ARC Review: At the End of Everything by Marieke Nijkamp

Title: At the End of Everything
Author: Marieke Nijkamp
Publication Date: January 4, 2022
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Pages: 400
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//I received this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review//

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of This Is Where It Ends comes another heartbreaking, emotional and timely page-turner that will keep you on the edge of your seat.

The Hope Juvenile Treatment Center is ironically named. No one has hope for the delinquent teenagers who have been exiled there; the world barely acknowledges that they exist.

Then the guards at Hope start acting strange. And one day...they don't show up. But when the teens band together to make a break from the facility, they encounter soldiers outside the gates. There's a rapidly spreading infectious disease outside, and no one can leave their houses or travel without a permit. Which means that they're stuck at Hope. And this time, no one is watching out for them at all.

As supplies quickly dwindle and a deadly plague tears through their ranks, the group has to decide whom among them they can trust and figure out how they can survive in a world that has never wanted them in the first place.

I’ve just finished reading an ARC of At the End of Everything by Marieke Nijkamp and I absolutely LOVED it. This was a great 5/5 star read for me.

One day, the juveniles at the Hope Juvenile Treatment Center, where delinquent teenagers are sent for various reasons, are abandoned and forgotten by those who were supposed to take care of them. A few curious teens break out to get freedom from the center. They are surprised to run into armed soldiers who tell them that an infectious disease, a plague, has broken out and everyone is confined to their houses and they are not allowed to travel without a permit. Stranded at Hope, the teens who decide to remain there are forced to find a way to survive. With their dwindling food sources, limited medical supplies, and with the plague having broken out within the facility, they have to bind together to make it.

There are three main characters and three points of view throughout the book. Each of the three main characters are white. However, the book is full of people of different races and nationalities. There is also a non-binary transgender teenager who was kicked out of their religious parents’ home. Too many authors nowadays are forcing diversity they don’t want into their stories. The problem with this is they write their characters in offensive manners. Nijkamp, however, doesn’t do this. When they describe a character’s skin tone, they do so in such a way that you can tell they aren’t forcing the diversity. For example, a character named Khalil is described as “Dark-brown hair, light-brown skin, laughing brown eyes.” I also love that Nijkamp didn’t try to write about the injustice black teens experience in the justice system. They didn’t want to take away space from a writer of color.

“This is what the plague looks like. It’s not illness, at first. It’s fear. The type of fear that nags at the back of your thoughts, that crawls like a parasite under your skin. It’s like every bruise that brushes against my clothes.” The story itself was slow. Not in a bad way, but in a good one. They took the time to humanize each character, even the worst ones. They make you feel like you truly get to know the characters of this book. Not just the three narrators but the characters who surround them as well. I could write an entire book on how this book made me feel and the profound thoughts I had about life, fear, and COVID while reading it.

It was surreal to read about a plague when we have one of our own going on in real life. The plague in the book was far worse than COVID is but still, it was emotional to read about. I’d say the genre of this book would be YA Dystopian Psychological Thriller.

This book will be published on 4 January 2022 and I can’t recommend it to others enough!

Book Review: Kindred by Octavia E. Butler

Title: Kindred
Author: Octavia E. Butler
Publication Date: June 1, 1979
Publisher: Beacon Press
Pages: 287
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The first science fiction written by a black woman, Kindred has become a cornerstone of black American literature. This combination of slave memoir, fantasy, and historical fiction is a novel of rich literary complexity. Having just celebrated her 26th birthday in 1976 California, Dana, an African-American woman, is suddenly and inexplicably wrenched through time into antebellum Maryland. After saving a drowning white boy there, she finds herself staring into the barrel of a shotgun and is transported back to the present just in time to save her life. During numerous such time-defying episodes with the same young man, she realizes the challenge she’s been given...

Wow. Just, wow. I don’t even know where to start with this review. I think this was who hands-down the best book I have ever read. I physically own this book but I knew I wanted to finish it before the end of 2020 and I’ve had so much going on that I decided to audiobook it on Scribd and boy am I glad I did. Please be aware that my review will contain minor spoilers.

Among the George Orwells, the Ray Bradburys, and the Aldous Huxleys, Butler broke the glass ceiling of the science fiction world. The first science fiction book ever written by a woman is Frankenstein written by Mary Shelley in 1818. Kindred, published in 1979, is the first science fiction book ever written by a black woman. It’s extremely sad and unreal that the first science fiction book by a black woman was only written 41 years ago.

As a black woman, whenever my husband and I watch anything that has anything to do with slavery, I always adamantly say I would rather die than to be someone’s slave, but Butler showed me why that statement isn’t so cut and dry. Kindred is about Dana, a woman who lives in California and just turned 26 in 1976 who inexplicably is drawn back to antebellum Maryland in the early 19th century. During her first trip, Dana saved a white boy, named Rufus, who was drowning and afterwards she found herself staring down the barrel of a shotgun held by the boy’s dad. After Dana went back to her time, she realized that Rufus was a white ancestor of hers. Throughout Rufus' life, Dana is drawn back to different times of his life over the course of two weeks in her time. Whenever his life was in danger, Dana was drawn back to him and whenever Dana’s life was in danger, she was sent back to her time.

“I never realized how quickly people can accept slavery.” Dana found herself falling into a comfortable pattern whenever she was in Maryland. In order to survive, she had to become a slave herself and find her place on the plantation. The one instance her husband was drawn back to Maryland with her, she found herself worrying if being a white man during slavery time would change him. She was worried about what he would have to do to survive and the role he would have to play to fit in.

I’ve read and watched many books, TV shows, and movies about slavery, but Kindred is the first one that completely drew me in. Kindred did to me what Rufus did to Dana whenever she was sucked back to his time. I felt her pain. I felt her humiliation. I felt the anguish she experienced at being “owned”, as if she were property and not a person. I felt her degradation at being whipped and beaten multiple times by Rufus’ father. I felt her hope that her presence in Rufus’ life and the many times she saved his life could help make him a good man.

I worked on this review for weeks and I really hope it was eloquent and sensible. For some reason, I just couldn’t put my feelings about Kindred into words. This was a harrowing and emotional book and it evoked some pretty strong feelings and grief from me. It hit the acrimony and fervor that’s been deeply living inside of me with everything race-related that happened in 2020. Kindred was my first Butler book, but it certainly won’t be my last.

ARC Review: Girls With Razor Hearts by Suzanne Young

Title: Girls With Razor Hearts (Girls With Sharp Sticks #2)
Author: Suzanne Young
Publication Date: March 17, 2020
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Pages: 400
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Review for book 1

It’s time to fight back in this second novel in a thrilling, subversive near future series from New York Times bestselling author Suzanne Young about a girls-only private high school that is far more than it appears to be.

Make me a girl with a razor heart…

It’s been weeks since Mena and the other girls of Innovations Academy escaped their elite boarding school. Although traumatized by the violence and experimentations that occurred there, Mena quickly discovers that the outside world can be just as unwelcoming and cruel. With no one else to turn to, the girls only have each other—and the revenge-fueled desire to shut down the corporation that imprisoned them.

The girls enroll in Stoneridge Prep, a private school with suspect connections to Innovations, to identify the son of an investor and take down the corporation from the inside. But with pressure from Leandra, who revealed herself to be a double-agent, and Winston Weeks, an academy investor gone rogue, Mena wonders if she and her friends are simply trading one form of control for another. Not to mention the woman who is quite literally invading Mena’s thoughts—a woman with extreme ideas that both frighten and intrigue Mena.

And as the girls fight for freedom from their past—and freedom for the girls still at Innovations—they must also face new questions about their existence…and what it means to be girls with razor hearts.

Last year, Girls With Sharp Sticks became one of my unanticipated favorite reads! The mystery and dystopian aspects were enough to keep me constantly on the edge of my seat. I was so excited when I found out there would be a sequel that I couldn't wait to get my hands on it and I jumped right in!

Girls With Razor Hearts picks up immediately after the events of the first book. Mena and the other girls have escaped the school and have plans to bring down the corporation. This book was set entirely away from the school and, since the big mystery has already been found out, it had an entirely different feel.

Where Girls With Sharp Sticks kept me constantly engaged, this one was a bit less my speed. A big reason for this is the setting. Most of the book takes place in an average public school with two of the girls attending high school and navigating every day life. Mena doesn't understand why sexism is so prevalent in the school and immediately goes to work trying to change it.

On the one hand I really enjoyed this and probably would have even more as a teen. On the other, it was extremely on the nose. Nearly every man the characters come in contact with is essentially evil and it quickly became exhausting. As a woman who worked in a male dominated field for several years and, you know, exists in the world, I have encountered my fair share of misogyny and harassment. However, it was coming from literally every angle in Mena's world and it was a bit much.

While two of the girls are in school, the rest spend their time researching ways to bring down Innovations Academy. Although the huge reveal of the girls being AI has already come out, there are still a couple enjoyable twists and turns in this book. I do wish that a bit more was learned and more progress was made, but this was by no means a bad read.

If you enjoyed Girls With Sharp Sticks, you'll probably enjoy this one too. You'll enjoy it even more if contemporary YA is your genre! I'm excited to see what happens in the final book!

Book Review: The Darkest Star by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Title: The Darkest Star (Origin #1)
Author: Jennifer L. Armentrout
Publication Date: October 30, 2018
Publisher: Tor Teen
Pages: 367
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When seventeen-year-old Evie Dasher is caught up in a raid at a notorious club known as one of the few places where humans and the surviving Luxen can mingle freely, she meets Luc, an unnaturally beautiful guy she initially assumes is a Luxen...but he is in fact something much more powerful. Her growing attraction for Luc will lead her deeper and deeper into a world she'd only heard about, a world where everything she thought she knew will be turned on its head...

My first foray into the world of Jennifer L. Armentrout did not go well. I honestly hated The first book in the Lux series and never thought I'd read another one by her. Then I was lucky enough to receive a copy of The Darkest Star at ALA, followed by several people telling me how amazing it was! Eventually I gave in and was happy to be proven wrong.

Evie is the MC of this story and immediately finds herself in the wrong place at the wrong time when it begins. Luc is a Luxen (or is he?) and the most gorgeous guy Evie has ever seen. She realizes there's more than meets the eye about him and the club they met in and very quickly finds herself thrown into the world of the Luxen by Luc's side.

The first thing I noticed about Evie and Luc as opposed to Damon's story was significantly less angst. I'm not sure if that has to do with the years in which both were written, but this was much more my speed. Evie does have her fair share of angst, don't get me wrong, but it's manageable. Their romance was sweet and I found myself rooting for them despite some of Luc's less flattering moments. If hate to love romance is your trope, you'll probably enjoy this story.

I get the feeling there's definitely a lot more I would have picked up on in this book had I read all the other books in this universe, but I don't feel like I missed out on too much. Armentrout does a pretty good job of making sure the reader is up to speed, although I was really interested to find about about the war that apparently happened between the other book I read and this one!

This book isn't just romance and angst though! There were twists and turns that I definitely didn't see coming and that always makes books more enjoyable. I had an idea that something was going on, but I never pinned it down until the reveal. I also really liked the way the author touched on current issues within the world of the Luxen.

I am very pleased to say I did enjoy this book! I don't read many paranormal romance books, so The Darkest Star was a real change of pace. I'll never go back and read the ones before it, that's for sure, but I will be continuing Evie's story. If you loved this author's previous books, you'll probably love this one! If, like me, you're coming into this not knowing the history, you can definitely enjoy it anyway. I can't wait to see what happens next!

Book Review: The Loneliest Girl in the Universe by Lauren James

Title: The Loneliest Girl in the Universe
Author: Lauren James
Publication Date: July 3, 2018
Publisher: Walker Books
Pages: 290
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Can you fall in love with someone you’ve never met, never even spoken to – someone who is light years away?

Romy Silvers is the only surviving crew-member of a spaceship travelling to a new planet, on a mission to establish a second home for humanity amongst the stars. Alone in space, she is the loneliest girl in the universe until she hears about a new ship which has launched from Earth – with a single passenger on board. A boy called J.

Their only communication with each other is via email – and due to the distance between them, their messages take months to transmit across space. And yet Romy finds herself falling in love.

But what does Romy really know about J? And what do the mysterious messages which have started arriving from Earth really mean?

Sometimes, there’s something worse than being alone...

I don't read a ton of sci-fi, but I am a sucker for stories about people isolated from reality and this one sucked me right in as soon as I saw it. The Loneliest Girl in the Universe is about a girl named Romy who has been stuck onboard a spaceship completely alone for most of her life and it is a wild ride.

First of all, Romy is an insanely strong but relatable character who is doing better than I ever could. I am an introvert of the highest order, sometimes going a few days without talking to anyone outside my house, but I truly don't know how I'd survive years alone on a spaceship. I loved that Romy was able to keep things resembling normal with routines she'd stuck to all her life, but I could also understand how desperate she was for outside contact.

There are a couple important characters aside from Romy in this book. The first is the only person from Earth that Romy has remained in contact with. The second is J, a boy she's received a message from and who also happens to be heading for her ship. This book is told as Romy counts down the days until J arrives and the tension slowly builds as the numbers diminish.

This book made me feel more suspense than any other book that I can remember reading recently. From the first page there was a feeling that something was a little off. Of course, a big part of this is picturing anyone in the void of space by themselves, but there was always something else nagging at me. The plot twists in The Loneliest Girl in the Universe had me going back and reevaluating what I knew and it was amazing! I even messaged the author (who was lovely, by the way) when I turned the last page.

There isn't much else to say without giving away major plot points, but if you're in the market for a sci-fi thriller, this is the one for you. This is a quick, unsettling read and I can't wait to see what Lauren James writes next!

ARC Review: Last of Her Name by Jessica Khoury

Title: Last of Her Name
Author: Jessica Khoury
Publication Date: February 26, 2019
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Pages: 400
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Sixteen years ago, rebellion swept the galaxy known as the Belt of Jewels. Every member of the royal family was murdered--down to their youngest child, Princess Anya--and the Union government rose in its place. But Stacia doesn't think much about politics. She spends her days half-wild, rambling her father's vineyard with her closest friends, Clio and Pol.

That all changes the day a Union ship appears in town, carrying the leader of the Belt himself, the Direktor Eminent. The Direktor claims that Princess Anya is alive, and that Stacia's sleepy village is a den of empire loyalists, intent on hiding her. When Stacia is identified as the lost princess, her provincial home explodes into a nightmare.

Pol smuggles her away to a hidden escape ship in the chaos, leaving Clio in the hands of the Union. With everything she knows threading away into stars, Stacia sets her heart on a single mission. She will find and rescue Clio, even with the whole galaxy on her trail. 

Last of Her Name is a YA science fiction retelling of Anastasia and is so far up my alley that I HAD to get my hands on it! Luckily I did and I dived in as soon as I possibly could. This was my first ever Anastasia retelling, although there do seem to be a lot of them being published lately. I wasn't sure what to expect from this one, but I can definitely say it surprised me.

Stacia has lived in a small town on a small planet for her entire life with her parents and best friends Clio and Pol. Stacia loves spaceships and she's good at fixing them. When she and her friends spot a particularly impressive ship coming toward their town, they run at the chance to see it, but quickly find themselves in a very dangerous situation. This leads to Stacia finding out she's really Anya, the princess, which prompts her and Pol to go on the run. That's when things get really wild.

This book is non-stop action from the first chapter and, for maybe the first time, I don't think that's always a great thing. Last of Her Name is just a lot. There's a lot of world building, a lot of characters, and a lot of information thrown into a relatively short book. I'm not usually one for dragging things out, but I truly believe this could have worked better as a duology. Despite there being SO much going on, there's never much time to process, to get to know new characters or situations. Because of that, I never really felt able to fully connect with much in the story. New characters would be introduced and we're immediately expected to care about what happens to them without knowing them at all.

When it comes to characters, they were fine, for the most part. Stacia was fine. She was a pretty typical YA heroine who learned the truth about her past and was forced to deal with it. I did enjoy her growth as she came to accept her true nature. Pol, the Dimitri character in this retelling, was just... not it. I can't really put into words what I didn't like about him, but the romance didn't work for me. Probably my favorite part of this book was Riyan, a character who's introduced fairly early on and becomes a huge part of the plot. His abilities and the world he's from were so fascinating to me! He reminded me a bit of Spock, who I also love. Honestly, I'd read a book all about him and his sister.

As with Riyan's world, the rest of the world building was really fascinating! There were multiple unique planets and systems, and the prisms that powered the technology were a really interesting concept. That did get a little too weird for me as the book went on, but I can't say much more about it without spoilers. I thought the struggle between the Union and the Resistance was interesting, although the Big Bad was a little too over the top in his motivations.

Overall, this book was just okay. I expected a really fun sci-fi retelling and, while I did get it, it was just too much in too little space. I think I'd have loved this story a lot more if there had been more time to get to know the world and the people in it.

Book Review: Sanity & Tallulah by Molly Brooks

Title: Sanity & Tallulah 
Author: Molly Brooks
Publication Date: October 16, 2018
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Pages: 240
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//I received this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review//

Sanity Jones and Tallulah Vega are best friends on Wilnick, the dilapidated space station they call home at the end of the galaxy. So naturally, when gifted scientist Sanity uses her lab skills and energy allowance to create a definitely-illegal-but-impossibly-cute three-headed kitten, she has to show Tallulah. But Princess, Sparkle, Destroyer of Worlds is a bit of a handful, and it isn't long before the kitten escapes to wreak havoc on the space station. The girls will have to turn Wilnick upside down to find her, but not before causing the whole place to evacuate! Can they save their home before it's too late?

Readers will be over the moon for this rollicking space adventure by debut author Molly Brooks.

When this graphic novel showed up on my doorstep, I was immediately intrigued. This middle grade science fiction adventure is adorable and the art is beautiful! Although I'm definitely not the intended audience, I had a lot of fun and read it during an afternoon read-a-thon.

Sanity and Tallulah are friends on board a space station where they live with their parents and get in all kinds of trouble together. Sanity is a scientist and, sneaking into a lab when she really shouldn't be working alone, creates an experimental kitty named Princess, Sparkle, Destroyer of Worlds. The kitten also happens to have three heads and is promptly named a monster by those in charge when she escapes. Of course, the two girls take it upon themselves to find her before the people hunting her down do. I loved Sanity, Tallulah, and the three headed kitten! The girls are smart, brave, and (of course) a lot mischievous.

This story actually had quite a bit going on to be such a short graphic novel. There's adventure and mystery and it even gets a little scary (although it stays lighthearted). While Sanity and Tallulah are searching for their cat, trying to figure out what's happening within the space station, and save it, there are other adventures happening in other parts of space. I hope this is a series, because I'd definitely love to see more of what goes on in this universe!

One of my favorite things about this book was that it centered around two girls who loved the sciences and were encouraged by their scientific community to learn. I think it's so important for young girls to read about characters like this! I honestly don't recall any books I read growing up with girl scientists... I've already got this wrapped for my pre-teen niece!

Audiobook Review: Nyxia by Scott Reintgen

Title: Nyxia (The Nyxia Triad #1) 
Author: Scott Reintgen
Publication Date: September 12, 2017
Publisher: Crown Books for Young Readers
Pages: 384
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Emmett Atwater isn’t just leaving Detroit; he’s leaving Earth. Why the Babel Corporation recruited him is a mystery, but the number of zeroes on their contract has him boarding their lightship and hoping to return to Earth with enough money to take care of his family.

Forever.

Before long, Emmett discovers that he is one of ten recruits, all of whom have troubled pasts and are a long way from home. Now each recruit must earn the right to travel down to the planet of Eden—a planet that Babel has kept hidden—where they will mine a substance called Nyxia that has quietly become the most valuable material in the universe.

But Babel’s ship is full of secrets. And Emmett will face the ultimate choice: win the fortune at any cost, or find a way to fight that won’t forever compromise what it means to be human.

Science fiction isn't a genre I usually gravitate toward, with the exception of dystopia. So many friends raved about Nyxia (and the cover was so pretty) that I finally decided to grab it on audiobook from my library. I went in blind so I had no idea what to expect and Nyxia definitely kept me interested!

Emmett is the protagonist of this story and he has been chosen by the Babel Corporation to go to another planet, along with a group of other recruits with similar backgrounds, to mine Nyxia. He and his family will be well paid, but he soon learns that his spot is not guaranteed. Instead, he has to fight the others onboard the ship to earn his place. Emmett was a great main character. I sympathized with him and his situation. I wanted him to win because I wanted his family taken care of!

One of my favorite things about Nyxia was the friendships. Yes, there's a bit of a romantic subplot, but the friendships really take the spotlight in this book. The other kids, while all from similarly troubled backgrounds, were equally sympathetic. Some were much easier to like than others, of course, and some were downright villainous. But overall the chast of characters was diverse and well developed and I really enjoyed them!

I will say, Nyxia was a bit Hunger Games-esque. (I've also seen it compared to Ender's Game more than once.) Kids placed in an environment where they're forced to fight to the death (not always intentionally) to earn a chance at a better life. There are twists and turns and mysteries and the plot is all very interesting. Still, as I get older I'm having a harder time suspending my disbelief about corporations/governments/adults pitting teenagers against each other in such brutal ways.

The world of Nyxia is certainly interesting, but it's confined to a spaceship in this book. I anticipate getting to know more of the world in book two. I thought the Nyxia itself was a really unique concept, though I wish there had been a bit more explanation about how it worked. I definitely think this world is off to a great start and has a ton of potential to be amazing!

Overall, I enjoyed Nyxia and I'm interested to see where the story goes in book two. I enjoyed Emmett and I'm a sucker for books with surprising twists! I just hope that Nyxia Unleashed presents more answers to the questions set up in this one.

Book Review: Only Human by Sylvain Neuvel

Title: Only Human (Themis Files #3)
Author: Sylvain Neuvel
Publication Date: May 1, 2018
Publisher: Del Rey
Pages: 336
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Reviews for book 1 & book 2

In her childhood, Rose Franklin accidentally discovered a giant metal hand buried beneath the ground outside Deadwood, South Dakota. As an adult, Dr. Rose Franklin led the team that uncovered the rest of the body parts which together form Themis: a powerful robot of mysterious alien origin. She, along with linguist Vincent, pilot Kara, and the unnamed Interviewer, protected the Earth from geopolitical conflict and alien invasion alike. Now, after nearly ten years on another world, Rose returns to find her old alliances forfeit and the planet in shambles. And she must pick up the pieces of the Earth Defense Corps as her own friends turn against each other.

The Themis Files has been a series that is really out of my comfort zone in a number of ways, but really just worked. This trilogy is written in a series of interviews and journal entries, similar to The Illuminae Files, but based in the nearer future and (mostly) on earth. The first two books of the Themis Files completely blew my mind and I loved every second of them! I was eager to get Only Human, but it actually took me quite a long time to get through it and is a bit different than the first two installments.

Like the first two, this book follows Rose Franklin and Vincent Couture. Unlike the first two books, Eva is a main character in this and she's also nearly an adult, as it takes place a decade after Waking Gods. After spending ten years on an alien planet, Vincent, Rose, and Eva land back on earth - Eva against her will. Having been raised primarily off Earth, it's no wonder that Eva did not have much desire to return, but daddy knows best so back she went.

I found myself struggling with all the characters in this book more so that in the others. Eva was basically a new character and, while she was definitely a strong female character, which I like, she was also a whiny teenager, which I did not. Her rebellious nature caused issues for everyone and, although I understood her feelings, I found myself becoming very frustrated with her as a character. Similarly, while I understood Vincent's decisions as a parent, there were moments that I would have liked to knock him over the head with something. Still, he remains my favorite character in this series. As always, I love his attitude and snark. Rose was just Rose for me, but I've never been particularly fond of her.

Sadly, my favorite part of the first two books was largely missing from Only Human. The conspiracy aspect is all but gone and instead this book focuses on various countries trying to outmaneuver each other and steal each others' robots. Although there is still some action in this book, it's much more spread out than in previous books. There also wasn't any big twist that I've come to expect from Neuvel. Simply put, it didn't keep me on the edge of my seat like Sleeping Giants and Waking Gods.

One thing I did greatly enjoy was the interactions between the main characters and the alien species they lived with! I liked learning more about their government and moral code. I also appreciated the social commentary on racism and the us vs. them mentality.

Only Human is a good ending to a fantastic series. It's without question the weakest of the three books and I wish it had packed more of a punch, but at the end of the day I'm happy with it. This series has conspiracy, action, and aliens and I am definitely glad I read it!

ARC Review: Mirage by Somaiya Daud

Title: Mirage (Mirage #1)
Author: Somaiya Daud
Publication Date: August 28, 2018
Publisher: Flatiron Books
Pages: 320
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//I received this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review//

In a star system dominated by the brutal Vathek empire, eighteen-year-old Amani is a dreamer. She dreams of what life was like before the occupation; she dreams of writing poetry like the old-world poems she adores; she dreams of receiving a sign from Dihya that one day, she, too, will have adventure, and travel beyond her isolated moon.

But when adventure comes for Amani, it is not what she expects: she is kidnapped by the regime and taken in secret to the royal palace, where she discovers that she is nearly identical to the cruel half-Vathek Princess Maram. The princess is so hated by her conquered people that she requires a body double, someone to appear in public as Maram, ready to die in her place.

As Amani is forced into her new role, she can’t help but enjoy the palace’s beauty—and her time with the princess’ fiancé, Idris. But the glitter of the royal court belies a world of violence and fear. If Amani ever wishes to see her family again, she must play the princess to perfection...because one wrong move could lead to her death. 

Mirage caught my eye with its beautiful cover and, I'll be honest, the hype got me too. I was SO excited to have the chance to read this early and I dived in as soon as I could.

The heroine of this story is Amani, a young girl who is kidnapped from her home because she looks identical to the Princess of the empire. She learns that she is to become the princess's body double and will have to fill in for her in public, even around people as intimate as her fiance and grandmother. I really loved Amani! She was a fantastic MC who was equal parts vulnerable in a precarious situation, but also incredibly strong. For me, this can be a hard balance to strike. A huge pet peeve of mine is a lead who is so ridiculously over the top in her attempts to be strong woman that she repeatedly makes dumb choices. This character is written perfectly. All of her choices were relatable and I sympathized as she tried to find a way to survive and help her people at the same time.

Speaking of surviving, the villain, Princess Maram, is fantastic! She's the terrifying, cruel, complex character I want in a book. I was always on edge when she was around, never knowing what kind of mood she'd be in. Of course, I also really loved Idris, the princess's fiance, who Amani has to fool. He was such a great character and love interest. I'll admit it was a little inst-a-lovey, but I'm willing to forgive it because their relationship was so great! Really, all of the characters were just fantastic.

I also really loved the world building and the culture represented in this book. If you weren't aware, this is an own-voices Moroccan story and it is amazing! The way the world was created so creative and unique! It was really an interesting blend of real-world Moroccan culture, fantasy, and science fiction. The writing was also magical and lyrical, but not in a way that made it difficult to read.

So if I loved so much about it, why isn't this a five star read? Well, my real issue is with the plot. So much of the story is focused on the relationships between the characters and the descriptions of the world that not much time is left to set up the actual storyline. Simply put, there isn't much action here. Mirage is a lot of talking and walking and spending time together, which I didn't hate because I enjoyed the character and world so much! However, I desperately wanted something, anything to happen. Eventually it did, but for me it took way too long to get to the action.

Thankfully, the ending of this book didn't end on a huge cliffhanger, although there's certainly room for a second book. While Mirage had it's issues, I did find it enjoyable over all and will probably give the second one a try, especially since the characters and world are already set up. Hopefully another book in the series will be able to jump right into the action!

ARC Review: Contagion by Erin Bowman

Title: Contagion (Contagion #1)
Author: Erin Bowman
Publication Date: July 24, 2018
Publisher: HarperTeen
Pages: 432
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Perfect for fans of Madeleine Roux, Jonathan Maberry, and horror films like 28 Days Later and Resident Evil, this pulse-pounding, hair-raising, utterly terrifying novel is the first in a duology from the critically acclaimed author of the Taken trilogy.

After receiving a distress call from a drill team on a distant planet, a skeleton crew is sent into deep space to perform a standard search-and-rescue mission.

When they arrive, they find the planet littered with the remains of the project—including its members’ dead bodies. As they try to piece together what could have possibly decimated an entire project, they discover that some things are best left buried—and some monsters are only too ready to awaken.

It's no secret around my blog that I LOVE horror! Horror books, horror movies, horror shows - I love them all. So when I saw this compared to 28 Days Later and Resident Evil, but set in space, I knew it was going to be the book for me!

Contagion begins by introducing us to the crew who is dragged into this rescue mission that they aren't at all qualified for. The main characters are Thea, a microbiology intern who's assisting a renowned scientist, and Nova, a pilot who really isn't ready for a mission this intense. Both girls were interesting characters with well developed backstories and I ended up really enjoying both of them. The side characters were equally well written, although there is of course one that I utterly despise.

Dylan, the captain of the crew, is a complete moron without a single redeeming quality. She's set up as a romantic interest, but I honestly couldn't have cared less if she'd been eaten in the second chapter. She had no qualms about risking every single other person under her command to serve her own interests. I did understand her initial reasoning, but it came to a point where I just couldn't believe that anyone in a military command position would be that stupid. But I digress.

Contagion starts slowly, but the action quickly picks up once the rescue crew makes it to the planet that issued the distress signal. Things go south quickly when they realize that they're too late. The crew they've come to help is dead or missing and they have no idea why, and no idea whether they should stay to find out.

Like I said earlier, the main selling point of this book was the horror aspect. It's in the FIRST sentence of the synopsis! And, while this was an interesting book with an undeniable creep factor, it really wasn't terrifying. I love the idea of having to unravel what happened to wipe out an entire crew, but the way that they got there and the repetitiveness of some of the horror left me wanting more. That isn't to say that it was bad, by any means! I think a lot of people who are less eager to be kept up at night with the lights on will probably love this. Personally, I expect more scares from a good horror book.

Still, the story was a good one. There isn't much I can say without spoilers, but the whodunnit aspect of Contagion was fantastically done and there were multiple twists that surprised me. This book is fast paced with a creepy atmosphere! It does end on a cliffhanger, but not a terribly frustrating one, and there is a tiny hint of romance. If you're looking for a good, creepy science fiction thriller, this is probably a book you'll love! Just don't come looking for anything as terrifying as 28 Days Later.

Book Review: Obsidio by Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff

Title: Obsidio (The Illuminae Files #3)
Author: Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff
Publication Date: March 13, 2018
Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers
Pages: 615
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Reviews for book 1 & book 2

Kady, Ezra, Hanna, and Nik narrowly escaped with their lives from the attacks on Heimdall station and now find themselves crammed with 2,000 refugees on the container ship, Mao. With the jump station destroyed and their resources scarce, the only option is to return to Kerenza—but who knows what they'll find seven months after the invasion?

Meanwhile, Kady's cousin, Asha, survived the initial BeiTech assault and has joined Kerenza's ragtag underground resistance. When Rhys—an old flame from Asha's past—reappears on Kerenza, the two find themselves on opposite sides of the conflict.

With time running out, a final battle will be waged on land and in space, heroes will fall, and hearts will be broken. 

So I have a lot of feelings about Obsidio. Just to recap, I loved Illuminae and thought Gemina was just okay. And now here we are with book three... I think my main takeaway from Obsidio is that this series has a very limited supply of tricks up its sleeve, which it used up in book one, leaving books two and three to pretty much be rehashes.

Obsidio, like Gemina, picks up with two new characters, Asha and Rhys. Honestly, it's been so long since I've read Illuminae that I can't remember how much I liked Kady and Ezra, but I can definitely say that I enjoyed Asha and Rhys more than Hanna and Nik. I actually wish MORE of the book had been devoted to them, because their story was infinitely more interesting than that of the older characters, in my opinion. I loved that they already had backstory, meaning no instalove! I found them both to be compelling characters with understandable motives and moral struggles. I enjoyed watching the people on Kerenza interact with each other and struggle through each day... and that's about where my enjoyment ends.

From here on out, this might be a little ranty and a lot spoilery. I am so upset with this book and the series as a whole! The rest of this review will outline my issues with Obsidio and will be in bullet points, which I know is different from the rest of my reviews, but it's the best way I can think of to do it without going off on twelve tangents. Shall we begin?

• One of my biggest problems with this series is with the humor. Specifically, every single character has the same sense of humor AND they all use their annoyingly similar sense of humor literally all the time. At the most unnecessary times. Literally a life or death situation and these morons are bantering back and forth making jokes. Sure, it's fun to read, but it's not at all realistic and it got old quickly after book one (for me). 
• Which brings me to my second problem: the way the military is portrayed. Let me get something out of the way - I am not a gung-ho patriotic person by any stretch of the imagination. I don't even own a flag. That being said, I did do four years in the Air Force, so I have military background. Yeah, there were times in those four years when I said or did unprofessional things around my supervisor or officers. But... you better believe I was reprimanded for it. Maybe so far in the future things will be super relaxed and people will be able to talk to their superiors with 100% sarcasm, cursing, and unprofessionalism. But unless something drastic happens between now and then, I can't imagine military personnel behaving the way they do in this series. Like I said, this isn't a "I love the military" thing, because I don't. It's just a "My god that's unrealistic" thing. 

**SPOILERS BEGIN**

• And continuing the unrealistic relationships train of thought, I cannot buy the Kady/AIDAN relationship. While I can accept that Kady does become attached to AIDAN, he is not a HE. He is an it, which they discuss a tiny bit in this book. But towards the end of the book I had a very hard time suspending disbelief any further. There's a point at the end when AIDAN inserts himself into an enemy ship and decides to sacrifice "himself" for the good of the fleet. AND KADY TRIES TO TALK HIM OUT OF IT! Instead, she wants to sacrifice herself and everyone else on her ship. Instead of AIDAN. Who is not a person. Who is a computer program. I'm sorry, what? This is where they lost me. 
• Venturing further into spoiler territory, let's talk about FAKE DEATHS. Remember when I mentioned that this series used all its tricks in the first book? This is what I'm talking about. There was a fake death in Illuminae and that one got me! I was totally taken off guard. But then the exact same thing happened in Gemina and I wasn't fooled. I felt nothing when the death happened because I was sure it wasn't going to stick. Then we have Obsidio... When I started, I even texted a friend and asked if there was a fake death. Well, let me tell you, friends! Obsidio has not one, not two, but THREE fake deaths! It's completely ridiculous. 
• Welcome to my next point in which I expand upon the ridiculousness of the fake deaths. My problem with them in Gemina and Obsidio? They're predictable. Just like every single other big twist in this book. When Asha was arrested by Rhys and Co. I knew it was going to be a big twist and that he hadn't actually betrayed her. I knew because this series is so freaking predictable that I. Can't. Even. 
• Which brings me to my last point: everything is so damn predictable that I was never for a single second worried about any of the main characters. At all. Because I knew they would all live. And guess who was right! Yep, all six of the main characters - all three of the main couples - lived. In this series about constant battle with literally thousands of deaths, the six main people who are at the center of every single major battle live. In fact, pretty much every single character that gets more than a few sentences of page time lives. Look guys, I don't need George R.R. Martin level killing sprees, but I do need some kind of realism in my books and this is just dumb. 

**SPOILERS END**

So here we are at the end of a series that started on a really high note. A series I was SO excited for, but that has been a massive disappointment. I'm not sure why it is that the authors decided to make each book so similar to the others and I have no idea why all the characters are almost carbon copies of each other. I know I'm in the minority on this one, but there were just very few redeeming qualities in Obsidio for me. 

ARC Review: Unearthed by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner

Title: Unearthed (Unearthed #1)
Author: Amie Kaufman & Meagan Spooner
Publication Date: January 9, 2018
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Pages: 284
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When Earth intercepts a message from a long-extinct alien race, it seems like the solution the planet has been waiting for. The Undying's advanced technology has the potential to undo environmental damage and turn lives around, and Gaia, their former home planet, is a treasure trove waiting to be uncovered.

For Jules Addison and his fellow scholars, the discovery of an alien culture offers unprecedented opportunity for study... as long as scavengers like Amelia Radcliffe don't loot everything first. Mia and Jules' different reasons for smuggling themselves onto Gaia put them immediately at odds, but after escaping a dangerous confrontation with other scavvers, they form a fragile alliance.

In order to penetrate the Undying temple and reach the tech and information hidden within, the two must decode the ancient race's secrets and survive their traps. But the more they learn about the Undying, the more their presence in the temple seems to be part of a grand design that could spell the end of the human race...

Jules and Amelia have come to Gaia for very different reasons. They have opposing opinions, histories, and mindsets, yet they find themselves stranded on Gaia with only each other to rely upon. They must navigate an Undying temple, trying to decipher the message left for humans by an ancient alien race. Their lives, and the lives of everyone on earth, are in jeopardy as Jules and Amelia discover a horrifying secret.

Gah, I wanted to love this book so much. I was in a super sci-fi mood when I picked it up, and there has been a ton of hype surrounding this book, so I was really hopeful. Unfortunately, it let me down for a couple different reasons.

First of all, there was absolutely HORRIBLE instalove in this book. [Insert scream of frustration here.] Jules and Amelia were stuck on a different planet in another galaxy, with a limited supply of oxygen that would probably run out before they could get rescued, while being chased by a group of hired guns through an Indiana Jones-style temple full of deadly booby traps. Oh, and the entire human race might be destroyed if they fail. But what are they thinking about? How dreamy the other person is. Ugh. I could maybe have gotten past some of their attraction if it had been just that - ATTRACTION - but they were practically obsessed with each other after only one day. Some of the things they thought about each other were absolutely cringe-worthy. I was constantly rolling my eyes.

Another thing that bothered me is something that I really don't think should have been an issue. The story was told in alternating perspectives of Jules and Amelia. I don't know for certain, but I am assuming that each character was written by one of the authors. I know that is the way they handled the writing in their other series. But I could not tell the perspectives apart! That sounds absurd because they were written by different people, but there were multiple times when I had to flip back to the beginning of a chapter to remember who's perspective I was reading. There is no way that should have happened when the writing was coming from two different people.

The one thing that I really did enjoy about this book was the alien plot line. Despite the problems I was having as I was reading, I was determined to press on because I really wanted to learn more about the Undying. And I have to say, I am so glad I finished this book. It will not be one of my top reads of the year, but it definitely wins an award for a really interesting story. I was really impressed with the Undying race and the revelations that developed towards the end of the book.

If you are interested in sci-fi, and particularly in stories with aliens, I would suggest giving this book a try. If you don't mind some romantic distractions in your books, you might not have as many issues as I did. I was quite disappointed with how a lot of the book was handled, but I am glad that I read it. I haven't decided yet if I will continue on with the series. I might wait until a synopsis for book two is out to make my decision. For now, I would give this book about 2.75 stars. It wasn't a bad read, but it was lacking a few things that would have made it a true 3 star read for me.

Graphic Novel Mini Review: ApocalyptiGirl by Andrew MacLean

Title: ApocalyptiGirl
Author: Andrew MacLean
Publication Date: June 16, 2015
Publisher: Dark Horse Originals
Pages: 96
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The premiere graphic novel from underground sensation Andrew MacLean (Head Lopper), ApocalyptiGirl is an action-packed sci-fi epic!

Alone at the end of the world, Aria is woman with a mission! Traipsing through an overgrown city with her only companion, a cat named Jelly Beans, Aria's search for an ancient relic with immeasurable power has been fruitless so far. But when a run in with a creepy savage sets her on a path to complete her quest, she'll face death head on in the hopes of claiming her prize and, if all goes according to plan, finally returning home.

I typically start my reviews with a synopsis of the book, but, to be honest, I am not entirely sure what the plot of ApocalyptiGirl actually was. The main character of Aria is on a mission to find a lost relic that will give her and her people immeasurable power. Her only companion is a cat named Jelly Beans. Aria has been navigating the desolate earth for years, avoiding various groups of people in order to keep herself alive.

When I quickly flipped through ApocalyptiGirl, I wasn't immediately drawn in by the artwork. It isn't bad by any means, but it's not a style that is very appealing to me. Ultimately, however, the art ended up being the best part of the book for me. There is so little plot in this book that it is really difficult to review.

As I said, I was very confused about the story that ApocalyptiGirl was trying to tell. There were giant holes in the plot that left me confused and wondering if I had missed something. For about the first half of the book, I was enjoying diving into the post-apocalyptic world and learning how everything worked. But when Aria's mission was introduced, I felt like a lot of information was missing. There were supposedly two main groups living in the wilderness, but we barely got to see them or learn anything about them. And then when Aria's backstory was finally revealed in the twist at the end, I was so completely confused. I still can't figure out exactly how everything tied together.

Ultimately, ApocalyptiGirl tried to accomplish too much of a story with too few pages. The plot could have been interesting and made for a fun adventure, but there were giant plot holes that were too large for the reader to fill in with their imagination. It takes a lot for me to really dislike a graphic novel, but I was very disappointed in ApocalyptiGirl.

Audiobook review: The Sandcastle Empire by Kayla Olson

Title: The Sandcastle Empire
Author: Kayla Olson
Publication Date: June 6, 2017
Publisher: HarperCollins
Pages: 464
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When all hope is gone, how do you survive?

Before the war, Eden’s life was easy—air conditioning, ice cream, long days at the beach. Then the revolution happened, and everything changed.

Now a powerful group called the Wolfpack controls the earth and its resources. Eden has lost everything to them. They killed her family and her friends, destroyed her home, and imprisoned her. But Eden refuses to die by their hands. She knows the coordinates to the only neutral ground left in the world, a place called Sanctuary Island, and she is desperate to escape to its shores.

Eden finally reaches the island and meets others resistant to the Wolves—but the solace is short-lived when one of Eden’s new friends goes missing. Braving the jungle in search of their lost ally, they quickly discover Sanctuary is filled with lethal traps and an enemy they never expected.

This island might be deadlier than the world Eden left behind, but surviving it is the only thing that stands between her and freedom.

With the promise of a thrilling dystopia, survival, and possibly even conspiracy, The Sandcastle Empire is the kind of book that is right up my alley. When I saw it was available through my local library, I eagerly snatched it up and began reading. I was immediately sucked in and fully anticipated a fantastic dystopian read to make up for all the mediocre ones I've read this year.

Eden has lived through the war and its aftermath. Formerly a rich, spoiled child, she now lives alone on an island controlled by the Wolfpack, her captors. She has bided her time and finally has the chance to escape, setting course for Sanctuary Island, a safe haven her father wrote about. I thought Eden was a pretty decent character. I liked her, but didn't love her. I thought she was strong without being unbelievably so and, although she was naive at times, she was also sympathetic. I understood her difficulty trusting someone she had inherently distrusted for good reasons. The one thing I didn't understand with Eden was her whirlwind island romance.

If there was ever a book that didn't need romance, it was The Sandcastle Empire. This book is all about the huge mystery of the island and why it exists, its traps and obstacles, and then, randomly, romance. Fairly early in the book, Eden and Co. are joined by three boys, including one named Lonan. He's mysterious and maybe good, maybe bad, and for some reason he becomes Eden's love interest. It never got less awkward to hear about how he compared to her pre-war boyfriend and Eden's lustful reactions to him during life or death situations were completely out of place. Lonan wasn't a bad character, but the romance here seemed extremely forced and should have been left out.

The world building was an area The Sandcastle Empire excelled at! From the work camp island to Sanctuary, all of the locations were amazingly described and easy to picture. I loved the illusions and security features on the island and would loved to have read even more about them. I honestly wish there had been more exploration and less politics.

While the plot was fantastic at first, it slowly became more convoluted and ridiculous. Things moved at a quick pace, but I found myself zoning out in the second half of this book. Without getting spoilery, once the group started towards their final goal, I steadily lost interest in what was happening. There were some pretty cool reveals that I admittedly saw coming, but some that I was completely surprised by were just too far fetched.

I expected a dystopia survival story from The Sandcastle Empire and instead got a more hard sci-fi romance. While that isn't necessarily a bad thing, it's definitely something readers should be aware of when picking up this book. Although the main character was well-written and the world building was incredible, it couldn't completely make up for the out of place romance and far-fetched plot. That being said, if you're a fan of science fiction and don't mind the romance, you may still enjoy this one!

Audiobook Review: The Forgetting by Sharon Cameron

Title: The Forgetting (The Forgetting #1)
Author: Sharon Cameron
Publication Date: September 13, 2016
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Pages: 403
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What isn't written, isn't remembered. Even your crimes.

Nadia lives in the city of Canaan, where life is safe and structured, hemmed in by white stone walls and no memory of what came before. But every twelve years the city descends into the bloody chaos of the Forgetting, a day of no remorse, when each person's memories – of parents, children, love, life, and self – are lost. Unless they have been written.

In Canaan, your book is your truth and your identity, and Nadia knows exactly who hasn't written the truth. Because Nadia is the only person in Canaan who has never forgotten.

But when Nadia begins to use her memories to solve the mysteries of Canaan, she discovers truths about herself and Gray, the handsome glassblower, that will change her world forever. As the anarchy of the Forgetting approaches, Nadia and Gray must stop an unseen enemy that threatens both their city and their own existence – before the people can forget the truth. And before Gray can forget her.

In the city of Canaan, everyone loses all of their memories every twelve years in a terrifying event called the Forgetting. In order to cope with this phenomenon and return some semblance to their lives, the citizens write everything down and archive all of their books. This way they can remember who they are (and who their family is) when they wake up from the Forgetting. But if they don't write something down, it is lost forever, giving people the perfect opportunity to commit crimes. But Nadia is special. Somehow, she has never forgotten. She remembers the wrongs that were done to her family. Determined to learn more about the Forgetting and how Canaan came to be, Nadia stumbles upon huge secrets and unearths atrocities that no one saw coming.

Ugh. I was really intrigued by this book, and ultimately I was let down. the biggest complaint that readers seem to have about this book is that the pacing is very slow. And that is definitely true. But I have read Sharon Cameron's books before, so I knew what to expect. Despite her writing style, I still loved her other work, so I thought I could find a new love in The Forgetting as well. I was very wrong.

Yes, the pacing is slow, but that didn't bother me very much. One of my biggest issues was with the main character of Nadia. She was SO. ANNOYING. She had an endless train of thought going through her head, but she very rarely spoke aloud. The narrator of the audiobook also read Nadia in such a way that every single thought she had carried a sense of extreme urgency. It was exhausting to listen to. Taking a bath does not require an underlying panic in your voice. Calm down.

I was also majorly disappointed with the plot. First of all, the synopsis of the book makes it sound like there would be tons of action and gore. If you are familiar with Sharon Cameron's writing, you would know that you shouldn't expect that from her books. The tagline of the book is "What isn't written isn't remembered. Even your crimes." It makes it sound like that movie The Purge, where the entire city goes crazy before a Forgetting and commits every crime they can think of. The synopsis goes on to reference the "bloody chaos of the forgetting, a day of no remorse." Wrong. There is ONE crime committed during a Forgetting in this book. It is not a bloody day. Everyone gets into their bed before the Forgetting and they wake up crying because they can't remember anything. Then they read their books and everyone is fine again. No blood. No mass murder. Everyone is sad for a few minutes. Boo hoo.

I also really did not like the twist in the plot. For most of the book, I was noticing a lot of similarities to The Giver, a book which I love. I didn't mind reading a story with similar vibes. But then the twist happened and we find out the history of the Forgetting. It felt like such a cheap shot. There were so many awesome ways this phenomenon could have been explained, but the author took the easy way out. I immediately lost interest in the story after this big reveal, turned my audiobook up to 2x speed, and powered through the rest just so I could finish it.

Another small note on the plot: There were a lot of holes in the storytelling. Characters would reference a conversation that happened earlier and mention things that never actually happened. The timeline was really off during a lot of parts. And the people of Canaan could live to be at least 150 years old and it was never explained. The characters actually SAY it doesn't make any sense, yet it is just brushed over like it's no big deal. WHAT?!?!

Suffice it to say, I was not a fan of The Forgetting. I don't think I will be continuing on with this series because I am just not invested in it. The synopsis for the sequel, The Knowing, looks almost exactly like that of The Forgetting. One girl who never forgets is intrigued by the outside world and wants to learn more about Canaan. Didn't we just go through that with Nadia?

PS - Don't read the synopsis for The Knowing if you don't want to be spoiled for The Forgetting.

Audiobook Review: The Gauntlet by Megan Shepherd

Title: The Gauntlet (The Cage #3)
Author: Megan Shepherd
Publication Date: May 23, 2017
Publisher: HarperCollins
Pages: 393
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Reviews for book 1 & book 2

The Maze Runner meets Scott Westerfeld in the final novel in the gripping and romantic Cage series, about teens abducted from Earth by an otherworldly race.

Cora and her friends have escaped the Kindred station and landed at Armstrong—a supposed safe haven on a small moon—where they plan to regroup and figure out how to win the Gauntlet, the challenging competition to prove humanity’s intelligence and set them free. But Armstrong is no paradise; ruled by a power-hungry sheriff, it’s a violent world where the teens are enslaved and put to work in mines. As Nok’s due date grows closer, and Mali and Leon journey across space to rescue Cassian, the former inhabitants of the cage are up against impossible odds.

With the whole universe at stake, Cora will do whatever it takes, including pushing her body and mind to the breaking point, to escape Armstrong and run the Gauntlet. But it isn’t just a deranged sheriff she has to overcome: the other intelligent species—the Axion, Kindred, Gatherers, and Mosca—all have their own reasons to stop her. Not knowing who to trust, Cora must rely on her own instincts to win the competition, which could change the world—though it might destroy her in the process. 

The Cage is a series that I have continued reading despite not actually enjoying it at all. Megan Shepherd had such a fantastic idea with this series, one that pulled me in because of its similarity to my favorite episode of The Twilight Zone. I read the first book expecting to completely love it, especially after loving her Madman's Daughter series, but came away extremely disappointed. Book two was just slightly better and here I am having read book three, even though I swore I wouldn't. I'm happy to report I didn't hate it, but I didn't love it either.

The Gauntlet picks up just after the end of The Hunt, with Cora and Co. on Armstrong, a planet they've been led to believe will be their safe haven. They quickly learn all is not as they've been promised, however, and the action begins again almost immediately. The original crew finds itself split into three different groups all working towards a common goal - save the humans and win their spot among intelligent species.

Cora remains a character that I'm not sure whether I love or hate. On the one hand, she's incredibly dense to the point of being annoying to read about. On the other hand, her story is the best one out of all of them. I was totally fascinated by her fight to get to the Gauntlet and run it! I still don't really care at all about her love interest, Cassian, and luckily he wasn't in this book until over halfway through. I could really do without Nok and Rolf (whose name I just had to think for a full minute to remember) and their annoying storyline. I didn't totally hate Leon and Molly, but that's about all I can say for them. As you may have guessed, the characters are far from the highlight of this story.

Once again, this book had a lot of good ideas but there were also a lot of really dumb ones. Shepherd's use of evolution and DNA (see spoilers at the end) was so embarrassingly bad I truly can't believe they made it to the final draft of this book. Then there was the awful dues ex machina at the end. I was at least somewhat impressed that one main character died. The Gauntlet itself was pretty cool, although it was WAY too easily beat based on all we've been told for the entire series.

Like in the other two books, the world is really the saving grace of this series. I loved reading about all the different worlds Cora visited and I wish I could find fan art that shows the fake towns and buildings used as fronts from all of these books.

While this book was tolerable, it could have been a whole lot better. I had so many problems with this series that I was never able to enjoy it, which is a real shame considering all the incredible ideas Megan Shepherd has cooked up. I'll probably read whatever she writes next because I think she has great ideas! I just hope it's better executed than The Cage series.

SPOILERS

• I have no idea what the thought process was behind DNA in this book. One of the Kindred puts together a serum made of all the human DNA she's had access to as the officer in charge of genetics research. By injecting this DNA into Cora, Cora then has access to every memory and experience of every human whose DNA was in the serum. Somehow she communicates with them and they help her win the Gauntlet. So basically she cheats. 
• Similarly, the use of the "evolutionary jump" was ridiculous. Apparently once Cora completes the Gauntlet and humans are officially an intelligent species, all humans magically become smarter. Or something. But it's at different rates based on how far away they are. I don't even know, man. 
• Cora dies in the Gauntlet, which is required for her to win. She has to be willing to sacrifice herself for the good of the species. But somehow a last minute switcharoo is pulled by people who need her alive for a trade deal and instead of drowning in water, she drowns in some kind of fluid that keeps her alive. I just cannot with the fake dying.