Darek is a simple delivery boy...he earns just enough to make ends meet in his simple life. Then one day things change. The mythical judges have made an appearance and killed thousands. Darek is in the wrong place at the wrong time and is linked to this vigilante style group. Arrested, he find himself fighting for his freedom and his life across the galaxy.

This book is the ultimate sci-fi/fantasy book for young adults. You get teleportation, aliens, space monsters, sword fights, super-human abilities, just to name a few. The characters are engaging and the action is almost non-stop, but doesn't seem to be forced or overly rushed. The characters are constantly fighting battles not only with their enemies, but within themselves.

The ending revealed much about our characters past that pulling many of the lose ends together. My only complaint is that much of it seems to come out of the blue, with not previous hints by the author (unless I totally missed them). The book was hard to put down and had me rooting for the good guys all the way.

3.5/5

A look into the life of the notorious queen Marie Antoinette. The story, told in a journal format, begins when Marie is very young and still living in Austria. It follows her life as she prepares to marry and become the dauphine of France...eventually becoming the Queen. The story follows her blunders and misconceptions, her disappointments and her few joys. We follow her through the end of her life at the guillotine.

This fictional account of what Marie Antoinette's life may have been like gives a new look into the infamous queen. It portrays her in different light, a confused child forced into the world of adults in a culture she not only doesn't understand, but one she wants to change for the better. The story was engaging and captivating. My heart went out to her and the entire royal family and the rebellion overtook their lives. While their decisions may have led to their downfall, we see how they may have known no better.

Lena seems to be your standard California girl: surfer boyfriend, lives within walking distance from the beach, and hardly a care in the world. But her life isn't as perfect as it seems from the outside. Her dad refuses to allow her to learn how to surf after he almost died in a surfing accident. She isn't as close to her boyfriend as everyone seems to think. And recently she's been sleepwalking her way down to the beach late at night. What is going on?

Lena is an engaging character that is struggling to find who she really is. And it all begins with a mysterious key, given to her in the water by someone...and the key opens up a whole new dimension to her life. A dimension that leads her dangerously close to losing all she already has and will force her make a decision between two parts of herself.

I loved this book. I loved the characters, they were all developed so fully. I loved the location, who can't love the beach, the ocean, and the waves. I loved the plot. The storyline unfolded and wrapped me up. Lena is a very real character with both good and bad qualities. She tries to bring out her good, and hide her bad, just like the rest of world.

There is a mermaid in the story, and an entire merfolk world. The world under the waves is beautifully simple and elegant. It's a new look at how they live and interact. The people under the waves are so different and yet so much the same. They seem so very foreign and yet their emotions make them so familiar. This was one of my top read so far this year.

5/5

An early review book that I hesitated to request, but am glad that I did. Ruby Leander has a secret, some would call it horrible, some would say deep dark, but I don't think any of those could really apply. Her daughter, Lark, isn't really hers. She found her in a trash can as she traveled to her new life out west. Assuming the baby had been abandoned, Ruby is shocked when nine years later, she finds that Lark's real parents have been looking for her all this time.

The story follows Ruby's decision to do the right thing and how it impacts the lives of all around her. Ruby and Lark go through a roller coaster ride of emotions as Ruby is charged with kidnapping and faces never seeing her beloved Lark again.

While I found much of the plot line to be strain believablilty, it still brought me into the lives of this small family. Their emotions were written plainly on every page and touched my heart. Ruby struggles with her decisions, constantly second guessing herself if what she decided was best for Lark. Lark struggles to find who she really is now that she knows her true history. Every day brings a new challenge into their lives and they overcome them as best they can.

3.5/5

Teagan has a plan for next few years of her life. After high school comes college. No boys, no excitement until after college. Life has another plan for Teagan. One day after finishing her shift at the zoo, her friend Abby calls her frantic. Abby has had a horrible dream of goblins and evil shadows...and they were after Teagan.

Teagan's brother, Aiden, has the remarkable talent of being able to learn songs immediately after hearing them and singing them back perfectly. He also never gets lost.

The strangeness continues when Finn arrives bringing with him the unimaginable, the goblins from Abby's dreams. But don't worry too much, Finn was born to fight them, and he will need all his skills to help get not only himself, but Teagan's family out of trouble.

A story full of twists and turns, interesting characters (human and otherwise), and fantastic places that are brought to life. I had a hard time putting this down and picked it up again as soon as I could. Teagan is a bright girl who knows how to use her brains, which helps them out of many tricky situations.

I hope Hamilton writes more about the goblin world we visit here. I'd read them all in a heartbeat.

As Franny gets ready for the first day of school, she is convinced that her life sucks. She's managed to dye her hair orange, her parents are getting divorced, her two best friends aren't talking to each other, and to top it all off, her crazy grandmother has moved in. Grandma happens to have a few tricks up her sleeves to try and help Franny, but they are only to be used when there are no other options left.

Franny gets her hands on Grandma's trick, a magic box that provides recipes to fix things for you. Franny dives right in and attempts to fix all the things she thinks are wrong with her life, only making things worse. Franny needs to put things back quick, but will she be able to?

This book was just about perfect. The only thing that I really disliked was the way some of the sentences were presented. The characters, especially grandmother, are priceless and unforgettable. The story shows us that sometimes things that seem to be wrong are really what's best in the long run. A great read for teenagers.

3.5/5

This review was probably one of the hardest I had to write. I was so torn on what I thought of the book overall. I loved some of it, but at the same time I found it rather annoying and frustrating. The story follows a group of writers that get together to share their thoughts and their stories with each other. The story follows their lives as their lives quickly become intertwined on a variety of levels - from romance, to hate, to respect, to lasting friendship.

The book is rather confusing at first. It was very difficult to follow the changing narrators at first, but as the story continues and you begin to know the characters, it becomes a wonderful way to tell the story. I think the part that threw me off the most was when people from outside the writing circle became narrators and also became very central to the story. There was almost too much going on to know where you were supposed to be.

After thinking on the book for a few days, I literally could not get it off my mind, I decided that I enjoyed the book enough to be glad that I read it, but not enough to try and read another like it.

3.5

Zarah and Bobby have a history, one that didn't end well the last time they parted - with broken hearts and misconceptions. When Bobby returns home to start his new job with the Tennessee investigation team and finds himself investigating Zarah, her boss, and her entire team at the Tennessee Historical Society. He must put his feeling for her, both past and present to solve the case fast so that he can see if she'll let him try again. To top it all off, their Grandparents are shooting for a match made in heaven.

I didn't quite find myself enjoying either of the main characters. I was drawn to some of the side characters and might pick up the next one in the series to see if I like them better. Zarah was too caught up in being perfect to let herself have fun, and Bobby was so caught up in trying to prove he was worth the time of day that it almost got annoying. Not my favorite read for the year.

2/5

CG Silverman is starting a new school, in a new town, and hoping for a new life - a more popular life. When the small "in" group of girls takes notice of her on her first day, she can hardly believe it. Before she knows what's happening she's the rebel of the group - doing whatever she feels like and going where no one has dared (or really should dare) to go before. One small white lie spins into another and suddenly CG is living a life of lies and half truths, dragging her friends, teachers, and family in with her.

I fell in love with CG from the get go. She was fun, outgoing, and truly a rebel in her own little way. When the white lies starting getting bigger and bigger (and even a bit ridiculous, but hey this is fiction), she finds herself living a double life. She strives for the approval of the popular group and once there she's scared to let go - so things just keep getting crazier.

The popular group is so stereotypical that it's perfect. They are cruel to the world at large, but latch on to silly little charitable projects that are "cute" to do. As the story unfolds and CG becomes a full fledged member of the group we get to see their inner demons and more about what makes them tick. We see their insecurities, their family secrets, and their surprising love for each other.

Somehow through this whole mess, CG ends up actually doing some good, and when everything falls apart around her (as we all knew it inevitably would), she finds out who her true friends are.

A little over the top in some spots, but still a good read.

Louisa Cosgrove is in trouble. On the way to stay with some friends of her older brothers, she finds the carriage stopped in front of an asylum instead. An asylum for mentally ill women, and they seem to think she's someone names Lucy Childs. Try as she might to convince them of their mistake, they just assume her "confusion" is all part of her mental condition.

Louisa was an oddity for her time. She wanted to be a doctor like her father in an era where females even being nurses was still frowned upon. As she tries to unravel the threads of her past and figure out how she ended up in the asylum, Wildthorn, we get to see the difficulties and joys of her life as she grew up. We also get a very intimate look into what asylum life was like - and it wasn't very pretty.

Louisa finds unexpected friends, and surprising enemies as she goes. I was very surprised when the betrayer of her trust is finally revealed and is forced to come to terms with what happened to Louisa.

While the story was interesting and moved along fairly well, there were times I had a little trouble believing in some of the characters, at times they seemed very static.