Relativity is one of those stories that makes you think about the “what ifs.” You know, what if I left the house 5 minutes earlier…would my day have turned out differently or in the case of Ruby, what if her mother had survived the car accident she was in…would Ruby’s life have been different? The exploration of the idea that there are other parallel universes where our lives could be entirely different or even strangely similar based on the choices we make is interesting to me.

I enjoyed this book and found the story to be engaging. Ruby has been dragged from California to Ohio by her father. Since he met and married Willow, Ruby has been forced to make some major changes in her life. Namely, move away from everything that is familiar including her best friend (who she wishes were more) George. Additionally, she now has a step-mother and step-sister.

There were times where I truly felt bad for the situation. The sense I got was that although her father did love her, he was absorbed by his work and really left Ruby to her own devices. In all honesty, it made me a bit angry on her behalf. While wandering the corn fields, Ruby comes across a tree that has, for some reason, drawn her attention from the house. When she gets closer, she realizes there is something different about the tree and ultimately finds out it is actually something that will transport her to these other parallel universes which she definitely wants to explore.

With the draw of potentially finding the perfect world – the one where her mother survived, George is more than just a friend, and everything else has fallen into place - Ruby jumps into the tree to begin her exploration.

I won’t go into the detail and history behind how the tree came to be but what happens is Ruby is propelled into these other universes where things are completely different and she needs to determine what is really important. Her choice not only impacts her but she is forced to look at how what she does in each of the universes impacts those around her. She does finally get to a world where her mother is alive and she gets to experience what it would be like to have her be there for her and Ruby doesn't really want to let it go.

Overall I thought this book was well done but there is definitely a science/math slant to it. Ruby loves both of these things and Bishara definitely doesn't shy away from bringing up either of these items. It was completely over my head but I don’t think it hurt the story in any way as it brings some credibility to idea that this type of wormhole could potentially exist.

Definitely check this one out if you enjoy a story that has some science, some action, a little bit of romance, and the opportunity to explore the unknown. The main character is a likable heroine who needs to decide what is most important to her and in the end, her experience pushes her to make some decisions in her life that she otherwise might not have made.

Review to come

Holy cliffhanger!!!

3.5 stars.

Conjured is definitely unlike any other book I have read. We find out that Eve is part of the Witness Protection Program but we get very little background as to why….at first. Sarah Beth Durst did a great job of exposing bits and pieces of the story throughout the novel by revealing things to Eve. See, she doesn’t remember anything prior to being placed with the Witsec agents and other than knowing that the story includes magic and the killer she is being protected from is a magician, Eve is just as in the dark as the reader.

Eve is a likable character but I didn’t love her. I thought she allowed people to dictate her actions too often – perhaps this was a side effect of her memory loss but in hindsight, it is possible that it was due to her role in life prior to being placed in protection. There were times where she took charge but it wasn’t very often.

I enjoyed Zach as a character. I fully support a nerdy guy who spouts out useless facts. On top of this, he is very honest (he truly never lies) and the way he introduced himself to Eve for the first time won me over completely.

Throughout the story, Zach is the one who centers Eve and helps her realize who she is. When she realizes that doing magic causes her to blackout, she tries not to do it at all but then surprisingly, she finds Zach can do magic through her and that changes everything. It definitely draws them closer together and creates this sense in Eve that he is someone she can trust.

I do wish we had learned more about these magical worlds. Although at the end we were given some insight into how the trial process went, we didn’t get much exposure to these magical worlds as well as much detail behind Aiden’s quest. I honestly would have liked to know more about him, his world, and why he thought Eve was truly the answer…outside of her magic.

If you are looking for something different, this may be the book for you. As I mentioned, I don’t think I have read anything like this before and that is honestly what made this book stand out for me. I thought the story was well paced and kept me interested in what was going to happen next. If you like magic, a bit of romance, and some mystery…check this one out.

Four...I love him. That is all.

So ...is it too soon for me to beg for the next book?

First – If you haven’t read Cinder or Scarlet, stop reading this and go get them now. This was one of the books that I had on my MUST HAVE list from ALA and thankfully I was one of the lucky ones.



Ok, now with that out of the way I can tell you I loved Cress just as much as I did Scarlet. I’m not going to lie; it is long at 550 pages (at least my hard copy was this long) but it flew by. It is so full of action, wonderful characters, and such an interesting story that I didn't really notice the length outside of how heavy the book felt.

In Cress we are back with the main characters from Scarlet. If you recall, they escaped and are in space (Thorne, Cinder, Wolf, and Scarlet) attempting to come up with a plan to stop the wedding between Kai and Queen Levana. While trying to figure out what the next step of their plan is, a (kind of) new character emerges. Cress has been locked away in a satellite for 7 years and you hopefully you remember her brief introduction in Scarlet. If not, it’s ok. You will definitely get more of her background, what she does in her satellite, and her impact to the story in this book.

Rapunzel's tower is a satellite. She can't let down her hair - or her guard.



So, don't hate me but instead of getting into the detail of the book because honestly, you don’t want me to give anything away and I don’t want to ruin anything, I am going to just tell you all of the reasons why you should be reading this series…if you aren't already.

1. The story lines – Meyer bases these books on fairy tales (Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood, Rapunzel) but they have their own spin if you haven’t noticed. I mean cyborgs, intergalactic struggles, hybrids, etc. But really, Meyer weaves these different stories together seamlessly despite them all being very different. She has been able to keep me engaged in each and every one of these books and the even bigger feat – I am constantly guessing what will happen next and usually almost always wrong.

2. The characters – it is no secret that if I don’t get the characters or even like them a little, I tend to not really enjoy the story (weird…right??). Meyer writes some great characters , both good and bad – don’t be confused, Thorne is my favorite but the others are (almost) as great in my opinion.

a. Kai – A prince who isn’t really ready to run a kingdom but will do what he has to in order to protect his people and those he cares about.

b. Cinder – A cyborg that happens to have a secret (of which she initially doesn’t really know anything about). She is smart, loyal, and sarcastic – I love that about her. She starts out shy but as the series progresses; she has grown into her role and responsibility.

c. Scarlet – She is tough, smart, and opinionated. In Cress, we get to see a bit more of her personality. I loved seeing her relationship with Wolf change/evolve.

d. Wolf – He really had me guessing throughout Scarlet and now with the way things go in Cress, it is clear he really cares about Scarlet. He definitely has a dangerous edge to him but he does care for Cinder and the others…secondary to Scarlet of course.

e. Carswell Thorne – He gets all my sighs. You should know that he is the perfect mix of swoony boy and sarcastic friend. He doesn’t take himself too seriously most of the time but when he does, it is usually because things just got really serious. He has some of the best lines and if you follow me on twitter or here on Goodreads, you may have seen me fangirling/crushing on Thorne….again. I own up to it - I love his character and thankfully (for me at least) we get to see so much more of him as the story with Cress progresses.



e. Cress - She is fairly new here and I found that I truly like her. She has led a sheltered life and has been thrown into this situation that anyone would have a hard time adjusting to but surprisingly she adapts fairly well. She wants to see the good in people and brings a different perspective to the story.

3. Everything else – There is space travel, science, technology, evil queens and hybrid armies…what else do you need?

So there it is…hopefully you don't hold the fact that this isn't one of my typical reviews against me since this one doesn't come out for a while. If you can’t tell, I highly recommend this series and if you have read the first two books, you will definitely want to dive into Cress as soon as you possibly can. Sorry if you were hoping for all the details – I would never do that here but if you really want to know all the secrets, you will have to either hunt down a copy or be patient…it is totally worth it!

Thank you to the Publisher for the early copy!

Find Me by Romily Bernard blends a great story that includes a bit of mystery and some great characters that have made it onto my favorites list. It kept me turning the pages trying to figure out what happened to Tessa but also because I wanted to see what was going to happen next for Wick. I won't go into a ton of detail around the mystery here because I don't want to give anything away. Just know that the story blends in a bit of hacking (Wick/Griff), some high school shenanigans, and a budding romance.

Wick is seventeen and hasn’t had the easiest life. She and her sister Lily have gone through 3 foster homes since her drug dealing father ran off to avoid the cops but now they are living with Bren and Todd. As a way to make some money…for just in case, Bren has been hacking. There are layers to this story and I don’t really want to give anything away but within the first few chapters, we find out that a girl that went to school with Wick has committed suicide (supposedly) but mysteriously, her journal is sitting on Wick’s porch addressed to Wick with a Post-it that says “Find me.” The main storyline here is Wick trying to solve the mystery of what happened to Tessa (Did she really commit suicide?) and also solve the mystery of who has now threatened Lily.

I really enjoyed the characters in this book. Wick is the main character. She is a nerdy, computer hacker who has a bit of a sarcastic edge. In addition, she truly cares about Lily and wants to do whatever she can to keep her safe and make Lily’s life better than what hers was at age 11. She struggles with adapting to living with Bren and Todd and I imagine any kid in foster care would have the same thoughts she does. That she doesn’t really belong with them, she needs to plan for the day things fall apart, and why bother unpacking…she will be moving on once they realize who she really is (her father’s daughter).

And although she has known him for a long time, Wick and Griff don’t really connect until the morning Wick finds out about Tessa. From that point on, they start to find out more about each other and it was great to see them become more to each other. They have two very different approaches to interacting with others which makes their approach to hacking very different. Griff also hasn’t had an easy life but where Wick has chosen to avoid others and put up walls, he has opted to blend in and become someone who can interact with anyone.

“He moves pretty easily through school. He’s funny, gets along with everyone and has even been known to save bullied band geeks.”

Griff has easily become a favorite of mine. He challenges Wick and where other guys might run in the other direction when she says certain things to him, he tells her he prefers her hard edges and she shouldn’t hold back.

“You’re the first girl I’ve ever met who’s smart and never plays stupid. You’re small but you don’t back down.”

He has been waiting for three years for Wick to notice him and his interest and he wasn’t going to let it pass – that is one of the things I loved about him. He was patient but he also wasn’t going to let a perfect opportunity pass by without getting her to see him. When he tells her he has wanted her since the moment he first saw her…..SWOON. When she finally does get it, Wick realizes she not only likes Griff, she needs his help.

The secondary characters were great too. I loved Lauren as Wick's best friend. I also thought the bad guys were done well. Wick's dad and his friend Joe...definitely bad guys. But Bernard also did a good job with the good guys...and making me wonder if they were really good...these are definitely not black and white characters. From the detective (Carson) to Tessa's dad (Mr. Waye) I was questioning just what their motives were and where they were supposed to fit.

As always, I love a good character driven story. The story here is definitely one that drew me in…right along with Wick and Griff I was trying to figure out who it is that Tessa wrote about in her journal and it did keep me guessing. The other part here though is the change in Wick. She goes from being this person who feels she can only rely on herself and it is up to her to keep Lily safe to eventually realizing that despite her life and circumstances, she can rely on others to help her…And trust that they will follow through. In the end, it is that trust that she puts in Griff that helps them all.

Definitely check this one out when you can. It is a great debut novel and I will be looking for more from Romily Bernard. She not only writes a solid story but gave me some characters I could care about and honestly, I want to read more about them.

3.5 stars

The Iron Thorn begins with 15 (almost 16) year old Aoife (I have no idea how to say this name…don’t judge me) visiting her mother. Nerissa (mom) happens to live in a madhouse because as Aoife has repeatedly been told, she carries a necrovirus that will make her crazy when she turns 16. It happened to her mother and it also happened to her brother so she, as well as just about anyone else, believes it will happen.

Aoife is currently a ward of the state and goes to The Academy at The School of Engines because machines and math have always made sense to her. Her best friend Cal also happened to be friends with Conrad, Aoife’s older brother. When Conrad “lost it” and ran away, Cal stepped in and has been the person that Aoife has depended on and become close to. Because of this, when Aoife receives a secret note from Conrad asking her to help him, she asks Cal to go with her to her father’s place in Arkham.

A lot happens in this book. This is a steampunk novel and Kittredge does a great job building the world they live in. From describing the surroundings to explaining the different types of beings/things that exist in this world, I was transported right along with Aoife into what was going on. Along with the machinery and ghouls, there are “kindly folk” or fairies.

While looking for a guide to take them to Arkham, Aoife and Cal meet Dean Harrison. Dean happens to be the one who will guide them out of The Iron City and into Arkham but he is also a smoking and drinking “bad boy”. While he definitely has secrets (at first) he also happens to be the one that Aoife connects with and eventually trusts with her secrets. Where Cal is sometimes very stuck on her reputation as a lady and steering her away from digging into her family background (we find out later why...) Dean pushes Aoife to examine everything and do what she wants to in order to make herself happy.

Not everything (and everyone) is as it (they) seems in this book. While at Grayson Mansion, Aoife’s father’s home, Aoife learns more about her father than she ever knew and learns a bit about what happened to Conrad. It is also while she is here that she begins to believe more and more in magic and witchcraft. While at the mansion, Aoife gets pulled into the Thorn Land and runs into Tremaine who happens to be the Regent for the Winter Lands. He also happens to be somewhat of a jerk (that is me being nice). Turns out he wants Aoife to break the curse that is keeping the Queens of Summer and Winter asleep which is also destroying their lands. Aoife decides to do this only because Tremaine threatens to go after her mother, Dean, and Cal.

Did I mention there is a lot going on????

SO – Once Aoife comes up with a plan, she, Dean and Cal head back to the city to follow through with it. This is where a ton of secrets come out. Don’t worry – I’m not going to mention a single one. Just know that they are pretty big and have an impact on the rest of the story as well as (I assume) the rest of the series.

Overall I found this book to be a good one. It kept me turning the pages and I was interested in the characters. I am definitely going to pick up the next book in the series as this one ended with a few twists. If you like the steampunk genre you will probably like this one. There is a good mix of the magic, machinery, and solid characters.