Outage by Ellisa Barr - 3.5 stars (finished 7/5)
BOOK 1 IN THE POWERLESS NATION TRILOGY
**I received an ecopy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.**
The book started off roughly. Dee, the 15 year old MC, was acting like a pouty 15 year old. Her parents are leaving for a cruise and Dee is dropped off on her Grandpa's farm. No computers, no cell phone reception, no internet. *cue world's tiniest violin* She decides to take off with his truck (how very kind of her), but doesn't know how to drive stick and stalls it. Grandpa catches her and instead of being angry, promises to teach her to drive it. He lets her take it into town to possibly meet some kids her age. On her way into town, she picks up an OMGSOCUTE hitchhiker who happens to be close to her age. They continue to head into town when she wrecks the truck. This is the EMP. From there, it all becomes chaos.
I personally loved this portion of the book that was dedicated to how things would really go down in an apocalyptic situation. I think it was more realistic that people were trying to help each other moreso than fend for themselves. I do think that Dee's complete 180-degree personality change was a far reach. I think that the love triangle that started was not accurately played out...one guy just steps aside and doesn't say anything after flirting with Dee and spending time with her?? Okay. Grandpa was such a sweet soul and probably my favorite character. I loved that the author went down the dark, gory road. I felt it made the story more authentic.
It takes a bit to get used to the third-person omniscient point-of-view because it's written so awkwardly. I don't know how else to explain it, but it took a lot of rereading for me to grasp what was going on at times. It could be quite uncomfortable at times to read.
Alien Love Story by A.K. Dawson - 3.5 stars (finished 7/7)
**I received this book as part of the Read to Review program in We Heart YA Books group on Goodreads in exchange for my honest review.
**Contains some non-graphic sexual content**
Dan is a 15-year-old American transplanted to England after the death of his parents and brother. He suffers from severe migraines and is living with his (odd) Nana. He discovers a hoodlum digging in the dumpster out by the Sandwich Shop one day and then realizes it wasn't a guy, but a girl and she was definitely out of this world.
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This book had me cracking up and it was such a colorful story. I thoroughly enjoyed being in Dan's head and thought that he was authentic to a 15-year-old boy. The secondary characters were all pretty great too. I thought Dan's encounters with Tony were pretty funny and even though I'm still thinking on the events surrounding everything, I think Nana was a great character too. And, of course, Alexander...the girl that's out of this world - she was interesting to say the least. This book tackled a little of alien abduction and, what I interpret, as a little mental disorder too. I am definitely going to be asking the author if there is a sequel. I hope so!
Yellow Brick War by Danielle Paige - 3 stars (finished 7/10)
BOOK 3 IN THE DOROTHY MUST DIE SERIES
I felt this installment was very blah. It was a lot of filler stuff - not enough plot for me. I was also expecting it to be the end and the whole reason I was reading the trilogy and then I found out there was a fourth book -_- Honestly, the only part that I was a fan of was when
Seven Ways We Lie by Riley Redgate - 4.5 stars (finished 7/18)
**I received a copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.**
A lot of people had said that they were confused by the many POVs, but I've read Game of Thrones and that is a lot more POVs - so this was no biggie! I actually had no problems keeping up at all. Each character had a different voice and a different personality. I found that I liked reading in the voice of Olivia, Matt, and Valentine the most. I honestly did not like Claire as a character. I was meh about Lucas and Kat. I found Juniper's POV style...not necessarily unreadable, but unlikable.
The progression of the characters and plot was fascinating. I think that I would have read it faster than a week had I been given a quiet couple of hours to myself. I like that this book tackled a lot of difficult issues without deflecting and making it a conventional PSA. Ex) In most YA books, marijuana users are stoners, potheads, losers, morons, etc. This story showed that someone who smokes weed isn't or doesn't have to be those things. A girl who sleeps around (although made out to be a slut by her peers) has more to offer than her body and isn't less of a person because she likes having sex. I think these were a more honest portrayal of teenagers. I wish though that there was a sequel because I need more Valentine storyline to continue, but it was a great standalone novel.
All Together Dead by Charlaine Harris - 4 stars (finished 7/19)
BOOK 7 IN THE SOUTHERN VAMPIRE MYSTERY SERIES
The summit portion of this book is one of my favorites of the series. I really liked all the mystery and criminal activities happening there. Lots of twists and turns. However, I feel like the ending was strange and not really all that much of an ending.
From Dead to Worse by Charlaine Harris - 4 stars (finished 7/21)
BOOK 8 IN THE SOUTHERN VAMPIRE MYSTERY SERIES
I think this is a pretty good connecting story and feel there was more depth and detail than past books. Sookie's attitude in this one was off-putting. I am looking forward to her discussion with Eric about what happened when he stayed with her. A lot of the plot shifted (mostly towards the better) in this installment which was surprising compared to how much happened in previous books.
Dead and Gone by Charlaine Harris - 4.5 stars (finished 7/31)
BOOK 9 IN THE SOUTHERN VAMPIRE MYSTERY SERIES
I think this book gave a lot of action that was much needed. I forgot to mention in my last review that I was annoyed that Sookie was acting so indignant about Amelia inviting Octavia to stay with them, when Sookie was the one who did offered in the first place. She can get on my nerves so easily, but there was a little redemption in this book where she explained that she was stupid for feeling the way she did - like when Sam called her out for her stupidity with Eric. Even though I am venomously against Bill Compton...he starts to get very sad puppy in this one and that made me feel a little sympathy for him. Arlene...screw that broad. Quinn...hope he's gone for good (although I don't agree with Sookie's reasoning for not being with him. What a selfish reason!). I'm dreading Book 10. I know I wasn't a huge fan of it when I first read it.
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