REPLICATION
Written by: Jill Williamson
eBook: 304 pages
Publisher: Zonderkidz
December 2011
Genre: Young Adult
How I Got the Book: NetGalley

(Synopsis from Zondervan.com)

When Your Life Is Not Your Own

Martyr—otherwise known as Jason 3:3—is one of hundreds of clones kept in a remote facility called Jason Farms. Told that he has been created to save humanity, Martyr has just one wish before he is scheduled to “expire” in less than a month. To see the sky.

Abby Goyer may have just moved to Alaska, but she has a feeling something strange is going on at the farm where her father works. But even this smart, confident girl could never have imagined what lies beneath a simple barn. Or what would happen when a mysterious boy shows up at her door, asking about the stars.

As the reality of the Jason Experiment comes to light, Martyr is caught between two futures—the one for which he was produced and the one Abby believes God created him to have. Time is running out, and Martyr must decide if a life with Abby is worth leaving everything he’s ever known.

Cover: This cover is nice and clean, not a lot going on. It’s eye catching and simple and does a good job giving an idea of what the book is about. That said, if I passed it in the store, I don’t know that I would pick it up to learn more. Not sure why. Who knows? Maybe I would.

The Book: Imagine human cloning had been (nearly) perfected. Now imagine you are one of those clones. You’ve been raised for 17+ years with one goal in mind: to die. You know your job is to live to be 18 and then expire, becoming one of many clones who died for the greater good of helping others survive in the toxic air of the world.

Now imagine you find out your whole life is a lie and the air isn’t toxic at all.

That’s Replication (The Jason Experiment). Sure, there’s a story about a girl and her moral high ground and blah, blah, blah, but really the story is about Martyr and his life being more than he ever imagined.

What I Loved: Jill Williamson did a great job creating the world of Jason Farms. Through Martyr’s first-person narration, we get a view of  how different things are for the clones. Martyr’s thoughts are like that of a small child. He is unaware of the outside world and the day-to-day things we take for granted. An early scene where he sees a vivid orange neck tie (which he calls a napkin because he has never seen a tie before) illustrates this perfectly.

As we follow Martyr, he learns more of the world and his narrative matures rapidly. The author did a great job growing the Martyr character as he experienced more of life.

The adventure was strong and I enjoyed the main plot of the book – it kept me glued to my nook until I was done.

What Needed Work: Abby Goyer. Oh my sigh. Her character drove me bat-shit insane. First there is her holier than though attitude. Now, I get that Zondervan is a Christian-focused publisher, so there will be religious themes and whatnot. I can handle that. But the Abby character seemed to be there to beat the other characters (and therefore the reader) over the head with her super-Christian beliefs. It was a good thing her narrative was interspersed with Martyr’s or I might have found myself at a good old-fashioned Bible burning just to escape her character.

And as long as I’m griping about Abby, let’s talk JD, the hot boy from school who’s interested in her. Maybe he’s only interested in her because she’s the new girl in a small town, but whatever. It’s not his interest I’m concerned with, but her response to it. She seems to HATE him and the fact that he’s interested. Sure, the further we get in the book, the more douchy he becomes, but at the beginning, Abby hates him for ZERO reason other than to hate him. As a reader it seemed to me that the author was trying so hard to not have her character fall for the cute boy that it just made for an (even more) annoying character.

Pretty much, I just wasn’t a huge fan of Abby.

Recommended For: Fans of sci-fi that isn’t too sci-fi-y (cause that makes sense, right?). If you don’t mind having a Christian agenda pushed at you, give it a read – it has a good plot and definitely raises some interesting questions. If you bristle at religious themes in novels, steer clear, because they are not subtle in this one.

HUSHED
Written by: Kelley York
eBook: 224 pages
Publisher: Entangled Publishing
December 2011
Genre: Young Adult
How I Got the Book: NetGalley

(Summary borrowed from The YA Curator, who shortened Amazon’s summary to get rid of some spoilers.)

Eighteen-year-old Archer couldn’t protect his best friend, Vivian, from what happened when they were kids, so he’s never stopped trying to protect her from everything else. It doesn’t matter that Vivian only uses him when hopping from one toxic relationship to another. Archer is always there, settling Vivian’s scores for her. And waiting to get noticed.

Then along comes Evan, the only person who’s ever cared about Archer without a single string attached. The harder he falls for Evan, the more Archer sees Vivian for the manipulative hot-mess she really is.

But Viv has her hooks in deep, and when she finds out she’s not number 1 anymore, she’ll do whatever it takes to put things back the way they were.

Cover: You will notice this trend pretty quick in this review, but, um, I LOVE IT. Immediately I wonder so much about this character: what is on his mind? What’s got him down? And why does he have blood on his face…is it his own? I won’t lie, as much as I don’t want to say it, often self-published and small-press books don’t have great covers. Well, Entangled is a small-press and this cover is GREAT.

The Book: Asher spends his life trying to make things right for Vivian. He orbits her, hoping one day to be the man in her sights, not just the one who she comes to when it’s convenient. Archer doesn’t blame Vivian for the way she treats him; she’s damaged, and he hopes that by taking some pretty extreme measures to try to fix her past, she will finally be free of it and able to love him for real.

Then he meets Evan. Evan, the sometimes-shy, sometimes-awkward, but sometimes-confident boy who for some inexplicable reason insists on becoming Archer’s friend. Despite his best efforts not to be, Archer is intrigued by Evan. Their friendship grows, and soon Evan has Archer realizing that maybe, just maybe, he deserves better than what Vivian is able to give him.

But Vivian doesn’t like that Archer has someone other than her, and she is willing to do whatever it takes to keep him for herself.

What I Loved: Um, everything. Yep, it’s true.

Kelley York does a great job making her characters real. The book focuses almost entirely on Evan, Archer, and Vivian, all of whom are fully-fleshed, well-rounded characters. Archer is one I was rooting for even when he was doing things that are really, really not good. Vivian was cruel and manipulative, but also hurting and damaged. I hated her…but in that good way that made me realize just what a great character she is. And I wanted to reach right through my nook and give Evan a big, awkward hug.

There are not many secondary characters in Hushed, but the ones we see are full-bodied characters of their own. York is not the kind of author who glosses over secondary characters or uses them just to push the action along. I could tell that each character, even those I only saw for a page or so, all their their own unique story to tell…this just wasn’t their book to do so!

(The next paragraph is a little spoiler-y. Not much, but if you want to, feel free to skip to the next section.)

The relationship that blossoms between Evan and Archer is fantastic. I don’t have words to describe how great it is to read as they become friends, develop that closeness, and then evolve into so much more. I love that there wasn’t this huge oh-my-gosh-I’m-gay-what-do-I-do-what-will-people-think? internal monologue going on. The relationship developed just like any other would. So what if it was between two guys (one of whom has always been in love with a girl)? It was a relationship and it developed just like any other. I was so happy to see a gay relationship with no huge weight or stigma attached to it. It’s refreshing.

What needed work: Hmmm….I came across some typos, but I was reading a galley copy, so I assume those have been fixed.

When I first jumped in to the book, it didn’t hook me at all. But, like a bad break-up line, it’s not the book, it’s me. I was so swamped with moving and everything when I first started reading that I just couldn’t give Hushed the focus it needed (until it grabbed my by the throat and MADE me pay attention – and that didn’t take long). Had I not been so preoccupied, I am sure I would have been hooked almost immediately, as the intro is very intriguing.

I don’t know if I would actually classify this book as YA, but I also don’t know where I would shelve it, and as the main characters are all 18, I guess upper YA is the right place for it. Since the characters are in college and seem more adult, though, it is missing some of the normal things you see in a YA novel. The new discovery is still there for Archer, however, so that is nice.

Recommended for: Fans of the DEXTER books and show. (I’ll admit: I’m in love with DEXTER, but I’ve never read the books. For shame!). If you liked Rebecca James’s Beautiful Malice, this one is for you. (And if you haven’t read Beautiful Malice, pick it up when you get this one, because it’s worth it.)

Hero
Written by: Perry Moore
Paperback: 432 pages
Publisher: Hyperion
August 2007 (PB reprint May 2009)
Genre: Young Adult
How I Got the Book: Bought

The last thing in the world Thom Creed wants is to add to his father’s pain, so he keeps secrets. Like that he has special powers. And that he’s been asked to join the League – the very organization of superheroes that spurned his dad. But the most painful secret of all is one Thom can barely face himself: he’s gay.

But becoming a member of the League opens up a new world to Thom. There, he connects with a misfit group of aspiring heroes, including Scarlett, who can control fire but not her anger; Typhoid Larry, who can make anyone sick with his touch; and Ruth, a wise old broad who can see the future. Like Thom, these heroes have things to hide; but they will have to learn to trust one another when they uncover a deadly conspiracy within the League. To survive, Thom will face challenges he never imagined. To find happiness, he’ll have to come to terms with his father’s past and discover the kind of hero he really wants to be.

The Cover: This is actually not the same cover the hardback edition of this book had. The hardback features a simple white cover with a nondescript black eye mask and the word HERO in multicolored lettering. But, the hardcover is not the one I read, so I’m going to take a look at the paperback.

I am pretty indifferent about this cover. The image portrays the right idea – he’s a hero underneath, but needs to cover that up with his normal day-to-day life. Plus, it’s a good tribute to the Superman change.

The one thing I question with the cover is: what race is Thom? It doesn’t really matter, to be honest, but I still wonder. It is never explicitly stated in the book but there are a few instances that make me believe he is black. But on this cover he is definitely white. Not glaring Montana-girl white like I am, but a nice California surf-god I-let-the-glorious-sun-caress-my-skin-daily kind of white. Not that the cover model HAS to be Thom, but we all know that’s who it is. Just something to consider.

The Book: Two words: Gay. Superhero. What a great concept. But this book is so much more than a gay-kid-coming-out book or a superhero book, even though it is also those things.

Thom Creed is afraid to tell his dad he’s gay. But even more than that, he’s afraid to tell his dad he has powers. Wonderful, amazing powers that allow him to heal people. And trigger seizures, but whatever. See, Thom’s dad used to be the Number One Hero in town. Then something happened, and he was completely shunned by the League. There is nothing in this world worse to Hal Creed than having superpowers. Not even being gay, though that’s a close second.

So Thom pushes those parts of himself to the side and lives in a silent misery trying to please his father. Life gets harder for him when he ends up in the wrong place at the right time and is both the victim and the helper-hero of a super-villain attack. Now the league wants him to join. For the first time, he feels like he belongs, sort of. At least he is grouped up with three heroes who are also misfits.

What I Loved: Thom’s relationship with his father is pitch-perfect. It was almost painful reading their interactions; Moore did such a great job showing where the strains are. Each has misconceptions about the other and they are both doing their best to work with the situation they have. The scenes between Thom and Hal were perfect.

I love how multi-dimensional this book is. There is so much more going on besides Thom’s struggle with his identity. Without giving away too much, I will say: don’t dismiss this as your typical coming-of-age novel or just a superhero action novel. Peel back the layers, people, there is so much more there.

I love that Thom had no confusion about his sexuality. Yes, he was scared of what people would say when they found out, but he was not confused at all. He knew he was gay, and, aside from his fear of others’ reactions, he is totally comfortable with that. He daydreams about a certain superhero becoming his boyfriend. He looks at porn. He hangs out outside of the local gay bar, working up the courage to go in. He doesn’t question his sexuality; he doesn’t think maybe he should give it a try with girls. He just knows he’s gay, and that’s that.

The superhero homages are everywhere and they are super fun. Perry has done his hero reading and it was fun trying to see which heroes he was incorporating into his characters.

What needed work: Perry Moore’s writing is not bad. Not at all. But it also isn’t anything special. Hero is a readable book, but it doesn’t have that special, undefinable something that makes the words sing and the prose dance off the page. The action scenes needed to be tightened up – I found myself having to reread quite often to keep track of what was going on. Despite those things, though, Hero is a really fun, great read.

Recommended for: Superhero fans, natch. Also, fans of David Levithan should definitely pick this one up.

Seventeen-year-old Bianca Piper is cynical and loyal, and she doesn’t think she’s the prettiest of her friends by a long shot. She’s also way too smart to fall for the charms of man-slut and slimy school hottie Wesley Rush. In fact, Bianca hates him. And when he nicknames her “Duffy,” she throws her Coke in his face.

But things aren’t so great at home right now. Desperate for a distraction, Bianca ends up kissing Wesley. And likes it. Eager for escape, she throws herself into a closeted enemies-with-benefits relationship with Wesley.

Until it all goes horribly awry. It turns out that Wesley isn’t such a bad listener, and his life is pretty screwed up, too. Suddenly Bianca realizes with absolute horror that she’s falling for the guy she thought she hated more than anyone.

Ever since I first heard the term DUFF, I immediately wanted to read this book. How could I not? What girl (or probably boy, for that matter) hasn’t felt like the Designated Ugly Fat Friend in their group at some point or another? Each of us, no matter how hard we try, falls into the trap of comparing ourself to our friends and thinking we are less pretty, stylish, whatever. Needless to say, I was super excited to read this book and jumped at the chance to read it when it came up on the Traveling ARC Tour list.

Luckily, it didn’t disappoint. The character of Bianca was so fun! She is cynical and moody, but not in an annoying way. She is a realistic teenager; I remember having a lot of the same cynicism when I was in high school so it was super easy to relate to her. What I liked the most about her narration, though, is that she was fun. All that cynicism didn’t weigh down on me, like it often does when I read a narrative from a very cynical character.

Let’s just say cynical one more time, in case I didn’t write it enough times in the last paragraph.

The plot might not have been the most original in the world – who hasn’t read/seen the whole enemies-turned-into-something-more thing done before? What sets this book apart, though, is the original way Kody approaches the story. She has great, well-rounded characters, both the majors and the minors. I understand the reasoning behind Bianca’s choice to lose herself in the distraction Wesley gives her. I get where she is coming from, so I didn’t have a hard time reconciling why she would voluntarily be with someone she dislikes so immensely the way I do with many similar stories.

Many might find the language and sex in the book to be off-putting and inappropriate. But I feel it showed a side to teenage life that is often glazed over in novels. Not all teenage relationships are sweet and slow-moving. Sometimes they are ugly and intense and purely sexual. It might scare some to read about teenagers acting the way they do in this book, but the reality it: teenagers do act like this. Sure, not all, but enough to make this book realistic. The DUFF tackles some pretty serious subjects, but does so in a way that doesn’t glorify them. And as for the language: sure, there is a lot of it, both in dialogue and narration. But no biggie. Excessive language gets to me in books when I feel like it is there just for shock value or because the author is trying to be “edgy” or whatever, but I didn’t get that vibe at all in this book. I felt like the language is just part of Biance and who she is – this is just how she talks. So it didn’t faze me at all. It was just another part of the narrative.

I guess in a complete review I would also talk about aspects of the book I didn’t like – but now I can’t remember any reasons. Maybe I should have marked them as I was reading, because now I can’t remember a single thing I disliked about it. The good so outweighed the bad that I can’t even recall the bad. I love this book – right down to the cover, which, let’s face it, it awesome.

Happily, it didn’t disappoint.

Three sisters share a magical, unshakeable bond in this witty high-concept novel from the critically acclaimed author of Audrey, Wait! Around the time of their parents’ divorce, sisters April, May, and June recover special powers from childhood—powers that come in handy navigating the hell that is high school. Powers that help them cope with the hardest year of their lives. But could they have a greater purpose?

April, the oldest and a bit of a worrier, can see the future. Middle-child May can literally disappear. And baby June reads minds—everyone’s but her own. When April gets a vision of disaster, the girls come together to save the day and reconcile their strained family. They realize that no matter what happens, powers or no powers, they’ll always have each other.

Because there’s one thing stronger than magic: sisterhood.

First off, I have to say: This is a really fun cover. I love the way the colors play over the sisters’ faces. After reading the book and learning the significance of certain colors to the girls,  I like the mood of the cover even more.

The Plot: The plot of this book was fairly simple: girls discover their powers, girls try to cope with their powers, girls try to handle disaster they know is coming….pretty much what the cover flap reads. There is definitely some extra fun thrown in there, but for the most part, the plot is basically simple. Which isn’t a bad thing. I love to read a book that is clearly telling a story – this one does not get bogged down in a lot of subplots. And while I personally felt the actual plot to be pretty cookie-cutter, the characters set it apart for me.

The Characters: Benway is great at creating multi-dimensional characters. It is something I liked about Audrey, Wait! and something she expanded on in this book. All of her characters, no matter how minor, were fleshed out. Some I didn’t care for at all, but they were rounded characters, so I felt like I at least understood where they were coming from, whether I liked them or not. It takes real talent to show different aspects of a character when there isn’t much page space devoted to them. I especially loved that each sister, no matter how alike the three actually were, had her own distinct personality.

The Writing: Benway’s writing is crisp with nice, snappy dialogue. It was a joy to read – light and refreshing. The only problem I had with it was the multi-character narration. Don’t get me wrong – I actually loved reading the story told alternately through all three sisters, but I sometimes had a hard time following who was narrating/talking at the moment. I really think this just boils down to the sisters’ names though. It is a clever naming trick, and makes for a great title, but the names April, May, and June sometimes threw me for a loop when it came to keeping track of them.

Overall Verdict: Read it! It is fun, it is entertaining, it is pretty much everything you need in a light weekend read. Especially if you are a fan of movies like Juno and Saved! (as I am).

When sixteen-year-old Tessa Gray crosses the ocean to find her brother, her destination is England, the time is the reign of Queen Victoria, and something terrifying is waiting for her in London’s Downworld, where vampires, warlocks and other supernatural folk stalk the gaslit streets. Only the Shadowhunters, warriors dedicated to ridding the world of demons, keep order amidst the chaos.

Kidnapped by the mysterious Dark Sisters, members of a secret organization called The Pandemonium Club, Tessa soon learns that she herself is a Downworlder with a rare ability: the power to transform, at will, into another person. What’s more, the Magister, the shadowy figure who runs the Club, will stop at nothing to claim Tessa’s power for his own.

Friendless and hunted, Tessa takes refuge with the Shadowhunters of the London Institute, who swear to find her brother if she will use her power to help them. She soon finds herself fascinated by—and torn between—two best friends: Jem, whose fragile beauty hides a deadly secret, and blue-eyed Will, whose caustic wit and volatile moods keep everyone in his life at arm’s length…everyone, that is, but Tessa. As their search draws them deep into the heart of an arcane plot that threatens to destroy the Shadowhunters, Tessa realizes that she may need to choose between saving her brother and helping her new friends save the world.

I have a confession: I have not read the Mortal Instruments series yet. I have them sitting on my bookshelf at home. I bought all three of them at the end of January (I think), but haven’t cracked them open yet. Bubba, however, plowed through all three of them in less than a week. Which is why, when I got Clockwork Angel from Traveling ARC Tours, I let him read it real quick before I read it (I was still reading Firelight anyway, so it was just sitting there…). So, while this review is mostly my own, I am going to draw from a few things the husband said, as his perspective was a little different having read the other books.

Okay…enough with that.

There isn’t much I can say about the plot (aside from what is in the synopsis above) that won’t give things away, so I will just dive right into what I thought.

As far as the plot goes, I loved this book. It was intriguing, with enough action to keep things moving right along, but enough mellow spots thrown in there to let me slow down and just enjoy the writing. Which is great. Clare’s prose is not overdone, and the style fits perfectly with the time period of the book.

I think I am just going to take a minute to break down the good and bad of this book, using only my favorite and least favorite things (I’ll admit: I am starving, but I won’t go get food until I finish this review, so I am only going for the extremes).

The Good: Maybe I only really noticed this because I was coming off of reading Firelight, where I was less-than-impressed with the characterization, but I loved it in this book. I felt like all the characters were fleshed out nicely here. Everyone had a motive, no matter how small, for acting the way they did. Good guys, bad guys, guys who I couldn’t tell whose side they were on…they all had their reasons for being the way they were. And we got to experience those reasons. Even Will – he often acted abrasive and cold for no apparent reason, but I also felt like he had a solid motivation for those actions. It never seemed that Clare just wrote his character that way; rather, I think he has some deep-seated reasons for acting like he does. Reasons I am hoping we will learn about in the next book (the epilogue of this one leads me to believe maybe we will).

The Semi-Bad: This is where Bubba comes in. Having not read Clare’s first books, I could not have picked up on this, but Bub definitely did. While the characters are well-fleshed out, they are also very reminiscent of the ones in the Mortal Instruments books. The husband unit says Jace and Will are very similar. There is a Gem-like character in the first series. The secondary girl characters shadow each other between the books. I will have to see if  I pick up on this when I read the other books (which I will soon, promise!), but Bubba definitely got that vibe.

The Bad: grrrrrrr. Why is it that in YA, when a girl finds herself with two semi-love interests, she always pisses me off? I see it happen time and time again. There is a girl. And two boys. One of the boys is sweet, kind, and gentle. He obviously adores her, though he might do it from afar, without being in-her-face about it. He is good to her, always. The other is hot and cold. One moment he is kind to her, the next he is abrasive. There is a spark between them, but as soon as they act on it in any way, he completely shuts down and treats her like crap. But which of these boys is she going to choose? Of course! What woman wouldn’t want to be with a guy who treats her like crap 50% of the time. Seems like the best option to me too.

Except for, yeah, no it doesn’t. Yet I see it over and over and over again in YA books  (probably in other books as well, but I will be honest that I see this setup in YA more than other genres). The girl almost always goes for the guy who is a jerk half the time. Yes, the argument could be made that this happens in true life a lot as well (which it does), but still I would like to see this change a bit. Can I suggest we all read Wicked Lovely for a great example on NOT doing this.

Phew. Rant over. Aside from my obvious issue with the love story, I really did adore this book. I will definitely read the rest of the series, along with the Mortal Instruments series.

With her rare ability to breathe fire, Jacinda is special even among the draki—the descendants of dragons who can shift between human and dragon forms. But when Jacinda’s rebelliousness leads her family to flee into the human world, she struggles to adapt, even as her draki spirit fades. The one thing that revives it is Will, whose family hunts her kind. Jacinda can’t resist getting closer to him, even though she knows she’s risking not only her life but the draki’s most closely guarded secret.

I had heard a lot of great things about this book, so when an ARC was offered up for the Traveling ARC Tours, I jumped at the opportunity to read it.  Still, I was a little apprehensive about Firelight before I dove in, and for the first part of the book.

The premise is intriguing. Jacina is a Draki; descended from dragons, she has the ability to change from human to draki form at will (mostly – draki is her natural form, so when she is threatened, it is self-defense to change, whether she wants to or not). More than that, though, Jacinda is a fire-breathing draki – the first in hundreds of years.

The pride she lives with considers Jacinda their crown jewel. Could the fire-breather help them solve the problem of diminishing population? We never find out, as, after a dangerous daytime flight (forbidden), Jacinda’s mother packs Jacinda and her twin sister in the car and runs from the pride. Now Jacinda must learn to live among the humans.

Problem is (aside from missing her pride), Mom moved them to the middle of the desert, and Jacinda’s draki-self is dying. She needs the cool, humid mountain air to sustain her. She is afraid that before long, she will lose that part of her self and be able to manifest as a draki no longer.

But, there is one thing in her new town that makes her draki feel alive, that makes her feel like she can soar again: Will. Will, whose family hunts the draki for money.

This is what made me nervous about the book. I am really burned out on YA novels where the main (female) character is drawn to the person she KNOWS is dangerous for her. I read it time and time again. The narrator mentions that so-and-so is dangerous and she shouldn’t be with him, but for some inexplicable reason she is drawn to him, so safety-be-damned she will be with him anyway. I was scared I would read more of this in Firelight and that it would make me dislike the book.

But I was pleasantly surprised. Yes, Jacinda knows that being around Will is not safe. She knows who his family is and what they do. She makes an actual effort to stay away from him, despite his efforts to get closer to her. She snubs him and avoids him; she even runs away from him once or twice. Eventually, yes, she gives in and spends time with him. Unlike the books where this irritates me, though, I felt that Jacinda had a solid reason for going into the danger zone. She wasn’t just blindly following love lust, she was trying to keep alive that part of herself she feared was dying.

I did have one major qualm about the book: characterization was just so-so. The main characters were fleshed out nicely, but the secondary ones were just kind of there. The mean girl was just mean (as was her posse); no characterization other than mean. Will’s family members(aside from him, of course) were only brutes with nothing to them other than being blood-thirsty hunters. Jacinda’s few friends were there, but unremarkable (I remember almost nothing about them). Even her twin sister and mother, whose characters were pretty important in my mind, did not get fully fleshed-out.

Overall, I enjoyed Firelight immensely. The plot, while simple, was solid, and I am excited to see what happens next.

(On a side note: I LOVE simple plots. A lot of people seem to think that to be good, a book must be complicated. Not so.)

Is it possible to love someone too much? Is it possible to love them so much you wish them dead?

Katherine Patterson wishes she could disappear. Instead, she does the next best thing. After the death of her talented younger sister, Katherine leaves her grieving parents to the media’s merciless scrutiny and moves to a new city and enrolls in a new school. Wary and alone, she seeks nothing more than anonymity. What she finds instead is the last thing she expected: a friend.

Alice Parrie is the most popular and magnetic girl in school. Extroverted, gorgeous, flirtatious, and unpredictable, she is everything that Katherine is not. Her enthusiasm is infectious, her candor sometimes unsettling, and she is impossible to resist. She takes it upon herself to involve Katherine in an entirely different life of parties and trips. She introduces Katherine to Robbie, her soulful on-again, off-again boyfriend. She becomes as close to Katherine as a sister can be, maybe even closer.

But Alice has secrets darker than anyone can imagine, and Katherine will soon discover the darkest of them all.

For Katherine Patterson, there is no escaping her past – only a descent into a trap far more sinister…and infinitely more seductive.

Beautiful Malice is another book I got to reading on a Traveling ARC Tour basis. I actually finished this one quite some time ago, but I had to wait a while to be able to write about it because it haunted me!

I don’t know that any review I give this book will do it real justice. The story is heartbreaking, the characters real, the emotions tangible. From the very first line – I didn’t go to Alice’s funeral. – I was absolutely hooked. There is no wonder in my mind why this book has sold in so many territories already (something like 33); it is just that amazing.

I can’t say much, because I don’t want to give much away. But I will say: this book releases in the US next week, and you all should run out to get it! Just make sure you are ready for a few sleepless nights, because this is a story that will not let go of you.

What’s the best book you read in May?

I actually only read a few books last month, so I don’t have as many to sift through as I did last time they asked this question. I read one book for YA book club, beta-read one, reread one, and read one ARC copy.

One really, really sticks out in my mind:

Haven Moore can’t control her visions of a past with a boy called Ethan, and a life in New York that ended in fiery tragedy. In our present, she designs beautiful dresses for her classmates with her best friend Beau. Dressmaking keeps her sane, since she lives with her widowed and heartbroken mother in her tyrannical grandmother’s house in Snope City, a tiny town in Tennessee. Then an impossible group of coincidences conspire to force her to flee to New York, to discover who she is, and who she was.

In New York, Haven meets Iain Morrow and is swept into an epic love affair that feels both deeply fated and terribly dangerous. Iain is suspected of murdering a rock star and Haven wonders, could he have murdered her in a past life? She visits the Ouroboros Society and discovers a murky world of reincarnation that stretches across millennia. Haven must discover the secrets hidden in her past lives, and loves¸ before all is lost and the cycle begins again.

What an intriguing concept! I got this book as part of a Traveling ARC Tour, and I am so thrilled that I got to read it early.

When I first started this book, I thought I wasn’t going to like it much, despite the premise. It opens with Haven looking in the mirror, describing her appearance, which instantly turned me off. I mean, not only is that an overdone thing, it just seems like lazy writing.

But…I kept reading. And by the second or third page I learned that there is a very specific reason why Haven is using the old mirror trick – that person she is looking at in the mirror is not the same person she sees in the mirror every day, but rather the one she sees only in her visions and dreams. Suddenly the mirror thing didn’t bother me so much.

As Haven’s visions come more frequently, she becomes more and more sure she is seeing memories of a past life. At the same time, her grandmother–and much of her small, bible-thumping Tennessee town–becomes more sure she has been possessed by a demon.

I won’t say much more about the plot, but I will tell you I loved it. While it is a love story, it didn’t cross into that realm where the romance is all that matters. In fact, most of the time I was way more caught up in the action than I was in the love story. Because there is great action, and great pacing to move the reader along through the action. I kept thinking I had the twists and turns figured out, but it turns out I am just not that clever. The Eternal Ones kept me guessing.

With all my raving about the plot, it might be hard for you to believe that it wasn’t my favorite part about The Eternal Ones. What was my favorite part, you ask? The characters! Kirsten Miller did such a great job on her characters. A lot of times when I read a book (especially a YA book), I notice that the main character and the love interest and maybe a secondary character or two are nicely fleshed-out, while the rest of the characters are really one-dimensional and flat. Pretty much they are just a bunch of cardboard cutouts standing in the background of what the main characters are doing.

This is SO not the case with The Eternal Ones. I love the attention Kirsten Miller gave to her characters–even ones we don’t see much in the book. Sure, there were things about Haven that irritated me (really, girl! Do you believe everything anyone tells you?!), but that doesn’t make her any less a real character. Probably I was so irritated by some of her actions because I know people like that–she was real enough to annoy me. It’s like Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix–sure, Harry is a bratty little hormonal teenager in that book….but what 15-year-old boy isn’t?

Wow. I just compared The Eternal Ones to Harry Potter. It must really be good!

The Eternal Ones will be released in August by Razorbill. I highly recommend it. To read a excerpt now (how fun!) check out TheEternalOnes.com.