This one just wasn't for me. Everything was too convenient, the main character (Taylor) was annoying and pretty much a B the entire book, and I just couldn't get into this. I get it, she had a terrible thing happen to her but seriously - the only thing I felt toward her was annoyance. No matter how great Hunter was, it couldn't be saved in my mind.

On top of the fact that the characters did nothing for me, the story had a number of things that didn't add up for me.

1. Taylor knew it was a co-ed dorm...if she truly had issues with the opposite sex, why on earth would she have chosen to live there?

2. Did they know each other longer than 2 months before the "I love you's" were thrown out? It was definitely a fairly quick turnaround (in my opinion) for one person who has never been in a relationship and typically shied away from anything related to the opposite sex. Also - Hunter apparently was somewhat of a player before meeting Taylor and then all of a sudden he is changed???

3. Um...he bought a house and opened up a shared checking account?? I don't think the first semester of school was over yet...that is less than 4 months (I am ball parking this timeframe) and he is already setting her up with a house and spending money...OK.

4. I HATED the whole Missy thing...

5. Don't get me wrong - I would love a guy who plays guitar, sings like a god, is smart, great looking and always says the right thing. Oh - he also is great in bed (and the shower) and can cook just about anything....again, not sure I can believe in this character - just seemed to be too perfect (Sorry if that makes people angry with me).

Maybe it is the cynic in me - maybe it is because these characters are 19 and 20...whatever it is, I'm not buying it...any of it.

I wanted to really, really like this...I only kind of did. This book had a lot of potential but there were just some things throughout that took away from me really loving it.

We find out that the world has changed and now populated by Ticks. These are genetically altered people that eat teenagers hearts. The Farm is where all teenagers were sent by families (mandated by the government) to protect the population. Unfortunately, they appear to be run by some corrupt people and once someone hits the age of 18, they tend to vanish. At the same time, the population of The Farm are "donating" their blood every few days....ok - I'm on board with this.

Lily and Mel are twins who have been at The Farm for 6 months. Mel is autistic and Lily has been taking care of them and working on a plan to escape The Farm before they turn 18. Right around this time, Carter shows up. He is someone Lily and Mel knew from Before and we come to find out he has a reason he has been looking for Lily. He believes she is an abductura (someone who can control emotions) and along with the rebel group he is with, they think Lily will save everyone. I'm still fully on board with this which is why I was thinking I would love this.

The things that took away from the book for me were the characters - I didn't really love them. I was back and forth on my feelings for Lily - she did some annoying things but then she would do something that would make me like her. Carter - I get that he was supposed to be the "bad boy" in high school and although I did like him, the fact that he told Lily that he knew what she was because he didn't want to fall for her but did (in high school) just makes me think he clearly didn't use his brain all the time...I mean what girl wants to be told "hey - I love you but I don't want to love you" (I'm totally paraphrasing here).

There were some minor editing issues throughout the book and the point of view changes were fine - it just felt odd to be in first person for Lily's chapters and move to third person for Carter's.

The end was interesting and I won't give anything away. I will most likely continue to read the series as I am curious enough to want to see what happens.

I really enjoyed this one. 4-4.5 stars and I have hunted down the next two so I can hunker down and finish this series out.

The story jumps right into Althea's life and she has jumped seasons...at first she is a bit out of it but that seems to be normal. She finds she is back in her Autumn life and everything appears to be as it usually is.

I found the premise of this book to be pretty interesting and different. There is a dystopian feel to it in that this alien society has basically taken over Earth and determines what happens to the people in the town.

Both Althea and Lucas struggle with who they are and how their futures will be impacted by another season jump.

I'm not going to go into a ton here because I am dying to read the next book and see where things go. Just trust me when I say this is definitely a good read and anyone who enjoys a good ya/alien/dystopian story should like this one too.

This was a great second book to the series and I am looking forward to the next book.

This story picks up where book one left off - Althea and Lucas have traveled and are now separated. Althea is in Winter now and makes the decision to pack up some things to head out to the wilds. She ends up meeting two new, and very important characters - Wolf and Pax. Wolf turns up at the shelter she ends up staying in and they come to sort of an agreement - he catches food and she cooks it. They eventually become pretty close.

Pax turns up out of nowhere and it turns out he is another dissident. He just happens to be "Autumn" and initially Althea isn't sure what to think about him. She knows he has some secrets but she can't necessarily hold it against him as she has some secrets as well.

I won't go into all of the detail of what happens but there continues to be a lot of action - it doesn't appear that Althea ever gets a break in this story. She and Pax continue to run from the Others and are on a mission to find Lucas (eventually) but also hike from Iowa to Portland as that is where Pax wants to go. On top of all of the action, Althea continues to explore her powers and abilities as a part human/part other and finds some things out about what she, Lucas, and Pax are capable of. It was also interesting to see them interact more with the Others (mainly Chief and Prime Other).

I wasn't super excited about the fact that a love triangle ensues almost immediately - despite the fact that Lucas isn't in the majority of the book, Althea clearly has feelings for both Pax and Lucas. I was happy to see Lucas come back at the end and I'm not sure I'm ready to forgive Pax for what he did at the end - no spoiler here...just know that I was pretty annoyed with him and was thinking that there is no way she should have a hard time deciding which boy to like better....just saying.

Looking forward to reading the next book and will be diving into that as soon as I wrap up this review. Recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a lot of action, aliens and a great story.

I enjoyed this one and am definitely looking forward to the next book.

I was a bit intimidated at first - any book that immediately introduces 40 characters worries me. The main characters are threaded throughout the book with rotating chapters for each. This book has a fair amount of action, definitely a lot of death and some magic.

Cleo is the princess of Auranos and I will admit that I found her a bit annoying at first. Despite the fact that there was an insta-love situation - I was happy to see her character grow throughout the story and by the end I was behind her 100%. I am hoping that she comes through and shows some more of the strength that showed up at the end of the book. Her life is completely turned upside down from where it began and I see her playing a critical role in the search for The Kindred.

Jonas was a character I struggled with. I wanted to like him - I felt bad for him and his situation but he was so full of hate and anger....and not necessarily with the right people. Again, by the end of the story, I was happy to see the change in his feelings toward Cleo and am looking forward to seeing what he does in the next book.

Magnus and Lucia was where most of the story was invested. I don't want to give anything away here but the book spends a lot of time on these characters because of who they are and how their story intertwines with everyone else. It was an interesting arc to the story from all aspects. There were times I felt sorry for Magnus and other times where I just wanted to shake him. Lucia, though critical to the story, didn't seem to go anywhere for me.

Overall this was a good book and I enjoyed the story. I look forward to the next book and finding out what happens for each of these characters. I am also very interested in finding out what the future holds for each of the kingdoms.

Another lovely story by Colleen Hoover. 4.5 stars....

I will add a more detailed review after I give myself some time to absorb the story but all you really need to know here is that the characters are writtten well, the story is engaging, and I couldn't put this down. I'm not at all surprised by this as Slammed and Point of Return were some of my favorite books from this year.