Book Review: The Eternity Cure

Title: The Eternity Cure

Author: Julie Kagawa

SPOILER FREE description (as explained here): Newly-turned vampire Allison Sekemoto must follow the call of blood, like breadcrumbs, to save her sire and mentor Kanin from Sarren, the psychotic vampire holding him captive. The trail leads Allie to her old home in New Covington and the Fringe, but there’s no time for nostalgia.

A new strain of Red Lung—the insidious virus that decimated the human population decades ago—has emerged. This time, it’s fatal to vampires, too. A cure might be among Kanin’s many secrets—if Allie can reach him in time.

But when the brave, fearless human boy she left safely behind re-enters her life, Allie is torn between the remnants of her humanity and the bloodthirst that consumes her. How can two people so different feel so much for each other? One was born good. The other was reborn a monster. It’s a love as undeniable as it is impossible.

Book Review: Lock and Key

Title: Lock and Key

Author: Sarah, Dessen

SPOILER FREE description (as explained here): 

Ruby, where is your mother?

Ruby knows that the game is up. For the past few months, she's been on her own in the yellow house, managing somehow, knowing that her mother will probably never return.

That's how she comes to live with Cora, the sister she hasn't seen in ten years, and Cora's husband Jamie, whose down-to-earth demeanor makes it hard for Ruby to believe he founded the most popular networking Web site around. A luxurious house, fancy private school, a new wardrobe, the promise of college and a future; it's a dream come true. So why is Ruby such a reluctant Cinderella, wary and defensive? And why is Nate, the genial boy next door with some secrets of his own, unable to accept the help that Ruby is just learning to give?

Best-selling author Sarah Dessen explores the heart of a gutsy, complex girl dealing with unforeseen circumstances and learning to trust again.

A History of Lock and Key: After writing her first book in a small townhouse, Dessen moved into a larger new house three years later. By reflecting back on her house, and what it symbolized in her life, she started to see how change affects you as person and the life around you. These themes later came to life in this novel, and into the minds of millions of fans since April 22nd 2008. It has since received an Iowa High School Award (2011) nomination. 

On the author, Sarah Dessen: Sarah grew up in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Her college years took her to UNC-Chapel Hill, with her graduation with highest marks in Creative Writing. She's the author of 11 beloved stories, each with large honors to them, including many New York Times Best Sellers.  

Book Review: The Immortal Rules

Title: The Immortal Rules

Author: Julie Kagawa

SPOILER FREE description ( as explained here):

Allison Sekemoto survives in the Fringe, the outermost circle of a walled-in city. By day, she and her crew scavenge for food. By night, any one of them could be eaten. Some days, all that drives Allie is her hatred of them—the vampires who keep humans as blood cattle. Until the night Allie herself dies and becomes one of the monsters.

Forced to flee her city, Allie must pass for human as she joins a ragged group of pilgrims seeking a legend—a place that might have a cure for the disease that killed off most of civilization and created the rabids, the bloodthirsty creatures who threaten human and vampire alike. And soon Allie will have to decide what and who is worth dying for…again.
Enter Julie Kagawa's dark and twisted world as an unforgettable journey begins.

Book Recommendations from Tess

In the YA genre especially, readers are bombarded with book media overload. This time and genre lends itself to large publicity campaigns filled with YA book hype. However, there are a lot of books that fall by the hay-side that deserve a lot more readers than they receive. Today, I'll tell you about the books that I think are hidden gems.

Book Review: Divergent

Title: Divergent

Author: Veronica Roth

Spoiler free description (as explained here): In Beatrice Prior's dystopian Chicago, society is divided into five factions, each dedicated to the cultivation of a particular virtue--Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). On an appointed day of every year, all sixteen-year-olds must select the faction to which they will devote the rest of their lives. For Beatrice, the decision is between staying with her family and being who she really is--she can't have both. So she makes a choice that surprises everyone, including herself.

During the highly competitive initiation that follows, Beatrice renames herself Tris and struggles to determine who her friends really are. But Tris also has a secret, one she's kept hidden from everyone because she's been warned it can mean death. And as she discovers a growing conflict that threatens to unravel her seemingly perfect society, she also learns that her secret might help her save those she loves... or it might destroy her.

Book Review: My Life Next Door

Title: My Life Next Door

Author: Huntley Fitzpatrick

SPOILER FREE description (as explained here): A gorgeous debut about family, friendship, first romance, and how to be true to one person you love without betraying another

"One thing my mother never knew, and would disapprove of most of all, was that I watched the Garretts. All the time.”

The Garretts are everything the Reeds are not. Loud, numerous, messy, affectionate. And every day from her balcony perch, seventeen-year-old Samantha Reed wishes she was one of them . . . until one summer evening, Jase Garrett climbs her terrace and changes everything. As the two fall fiercely in love, Jase's family makes Samantha one of their own. Then in an instant, the bottom drops out of her world and she is suddenly faced with an impossible decision. Which perfect family will save her? Or is it time she saved herself?

A dreamy summer read, full of characters who stay with you long after the story is over.

Book Review: Legend

Title: Legend

Author: Marie Lu

SPOILER FREE description (as explained here): What was once the western United States is now home to the Republic, a nation perpetually at war with its neighbors. Born into an elite family in one of the Republic’s wealthiest districts, fifteen-year-old June is a prodigy being groomed for success in the Republic’s highest military circles. Born into the slums, fifteen-year-old Day is the country’s most wanted criminal. But his motives may not be as malicious as they seem.

From very different worlds, June and Day have no reason to cross paths—until the day June’s brother, Metias, is murdered and Day becomes the prime suspect. Caught in the ultimate game of cat and mouse, Day is in a race for his family’s survival, while June seeks to avenge Metias’s death. But in a shocking turn of events, the two uncover the truth of what has really brought them together, and the sinister lengths their country will go to keep its secrets.

Full of nonstop action, suspense, and romance, this novel is sure to move readers as much as it thrills.

Book Review: Between Shades of Gray

Title: Between Shades of Gray

Author: Ruta Sepetys

SPOILER FREE description (as explained here): Lina is just like any other fifteen-year-old Lithuanian girl in 1941. She paints, she draws, she gets crushes on boys. Until one night when Soviet officers barge into her home, tearing her family from the comfortable life they've known. Separated from her father, forced onto a crowded and dirty train car, Lina, her mother, and her young brother slowly make their way north, crossing the Arctic Circle, to a work camp in the coldest reaches of Siberia. Here they are forced, under Stalin's orders, to dig for beets and fight for their lives under the cruelest of conditions.

Lina finds solace in her art, meticulously--and at great risk--documenting events by drawing, hoping these messages will make their way to her father's prison camp to let him know they are still alive. It is a long and harrowing journey, spanning years and covering 6,500 miles, but it is through incredible strength, love, and hope that Lina ultimately survives.Between Shades of Gray is a novel that will steal your breath and capture your heart

Book Review: City of Ashes

Title: City of Ashes

Author: Cassandra Clare 

SPOILER FREE description (as explained here): Clary Fray just wishes that her life would go back to normal. But what's normal when you're a demon-slaying Shadowhunter, your mother is in a magically induced coma, and you can suddenly see Downworlders like werewolves, vampires, and faeries? If Clary left the world of the Shadowhunters behind, it would mean more time with her best friend, Simon, who's becoming more than a friend. But the Shadowhunting world isn't ready to let her go — especially her handsome, infuriating, newfound brother, Jace. And Clary's only chance to help her mother is to track down rogue Shadowhunter Valentine, who is probably insane, certainly evil — and also her father.

To complicate matters, someone in New York City is murdering Downworlder children. Is Valentine behind the killings — and if he is, what is he trying to do? When the second of the Mortal Instruments, the Soul-Sword, is stolen, the terrifying Inquisitor arrives to investigate and zooms right in on Jace. How can Clary stop Valentine if Jace is willing to betray everything he believes in to help their father?

In this breathtaking sequel to City of Bones, Cassandra Clare lures her readers back into the dark grip of New York City's Downworld, where love is never safe and power becomes the deadliest temptation.

Book Review: The Accidental Siren

Title: The Accidental Siren

Author: Jake Vander Ark

SPOILER FREE description (as explained here): Mara Lynn is the most beautiful girl in the world. James Parker is the ordinary boy who discovers her power.

James had his summer all planned out. He would enjoy the carefree days in the woods behind his castle home, avoid the maniacal Danny Bompensaro (and the worm-like scar on the back of his head), and shoot an epic movie with his best friend Whit. But when he meets a mysterious girl locked in a normal suburban home, his summer collapses into a beautiful nightmare that he'll never forget.

The Accidental Siren is a twisted fairytale about young love, growing up, and the frightening potential of infinite beauty.

Book Review: City of Bones

Title: City of Bones 

Author: Cassandra Clare 

SPOILER FREE description (as explained here): When fifteen-year-old Clary Fray heads out to the Pandemonium Club in New York City, she hardly expects to witness a murder -- much less a murder committed by three teenagers covered with strange tattoos and brandishing bizarre weapons. Then the body disappears into thin air. It's hard to call the police when the murderers are invisible to everyone else and when there is nothing -- not even a smear of blood -- to show that a boy has died. Or was he a boy?

This is Clary's first meeting with the Shadowhunters, warriors dedicated to ridding the earth of demons. It's also her first encounter with Jace, a Shadowhunter who looks a little like an angel and acts a lot like a jerk. Within twenty-four hours Clary is pulled into Jace's world with a vengeance, when her mother disappears and Clary herself is attacked by a demon. But why would demons be interested in ordinary mundanes like Clary and her mother? And how did Clary suddenly get the Sight? The Shadowhunters would like to know. . . .

Exotic and gritty, exhilarating and utterly gripping, Cassandra Clare's ferociously entertaining fantasy takes readers on a wild ride that they will never want to end.

Book Review: Looking for Alaska

Title: Looking for Alaska

Author: John Green

SPOILER FREE description (self explained): Miles Halter, last-words-loving geek, has never been "at home" at home. He announces that he wishes to go to Culver Creek Boarding School, in search of what Francois Rabelais, dead poet, called "The Great Perhaps". When he arrives he finds a funny roommate, lots of mischief, difficult classes,  and a weird, moody, quirky, but drop dead gorgeous girl named Alaska Young. Pulling him in, Alaska launches Miles  into his great perhaps, while stealing his heart. He quickly becomes caught up in the fun... and games.

Until an event shatters the whole balance.

Book Review: The Storyteller

Title: The Storyteller 

Author: Antonia Michaelis

SPOILER FREE description (self explained):

Anna and Abel are complete opposites. Anna lives in her own bubble of a sheltered home, great grades, and no real worries. Abel, the school drug dealer, lives in a tiny cold apartment, and has everything to worry about (particularly because he's responsible for his younger 6 year old sister, Micha).

Anna listens in as Abel tells Micha a fantastic fairytale that soon sounds very real. Abel is only 17 and could quite possibly lose Micha, either to their abusive father or to a social service worker. Soon, Anna involves herself into their lives and the fairytale. But when all of the antagonists of the fairytale start turning up dead, Anna fears she has fallen in love with a murderer.

Book Review: An Abundance of Katherines

Title: An Abundance of Katherines

Author: John Green

SPOILER FREE description (self explained): Everyone has a type when it comes to relationships. However, only one has limited their type to girls named Katherine. Colin Singleton, rejected by nineteen Katherines. After his latest breakup, Hassan, his overweight, Judy Judy loving best friend, decides he needs an adventure: a road trip. Colin is fixated on completing the 'Theorem of Underlying Katherine Predictability', which should predict the future of a relationship; how it will end. In doing this, he hopes to prove to himself that he’s more than just a child prodigy, but a genius too. Amongst all of this, he hopes to finally win the girl.