Unraveling by Elizabeth Norris

It seems so unassuming at the beginning. Janelle is just walking home from her shift as a lifeguard...then she is hit by a truck...and she dies. Then she is brought back to life by Ben, a boy from school who she has never even talked to. Then things just get weirder and weirder.

Janelle's dad works with the FBI and they are investigating strange occurrences all over town. People show up with radiation burns. Unidentifiable people show up, even a phone booth just springs up out of nowhere. Then there is the countdown. It points to the detonation of a bomb of sorts, but then it turns out to be connected to something so massive that it may end our world as we know it. The countdown, the strange radiation, and Janelle's resurrection are all connected, but in a way that nobody could ever imagine.

I admit that I wasn't sure about this book when I first started. Then it got all intriguing with the mysteries. After that, it got incredibly complicated and a bit confusing. I won't say anything spoilery, but it was a lot more than I was expecting. Though I also didn't expect to end up sobbing from this book, and that happened. I'll just say that this is a very surprising book and leave it at that.

I received my copy of Unraveling from Edelweiss, courtesy of Balzer + Brey. It's available now.

Masque of the Red Death by Bethany Griffin

"...And Darkness and Decay and the Red Death held illimitable dominion over all..."

In a far-off dystopian future, the world has been decimated by the Red Death. This contagious plague means certain death for those who contract the disease. Protection is available in the form of the masks, but (obviously evil) Prince Prospero sells them at such a price that only the rich can afford such a necessity. So the poor will eventually contract the disease and die, while the rich go about their lives, all safe and secure.

Araby is one such rich girl. She spends her nights at the Debauchery Club with her best friend April, looking to score drugs so that she can stop feeling for a while. Araby's father invented the masks, the masks that saved humanity. It was too late to save her twin brother Finn. Which is why Araby tries to forget, why she doesn't let herself kiss, date, or do anything Finn will never be able to do.

Araby becomes entangled in a plot by April and her brother Elliot to kill Prince Prospero, their uncle. She has to pose as Elliot's girlfriend. He's obviously unstable, and he constantly tells her how much he doesn't really like her. Honestly, he's a little hot anyways. Then there's sweet bartender/security guard of Debauchery Club, Will. He takes care of Araby, even when he thinks she's just another shallow club girl. He is working and sacrificing everything to take care of his younger brother and sister, saving up to buy them masks so they can finally attend school. Between the loose cannon bad boy and the devoted older brother, the choice should be obvious. Yet there are lots of twists in those relationships and throughout Masque of the Red Death.

It's about the rich versus the poor, the inhumanity of denying an essential for survival just to make a profit. It's about the tragedy of losing the person closest to you, which becomes even worse when we learn the details behind the event. It's about the Red Death, the bodies, so many bodies, in the streets and gathered in carts. I wasn't sure how Edgar Allen Poe's story would fare as a young adult novel, but I enjoyed this expansion of the story.

I received my copy of Masque of the Red Death from Edelweiss, courtesy of HarperCollins. It's available now.

Starters by Lissa Price

If you believe that Grandma has a sinsiter motive for offering you that so-called Worther's original, this is your book.

In the world of Starters, a massive plague swept throughout the world. It killed everyone between the ages of twenty and sixty. The really old and really young were the ones vaccinated and therefore the ones who lived. Now, the older folks, or Enders, have taken over the country. Young people, Starters, are not allowed to work. This makes life very hard for those Starters without grandparents. Callie is one such teenager. She has to take care of her younger brother Tyler, who has a lung disorder and requires expensive medicine. They get by squatting in abandoned buildings, but times are tough.

Callie turns to Prime Destinations for help. They are a business that rents out teenagers to Enders so that they can relive their youth. After just three rentals, Callie will end up with enough money to get an apartment and take better care of Tyler. Prime Destinations has a contract forbidding the Enders from doing anything dangerous or illegal, so there is no downside. On her third and final rental, she finds herself waking up during the procedure. She lives at the client's fancy house and drives the client's fancy cars. Then after blacking out again, Callie wakes up with a gun in her hand. Something has gone very wrong with her rental. She'd go back to Prime Destinations, but a voice keeps telling her to stay away.

Some of the background details were a little vague in this book. They mentioned that a lot of the Enders were over 100 years old, some even 200. I wanted to know how that was possible, but it was never mentioned. I'm also a little suspicious that not a single person between the ages of twenty and sixty received a vaccine, but that might have another explanation altogether.

Ultimately, I really liked Starters. First of all, I really cared about Callie and Tyler. They just got to me. Second, I have met a fair share of awful old people (As well as lots of delightful old people). It's not difficult to imagine them being the opressive jerks in this book. It's an exciting adventure story, and a fairly compelling dystopian tale, though I'm hoping that the sequel will clarify the questions I have left.

I received a copy of Starters from Edelweiss first, Netgalley second, and then I ended up reading a hard copy that was sent to the bookstore. They are courtesy of Random House. The book is available now.

The Girl of Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson

I initially rejected The Girl of Fire and Thorns. It was the bit about the jewel in her navel. "I used to have a Treasure Troll when I was a kid! That sounds la-ame." Later, I suddenly decided that I had to read the book. A plus-sized princess turns into a warrior? Sign me up for that!

Elisa is the younger of two princesses, and she feels that she is the lesser of the two because she is fat and less adept at politics. She is also the chosen one, the bearer of the Godstone. Her destiny is to perform a great act of service. In the past, the great act of service involved the early death of the bearer.

On her sixteenth birthday, Elisa is married off to the king of a faraway land. It's basically a political deal between her father and King Alejandro. Alejandro is kind but he doesn't take her seriously, and he doesn't love her. Not a lot of people see her worth, including Elisa herself.

I liked the concept of a plus-sized heroine. Honestly, I was a little disappointed that Elisa would stuff herself at emotional moments and constantly ate sweet foods. Then she gets a little self confidence, drops some weight, and doesn't eat anymore. It's not a very good lesson. Overall, I enjoyed the story. The Godstone was very compelling. Elisa sometimes annoyed me, but I liked having a weak character grow stronger throughout the book.

Life Is But a Dream by Brian James

The last time I read a book from the point of view of a young woman with a psychological disorder, the story veered in a strange way. (Ultraviolet, reviewed here). Now, we get the real deal.

Sabrina is our narrator. She is in an institution, supposedly because she suffers from schizophrenia. One day, a new boy is admitted, Alec. Sabrina feels as though she already knows him, and they hit it off instantly. Alec believes that he and Sabrina are the only normal people at the institution. He convinces her that she doesn't need her medications, that she is okay the way she is.

It's a little bit discomforting to hear everything in Sabrina's voice, because the reader can easily see that Sabrina is anything but fine. We get Sabrina's childhood memories and memories of the events that lead to her being institutionalized. At the extreme, Sabrina's mind gets to be a very scary place.

I'm having a difficult time deciding how exactly I feel about this book. I'm definitely siding towards positive, but it was a very difficult subject and an intense read. Seeing everything from her point of view gives a great insight into the character. By the end, I really cared about Sabrina and I wanted her to have a happy ending.

I received my copy of Life Is But a Dream from Netgalley by way of Feiwel & Friends. It's available now.

Ruthless by Sara Shepard

As always, I'm going to be slinging the spoilers around fast and hard, so beware.

When we last left off in Twisted, our pretty little liars had just gotten into a very large amount of trouble in Jamaica. Namely, they pushed a girl off a rooftop deck because they though she was Alison and she was attacking them. Since then, they have been having lots more stalker A issues.

Immediately, we find out the big secret that got Spencer into Princeton. While at a summer prep course, she started taking study aid pills called Easy A with her friend Kelsey. They got caught, and Spencer framed Kelsey. She runs into her former friend and decides that Kelsey must be A, as revenge for ruining her future.

Hanna has recovered from her blackmailing last time. She confesses to her father that she stole money from his campaign, which had resulted in him firing his assistant. After such a serious crime, her father punishes her by doing pretty much nothing at all. This lack of parenting is why Hanna is such a horrible person. She meets a boy at a political rally, but he turns out to be the son of her father's political rival. It's very Romeo and Juliet.

Emily hangs out with her oldest sister and thinks a lot about feeling guilty about being pregnant and lying to everyone. She meets a girl named Kay at a party, who turns out to be Kelsey. Everyone gets all up in Emily's business because she hangs out with Kelsey even after they tell her their suspicions. Poor Emily ends up getting burned in the end (Thankfully not literally, because you never know with these books).

Aria, that delightfully special snowflake, is dismissed by Noel Kahn. If you remember, last time she accused his foreign exchange student of trying to have sex with him and then pushed the girl off of a ski lift. She starts thinking about how much she misses her old statutory rapist, I mean boyfriend and English teacher, Mr. Ezra Fitz. One text later, and the man himself is back in her life. Soon, Aria is making plans to graduate early and move to New York and be smelly hippies or snotty hipsters or some combination of the two. Unfortunately, a sudden roadblock appears when he has her read his manuscript...and she is slightly less than brimming with praise. Ezra Fitz kind of sucks.

Finally, *SPOILY SPOILERS*...
The girls visit that psychiatric center that Hanna's dad sent her to a long time ago. (Kelsey goes nutso, she's majorly using the Easy A, but she's probably not actually A the stalker) They find a park bench dedicated to Tabitha, who had been a patient as well. Her birthday is the exact same day as Alison and Courtney's! If she was also at the hospital, would she have met Alison and/or Courtney? Was she their TRIPLET?

*End Spoiler*
This series will probably go on forever until everyone ever has had a turn being A and stalking these poor children. A seems less motivated than he/she used to be. I really don't think they used to end things with "mwah" all the time, but I don't like it. A also uses the term "bitches" a lot less, and I miss that.

Kill Me Softly by Sarah Cross

Mira's godmothers have a lot of rules. She never broke them, until just before her sixteenth birthday. She will visit the town of Beau Rivage. That was where she was born, and where her parents died. Her godmothers refuse to let her return, and they might have a good reason.

Several of the residents of Beau Rivage are cursed. They live their lives knowing that some day they will fulfill a fairy tale destiny. One day, they might fall into an enchanted sleep or be rescued by a mermaid, be the hero or the villain. It's something that they are born with, or something that pops up unexpectedly after a run in with a fairy. It's also inevitable, because you can't fight destiny forever. I didn't expect a teen book about fairy tale curses to bring up so many philosophical issues, whether choices matter or if everything is already planned out, the usual free will vs. fate.

I really enjoyed the world of Kill Me Softly. It's a fairy tale mishmash, with lots of attitude. The characters are surly and very funny about their curses. They joke about things like choking on the apple for the Snow White character and tease the girl who will end up breaking the Beast's spell. (Though, opposite of that, my favorite character was the sincere and wholesome Henry, the Prince Charming who had birds and squirrels follow him everywhere. He's just adorable.)

I know the basic fairy tales, but I'm sure there were some references that I completely missed. Everything in Mira's fairy tale story does get wrapped up in the end, but there are possibilities for a sequel. Honestly, I'd really like to see more with Mira, and/or follow some other characters through their fairy tales. There are plenty of options for lots of sequels, and I'd be on board with more visits to the world of Beau Rivage.

I received my copy of Kill Me Softly through Netgalley, courtesy of EgmontUSA. It is available for purchase now.