Skylark, Meagan Spooner

CHRISTMAS PRESENTS!

Sixteen-year-old Lark Ainsley has never seen the sky. 

Her world ends at the edge of the vast domed barrier of energy enclosing all that’s left of humanity. For two hundred years the city has sustained this barrier by harvesting its children's innate magical energy when they reach adolescence. When it’s Lark’s turn to be harvested, she finds herself trapped in a nightmarish web of experiments and learns she is something out of legend itself: a Renewable, able to regenerate her own power after it’s been stripped. (Full description found here.)

So yeah I've been kind of lacking a new set of books to read due to the fact that I'm also lacking money. But now that Christmas has come and gone, I've got four new books and a promise to buy three others when they come out (sometime in 2014). I'm excited.

Yeah, yesterday was Christmas and all my little cousins were playing with their presents, I figured I could play with mine! Even if they're books, and playing with them means sitting in the corner, reading. So that's exactly what I did.

I read this book and at first I was a little confused. Just because there were new terms and things that I hadn't read a lot in other books, but by part two I think I definitely had it all down. Basically, read carefully. That'll make it 100x easier.

So the setting? It's in the future after the world has pretty much ended because of a huge-tastic war. All it left behind was a lonely little city sitting behind its big walls, safe and sound with magic. Yep, magic. The whole word outside the city is empty and everyone inside the city is told that, if they ever went outside, they would die immediately.

As you read in the description, Lark Ainsley is the main character and although she makes some questionable decisions, I do like her as a character. When the book starts, she's very trusting and yeah, like I said, makes some questionable decisions. Then she does something totally forbidden and even after that she makes some absolutely terrible decisions. But finally, towards the end, she understands what's really going on around her and starts to also understand herself and what she's capable of.

There aren't a lot of other main characters. I mean, there is one I can think of, but all I can say is his name. I can't say anything about where he pops into the story. His name is Oren, by the way, and I love him. He's super-duper awesome and yeah, I love him. I don't care who he is. I don't care. Don't tell me anything, he's great and everyone else can get lost.

I wish the book was longer but it's okay because the second one is already out! It's called Shadowlark, and there's a third one coming out sometime in 2014, I think. I don't know what it's called or when exactly it's coming, but I'm so excited!

Horde, Ann Aguirre

The horde is coming.

That's all you get for a description. That's all. Oh my gosh. I was so excited for this. Oh my gosh. I went and got it the day it came out and oh I just can't explain how excited I was. Oh gosh.

My heart is still racing.

Wow, this book was amazing. After my little sour review of The 5th Wave, this will sound so good you'll go out and get it (you should, just get the first two before getting this one--obviously). I take full credit for finding this book on my own, no recommendations or anything. I'm good at finding books, thanks. Though I always appreciate recommendations (hint, hint)!

I realize that not a lot of people see these reviews but you know what? This is more for fun than anything, so no one can say anything about doing this for attention. Nope. I just need to talk to someone about these books and I can't always talk to people in real life about them because 1.) they don't read, 2.) they don't want to read these books, 3.) they want to read these books but after their pile of one hundred books-to-read, 4.) I want to talk to them RIGHT NOW and they're not done so I won't, or 5.) they aren't as excited about these books as I am and it just makes me sound crazy. But you know, I talk anyways. I talk a lot. They don't have to listen if they don't want to.

Anyways, these books are in the future. Since my descriptions in the reviews for the first books are a little lame and I'm in the typing mood, I'll tell you again.

There are a buttload of SPOILERS in this next section ABOUT THE TWO FIRST BOOKS BUT NOT THIS ONE so just, yeah, I warned you. Go read the other reviews or something.

So these books are in the future and most of the people live underground. They believe that everyone "topside" is dead. Gone. Wiped out when the diseases came through and either killed them or turned them into Freaks. Freaks are also underground. They're kind of like zombies, but without the 'undead' part. They're just scary monsters that kind of look a little human-ish, but they eat humans and attack the different towns that are underground, also called Enclaves (name of the first book). Then the main characters, Deuce and Fade, are kicked out of College, their home enclave (well, Fade came from above ground but lived in College for awhile). Then they fight Freaks and make their way topside, which Deuce thought was impossible but of course Fade was like "Let's do this," and so she said sure because he was hot. Or whatever. When they get topside, they find that the city the enclave is under is still actually standing, and there are no Freaks to be seen, just gangs and gang members. So they fight their way out of the city after acquiring two travel buddies, Tegan and Stalker, and another girl (Fade's childhood friend from when he lived above ground). As they're leaving they go into a library and they're attacked by Freaks and Fade's childhood friend gets killed so they just kind of leave her there and move on. I think, in the library scene, Tegan is hurt. Or maybe after. Her leg is hurt. So they have to stop at an abandoned house and Deuce strains herself while taking care of Tegan and she ends up getting sick I think and a sick-brain hallucination tells her to keep the fire going even if it kills her, so she freaks out that the fire is almost out and they go get wood (Fade and Stalker, who totally hate each other over Deuce). Then, a passing traveler sees the smoke from the chimney on the house and stops to see who it is (obviously he's got a gun in case it's Freaks or something) and then he says sure, he'll help them with Tegan and Deuce and he brings them all back to Salvation, the name of his town, or Outpost (the name of the second book). Before the end of the second book, Fade is kind of kidnapped by Freaks, who take him to their own Outpost (the Freaks are getting smarter, they have fire now) and he watches as they tear up and eat his tenting buddy, whose name I don't remember. Either way, it's really traumatic and like anyone would expect, he does not come back the same when Deuce saves him. Survivor's Guilt, PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder), kind of both. When the third book starts, Salvation is surrounded by Freaks (they call them Muties). Yeah, the end.

So that was pretty long, huh?

SPOILERS ARE OVER. YOU CAN READ NOW.

Anyways, the main character is Deuce. She's a strong girl which makes it even more believable when she cracks and gets angry at almost everyone.

Fade's the second  main character. He's usually pretty cool but in this book he's got some understandable issues if you read that really long explanation up top. This book made me cry for him more than once.

There's probably another main character but I don't want to bring it up because I'll get really sad and depressed and I don't want that. I read this book like, a  month ago and I don't want to go back and do that again! It was awful. But the book was amazing. Awesome.

Action packed, unlike another certain book I just reviewed . . .

I've come to realize I like adventure books. Action books, with a little bit of lovey-dovey stuff. Only a little bit. Maybe a little more than a little bit, but not a lot.

The 5th Wave, Rick Yancey

Umm . . . well this is awkward. 

After the 1st wave, only darkness remains. After the 2nd, only the lucky escape. And after the 3rd, only the unlucky survive. After the 4th wave, only one rule applies: trust no one. 

Now, it’s the dawn of the 5th wave, and on a lonely stretch of highway, Cassie runs from Them. The beings who only look human, who roam the countryside killing anyone they see. Who have scattered Earth’s last survivors. To stay alone is to stay alive, Cassie believes, until she meets Evan Walker. Beguiling and mysterious, Evan Walker may be Cassie’s only hope for rescuing her brother—or even saving herself. But Cassie must choose: between trust and despair, between defiance and surrender, between life and death. To give up or to get up.

Now, see, that sounds really good. Right? Hmm. I don't know. I mean, you might like it. I guess a lot of people do. My friend really loved it.

I don't even know if it was generally bad, or if it was just a huge let down. There was a lot of hype around this book and I really, honest to God, did not think it was that amazing.

The plot sounded great and awesome and it sounds like it should be full of action. But it's not. That was one let down. And then you think the "beguiling and mysterious, Evan Walker" would make it all romantic and cutesy or whatever you want to call it, but that doesn't work either. And really, Cassie isn't running from anyone. She's roaming the countryside, until she comes across a city and blah blah blah. NO ACTION. NO ADVENTURE. It actually makes me so mad now that I think of all the possibilities. It could have been so good.

The setting is sometime not too far in the future, if the end of the world started today and we were already past four waves of terrible things killing most of the world's population. It could be possible at some point, I think. I mean, there's a lot of space in, well, space, so there's not really any way that we could be sure that aliens don't exist. I don't know.

This book is a whole bunch of "I don't know"s.

First of all, it split up into parts, and in each part, there are like five or six chapters (more or less depending on the part). A lot of books have this, you might say. But do a lot of books have about nine or ten parts? No, it's usually two or three. Maybe even four. That's not what I have a problem with, I'm just explaining how it's different. So then, with each part, the POV changes. It never tells you this anywhere, though, so you have to spend the first handful of paragraphs trying to figure out who is talking instead of actually understanding what you're reading. And sometimes it even changes from past tense to present tense! Or first person narrative to third person! That's the worst, because then for a paragraph or two you think the POV-person is talking about someone else but it's really just the narrator talking about someone.

I don't like that. At. All.

And so not only am I scrambling to figure out who is actually in charge of the part I just started, I'm also trying to figure out if it's a flashback or not. There are whole chapters devoted to flashbacks. But the thing is, some started with the characters thoughts about something so it's actually impossible to tell if it's a flashback, until he/she/the narrator starts talking about actual events. I don't like it one bit.

Let me put it in a nicer way so this doesn't just sound horrible.

Basically the POV changes a lot and it's kind of hard to dig through it but it all adds up in the end.

Except, not really. I mean, kind of. I don't want to sound like I really hated this book! I liked some of it. I liked the idea of it.

It could have been so much better if it only said whose point of view it was in at the beginning of each chapter. Seriously. Easy fix. 

Anyways, the main character is Cassie. She makes horrible decisions. Horrible. No girl would ever make them. I think that's the problem sometimes when middle-aged men write stories where the main character is a girl and the point of view is first person. So all her thoughts and feelings are being written by a middle-aged dude. Yeah, that doesn't always work (James Patterson pulled it off, Scott Westerfeld too, but they're like writing gods so it's a given that they'd get it down). Like, there's this one part? Cassie mentions stocking up on lady-supplies, if you get my drift without making anyone uncomfortable, and I don't really believe that any girl needs to tell the world that, since it's pretty much what any girl would do. And sometimes she just makes the stupidest choices. Like, trust a guy that's seen you naked while you were unconscious? Yeah, I won't spoil that part for you, but that's stupid. No girl would be like, oh yeah sure, when she realizes that a boy has undressed her while she's unconscious. I don't think so. And then, it says:

""If you try to peek in that mirror, I'll know," I warn the guy who's already seen my naked, but that was unconsciously naked, which is not the same thing." (Yeah that's an actual quote, pg. 165-166. Dead serious.)

I don't even know what to say about that! Cassie you are so stupid. I'm sorry you were created by middle aged man. Like, she doesn't know what happened while she was unconscious and naked for God's sake! Most girls would jump to the worst conclusion right away; I just cannot handle it. She acts as if it's no big deal that this stranger had her naked and unresponsive in his house and she can't even leave because she's injured and then guess what happens next that would never happen in a million years. Yeah, the dim-witted Cassie falls for the "beguiling and mysterious" Evan Walker. Like, no, I don't think so. I'm not even going to keep going on that note because I will never stop.

So this review started out, uh, okay-ish. Ended kind of roughly.

I still don't want to say that I didn't like this book in anyway, but it's pretty close (sorry Emmy). The only thing I liked was the potential. It had the potential to be a really adventurous book. It had the potential to have a good Romeo-Juliet type thing between Evan and Cassie. It had the potential to have some good plot twists. It was all presented badly though, ruining most, if not the whole thing.

I don't know what to tell you. I guess go get it from a library. Don't go and buy it unless you're certain you'll like it (hey, you might). I kind of wish I didn't spend $20.00 on it, but I guess what's done is done, whatever.

The Bone Season, Samantha Shannon

FIRST U.S. EDITION, BABY!

It is the year 2059. Several major world cities are under the control of a security force called Scion. Paige Mahoney works in the criminal underworld of Scion London, part of a secret cell known as the Seven Seals. The work she does is unusual: scouting for information by breaking into others’ minds. Paige is a dreamwalker, a rare kind of clairvoyant, and in this world, the voyants commit treason simply by breathing. (Full description found here.)

Oh my goodness. I read this book like, a month ago--how am I getting so slow at this? Seriously.

Anyways, this book was AMAZING HOLY CRAP WOW. I know I say that a lot, and I know I say that a lot, but wow. One of my friends kept telling me I had to read this book and I was like, okay, I'll look it up eventually . . . And so finally she just got it for me for my birthday. Thank God. I can't believe I almost missed out on this book. It's definitely a wow-book.

Original. For me, at least. I haven't read a lot of books that involve spirits and stuff, but this one is something special, I can tell. There's an added element that I won't give away because it happens in the first like, ten chapters, but it sets up the story and I really don't want to ruin that for you. I'm a strong believer in, "Don't tell me anything about the book before I read it--don't even tell me if it's good or bad." Which, I guess, means that I'm really not expecting anyone to read these reviews--I wouldn't. I stay so far away from reviews of books I want to read, but haven't yet. I just like experiencing the entire book, not just the plot or whatever. I love the whole thing, even when I have to keep moving and changing my position just to be more comfortable while reading. Even if that means hanging over the side of my bed, which I do a lot.

So anyways, this book was too good for words. And this review will be fun because it's the first in a series! I won't feel like I'm just rewording the same sentences over and over just to explain the characters! Woohoo!

Yeah the setting was kind of already mentioned in the book description up top, but I'll just remind you. The year is 2059, in the UK. I'm a little fuzzy on the details of where in the UK they are, just because I don't live there and I don't want to assume anything and sound like a dork. I know the whole thing starts in London, but I'm really not sure after that. I just pictured the same setting for a large portion of the book as the same setting I pictured when reading Nancy Drew with my sister. Like, the old Nancy Drew books. I know that doesn't really make sense, seeing as this book is set in the future, but whatever. I do what I want. You do what you want.

Any-hoo, the main characters now--right?

Paige Mahoney. Okay, at first I was really scared that I would picture this girl from school named Paige, as the main character. But thank goodness I didn't. I mean, the girl from school isn't that bad, we used to be BFFs, but I don't like picturing people I know as the main character. I think that's a common thing among readers. So Paige Mahoney. She's pretty chill, I guess, for being a brain breaker (that's not a technical term, I just came up with it so don't quote me). I guess it does surprise me sometimes when she's freaked out by certain things and I'm just here like, "Are you serious? You can pop into people's heads," but I guess she's used to it. She's probably seventeen or something, I don't really remember, sorry. Like I said, I read this a month ago. But yeah, she's around that age (I'm guessing but still pretty sure), and she does get reasonably rebellious. Like a teenager. I don't know what it is, but teenagers are just like that. "Us against the world," kind of thing, I think.

Nick is probably not the next main character, but I love him. He's just perfect. Love him.

Also Jaxon is great. I don't really know how old Jaxon is, but I kind of pictured him like Nolan Ross from Revenge, but that might be just because I really like that show. You can click on his name if you want to see what he looks like, it's not some random link. I think if you press and hold Ctrl when you click on it, it will come up in another tab instead of messing up this one. You're welcome.

Maybe it's just because Jaxon's personality reminds me of Nolan Ross' personality on Revenge. I don't know. That's only what my brain came up with when Jaxon showed up.

Now I've got to work on four more reviews so those will be up lickity-split.

Allegiant, Veronica Roth

So this review is long overdue. BUT I'M JUST SO TORN. DO NOT BLAME ME. 

One choice will define you. 

What if your whole world was a lie?What if a single revelation—like a single choice—changed everything?What if love and loyalty made you do things you never expected?
The faction-based society that Tris Prior once believed in is shattered—fractured by violence and power struggles and scarred by loss and betrayal. So when offered a chance to explore the world past the limits she’s known, Tris is ready. Perhaps beyond the fence, she and Tobias will find a simple new life together, free from complicated lies, tangled loyalties, and painful memories. (Full description found here.)

Yeah, so I finished this book on like, the 26th. Or the 25th. I think the twenty-fifth, because I also think that's a Friday and I would have read like heck.

I'm so sad this series is over but this book was so good. Or, at least it ended well. I definitely liked Divergent the best out of the three books (if you don't know the series, it's Divergent, Insurgent, and now Allegiant.) That might get me some bad reactions, but I just think there was way more to Divergent than Allegiant. They got stuff done in Divergent, and Insurgent, but . . . eh, not so much Allegiant.

Okay, now I know a lot of people won't agree with that last statement, but it's what I think. So.

Besides, 'Allegiant' isn't even a word.

I'd have a problem with that except there are so many authors that have created entire languages, so one word isn't too much for me.

So the setting hasn't changed. There are five factions.

1. Candor (the honest) 

2. Erudite (the intelligent) 

3. Amity (the peaceful) 

4. Dauntless (the brave) 

5. Abnegation (the selfless) 

Each person is given a faction at their 16th birthday. On their birthday, they're taken into a room where they participate in a simulation. I can't explain this in a non-boring way. Sorry! It's more interesting in the book! In the simulation they go through a number of scenarios. Finishing one gets them into another one, and that determines their faction! After the simulations, all of the 16-year-olds go to a ceremony called the Choosing Ceremony. Where, clearly, they choose their faction.

Yep, that's from my Divergent review. If you haven't read Divergent, go read it now! It's so great, this series is amazing. Go forth, dear reader, and cry your heart out over these books.

So the characters. Yeah.

Here's what I had to say about them, a little over a year ago:

Main character one, Beatrice. She's born into Abnegation where everyone is polite (like, extremely). They never think of themselves and wear grey clothes and they never look in a mirror! I don't think I could live like that. Never ever, ever. Not in a million years; but Beatrice does. In the beginning of the book she seems really quiet and polite, but she's an Abnegation so she can't help it. Also, people call her a 'Stiff' for obvious reasons. But after her own simulation, she learns that she doesn't fit into any single faction. She fits into three; Dauntless, Abnegation, and Erudite. So if you'd be so kind as to look above, you will see that this shows that Beatrice is brave, polite, and smart. Good qualities, if you ask me! 

Next main character is Four. Right, his name is Four. Pronounced like 4. Four is mysterious at first but then you get to know that he's really an awesome dude. He's really obvious about his feelings if you catch on fast. If you're like Beatrice, which means you don't, then he just seems mean and weird. He's two years older than Beatrice, making him eighteen but it isn't such a big gap if you get my drift about what happens between them. I bet you can guess.
Go ahead, guess.Yep.

 I'd say not much has changed, except it totally has.

You don't have to guess what happens between Tris and Four, I can just tell you at this point. They're all lovey-dovey.

That's the only thing that totally pisses me off, if you can't already tell. I'm all for romance-y stuff, it's great, but in Allegiant? It's like, get a room. They seriously kiss at least once in every chapter. Every. Single. Chapter. It's so annoying! And, I know they're doing big things--saving their world and all that--but it's not like they almost die every page. There's no need to kiss every time they see each other. They're like--what? Eighteen? Nineteen? I think they're mature enough to back the heck up and pay attention to what they're doing, not just each other's lips.

But, don't get me wrong, it's a fab story. I loved it. The action parts were awesome, which, to be honest, it wasn't up to standard in the action department. I mean Insurgent was packed, you can't just go from that to . . . Well, Allegiant. There are some parts, but of course they'd be like, half a page long and then Tris and her dear Tobias (that's Four's real name) start making out again.

The more I think about it, the angrier I am. Especially after the book ending the way it did.

I don't know if one of my bestest friends (hey Emmy) is done with the book yet, and I don't know if one of my other bestest friends (I don't know if Erin reads this, but if you do--hello!) is planning on reading it, so I can't say anything revealing about the ending. I'll put something in my GoodReads review (I usually just copy and paste these reviews into the GoodReads review box).

Never Fade, Alexandra Bracken

I HAVE WAITED SO LONG FOR THIS.

Ruby never asked for the abilities that almost cost her her life. Now she must call upon them on a daily basis, leading dangerous missions to bring down a corrupt government and breaking into the minds of her enemies. Other kids in the Children’s League call Ruby “Leader”, but she knows what she really is: a monster. (Full description found here.)

So this has been a wild October. First there was Rose Under Fire by Elizabeth Wein. Then there's this. Then THIS TUESDAY, the 22nd, Allegiant by Veronica Roth comes out and then on . . . I think the 29th? Horde by Ann Aguirre comes out. And then on November-something, Champion by Marie Lu comes out. I've been waiting so long for all of these books to finally come out. It's been forever!

Any-hoo. This book was . . . oh my God. It was everything a sequel could ever dream to be. It's just magnificent. Splendid. Amazing.

I don't have enough adjectives to describe Never Fade. Some people say it's even better than The Darkest Minds (the first book--if you haven't read it, you need to). I say this: The Darkest Minds was better than the best. Never Fade just continues that. I wouldn't say it's better or worse, their both equally unbelievably perfect in different ways.

I just read over my review for Darkest Minds, my emotions are still the same.

"I think I might cry.
Okay I'm going to cry."

Yeah, still the same.

Usually, when I suspect that a series will be really, really good, I pick a theme song. It's usually piano music or just classical, without words, so I can focus on the story. For this series, I picked the 1812 Overture. DO YOU KNOW HOW MANY TIMES I HAVE HEARD THAT OUTSIDE OF PLAYING IT ON REPEAT WHILE I READ? Every time I hear it, I have to fight back the urge to cry. I'm dead serious. It's unhealthy. One time another band played it at one of our band concerts and I had to sit there and think about The Darkest Minds and just . . . sit. It made me so sad. Oh my God, Alexandra Bracken--what have you done to me?

So yeah, that's my Darkest Minds theme-song and I started it on repeat again as I began to read Never Fade, after being deprived of the characters for a long time. Like, since In Time (a short e-book that came between TDM and NF) came out. Or, actually I don't know when In Time came out, but I read it over the summer. So it'd been awhile since I had read about this setting or these characters. I was already crying by page eight. I missed these guys!

I have a lot to say about this series. I'm sorry in advance!

Let's get down to business though.

The main character is still Ruby Daly, except she's much older than she was at the beginning of The Darkest Minds. But, let's be real, she was way older at the end of TDM than she was at the beginning. So really no change there. I still want to grab Ruby by the shoulders and shake some sense into her! Oh my GOD, this girl makes the dumbest decisions! If I were in her shoes, I'd probably make the same decisions--actually, scratch that, I'd make about 50% of the same decisions. Maybe 75%. Either way, she makes decisions that fit with what she knows and not with what I'm guessing will happen after she makes that decision. Basically I spend the whole time saying, "SEE RUBY? SEE? I told you that would happen." But that's normal for me. I talk to fictional characters all the time. Who doesn't?

Liam. Oh god. Lee. Stewart. If I start typing I will start screaming again so here's just what I put down for my review of TDM...

"I love him. He's just so chill. No like, cool-chill, just chill. He's also got a deep reservoir of cool-kid lingo and nicknames. I don't know if he's my favorite character, just because the other ones are so awesome too."

Yeah, I still don't know if he's my favorite character. There are so many. Plus there are new characters in Never Fade, compared to the ones in The Darkest Minds.

Personally, I think authors bring in new characters that aren't exactly main characters, just so they can kill them off. It's a terrible, horrible thing to do. But I'd rather have someone not-so-important die instead of someone I love so much already. I'm talking fictional characters. Of course. It's still sad either way, but I don't think I could even try to recover if Ruby or Lee or Chubs or Zu ever died. That would be the start of my downfall.

Seriously though, that's the worst thing I can think of. Oh, I hope that never happens. Just thinking about it makes my heart hurt. Oh my gosh.

Chubs, I should explain. He's very close to my favorite, if I had to pick one. He's just so perky all the time. Not. It's great. At first he totally rejects everyone but I think that's just because of some stuff in the past. He only truly trusts Lee and Zu, but he's grown to love Ruby just the same. Aw. Adorable, heart-warming.

I swear to goodness, though, if he ends up with one of the new characters from Never Fade, I will die. My main concern? Vida. I won't go into detail, but she's the new hot-chick in this series. She's always picking fights and stuff, kind of like Chubs, I guess. They snap at each other all the time. I just really don't want Chubs to end up with Vida. Like I said, I will die if they do. Chubs just isn't boyfriend material. I guess . . . I could see him being really awesome with a girlfriend, but they can't add another to the Fab Four. And she'll probably die anyways and we can't put Chubs through that.

That's just a prediction by the way, I haven't actually read anything about the third book. Though, I am making a prediction about the third book's title. I think it will either be "Into Black", "To Black", or just "Away". Since the books' titles make a sentence, the sentences would be:

• The darkest minds, in time, never fade into black/shadows/history (that last one's getting a little philosophical, oh well).
• The darkest minds, in time, never fade into the black/shadows.
• The darkest minds, in time, never fade to black/shadows.
• The darkest minds, in time, never fade away.
• The darkest minds, in time, never fade into (something like darkness, though I can't think of a good word).

I'm also open to different forms of "into", like "to", or something like that. Those are all considered in my guess. 

I'll admit, the last one sounds the most natural. But based on the fact that the original title for The Darkest Minds was supposed to be "Black is the Color," I figured that might factor in. I really hope I'm right. I have many witnesses to say I've predicted this right after finishing Never Fade. Not that the third title has anything to do with the storyline of the second book--I mean, "Never Fade" doesn't even have much to do with Never Fade's storyline.

I can keep guessing for hours. 

The Riddles of Epsilon, Christine Morton-Shaw

WOW. Did not disappoint.

Something dark has awoken on the remote island of Lume.

Jess is not pleased when her parents drag her off to live on the weird little island of Lume. But then she encounters an eerie presence in an abandoned cottage, and her anger turns to fear when it begins to lead her through a series of creepy riddles. As she slowly unravels the mysteries of Lume, she finds the writings of Sebastian, a boy who lived one hundred years ago and whose life contains unsettling reflections of her own. To her horror, the dangers he unearthed in 1894 now begin to threaten Jess and her family . . . and if Jess does not unlock the riddles in time, she may lose her mother forever.

So yeah, that's not really a big sparkly opening. But it's true. I got this from a book sale at the library and sometimes those used library books can be kind of . . . disappointing. Y'know? Well, this one was not. I still have a stack from the library left, but this was a great starter.

At first, you learn that Jess (hey, that's the name of the main character from the book I read before this!) is fourteen. Now, I haven't read a lot of books where the main character is younger than I am, I don't know why. It's just a thing that doesn't happen often. So I was a little worried I was going to picture Jess as some little kid (not that being fourteen makes you a little kid, please just go along with it), but I didn't! And so now I don't know why people think it's weird if adults read YA Fiction. Like, these stories are great! Everyone can read them! Everyone should read them! They're fabulous. I can't imagine picking up a book, reading the back cover, and putting it down just because the character is younger than I am. Not anymore, anyways. Heck, if I want to read Goosebumps books about twelve year olds hunting ghosts, I very well will! Life is short, do what you want.

Anyways, the setting of this story is the present! Well, probably. I mean, it's like 2005 probably but still that's very much not considered the past. So it's in the present. On an island called Lume. That's a great island name by the way, I wonder if it's real.

Well, Google tells me there is an island named Pedre de Lume, but not just Lume. Okay, moving on.

The main character, Jess, is fourteen so technically, now in 2013, she's older than me at--I think--22. My math could be off. So yeah I guess I wasn't reading about someone younger than me. Well there I go. Case solved. I should keep on topic, I know. Any-hoo, Jess is just a kid that gets pulled into this huge mess and in her place, I would have given up. Like, immediately. I don't think you understand. I love puzzles, I do, but the ones that Jess faces? Not a chance. That's why I was a little suspicious of this storyline. I mean, her mind jumps to conclusions and 97% of the time, they're the right conclusions. When does that ever happen? Yeah, never. At least not for me.

There aren't really any other big characters except for maybe Jess' mom and, of course, Epsilon. But there's not a lot to say there. I guess Sebastian is a big part too. They all kind of mush together and make the ending great.

Speaking of the ending, it was amazing. Seriously. All twisty-turny and fabulous. I love mind-bending endings. This one was written really nicely, making it easy to understand but still hurts your head if you continue to think about it, after finishing the end. Oh my gosh.

I don't know if anyone goes to GoodReads to read the reviews on these books I'm reviewing, but don't read the bad ones for this book. I mean, one says:  I had a really hard time getting through this book. It was just so dark and left a very uncomfortable feeling with me. I really couldn't read it after dark. 

I mean, really? You're going to give a book two stars because it makes you uncomfortable--which it's supposed to? There are twists and turns and cults and ghosts and monsters and god-like beings and . . . of course it's going to make you uncomfortable. It's supposed to make you think. Think about what-if's. What if this really happened. What if you had dreams like Jess. I tried reading it right before bed and it gave me the heebie-jeebies but I still kept reading it before bed. I think I love that feeling. Just thinking.