My Sister's Reaper by Dorothy Dreyer

Genre: Fantasy / Paranormal
Page Count: 275
Series: Reaper's Rite (Book One)

GOODREADS SUMMARY:

Sixteen-year-old Zadie’s first mistake was telling the boy she liked she could bring her dead sister back to life. Her second mistake was actually doing it.

When Zadie accidentally messes with the Reaper’s Rite that should have claimed her sister Mara, things go horribly wrong. Mara isn’t the same anymore—Zadie isn’t even sure she’s completely human, and to top it off, a Reaper is determined to collect Mara’s soul no matter what. Now Zadie must figure out how to defeat her sister’s Reaper, or let Mara die … this time for good.

I discovered this on GoodReads and because of the good reviews and the intriguing summary, I picked it up. 

THE CHARACTERS: 

Zadie was a pretty believable character -- she reacted as I would expect her to and I liked her sarcasm.  I just wish more of her backstory was given to give her a little more depth. 

Lilura was probably my favorite character because she was such a sarcastic old lady and I enjoyed seeing her go from hating Zadie to liking her.

Gavin was an interesting character.  Once I got a third of the way through the book, I expected to never see him in the story again; I figured he was only there for the beginning of the story to help the plotline move along, so I was pleasantly surprised when he was a much bigger part of the story than I ever could've thought.

Throughout the entire book, I thought Chase was very mysterious.  We never really get to know Chase very well in this story, so I'm hoping in the next installment of this series his personality is revealed.

THE PLOT:
The storyline was very fast-paced and there was action or a new fact was discovered every couple pages, and it all led up to an exciting finale.  

My main issue with the plotline of this book was that it was pretty predictable (seeing as I have read a lot of fantasy novels) and nothing that was revealed surprised me.  Also, the finale was over in just a few pages, when I was expecting a grand twenty-or-so pages of pure adrenaline and excitement. 

OVERALL:

I enjoyed reading this book but I didn't find it very new and exciting.  A good finish-in-one-sitting mystery/thriller, so I'd recommend if you have a few extra hours and want something different. 

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The Distance Between Us by Kasie West

Genre: Realistic Fic / Romance
Page Count: 320

GOODREADS SUMMARY:

Seventeen-year-old Caymen Meyers studies the rich like her own personal science experiment, and after years of observation she’s pretty sure they’re only good for one thing—spending money on useless stuff, like the porcelain dolls in her mother’s shop.

So when Xander Spence walks into the store to pick up a doll for his grandmother, it only takes one glance for Caymen to figure out he’s oozing rich. Despite his charming ways and that he’s one of the first people who actually gets her, she’s smart enough to know his interest won’t last. Because if there’s one thing she’s learned from her mother’s warnings, it’s that the rich have a short attention span. But Xander keeps coming around, despite her best efforts to scare him off. And much to her dismay, she's beginning to enjoy his company.

She knows her mom can’t find out—she wouldn’t approve. She’d much rather Caymen hang out with the local rocker who hasn’t been raised by money. But just when Xander’s attention and loyalty are about to convince Caymen that being rich isn’t a character flaw, she finds out that money is a much bigger part of their relationship than she’d ever realized. And that Xander’s not the only one she should’ve been worried about.

I've been highly anticipating this book ever since I read Kasie West's debut, Pivot Point, in February.  Sadly, this book didn't live up to my expectations.

The first 150 pages or so were extremely slow to me.  I wasn't fond of the main character, Caymen, and nothing was happening in the story.  I was very close to putting down the book, but for some reason I kept reading.  Luckily, the second half was good, and is why I gave this book three stars when at the beginning I was thinking this one was only worth one star.

THE CHARACTERS:

I didn't connect with Caymen at all.  At the beginning, she seemed very judgmental.  Fortunately, she did change through the book, so the character development was there, but she didn't have a very fleshed-out backstory.  The only thing that kept me reading her story was her fun sarcasm.

As for Xander, I liked his character.  It was fun to see his character evolve from the first scene we saw him in the book, where he just seemed like a snotty rich guy.

THE PLOT:

The plot was full of cliches, and I found it pretty predictable.  On the plus side, there were some fresh ideas that made the story worth reading.  I liked how Kasie West wrapped up the story, but the beginning was uneventful and boring.  The plotline in the middle was okay since that's when the story finally began to pick up, but I'd say the last 50-or-so pages were the best.

I also liked how Caymen lived and worked at a doll store - something I don't see very often and I liked that! It gave the story something interesting while the overused rich-boy poor-girl storyline was playing out.

THE WRITING:
This is the main thing that bugged me in this book.  I thought Kasie West's writing was excellent in Pivot Point, but in this, there were no interesting metaphors and the writing just seemed to drag down the story.  I did quite enjoy the witty banter between Caymen and Xander, though, so that was a plus.

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Ember by Jessica Sorensen

This is the first book in the series called "The Death Collectors" and it was pretty good. It was interesting and kept me wanting to read more and more, and it was written well, but upon finishing it, I'm not left with any excitement about the series. Overall, it's pretty good, so if you like dark young adult books, I'd recommend this for you! (Plus it's only $0.99 in the Kindle Store!)

Summary (from GoodReads):
What if you knew when someone was going to die?

For seventeen-year-old Ember, life is death. With a simple touch, she knows when someone will die. It’s her curse and the reason she secludes herself from the world. The only person who knows her secret is her best friend Raven. 

Then she meets Asher Morgan. He’s gorgeous, mysterious, and is the only person Ember can't sense death from. So when he pushes into her life, she doesn’t mind.

But when unexplained deaths start to haunt her town, Ember starts questioning why she can’t sense Asher's death and what he may be hiding.

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~thespectacularbookworm

The House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer

This book was interesting. It's set in a dystopian world, and follows the life of the clone of the big and powerful Matteo Alacrán, who goes by the name El Patrón. It demonstrated a lot of social issues and while reading, you can't stop rooting for the main character.  I recommend this for fans of dystopian fiction.

Summary (from GoodReads):
At his coming-of-age party, Matteo Alacrán asks El Patrón's bodyguard, "How old am I? ... I know I don't have a birthday like humans, but I was born." 

"You were harvested," Tam Lin reminds him. "You were grown in that poor cow for nine months and then you were cut out of her." 

To most people around him, Matt is not a boy, but a beast. But for El Patrón, lord of a country called Opium--a strip of poppy field lying between the U.S. and what was once called Mexico--Matt is a guarantee of eternal life. El Patrón loves Matt as he loves himself, for Matt is himself. They share identical DNA. 

As Matt struggles to understand his existence, he is threatened by a sinister, grasping cast of characters, including El Patrón's power-hungry family. He is surrounded by a dangerous army of bodyguards and by the mindless slaves of Opium, brain-deadened 'eejits' who toil in the poppy fields. 

Escape from the Alacrán Estate is no guarantee of freedom because Matt is marked by his difference in ways he doesn't even suspect. Around every turn in this vivid, futuristic adventure is a new, heart-stopping surprise.

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~thespectacularbookworm

Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

WARNING!  This is Book 3 in the Hunger Games trilogy.  If you haven't read The Hunger Games or Catching Fire here's a spoiler alert!

This was my least favorite book in the series. The ending just seemed abrupt, not all of the ends tied and the novel just seemed to stop mid-scene.  But I'd still advise reading it if you read the first two books, just to see what happens to Katniss, Peeta, Gale, and the rest of the group. 

Summary:

After being saved by the rebels, Katniss Everdeen is taken to the legendary District 13.  They want her to be their "Mockingjay", basically a spokesperson who people will believe in.  The rebellion is catching fire, and the fight between good and evil begins.

BOOK 1: THE HUNGER GAMES 
BOOK 2: CATCHING FIRE 
BOOK 3: MOCKINGJAY

~thespectacularbookworm

The 13th Reality: The Journal of Curious Letters by James Dashner

Good book.  A little slow at the beginning, but once you get into it it's very exciting.  I would recommend this to people who enjoy fantasy.

About a boy who starts receiving letters from an anonymous person.  He puts his letters in his "Journal of Curious Letters", hence the name. 

Filled with magic, mystery, and excitement, it's a great story! 

Book 1: The Journal of Curious Letters
Book 2: The Hunt for Dark Infinity
Book 3: The Blade of Shattered Hope

For more information, visit The 13th Reality.

~thespectacularbookworm