Making it Last takes us back into the story of Amber and Tony – almost a lifetime after How to Misbehave leaves off. They now have three kids, a dog, and all of the things, baggage included, that come along with years of marriage. I love that Knox made the decision to take us back into their story – we would get glimpses along the way through books two and three of the series but I was happy to hear that this novella focused on them again.

Tony and Amber have both drifted and become a bit lost in their marriage. Tony works all the time and worries constantly about how he will continue to support his family and Amber’s life has revolved around their three boys so much that now that she can focus on herself, she doesn’t really know who she is or what she wants. On a family trip to Jamaica for a wedding, things come to a head for her and she finally breaks down. Tony, with the help of Amber’s mother and aunt, decides to tell her to stay for a few days and he goes back to Ohio with the kids. All the while, he is clearly worried about her and what this is about. Amber’s mother is the one to make him realize he needs to go back and spend some time with Amber to figure things out.

Ruthie Knox writes some of my favorite characters. They are always complex and real and they deal with real life. In this case, a marriage and two people who clearly love each other a lot but have drifted into this time of life where they haven’t necessarily given each other the time or focus that is needed.

Ruthie Knox is on my auto-buy list and I have a feeling that once you read any one of her stories, you will agree. Definitely check out this novel and if you haven’t started reading the Camelot series, get moving. This novella is #4 in the series so you have plenty to read until this one officially comes out mid-July. If you enjoy real characters, lovely stories, and some steamy romance – you will definitely like this series.

Review to come.

Dead Living is your usual zombie book in that it shows what could happen if an apocalypse occurred but Bullion put an interesting twist on this zombie story with the introduction of Aaron - one of the main characters. We get just enough backstory to understand how things began and the lead into the present day gave me enough of a glimpse into how people have responded/reacted to the apocalypse in order to get an idea of how things are in present day.

Aaron is special – he was born on the day the world was overrun and grew up with a family that cared about each other. For some reason, he is able to walk amongst the zombies with no fear of attack. The great thing about the character though is that he still cares about other people. He isn't just out to control others and with the special gift he has, he could be a powerful person. Aaron goes through a lot and after seeing his entire family die he ends up separating himself from everyone. With his “gift” he has decided he is better off living amongst the walkers because he can’t really decide who is worse, them or people and in some ways, I agree.

Sam, the other main character, has been living with a group of people but has cut herself off from building any relationships…until she is rescued by Aaron. For some reason she is drawn to him, as are others. Sam recognizes that Aaron is different – not because of his secret but because he is optimistic and still cares about other people. Sam went from being completely closed off to realizing just how much Aaron meant to her. It also changed how she approached others at the school. She came to realize it is ok to care and allow people to get close.

This is a fast paced, action packed book and although it doesn't reveal anything I haven’t seen before in zombie novels, I found myself turning the pages to see what would happen next. I found the transitions a bit confusing sometimes but other than that, it is a well written story. If you enjoy a good story, a bit of gore and a lot of action, you will probably enjoy this one.

I enjoyed this one. The characters are believable and it is a quick read. 3-3.5 stars.

The book begins with Girl15's naming ceremony where we find out she will be called Deuce and she is assigned the role of Huntress. The Enclave is run by a select few and each member of the enclave falls into the role of hunter, breeder or builder. Deuce has always wanted to be a huntress and finds herself paired with Fade who is viewed by everyone as an outsider because he did not grow up in the enclave.

I loved Deuce - she is tough and yet, at times seemed very young. Her role as huntress is to bring back food but also kill the freaks (I think these are a faster and somewhat more lethal version of a zombie). She completely kicks ass and eventually stands up for more than just herself which is what gets her into trouble.

Fade is an interesting character - he doesn't have a lot of friends below because of his background. Though the book mostly focuses on Deuce and her relationships with those around her, we get a glimpse of Fade's relationship with Banner. He begins to trust Deuce and stands up for her which is the catalyst to him (and Deuce) getting exiled and going Topside.

Seeing the relationship between Fade and Deuce develop was great - they do trust each other and care about each other but I don't think they know to what extent yet...at least not in Deuce's mind. I don't think she has ever really thought about a relationship or being in love as it wasn't ever something she was planning on due to her role in the enclave.

I really liked this story but wish I would have gotten more background around how the world ended up they way it did. There were small mentions about things that happened in the past but I am hoping the next book gives a bit more detail. There is a lot of action which moves the book along quickly. Aguirre does a great job of sharing the experience Deuce has of being in Topside for the first time - from seeing the sunlight to expressing the differences between how she looks compared to others they meet/see.

Looking forward to diving into the second book right away to see what happens at Salvation.

4 - 4.5 stars for Outpost. This one picks up where the last book left off. The group (Deuce, Fade, Stalker, and Tegan) has made it to Salvation and they are trying to assimilate to the way things are with their foster families as well as the town.

They each have their own issues with adapting and the first 25% of the book is about this. Deuce struggles with the fact that Fade has withdrawn from her and she leans on Stalker more. Tegan just wants to forget all of the things that happened while making the trek north.

All of the misconceptions between Fade and Deuce about their feelings for each other could definitely have been resolved if they would have discussed it. Fade felt like she chose Stalker but couldn't let her go and Deuce felt like he didn't care anymore which pushed her to turn back to Stalker so that she could feel like things were back to normal (or at least what she was used to in the enclave). I sometimes found myself forgetting that these were teenagers because of everything they had been through and done...It was something that really came out for me when Deuce had her 16th birthday party.

The relationships are a key part to the book but the other important part of the book is the fact that the freaks/muties are evolving and it is affecting the way the people of Salvation live. The decision is made to create the outpost to protect the planters and the fields and Deuce leads the charge with Longshot. Of course, Fade and Stalker are right there in the mix of things.

I loved that this book gave a bit more of the history of Salvation and the evolution of the way things became. It was interesting to see the changes in the freaks and how they were evolving as well. The characters continued to grow and it is seen the most in Deuce. I was glad to see that as the book progressed, Deuce had a harder time separating the girl from the huntress - they were becoming the same person and she was identifying more with the girl as opposed to the huntress.

A lot happens in the last 1/3 of the book and I am very curious to see what happens next. The ending left things open and I look forward to reading the next book. Although there are still questions about what will happen to Salvation, I was glad to see that Fade came through and still wanted to be there for Deuce on her new path.

So this one was a bit of a let down for me. The first few chapters were great and I was super engaged due to the immediate action as well as the background and world building. Beyond that I wasn't that impressed.

Alenna became an orphan at the age of 10 due to her parents being taken by the government. At the age of 16, kids are given a test to determine whether they are solid citizens of the UNA. Surprise - Alenna doesn't pass the test and wakes up from it to find herself stranded on the island (everyone calls it The Wheel). Here is where things get iffy for me. There is a ton of descriptive text but things aren't really explained. How did Vei and The Monk live for so long if the normal life expectancy is 2 years. Where did the extra clothes come from - seriously, if they have a stash of spare clothes and robes somewhere (and let's not forget spare eyeglasses for David - WHAT??)...what else is around the island?

Outside of that, the characters didn't really draw me in. I initially liked Alenna and I suppose I don't dislike her but I didn't love her. Gadya was actually a bit annoying to me - the whole "we're friends, we're not friends" thing was silly and I don't even think that aspect to the story was necessary. I was glad to learn a little bit about Liam but wanted to know more about David. There just wasn't enough development there and the fact that the book ends without anything regarding what happened to him is just mean...I mean, there was nothing to indicate anyone had any idea and that anything was going to be done to figure it out.

Finally, the romance. I find it interesting when a character decides they are in love after 3 weeks (rough estimate) of being around someone. Nevermind that they have only really had about 3 full conversations and kissed briefly twice.

Overall this story has a lot of promise - I might read the next one to see where it goes and learn more about what the deal is with the government, the rebels and also what the heck happened to David.

Review to come.

The Testing was a quick and interesting read. There was enough action to keep me turning the pages and plenty of deception and secrets to keep me engaged in trying to figure out what was going to happen next.

Every year, the Commonwealth chooses from the brightest students in each colony to attend the The Testing. This is a series of tests the candidates are put through to determine who will attend University and become the future leaders. The Five Lakes colony has not had representatives participate in quite a while and it turns out there is good reason for it.

Malencia (Cia) Vale is one of four graduates from Five Lakes that get chosen to participate. This is something she has worked extremely hard for and just prior to making the journey to Tosu City, where the testing will be held, Cia has a heart to heart with her father who also participated in The Testing when he was young. He cautions her to trust no one and be careful. Another candidate from Cia’s colony is Tomas. Turns out he is the smartest person in her class (according to Cia) and while they have worked together on school projects, they never really had an opportunity to get to know each other. All of that changes as quickly they gravitate toward each other and become one another’s confidante….kind of.

Cia and Tomas trust each other but there are definitely limits to that trust. For Cia, I get the sense that she wanted to fully trust in him but she plays it off that it is never a good time to reveal any of the secrets she was keeping. Because we don’t get to view anything from Tomas’ point of view, I’m at a loss as to what his deal is. I think he does truly care for Cia but I get the sense that there is something more to him and his actions. Considering the final secret that is revealed regarding what happened while Cia and Tomas were separated during the fourth test, I feel somewhat justified saying that.

I thought the world building Charbonneau did here was wonderful. As a reader I was brought into the history of the Cia’s world through her testing. As she responded to the questions as well as traversed through the uncolonized areas, we were able to learn more about how things came to be as well as just how bad it really was for some. I was really not expecting the humans that were not really human anymore so bravo on that one.

This book will ultimately be compared to other dystopians out there (there is one in particular that comes to mind) but I have to say, I was impressed with this novel. It isn’t pretty and these are life and death situations the candidates are facing. It was interesting to see how some responded to the pressure and situations. Cia never compromises her beliefs and what her parents taught her just to survive and while this is admirable, it is one of the things that causes trouble for her. Don’t get me wrong, Cia is tough and very smart. She thinks things through but she also isn’t afraid to act and do what she feels is right or needs to be done. She just tends to give people the benefit of the doubt and more often than not, it came back to bite her.

Overall this was a great first book in the series. I found it interesting and although there is somewhat of a cliffhanger with this one, it was a logical place to create a break. I am definitely looking forward to the next book and hoping to learn more about Michal and these rebels as well as see if Zeen makes an appearance. It will be interesting to see what happens as things start to be revealed (hopefully) in the next book.

Thank you to the publisher for providing a copy of the book for review.

This review will be somewhat vague mostly because I don’t want to give any bit of it away.

Never Fade is book 2 in The Darkest Minds trilogy and picks up shortly after Ruby has joined The Children’s League. She has no idea what happened to Chubs, Liam is out in the world somewhere, and she is being used by the League to interrogate people when needed as well as go on missions assigned by Alban (the League leader). Eventually, Ruby finds out something that has her questioning everything going on with the League and very unsure of who to trust. She knew going in that they weren't completely on the up and up but this bit of information truly throws her. In collaboration with Cole, Liam’s brother, she comes up with a way to get away and attempt to hunt down Liam, who has something she and Cole need.

This book was non-stop action from the first few pages all the way through. I kept thinking to myself that Ruby just never catches a break yet through it all we see that she is just a teenager trying to survive and protect the people she loves. At the same time, she is continuing to learn more about her power and how it works. She continues to push herself to get to the level of control that Clancy had and you will have to read the book to find out what happens.

There are some new characters introduced as part of the League team Ruby leads. Vida was a great addition. I honestly wasn't sure what her deal was and what to expect from her but by the end of the book I really liked her. She is tough, brash, and says what she wants. Jude is the idealistic baby of the group. He talks a lot, doesn't really hold anything back, and wants to prove himself. We don’t really get a lot of Nico as he stays behind but I’ll be interested to see how things go for him in book 3.

That’s it people – I can’t say anything more without giving away the good stuff and honestly, you really don't want me to - I know it. Trust me that you need to get your hands on this one as soon as you can and if you haven’t started The Darkest Minds, definitely check it out.

Not sure how I feel about that ending - Review to come.