Hauntingly beautiful, words and art - wise.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: I am having a BLAST with ReMade. These bite-sized morsels are fully contained stories that are unfolding pieces of the larger world and it's just enough to keep me satisfied yet coming back for me!

In Episode 1, we had giant alien spiders and space elevators. Episode 2 introduced us to the not-quite-Earth world that the undead teens are now occupying. This week we meet Nevaeh, a character who's happy to have the second chance she never thought she would have. Eager to please her peers (and equally eager to survive), Nevaeh is the medical guru and helps spot some gnarly plant life that could our 108 teens into rabbit food - no pun intended.

Carrie Harris' writing will move you through the story yet let you stop to smell the flowers, if you dare. Our cast of characters grows week after week as we get to know the life and untimely death of each of them along with the expanded world that was created not by one author, but a writer's room. I can't wait to see who we get to know next week and what they'll face as they try to survive in death.

This year, I vowed to find non-fiction that caught my attention, as it's a genre I don't pick up, like, ever. After reading Being Jazz, I waited patiently for the next non-fiction book to drop into my lap. Folks, here it is in all its 5 star glory.

Die Young with Me is basically everything I want in a book and so much more. I am a huge huge fan of alternative music, huge fan of books I can't put down, and huge fan of books that leave me a little teary at the end. Die Young with Me wrapped all those up in a not-so-neat (because cancer sucks) bow.

I knew this book was going to be a tearjerker but that it would have somewhat of a happy ending. I mean, Rob lived through cancer in his teenage years; he's here to tell his story. What got to me is how big of a role music played in that. Through the whole book, I was texting my best friend, who is as big of a music geek as I am, about how relatable his teenage experience is and how kids can find empathy and a little piece of themselves in the book.

[Quote from her side of our text convo]: Seriously... We talk about how everyone "likes" music, but it's not a priority to everyone, that's what makes the difference between people like us and others.

This isn't just Rob's story but his transformation through his teenage years and also the transformation his family and friends went through as he became sick and well again - and his journey through music. I love that he included things like the mixtape he made for his girlfriend and how he held nothing back. This is a story of hope but it's a realistic story with all the nitty-gritty details about both the teenage and cancer experience. We even got a little update on all the people in the book, a written version of VH1's "Where Are They Now?". I also appreciate that there aren't a lot of books written from the male perspective on teenage love and this one brings an additional voice. If I didn't know this book was non-fiction, I would have thought it was contemporary novel. That says a lot about the writing and how compelling the story is, I think.

For those of us who are into the punk/counter culture movement and lived our teen years in the late 90s/00s, you might recognize the Blacklist Royals, Rob's band, as they played a few dates on the 2001 Warped Tour. I squealed a little when Rob spoke of their letter from Kevin Lyman. On top of all the Warped Tour and Punk Isn't Dead playlists on my Spotify account, I added the official Die Young With Me playlist AND followed Blacklist Royals. Really digging their sound and so glad the book exposed them to me.

I moved this book to the top of my TBR because I love sci-fi and the concept of X-Men. I finished this book in a day because it's thought provoking and very well a possibility in our [not too distant] future.

It is not impossible to think of the day when we can genetically screen out and engineer embryos. A lot of people wish for this day when they think about all of the negative outcomes of genetics. But what if we not only eliminated the negative outcomes but also all the average ones, too? Right now we live in a world where we accept luck and fate and chance (and hard work, of course) when it comes to intelligence and physical abilities but if certain people were bred to be better? I've seen this show before and Dark Angel wasn't pretty (ok, the Jensen Ackles parts were).

Let’s be clear: while genetic engineering might one day become so common no one blinks at its use, the transition to that era is going to be fraught with controversy. The first generation of genetically engineered babies is going to have a tremendous advantage over their peers. Of course, there’s also the chance they will engender a tremendous amount of resentment.

Now imagine these were the people who got jobs before us average Janes and Joes. If they didn't really have to try at school or they got the guy/girl because they have the best of the physical traits. You can see how this would become a problem and how people might turn on them. There's been so much unrest with Dolly and anything related to genetics!

The author, Daniel Sweren-Becker, talks extensively about how he came to write such a book. "History tells us that when a powerless minority provokes fear in the majority there are usually tragic consequences," he points out. This subject is especially dear to me because I once majored in biology, with my intent to go into genetics counseling (aka the person you talk to when you're worried your genetics might produce an offspring with undesirable outcomes).

The Ones is a book that'll keep you guessing till the end, with a few twists in there. If you're looking for a sci-fi read this fall, I highly recommend this one!

File this one under "the time Christy had to eat her words." From halfway through I cried my eyes out. Beautiful ending to a beautiful series. Couldn't ask for more.

This book was more amazing than I imagined it to be. As a dystopian addict, it's been quite some time since I connected with a dystopian novel and Disruption just completely met my need.

Minority Report meets The Giver. Disruption introduces us to a world where pheromones control everyone's lives and four negative pheromone interactions can earn you a life on lock down, never to be seen again. The interpretation is that negativity might just lead you to do something undesirable and we just can't have that.

Maggie, our main character, is impacted by this situation when her father is sent away, leaving her family destitute and Maggie wanting to know more about the system they're forced to live in. Searching for her father, she decides to manipulate the son of the person in charge, and I bet you can imagine how this all goes down.

Until the end, that is. I got a bad case of OMG WHAT at the end, leaving me clamoring for book two, which exists in the world but not in the US, yet. 2017, please be here more quickly.

This is a case of it's not you, it's me. I started this book over audio a month ago but before I could finish, it had expired. By the time it became available again, I lost momentum. Boo.

I've been a fan of Kiera's love stories since the day The Selection came out and The Siren just continued that love. The Siren is a great standalone book that's a pretty quick read. You definitely plunge right in like a shipwreck in the ocean (ha).

The pace, story, and characters were perfectly melded. Halfway through there's a pretty but turn and it completely takes off from there. I never thought I would hate the ocean so much.

Ahhhh I love fall because all the thrillers, mystery, and horror books come out like spirits on Halloween, and Last Seen Leaving is the one you're going to want to pick up this year!

First off, let's talk about the cover and how it's absolutely telling of the story inside. It's completely creep-tastic and I get the heebie-jeebies just looking at it. The way the trees snake up, to the hazy twilight background, and even the lettering on the author's name all spell PAGE TURNER for me.

And page turner it is, indeed. I finished this book in a less than 24 hour period because every time I picked it up, I was completely engrossed. January has gone missing and the number of (unofficial) suspects climbs with every chapter. Is it Flynn, the boyfriend who is not a fan of her new friends and has his own skeletons? Or perhaps it's her stepfather, the political powerhouse who shudders at January's less-than-perfect exterior? Oh, and then there's her ultra creep of a stepbrother who clearly despises her. They each seemingly have motive and still the police aren't quite sure what happened to January.

Over the course of its 330 pages, Last Seen Leaving unravels a mystery that is so tightly woven you're kept gasping till the last chapter. You think you know what's going on and then you're thrown for a loop. I thought I had it figured out but not once was my suspicion correct.

For those who prefer mystery and suspense over horror and gore, this is your fall read. Pick it up for the mystery but stay for the characters, who you'll grow to care for throughout the story. Thanks for that epilogue; I really wanted to know how it all turned out!

This week, we get to know Loki, a young man who escapes a reality of bullying through video games, only to find his bullies have followed him there.

My friends, this is one tough and intense episode. E.C. Myers addresses a topic not broached often enough - the bullying of boys. We see a lot of references to the "mean girls" in our society but the bullying of boys is something that we need to talk more about. Loki (which is his online screen name) faces intense online bullying from a boy he used to call his closest friend, something he doesn't feel comfortable telling his parents about because what if they take away his only escape? Their reaction could make it worse for him, too. Though not implicitly said, it's implied that the bullying took a toll on Loki's mental health and was a factor in his death (much like other cases - have you watched Audrie & Daisy yet?).

Someone had hit reset on his life, and Loki could be whoever he wanted to be.

As with each of the previous episodes, The Most Dangerous Game is an insight into the unique qualities that Loki brings into the afterlife? other world? Loki brings strategy to the table, something he's clearly developed from playing video games. This becomes a life-saving thing for the team.

ReMade reminds me of how the Avengers movies were set up - where we got to know several characters and later they became a team. Each episode seems to be leading toward them working together to figure out what in the heck happened upon their death and how they can move forward.