Young Adult – Page 2 – The Spine View

A Curse So Dark and Lonely by Brigid Kemmerer

A Curse So Dark and Lonely by Brigid Kemmerer is a coming-of-age story that I can only be described as a cross between Ground Hogs Day and Beauty and the Beast. It is hands down one of the best fairy tales I have read in a while. Meant as a retelling, it goes above and beyond the original.

Prince Rhen of Emberfall has been cursed to relive the same autumn season of his eighteenth year over and over again by a powerful enchantress. To break the curse, all he has to do is make a girl fall in love with him. Of course, the enchantress throws a further twist into her game by having Rhen turn into a terrible monster at the close of each season. Despite this, Rhen has been arrogant enough to believe it would be easy. Born of privilege he is used to everything being easy. As season after season goes by with no true love, he is losing hope and now he is running out of time because the enchantress has said this will be the last season.

Grey, Rhen’s Caption of the Guard and protector, is given the ability to cross over to our world. At the beginning of each season he brings back a girl for Rhen in the hopes that it will be the one this time. With the stakes even higher this season, he must get the right girl. However, fate is against him when a girl with a limp prevents him from returning to Emberfall with the intended girl. Instead Grey is forced to abduct Harper.

Harper has not had an easy life. She was born with cerebral palsy and limps profoundly. Her father has deserted the family and left enormous debts with a loan shark. And to top it off, her mother is dying of cancer. Her brother is the only thing good thing right now in her life. He is actually working for the loan shark to pay off the debt. So, when Grey abducts her, her main concern is not in helping Rhen but returning home before her mother dies. Therefore, Rhen is going to have to pull off a miracle to break the curse.

I am totally in love with this book. I liked everything about the book, the prose, plot, characters and world building were so, so good. I can’t think of anything that I didn’t like about the book, which is unusual for me. Even with books I love, there is normally some little nitpicky thing I don’t care for, not the case here.

Of course, the characters were my favorite part. The author did a wonderful job of making me love them all. It is such a fabulous thing when I totally get the characters. The plot is also worthy of a comment since it worked so well with the characters and there was enough intrigue and twists to keep me reading and engaged. I just had to know how Harper was going to handle things once she found out about the true nature of the curse. Totally looking forward to reading book two.

I highly recommend this book to lovers of fantasy and fairy tales. This is a book that should be at the top of TBR list.

Binti by Nnedi Okorafor

This novella, Binti by Nnedi Okorafor, is in the vain of Octavia Butler. It is a quick read and the action pulls the story along rather swiftly. The prose was really good. The basis of the plot was not new but that was OK because the execution was good.

The only thing I longed for was a little bit more character development. I felt there was so much to Binti we did not understand. For example, why she felt she must leave her family and all she has known for an unknown future at Uni. I hope the next books will fill in the gaps for me.

This is one for fans of YA Sci-Fi . In addition, if you are a fan of Butler then you most likely enjoy this story. However, this is not a heavy on the Science book. Therefore, hardcore fans of the genre may not find this one to their liking.

Book Blurb:

Her name is Binti, and she is the first of the Himba people ever to be offered a place at Oomza University, the finest institution of higher learning in the galaxy. But to accept the offer will mean giving up her place in her family to travel between the stars among strangers who do not share her ways or respect her customs.

Knowledge comes at a cost, one that Binti is willing to pay, but her journey will not be easy. The world she seeks to enter has long warred with the Meduse, an alien race that has become the stuff of nightmares. Oomza University has wronged the Meduse, and Binti’s stellar travel will bring her within their deadly reach.

If Binti hopes to survive the legacy of a war not of her making, she will need both the gifts of her people and the wisdom enshrined within the University, itself – but first she has to make it there, alive.

Contagion by Teri Terry

Contagion by Teri Terry is a dystopian YA Sci-Fi story set in the near future. The story totally took me by surprise. I loved every minute of it. A deadly virus grown in a lab that escapes, people who have special abilities after being infected, a ghost set on revenge, it all worked so well.

The story begins in an underground research facility in Shetland, UK. Where a group of researchers are working on a cure for cancer. Callie, subject 369X, is being “cured” which results in her death. Instead of moving on to the afterlife she becomes a ghost. Shortly after her death an explosion occurs in the underground facility and the facility is destroyed in the fire that follows. This allows a deadly virus, later named the Aberdeen Flu, to be released.

Meanwhile, Shay, a typical teen except for her photograph memory, has her eye caught by a flyer of a missing girl. Turns out she saw the girl on the day she went missing. Shay calls the number on the flyer and later meets Kai the missing girl’s older brother. This missing girl in none other than Callie. Unfortunately, Shay is not able to provide must assistance to Kai since she only saw Callie briefly. However, they do form a bond.

By now the virus is wreaking havoc all over Scotland. Ever containment line the government sets seems useless and the virus is spreading like wildfire. This “flu” is so deadly it kills 95% of those infected within 24 hours. There are a lucky few who are immune. Those that do survive are changed and either kill themselves or are hunted down by the government.

While Kai is one of the lucky immune, Shay is infected and becomes a survivor. Shortly after her recovery Shay discovers that she can talk to the dead, including Callie. Together the three set out to discover what really happened in Shetland.

Fantastic story! Usually the characters are my favorite part of a story. Not so this time, I was pulled into the story from the start. I especially liked that it was not far-fetched and I feel something like this is plausible. The execution of the plot was spot on, fast paced but not rushed so there was a slow buildup of tension as the story progressed. There were a couple of twists to the plot I was not expecting and some hints about what is to come… I think. Then there is the cliff hanger, of course.

The characters are good too. There was a fair amount of character development which never fails to surprise me in an action novel. I crave a story that lets me understand and connect to the characters. Each of the three main characters has a distinct voice and yet the story is told through the eyes of the female characters only. It was an interesting way of seeing things. The author did a good job of connecting it all together so it flowed seamlessly. The only negative, I have to wait to read the next book!

I highly recommend this book to fans of near future Sci-Fi and YA Sci-Fi stories. There are a few scenes that maybe disturbing to the younger readers. Nothing overly graphic but the story does contain mild violence and the subject matter some may find unsettling.

I received a free copy from the publisher in exchange for my honest review.

Coming Back by K. L. Denman

Coming Back by K. L. Denman is a novella about a young woman, Julie, who has been in a horrific car accident. She has no memory of the accident and has been in therapy for over a year. Julie has been diagnosed with PTSD. Her therapist suggests that she get an emotional support animal to help her.

Her therapist was thinking a dog or cat would be the ideal animal; but Julie decides she wants a horse. She had ridden some when she was a young girl and loved the connection she felt with a horse. She is hoping that she will have that again. Also, a horse will force her to leave her home and interact with people.

Julie lays out her plan to her therapist and after some consideration she agrees. She does her research and purchases a lovely young mare she names Scarlett. Julie finds a dressage show barn that she is able to board Scarlett at. She can even take lessons there. Unfortunately, it turns out a show barn is not the right fit for her. She looks for another barn and finds one that does “natural horsemanship”. Yet it turns out to be not as advertised and she soon realizes she has moved from the frying pan to fire.

This book had everything going for it. I especially love stories centered around horses since I have ridden my entire life. The plot was good and the horse related stuff was correct. I know the pace was good because I flew through this book in under a day. Yet, there was something missing for me.

I am struggling to put my feelings into words here. That in itself says something. I think it is because the story did not match the prose. Let me explain further. I felt the writing was too simplistic for an adult or young adult reader. The writing style was best suited for a middle grade reader yet the story, which billed as young adult, had a decided adult theme to it. Therefore, it left me wanting more.

Disclaimer: I received a free copy from the publisher, via Library Thing’s Early Reviewer’s program, in exchange for my honest opinion.

The Ruin of Kings by Jenn Lyons

The Ruin of Kings is a debut fantasy novel by Jenn Lyons. It is the first in, what I understand is to be, a 5 books series titled A Chorus of Dragons. To date, I have only read the preview, so this review is based on that alone.

Since I have not read the book in it’s entirely, here is what the publisher has to say:

Kihrin is a bastard orphan who grew up on storybook tales of long-lost princes and grand quests. When he is claimed against his will as the long-lost son of a treasonous prince, Kihrin finds that being a long-lost prince isn’t what the storybooks promised.

Far from living the dream, Kihrin finds himself practically a prisoner, at the mercy of his new family’s power plays and ambitions. He also discovers that the storybooks have lied about a lot of other things things, too: dragons, demons, gods, prophecies, true love, and how the hero always wins.

Then again, maybe he’s not the hero, for Kihrin isn’t destined to save the empire.

He’s destined to destroy it . . .

What I liked most about the book is that I was drawn into the world immediately and became invested in the character right away. I felt sorry for Kihrin because he was in jail, even though I thought he brought some of his situation on himself, I wanted to know the whole story behind how he ended up in this situation.

The plot moved along nicely. Even though I only read the preview, I was able to get a sense of the world that allowed me to follow the story without any problems. I would think as the book progressed you would have more world building and character development. It worked for me and I actually prefer that authors don’t do a data dumb at the beginning.

The way the author told the story from the present looking back reminded me of The Name of The Wind by Patrick Rothfuss. However, unlike Rothfuss, the author had two characters tell the story and the book jumped between three time lines, the present, and two pasts told from different POVs. This I found a little confusing and a couple of times had to reread a few pages to stay on track with each timeline. I thought this could have been handled better and took away a little from the book.

Overall, despite the one negative, I liked the story and want to read the book in its entirety. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes epic fantasy.

I received my preview of The Ruin of Kings, via NetGalley, from the publisher.

Street Freaks by Terry Brooks

Title: Street Freaks
Author: Terry Brooks
Pub. Date: 2-Oct-2018
Rating: 4 Stars

Street Freaks is not your typical Terry Brooks novel. He is best known for his fantasy novels. I remember reading his Sword of Shannara series when I was younger and loved his story telling, characters and brilliant world building. I have never doubted his writing ability; however, I was surprised to realize this is a YA Sci-Fi book. Regardless, of the genre, Terry Brooks is a great writer and Street Freaks just goes to show how great his skills are.

The story is set in the future where technology has advanced to the point that machine and man can and have been seamlessly integrated to overcome debilitating illnesses and injuries. At the beginning we meet Ashton (Ash) Collins. He is your typical teenager who lives at home with his Dad and 3 robots until one day he gets an urgent call from his Father to run as fast as he can to the Red Zone and go to Street Freaks. Ash has lived a sheltered life thus far and he is not prepared for what he finds in the Red Zone or at Street Freaks.

Fortunately for Ash, the kids (actually young adults) at Street Freaks, a place where street cars are built and raced, take him in and make him part of their community of misunderstood rejects of experiments. That’s right, in this dystopian future, companies have experimented on kids and then disposed of them. They help him to discover what happened to his father. Together this band of unlikely allies sets out to take down the person and company who is responsible for Ash’s father’s disappearance and in the process hopefully expose the terrible things that have happened to kids.

Even though this was not the typical Terry Brooks story I am accustomed to, I liked it. Mr. Brooks has developed characters that you can empathize with and I was routing for them throughout the story. The future he has envisioned in this story was well thought-out and worked nicely with the plot. There is a lot of attention to detail and the story and characters are better for it.

The plot was paced nicely and I appreciated that Mr. Brooks did not just do a data dump to the reader in the beginning. All the facts and information important to the story were doled out only as needed. There were several twists in the story and a couple of real surprises that keep me interested and yet I did not get a feeling of the plot being overworked.

As I said, the story is well told and I think it will appeal to Sci-Fi and Fantasy readers alike. Though a note of caution, it is a YA book but some of the topics are not suited for the younger reader. Therefore, I recommend only for ages 16+.

I received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for my honest review.

Brightly Burning by Alexa Donne

Title: Brightly Burning
Author: Alexa Donne
Pub. Date: 1-May-2018
Rating: 4 Stars

Brightly Burning by Alexa Donne is a futuristic remake of Jane Eyre. At first it was kind of hard to wrap my head around the idea of Jane Eyre in space, but it worked. I am sure it helped that I am a fan of Science Fiction. Though the focus is on the story and not the science.

The setting is in the future when the Earth is covered in ice. This new ice age is a result of an eruption of a super volcano. All people that were able to evacuate did so, and now live in colony ships in Earth’s orbit. Stella is an engineer on one of these ships and stuck in a job she hates, on a ship that is on its last legs, and she wants off. She does have marketable skills and applies to various jobs in the fleet. Continue reading “Brightly Burning by Alexa Donne”

Sky in the Deep by Adrienne Young

Title: Sky in the Deep
Author: Adrienne Young
Pub. Date: 24-Apr-2018
Rating: 5 Stars

The gorgeous cover is what drew me to Sky in the Deep by Adrienne Young. After reading the blurb, I was like; I have to read this one. The story is a Vikingish YA fantasy with a heroine you will fall for within the first few pages. It is a beautifully crafted tale and I dare you not to get hooked by the end of the first chapter.

Eelyn is a warrior for the Aska clan and has been training since a young girl to fight their sworn enemy the Riki. She fights alongside her friend Myra and together they are fierce on the battle field. Until one day Eelyn almost gets killed by a young Riki warrior. Her brother, Iri, saves her. Yet, this cannot be possible, Iri died five years ago in another battle against the Riki. Continue reading “Sky in the Deep by Adrienne Young”

School for Physics by K. C. Archer

Title: School for Physics
Author: K. C. Archer
Pub. Date: 3-Apr-2018
Rating: 5 Stars

School for Physics by K. C. Archer is an explosive new urban fantasy series with a good dash of crime thriller on the side. It reads like a Harry Potter story for adults. I was on the edge of my seat almost the entire time and second guessing myself right to the very end.

Theodora Cannon, aka Teddy, lives in Las Vegas above the garage of her adopted parents’ house. After a series of very bad decisions she currently owes over a quarter of a million to a Russian loan shark. You are probably wondering how someone ends up in such a situation at so young an age. Simple, you like to gamble. Teddy has even gone so far as to “borrow” money from her parents’ retirement account. Continue reading “School for Physics by K. C. Archer”

The Sun is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon

Title: The Sun is Also a Star
Author: Nicola Yoon
Pub. Date: 1-Nov-2016
Rating: 5 Stars

The Sun is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon is another one of those books that has been on my to-be-read list since it first came out. Why, oh why does it take over a year to get to such a good book? After reading books like this I almost always beat myself up for not getting to it sooner.

In this story, the author is asking the reader to believe in fate and love at first site. Daniel is in the right place at the right time to meet Natasha. Only Natasha is scheduled to be deported back to Jamaica that very evening. Therefore, Daniel has only a few hours to convince Natasha that two people can fall in love in an initial meeting and he has the science to prove it. Natasha is very skeptical, and rightly so, especially since she is Jamaican and he is Korean and she knows her parents would never approve of a relationship with Daniel. Continue reading “The Sun is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon”