UnSouled by Neal Shusterman

Series: Unwind Dystology (bk. 3)

Genera(s): Dystopian Sci-fi/Thriller

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

Setting: Near future, throughout the United States

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

Age/Grade Level: Teen

Length: 404 pgs.

HC/PB: Hardcover

List Price: $17.99

Publisher: Simon & Schuster 

Summary/ product description: “The story that began with Unwind continues.

Connor and Lev are on the run after the destruction of the Graveyard, the last safe haven for AWOL Unwinds. But for the first time, they’re not just running away from something. This time, they’re running toward answers, in the form of a woman Proactive Citizenry has tried to erase from history itself. If they can find her, and learn why the shadowy figures behind unwinding are so afraid of her, they may discover the key to bringing down unwinding forever.

Cam, the rewound boy, is plotting to take down the organization that created him. Because he knows that if he can bring Proactive Citizenry to its knees, it will show Risa how he truly feels about her. And without Risa, Cam is having trouble remembering what it feels like to be human.

With the Juvenile Authority and vindictive parts pirates hunting them, the paths of Connor, Lev, Cam, and Risa will converge explosively—and everyone will be changed.

Neal Shusterman continues the adventure that VOYA called “poignant, compelling, and ultimately terrifying.”

My Review: When I first starting reading this book, I thought it was the final book in the series, but then found out there was going to be a fourth book. I’m a bit disappointed. I feel like not much happened in this book, even though it was entertaining. I feel like it was dragged out and some of it could have been cut and then added to make it the final book. There were just too many perspectives and characters that I couldn’t remember who was who besides Conner, Lev, Risa and Cam. I did read the short story Unstrung, and it was nice to see some of the character from that. The Arapachi, People of Chance. 

The one thing that this author does really well is writing 3^rd person in a thrilling way. This it the only series I know of that’s written in 3^rd person POV with present tense rather than past tense. It makes you read faster. It is a bit annoying that the chapters aren’t separated, though. It takes forever to get through a book without chapter breaks. The book becomes a never-ending train. But there is separation in parts. There’s 6 parts that are 50-75 pages long. There are also fake advertisements in the chapters for unwinding-related things. I like some of the characters. Some of the dialogue in funny and entertaining. I like Lev, and Conner, and the new character named Grace who likes to play games. Cam is pretty interesting because he was rewound and has so many people that make him. 

I can tell that this series it well researched. The author includes articles and fakes ads and even scientific stuff. Near the end there’s a mention of 3-D printing organs. I read about this in Smithsonian Magazine articles. It’s a very interesting concept and definitely a better alternative than Unwinding. I hope that Unwinding never happens in real life, especially not in the USA. This series is full of controversial topics and it’s a great series for discussion. There’s a lot of disturbing imagery and stuff that will give you nightmares.

Sadly, this was not my favorite book in the series. I enjoyed UnWholley a lot more because it was the long-awaited follow up to Unwind. I think this could have been better if you read the books back-to-back. I really do want to read the final book, Undivided. I suggest maybe holding off on UnSouled until you have Undivided in your possession. 

Cover Art Review: Very creepy over. I don’t like it because it’s too creepy and a bit disturbing. Looks like ghosts or cancer patients.

Avalon by Mindee Arnett

Release Date: 1/21/2014

Series: Avalon (bk. 1)

Genera(s): Space Opera/Dystopian Sci-fi

Subjects: outer space, space ships, adventure, technology, thieves

Setting: A space ship, outer space, and on various planets and Spaceports

POV/Tense: 3^rd person, male POV (Jeth) and past tense

Age/Grade Level: Teen

Length: 415 pgs.

HC/PB: Hardcover

List Price: $17.99

Publisher: HarperTeen: Balzer + Bray

Summary/ product description: “A ragtag group of teenage mercenaries who crew the spaceship Avalon stumble upon a conspiracy that could threaten the entire galaxy in this fascinating and fast-paced sci-fi adventure from author Mindee Arnett.

Of the various star systems that make up the Confederation, most lie thousands of light-years from First Earth-and out here, no one is free. The agencies that govern the Confederation are as corrupt as the crime bosses who patrol it, and power is held by anyone with enough greed and ruthlessness to claim it. That power is derived from one thing: metatech, the devices that allow people to travel great distances faster than the speed of light.

Jeth Seagrave and his crew of teenage mercenaries have survived in this world by stealing unsecured metatech, and they're damn good at it. Jeth doesn't care about the politics or the law; all he cares about is earning enough money to buy back his parents' ship, Avalon, from his crime-boss employer and getting himself and his sister, Lizzie, the heck out of Dodge. But when Jeth finds himself in possession of information that both the crime bosses and the government are willing to kill for, he is going to have to ask himself how far he'll go to get the freedom he's wanted for so long.

Avalon is the perfect fit for teens new to sci-fi as well as seasoned sci-fi readers looking for more books in the YA space-and a great match for fans of Joss Whedon's cult hit show Firefly, and Star Treck”

My Review: Avalon could have been a really great book, but it fell a bit flat because the narration wasn’t that great. If it was written in 1^st person, it might have been way better because then we’d get to know what Jeth was thinking. In 3^rd person, it was somewhat boring and I ended up skimming much of it. Maybe I was just in the wrong mood for this book, but I didn’t find it all that thrilling. 

The outerspace stuff seemed cool, but also like it was too similar to Star Treck or other space operas. It was sort of unique that Jeth’s group stole metatech, but it’s kind of cliché that they’re a “ragtag team of teens…blah blah blah”. They’re like teenage space pirates, or part of the space mob. I just had a really hard time getting into it. I read the prequel, Proxy, and was a bit discouraged by the writing style. I loved the author’s book Nightmare Affair. But this book is just so different from the quirky female character Dusty. 

Not everything was boring. I did like the dialogue and banter between characters. I liked Lizzie and kind of wish we’d gotten her POV. Sure, she’s only 13, but if this story had alternating POV, it would really be great to get her perspective. She’s funny and an expert hacker. She loves animals and brought a cat on board the Avalon. I also liked Shady. He was the tough guy and was described a really tall and looking like a lion. He had a great sense of humor. Celeste was okay, but she didn’t seem very warm in personality. There was Hammer, the crime boss who was manipulative and used brain implants to control people. 

There were characters that Jeth met later on. Sierra, Cora and Vince. Sierra was kind of the love interest. To me, it seemed a little fast. He meets a bunch of strangers stranded on a ship, and kisses Sierra only a few days later. I wouldn’t say that there was much romance, though. I really liked Cora. She’s a really interesting character. She’s a little girl and a bit strange, but seems normal. 

I did enjoy some of the plot twists. I kind of predicted one of them, but there were so many revelations toward the end. 

The science and technology and space travel was the most interesting part and I definitely recommend this book to Star Treck, Star Wars, Firefly fans and fans of Beth Revis’s Across the Universe. I think boys would enjoy this book the most. The graphic below provided by EpicReads will help.

Cover Art Review: I have no idea what that stuff is on the cover. I wish there was a space ship instead. I like the layout and the title, just wish the image made sense.

Tandem by Anna Jarzab

Series: The Many Worlds Trilogy (bk. 1)

Genera(s): Dystopian Sci-fi/Romance

Subjects: parallel universes, parallel worlds, royalty, princes and princesses

Setting: Hyde Park in Chicago, Illinois, Aurora (a parallel world, not Aurora, IL), New York City (in this book known as Columbia City)

POV/Tense: 1^st person POV (Sasha), 3^rd person POV interludes of Thomas and Juliana, and past tense

Age/Grade Level: Teen

Length: 428 pgs.

HC/PB: Hardcover

List Price: $17.99

Publisher: Random House: Delacorte Press

Summary/ product description: “Everything repeats.

You. Your best friend. Every person you know.

Many worlds. Many lives--infinite possibilities.

Welcome to the multiverse.

Sixteen-year-old Sasha Lawson has only ever known one small, ordinary life. When she was young, she loved her grandfather's stories of parallel worlds inhabited by girls who looked like her but led totally different lives. Sasha never believed such worlds were real--until now, when she finds herself thrust into one against her will.

To prevent imminent war, Sasha must slip into the life of an alternate version of herself, a princess who has vanished on the eve of her arranged marriage. If Sasha succeeds in fooling everyone, she will be returned home; if she fails, she'll be trapped in another girl's life forever. As time runs out, Sasha finds herself torn between two worlds, two lives, and two young men vying for her love--one who knows her secret, and one who thinks she's someone she's not.

The first book in the Many-Worlds Trilogy, Tandem is a riveting saga of love and betrayal set in parallel universes in which nothing--and no one--is what it seems.”

My Review: Sasha grew up in Chicago, in the neighborhood of Hyde Park. I live in Chicagoland and when I found out about the setting I was even more excited about this book that when I just saw the cover and that it was about parallel universes. There have been so many YA book about parallel universes that came out in 2013. This book had a very unique take on them. There’s a world similar to our own called Aurora, because they can see aurora lights in the sky every night. Aurora shares some of the same history that Earth does, up until the Revolutionary War, which had a dramatically different outcome. 

Sasha is asked to prom by her longtime crush, Grant. He turns out to not be Grant, but Thomas, a version of Grant from another universe. He takes her to his world. When Sasha arrives in Aurora she can’t believe it’s a different world. She also finds out that her dreams of Princess Juliana were real and that she is somehow tethered to her analog (doppelganger). Sasha is taken to the capital city of the United Commonwealth of Columbia, Columbia City (located in what is Manhattan to us). Sasha must impersonate Princess Juliana, since she was kidnapped. She has to act like a princess and not get found out. She also has to meet Juliana’s fiancé, who’s the prince of the warring country, Farnham (which is the western side of the US, across the Mississippi River). She develops a close relationship with Thomas and there’s some romance.

I absolutely love the characters. They are very believable and Sasha’s so relatable. Sasha is a Chicagoan and book lover and sometimes gets emotional. She cries at some parts, but she’s very strong-willed and stubborn. She determined, modest and many other thing. She’s different from Juliana personality-wise. Thomas is also a pretty good male lead. He’s smart and loyal and helpful. He may be too loyal to some people, but his heart’s always in the right place. Callum, the prince, is pretty kind and sweet. He kind of seems like Prince Maxon from the Selection. He was overly sheltered and not allowed to travel.  I liked some of the side characters too. Gina was kind of an assistant and helped Sasha with clothes. She helped Sasha play Juliana. 

I also enjoyed Dr. Moss. He was basically Walter Bishop from Fringe. That’s how I pictured him. He’s a scientist, physicist and knows about parallel universes and developed some of the technology that allows crossing from one to another. This book definitely made me think of Fringe a lot. I love all the science behind parallel universe theories and that there’s an infinite number of possible universes based off of choices and diversions and events. I though it was really cool and I still keep thinking of it as “the other side” and Walter’s voice in my head explaining it.

So, I definitely loved this book. I think that there’s an infinite number of reason why I loved it and there’s so many thing that it reminded me of. So, I recommend this book to fans of the TV show Fringe. The books: The Selection series by Kiera Cass, Unraveling by Elizabeth Norris, Pawn by Aimee Carter, Undercurrent by Paul Blackwell, Crewel by Gennifer Albin, 3:59 by Gretchen McNeill, Parallel by Lauren Miller, and by Cinder by Marissa Meyer. 

Cover Art Review: I love this cover more than any other book I’ve seen this past year. The colors are amazing. It’s the kind of cover that I would make. I love aurora and prism colors. Purple, blue and teal green. I love the unique typeface used on the cover. I like the bird silhouette with the girl’s face in it. I like the sparkles and reflection and all the dots and stars on the back cover. The dot pattern is cool. I also love the graphic used in side the book to differentiate parts and chapter and perspectives. I like that there’s a different symbol under the page number for each POV (dot, star, arrow). This is the most well designed book I’ve seen inside and out. If only there was an embossed symbol under the dust jacket. I really wish I bought this book.