The Hunt by Megan Shepherd

Series: The Cage (bk. 2)

Genera(s): Dystopian Sci-fi

Subjects: aliens, extraterrestrials, psychic ability,

Setting: In an enclosure called the Hunt, and also the alien space station it’s in.

POV/Tense: 3rd person POV limited and past tense, rotating between the human characters: Cora (mainly), Lucky, Rolf, Nok, Leon and Mali

Age/Grade Level: Teen

Length: 359 pgs.

HC/PB: Hardcover

List Price: $17.99

Publisher: HarperTeen: Balzer + Bray

Summary/ product description: “They’ve left the cage—but they’re not free yet.

After their failed escape attempt, Cora, Lucky, and Mali have been demoted to the lowest level of human captives and placed in a safari-themed environment called the Hunt, along with wild animals and other human outcasts. They must serve new Kindred masters—Cora as a lounge singer, Lucky as an animal wrangler, and Mali as a safari guide—and follow new rules or face dangerous consequences. Meanwhile, Nok and Rolf have been moved into an enormous dollhouse, observed around the clock by Kindred scientists interested in Nok’s pregnancy. And Leon, the only one who successfully escaped, has teamed up with villainous Mosca black-market traders.

The former inhabitants of the Cage are threatened on all fronts—and maybe worst of all, one of the Hunt’s Kindred safari guests begins to play a twisted game of cat and mouse with Cora. Separated and constantly under watch, she and the others must struggle to stay alive, never mind find a way back to each other. When Cassian secretly offers to train Cora to develop her psychic abilities—to prove the worthiness of humanity in a series of tests called the Gauntlet—she’ll have to decide fast if she dares to trust the Kindred who betrayed her, or if she can forge her own way to freedom.”

My Review:  The Hunt is the sequel to Megan Shepherd’s sci-fi book, The Cage. Like in the Cage, we get to read chapters in 3^rd person limited perspectives of Cora (the main protagonist), Lucky, Leon, Rolf, Nok, and Mali. In the Cage, they we stuck in a large menagerie with 8 biomes (desert, tundra, mountains, ocean, farm, swamp, jungle, and grasslands), as well as a fake town with store and restaurant in which the could play games and get rewarded. The Kindred (the tall human-like aliens with metallic bronze skin, black hair and all black eye when cloaked) observed and studied their interaction and paired them up as mating partners, but Nok and Rolf were the only ones to procreate. Cassian, who had said he was their caretaker turned out to be the warden and also seems to be attracted to Cora.

In the Hunt, after trying to escape the cage and being caught, Cora is send to a different menagerie called the Hunt. It’s place where Kindred go usually for entertainment and drinks and also to experience the thrill of an African safari hunt usually synthetic non-lethal rifles. Cora is forced to sing and interact with guests. Cassian has deemed this menagerie to be the safest and most private option for him and Cora to talk and make plans.

Cora feels betrayed by Cassian because he used the escape to push her or “break her.” He wanted to see her potential to use psychic abilities that could help humans evolve into “intelligent” beings. He’s part if a secret movement called the Fifth of Five, trying to free humans from slavery and oppression by the four intelligent alien races. He wants to train her in perceptive abilities so she can run the Gauntlet. The Gauntlet is a computer run test of physical abilities, intelligence, morality and perceptive/psychic abilities. Other humans have tried and failed to succeed, often losing their mind or even dying. This would be a huge risk for Cora, but Cassian believes she has the potential to succeed.

Lucky and Malia are also sent to work in the Hunt. Leon is working with Mosca black-market traders because unlike the Mosca, he can crawl through tunnels and also they have alcohol. Nok is pregnant with a girl, who she wants to call sparrow. Nok and Rolf are sent to live in a dollhouse with one missing wall that kindred can watch their interactions though. Nok is afraid that her baby will be taken from her.

This was a really great sequel. It feels very unique. We get to see a lot more of this alien space station than the first book. The characters are all unique and different from each other. They’re very diverse since they’re different nationalities and races. I love all the sci-fi stuff, and especially the psychic abilities. There’s even a little romance. I’m not a big fan of 3^rd person perspective, but Megan made it work well. She’s the author that wrote a historical fiction series I actually enjoyed, so I can’t wait to see what she write next. I can’t wait to read the 3^rd and final book in the Cage trilogy. There was a bit of a cliffhanger ending in the Hunt.

I recommend this book to fans of The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey, The Taking by Kimberly Derting, Gone by Michael Grant, and The 100 by Kass Morgan.

Cover Art Review: The cover cool, but maybe a little busy and I’m not a fan of the plain glossy paper.

The Cage by Megan Shepherd

Series: The Cage (bk. 1)

Genera(s): Dystopian Sci-fi

Subjects: aliens, extraterrestrials, psychic ability,

Setting: In a alien zoo, or enclosure with various environments

POV/Tense: 3^rd person POV limited and past tense, rotating between the human characters: Cora (mainly), Lucky, Rolf, Nok, Leon and Mali

Age/Grade Level: Teen

Length: 385 pgs.

HC/PB: Hardcover 

List Price: $17.99

Publisher: HarperTeen: Balzer + Bray

Summary/ product description: “The Maze Runner meets Scott Westerfeld in this gripping new series about teens held captive in a human zoo by an otherworldly race. From Megan Shepherd, the acclaimed author of The Madman's Daughter trilogy.

When Cora Mason wakes in a desert, she doesn't know where she is or who put her there. As she explores, she finds an impossible mix of environments—tundra next to desert, farm next to jungle, and a strangely empty town cobbled together from different cultures—all watched over by eerie black windows. And she isn't alone.

Four other teenagers have also been taken: a beautiful model, a tattooed smuggler, a secretive genius, and an army brat who seems to know too much about Cora's past. None of them have a clue as to what happened, and all of them have secrets. As the unlikely group struggles for leadership, they slowly start to trust each other. But when their mysterious jailer—a handsome young guard called Cassian—appears, they realize that their captivity is more terrifying than they could ever imagine: Their captors aren't from Earth. And they have taken the five teenagers for an otherworldly zoo—where the exhibits are humans.

As a forbidden attraction develops between Cora and Cassian, she realizes that her best chance of escape might be in the arms of her own jailer—though that would mean leaving the others behind. Can Cora manage to save herself and her companions? And if so . . . what world lies beyond the walls of their cage?”

My Review:  From the author that wrote a historical fiction book that I actually enjoyed, comes a sci-fi story about an alien zoo. Megan Shepard is a genius at writing unique and interesting characters. She knows how to make thrilling mysteries within multiple generas. I was really excited when I heard about The Cage. It sounded really unique, and it is.

The alien zoo isn’t really a zoo in the normal sense. It’s an environment with different biomes. 6 teens were picked to live in this environment: Cora, Lucky, Leon, Rolf, Nok and another girl who died right away. Cora is the main character, and she’s the daughter of a Virginia Senator. Lucky is also from Virginia, but had moved to Montana. Leon is from New Zealand, Rolf from Norway, but went to school in London. Nok if Thai, but she moved to London to be a model. All these characters have a trait that the aliens desired, and that is why they were taken.

There are 8 biomes: desert, tundra, mountains, ocean, farm, swamp, jungle, and grasslands. There’s also a town with various building, such as a candy shop, toy store, diner and more.  There are games in the buildings that they can earn tokens to buy stuff with, much like a fun zone/arcade. The teens only asked to stay healthy, play the games, and procreate.

I’ve read quite a few books about aliens lately, but none of them had full-on aliens. Series like The 5^th Wave, Scan and The Rules had aliens that wear pretty much human, and The Cage has aliens that look different from humans. The main ones are called the kindred. They are humanoid, but have black eyes, metallic bronze skin and telepathic abilities. One kindred, their Caretaker (like zookeeper) named Cassian actually seems to care about human more than the rest. He sees them as more rather than lesser species. Cassian and Cora develop a forbidden romance because she was meant for Lucky.

I enjoyed the romance and the complexities of this story. There’s a lot of sci-fi elements that I enjoyed. There’s also a deep mystery. Why are the teens really there? What happened to Earth. Time seems to move strangely. Weird stuff happened. There are black viewing windows on wall that are not thick enough for a room in which the Kindred could watch them. Optical illusions of space. Just strange stuff going on. And as always with anything by Megan Shepherd, there’s a huge plot twist at the end! I recommend this book to fans of The 5^th Wave, Gone by Michael Grant, and The 100 by Kass Morgan.

Cover Art Review: I like the cover, but wish it was metallic and had more embossing than just the title.

Dead Silence by Kimberly Derting

Series: The Body Finder (bk. 4)

Genera(s): Paranormal Romance/Mystery Thriller

Subjects: murder, death, supernatural, psychics, psychic abilities, love

Setting: Washington state

POV/Tense: 3^rd person POV, past tense: Violet

Age/Grade Level: Teen

Length: 389 pgs.

HC/PB: Hardcover and in Paperback

List Price: $17.99/$9.99

Publisher: HarperTeen

Summary/ product description: “Violet thought she’d made peace with her unique ability to sense the echoes of the dead and the imprints that cling to their killers…that is until she acquired an imprint of her own. Forced to carry a reminder of the horrible events of her kidnapping, Violet is more determined than ever to lead a normal life. However, the people who run the special investigative team Violet works for have no intention of letting her go.

When someone close to Violet becomes a suspect in a horrific murder, she finds herself pulled into a deadly hunt for a madman with an army of devoted followers. Violet has survived dangerous situations before, but she quickly discovers that protecting those closest to her is far more difficult than protecting herself.”

My Review:  I waited over a year and a half to read this book! I haven’t read the Last Echo since it came out in May 2012, yet how could I forget the amazing characters and awesome story that Kimberly Derting created? When I first picked up The Body Finder is 2010, I had no idea what I was getting into. I wasn’t sure I was going to like it at all. I had a real treat because I ended up loving it. I usually had issues with 3^rd person perspective, but it turned out that it worked for this book.

In Dead Silence, Violet is stuck with the imprint of the killer that she killed in the previous book. A music box song that haunts her. She has her amazing boyfriend Jay and her friends, including Chelsea. Rafe and Gemma show up at her school on the first day of Senior year. They were part of crime solving team of psychics. Rafe is jealous that Violet’s in love with Jay and not him. Chelsea has a crush on Rafe, Gemma has a little crush on Jay.  I love the banter and humor between the characters. Jay is so cute and hot and he say some ridiculous and romantic things.  

Violet discovers bodies of a family at a house by a lake. The story’s plot revolves around finding the killer. We also get the killer’s perspective, as usual. The story has so creepy stuff as well as mystery. Just know that this is an awesome finale, and if you are familiar with the previous books and still have been putting off ending the series, there is nothing to fear! These book start with a bang (a prologue that teases the ending) and end with one.

If you have not read the Body Finder, it’s a YA paranormal crime thriller series. It’s kind of like Dead Beautiful by Yvonne Woon in that Violet can sense dead bodies. She can also identify the killer of the body by a matching imprint. Check it out and you won’t regret it.

Cover Art Review: Lovely red flower made of material like the other covers.