A Conspiracy of Stars

A Conspiracy of Stars

by Olivia A. Cole

All of her life, Octavia has lived on her planet and loved where she lived. Her parents, however, were born on a different planet and came to Faloiv years before. They and others set up a tentative peace with the natives who live on Faloiv. Until now, that peace has seemingly been beneficial to the humans.

Unfortunately, between the fact that their ship was damaged, possibly beyond repair, and the fact that some people don't like not being the dominant species, tensions have been getting higher.

Octavia has been immune to most of this until the day she travels with her father to another area of Faloiv and her world changes completely.

Now Octavia knows that some humans are making dangerous decisions and those decisions could lead to everyone's destruction.

Final thoughts: I definitely did not like this book. I read it for a class, so I couldn't give it up, but I probably wouldn't have selected it on my own. The one redeeming part of this book is that it is a sci-fi novel in which the main characters are all of color, rather than the whitewashed future often portrayed by the genre. Otherwise, the whole book is heavy-handed in its portrayal of the whitecoats (white hats), colonialism, and even vegetarianism. 

Rating: 1/5

Off Planet

Off Planet

by Aileen Erin

Years ago, Earth's SpaceTech led a "liberation" of the planet from the dangerous Aunare aliens who had begun to live and work with the humans who lived there. A mass exodus of the aliens from the planet was the start and the systematic killing of every alien and half alien ("halfer") was the next step. Any full blood Aunare or halfer that is found is fed to rabid dogs on the evening news and humans cheer.

Maité Martinez is one such halfer. Her father is a high-ranking Aunare who made it off planet before the murders began, but he left his wife and halfer daughter behind to spend their lives in hiding. Maité remembers almost nothing of her young childhood or her father because her mother had her memories wiped to protect them both. Now all Maité knows is that she's a halfer and that she needs to hide her identity no matter what. Her capture could lead to war. 

Unfortunately, she's not as hidden as she'd hoped to be and a mistake leads her to prison and a sentence to hard labor on a fiery planet.

Rescue efforts are coming and she is strong, but can she survive long enough to be saved?

Final thoughts: This one is a mess. The reader is dropped into the middle of everything and clues are dropped throughout the book about Maité and her past, but it's a struggle to figure it out. It doesn't help that things that are obvious to the reader are completely missed by the main character. There's no room to breathe for the reader or the people who populate this story. It's constantly in motion and that makes it all a little claustrophobic as a story. That might be the intention of the author, but it makes for a strain on the reader. It's hard to track time and the logic of things isn't always explained. For example, I spent the longest time trying to figure out why they had to be in cryogenic sleep to travel because it made no sense. Near the end, there was finally a line dropped in about how human bodies can't handle the speeds the space vehicles must travel so that they have to be put to sleep. Ah! Why didn't you say so earlier! It seems that there are many things like that that are last minute add-ons to explain things that should have been edited earlier. I might come back to the sequel if I notice it, but I won't actively look for it.

Rating: 3/5

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

The Rules

The Rules

by Stacey Kade

Ariane Tucker knows she's not normal. Her first six years of life were spent in a lab, learning how to use her powers. She's always known that she is a mix of human and alien.

When she was six, things changed and she was rescued by Mark Tucker, a man who took her in and raised her. He hid her by giving her the name of his recently dead daughter and becoming her father to all who met her. Some special contacts, a bandage for her lab tattoo, and her hair always in a bun, Ariane must spend every day hiding the physical traits that would give her away. She also has to create a routine to appear fully human.

But most importantly, Ariane must follow five basic rules in order to stay under the radar.

1. Never trust anyone.
2. Remember they are always searching.
3. Don’t get involved.
4. Keep your head down.
5. Don’t fall in love.

Ten years after being freed, Ariane is close to her goal of leaving forever. As long as she can keep her head down for a little bit longer, she'll be completely free.

What Ariane never expected was love. She definitely never expected Zane to care for her, too.

If she can just get her powers back under control, she may be able to survive; but getting her powers back means breaking every rule and putting her back into the spotlight where she may be found again.

Final thoughts: Interesting idea with some good moments though I'm not really rushing to get the sequel. I liked Zane and Ariane was interesting, but their naivete was annoying. Ok, but not great.

Rating: 3/5

Alienated

Alienated

by Melissa Landers

When aliens from L'eihr showed up two years ago, Cara Sweeney had no idea that she'd be hosting one of them at her house for a year as part of a student exchange program.

While her brother goes to the L'eihr home planet, Aelyx comes to stay with Cara and her family. There are two other L'eihr students on Earth, as well, and all three have a mission from their home to be ambassadors for peace.

Of course, all three have a mission of their own, which is not in the plans for everyone else.

So, while Cara works to make Aelyx comfortable and help him adjust to life on Earth, Aelyx works to destroy the alliance that his Elders have worked so hard to create. He believes that the plan to eventually bring humans and L'eihrs together is one that is doomed to fail; he's just going to make sure it fails faster.

What Aelyx and Cara could never have imagined was finding true friendship in each other, even when all the other people around them begin to betray them. And love? That was never supposed to happen.

Final thoughts: Nice start to a trilogy with some solid relationship building between the characters. This is very good at show instead of tell and definitely has some real moments. There were a few points that seemed a little forced, but the overall message is clear and even a little relevant when it comes to discussing tolerance and extremism. I'm not sure that I'll go looking for the next book, but I don't think I'll ignore it if I see it.

Rating: 4/5

The Taking

The Taking 

by Kimberly Derting 

Kyra Agnew was the best softball player her town had ever seen. She was on the road to earning a scholarship to pretty much any college she wanted. But she didn't want just any college; she wanted the college that her boyfriend, Austin, was going to go to. Her dad, however, thinks her decision shouldn't be made just because of her boyfriend's location. And that's the argument they're having when everything changes. 

That's when the fireflies surround her and a bright light beams. 

Moments later, Kyra wakes behind a gas station dumpster miles from home, with no memory of how she got there. She heads to her home only to find a stranger at her door. She runs to her boyfriend's house across the street only to find his little brother who isn't so little anymore. And she finds out that it wasn't just a moment between the light and her appearance behind the dumpster. 

It was five years. 

And, boy, have things changed! Her parents divorced after her dad became obsessed with fireflies. Her mother remarried and now has a young brother for Kyra. Her boyfriend is dating her best friend and they're at college following Kyra's dream. And her boyfriend's brother is very much in love with her. 

If all that wasn't enough, government agents are tracking her and a strange boy keeps following her. 

Which makes Kyra wonder, what really happened that night five years ago? 

Final thoughts: Meh. Interesting read and I finished it quickly, but I wasn't fully engaged. Things happened really quickly and sometimes felt like they were on hyper-drive. The relationship with Tyler was odd, confusing, and really out of nowhere (plus a little skeevy because he'd been 12 the last time she'd seen him and now they're in love?). Derting's Body Finder series was much better. Maybe I'll go reread that... 

Rating: 3/5