Once (Eve trilogy, book #2)
by Anna Carey
Alloy (Harper)
2012
368 pages

Available July 3, 2012

view the book trailer for Eve (book one)


Just in time for the 4th of July and colorful, brilliant fireworks displays, Once riotously explodes onto the ya teen scene. Readers may remember that at the end of book one, Eve had entered a safe haven in Califia and Caleb was turned away--no men are allowed. They are forced to separate to keep Eve safe; the King and his soldiers are searching for her still.

Eve finds safety and work in the little settlement of women, but then hears a rumor that Caleb might be hiding somewhere nearby and that he's hurt. Arden and Eve run from the "safety" of the women with Heddy, Arden's adopted dog. They find Caleb and then they find trouble. I can take a lot of things as a reader: vampires, zombies, blood, and tons of gore, but don't you dare make a dog suffer and don't ever kill a dog! Heddy is killed by the men who take Arden and Eve prisoner.

The soldiers take Eve to the City of Sand (Las Vegas) where she appears before the King. (I can't give you details here--it's a HUGE SURPRISE! If I shared the details, it's a HUGE SPOILER!) I will say I didn't see this plot twist coming. Anna Carey, that was way out of left field!--but also way cool.

The reader finds out that the Plague nearly toppled civilization and if not for the King, humanity would have ceased to exist. The King has restored elecricity, oil, water, gas, and cars are on the road. The City of Sand is thriving he explains to Eve. She doesn't want to hear all the great things the new regime has done; she remembers all her friends pushed into a life of slavery--kept prisoner and forced to produce the regime's offspring. They can't even keep their own children; the children are taken from them and offered to the wealthy for adoption. Eve longs to escape the City of Sand.

In the second book, I feel more empathy for Eve--she's grown up a bit and seems to have more compassion for others. She tries to help her friends and is overcome with sadness for their plight. She begs the King for mercy to no avail. The King lies to her and forces her into a marriage of convenience. Eve and Caleb have no future together, but Eve gains a secret new ally in the palace. One note here: I didn't feel as much empathy for Caleb--he seemed very one-dimentional--readers will not get to know his personality.

Book three will be eagerly anticiapted for Eve fans. Will Eve ever be able to escape the King and topple his kingdom? Will Caleb ever go free?

Highly, highly recommended for dystopian romance fans and everyone who has read book one. If you haven't read book one, be sure you read it first.

Grades 9-up. You make the choice if you want it for grade 8--Caleb and Eve spend the night together--no graphic details. Women are baby machines. The King and his soldiers are quite sadistic; Caleb suffers a great deal. A dog is killed.

FTC Required Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. I did not receive monetary compensation for this review.

Dystopian Pick: Fever (Book 2, The Chemical Garden Trilogy)

Fever
by Lauren DeStefano
Simon & Schuster
2012
352 pages


Available February 21, 2012

Watch the book trailer for Wither (book 1) here

Dark, dystopian, and disturbing, book 2 of The Chemical Garden is much darker than the first novel--Wither. In Wither we met Rhine, a young girl kidnapped, taken far from home, and forced into marriage with other sister- wives and we met Gabriel, a servant who works on the grounds of the fine mansion. Rhine hates it it the mansion; she doesn't want to be the wife of a man she doesn't love. She wants to go home and see her twin brother Rowen. Gabriel agrees to help Rhine escape and together they run.

Fever picks up where Wither left off. Gabriel and Rhine are on the run but with no plan, no money, no clothes, and no idea how to get to Manhattan and find Rowen. They see tents in the distance and hear laughter and party noise, so they think they can spend the night there, but they are taken prisoner by a strange madwoman who calls herself Madame. She runs a circus-like and macabre group of prostitutes with her hired muscle--brutal bodyguards who enforce her rules. Madame drugs Gabriel and Rhine with mindless opiates and plans to get top dollar for selling Rhine to the highest bidder.

Again, the two escape but are on the run again. They take Maddie, a malformed child of Lilac, a woman who helped them escape. The three flee and finally make it to Manhattan but are terrified when they find that Rhine's home is burned to ruins and Rowen cannot be found.

Rhine falls victim to an unexplanable fever and has strange memories of her parents and some long-held secret of her and Rowen's birth. Vaughn (Rhine's evil father-in-law) finds Rhine and takes her back to the mansion where he tells her he has been tracking her all along. Rhine is once again a helpless victim of his cruel experiments.

Book 3 promises to answer all the story's questions: What experiments were Rhine's parents working on when they were killed? Who is behind their deaths? Why does everyone keep saying that Rhine is "special?" Where is Rowen? Will Gabriel and Rhine ever be re-united? Does Linden believe that his father (Vaughn) is experimenting on Rhine and the other women of the house?

Teens who love a well-written and scintillating story--action packed and chilling--will love Fever. It's cutting, caustic, and creepy--thrilling right to the satisfying last pages.

The shocking cliffhanger at the ending has me hooked--I will be first in line--fighting off teenagers--to get my hands on this book!

Highly, highly recommended grades 9-up. Very dark, dystopian fiction--not for the faint of heart-- and not a flowery romance. For mature readers only. Mentions genetics, the government wants to artificially inseminated girls as young as 10 to insure their race will survive, girls are forced into prostitution and marriages, girls are basically being used as breeders, one scene where Rhine narrowly escapes rape, shocking "medical" experiments, and children get killed if they are not genetically "correct."

FTC Required Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. I did not receive monetary compensation for this review.

Book Giveaway-Unraveling Isobel--A Ghostly Romance

I have 5 copies of this fantastic new ya novel.

Unraveling Isobel
by Eileen Cook
Simon Pulse
2012
304 pages (according to publisher's website)

Available January 3, 2012 (date from publisher's website)

Read Chapter One here

Clever, creepy, creative, and seductive, Unraveling Isobel is my new favorite ya title. Full of Gothic appeal and details--a creepy, moss-covered mansion fallen into disrepair bulging with dusty antiques hand-crafted by dead ancestors, portraits of said dead ancestors peering down from its ancient walls, a step-father who reeks of disdain and old money, a mother who is so in love with wacktastic step-father that she can't even see what a horse's patooty he is, and a hot and sexy step-brother--all part of Isobel's new life.

Read the rest of my review here


Giveaway opens January 2, 2012 and runs through January 12. Deadline is January 12, 2012 at noon MST.

Post a comment and include your email address and city, state. I like to know where the readers are! I need your email address to notify you in case you win. Winners are chosen randomly by Randomizer. Winners will be notified by email on Jan. 12. Please check your email. You will have 48 hours to respond to my email to claim your prize. Books will be shipped from NYC. Thanks, Venessa and Simon & Schuster!

High School Pick: Chopsticks

Watch the video here

Chopsticks
by Jessica Anthony and Rodrigo Corral
Razorbill
2012
304 pages with illustrations and photos

Available 2/2/12

from the back cover: "A fully interactive electronic version of Chopsticks with music and video will be published simultaneously and sold separately."

Truly unique, this is a novel approach to storytelling, and Chopsticks is a different kind of ya experience--part novel, part photo album, part art portfolio, and part love song, this teen-age love story will tug at the heart-strings.

As the novel opens, we learn that Gloria Fleming is missing. She has walked away from the "hospital" her father placed her in. Television newscasts are having a field day.

Flashback 18 months before: Glory is a musical prodigy--by age fourteen she is playing sold-out shows in New York. Reviewers compare her to piano greats and her father is planning a world tour. Glory misses her mother but puts all her energy and grief into her music until she meets Frank, a new student from Argentina. Suddenly, music and touring are not that important anymore.

Frank is creative and passionate about his art and Glory falls hard for him. When she leaves to tour Europe, Glory has trouble focusing. Suddenly, she can't play the piano anymore. At a concert, she begins playing "Chopsticks"--her and Frank's song--the audience holds its breath. Her father is at first embarrassed, then angry. She is falling apart.

Glory is admitted into a "facility"--Golden Hands Rest Facility is an institution for musical prodigies in New York. Her grasp on reality is frail and Frank continues to try to reach her. When he returns home to Argentina, Glory makes her move.

The reader has to glean clues from the photos, news clippings, Frank's drawings, piano programs, instant messages, and illustrations. The novel ends with Glory missing, and the reader assumes she is on her way to Argentina to see Frank. Did she have a "breakdown" or has the hospital made her crazy? Will she be able to function in the outside world?

My seventeen year old daughter read this novel first and loved it. I read it next and we talked it over. What I thought happened was a very different view of what my daughter thought happened. That's the fun of this novel--teen readers will have very different opinions of Glory--is she crazy? or is the world crazy?

Highly recommended grades 9-up. Mature situations and Frank draws an artistic picture of a nude Gloria--it's more artsy than graphic.

FTC Required Disclaimer: I received this novel from the publisher. I did not receive monetary compensation for this review.

Book Giveaway: Dystopian Romance: Eve

I have ONE, yes only one, SIGNED copy to give away of this exciting new paranormal romance.
See my review of Eve here


Post a comment here. Include your email contact and your city and state. The winner will be chosen at random by randomizer. The winner will be notified by email and have 48 hours to respond. Anna Carey will sign and ship the winner her/his copy. Deadline is Friday, November 18 at noon MST!
Hurry and post! Good luck! Pamela