Book Review: Unchosen

One of my goals for 2021 is to read more Young Adult (YA) books because I feel like I haven't really read very many and it is one of my favorite genre to read. I'm pretty open to all kinds of YA books but every once in awhile one jumps out at me, and that's what this book was for me. 

Unchosen - Katharyn Blair

Katharyn Blair crafts a fiercely feminist fantasy with a horrifying curse, swoon-worthy sea captains, and the power of one girl to choose her own fate in this contemporary standalone adventure that's perfect for fans of The Fifth Wave and Seafire, and for anyone who has ever felt unchosen.

For Charlotte Holloway, the world ended twice.

The first was when her childhood crush, Dean, fell in love—with her older sister.

The second was when the Crimson, a curse spread through eye contact, turned the majority of humanity into flesh-eating monsters.

Neither end of the world changed Charlotte. She’s still in the shadows of her siblings. Her popular older sister, Harlow, now commands forces of survivors. And her talented younger sister, Vanessa, is the Chosen One—who, legend has it, can end the curse.

When their settlement is raided by those seeking the Chosen One, Charlotte makes a reckless decision to save Vanessa: she takes her place as prisoner.

The word spreads across the seven seas—the Chosen One has been found.

But when Dean’s life is threatened and a resistance looms on the horizon, the lie keeping Charlotte alive begins to unravel. She’ll have to break free, forge new bonds, and choose her own destiny if she has any hope of saving her sisters, her love, and maybe even the world.

Because sometimes the end is just a new beginning. 

If ever there was a time that we could use a hardcore, feminist book for teens about a crazy ass plague, now is that moment. There is no better time. 

In this book we are in a time during the Crimson, think The Walking Dead but with blood red eyes, and instead of it being spread through bites, it is spread through looking at one of the infected's red eyes. It happens rather quickly once it comes ashore and we find ourselves with three sisters: Harlow, Charlotte, and Vanessa. 

Harlow is the oldest and pretty badass, and she basically becomes a leader of sorts of this little group of people. Vanessa is the youngest and everyone realizes she is the Chosen One, which is (seemingly) what the Infected are looking for to bring to their leader. Nobody knows what will happen then but it surely can't be good and Harlow and Charlotte know they must protect their sister at all costs. 

Then we have Charlotte. Charlotte is the middle kid, she never gets what she wants and nobody asks how she is doing. She is in love with Dean since childhood (never mind these are teenagers so basically still children as it is), but Dean and her sister Harlow are together and in love. Charlotte remains heartbroken but she does her duty to protect Vanessa. Charlotte is the only one who seems to be thinking of a way to stop the Crimson or something, but she feels unimportant because she isn't a leader and she isn't the Chosen One, so she doesn't know what her place is in this strange world. Vanessa randomly speaks in riddles and Charlotte is trying to decode them, and during an attempt to find a priceless headdress, she basically leaves a blinking trail for the Crimson and Runners (kind of like human traffickers but instead of selling sex they are selling uninfected to the infected to... eat/consume) and all hell breaks loose. 

I'll be the first to say that all of the information about the Crimson and laying out the different groups of people (depending on how infected they are), and I was getting worried this would all go over my head. It was all for nothing because once the action starts happening, I could NOT put this one down! 

I love that the Crimson starts because the world believe an angry woman cursed it. I can't tell you how it ends but I will tell you that I love the bigger story of this book. I love that we are telling girls that only they can pick their fate, that despite what history says and what people assume of  you, that only you get to write your story. 

You will not choose my end. 

For this heart is mine. 

If you are looking for a positive, but adventurous, story to read for you or your daughter, I highly suggest this one. It was such a homerun for me and I say that as someone that doesn't consider fantasy one of my top genres. I loved this. I think you will too. 

Thank you to HarperCollins for sending me an ARC for review. The cover is stunningly beautiful, it is even prettier in person, but this book feels like it can be compared to current world health issues. 

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Book Review: Fractures (Echoes #2)

I am really struggling and this week definitely was tough. Not even just the events in the world, which were bad enough, but my legs are killing me. I am so incredibly tired and just every day I feel run down and awful. I hit a real wall with reading and I think I might take a few days off just to see if I get back into it. 

I absolutely could not pass this one up though! 

Fractures - Alice Reeds

They survived a plane crash.

They survived life on a deserted island.

They survived being hunted.

Now they must survive the truth—they are not who they think they are.

One minute they’re in Poland, subjected to gruesome tests they keep failing. No friends to support them. No family to claim them. No hope of ever living a normal life again.

Then suddenly, they’re trapped on an abandoned freighter in the middle of the ocean and forced to fight for survival. No food. No drinkable water. No way to get home. And strange memories of another life they don’t understand.

But how can they be living two separate lives, trapped in two separate places, at the same time? They’ll have to find the connection and uncover secrets that someone went to great lengths to keep hidden...if they’re going to survive long enough to find out who is behind it all. 

If you haven't read the first book, Echoes, you absolutely MUST. Immediately from page one of this one you will be completely and fully lost if you haven't read the first book. I didn't know that this was the second book so I ended up ordering the first one so I could understand why they were on a boat, not moving, in seemingly the middle of nowhere. I'm so glad I did. 

Odd thing though, is that Echoes is written in Fiona's point of view and I somehow missed the switch because Fractures then goes on to be in Miles's point of view. Which, is fine I guess, but I wonder if it wouldn't have been better to have them switch on and off depending on the chapter. It was hard for me to mentally remember that I'm with Miles mainly versus Fiona. 

My next issue is Fiona. I didn't really feel any particular way about her in Echoes, though I did like Miles but mainly because his character reminded me of others I've read in different books. Fiona though, she isn't a very nice person in Fractures. Alarmingly so, and the flip flop reminded me of Peeta in Hunger Games. Remember when one minute he's in love with Katniss and the next he wants to kill her? Maybe it isn't quite the same degree here but the sudden shit threw me for a loop and I had a hard time liking her. 

I think a great dystopian book has to have great secondary characters to push our main characters forward, and we have that. I also can't say this is strictly a dystopian novel, which I am usually 50/50 on, I'll either love it or not like it at all. I actually loved this because this book gave us the thriller element, lots of suspense, a solid dash of mystery, a little bit of romance, but lots of action. This is a book you basically put on an end cap because it could fit in so many different specific genres than the blanket of young adult. 

I have to say another reason I really enjoyed this is it focuses on past lives. Once Fiona and Miles reach Poland, and are supposedly learning about what the heck has happened, they are told they have different names, that they were never really Fiona and Miles, and it's confusing for sure because the memories they have feel real. So do you just go with what these people are telling you or do you believe what you remember, trust your memories over evidence that contradicts them? If you've been reading my blog long enough you know that I have short term memory loss but I also have long term memory loss as well. It's a really strange thing to see photos of yourself getting married, for instance, and you have zero memory of it. Obviously it happened because here are the photos but what if? What if  you didn't and it's all smoke and mirrors? 

So that thread in the story interested me the most. I highly suggest reading them back to back because that is what I ended up doing and I think if I had more time between books I would have forgotten some smaller details. 

I have to thank NetGalley and Entangled Teen for getting an ARC to me for review, all thoughts are my own. I highly suggest keeping an eye on Entangled Teen's books because I've read a few this year so far and they have all been really great and unique. I've got my eye on a few more coming this year, so stay tuned! 

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Book Review: Every Stolen Breath

Let's start by telling you I saw early reviews for this book and immediately I knew this was one that I wanted to read. Secondly, I saw it was coming from Blink YA Books and knew I was going to love it because every book I've read from them has been amazing. Third, this came as a surprise in the mail and I have no idea who sent it to me because the packaging was destroyed and there was no note, so whoever sent it, THANK YOU.

Every Stolen Breath - Kimberly Gabriel

The Swarm is unrecognizable, untraceable, and unpredictable—random attacks on the streets of Chicago by a mob of crazed teens that leaves death in its wake. It’s been two years since the last attack, but Lia Finch has found clues that reveal the Swarm is ready to claim a new victim.

Lia is the only one still pursuing her father’s killers, two years after attorney Steven Finch’s murder by the Swarm. Devastated and desperate for answers, Lia will do anything to uncover the reasons behind his death and to stop someone else from being struck down. But due to debilitating asthma and PTSD that leaves her with a tenuous hold on reality, Lia is the last person to mount a crusade on her own.

After a close encounter with the Swarm puts Lia on their radar, she teams up with a teen hacker, a reporter, and a mysterious stranger who knows firsthand how the mob works. Together, they work to uncover the master puppeteer behind the group. Though if Lia and her network don’t stop the person pulling the strings—and fast—Lia may end up the next target.

Inspired by the real-life “flash mob” violence that has plagued Chicago since 2011, Every Stolen Breath by debut author Kimberly Gabriel is a fast-paced and immersive thriller that shows just how hard one girl will fight back, knowing any breath might be her last. 

This book was an absolute ride. I told the author on Instagram that Matt had to physically take the book away from me so I would go to sleep because it was almost midnight and I could not stop reading. The book begins immediately with Lia at Navy Pier, where she believes the next Swarm attack was going to happen. Her father was the last victim and she's determined to avenge his death and figure out who is organizing the Swarm but also who are the people in the Swarm. Things go south quickly and from there this is a non stop roller coaster. You have no idea who is behind it, everyone is a suspect and you can trust nobody.

I absolutely loved this book, I loved that the setting is Chicago because it isn't known as the safest city to be, but also I loved how this author really grabbed the mob mentality and put it in a way teenagers are going to understand it. I liked that not every person in the Swarm wants to be there but are there because they have to be and I kind of thought that was a brilliant way for kids to maybe use the story to draw comparisons of current times and what we're seeing across the nation. Just so many discussions could be started from this but a story engaging enough to keep teens, and adults, interested.

Couple of things: Lia is the worst. She is literally the dumbest person who puts herself in danger and really doesn't understand her choices impact others. BUT, while she drove me nuts, it was kind of brilliant because the audience for this is primarily teens and what are teens? Stupid! Teens are actually pretty stupid and they aren't able to draw the conclusions that their split second action really impacts others and sometimes in profound ways. I really love how this author did this all the while not putting the main character down and also getting her to see that justice for her isn't justice for all, that there are things bigger than you and your problems out there.

Most importantly? I loved Ryan. I had a hard time remembering that he's just a teenager because wooo.... Ryan. Swoon. Ryan is the bad boy hero and I liked him a lot!

The book is (currently) a stand alone and while we do get a conclusion, there are just enough loose ends to make you feel a second book could/should come, but if it doesn't it makes the point of 'justice for you isn't justice for all" come home even more. Absolutely 5 stars on this one.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

   

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Book Review: The Speed of Falling Objects

If you do nothing else this year- read this book. That's the preamble I'm giving you. We have to get right into this.

The Speed of Falling Objects - Nancy Richardson Fischer

Danger "Danny" Danielle Warren is no stranger to falling. After losing an eye in a childhood accident, she had to relearn her perception of movement and space. Now Danny keeps her head down, studies hard, and works to fulfill everyone else's needs. She's certain that her mom's bitterness and her TV star father's absence are her fault. If only she were more―more athletic, charismatic, attractive―life would be perfect.

When her dad calls with an offer to join him to film the next episode of his popular survivalist show, Danny jumps at the chance to prove she's not the disappointment he left behind. Being on set with the hottest teen movie idol of the moment, Gus Price, should be the cherry on top. But when their small plane crashes in the Amazon, and a terrible secret is revealed, Danny must face the truth about the parent she worships and falling for Gus, and find her own inner strength and worth to light the way home.

If you are a long time reader of my blog (thanks!) you know I don't mess around with my rating scale. I'm often picky, I've been told I'm too strict with my ratings. I'm totally OK with that because I feel like the human brain is pretty great and I refuse it's limited to just a few tropes we see over and over again, so I'm always looking for something different. Something I can't go and find ten variations of at the book store.

The Speed of Falling Objects is that book, I'm giving it 5 stars, and it will be on my top 10 list of best books this year. No question.

I'm telling you right now that even though this is a YA book- adults will LOVE it. Teenagers are going to love this (my two middle school kids are absolutely glued to this right now) and I feel like this is a story so many are going to relate to. I will warn you: people die in this book and there are a couple of spots that might be icky for delicate kids. Yes, I'm calling some kids delicate. I grew up reading R.L. Stine Fear Street books and I remember there was one where he detailed what a dead body washed up on the beach was like so if you can handle that, you can certainly handle this book.

Anyways.

The story is all about Danger Danny Warren, a girl on the cusp of her seventeenth birthday who after a childhood accident is blind in one eye. The majority of her life has been learning to adapt to the loss of vision and she once was a daring, brave girl and now she (rightfully so) is timid, unsure, and scared of everything. Her mom is a nurse who isn't an effusively loving mom and her dad who is mostly MIA but he happens to be a reality TV star (kind of like Bear Grylls) and she longs for the days of being close to her dad. When he calls and surprises her with a trip to the Amazon to be on his show (which she is a big fan of), she absolutely jumps at the chance but before she leaves she discovers something that puts her relationship with mom into a tailspin.

A doomed trip from the start she quickly realizes that it isn't going to be a father-daughter bonding trip but an episode of his show where she is the star along with... a teen heartthrob. You know this isn't going to end well but the story isn't all about this doomed trip, but the relationships you form in a crisis, being able to dig deep when you feel least capable, surviving incredibly dangerous and terrifying situations, and also learning that the person we remember in our head isn't always who they actually are. Every aspect of a person is seen differently by different people. You see confident, I see cruel and arrogant.

As a parent, it was actually painful for me to read Danny's thoughts as she's trying to understand her dad and his motives, learning some hard truths about the past she thought she understood, and justifying things along the way when you just want to shake her and tell her what the rest of us already know. I can absolutely see many kids identifying with her and that sense of abandonment and always wondering if it was something they did to make that parent stay away and it's handled so well here. 

I have to tell you as well, that even though the Amazon has never been on my bucket list, it for damn sure isn't now. I remember learning about it and how deadly it is but this was terrifying in spots and I'll tell you there isn't a chance I would have made it. NOPE. Hard freaking pass. I don't eat vegetables as it is, not a dang chance you'd catch me nibbling on grubs. GAG. Really, just typing that out made me gag you guys.

I had a hard time putting this one down and got it read in a little over a day and then my kids stole it and are taking turns reading it before bed. This really is an adventurous thriller that will keep you glued to the pages and you'll be so proud of these characters by the end. (Well, most of them. There's one that just... is the most selfish ever and their ending was just such a freaking cop out. One frog wasn't enough. Which makes no sense to you now, but it will when you read it.)

   

I cannot thank Ink Yard Press and Nancy Richardson Fischer more for my ARC of this. Truly. And you know the drill- this post contains affiliate links and happy shopping!