Tempest by Julie Cross

Title: Tempest (Tempest #1)
Author: Julie Cross
Publisher:  St. Martin's Griffin
Release date: January 17, 2012

Rating: 4 / 5

Buy it at: Amazon | B&N | BookDepository

Prequel to Tempest here or B&N
Read an excerpt here

The year is 2009.  Nineteen-year-old Jackson Meyer is a normal guy… he’s in college, has a girlfriend… and he can travel back through time. But it’s not like the movies – nothing changes in the present after his jumps, there’s no space-time continuum issues or broken flux capacitors – it’s just harmless fun.

That is… until the day strangers burst in on Jackson and his girlfriend, Holly, and during a struggle with Jackson, Holly is fatally shot. In his panic, Jackson jumps back two years to 2007, but this is not like his previous time jumps. Now he’s stuck in 2007 and can’t get back to the future.

Desperate to somehow return to 2009 to save Holly but unable to return to his rightful year, Jackson settles into 2007 and learns what he can about his abilities.

But it’s not long before the people who shot Holly in 2009 come looking for Jackson in the past, and these “Enemies of Time” will stop at nothing to recruit this powerful young time-traveler.  Recruit… or kill him.

Piecing together the clues about his father, the Enemies of Time, and himself, Jackson must decide how far he’s willing to go to save Holly… and possibly the entire world.

I was eager to read Tempest since last year, so I sign up on the tour at LBT, and at last I could read it, I didn´t like it as much as I was expecting maybe because I started reading Tempest with high expectations, I'm not saying I did not like, I do like it. It just not covered my expectations, I was debating on the rating between 3.5 - 4 and in the end stayed at 4.

As the synopsis is more than informative, I will focus on the characters. Jackson is a 19 years-old, he comes from a wealthy family and he discovers that he can jump in time and with the help of his friend Adam (a genius) begin to experiment with his skills and write a diary about it. And so far Jackson has only been able to jump a couple of days in the past and not in the future. Holly is Jackson girlfriend they had been dating for a few months and she´s shot to death during a struggle between Jackson and a stranger. After the shots Jackson jumps into the past and is trapped in it.

My favorite character of the book is Jackson´s twin sister Courtney who died years ago, but once Jackson is trapped in 2007, he can not jump to the future but he can jump to the past, so we get to know Courtney and she´s an adorable little girl . Others important characters in the story are Adam, Jackson's best friend and confidant of his secrets and Jackson's father, who also has an important role in history.

Tempest is the first book I read about time travel, so it was a bit confusing at first, to be able to jump back in time and change something that has no impact on the future, with Tempest I had to forget all the stereotypes about time travel to understand the story. Tempest is a book that you have to pay close attention to details, they may not be relevant at that time but then they will be at the end.

In conclusion, I liked this Tempest and I want read the second book in the series - Vortex and see what will happen with Jackson.

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The Glimpse by Claire Merle

Title: The Glimpse
Author: Claire Merle
Publisher: Faber & Faber (UK)
Release date: June 7th 2012

Rating: 3.5 / 5

Buy it at : Amazon | BookDepository

In a near future, society is segregated according to whether people are genetically disposed to mental illness. 17-year-old Ana has been living the privileged life of a Pure due to an error in her DNA test. When the authorities find out, she faces banishment from her safe Community, a fate only thwarted by the fact that she has already been promised to Pure-boy Jasper Taurell.

Jasper is from a rich and influential family and despite Ana’s condition, wants to be with her. The authorities grant Ana a tentative reprieve. If she is joined to Jasper before her 18th birthday, she may stay in the Community until her illness manifests. But if Jasper changes his mind, she will be cast out among the Crazies. As Ana’s joining ceremony and her birthday loom closer, she dares to hope she will be saved from the horror of the City and live a ‘normal’ life. But then Jasper disappears.

Led to believe Jasper has been taken by a strange sect the authorities will not interfere with, Ana sneaks out of her well-guarded Community to find him herself. Her search takes her through the underbelly of society, and as she delves deeper into the mystery of Jasper’s abduction she uncovers some devastating truths that destroy everything she has grown up to believe.

There was a worldwide economic collapse in 2018, the countries closed their borders and there was a great depression, so many people lost their homes, their jobs. there were several Petrol wars and in the the petrol dry up, because of these events there were a great number of suicides. Now in London 2041, the privileged live within gated communities where only "pure" people can live. The "pures" are separating from the "crazies" by a test that diagnostic who is carrier of the Big3 - schizophrenia, depression and anxiety, if the test is positive to Big3 the person is not allowed to live within the community and is cast out to live with the "crazies" in the city.

Ana has lived most of her life within the community and has been educated as a "pure" and has lived a good life and at 15 year-old she´s promise to Jasper and is in that time that she is told that her test was wrong and she´s a carrier of Big3 and she can no longer live within the community, but she is saved by her fiance because he wants to get marry her. So she gets an extension, she must get married before she turns 18 year-old or she will be expelled from the community. The story fast forward to Ana now 17 years and eleven months and is about to get married when her fiance is abducted. So Ana decides to leave her safe world to go and find Jasper before she turns 18 years-old.

The Glimpse is a dystopian novel, which is one of my favorites genres. Ana is a girls that since she was diagnosed with Big3, has live a lie, always having to suppress her emotions, trying to be perfect, trying to fit and not stand out much because even the slightest shown of emotion could had her classify as  "crazy", so she do everything she could to not be expelled from the community, which can be stressful. But the kidnapping of Jasper changes all that and once she´s out in the city she can be herself for the first time since she was diagnosed. And in the city she meet Cole and is love at first sight.

In short I liked this book, the plot is a bit slow but realistic, sad, exciting and stressful, there was a part in the book where we get to see the inside of a mental institution,  I was really distraught over the way mental patients were treated.

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Hemlock by Kathleen Peacock

Title: Hemlock (Hemlock #1)
Author: Kathleen Peacock
Publisher: HarperCollins
Release date: May 8, 2012

Rating: 4.5 / 5

But it at: Amazon | B&N | BookDepository

Read first chapters here.

Mackenzie and Amy were best friends. Until Amy was brutally murdered.

Since then, Mac’s life has been turned upside down. She is being haunted by Amy in her dreams, and an extremist group called the Trackers has come to Mac’s hometown of Hemlock to hunt down Amy’s killer: A white werewolf.

Lupine syndrome—also known as the werewolf virus—is on the rise across the country. Many of the infected try to hide their symptoms, but bloodlust is not easy to control.

Wanting desperately to put an end to her nightmares, Mac decides to investigate Amy’s murder herself. She discovers secrets lurking in the shadows of Hemlock, secrets about Amy’s boyfriend, Jason, her good pal Kyle, and especially her late best friend. Mac is thrown into a maelstrom of violence and betrayal that puts her life at risk.

Kathleen Peacock’s thrilling novel is the first in the Hemlock trilogy, a spellbinding urban fantasy series filled with provocative questions about prejudice, trust, lies, and love.

I love this book so much; I needed my dose of werewolves; Hemlock is a really good book about them.

Hemlock takes place in modern day, (I had the vague idea that the story was in the time of Little Red Riding Hood), 12 years ago the government announced that the werewolves were real and this was caused because of a virus; the Lupin syndrome is transmitted via bite or scratch from an infected person and this can turn you into a werewolf.

Hemlock is a small town that had several attacks by a werewolf, one of the victims was Mac´s best friend Amy. Five months after the attacks the Trackers arrived to Hemlock with the purpose to hunt down the werewolf and found among the citizens others infected and send them to the sorf of concentrations camps. The Trackers are sort of a human supremacy group that use force against anyone that is suspected to be infected.

Mac is a 17 year-old girl, she´s strong, loyal, smart and protective of her love ones. Since Amy´s dead, Mac has been haunted by vivid dreams-nightmares (really creepy) of Amy and these dreams along with the arrival of the trackers motivates Mac to investigate Amy´s murder.

The male characters are both best friends of Mac, Kyle and Jason. Kyle is the supportive friend that always is there for her, the responsible, the reliable and the love interest. Jason was Amy´s boyfriend, and son of the wealthiest and most powerful family in Hemlock; since her dead he´s start drinking and is having anger problems, but he´s not a bad guy. These three people are grappling with guilt over the death of Amy, Mac because she canceled the date to go out with her and stayed at home, Kyle because he didn´t answer her call that day and Jason because he didn´t arrive on time for her.

Hemlock is fast-paced, page-turner with twist and turns that I wasn´t expecting, it also has suspense, mystery, romance and werewolves. I really loved this book.

The Hunt by Andrew Fukuda

Title: The Hunt
Author: Andrew Fukuda
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Release date: May 8, 2012.
Rating: 4/5

Buy it at Amazon | B&N |Book Depository

Andrew Fukuda Website
Read first chapters here

Don’t Sweat. Don’t Laugh. Don’t draw attention to yourself. And most of all, whatever you do, do not fall in love with one of them.

Gene is different from everyone else around him. He can’t run with lightning speed, sunlight doesn’t hurt him and he doesn’t have an unquenchable lust for blood. Gene is a human, and he knows the rules. Keep the truth a secret. It’s the only way to stay alive in a world of night—a world where humans are considered a delicacy and hunted for their blood.
When he’s chosen for a once in a lifetime opportunity to hunt the last remaining humans, Gene’s carefully constructed life begins to crumble around him. He’s thrust into the path of a girl who makes him feel things he never thought possible—and into a ruthless pack of hunters whose suspicions about his true nature are growing. Now that Gene has finally found something worth fighting for, his need to survive is stronger than ever—but is it worth the cost of his humanity?

The Hunt is a novel that immediately got me hooked, is a thrilling and terrifying story that had me biting my nails, it´s different of the other dystopian novels that I have read and I really like it.

In this dystopian world the “people” that live in it, have super speed, they´re super strong, the sunlight can be deadly and they lust for blood especially the blood of hepers aka humans. These vampireish creatures are really weird, they hiss a lot, don´t show any emotion, crack their bones, drool, they make my skin crawl. They´re really creepy.

Gene is a heper that live among them and he may be the last one of his kind, because apparently the hepers are an extinct species. The book is told from Gene POV, he´s seventeen years old and he pretends to be something that he is not; he needs to blend in, in a society where he is the main course, where he can be eaten if his true nature is discovered, so he must keep his true self a secret. To keep his identity hidden, he must meticulously groom and scrub down daily to remove body odor, file his nails, shave his body hair and all the things that can give him away as a heper. Gene is very intelligent and a survivor and he know what to do to survive.

At some point in the book there is an announcement that there are hepers alive and they ´re going to organize a hunt, the hunters going to be selected by lottery and Gene is the lucky one that wins one spot in the hunt. Now he must join the hunt and keep secret his true identity, because otherwise he might end dead.

The ending got me hooked; now I really want to know what happens next.

The Hunt is a must read if you love dystopian novels with a supernatural twist.

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Unraveling by Elizabeth Norris

Tittle: Unraveling

Author: Elizabeth Norris

Publisher: Balzer + Bray

Release date: April 24, 2012

Rating: 5/5

Read first chapters here.

But it at: Amazon | B&N | BookDepository

Two days before the start of her junior year, seventeen-year-old Janelle Tenner is hit by a pickup truck and killed—as in blinding light, scenes of her life flashing before her, and then nothing. Except the next thing she knows, she's opening her eyes to find Ben Michaels, a loner from her high school whom Janelle has never talked to, leaning over her. And even though it isn't possible, she knows—with every fiber of her being—that Ben has somehow brought her back to life.

But her revival, and Ben's possible role in it, is only the first of the puzzles that Janelle must solve. While snooping in her FBI agent father's files for clues about her accident, she uncovers a clock that seems to be counting down to something—but to what? And when someone close to Janelle is killed, she can no longer deny what's right in front of her: Everything that's happened—the accident, the murder, the countdown clock, Ben's sudden appearance in her life—points to the end of life as she knows it. And as the clock ticks down, she realizes that if she wants to put a stop to the end of the world, she's going to need to uncover Ben's secrets—and keep from falling in love with him in the process.

From debut author Elizabeth Norris comes this shattering novel of one girl's fight to save herself, her world, and the boy she never saw coming.

The story takes place in San Diego California and follows the main character Janelle Tenner a seventeen-year old girl that has a sort of normal life, she is dating a popular guy, she has a great best friend, she takes care of her younger brother, she is the average high school student, until she gets hit by a truck and killed. And moments later is brought back to life or at least she think so by Ben Michaels a guy from school to whom she has never talked to. She is almost certain that Ben had brought her back to life.

Janelle´s father is a FBI agent and she goes through his case files because she is sure that he is investigating her accident and she wants to learn more about it. And sorting through his files she discovers several of them with mysterious deaths and with numbers that appear to be a countdown written on them. A date counting down to what?

Unraveling starts with a bang and didn´t let up. I was hooked from the start and it didn´t let me go until I finished the book. Is a fast-paced, page-turner with a lot of turns and twists in the story, when I thought that I had it figured it out, the story went in a different direction.

The main character Janelle is strong, intelligent, independent and self-assured. There isn´t love-triangle so the love interest is Ben and is not instant love from her part, she gradually falls in love with Ben and he is swoon-worthy. And we also have, Janelle´s best-friend Alex, he´s someone that always had "play" detective along with Janelle and help her with her investigations. He´s a great friend and she can always can count with him.

Unraveling is a thrilling and intelligent, mysterious, intriguing sci-fi thriller with action, suspense and with lots of twists and turns.

And the ending! Oh, I didn´t see it coming, I got all teary eyed and heartbroken. I can´t wait to read the sequel.

I´m thrilled that I got to read Unraveling, this book is amazing! I highly recommend it.

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The Weepers: The Other Life by Susanne Winnacker

Title: The Weepers : The Other Life (The Other Life #1)
Author: Susanne Winnacker
Publisher:  Marshall Cavendish
Release date: May 15, 2012
Rating: 4.5/5

Read first pages here

3 years, 1 month, 1 week and 6 days since I’d seen daylight. One-fifth of my life.

Sherry and her family have lived sealed in a bunker in the garden since things went wrong up above. Her grandfather has been in the freezer for the last three months, her parents are at each other’s throats and two minutes ago they ran out of food.

Sherry and her father leave the safety of the bunker and find a devastated and empty LA, smashed to pieces by bombs and haunted by ‘Weepers’ - rabid humans infected with a weaponized rabies virus.

While searching for food in a supermarket, Sherry’s father disappears and Sherry is saved by Joshua, a boy-hunter. He takes her to Safe-haven, a tumble-down vineyard in the hills outside LA, where a handful of other survivors are picking up the pieces of their ‘other lives’. As she falls in love for the first time, Sherry must save her father, stay alive and keep Joshua safe when his desire for vengeance threatens them all.

Sherry had been living in a bunker with her family for 3 years, but now they have run out of food and she and her father must leave the safety of the bunker and search for food or they will die of hunger. Their radio isn´t working so they don´t know what is happening outside, 3 years ago there was an outbreak of a virus called "rabies" that attacked the population, so the non-infected people were forced to take shelter in bunkers and not leave until the outbreak has been controlled. The government was supposed to notify them once the "rabies" was contained, but it´s been 3 months since the last transmission.

So Sherry and her dad leave the bunker to look for food and while searching for food in a wal-mart they´re attacked and they end up getting separated. Sherry is rescued by Joshua and he takes her outside of the city to a safe house, but Sherry feels guilty for having left her father and with the help of Joshua, they will seek him and try to rescue him from "the weepers".

The book is told from Sherry point of view, she´s a 15 year-old girl that has been counting the days, months and years since she entered the bunker, in fact she counts everything, how long had been since she last saw the sun, ate an apple, saw her best friend, this could be tiring for the reader, but it works in the story. I liked the character of Joshua.

Ohh and the weepers, they used to be human, but lost their humanity because of the virus. When I started reading the book I thought they were regular zombies, but apparently they´re smart, predators (I haven´t read many books with zombies in it) and really creepy.

The Weepers : The Other Life is a post-apocalyptic novel with some conspiracy theory. And the end of the story has a twist that got me hooked for the next book The Life Beyond.

Yes, I loved this book!

Thanks to Marshall Cavendish and Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book.

Quotes:

"Aren´t you afraid? She told me that you´ve been injured before. The could kill you."
"Sometimes, when I hunt them at night and feel them lurking in the shadows, waiting to attack, I´m afraid." He shrugged. "But then I think of everything they´ve done and about the people I might save, and anger wins over fear. They are killers. Sleep, eat, kill - it´s all they do"

"Those times are over. No one cares about manners anymore. They´re too busy surviving."

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Grave Mercy by Robin LaFevers

Title: Grave Mercy (His Fair Assassin #1)
Author: Robin LaFevers
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Release date: April 3, 2012.
Rating: 5/5

Read the Excerpt
Author Website
Grave Mercy Website
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Why be the sheep, when you can be the wolf?

Seventeen-year-old Ismae escapes from the brutality of an arranged marriage into the sanctuary of the convent of St. Mortain, where the sisters still serve the gods of old. Here she learns that the god of Death Himself has blessed her with dangerous gifts—and a violent destiny. If she chooses to stay at the convent, she will be trained as an assassin and serve as a handmaiden to Death. To claim her new life, she must destroy the lives of others.

Ismae's most important assignment takes her straight into the high court of Brittany—where she finds herself woefully under prepared—not only for the deadly games of intrigue and treason, but for the impossible choices she must make. For how can she deliver Death’s vengeance upon a target who, against her will, has stolen her heart?

The story takes place in Brittany 1845. Ismae Rienne is 14 years old at the beginning of the story, the daughter of a farmer and an unwanted child because of her true lineage, she´s actually daughter of the god of death. Her “father” sells her into an arranged marriage with the pig farmer and she is rescued by a priest and that sent her to a convent that serves to St. Mortain the patron saint of death. There she is given a choice to serve St. Mortain and be trained as an assassin or sent away to get married to a gentle man. She decides to stay at the convent and learn the arts of death.

Ismae as a daughter of St. Mortain has powerful gifts that help to do her work.

Three years have passed and Ismae now 17 years old is sent to her most important assignment, to infiltrate into the high court with the help of a reluctant Gavriel Duval. Her mission is to protect Anne a 13 years old girl that upon her father's death, she became sovereign Duchess of Brittany and was plunged into fresh crisis with France.

Grave Mercy is a historical fiction novel that has intrigue, romance, fantasy and mystery.Grave Mercy is beautiful written and is told from Ismae´s point of view. Ismae is strong, intelligent, smart, a mature girl, a trained assassin and she mistrusts everyone around her. Duval is a strong young man, intelligent and gentle (at least with Ismae), I really liked Duval a lot and I can´t say more about it because I don´t want give away spoilers.

This is an amazing book, once I started reading I couldn't put it down, it keeps me on my toes, guessing all the time and having suspicions of everyone.

I love this book so much! I highly recommend it!

Thanks to Houghton Mifflin Harcourt and  Netgalley for the opportunity to read Grave Mercy.

Quotes:

“If you choose to stay, you will be trained in His arts. You will learn more ways to kill a man than you imagined possible. We will train you in stealth and cunning and all manner of skills that will ensure no man is ever again a threat to you.”

“there is a hint of concern. It is this kindness of his that unsettles me most. I can dodge a blow or block a knife. I´m impervious to poison and know a dozen ways to scape a chokehold or garrote wire. But kindness? I do not know how to defend against that.”

“Surely He does not give us hearts so we may spend our lives ignoring them.”

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