Alienated by Melissa Landers

Pages: 344
Genre: Sci-fi
Series: Alienated #1
Publisher: Disney Hyperion
Release Date: Feb 4, 2013

Two years ago, the aliens made contact. Now Cara Sweeney is going to be sharing a bathroom with one of them. Handpicked to host the first-ever L’eihr exchange student, Cara thinks her future is set. Not only does she get a free ride to her dream college, she’ll have inside information about the mysterious L’eihrs that every journalist would kill for. Cara’s blog following is about to skyrocket.Still, Cara isn’t sure what to think when she meets Aelyx. Humans and L’eihrs have nearly identical DNA, but cold, infuriatingly brilliant Aelyx couldn’t seem more alien. She’s certain about one thing, though: no human boy is this good-looking.But when Cara's classmates get swept up by anti-L'eihr paranoia, Midtown High School suddenly isn't safe anymore. Threatening notes appear in Cara's locker, and a police officer has to escort her and Aelyx to class. Cara finds support in the last person she expected. She realizes that Aelyx isn’t just her only friend; she's fallen hard for him. But Aelyx has been hiding the truth about the purpose of his exchange, and its potentially deadly consequences. Soon Cara will be in for the fight of her life—not just for herself and the boy she loves, but for the future of her planet.

This is officially the first alien book I've read that I liked. At first, I was a bit wary because, honestly, I haven't had the best luck with these. But Alienated was WONDERFUL. Absolutely, wonderfully, amazing.

I loved, especially, the sci-fi part. The worldbuilding for L'eihr was fascinating and I loved learning about this planet. While we didn't get to see it, we did learn a lot about it, and I was scrambling for every morsel. (Did you know their plants don't have photosynthesis? Instead, they draw nutrients from the air, making the plants grey-ish instead of bright green. FASCINATING ISN'T IT.) Everything was so well thought out and it wasn't as cheesy or as geeky as some. Not that I have a problem with geekery, but it tends to lean towards the unbelievable, while Alienated presented a very believable world. I also loved the words and the names that were only slightly different! Love for the world. So much love.

In the beginning, I was a bit irritated by Cara. She was such an opportunist and I didn't really like her attitude. After the first impression, though, I fell in love with her character. She was a loyal person who stood for what she believed was right and wouldn't abandon Aelyx and believed in him till the very end. And that definitely took some guts, considering everything.

Aelyx was such a swoony character! He was so stoic throughout most of the book, but reading things from his POV definitely shed some light on his feelings. I loved how slowly he evolved from a held off kind of character to such a...well, human, one. Seeing him interact with Cara was adorable. Plus, hilarious. For example, his "compliment": "Hips of that width are likely to pass live offspring without complications." BAHAHAHA. THE TEARS. THE LAUGHTER. It was hilarious. So, so, so hilarious.

The romance. Ummm, wow. I've never seen a couple so reluctant to fall in love! (I think) They fell in love so slowly it was barely noticeable sometimes, but the tension between them was just so adorable. They were so easy with each other, at least for an alien-human pairing. They had so many hilarious moments that I reread over and over, laughing again and again. And then the kissing scene. Oh my gosh. Cara may not have gotten cardiac arrest, but I definitely did. 

The plot was definitely a high point for me as well. So many things happened that made my head spin. The HALO (Human Against L'eihr Occupation) members were so cruel and just horrible to Cara, Aelyx, and anyone associated to them. The entire town ignored her family, shunned them, and did everything they could to make their lives a living hell. It was terrible and I wanted to cuddle our characters. They were so strong throughout the ordeal and I just can't stop loving them enough for staying loyal, especially Cara. 

Alienated is an original, one of a kind book that was an amazing read! I loved it and I can not wait for the sequel! I definitely recommend it to all sci-fi fans and to those that want a...different sort of Romeo and Juliet. Except, without the dying. Maybe.

Get it, read it, love it! 

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Into the Still Blue by Veronica Rossi

Pages: 400

Genre: Dystopian/Post-apocalyptic

Series: Under the Never Sky #3

Publisher: Harper Teen

Release Date: Jan 28, 2014

Their love and their leadership have been tested. Now it's time for Perry and Aria to unite the Dwellers and the Outsiders in one last desperate attempt to bring balance to their world.
The race to the Still Blue has reached a stalemate. Aria and Perry are determined to find this last safe-haven from the Aether storms before Sable and Hess do-and they are just as determined to stay together.
Meanwhile, time is running out to rescue Cinder, who was abducted by Hess and Sable for his unique abilities. And when Roar returns to camp, he is so furious with Perry that he won't even look at him, and Perry begins to feel like they have already lost.
Out of options, Perry and Aria assemble a team to mount an impossible rescue mission-because Cinder isn't just the key to unlocking the Still Blue and their only hope for survival, he's also their friend. And in a dying world, the bonds between people are what matter most.

M'kay, this is a pretty hard review to write, as all sequels are for me, but oh gosh. This just...

I was torn between being excited for this book and absolutely wary. The wrap up of a series has to be absolutely perfect for me, or it just sort of ruins the rest of the books for me and with Under the Never Sky being one of my favorite series...well.
But honestly, I had nothing to worry about. I absolutely loved Into the Still Blue and I just...I loved the wrap up of this trilogy! Aaahhh!

Seeing all the characters together after all the chapters they were separated in was heartwarming and wonderful, but that feeling doesn't last long. Book three was the most action packed of the series, and throughout the story our characters are either hurt, lost, or betrayed, and it was just heartbreaking. All the open plot holes are finally wrapped up with a neat little bow and I honestly think Veronica Rossi did an absolute fantastic job with it! Even with two books with as many twists as characters, Into the Still Blue still managed to shock me with a new and surprising turn that I should've expected but just didn't.
The only thing I do wish was that the ending had been a little less rushed. Almost done with only about 20-40 pages left, I was worried how the ending would play out, and while I found it satisfying, it was...sudden.

I honestly don't think I need to say anything about our wonderful cast of characters, except that a new major player is added, and that Roar's attitude was heartbreaking in the least.
Speaking of Roar, his and Aria's friendship was...beautiful. They depended on each other to keep each other sane and they had a special sort of bond that I loved, especially since it wasn't romantic in any way, shape or form. They had a familial air around each other and their light teasing provided a bit of comic relief when needed.
Perry and Aria's romance wasn't that focused on, but their stolen moments in between the ongoing war was sweet and just made me fall all over again with the both of them!

Into the Still Blue is an amazing wrap up of a brilliant series, and I have to say, I had a few heart attacks throughout the story. Definitely a way to end the series with a bang!

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Waiting on Wednesday

Daughter of Chaos by Jen McConnel

Witches must choose the path they will follow, and Darlena Agara is no exception. She’s been putting it off long enough, and in her case, ignoring it has not made it go away. In a moment of frustration, Darlena chooses to follow Red Magic, figuring she had outsmarted the powers that be, since there’s no such thing as Red Magic. But alas, Darlena’s wrong (again) and she becomes a newly declared Red Witch.

Her friends are shocked and her parents horrified by the choice Darlena has made. As a Red Witch, she now governs one third of the world’s chaos. She is the walking personification of pandemonium, turmoil, and bedlam, just as the patrons of Red Magic would have it to be.
But Darlena believes there must be more to Red Magic than chaos and destruction, and she sets out on a journey to achieve balance. Only doing so puts her at odds with the dark goddess Hecate, who simply will not allow Darlena to quit. She encourages Darlena to embrace who and what she is and to leave good magic to the good witches. If only Darlena could, life would be simple, and she would not be the Daughter of Chaos.

This sounds SO COOL and I'm going to ADORE this witch worldbuilding, I just know it! But how amazing is it that our character is Chaos and that she chose that unwittingly? Seriously, these 2014 debuts are blowing my mind and I can't wait to get my little grabby hands on this one! AND THAT COVER. 

Uninvited by Sophie Jordan

Pages: 384

Genre: Dystopian/Sci-fi

Series: Uninvited #1

Publisher: Harper Teen

Release Date: Jan 28, 2014

When Davy Hamilton's tests come back positive for Homicidal Tendency Syndrome (HTS)-aka the kill gene-she loses everything. Her boyfriend ditches her, her parents are scared of her, and she can forget about her bright future at Juilliard. Davy doesn't feel any different, but genes don't lie. One day she will kill someone.
Only Sean, a fellow HTS carrier, can relate to her new life. Davy wants to trust him; maybe he's not as dangerous as he seems. Or maybe Davy is just as deadly.

I loved the Firelight trilogy, so hearing about Sophie Jordan's new series, and about serial killers with a sci-fi twist? Oh my gosh, yes! And it didn't disappoint.

The thing Uninvited, I think, is that if you'd replaced the HTS with something like LGBT or color, and taken away the dystopian bits, Uninvited would've been a completely real contemporary. The way that Jordan writes the prejudice in the story is heartbreaking and feels real. It's "punish and ask questions later" and it just got to me, how they treated those with HTS genes with fear and suspicion and hate--sound familiar?

Either way, I loved seeing Davy grow as a character. In the beginning, she's sheltered, protected, and it doesn't feel like a dystopian story at all--until Davy is told she has the HTS gene. That's when things slowly start to spiral down for her (but up for us, because the story just turned even more amazing.) She's not a decidedly strong character in the typical sense, but she had a strong will and she wasn't one of those characters that just automatically learned to be the best. She was...well, not relatable, but she was a character I could sympathize and love with all her flaws.

Obviously, a book like Uninvited is going to be action packed, and it, while it wasn't all fights and rebellion, was just as captivating. I was absolutely caught up in Davy's story as she became accustomed to HTS life and how things were at her...reformation camp? Uninvited was filled with twists and fighting, though I do wish Davy herself had beaten someone in a fistfight. The story is thrilling and completely enraptured me from start to finish--which made me anxious for the sequel. Seriously--need.

Romance is a background element in the story, but I absolutely adored it. Sean seems, at first, like the brooding bad boy in the story, and maybe he was, but I loved him nevertheless. Their relationship, at first, seems a bit insta-lovey (or insta-likey?) since Sean seems to take just a sudden liking to Davy and, while that irritated me at first, it grew on me as Sean and Davy stayed friends through most of the story. Although, c'mon, there's always some romance, and by the end, they did kiss (and thank God! I was getting tired of mentally pushing their faces together, no matter how much I liked their platonic relationship.)

As for the sci-fi aspect, it was pretty light, and I do wish that they'd talked more about how the kill gene was discovered, how they find it in genes, etc, but it didn't really bother me when I was reading and didn't take away from the fun of the book!

Uninvited is an amazing read that I'll definitely recommend, especially to people who are looking for a book light on dystopian and sci-fi or any fans of Firelight (though Uninvited, in my opinion, is a much better read, if not just as heart pounding!)

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Control by Lydia Kang

Pages: 400

Genre: Sci-fi

Series: Control # 

Publisher: Dial Books for Young Readers

Release Date: Dec 26, 2014

When a crash kills their father and leaves them orphaned, Zel knows she needs to protect her sister, Dyl. But before Zel has a plan, Dyl is taken by strangers using bizarre sensory weapons, and Zel finds herself in a safe house for teens who aren’t like any she’s ever seen before—teens who shouldn't even exist. Using broken-down technology, her new friends’ peculiar gifts, and her own grit, Zel must find a way to get her sister back from the kidnappers who think a powerful secret is encoded in Dyl’s DNA.

I discovered Control way, way before the cover was released (the first one? The first cover that showed up on Goodreads was actually this white background with red blood cells, I remember!), when it had a completely different synopsis on Goodreads, and when there were only a few adds. I pretty much immediately needed it and once I got my hands on a copy, I dropped everything and started reading.

Control is a rather fascinating book. It feels like it doesn’t happen too much in the future, but enough so that there’s a lot of new technology and secret scientific projects at work (although who knows, those may be going on today!)

The biggest thing about this book is how much of the plot relies on the science of the characters’…abilities? Genes? A lot of it is explained to the reader and I’m thoroughly impressed with the level of research and gene/DNA knowledge in the story—having a brainy main character can be hard, especially in sci-fi, but Lydia Kang does a masterful job pulling it off enough so that, while I didn’t get lost in the explanation, it sounded legit and completely real. If, you know, it was genetically possible.

The characters were amazing, though maybe a bit cliché.

Zelia was a wonderful main character who was smart when it came to lab work, but was a bit less so when it came to real life application, but more on that later! I loved how grounded she was, how much passion she had for experimenting, and how absolutely loyal she was. Zelia didn’t get overly emotional at the worst times like some characters, and she tended to look everything straight on, winning me over with her logic and passion.

There was Dyl, the prettier, younger sister, and I sort of hated her. Dyl was naïve, impulsive, and seemed completely reckless to me, although we didn’t get to see her often throughout the story. (Also, I hated how she started drooling over a boy immediately after finding out her dad was dead. What?)

Cy was the resident bad boy with a sweet side and I absolutely loved him. He was just as passionate about his work as Zelia and they made an amazing team. He was as loyal as Zelia and a bit arrogant besides. I suppose he is the typical bad boy of a story, but I couldn’t help but fall in love with him, especially when he was with Ana.

The romance was absolutely swoon worthy and I was practically at the point where I wanted to smash Zelia and Cy’s faces together and force them to kiss, before they kissed. Their relationship was a slow buildup that I loved reading (talk about sexual tension!) and watching their animosity turned into romance was absolutely thrilling! And the things Cy did for Zelia were just so adorable and sweet.

The twists, the shocking revelations, the secrets! There were so many in Control, it’s a bit hard to keep track of, but each of them just shocked me to the core. I loved the pacing of the book, especially near the end when everything pretty much exploded! (And holy crap that ending.)

The only thing I was bothered by was that, in the beginning, Zelia trusted Micah even though it was evident that he was the enemy and she trusted him more than she trusted her new family, who had only tried to help and protect her.  It made our heroine seem impulsive and naïve and it bugged me throughout the entire story that she trusted him. Eventually, we learn the truth, but she still trusted him to keep his promise? Even though he’d broken his promises a thousand times before?

Control was a thrilling start to a new series with a heart racing plot and a killer ending. Lydia Kang’s debut is a sci-fi that’ll capture your attention and make you fall in love with most of the characters while breaking your heart a little bit throughout the story.  Betrayals, mutations, secret organizations, familial love, and a hot love interest? What more can you ask for?

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Defy by Sara B. Larson

Pages: 336

Genre: High Fantasy

Series: Defy #1

Publisher: Scholastic

Release Date: Jan 7, 2014

Alexa Hollen is a fighter. Forced to disguise herself as a boy and serve in the king's army, Alex uses her quick wit and fierce sword-fighting skills to earn a spot on the elite prince's guard. But when a powerful sorcerer sneaks into the palace in the dead of night, even Alex, who is virtually unbeatable, can't prevent him from abducting her, her fellow guard and friend Rylan, and Prince Damian, taking them through the treacherous wilds of the jungle and deep into enemy territory.
The longer Alex is held captive with both Rylan and the prince, the more she realizes that she is not the only one who has been keeping dangerous secrets. And suddenly, after her own secret is revealed, Alex finds herself confronted with two men vying for her heart: the safe and steady Rylan, who has always cared for her, and the dark, intriguing Damian. With hidden foes lurking around every corner, is Alex strong enough to save herself and the kingdom she's sworn to protect?

Defy! Defy, Defy, Defy. I don't really know what to write for the introduction, so can I just get on with the review? Yeah? Yeah.

I'm an absolute giant fan of High Fantasy novels, especially those that have something to do with court betrayals, political reasoning, and princes. (Let's be honest, mainly the princes.) so I was so happy that, while the kingdom was in a jungle (and how often do we see that?) there was still a bit of politics involved with all the happenings and I'd be lying if I said I didn't love that. I sound like a boring person, don't I?
Wait until I tell you about the kidnappings and the killing side of politics.

Defy is filled with kickass plot twists--some that killed me and some that made me want to strangle someone, because seriously? Seriously? Plot twists are in abundance here, especially towards the end. I'm not kidding, every few pages or so. But even in the first half of Defy, the pages were filled with fights, attacks, and a lot of secrets were revealed and while some were totally obvious, some shocked me and put me in a coma. (Metaphorically, of course.)
This book is filled with action and the story is fast paced with not much room to breathe. Because we had the ass kicking, the fights, the magic, and then...we had the sexual tension. And testosterone. Lots of testosterone.

Which leads me to the romance of course. But let's start of with our love interests.
Damian, the dark and uncouth prince. Yeah I'm on his team. How can I resist? Damian's the one with secrets and the one who has a duty to his country. Meaning that Alexa and his romance isn't going to be as simple as one would think with a prince and a guard-who-everyone-thought-was-a-boy-but-wasn't. Meaning that their romance is a whole lot of complicated.  But you have to love Damian anyways with his snark and his iciness that seems to wear off around Alexa.
Rylan was...not my favorite. He definitely didn't compare about Damian at least! I actually felt like he wasn't really needed as a love interest. As a best friend, sure, but the romance? I just felt like he never got to see the real Alexa before pronouncing his love. After all, she'd been pretending to be the most anti her for all the years he'd known her.
But really, I felt like both romances were pretty rushed and the words that came out of their mouths were a bit cheesy, and I wasn't a big fan of the love triangle. I do wish there was a bit of a Mulan moment where one of the love interests had a "fuck, am I gay?" moment, though.

However, our main character? Talk about badass! Alexa's the best fighter in a group of guys, and that has to say something. She puts duty first and she knows where her loyalties lie firmly. You can't help but love her for her fierceness and her scarily good skills with a blade. She's that kind of heroine that just surprises you. And who doesn't love that?

So yeah, I would recommend Defy. As Belle once said, "Far off places, daring sword fights, magic spells, a prince in disguise!" That pretty much sums up Defy.

Take it from Beauty. 

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