The Water Knife

The Water Knife by Paolo Bacigalupi
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The Colorado River has begun to dry up and this has caused Nevada, Arizona and California to be constantly fighting about water rights. These fights take place in the courts, but also violently in person. Angel is known as a Water Knife. He uses his skills in multiple ways, some of which leave his targets dead. Angel is sent to Phoenix to investigate claims of a water source that will change everything. As bodies pile up and additional players are introduced, the story moves faster than the river everyone is fighting about.

The Water Knife is a new book for adults that many teens will pick up and devour. The story itself is great and the plot moves along nicely, but three-quarters of the way through the book there is an unnecessarily graphic sex scene. I don’t know if the author put it there to ensure an “adult genre,” but it just felt staged and out of place in this otherwise great action-adventure story. I won’t reduce my rating since these couple of pages were easy to skim over to get back to the real story in my hands. A strong read that was well worth my time.


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Review: Undertow

Undertow by Michael Buckley
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The Alpha have taken over the beach of Coney Island and changed the lives of the humans who live there. Although everyone was fascinated with them when they first arrived, that quickly changed when everything turned violent … Coney Island became a military zone. Now the humans and Alpha want to try something different … they want Alpha teenagers to attend a human high school. But when Lyric is paired up with crown prince Fathom she begins to have feelings for him. As Lyric begins to discover more and more about the Alpha she wonders if they really are the enemy.

Undertow is the first book in a new series by the same title. This fantasy novel has everything a reader can wish for. Action, suspense and romance are all rolled into this fast paced read. Readers will enjoy trying to figure out when the next twist will arrive and although this story does not include a cliff hanger, the ending will make the reader add the second book to their “can’t wait to read” list. This is an excellent book that promises to be great series.


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Review: Avalon Rising

Avalon Rising by Kathryn Rose
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Camelot has fallen and the Lady of the Lake wants Vivienne to build an aeroship. The Lady has had a vision and this ship will return Camelot to its former glory and help complete the quest for the Holy Grail. Unfortunately, Owen, Vivienne’s brother, and Marcus, the boy she loves, go missing and Vivienne decides to take the aeroship and attempts to rescue them herself. Since she has changed the fate of the aeroship, she may have changed the Lady’s vision and put them all in additional danger.

Avalon Rising is the second book in the Metal & Lace series. Rose continues the saga of Camelot and its knights with a story sequence that would rival a perfect storm. Although there were not specific reminders dropped into the new storyline, I was able to quickly remember pertinent details about each character and jump into this new tale. Some readers may be able to start with this story, but I encourage readers who have not read Camelot Burning to start with the original story. A promising series but not a drop everything and read book.


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Review: A Court of Thorns and Roses

A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Feyre is trying to get food for her family when she kills a wolf in the woods. A few days later, a creature arrives and tells her that she killed one of his men and she must come with him to the faery world for her own protection. During her time on Tamlin’s estate, her hatred toward these scary creatures begins to thaw and the relationships formed are dancing around something more. But there is a curse on the land and the shadow over faerie is continuing to grow. Does Feyre have a role to play in this ancient curse? Can she learn to accept her fate and trust that Tamlin has taken care of her family?

A Court of Thorns and Roses is the first book in the series by the same title. Readers who pick up this book because they enjoyed Throne of Glass will not be disappointed in this action packed faerie adventure with a great strong leading lady. Maas has taken faerie lore and created a new world with unusual twists and turns. There is some romance and a few racy scenes, but nothing that is inappropriate for a high school student. I can’t wait for the next book to be released.


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Review: The Eternity Key

The Eternity Key by Bree Despain
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Haden had decided that love is more important than honor when he refused to take the human girl Daphne back with him to the Underrealm. This decision was not without consequences, though. The Skylords are at Olympus Hills and if they get their way, all realms will be destroyed. Daphne has recently discovered that she is a Cypher and it is possible that her ability to control the elements is just the advantage they need to stop the destruction. They have a lot to discover about themselves and the powers working against them. Unfortunately, they only have until the spring equinox to protect the mortal world.

The Eternity Key is the second book in the Into the Dark series. Although Despain includes many memory jogging tidbits of information into the first section of the book, I still had trouble remembering the events from the first book. This is most likely due to the fact that it had been awhile since I finished the first book and not due to the writing itself. Once I remembered what had already happened, I was fully immersed into the new adventure and was excited to see if this unlikely group of people could work together and save mankind. This leg of the story has been completed, yet many new twists and turns have been uncovered and readers should look for the next book when it is released.


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Review: Skin

Skin by Ted Dekker
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Wendy Davidson is on her way to visit with her mother when a freak storm forces her to take shelter in the town of Summerville. It turns out that shelter is the least of her worries after a killer begins leaving victims everywhere and Wendy is stuck in the middle of something she does not understand. There are four others who are being targeted by Red or is one of them the killer? As these five begin to unravel the truth it gets harder and harder to tell the difference between reality and fantasy.

Skin is a roller coaster of a story that constantly requires the reader to re-evaluate where they thought the storyline was going. Even when the reader approaches the end, the twists and turns will continue to make them wonder … what next? Dekker has created a cast of characters that are multi-faceted and hard to predict. A great adventure story and page-turner that will keep the reader hooked until the end.


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Review: Rogue

Rogue by Julie Kagawa
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Ember Hill has gone rogue. She has left the dragon organization Talon and joined up with the rebel dragon Cobalt. She knows that Talon is not all that she was told it was, but she also knows that the Order of St. George isn’t what Talon taught her either. She can’t stop thinking about Garret, a St. George soldier who stole her heart, and now she wants Cobalt and his crew to help her save Garret before he is executed. Can they get in the stronghold and get out alive? Even if they can, what will be their next steps?

Rogue is the second book in the Talon series. Kagawa picks up shortly after the ending of the first book and through debriefings and interrogations she reminds the reader about key components of the first book’s events. Many of the characters from the first book are also included in this story, so new character development and world building is at a minimum which gives the story an opportunity to be jam packed with action and adventure. This page turner will keep the reader enthralled until the end and I’m sure most readers will be looking forward to the next book in the series.


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