Coming soon....Released from the Darkness

I was fortunate enough to receive an ARC of Released from the Darkness, the sequel to Concealed in the Shadows.  If you have read my earlier blog posts, you will know that I was absolutely enthralled with CITS.  Gabrielle Arrowsmith is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors.

Released from the Darkness picks up where CITS left off, after Sydney decided to take her sister's place with the powers that be in Miles.  She assumes that she is so valuable that nobody inside of Miles will harm her.  When she wakes up inside of Miles, nothing is as she thought it would be.  There are plot twists and turns that Sydney could not even begin to anticipate.  She has to make new friends and figure out how to best survive in this new environment that she has been placed in.  When she uncovers the plan of the officials in Miles, she has to be brave and come up with a plan, not knowing if she will see her sister or her father ever again.

I'm not going to go into the whole plot because I do not want to write spoilers.  Obviously since this book does not come out until at least later next month, it is likely that nobody reading this blog will have read it, so I don't want to give anything away.  There are some pretty good plot twists in this story and there is so much excitement and action packed in to these pages.  I literally got anxious with anticipation as I flipped each page.

I cannot wait until this book is released.  I am excited to read the finalized, edited version.  I'm obsessed with Sydney's courage and the dramatic world of Miles and Sheridan.  My current genre-infatuation is dystopian fiction, and this series is one of my favorites.

Double Star - Cindy Saunders

I will admit, I almost gave up on this one in the beginning because I couldn't get into it.  I read the reviews for it on Amazon and Goodreads and so many people liked it that I gave it another shot.  The first few chapters were slow and I didn't fully understand the story and where it was going, but once I got through the first three chapters, things picked up and I couldn't put the book down!

Allie is on her way to an interview for music school when her GPS goes haywire and takes her to an overlook.  For whatever reason, she gets out of the car and is shoved off the overlook by Cepheus, a lunatic dark god.  To Allie's surprise, she doesn't die, but rather ends up in an alternate dimension in the forest of Gilgamesh.

She is discovered by some forest frequenters and then her life gets really weird.  She meets some shapeshifting teenage boys and learns all about the legends of the stars and gods.  She can't grasp the concept that these people in this weird place have never heard of a phone or the internet or a car.  They travel on horseback or by foot.  There is no plumbing, no electricity, no iPods, nothing that Allie is used to in her modern life.

Allie and the guys eventually embark on a journey to help Allie find her way home.  On the way they meet some strange and fascinating people.  They have no idea they are being followed by someone who can shift into a spider.  Being a spider is pretty convenient when you need to spy on a group.  All you have to do is hope nobody steps on you.

As bad as Allie wants to get home to her mother, she is also beginning to have feelings for one of the guys and so her internal struggle begins.  With as much magic that is present in this alternate dimension, I have no worries that Allie and her beau will never see each other again.

Once I got into this story, I liked it.  I liked how descriptive the author is of the alternate dimension.  Gilgamesh sounds like a pretty neat forest, though everyone seems to be living like the Amish.  I would probably miss my modern gadgets and amenities too much to move there, but I'll admit, the magic seems pretty cool.  I'm glad I stuck it out and made it past the beginning of the story.  Now I'm sucked in to this new world and I cannot wait for the next book to come out.

Fangirl - Rainbow Rowell

I'm starting off discussing my weekly reads with Fangirl because I love Love LOVED it.  I had heard great things about it but was still a little skeptical because I've never even read fanfiction and do not intend to start.  However, this book was not just about fanfiction.  As the inside jacket cover says, it is "a coming-of-age take of fanfiction, family, and first love."

Cath and her twin sister Wren are used to doing everything together.  They've had the same friends, same classes, same interests (though Wren is a little more boy-crazy), etc.  They dealt with their mother's abandonment together.  Their mother left them when they were young because she did not want to be a wife and mother.  Obviously, since she named the twins Cather and Wren.  Cather-Wren...Catherine....get it?  Being too lazy to come up with an extra name does not a good mother make.

Anyway, when the girls are off to college, Wren decides she doesn't want to live with Cath, so Cath has to deal with her new roommate and new life.  She doesn't deal with change well and tries to hide herself in the Simon Snow fanfiction that she loves to write.  Judging from her tens of thousands of followers, she's pretty good at the fanfiction, too.  She pretty much is a hermit other than going to class.

Her new roommate tries to break her out of her shell and make her at least go somewhere for dinner each night.  She finds a study buddy for her fiction-writing class, which she loved until her professor decided to stab her through the heart by stating she hates fanfiction.  Cath is trying to figure out who she is and what she wants out of life while balancing the never-ending drama of her family and the scariness of first love.

She learns a lot about herself and about college life.  At first she hates college, but then she discovers that doing more than just going to class really isn't that bad.

I liked this story and read it in two sittings (pesky job got in the way again).  I was constantly intrigued and curious about what would happen and how Cath would make it through her freshman year.  In between the chapters, the author inserted various excerpts from Simon Snow and from Cath's fanfiction.  Her fanfiction name is Magicath, which is very clever since Simon Snow is about magic.  The situations were all pretty realistic, which is a huge change from my normal supernatural/paranormal or dystopian reads.  It's obvious that Cath and her family probably need some intensive therapy, but it was fun to see how they dealt with their issues (sorta) on their own.

I'm very curious to read more from Rainbow Rowell.  I like the tone and the language that she uses.  I hope her other books are just as good as this one.

The Death Cure - James Dashner

I finally finished the Maze Runner trilogy, and I was not disappointed!  I really hope that the movie coming out later this year does the first book justice and the other two movies will follow.  There are some moments in the books that I would really like to see depicted on film.  I am really interested to see what the Grievers look like and whether or not the Cranks look like crazy zombies or just humans with crazy eyes.  There are a lot of action scenes that will be good to see played out as well.

The Death Cure picks up right where The Scorch Trials left off.  Thomas and his friends have to try and figure out how to fight against WICKED, while staying alive in the mess that the world has become.  WICKED wants to keep them for more testing, but somehow the gang manages to escape, though they do get separated.  The book mostly depicts Thomas's adventure with Brenda, Minho, Newt, and Jorge.

The escape the WICKED headquarters and travel to Denver, an area that is supposed to be safe.  However, more and more people have contracted the Flare and Denver turns out to not be the city they originally thought it would be.  The gang meets up with an anti-WICKED group and together, they think they just might be able to stop WICKED once and for all.

There are more fights in this book than in the previous two.  More weapons, more blood.  Thomas grows as a character and tries to decide between right and wrong.  Not everybody makes it out of the story alive.  It was a pretty good read, though I wish there had been a little more excitement.  Not necessarily more violence and fights, but more "a-ha!" moments.  I felt the end battle was a little rushed.  It did have a good ending, though.  I would like to know what happened next.  I mean, it is easy to assume what is supposed to happen after the book ends, but it would be nice to read a little more about that in the future.

Project ELE - Rebecca Gober & Courtney Nuckels

It's snowing and treacherous outside....again.  So what better to do this weekend than finish some of the books I started reading earlier in the week?  Well that and watch the Harry Potter movie marathon on tv.  Anyway, I started reading Project ELE earlier this week and was happy to finish it this morning.

This is yet another apocalyptic type book, but the difference between it and all of the others is that the setting is believable.  A deadly disease takes over the world and so the government has set up a shelter for those who do not have the disease yet.  The shelter is necessary because in order to try and wipe out the virus, the United Nations must take down patches that are covering up the holes in the ozone layer.  Yep...global warming exists in this series.  I like the believable setting and governmental actions.

Fifteen year old Willow wants to go to the shelter with her family, but unfortunately, not all of them make it in with her. Once inside, Willow has to adjust to the new lifestyle.  Her life is dictated by a tablet containing GPS capabilities.  She has to wear drab scrubs instead of anything fashionable.  And the food leaves a lot to be desired.  As nervous as Willow is, her life gets a little better when she meets some new friends...and lands herself a boyfriend!

As Willow and her friends try to survive life inside the shelter (which is in a mountain, by the way, so no windows or nice scenery), they discover an interesting secret.  At first, having the secret seems great to Willow and her friends, but then their knowledge becomes dangerous.  Willow has to find a way to survive, knowing that nothing will ever be the same again.

My thoughts?   I loved it.  Like I said before, the setting was believable.  Now, the secret and the abilities that Willow and her friends develop...not so believable, but it gave some much-needed action in the storyline.  I will definitely be reading the other books in this series.

The Coincidence of Callie and Kayden - Jessica Sorensen

I've never really been a huge fan of romance or the "new adult" genre that is becoming increasingly popular.  It's not my cup of tea, but I saw this book at the library while I was waiting on book club to start.  I like Jessica Sorensen's Fallen Star series, so I decided to give it a try.

It really was not as bad as I thought for this genre.  There was an actual plot and interesting storyline that did not revolve around sexual relations.  Callie started college early (in the summer for a summer program as opposed to in the fall like everyone else) and actually made a friend.  In high school, she was sort of an outcast that people made fun of or ignored.  Throughout Callie's story, we learn that she has a terrible secret from her past that she has tried to deal with, but it is destroying her inside.  It's why she acts so "weird" and is an outcast.  She and her new friend make a list of new things they are going to do in their lives to try and bring them out of their shells and to forget the damage from their pasts.

Kayden went to high school with Callie, but he doesn't remember her.  He is the football star and he just so happens to be going to the same college as Callie.  Unfortunately for Kayden, his life is far from perfect.  He has had to deal with abuse his entire life and it makes him unable to get close to people.

Callie and Kayden find each other and it seems like a good thing, but they are both so damaged from their secrets that it makes it difficult for them to get close to each other.  Fortunately, they both try to work through their issues and grow close as friends and maybe more. Sadly, one of them has another secret that threatens their relationship and their sanity.

I was surprised that I found myself enjoying this book.  I read it in one sitting.  It is likely that I will try to read the sequel sometime in the future.  It's out on e-book but not in paperback yet, I don't think.

The Scorch Trials - James Dashner

This is the sequel to The Maze Runner.  I seriously cannot believe that it took me this long to pick it up.  I really enjoyed The Maze Runner, but for some reason, I kept getting distracted and it took awhile before I read the second one.

I absolutely loved The Scorch Trials.  It was full of excitement, action, allies, and betrayals.  I was very interested to see the return of some of Thomas's memories from before the Glade.  It was interesting also to see what was going to happen after the Gladers made it out of the maze.

They are sent on a mission out into a seeming wasteland, destroyed by sun flares and scorched to a crisp.  Without shelter, anyone would likely die from sunburn.  It was almost as if they were sent to the surface of the sun itself, as one of the characters mentions.  New obstacles are thrown in their path that makes the maze seem like a vacation.

While being faced with this new terrain to cross, they also find out that there is another team of "Gladers" made up of all girls that they must either join forces with or compete against to reach the destination and find their safe haven.

We learn a little more about Thomas and Teresa's relationship.  Dashner developed his characters in such a way that I often questioned whether or not I liked a character any longer.  I definitely had changed opinions on the characters and on WICKED.  Teresa always said that WICKED is good, but I definitely wondered.