Avalon by Mindee Arnett has been all over the blogosphere; everyone has read it, is reading it, or is about to start reading it. Because of all this hype, I couldn’t say no when Amber asked me to review it! Space? Spaceships? Teenage mercenaries? How could I resist?

If you don’t know (though I don’t know why you wouldn’t), Avalon revolves around Jeth and his crew of teenage thieves who work for a very powerful man named Hammer. At the outset of this story, Jeth and his friends are on their most recent mission: going into Belgrave to find a ship that contains a secret weapon that Hammer desperately wants.

But Jeth is a bit worried about going into Belgrave; ships break down and people go crazy there. Besides that, he has a special connection to the place. While his parents were working and doing research, they travelled safely through it all the time. That was until they were caught deleting files and keeping information, and were executed as punishment.

Finding the ship doesn’t take as long as Jeth and his crew thought, but they can’t believe it when the monitors say that there are three people on the other ship. It’s been out for over a month, and its energy and supplies should have run out a long time ago. Three people being on the ship alive seems impossible!

But from that moment things only get crazier! Avalon, Jeth’s spaceship, is stolen, his sister is kidnapped, the secret weapon isn’t a weapon at all, and two of the most powerful men in space are tracking Jeth and his friends down!

After almost two weeks of trying my best to read, finish, and enjoy Avalon, I just had such a hard time getting through it. It wasn’t slow or boring in any way. It was actually quite the opposite. Avalon had so much going on that it was hard to keep up with. The story passed by so quickly. I felt like there was just no struggle and that the most important scenes were sometimes just glossed over.

The main characters were sent into this weird part of space where crazy and unexpected things happen, yet it only takes them a few days to find the ship and they didn’t even find it as such. They just happen to realize it was on top of them one day.

When the ship broke down, or parts were missing, I felt that Lizzie or Flynn always fixed it too easily, even when they first claimed it to be almost impossible. I guess that, in a way, I wanted to see a struggle; I didn’t want everything to be easy or ‘work out’ right away.

Overall, I loved the idea of the future and space, and this gang of teenagers doing these odd and difficult missions! I enjoyed the characters too; Celeste was awesome for not being one of those jealous ex-girlfriends who try to steal the show, I liked that Jeth kept his focus (most of the time) and that Flynn and Shady added some humor, and I even liked Milton, who reminded me of Jeth’s parents, and how his parents tied into the story.

The ending was my favourite part of this book by far! Again, with all this stuff going on, I had no idea how Avalon was going to end. The story had twists and turns around every corner, and there was absolutely no telling what was going to happen next.

My final verdict for Avalon would have to be that I liked it. I was frustrated with how quickly situations flew by, and with how much was going on, but I did like it. Avalon is a two-part series, the second and last book being Polaris, and while I don’t have any idea what Mindee Arnett would include in this second installment, I am considering picking it up. I don’t think I’ll be in line the day it comes out, but I will consider it.

Sorry this was such a negative review, but I had some things to get off my chest!

A novel about the end of days full of surprising beginnings
 
The world is living in the shadow of oncoming disaster. An asteroid is set to strike the earth in just one week’s time; catastrophe is unavoidable. The question isn’t how to save the world—the question is, what to do with the time that’s left? Against this stark backdrop, three island teens wrestle with intertwining stories of love, friendship and family—all with the ultimate stakes at hand. 
 
Alexandra Coutts’s TUMBLE & FALL is a powerful story of courage, love, and hope at the end of the world. 

Hardcover, 384 pages

Published September 17th 2013 by Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR)

In a market already saturated with post-apocalyptic books, Tumble and Fall is a take on the more contemporary side of life before the world comes to an end. It focuses on the daily life of three unrelated characters as they live what is left of their lives, waiting for an asteroid to hit. The importance of relationships, friends and family, and humanity in general, is a strong theme in the book.

Have you ever considered whether what you would want to do with the last days of your life may conflict with that of your loved ones? There are a lot of different ideas that are brought up in this story that bring about questions that most people wouldn’t consider. The writing is flows easily and it is a clean read, at times almost calming in a melancholy way.

It is character-driven; Sienna, Caden, and Zan, all have things they are trying to accomplish or deal with in their last days, and each of their stories are completely different. You will enjoy each character as much as the last as they journey to find contentment. It is mostly a story of coming to terms with the reality of your own life when you are given a deadline. The three characters go through many emotions and realisations during this short amount of time. Romance is not a big factor, but you do see a little.

I would recommend this book to readers of contemporary romance. It did make me think about how I would choose to spend my last day,s and it hits home with the importance of friends and family.

From Newbery Medalist Susan Cooper, a story of adventure and friendship between a young Native American and a colonial New England settler.

On the winter day Little Hawk is sent into the woods alone, he can take only a bow and arrows, his handcrafted tomahawk, and the amazing metal knife his father traded for with the new white settlers. If Little Hawk survives three moons by himself, he will be a man.

John Wakely is only ten when his father dies, but he has already experienced the warmth and friendship of the nearby tribes. Yet his fellow colonists aren’t as accepting of the native people. When he is apprenticed to a barrel-maker, John sees how quickly the relationships between settlers and natives are deteriorating. His friendship with Little Hawk will put both boys in grave danger.

The intertwining stories of Little Hawk and John Wakely are a fascinating tale of friendship and an eye-opening look at the history of our nation. Newbery Medalist Susan Cooper also includes a timeline and an author’s note that discusses the historical context of this important and moving novel.

Hardcover, 336 pages  Published August 27th 2013 by Margaret K. McElderry Books (first published August 1st 2013)

ISBN  1442481412 (ISBN13: 9781442481411)

This story was a good representation of the arrival of the first Europeans into, what is now, the U.S. We are first introduced to a small Native American tribe, and we follow Little Hawk on his solo adventures through the woods: a quest that all boys must make to challenge themselves and grow into stronger men. He thinks a lot about his family and the training he has received so far to survive the trek, and we come to know his family through this, as well as some of the stories he has heard about the ‘white man.’ He returns to a very different home than the one he left, and his further travels eventually lead him to a young white boy named John Wakely. They become friends, and this friendship will shape their views of colonization forever.

As we follow their stories, we get an idea of some of the interactions between the tribes and the new settlers, and these culture clashes and business dealings set the grounds for future trading. As not all interactions were the same between areas, this story focuses on the northern colony areas. A lot of time passes from their initial meeting to the end of the story, so we see John travelling and becoming older, witnessing different interactions in different areas.

The story is written for younger readers and does cover a lot of information in a small book. I was impressed by how many different ideas were explored while still having a smooth and interesting story. The author was able to show both the Native American and the white men’s views in each situation throughout the book. It really made me think and was represented in a very easy to understand way.

What I loved most about the book was the honesty and trust of children. The power of being raised in a social setting, rather than coming into it as an outsider, gave them a better understanding and ability to see both sides and think for themselves.

I recommend this story, firstly, to those who enjoy reading about Native Americans and the history of the first U.S. colonies, but also for those who enjoy the culture clashes brought on by immigration.

I absolutely loved What the Spell, and when I was offered Life’s a Witch for review, there was no way I was going to turn down the offer! Brittany Geragotelis’s story was light and the characters were fun.

Even though I was excited to get into this one and see what some of my favorite characters were up to, Life’s a Witch rubbed me the wrong way right from the beginning. I was a bit thrown off when the story started with an entirely different character: Hadley Bishop.

It wasn’t that I didn’t like her. I actually found her pretty cool, but I was expecting this second installment to be from the same perspective as the first.

Hadley is the queen bee at her high school and, with the help of her spells, she can make herself practically perfect and absolutely beautiful. She isn’t just any queen bee though; she is a descendent of the first woman executed at the Salem Witch Trials.

Hadley and all the witches in her community are part of a coven where everyone knows about each other and their powers. The coven trains their children for safety and to protect each other. Their main goal is to keep their true identities and powers a secret. I mean, could you imagine what might happen if people found out about a witch coven?

Hadley, on the other hand, isn’t very interested in the coven. She doesn’t like going to the meetings and she can think of a million other things she would rather do. That is until some of the coven’s members go missing one night, and then the rest of the parents the next night.

Hadley doesn’t know what to do at first. She isn’t even sure if her mum is ‘missing’ or if she’s just out. When a whole day goes by, she decides to contact some of the other kids in the coven to see if they might know what’s going on. With every phone call she makes a worried kid answers and says they have no idea what’s happened and that their parents are gone as well.

The group of teenage witches gather to decide what to do and how to destroy the coven that has kidnapped their parents. They spend the next couple of days training, learning how to fight, and teaching one another spells. Hadley takes charge because she’s the strongest witch out of the group and it’s what she does.

The group is ready to do anything and everything to safe their parents, even if it means losing their own lives…

I have to admit, Life’s a Witch was an enjoyable read. It wasn’t anything too dark or crazy, but instead a bit of a lighter read. But even with this enjoyment, there were a few things that confused me and caught me off guard.

1. The main character: Why wasn’t she the same person as in the first book? I guess I just assumed that the story would continue to revolve around Brooklyn. I really liked Brooklyn and found her hilarious!
2. Asher: Who is he? I mean, I know who he is, but he is a completely different guy to the one I got to know in What the Spell. He acted differently and said things that I wouldn’t have expected from him.

I was just so confused about these two characters when they were each first introduced. I wasn’t sure what the author had in store for her readers, but I tried my best to remain open-minded throughout the rest of the book. Within a few chapters I started to like Hadley and the new Asher. Hadley was fun, hardworking, and wanted to save the coven’s parents. She wasn’t going to give up and she wasn’t going to let her mum just ‘disappear’.

Other than that, I guess I was just holding my breath for more fighting and action scenes. Don’t get me wrong, there were two, but I just figured it would take much more than a group of semi-trained teenagers and two battles to win a war.

Overall, the characters made this story for me, even though they weren’t who I was expecting. The third book is already out, and I do plan on reading it soon!

Just when you thought there is nothing Sherrilyn could do to make Nick Gautier suffer more…along comes Illusion. Two words: alternate reality. Uh huh, everything is not as it seems, and how the heck is Nick going to get back to his own type of ‘normal’?

We flick between Nick’s usual reality and the one he’s stuck in. We see his friends trying to get him back to where he’s supposed to be, and his ‘friends’ trying to make his life a living hell. I don’t think Nick will ever see his destiny in the same way again.

I’ve loved this series to date, and Illusion ups the stakes by so much you wonder how the next book will top that. (Didn’t I say something similar in the review for Inferno?)

Kenyon is skilled at making her characters relatable yet vulnerable, without being complete pushovers. Her female characters have no problem saving the day and doing what needs to be done, regardless of the cost. Each person has their own quirks and mannerisms, with voices as individual as a fingerprint. There really is something special about how Sherrilyn has crafted this series.

Her world building is second to none, and considering she now has over 70 books published, you would expect the level of confidence and strength we see in both The Chronicles of Nick and the Dark Hunter series, along with many others.

Defiant, book 6, is due out in 2015 and will absolutely be on my most-anticipated-reads list.

http://www.sherrilynkenyon.com/ 

Paperback, 464 pages

Published April 3rd 2014 by ATOM (first published April 1st 2014)

ISBN 1907411577 (ISBN13: 9781907411571)