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She reads books as one would breathe air, to fill up and live.
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Genre: Dystopian, Science Fiction, Young Adult Publisher: diAgio Publishing Publication Date: April 7, 2016 Format: ePub Pages: 348 Add to Goodreads About the Book
Bio-chemistry whiz Everly Jax wants one thing: to know who her parents are. Raised with other repo kids in InKubator 9, she has pinned her hopes on Reunion Day, the annual event where sixteen-year-olds can meet or reunite with their parents. When her Reunion Day goes horribly awry, she and her pregnant friend Halla escape the Kube, accompanied by their friend Wyck who has his own reasons for leaving.
In a world where rebuilding the population is critical to national survival, the Pragmatist government licenses all human reproduction, and decides who can--and must--have babies. The trio face feral dog packs, swamp threats, locust swarms, bounty hunters looking for "breeders," and more dangers as they race to Amerada's capital to find Halla's soldier boyfriend before the Prags can repo her baby and force the girls into surrogacy service. An unexpected encounter with Bulrush, an Underground Railroad for women fleeing to Outposts with their unlicensed babies, puts them in greater peril than ever. Everly must decide what she is willing to sacrifice to learn her biological identity--and deal with the unanticipated consequences of her decisions. Rating
Review
This story was really good, the only bad thing I could find about it was that it ended. Ha ha. This isn't like the other young adult dystopian stories out there and it was truly a refreshing read. The story itself hits pretty close to home. The threat of a pandemic flu, famine due to insects evolving to survive and governments regulating having children. Undocumented births are often separated from their families and either raised by another family or placed into Kubes where they are trained to be helpful to the outside world. Although the boys are often sent off to be a border guard and the girls are forced into enslaved surrogacy. The heroine, Everly Jax, is everything that a naive girl with a thirst for knowledge and freedom should be. Halla, her best friend, is also naive and only craves to be free because she is pregnant with her boyfriend's child and knows her child will be taken from her if the Prags find out. Wyck, Everly's friend and romantic interest just wishes to be free to escape becoming a border guard. However, Everly is quite the heroine. She has such depth and emotion, which I attribute to her past. She wasn't just some Kube baby. She is bright, sarcastic and strong. She absorbs her knowledge of the new world through new eyes and applies it carefully. "'Who are you and what are you doing in here?' I turn. It's a lab coated woman with wide set eyes behind thick-lensed glasses. I'm willing to bed she runs the labs. I decide on a version of the truth. 'I'm Everly Jax. I worked in the labs at Kube 9 and wanted to see what the set-up was here. I miss my work.' Her eyes are distorted behind thick lenses, giving her what I'm sure is an illusory air of vagueness. 'What were you working on?' It's a test question. I give her a lengthy explanation of how I was working to create a virus to wipe out the locusts." (page 169) I really enjoyed that the author made it pretty clear these kids are naive and they make pretty big mistakes but the need to survive was greater. Also, when they met up with Bulrush and it's people, it is pointed out that all the skills they learn took a lot of time. They trained daily for weeks. They were put to tasks that encouraged their skills to sharpen and they weren't expected to anything except protect each other. "'Okay,' I say. 'Teach me something.' 'Lesson one: be alert.' On the words, her leg comes up toward my face. I'm onto her tactics now, though, and I manage to duck away. I lunge for her, hoping to catch her off balance, but she swivels and kicks my legs out from under me with her other foot." (Page 167) It will be interesting to see where Everly goes from here. How Bulrush and its members survive. Whether Halla has her baby and finds her boyfriend. Where Wyck goes from here on. I definitely recommend this to anyone looking for a different take on a young adult dystopian. Where to BuyAbout the Author
via Goodreads
I'm the author of the Swift Investigations, Mall Cop and Readaholics mystery series.
After twenty years as an Air Force intelligence officer – serving as a squadron commander, with the National Reconnaissance Office, and at a fighter wing – I retired to parenting and writing full-time. Spying was easier. Connect with Laura
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Genre: Post-apocalyptic, Horror, Zombies Publication Date: September 29, 2017 Pages:362 Add to Goodreads About the Book
Melbourne, 2052, two years since The Fall.
A wave of infection, the Jackson Virus, has swept the world, leaving in its wake a terrifying apocalyptic wasteland populated by wild cleanskin survivor groups and the ravenous, infected night predators – the jacks. In this nightmare landscape, one of the last remaining sanctuaries is Kulin Wallcom, a community enclosed by a 10-metre wall patrolled by what’s left of the military. The wallcoms are the last remaining bastions of defence and security in a world gone over the edge. But the people of Kulin can’t stay behind their wall forever. Recovery expert, John Bradley, is part of a major operation into the wasteland looking to not only ensure the survival of Kulin by bringing back critical supplies from the abandoned Southstone Supermall, but, more crucially, to also locate and extract the only person left who may be able to reverse the tide of infection. However, the mission faces danger at every turn. It seems to be compromised from the inside, Southstone is thought to be an impossible target overrun with infected, and wasteland survivor bands, led by the psychopathic wasteland leader, the Headhunter, are bent on making sure the operation has to fight each step of the way to get back to the wallcom before nightfall. Because that’s when the jacks come out. And they will find you. Welcome to the world of The Fall. My Rating
Review
There is something about zombie novels that is such a simple, easy read for me. Even though authors spend all this time creating complex worlds where the dead come to life, I just get right into them. It's almost like a palate cleanser for me.
However Conversion is different. What a world to live in. Hot, dry, desolate and zombies. Damn. What a scary mix, honestly. A flu wiped up the planet and there were only a few left, struggling to eke out an existence and survive. Some were inside walls and some lived outside, doing whatever they could to survive or find their place on the food chain. It was a very "Mad Max: Thunder Dome" feel mixed with "I am Legend". All the different views and characters were complex but what I really enjoyed was that the jacks and jills had their own complex characteristics. The author explained the jacks and jills own insight and how they lived. They reminded me, actually, of the creatures in I am Legend. The pale, favouring dark places and stayed in packs with an alpha to lead them. They hunted at night. Each alpha had their own personality as well, and they seemed to recall their past as well. It was really fascinating. I enjoyed the wallcom situations and the strategy of the teams, and the bad guy was clearly absolutely certifiably insane. Near the end, I was actually wondering if the people who this person talked to were real or if they were part of the person's psyche fragmenting from all the horrors of the world. I definitely recommend this book for all the horror fanatics out there! Where to Buy
About the Author
S.T. Campitelli is a first-time author, The Fall his first book. He hasn’t won any awards and he isn’t a best-selling author… yet.
He is an educationalist by profession and has continuing addictions to both movies and reading with a clear bent towards the post-apocalyptic, Scandinavian crime, and historical fiction and non-fiction. He lives in Melbourne, Australia, with his family, and he is neither waiting nor prepared for the impending Apocalypse. Connect with S.T.
Genre: Romance, Supernatural, Fantasy, Young Adult Publisher: Inkitt Publication Date: October 26, 2017 Pages: 234 Format: ePub Add to Goodreads About the Book
Clara has been chosen and her fate will be fulfilled.
Clara Evans’ needs a fresh start. Exhausted from the taunts of her classmates and the neglect of her careless foster parents, she is counting down the days until graduation when she can move away and leave her miserable life behind. When swoon-worthy Jay Woods transfers to Ford High School, Clara’s eyes are opened to a universe she never knew existed. As the life she once knew shatters and ancient secrets are revealed, Clara must learn to control her newfound powers while defeating a raging darkness that will change the world forever. Could “The Freak” from Ford High be the key to saving the human race? My Rating
2.75 Stars
My Review
I received this eBook from the Publisher in exchange for an honest review.
This concept of a story has been done more times than I can count. This had so much potential if it had been refined more.
Clara, as a main character, is pretty cliche. The orphaned child with negligent foster parents, kids who hate her at school, she has one friend and then the attraction of the cute boy who seems to know her best friend. Before the boy, mind you, the story dragged painfully. With the boy, the story sped up way too fast and I was lost a couple of times. I thought it might have been a malfunction in my eReader but it wasn't. Suddenly! Clara is humanities only hope against dark forces. She has to learn to wield her powers and be able to defend herself with all levels of combat in a matter of weeks. Uh, no. This is not the Matrix. Fighting and knowing how to defend yourself takes time. The rest of the people in the story had been training since they were children. But Clara was able to take them down. Unless her powers involved fast learning of fighting and strength. She also faced a lot of trials during learning to fight and learning her powers, which made the story veer off into too many scenarios, I found. And then the cliff hanger. The weird cliff hanger that ended the story. Honestly, if the author had taken her time and refined her story, edited some ideas out and kept with the original story line, this would have been awesome. But maybe I'm just picky about these stories and hope they can expand on the concept more. Where to Buy
About the Author
Lauren Chow was born in Oxnard, California and raised in Marlton, New Jersey. Lauren has always enjoyed reading and was inspired to write her own stories with encouragement from her friends. She secretly started writing her junior year at Cherokee High School and decided to go public with her writing in 2017. Lauren is eighteen years old and enjoys art and social science. Lauren continues to write as she attends California Lutheran University to become an art therapist.
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Publisher: Limitless Publishing LLC Publication Date: July 2, 2016 Pages: 278 Format: Mobi Add to Goodreads About the Book
Libby Carter is pretty sure she didn’t kill her husband…
When Libby wakes up to find her husband Ryan murdered in bed next to her with no memory of how it happened, she can only assume the worst. Daughter of the infamous I-75 Strangler, Libby is afraid that becoming a serial killer is in her DNA. Is she truly capable of killing the man she loves? The evidence against her keeps stacking up, and it’s enough for an arrest… It’s no secret that Libby is the number one suspect, and when she makes bail, she knows she has no choice but to turn to the only man who can help clear her name. Her father. After visiting him in prison, she decides to take the investigation into her own hands. Libby finds an unsettling lead on Ryan’s murderer and learns her husband might not have been as innocent as she thought. But every clue she uncovers leads to another dead end… Libby must risk her life to discover the truth about her husband and his murder, but things become even more dangerous when she realizes someone is watching her every move. My Rating
4.85 Stars
My Review
I received this eBook from the author in exchange for an honest review.
This is one of those books that is tough to put down and walk away from. It lingers, if you do manage to put it down, and it stalks your waking (sometimes sleeping) moments. It makes you wonder what is next!
Can you imagine, though, waking up beside your partner in a pool of your partner's blood with a blinding headache and you're not even sure how any of this happened. Did they kill themselves? Did you do it? Did someone else? You can't even remember the gun shot either. Then add in the fact that your father is the infamous I-75 Strangler. I'd be freaking right out. You know, I have always wondered what happens to the family of a serial killer. Especially the children. How are they affected and how do they handle the truth about their parental figures? This gave me a little look into how one might handle it. One thing that amazed me, though, is how quick the police were to pin this on Libby without doing any kind of work. And the fact that Libby had to take it into her own hands to do the work. I definitely recommend this novel to anyone who enjoys a good domestic suspense novel that keeps you utterly guessing if it was Libby or if it was someone else who killed the husband!
Suspense Finalist for the 2017 Indie Excellence Awards!
Where to BuyAbout the Author
Christina is the author of the award-winning suspense novel, LIKE FATHER LIKE DAUGHTER, as well as many other suspense titles. She lives in Kentucky with her two daughters.
Connect with Christina
Publisher: Chewed Pencil Press Publication Date: April 26, 2016 Pages: 268 Format: ePub Add to GoodReads About the Book
Synthia (Syn) Wade is a teenage girl who struggles with cystic fibrosis, an incurable life-threatening disease. One day she is pushed into a pond by an unseen figure and wakes up in a new world – a mysterious garden where illness and death don’t exist.
Welcomed by the garden’s residents and now free of her symptoms, Syn decides to stay. But, before long, she realizes that this apparent utopia holds many dangers and dark secrets. Surrounding the garden is a fog that Syn is warned never to enter. She encounters bizarre creatures that defy reason. And always lurking in the shadows is a masked woman - a woman who may have a connection to the disappearance of Syn’s parents many years ago. A woman whom no one will speak of, but whom everyone fears. While No One Dies in the Garden of Syn, Syn will soon discover that some fates are worse than death. My Rating
My Review
I received this eBook from the Author in exchange for an honest review.
From the premise of this novel, I was looking forward to reading this. It seemed really quite interesting, a parallel world where people could exist without pain or sickness. I am sure there are terminally ill and permanently ill people out there who have dreamed of worlds like this.
However, I did have an issue with the pace of the story. It tended to drag in many places which slowed the story down to a snail pace. Although Synthia's curiosity was quite refreshing and she didn't just agree to ways of those in the garden. Yet, at the same time, there was nothing remarkable about her either. This is a debut novel, so there is plenty of time to expand on Syn's personality and give her a little more depth as well. If you enjoyed Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children and Alice in Wonderland, this is similar to those stories. Don't let it's similarities fool you, either. It does hold it's own and has it's own creativity. Where to Buy
About the Author
MICHAEL SEIDELMAN is an unapologetic bookworm and movie buff with a background in Online Marketing. No One Dies in the Garden of Syn is Michael’s first YA novel, with many more to come. He is currently hard at work on the second book in The Garden of Syn Trilogy and resides in Vancouver, BC.
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