This book started out slow for me but as the story developed and progressed, I found myself enjoying it more.

I enjoy the dystopian genre and the premise for this story was intriguing. Where I feel like it may have missed the mark was in providing background around what happened to make the doctor think the way he did and how the world ended up the way it did. Perhaps I missed it but I couldn't understand what might have happened that would have made society lean toward Hitler's ideals.

I thought the characters were interesting. Ellyssa was well developed and I wanted to know more about why she had a "flaw". I liked the introduction of the rebels and thought they added a necessary layer to the story but I found the insta-love a bit odd. For a character that has no sense of real emotions for the majority of her life, I didn't buy that after a week, she would be able to come to the conclusion that what she is feeling, especially after being so cut off from emotion for so long.

Overall I enjoyed this book and will definitely check out the next installment. I have a feeling that things will be getting very interesting for everyone.

Thank you to Netgalley and Spencer Hill Press for the review copy.

So that was creepy and weird.

I'm really not sure what to say about this book. I can say that if the goal was to create a very creepy story with some really unlikable characters, consider that goal met. I do have to admit that despite the creep factor, I found myself unable to put this book down.

Kepnes immediately pulled me into this story. There is Joe, who is VERY disturbing, and Beck who is self-destructive and clueless, As the main characters, they were very well developed and while I felt sorry for Beck in the end, I didn't like her at all. Also, the secondary characters weren't likable either. All of Beck's friends were annoying and selfish and of course, Joe didn't really have any friends.

While I can't say this was an enjoyable story based on the subject matter, I can say it was definitely an interesting one. I found it disturbing and creepy but I also needed to find out what was going to happen in the end. I have no idea who I would recommend this book to but if you find any of the above interesting, you might actually want to check this one out.

Thank you to Netgalley and Atria Books for the review copy.

3.5 review to come.

I am never disappointed by Katie McGarry’s books and Take Me On was no exception. I really loved this story and characters and could not put this one down until I found out what happened to everyone.

I will begin with the fact that I loved Haley. She is tough and loyal but it is very clear she is struggling. She and her family have hit a rough time and she is trying to put on a good face and just get through but things just seem to be getting worse. I think one of the things that frustrated me the most about Haley was her unwillingness to ask for help. Her family wanted to be there for her but she refused to ask for it. With that said, I completely understood her reasoning and what she was doing.

One night as she was on her way home, she is almost run over by West. Let me interject here that I did not read book 3 (don’t judge me about it) so while some of you may already have some feelings about him, I went into this one with no predetermined feelings about him. I don’t know if this is good or bad but when I mentioned him to my sister, she immediately said…”Oh, I didn’t like him.” Whereas I was all “I love him!!” Anyway, I did really love him. While I found out what happened with him in book 3, I thought not knowing, gave me a bit of a different view than others may have of him. Mostly because when I was introduced to him, it was clear he was struggling with what he was going to do as well as the role he played in his sister’s accident. He truly loves his family but he doesn’t really know how he fits in.

As punishment for getting expelled for fighting, West’s dad enrolls him in the public school and this is where West and Haley start to build a friendship and then find that they both want more than that. Along the way, they find out more about themselves and each other and they also find themselves in a situation where Haley is training West to fight her ex-boyfriend’s little brother in order to protect Haley’s brother and cousin.

I really liked the secondary characters in this story and have high hopes that we will see a few of them again in some of the upcoming books. Jax was one of my favorites and I also love Abby. McGarry always does such a wonderful job of creating these fascinating characters (main or secondary) and although I know neither of them would accept it, I would just like to give them both hugs.

Definitely consider reading these books if you haven’t done so yet. I can't give everything about this story away but know that there is plenty of angst, swoon, and action to keep you engrossed in this story. I always find myself pulled into the lives of these complex characters and stories. Ultimately, that is what makes me unable to put the book down until I reach the end. If you like the other books in this series, I have a feeling you will definitely enjoy this one as well.

Thank you to Netgalley & Harlequin Teen for the review copy.

First World Problems by Leigh Ann Kopans was one of my favorite reads this month. I loved how Kopans took this girl (Sophia) and put her in a situation that was completely foreign to her but somehow she survives and ends up making an impact. Sophia is a character in Kopans’ book Solving for Ex which meant I was going in with feelings about her - I don’t think that necessarily hurt anything but it absolutely made it more difficult for Sophia to win me over.

Sophia is very obviously spoiled. When her mother died, Sophia’s dad basically threw money and things at her and her brother Vincent to compensate and it essentially created a monster….and I mean this in the nicest way. I say this mostly because Sophia sees it and doesn’t call him out for it. I can’t really blame her for that either but when she takes things too far by expensing a birthday trip for her and a bunch of friends to Paris, her dad has had enough.

This is where I have mixed feelings about Sophia because Kopans does a wonderful job of showing us that she is someone who really just wants things back to the way they were when her mother was around and her father was more engaged in her life. Ever since he remarried, her dad has checked out even more and when he blows off her birthday (something that they had a bit of a tradition around) I couldn’t blame Sophia for holding it against him and making him pay.

When Sophia’s dad finds out just how much she spent on her party and he gives her an ultimatum which Anne, her stepmother, had a hand in coming up with. The ultimatum is she either spends a year doing service for I.D.I. (International Development Initiatives), a company Anne works for, or he will cut her off. That means regardless of her decision, her original plan of studying in Paris is off the table.

So clearly there isn’t really a choice to be made here so Sophia decides that she will head to Guyana and try to manipulate her father to try to get out of it as soon as she possibly can. Once she gets to where she is going Sophia realizes she is definitely in for a rough time. There is no electricity, the plumbing is questionable, and the food options aren’t what she is used to. Despite all that, the people she is to live with over the next year don’t seem that bad. The girls, Lena and Arielle, both understand what she is going through because it took them time to adjust when they came to Guyana so they do cut Sophia some slack.

Callum on the other hand isn’t as forgiving and immediately puts Sophia into the “spoiled” category (he’s not wrong) and expects the worst from Sophia. So…Callum is an interesting character. He has been in Guyana for two years and although his parents are rich, he prefers the life he has in Guyana to anything else. He is doing something he loves that he feels will bring a better life to those who live in the area…unfortunately his parents don’t see that and image is everything to them so he knows he is there on borrowed time because any day now they will make him come home.

Let me pause here to say that while Callum is somewhat standoffish to Sophia at first, their relationship changes over time. I loved the way that Kopans built this out because Callum had been burned before and while Sophia was used to guys falling over themselves for her, she needed a dose of Callum to bring her back to earth…or Guyana. I need to also tell you that Callum is from New Zealand and has been building gardens for 2 years…what I’m telling you is he has a nice body and an accent. Don’t judge me for calling it out. In addition to that, he wants to do something good with his life and make an impact that doesn’t revolve around his parent’s money.

As Sophia and Callum’s relationship changes, so does Sophia. She begins to realize just how different life is for those who live in Guyana and she realizes she wants to make a difference too. After she meets Riya, a fourteen year old girl who has a way with plants, Sophia comes up with an idea. I do have to say that Sophia isn’t stupid. She knows what she wants and she tries to get it and this is no different. She begins to develop an idea for a beauty line that revolves around the natural products in Guyana and in order to get it moving, she knows she is going to have to ask her dad for help. With that in mind, she begins to think of a way to get home so that she can sell him on the idea. Because Callum is the lead project manager who reports to Anne, he is also responsible for providing reports on Sophia’s progress and Sophia is counting on him to help her get home.

I loved seeing the change in Sophia and then ultimately the change in Sophia’s relationships with those around her. She definitely had some growing up to do and I don’t know what kind of person she would have turned out to be if she hadn’t gone on the trip. In my mind, this story is about Sophia finding out who she really is and what she is truly capable of.

If you haven’t read one of Leigh Ann Kopans’ books yet, I encourage you to do it as soon as you can. She writes real characters and wonderful stories that pull you right into the pages. She is one of the authors I have on my auto-buy list and I should mention that list is pretty exclusive so that should tell you something. While I mentioned that Sophia was in Solving for Ex, I don’t necessarily think you have to read that book before you read this one but please note that there are some references to things that happened in that book so if you are going to read both (which I absolutely recommend) you should read that one first. If you like a fun contemporary definitely check this out as soon as you can!

3.5 for this one.

Blackbird by Anna Carey was an interesting and quick read. It grabbed my attention almost immediately and while initially the story being told in second person threw me off, I found that after a bit I didn’t even notice it. I do think that this is the piece that will make some readers dislike it which would be unfortunate as there is an interesting story here.

The main character is a girl who just happens to wake up lying on some train tracks unable to move. She doesn’t know anything about herself and the only thing that is obvious is that she is in danger and she can’t really trust anyone. As she tries to piece things together based on the little pieces of herself she is carrying around in a backpack, she finds she is being followed by people she doesn’t know and some that even want to kill her.

As I mentioned, the story is told in second person and I expect this was done to help the reader experience things right along with the main character. At first I was a bit distracted by it but as I mentioned, it eventually faded into the background as more and more was being revealed. I loved that because of her amnesia, we were experiencing everything right alongside her.

I do have to say that I felt like nothing was resolved by the end of the book and while I get as a series something needs to be left to tell in the next book, there were so many loose ends when this one wrapped up. Yes we find out a bit more about what has been happening and why (please forgive my vagueness) but we don’t get anything about who the main character really is and that is what I really wanted.

If you like a good mystery and enjoy a thriller, definitely check this one out. It is a fast paced story that drags you along the pages right alongside the main character. I will definitely be checking out the next book in this series and I can’t wait to find out what happens next.

Thank you to Edelweiss and HarperTeen for the review copy.

Alright...what can I say (apparently a lot). I loved this book and would rank it from a 4.5-5. I feel like fantasy is my new favorite and this book is definitely keeping me interested in the genre. Be warned...there may be spoilers below.

As always, the characters are super important for me and I don't think there were any that didn't add value to the story/book. First, Celaena is probably one of my most favorite female characters. She is tough, smart, sarcastic, and it is hard to remember sometimes that she is just 18 years old.

Second, Chaol and Dorian are lovely. I was worried it was going to be an obvious love triangle (based off the back blurb) and everyone was going to be in love with her but that was definitely not the case. Chaol fights his feelings the entire way

Spoiler

and he really hasn't even admitted his feelings by the end of the book despite being pretty happy that Celaena told Dorian she needed to stop seeing, kissing, etc him.

. Dorian pretty much says he never saw her coming. I still can't decide who I like better though I will say that
Chaol might be in the lead as he told Calaena she looked pretty and the way he tried to get her to get up during the last dual...that is all I will say about that. Dorian on the other hand always backed down but then came back and said he wished he did things differently...if that were the case he should have just done it.

Third, all of the other characters were just as great. From Nehemia to Cain to the King, they are all well developed and add a lot of color and value to the story.

The relationships within the book are also something that drew me in. It was great to see the evolution of Celaena's relationship with Chaol. I also loved seeing her friendship develop with Nehemia.

I highly recommend this book for anyone who appreciates a good story and great characters. There is more than just the characters here...within the competition for the position as the King's Champion is a mystery that includes magic, mystery and a lot of fighting. I really enjoyed the final dual between Calaena and Cain...and with Chaol kneeling by the line...*sigh*. I know I missed a number of the earlier ebooks and will definitely go back to read as I hope they go more into the earlier life of Celaena and leading up to her time in Endovier.

Overall, this was a great story with some wonderful characters that I am looking forward to learning more about and diving into the next adventure. I'm not going to lie...I also want to see what happens with Chaol, Dorian and Celaena...don't judge. I love it when there is romance involved.