Let the Storm Break by Shannon Messenger

Series: Sky Fall (bk. 2)

Genera(s): Paranormal Romance

Subjects: sylphs, weather, elementals, abilities, mythology, supernatural, love

Setting: in the desert of Southern California

POV/Tense: 1^st person POV, present tense, rotating between Vane and Audra

Age/Grade Level: Teen

Length: 381 pgs.

HC/PB: Hardcover originally, now in Paperback

List Price: $17.99/$9.99

Publisher: Simon and Schuster: Simon Pulse

Summary/ product description: “Vane Weston is haunted. By the searing pull of his bond to Audra. By the lies he’s told to cover for her disappearance. By the treacherous winds that slip into his mind, trying to trap him in his worst nightmares. And as his enemies grow stronger, Vane doesn't know how much longer he can last on his own.

But Audra’s still running. From her past. From the Gales. Even from Vane, who she doesn't believe she deserves. And the farther she flees, the more danger she finds. She possesses the secret power her enemy craves, and protecting it might be more than she can handle—especially when she discovers Raiden’s newest weapon.

With the Gale Force weakened by recent attacks, and the power of four collapsing, Vane and Audra are forced to make a choice: keep trusting the failing winds, or turn to the people who've betrayed them before. But even if they survive the storms sent to destroy them, will they have anything left to hold on to?”

My Review:  I waited so long to finally read this series. I decided to series-binge it. I had copies of the first 2 books autographed and sitting on my shelf for a long time. I bought the 3rd book. I picked the perfect time of year to read this because it's set in summertime, in the desert of Southern California. I read the first book, but decided to just do a full review of the second book.

If you have not read Let The Sky Fall and love paranormal romance and fantasy, then check it out. It’s very unique, since it’s about Sylphs, which are wind elementals. There’s a lot of cool Air-bender stuff, like controlling the winds and making tornadoes. I’m not a fan of tornadoes, but I would definitely like it if I could control them. I definitely recommend it if you like books about people who can control the elements or do magic.

I love the characters. There are not many of them, so they are very easy to keep track of. The series is told from the perspectives of two main characters, Vane and Audra. I really like Vane. He reminds me of Ethan Wate from Beautiful Creatures and Percy Jackson. He’s a Westerly and wasn’t aware of it for the last ten years until Audra triggered a break though and told him. Audra is pretty awesome too. She’s a tough fighter, a guardian and an Easterly. I like the romance between them. It’s sweet, although it’s forbidden.

Audra can now understand Westerlies though her bond and seems to suddenly have the same aversion to violence that Vane has because of his Westerly nature. Audra is searching for something. She flew off somewhere and has been gone almost a month. Vane’s worried. He keeps having nightmare caused by Raiden (the evil Northerly who wants to capture him and torture the Westerly language out of him) and because of this he’s forcing himself to stay awake.

He’s got two Gale’s guarding him Feng and Gus. Gus is closer to his age and much more laid back and has a sense of humor. Feng trains Vane in fighting with Northerlies. I really like Gus too. He reminds me of Jace from the Mortal Instruments kind of. Vane’s adoptive parents now know about the Sylph, and are very supportive but also worried. Vane’s mother especially. Os, the leader of the Gales offers to take Vane to someplace where he can sleep without Raiden invading his dream, but it turn out to be a not-so-great place. Not dangerous for him, but it also holds a prison cell for a murderer.

When he gets back, he finally meets Solana. The Gale Force (the sylph military and guardian) seems to expect him to bond with Solana, the last descendent of the royal line and a Southerly. Vane and Audra already bonded though a kiss in the last book, and Vane is madly in love, so when he meets Solana, he kind of throw a fit. Vane’s stubborn and doesn’t want the Gale’s telling him what to do and who to love.

When Audra returns, everyone must prepare for battle against Raiden. Raiden now has an even darker power up his sleeve. One that turns Gales into weapons for his own use. When the battle begins, there’s no telling who will be left standing. This action-packed sequel will knock the wind out of you leaving you breathless and your head swirling for more.

Cover Art Review: I do like the old cover. It reminds me too much of the Hush, Hush series though. The newer cover is kind of cool, but the type choice seems to conflict with the image. It almost feels like a cover from a fantasy book from a decade or more ago. Or even more like a middle grade book.

Nil On Fire by Lynne Matson

Series: Nil (bk. 3)

Genera(s): Dystopian Sci-fi/Romance

Subjects: survival, mystery, adventure, islands, animals, parallel worlds

Setting: The Island of Nil

POV/Tense: 1st person POV, past tense, rotating between Skye and Rives, and 3^rd person POV of Nil, and various other characters.

Age/Grade Level: Teen

Length: 406 pgs.

HC/PB: Hardcover

List Price: $17.99

Publisher: Macmillan: Henry Holt and Co.

Summary/ product description: “Despite Rives and Skye's attempt to destroy Nil, the island remains. And back in this world, Nil won't let Skye go. Haunted by a darkness she can't ignore, Skye wrestles with Nil nightmares that worsen by the day and threaten to tear her apart. As Skye fights to keep her mind intact, she realizes that to finally break free of Nil, she must end Nil's vicious cycle once and for all--and she can't do it alone.

Who will return to Nil, and in the end, who will survive? In this thrilling final installment of the Nil series, the stakes have never been higher: everyone's fate hangs in the balance, including Nil's own--and Nil will fight to the death. When the full force of the island is unleashed, Skye faces an impossible choice, a cruel one she'd never imagined she'd have to make. Soon one Nil truth becomes painfully clear: only one side can win.

Losing isn't an option, but winning will cost Skye everything.

Perfect for fans of Lost and survivalist stories, NIL ON FIRE is a stunning conclusion to the Nil trilogy that will leave readers breathless.”

My Review:  Nil on Fire in the final book in the Nil trilogy. If you have not read the Nil series, it’s worth reading. It has a tropical island setting and has romance, action and survival. The island of Nil is only traveled to and from by gates. There are lot of deadly animals there, and some people. You only get one year to try and catch a gate, or you die. I would recommend this series to fans of shows like Lost, Naked and Afraid, Man vs Wild and other shows with survival and islands. Also fans of books like Madman’s Daughter, Lord of the Flies, Catching Fire, and The Forsaken by Lisa M. Stasse. Spoilers on the previous two books ahead.

Skye and Rives may have escaped Nil, but Nil is still haunting Skye. She hears Nil calling her in her dreams. She thinks Nil wants her to end the islanders’ tradition of crossing through the gate. Skye, Rives, Thad and Charlie go the island that holds the gate to Nil. Nil pulls Skye through the gate to the island she never intended to return to. Rives and Thad end up going through the portal to. Also, Paulo’s cousin, Lana goes though, and another ex-Nil resident, Zane.

Nil isn’t the same as when they left it. It seems crueler. The only one they left behind was Paulo, who says he lost time and that’s why he didn’t go through. More teens have showed up on Nil since them. The Icelandic guy, Hafthor, the fierce Amara, the running-back from Alabama, Calvin, two Australians who already knew each other, Molly and Davey. And that’s just the ones Paulo met. It seems Nil’s been busy. Skye, Rives and the other have 3 months until the stationary gate opens and they working on solving the mysteries of Nil and form a plan on how to destroy. This book in on fire and stuff trly goes down in this awesome finally.

This final book is told in alternating perspectives on Rives and Sky mainly, much like Nil Unlocked, but it have 3^rd person point of views of other characters as well as the island’s POV itself. The island is alive, almost like it’s a goddess or something. Having these other POVs adds to the story telling and lets us see what’s going on elsewhere. I really wish we got Thad and Charlie’s 1^st person POVs too, like in the first book. The first book felt more like a standalone and the next two like a companion duology.

I do like that there’s more paranormal stuff added to the story. Skye and Rives can communicate telepathically ever since they left Nil the first time. Some other characters share connections too. There’s also this ability called the Sight. Lana says that it’s only gift to women. Ramia had it.

All in all, I enjoyed this series and really would love to read more books with awesome island settings. I’ve never been to any tropical islands or even the ocean. Nil is definitely not an island I’d like to visit.

Cover Art Review: Okay cover. Fits with the rest of them. I like the fire on the title.

The Last Star by Rick Yancey

Series: The 5th Wave (bk. 3)

Genera(s): Dystopian Sci-fi

Subjects: post-apocalyptic, aliens, survival,

Setting: Ohio, during late winter, early spring. Ohio Caverns. A little bit of Canada too.

POV/Tense: 1st person POV present and past tense, rotating by part between Ringer (Marika), Zombie (Ben) & Cassie (Cassiopeia), and 3rd person of Evan and Sam

Age/Grade Level: Teen

Length: 338 pgs.

HC/PB: Hardcover

List Price: $18.99

Publisher: Penguin: Putnam

Summary/ product description: “The enemy is Other. The enemy is us.

They’re down here, they’re up there, they’re nowhere. They want the Earth, they want us to have it. They came to wipe us out, they came to save us.

But beneath these riddles lies one truth: Cassie has been betrayed. So has Ringer. Zombie. Nugget. And all 7.5 billion people who used to live on our planet. Betrayed first by the Others, and now by ourselves.

In these last days, Earth’s remaining survivors will need to decide what’s more important: saving themselves…or saving what makes us human.”

My Review:  The Last Star is the highly anticipated finale of the 5^th Wave trilogy. It starts off with a prologue about why Cassie’s father named her Cassiopeia. Then there’s the 3^rd person perspective of a priest who’s a silencer, and goes to Ohio Caverns and kills the people living there. Then at page 21 we finally get to the story.  

Cassie’s pretty angry. Her, Zombie aka Ben, Evan Walker, Dumbo, Sam and Megan are all hiding out. Ringer and Teacup went ahead to some Caverns. Cassie’s mad because of a lot of things, but one thing is that her six-year-old brother Sam forgot his ABCs. Zombie and Dumbo go after Ringer. They run into trouble and stuff happens. There’s only 4 days till the spring equinox when the bombs will drop from the mothership to destroy all cities on earth.

This series seems to use well-known places as settings. At least well known if you ever been to Ohio. In 2004, when I was 11, on my family trip to Ohio, we visited Ohio Caverns. It was a cool cave. I’ve been to 5 other caves, and this one seemed pretty small. Maybe it was just the tour we went on. Anyway, I took pictures. It was beautiful. On that trip we also the air force base’s museum, the space museum in Dayton and also we stayed in Columbus.

Here's Ohio Caverns:

(the girl in the blue jacket is me)

Here's the air force museum:

This series has been pretty good, but some things have really irritated me about it. Maybe the way perspective change and the way chapter begin and end on the same page with very little space much like in the Unwind series. I this final book there are labels when the perspective change. Cassie, Zombie, Ringer, Sam, and Evan Walker. And the perspective changes every few chapter. No having to really a whole part, 100 pages straight, of just one character.

My favorite character’s POV to read is Cassie. She’s funny. Her humor reminds me so much of Maximum Ride. I still wish the whole book was in Cassie’s perspective, but I can see now how that wouldn’t have worked. Maybe if it was limited to Cassie and Zombie. What I don’t understand now if how Cassie’s POV could have been written in a journal the whole time because of the ending.

Let’s talk about that ending. *VAGUE SPOILER AHEAD*

If you read the ending to Allegiant by Veronica Roth, it’s that kind of ending. I hate martyr endings. Also, I feel like too much was left open, like there’s a possibility of a spin-off series. Probably won’t happen, just saying.

Also, in September 2014 I got to meet Rick Yancey. You can click here to see.

Cover Art Review: Not sure if that’s an air force base or water treatment plant on the cover. The cover is pretty good. You can see the owl behind the title this time. It’s a lot more noticeable than the previous covers.

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.