All Rights Reserved by Gregory Scott Katsoulis

"Every book warns us at the beginning: All Rights Reserved. But I don't believe it. Every right will not be reserved. Our rights will not be reserved. We will be free..."

I used to love dystopian novels, but at some point over the last couple of years, I have grown tired of the genre. The bleak, futuristic visions of what could be inspired eyerolls instead of a desire to read the story. All Rights Reserved has an interesting premise, so I figured that I could give it a shot and see if dystopian novels have any future with me*.

The story is set in a future where new ideas are prohibited. Lawyers control the world, and everything is held under strict trademark and copyright laws. This includes all words and almost every gesture. People are free to use them until they turn fifteen. After that, they are fitted with a cuff that charges them accordingly. If for some reason their cuff fails, mandatory contact lenses shock their eyes if they try to speak.

Speth (It's a highly discounted name) is just about to turn fifteen and give her speech, a tradition for those coming of age. Right before the speech, her sort-of boyfriend Beeker kills himself by jumping off a bridge into traffic. In a moment fueled by grief, Speth decides that she will never say another word. Instead of a speech, she zips her lips, a gesture that is meant to belittle those in serious debt.

Now, Speth is known as the Silent Girl. That split second decision sparks a movement. Other young people follow her, and they start to be known as the Silents. Of course, there are consequences to revolution, even accidental revolution. Speth's sister, Saretha, is sued by a famous actress that she resembles. Because of the lawsuit, she can no longer leave the house for her job. The family is in debt because of an illegally downloaded song from a distant aunt. Their parents were taken into collection to pollinate crops with an eyedropper because almost all of the bees died. Speth could put an end to her family's troubles- her parents could come home, their debt would be erased, and Saretha could get her job back- if she would just give her speech. But she's gone too far to give up, and she realizes that it's about something bigger than her and her family.

All Rights Reserved ended up being a pretty good dystopian story. Like the best of its genre, it's all the scarier because it seems like it could happen some day soon. It made me think about having to communicate without speaking or making gestures. The idea seems mind-boggling. What is really interesting is how most heroines fight by actually fighting, giving speeches, doing things, but Speth starts a revolution by saying nothing. Young people follow her, and she is painted as their leader, but she never asked for it. She literally can't ask for it. (Part of me is amused at what the book might have looked like if it was narrated by a different character or outside narrator. "Speth says nothing. Speth still says nothing. Speth looks at me and says nothing...still.") This is the first book of a series, and while I like it, I'm still unsure whether I want to continue the series. Time will tell.

I received my copy of All Rights Reserved from Edelweiss, courtesy of Harlequin Teen. It's available for purchase now.

*I'm incredibly proud of this pun. So proud. 

iZOMBIE 1-4 by Chris Roberson

I am a HUGE fan of the iZombie television show. Before the show premiered, I read an article (Though I cannot remember what it was) that listed the differences between the show and the graphic novels of the same name. Even so, I wanted to read the series myself.

It turns out that the show didn't take much from the graphic novels, aside from a title and the concept of a zombie who eats brains and gains the memories from the brains' owner. There are far more differences, such as:

• The main character's name: Gwendolyn Price/Gwen Dylan in the comic, Olivia "Liv" Moore in the show
• Gwen works and lives at a graveyard, obtaining brains from the corpses. My concern had been that the formaldehyde used in preservation would make the brains inedible, but it's actually an organic cemetery that doesn't preserve bodies, which seems odd. Is that an actual thing? She paints the memories she gains. Liv works at the coroner's office and obtains brains there. When Liv eats a brain, she gains talents and personality traits as well as memories.   
• The universe of the comics contains many supernatural creatures besides zombies, such as vampires, werecreatures, ghosts, mummies, etc. The TV show wisely focuses solely on zombies, though part of me would appreciate the chaos of multiple monsters. 
• In the comics, Gwen is friends with a ghost named Ellie and a wereterrier named Scott. They were both wisely omitted from the show. Liv's friends from the show: Peyton, ex fiance Major, and coworkers Ravi and Clive are not featured in the comics, but for a reason.

•  The reason is that Gwen doesn't retain many memories from being alive. Her family and friends believe she is dead, and she doesn't remember them anyways. Liv remembers everything from her former life, and none of her friends and family (Save her boss Ravi...this was written a while ago because now a lot more people know as of the completed second season) know that she died and became a zombie. 

The first book, Dead to the World, introduced the characters. Gwen, Scott, and Ellie were trick-or-treating when they encountered a mysterious man.

You have to appreciate Gwen's Shaun of the Dead

Gwen eats a brain later and discovers that the mysterious man murdered the brain's owner in some sort of ceremony. The man turns out to be a mummy named John Amon who teaches Gwen the nature of zombies. See, there's this whole oversoul and undersoul thing.  Oversoul is the brain: "thoughts, memories, and personality." Undersoul is the heart: "appetites, emotions, and fears." Ghosts are bodiless oversouls. A bodiless undersoul is a poltergeist. Vampires have an oversoul, but drink blood because they lack an undersoul. The opposite, having the undersoul but seeking the memories of the oversoul is the zombie.

Meanwhile, a pair of hunters comes to town and starts to take out the local vampire population. One of them, Horatio, asks out Gwen. This is somewhat distressing to Scott, the wereterrier friend who has a crush on Gwen. I'm going to admit that I don't remember everything that happened and in which book. At some point, Gwen remembers her younger brother. Scott the wereterrier meets him and falls in love with him. The brother makes a pact with a comic book writer to be possessed with the spirit of his character, who is actually real and kind of homophobic, which messes up their relationship (That old cliche again!) Ellie the ghost makes friends with a Frankenstein monster and they end up falling in love. The mummy guy turns out to be kind of evil and a zombie. Also, his former friend has been working on a plan to summon a big bad entity that will destroy the world.

Out of the two, I definitely prefer the TV show. It's more streamlined and funny, though I would probably be super stoked if Rob Thomas brought on a wereterrier. The novels were not completely without their own charms. However, the lack of Ravi was unforgivable.  

The Rest of Us Just Live Here by Patrick Ness

"And even if there's no one in my family or my circle of friends who's going to be the Chosen One or the Beacon of Peace or whatever the hell it's going to be next time around, I reckon there are a lot more people like me than there are indie kids with unusual names and capital-D Destinies..."

I love, love, love Patrick Ness. The Knife of Letting Go was amazing to the extremest levels. I have been wanting to read more of him for so long. I read The Ask and the Answer, but I never finished Monsters of Men because of dumb reasons (Anxiety over too many books too read, reading going slowly, and wanting to reread the entire series). I have also planned and failed to read A Monster Calls and More Than This, which is just shameful because both are award winners. On the upside, my failures have led me to make sure that I actually read his newest novel, The Rest of Us Just Live Here. I'm glad that I did because it's a great, unique story.

It's four months until they graduate from high school. Mikey has to deal with his unrequited invisible love for Henna, as well as a relapse of OCD and anxiety. His sister Mel, who is a year older than the others, is finally graduating after losing a year to her struggle with anorexia. Jared, Mike's best friend, is gay and part god (God of cats, actually, which makes me jealous of him). He has been sneaking around and Mike knows he is keeping secrets. Henna is dealing with conflicts over her feelings for Mike and for new boy Nathan, issues that are made worse by her upcoming mission trip to war-torn Africa. Nathan is somewhat mysterious, having moved to town so close to graduation. Mike dislikes Nathan because of the Henna issue and because he seems suspicious, but mostly because of Henna.

At the beginning of every chapter, there is a short recap of what is going on with the indie kids. They have names like Satchel, Kerouac, and Finn (There are a lot of Finns, actually), they use card catalogs instead of computers, and they read poetry and listen to jazz. The indie kids are the ones who have to face zombies, vampires, or whatever is happening now, with the blue lights. They often end up dying and/or blowing up the school. They deal with big, apocalyptic things that have the potential to effect all of the characters, but Mike and his friends don't really focus on them much because they can't do anything about them.

As Mike said,

"The rest of us just have to live here, hovering around the edges, left out of it all, for the most part."

It's like the book is written by the background characters in a YA science fiction/fantasy novel. Their struggles are more relatable and their names are less obnoxious. I loved hearing a different side of the typical story. I laughed and I cried and I cried some more. I wrote down pages of quotes and now have a wrist cramp. When I get some money together, I am going to purchase my own physical copy of the book so I can read it again and again (Bonus: the cover glows in the dark!).  
I received my copy of The Rest of Us Just Live Here from Edelweiss, courtesy of HarperTeen. It's available for purchase now.

Bellweather Rhapsody by Kate Racculia

"We make music to- to find each other in the dark. And I have to believe the point is that we don't- we don't ever stop calling out..."

Minnie went to the Bellweather for the first time for her sister's wedding. She was a bridesmaid, concerned with her too-tight shoes, when she stumbled upon a grisly scene. On the wrong floor, she came across a newly married couple. The groom was slumped in the hall, blood soaking his shirt. The bride was standing on a chair, a noose around her neck. "Come here little girl," she beckoned.

Minnie ran then, but the memories chased her. She has nightmares, she is afraid to leave the house. Now, fifteen years later, Minnnie returns to the Bellweather to put her ghosts to rest.

The same weekend that Minnie revisits her past, the Bellweather is hosting Statewide. Statewide is a high school music festival that invites only the very best musicians. Twins Alice and Rabbit will be attending. Alice is a diva singer. Rabbit is a shy bassoonist. Alice ends up staying in the same room where the murder-suicide occurred. Alice finds her famous flautist roommate, Jill, (Whose awful stage mother shanghaied Statewide) hanging in their room, then the body disappears. Alice then meets (And is abducted by) Minnie.

Rabbit hopes to use the weekend to tell his sister that he is gay. He also ends up building a reputation as a rebel with the other orchestra students. Their chaperone, Natalie Wilson, encounters a familiar face. Jill's mother, Viola, was her music teacher. She was the one who stole her love of music, turned it into a chore to be endured, and told her she wasn't special. I know this doesn't sound too bad, and she was probably right, but Viola was a giant witch so we hate her.

Everyone is observed by Harold Hastings. He has been concierge of the Bellweather for forty-six years. He witnessed the event years ago, and he takes it upon himself to figure out what is going on after Jill disappears.

Bellweather Rhapsody is a character-driven story. I really enjoyed seeing how the characters were connected and seeing them interact. It's a bit difficult to categorize. It borrows a lot from The Shining, but it's not exactly horror. It's somewhat funny, but not exactly a comedy. There are some very major turns that occur at the end of the story that make it very fun. You could imagine this as a movie; it would fit right in with Wes Anderson's stuff.


I received my copy of Bellweather Rhapsody from Edelweiss and through the Goodreads First Reads program. It's available for purchase now.

Ex-Heroes by Peter Clines

"You called me a symbol, and you're right. This suit stands for something. It isn't me living some childhood fantasy or anything like that. It's about hope...I wear this thing, all these bright colors, because I want people to know someone's trying to make their lives better. I want to give them hope."

I only had to hear two words to convince me to read this book: zombies and superheroes. Talk about your match made in heaven! I am also happy to report that I got a zombie book with just plain zombies, which means I got my fill of gore and death.

Ex-Heroes takes place after an epidemic has swept the nation, most likely the entire world. The dead have risen and walk the earth, eating the flesh of the living. Thankfully, the living have some defense in the form of the supers. They had been ordinary people who developed super powers through varying means. Now, they protect a community of people in an old Hollywood production studio.

The heroes include St. George, also known as The Mighty Dragon. He is bullet-proof and zombie bite-proof and he can breathe fire. He was sort of a Captain America/Superman level goody two-shoes, but he was my favorite hero. Others included Stealth (Ninja, leader, doesn't use contractions), Gorgon (Energy vampire), Cerberus (Mechanical super suit), and Zzzap! (Powers the compound). There are actually a couple more, but they have become zombies, or exes as they are referred to here.

There are chapters that show origin stories and what happened before, and just at the beginning, of the outbreak. I really liked how it was done. It was a little difficult for me to get into the book at first, but I was devouring the pages like an ex on a human by the end.

I received my copy of Ex-Heroes from Edelweiss, courtesy of Crown Publishing Group. It's available now for purchase. Because I read an unedited copy, the quotation may vary from the book.

The Selection by Kiera Cass

This was the book that I wanted to read more than anything this year. I have been requesting advanced copies from Netgalley and we occasionally still get hard copies at the bookstore. Still, the days and months moved on, but The Selection wasn't available from my sources. I thought that I might have to actually wait until the publication date and then purchase or borrow the book from the library or my work. You can imagine my ecstatic surprise at finding the book on what I had considered a secondary source for ebooks. There was quite a lot of squealing, as befits a book junkie and nerd of my stature.

The Selection is a book about an event called the Selection. Every time the Prince of Illea comes of age, they hold a contest for all young ladies between the ages of 16 and 20. A group of 35 is chosen and sent to the palace to get to know the Prince, then one is chosen as the future queen. Illea is strictly separated by a class system, Ones being at the top and Eights being the lowest, basically homeless. Being chosen for the Selection would give a girl the chance to change her status and her life. Unfortunately, it's not what our protagonist wants.

America is in love with her neighbor, Aspen. The main problem is that she's a Five, a musician, but he's a Six. She only enters the Selection because Aspen doesn't want her to have any regrets. To her surprise, she is chosen to move to the palace. Even more surprising, America finds herself actually liking Prince Maxon. She still loves Aspen, but she's also growing closer with Maxon. I really enjoyed the progression of their relationship, and Maxon was funny and amusingly dim around the ladies. To add a little action to what is otherwise a fluffy royal version of The Bachelor, the palace sometimes sustains attacks from groups of rebels who are constantly searching for some mysterious item. We don't find out much about them, but it adds some intrigue.

After all my anticipation, I was worried that The Selection wouldn't live up to my expectations. Fortunately, I loved reading this book. I loved the descriptions of the girls' dresses and the fancy food that they ate at the palace. It made it seem like a fairy tale. My one complaint is that it was too short and I'm going to have to wait even longer to read the sequel and find out who wins the Selection.

I received my miraculous copy of The Selection from Edelweiss, courtesy of HarperCollins. It will be published April 24th.

Deadly Little Secret by Laurie Stolarz

Deadly Little Secret is the classic story of girl gets saved by boy, girl falls for boy, but boy has mysterious secret. Stop me if you've heard this one. Chapters about Camelia, the girl in question, are occasionally interrupted by chapters narrated by her stalker, who is clearly deranged. I liked the book much better when I realized that the boy in question, Ben, wasn't the deranged stalked. The world really only needs one Edward Cullen.

The Touch series does retread a lot of ground other Young Adult series have gone over before. A part of me also feels that the author used some form of random plot generator to come up with elements such as "quirky, horny, fashion designer friend," "platonic, fashion-challenged boy friend," and "vegan, new age mother." To be fair, the characters weren't as annoying as they could have been.

It's kind of funny that in the end, Ben's secret isn't even all that exciting. Basically, he touches things or people and can see the future or past of the object or person. It's called psychometry. I don't see why it's a big secret. The situation where his ex-girlfriend fell off the cliff seems like the juicier secret. I also don't really understand his appeal. Camelia is always talking about how good he looks, but beyond that he doesn't seem to do much of anything, except get psychic visions and trigger the bad boy/town pariah signals in Camelia's brain.

I'm being a little harsh on the book. It wasn't all that bad, and I'm almost half-way through the second book (Two words: Psychic sculptures!). Perhaps if I never read Twilight and its ilk, Deadly Little Secret wouldn't suffer from so much comparison. I thought it would be predictable, but the stalker was only my second choice as suspect. Ultimately, it was a quick and painless read.

Vampire Forensics by Mark Collins Jenkins

Reduced to its common denominator, the vampire is a classic scapegoat.

Michael Bell, folklorist

Vampire Forensics really gets down to the nitty gritty of vampire origin, all the stuff you wanted to know but were too blinded by sparkles to find out. As it tuns out, vampires have existed in various forms and various countries. The common denominator seems to be the use of the vampire in explaining natural phenomena of everyday life, especially so where death is concerned.

Way back when, it turns out that people didn't have a keen grasp on the intricacies of biology. Thanks to this book, I now know more than I ever actually wanted to know about what happens when a body decays. Because of this knowledge, I plan on never dying. To return to the book, people used to see corpses that didn't decay naturally, corpses that seemed to grow after death, corpses that shifted in the grave and sat in puddles of fresh blood. Logically, this meant that the corpse was a vampire who must be incinerated.

There were countless tales of the dead returning to torment the living, sometimes through pestilence, sometimes other means. The bodies would be dug up, and sure enough, they were still fresh. Once the body was destroyed, burned, staked, or whatever means was used, the torment would stop and the vampire would be gone for good.

As for the origins of vampires, some connect outbreaks of vampirism with that of rabies. Rabies leads to aggression and a sensitivity to light and strong odors, such as garlic. It's all a little bit like finding out that Santa's beard is fake. I wasn't exactly hoping for confirmation that something out there may try to drain my jugular, but I am disappointed that it seems as though vampires are really just people being idiots. Not much has changed today, Twihards I am looking at you. At least people back then had ignorance as an excuse. When your life expectancy is in the 40s and half your family is dead from plague, you tend to blame whatever you can. Twihards, you have no excuse.