The full review can be found at The Book Bratz!


When I finished The Madman's Daughter I had no doubt that I was going to love Her Dark Curiosity as well, and I did. But the story was a bit slower then The Madman's Daughter. All considering though Megan Shepherd still left me biting my nails in suspense, avoiding sleep to know what would happen next.

In Her Dark Curiosity Juliet is back in London, trying to rebuild her life after the events on her Father's island, and loosing Montgomery. But since her return Juliet has only been getting sicker, and in order to keep her body from shutting down and rejecting all the foreign organs and tissues she must find a new cure. Soon London is being plagued by a serial killer, whose victims are being killed the same way as the the islanders from The Madman's Daughter. Now Edward is back and desperate for Juliet's help, his Beast side is winning, slowly taking over Edward and Juliet is determined to save herself and Edward before they run out of time.

I am going to blame Juliet's characterization in Her Dark Curiosity on what had happened in The Madman's Daughter, that she is traumatized, hurt, betrayed and heart broken. Otherwise Juliet made making bad decisions and trusting the wrong people a new habit of her's. I am hoping she becomes stronger by the end of this book, because in The Madman's Daughter I had described her as an awesome kick ass herione and this one I feel like she just lacked in that department.

I did how ever like to see her struggling with that dark side of her, the side that is curious about experimentation and in her father's work. (Though she will not admit that) It left me curious in what she was going to do next because she didn't exactly seem stable at times.

This love triangle is going to kill me. I am praying it some how gets resolved in A Cold Legacy because if not I may pull my hair out. I do not like Edward. I don't trust him, he has given Juliet no reason to trust him, yet she is still attracted to him and his Beast side. (I think?) Though she repeatedly tells Edward how much she still loves Montgomery, she still sleeps with him. (I wasn't very happy about that.) So I wasn't a fan of the romance in this book until Montgomery's return. Then I was frustrated again because there is literally no trust between them and it always results in them fighting.

I think if it wasn't for the love triangle being as frustrating as it is I would have gave Her Dark Curiosity five starts instead of four stars. The ending how ever has me itching to start A Cold Legacy.

This review and more can be found at The Book Bratz!

*This review may contain spoilers from Not a Drop to Drink*

My heart hurts. I loved this series so much that I am sad to see it is over. Mindy McGinnis created a realistic, dystopian world that sucks readers in. That is what I loved most about this book, its realness. This companion novel to Not a Drop to Drink.

In a Handful of Dust takes place ten years after the events of Not a Drop to Drink. Lynn has adopted Lucy and raised her has her own. A small community has built itself near the pond. But soon it is no longer paradise as Lynn and Lucy is forced from the community and a source of water, suspected of being the source of a polio outbreak.

The story is told in third person perspective from Lucy's point of view, now seventeen she had lived a very different life as her adoptive mother. I loved getting to read from Lucy's point of view on things. There are so many differences between her and Lynn. Were Lynn doesn't trust people easily, Lucy does. Lucy likes to stay in one spot, Lynn likes to move. I understand that the ten year time difference was because Lucy was so young during the first book, but I felt like I knew nothing about her (Except the things that happened during Not a Drop To Drink) and made it hard to relate. I missed Lynn's perspective, she was still a large part of the book though. But I found that Eli's death made her harder and colder.

The story line was a bit slow, and I wished that when they reached California it would be longer, instead it skipped a couple of weeks, and then a season. I wanted to see more of how they had now lived (it was talked about briefly, but it left me wanting to know more.) But I was still content with the pace. We were able to see Lynn begin to trust someone and Lucy learning there were a lot of things to be afraid that could swallow you whole.

The ending had me raising my eyebrows. Something unexpected happens and I am not sure where I stand on that. It is a real eye opener though, and made me question quite a few things that I read. But as I thought about it more I see why that decision was made. Though I wish there would be another book in the series, mainly about their life's after the decision was made.


**I received the eARC through Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review**

I don't believe we are alone in the universe. Have you seen the size of it? Have you listened to what NASA has believed they have found through out the years? Strange sightings? Getting my vibe here? I am serious. Lost in Starlight by Sherry Soule can be real in a sense that it kind of scare me. But if one of those alien hybrids happened to be Hayden....I would super alright with that.

Soule created a character I could immediately relate to. Sloane works on the school newspaper and her latest story is to dig up dirt on the sexy new student Hayden Lancaster. But she got more then she bargained for when she witnesses him bending a metal fork with nothing but his mind. She admitted that she was stalking him to get the information she needed, and yes she was obsessed with him at times but she is seventeen years old. Us teenage girls tend to be boy crazy.

"I've never been what most people would consider skinny and over the years, the extra poundage has crept on slowly..."
-Slaone

I was easily able to relate with her. I struggled with my weight (I still do) for all my life. Most heroines are super skinny, not that that is anything wrong with that but not every heroine has to be a size five. It made me happy to see the Soule broke through the stereotype. I was even angry every time someone would pass a comment about her weight. She is curly okay? For most of the book she would pretty cool with her size and I admire that in a character a lot. A lot of things with Sloane made her different from other female heroines as well.

When I saw extraterrestrials I expected Hayden to be an Alien. The actual aliens are called Zeta's who had come to earth, experimented on willing humans, and then left. That made Hayden a hybrid who has both human and Zeta DNA. I wasn't unhappy with that though. I liked it. It actually seems more realistic in a sense that actually aliens. That is the part that scared me.

But just because Hayden is a hybrid doesn't mean he doesn't have a strict code of rules to follow. What is the biggest rule you ask? No dating humans. That is a problem when Sloane and Hayden have a growing attraction for each other. The romance in Lost in Starlight had my heart melting. It was so sweet. They have so much against them but they still try to make it work.


This review and more can be found at The Book Bratz





Soule mentions a lot of bands and TV shows in the book and if Sloane was a real person I think we would get along great! I was bouncing up and down when they were discussing The Walking Dead. Who knew alien hybrids liked zombies? Not me!!

On the downside I wish the government was a bit more involved. The Sector Thirteen agent wasn't in the story as much as I hoped he would be. Which actually isn't as much as a bad thing. But they are still another book for that to happen!

I have nothing but amazing things to say about this book. I loved the characters, the setting, the whole idea behind it. It was an easy read that I could have finished a lot faster if I didn't have family commitments.

I am such a picky person with endings, of course this ending makes me want to have the second book in the series in my hands right about now. I need to know what happens. I expected that ending though, in all honestly, so I was easily prepared instead of completely blind sided.

This review and more can be found at The Book Bratz!




The idea behind Nil was interesting. Teenagers between the ages of thirteen and nineteen randomly being dumped in the middle of an uncharted island, with out there clothes and the memory that they got there through a shimmering gate. But the book raised more questions then the author actually answered.

I liked the characters. At the start of the book Thad is running out of time to get off the island, in 99 days he would either be home or die on the island of Nil, that gave her inhabitants 365 days to escape or die. I liked Thad more then Charley. I felt like I didn't know enough about her, just that she had a boy troubles, liked to have her hair combed, and loved sprite with crushed ice. What I didn't like what we didn't see into their pasts, they talked about it, but very briefly that I had a hard time grasping who they were before. Sure, Charley played volley ball and Thad was a snow border, what else is there to them?

The book was slow, I was expecting something different. Maybe the government was involved or something big like that. But we don't learn what actually causes it. There is a theory about a solar flare but hat was it. It leaves me questioning now. I was eager for a big ah-ha moment but there really wasn't one. I considered DNFing this book a few times. Some parts were slow, others felt repetitive and the language was corny. I understand Thad and Charley fell in love, I was shipping them from the start, but you can only repeat your goodbyes so many times before it starts getting real annoying. Or the amount of times Charley asked Thad to sleep with her, I just didn't like it.

The book had its good points though. Wanting to know about Nil kept you turning the pages, and who was going to die, who was catching a gate or who got killed by an animal. The ending got me, it has me content and happy though. But there is Nil Unlocked coming out in 2015 that has my eyebrows raised. The way Matson left the book off doesn't seem like there could be a sequel. So is the sequel about the secrets of the island? Or what happens to the characters left on the island? I am curious about them. I wish I could have liked this book more, but it was just blah to me.

RATING: ★★★

This review and more can be found at The Book Bratz






I don't have one negative thing to say about The Revealed. It captured my attention from the first word. There was and equal amount of everything I enjoy in a book. Romance, action, and adventure. With several "What the....!?" moments.

Here is the book in my own words:

Since Lily's eighteenth birthday she had been stuck in her home. In a world were eighteen year olds are kidnapped by a terrorist group called The Revealed, she's vulnerable. Especially because she is the daughter of one of the most powerful men in the world.

All Lily wants is her freedom back. To be able to go out and be a teenager. But instead she is locked in her house until her nineteenth birthday. To make matters worse she is receiving threatening letters from The Revealed. Turning to her parents and best friend Rory for help she soon discovers that that the most unlikely person will become her biggest ally.

Kai, the nineteen year old son of her father's rival in the presidential campaign is back, on leave from the military were he still has to serve for another year. But never in a million years did Lily expect she would fall head over heels for the boy he disliked her in high school. But now things are different.

Not everyone is who they say to be in the book. With betrayal and loss Lily must look inside her self for what she wants the most.

My thoughts feelings and everything in between:

Politics aren't my thing, I don't understand them and probably never will. Though this book had part to do with the political campaign of her father Jessica Hickam made is interesting. The book had a realistic feel to it, maybe not The Revealed's power but the future of America part.

I really liked the characters. At first I wasn't a fan of Lily. I thought she was a bit ungrateful what she has. Pretty quickly though she proved her self and fell in love with her as the main character. I just wished she touched back more on her and Kai's childhood together.

Kai, well at first, I didn't like him. He was sketchy and seemed to be trouble. But he is another one who grew on me. He seemed to genuinely care about Lily. Even betraying his own father to help her.

I am very picky with the endings of book. It is just how I am. I always want a happy ending and that doesn't always happen. This ending is the first one in a long time that I was actually content with. Do I want more? Yes, and I happy to know that there will be another book in the series. (That makes me very very happy because I need more Kai and Lily).

Jessica Hickam created a realistic world about betrayal and loss and one girl's challenge of finding her place in this world. Be on the look out on June 17th to get your copy of The Revealed!


Rating: ★★★★