UnDivided by Neal Shusterman

Series: The Unwind Dystology (bk. 4)

Genera(s): Dystopian Sci-fi/Thriller

Subjects: fugitives, organ transplants, revolutionaries, survival, resistance to government

Setting: Near future, throughout the United States

POV/Tense: 3rd person POV, present tense. Alternates between many characters including Conner, Risa, Lev, Cam, Starkey and others.

Age/Grade Level: Teen

Length: 372 pgs.

HC/PB: Hardcover

List Price: $17.99

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Summary/ product description: “Teens control the fate of America in the fourth and final book in the New York Times bestselling Unwind dystology by Neal Shusterman.

Proactive Citizenry, the company that created Cam from the parts of unwound teens, has a plan: to mass produce rewound teens like Cam for military purposes. And below the surface of that horror lies another shocking level of intrigue: Proactive Citizenry has been suppressing technology that could make unwinding completely unnecessary. As Conner, Risa, and Lev uncover these startling secrets, enraged teens begin to march on Washington to demand justice and a better future.

But more trouble is brewing. Starkey’s group of storked teens is growing more powerful and militant with each new recruit. And if they have their way, they’ll burn the harvest camps to the ground and put every adult in them before a firing squad—which could destroy any chance America has for a peaceful future.”

My Review:  UnDivided is an epic finale to the Unwind Dystology. It brings together all the character, showing us their perspectives (in 3^rd person, present tense). Conner and Risa are living in Sonia’s basement, and Lev is with the Chancefolk. Starkey is leading his storks to take down harvest camps. Cam is in Hawaii. They all make decisions and do things that either help end Unwinding or egg it on further, even unknowingly.

This series is so complex, I can’t even begin to unwind it my self. Neal Schusterman is an awesome plotter and storyteller. He adds horrors to this dystopian series. I find the characters to be interesting and different from each other still. This being the fourth book, no new characters are introduced except a guy who sells unwind parts. There’s so much going on.

There’s so much that seems familiar, yet you’d never think that people today would support something like this. There are quotes from article in this book about human trafficking or kidney and other stuff that relate to this book. This could actually happen if medical science ever has these capabilities. I sure hope this kind of world stays fictional.

As far as series ending go, this was a great one. Compared to the Maze Runner’s final book, the Death Cure, or even Allegiant, or Mockingjay, UnDivided both horrifies and amazes me with how thing worked out. I was worried for the characters. That makes it a page-turner and a thrill ride. When a book care scare you, yet you can’t stop reading, it’s doing its job. I don’t know what else to say. You won’t be disappointed if you’re a fan of the series. Or maybe you will because you never want it to end. Unwind started out a standalone and then a planned trilogy and now this quartet. It’s nice to see it end the right way. If you never read this series and are a dystopian fan, then you’re missing out on some important literature. It’s you liked Michael Grant’s Gone series, it’s written in a similar way.

Cover Art Review:  A better cover than all the previous books, I think. Love the stitched up arm of Liberty. Symbolic and illustrative at the same time.

Exquisite Captive by Heather Demetrios

Series: Dark Caravan Cycle (bk. 1)

Genera(s): Paranormal Romance/Fantasy

Subjects: jinn, supernatural, magic, alternate worlds, mythology

Setting: Los Angeles, California, various other places around the world, and the world of Arjinna

POV/Tense: 3^rd person past tense: Nalia and Raif, and present tense chapters of various jinn.

Age/Grade Level: Teen

Length: 463 pgs.

HC/PB: Hardcover

List Price: $17.99

Publisher: HarperTeen: Balzer & Bray

Summary/ product description: “Forced to obey her master.

Compelled to help her enemy.

Determined to free herself.

Nalia is a jinni of tremendous ancient power, the only survivor of a coup that killed nearly everyone she loved. Stuffed into a bottle and sold by a slave trader, she’s now in hiding on the dark caravan, the lucrative jinni slave trade between Arjinna and Earth, where jinn are forced to grant wishes and obey their human masters’ every command. She’d give almost anything to be free of the golden shackles that bind her to Malek, her handsome, cruel master, and his lavish Hollywood lifestyle.

Enter Raif, the enigmatic leader of Arjinna’s revolution and Nalia’s sworn enemy. He promises to free Nalia from her master so that she can return to her ravaged homeland and free her imprisoned brother—all for an unbearably high price. Nalia’s not sure she can trust him, but Raif’s her only hope of escape. With her enemies on the hunt, Earth has become more perilous than ever for Nalia. There’s just one catch: for Raif’s unbinding magic to work, Nalia must gain possession of her bottle…and convince the dangerously persuasive Malek that she truly loves him. Battling a dark past and harboring a terrible secret, Nalia soon realizes her freedom may come at a price too terrible to pay: but how far is she willing to go for it?

Inspired by Arabian Nights, EXQUISITE CAPTIVE brings to life a deliciously seductive world where a wish can be a curse and shadows are sometimes safer than the light.

My Review:  I got way more that I expected out of this book. When I first heard about it, I thought it was some historical fairy tale retelling of Aladdin. Thank goodness that’s not what this book is. It’s a mix of paranormal romance and fantasy, set in modern Los Angeles. I love this take on Jinn. Jinn from Middle Eastern Islamic mythology (Djinn, Genie) appeared out of a magic lamps and granted wishes. (Mentioned on Ancient Aliens, Jinn could have been projections of holograms of aliens).

These jinn all have elemental based powers and can grant wishes or manifest things by drawing energy from their element. They comes from a world called Arjinna and are separated by their elemental castes. Wikipedia mentions the different types of Jinn: “The social organization of the jinn community resembles that of humans; e.g., they have kings, courts of law, weddings, and mourning rituals. One common belief in Muslim lore lists five distinct orders of demons — the Marid (the strongest type), the Ifrit, the Shaitan, the Jinn, and the Jann (the weakest type).” In the book the Marid have the element of water, the Ifrit have fire, the Shaitan have air and the 4^th type, the Djan have Earth.

Nalia can draw power from air, water, fire and earth, and that make her a rare kind of Jinn. The royal caste of Jinn called the Ghan Aisouri, which are all but extinct. The fire powered Ifrit jinn have been killing then off. The other lower caste hated the Aisouri rulers because they forced them into servitude. Nalia has a fiery strong personality and stubborn. She doesn’t like being forced to do things for her master and want badly to escape and save her brother who was taken from her. She meets Raif, a Djan revolutionary who may be able to help her in exchange for an important relic. Raif has prejudices against the Aisouri, and seems to hate Nalia at first, but their relation changes as they get to know each other. Romance happens!

There are also undertones of human trafficking/slavery in this book. Stuff like this happens in real life. Girls get sold to men in foreign countries. (If you ever seen Taken with Liam Niesen, when the daughter is taken.) This book is magical and a supernatural romance. Nalia has to try to seduce her master Malek, even if he seems like a sick, horrible person.

This book is so complexly plotted, it has me excited for the rest of the series. There needs to be more unique paranormal/fantasies that take mythology to a whole new level. This is that kind of book. If your interested in Eastern/Asian myth and legend and books about fantastical world parallel to our own, than make Exqusite Captive you next read! Don’t bottle up you reading list! Put this book on your wishlist.

Nalia is stuck with a very powerful master who won’t grant his final wish, so she’s his slave.

Cover Art Review: I love the colors and the type on the cover. The bracelet it nice, but I wish it was more detailed. Maybe the second book will be violet and gold instead of blueish and orange

Unbreakable by Kami Garcia

Series: The Legion (bk. 1)

Genera(s): Paranormal Romance/Horror

Subjects: supernatural, ghosts, ghost hunters, secret societies, demons, demonology, love

Setting: Washington DC, Virginia, Maryland, West Virginia

POV/Tense: 1^st person POV, past tense: Kennedy Waters

Age/Grade Level: Teen

Length: 305 pgs.

HC/PB: Hardcover and in Paperback

List Price: $18.00/$9.99

Publisher: Hachette: Little, Brown

Summary/ product description: “Supernatural meets The Da Vinci Code in this action-packed paranormal thriller, the first book in a new series from New York Times bestselling author Kami Garcia.

I never believed in ghosts. Until one tried to kill me.

When Kennedy Waters finds her mother dead, her world begins to unravel. She doesn’t know that paranormal forces in a much darker world are the ones pulling the strings. Not until identical twins Jared and Lukas Lockhart break into Kennedy’s room and destroy a dangerous spirit sent to kill her. The brothers reveal that her mother was part of an ancient secret society responsible for protecting the world from a vengeful demon — a society whose five members were all murdered on the same night.

Now Kennedy has to take her mother’s place in the Legion if she wants to uncover the truth and stay alive. Along with new Legion members Priest and Alara, the teens race to find the only weapon that might be able to destroy the demon — battling the deadly spirits he controls every step of the way.

Suspense, romance, and the paranormal meet in this chilling urban fantasy, the first book in a new series from Kami Garcia, bestselling coauthor of the Beautiful Creatures novels.”

My Review:  What if the Winchesters from Supernatural were teenage twin brothers and part of a secret society called the Legion and the story was told from the perspective of a teen girl? That’s basically what this book is like. I like the main character. Kennedy has a unique combination of talents. She’s not only a really talented artist, but she also has a photographic memory. After her mother dies, she’s devastated. A few weeks later she plans to go to a boarding school, but plans change when a spirit attacks her in her house and two guys show up and shoot the spirit. Jared and Lukas hunt the paranormal and are part of the Legion.

Kennedy travels with them to meet the other two Legion members, Alara and Priest.  These teens all recently suffered the loss of their mentors, which are a family member, so now the Legion is made up of these teens. Alara is really interesting. He grandma taught her some voodoo spells and portions to ward off evil. She hates the color pink. Priest is goofy and invents weapons to destroy evil spirits. Jared fights and Lukas searches for paranormal activity. They believe Kennedy is the 5^th member of Legion, but she doesn’t believe it.

The plot is mainly about the teens visiting haunted places in search for pieces of a weapon that can supposedly destroy a demon. Some of the spirit they meet along the way a vengeance spirits and evil, while others are innocent and benign. They destroy or help. Some creepy stuff happens, but it’s pretty thrilling and exciting. This book is a perfect Halloween read or dark-and-stormy-night read. It’s not so creepy you’ll get the chills, but creepy enough.

This book and Anna Dressed in Blood are the only YA books I can truly say are similar to my favorite TV show, Supernatural. So what’s with all the bad reviews on Goodreads? This is a good book! I recommend it to those who love YA paranormal and Supernatural. There’s evil spirits and demons and symbols and devil’s traps! Also, recommend it to fans of shows like Ghost Adventures, Ghost Hunters, Constantine, Grimm and other paranormal shows and horror movies. Also if you liked the Ghost Huntress series.

Cover Art Review: The cover is great with the big gothic U and the face and colors, but I’m still kind of jelous of this UK edition with Kennedy on the front:

In My Mailbox 10-30-2014

I won both of these book. I tried reading Forbidden. Kind of not in the mood for any Hist Fic with Halloween a day away. Might finish it, might not.

Here are the recent books I have ordered:

I bought Waterfall by Lauren Kate at Target!

I bought this at Meijer:

I found these books at Goodwill. The Orbis one is signed.

More library books! Too many books!

On a non-book note, I bought the new Taylor Swift album!!!