Earthrise by Aprilynne Pike

Publication Date: Sept 1, 2015

Series: Earthbound (bk. 3)

Genera(s): Paranormal Romance

Subjects: mystery, supernatural, abilities, love, mythology, gods and goddesses, past lives, memory

Setting: Phoenix, AZ, and various places around the world

POV/Tense: 1st person POV, present tense: Tavia Michaels

Age/Grade Level: Teen

Length: 356 pgs.

HC/PB: Paperback (On Amazon)/E-Book

List Price: $9.99/$5.99

Publisher: Imaginary Properties LLC (NOT Penguin: Razorbill)

Summary/ product description: “Even with the power to create and destroy at will, Tavia Michaels couldn't save her parents. She couldn't save the boy she's loved for countless lifetimes. She barely managed to save herself from the treachery of supposed friends. So how can she save the world from a deadly plague--and the immortals spreading it? As the events of EARTHBOUND and EARTHQUAKE reach their thrilling conclusion, no one is safe--Tavia least of all!”

My Review:  As the final book of the Earthbound Trilogy, Earthrise is an awesome, romantic finish. I couldn’t have asked for a better ending to this series. Now I’m just sad it’s over. I love Aprilynne Pike’s books, though I’ve only read this series and the Wings series. She write really interesting, compelling characters. She does a great job of creating a world or society within the real world.

To recap, In Earthbound, Tavia suddenly has the ability to create things out of nothing, but they only last temporarily. She is living with an aunt and uncle after her parents died in a plane crash. Tavia was injured in the plane crash too and had to under go brain surgery. Some people are out to kill her and a guy named Benson, who works at the local library, helps her. She’s seeing this blond guy, which turns out to be Quinn, her lover in a past life. At the end of the book she meets Quinn’s current incarnation, Logan. She also finds out she’s a goddess, an earthmaker. In Earthquake Tavia tries to convince Logan of what he is, and then his house explodes and they are both captured by the Rediciates and taken to their facility. Logan later receives his memories when they are taken to the Curatoria facility in the Death Valley area. Their powers resurge, but Tavia still only has memories from her past lives as Rebecca and as Sonya. The Rediciata creates a virus that can not only kill people, but Earthbounds too, permanently.

At the beginning of Earthrise, Tavia’s mission to create and distribute vaccines to the world and involves help from a doctor and her friends. She travels to different country, trying to avoid the Reduciata Earthbounds Daniel and Mariana. Tavia exhausts herself and has to create high-caloric foods just to keep her energized enough to create vaccines. Some Earthbounds are dying and catastrophes are occurring. The Rediciata gets of the their tale and tries to discredit the vaccine. Bad stuff happens, but the ending wrap ups nicely.

Also, Tavia is back with Benson. I love Benson. Logan is okay, but Benson is just a regular guy who’s father is an Earthbound and they got caught up in everything. Benson really cares for Tavia. He’s smart, funny and sweet. Logan seems a bit arrogant in believing that Tavia has to love him. They’ve had so many lives together, many of which Tavia’s unable to remember. I think she and Benson deserve a chance to be together for their life.

I recommend this series to fans of: Fallen by Lauren Kate, The Immortal series by Alyson Noel, Halo by Alexandra Adornetto, Starcrossed by Josephine Angelini, any books with mythology, gods and goddesses, angels, demon, magic or abilities. Paranormal Romance in general. Try this book. Also if you liked any Aprilynne Pike books, such as Wings, Spells, Illusions, Destined, Life After Theft or Sleep No More, read Earthbound.

Cover Art Review: Saundra Mitchell designed this cover? The author of the Vespertine? Really? Why wouldn’t Penguin publish this final book?

Don’t Look Now by Michelle Gagnon

Series: PERSEFoNE (bk. 2)

Genera: Action Thriller/Suspense/Sci-fi

Subjects: hackers, computers, technology, experiments, foster care 

Setting: Boston, Massachusetts, Arizona and California

POV/Tense: 3rd person POV (alternating between Noah, Peter, Amanda and Teo), Past tense

Age/Grade Level: Teen

Length: 319 pgs.

HC/PB: Hardcover

List Price: $17.99

Publisher: HarperTeen

Summary/ product description: “Noa Torsen is on the run. Having outsmarted the sinister corporation Pike & Dolan, Noa and her friend Zeke now move stealthily across the country, protecting runaways before they become test subjects for P&D's horrific experiments. Noa knows all too well what that feels like: Whatever they did to her has left her exhausted and scared.

Back in Boston, Peter anxiously follows Noa's movements from his computer, using his hacker skills to feed her the information she needs to stay alive. But he's desperate to do something more, especially when he learns what P&D has done to his ex-girlfriend Amanda.

Then, in an explosive confrontation, Noa and her team are trapped in the one place they thought was safe. It will take everything Noa and Peter have to bring down the corporation before it gets them first. And with no one to trust and enemies hiding at every turn, they may be the only people alive who can.

This stunning second book in the critically acclaimed Don't Turn Around trilogy raises the stakes to their absolute limit and will leave readers begging for the exciting conclusion, Don't Let Go.”

My Review: This sequel was definitely more thrilling and exciting than the first book. Still this series is lacking in the sci-fi department. It’s got its good point. There’s action and adventure and a bit of a mystery. The characters are okay, but I don’t really care much for them. There’s more romance in this book than the first. Not between Peter and Noa though. Peter and Noa are on opposite side of the country, and don’t meet up till the very end. Noa has a relationship going with Zeke, a hacker we met in the middle/near-end of the first book. They are in the southwest, California and Arizona. Peter is back with Amanda and still in Boston. We also get to meet a few new characters including Teo, a Hispanic boy from California. The story alternates in 3^rd person POV between Noa, Teo, Peter and Amanda. I don’t recall ever getting Zeke’s perspective. I’m not a big fan of switching perspectives when it’s written in 3^rd person.

I recently read a book called Blackout by Robison Wells, and this somehow remind me of it. This book didn’t have kids with superpowers, but there is a disease in this book called PEMA, and there’s teen vigilantes called Persefone’s Army. Most of the kid in the PA are runaways, orphans and kids who were in foster care. They’re living on the street or on the run. Peter just helps out by hacking, but he’s not a runaway. His parents are rich. Noa is the leader, and the team leader of the Southwest group. A lot has happened since the first book ended and I feel like there should have been a novella to abridge that gap. Four months have passed, and suddenly Zeke’s Noa’s boyfriend, the PA is created and Noa’s in the southwest and has connections. We missed out on a lot. The time line is definitely confusing.

Other than those issues, there’s solid improvement in this installment. I kind of wish that Noa did more hacking herself, or maybe that her extra-thalamus would give her super powers. She still has irregular eating and sleeping habits from it. I was also hoping to see what they did to other kids. Maybe the third book will have a twist or what I’ve been waiting for. There’s a twist near the end that’s about what PEMA is. I can’t wait to find out more. Don’t Look Now is a fast read, and I suggest reading Don’t Turn Around first. If you like books by Robison Wells, or Find Me by Romily Bernard, you may like this. If you like books about hacker, technology and teens on the run, then you should totally try this book series.

Cover Art Review: I like this cover better than the 1^st book’s hardcover. The orange, yellow and turquoise work well as a color scheme. The hexagons and the pixels are cool graphics. The title is nice and big. The hair photo is okay, and says thriller.

The Darkest Path by Jeff Hirsch

Release Date: September 24, 2013

Series: Standalone

Genera: Dystopia Sci-fi/Action Adventure

Subjects: military, war, dogs, survival

Age/Grade Level: Ages 12 and up/Teen

Length: 320 pgs.

HC/PB: Hardcover

List Price: $17.99

Publisher: Scholastic Press

Summary/ product description: “USA TODAY bestselling author Jeff Hirsch once again creates a futuristic world with stunning, dramatic realism.

A civil war rages between the Glorious Path--a militant religion based on the teachings of a former US soldier--and what's left of the US government. Fifteen-year-old Callum Roe and his younger brother, James, were captured and forced to convert six years ago. Cal has been working in the Path's dog kennels, and is very close to becoming one of the Path's deadliest secret agents. Then Cal befriends a stray dog named Bear and kills a commander who wants to train him to be a vicious attack dog. This sends Cal and Bear on the run, and sets in motion a series of incredible events that will test Cal's loyalties and end in a fierce battle that the fate of the entire country rests on.”

My Review: This is probably my least favorite of the books written by this author. I did like the dog, but he didn’t play a big enough role later on in the story. This biggest issue with this book, that made it hard to read is that the text was set in a san serif typeface. Not a good thing for a book. I skimmed too much.

I did like the setting, and the fact that Cal traveled through Arizona, and other western states and all the way to the East coast. I love adventure, but most of this book fell flat. I didn’t really care much for the characters. I really wish that James chose to go with Cal. I wish Cal met Nat sooner. It was all very slow. The Eleventh Plague was a lot faster that this book. I also didn’t like the idea of a military religion. I was creative, and kind of like a cult, but didn’t work well. I feel like this was more of a 2^nd civil war kind of book. The Glorious Path states were mostly in the south.

There was a lot of survival stuff, which I love, but nearly as descriptive as I like. I did think that Bear sounded cute. A small, tough dog he was. I really wanted to like this book since I won an ARC of it, but I mostly found myself skimming, hoping for something interesting to happen. I recommend this book to boys 12 and up. I think this is more of a boy book.

Cover Art Review: This cover reminds me of the 11^th Plague’s cover. It is very dystopian looking. I love the back cover more, though. The dog and the destroyed car a awesome. The helicopter and burning house look cool too. 

Transparent by Natalie Whipple

Series: Standalone

Genera: Paranormal Romance/Alternate-world Sci-fi

Subjects: supernatural, invisibility, super-powers, psychic ability, abilities, organized crime, Arizona, runaways

Age/Grade Level: Teen

Length: 350 pgs.

HC/PB: Paperback

List Price: $9.99

Publisher: HarperTeen

Summary/ product description: “Plenty of teenagers feel invisible. Fiona McClean actually is.
An invisible girl is a priceless weapon. Fiona’s own father has been forcing her to do his dirty work for years—everything from spying on people to stealing cars to breaking into bank vaults.
After sixteen years, Fiona’s had enough. She and her mother flee to a small town, and for the first time in her life, Fiona feels like a normal life is within reach. But Fiona’s father isn’t giving up that easily.
Of course, he should know better than anyone: never underestimate an invisible girl.”

 

My Review: I loved this book. I don’t care if people think the writing was too simple. It was clean and clear, in my opinion. It was fast and funny and exciting. I wouldn’t say it was action packed. It was more about an invisible girl excepting herself, and relationships. Finding love and friendship, and dealing with family issues. It was heartwarming. The dialogue was funny. So many great quotes. And it was also an alternate-world, sci-fi romance. It’s set in contemporary time, but back in the 50’s, people started taking a drug that cause mutations.

The main character is very unique. Her superpower/mutation is invisibility. She invisible ALL THE TIME, even to HERSELF. Which really sucks. And she was born that way, an invisible baby. Sure, there were a few recent books about invisibility, like Andrea Cremer and David Levithan’s Invisibility, and Nobody by Jennifer Lynn Barnes. Both of those are very different, of course. Fiona has to wear clothes to define her shape. Kind of like the Invisible Man, except she can’t use make-up because when stuff is absorbed into her skin, it becomes invisible.

The supporting characters are very awesome and funny. They all have their own abilities, but I’m not gonna tell you for the sake of finding out for yourself. Bea and her family are very funny and do a lot of fun stuff together. Bea has a brother that hits on Fiona even though he can’t see her. It’s hilarious. Bea’s a great friend.

And there’s Brady, Bea best guy-friend, who likes Fiona sort of. And Seth, the math-loving guy who tutors Fiona. There’s no love triangle or insta-love. Fiona thinks she likes Brady, but she’s really falling for Seth. Seth is kind of a jerk at first, but he’s a jerk that really cares for Fiona.

Then there’s Fiona family. Her mom takes her to Arizona to get away from her dad, who runs a crime organization. Fiona’s dad used her as a spy and thief. Fiona has two older brothers, Graham and Miles. One’s a jerk and one’s really nice and cool.

I loved the setting because I always wanted to go to Arizona and see the desert. This is a great summer read, even if it takes place in the school year.  

I recommend this book if you liked the Curse Workers series by Holly Black, the Big Time series (adult series, Karma Girl, ect.) by Jennifer Estep, Shatter Me series, or X-Men, even.

Cover Art Review: Very colorful. I like the title type. The transparent girl is okay.