Redemption by Debra Driza

Series: Mila 2.0 (bk. 3)

Genera(s): Sci-fi/Thriller

Subjects: androids, robots, artificial intelligence, identity, love

Setting: Montana, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, a boarding school

POV/Tense: 1st person POV, past tense: Mila

Age/Grade Level: Teen

Length: 405 pgs.

HC/PB: Hardcover

List Price: $17.99

Publisher: HarperTeen: Katherine Tegan

Summary/ product description: “Mila has been running for her life for so long. But there might be nowhere left for her to go. Especially now that she’s an incredible danger to herself and anyone who dares get close to her.

That’s why Mila has gone into hiding with friend and tech expert Lucas. She can’t take the risk of hurting people worse than the way she hurt Hunter: the boy she’ll always love, the boy who might never forgive her for what she’s done.

But then Mila discovers that General Holland—her ultimate enemy—has plans that are an even bigger threat to humanity than she is. His quest to reclaim Mila is only part of a larger mysterious endgame that will put people’s lives at stake. Mila must make a choice: either push aside her fears and fight him with everything she’s got…or turn her back on the world forever.

My Review:  Redemption is the 3^rd and final book of the Mila 2.0 trilogy. It was pretty awesome. If you have not read this series, then don’t read this review below the first paragraph. The series is about a teenage girl android named Mila who was created as a weapon. You may enjoy this series if you enjoy the Terminator movies, Chappie and Transcendence, and TV shows like AMC’s Humans, Fox’s Almost Human (cancelled after 1 season), Bionic Woman, other robot-android-cyborg TV or movies. Also book like the Insignia series by S.J. Kincaid, Robin Wasserman’s Cold Awakening series (about a girl who’s mind was downloaded into and android body), Unremember by Jessica Brody, False Memory by Dan Krokos, The Taking by Kimberly Derting, or Altered by Jennifer Rush.

At this beginning of the book, Mila is in a cabin in the mountains of Montana with Lucas (General Holland’s pacifistic and genius nephew) and his older brother Tim. Mila just discovered that there’s a bomb inside her body that can be trigger at anytime and has a 2-hour countdown. They stay in the cabin for a while, but decide to ditch it and get a car. They make there way to Philadelphia, in search of information on what happened to Sarah, the girl that Mila was design to look like, and who’s brain matter lives in Mila’s head.

Later they run into Daniel, Samuel, Abby, and Hunter. Hunter is especially angry seeing Mila again. Mila had killed his stepfather under Quinn’s influence. Quinn had taken away Mila’s emotion and controlled her. Hunter, who was madly into love (or interested) with Mila until he found out what she is (an android weapon) acts like she has the measles and don’t even want to look at her.

In the last book they had such an adorable romance. Hunter loves anime, and he’s funny, and he found out that his stepfather works for the Vita Obscuro. Some romance develops between Mila and Lukas. He knew what she was from the start, and knows that she’s got part of Sarah’s brain in her head, so she’s not completely mechanical. Mila and Lucas joke about her androidness. He completely accepts her

The group visits the school that Sarah attending on the suspicious Watson Grant and discover that something sinister and possibly General Holland-related it going on there. I’m a bit disappointed in the ending. Similar to the disappointment of Allegiant’s ending. I like happy ending better. What’s with the martyr, sacrificing trend?

Cover Art Review: I love the purple. I miss the cover being metallic though.

Shades of Darkness by A. R. Kahler

Series: Ravenborn (bk. 1)

Genera(s): Mystery/Paranormal

Subjects: boarding schools, artists, death, supernatural, mythology

Setting: At a boarding school called Islington Arts Academy in northern Michigan, based off Interlochen Arts Academy outside Traverse City

POV/Tense:

Age/Grade Level: Teen

Length: 294 pgs.

HC/PB: Hardcover 

List Price: $17.99

Publisher: Simon & Schuster: Simon Pulse

Summary/ product description: “Islington Arts Academy is not an average high school. Nestled in the forests of Michigan, surrounded by trees and nature and virtually no evidence of civilization, it is an oasis for those looking to get away. Perfect for a student like Kaira Winters, who wants nothing more than to put her past behind her and focus on the present…and her looming graduation, just a few months away.

But the past has a way of returning when least expected.

Kaira knows that what happened before, at her old school, wasn’t normal. She knows that what happened to her ex-boyfriend wasn’t natural. But she refuses to believe that the recent death on campus, the one that left everyone on edge, has anything to do with her. She refuses to believe that she could be at fault again.

But just as the past always returns, the truth can never stay hidden for long.

Even if Kaira didn’t cause the first death at Islington, or the second, or the third, she has the ability to find out who did. She has the obligation to stop whatever is coming to campus. To end the darkness that is falling with the same snow that once blanketed the woods in beauty.

But to embrace this power—to relinquish herself to the ancient entity that has been lurking in the corners of her mind–is to let go of her humanity…and Kaira doesn’t know how far she can go before she loses herself completely.”

My Review:  Shades of Darkness is a pretty interesting read, but super exciting. I think the best part of it is the setting. It set at an art boarding school called Islington Arts Academy in northern Michigan, based off Interlochen Arts Academy outside Traverse City, an art school that the author attended. I actually camped at a KOA campground not to far from it, and of course I’ve been to Traverse City a few times. While I was reading the book I though maybe it was supposed to be in the Upper Peninsula, near Houghton, off Lake Superior. The specific location is never specified in the book, just “in the wood of northern Michigan, beside a lake.” It’s almost always snowing in the book. It’s true they get lots of snow up there.

I think it would be cool to attend a boarding school that’s art focus. I myself an in the school of art at NIU, getting my degree in Visual Communications (Graphic Design). I’ve taking some studio classes. I love painting, be I only use watercolor, gouache and sometimes acrylic. Kaira, the book’s main character, is an oil painter. She’s taking other studio classes, like silver-smithing too. She’s working on her senior thesis, which consists of paintings of tarot cards. Kaira is kind of quirky and dresses kind of strange, has magenta highlights, talks weird. She’s of Native American descent, but she was adopted. Her best friend is a gay guy named Ethan. He’s very sweet and funny and also an artist. He’s dating a bass player named Oliver. Ethan is the character that I believe the author based off himself.

There’s this guy named Chris, who likes Kaira, but she refuses to date since something bad happened to the last guy she dated. Chris is also a painter and is a truly nice guy. Kaira keeps seeing crow flocking around campus. She sees them a an omen for bad things. A student dies, and she believes something supernatural is going on. There’s a touch of Norse mythology woven in to the story that doesn’t become important till the end.

The story is kind of slow and repetitive. The word “gay” is over-used and I feel like we don’t need to be reminded of a character’s sexual identity constantly. Also, Kaira keeps saying she’s going to get a complex from something, or talking about how she came to the school to escape and that she’s used the workload as a distraction. It just gets so repetitive. There is a lot of humor and interesting dialogue though.

I recommend this series to fans of the House of Night series, Hex Hall, Vampire Academy, The Dark Elite series and any other boarding school books with supernatural elements of mystery.

Cover Art Review: I love this cover! I love any cover with the watercolor look. I tried painting like this before, but could never get this style of water color/ink down. The type treatment of the title is lovely too.

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.