Review: Dustborn

Dustborn by Erin Bowman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Delta has just lost her sister to childbirth and is struggling to care for the daughter left behind when she discovers that her village has been burned and her family taken.  She sets out with the baby and is captured to be sold as a slave.  She is about to be beaten because she resisted the baby being taken when it is discovered she has marks branded on her back.  She has always been told to show it to no one.  Now her secret is out and she has to get away.  Will Delta be able to decipher the marks and save the people from her village?  Is there anyone that Delta can trust as she seeks these answers?

 

Dustborn is a stand-alone post-apocalyptic adventure.  This story pulled me in right away and I was invested in Delta and the world she lived in.  Readers will love the back story that slowly unfolds and the strong female protagonist is a force to be reckoned with.  Bowman weaved tidbits of the answer throughout the storyline and when Delta discovers the truth, most readers will have an a-ha moment with her.  I loved that the story is complete and I believe that readers will be satisfied with how everything ended.

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Review: Pride and Premeditation

Pride and Premeditation by Tirzah Price
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Elizabeth Bennet wants to be a lawyer, just like her father, and she is going to prove her abilities to him.  When a murder has a society man as the possible culprit, Lizzy decides that it is just the case she should solve to persuade her father.  She runs into many difficulties along the way, but the largest of them is Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy.  He is a friend of Mr. Bingley and the lawyer hired for the defense.  Lizzie believes that authorities have charged the wrong man and will stop at nothing to find the real killer.  Will Lizzie be able to prove Mr. Bingley’s innocence?  Will she be able to untangle the complicated knot Darcy seems to be causing her emotions to make?

 

Pride and Premeditation is the first book in the Jane Austen Murder Mystery series.  Let me start by saying I LOVE PRIDE AND PREJUDICE!  I watch every version that is made into film and read all the adaptations that come out.  Some are great and many are useless, but this book was perfect.  I loved how all the characters I love (and hate) are there in their proper place, but we also have a heroine who isn’t afraid to rock the normal role of women in her time.  It doesn’t matter if you like Pride and Prejudice or just a good mystery, this series is going to be addictive.  My only disappointment is I have to wait for the next installment. 

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Review: With You All the Way

With You All the Way by Cynthia Hand
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Ada’s life is far from perfect.  The day after not losing her virginity to her boyfriend she finds him cheating on her.  It doesn’t help that her older sister just loves to give advice on everything, including Ada’s nonexistent sex life.  Her life falls apart, even more, when she finds out her mother is having an affair.  It was supposed to be a time for family bonding in Hawaii, but even her family vacation wasn’t exempt from her life imploding.  That is when Ada decides she just wants to get it over with.  Sex that is.  She has a plan, but is she ready to execute it?

 

With You All the Way is a stand-alone romance that will leave the reader wondering what is going on in other peoples’ brains.  There is a lot of sex talk, yet this is totally PG-13 without a lot of explicit descriptions.  There were points in the book where I didn’t like the protagonist, but her flaws were key to the story coming together in the end.  I recommend With You All the Way to all YA romance readers.  

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Review: The Iron Raven

The Iron Raven by Julie Kagawa
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Most readers are familiar with Robin Goodfellow.  He is also known as Puck and is best known for his role in A Midsummer Night’s Dream.  Puck is also a friend of the Iron Queen Meghan Chase and her prince consort, Ash.  There is a new threat to the lands of Faery and Puck finds himself on a new adventure.  Will Puck return to his darker side, Robin Goodfellow?  Can his friends still trust he will choose good over evil?

 

The Iron Raven is the first book in The Iron Fey: Evenfall series.  Characters from the original series will be found in this book, but readers do not need to have read that series to enjoy this one.  There are many tales about Robin Goodfellow (A.K.A. Puck), yet readers will learn new insights into the character we love to hate.  Overall I enjoyed the story, but readers need to know that it is meant to be more about what turned Robin Goodfellow into Puck than the adventure.  We will need to wait for the next book to know if that will be the trend for the series.

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Review: Baculum

Baculum by Christina Bauer
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Lincoln and Myla just got married and are looking forward to their honeymoon.  Those plans quickly change when Lincoln’s dad tells them he already has ideas for their future baby.  Lincoln and Myla will do absolutely anything to protect their unborn son.  Myla goes on an adventure to break the agreement and Lincoln agrees to fight for Ringmaster Kell.  Lincoln knows he needs to fight to protect Myla and his son.  He is also looking forward to the bonus of destroying Ringmaster Kell.  Will Lincoln survive the Viking Games?  Will Myla be able to do what it takes to break the agreement that binds her son?

 

Baculum is the fourth book in the Angelbound Lincoln series.  This fantasy adventure is action-packed just like its predecessors.  Bauer informs readers before the story begins that this book takes place early in the actual Angelbound Lincoln series, but she also wrote the story without any spoilers.  With that said, I don’t know if it would have been as enjoyable without all the backstory we have from the previously published works.  I have always loved these two strong characters and can’t wait for the next story in this universe.

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Review: Game Changer

Game Changer by Neal Shusterman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

It was supposed to be another football game for Ash, but after one fateful hit … his life isn’t the same.  It starts with small differences.  Stop signs are now blue and no one else remembers them being red.  He soon finds out that he was hit into another dimension and it doesn’t stop.  Each new dimension takes him further from his original world.  Some changes are world-changing and some only affected him.  Even though some things are wonderful, Ash wants to go back to his world before the changes.  Will Ash be able to control the shift and get what he wants?  What will he learn about himself and society as he travels through these alternate dimensions?

 

Game Changer is a stand-alone story that is hard to put into a single genre.  Readers will need to suspend disbelief as Ash travels through dimensions, but everything else falls firmly in a realistic fiction story.  Shusterman takes many hard topics and weaves them into this storyline and readers will grapple with their feelings as Ash grapples with his.  I was worried when the book opened with a sports scene, but this isn’t a sports book.  It is a fun yet serious read that happens to have sports included.

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Review: The Project

The Project by Courtney Summers
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Lo has been alone ever since her parents died and her sister joined The Unity Project.  The Unity Project does a lot of good things for the communities it serves, but Lo believes some secrets need to be revealed.  She has spent six years trying to uncover these secrets.  After a man comes to Lo’s job and claims The Unity Project was responsible for his son’s death, Lo decides that now is the time to expose the group and get her sister back.  What secrets will Lo uncover?  Will she stay a skeptic or become a believer?

 

The Project is a stand-alone realistic fiction story that explores the turmoil of a family member isolating themselves after joining a cult.  The description of the book piqued my interest, but the execution of the storyline was lackluster.  There was a constant change to alternate time periods and I found my attention needing to be pulled back in constantly.  Overall it was enjoyable, but I don’t consider it as a must-read choice. 

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