Triskellion 2: The Burning

Triskellion 2: The Burning

by Will Peterson

The danger has passed.  After all the supernatural weirdness with ancient burials, mysterious strangers, live television archeology shows, and the strange behavior of bees, twins Rachel and Adam are finally going home with their mother to New York.

Except, they aren't.

Instead of heading to the airport, the helicopter takes them to The Hope Project, and they are drugged and trapped in a "research" facility.  Their mother is also taken, and the twins have little choice but to comply for the time being.

Fortunately, their mysterious friend, Gabriel, is still in contact with them and he helps them begin a journey that will take them to foreign lands where they will meet other twins like themselves.  Twins with abilities that even they cannot imagine.  Twins who help Gabriel to find the others of his kind who have visited for centuries.

Can the mystery be solved before the twins are reclaimed by The Hope Project?  And will they ever figure out who the other person is who seems to be tracking them?

Final thoughts:  Great second book.  It continues the story, adds new ideas, and leads to an amazing conclusion that bodes well for book 3.

Rating: 4/5

I Write Like...

So, I submitted one of my blog entries to I Write Like and got this...  

I write like
Bram Stoker

I Write Like by Mémoires, Mac journal software. Analyze your writing!

Interesting.  And I've never even read Dracula.

Linger

Linger

by Maggie Stiefvater

After Sam's last conversion from wolf back to human, everything changed.  He's changed.  He's not changing anymore.  He and Grace seem to have found the cure and now he never has to worry about being a wolf again.  He never has to worry about being away from Grace again.

But things never end up happily ever after.

Now Sam must deal with the newest werewolf, Cole, who seems determined to either be a wolf forever or die trying.  There is also Isabel, who has her own issues.  And Isabel's dad, who thinks that wolf hunting seasons and licenses are only for those who don't have the money to buy off the town officials.

And there's Grace.

Grace, who is the love of Sam's life.  Grace, who is his soul mate.  Grace, who is sick and won't let anyone help her.  Grace, whose only comfort is the woods, where she feels safe, even as the other wolves surround her.

Can Sam and Grace really have a life together when everything conspires to tear them apart?

Final thoughts:  Excellent sequel to Shiver.  It continues the story with a new tangent and makes us hungry for the third book.  

Rating: 5/5

Misty Gordon and the Mystery of the Ghost Pirates

Misty Gordon and the Mystery of the Ghost Pirates

by Kim Kennedy

Misty's family has always been a little odd and Misty has been forced to live with that fact all of her life.  Her parents are estate dealers.  Basically, they check obituaries every day and then go to the homes of the recently departed to buy off their stuff for cheap and sell it at their Dearly Departed Antiques Store in town.

It's not something they do to get rich.  There's really no money in the business at all.  And because they are so broke, Misty has been forced to accept these hand-me-downs from the dead whenever she's needed something new.  Her room is a mishmash of furniture from dead people.  Her clothes aren't much better.

When the town's psychic finally kicks the bucket, Misty rides with her dad to the house to pick up some of the odds and ends... Mostly odds.

There's a strange vanity that locks when it feels like it.  A diary that attacks people who try to read it.  And a pair of glasses that can see more than the normal, average, everyday kind.   

With her new possessions, Misty also finds out the secrets of her town and its oldest citizens.  

Now she and her friend, Yoshi, must find the hidden treasure of a band of pirates and keep it from their descendants, or the whole town could be destroyed.

Final thoughts:  There were some really good moments in this book.  However, they were really just moments.  The author has a good idea, but not a great style.  The end just seemed to be crammed in without a lot of thought.  I had to re-read a few passages over to try and clarify things because they went by so fast.

Rating: 3/5

Wildwing

Wildwing

by Emily Whitman

Addy is the bastard child of a seamstress and no one, not even her mother, will let her forget it.  When she goes to school, she is bullied by her wealthier classmates.  When she's at home, she's told to remember her place and keep her mouth shut.

After yet another "incident" in which she loses her temper, her mother has decided that enough is enough.  She's to work for the town's eccentric inventor as his daily maid.  No longer allowed to go to school, she is forced to clean his house, make meals, and keep things in order.

But Addy never has been much of a rule-follower.  When she goes into the library that has been locked for years, she discovers not only dust and spiderwebs, but an elevator that goes through time.

Tired of being forced to live a life that she does not want, she steps into the elevator and goes back to medieval England where she's mistaken for the betrothed Lady of the local Lord.

It takes time and a lot of effort, but Addy feels like she's finally found her place in the world... and the one she's meant to be with.  Unfortunately, her soul mate isn't the Lord of the land; he's the falconer.  And now Addy has a choice to make.

Marry a man she does not love and live in the time she feels most at home, or leave forever to avoid being near her love without being able to be with him.

Final thoughts:  It takes a few pages to get into it, but once in, it's hard to let go.  While some of the choices Addy makes seem a little convenient, overall the story is good.

Rating: 4/5

Book Blogger Hop

Jennifer at Crazy for Books has a great idea for sharing ideas and thoughts about book blogging.  She's created the Book Blogger Hop.  The rules are simple and the sites are great, so if you blog about books, seriously think about signing up.  If you don't blog, well now you've got a great resource for book info!

The book I'm most itching to get my hands on is Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins.  I can't wait to see how The Hunger Games series finishes out.  Second most itchy book is Linger, the sequel to Shiver.

Stolen

Stolen

by Lucy Christopher

Gemma was just trying to get something to drink at the airport before boarding the plane with her parents.  She just needed a few minutes away from them.  Just a few minutes to be by herself.

And then she wasn't.

He was there.

And through a little clever talking, some preparation, and some drugs in her coffee, he took her.

Now she's trapped in the middle of the Australian desert with this man who seems to know her far too well and she has nowhere to go.  It's just the two of them and the open desert for miles.

All he wants is for her to love him.

All she wants is to get away.

Final thoughts:  This is Gemma's letter to her captor, so it's written in first person.  It takes a little getting used to, but the story is very much worth it.  It's a powerful tale of the effects of Stockholm Syndrome on the victim, and even on the kidnapper.  Well worth the read.

Rating: 4/5

Abby Carnelia's One & Only Magical Power

Abby Carnelia's One & Only Magical Power

by David Pogue

One day, while making a salad and realizing that she was missing an earring, Abby Carnelia discovered that she was special.  Not in that way that all parents thinks their kids are special.  No.  Really, really special.

Abby can spin hard-boiled eggs.  Only hard-boiled eggs.  Only clockwise.  And only if she tugs on both ears at the same time.

Ok.  So it's not much of a trick.  But it is magic... right?

So Abby's parents send her to a new magic camp that's opened up for the summer.  There, Abby discovers the tricks of magic and the fact that she's not alone.  There are others like her.  And people are looking for them.

Can Abby figure out the truth about her power and the people searching for people like her before it's too late?

Final thoughts:  Clever premise.  I enjoyed reading about Abby and her discoveries.  My only complaint with this was that the book's narrator is a writer for the New York Times (no, really, the author is), but the writing itself is stilted and awkward, as if Abby (in 7th grade) had written it instead.  I wish it could have flowed a little better.

Rating: 4/5

The Exile of Gigi Lane

The Exile of Gigi Lane

by Adrienne Maria Vrettos

I'm Gigi Lane and you wish you were me.

Gigi has known since she was seven that she was destined to be popular.  It was just a natural progression for her.  She's got well-off parents, is great with adults, and knows how to look good.

She also knows what everyone else is doing wrong and isn't afraid to tell them.  And now that she's in line to be the next Head Hottie to rule the school, she'll have the perfect platform to be the most popular and share her wealth of knowledge with everyone around her (whether they want her to or not).

But things go horribly wrong at the Founder's Ball when she's called out for being the "mean girl" that she is in front of everyone, and they all agree.  She's sent to Alaska for the summer only to return and find herself in a new role.

Exile.

She's not welcome anywhere at school, but still has to go there.

Can the former mean girl reform herself before her senior year is over?

Final thoughts:  I read it in one day and enjoyed it, but then kept coming back to things.  While Gigi changes, she doesn't really change much.  In the end, she still has her mean girl tendencies and an insane desire to be popular, which, going what she went through, doesn't seem grounded in reality.  But Gigi isn't really grounded in reality.  She's set up her own world in her head based on how she thinks things should be: not how they actually are.  And the whole exile to Alaska just seems placed there to explain why she's out of the loop on the first day of school, not to help her learn anything.  It's nice to see the mean girl get her comeuppance, but it would be better if it were more realistic in the way it's done. 

Rating: 3/5

After All, You're Callie Boone

After All, You're Callie Boone

by Winnie Mack

Fifth grade is ending and summer is just beginning for 11 year-old Callie Boone.  Things are changing all around her.  While Callie wants to keep things the way they are, her "friend" doesn't and abandons her without telling her why.

Now Callie is facing her first summer without her best friend, without sleepovers, and without someone to hang with during the long, boring days.

Instead, she's looking at a summer of being stuck at home with her daytime TV addict of a grandma, her uncle and his ferrets, her 3 year-old brother (who's not yet potty trained), her 15 year-old brother (who's got a potty mouth), and not much else.

That is, until Hoot moves in on her block and things change radically.

But is Callie ready to change with them?

Final thoughts: This is a nice, safe read about friendships and growing up.  Callie is faced with some hard choices and she reacts like many 11 year-olds.  She can be angry and temperamental, but also very generous.  A nice coming-of-age story for the elementary/middle school girl.

Rating: 4/5

Sleepless

Sleepless

by Thomas Fahy

It starts with the dreams.

Then waking in a place completely different than where they went to sleep.

Then the newscasts saying that someone else is dead.

Someone else who died the same way they were killed in the dreams.

Something is going on in this sleepy town.  And no one can rest (literally) until they figure it out.

Will they be able to stop the murders?

Will they be next?

Final thoughts:  Spooky cover, but not much follow-through.  The premise was interesting; however, there were too many redirecting attempts and flashbacks.  This is reason!  No... That!  He is the killer!  No... Her!  Very confusing.  Sure to be in theaters soon, though.

Rating: 2/5

The Reformed Vampire Support Group

The Reformed Vampire Support Group

by Catherine Jinks

Maybe Stephenie Meyer has it all wrong.  Maybe being a vampire isn't as cool as it looks.

According to Nina, being a vampire is horrible.  Vamps are weak, sick, exhausted, and quite literally dead during the daylight hours. 

Once a week, she and other vamps like her meet to discuss their problems, their hopes, their dreams, and their regrets.  It's been like this since Nina was turned in 1973.  (She's now 51, but still in the body of a 15 year-old.)

But now things have changed.  Their maker, the vamp who started the chain of vamp creations years ago, is dead.  For real this time.  Staked in the heart.  Dust.  And the others must now come together, get past their weak forms, and try to find the guy who did it, before he does it again.

Can they be the stuff of legend?  Or will they all finally breathe their last breaths?

Final thoughts:  Eh.  It was what it was.  It had it's good points, but nothing really stood out.

Rating: 3/5

Beautiful

Beautiful

by Amy Reed

Cassie has always been a social outcast.  She's smarter than everyone around her, gets A's without trying, and knows all the answers.

When Cassie's mom convinces her dad to move to a new neighborhood, Cassie knows that this is her chance.  No one knows her.  She can be anyone.  She can become anyone.  She can be Someone.

What she becomes is a drug addict who sleeps with a guy just because being his boyfriend means that she'll always have an identity: Ethan's girl.  She drinks any alcohol around.  She takes acid, smokes pot, snorts coke.

Her world is falling apart and the only way for her to cope is to keep doing it all.

The only bright spot in her life is Sarah: a girl more damaged than her who depends on her to keep her safe and sane.

Can Cassie be the person Sarah needs her to be before it's too late?

Final thoughts: The writer has a unique voice, which was hard to get into initially.  But once I got the rhythm, the book was too powerful to put down.  Cassie's downward spiral was realistic and scary.  I kept wondering when her parents would figure out what was going on.  I kept hoping that her academic intelligence would finally clue in her social incompetence as to how she was ruining her life.

Rating: 4/5

Warning: This has mature themes and issues.  Cassie may be only 13, but she's going through things in this book that would make many adults uncomfortable to read about.

Mac Slater Hunts the Cool

Mac Slater Hunts the Cool

by Tristan Bancks

Mac has always been on the outside of things.  He lives in his mother's broken-down bus that she parked in a little art community near the chicken slaughter factory.  He wears second- and third-hand clothes because his mother's only job is making and selling fire batons (not a lot of profit in that).

He's never been what most might call "popular" or "cool".  And after his little stunt on the beach trying to get a bike to fly with a parachute and a solar powered engine, Mac and his pal, Paul, are sure to be at the bottom of the social pool at his middle school.

But the guys who run coolhunters.com see something in him.  So they offer him the chance of a lifetime.  For five days, he has to record and post his own video blog about what's cool in his town.  If his vids get enough hits, he gets a job with them trying out new products, posting about them online, and generally telling everyone out there what's cool and what's not.

Besides not being very cool to most people, the only real problem is that he has to compete against the girl he's had a crush on for ages.  And she's always been "cool".

Can he be himself and still be cool?

Final thoughts: This is definitely more of a "guy" book.  Mac's dealing with a lot of issues with friends, bullies, and his outcast dad who seems to disappear whenever Mac needs him most.  A good book to recommend to reluctant male readers.

Rating: 4/5

Devoured

Devoured

by Amanda Marrone

What if Snow White, her Prince Charming, and her Evil Stepmother had been real?

What if the mirror had also been real?

And what if Snow White had been given that magic mirror and handed it down to her descendants?

Megan is about to find out.

And she has to find out while dealing with her boyfriend (who seems to be waaaayyy too close to his female best friend), her mother (who ignores her), a cute guy (who has his own female follower), her dad (who's been in a coma for ten years), and her twin sister (who is a ghost).

Yes.  

You read that right.

Her sister is a ghost.

And she's trying to tell Megan something.

But with everything else going on is Megan's life, can she figure out what her sister is trying to say?

Final thoughts:  Light read.  Not amazing, but not horrendous.  Interesting premise, but could have been executed with a little more flair.

Rating: 3/5

The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner

The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner

by Stephenie Meyer

Bree doesn't remember much of her past, but she remembers every second of the time since she was turned.  She knows that there are some to avoid, one to stick close to, and no one to trust.  No one until she starts talking to Diego.

Now she's finding out all kinds of things about her own kind that she didn't know.  And she's finding out that the world is more dangerous than even she realized.

You may know how Bree's story ends, but here's what happened before that.

Final thoughts:  On its own, Bree's story is interesting.  It's not nearly as fleshed out as Meyer's previous work, so it felt like a different author wrote it in some ways.  Other things are quite familiar.  The only really annoying part was when Bree's story and Bella's came together.  There was too much work to try and get the puzzle to fit right, like putting a square peg in a round hole.  It felt forced, like Meyer was trying to explain too many little things from Eclipse while telling Bree's story: things that didn't really need explaining and actually changed what I thought had happened.  

Rating: 4/5

The Mark

The Mark

by Jen Nadol

At the bus stop, Cassie sees one.  A man.  With a mark.  It's all around him.  There's a light that surrounds him and Cassie thinks she knows what it means.  When she follows him and watches him get hit by a car and die, she's sure she knows what it means.

It's the mark of death.  Those with it have less than 24 hours to live.

And soon after, it surrounds her grandmother.  Despite all her efforts, she fails to stop the inevitable.

Now Cassie must try and figure out what to do with this gift... or curse.  Can she change the future for those who are marked?  Is it right to try?  Or should she just try to avoid paying attention to it at all.

Final thoughts:  Great premise with a really good follow through.  It's possible that this is the first in a series for this girl, so I'm very much looking forward to reading more about Cassie.  Is she alone?  Are there others?  And the philosophical discussions were kind of fun.  However, they may bog down younger readers, since Nadol covers quite a range of philosophical theory while Cassie audits a college philosophy course.

Rating: 5/5

Positively

Positively

by Courtney Sheinmel

Emerson "Emmy" Price was diagnosed with HIV when she was only four years old.  Her mother died from complications due to AIDS when Emmy was just 13.  And now Emmy's entire world has flipped.

She's living with her dad (who abandoned her and her mother soon after the diagnosis) and his new wife, who happens to be very pregnant.

For a while, whenever she does something, Emmy thinks, "This is the first time I've done _____ without a mother."  Later, she thinks about how her mother will never be able to see her do things ever again.  After a while, Emmy even questions the purpose of taking her medications at the same time every day, three times a day.  Would it really matter if she was a little late?  Would it be so horrible if she skipped a dose?

Her dad and stepmother keep trying to reach out to her, and Emmy knows that they are doing it because they love her, but every thought of being nice in return makes her feel like she's betraying her mother.

After going a little crazy and scaring her stepmother, Emmy's dad decides she needs to get away for a while.  So he sends her to Camp Positive, a six-week summer camp that solely designed for HIV-positive girls.  While she doesn't want to go, Emmy has no choice, and now she's with a group of girls just like her.

Will it make a difference?

Final thoughts:  I liked Sheinmel's earlier book, My So-Called Family, so I had good feelings walking into this one.  She could have treated this subject in a very dark way, and Emmy can be very dark, but the overall feeling is one of positivity.  My only complaint would be that the writing from Emmy's point of view felt younger than her 13 years.  I occasionally felt like she was around nine or ten, just by the sentence structure and vocabulary.  Overall, though, a good book and a great resource for kids who are dealing with HIV/AIDS in their own homes and bodies.

Rating: 4/5

Thirteen Reasons Why

Thirteen Reasons Why

by Jay Asher

Hannah Baker is dead.

She killed herself by taking pills, though no one really knows what happened that day.

She's left behind her parents, her secret crush, her desk that is left empty for her, and... tapes.

7 tapes.

13 messages to 13 people.

13 people who were key to getting her to the point of committing suicide.

13 people who possibly started it.

13 people who could have stopped it.

13 people who must now listen to all 7 tapes all the way through and pass them on by mailing them to the next person on the list.

13 people who must listen and mail on the tapes or a second set will be released publicly and everyone will know their dirty little secrets.

Clay Jensen is one of them.  And now it's his turn.

What secrets will he discover?  How will they change him?

Final thoughts:  This is an amazing book that is still haunting my thoughts.  It was so well written that I wanted to read it in one sitting... but couldn't.  The writing was breathtaking, as was the story.  It was so well written that I often had to put it down and take a few moments to get away from Hannah and her story.  For anyone who's ever been the victim of bullies and wondered what would happen if you just disappeared, this is the book you need.  And, if you really are at that point, call 1-800-SUICIDE.  If you know someone who may be at that point, go to www.hopeline.com.  Just don't let anyone become another Hannah.

Rating: 5/5

Hush, Hush

Hush, Hush

by Becca Fitzpatrick

Nora Grey lost her father last year when some random violence randomly caught and killed him.  Since then, she's spent most nights alone in her family's farmhouse, while her mother tries to keep the bills paid with a job that takes her up and down the coast.

.

Nora thinks she's doing ok.  She thinks she's handling everything fine.  And, with her friend, Vee, things seem to be getting back to some semblance of normal.

Then Patch walks into her life.

He's gorgeous.  He's dangerous.  And he seems to know everything about her.

.

Her best friend thinks she should stay away and Nora is fighting herself every time he's near, but she just can't seem to help herself.

And now she's the target of a large person in black, wearing a ski mask.  People are getting injured and dying around her, and the only person who seems to know what's going on is the very person she thinks may be causing all of the problems.

Final thoughts:  About halfway through this, I realized I was reading Twilight.  There were just too many parallels in the story.  And while there aren't any vampires, the similarities between Nora/Bella and Patch/Edward are distracting.  This is also the first in a series, so I'm worried about future books.  Will Patch leave to make Nora safe?  Will he try to kill himself because he thinks she's dead?  Will they have to fight werewolves?  For those who get can past the constant similarities, this could be a great book.  For the rest, not so much.

Rating: 3/5

The Amaranth Enchantment

The Amaranth Enchantment

by Julie Berry

When she was just five years old, Lucinda lost her parents in a tragic accident.  Told that they were penniless debtors, instead of the wealthy merchant she always thought her father to be, Lucinda is forced to live with her uncle and his bitter second wife to work off the debt.

Ten years later, Lucinda is still working.  But events have occurred to change her life when she meets the Amaranth Witch, the heir to the throne, and a pickpocket all in the same day.  

Now she's got to make a deal with the witch and learn to steal from the heir with tips from the pickpocket.  And she's got to do it quickly.

Because the witch isn't the most dangerous person out there and he's coming their way.

Final thoughts: I love fairy tale re-tellings and this one is a really good new version of Cinderella.  It's just close enough to be familiar, but still gives quite a few new twists.  A fun read. 

Rating: 4/5

Stupid Cupid

Stupid Cupid

by Rhonda Stapleton

Teen Cupids Wanted for Matchmaking Company.  Call for Interview.

Seems like a good gig and Felicity could definitely use the cash, so she's super excited when she's offered the job.  She gets a cool pink PDA and a keep-the-secret contract, too.

But what she thought was just a simple job watching videos and of the loveless and matching them to other loveless losers turns out to be something completely different.

She discovers that she's now a cupid.  Not THE cupid, but one of the many cupids working around the world to make true love matches and get couples together.  All she has to do is send a couple of magic emails to her targets and they have two weeks of pure bliss together.  If they stick together after that, they are an official couple and Felicity gets a bonus in her paycheck!

So she starts fixing up the people around her.  Of course, she's a little too lazy to read the manual, so there are a few mistakes along the way, but what's a cupid to do?

Final thoughts:  It is what it is.  Nothing special, but no brain drain.  There are a few cute moments, but the story is fairly predictable.

Rating: 3/5

Scarlett Fever

Scarlett Fever

by Maureen Johnson

After a successful summer run of Hamlet set in her parents' hotel, Scarlett and her family must now get back to the normal routines of running the run-down hotel, and Scarlett must now go back to school.

Unfortunately, Scarlett is still dealing with her break-up from Eric, as well as her needy boss, the owner of a new talent agency.  So things aren't as smooth as she would like.

Her brother, Spencer, finally lands the job of a lifetime, with a few consequences that affect the family.  Her older sister may be getting back together with her ex, Chip.  And her younger sister is being strangely nice.  

So Scarlett's life should be getting better.  But when her boss sets her sights on getting a new  fifteen year-old talent, Chelsea, Scarlett is forced to step in and be like a friend to her, and Chelsea's brother, Max.  And Max is really difficult to get along with.

Can Scarlett get over Eric, help her brother's career, keep her family intact, be Chelsea's friend, and figure out Max's motives?

Final thoughts:  I'd missed the first book in the series, Suite Scarlett, so it was a bit like jumping feet-first into the middle of the pool, but it was easy to get into the story.  There were some fun moments and the characters are great.  My only complaint is that it ends like a soap opera cliffhanger.  It's like the book is missing the chapter that would have at least rounded things out.

Rating: 3/5

Magic Under Glass

Magic Under Glass

by Jaclyn Dolamore

Nimira was born into a respected family with a mother who could sing like an angel and a father who adored her.  Unfortunately, after her mother died, her father became a gambling addict and destroyed the family's reputation and wealth, so Nim left to find her fortune and try to save her family name.

Four years later and Nim is still singing with a traveling performance troupe and still getting nowhere.  That's until Hollin Parry shows up and makes her an offer.  She can come live in his home, have food and clothing, and sing at performances with a wind-up automaton that plays piano, which Parry recently acquired.

Nim takes him up on it, even though there are rumors that the automaton is haunted.  She decides it's worth the risk.

What she finds, however, is not an automaton, but a fairy prince who has been trapped in the automaton for decades and only wants to be free.  She also finds love, a mystery woman, intrigues, and dark magic.

Can she save the fairy prince and herself before it's too late?

Final thoughts:  Mixed feelings.  It was an easy read, but I often felt like things had been skipped or missed.  And this book was the opposite of Dragonfly in the sense that it appears that the author has decided to make this a series, possibly a trilogy, when there really isn't a need for one.  For the first 3/4 of the book, it's going along at a pace that will have everything neatly tied up at the end.  But it feels like the author decided at this point that she wanted to make this two or three books instead, so she switches gears, changes up the plot, and we're suddenly left with a kind of strange cliff-hanger.

Rating: 2/5 - Ok, but get it at the library instead of buying it for yourself.

NOTE:  As you can see from the cover images, this book was printed in 2010, but already has three covers.  This is one of those books with a "cover controversy".  Bloomsbury, the publisher of this book, initially used the image of the Caucasian girl for the cover, when Nim is clearly described as having a Middle Eastern appearance.  There has been quite a bit of talk in the blog world about this, much like the controversy over Justine Larbalestier's Liar.  This is an interesting publishing phenomena that could make for a cool research study.  I know I'd read about it.

Shadow

Shadow

by Jenny Moss

Shadow has always lived with the queen.  She's supposed to protect her.  A prophecy told when the queen was born warns that she will be killed by her sixteenth birthday.  So Shadow is supposed to be there to take the arrow or sword in her stead.

But when Shadow fails and the queen dies anyway, she's taken by a young knight on a journey of magic and discovery.

Her world isn't what she thought it was.

Final thoughts:  Awful, awful book.  It's obvious from the beginning what the "twist" is and it's dull in the extreme getting there.  The writing is poor and the story even more so.  Moss spends no time on any one, single aspect of the story or the world it's set in.  She can't make up her mind about the characters and their motivations.  They love each other, despise each other, like each other, can't stand each other... So annoying.  It's not a progression of one emotion to the other; it's relationship ADD or schizophrenia.  Not worth the trouble.

Rating: 1/5