Teen Reads Week: Unearthly

Author: Cynthia Hand
Publisher: HarperTeen (January 2011)


In the beginning, there's a boy standing in the trees . . . .


Clara Gardner has recently learned that she's part angel. Having angel blood run through her veins not only makes her smarter, stronger, and faster than humans (a word, she realizes, that no longer applies to her), but it means she has a purpose, something she was put on this earth to do. Figuring out what that is, though, isn't easy.
Her visions of a raging forest fire and an alluring stranger lead her to a new school in a new town. When she meets Christian, who turns out to be the boy of her dreams (literally), everything seems to fall into place—and out of place at the same time. Because there's another guy, Tucker, who appeals to Clara's less angelic side.
As Clara tries to find her way in a world she no longer understands, she encounters unseen dangers and choices she never thought she'd have to make—between honesty and deceit, love and duty, good and evil. When the fire from her vision finally ignites, will Clara be ready to face her destiny?

I wasn't sure what to expect with Unearthly...maybe just an YA angel  book that would inevitably have a love triangle and would be a trilogy.  I must say, that I was very pleasantly surprised.  I really enjoyed this book and I couldn't put it down.  I had to find out if Clara was going to carry out her purpose or not.  I also had to know who she would chose, Christian or Tucker.  Would she follow destiny or her heart?

I really liked Clara.  She has known she is a quarter angel for 2 years.  Her mother is half angel.  There was no surprise as to her identity, so there was not the usual, "what is happening to me" angst.  Clara is a strong willed teen who does has a sense of responsibility as to her "purpose". The thing that appealed to me most about this book is that the boy she falls for isn't who you expect her to.  The one she must save isn't someone that she is hopelessly in love with.  That was refreshing. Between you and me, I'm team Tucker!

While there is some resolution, the ending of the book leaves a lot of unanswered questions, that I hope will be addressed in the next book. I think this is a great book for YA's, maybe 14 and up.  There is some kissing, but other than that, nothing serious.  I look forward to the next book, Hallowed, which is projected to come out in January 2012.

--Kari

Teen Reads Week: Die For Me

Author: Amy Plum
Publisher: HarperTeen

In the City of Lights, two star-crossed lovers battle a fate that is destined to tear them apart again and again for eternity.

When Kate Mercier's parents die in a tragic car accident, she leaves her life--and memories--behind to live with her grandparents in Paris. For Kate, the only way to survive her pain is escaping into the world of books and Parisian art. Until she meets Vincent.

Mysterious, charming, and devastatingly handsome, Vincent threatens to melt the ice around Kate's guarded heart with just his smile. As she begins to fall in love with Vincent, Kate discovers that he's a revenant--an undead being whose fate forces him to sacrifice himself over and over again to save the lives of others. Vincent and those like him are bound in a centuries-old war against a group of evil revenants who exist only to murder and betray. Kate soon realizes that if she follows her heart, she may never be safe again.

As with any debut author, you never know what you are going to get when you open to the first page.  Ms. Plum has written an engaging first novel that sucked me right in from the start.  Kate and her sister, Georgia, have moved to Paris to live with their grandparents after the death of their parents.  There, Kate meets Vincent and his friends.  The attraction is strong from the start, yet Kate has her reservations about Vincent.  He almost seems too good to be true.  What she learns about him and his friends changes her whole life.

I really liked Kate's character.  She is almost 17, yet she has a maturity that a lot of teens in YA novels don't have today.  I liked that she was cautious about starting a relationship with Vincent, especially once she finds out the truth about him and his life.  Instead of taking everything at face value and rushing into something with him, she admits that she has reservations and steps back for a while.  That really sat well with me.  

Die For Me has a unique take on the risen dead.  The kin joke about being zombies, but they aren't really. They can age, but once they die again they "reset" back to the original age they were when they first died.  They also don't eat human flesh or brains. (Thankfully!) I look forward to knowing more about the revenants and what causes them.  I also hope that the next books explores why Vincent and Kate seem to have a unique bond that hasn't been seen in other revenants and their human loves.  This is the first in a trilogy, so I hope these themes are expanded on in future books.

I really enjoyed this book.  I think it would be fine for any YA reader.  There is really nothing graphic and the romance is pretty mild.  There is even talk about waiting for the "main event" and just taking the time to get to know and enjoy one another.  Given the age of the main characters, I thought this was a plus.

--Kari

Deadly Cool

by:  Gemma Halliday
published by:  Harper Teen
publish date:  October 11, 2011

First I find out that my boyfriend is cheating on me. Then he’s pegged as the #1 suspect in a murder. And now he’s depending on me to clear his name. Seriously?

As much as I wouldn’t mind watching him squirm, I know that he’s innocent. So I’m brushing off my previously untapped detective skills and getting down to business. But I keep tripping over dead bodies and I’m still no closer to figuring out who did it. And what’s worse: all signs seem to point to me as the killer’s next victim.

I thought this was a fun book.  Hartley is a high school student that finds out her boyfriend, Josh, is cheating on her with the president of the Chastity Club.  When she goes to confront them she stumbles upon the Virgin Queen's dead body.  Convinced that Josh is innocent she sets out with her best friend Sam to prove that he's a cheater, but not a murderer. 

This was definitely not one of the more serious type mysteries.  I would compare it to a YA version of the Stephanie Plum books.  Hartely and Sam get up to some goofy shenanigans, but they figure out who the culprit is behind the murders and it isn't who you think it is!

I liked it.  I would read more YA from Gemma Halliday.  I thought it was age appropriate as well.  No language, the girls were censoring, that was explained in the book.  Some sexual references, but no actual sex, definitely nothing out of line. 

You

by:  Charles Benoit

published by:  HarperTeen

From the book:  This wasn't the way it was supposed to go.

You're just a typical fifteen-year-old sophomore, an average guy named Kyle Chase. This can't be happening to you. But then, how do you explain all the blood? How do you explain how you got here in the first place?

There had to have been signs, had to have been some clues it was coming. Did you miss them, or ignore them?

Maybe if you can figure out where it all went wrong, you can still make it right. Or is it already too late?

Think fast, Kyle. Time's running out. How did this happen?

In his stunning young-adult debut, Charles Benoit mixes riveting tension with an insightful—and unsettling—portrait of an ordinary teen in a tale that is taut, powerful, and shattering.

This was a really great little book.  It was very unique in that the entire book is written in the second person.  The story was fairly interesting, but I felt like it left the answers to some really big questions out.  Throughout the book it was talked about how Kyle went from the really great student to a below average student and I didn't feel like it was fully explained what happened.  He was always angry and violent, but again you just had to go along with it and it was never really explained.  He was mad at his dad, but why? 

I felt like this book had a lot more potential that it didn't quite live up to.  It was quite good anyway, but I just wanted more.