The Fall of Crazy House by James Patterson and Gabrielle Charbonnet is the sequel to Crazy House that continues on with Becca, Cassie, Tim, and Nate being trained as soldiers in the resistance. It’s a pretty wild book that contains some humor, lots of adventure and action. The ending though left me a bit confused about who Helen Strepp actually is. It also was very hard to believe many death defying feats of the main characters. All in all though, it was an interesting read that kept me turning pages and wanting more. I think this was as good as the first book, if not better!
(Karen’s review, 4 stars)
Teaser from page 68: “MCDONALD’S FRENCH FRIES,” I typed into the log. The small white box was flattened and oil-stained. There was no way to tell what year it was from, or where. Or who McDonald was.
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Crazy House by James Patterson and Gabrielle Charbonnet is teen fiction with a slight similarity in theme to The Hunger Games. Twin sisters, Cassie and Becca, live in an agriculture cell alone. Their mom was sent away for an attitude adjustment and their father is in a hospital because his suicide attempt failed. His girls have not yet granted the hospital permission to end his life in spite of the fact the doctors say he won’t recover. One day, Becca just disappears and Cassie’s truck is missing! Other teens have gone missing too and never returned. Cassie goes to find her on her sister’s moped which is now the only transportation she has. Cassie finds her at The Crazy House when she gets “taken” too!
This book got my interest from page one and never let go. I almost finished it in one day! It is about how these sisters overcome obstacles and work together to escape from The Crazy House. There is quite a bit of action with some mystery and romance too. I liked both sisters and look forward to continuing on with the sequel, The Fall of Crazy House. There is a lot of swearing in this book that I did not like.
(Karen’s review, 4 stars)
Teaser from page 15: “No, she didn’t!” I shrieked, wanting to hurl my coffee cup right out the window. It would have hit my truck if my truck had been there. Which it wasn’t!
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Undivided by Neal Shusterman is the 4th and last book in the Unwind series. The author saved the best for last! Conner, Lev and Risa all have action-packed chapters in this book. The pacing is really good in that you were on the edge of your seat for sure. The last part of this book is pretty much unputdownable! Well done, Mr. Shusterman!
(Gerard's review, 5++ stars)
(Karen's review 12/18/17, 5 stars:) UnDivided by Neal Shusterman did not disappoint at all! I LOVED it and what a fantastic finish to a thrilling series with lots of ups and downs and twists and turns! This story is about friendship, betrayal, teamwork, sacrifice and making a difference. It has humor, a bit of romance, lots of adventure, some very creepy things, revenge, some fighting, justice, lots of escaping and just extremely interesting characters. The teens in this series are very brave, smart and creative! The ending is great!
WOW! I loved this book. After the last one, UnSouled, I didn't think this series could get any better, but it did! This book had my emotions covering the spectrum, from humor, to sadness, to happiness, to relief, to shock to tears of joy! I liked how I felt the characters were real and got drawn into their story lines. This would be a great series for a book club because there is so much to discuss and so many characters to analyze. It was a very thought-provoking series that I wanted to read straight through.
Teaser from page 14: "There isn't one single thing that will end unwinding," she tells them. "It will take a hodgpodge of random events that come together in just the right way and at just the right time to remind society it's got a conscience."
SPOILER ALERT--skip this unless you have read this book: In this book, Connor and Grace make it to Sonia's where he and Risa are reunited and discover an invention that Sonia's husband had been working on that can manufacture human parts! It gives them all hope that an end to unwinding is possible! Lev does what he can to get the Indian reservation to publicly announce that it is a sanctuary for AWOLS. Hayden, Bam and Jeeves team up to overthrow Starkey and Hayden begins podcasting again against unwinding. Argent is betrayed by Nelson and switches sides to help Connor and Risa. Cam brings down Roberta and the Proactive Citizenry operation all by himself. The ending was so touching when Conner was finally reunited with his family!
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The Heir by Kiera Cass is the fourth book in this series and although I enjoyed this one the least, it still gets 4 stars from me. This is 18 years after the end of The One and the main character is America and Maxon’s eldest by seven minutes, Eadlyn. The castes have been faded out by now and there is peace; however, old prejudices and discrimination still exist among some people. Small fights all over continue to break out over dissatisfaction with the monarchy. In an effort to provide a distraction while Maxon and America try to figure something out to correct the situation, they ask Eadlyn to have a selection of her own. She very reluctantly agrees and this book then becomes similar to the TV show, The Bachelorette! 35 suitors are picked live on TV with a draw, choosing someone from each providence. Someone entered Kile Woodward’s name (Marlee’s son who grew up in the palace with Eadlyn) and he is one of the selected. Eadlyn thinks love makes one weak but made a deal with her parents to go through the process for three months provided if she didn’t find love, she would not have to choose anyone in the end and that any of them were free to leave any time if they chose. Her parents are hopeful, she just wants her freedom. It’s fun to look back to the previous book as her parents reveal things about their Selection experience to Eadlyn and how interested she is
Eadlyn is a spoiled brat and basically rude to the suiters, but in spite of herself, her wall begins to crumble and she does start to really care about some of them. Her best dates turn out to be the ones that the cameras aren’t ready for. The two group dates were really fun. Some of the guys were outside playing baseball and she came by and decided to join them! The other was set up by the guys who felt left out of the ballgame—they got her to agree to join them for the “best date ever.” They put on a talent show and through this she actually laughed and finally enjoyed herself while getting to know a bit more about the suitors.
Eadlyn is so bratty that I did not like this book as much as the previous ones, but by the end she was becoming more decent. I like how there are really several possible choices for her and I am not sure who she will pick. I think it is a very interesting addition the Henri needs a translator, Eric who tries to stay in the background and is quite smart. Henri speaks only Finnish but is very nice and a great chef! Their kitchen kiss was so sweet! I also like seeing America’ and Maxon’s friends appear in this book as well. I cheered when I saw Aspen is now a General! I flew through this book as well and continued right on with the next. I am eating up this series and highly recommend it as a light, funny, entertaining read.
(Karen's review, 4 stars)
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The One by Kiera Cass is the third book in The Selection series and my favorite so far! In this the action really picks up, Maxon and Aspen form a bond, America's father dies, Maxon finally chooses his princess and it has some surprises and several die. This is like a roller coaster with happy moments and very sad moments. My emotions were all over the place. The relationship developments, the danger at the palace, the plot with the rebels and Maxon's father continuing to knock America out of the competition made this book hard for me to put down.
I am loving this series and so glad I gave it a chance despite the boring covers. I like both Maxon and America and loved the ending of this one even though it was not what I expected! I am flying through these books because I am enjoying the characters so much. What a great book, loving this series!
(Karen's review, 5 stars)
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In The Last One by Alexandra Oliva, twelve people are sent into the woods to compete in a reality show. They know that the winner gets a big cash prize but know little else. Soon they must decide if it is a game or has something gone horribly wrong!
If you like reality TV shows, this book is for you! I like how the author followed all the twelve and also the TV production crew thinking. Had a real good ending and although parts were kind of slow, overall I enjoyed it!
(Gerard's review, 5 stars)
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Not a Drop to Drink by Mindy McGinnis is told by a young girl named Lynn. She lives with her mom and protects their pond because water is very scarce in her world. When an accident claims the mother, it's all up to Lynn.
I thought this book was okay. I really liked Lynn and the story line was good enough to keep my interest. It had a good ending too!
(Gerard's review, 4 stars)
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Snow Like Ashes by Sara Raasch is her debut fantasy novel about courage, determination and a mission of 8 Winterians to free their captured slaves and rebuild their kingdom. Meira, the main character and one of the surviving remnant, is a 16-yr-old orphan girl who wants to be a soldier and contribute to help Winter. This looks like an in surmountable task especially since Winter has lost its magic conduit. The secrets, betrayal and lies all create a very good story line. This book sailed along. Once Meira decides to do whatever it takes to help Winter even if it’s not the way she wants, the book took off. I liked the love triangle and the fighting scenes best. For me, it was really hard to pull for Winter because I don’t like Winter. The kingdoms were named for the four seasons and then four other kingdoms were rhythms which I really didn’t understand. The magical part didn’t make much sense to me either, but it did make things interesting. I really liked the ending and think this is a very good debut novel. (Karen's review 8/19/15, 4 stars)
In Snow Like Ashes by Sara Raasch, a YA fantasy novel, the kingdom of Winter has been conquered. A few people remain and vow to rebuild their land. Meira is one of them. She would do anything to help Winter make a comeback! This book is very good because there is lots of action which made it fly by. Meira is a fantastic character who I cheered for all the way!
If you loved the Sarah J. Maas books, which I did, you will love this one too! It is hard to believe this is the author's first book which she first drafted at age 12! I LOVED this book and look forward to the next one in this series. Books don't get any better than this!
(Gerard's review 8/12/15, 5++ stars)
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End of Days by Susan Ee is book 3 and the last of the angel series which I loved! All three books in this series are very good! In this last book, Penryn and Raffe are on the run with a lot of twists and turns to come before the last part of the book that covers the final battle between angels and humans.
There is plenty of action in this one which made me enjoy it a lot! It’s a great series that has a really good ending. Super job, Miss Ee! I look forward to your next project.
(Gerard's review, 5++ stars)
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Undertow by Michael Buckley is a YA novel but not what I expected which in this case is a good thing! It takes place on Coney Island. Lyric, a young teen girl, is put into a tough spot when she is picked to tutor fathom, the head of new race that are called Alpha. Not everyone is on board with having them in their high school with their kids.
I really enjoyed the character of Lyric. She pretty much carries the book and that is fine by me. There is a good twist at the end that I sort of saw coming, but liked it anyway. I don’t know if I would go so far as to call this a page turner, but I enjoyed it and will continue with the series. (Gerard’s review, 5 stars)
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"Angelfall" by Susan Ee takes place after the Apocalypse. Penryn, her sister Paige and their mom are still on Earth. One day they come across a group of angels who are running the Earth now. One angel is left behind while Penryn's sister is taken away. Penryn will do anything to get her back. She forms a relationship with the left behind angel named Raffe.
Wow, this book is good! I LOVED IT! The relationship between Penryn and Raffe is so good. This book has good action and a very good ending! There is a book two.
Thanks to PolandBananasBooks on Youtube for turning me on to this one.
(Gerard's Review, 5++ stars)
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I heard quite a bit about The Giver by Lois Lowry on Booktube so that’s why I decided to read it. It’s quite an interesting YA read that shows what can happen to a society where the government removes the freedom of making personal choices. It’s hard to imagine a world with no colors, music, emotions or love in it but that is the world Jonas lives in. Sameness is the highest value. He is perfectly okay with it until he gets some memories from the past that show what emotions feel like and experiences new things.
The themes in this book are the importance of love and humanity. It also shows the need of balancing security with freedom which is a current issue in America today. I enjoyed this book but was a bit stunned at how it ended--it seemed so abrupt. I would not want to live in the type of community Jonas lived in.
(Karen's review, 4 stars)
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The Infinite Sea by Rick Yancey is the second book in The 5th Wave series. It continues with more of the Evan Walker mystery, adding Grace who grew up with Evan and Megan, a toddler with an implanted bomb. Cassie, Sammy, Zombie, Poundcake, Ringer, Dumbo and Teacup are back to hiding and trying to survive. Friction arises and they fight among themselves, Ringer goes to scout and Teacup follows her. They both get captured and then the story centers on Ringer and Razor.
This book drags along with everyone on the run. There’s some fighting and a great escape, but for the most part, I was bored with it and just wanted it to end, which it really didn’t because there is still one more book in the series. A lot of this made no sense to me and I hate how it jumps back and forth between characters narrating without letting me know who is talking at the beginning. I just got tired of reading this but will try to finish the series. This is mostly a depressing book.
(Karen's review, 3 stars)
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Red Rising by Pierce Brown is a YA book about life on Mars but with a dystopian flavor. The main character, Darrow, works in the mines and is a Red. He is pretty happy with his life, has a wife and is close to his family. His father was hung though and when he realizes the Reds are really slaves for the Golds, he becomes bitter. His wife shows him a better place and sings a song that seals her death. Darrow, is "chosen" to infiltrate the Golds by having surgery to make him appear more like them and make him stronger too so he can change things and free the Reds.
I read it because it's my husband said it's kind of a combination between The Hunger Games and Ender's Game which I loved. The first half of the book seemed to drag along for me and the second half is all the test games for determining who will get positions of power among the Golds. I felt the character development was shallow but liked the action part of this book. To me this book seemed like a takeoff of The Hunger Games but it fell way short in my opinion. I think guys would like this one more than women. This is the first of a series, but I won't be reading the rest of these.
(Karen's review 4/4/15, 3 stars)
Red Rising by Pierce Brown is a science fiction book that centers
on a young man named Darrow on Mars. He is a Red and works for the
greater good. His wife finds out that the Reds are really slaves to the
Gold. When Darrow's wife is killed, he vows revenge on the Gold by
becoming a Gold himself to bring them down.
Entertainment Weekly gave this book an A+ and they are spot on! Think Enders Game and Hunger Games combined. This is book one of three and I highly recommend it!
(Gerard's review posted 2/14/14, 5++ stars)
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FOUR—A Divergent Collection by
Veronica Roth is written from FOUR’s perspective and gives his background and
view on things. It’s been quite a while since I finished reading the Divergent
series so It was enjoyable to read this book for me. It brought back lots
of good memories. My favorite part of this book was reading about FOUR’s
initiation into Dauntless. Also, this book gave me a greater appreciation
for the Abnegation faction. I recommend this to anyone who has finished
the series: Divergent, Insurgentand Allegiant.
(Karen's review, 4 stars)
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The
Infinite Sea by Rick Yancey is the second in the 5th Wave series
and as good as the first!Planet Earth
is being attacked and overtaken by aliens!A band of young teens are trying to (1) stay alive and (2) put a stop to
it if they can.This book picks up where
the first one left off with plenty of action.I finished it in just two days!I
cannot wait to see how it all plays out!
(Gerard's review, 5++ stars)
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