Once We Were by Kat Zhang

Goodreads Blurb

"I'm lucky just to be alive"
Eva was never supposed to have survived this long. As the recessive soul, she should have faded away years ago. Instead, she lingers in the body she shares with her sister soul, Addie. When the government discovered the truth, they tried to “cure” the girls, but Eva and Addie escaped before the doctors could strip Eva’s soul away.
Now fugitives, Eva and Addie find shelter with a group of hybrids who run an underground resistance. Surrounded by others like them, the girls learn how to temporarily disappear to give each soul some much-needed privacy. Eva is thrilled at the chance to be alone with Ryan, the boy she’s falling for, but troubled by the growing chasm between her and Addie. Despite clashes over their shared body, both girls are eager to join the rebellion.
Yet as they are drawn deeper into the escalating violence, they start to wonder: How far are they willing to go to fight for hybrid freedom? Faced with uncertainty and incredible danger, their answers may tear them apart forever.

I was definitely excited to read Once We Were since there was such a cool setup for it in What's Left of Me, but I ran into a lot of the same problems I had in book one.

The plot, while there were explosions, rebellions, and secret meetings at midnight, still seemed a bit dull to me. I got bored easily, mainly because instead of focusing more on the plot line, we seemed to focus more on Eva's relationship with those around her, similar to how What's Left of Me was written. Not to say I didn't love it, but I do wish we had more twists. The last 20% of the book was pretty action packed though, with a twist or two I really didn't expect!

Eva annoyed me about 75% of the book. She was just so selfish and didn't seem to think about how others felt about her actions. She also seemed a bit naive and very...eager to please, I guess. It's understandable, what with her just recently being able to control her body, but it still irritated me to no ends.
What I found funny was that even though Eva was supposed to be the recessive soul, she was more fiery and more determined than our soft-spoken Addie who seemed to follow Eva's lead. I loved their relationship though, and how they were closer than sisters. They didn't always agree with each other, and yes, they fought, but don't all siblings? It was fun seeing their relationship grow and seeing them grow as characters too.

The writing is something I absolutely have to point out because it was just beautiful. It's absolutely gorgeous prose with stunning descriptions that I loved! And while I didn't love Once We Were as much as I'd have liked to, there's no denying that Kat Zhang wrote a sequel that was even better than the first!

I absolutely love the romance because guys. Ryan. I just love him so much and I ship Ryan and Eva to the end of time. That is all.

Fans of What's Left of Me will definitely love Once We Were, an even beautifully written sequel that surprises you in the end with it's twists and gives you a deeper look inside Eva and Addie's relationship. I'll definitely be continuing the series and I can't wait to see what's next for our characters!

Pages: 352

Genre: Dystopian

Series: What's Left of Me #2

Publisher: HarperTeen

Release Date: Sep 17, 2013

Rating: 3.5 stars

Dirty Little Secret by Jennifer Echols

Goodreads Blurb

Bailey wasn’t always a wild child and the black sheep of her family. She used to play fiddle and tour the music circuit with her sister, Julie, who sang and played guitar. That ended when country music execs swooped in and signed Julie to a solo deal. Never mind that Julie and Bailey were a duet, or that Bailey was their songwriter. The music scouts wanted only Julie, and their parents were content to sit by and let her fulfill her dreams while Bailey’s were hushed away.
Bailey has tried to numb the pain and disappointment over what could have been. And as Julie’s debut album is set to hit the charts, her parents get fed up with Bailey’s antics and ship her off to granddad’s house in Nashville. Playing fiddle in washed-up tribute groups at the mall, Bailey meets Sam, a handsome and oh-so-persuasive guitarist with his own band. He knows Bailey’s fiddle playing is just the thing his band needs to break into the industry. But this life has broken Bailey’s heart once before. She isn’t sure she’s ready to let Sam take her there again…

After reading Such a Rush I was absolutely ecstatic to find out that Echols was writing another YA--especially since the cover was gorgeous and matches Such a Rush so well! And I was not let down.
Dirty Little Secret definitely has a lot in common with Such a Rush and right away, we can tell that this isn't going to be one of the lightest reads. While it wasn't heartbreaking and raw like I'd hoped, it had a nostalgic and sort of bittersweet feel to it that made me fall in love with the story.

Bailey was definitely a fierce and a seemingly independent person and I loved that about her, but she got pushed around way too easily sometimes. Not in the sense that she did what others did, but she let others control her emotions really. One mention of her sister or parents and she would just clam up or get angry, and that sort of ruined her image of a calm and headstrong character (though she did retain that image well at times!) She was a rebellious character who, overall, I did enjoy reading about! Her snark was definitely hilarious though and I absolutely loved her snips at Charlotte (a band member).
I alternated between empathizing Charlotte to hating her, to loving her, but I guess she acted like any of us and, I think, out of all the characters, I connected with her more than anyone else. Bailey's parents were absolutely ridiculous and I wanted to punch them while I wanted to slap some sense into Julie sometimes.

The romance was definitely a bit insta-lovey. I didn't really appreciate how easily Bailey broke under Sam's begging and how quickly they fell in love (a steamy kiss on day one was apparently in order). Their relationship was also sort of built on lies (then Sam said he would never lie to Bailey (though at least he admitted he was a liar!) and seemed really rushed with conditions set. "If you don't do this or that, we'll break up." But the romance definitely had it's sweet moments that I enjoyed and their relationship was by no means easy.
Sam was...sort of a douchebag in all honesty. He kept asking Bailey for things and got angry or mainuplative whenever he didn't get his way. At first, he reminded me of a cute puppy, but it got tiring after the first few times. He also, several times, chose music over Bailey which, by the way guys? Isn't going to make a girl like you more. He's definitely a selfish guy (and I definitely think they'd break up in the near future) but he was exactly what Bailey needed to realize her own needs and dreams.

What impressed me was definitely the musical part of this. It was well written and it seemed as if Jennifer Echols experienced it first hand!
Not only that, I found it sort of amazing how she made it so that half the book was one day and still absolutely captivating. The second half of the bookw as definitely drama filled and definitely made me anxious, but the ending was absolutely perfect!

Jennifer Echols digs up another romantic story that isn't as perfect as some people like to believe, but with heartrendingly real characters. A fun read that I definitely recommend, it's filled with laughs and heartache--you could say it's one of the perfect summer reads!

The musical part of the story
Pages: 288

Genre: Contemporary/Romance

Series: Standalone

Publisher: MTV Books

Release Date: July 16, 2013

Rating: 3.5-->4 stars

Linked by Imogen Howson

Goodreads Blurb

Elissa used to have it all: looks, popularity, and a bright future. But for the last three years, she’s been struggling with terrifying visions, phantom pains, and mysterious bruises that appear out of nowhere. 
Finally, she’s promised a cure: minor surgery to burn out the overactive area of her brain. But on the eve of the procedure, she discovers the shocking truth behind her hallucinations: she’s been seeing the world through another girl’s eyes. 
Elissa follows her visions, and finds a battered, broken girl on the run. A girl—Lin—who looks exactly like Elissa, down to the matching bruises. The twin sister she never knew existed. 
Now, Elissa and Lin are on the run from a government who will stop at nothing to reclaim Lin and protect the dangerous secrets she could expose—secrets that would shake the very foundation of their world. 

So I seem to like linking tweets in my reviews. I should do this more often.
So here are things I tweeted while reading Linked. Excuse any...French words.
https://twitter.com/Nikki_Wang/status/347504532466589697
https://twitter.com/Nikki_Wang/status/347505832214282240
https://twitter.com/Nikki_Wang/status/347506627047473152
https://twitter.com/Nikki_Wang/status/347506702343618560

So, despite my tweets, I do have a few mixed feelings on Linked, especially on our main character, Elissa. While she was easy to relate to and had, by far, the most realistic reaction to finding out you had a secret abused twin, she also had a lot of downsides. Sometimes I felt like she was unsympathetic towards Lin, chastising her when Lin just didn't know any better and other times I felt like she just seemed so selfish (though that was rare). She also seemed super impulsive and very trusting, though I can't say Lin's paranoia was that better! But Howson did manage to create a realistic character who acted like a real teen!
On that note, the author managed to perfectly capture the attitude of an abused escapee who had next to no knowledge of the outside world. Lin was a character that we could sympathize with and she sort of reminded me of a (powerful) lost puppy who just wanted to be loved.

So I had no idea, going into this, that Linked was dystopian. Or Sci-fi. Or anything other than a thriller, actually! I have no idea how I missed that! So imagine my surprise when I discovered a world at least a thousand years into the future with other planets, planet ranks, and outstanding worldbuilding. The descriptions were vivid, though sometimes unneeded. (I felt a bit irritated that we had a two sentence description on lemon meringue pie, then neglected to learn how certain fake IDs, which would come in handy in the future, worked).

There was also a bit of an info dump in the first half of the book and it was a bit slow for me, but *SEMI SPOILER* once we got on the airship, things got a lot more interesting, a lot faster. I was absolutely riveted by then and practically screamed my head off at a giant twist. Several actually, none that I was expecting. It absolutely ripped my heart out. (Such a cruel cruel world.)

There's barely any romance and what we do have is one that's actually pretty sudden after years of hate (and secret, denied love). I'll admit, it was sort of awkward, but I couldn't help but giggle and "Awww" at a certain romantic part. What can I say? I'm a sucker for confessions.

Unpredictable and stunning, Linked makes readers think about humanity and how we can make an ultimate sacrifice when it's called for. While slow at first, this is definitely a book I'd recommend to sci-fi fans and anyone who loves a twisted plot that'll leave you gasping and wanting more.

Pages: 368
Genre: Dystopian/Sci-fi
Series: Linked #1
Publisher: Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers
Release Date: June 11, 2013
Rating: 3.5-->4 stars

Mind Games by Kiersten White

Goodreads Blurb

Fia was born with flawless instincts. Her first impulse, her gut feeling, is always exactly right. Her sister, Annie, is blind to the world around her—except when her mind is gripped by strange visions of the future. 
Trapped in a school that uses girls with extraordinary powers as tools for corporate espionage, Annie and Fia are forced to choose over and over between using their abilities in twisted, unthinkable ways…or risking each other’s lives by refusing to obey.
In a stunning departure from her New York Times bestselling Paranormalcy trilogy, Kiersten White delivers a slick, edgy, heartstoppingly intense psychological thriller about two sisters determined to protect each other—no matter the cost.

I had absolutely no idea how much I absolutely loved this. Seriously. Look at my tweets.
https://twitter.com/Nikki_Wang/status/345205363882196994
https://twitter.com/Nikki_Wang/status/345204604650283008
https://twitter.com/Nikki_Wang/status/345200520987828227
https://twitter.com/Nikki_Wang/status/345197273782816768
https://twitter.com/Nikki_Wang/status/345190705213362176
And there were a ton more actually. But they're all pretty much the same.

Walking in, I was a bit skeptical since there were more than enough mixed reviews to make me a bit anxious. But I really shouldn't have worried! Mind Games absolutely blew my mind--and that's a complete understatement.

For a Sci-fi/Supernatural book, Mind Games definitely has some of the most broken characters I've met. They were all so fleshed out--though I do wish we met more "students" besides are heartbreaking sisters and Eden (Annie's friend).
Fia was by far my favorite of the two sisters. She was loyal, smart, and she didn't have to depend on her perfect instinct all the time. She knew what she had to do, when she had to do it, and knew what was unreasonable. I loved her stubborn nature, but her bitterness just broke my heart clean in two. She sacrificed so much for Annie and it definitely wasn't without consequences. She was the broken one, the one that needed saving--but how do you save someone who doesn't want to be saved?
Annie, while not a bad character, just didn't click with me as well as Fia. She was so much more...rude, I guess, and I don't think she fully understood exactly how much Fia was sacrificing and exactly what she needed.

As for the romance, we don't really focus on it, but I adored James so much. He cared so much about Fia and knew exactly what to do and say to comfort her. He may have been an asshole, but he's a sweet one who has all the traits of an arrogant, swoony, love interest.
There's no romance for Annie yet, but I'm pretty sure Adam is her guy. We don't really learn much about him, but he's a very...interesting character.
Kiersten  White did a brilliant job creating characters who matched our heroines personality perfectly. Fia had someone who she could find comfort in, but could understand her pain, while I feel like Adam's cheery personality would definitely help Annie start accepting the fact that she couldn't protect her sister 24/7 and that her little sister's already so much more grown up than herself.

The plot was wonderfully paced and while, I realized suddenly, nothing much happens, you just can't help but get addicted to the pages, and just keep on reading. There's something about the way White writes that just pulls you straight in until the end--where you're still going to be begging for more. What does happen keeps me on my toes though and it definitely sets up the sequel wonderfully! I can absolutely NOT wait!

I absolutely loved how Kiersten White chose to tell this story too. We alternate between the past and the present so that we get to fall in love with our characters from the beginning as well as understand them a bit more. It really is heartbreaking how they evolved into the people they were now.

My only complaint is that I would've loved more plot and more focus on their gifts and how they got them, but that's really about it--it didn't affect my reading enjoyment at all!

Stunning, beautiful, and absolutely breathtaking, Kiersten White lives up to her expectations with Mind Games! Heartbreaking characters, a kickass plot, and enchanting writing, I'm not quite sure how this book isn't loved by everyone!

Pages: 237
Genre: Sci-fi/Supernatural
Series: Mind Games #1
Publisher: HarperTeen
Release Date: Feb 19, 2013
Rating: 7/5 Stars