Review: The First to Die at the End

The First to Die at the End by Adam Silvera
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Valentino has just moved to New York City and can’t wait to move forward into the future.  Orion has a bad heart and keeps expecting to not have another day.  They meet in Times Square on the night before Death-Cast goes live.  They both joined Death-Cast for different reasons, but when Valentino receives the very first phone call … their lives become intertwined forever.  Neither boy knows how the day will end, but they do know they want to spend Valentino’s last minutes or hours together.

The First to Die at the End is the prequel novel to They Both Die at the End.  The original book was released five years ago, but I actually just read it this summer for book club.  Because of reading these two books so close, I was able to fully appreciate the cameo appearances of many characters from the original story.  I will admit I didn’t like the language and sexual thoughts/descriptions, but it wasn’t enough for me to stop reading the book.  A thoroughly enjoyable this prequel and I am glad I got to read about how it all started. 

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Review: The Epic Story of Every Living Thing

The Epic Story of Every Living Thing by Deb Caletti
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Harper has never had a father.  Her mother told her that she was conceived through in vitro fertilization using an anonymous sperm donor.  Harper is also constantly on Instagram.  When a chance comment connects her with a half-sibling, she quickly learned that the sperm donor had 41 other children … all her half-siblings.  One of the half-siblings offers to have a few of them to his parent’s condo in Hawaii where they can meet this mysterious donor.  With a summer in Hawaii in front of Harper, what will she discover about the man and the shipwreck he is obsessed with?  As she spends time with her half-siblings, what additional secrets will be uncovered?

The Epic Story of Every Living Thing is a stand-alone realistic novel that was just different enough to make me want to keep reading to understand the story completely.  This book does take place shortly after the Covid-19 shutdown was ended, so the characters deal a little with the fear that everyone was facing at the time, but this is not a pandemic story.  I have never really thought about sperm donors having dozens of possible children and the ramifications if they met.  This novel was interesting from the start and the twist towards the end had me gasp out loud.

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Review: The Weight of Blood

The Weight of Blood by Tiffany D. Jackson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Maddy has a secret.  Her mother was black and her father wants her to pass as white.  She has done it for many years; even going so far as staying home if there is even a chance of rain … she can’t take the chance that her hair will change.  Her carefulness ends when it begins raining during a school run.  She can’t stop what happens to her hair and everyone sees the truth.  It doesn’t take long for Maddy to become the target of mean girls and the viral video spurs students to ask for an integrated prom.  Yes, it is 2014 and their school still holds TWO proms.  One is for the white students and one is for everyone else.  Unfortunately, her classmates aren’t done picking on her and Maddy’s other secret is more than they expect. 

The Weight of Blood is a stand-alone supernatural novel that tells the ending at the beginning and then exposes the hidden truths throughout the rest of the story.  I enjoyed the varied points of view.  Sometimes readers will learn through a person’s experience, sometimes a podcast transcript, and other times an interview.  All questions are answered at the end and I believe most readers will see a commonality to a famous story by Stephen King.

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Review: Shades of Rust and Ruin

Shades of Rust and Ruin by A.G. Howard
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Phoenix doesn't like Halloween. If you asked her, she would tell you her family is cursed on October 31st.  When she was 3 years old, both of her parents died on this holiday. Eleven years later ... so did her twin sister. Nix doesn't know why she hasn't died, but she finds release when she draws the creatures in her imaginary Mystiquel. Unfortunately, her escape into her art doesn't satisfy her when she starts to lose her ability to see colors. It is Halloween again and now her uncle is missing. Why is Nix’s family affected by Halloween?  Does Nix have what it takes to unlock the truths hidden in her artwork? 

 

Shades of Rust and Ruin is the first book in the fantasy series by the same name. So much of faeries, fantasy, and steampunk repeats itself, yet Howard has created a new world that had me eager to learn what would happen next. This story is built upon some standard genre truths and adds new twists and turns to keep the pages turning. Goodreads has this listed as a duology and I can't wait to read the next book.   

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Review: Three Kisses, One Midnight: A Novel

Three Kisses, One Midnight: A Novel by Roshani Chokshi
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Onny’s grandmother left her a recipe for a love potion.  She was told that it can’t make someone love you, but if there is a spark … it can fan the flame.  Onny, True, and Ash (The Coven) decide to create this love potion and use it during the masquerade ball.  But love is fickle and these girls learn that there is more to love than what they thought.  Will The Coven succeed in finding true love?  What truths about themselves will they discover along the way?

Three Kisses, One Midnight is a stand-alone novel that is part supernatural and part romance.  Neither genre overpowers the other and readers will be delighted with how the story unfolds.  I was interested to learn more about each character as they tried their best to find love and the subordinate characters were just as interesting as they weaved in and out of the main characters’ tales.  Three possible romances with one overarching story made this an extremely fun read.

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Review: Ashfall Prophecy

Ashfall Prophecy by Pittacus Lore
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Syd knows he is different.  He was raised by his human mother and doesn’t really remember his alien father.  It turns out that Syd’s father died on the planet Ashfall protecting a secret about humans and Denzans.  Syd is now faced with an impossible choice.  He can free humans from the limitations of Earth or he can destroy Earth itself to keep humans from attacking other species … again.  Syd knows that he has been prophesied a world-killer, but can he choose his own path?  Was his father’s death in vain?

Ashfall Prophecy is the second book in the Ashfall series.  The book’s introduction tells readers that this is a duology, but after finishing this book I believe Lore can write more in this sci-fi universe if he chooses.  This novel is full of space travel, aliens, adventure and personal conflict, so many reader types will enjoy this book.  The overall feel is similar to Lore’s other novels and I found myself wondering if the worlds were crossing, but readers do NOT need to have read the other series to enjoy this one.

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Review: Blue Bloods: After Life

Blue Bloods: After Life by Melissa de la Cruz
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Schuyler has just sacrificed Jack in order to defeat Lucifer when she wakes up in 2020 New York.  Not only is the city not as she remembers it, but she also isn’t in her regular body and everyone else is different in some way.  She quickly finds out that she isn’t in her New York … she is in a different universe.  Here, Lucifer is still alive and the mayor of New York; Jack is also alive, but is Lucifer’s right-hand man.  Schuyler doesn’t know what is going on and then Kingsley contacts her.  He remembers their world and has his own ideas about what has happened.  Will Schuyler be able to defeat Lucifer again?

Blue Bloods: After Life is a spin-off of the original Blue Bloods series.  I found it interesting that the time jump brings the characters into the fall of the Covid-19 outbreak (in our world) and the vampires were taking advantage of a mysterious illness and the vaccine that was being released.  If this is a one-and-done spin-off book, it was fun and worth the read.  If this becomes a new series, though, I will need to save my thoughts to see where de la Cruz plans to go with the storyline.  It was a nice escape to revisit old characters and this might be the introduction needed to bring this series back into the hands of young readers.

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