The Trap by Andrew Fukuda

Series: The Hunt (bk. 3)

Genera: Dystopian Sci-fi/Thriller

Subjects: vampires, love, survival

Age/Grade Level: Teen

Length: 309 pgs.

HC/PB: Hardcover

List Price: $18.99

Publisher: MacMillan: St. Martin’s Griffin

Summary/ product description: “From author Andrew Fukuda comes The Trap, the explosive finale to The Hunt trilogy—perfect for fans of The Hunger Games!

After barely escaping the Mission alive, Gene and Sissy face an impossible task: staying alive long enough to stop an entire world bent on their destruction. Bound on a train heading into the unknown with the surviving Mission girls, Gene, Sissy, David, and Epap must stick together and use everything they have to protect each other and their only hope: the cure that will turn the blood-thirsty creatures around them into humans again. Now that they know how to reverse the virus, Gene and Sissy have one final chance to save those they love and create a better life for themselves. But as they struggle to get there, Gene's mission sets him on a crash course with Ashley June, his first love . . . and his deadliest enemy”

My Review: My mind is officially blown. I’ve never read an ending like this! I’m not even sure what to say about it. I’m impressed. I feel like geeking out about it. It’s so cool and scary and a crazy thrill ride. I bet I’m going to have a major book hangover. I’m sure I’ll never look at anything the same way again. This series has been the definition of pulse-pounding, page turning action in the dystopian genera. This is definitely one world I would not like to live in.

It’s amazing that Gene was able to survive undetected for 17 years. This final installment does no disappoint and I’m happy to say that this is probably one of my favorite dystopian series that I’ve read. People have compared it to The Immortal Rules but Julie Kagawa, but this take on vampires is so completely different that it won’t feel like a knock-off. The characters are well developed and I truly care about them. We get Gene’s 1^st person, present tense perspective, and also the 3^rd person perspectives of Ashley June and Sissy. It’s great to see more of the story.

Sissy and Gene are in the palace now. There are other hepers there and are sometimes eating. They’re kept there like cattle in really gross catacombs. The Ruler lets Gene and Sissy leave only if they go assassinate Ashley June who’s going to reveal the whereabouts of the heper, which might lead to the palace being stormed. Along the way, discoveries are made. Gene and pretty pretty much all the hepers have been lied to about their past. Some characters die, and some are turned. It’s all very fast and un-putdownable. And that ending! That was kind of freaky.

SPOILER ALERT:

 It reminds me of Ancient Aliens, but without the aliens. I’m not sure how to express my feeling about it without giving everything away, but think of it as a secret history of vampires. Maybe this book wasn’t so futuristic after all, but like pre-biblical. Like the vampires are the First People or something. Gene-Sis, after all. I did notice the lack of cars. But really, it doesn’t seem to fit together well. There’s so many inconsistencies. I was like: No way! You can’t do that!!! It was completely mind-blowing and unique either way.

Cover Art Review: This cover is really cool a definitely fit the book and the dystopian genera. The title with the images inside are eye catching, and the green differentiates it from the previous books. It’s a great cover.

Descendant by Lesley Livingston

Series: Starling (bk. 2)

Genera: Paranormal Romance/Fantasy

Subjects: supernatural, magic, mythology, Norse mythology, Valkyries, faeries, gods and goddesses

Age/Grade Level: Teen

Length: 325 pgs.

HC/PB: Hardcover

List Price: $17.99

Publisher: HarperTeen

Summary/ product description: “The last thing Mason Starling remembers is the train crossing a bridge. An explosion . . . a blinding light . . . then darkness. Now she is alone, stranded in Asgard—the realm of Norse legend—and the only way for her to get home is to find the Spear of Odin, a powerful relic left behind by vanished gods.

The Fennrys Wolf knows all about Asgard. He was once trapped there. And he’ll do whatever it takes to find the girl who’s stolen his heart and bring her back—even if it means a treacherous descent into the Underworld. But time is running out, and Fenn knows something Mason doesn’t: If she takes up the Spear, she’ll set in motion a terrible prophecy. And she won’t just return to her world . . . she’ll destroy it.

In this pulse-pounding sequel to Starling, Lesley Livingston delivers another electrifying blend of nonstop action and undeniable romance that will leave readers breathless.”

My Review: This book had a lot of things that I really liked, and something that made is slightly boring. I really like most of the characters and the dialogue. I read the Wondrous Strange series, so I love seeing familiar faces again. I also love all the magic and mythology. What I had a hard time with is the 3^rd person narration. I think if I was listening to it as an audio book, I would have enjoyed it more. I listened to the first two Wondrous Strange book read by the author. Lesley does really good voice acting.

I don’t really care much for Mason, unless she says something funny. I love Fenn because he was a Viking supposedly and I like to picture him as a younger version of Thor. I loved that we get to see Maddox again. Him and Fenn have the funniest conversations. I also like Rafe, who’s Anubis. He’s got a great sense of humor too. Pretty much all my favorite parts in this book are humorous dialogue and banter.

I also loved when Mason met Loki. Sadly Loki doesn’t get a big role in this book. I felt disappointed because I love the Thor movies so much and really was hoping for more crazy Loki antics. Loki is kind of my favorite bad guy ever. It seem that the bad guys in this book are parents. Specifically Mason’s father, Gunner Starling. He wants Mason to become a Valkyrie and start Ragnarok. Why do the bad guys always want to cause the end of the world?

I do love all the mythology used in this book. There’s not only Norse mythology, but Egyptian and Greek and possibly some Roman and Celtic. This book has gods from all the ancient religions, pretty much.  Norse is the focus, but there was a lot of Egyptian stuff to because Anubis was in it.

The plot was okay, but I felt like it wasn’t really organized that well. Too much mind jumping. We get not only Mason and Fenn’s perspectives, by also Heather, Cal and a few other character. I don’t think I can truly call this 3^rd person limited. I’m not a fan of switching perspectives without some indication of who’s head we’re in. I was so confused at some points, that I kind of skimmed. The writing itself wasn’t bad. The descriptiveness of appearances and objects were beautifully done. I wanted to picture what was going on, but at times I felt lost.

I do recommend anything by Lesley Livingston. I suggest reading the Wondrous Strange series first because we get some of Fenn’s backstory as a Janus Guard. I recommend this book to fans of Percy Jackson and the Olympians, The Kane Chronicles, Darkness Becomes Her by Kelly Keaton, Stork by Wendy Delsol, Need series by Carrie Jones, Wildfire by Karsten Knight, Starcrossed by Josephine Angelini, or any other mythology YA.

Cover Art Review: The photos are nice and the cover model is definitely supposed to be Mason, but doesn’t have her blue eyes. I think she looks too much like Megan Fox.

Eat, Brains, Love by Jeff Hart

Series: Eat, Brains, Love (bk. 1)

Genera: Paranormal Romance/Sci-fi Horror/Humor

Subjects: zombies, cannibalism, psychic ability, psychics, telepathy, government conspiracies, government officials, love, fugitives

Age/Grade Level: Teen

Length: 345 pgs.

HC/PB: Paperback

List Price: $9.99

Publisher: HarperTeen

Summary/ product description: “Two teenage zombies search for brains, love, and answers in this surprisingly romantic and laugh-out-loud funny debut novel with guts.

Jake Stephens was always an average, fly-under-the-radar guy. The kind of guy who would never catch the attention of an insanely popular girl like Amanda Blake-or a psychic teenage government agent like Cass. But one day during lunch, Jake's whole life changed. He and Amanda suddenly locked eyes across the cafeteria, and at the exact same instant, they turned into zombies and devoured half their senior class.

Now Jake definitely has Amanda's attention-as well as Cass's, since she's been sent on a top-secret mission to hunt them down. As Jake and Amanda deal with the existential guilt of eating their best friends, Cass struggles with a growing psychic dilemma of her own-one that will lead the three of them on an epic journey across the country and make them question what it means to truly be alive. Or undead.

Eat, Brains, Love is a heartwarming and bloody blend of romance, deadpan humor, and suspense that fans of Isaac Marion's Warm Bodies will devour. With its irresistibly dry and authentic teen voice, as well as a zombie apocalypse worthy of AMC's The Walking Dead, this irreverent paperback original will leave readers dying for the sequel that's coming in Summer 2014.”

My Review: This book was ridiculous for a zombie book. It’s not dystopian or post-apocalyptic. It’s very unique and creative and funny. Basically, being a zombie is kind of like being a vampire or werewolf, but they eat live flesh instead of blood. They change when they’re hungry. They start to look like a corpse and parts of them sometime fall out or decompose, and their skin turns grayish. Once they are full, they heal up and look like normal people again. Getting turned into a zombie is kind of an STD. The zombie virus is not spread by bites and it’s rare. There are no hordes of undead. It’s so different from all the zombie books I’ve read, and different from vampire books too.

The characters are not cookie cutter. Jake is kind of like my brother, with his love for video games, but Jake’s a stoner and kind of lazy. He’s very much a guy, but he’s also sort of nerdy too. He like Call of Duty, Grand Theft Auto and comic books and anime. He love hard rock and hate pop. Amanda was a cheerleader and popular. She seemed stereotypical until she a Jake went on the run. She’s smart and knows how to hotwire a car because her dad taught her. He and Jake start to fall for each other, and kiss after eating people. It’s kind of like a zombie Bonnie and Clyde, but they both feel remorse and would prefer to eat animals instead of people.

Cass is a psychic telepath and is working for the NCD, tracking down zombies so they government can exterminate them and protect the public. She’s funny and reminds me of Evie from Paranormalcy. She has a handler named Tom, who like to wear designer suits and is now Cass’s only real “friend”. Cass helps track down Jake and Amanda by connecting to Jake’s mind. She starts to see that zombies can still have feeling and want to find a cure for themselves. She kind of mind stalks Jake. He power is pretty cool and it’s kind of like Men in Black, but with zombie hunting instead of aliens.

I love all the traveling that Jake and Amanda do. The book started in New Jersey and ended in Iowa. I never been to New Jersey, but every other state they drove though I have. Along the way, they drove through Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, Indiana and Illinois, on I-90, which is they road we took. I like books with road trips. Even morbid zombie road trips. They stopped in Western Pennsylvania and meet some other zombies. They visited the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland. They also stopped in Ann Arbor Michigan to see Amanda’s brother. I camped near Ann Arbor and visited the college there. It’s a nice city. I love when books mention places I’ve been too.

The book ended before they could get the cure, and apparently there’s going to be a sequel. I was expecting this to be a standalone, but I’ll read the sequel for sure. I recommend this book if you liked Warm Bodies, the Paranormalcy series by Kiersten White, Rot & Ruin by Jonathan Maberry, or anything with Zombies. It’s a cool book. A fast and fun read.

Cover Art Review: This cover fit it’s book perfectly. I love how the title is made of food. It’s perfectly legible and creative. They both turned into zombies in the cafeteria, so it works. Would you like some blood ketchup on you fries? How about some worms. The gummy kind, not the real ones.

Blackout by Robison Wells

Series: Blackout (bk. 1)

Genera: Near-Future Dystopian Sci-fi/Thriller

Subjects: terrorists, viruses, superpowers, abilities, war, military, Utah

Age/Grade Level: Teen

Length: 424 pgs.

HC/PB: Hardcover

List Price: $17.99

Publisher: HarperTeen

Summary/ product description: “Laura and Alec are trained terrorists.

Jack and Aubrey are high school students.

There was no reason for them to ever meet.

But now, a mysterious virus is spreading throughout America, infecting teenagers with impossible powers. And these four are about to find their lives intertwined in a complex web of deception, loyalty, and catastrophic danger—where one wrong choice could trigger an explosion that ends it all.”

My Review: This book was so cool! It’s like X-men and Gone by Michael Grant and Steelheart by Brandon Sanderson. I don’t understand why people gave it bad reviews. It’s written in 3^rd person and some head jumping occurs, which is different from Robison’s previous books, which are written in 1^st person.

We only get the perspective of four characters: Aubrey, Jack, Laura, and Alec. They’re all pretty different from each other. They seem well developed, especially Aubrey. The characters all have different superpowers, and they’re not invincible. Aubrey can become invisible by affecting the minds around her to see that she not there (like a mind-control illusion). Jack’s ability is revealed over 100 pages in, but it’s mainly about enhanced senses. Laura is super strong and Alec can implant memories. Other superpowers included photographic memory, pheromone control, blasting fire, and controlling rock. The military called the teens with abilities Lambdas. The teens are quarantined and tested for a virus, and if they have it, the military categorizes their abilities, decided how useful they are. Aubrey becomes and spy, which I thought was pretty cool.

This book took what we think of as terrorism to a whole new level. Teens with superpowers destroying important places and killing people. We really did learn why they were doing it yet. I’m sure we’ll learn the big picture in the next book. I want to know how did the virus come to be and who’s the master mind behind this anarchy. They get their mark by some kind of code in a blog called SusieMusie.

There’s a part of the book when they mention that Chicago was destroyed. Why do you have to go and destroy my city in this book, Robison? My brother lives down there. And Chicago is not the 3^rd largest city. It is important though. Most of this book was set in Utah. Utah’s not really the 1^st place you’d think a book like this should be set. I really enjoyed the setting though. Mountains and desert and the Salt Lake City area. I love imagining these kinds of places.

Blackout was a complete thrill ride. It could be easily read in a day, despite its length. I literally didn’t want to put it down once I got really into it. I can’t wait for the sequel. I recommend this book to fans of X-Men and superhero stuff, the shows like Agents of SHEILD and Tomorrow People, and book series like: Variant by Robison Wells, Gone by Michael Grant, Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi, Steelheart by Brandon Sanderson, No Easy Way Out by Dayna Loretz, Quarantine by Lex Thomas, Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi and sci-fi YA in general.

Cover Art Review: I love this cover. It’s very minimal. It looks like an explosion of rocks and gravel. The title looks awesome against it. Under the cover jacket, there’s a gold embossed texture that mimics the cover.