Infinity by Sherrilyn Kenyon

Title: Infinity (Chronicles of Nick #1)
Author: Sherrilyn Kenyon
Reviewer: Karen Pellett
Genre: Young Adult (a bit of every genre)
Rating:Love
Alerts/Warnings: Moderate Swearing, Moderate Violence
Premise: "Streetwise, tough, and savvy, Nick and his quick sarcasm are the stuff of legend... until the night when his best friends try to kill him. Saved by a mysterious warrior, Nick is sucked into the realm of the Dark-Hunters: immortal vampire slayers who risk everything to save humanity. With his fellow students turning into flesh-eating zombies, how can he stop them... without getting grounded by his mom?" (King County Library System)
Opinions: Oh my goodness gracious me!!!!! Greek gods meet fantasy & sci-fi, where Zombies meet Werewolves and Demons everything else under the sun.  I have several friends who are huge fans of Sherrilyn Kenyon, but I hadn't had the chance to read anything yet. Then I met Ms. Kenyon while working at a booth where she was signing at FanX in Salt Lake a few months ago. Let me tell you, she is beautiful inside and out. I had thought Ms. Kenyon wrote romance with a fantasy twist. Granted, this is the only book of hers I've read so far, but I now know why there was an even mix of men and women waiting in line, eager to meet their favorite author.

All I have to gauge is by this book and my opinion is that Ms. Sherrilyn Kenyon does a briliant job of writing to all genders in a genre mash-up for the ages. The characters were multi-dimensional, creative, and fascinating. I especially recommend listening to the audio version of the book where the narrator does an exquisite job of covering many many voices. Nick by far is a favorite of mine (which is good because he is the main point of view character), but Simi and Bubba are close seconds. But what really makes the book for me is the voice. Some books read very vanilla to me even if the plot is engaging. But the author's voice and her knowledge and love for all things Southern shines through in glorious fashion. The voice is utterly undeniable and is what makes the story come a live. The voice is what makes a cast of so many varied characters and backgrounds meld so perfectly together.

Note: The only reason I could not give this book the rating of Fabulous is because of the level of violence and language. So I recommend that parents read the book first to gauge better if your children our ready for this read.

Scarlet by Marissa Meyer

To read my review of the first book in this series, click here: Cinder.



Title: Scarlet (The Lunar Chronicles #2)
Author: Marissa Meyer
Reviewer: Karen
Genre: YA Dystopian/Steam Punk/Fairytale Retelling/Sci-Fi
Rating: Adore
Alerts/Warnings: Moderate Violence
Premise: "Cinder, the cyborg mechanic, returns in the second thrilling installment of the bestselling Lunar Chronicles. She's trying to break out of prison--even though if she succeeds, she'll be the Commonwealth's most wanted fugitive. Half way around the world, Scarlet Benoit's grandmother is missing. It turns out there are many things Scarlet doesn't know about her grandmother or the grave danger she has lived in her whole life. When Scarlet encounters Wolf, a street fighter who may have information as to her grandmother's whereabouts, she is loath to trust this stranger, but is inexplicably drawn to him, and he to her. As Scarlet and Wolf unravel one mystery, they encounter another when they meet Cinder. Now, all of them must stay one step ahead of the vicious Lunar Queen Levana, who will do anything for the handsome Prince Kai to become her husband, her king, her prisoner" (King County Library System).
Opinions: In Scarlet the point of views switch between Scarlet (a new vision of Red Riding Hood) and Cinder (Cinderella) from book one. The concepts and twists in this book are amazing and a breath of fresh air. I love the interplay between characters. I admire the creativity in Meyer's world building. I actually LOVE the men more in this book than the women--wolf and Captain Thorne leaped of the page (or well audio system) for me. While Scarlet's character was fascinating, her mood swings were a bit much for me at times, and yet they were completely and utterly understandable. I actually listened to this book on cd while in the car, and the voice actor did a beautiful job making each character stand out well in the story.  The struggles both Cinder and Scarlet faced were three-dimensional and the way Meyer's interwove their stories beautiful. The violence was a bit gory at times for my taste, but did fit with the overall stories. I'm very intrigued to see where the next book in the series, Cress, goes.

The Kill Order by James Dashner

Title: The Kill Order (Prequel to the Maze Runner Series)
Author: James Dashner
Reviewer: Karen
Genre: Teen Science Fiction
Rating: Like
Alerts/Warnings: Graphic violence associate to an apocalyptic event
Premise: "Before WICKED was formed, before the Glade was built, before Thomas entered the Maze, sun flares hit the earth and mankind fell to disease.

Mark and Trina were there when it happened, and they survived. But surviving the sun flares was easy compared to what came next.

Now a disease of rage and lunacy races across the eastern United States, and there’s something suspicious about its origin. Worse yet, it’s mutating, and all evidence suggests that it will bring humanity to its knees.

Mark and Trina are convinced there’s a way to save those left living from descending into madness. And they’re determined to find it—if they can stay alive. Because in this new, devastated world, every life has a price. And to some, you’re worth more dead than alive (King County Library System).
Opinions: I have mixed feelings about this prequel book to the Maze Runner series, so I will lay my thoughts out and let you determine whether this read is up your alley or not. 

James Dashner continues to impress me with his imagination, creativity, and intriguing characters. I loved this book most for his characters.  Each one of the major individuals that we get to know are three dimensional--showing not only their strengths, but their weaknesses and how they are affected by what is going on around them. I was fascinated by the glimpses into their personal history and the choices they make amidst a massive destructive force.  The overall premise of the story also kept me reading to where I had a hard time putting it down, despite some of the more horrific scenes.

My greatest difficulty with this book wasn't the way it was written, but my own internal overactive imagination and inability to handle incredibly dark and violent scenes. This story is about the earth being faced with the side effects of solar flares, and that thought alone is gruesome to me.  Then you add in a personal decision by those who survived as to how to make it through the recovery with very little resources.  And then how that choice affects the rest of humanity.  The overall plot provides a great baseline for moral and ethical discussion.  However, as I followed the characters along their journey through apocalyptic times the choices they had to make, and their subsequent consequences, were often more than I could personally handle.

Overall, I really liked this book, but there were several times I put it down unsure if I could handle some of the graphic scenes.  But then again, I still picked it up and finished it in its entirety and when I closed its covers I came away with the feeling (having read the Maze Runner series in its entirety) of "That makes sense." 

So the choice is yours, but I do recommend that parents of young teens who want to read this take the opportunity to either read along with their kids or to read it first to see if you are comfortable with what is shown.. 

Steelheart by Brandon Sanderson

Title: Brandon Sanderson
Author: Brandon Sanderson
Reviewer: Karen (+ Karen's Husband)
Genre: YA Science Fiction
Rating: Fabulous
Alerts/Warnings: Med Swearing + Fake Swearing and Med/High Violence
Premise: "At age eight, David watched as his father was killed by an Epic, a human with superhuman powers, and now, ten years later, he joins the Reckoners--the only people who are trying to kill the Epics and end their tyranny" (King County Library System).
Opinions: My husband and I have been reading this book out loud over the last week or so.  Oh my gosh, both of us LOVED it.  Imagine a world where those who would be super heroes are bad not good, throw in a main character out for revenge but containing an impressively goofy ability to be really bad at metaphors and you have the start of an incredibly imaginative world. This book was funny, tense, emotional, and brilliant. David was a fascinating character to get to know, to see how a life as an orphan seeking after any information he can obtain on Epics (those with super powers) would lead him to the one group that could help him. The characters were diverse and fascinating.  The world building is by far Brandon Sanderson's best.   I love how in depth and varied the Epics abilities were and how imaginative their weaknesses could be.  Overall this is a first rate book, but be warned that it is a start of series and also, because of the plot's nature, is on the more violent end (especially in the prologue). In spite of that both my husband and I REALLY enjoyed this read.

Lost Bullet by Malcolm Rose

For my review of book one in this series click here: Framed!



Title: Lost Bullet (Traces Series #2)
Author: Malcolm Rose
Reviewer: Karen
Genre: YA Mystery
Rating: Like
Alerts/Warnings: Moderate descriptions of murder scenes
Premise: "Recently qualified as a forensic investigator, Luke Harding is assigned to the slums of London, where he and Malc investigate a doctor's murder. They find a bullet wound to her head, but rain has washed away the bullet -- and all other clues. As more innocent doctors die, Luke's sleuthing leads him to a mysterious cult called The Visionaries. With no time to lose, Luke must infiltrate the sect and find the culprit before the bizarre shooting spree becomes an all-out massacre" (GoodReads.com).
Opinions: This series seems to be a fantastic cross between murder mystery, science fiction, and dystopian. It is set in a future day London where nature is reclaiming the city and slowly turning parts of it back into a jungle like atmosphere and where you risk life and limb just to step outside. It was intriguing to see the main character moved from the rural-like setting of the first book to future day London where he has to investigate a series of murders filled with reverse racial tension. 

Along with all of this sixteen year old Luke must face the pairing committee who will decide who his future mate is while he struggles to maintain a long distance relationship with his best friend.  I continue to be fascinated by Malc as a character, though he is a robot (or more precisely a Mobile Aide to Law and Crime).  He still works well as a Watson type character for the young Holmes (a.k.a Luke).

At times I did find some of the descriptions of the murder a little graphic for my personal taste, but I still enjoyed the overall concept and plot of the story as well as the series.

Invitation to the Game by Monica Hughes

Title: Invitation to the Game
Author: Monica Hughes
Reviewer: Stephanie
Genre: YA Science Fiction
Rating: Love
Alerts/Warnings: none
Premise: It's the future, and most jobs are done by machines. Now that school is over, Lisse and her friends are consigned to a bleak neighborhood for the permanently unemployed. Then they receive an invitation to the Game, which transports them to a paradise. Is it a dream or a computer simulation? Each time they play the Game, the new world seems more and more real...

Opinions: I have to say that I love books about societal structures. I love books where you see how a society is built and how people make it better or live with the worse. For me, this book is fascinating. I love that you get to see how this group of friends try to make a life for themselves in the world and then how after they start playing the Game, how the Game seems to become more like the real world. It is an interesting look into a what if. And honestly, I'm not going to tell you the what if so I don't spoil the book. But I loved this book.

The Scorch Trials by James Dashner

To read our review of the first book in this series click here: The Maze Runner.


Title: The Scorch Trials (Book 2 of The Maze Runner trilogy)
Author: James Dashner
Reviewer: Karen
Genre: YA Sci-Fi
Rating: Like
Alerts/Warnings: High Violence - Low Swearing.
Premise: "After surviving horrific conditions in the Maze, Thomas is entrapped, along with nineteen other boys, in a scientific experiment designed to observe their responses and gather data believed to be essential for the survival of the human race." (King County Library)
Opinions: This book is a New York Time Bestseller written for teenagers. I read one site that even said it was marketed for 9-12 year olds. In my opinion, do not let them read it until 14 or 15 at the earliest and only if you read it first. Why you may ask? Because this is a VIOLENT book. There is death left and right because this is a world in the middle of an apocalypse. Half the world has been killed by solar flares and the other half is at risk of catching the FLARE, a virus, that is spreading rapidly and with disastrous consequences.

Okay, now that you've had my disclaimers let me tell you what I really like about this book. I was drawn into the storyline and the characters -- plain and simple. If the world faced a major natural disaster that wiped out a good portion of the world and the survival of the rest of the world lay in the hands of two groups of teenagers put into horrendous circumstances wouldn't you be on the edge of you seat wondering if they would be able to do pull it off? Like the first book in this series, I was drawn to Thomas and Teresa as they have a complex past that reveals itself slowly through the story. The big frustration is that WICKED, the government organization placing the teenagers through the trials, likes to turn everything you know on its head. Can you really trust your friends? Is what you are experiencing reality? Who really are the good guys?

This book is an emotional roller coaster ride, but one that was hard to put down. Oh and for those who have read THE HUNGER GAMES many reviewers are comparing this series to that. I personally haven't read THE HUNGER GAMES yet as I'm still on the waiting list at the library. So you will have to let me know which series you prefer.