Illusionarium by Heather Dixon

Jonathan is perfectly ordinary. But then—as every good adventure begins—the king swoops into port, and Jonathan and his father are enlisted to find the cure to a deadly plague. Jonathan discovers that he's a prodigy at working with a new chemical called fantillium, which creates shared hallucinations—or illusions. And just like that, Jonathan is knocked off his path. Through richly developed parallel worlds, vivid action, a healthy dose of humor, and gorgeous writing, Heather Dixon spins a story that calls to mind The Night Circus and Pixar movies, but is wholly its own.

My Thoughts:
Oh my WOW! I loved this. I loved every line of it. I loved Jonathan's voice and the silly footnotes and humor and wit and imagination and scientific equations that went directly over my head and people talking in haughty British-English and did I mention the humor? I so seriously loved this. So hard. Allow me to stop rambling and give you a proper review:

First of all, the writing was impeccable. I was never pulled from the story for any reason, the voice was consistent and perfect and punctuation was utilized so perfectly that I'll bet an actor could cold-read this and get exactly the inflection Dixon was imagining when she wrote it.

And speaking of imagination, this book has it in spades. Everything from the world to the scientific explanations to the effects of the weird drugs was so new and different from anything I've ever read. It was so interesting! And the way the story evolved and things were revealed was so perfectly paced and perfectly handled. I could read Heather Dixon for the rest of my life and never get tired of her. This book was the fun of steampunk, the intelligence of Sherlock Holmes and the science fiction of I-don't-even-know-what. But it was good. The science portions were well-thought-out and made perfect fictional sense. Just so wonderfully woven together. Seriously. So good.

And the characters! Such lovely, well-rounded characters. I totally would have befriended Jonathan and the one-eyed-guard and Hannah and Anna and I just loved them all. So much. Even the bad guys had back-stories and moments where I understood them and wanted to reach in and give them a hug. Depth. They all had it.

And, the clincher (for me): It was clean! I mean, these kids are just kids, right? So they think about boys and girls and whatever but there is so much going on that not a whole lot of romance happens. There is a tiny element of romance but no fiery all-consuming passionate affair. Whatever happens is just sweet and childlike. Because they're children. And I love Heather Dixon a little bit for treating a teenage romance the way a teenager most likely would. Not the way adults imagine they would have liked to behave in those situations. That's all I'm gonna say about that.

You know what, just go read it already. It's so good. If you like clean, sci-fi, steampunk books set in 19th century England, you'll love this. Promise.

Sexual Content: Mild
Language: Mild (if any)
Drugs/Alcohol: Heavy (the entire plot hinges on a hallucinogenic drug...)
Violence: Moderate

Modern Monsters by Kelley York

Vic Howard never wanted to go to the party. He’s the Invisible Guy at school, a special kind of hell for quiet, nice guys. But because his best friend is as popular as Vic is ignored, he went…

And wished he hadn’t.

Because something happened to a girl that night. Something terrible, unimaginable, and Callie Wheeler’s life will never be the same. Plus, now Callie has told the police that Vic is responsible. Suddenly, Invisible Vic is painfully visible, on trial both literally, with the police, and figuratively, with the angry kids at school. As the whispers and violence escalate, he becomes determined to clear his name, even if it means an uneasy alliance with Callie's best friend, the beautiful but aloof Autumn Dixon.

But as Autumn and Vic slowly peel back the layers of what happened at the party, they realize that while the truth can set Vic free, it can also shatter everything he thought he knew about his life.

My Thoughts:
I was really wary about this book. It's about rape. The book starts out at a party and shortly after that we learn that a girl was raped. So I was expecting some graphic details and disturbing imagery and lots of drinking and drugs and cursing. But there wasn't. Kelley York handled this subject so incredibly well. We hear this story from the perspective of the boy who is accused of raping the girl, but he's innocent. So we see what happens to him as a result of being wrongly accused and how this storyline plays out with police and reporters and kids at school and friends. It's heartbreaking. And enlightening. And beautiful. And, mostly, it's hopeful. Yes, horrible things happen. Yes, there are terrible people in the world. And there are good people who make awful mistakes. But we can gather ourselves up again and keep moving, keep going, find happiness. Especially for being such a serious subject, this book was actually really uplifting that way.

I loved Vic's voice. He was such a sweet, kind, just all-around good guy who gets put through so much crap for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. I just wanted to reach into that book, wrap my arms around him and protect him. He felt like he needed protecting. Especially with the whole mother storyline which, btw, I totally guessed from the beginning and she just made me hate the world. Her and the father. Seriously, every scene she was in, I was kind of annoyed by the way she treated everything. Made me mad. And sad.

Then there was Autumn. I liked Autumn as a character, as a loyal friend, as the fiesty girl that she was. Which was why I didn't fully understand the connection she made with Vic. I just didn't see that happening naturally. It made the story, for sure, but I just didn't think it would have actually happened in a real-life situation. That's all.

The end of this book broke my heart. I saw it coming and it was still tragically sad. I really did just want to jump in there and protect Vic. That poor guy. But this book was lovely. Tragic and realistic and hopeful. I loved it. Thank you, Kelley York for handling such a delicate subject so carefully and tastefully. I will definitely read more by this author.

Sexual Content: Mild (amazing, considering the entire premise of the book!)
Language: Moderate
Drugs/Alcohol: Mild
Violence: Moderate

A Court of Thrones and Roses by Sarah Maas

When nineteen-year-old huntress Feyre kills a wolf in the woods, a beast-like creature arrives to demand retribution for it. Dragged to a treacherous magical land she only knows about from legends, Feyre discovers that her captor is not an animal, but Tamlin—one of the lethal, immortal faeries who once ruled their world.

As she dwells on his estate, her feelings for Tamlin transform from icy hostility into a fiery passion that burns through every lie and warning she's been told about the beautiful, dangerous world of the Fae. But an ancient, wicked shadow grows over the faerie lands, and Feyre must find a way to stop it . . . or doom Tamlin—and his world—forever.

Perfect for fans of Kristin Cashore and George R. R. Martin, this first book in a sexy and action-packed new series is impossible to put down!

My Thoughts:
I could not put this down. Like, I had to keep to reading to find out what happened even though it's a Beauty and the Beast retelling and I basically knew exactly what would happen in the end. But this version was so fresh. So different. It's all faeries and mythical creatures and politics and warfare and I was absolutely hooked.

I liked that nothing was over-explained. Hardly anything was explained at all in one big monologue moment; We learned things slowly, piece by piece until it all wrapped up in this nice little bow at the end to make perfect sense. I liked how Feyre's relationships evolved with those around her. It was a natural, progressional evolution where we met a character thinking one thing about them, then got to know them better and they became something else entirely.

This world was very imaginative and I loved how Maas built it. How real the people felt. How there were normal people and normal problems mixed in with the extraordinary and magical and crazy. It was a fun, inventive world even without being a completely original story.

The part with Feyre dressing all Princess Leia-like annoyed me mostly because it was pointless. It was just a way to get our main character scantily-clad and offer up some kind of sexual tension. But it was pointless.

Since this world was new and had different rules and that oh-so-familiar fantasy-medieval-feel, I was abruptly pulled from the story every time I came across a modern curse word. It really annoyed me. The faerie people had that one phrase where they'd curse "by the cauldron" but other than that, they'd all use regular-ol' modern day curse words. If you're going to build an entire freaking world and make up all these rules for it why not go ahead and create some kind of original language to go with it? Most fantasy authors do. Heck, many non-fantasy authors do this, too. That's all.

So basically: If you're into fairy tale retellings or medieval fantasy or magical creatures, you may very well like this book. It's well-written, it has a lot of interesting new elements that I wouldn't have thought to go with Beauty and the Beast and it sucks you in from the beginning. This is definitely New Adult and I do not recommend for teens just because there is some graphic sexual content and very adult themes. But, for realz. it's entertaining. 

Sexual Content: Heavy
Language: Moderate
Drugs/Alcohol: Moderate
Violence: Heavy

Call the Shots by Don Calame (Swim the Fly #3)

And . . . action! As the uproarious trio returns, sensitive Sean takes the spotlight — scripting a low-low-budget film while fielding unexpected female fans.

Coop is cooking up another sure-misfire scheme (big surprise), and this time the comedy plays out from Sean’s point of view. What’s the new master plan? Making a cheapo horror movie guaranteed to make Coop, Sean, and Matt filthy rich! It’s a terrible idea, and Sean knows it. But he actually is desperate for cash — and for a way to wipe that big fat L off his girlfriend-less forehead. But when he agrees to write a script about the attack of zombie-vampire humanzees, he has no idea just how powerful a chick magnet this movie will be. Suddenly Sean is juggling not one butthree interested ladies. There’s his accidental-girlfriend-turned-psychotic-stalker, Evelyn. There’s the wicked hot actress from drama class, Leyna, who seems willing to do anything to land the starring role. And even his twin sister’s gothed-out best friend, Nessa, is looking at Sean in a whole new way. Will any of them wind up as Sean’s true leading lady? Will Sean stop being a doormat and finally start calling the shots?

My Thoughts:
The last book in a series. As with the first two books, this was laugh-out-loud funny. Much laughing going on. And lots of raunchy boy humor. It was hilarious. And highly irreverent.

So we've established it's funny. What else did I like? The boys' friendship is really nice. They all give each other a hard time and call each other on whatever stupid thing they've done but they're ultimately good, loyal friends. And all the other relationships in the book seemed very normal, very layered. Brothers and sisters and parents and friends and everyone had relationships in which they cared for each other but sometimes got mad or sad or irritated or whatever else and it was so very normal without being boring. Well done, there, Mr. Calame. Except for Nick and Evelyn who were pretty much always scary/crazy. Evelyn's character actually bothered me a bit; I felt like she was an easy excuse for everything. She was the cause of the love triangle and just about all of the conflict and she made the book wrap up really quickly, concisely and easily without too much explanation or difficulty. So poor, psychopath, Evelyn, made this book possible by being the one everyone hates. I felt bad for her. And it felt like really convenient writing.

Apart from Evelyn, things that happened in this book seemed extremely coincidental. Like, Sean would be thinking about someone and, suddenly, they were knocking on the door. Or that time when Sean was at the mall and, like, five different things happened in quick succession to keep him from meeting up with that girl. While hilarious, I couldn't help but feel annoyed by the convenience of the way things happened. My mouth would be hanging open in disbelief by the time those scenes finished. But, yeah, it was funny. So maybe it was worth it.

I don't know what else to say. This book was hilarious, even if completely absurd. I love the characters and how they treat each other but there's a whole lot of raunchy, dirty boy humor going on.

Sexual Content: Moderate
Language: Heavy
Violence: Mild
Drugs/Alcohol: Mild (if any)

The Storyspinner by Becky Wallace

Drama and danger abound in this fantasy realm where dukes play a game for the throne, magical warriors race to find the missing heir, and romance blossoms where it is least expected.

In a world where dukes plot their way to the throne, a Performer’s life can get tricky. And in Johanna Von Arlo’s case, it can be fatal. Expelled from her troupe after her father’s death, Johanna is forced to work for the handsome Lord Rafael DeSilva. Too bad they don’t get along. But while Johanna’s father’s death was deemed an accident, the Keepers aren’t so sure.

The Keepers, a race of people with magical abilities, are on a quest to find the princess—the same princess who is supposed to be dead and whose throne the dukes are fighting over. But they aren’t the only ones looking for her. And in the wake of their search, murdered girls keep turning up—girls who look exactly like the princess, and exactly like Johanna.

With dukes, Keepers, and a killer all after the princess, Johanna finds herself caught up in political machinations for the throne, threats on her life, and an unexpected romance that could change everything.

My Thoughts:
I liked this a lot more than I thought I would. I'm not generally a huge fantasy person and the cover was a big deterrent. So I went into this with pretty low expectations. Which is usually the best way to go into anything. So maybe stop reading this review and go read the book before I get your expectations up too high.

If you're still going to read this review despite the warning, here's what I liked:

Johanna's character. She never whines, never has a tell-all dramatic monologue and is generally just who she is without complaint. She accepts her circumstances and deals with it. Loved that about her. Actually, most of the characters were just likeable. I really liked how Rafi's whole life revolved around honor. He was like a chivalrous knight. It was pleasant. And then there was Pira. I could totally relate to Pira's hard shell and her hiding her feelings and trying to be tough all the time. And the Leao storyline was just yummy. Mmmmhm. So, yeah. Characters.

The world. So this was fantasy in some strange new world with weird geography and Lords and Masters and a Kingdom and whatnot. I usually get lost in all of that but this was pretty easy to follow. I enjoyed all the political intrigue talk and learning about this world's customs.

No love triangle. Hallelujah! There were two completely separate romancey storylines. And they were both yummy. In completely different ways. Johanna's love story had the strangest beginning of any romance I've ever read and I was skeptical of whether or not it would work out. But it did. And, to reiterate, Leao was yummy. Need more Leao.

Wallace wasn't afraid to be brutal. There was a lot of mild grinning going on in this book but not so much laughing out loud. Which is fine, I guess, but I really appreciate humor in novels. And along with all the pleasant stuff going on there were some really dark themes floating around as well. Lots of murder and fighting and even, near the very beginning of the book, a scene in which a girl is found after she had been brutalized and murdered. Wallace handled these situations extremely well, especially since this is supposed to be a YA novel. Events were mentioned and properly handled without being graphic or gross or going for shock factor. So, yes, bad things happen but this novel didn't dwell on them or cause me to have nightmares about all the evil in the world.

There was a lot to like. But, you know, some of the story was a bit cliche; Nothing I hadn't heard before. Some things happened exactly as I'd expected them to. Some events, like the finding of the assassin, felt a bit too easy or forced or just too coincidental to feel real. Many secondary characters felt stereotypical or flat, but, then many beloved characters didn't make it to the end of the book. I don't know which is worse.

Also there's the worst cliffhanger! Ever! Wallace literally leaves some characters hanging. And there are so many unanswered questions. Jacare's dark history is hinted at throughout the entire book but we learn nothing about his past. Or Tex's past, for that matter. I am definitely going to read the next book in the series and probably whatever comes after that, but I am annoyed that I have to wait for it.

So, overall, it's a good, fun, clean read with a few dark elements. But the darkness gives it good roundness.

Sexual Content: Moderate
Language: None
Violence: Moderate
Drugs/Alcohol: None

The Almost Girl by Amalie Howard

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.

My Thoughts:
Didn't finish.

I started the book because my 14-year-old niece said it was really good. "My new favorite book," she said. So I was excited. And it was going well in the beginning. I was curious about what was going to happen, about the world, about the characters. But then I got about half way through... and couldn't read anymore. Here's why:

Howard tells us how brave and smart and talented and competent Riven is all the time. I mean, she's a frickin' general in her home world, right? She can beat up anyone and is the strongest, most feared, strategic fighter ever to come out of Neospes. Neospes, mind you, where everyone is trained to fight starting at the age of 2 (has Howard ever met a 2-year-old, btw?) and they learn warfare and combat and all manners of ways to kill people. So when she passes out in the first chapter and, like, five times afterward, and gets beat up and crashes her motorcycle and gets seriously injured and is rescued by the untrained love-interest at least ten times throughout the course of the half of the book that I read, I don't actually believe that Riven is smart or talented or competent or brave or any of that. It makes me think she's actually really bad at her job and only became general because her father is such a prominent figure in Neospes. And why would anyone appoint a 14-year-old general of an army? Ever? At all?

Ok, so we've established that while Howard tells us Riven is a uniquely amazing character, we actually find out that Riven sucks. Then there are the other characters. Most of whom die before we get halfway through the book, so they're probably not worth mentioning. The love interest, Caden, who is also Riven's target for reasons that still hadn't been revealed halfway through the book (which was annoying) but were generally made to sound bad for Caden, has a girlfriend when he meets Riven. And totally disses his own girlfriend and cheats on her with Riven. But we're not supposed to care about the questionable way in which this relationship began because Caden's girlfriend was your classic high school mean girl. So she's not worth caring about.

And I can't even figure out why Caden likes Riven at all. Not once is she nice to him. Ever. Riven gives him mean stares all the time and tells him how superior she is and that she doesn't want friends and doesn't like anyone. But Caden keeps trying to kiss her anyway. And when he succeeds it's this super-passionate moment when he has her trapped even though she told him flat-out that she wasn't interested and then she tried to beat him up. Unsuccessfully, because, you know, she's such a badass. So... Caden is pretty much the date-rapist type. That's what I got out of that.

I started out really curious about the world of Neospes. There's some vague Terminator-type of mechanical war that turned machines against humans and there was some kind of crazy warfare that causes Neospes to live in a bubble and the air is bad and water is scarce and there are crazy animals that are half-machine and they make themselves that way... but nothing was explained. This far into a book something should have been explained. I was getting tired of waiting for the reveals that should have come a little sooner. And been more interesting than the few reveals I did get to. And the twists felt contrived. The emotions were way too drama-y. And stupid. And I think you should just skip this book altogether.

But maybe you'll be like my 14-year-old niece who loved it. Who knows.

Sexual Content: Moderate
Language: Moderate
Violence: Moderate
Drugs/Alcohol: Mild, if any

Something Strange and Deadly by Susan Dennard

Philadelphia 1876. The Dead are rising. A zombie delivers a letter to Eleanor Fitt. Whoever controls the Dead Army has her brother. She avoids her mother's choice of husband for the lab of Spirit Hunters, including the maddeningly stubborn yet handsome Daniel. The situation threatens her reputation, and the lives of everyone in the city.

My Thoughts:
It took me a while to get into this book. I read the first chapter then put it down for a while because I wasn't interested it. I mean zombies? Really?

But then I picked it up again and read the whole thing in two days. There was just so much to love here!

First of all, I loved Eleanor. I loved that she was strong and brave and smart but Dennard never said any of that. Eleanor was just like that. As a reader we were shown Eleanor's character without being told Eleanor's character. Which was perfect. I loved the writing style, the quality (after the first chapter) of writing and the way characters were written. Loved it. I'm a new fan of Susan Dennard.

All the other characters were also well-developed and well-rounded. And they spoke like real people... in the 1800s. It was like a dark, steampunk Jane Austin novel. Which was really fun. Another thing that I loved was that there was a nice romance element but it didn't overwhelm the story. Nor was it some kind of super-passionate, love-trumps-anything-else-going-on type of affair. It was naturally-evolving and moved at a normal pace. Mostly. But it was still yummy. Although entirely clean.

One thing that bugged was that the huge reveal at the end wasn't surprising at all. It was one of those things you guess after the first chapter but hope it incorrect because it's just so obvious. Oh, well.

Anyway, it was fun. It was clean. It was well-written and really entertaining. Go read it.

Sexual Content: Mild
Language: Mild
Violence: Moderate
Drugs/Alcohol: None

The Isle of the Lost by Melissa De La Cruz

Twenty years ago, all the evil villains were banished from the kingdom of Auradon and made to live in virtual imprisonment on the Isle of the Lost. The island is surrounded by a magical force field that keeps the villains and their descendants safely locked up and away from the mainland. Life on the island is dark and dreary. It is a dirty, decrepit place that's been left to rot and forgotten by the world.

But hidden in the mysterious Forbidden Fortress is a dragon's eye: the key to true darkness and the villains' only hope of escape. Only the cleverest, evilest, nastiest little villain can find it...who will it be?

My Thoughts:
*An ARC of this book was given to me in exchange for an honest review.*

Couldn't finish. This is a book about all of Disney's evil characters being banished to an island without magic, right? Only none of these "evil" people felt evil. They were all, "Let's do something really evil and watch 1st years slip on a banana peel." Diabolical. I'm shivering in fright over here.

And I get that the book is for kids and pre-teens. But it wasn't very good in general. The perspective kept changing and sometimes it felt like it jumped around in the middle of a section that was supposed to have been someone else's perspective. Thoughts were rehashed a lot. A whole lot. And it's a short book. And I didn't even read it all. And once again: No was very evil! If holding a grudge and eating stale food makes one worthy of evil-mastermind status, there'd be a whole lot more villains in the world. And all the kids on the Isle of the Lost (which is a great title, btw) go to school. The classes are taught by former seriously evil people like Cinderella's evil Stepmother and the Voodoo guy from The Princess and the Frog and other bad guys who did actual bad stuff (the Voodoo guy creeped me out like you would not believe and I was an adult when I saw that movie!). But, thing is, if I'm a bad guy trapped on a sucky island where I'm bound to be unhappy for the rest of my life, I'm not gonna spend my time being altruistic and teaching kids ANYTHING at all. I'm going to do whatever is it I want to do. No one will stop me. I will not have friends. And I will use anyone and everyone to reach my own ends. It's a good thing I'm not evil. But, seriously, I didn't buy into the bad guys being all teacherly; Teachers are way too selfless and bad guys are way too selfish.

None of the characters felt very defined, either. Total meh, all around. And, honestly, the writing was meh, too. I was skipping paragraphs after a while. When I started skipping pages I knew it was time to give up.

I get that this is written for a younger audience but it's still just not very good. If you're going to read a fairy-tale mash-up for pre-teens, there are so many options out there that I would just skip this one entirely. Go read Half Upon a Time or Ever After High or any number of highly entertaining, well-thought-out, well-written and just all-around great books.

Sexual Content: None
Language: Mild
Violence: Mild (boys fighting)
Drugs/Alcohol: None

The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight by Jennifer E. Smith

Four minutes changes everything. Hadley Sullivan 17 misses her flight at JFK airport, is late to her father's second wedding in London with never-met stepmother. Hadley meets the perfect boy. Oliver is British, sits in her row. A long night on the plane passes in a blink, but the two lose track in arrival chaos. Can fate bring them together again?

My thoughts:
I wasn't expecting too much when I picked this up. Expectations were exceeded. 

One thing I loved about this book was that the romance was an important part of the story. It wasn't just the entire story; There were other plotlines and major things going on besides two people falling in love. And, to be honest, the romance wasn't "love at first sight" so other than that one tiny allusion at the end of the book, the title is completely wrong. It's a good title but it doesn't really fit this book.

The romance itself was sweet, though. I loved the banter between Hadley and Oliver. Their interactions made me grin like an idiot. And their relationship evolved well. It was cute. Even with the heavier story of their families, this book was a cute fluff read. Fast, easy, sweet and clean. Just how I like 'em. And it mostly takes place in London. 'Nuff said.

One thing that bugged was that it was written in 3rd person but definitely should have been 1st. POV was awkward. Especially since we were basically inside Hadley's head for the entire book. And characters didn't feel quite as rounded as they should have. I like read fully three-dimensional fleshed-out characters. Most of these were meh. 

But I did like the book. Definitely obtain it and read it if you're into contemporary fluff romance.

Sexual Content: Mild
Language: Mild
Violence: None
Drugs/Alcohol: Mild

Tracked by Jenny Martin

On corporately controlled Castra, rally racing is a high-stakes game that seventeen-year-old Phoebe Van Zant knows all too well. Phee’s legendary racer father disappeared mysteriously, but that hasn't stopped her from speeding headlong into trouble. When she and her best friend, Bear, attract the attention of Charles Benroyal, they are blackmailed into racing for Benroyal Corp, a company that represents everything Phee detests. Worse, Phee risks losing Bear as she falls for Cash, her charming new teammate. But when she discovers that Benroyal is controlling more than a corporation, Phee realizes she has a much bigger role in Castra’s future than she could ever have imagined. It's up to Phee to take Benroyal down. But even with the help of her team, can a street-rat destroy an empire?




My Thoughts:
It took me a long time to get into this book. The beginning didn't hook me, Phee seemed a bit too reckless and immature for my taste and the love triangle was annoying. Really annoying. Lots of waffling emotions and deep introspective thought analyses. ugh. And did anyone else just feel bad for the loser of the love triangle? I mean, like, throughout the entire book? I felt like the poor guy was just shuffled to the side all the time. He lacked any depth at all since, really, we only saw him when/how Phee dictated he would be around.

Once the story evolved into a political/corporate story with intrigue and spying and stuff, it got really interesting. The plot was very well thought-out in that respect and I enjoyed all the plotting and planning. It was smart. 

But it didn't overshadow the lackluster writing and borrowed concepts. I mean, this entire novel was basically Speed Racer with a girl main character. I can't think of a single major difference. I'm really trying to think of major difference. Maybe the love triangle could be thought of as the major difference but I wish that hadn't been in there at all. Why do YA authors feel like they must put love triangles in YA books? This book actually would have been BETTER if the poor, shunted third member of the love triangle had been a different character entirely; Why wasn't he a brother? Or the strictly platonic best friend? Or gay? Or any number of things that would have prohibited any notion of a love triangle? It pulled me from the story and I was more annoyed than anything. Actually, I felt more sympathy for him than for Phee. Phee annoyed. I definitely see the potential for more angsty pining and love-triangle drama in the second book since this book ended the cliffhanger way it did. But I'm still annoyed. 

Another positive in this book was the racing. And it wasn't even so much the racing itself as much as it was the way Martin portrayed Phee while racing. I loved being in her head for those moments; The way her adrenaline was written, her inherent need to race, the calm before the race and all that. So well done. Loved those moments.

Phee was likeable enough as a character. I guess. But I didn't like her as much as I could have. I would have appreciated more humor; This book was Very Serious. I would appreciated less introspective whining; So much unnecessary drama. I would have appreciated smarter actions on her part, a little bit of subtlety, maybe. She was so very in-your-face blunt and easy-to-read. The worst possible spy. The worst possible secret-keeper. But I guess that was just her character. Wasn't a huge fan.

By all means, if you're into post-apocalyptic stories with a Speed Racer/Fast and Furious spin (maybe even some Mad Max minus any violence whatsoever), obtain and read this book. You may like it much more than I do. But I wouldn't recommend you own it until you read it first and decide for yourself.

Sexual Content: Moderate
Language: Mild (it's all irritating new-world slang cursing. So no real curse words. Just annoying rusting made-up foul language--Actually in a way I appreciate the non-use of bad words but the fake cursing annoys me. If you're gonna say it, just say it)
Violence: Mild (if any)
Drugs/Alcohol: Moderate (though it is generally frowned-upon by the characters in the book)

The Knife of Never Letting Go (Chaos Walking #1) by Patrick Ness

Prentisstown isn't like other towns. Everyone can hear everyone else's thoughts in an overwhelming, never-ending stream of Noise. Just a month away from the birthday that will make him a man, Todd and his dog, Manchee -- whose thoughts Todd can hear too, whether he wants to or not -- stumble upon an area of complete silence. They find that in a town where privacy is impossible, something terrible has been hidden -- a secret so awful that Todd and Manchee must run for their lives.

But how do you escape when your pursuers can hear your every thought?

My Thoughts:
I was hooked from page one. It was a fast-paced could-not-put-down, urgent, layered, intelligent, easy-to-read-yet-complex story that I would recommend to anyone and everyone. So good. It was kind of all its own but if I had to compare it to anything else it would be the intensity of Hunger Games, the quality of writing of Shatter Me (but not the subsequent books in the series), and the world-building of the Across the Universe series. This book was really nothing like any of those books and, all-around, better than them, but if you want a comparison of some sort, that's a decent place to start.

The world-building started immediately and the way we learned about this strange place, as a reader, was completely natural. There was no info-dumping. No pause in the book for a backstory moment. It all flowed so flawlessly and effortlessly that I felt like I could have just landed in this world myself. And the world was so detailed and well-thought-out. And interesting. I wanted to learn about it. I wanted to learn why everyone was the way they were. I wanted to know the history of this place. It was just so well done.

The characters and the way people spoke were fascinating. Everyone had depth. Everyone had inner conflict and layered backstory and just inherent interest. I was so interested in everyone. Our main character, Todd, and his talking dog, Manchee; They were so likable. Todd was a regular, nice kid asked to do crazy difficult stuff, make insane choices. And he just did the best he could. He was sweet and kind in spite of being raised in a bizarrely mean place. And Manchee was just a good, loyal dog. I loved the portrayal of Manchee and his simple thoughts.

Some of my favorite moments were with the villain characters. Todd's depictions of them (because we were in Todd's POV the whole book) were just perfect. Ness just got inside those characters and portrayed them so well, with so much depth that I couldn't help but be fascinated by the evil people. Seriously, so well done.

The writing itself was amazing. Thoughts felt like real thoughts. Dialogue felt natural. Reactions and events were completely believable in this foreign world. Ness has a way of making you feel on-the-edge-of-your-seat that I've rarely seen in a book. It's incredible. I loved the different dialects people spoke in and the phonetic spelling; It added so much to this world. The twists and turns this plot took were sometimes expected but always worth reading. So much happened to these people in such a short amount of time that I was kind of exhausted after finishing the book but also super amped to read the next one because there is an Insane Cliffhanger! I mean--Worst/Best Cliffhanger Ever! I'm simultaneously annoyed and excited about the ending. But I will definitely read the next one. And probably the whole series. And anything else Patrick Ness writes.

It was just that good.

Sexual Content: Mild
Language: Moderate
Violence: Heavy
Drugs/Alcohol: Mild

Beat the Band (Swim the Fly #2) by Don Calame

In this hilarious sequel to Swim the Fly, told from Coop’s point of view, it’s the beginning of the school year, and the tenth-grade health class must work in pairs on semester-long projects. Matt and Sean get partnered up (the jerks), but Coop is matched with the infamous “Hot Dog” Helen for a presentation on safe sex. Everybody’s laughing, except for Coop, who’s convinced that the only way to escape this social death sentence is to win “The Battle of the Bands” with their group, Arnold Murphy’s Bologna Dare. There’s just one problem: none of the guys actually plays an instrument. Will Coop regain his “cool” before it’s too late? Or will the forced one-on-one time with Helen teach him a lesson about social status he never saw coming? With ribald humor and a few sweet notes, screenwriter-turned-novelist Don Calame once again hits all the right chords.

My Thoughts:
This followed the exact same formula as Swim the Fly. Which is to say it was hilarious and thoughtful with lots of raunchy guy humor and idiotic stuff going on. The plot also developed in almost exactly the same way as the first book in terms of girls and who likes who, how things things more or less happen. Some things were different, of course, but it was pretty much the same story. But this time it was about Coop instead of Matt. And there were some different girls.

Anyway, it was funny. I laughed. And, honestly, I felt like there was a bit more heart in this book than in Swim the Fly. I think I had more of a connection to Coop than Matt, even though Matt was a more likable guy. Coop's story was just a bit more from the heart where Matt's story felt like it was told from arms-length. Even so, I didn't feel as close to the characters as I should have. I wasn't as invested as I could have been. This was a fast, fun, hilarious fluff read. Read for a good laugh.

Sexual Content: Moderate
Language: Heavy
Violence: Mild (?)
Drugs/Alcohol: Mild