The Wicked Within by Kelly Keaton

Series: Gods & Monsters (bk. 3)

Genera: Paranormal Romance/Dystopian

Subjects: Greek mythology, supernatural, magic, gorgons, gods and goddesses, curses, witches, vampires, shape-shifters, Louisiana, New Orleans

Age/Grade Level: Teen

Length: 280 pgs.

HC/PB: Hardcover

List Price: $16.99

Publisher: Simon & Schuster: Simon Pulse

Summary/ product description: “Ancient lore leads to present danger in the final book in the dark and sexy paranormal romance trilogy about a descendent of Medusa, set in a richly reimagined New Orleans.

Her fate is not set in stone.

Having temporarily defeated Athena, Ari races to break the gorgon curse that has plagued the women in her family for centuries. Her one lead sends her on a quest for the Hands of Zeus, an ancient relic last seen in the charge of New 2’s ruling elite, the Novem. But if there is one thing that Athena desires as much as revenge, it’s the Hands of Zeus—and Athena always gets what she wants.

Before either can locate the Hands, the statue goes missing, and a trail of blood follows those who once protected the relic’s secrets. Ari knows that her city, her friends, Sebastian—her life—depend upon her finding the statue before Athena. And with rumors an ancient power is on the rise, that may not be her only concern…”

My Review: With the epic amount of mythology and paranormal creatures, this book series is perfect for fans of Rick Riordan, Richelle Mead and Tera Lynn Child’s books. Vampires, witches, shape-shifters, demi-gods, Gods and Goddesses and so much more. I love the New Orleans and bayou setting. It’s set during Madi Gras, which is a prime time for New Orlenes, also known as New 2 in this book. It’s also a bit dystopian, without the sci-fi. It’s creepy and mysterious and enchanting. I read the previous book and this final book back to back, so it’s hard to believe that this series is over. The books are pretty short and faced paced. I love the characters, as I mentioned in the review of A Beautiful Evil.

Ari is kick butt, and her relationship with Sebastian has become complicated. I never doubted their love for each other, but he did become a vampire in the last book. It really sucks that her needs blood now. He’s keeping his feeding habits from Ari. We get to see some of Bastian’s perspective in this book. It’s the italicized chapters and they’re written in 3^rd person. They weren’t as exciting as Ari’s parts, but there weren’t that many Bastian chapters.

I really think that Ari’s pursuit to remove her curse was complicated and exciting. Athena want her child to not be stone anymore, and will cure Ari is she revives her child. So many crazy things happen along the way. Many questions are answered through out the book. We also get to learn about gods from other cultures, specifically Egyptian gods. There’s also this character that raised Violet, known as the River Witch.

A small spoiler is that Menai and Heni kind of have a thing for each other, and they’re both my favorite side characters. Toward the end of the book, we find out secrets about Violet, Menai, Pandora, and Athena’s child. It’s an epic conclusion that leaves room for a spin-off series. I really hope that a spin off is written. I want to now if the Blood Wars really start with Athena’s child.

Cover Art Review: I like the Mardi Gras mask. The girl looks like she could be Ari.

The Uprising by Lisa M. Stasse

Series: The Forsaken (bk. 2)

Genera: Dystopia Sci-fi

Subjects: survival, islands, resistance to government, fascism, love

Age/Grade Level: Teen

Length: 375 pgs.

HC/PB: Hardcover

List Price: $16.99

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Summary/ product description: “In this dystopian sequel to The Forsaken, Alenna has survived the brutality of life on the wheel—and now she’s going back for more.

Alenna escaped. It was expected that she would die on the wheel, the island where would-be criminals are sent as directed by the UNA—the totalitarian supercountry that was once the United States, Mexico, and Canada. But Alenna and her boyfriend, Liam, made it to safety. Except safety, they will soon learn, is relative.

In order to bring down the UNA, they must first gain control of the wheel. If the mission succeeds, the wheel will become a base of revolution. But between betrayals, a new Monk leading a more organized army of Drones, and the discovery of a previously unknown contingent, Alenna, Liam, and their allies might be in over their heads. One thing Alenna knows for sure: There will be a reckoning. And not everyone she loves will make it out alive.”

My Review: This was a good sequel and addition to a cool dystopian series. I love the setting(s). The island especially. As I’ve said before in my review of The Forsaken, it’s kind of like Catching Fire, Lord of The Flies, The Maze Runner and Lost. But in this book,  it’s starts out in Australia, and goes on to Antarctica and then back to the wheel. The wheel, also know as Prison Island Alpha, is located somewhere in the south Pacific between Hawaii and Australia. It’s shaped like a jagged circle, and has different sectors, named after colors. It’s about 35 miles across. The blue sector is where the villagers were located. The gray sector is where machinery and building are located.

The narration is awesome. I love Alenna’s perspective. She reminds me of Tris from Divergent, or even Katniss. It’s 1^st person, present tense which makes the story a lot more intense and exciting. I also like Liam. He’s does remind me of Four/Tobias, or maybe Alex from Delirium. He cares so much about Alenna that he almost stays behind when he’s asked to help rescue his father, but Alenna insists he goes. He’s a warrior with a good heart, even though he has trust issues when it comes to the drones/former drones.

Cass is a former drone, and now no longer drugged.  She seems very nice and smart, and similar to Gadya. Gadya is still on the wheel. She was my favorite side character in the first book, and I was waiting for her to make a come back. She’s so funny and sarcastic. Wish we could have a novella or story from her POV. We also get to meet a new group that aren’t drones or villagers, but call themselves travelers. The made me this of the Tree People in Defiance by C.J. Redwine. Also, David is on the wheel still, and Alenna and Liam think that he betrayed them. He lost their trust for something he did.

The only issues I had with this book was that it took me a week to read, but that was because I was so busy. But sometimes taking your time with a book is a good thing. Rushing through a story makes you miss thing. I wish there was more romance also. The ending was awesome. Alenna is very brave for what she did. They all made a lot of hard choices in hopes saving the kids frozen in the archives and taking the island back. Can’t wait to see how this turn out in book three.

I recommend this series to fan of The Hunger Games series, Lord of The Flies, The Maze Runner, Divergent, the Glitch series by Heather Anastasui, and Shatter Me, and TV shows like Lost.

Cover Art Review: Love this cover! The typography in amazing, and the color scheme. I love the image and the vector connected lines.