Sweet

TITLE: Sweet
AUTHOR: Emmy Laybourne
RELEASE DATE: June 2015
PUBLISHER: Feiwel and Friends
PAGES: 272 pages
GENRE: Sci-Fi, Adventure, Paranormal
OVERALL RATING: 4/5
APPROPRIATE AGE: grades 8-12

SUMMARY: On a cruise ship filled with celebrities, the rich and famous, Laurel feels out of place. But when best friend, Viv, convinces her parents that she wants two tickets for herself and her best friend as part of the collateral damage of their divorce, of course they agree. This cruise ship promises major weight loss for all the passengers through a tiny packet of SoLu. After a seven day cruise, the ship will come back thousands of pounds lighter due to the weight everyone has lost. But are a couple of pounds the only thing people lose? When the passengers become addicted to SoLu, they begin to lose their minds, attacking each other to get more of the weight-loss sweetener. Can Laurel and her friend Viv survive seven days?

WHAT I LIKED: I liked the total twist in the story. You think you're reading this sweet story of two best friends off on their own on this fabulous cruise. Then Laurel meets her crush, famous child star Tom Forelli, and immediately they click; two of the only people on the ship not taking the weight loss sweetener, SoLu. Then the plot twists, and all the passengers turn into these dangerous zombie-like vampires. While the beginning is great for my girl readers, all about best friends, love interests, clothes and weight-loss; my boy readers will love the second half with people attacking each other and drinking their blood. 

READALIKES: In the After by Demitria Lunetta, Rot and Ruin by Jonathan Mayberry

BOOK TRAILER: Not the official book trailer, but one created by the amazing Tobie Cattarin for the 2016-2017 TLA Lone Star Book Award

Lady Midnight

TITLE: Lady Midnight
AUTHOR: Cassandra Clare
RELEASE DATE: March 2016
PUBLISHER: Margaret K. McElderberry Books
PAGES: 668 pages
GENRE: Fantasy/Supernatural
SERIES: Dark Artifices
OVERALL RATING: 5/5
APPROPRIATE AGE: grades 8-12 

SUMMARY: Its been five years since the Dark War, and parabatais Emma Carstairs and Julian Blackthorn star in this next installment of the Shadowhunter series. All grown up, Julian takes on the role of guardian to the four younger Blackthorn children, while also secretly running the Los Angeles institute for his absentminded uncle, Arthur. Emma is still convinced her parents were not killed by Sebastian and is working to investigate a series of demonic murders. But when the faeries call on the help of the Shadowhunters, they refuse, until the Fae offer up their brother, Mark of the Dark Hunt, as collateral. With the Shadowhunters go against the Clave, and break the Law to help the Fae? 

FAVORITE QUOTE: "And if there were two things he believed were limitless, it was love and imagination." (Clare, 168)
   

WHAT I LIKED: I am a complete Shadowhunters fan, I have read all of the books. My favorites are The Infernal Devices, which I just found out has a follow up series (The Last Hours) coming out in 2017. I liked seeing the story continue on with the next generation of Shadowhunters. I also liked that all of the characters from The Mortal Instruments play a part in this series. Getting to see all your favorite characters like Clary, Jace, Simon, Izzy, Alec and Magnus finally get their Happily Ever After just leaves you feeling warm and fuzzy. 

WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE: 

SERIES UPDATE: The next book in the series is Prince of Shadows but does not have an expected release date yet

BOOK TRAILER: I could not find an official book trailer for Lady Midnight (shame shame, Simon and Shuster), but I would like to point you in the direction of the Official Shadowhunter Chronicles website. Check it out here at http://shadowhunters.com/

The Hunt

TITLE: The Hunt
AUTHOR: Andrew Fukuda
RELEASE DATE: May 2012
PUBLISHER: St. Martin's Griffin
PAGES: 304 pages 
SERIES: Book 1 in The Hunt Trilogy (#2:The Prey, #3:The Trap)
GENRE: Supernatural, Horror, Adventure
OVERALL RATING: 2/5
APPROPRIATE AGE: grades 8-12

SUMMARY: Gene is one of the only humans left on earth, but he can't let any body else know. He is different and must keep his identity a secret. This means scrubbing his skin, shaving his body hair, not showing emotion, going out in daylight, and wearing fake fangs. But when Gene wears a lottery to hunt some of the last remaining humans on earth, what will he do? Kill them to save himself, or risk his own life to save them?

WHAT I LIKED: I liked the idea of this story, a human hiding in a world of blood sucking people (the book never uses the word vampire). I also liked Gene's description of everything, several times he would describe to the reader things that are normal to us, but not to someone who has lived among these creatures their entire life. For example, "Its nose crinkles-'crinkle' is this thing hepers do when they pull their facial skin together-in mild disgust" (p). 

WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE: I felt the book needed more of a backstory. Where did these people come from? What happened to all the humans? It seems like when a person comes upon a heper, then it is devoured completely. It's not like humans are turned into these people. I just wondered this throughout the entire book, waiting for some kind of flashback or timeline of when all this happened. The people's facts about the hepers were all completely wrong and made-up, like they were stories that had been passed around. 
UPDATE 1/12/2016: In the second book of the series, The Prey, more details are given about the duskers and how they became (genetic modification... of course).

READALIKES: The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

BOOK TRAILER: