Undeadly by Michele Vail

Series: The Reaper Diaries (bk. 1)

Genera: Paranormal Romance (set in a semi-dystopian/alternate hist. world)

Subjects: Supernatural, necromancer, reapers, mythology, Egyptian mythology, Anubis, gods, magic, boarding schools, zombies, ghosts

Age/Grade Level: Teen

Length: 267 pgs.

HC/PB: Paperback

List Price: $9.99

Publisher: HarlequinTeen

Summary/ product description: “The day I turned 16, my boyfriend-to-be died. I brought him back to life. Then things got a little weird...
Molly Bartolucci wants to blend in, date hottie Rick and keep her zombie-raising abilities on the down-low. Then the god Anubis chooses her to become a reaper—and she accidentally undoes the work of another reaper, Rath. Within days, she's shipped off to the Nekyia Academy, an elite boarding school that trains the best necromancers in the world. And her personal reaping tutor? Rath.
Life at Nekyia has its plusses. Molly has her own personal ghoul, for one. Rick follows her there out of the blue, for another...except, there's something a little off about him. When students at the academy start to die and Rath disappears, Molly starts to wonder if anything is as it seems. Only one thing is certain—-Molly's got an undeadly knack for finding trouble....”

My Rating: êêê

My Review: This book was different than I expected. There was not much Romance as I wanted. I really liked Rath. Rick reminded me too much of Heath from House of Night. A lot of other people agree that this book is similar the House of Night series. I feel like this book dragged out the beginning too much. I would have rather had more boarding school stuff. There were a lot of clichés, but out of all the clichés left out, why no love triangle? There was no depth to the story.

Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed it for the most part. I think the world building is interesting. An alternate history of Necromancer and Zombies being known to everyone. All the different hekas and parts of the soul. It was very interesting. It reminded me of the Shade series and House of Night series put together, except with Egyptian stuff. I liked Molly’s voice, even with the outdated slang. The book could just use some tweets. I could have been better if it was about 100 pages longer, with a steamy romance. Seriously, more Rath. My favorite Reaper is Todd from the Soul Screamers series. The hot reaper really needs to be played up more. I just felt like some stuff was rushed/forced. It needs more build up. This is the first book in a series, so I’m sure book 2 will be better. There is a cliff hanger at the end.

Cover Art Review: The cover is kind of generic for paranormal romance. I do like the lace, though. I’m pretty sure I could have made a better cover than this one.

 

~Haley G

Feedback by Robison Wells

Series: Variant (bk. 2)

Genera: Sci-fi/dystopian/thriller

Subjects: robots, androids, boarding schools, mystery

Age/Grade Level: Teen

Length: 310 pgs.

HC/PB: Hardcover

List Price: $17.99

Publisher: HarperTeen

Summary/ product description: “Benson Fisher escaped from Maxfield Academy’s deadly rules and brutal gangs.
Or so he thought.
But now Benson is trapped in a different kind of prison: a town filled with hauntingly familiar faces. People from Maxfield he saw die. Friends he was afraid he had killed.
They are all pawns in the school’s twisted experiment, held captive and controlled by an unseen force. As he searches for answers, Benson discovers that Maxfield Academy’s plans are more sinister than anything he imagined—and they may be impossible to stop.
Variant blew readers away with its breakneck pacing, flawless plotting, and impossibly high stakes. It earned starred reviews from both Publishers Weekly and VOYA, which described it as “an exciting, edge-of-your-seat read that combines psychological themes from works like Lord of the Flies, The Hunger Games, and Ender’s Game in a truly unique way.”
In Feedback, Robison Wells delivers all the answers you’ve been craving—with enough twists and turns to keep readers guessing until the very last page.”

My Rating: êêêê

My Review: Not as good as Variant, but not bad at all. Slower and less mysterious, but with more sci-fi. But the ending was epic. I want book 3 now!

 

My review of the first book, what I thought of Variant: “This book was very different and so much better than I expected. It was about the most twisted, crazy boarding school ever. The students were very odd and the whole gang thing was just plain weird. The author did an awesome job of throwing all these elements together and creating a fast paced story that kept me wondering what was going on. Sure, I already knew that there was something about robots in it, but that just intrigued me more. Oh, and there’s a lot of paintball in here. I’m sure that some guys will love this book. Especially if you like the Maze Runner series. This book is almost dystopian. It’s just a very different kind of dystopian, one that’s in the present and set in an experimental environment. The students have to work together to survive. There’s a system based off of points and punishments. The punishments are sometimes extreme. And detention here could possibly mean death. <br/>I highly recommend this. It’s fresh and exciting. I so happy I gave it a chance. I wish there were more different and unique sci-fi books out there like this one.”

 

Now my review of Feedback:

So this book’s first 200 pages were not as fast paced as Variant. Sadly, no more paintball or gangs But after page 200 it picks up, and the last 50 pages or so a mind blowing. Lots of action, and a few freaky discoveries, and unanswered questions that will leave you begging for book 3. I was guessing the androids had something to do with Aliens. It didn’t get answered, so who knows what will happen in book 3?

In this book Benson’s relationship with Becky becomes more apparent. He’s really protective of her since she got injured. And also there’s some more bizarre, futuristic medical technology that can heal wounds faster. There’s some really awesome stuff in here if you look past the boring parts.

So fans of Maze Runner, the Hunger Games, the Gone series, or people who enjoyed Quarentine: The Loners by Lex Thomas, or The Forsaken by Lisa M. Stasse. If you have not discovered the Variant series, then you are missing out! Terminator fans may also enjoy this. And there’s some other awesome robo-stopians coming out next year like Revolution 19 and Mila 2.0.

A.I, Robots, Androids, Cyborgs. You know they make a thriller awesome.

Cover Art Review: Just as shiny and rainbow as the 1^st book’s cover. Red instead of blue. It’s a good, mysterious cover.

 

~Haley G

The Loners by Lex Thomas

Series: Quarantine (bk. 1)

Genera: Sci-fi/Dystopian

Subjects: Schools, quarantine, viruses, diseases, survival, gangs

Age/Grade Level: Older Teens (recommend 16+)

Length: 404 pgs.

HC/PB: Hardcover

List Price: $17.99

Publisher: Egmont

Summary/ product description: ““As original as The Hunger Games, set within the walls of a high school exactly like yours.” – Kami Garcia, New York Times best-selling co-author of the Beautiful Creatures novels
It was just another ordinary day at McKinley High—until a massive explosion devastated the school. When loner David Thorpe tried to help his English teacher to safety, the teacher convulsed and died right in front of him. And that was just the beginning.
A year later, McKinley has descended into chaos. All the students are infected with a virus that makes them deadly to adults. The school is under military quarantine. The teachers are gone. Violent gangs have formed based on high school social cliques. Without a gang, you’re as good as dead. And David has no gang. It’s just him and his little brother, Will, against the whole school.
In this frighteningly dark and captivating novel, Lex Thomas locks readers inside a school where kids don’t fight to be popular, they fight to stay alive.
"Take Michael Grant's Gone and Veronica Roth's Divergent, rattle them in a cage until they're ready to fight to the death, and you'll have something like this nightmarish debut...Thomas' whirlwind pace, painful details, simmering sexual content, and moments of truly shocking ultra-violence thrust this movie-ready high school thriller to the head of the class." - Booklist (starred review)”

My Rating: êêê1/2

My Review: This book was similar to a lot of books I’ve read, but also very unique. It would have been a very good book if it weren’t for the disgusting parts, where I gag when I pictured them. I think the white hair and dyed hair gangs were interesting. I know that I would definitely be in the art Geeks, so I’d have to dye my hair black. The beginning happened to fast though. Why did the explosion happen first thing in the morning, on the first day of school? Couldn’t it wait a few periods? The author needed to slow things down a bit, and why skip to a year later? Because that’s when there’re little society is fully running? I enjoyed this book, but it was definitely missing some this. It had action, world building, characters, but it’s just missing something.

This book was similar to the following books (if you’ve read and liked them, you may like this book). The Gone novels by Michael Grant, Lord of the Flies, No Safety in Numbers, Monument 14, This is Not a Test, The Hunger Games series. Books about quarantine or teens surviving on their own.

Cover Art Review: I really like this cover. That science class is totally destroyed! They must have put a lot of work into making this What an awesome mess!

~Haley G

This is Not a Test by Courtney Summers

Publisher: MacMillan: St. Martin’s Griffin

Series: (Standalone)

Genera: Sci-fi Dystopian/Horror

Subjects: Zombies, survival, schools

Length: 322 pgs.

HC/PB: Paperback

Summary/ product description: “It’s the end of the world. Six students have taken cover in Cortege High but shelter is little comfort when the dead outside won’t stop pounding on the doors. One bite is all it takes to kill a person and bring them back as a monstrous version of their former self.
To Sloane Price, that doesn’t sound so bad. Six months ago, her world collapsed and since then, she’s failed to find a reason to keep going. Now seems like the perfect time to give up. As Sloane eagerly waits for the barricades to fall, she’s forced to witness the apocalypse through the eyes of five people who actually want to live.
But as the days crawl by, the motivations for survival change in startling ways and soon the group’s fate is determined less and less by what’s happening outside and more and more by the unpredictable and violent bids for life—and death—inside.
When everything is gone, what do you hold on to?”

My Rating: êêê1/2

My Review: I’m slightly disappointed in this book. Mostly because the main character, Sloane, would rather die than try to survive. She’s suicidal, depressed because her sister left her with her abusive dad. When the zombie apocalypse arrives, she think that she took the pills and this is all a dream and that she’ll be dead soon. When she’s saved by classmates, it takes them a week to make it to the school when the story takes place.

The whole story is about they’re survival and who they can trust. There are zombies outside and they have to keep it that way. The story doesn’t focus on the zombies. It focuses on the survivors. On people. I didn’t care much for the characters, but I did like the suspense of their survival.

I did enjoy this book enough to finish it in one day. It was pretty fast paced, set in 1^st person, present tense. It feels like you’re in the moment.

If you liked any of the books about teens surviving in a confined space, or the Forest of Hands in Teeth series, you may like this book. I you like contemporary books about social issues and books about survival or zombies, then this may be the perfect read for you.

Cover Art Review: Cool and creepy. Looks like the girl’s neck it getting snapped. I like the red blood got in the corner.

~Haley G