Synchronized Reading: ARC

Showing posts with label ARC. Show all posts

Monday, September 15, 2014

Trial By Fire by Josephine Angelini

This world is trying to kill Lily Proctor. Her life-threatening allergies keep her from enjoying experiences that others in her hometown of Salem take for granted, which is why she is determined to enjoy her first high school party with her best friend and longtime crush, Tristan. But after a humiliating incident in front of half her graduating class, Lily wishes she could just disappear.
Suddenly, Lily is in a different Salem—one overrun with horrifying creatures and ruled by powerful women called Crucibles. Strongest and cruelest of them all is Lillian . . . Lily's other self in this alternate universe.
What makes Lily weak at home is what makes her extraordinary in New Salem. In this confusing world, Lily is torn between responsibilities she can't hope to shoulder alone and a love she never expected.

This book was a pleasant surprise and i'm so happy that I had the chance to read it. I enjoyed the story so much and couldn't put the story down. I love books with witches, but don't find too many that I think are amazing. They're usually average, but this book was not! I loved the whole alternate universe aspect of the story because I've not read too many books, if any, that involve it. I flew through this book and was nose deep into the story from start to finish. I'd definitely recommend giving the story a try!

The Aftermath by Jen Alexander

Sometimes, I dream that I'm someone else.
A girl with dark hair who doesn't worry about hunger
or thirst or running from flesh-eaters.
In her world, those sorts of things don't exist.
Since the spring of 2036, when the world changed forever, Claudia and a small clan of survivors have roamed the streets of a very altered Nashville: polluted and desolate, except for the ever-present threat of cannibal Hoarders. Together they must undergo punishing tests of endurance and psychological challenge sometimes with devastating consequences all just to live another day.
With food and water in dwindling supply, and with danger lurking around every corner, no one can be trusted. And as her world starts to make less and less sense, Claudia begins to realize something terrifying: she is just a pawn in some sort of game, and all of her actions are being controlled from afar by a mysterious gamer. So when she meets a maddening and fascinating outsider named Declan, who claims to be a game moderator, she must decide whether to join him in exchange for protection and access to the border.
If they play the game right, they are each other's best hope for survival and a life beyond the only world Claudia's ever known: the terrifying live-action game known as The Aftermath.

Let me first start of saying that I do not think that this book is meant for everyone. If you're into the whole gaming thing and dystopian/post apocalyptic type books then I think you should give it a try, but if you're not into those things then I don't think that you'd enjoy this book. If you've read the Eye of Minds by James Dashner and enjoyed that, then you may enjoy this one as well. But anyways, I just thought I'd throw that out there :) On to the review!

The Far Dawn by Kevin Emerson

The Three is a lie. The Three will fail.
Having barely escaped Desenna, Owen and Lilly are on their own now, two of the three Altaneans on a journey to find Atlantis and protect it from the selfish greed of their nemesis Paul and Project Elysium. The secrets buried in the ice ahead have the power to destroy not only the earth but the bond between Owen and Lilly, too. As time grows short and darkness overtakes the planet, Owen must face Paul’s greatest treachery yet.
Full of heartrending decisions, pulse-pounding action, and fascinating questions of science and ethics alike, The Far Dawn takes readers on an explosive journey through time and space. At the far ends of the earth, Owen must choose—does he save the planet, or the people he loves?
Perfect for fans of Ship Breaker and the City of Ember series, slightly younger teen readers, and classroom library shelves.

The Far Dawn was a great conclusion to the Atlantean trilogy and I'm glad decided to give the series a try way back when it first came out. Book one was a pretty good start to the trilogy and continued to get better in book 2 and 3. I believe this book had a great balance of everything especially with the action and the romance. There wasn't too much of one thing, but just a very good mix of everything. I was also glad for the refreshers in the beginning of the book to jog my memory of the previous book. Those are always welcome and appreciated! Overall, the trilogy was good and I thought it was really different from a lot of the things I've read.

Bound To Danger by Katie Reus

At a benefit dinner, community activist Maria Cervantes overhears two men plotting a terrorist attack that could rock Miami to its core. But before she can alert authorities, she’s almost killed in a massive explosion—and wakes up in a hospital with no memory of what happened. As the sole survivor of the attack, she is now a person of interest to the NSA—and especially to Agent Cade O’Reilly. Because Maria is the one woman Cade has never been able to forget.

Years ago, they were closer than either was willing to admit—until Cade disappeared when Maria needed him most. Now he’s sticking by her, whether she likes it or not. Because the memories locked inside her mind could hold vital clues to the next attack. Because terrorists want her dead—and because he never wants to let her go again.

Bound To Danger was a really good book! There was tons of action going on within it and it was extremely fast paced. That is what I loved about the book. There were a ton of things going on within the story that made you want to continue on reading and not put the book down. The main character Maria has somehow gotten herself mixed up, unknowingly, with a group of terrorists. Overhearing a conversations between the terrorists at an event has put her life in danger, but the sad part about it is that she has no memory of the conversation and can't remember what was said. And through all that she's reconnected with Cade, a guy that was she liked and just so happened to be her now dead brother's best friend. Cade completely cut her out of his life when his best friend died so the two aren't that friendly in the beginning.

Taste of Darkness by Katie Reus

He spent more than a thousand years imprisoned in hell…
Drake is an ancient dragon shifter, one of the most powerful beings in existence, but a millennium trapped in utter darkness has left him ill-equipped for modern society. If it wasn’t for Victoria, the sweet female brave enough to befriend him, he’d be lost. She’s smart and gorgeous and everything he never dared dream of during his years of agonizing loneliness. He may not have anything to offer her, but one thing he knows for sure: he’d die to keep her safe.
Only to fall into the heaven of her touch.
Victoria is a wolf shifter, healer of the Stavros pack. She’s seen a lot, but she’s never met anybody quite like Drake, the fiery, fascinating shifter who can blaze through the skies unseen by mere mortals. He’s lost, dangerous, and the last male she should fall in love with, but the more time she spends helping him navigate modern life, the deeper—and hotter—their connection becomes. She’s thrilled when they finally locate his family, but reuniting with his people plunges them both into unimaginable danger. It’s a race against the clock trying to figure out who wants them dead and who they can trust, especially when the threat is closer than they ever imagined.

Taste of Darkness was a very refreshing read for me. I remember reading book one and ended up really enjoying it, but I have to say that I definitely liked book two a little bit better. I found that I enjoyed being with the characters a lot and I absolutely loved the romance. Also, the fact that there are dragon shifters in this book just made my day. I flew through Taste of Darkness in almost one sitting and ended up finishing it in a day. Considering the story follows different set of characters than book one, you could definitely read this one as a standalone, but I'd recommend reading book one because that's where the characters were first introduced.

Relinquish by Amy Thompson

Relinquish
(Lost Souls, #2)
by Amy Thompson
Released |June 17th 2014|
Edition |eARC|
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Regan has a life in Georgia. She is going to school, has managed to make some friends, and has even found a new love interest in Colter. So what happens when she can’t hide what she is anymore? When do all the lies become too much to handle? And how much longer can she hold onto her sanity—while Agro pushes her closer and closer to the edge of no return—her ascension to Elite?
Colter is beautifully oblivious. Wanting so much to believe that Regan is safe, and Agro has been halted, he ignores Finn’s constant skepticism at the risk of their friendship. Overlooking what is so clearly right in front of him, Colter passes off Regan’s outbursts of emotion on her recent trauma. Colter can feel Regan—his one exception to his retribution—slipping out of his arms, but fighting her to stay with him may not be an option.
Colter and Finn are now at odds, and there is a newly formed alliance between Kaiden and Exile Max. Will this group of Collectors be enough to fight off the new enemies and old threats that emerge in the battle for souls when Regan is broken, and their group is on the brink of self-destruction?
The lost will be found, the Collectors will be exiled, and the Elites will reign

Contains a little bit of spoilers
Relinquish was a DNF for me. I received this for review and feel bad that I have to write this review, but I have to give my honest opinion. I read book one not to long ago and I thought it was okay. I was hoping that Relinquish would be better than the first and in the beginning it seemed like it would be. As I continued reading, things just started to go downhill. I tried so hard to push through this book because the plot is actually pretty interesting and I like finding out more about the things that go on in the story. I feel like this series had good potential to be a good one, but my dislike for the main character completely turned me off from the series. The plot of the story is pretty good and all the characters are enjoyable except the main character Regan. She literally made me want to scream. The main character wasn't my favorite in book one and in book two she was absolutely the worst. I made it to 54% and that's when I had to call it quits and stop forcing myself.

The Dare by Hannah Jayne

Two jumped off the pier that night...but only one came back alive
Bryn did everything with her best friend Erica. So when someone dared Erica to jump off the pier one night at Harding Beach, Bryn was right by her side. But when Bryn made it back to the surface, Erica was nowhere to be found. Bryn tries to make a fresh start by burying her memories of that awful night. But when a Twitter post from "EricaNShaw" pops up on her feed and a chilling voice mail appears on her phone, she realizes that someone isn't ready to let go of the past..

This was, unfortunately, a book that I had to DNF. I was not able to connect to the story or the characters in any way and it was very forgettable. The story line is what made me want to pick up the book and had me intrigued because I love a good mystery, but I just couldn't get into this one. The beginning was okay, but as the book continued I felt as if the story was all over the place and becoming repetitive. I was also confused at times which made things worse for me because I felt that some things were moving too quickly and not being explained good enough and the characters just fell flat for me and I was not able to connect. I wanted to like this book and push through it, but once I sat it down I never found the interest to pick it back up.

DNF

Thursday, July 3, 2014

Retribution by Amy Thompson

Regan Edison has just moved from California, to enter her first year at Georgia Liberty College, the place where jacked up Chevy trucks and hunting are a way of life. Regan hopes to start a new life for herself and she thinks that Georgia is just the place to do it. That is until she meets an unexpected stranger.
Colter Hayes is a member of the Collectors, a group of wrongfully punished lost souls. Colter and the rest of his team, Finn, Kaiden and Devon, work for the Requiem Council who pass judgment on those souls that are neither tagged for Heaven nor Hell. The Council has charged the Collectors with finding the lost in exchange for a chance at redemption.
When an ex-councilmember known to pass Retribution on lost souls sets his sights on Regan, the Requiem Council dispatches the Collectors to Georgia to work as protectors for Regan. The Collectors must fight to save Regan from a fate they know all too well, but can they work to earn back their chance at redemption or are their fates sealed forever?
Who is meant for Heaven?
Who is meant for Hell?
And who is just lost?

I have an inner struggle with Retribution because I enjoyed the overall point of the story, but there were some aspects that I didn't enjoy as well. I struggled with rating this book, but I finally settle upon three stars because I do want to give the sequel a try. The main character Regan is a freshman in college and decided to go to a school across the country, from California to Georgia. She's barely gotten the chance to settle in before things start getting crazy for her. When it comes to Retribution I thought the book did have some great action packed scenes, but I do feel as though some of the things in the story was not touched on enough. Retribution does switch povs, but the main pov is with Regan.

Complicit by Stephanie Kuehn

Two years ago, sixteen-year-old Jamie Henry breathed a sigh of relief when a judge sentenced his older sister to juvenile detention for burning down their neighbor’s fancy horse barn. The whole town did. Because Crazy Cate Henry used to be a nice girl. Until she did a lot of bad things. Like drinking. And stealing. And lying. Like playing weird mind games in the woods with other children. Like making sure she always got her way. Or else.
But today Cate got out. And now she’s coming back for Jamie.
Because more than anything, Cate Henry needs her little brother to know the truth about their past. A truth she’s kept hidden for years. A truth she’s not supposed to tell.

To be honest, I really don't know how I exactly feel about this book. I liked it and enjoyed the story, but I didn't really get 'excited' until the end. One issue, which isn't related to the book itself, is that the synopsis on Negalley give away the major twist in the book. So, yeah I wasn't surprised when it happened. But then again, it was written so well that I still enjoyed it which doesn't happen often if I've read a spoiler. My tip, avoid reading the synopsis that is on Netgalley. For most of the book I was waiting for that twist to happen because I already new it would. I hadn't even realized that I'd been spoiled until I got to the last page of the book.

We Are the Goldens by Dana Reinhardt

Nell knows a secret about her perfect, beautiful sister Layla. If she tells, it could blow their world apart.
When Nell and Layla were little, Nell used to call them Nellaya. Because to Nell, there was no difference between where she started and her adored big sister ended. They're a unit; divorce made them rely on each other early on, so when one pulls away, what is the other to do? But now, Nell's a freshman in high school and Layla is changing, secretive. And then Nell discovers why. Layla is involved with one of their teachers. And even though Nell tries to support Layla, to understand that she's happy and in love, Nell struggles with her true feelings: it's wrong, and she must do something about it.

We Are the Goldens was a very interesting read. But one thing I have to mention is that on Netgalley there was a different synopsis use that doesn't give so much away, but the one on goodreads practically tells you what happens. I thought that was a bit odd, but anyways, this story was very enjoyable. Yes, this book does involve a student/teacher romance so if you are not comfortable with books that involve them this might not be for you. We witness two sister that have always been close slowly start to drift apart. Layla (Nell's older sister) is keeping secrets from Nell and when Nell finds out her secret she knows that she should do something about it. But doing the right thing was not the easiest decision for Nell to make. Her sister is her idol and she's the only person she looks up to.

A Man's Promise by Brenda Jackson

A man's word is his bond. His family is his strength. His heart is his own.
Superstar musician Caden Granger has spent years running from love, commitment and family. Yet despite his fame and fortune, he knows the kind of respect and adoration he needs can only come from one person—the very woman who wants nothing to do with him.
Corporate fund-raiser and society maven Shiloh Timmons finally got her life on track once her relationship with Caden ended, and she's in no hurry to revisit a romance with the man she left standing at the altar.
If Caden can't have Shiloh by his side, all the success in the world will mean nothing. Now he has a chance to renew his promises…but is it too late?

Last year I got the chance to read the first book in this series, A Brother's Honor and really enjoyed it. When I saw A Man's Promise on Netgalley I was excited when I got accepted to review it. This series consist of three brothers, the first book was about the oldest brother, A Man's Promise is about Caden, the middle brother and the next book will about the third brother. But the thing is, you need to read the books in order because the books connect to one another.

Double Review: The Liberator and The Warrior by Victoria Scott

The Liberator
(Dante Walker, #2)
by Victoria Scott
Released |August 27th 2013 by Entangled Teen|
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Bad boy, meet bad girl.
Dante has a shiny new cuff wrapped around his ankle, and he doesn't like that mess one bit. His new accessory comes straight from Big Guy himself and marks the former demon as a liberator. Despite his gritty past and bad boy ways, Dante Walker has been granted a second chance.
When Dante is given his first mission as a liberator to save the soul of seventeen-year-old Aspen, he knows he’s got this. But Aspen reminds him of the rebellious life he used to live and is making it difficult to resist sinful temptations. Though Dante is committed to living clean for his girlfriend Charlie, this dude’s been a playboy for far too long…and old demons die hard.
With Charlie becoming the girl she was never able to be pre-makeover and Aspen showing him how delicious it feels to embrace his inner beast, Dante will have to go somewhere he never thought he’d return to in order to accomplish the impossible: save the girl he’s been assigned to, and keep the girl he loves.

The Liberator was a great sequel to the Collector and I really enjoyed it. A lot of things happen in this book and it was filled with all kinds of non stop action. In this book we are introduce to a girl name Aspen and I was surprised by how much I liked her. Aspen had many issue and it was Dante's job to liberate her soul. The two were alike in so many different ways and I liked the friendship that the two were able to create. Dante of course was his awesome self, but his struggle at being the liberator he now is was good to see. Because in the first book he was the definition of a bad boy and if he would have switch from that to a 'nice' guy that would have made the book very unrealistic. Charlie started to become a wildcard for me in this book at first, but she goes through some dark times and I felt really bad for her. I do love the relationship between her and Dante and things definitely began to pick up. Overall, I enjoyed the Liberator. I liked meeting all the new characters and keeping up with all the old ones. I also enjoyed the romance and the action.

The Warrior
(Dante Walker, #3)
by Victoria Scott
Released |May 6th 2014 by Entangled Teen|
Edition |eARC/Netgalley|
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War between heaven and hell is coming, but Dante Walker makes it look damn good.
Dante’s girlfriend, Charlie, is fated to save the world. And Aspen, the girl who feels like a sister, is an ordained soldier. In order to help both fulfill their destiny and win the war, Dante must complete liberator training at the Hive, rescue Aspen from hell, and uncover a message hidden on an ancient scroll.
Dante is built for battle, but even he can’t handle the nightmares where spiders crawl from Aspen’s eyes, or the look on Charlie’s face that foretells of devastation. To make matters worse, the enemy seizes every opportunity to break inside the Hive and cripple the liberators. But the day of reckoning is fast approaching, and to stand victorious, Dante will have to embrace something inside himself he never has before—faith.

With The Warrior being the last installment in this trilogy, I went into it with hopes that it would be amazing. There was tons of action and things going on throughout the book. It definitely didn't slack in that department. I guess I'll start with the pros and the cons.

I enjoyed that the book had tons of action and there was also a ton a drama between the characters. I will always have a love for Dante and he always finds a way to weasel himself into my heart. And then we have Kraven and Annabelle both of which I completely adored in this book. I was all for those two, but it was not easy for them. Kraven is just so dark and brooding. I guess that's why I like him so much :) Another thing I liked about this book is the friendships that were developed throughout the stories. We've come to meet a lot of new people. But let me be clear, this was not all rays of sunshine. There were betrayals and all sorts of things going on within the hive and outside of it.

One thing about this book that started to turn me off was Charlie. I did not connect with her like I did in all the other books. She became annoying as the book continue to progress. I understand the need for character development and all, but I felt as though Charlie wasn't the Charlie that we knew before. Her personality was not the same. I didn't like the changes that were made with her character and I'm not talking about the end of the book. And the whole thing with the war started to become too much. I started to get confused with all the things that were happening. I think that maybe too much was going on at one time. And then we had all the secrets going on. I'd also already guess who the traitor was so I was not surprised when all that went down.

Overall, I'm at a standstill with this book. I didn't hate it and I enjoyed a lot of things that went on in the book, but there were also a lot of things that I didn't like. The ending was okay and was sort of happy with that (The very end). It was a pretty decent trilogy to say the least. I enjoyed books one and two, but I did feel as though book three could have been better.

Monday, May 26, 2014

Blog Tour: Hexed by Michelle Krys - Review

If high school is all about social status, Indigo Blackwood has it made. Sure, her quirky mom owns an occult shop, and a nerd just won’t stop trying to be her friend, but Indie is a popular cheerleader with a football-star boyfriend and a social circle powerful enough to ruin everyone at school. Who wouldn’t want to be her?
Then a guy dies right before her eyes. And the dusty old family Bible her mom is freakishly possessive of is stolen. But it’s when a frustratingly sexy stranger named Bishop enters Indie’s world that she learns her destiny involves a lot more than pom-poms and parties. If she doesn’t get the Bible back, every witch on the planet will die. And that’s seriously bad news for Indie, because according to Bishop, she’s a witch too.
Suddenly forced into a centuries-old war between witches and sorcerers, Indie’s about to uncover the many dark truths about her life—and a future unlike any she ever imagined on top of the cheer pyramid.

Hexed was a nice and refreshing read for me. There were a lot of things going on within it, but it always kept my attention and I breezed through it with ease. I don't read a lot of witch books, but I do tend to enjoy them and Hexed was no exception. I thought the concept was fun and I ended up liking all the characters. Hexed had a lightweight feel to it like when I'm reading a contemporary novel. It had the sorry best friend and ex boyfriend and all that drama that goes along with it, but all the same it was filled with that paranormal aspect that I can't help but love.

The Murder Complex by Lindsay Cummings

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?

The Murder Complex was an interesting read. The world created was a very danger one to live in. This was a very blood filled book, so it is definitely not a light read. This is a hard review for me to write. I don't know why, but it just is. I enjoyed the story, but I did have issues with. I thought the entire concept of the book was pretty interesting and I wanted to find out more and more. There was never really anything not happening in the story. There was always something going on or something to figure out.

Mini Reviews: The Almost Girl by Amalie Howard and Night Embrace by Sherrilyn Kenyon

Seventeen-year-old Riven is as tough as they come. Coming from a world ravaged by a devastating android war, she has to be. There’s no room for softness, no room for emotion, no room for mistakes. A Legion General, she is the right hand of the young Prince of Neospes, a parallel universe to Earth. In Neospes, she has everything: rank, responsibility and respect. But when Prince Cale sends her away to find his long-lost brother, Caden, who has been spirited back to modern day Earth, Riven finds herself in uncharted territory.
Thrown out of her comfort zone but with the mindset of a soldier, Riven has to learn how to be a girl in a realm that is the opposite of what she knows. Riven isn’t prepared for the beauty of a world that is unlike her own in so many ways. Nor is she prepared to feel something more than indifference for the very target she seeks. Caden is nothing like Cale, but he makes something in her come alive, igniting a spark deep down that goes against every cell in her body. For the first time in her life, Riven isn’t sure about her purpose, about her calling. Torn between duty and desire, she must decide whether Caden is simply a target or whether he is something more.
Faced with hideous reanimated Vector soldiers from her own world with agendas of their own, as well as an unexpected reunion with a sister who despises her, it is a race against time to bring Caden back to Neospes. But things aren’t always as they seem, and Riven will have to search for truth. Family betrayals and royal coups are only the tip of the iceberg. Will Riven be able to find the strength to defy her very nature? Or will she become the monstrous soldier she was designed to be?

The Almost Girl was something that interested me when I received a copy for review. The synopsis and the cover made me really intrigued in reading the story. When I finally found the time to read it I just could not get into the story. Sci-fi has never been one of my favorite genres, but I have enjoyed books with the genre. I found the main character to be fairly interesting, but when the romance started up I wasn't all that into the book anymore. I was curious to find out more about Riven, but things wasn't holding my attention enough to continue on. I also think another reason why I wasn't into the story is because I wasn't in the mood for this type of book when I started it, so maybe that's my fault.

DNF

Night Embrace

(Dark-Hunter, #2)

by Sherrilyn Kenyon

Released |July 1st 2003 by St. Martin's Press|

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"Night Embrace" spins the story of Talon, an ancient Celtic warrior who killed the son of the god Camulus.
Camulus cursed Talon, decreeing death for everyone he loved. Now a Dark-Hunter in modern-day New Orleans, Talon meets Sunshine, who is key to ending his curse once and for all. Not to mention helping him to save New Orleans from an ancient god bent on total destruction.
See original cover listed below. The cover shown here is the reissued cover that was done seven years ago.

I've been wanting to continue on with this series for quite sometime and I've been determined to read the books in order (I started our reading book Acheron, which is like book 15 and then I went back and read books 1 and Fantasy Lover). I've read the author's Chronicles of Nick series which is something like a spin off of this one but it's YA and have been loving it. Night Embrace started off pretty good. We got a bit of back history on Talon and we were also reunited with other characters from other books and I was happy. But then we're hit with the romance at about 15% of the book and I started to get annoyed because it was too much too soon. Talon gets hit by a parade float and she takes home a random stranger and the next day when he wakes up they end up having sex? No, I was not happy anymore. I tried to push through the book because I've enjoyed all the other books in this series that I've gotten the chance to read, but with Night Embrace I just couldn't do it. By the time I got to 30% of the story I was fed up with the insta-love. The characters knew absolutely nothing about each other, but yet they couldn't stay away from each other. I wasn't feeling it and I definitely wasn't convinced with it. I will probably read other books in the series, but I think I'm just going to pick out stories of the characters I'm actually interested in.

DNF

Monday, May 5, 2014

After the End by Amy Plum

She’s searching for answers to her past. They’re hunting her to save their future.
World War III has left the world ravaged by nuclear radiation. A lucky few escaped to the Alaskan wilderness. They've survived for the last thirty years by living off the land, being one with nature, and hiding from whoever else might still be out there.
At least, this is what Juneau has been told her entire life.
When Juneau returns from a hunting trip to discover that everyone in her clan has vanished, she sets off to find them. Leaving the boundaries of their land for the very first time, she learns something horrifying: There never was a war. Cities were never destroyed. The world is intact. Everything was a lie.
Now Juneau is adrift in a modern-day world she never knew existed. But while she's trying to find a way to rescue her friends and family, someone else is looking for her. Someone who knows the extraordinary truth about the secrets of her past.

After the End was a pretty interesting read for me. I loved the concept of the book and all the different elements that it brought to the table. This was an easy read for me and I was intrigued enough to continue on with the book. Juneau thinks that World War III has happened and that her clan managed to find a way to escape and create a safe place for their people. They have a different way of living. She can connect to the Yara and it helps to guide her whenever she needs guidance and that entire concept of the Yara was very intriguing. But of course, she finds out that she's been lied to her entire life and when her clan is taken she sees that the world has not been destroyed. Her people have been taken and now she's on a mission to get them back.

The Eighth Day by Dianne K. Salerni

In this riveting fantasy adventure, thirteen-year-old Jax Aubrey discovers a secret eighth day with roots tracing back to Arthurian legend. Fans of Percy Jackson will devour this first book in a new series that combines exciting magic and pulse-pounding suspense.
When Jax wakes up to a world without any people in it, he assumes it's the zombie apocalypse. But when he runs into his eighteen-year-old guardian, Riley Pendare, he learns that he's really in the eighth day—an extra day sandwiched between Wednesday and Thursday. Some people—like Jax and Riley—are Transitioners, able to live in all eight days, while others, including Evangeline, the elusive teenage girl who's been hiding in the house next door, exist only on this special day.
And there's a reason Evangeline's hiding. She is a descendant of the powerful wizard Merlin, and there is a group of people who wish to use her in order to destroy the normal seven-day world and all who live in it. Torn between protecting his new friend and saving the entire human race from complete destruction, Jax is faced with an impossible choice. Even with an eighth day, time is running out.

The Eight Day was a pretty interesting read. I found the entire idea of the eighth day to be pretty cool. At first, I didn't know what I was going to be getting into when Jax first entered into the eighth day after his 13th birthday, but as the book progressed things got pretty interesting. The whole idea of being descendants of King Arthur and Merlin was so interesting. That instantly made me want to know more because I've not read a book that's taken that approach. The book was a fun read some middle grade books tend to be, but sometimes the book did drag out in certain places. Sometimes all the explaining would start to bore me, but even though it was information overload at points, I still found it to be interesting.

The Taking by Kimberly Derting

A flash of white light . . . and then . . . nothing.
When sixteen-year-old Kyra Agnew wakes up behind a Dumpster at the Gas ’n’ Sip, she has no memory of how she got there. With a terrible headache and a major case of déjà vu, she heads home only to discover that five years have passed . . . yet she hasn’t aged a day.
Everything else about Kyra’s old life is different. Her parents are divorced, her boyfriend, Austin, is in college and dating her best friend, and her dad has changed from an uptight neat-freak to a drunken conspiracy theorist who blames her five-year disappearance on little green men.
Confused and lost, Kyra isn’t sure how to move forward unless she uncovers the truth. With Austin gone, she turns to Tyler, Austin’s annoying kid brother, who is now seventeen and who she has a sudden undeniable attraction to. As Tyler and Kyra retrace her steps from the fateful night of her disappearance, they discover strange phenomena that no one can explain, and they begin to wonder if Kyra’s father is not as crazy as he seems. There are others like her who have been taken . . . and returned. Kyra races to find an explanation and reclaim the life she once had, but what if the life she wants back is not her own?

I was pretty excited to get my hands on the Taking because I've read two books by the author and have enjoyed them. The Taking was different than any of the alien books that I've read. The main character Kyra gets taken after an argument she had with her father after her softball game. She's wakes up behind a dumpster and finds out that five years has past. She has no memory, whatsoever, of what happened to her during those five years. When she returned she thought it was the day after the fight with her dad after the softball game. That entire concept brought an entirely different twist on the story and I think I found that to be one of my favorite things in the book. I enjoyed the characters and the romance of the story, but it kind of took awhile for those action packed scenes to get started. Overall, the book was pretty good and I can't wait to check out the sequel.

The Forever Song by Julie Kagawa

VENGEANCE WILL BE HERS
Allison Sekemoto once struggled with the question: human or monster?
With the death of her love, Zeke, she has her answer.
MONSTER
Allie will embrace her cold vampire side to hunt down and end Sarren, the psychopathic vampire who murdered Zeke. But the trail is bloody and long, and Sarren has left many surprises for Allie and her companions—her creator, Kanin, and her blood brother, Jackal. The trail is leading straight to the one place they must protect at any cost—the last vampire-free zone on Earth, Eden. And Sarren has one final, brutal shock in store for Allie.
In a ruined world where no life is sacred and former allies can turn on you in one heartbeat, Allie will face her darkest days. And if she succeeds, triumph is short-lived in the face of surviving forever alone.

Might contain minor spoilers if you haven't read The Eternity Cure

Once again, I am sad to see another trilogy end. I've finished four series so far this year and it's so hard to see them go. The Forever Song left me with a bitter sweet feeling. It was sad, but wrapped up very nicely. I can definitely say that it left a satisfying feeling that is hard to get when a series ends, but I felt this one did the trilogy justice. The author's writing always finds a way to draw me into the story from the very beginning and keeps me there until the final page. This was a quick read for me because I was desperate to know how things would end and turn out for the characters. I am so sad to see this trilogy go, but I'm glad that I enjoyed each book that belongs to it.

The Hunt by Stacey Kade

Ariane Tucker has finally escaped GTX, the research facility that created her. While on the run, Zane Bradshaw is the only person she can trust. He knows who-and what-she is and still wants to be part of her life.
But accepting Zane's help means putting him in danger.
Dr. Jacobs, head of GTX, is not the only one hunting for Ariane. Two rival corporations have their sights set on taking down their competition. Permanently. To protect Zane and herself, Ariane needs allies. She needs the other hybrids. The hybrids who are way more alien and a lot less human. Can Ariane win them over before they turn on her? Or will she be forced to choose sides, to decide who lives and who dies?

The Hunt was a pretty good sequel to The Rules. I enjoyed it about as much as I did the first book. I believe the Hunt it brought a lot more action to the table than the Rules did and I those action packed parts were really fun to read. The pacing in this book was more fast paced since the background and explaining of things were done in book one and the action also helped speed things along. There was some back referencing done to help jog the memory and I really appreciated that because there were a couple of things that I had forgotten about. This book has definitely made me want to continue on with the next book to see where things will lead to next.