The Replaced by Kimberly Derting

Series: The Taking (bk. 2)

Genera(s): Sci-fi Mystery/Romance

Subjects: abductions, abilities, aliens, government agencies, love, mystery

Setting: Washington state, Utah

POV/Tense: 1^st person POV, past tense: Kyra Agnew

Age/Grade Level: Teen

Length: 354 pgs.

HC/PB: Hardcover

List Price: $17.99

Publisher: HarperTeen

Summary/ product description: “Romantic and action-packed, The Replaced is the gripping second installment in the Taking trilogy.

Kyra hasn't been the same since she returned from her mysterious five-year disappearance. Now, on the run from the NSA, Kyra is forced to hide out with others who, like her, have been Returned. Yet she is determined to find Tyler, the boy she loves who was also abducted—all because of her. When her group intercepts a message that Tyler might still be alive but is in the hands of a shadowy government organization that experiments on the Returned, Kyra knows it's a risk to go after him. What if it's a trap? And worse, what if the returned Tyler isn't the same boy she lost?

Perfect for fans of The Fifth Wave and the Body Finder series, The Replaced is both chilling and explosive, with creepy, otherworldly elements and twisty, psychological thrills that will have you questioning what exactly it means to be human.”

My Review:  I finally decided to start this series since I know the 3^rd book is coming out in 2 months and it’s spring break, so why not series-binge? I read the Taking and now I read The Replaced. I’m really enjoying this series. This sequel does not disappoint. It’s just as good as the first book. The only probably I had with it was the lack of Tyler, and Kyra romance with him. The Taking series is a fun, entertaining and mysterious sci-fi read. Perfect for fan of the X-files. I watched the new 6-part series recently, so I felt in the mood for some alien stuff.

To recap The Taking, Kyra Agnew, a 16-year old girl from Burlington, Washington, was taken after her high school softball team won the championship in 2009. She got into an argument with her dad, exited the car and saw a blinding light. She wakes up on the ground behind a gas station thinking she somehow choose to sleep outside for the night. She doesn’t find out that actually 5 years have gone buy since that night until mistake her boyfriend’s younger brother Tyler for her boyfriend Austin. Tyler who was only 12 last time she saw him, and is now suddenly looking 17. She starts to fall for Tyler, since Austin already moved on. The NSA is after Kyra, and wants to experiment on her. Kyra meet Simon, another Returned who knows more about this stuff and she learns that normal Returned usually come back within 48 hours, not 5 long years. She can heal faster than the others, see in the dark, hold her break longer, sleep less and move stuff with her mind. Kyra finds out her blood is toxic and she infected Tyler accidently. Kyra tries to save Tyler by taking him to a place where abduction happen a lot and want the aliens to save Tyler by making him a Returned. Agent Truman comes after them. Kyra uses telekinesis to get the gun away. Fireflies appear and Tyler is taken, and Kyra is knocked out.

In the Replaced, Kyra, Simon, Jett and Willow are at a different camp than the one Simon ran, since that one was attacked. She makes friends with a girl named Natty. Thom runs the camp there. Simon’s camp stays separate from the Silent Creeker of Thom’s camp. They hear news of Tyler possibly being held captive by Agent Truman’s Daylighters (the shady NSA section). There’s also a message that may have be sent by Kyra’s father. Kyra, Simon, Willow, Natty, Thom, and Jett go on a rescue mission, which turns into a bust. They escape, but can’t go back to their camp, so they end up traveling all the way to another camp in Utah, outside Zion National Park. Since they’re being tracked and their photos are out there, the have to change the appearance. So in a gas station bathroom, Kyra dyes her blond hair a reddish brown, Natty dyes hers black and Willow’s hair goes from brown to brown (not much of a disguise).

The other camp is big, but is run by someone Simon and Thom had a falling out with. When they arrive, they’re treated like prisoners. The leader runs the camp like a boot camp for soldiers. Also, there may be a traitor in the mist, giving information to the Daylighters. Kyra runs into someone she never expected to find at the camp

I enjoyed this sequel. I really liked how many interesting twists there were. Especially near the end. I suspected as much just based on the title. I really think Kyra’s abilities and alien hybrid DNA stuff are cool. I like books about super powered teens. I still a little disappointed in the romance of this sequel. I kind of feel like the author wants out hearts to break over Tyler by making him so wonderful and then taking him away.

I recommend this series to fan of: The Rules trilogy by Stacy Kade, The Host by Stephanie Meyer, Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi, Unremembered by Jessica Brody, Mila 2.0 by Debra Driza, Blackout by Robison Wells, Rush (the Game Trilogy) by Eve Silver. Pretty much anything with aliens, or teens gaining superpowers. X-file fans, Fringe fans, Kimberly Derting fans (I only read the Body Finder series).

Cover Art Review: Cool looking cover. Looks like stars in the type. Too bad it’s not metallic.

Evertrue by Brodi Ashton

Series: Everneath (bk. 3)

Genera(s): Paranormal Romance/Fantasy

Subjects: Supernatural, underworlds, immortality, love, mythology

Setting: Park City, Utah and the Everneath

POV/Tense: 1^st person POV, past tense: Nikki

Age/Grade Level: Teen

Length: 355 pgs.

HC/PB: Hardcover and now in Paperback

List Price: $17.99/$9.99

Publisher: HarperTeen

Summary/ product description: “Now that Nikki has rescued Jack, all she wants is to be with him and graduate high school. But Cole tricked Nikki into feeding off him, and she’s begun the process of turning into an Everliving herself... which means she must feed on a Forfeit soon — or die.

Terrified for her survival, Nikki and Jack begin a desperate attempt to reverse the process using any means possible. Even Cole, who they expected to fight them at every turn, has become an unlikely ally — but how long can it last? Nikki needs to feed on Cole to survive, Cole needs Nikki to gain the throne in the Everneath, Jack needs Nikki because she is everything to him — and together, they must travel back to the Underworld to undo Nikki’s fate and make her mortal once more. But Cole isn’t the only one with plans for Nikki: the Queen has not forgotten Nikki’s treachery, and she wants her destroyed for good. Will Nikki be forced to spend eternity in the Underworld, or does she have what it takes to bring down the Everneath once and for all?

In this stunning conclusion to the Everneath trilogy, Brodi Ashton evokes the resiliency of the human spirit and the indomitable power of true love.”

My Review:  I waited a year to read this book, so it’s been two years since I read Everbound. This series has gone from okay to awesome to absolutely amazing. It’s partially because of the development of the heroine, Nikki, and also the other characters and this world called the Everneath.

Nikki in the first book Everneath was recovering from the time she was being fed on by Cole, so she seemed depressed and uninteresting. In Everbound she had a lot of her strength back and the story became an adventure through a labyrinth in the Everneath. In Evertrue Nikki is becoming an Everliving and would like to find a way to prevent that. She tries to get her heart back from Cole but fails, but she has a better plan that can save more lives: destroy the Everneath.

I really enjoyed the character Cole. He’s the kind of guy you love to hate, but also love to love. He’s like Damon Salvatore or Klaus from the Vampire Diaries, or even Warner from Shatter Me. He’s a bad boy, but he’s also a musician who used to be a Norwegian farm boy a very long time ago become becoming an Everliving. He’s blond and hot and sometimes funny, and likes to tease Nikki.

Cole wants Nikki to love him back, but Nikki loves Jack. In this book Cole gets amnesia and forgets who is his beyond his name. He temporarily forgot how to speak English, but that didn’t last long. It’s kind of hilarious and adds another interesting layer to this story. Nikki makes up a false backstory for Cole so he would help them destroy the Everneath.

We see all three of our main characters work together and get along (mostly due to Cole’s lack of memory). Jack and Nikki can’t hate Cole if Cole doesn’t remember what he did to them. Jack and Nikki can share their romance, but Nikki has to feed off of Cole or she’ll die because she can’t make her own energy any more. That involves kissing. Jack is not happy with this but want Nikki to live so he lets her.

This finale is well plotted with absolutely no dull moments. It’s such a faster read than the first book. There’s still adventure and interesting paranormal elements. It’s all very unique. I recommend this to fans of paranormal books about immortals or even vampires. Also too fans of Incarnate by Jodi Meadows, which is about immortals. It’s kind of like the Persephone and Hades Greek Myth so if you liked Falling Under by Gwen Hayes and Abandon by Meg Cabot and other books with mythology and the underworld too, you may enjoy this.

Cover Art Review: I absolutely love the dress turning into a vortex of smoke. It’s so gorgeous. Fit with the previous covers, but this one is definitely the best. 

Blackout by Robison Wells

Series: Blackout (bk. 1)

Genera: Near-Future Dystopian Sci-fi/Thriller

Subjects: terrorists, viruses, superpowers, abilities, war, military, Utah

Age/Grade Level: Teen

Length: 424 pgs.

HC/PB: Hardcover

List Price: $17.99

Publisher: HarperTeen

Summary/ product description: “Laura and Alec are trained terrorists.

Jack and Aubrey are high school students.

There was no reason for them to ever meet.

But now, a mysterious virus is spreading throughout America, infecting teenagers with impossible powers. And these four are about to find their lives intertwined in a complex web of deception, loyalty, and catastrophic danger—where one wrong choice could trigger an explosion that ends it all.”

My Review: This book was so cool! It’s like X-men and Gone by Michael Grant and Steelheart by Brandon Sanderson. I don’t understand why people gave it bad reviews. It’s written in 3^rd person and some head jumping occurs, which is different from Robison’s previous books, which are written in 1^st person.

We only get the perspective of four characters: Aubrey, Jack, Laura, and Alec. They’re all pretty different from each other. They seem well developed, especially Aubrey. The characters all have different superpowers, and they’re not invincible. Aubrey can become invisible by affecting the minds around her to see that she not there (like a mind-control illusion). Jack’s ability is revealed over 100 pages in, but it’s mainly about enhanced senses. Laura is super strong and Alec can implant memories. Other superpowers included photographic memory, pheromone control, blasting fire, and controlling rock. The military called the teens with abilities Lambdas. The teens are quarantined and tested for a virus, and if they have it, the military categorizes their abilities, decided how useful they are. Aubrey becomes and spy, which I thought was pretty cool.

This book took what we think of as terrorism to a whole new level. Teens with superpowers destroying important places and killing people. We really did learn why they were doing it yet. I’m sure we’ll learn the big picture in the next book. I want to know how did the virus come to be and who’s the master mind behind this anarchy. They get their mark by some kind of code in a blog called SusieMusie.

There’s a part of the book when they mention that Chicago was destroyed. Why do you have to go and destroy my city in this book, Robison? My brother lives down there. And Chicago is not the 3^rd largest city. It is important though. Most of this book was set in Utah. Utah’s not really the 1^st place you’d think a book like this should be set. I really enjoyed the setting though. Mountains and desert and the Salt Lake City area. I love imagining these kinds of places.

Blackout was a complete thrill ride. It could be easily read in a day, despite its length. I literally didn’t want to put it down once I got really into it. I can’t wait for the sequel. I recommend this book to fans of X-Men and superhero stuff, the shows like Agents of SHEILD and Tomorrow People, and book series like: Variant by Robison Wells, Gone by Michael Grant, Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi, Steelheart by Brandon Sanderson, No Easy Way Out by Dayna Loretz, Quarantine by Lex Thomas, Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi and sci-fi YA in general.

Cover Art Review: I love this cover. It’s very minimal. It looks like an explosion of rocks and gravel. The title looks awesome against it. Under the cover jacket, there’s a gold embossed texture that mimics the cover.