this book, go and read it now! In the After turned out to be nothing like what I thought it was going to be like, but it was a good surprise. I will probably recommend this book to my friends that like action as well as my friends that like dystopian. It's a combination of both!

On a final note, what a great way to start out my reading year! A four star book--amazing.

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The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey (Maybe, lol)

Eve by Anna Carey

Review: Find Me (Find Me #1) by Romily Bernard

Find Me by Romily Bernard
Series: Find Me #1
Genre: Young Adult, Mystery, Thriller
Rating: ★★★
Pages: 307
Published by HarperTeen on September 24, 2013
Amazon | Barnes & Noble

“Find Me.”

These are the words written on Tessa Waye’s diary. The diary that ends up with Wick Tate. But Tessa’s just been found . . . dead.

Wick has the right computer-hacking skills for the job, but little interest in this perverse game of hide-and-seek. Until her sister Lily is the next target.

Then Griff, trailer-park boy next door and fellow hacker, shows up, intent on helping Wick. Is a happy ending possible with the threat of Wick’s deadbeat dad returning, the detective hunting him sniffing around Wick instead, and a killer taunting her at every step?

Foster child. Daughter of a felon. Loner hacker girl. Wick has a bad attitude and sarcasm to spare.

But she’s going to find this killer no matter what.

Because it just got personal.

Wick is a computer hacker--a very good one at that. So when she gets a diary on her front doorstep that have the words "find me" written inside of it on a sticky note, that's exactly what she plans on doing. The journey belonged to a girl named Tessa Waye that Wick used to be friends with. Keyword used to be friends with.

Along Wick's journey to finding Tessa's killer (because of course this YA and a suicide can't actually just be a suicide. There's always a deeper meaning. Just FYI: I'm not hating. I'm just saying) she makes a few friends. Okay, just one friend. Griff. Let's start this review off with Griff.

One thing in particular really annoying me about Griff: he didn't really care about Wick. In Find Me he was supposed to care about Wick, but it really didn't seem like he did. First off, their first kiss was forced. Sure, Wick sort of wanted to kiss him (it was floating around her mind but she didn't straight out say kiss me now, Griff) but it was still forced. Not in a sense that she was raped, but in a sense that she was blackmailed. I didn't like that Griff had to blackmail her to get her to kiss him. Then there was the fact that he pined. This is an old technique in YA books, in my opinion. There's always that one guy that's been pining after a girl for the longest time... Now, this would've worked for me if Griff wasn't so confident once he actually got to know Wick.

Seriously. It took a week or two for Griff's confidence to suddenly spike after three years of "admiring from afar." That just didn't work for me. I just found Wick and Griff's romance to fall flat, and it really didn't do anything for me. There were a few aww moments, but I don't ship them. And I ship everyone.

There were a few instances where things (statements, mostly) were repeated or information didn't math up. For example, Wick says that Todd never called her 'Wick' when in fact he called her 'Wick' a few paragrpahs earlier. At first this tripped me up, but eventually it just annoyed me. It was on the same page. Come on.

Now let's talk about suspects for Tessa's murder. I have to admit I was confused and genuinely in the gray area as to who the killer was...for about the first third of the book. There's just this part that makes everything so obvious. There's several parts actually. But at first I suspected Carson, the detective. But once I noticed the thinly veiled foreshadowing, I realized that Carson was the obvious choice, and that's why I thought it was him. Hell, I even suspected Griff at one point or another. I kind of wanted it to be Griff. It would've been so perfect. I don't know. Carson just gave me the chills. (The blurb for the sequel to this book. Oh my god. There are so many things that can go wrong with it, but it sounds so good. I can't wait. Seriously. Okay, I've gotten sidetracked.)

Dad was in charge of everything. Norcut says that was probably why my mom jumoed. She thought she'd never get control of her life again, and suicide was the only choice she had left that didn't involved him.

I think it's nice that Norcut has an explanation for everything. Ever since that little comment, I've been pouring coffee into her office orchids. We'll see if she can explain why they all die.

I thoroughly enjoyed Wick's character. She was hilarious, I thought. She had the right amount of humor and sarcasm to keep me entertained for the whole book. She's probably my favorite character other than Carson, who--although is creepy--is really interesting to read about.

"Because you have an answer for everyting." Carson pulls a little clsoer, and I have to stab my feet into the hardwood floor to stand my ground. "You see, nice girls don't. They dont' kno whwo to work law enforcement or social services because they've never been in them. Trash like you always has an answer.

Overall, this book was entertaining and exciting. It's not extremely thrilling or anything, but it's a fairly easy read. The hacking wasn't too in-depth and Wick wasn't a "hacking genius" but I liked the plot, and I thought the pace was alright. I'm not overly excited about this book, but I don't not like it either (oops, double negatives). I probably won't be reading it again, but I'm definitely picking up the second book that comes out next year, Remember Me.

Definitely worth the read!

People hate silence. They will, almost always, fill it up.

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Review: Bruiser by Neal Shusterman

Bruiser by Neal Shusterman
Series: None
Genre: Young Adult, Paranormal
Rating: ★★★
Pages: 328
Published by HarperTeen on June 29, 2010
Amazon | Barnes & Noble

"There’s a reason why Brewster can’t have friends – why he can’t care about too many people. Because when he cares about you, things start to happen. Impossible things that can’t be explained. I know, because they're happening to me."

When Brontë starts dating Brewster “Bruiser” Rawlins – the guy voted “Most Likely to Get the Death Penalty” her twin brother, Tennyson, isn’t surprised. But then strange things begin to occur. Tennyson and Brontë’s scrapes heal unnaturally fast, and cuts disappear before their eyes. What at first seems like their good fortune turns out to be more than they bargained for…much more.

The Bruiser is a strange boy--ahem, more like man, but still. He's secluded as well as excluded. He doesn't have friends. He doesn't like anybody. He's always the butt of the joke. Until Bronte. While working as a library assistant, Bronte assists the Bruiser in finding a poetry book. Not for a school assignment, but to read for fun. This is what intrigues Bronte the most. It isn't long before they're going on their first date that Tennyson, Bronte's older brother, dutifully ambushes with his girlfriend Katrina.

It seems as though Bronte is the only one who can see past the Bruiser's cold, rock-hard outer-self and to the soft-hearted boy on the inside. Tennyson, at first, believes the rumors and thinks that the Bruiser is just bad news. But once he really starts to get to know the Bruiser, he comes to realize that there's a real person beyond the rugged front that the Bruiser puts up to protect himself from the world.

"He's quiet," says Bronte. "He's inscrutable, but that doesn't mean he's a bad person. You know what they say: still waters run deep--"
"--and are full of missing persons."

At first I thought this book was really weird, but then it got real interesting real fast and it appealed to me more. Tennyson was my favorite character. Despite the fact that he is a hot-headed meathead ("meathead" being Brew's word), he's extremely loyal, and I love that about him. He started getting freaky in the end, but side effects are side effects.

Bronte, Tennyson's sister as well as Brew's sister, was alright. She'd be that one girl in my class that was nice to everybody, and I'd swear that it was fake. For Bronte, it's real. I just wouldn't really like her. I'd most likely make snide remarks about her and what she does. I would criticize her every move, thinking that there were underlying intentions in each one. I think that makes me somewhat insufferable, but I just wouldn't like her all that much judging on how she acts in Bruiser. We wouldn't be friends if she was real and I knew her in real life.

The reason I gave this book three stars and nothing higher is because it really didn't do much for me. It didn't teach me any important life lesson (although I think it should) nor did it teach me about character or anything of that sort. I liked it, but it didn't "move mountains" for me so to speak.

The first thing that really perturbed me about this book was that Brew's power. The extent of his healing wasn't all that shocking toward the end of the book, and I feel like this idea could've been explored a bit more in terms of the paranormal aspect of Bruiser. Also, it bugged me how Brew just submitted to his uncle's words and actions. He had to know that what his uncle was doing was wrong, and yet he never went anywhere. I know that he faced the foster care system, but...still.

Also, I didn't really like Brew's young brother Cody. He always expected Brew to heal all his injuries and he didn't seem to care that his older brother was in a lot of pain at his expense. I don't care if he was a kid; he was majorly insensitive toward his older brother and had no right to blame Tennyson for his attachment to Brew and his power, because that just made him [Cody] a hypocrite. Cody had no regard for his own well being because he believed that Brew would always heal him, which was partly true. I sort of wished that Brew just let Cody deal with his injuries from time to time, but that clearly wasn't an option for him at the time.

In conclusion, I enjoyed this book, but I didn't love it. It definitely had its flaws and things that could be improved. It's very different from Shusterman's other novel that I've read Unwind. It's hard to read another one of his books, because I want all of them to live up to Unwind, which was just amazing. I wouldn't recommend this book, but I wouldn't not recommend it either. It would be worth the money in my opinion if you want to buy it. Just don't get your hopes up for something amazing after reading Unwind. The two books are nothing alike in terms of being mind-blowingly awesome.

"Life," my father once said, "is all about settling." Unfortunately, he'd said that right in front of Mom, who proceeded to serve him a peanut butter and onion sandwich for dinner that night.

"Life is all about settling," she reminded him as she slipped the plate in front of him.

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Review: Sweet Evil (Sweet Evil Trilogy #1) by Wendy Higgins

Sweet Evil by Wendy Higgins
Series: Sweet Evil Trilogy #1
Genre: Young Adult, Angels, Paranormal
Rating: ★★
Pages: 453
Published by HarperTeen on May 1, 2012
Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Embrace the Forbidden

What if there were teens whose lives literally depended on being bad influences?

This is the reality for sons and daughters of fallen angels. Tenderhearted Southern girl Anna Whitt was born with the sixth sense to see and feel emotions of other people. She's aware of a struggle within herself, an inexplicable pull toward danger, but it isn't until she turns sixteen and meets the alluring Kaidan Rowe that she discovers her terrifying heritage and her willpower is put to the test. He's the boy your daddy warned you about. If only someone had warned Anna.

Forced to face her destiny, will Anna embrace her halo or her horns?

Is it possible to think a book was stupid and amazing at the same time? Regardless, I am conflicted. On some level I absolutely loved Sweet Evil and on the other I think parts of it were completed stupid. Bear with as I read this book during the wee hours of the night and therefore my emotions were all over the place.

The Good: 

Kaiden was hot. Oh so, so, so hot. Reading about him was amazing, even if he didn't have a speaking part and when I wasn't reading about him I was looking forward to reading about him. Also, he was defined well while also still remaining distant and mysterious.

The Bad:

The plot. Though the idea of each sin plus commandments designated to a specific demon and their offspring is unique, I also find it incredibly stupid. They want to wreck havoc on the humans - okay, that's cool. But how is that much havoc happening when you have a limited number of people. And how is making people drink alcohol and throw up really that big of a deal?

Honestly, if it wasn't for Kaidan and the drama I probably wouldn't have steadily read Sweet Evil as I did. I just couldn't fall in love with the plot because in my eyes, there needs to be a thorough back story and the plot needs to make complete sense as to why what is going on is actually happening.

I think the reason why I read this every night was because I have trouble sleeping and it was something to do on my iPod in the dark. I'll give Higgins that there were good cliffhangers, intriguing characters and things that happened that I just had to read on to find out what happened next. But the plot just wasn't working for me.

Opal (Lux #3) by Jennifer L. Armentrout + Reboot (Reboot #1) by Amy Tintera

Opal by Jennifer L. Armentrout
Series: Lux #3
Genre: Young Adult, Paranormal, Aliens
Rating: ★★
Pages: 382
Published by Entangled Teen on December 1, 2012
Amazon | Barnes & Noble

No one is like Daemon Black.

When he set out to prove his feelings for me, he wasn’t fooling around. Doubting him isn’t something I’ll do again, and now that we’ve made it through the rough patches, well... There’s a lot of spontaneous combustion going on.

But even he can’t protect his family from the danger of trying to free those they love.

After everything, I’m no longer the same Katy. I’m different... And I’m not sure what that will mean in the end. When each step we take in discovering the truth puts us in the path of the secret organization responsible for torturing and testing hybrids, the more I realize there is no end to what I’m capable of. The death of someone close still lingers, help comes from the most unlikely source, and friends will become the deadliest of enemies, but we won’t turn back. Even if the outcome will shatter our worlds forever.

Together we’re stronger... and they know it. 

I guess the Daty obsession/fad is over now, for me at least. I know what these books flaws are now. In my opinion, you have to marathon read them with no time in between to read anything else in order to stay involved in their world. I stopped reading Opal because I had volleyball tryouts and then I just need picked it back up. Finally I finished it and I see how similar this book is to Wattpad books. And I can't do it anymore. The twists aren't aren't surprising anymore.

The ending was so predictable. It seemed like Armentrout foreshadowed the ending a little too much. To the extent that I knew exactly what was going to happen. And the betrayals were extremely obvious as well. The only reason I gave this book two stars was because, hey, I liked Daemon. He's supposed to be badass and callous but he's got a soft spot for Katy. I used to love Katy, but now I don't. I just can't stand to read in her point of view anymore.

And Armentrout's attempt at a climatic ending (with the totally susceptible and inevitable villain coming back to kill Katy) was weak, and it wasn't even very necessary to make the plot continue. While reading this book, I felt like the only reason she added it in was to fill up space in her book.

No hate on Armentrout, because she creates some pretty unique plots and she entertained me during Obsidian, Opal, and Obsession, but I just don't think I'll be able to read any of her stories anymore unless I'm up for something fluffy, and I want a break from heavy books that cause emotional stress on my sanity. I doubt I'll be reading Origin anytime soon.

To read the review for the first book in the Lux series Obsidian, click here. To read the review for the second book in the Lux series Opal, click here.

Reboot by Amy Tintera
Series: Reboot #1
Genre: Young Adult, Dystopia,
Rating: ★★★

Pages: 365
Published by HarperTeen on May 7, 2013

Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Five years ago, Wren Connolly was shot three times in the chest. After 178 minutes she came back as a Reboot: stronger, faster, able to heal, and less emotional. The longer Reboots are dead, the less human they are when they return. Wren 178 is the deadliest Reboot in the Republic of Texas. Now seventeen years old, she serves as a soldier for HARC (Human Advancement and Repopulation Corporation).

Wren’s favorite part of the job is training new Reboots, but her latest newbie is the worst she’s ever seen. As a 22, Callum Reyes is practically human. His reflexes are too slow, he’s always asking questions, and his ever-present smile is freaking her out. Yet there’s something about him she can’t ignore. When Callum refuses to follow an order, Wren is given one last chance to get him in line—or she’ll have to eliminate him. Wren has never disobeyed before and knows if she does, she’ll be eliminated, too. But she has also never felt as alive as she does around Callum.

The perfect soldier is done taking orders. 

I read this a month or so ago, so this mini review is actually going to be mini. I'm just going to say why I gave the book three stars, as in what stood out to me and what didn't.

The first thing I hated about the book was Callum and Wren's relationship. I didn't hate Callum and I didn't hate Wren, I just hated their relationship. They should not have fallen in love. They had no reason two. They simply fell in love because, hey, the author wanted them to. In my opinion, two people should fall in love with each other's personalities. Callum and Wren fell in love with their circumstance.

Also, Wren was 'trained' to be a cold-hearted robot, and then the second Callum shows up, she picks him, the weakest reboot, to train? I'm sorry, but no. Wren had no motivation to make the choices that she did other than the fact that she wanted to. That's a little bit too weak for me. Now this would work in the case that the character making such choice was whimsical and spontaneous, not for a character that was rational and driven by their brain rather than their heart. Choosing Callum and falling in love with him were not rational, therefore Wren shouldn't have done it. I liked her just fine when she was a coldhearted bitch. She was hilarious.

I'm afraid that this book was exactly by Shatter Me in a sense of the action stopping halfway through the book. Shit goes the fuck down in the first half of the book and the characters are in a tough situation, but then the last half is the characters that have escaped facing the real life world. That's literally two different plots all in its own! Now, I don't really have a problem with this, I just noticed this particular point while reading Reboot. This didn't affect the rating, I just wanted to point it out.

Now the ending. The ending was...weak, to say the least. Wren and Callum made it to their end goal, but the ending was just...lacking. It wasn't action packed (a bit of action, but still) and everything was a bit too convenient. Callum is hurt (it gets a bit spoilery from here. Skip this paragraph if you don't want to be spoiled) and Wren doesn't know if she can help him. So she gets the cure and gives it to Callum and she doesn't know if it will work...but it does...? I mean, it's great that it worked and all but at least give the book a cliffhanger so the readers have a good reason to want to read the next book. Don't get me wrong, I'm going to read the next book, but honestly, it's only because I do have a soft spot for Callum. He's sweet. Good for him.

Anyway, if you want to, go ahead and read Reboot. It's worth it.

Tori's Review: Eve by Anna Carey

Eve by Anna Carey

Series: Eve #1
Genre: Dystopia, Young Adult, Romance
Rating: ★★★★★
Pages: 336
Published by HarperTeen on October 4, 2011
Date Read: September 4, 2013
Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

The year is 2032, sixteen years after a deadly virus—and the vaccine intended to protect against it—wiped out most of the earth’s population. The night before eighteen-year-old Eve’s graduation from her all-girls school she discovers what really happens to new graduates, and the horrifying fate that awaits her. 
Fleeing the only home she’s ever known, Eve sets off on a long, treacherous journey, searching for a place she can survive. Along the way she encounters Caleb, a rough, rebellious boy living in the wild. Separated from men her whole life, Eve has been taught to fear them, but Caleb slowly wins her trust...and her heart. He promises to protect her, but when soldiers begin hunting them, Eve must choose between true love and her life.

Tori's Review: Ten Things We Did by Sarah Mlynowski

Then Things We Did by Sarah Mlynowski
Series: None
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Rating: ★★★★½
Pages: 368
Published by HarperTeen on June 7, 2011
Date Finished: August 10, 2013
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2 girls + 3 guys + 1 house - parents = 10 things April and her friends did that they (definitely, maybe, probably) shouldn't have.

If given the opportunity, what sixteen-year-old wouldn't jump at the chance to move in with a friend and live parent-free? Although maybe "opportunity" isn't the right word, since April had to tell her dad a tiny little untruth to make it happen (see #1: "Lied to Our Parents"). But she and her housemate Vi are totally responsible and able to take care of themselves. How they ended up "Skipping School" (#3), "Throwing a Crazy Party" (#8), "Buying a Hot Tub" (#4), and, um, "Harboring a Fugitive" (#7) at all is kind of a mystery to them.

In this hilarious and bittersweet tale, Sarah Mlynowski mines the heart and mind of a girl on her own for the first time. To get through the year, April will have to juggle a love triangle, learn to do her own laundry, and accept that her carefully constructed world just might be falling apart . . . one thing-she-shouldn't-have-done at a time.

Lindsay's Review: Ten Things We Did by Sarah Mlynowski

Then Things We Did by Sarah Mlynowski
Series: None
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Rating: ★★★★
Pages: 368
Published by HarperTeen on June 7, 2011
Date Finished: July 24, 2013
Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

2 girls + 3 guys + 1 house - parents = 10 things April and her friends did that they (definitely, maybe, probably) shouldn't have.

If given the opportunity, what sixteen-year-old wouldn't jump at the chance to move in with a friend and live parent-free? Although maybe "opportunity" isn't the right word, since April had to tell her dad a tiny little untruth to make it happen (see #1: "Lied to Our Parents"). But she and her housemate Vi are totally responsible and able to take care of themselves. How they ended up "Skipping School" (#3), "Throwing a Crazy Party" (#8), "Buying a Hot Tub" (#4), and, um, "Harboring a Fugitive" (#7) at all is kind of a mystery to them.

In this hilarious and bittersweet tale, Sarah Mlynowski mines the heart and mind of a girl on her own for the first time. To get through the year, April will have to juggle a love triangle, learn to do her own laundry, and accept that her carefully constructed world just might be falling apart . . . one thing-she-shouldn't-have-done at a time.