Dove Exiled by Karen Bao

Series: Dove Chronicles (bk. 2)

Genera(s): Dystopian Sci-fi/Romance

Subjects: moon, space, space colonies, ocean, sea colonies, adventure, war, love

Setting: In Odan, a village on one of the British Isles, floating cities, a moon colony

POV/Tense: 1st person POV, present tense: Phaet Theta

Age/Grade Level: Teen

Length: 297 pgs.

HC/PB: Hardcover

List Price: $17.99

Publisher: Penguin: Viking

Summary/ product description: “The thrilling follow-up to the groundbreaking debut Dove Arising.

Phaet Theta fled the Moon and has been hiding on Earth with her friend Wes and his family. But Phaet’s past catches up with her when the Lunar Bases attack the community and reveal that Phaet is a fugitive. She’s torn between staying on Earth with Wes—whom she’s just discovered her feelings for—and stowing away on a Moon-bound ship to rescue her siblings from the wrath of the government who killed their mother. But when Phaet makes the agonizing decision to return to the Moon, she finds the rebel movement there has turned her into their “Girl Sage,” a symbol of their struggle. She’s the biggest celebrity on the Moon: half the people worship her, and the other half want her dead.”

My Review:  Dove Exiled is the sequel to Dove Arising. It starts out with Phaet on Earth, in a town called Odan with Wes. Odan is on an island within the Bristish Isles archipelago. The Odans hate technology and chemicals and use only organic stuff. The use bioluminescent bacteria for lights at night. They make their own clothes.

The Odan’s are not sure what to make of Phaet. Wes and her concoct a back-story the she is Fay, and was an engine room slave in Pacifia, a floating city that has a population made primarily of Asian people.  The Odans call Lunars “demons” because their lack of religion, and the Odans a very religious. This is mainly why Phaet could not tell then that she is Lunar.

Wes’s dad discovers her true identity and is not too happy about it. Wes and Phaet are exiled, but decide to help the Odans out and set off for the floating city of Battery Bay to help them because Pacifia is planning to attack Odan. Phaet wants to use Pacifia to get back to Base IV on the moon and save her brother Cygnus who’s being tortured there.

I really thought the idea floating cities was cool. I thought they were going to be just huge ships, but they are actually floating cities. Real cities with roads or cannels, tall towers and homes. One was called Tourmaline, which is this really beautiful long, straight gemstone.

Phaet gets back to the moon, and is a fugitive and trying to save her brother. Phaet get turned into a legend, a symbol of rebellion, kind of like Katniss as the Mockingjay, or even Mare as the Red Queen. They call her the Sage Girl. The rebellion called Dovetail, originally formed by Phaet’s mother, came up with a plan for the council election. Something causes difficulties for their plans.

This sequel was not bad, but I didn’t enjoy it as much as the first book. It was a lot shorter, and also I forgot what happened exactly in the previous book. I think the book begins month later after the first book ended.

I recommend this book series to fans of: Divergent by Veronica Roth, Cinder by Melissa Meyer, The Hunger Games, Matched or Atlantia by Ally Condie, Reboot by Amy Tintera, and other various dystopian series. Also, if you enjoy books set in space, like Across the Universe by Beth Revis.

Cover Art Review: Much better than previous book’s cover. Cool illustrations. Love the city in the background.

The Siren by Kiera Cass

Series: Standalone

Genera(s): Paranormal Romance

Subjects: sirens, mythology, supernatural, ocean, love

Setting: Miami, Florida, South Carolina, Maine, New York City...(and various other places)

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

Age/Grade Level: Teen

Length: 327 pgs.

HC/PB: Hardcover

List Price: $18.99

Publisher: HarperTeen

Summary/ product description: “From Kiera Cass, #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Selection series, comes a sweeping stand-alone fantasy romance.

A girl with a secret.

The boy of her dreams.

An Ocean between them.

Years ago, Kahlen was rescued from drowning by the Ocean. To repay her debt, she has served as a Siren ever since, using her voice to lure countless strangers to their deaths. Though a single word from Kahlen can kill, she can’t resist spending her days on land, watching ordinary people and longing for the day when she will be able to speak and laugh and live freely among them again.

Kahlen is resigned to finishing her sentence in solitude...until she meets Akinli. Handsome, caring, and kind, Akinli is everything Kahlen ever dreamed of.

Falling in love with a human breaks the Ocean’s rules. But for the first time in a lifetime of following the rules, Kahlen is determined to follow her heart.”

My Review:  The Siren is a standalone paranormal romance novel written by the author of the Selection series. The Siren was Kiera’s first book, and this is a edited and republished version. I never read the original version that was an ebook with a purple cover, but this version was pretty good. Not as good as the Selection, but I love the mythology stuff.

Kahlen (Is it pronounced Collen or Kaylen?) was changed into a siren back in early 1930s, during the depression. She was on a boat that sirens were sinking and she cried out and they decided to save her. They made her a siren and she has a to serve the Ocean for 100 years. Now it’s 80 years into her service and she’s growing a bit weary. Kahlen dreams a romance and love. Her sisters are worried that she’s becoming depressed. Miaka is originally from WWII era Japan and is an amazing painter. Elizabeth, with her golden brown hair and love a fashion, grew up in the late 60s/early 70s. Aisling is from Sweden and her time as a siren is almost up. Soon she meets a boy named Akinli.

Kahlen and her siren sisters are living in Miami at the time. Kahlen vists the local college and sometimes sketches on the benches. Kahlen goes to the university library to look at cake recipes. Akinli walks by and decides to talk to her. Kahlen and her sisters are not aloud to speak to human in their voices, otherwise the human walk to a watery death. They have to pretend to be mute or deaf. The have to use sign language or write around other people. Akinli finds Kahlen’s silence mysterious and want to get to know her.

I think Kahlin and Akinli’s romance is cute. What irritated me was that there wasn’t enough of it. Kahlen is pulled away from him multiple times by her responsibility to her sister and the Ocean. Akinli is very talkative and understanding. He works around Kahlen muteness. He’s a very sweet guy. He’s blond and kind of scruffy. He’s also from Maine. There’s a part of the book in which Kahlen visits his hometown. It reminded of the Siren series by Tricia Rayburn. 

I liked the siren mythology. They don’t have tails, but when they enter the ocean dresses made of sea salt form on their bodies. The Ocean, which the call a Her/She, is like a goddess that speaks to them and tells them to sing and sink ships because those deaths will give others a chance to live.

If you enjoyed any series about sirens or mermaids, then read The Siren. Especially if you were a fan of Tricia Rayburn’s Siren series, Lies Beneath by Anne Greenwood Brown or the Watersong series.

Cover Art Review: Beautiful cover! Metallic and velvety. Love the dress and the ocean.

Dark Water by Tricia Raybrun

Publication Date: Came out in July 2012

Series: Siren (bk. 3)

Genera(s): Paranormal Romance

Subjects: sirens, supernatural, mythology, small towns, ocean, murder, mystery, summer

Setting: Winter Harbor, Maine

POV/Tense: 1^st person POV, past tense: Vanessa Sands

Age/Grade Level: Teen

Length: 362 pgs.

HC/PB: Now in Paperback

List Price: $9.99

Publisher: Egmont

Summary/ product description: “When seventeen-year-old Vanessa reunites with her biological mother, she faces the dilemma of a siren's existence, that in order to survive she must endanger the lives of those she loves most.”

My Review:  After a few years of waiting, I finally finish this series by reading Undercurrent and Dark Water back-to-back. The first book, Siren, took place in Winter Harbor, the sequel, Undercurrent was mostly set in Boston, but they went back to Winter Harbor a few times. Dark Water, the finally, is almost exclusively in Winter Harbor and like the first book, it’s summertime.

The setting plays a major role in this book. There’s nothing as fun as a summertime story set in a seaside town. Of course, the people of Winter Harbor haven’t exactly been having fun this summer. Last summer’s freak events have kept tourists from coming to their town and the economy is down. Betty’s is practically empty and Paige is trying to come up with ideas to bring more people in. Vanessa works as a hostess there again.

Vanessa’s parents are selling their lake house and buying a house close to the ocean. Since her parent now know about Vanessa’s siren heritage, they’re doing whatever they can to help her, like letting her go for nighttime swim or adding salt into her food and drinks. Her mother acts a little overbearing and obsessively decorates their new summer home. Then murders start happening again. This time women instead of men are a dying. The town freaks outs. Vanessa’s parents are freaked to and not thrilled about staying in Winter Harbor anymore.

On top of that, Vanessa’s real mom, Charlotte, shows up. She looks aged and week. She’s there to see Vanessa and tell her some things, and then want to go to Canada to visit other sirens. Also, Vanessa is trying to repair her relationship with Simon, who’s the only guy her powers don’t affect. She loves him, but he’s hurt after last year. Vanessa also learns other way to gain power, by contact with other men and using her inner voice.

I have loved the character of this series. I love that Simon’s a bit of a science geek. Vanessa reminds me a lot of Nora from Hush, Hush. Paige is a funny best friend character. She reminds me a little of Arianne from Fallen. This series is sometimes dark and atmospheric. It feels like a horror or thriller mystery at times. It reminds me a lot of the Hush, Hush series. It’s also got Siren mythology, which is cool. I definitely recommend this series to fans of Becca Fitzapatrick, Kimberly Derting, and Lauren Kate. It’s set in Maine. It’s paranormal. It’s amazing. I wish Tricia Rayburn would write more paranormal books like this series.

Cover Art Review: I like the cover except the title being in black.