{YA Mini Review} Arclight by Josin L. McQuein

{YA Mini Review} Arclight by Josin L. McQuein

No one crosses the wall of light . . . except for one girl who doesn’t remember who she is, where she came from, or how she survived. A harrowing, powerful debut thriller about finding yourself and protecting your future—no matter how short and uncertain it may be.

The Arclight is the last defense. The Fade can’t get in. Outside the Arclight’s border of high-powered beams is the Dark. And between the Light and the Dark is the Grey, a narrow, barren no-man’s-land. That’s where the rescue team finds Marina, a lone teenage girl with no memory of the horrors she faced or the family she lost. Marina is the only person who has ever survived an encounter with the Fade. She’s the first hope humanity has had in generations, but she could also be the catalyst for their final destruction. Because the Fade will stop at nothing to get her back. Marina knows it. Tobin, who’s determined to take his revenge on the Fade, knows it. Anne-Marie, who just wishes it were all over, knows it.

When one of the Fade infiltrates the Arclight and Marina recognizes it, she will begin to unlock secrets she didn’t even know she had. Who will Marina become? Who can she never be again?

(Blurb From Goodredas)

{Details} Hardcover, 400 pages, Published April 23rd 2013 by Greenwillow Book. Source: library

{Stars} 3/5

{Review} Beautifully written. Haunting. Intriguing. McQuein immerses us in her world, a world with a very different normal, of the light, the dark and the gray, where the things we take for granted, sand, stars, the dark, travel, freedom, are foreign.

The story keeps us guessing. Who's the bad guy? Who can you trust? Can the person who hurt you be the one who saves you? What is the Fade? The very idea of the Fade, the nothing and the everything. And when the truth comes out? McQuein makes sure that we're as devastated as they are.

There's not much of a resolution, we're left wondering what happens next? How do you cope? How do you make a life in light of what's happened?

And the cover, I love the cover.

{YA Mini Review} Divergent by Veronica Roth

 {YA Mini Review} Divergent by Veronica Roth

In Beatrice Prior's dystopian Chicago world, society is divided into five factions, each dedicated to the cultivation of a particular virtue--Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). On an appointed day of every year, all sixteen-year-olds must select the faction to which they will devote the rest of their lives. For Beatrice, the decision is between staying with her family and being who she really is--she can't have both. So she makes a choice that surprises everyone, including herself.

During the highly competitive initiation that follows, Beatrice renames herself Tris and struggles alongside her fellow initiates to live out the choice they have made. Together they must undergo extreme physical tests of endurance and intense psychological simulations, some with devastating consequences. As initiation transforms them all, Tris must determine who her friends really are--and where, exactly, a romance with a sometimes fascinating, sometimes exasperating boy fits into the life she's chosen. But Tris also has a secret, one she's kept hidden from everyone because she's been warned it can mean death. And as she discovers unrest and growing conflict that threaten to unravel her seemingly perfect society, she also learns that her secret might help her save those she loves . . . or it might destroy her. 

(Blurb from Goodreads) 

{Details} Paperback, 487 pages, Published February 28th 2012 by Katherine Tegen Books (first published May 3rd 2011). Source: library

{Rating} 4/5

{Review}

What to say about Divergent that hasn't already been said? Probably nothing but I'll still put my two cents in. There's so much to love about this story: Tris, Four, Roth's world, her writing, her willingness to push her characters to their limits.

Roth immerses us in her divided world. It's harsh and unforgiving, much like Tris's new faction. Tris. Loved Tris. When we first meet Tris she's the very last person I'd picture as a warrior. But she surprises us, over and over again as she shows us her strength, her bravery, how one person can change everything. Four was intriguing. We don't see nearly enough of him in my opinion, but he was a great hero and a match for Tris’s awesomeness in every way.

One thing I both loved and hated was Roth's ruthlessness. She doesn't screw around, she doesn't coddle her readers or shelter her characters from pain. There is loss and betrayal and grief.

{Historical Romance Novella Mini Review} A Delightful Arrangement by Cecilia Gray

{Historical Romance Novella Mini Review} A Delightful Arrangement by Cecilia Gray

Phillip has a duty to marry Francesca. He has always protected his former neighbor and childhood companion, and now that she is of marriageable age, he will give her what she needs most - a real home where she is welcome and wanted.

Unfortunately for him....she is done with being dutiful.

After years of being an obedient daughter to a hateful father, Francesca jumps into her first Season. Francesca is ready to dance every dance, flirt with every bachelor and snatch what she wants most - a man she loves who will make her swoon.

Unfortunately for her...he now sees making her swoon as his duty, too.

And Phillip takes his duties very seriously.

(Blurb from Goodreads)

{Details}: Published September 3rd 2011, The Alpha Division, LLC, 134 pages. Source: Amazon

{Stars} 4/5

{Review} A charming historical romance. I love friends into lovers stories. I like the idea of the history, the shared experiences, the story of them becoming more.

I couldn't help but adore Franny and Phillip. Franny wants more than an arranged marriage. Phillip is her friend, a protector, someone she feels safe with, but she wants to dance and dress up and fall in love. She wants to swoon. She wants a man who can make her swoon, never imagining that Phillip could be that man.

Though Phillip always knew that he was to marry Franny, to give her a home and a family, he also wants her to be happy and agrees to let her have her season, still determined that she'll be his.  And when Phillip realizes Franny is more than just a friend... well, go and read the first paragraph of chapter 5.

It's a novella so there isn't a lot of story development, for example we don't get to know more of Franny's past and her relationship with her father and there aren't really many interactions with secondary characters but overall I thought A Delightful Arrangement was a delightful read.

{YA Mini Review} Rival Love by Mary Gehling

{YA Mini Review} Rival Love by Mary Gehling

Circumstances have messed up Ashlee Stones life. She didn't want to start her senior year at her towns rival school, Westview High, but she did. She didn't want to be elected co-president of Westview High but it happened. She didn't want Tanner Ryan, the rudest guy she'd ever met to be her co-president, but he was. She hated to think he was the cutest guy she'd ever seen but she did. And she certainly didn't think she'd want to go to the Fall Frolic with Tanner but she did. Ashlee is stronger than she thinks and maybe, just maybe, she can turn things around so the circumstances are in her favor.

{Details}
Kindle Edition, 1st, 147 pages, published July 10th 2012 by Mary Ann Gehling 

{Rating}
3/5  - A short, sweet story about falling in love with the enemy.

{Review}
Westview High and Carlton High have consolidated but the 'Carlies' and 'Westies' are determined not to integrate. As co-presidents 'Carlie' Ashlee and 'Westie' Tanner are supposed to work together to smooth the transition. That mission, and their relationship is challenged by misconceptions, misinterpretations, missed messages, and Tanner's perfectly horrible girlfriend.

Rival Love is well written, well edited (for a self-published work) and filled with teenage angst. Ashlee is likable and relateable as she navigates her way through the Westview halls and tries to deal with an increasingly appealing Tanner. Tanner is multi-faceted. We're never quite sure who he is, is he the jerk or is he the dream guy, something that makes him all the more interesting.

Unleashed by Nancy Holder and Debbie Viguie -- YA mini review

Unleashed by Nancy Holder and Debbie Viguie -- YA mini review

Katelyn McBride’s life changed in an instant when her mother died. Uprooted from her California home, Katelyn was shipped to the middle of nowhere, Arkansas, to her only living relative, her grandfather. And now she has to start over in Wolf Springs, a tiny village in the Ozark Mountains. Like any small town, Wolf Springs has secrets. But the secrets hidden here are more sinister than Katelyn could ever imagine. It’s a town with a history that reaches back centuries, spans continents, and conceals terrifying truths. And Katelyn McBride is about to change everything.

Broken families, ageless grudges, forced alliances, and love that blooms in the darkest night—welcome to Wolf Springs.

(Blurb from Goodreads)

Details: Delacorte Books for Young Readers, Released November 22, 2011, ebook, 382pages
Genre: YA
Source: Library
Links: Goodreads

Stars? 2/5

Review:

It was forgettable.  I had to look up the blurb on Goodreads to find out the main character's name, she was that forgettable. She was also insipid, clueless, naive, easily swayed and seemed to forget everything that meant something to her.

I kept waiting for something interesting to happen. It didn't. At least not until the end of the book but it certainly wasn't the payoff I expected. Maybe the storyline will get more interesting in future books but this one wasn't intriguing enough for me to find out.