ARC Review: Crimson Bound by Rosamund Hodge

Pub. Date: May 5th 2015
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Pages: 448
Readership: Young adult
Genres: fantasy

When Rachelle was fifteen she was good—apprenticed to her aunt and in training to protect her village from dark magic. But she was also reckless— straying from the forest path in search of a way to free her world from the threat of eternal darkness. After an illicit meeting goes dreadfully wrong, Rachelle is forced to make a terrible choice that binds her to the very evil she had hoped to defeat.  

Three years later, Rachelle has given her life to serving the realm, fighting deadly creatures in an effort to atone. When the king orders her to guard his son Armand—the man she hates most—Rachelle forces Armand to help her find the legendary sword that might save their world. As the two become unexpected allies, they uncover far-reaching conspiracies, hidden magic, and a love that may be their undoing. In a palace built on unbelievable wealth and dangerous secrets, can Rachelle discover the truth and stop the fall of endless night?  

Inspired by the classic fairy tale Little Red Riding Hood, Crimson Bound is an exhilarating tale of darkness, love, and redemption.

Let me start out by getting my initial reaction off my chest: yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaas!!!!! Ok. Now that that is over with, let me get into my actual feelings regarding Crimson Bound.

I had high expectations going in because Cruel Beauty was definitely in my top five reads of 2014 and those expectations were definitely met. Crimson had the same beautiful prose that Cruel Beauty had, the same plot twists and the same intricate characters.

Rachelle is our lead, and our morally-grey protagonist. She had to make a tough choice at a young age and she choose to stay alive. Now she fights for people while she thinks - knows - her soul is doomed for hell. She does it because maybe she can try to be a little less of the monster she thinks she is. Maybe some of the blood on her hands can be for the good of the people she protects.

I also loved the world of Crimson Bound. It was a high fantasy but with a light touch. We had all the makings of one with it's out of this world creatures, royalty, monsters, powers, the forest and the Forestborn of that very forest but it wasn't such a world that was hard to immerse yourself in like some of the worlds of high and epic fantasies are. It was easy to follow what was happening in that world and not have to stop and remind yourself of all the intricacies of it. Rosamund did a fantastic job of creating a wholly original world that was beautifully built and easy to follow.

I'll admit I wasn't a big fan of Armand at first and it took me a while to warm up to him. I just didn't get him, you know? I had a "I know this guy is going to be a big hit but I'm just not feeling it" kind of feeling but I realized about a hundred pages into his introduction, I liked him. I also loved Erec from the start, and through to the end amidst all the plot twists that came about. Erec my beautifully malicious little [bleep]. I really like it when you can love even the villains of a book. The best villains to me are the ones you can love right beside the protagonists.

Crimson Bound was packed to the rafters with action as well as the superb characters and character development. If you like a book with both, then this is definitely a great one to pick up. If you love beautifully written prose, this is definitely your book.
★★★★★ I LOVED IT *Thank you to HarperCollins Canada for providing an ARC for review!!! Follow @HCCFrenzy on twitter and HarperCollinsCanada on Facebook!* PURCHASE (amazon) (amazon kindle) (the book depository) (chapters/indigo)

★★★★.5

I LOVED IT 

*Thank you to HarperCollins Canada for providing an ARC for review!!! 

Follow @HCCFrenzy on twitter and HarperCollinsCanada on Facebook!* 

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ARC Review: The Last Time We Say Goodbye by Cynthia Hand

Pub. Date: February 10th 2015
Publisher: HarperTeen
Pages: 400
Readership: Young adult
Genres: contemporary

There's death all around us. We just don't pay attention. Until we do.  

The last time Lex was happy, it was before. When she had a family that was whole. A boyfriend she loved. Friends who didn't look at her like she might break down at any moment.  

Now she's just the girl whose brother killed himself. And it feels like that's all she'll ever be.  

As Lex starts to put her life back together, she tries to block out what happened the night Tyler died. But there's a secret she hasn't told anyone-a text Tyler sent, that could have changed everything.  

Lex's brother is gone. But Lex is about to discover that a ghost doesn't have to be real to keep you from moving on.

Beautiful. Absolutely beautiful. Heartbreaking. Authentic. These worlds immediately sprung to mind the second I finished The Last Time We Say Goodbye. I absolutely loved Cynthia’s Unearthly series so I had a feeling that I would love this book too. And yeah, I did. More than I loved Unearthly, even.

Lex’s brother died. He committed suicide and it turned Lex’s world upside down as it would anyone. Before she had her family together, a boyfriend, and like the synopsis said, friends who didn't look at her like she might break down at any moment. 

First, let me start with the writing. It was beautiful, absolutely. I loved that we were able to see Lex’s present but also what lead up to Ty’s death. We got to know Ty - through Lex’s journal that her therapist told her to write in - to see him and what he went through and what led to his suicide. While I don’t personally know anyone who has committed suicide, I know people with mental health issues and who have attempted. I know what it’s like to have depression and I know how hard it is to get through it sometimes. Cynthia captured it perfectly: the turmoil of the person that committed suicide themselves and the lives of those left behind. 

Lex’s pain and grief jumped out of the page at me, it felt so raw and so real. She blamed herself. She couldn’t cry, she couldn’t let it out, because no one knew just how deep her pain and blame went. She feels like she’s going crazy because she keeps seeing Ty everywhere, what she thinks is his ghost, and she begins to fracture even more. That is such a real thing, such a normal thing, but she can’t believe that and thinks she’s losing it.

I loved seeing Lex’s friends. All of their reactions are so normal to a death by suicide. They see their friend fragile too, like at any moment Lex could break so they treat her with a tender touch but Lex doesn’t see it that way. This is so normal, for anyone who knows someone that died. They don’t know how to react and all of Lex’s friends reactions in the book are so normal.

The Last Time We Say Goodbye is a book that is going to stay with me. It’s one of those reads that I’ll carry around with me and think about from time to time. It’s as much haunting as it is beautiful. It is about grief and loss and learning to accept it. It is about moving on as much as it is about mental illness and suicide. It was so, so good. 

★★★★★ 

I LOVED IT 

*Thank you to HarperCollins Canada for providing an ARC for review!!! Follow @HCCFrenzy on twitter and HarperCollinsCanada on Facebook!* 

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REVIEW: Fairest by Marissa Meyer

Pub. Date: January 27th 2015
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Pages: 222
Readership: Young adult
Genres: sci-fi

In this stunning bridge book between Cress and Winter in the bestselling Lunar Chronicles, Queen Levana’s story is finally told.  

Mirror, mirror on the wall, Who is the fairest of them all?  

Fans of the Lunar Chronicles know Queen Levana as a ruler who uses her “glamour” to gain power. But long before she crossed paths with Cinder, Scarlet, and Cress, Levana lived a very different story – a story that has never been told . . . until now. 

Marissa Meyer spins yet another unforgettable tale about love and war, deceit and death. This extraordinary book includes full-color art and an excerpt from Winter, the next book in the Lunar Chronicles series.

Wow. I admit, at first I was a little pressed that Winter wasn’t going to come out until Fall 2015 instead of, well, winter. However, then the news of Fairest was released and I admit, I was intrigued. A Levana origin story… I love me a good villain origin story. I was sure that Fairest would make the wait for winter worth it. 

And it did!

I have always loved Levana in the way that I loved Maleficent and Te Red Queen: they were great, creepy, fantastic villains. They may be bad but damn, they do it so well. 

I love that we got to see Channary. I love that we got to see how Levana was more than just a product of her upbringing. It was chemical. It was both. I loved that we got more of Winter and Cinder’s upbringing and past. 

Marissa was brilliant in that she weaved in what could have potentially been difficult into Levana’s origin: understanding. Not acceptance of the horrible things that Levana was done but an understanding as to why she did what she did and why she is doing what she’s doing. That is not something that is easy to do but Marissa did it perfectly. 

She was also able to make the dislike and resentment of Levana grow more than ever before. Because Evret. Oh, poor sweet Evret the world did you wrong. I loved learning about him and seeing his life unfold, even through the bad. 

Levana became more of a monster than she ever had been and I loved it. It definitely made the wait 

for Winter worth it.

★★★★★ 

I LOVED IT 

*Thank you to Raincoast Books for providing an copy for review!!! Follow @raincoastbooks on twitter and HarperCollinsCanada on Facebook!* 

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ARC REVIEW: Snow Like Ashes by Sara Raasch

Pub. Date: October 14th 2014
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Pages: 432
Readership: Young adult
Genres: high fantasy

Sixteen years ago the Kingdom of Winter was conquered and its citizens enslaved, leaving them without magic or a monarch. Now, the Winterians’ only hope for freedom is the eight survivors who managed to escape, and who have been waiting for the opportunity to steal back Winter’s magic and rebuild the kingdom ever since.  

Orphaned as an infant during Winter’s defeat, Meira has lived her whole life as a refugee, raised by the Winterians’ general, Sir. Training to be a warrior—and desperately in love with her best friend, and future king, Mather — she would do anything to help her kingdom rise to power again.  

So when scouts discover the location of the ancient locket that can restore Winter’s magic, Meira decides to go after it herself. Finally, she’s scaling towers, fighting enemy soldiers, and serving her kingdom just as she’s always dreamed she would. But the mission doesn’t go as planned, and Meira soon finds herself thrust into a world of evil magic and dangerous politics – and ultimately comes to realize that her destiny is not, never has been, her own.

Snow Like Ashes is a lot like the books I've been reading lately: high fantasy, filled with magic and a war beyond the protagonists power. Basically, I had to read this book. I was thrilled when I received an ARC through HCCFrenzy but I put off reading it for just a little bit because I was so inundated with other books.

I picked it up one night after a long day of classes and got through the first 50 pages easily. But I wasn't sure how I liked it just yet. Meira felt a little flat and puppety in the sense that I really wasn't sure why she was doing what she doing. She felt like a two dimensional damsel that's trying to be a soldier but falling short and just kind of flopping around on the pages with no real zeal, doing things that the others wanted her to do. I felt like this for the next 50 pages as well. Usually if I'm not sure about a book one hundred pages in, I call it a day and throw in the towel. However, I was fascinated with the magic of the world and the eight different kingdoms. Eight! Each were unique unto themselves, not just the fact that four of them had the same season all year round. So I kept going and wow, I am glad I did.

I don't know what it was exactly, but after about the first hundred pages, things really turned around. New characters were being introduced that I immediately liked and the ball was really rolling for the band of refugees. I suddenly went from being indifferent to the novel to not being able to put it down, so much so that I... didn't sleep much until I finished the book. Again, this has never happened before. Like, ever.

I think part of what had me initially weary on the book was the "romance" between Mather and Meira. It just felt like nothing. It felt stale and forced and I wanted nothing to do with it but then, since I got through those first hundred pages, everything turned around and it all became clear.

That said, I loved all of the characters. Even evil as all heck Angra was someone I enjoyed reading. Theron though, was by far my favourite. I fell for him the moment he appeared and wished he was in it way more. I wish we got to see the rest of the Winter refugees more and got to know them outside of Meira, Mather and Sir. I hope we get to in the next book.

Overall, I really enjoyed Snow Like Ashes and I am excited to see how the story progresses in the next book!

★★★★ 

I REALLY LIKED IT 

*Thank you to HarperCollins Canada for providing an ARC for review!!! Follow @HCCFrenzy on twitter and HarperCollinsCanada on Facebook!*

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ARC REVIEW: The Murder Complex by Lindsay Cummings

Pub. Date: June 10th 2014
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Pages: 400
Readership: Young adult
Genres: dystopia

An action-packed, blood-soaked, futuristic debut thriller set in a world where the murder rate is higher than the birthrate. For fans of Moira Young’s Dust Lands series, La Femme Nikita, and the movie Hanna.  

Meadow Woodson, a fifteen-year-old girl who has been trained by her father to fight, to kill, and to survive in any situation, lives with her family on a houseboat in Florida. The state is controlled by The Murder Complex, an organization that tracks the population with precision.  

The plot starts to thicken when Meadow meets Zephyr James, who is—although he doesn’t know it—one of the MC’s programmed assassins. Is their meeting a coincidence? Destiny? Or part of a terrifying strategy? And will Zephyr keep Meadow from discovering the haunting truth about her family?  

Action-packed, blood-soaked, and chilling, this is a dark and compelling debut novel by Lindsay Cummings.

It's not often these days that a book has me up into the wee hours turning page after page to find out what happens next and just exactly what the heck is going on. The Murder Complex was one that did. The book had been on my to-read, must have wishlist for a while. It was one of my most anticipated reads of 2014 so I was a little worried it wasn't going to meet up to my expectations. I'm happy to say that I was wrong. From the get-go I was intrigued by Meadow and who this little girl was she was trying to usher out of the water. Why was Meadow so worried? What was going on? Immediately I was hooked.

I'm always a fan of dual POVs but it's especially thrilling when they are done right. The dual POVs really helped shaped the world of The Murder Complex. You had the perspective of Meadow, who grew up in the Shallows with her family and people to take care of and then Zephyr, a Ward, a no one. Or so we think. It helps the reader see the nooks and crannies of the closed in dystopian world that these poor people live in. You see the differences in their lives and the similarities, one of which is how they are all struggling to survive.

Things move fast in this book but not at a ridiculous rate. It is a thriller, so things have to go at a fast pace. Cummings times it all perfectly, weaving rich prose fast action and dialogue. Things get so gripping and fast that I was up till the sun started to shine one night because I had to know what happened next. There are many twists and turns that happen along the way. Some were fairly easy to spot but others were shocking. That is what makes a good thriller: you think the turns and the twists are easy to spot and yes, you spot some, but there are the others that come out of nowhere and hit you like a bus. The ones you never see coming.

I also loved the characters and the way they were developed. There were ones you loved, ones you hated, ones you rooted for and ones you wanted to see fall off of a train. A character doesn't have to be liked to be a good character and there were plenty of those in The Murder Complex. Meadow was such a bad-ass protagonist I wanted more and more of her, even though she was one half of the POVs. It was just great to see such a badass, ruthless character set out to do absolutely anything to protect the ones she loves. Zephyr was great too, even if it took me a few more chapters to warm up to him. By the end I was rooting for him as much as I was rooting for Meadow.

Overall, The Murder Complex is a must-read. It is absolutely gripping from start to finish, with an ending that will leave you pulling your hair out for the next book in the series.

★★★★★ 

I LOVED IT 

*Thank you to HarperCollins Canada for providing an ARC for review!!! 

Follow @HCCFrenzy on twitter and HarperCollinsCanada on Facebook!*

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ARC Review: The Winner's Curse by Marie Rutkoski

Pub. Date: March 4th 2014
Publisher: Farrar Straus Giroux
Pages: 355
Readership: Young adult
Genres: fantasy, historical

Winning what you want may cost you everything you love 

As a general’s daughter in a vast empire that revels in war and enslaves those it conquers, seventeen-year-old Kestrel has two choices: she can join the military or get married. But Kestrel has other intentions. 

One day, she is startled to find a kindred spirit in a young slave up for auction. Arin’s eyes seem to defy everything and everyone. Following her instinct, Kestrel buys him—with unexpected consequences. It’s not long before she has to hide her growing love for Arin. 

But he, too, has a secret, and Kestrel quickly learns that the price she paid for a fellow human is much higher than she ever could have imagined. 

Set in a richly imagined new world, The Winner’s Curse by Marie Rutkoski is a story of deadly games where everything is at stake, and the gamble is whether you will keep your head or lose your heart.

Wow. I had heard about The Winner's Curse a while ago but for whatever reason, it wasn't on my radar until I kept seeing everyone talking about it. And I mean everyone. I couldn't ignore it anymore: I read up on the synopsis and read a couple early reviews. I was intrigued. When I got the chance to have my own ARC of it, I jumped.

From all the great reviews I had read, I was really going in with high expectations. Usually, that's not a very good thing but with The Winner's Curse it didn't matter. The book was every bit of amazing as the reviews said, and then some.

Marie created absolutely wonderful characters in this book. Some were easily loved, easily related to and easily hated. Some I was unsure of their motives but liked them anyway and some I just wanted to fall on their sword. Regardless of the type of character they were, there was no one character in this book that was just there. They all had a reason, a place in the story.

I adored Kestrel to bits. At first I was a little unsure of her but that was easily squashed in the first twenty or so pages. She is a girl who knows who she is and what she wants in life and she is such a badass. SUCH a badass. She is cunning, brilliant, clever and not afraid to do what she feels is right. She is also stubborn which is another thing I adored about her. And a little bit blind of her feelings for Arin until the very and and even then... Oh man, I just really loved Kestrel.

I absolutely adored Arin as well. It was hard not to, to be honest. He, like Kestrel, knows who is is and what he wants and will do anything to obtain it. Even through his feelings for Kestrel, he did what he did because he knew he would lose himself had he not. Arin is courageous and has pin-prick focus but he also has a good heart and doesn't like to hurt people just for the sake of it. He is an amazing leader.

The romance! It was so different from the kind of romances one usually sees in these types of fantasies. It had the whole forbidden, star-crossed feel to it but it wasn't overwhelming. Even though, by the end, Kestrel and Arin loved each other very much, they didn't say to hell with everyone else and ran for the hills. In fact, it is the opposite. While they were still trying to look out for each other and love each other, they knew there were bigger things happening and dealt with those things first and foremost. I have to say, this pair is one of my favourites of the year.

All in all, The Winner's Curse was a brilliantly fantastic awesomesauce read. The ending alone made me want to jump in a little blue box and fly off to next year so I can read book two immediately. The plot was fantastic, the pacing was great and the characters were beyond. Even the minor and secondary characters were great. Ronan! Oh boy, I loved me some Ronan. Cheat was the devil. General Trajan is a good father and a great military man. And those are only a few of the minors that were great. Honestly, if I didn't already have a gigantic to-be-read pile, I would be re-reading The Winner's Curse already. Everyone needs to read this brilliantly woven masterpiece.

★★★★★ 

I LOVED IT 

*Thank you to Raincoast Books for providing an ARC for review!!!

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REVIEW: Ignite Me by Tahereh Mafi

Pub. Date: February 4th 2014
Publisher: HarperCollins
Pages: 408
Readership: Young adult
Genres: science-fiction, dystopia

Juliette now knows she may be the only one who can stop the Reestablishment. But to take them down, she'll need the help of the one person she never thought she could trust: Warner. And as they work together, Juliette will discover that everything she thought she knew-about Warner, her abilities, and even Adam-was wrong.

In Shatter Me, Tahereh Mafi created a captivating and original story that combined the best of dystopian and paranormal and was praised by Publishers Weekly as "a gripping read from an author who's not afraid to take risks." The sequel, Unravel Me, blew readers away with heart-racing twists and turns, and New York Times bestselling author Kami Garcia said it was "dangerous, sexy, romantic, and intense." Now this final book brings the series to a shocking and climactic end.

I'm going to be honest: I have absolutely no idea how I feel about this book. For a year I was eagerly anticipating Ignite Me. I was so very thrilled seeing everyone's ecstatic reactions after they finished it. I quickly snatched up a copy when my local bookstore got it a few days after the release and immediately tore into it. After that, I just became confused.

Juliette was the same old Juliette: growing stronger, braver and more sure of herself as the pages turned. Kenji was the same old amazing Kenji: funny, loyal with a heart of gold. But then Warner entered the picture and after that, Adam. Right away, both felt out of character to me. Warner only slightly but Adam felt like a completely different person. He honestly felt like a pod person for a third of the book. This wasn't the character I fell in love with in Shatter Me and it wasn't the character that I adored in Unravel Me. It felt like he had done a complete 180 and I wasn't sure why. I just couldn't figure it out. I still can't. On the one hand, it almost felt like character assassination, a way to make Juliette and Warner more viable. Adam felt too melodramatic, too ridiculous, for me to take any of what was happening seriously with him. He felt too harsh. He felt like a parody with his over the top brattiness and immaturity which was waved off as "he's going through some stuff". With Warner in the beginning, he felt like stranger to me as well. Not the sector leader we met in Shatter Me and not the boy we grew to love in Unravel Me. As the book went on, I understood why and I like why but at first it's a bunch of confusion and just all around bitterness. All of the horrible things he had done in Shatter Me were rectified. He was made to be a saint among sinners which still has left a sour taste in my mouth.

However, despite my irritation at Adam and Warner's characterization, the plot was great as usual. There was just enough action, just enough intrigue and just enough romance to make it all blend wonderfully together in a way that only Tahereh knows how. We got to see Juliette rise up and become this strong, independent woman. She is a far cry from the scared girl we met in Shatter Me and boy, does she know it. It was great to see Juliette kicking ass as much as she did in Ignite Me. As much as a lot of characters were off, Juliette was spot on.

The ending, though... I felt like the ending was a little too rushed, a little too easy for my liking. When I reached the last 30 pages, there was still so much to be done that I had no idea how on earth it was all going to finish up so fast. I thought hey, maybe there's a secret book four on the way because how the heck is this going to all finish?? But it did and I was left with my head spinning. It all wrapped up into a neat little bow with shiny wrapping paper. A lot of the conclusion felt rushed, like Mafi didn't quite have enough time to flesh things out as she wanted to so this ending happened.

When I say I'm confused and unsure on how I feel about this book, I really mean it. I loved it but at the same time, I'm not quite satisfied with what I read. This final book had so much potential to go sky high but really, all it did was was sizzle out. The first two will remain one of my favourite reads but I'm not sure where Ignite Me will land when I have digested everything.

★★★ 

I LIKED IT

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ARC REVIEW: Cress by Marissa Meyer

Pub. Date: February 4th 2014
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Pages: 560
Readership: Young adult
Genres: science-fiction, dystopia

Rapunzel’s tower is a satellite. She can’t let down her hair—or her guard.  

In this third book in the bestselling Lunar Chronicles series, Cinder and Captain Thorne are fugitives on the run, with Scarlet and Wolf in tow. Together, they’re plotting to overthrow Queen Levana and her army.  

Their best hope lies with Cress, who has been trapped on a satellite since childhood with only her netscreens as company. All that screen time has made Cress an excellent hacker—unfortunately, she’s just received orders from Levana to track down Cinder and her handsome accomplice.  

When a daring rescue goes awry, the group is separated. Cress finally has her freedom, but it comes at a high price. Meanwhile, Queen Levana will let nothing stop her marriage to Emperor Kai. Cress, Scarlet, and Cinder may not have signed up to save the world, but they may be the only ones who can.

Ok guys. Cress. It is finally here. The question I have is how the heck am I going to do this review without a) fangirling my butt off and b) not spoiling. That being said this review is either going to be really short or really long depending on how much I try to NOT spoil and to NOT flail.

I'm going to start off simple: Cress is a thrill ride. Seriously. There was not one moment of down time. There was not one moment where there was something amazeballs happening that had to do with the plot. Everything was fastpaced but not so much so that it was a whirlwind and you couldn't get a grasp at what was going on.

All of the old favorites are back. Cinder, Scarlet, Wolf, Throne, Prince Kai, Iko and Queen Levana just to name a handful. The favourites honestly remained favourites for me throughout but I will say, as much as I loved Throne in Scarlet, I think he shot to my number one by the end of Cress. Honestly, I think he's close to number one in my all time favourite YA dudes list. He's smooth, he's charming, he's clever, he's gorgeous and above all, he is fantastically written. The journey he goes on through the book is one that I want to applaud Marissa for. He has his flaws but hell, he is just so damn good. Scarlet's journey is a tough one to sit through. Not because it's so bad it's cringeworthy, but because it's so damn sad. The girl has been through so much already but Marissa really put her through the ringer in this one. Levana remains as evil as ever, Cinder as badass as ever and Wolf as.... well... as Wolfy as ever. I can't even get started on how great Iko is because then I won't stop and that will spoil the whole thing!

Cress as a character is everything I hoped she'd be and more. She is shy, brave, a little awkward but by the end she really finds her ground. I was also overjoyed with the references and easter eggs to the original fairytale. Cress was so well written that she felt real. I saw so many of myself in her and so many bits of people I know. That is the amazing thing about Marissa's writing: even though it's such a futuristing, sci-fi tale, she makes it all seem so possible. She makes it feel as if these are people you know or people you could run into on the street.

Cress is an intricately woven thrill ride that will make the reader want to flip right back to page one and start all over again once they're finished. Fans of the series will be thrilled with the third instalment. Personally, it is my favourite so far. There is just so much that I want to re-read it and then re-read it again to fall in love with everything for second and third times. Cress did not disappoint.

★★★★★ 

I LOVED IT 

*Thank you to Raincoast Books for providing an ARC for review!!!

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ARC REVIEW: Avalon by Mindee Arnett

Pub. Date: January 21st 2014
Publisher: Balzer & Bray
Pages: 432
Readership: Young adult
Genres: science-fiction

A ragtag group of teenage mercenaries who crew the spaceship Avalon stumble upon a conspiracy that could threaten the entire galaxy in this fascinating and fast-paced sci-fi adventure from author Mindee Arnett.  

Of the various star systems that make up the Confederation, most lie thousands of light-years from First Earth-and out here, no one is free. The agencies that govern the Confederation are as corrupt as the crime bosses who patrol it, and power is held by anyone with enough greed and ruthlessness to claim it. That power is derived from one thing: metatech, the devices that allow people to travel great distances faster than the speed of light.  

Jeth Seagrave and his crew of teenage mercenaries have survived in this world by stealing unsecured metatech, and they're damn good at it. Jeth doesn't care about the politics or the law; all he cares about is earning enough money to buy back his parents' ship, Avalon, from his crime-boss employer and getting himself and his sister, Lizzie, the heck out of Dodge. But when Jeth finds himself in possession of information that both the crime bosses and the government are willing to kill for, he is going to have to ask himself how far he'll go to get the freedom he's wanted for so long.

Sci-fi!! I love the genre but I don't read nearly enough of it. I heard of Avalon a while ago and immediately put it on my wishlist. I was lucky enough to receive and ARC and I tore right through it.

I'm going to start with what I like. Everything!! Okay, that's a bit of a fib. There are a couple of things I was iffy on but I really, thoroughly enjoyed the plot. I loved the beginning where we were getting to know everyone and immediately we see them in a job. It was light, it was fun and it was exactly how I thought things were going to start. The pacing took off after that, weaving wonderfully together. There were twists along the way that made me go "hey, whoa!" which I enjoyed because I love being taken by surprise in books. Most of the time I can guess what a twist will be and that's no fun. I'm glad to say that was not the case with Avalon. 

Then there's the crew. I can honestly say I liked them all. I was a little bit unsure of Jeth in the beginning because I thought he was a bit of an obnoxious ass, but I really grew to like him. I have to say by the end I really felt for Jeth and all that he's been through currently in the book and in his past. The rest of the crew was also fantastic. I loved their dynamic.

Now let's get to the things I wasn't quite sold on. First of all, the world building wasn't on par with what I thought it should be for a sci-fi of its nature. Avalon is a super sci-fi novel set in space on all sorts of planets in all sorts of spacey-goodness. You'd think there'd be all sorts of intricate planets and aliens and very non-humans but I felt that we really didn't get that feel. That's not to say it wasn't good, I just thought it could be done a little better. I'd also would have like to known a little bit more about "First-Earth" and how they came to finally travel in space and colonize even if the book is set hundreds of years in the future.

There was also use of a certain word that really bothered me. I also know a lot of other folks who are bothered by it. Now, I won't say the word is in hopes that it has since edited out since I read an ARC. All I know was that the times it was used I cringed and had to put down the book for a bit. I just can't see why anyone, even if it is fiction, would need to use the word. It's not even used today much anymore due to the obvious stigma and offence.

All in all I really enjoyed Avalon and I would recommend it to any sci-fi fan! Especially if they're a fan of the television show Firefly. All I know is the entire time I was reading Avalon, all I wanted to do was rewatch Firefly for the 10000000th time!

★★★.5

I LIKED IT 

An ARC was provided by HarperCollins Canada for review - thank you!!! 

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ARC REVIEW: Perfect Ruin by Lauren DeStefano

Pub. Date: October 1st 2013
Publisher: Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers
Pages: 356
Readership: Young adult
Genres: science-fiction, dystopia

On Internment, the floating island in the clouds where 16-year-old Morgan Stockhour lives, getting too close to the edge can lead to madness. Even though Morgan's older brother, Lex, was a Jumper, Morgan vows never to end up like him. She tries her best not to mind that her life is orderly and boring, and if she ever wonders about the ground, and why it is forbidden, she takes solace in best friend Pen and her betrothed, Basil.  

Then a murder, the first in a generation, rocks the city. With whispers swirling and fear on the wind, Morgan can no longer stop herself from investigating, especially when she meets Judas. He is the boy being blamed for the murder — betrothed to the victim — but Morgan is convinced of his innocence. Secrets lay at the heart of Internment, but nothing can prepare Morgan for what she will find — or who she will lose.

A perfect city in the sky. No crime. No hardship. Nothing. Everyone lives happy lives and dies happy deaths. Until one day that doesn't hold true anymore. It seemed like a pretty interesting concept to me so I had had it on my want list for a while. I mean come on, it's a city floating on clouds right above Earth. Just a big floating rock. But there's people on it. That are alive. That is crazy. 

Everything about Internment is a mystery. Sure, there are the things that we're told, the things that Morgan know: that Internment is perfect. That everything is laid out before you. That everyone is good and whole. That if you go to the edge, you'll go mad. Crazy. Bonkers. But nothing is ever as it seems, is it? Because people start to die. They are murdered, actually, which is arguably worse. Fear is a cancerous thing, eating away at you until you can't sleep. You can't eat. And you surely can't think of the only place you've known as home your entire life the same way again.

Every chapter ended with some sort of little tidbit of mystery that made me want to keep going. The overwhelming mystery of the entire thing is definitely what kept me going especially since I wasn't really a fan of Morgan up until the last quarter of the book. There was something about her to me that just seemed a little dull. But that might be because of her circumstances. She never had to question her surroundings and her mind until the murders started to happen and things began to unravel. The fact that the prisoner the government claimed to have locked up was actually running around, free, trying to hide. The fact that there was a massive conspiracy going on in the force. So many mysteries. So little answers. Even right up until the end. I'm not going to lie, that bit bothered me to.

The secondary characters were strong and what kept me very interested in continuing. I absolutely loved Judas and all the mystery surrounding him. Did he do it? Was he falsely accused? Was he a scape goat? What was his story? I loved Amy and I loved Morgan's brother. I wouldn't mind a book from his POV. Basil, however, was a little lacklustre for me. He was too perfect. Too much I'll follow you till the end! I'll jump off a cliff for you! He was a bit too much.

Overall, I liked it. There would be things that I could have done without but there were also things that I thoroughly enjoyed. I'll definitely be reading the second. I will say that if you want to read something that is so original with an intriguing plot, pick this book up!

★★★ 

I LIKED IT 

An ARC was provided by Simon & Schuster Canada for review - thank you!!!

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ARC REVIEW: 3:59 by Gretchen McNeil

Pub. Date: September 17th 2013
Publisher: Balzer & Bray
Pages: 368
Readership: Young adult
Genres: science-fiction

Josie Byrne's life is spiraling out of control. Her parents are divorcing, her boyfriend Nick has grown distant, and her physics teacher has it in for her. When she's betrayed by the two people she trusts most, Josie thinks things can't get worse.  

Until she starts having dreams about a girl named Jo. Every night at the same time—3:59 a.m.  

Jo's life is everything Josie wants: she's popular, her parents are happily married, and Nick adores her. It all seems real, but they're just dreams, right? Josie thinks so, until she wakes one night to a shadowy image of herself in the bedroom mirror – Jo.  

Josie and Jo realize that they are doppelgängers living in parallel universes that overlap every twelve hours at exactly 3:59. Fascinated by Jo's perfect world, Josie jumps at the chance to jump through the portal and switch places for a day.  

But Jo’s world is far from perfect. Not only is Nick not Jo's boyfriend, he hates her. Jo's mom is missing, possibly insane. And at night, shadowy creatures feed on human flesh.  

By the end of the day, Josie is desperate to return to her own life. But there’s a problem: Jo has sealed the portal, trapping Josie in this dangerous world. Can she figure out a way home before it’s too late?
From master of suspense Gretchen McNeil comes a riveting and deliciously eerie story about the lives we wish we had – and how they just might kill you. (harpercollins)

Time travel. Parallel worlds. DOPPLEGANGERS! I was smitten the second I read the synopsis. I'm not going to lie, a big part of what drew me in was the fact that my mind immediately went to Doctor Who and Doomsday and Rose stuck in the parallel world. If you have absolutely no idea what I'm talking about, go watch Doctor Who right after you read this book!

The plot was so good. Like I said, parallel worlds and dopplegangers! It was something that had the potential to go terribly wrong if not done right but Gretchen really did it swimmingly. There was a lot of science mixed in throughout the book because both Josie and Jo's parents are in the field. I thought it was very well researched but it honestly went a bit over my head but that's only because science was never my strong suit. The flow was fantastic. Everything came together and blended nicely. I didn't think there were any dry spots or slow spots or spots that I wanted to hurry along. There were so many original things about it but what blew me away was the Nox. They are creatures that only come out at night, tearing apart any human they can find and forcing people in the parallel world to rely on electricity and bright lights to stay alive. They scared the crap out of me.

The characters were also fantastic. Gretchen did a superb job of making the characters from Josie's world and the parallel world different even though their lives are almost the same. They go to the same school, have similar jobs, they look exactly the same but all of them are very different. I loved seeing the differences between Josie and Jo, between the two nicks, the two mothers and the two fathers.

I loved Josie so, so much. She was smart, pragmatic but very real in her circumstances. Her parents were separated, she pulled away from her friends, her best friend and boyfriend betrayed her and she felt completely lost. She was given the chance to switch lives with her doppleganger and live in a different world for twenty four hours and she took it. But she quickly learned that it wasn't what she hoped. She became trapped. She had her moments where she thought that it was all too much but she planned, she put her best foot forward and did whatever she had to do to get home.

All in all, it was a fantastic read. The ending was bittersweet for me. I liked how everything came together but I also would have changed one little thing. You'll see what I mean when you read it because everyone should. It was left open for a possible sequel but I'm not so sure that there will be one.

★★★★★ 

I LOVED IT

*Thank you so much Harper Collins Canada for providing an ARC!!

Follow @HCCFrenzy on twitter and HarperCollinsCanada on Facebook!

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ARC Review: Asylum by Madeleine Roux

Pub. Date: August 20th 2013
Publisher: Harper Children's
Pages: 320
Readership: Young adult
Genres: horror

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. (harpercollins)

I really loved Madeleine's first novel Allison Hewitt is Trapped so when I heard about Asylum I knew I had to read it. Plus it had two of my favourite things: abandoned asylums and a boarding school/dorm setting. It was basically a must-read.

I enjoyed the photographs that were peppered throughout the book. Some were clearly found while others were made or photoshopped to compliment the story which I thought was pretty clever. It gave me goosebumps once or twice. I'm really curious to pick up a final copy to see what photos made it into the book and if any changed from the ARC. That said, I wish the photoshopped ones were less obviously photoshopped. I hope they were tweaked for the final version.

I enjoyed the characters as well. They were well developed from beginning to end even if a few of them got on my nerves once or twice. Dan was a good main character but sometimes I found him a little too whiny and in need of a good sit-down talking to but it was just who he was. I found it endearing that he had anxiety issues, which so many of us do and it isn't really talked about. I thought it was refreshing to see. I liked Abby but my feelings for her didn't go much farther than that. I thought she was a good character but I didn't really see how Dan and her meshed. I thought they would be better off as great friends than anything else. Jordan was my favorite of them all. He was realistic rock telling them that it wasn't the best idea to go rummaging around in an abandoned wing of a place that used to be an asylum.

The plot was intricate and well thought out. I liked how Roux kept me on the edge of my seat with twists and turns at every corner. There were definitely parts that I found super creepy and made me wish I wasn't reading it in the middle of the night. There were some horror movie cliches peppered throughout from time to time but sometimes cliches work and in Asylum's case, they did. As endings go, I guessed it early on but it was still a very good reveal that I enjoyed.

Asylum is definitely a book you need to read if you like easy, creepy reads. If you're a fan of old-school horror movies you should definitely check it out!

★★★.5 

I LIKED IT

*Thank you so much Harper Collins Canada for providing an ARC!! Follow @HCCFrenzy on twitter and HarperCollinsCanada on Facebook! 

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REVIEW: Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins

Pub. Date: December 2nd 2010
Publisher: Dutton
Pages: 372
Readership: Young adult
Genres: romance

Anna is looking forward to her senior year in Atlanta, where she has a great job, a loyal best friend, and a crush on the verge of becoming more. Which is why she is less than thrilled about being shipped off to boarding school in Paris--until she meets Étienne St. Clair. Smart, charming, beautiful, Étienne has it all...including a serious girlfriend.  

But in the City of Light, wishes have a way of coming true. Will a year of romantic near-misses end with their long-awaited French kiss?

As you can probably tell by the state of my blog and read list on Goodreads, I'm not one for much contemporary books. I like a little something extra whether it's an apocalypse, something supernatural or some other weird thing going on. I always need a little more. But I have heard so many wonderful things about Anna and the French Kiss that I finally had to pick it up and see what all the fuss was about. Wow, I'm glad I did!

It was so cute! I immediately took a liking to Anna. She had an amazing voice and was easily relatable. Maybe not on the surface (I know I wasn't shipped off to a boarding school in Paris) but it was easy to understand her thoughts, feelings and the things she did. For once I didn't find myself going really? you're going to do that? come on. I suffered absolutely no secondhand embarrassment when it came to Anna.

And then there's St. Clair. Can I have one? Please? The pair of them were a couple you could really root for, even when they weren't together. I also really loved the other characters like Josh, Mer, Toph and Rashmi. They were a group of characters that were so realistic, you could probably walk into any boarding school, or school for that matter, and find people exactly like them.

I loved Anna and the French Kiss so much I know that it's going to be a book I'll go back to and re-read a lot. It was just so enjoyable. I haven't liked a contemporary read this much in a long time.

★★★★★ 

I LOVED IT

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REVIEW: Uprising by Jessica Therrien

Pub. Date: May 28th 2013
Publisher: ZOVA
Pages: 386
Readership: Young adult
Genres: fantasy, mythology

Elyse has done everything she can to protect her friends from The Council's reach. As long as they believe she's dead, she has time to rest and train for war. And war is inevitable.  

When Kara arrives with the news that Anna and Chloe have been captured, Elyse is faced with the realization that no one is safe until The Council is stopped and Christoph is destroyed. She doesn't need a prophecy to tell her to lead an army. Christoph has done the one thing that ensures she'll fight to the death. He's threatened the people she loves.  

It will take more than the words of an oracle to help them fight against the most powerful Descendant alive. To break The Council's oppression and rise up against a plot so many years in the making, Elyse will need to get dangerously close to her enemy. So close, in fact, she may not survive.

Woo!! Book two! I was so excited for book two since I loved Oppression. Uprising was one of my most anticipated reads of the year and it did not disappoint me.

I loved seeing the growth of Elyse over the two books. In book one she was shy, if not a little scared of the world. She was reserved, she kept to herself and kept people at arms length except Anna and Chloe. But over the course of events in the two books, Elyse grows into such a strong, pragmatic, leader who doesn't crack under the pressure of the Descendants or the prophecy. If anything, it only gives her more conviction and strength.

Uprising is action packed. From learning more about Christoph and how creepy and evil he is, to gathering allies to legitimate battles, there is no shortage of things happening. Jessica threads it all together wonderfully without missing a beat. There are twists, turns, lots of death (it is war, after all) and tears. I was a little worried about a particular plot point and how it was going to turn out but I worried for naught; it fit into everything wonderfully and the story would have been off without it.

The mythology throughout the book was also phenomenal. I loved learning about all the different abilities that the Descendants we were introduced to had. There was such a variety of them that I have to applaud Jessica for her creativity.

Overall, I really enjoyed Uprising. It didn't suffer from the sophomore book slump that some do. It was well paced, action packed and very enjoyable. Definitely pick up Oppression if you haven't already started the series and then pick up Uprising right after!!

★★★★ 

I REALLY LIKED IT 

*Thank you to Jessica Therrien for providing a copy for review!!

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REVIEW+MORE: School Spirits by Rachel Hawkins

Pub. Date: May 14th 2013
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Pages: 304
Readership: Young adult
Genres: paranormal

Fifteen-year-old Izzy Brannick was trained to fight monsters. For centuries, her family has hunted magical creatures. But when Izzy’s older sister vanishes without a trace while on a job, Izzy's mom decides they need to take a break.  

Izzy and her mom move to a new town, but they soon discover it’s not as normal as it appears. A series of hauntings has been plaguing the local high school, and Izzy is determined to prove her worth and investigate. But assuming the guise of an average teenager is easier said than done. For a tough girl who's always been on her own, it’s strange to suddenly make friends and maybe even have a crush.  

Can Izzy trust her new friends to help find the secret behind the hauntings before more people get hurt?

What a cute read! I'm a huge fan of supernatural hunter type books or TV shows. I grew up on Buffy and watch Supernatural to this day. I'm a huge fan of Teen Wolf and The Vampire Diaries which also have hunter elements in them. It was only natural that School Spirits would appeal to me. I mean look at the cover! It's basically a ginger Buffy.

Izzy aka Isolde was awesome. I really enjoyed her as a character. She's such a strong female lead. She was likeable, strong, brave, witty and all around awesome. She had trouble adjusting into high school life since she hadn't been in a school ever. She was awkward in the most normal social circumstances but she still dove in head first. I loved that. She was witty about it and took it all in stride.

But I have to say, Dex was my favorite. He isn't like all the other boys you see in YA novels. Dex is weird. He has asthma. He dresses oddly. He had an old timey way of speaking. He's just different. And that is part of what Izzy likes about him so much. I also loved the gender role reversal. Usually we see the damsel in distress and the pretty boy swoops in to save the day or something along those lines. But with Izzy and Dex, she's the one that has to kind of protect him and make sure he doesn't get hurt.

I really liked all of the other characters as well. I honestly don't think there was a character I had a problem with. I absolutely loved Torin and can't wait to see what happens to him in the future. Romy and Anderson were great. I liked Romy. I loved Izzy's mom. Maya was fantastic. I loved everyone and that's a rare thing for a book.

The plot was great as well. There are points in it that would go over into more books, even though there is no second novel in the works at this point there are things to elaborate on and finish but there was also a very clear start and finish to the case at hand, much like what would happen in a television show (like Supernatural.) I really really do hope there are more books in the series in the future. I really loved it!

★★★★★ 

I LOVED IT

*Thank you to Hachette Book Group Canada for providing an ARC for review!!

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I had the wonderful chance to meet Rachel in Brampton, Ontario on May 25th! Thanks to Hachette me and a few other awesome bloggers got the chance to even have lunch with her and chat with her before she did a signing at the local Chapters. I had so much fun. We had the chance to talk about the novel, as well as her other Hex Hall series. She told us about her writing process, the advice she gives aspiring writers but we also got to talk about Game of Thrones. And how Jon Snow is in Toronto and our quest to find him! It was a fantastic day all around.

Us bloggers with Rachel! I'm the ginger with the awkward smile in the back.

REVIEW: The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey

Pub. Date: May 7th 2013
Publisher: Putnam Juvenile
Pages: 480
Readership: Young adult
Genres: sci-fi, post apocalyptic

After the 1st wave, only darkness remains. After the 2nd, only the lucky escape. And after the 3rd, only the unlucky survive. After the 4th wave, only one rule applies: trust no one 

.
Now, it’s the dawn of the 5th wave, and on a lonely stretch of highway, Cassie runs from Them. The beings who only look human, who roam the countryside killing anyone they see. Who have scattered Earth’s last survivors. To stay alone is to stay alive, Cassie believes, until she meets Evan Walker. Beguiling and mysterious, Evan Walker may be Cassie’s only hope for rescuing her brother—or even saving herself. But Cassie must choose: between trust and despair, between defiance and surrender, between life and death. To give up or to get up.

I'm not a big fan of alien anything. Books, movies, TV... the only alien-y things I watch are Doctor Who and Roswell. It's not that I don't like sci-fi/alien things I just am picky and want it to be done right. The 5th Wave did it right and then some. It took me days after finishing to let everything sink in enough to write the review but my brain is still crying at everything.

The 5th Wave literally pulled me in from page one. I was like owl? Pregnant lady? Sleeping? WHAT!? And quickly turned the page to see what the heck was going on. We first meet Cassie, a teenager all alone in the woods after the first four waves took everything from her. All she has are her two guns, her brother's teddy, a tent, and a few personal belongings that she was able to grab. She's utterly alone, thinks she's lost her mind and willing to do anything to survive. Including kill people who still might be human. That's what this invasion has done: make you doubt your own people. They walk like us. Talk like us. Eat, bleed and feel like us but they are not us. They are the enemy. I adored Cassie. She was such a snarky little spitfire who reminded me of how I might be if I were stuck in a situation like the end of the world because of an alien invasion. She was also very smart and also very stubborn. She is determined to keep a promise she made to her little brother.

There is also other characters we meet: Ben Parish, Evan, Sammy, Ringer as well as others. I honestly loved them all. Well, ok, everyone except Vosch but that guy was an ass. The way the book was told was different from what I've seen, at least in YA. The chapters aren't really chapters, so much as parts. There are chunks, like Cassie's first part, that are 100+ pages. Soem are only 20 pages, some longer than that and each is told from a different character's POV. We get a lot of Cassie, Ben, one of Evan and one of Sammy. It really rounded out the story and showed the reader different views of the apocalypse and everything that was going on from bad to worse.

Then there are, for lack of a better term, the aliens. The invaders that brought on the end of the world as we knew it. Faceless, mysterious creatures that hover in the sky as the humans of earth die. They weren't some green-skinned, big headed, goggly eye little things. They weren't these gigantic monstrous mammoths or tall skinny silver men. They were faceless. They were sleeper agents walking among us looking human. I loved that. I thought that it was fantastic that the author made it so that we didn't know who was on the good side and who was one of the invaders.

I couldn't put The 5th Wave down. The characters were amazing. The plot and subplots were amazing. The writing was amazing. Everything was just so freaking amazing. The 5th Wave is a non-stop thrill ride that will leave you guessing to the very end.

★★★★★ 

I LOVED IT 

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BLOG TOUR+REVIEW: Golden Boy by Abigail Tarttelin

Pub. Date: May 21st 2013
Publisher: Atria Books
Pages: 352
Readership: Young adult
Genres: contemporary

Max Walker is a golden boy. Attractive, intelligent, and athletic, he’s the perfect son, the perfect friend, and a perfect crush for the girls in his school. He’s even really nice to his little brother, Daniel, a decidedly imperfect ten-year-old. Karen Walker is a beautiful, highly successful criminal lawyer, who works hard to maintain the facade of effortless excellence she has constructed over the years. Now that the boys are getting older, now that she won’t have as much control, she worries that the facade might soon begin to crumble. Steve Walker is also a successful prosecutor, so much so that he is running for election to Parliament. The spotlight of the media is about to encircle their lives.  

But the Walkers have a secret. Max was born with forty-six XX chromosomes and forty-six XY chromosomes, which makes him intersex. He identifies as a boy and so has been raised lovingly that way. When an enigmatic childhood friend named Hunter steps out of Max’s past and abuses his trust in the worst possible way, Max is forced to consider the nature of his well-kept secret. Why won’t his parents talk about it? Will his friends accept him if he is no longer the Golden Boy? Who is Max and who will he be in the years ahead?  

While Max and his family face life-changing questions, revelations, and the ever-present threat that Hunter presents, Max falls in love. He might be flawed, but could he be the perfectly imperfect boyfriend for misfit Sylvie Clark, the oddball loner in his class?  

Told in first person narratives alternating between Max, Daniel, Karen, Sylvie, Steve, and Archie, the physician who attempts to guide Max through this pivotal moment in his life, Golden Boy is at once a riveting novel of a family in crisis, a fascinating exploration of identity, and a coming-of-age story like no other.

What a book. No, really. What. A. Book. This book does it's job well. Powerful is a word I would use to describe it. While contemporary isn't generally my cup of tea I'm glad I accepted the offer to review from the publisher.

What I really enjoyed was the different POVs. If it was only told through one I don't think that the book  would be quite the same. It's a really good way of getting into all of their heads; seeing why they do the things they do, understanding why they say the things they say, feel how they feel, etc. and that really helps with such sensitive subject matter. That's another thing I really liked about the novel: how well the author went about the subject. She did it in such a realistic, positive way and I thought that was fantastic. I liked the pace of the book as well. Fast but not too fast. It played like a really good movie in my head.

This is a book that will get people talking. I got so invested in the story I found myself crying and wanting to throw it against a wall when certain things happened. I got very attached to these characters, especially Max, who is such an endearing young man. The topic of this book is something that needs to be talked about more and I think that the more people that read this, and pass it on to friends because they're going to want to talk about it too, the more the issues will be heard. I'm repeating myself but the author did such a fantastic job in doing this. This book is something both adults and teens need to read and to discuss. The book makes you think, and that is the best kind of book.

★★★★

I REALLY LIKED IT 

**thank you to simon&schuster for providing an arc for review!**

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ARC REVIEW: The Rules by Stacey Kade

Pub. Date: April 23rd 2013
Publisher: DisneyHyperion
Pages: 416
Readership: Young adult
Genres: sci-fi

1. Never trust anyone.
2. Remember they are always searching.
3. Don’t get involved.
4. Keep your head down.
5. Don’t fall in love.  

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

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

Well, that was intense! I wasn't quite sure what to expect from The Rules. All I knew was that I loved the cover and the concept. I don't read many alien-y novels so I thought why not!?

There were two main characters and we got to see both of their POVs; Ariane and Zane. Ariane is the alien/human hybrid in hiding from the government and Zane is just a human boy going about his life. Sort of. Ariane, though having been in the Outside as she calls it for years, is still very much like a fish out of water. She follows the Rules to a T but when the school bully, Rachel, starts targeting her best friend, she takes offense and slowly begins to break the rules and once there's a crack in them, it was so easy for the rest to shatter. Zane is, on the outside, a hot guy in the in crowd. But he is so much more than that. He has problems at home, harbours a great disdain for all the things his little group of friends does. I enjoyed seeing both his and Ariane's journey throughout the novel. They were both characters I was rooting for from the very beginning.

Like I said, the plot was intense. It was such a page turner I had a hard time putting it down every night so I could go to sleep and not be a member of the walking dead in the morning. There was always something going on from Ariane and Zane scheming, to GTX drama, to Rachel drama, to legitimate action scenes. It was fantastic.

In a genre saturated with fantasy and dystopian novels, it was nice to see that there was a great science-fiction book coming out that hit all the right notes. I'm so excited to see where the series goes. The ending was such an open ended thing that there are so many possibilities and I'm chomping at the bit to see where it goes.

★★★★★ 

I LOVED IT 

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