Fever by Lauren DeStefano

Title: Fever (The Chemical Garden Trilogy, #2)
Author: Lauren DeStefano
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers
Publication Date: February 21, 2011 (TODAY!)

Summary (taken from Amazon):

Rhine and Gabriel may have escaped the beautiful prison of Wither’s mansion, but they are far from escaping danger. First they’re chased for stealing a getaway boat, and then the fleeing pair ends up in the eerie den of Madame, an old woman who collects girls and sells them to the highest bidders. Worst of all, Vaughn, Rhine’s sinister father-in-law, seems to be on her trail every step of the way. Rhine remains determined to get to her brother in Manhattan—but the road they are on is long and perilous.

Now that Rhine has finally regained her freedom, what lengths will she need to go to in order to keep it?

Review:

I was looking over my Goodreads and I noticed that I don’t read a lot of dystopian books even though there are a ton of them out there. WITHER was one of the handful of dystopian books I read last year and my favourite one out of all of them. So when I first got FEVER I put off reading it for so long because I was a little afraid that it might not live up to the first book.

FEVER starts off where Wither left off. Lauren DeStefano doesn’t waste any time in rehashing the events of the previous book because right off Rhine and Gabriel find themselves facing danger and an unknown future. When something big like that happens right at the beginning it just sucks you in and leaves you on the edge of your seat for the entire book. At the mansion Rhine always had to be careful but its possible that the world outside is even more dangerous.

Rhine even says this in the book, but when she was trapped in the mansion she idealized the outside world so now that she’s finally free she sees it in a new light. It’s a lot harsher and more difficult than what she expected. For Gabriel, its his first time seeing the world outside the mansion and he took everything a lot better than I thought he would. He saw how hard some people have it and the lengths some will go to in order to survive.

There were many points where my heart was pounding by not knowing what would happen to Rhine and Gabriel but it was also emotional too. Many of the new characters that Rhine and Gabriel meet on their journey have emotional and heartbreaking stories themselves.

So the conclusion is that FEVER certainly did not disappoint. It was so good and I breezed through it in record time. Now its another long wait till book 3!

Rating 5 Stars

* Review copy provided by the pubisher in exchange for an honest review

Other books in the series:
Wither

You Against Me by Jenny Downham

Title: You Against Me
Author: Jenny Downham
Publisher: Doubleday Canada
Publication Date: September 2011

Summary (taken from Amazon):

If someone hurts your sister and you're any kind of man, you seek revenge.

If your brother's accused of a terrible crime but says he didn't do it, you defend him.

When Mikey's sister claims a boy assaulted her, his world begins to fall apart. When Ellie's brother is charged with the offense, her world begins to unravel. When Mikey and Ellie meet, two worlds collide.

This is a brave and unflinching novel from the bestselling author of Before I Die. It's a book about loyalty and the choices that come with it. But above all, it's a book about love.

Review:

Mikey wants justice for his sister who changed so much after her sexual assault while Ellie loves her brother and wants to protect him. It all hinges on Ellie’s eyewitness account about the events of that night and what she saw. The story switches between Mikey and Ellie so I can see how they both felt and how the allegation has affected their families. Mikey at first approaches Ellie for information wanting to help his sister but eventually the pair fall in love all under terrible and tragic circumstances since Mikey’s sister has accused Ellie’s brother of rape.

Mikey’s had a hard life growing up and with his sister’s rape it puts even more pressure on him to keep their family together. Ellie faces immense pressure with her being an eyewitness to the events and from her father who will do anything to save his son.

Most of the contemporary YA that I do read are of the fun, fluffy variety and You Against Me is anything but. It touches on realistic issues like rape, family loyalty, and friendship. There’s two sides to every story but who is telling the truth and what really happened between Mikey’s sister and Ellie’s brother was the big mystery that had me absorbed and reading till the very end.

Rating 4 Stars

* Review copy provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review

Waiting on Wednesday (Feb 15)

Waiting On Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

Island of Doom (The Hunchback Assignments #4)
Author: Arthur Slade
Publication Date: June 2012

After previous assignments in London, the depths of the Atlantic Ocean, and the Australian rain forest, this final adventure in the Hunchback Assignments series finds our hero, shape-shifting, masked spy Modo, on his most personal quest. Along with fellow spy Octavia Milkweed, they search for Modo's biological parents. But when the Clockwork Guild find Modo's parents first, Octavia and Modo chase them across Europe and North America to the Island of Doom. Joined by memorable characters from the first three books--some lovable, and some who are terrifying and evil--Modo and Octavia dash towards a thrilling conclusion.


** I love this series and its one that I've actually managed to keep up with since I've read the previous three books. It's the final book of the series so I can't wait to find out how everything will end. The Hunchback Assignments is such a underrated series so if you haven't read it, then definitely give it a try.

The Gathering Storm by Robin Bridges

Title: The Gathering Storm (The Katerina Trilogy, #1)
Author: Robin Bridges
Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: January 2010

Summary (taken from Amazon):

St. Petersburg, Russia, 1888. As she attends a whirl of glittering balls, royal debutante Katerina Alexandrovna, Duchess of Oldenburg, tries to hide a dark secret: she can raise the dead. No one knows. Not her family. Not the girls at her finishing school. Not the tsar or anyone in her aristocratic circle. Katerina considers her talent a curse, not a gift. But when she uses her special skill to protect a member of the Imperial Family, she finds herself caught in a web of intrigue.

An evil presence is growing within Europe's royal bloodlines—and those aligned with the darkness threaten to topple the tsar. Suddenly Katerina's strength as a necromancer attracts attention from unwelcome sources . . . including two young men—George Alexandrovich, the tsar's standoffish middle son, who needs Katerina's help to safeguard Russia, even if he's repelled by her secret, and the dashing Prince Danilo, heir to the throne of Montenegro, to whom Katerina feels inexplicably drawn. The time has come for Katerina to embrace her power, but which side will she choose—and to whom will she give her heart?

Review:

I probably shouldn’t tell you guys this but one of my favourite movies when I was a kid was the animated movie version of Anastasia…I seriously love all the songs in the movie and it was a good love story. So I do have a fondness in my heart for Imperial Russia and especially the time period in and around which The Gathering Storm was set.

Katerina Alexandrovna is our main character and she’s a necromancer but it’s a secret she’s kept to herself for many years. Unintentionally, she ends up revealing her powers which leads to her unwittingly drawn into the power struggle happening in the Imperial Court. There’s an array of supernatural creatures--faeries, werewolves, vampires and you have different characters with different allegiances vying for power and control.

The love triangle that was hinted in the book summary didn’t exactly take center stage since we didn’t see near enough of George but what I did see of him I really liked. Danilo on the other had was a whole different story. His pursuit of Katerina was not for love but for completely different reasons.

Keeping track of the different characters was sometimes confusing and also the fact that some of their names were really hard to pronounce. The author explained a bit of the history between the two sides at court but I still feel like there’s still so much that has yet to be revealed so hopefully we’ll get more of it in the next book.

Rating 4 Stars

* Review copy provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review

Dead to You by Lisa McMann

Title: Dead to You
Author: Lisa McMann
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Publication Date: February 7, 2012

Summary (taken from Amazon):

A page-turning realistic novel with a shocking twist from bestselling author Lisa McMann.Ethan was abducted from his front yard when he was just seven years old. Now, at sixteen, he has returned to his family. It’s a miracle…at first. Then the tensions start to build. His reintroduction to his old life isn’t going smoothly, and his family is tearing apart all over again. If only Ethan could remember something, anything, about his life before, he’d be able to put the pieces back together. But there’s something that’s keeping his memory blocked. Something unspeakable...

Review:

Nine years ago, Ethan was abducted from his front yard but now he’s finally been found and returned to his family. Having Ethan back, the family starts to rebuild. But with it comes new questions like Ethan’s memory loss of his childhood before the abduction and what had happened to Ethan for the last nine years.

I did have many questions about Ethan because he kept so much of his past to himself. In that respect I can see why his younger brother, Blake, was so suspicious of him. Your heart will also go out to Ethan since its clear that for the last nine years his life has been anything but rosy. So now that he’s back everyone is trying to make things as comfortable and normal as possible.

The ending…I don’t want to give it away but when you read this book you will find out really quickly what the big issue is. On the twist I was 50/50 with no idea how it would end and being surprised nonetheless.

Dead to You is gripping, tension filled, and with the short chapters you won’t want to put this book down. To top it off, it will have you doubting everything about the main character Ethan.

Rating 4 Stars

* Review copy provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review