Dark Energy by Robison Wells

Series: Standalone

Genera(s): Sci-fi

Subjects: aliens, UFOS, boarding schools, mystery

Setting: Minneapolis, Minnesota

POV/Tense: 1^st person POV, past tense: Alice (Aly) Goodwin

Age/Grade Level: Teen

Length: 273 pgs.

HC/PB: Hardcover

List Price: $17.99

Publisher: HarperTeen

Summary/ product description: “WE ARE NOT ALONE

Five days ago, a massive UFO crashed in the Midwest, killing thousands of people. Since then, nothing–or no one–has come out.

THEY HAVE ARRIVED

If it were up to Alice, she’d be watching all of this on the news from Miami, Florida. Instead, she’s the newest student at a boarding school not far from the crash site–because her dad is the director of special projects for NASA, and if anything’s a special project, it’s this.

AND THERE’S NO GOING BACK

A shell-shocked country is waiting, glued to televisions and computer screens, for a sign of what the future holds. But when the aliens emerge, they’re nothing like what Alice expected. And only one thing is clear: Nothing will ever be the same again.”

My Review:  Dark Energy is a book I’ve been highly anticipating since I heard about it. I’ve read all the other books by Robison Wells, and finally he writes one with aliens! The book isn’t what I expected. Not at first. Based off the cover I expected something more creepy and mysterious and more rural. The book is set in Minnesota, mainly at a boarding school for the “gifted and talented.” Alice is sent there because her father works for NASA and he’s investigating the UFO crash site outside of Minneapolis.

Nothing has come out of the space ship yet and everyone’s anticipating the possibility of malicious aliens who want to take over, if any aliens survived, that is. When aliens finally do come out of the ship they are not what Alice expected, in fact, there’s nothing really alien about them. They call themselves the Guides, but what is there purpose? To help, or it there another reason. Two teen guides are sent to Alice’s school and Alice and her roommates try to get information out of them. Some of what they say doesn’t add up. These Guides have translators, but there’s many thing about Humans that they don’t understand.

Anyway, there’s a lot of fun dialogue. Alice and her father have some pretty funny conversations, and Alice and Kurt flirt a bit and banter too. Alice’s roommates are smart and pretty awesome. They seem pretty accepting of Coya. Alice is half Navajo, so she feels just as out of place at this school. Alice is very bold and stubborn and fun.

Dark Energy was cool and funny at times. There are so many pop-culture references, like mentions of Ancient Aliens, Star Wars, Star Treck, 2001, ect… and even pop-culture Icons like Taylor Swift. It’s not dystopian really, but it does remind me of The 5^th Wave or the TV shows Falling Skies. Also this book has a crazy twist….actually a few crazy twists, none of which include time travel sadly, so I guess I was wrong this time.

I recommend this to fans of TV show like: Ancient Aliens, Falling Skies, Hunters (Syfy),  Childhood’s End (also SyFy). Movies like Independence Day, and War of the Worlds. Books like The 5^th Wave, Scan, Rush, The Taking, Alienated, In the After and pretty much anything with aliens. If you listen to 3^rd Phase of Moon radio show on Fridays and are a UFO geek.

Cover Art Review: The cover is cool, but doesn’t fit the content very well since the book’s setting isn’t rural and the book isn’t that creepy. The space ship is supposed to be cylindrical, not a saucer.

Dead Reckoning by Mercedes Lackey and Rosemary Edghill

Publisher: Bloomsbury

Genera: Western/steampunk/paranormal

Subjects: Zombies, cults, cowboys, Native Americans, the Frontier

Length: 324 pgs.

HC/PB: Harcover

Summary/ product description: “Jett is a girl disguised as a boy, living as a gambler in the old West as she searches for her long-lost brother. Honoria Gibbons is a smart, self-sufficient young woman who also happens to be a fabulous inventor. Both young women travel the prairie alone – until they are brought together by a zombie invasion! As Jett and Honoria investigate, they soon learn that these zombies aren’t rising from the dead of their own accord … but who would want an undead army? And why? This gunslinging, hair-raising, zombie western mashup is perfect for fans of Cowboys vs. Aliens and Pride & Prejudice & Zombies”

My Rating: êêê

My Review: This was pretty good for a historical fiction/steampunk book. I’d said I was never gonna touch a steampunk book or historical book again. But after watching a few wild-west movie, I decided I should give westerns a try, and this one just so happens to have zombies. I love cowboys and zombies (for diff reasons). Sure this book was not one of my favs and it still wasn’t interesting enough to be 4 stars, but I liked it enough to give it 3. I really liked the 3 main characters and their different personalities. They’re all very brave in their own ways. The story stuff was interesting too. A religious cult turning people into zombies (rather than a zombie plague). It reminded me of the Lazarus people in some short story I read. The dive resurrection, in this book. And Gibbons kept trying to explain the zombies scientifically since she’s a debunker/cynic. Jett grew up in New Orleans, so she knows about hoodoo and voodoo, and she’s disguised as a boy, which reminds me of a book I read in middle school. White Fox is a tracker, a white boy raised by Natives.

I recommend this to people who saw like Cowboys & Aliens, or love westerns or non-viral zombies. I even suggest watching a western movie or two before or after you read it.

Cover Art Review: Perfect cover (except Jett looks too sassy, could never pass for a boy). Love the zombies. So well done!

~Haley G

The Gathering by Kelley Armstrong

Publisher: Harper Teen

Series: Darkness Rising (bk. 1)

Genera: Paranormal Romance & Mystery

Subjects: Supernatural, love, Canada, animals, Native Americans

Length: 359 pgs.

HC/PB: Hardcover

Summary/ product description: “Maya lives in a small medical-research town on Vancouver Island. How small? You can’t find it on the map. It has less than two-hundred people, and her school has only sixty-eight students—for every grade from kindergarten to twelve.

Now, strange things are happening in this claustrophobic town, and Maya's determined to get to the bottom of them. First, the captain of the swim team drowns mysteriously in the middle of a calm lake. A year later, mountain lions start appearing around Maya's home, and they won’t go away. Her best friend, Daniel, starts getting negative vibes from certain people and things. It doesn't help that the new bad boy in town, Rafe, has a dangerous secret—and he's interested in one special part of Maya's anatomy: Her paw-print birthmark.”

My Rating: ê ê ê ê 1/2

My Review: This book was awesome! Kelley Armstrong’s YA books never disappoint. This book was a great start to a new series and I can’t wait to read the next book. I’ve read the Darkest Powers series, and I can’t see the subtle connection between the two. I won’t be surprised if Maya and Chloe meet each other in some cross-over series or book/short story.

Maya was pretty different from Chloe. She liked animals, and had the makings of a great vet. Maya was definitely a strong, caring character. Daniel was a great friend, and Rafe was the not-so-bad boy, and full of surprises.

The small town setting was interesting. A town with less than 200 people? Really? That is amazing. This book was the kind of book that I just wanted to keep reading. It’s pretty fast paced and easy. I definitely recommend it. I just didn’t like the ending because I have to wait too long for the next book to find out what happens next. So many mysteries to be solved! Cliff hangers-gah!



Cover Art Review: It looks just how I picture Maya, at night. I love the silver title. It’s a good cover.

~Haley G