How to Date a Superhero

How to Date a Superhero
(and not die trying)

by Christina Fernandez

Astrid is in her sophomore year of college working on her premed courses to someday become a doctor. It's not that she really wants to be a doctor but more that she feels she needs to really do something with her life after she almost died in high school when a supervillain attacked her school bus. 

Yup. That's right. Supervillain. In this alternate universe New York, superheroes and villains are everywhere and just a part of life.

When Astrid is kidnapped by a villain from her dorm room, Kid Comet saves her from a fate worse than death and just admits that he's really Max Martin, her boyfriend and the clumsy guy she's known since high school.

Now Astrid must add in to her very busy schedule time for The Program, which is designed to teach the significant others of superheroes how to survive all things that may happen to them when (not if) they are kidnapped.

If she can't find some balance in her life, Astrid may not survive college let alone the murderous rage of a supervillain intent on revenge.

Final thoughts: The idea of this alternate universe is cool. I would love to see how people who are in the world of the Avengers deal with all of the new complications in life. Unfortunately, this story is more about Astrid's personal issues dealing with time, planning, and over-scheduling. Some interesting ideas but just not enough world building for me.

Rating: 3/5

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

The Last She

The Last She

by H.J. Nelson

(I can't write about this... I had to rant instead)

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

The Stars We Steal

The Stars We Steal

by Alexa Donne

Leo is the oldest daughter of her father who is the king of his ship, literally. She's a princess with no money and her father needs to her find a wealthy husband so that the king can keep up appearances and keep up his luxuries.

The only way they have gotten by so far is on the generosity of Leo's aunt who has let them stay docked on her ship and waived the normal fees. But now Leo must step up. It's either find money or find a husband with money.

Leo has her own plans that will keep her family solvent and keep her out of a marriage of convenience, but selling people on a water filtration system that includes the sewage isn't easy.

Things get more tense and complicated when Leo's former fiancee (of all of 12 hours) comes back into her life three years after leaving. He's got everything she needs and some of what she still wants.

Can they come together when everyone tried so hard before to keep them apart?

Final thoughts: This starts off as a Persuasion rewrite with some Bachelor additions. Even the rose on the cover is meant to evoke The Bachelor (the author makes sure to state that in the course of the book to make sure that we know). The problem is that it starts off far too close to Austen's Persuasion at the start and then goes way off-kilter. Suddenly there is crime, extortion, danger, elections, and more. I do not understand Leo's final choice at the end because it matches Persuasion, but doesn't match what she was saying halfway through the book. She's an inconsistent character. While the space setting is interesting, it also distracts from the story, especially when things seem to be brought in just for a moment for the story and then left behind. Finally, my last issue is that this feels like Donne is leaving just enough space for a sequel as a just-in-case-this-does-well option. While the story is technically complete, it feels unfinished and incomplete. 

Rating: 2.5/5

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

H2O

H2O

by Virginia Bergin

 

On a hot day in England, people all go outside to hang out with friends and try to cool down. When the rain comes, they are happy to see it.

Until it starts falling on them.

Previously the giver of life, this new rain is a killer... literally.

A bacterium that had been hidden in an asteroid that was destroyed before it could hit the earth has finally reached the atmosphere. It loves water. It thrives in water. And it's raining down on every human on earth.

As the bodies of the people she knew start falling along with the bodies of all of the strangers around her, Ruby manages to survive. She's running out of food and she can't trust the water to drink it, so she's also running out of options.

Now Ruby has to figure out where to go, how to get there, and who to trust on the way.

Final thoughts: This book had some great moments, but that's really what it was; it was a series of moments. Ruby is not very likeable and she never seems to learn. She keeps making the same mistakes over and over. She keeps making the same poor choices over and over. How she manages to live as long as she does is completely coincidental and senseless. Maybe the next book will be better, but I'm not sure if I'll rush out to read it.

Rating: 3/5

Ready Player One

Ready Player One

by Ernest Cline

Twenty-eight years from now, in the year 2044, the world is falling apart. Things have gone so crazy that most people choose to spend their lives online in OASIS, the ultimate MMORPG where pretty much anything is possible.

Designed by eccentric gamer James Halliday, a fan of all things 80s, OASIS provides a home away from chaos. People can live and work in OASIS as long as they have the stamina and credits to do so. Kids can go to school there. Quests can be undertaken. Ultimate rewards await anyone who can figure out the clues.

And the ultimate quest on OASIS comes when James Halliday dies. As his last wish, he wills his entire multi-billion dollar fortune to anyone who can solve the clues, find the keys, and defeat the bosses first. The moment his quest is announced, the world goes crazy trying to solve the first clue. But as the years go by, people begin to think it's either impossible or fake.

Then Wade Watts stumbles upon the first key and everyone in the world finds out at almost the exact same time. Wade is now followed and adored; he's also wanted by some very dangerous people who will do almost anything to win the prize, including kill.

It's time for Wade to face the real world and the real consequences of living if he wants to solve the virtual puzzles hidden in OASIS.

Final thoughts: This is a gamer's dream book. It's addictive to anyone who's ever been addicted to games and/or was raised in the 80's. Obscure references are everywhere, as are pop-culture ones. I have a few questions about the legitimacy of Wade's hacking abilities considering the nearly 180 turn they take from the beginning to the end, but I'm willing to overlook them just because this is so well done.

Rating: 4/5

The End of FUN

The End of FUN

by Sean McGinty

In the future, nearly everyone is having FUN. 

Aaron is one of the first to have FUN installed as a beta tester and his days are filled with FUN. Every day, Homie pops up right in front of his eyes to help him have FUN with everything around him. He plays virtual games, rates friends and parties, and spends quite a bit of money online.

Of course, it's the spending that really gets him in trouble. Soon, Aaron is in FAIL and he's not having much FUN at all. On top of that, his grandfather dies and leaves all his property to Aaron, which doesn't make Aaron's dad or sister very happy. There are also rumors of buried treasure hidden on his grandfather's property, which could be exactly what Aaron needs to pay his bills, get out of FAIL, and permanently end FUN.

If only real life wasn't so very difficult.

Final thoughts: Too many messages. Too many existential thoughts. Too esoteric. There's the constant theme of cyber reality vs. actual reality. There's a hint of environmentalism with the deaths of millions of birds being blamed on technology. And there's the never subtle message about how much better and more lasting face-to-face interactions are to virtual ones. It's far too pushy with the messages and not very well written overall. I've given up on a number of books in the past, more than I ever have before, so when I started this, I was determined to finish. Unfortunately, this one took weeks to read and days to process. I couldn't help but constantly put this book down and then delay picking it back up again. Even when I finished, I had to wait a few days (and even read another book) before I could write about it. Dullsville.

Rating: 1/5 

ARC Received from NetGalley

Project ELE

Project ELE

by Rebecca Gober and Courtney Nuckels

Sometime in our future, Global Warming will force the nations to install patches to the ozone to protect the population from the heat and UV rays.

Sometime in our future, the C.U.R.E. for all diseases will be created, which will end everything from cancer to the common cold.

Sometime in our future, a super virus will develop that will begin killing off people by the millions, leading to the possible destruction of the human race.

Sometime in our future, the ozone patches will be removed, the uninfected will be moved to mountain sanctuaries, and everyone else will be left to fend for themselves.

Sometime in our future, the vaccinations created to try and save humanity will end up changing it forever.

Final thoughts: Ugh! Another great idea that suffers from poor execution. Why do people refuse to get good copy editors!?!?!  Looser vs. loser is an obvious issue. The lack of proper punctuation was horrendous. You always put a comma before a name or appellation when talking to someone. ALL CAPS IS YELLING! If the whites of her eyes are developing little circles of color, how does a contact help to cover that up? Let's just completely forget/ignore the family members left out to die. Let's fall in love with the first cute guy to be seen and let's make that a near insta-love. Yeah. Let's not.

Rating: 1/5

Here

Here

by Denise Grover Swank

For the last six months, Julia has been hiding from her past.  She has been hiding from what she can't remember doing, but knows that she must have done it. She has been hiding from killing her best friend in a car accident. All she knows is that she woke up after the accident, wearing a strange bracelet that she doesn't remember ever getting, and suddenly having the ability to draw when she never could before.

So for the last six months, Julia has done everything she can to hide from what happened. Monica might be dead, but Julia feels like a ghost. She stays under the radar and tries to avoid the stares of her fellow classmates.

But that all changes when Evan Whittaker, popular jock and already-taken boyfriend, looks her way. When Evan suddenly takes notice of Julia, everything changes. He changes. And when he does, he only has eyes for Julia.

But Evan change has a very strange explanation, and Julia's about to figure it out.

Final thoughts: Ok. First, the prologue kind of messed me up during reading because I kept thinking about how strange and out of place it was while I was reading Julia's story. When the prologue and present day merged, it was intriguing, but got bogged down. Julia is completely unsympathetic as a character. Her mother and counselor make strange decisions for no good reasons. Evan's shift is explained and yet his obsession seems odd. Then entire second half of the book is unbelievable. SPOILERS: Ok, so there are multiple dimensions and a crossover point. I get that. What I don't get is the complete physical impossibility of there being so many of the same people in both dimensions, especially if there was a nuclear war in one that wiped out a HUGE percentage of the population. There is NO WAY that all of those children in the 60's survived the fallout, grew up to have marry the same people and have the same children at the same time and then those children grow up and marry to have the same children at the same time, creating DNA identicals in both dimensions for so many people. You can't say that all four teens would exist in both timelines at the same age with the same DNA from the same parents who are also the same age. Not possible. I can't even try to suspend disbelief on this one. Nope. END SPOILERS. Since no one is sympathetic and the plot gets predictable once the twist is revealed, I just don't recommend this one.

In addition... the cover makes absolutely no sense for this book.

Rating: 2/5

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 Different Girl

The Different Girl

by Gordon Dahlquist

Veronica is trying to remember her past before she loses it all.  While she tells her story, more and more strange things about her come to light.

Veronica is learning about the world on her small island, bit by bit.  With three other girls who are identical to her in every way except for their hair, she studies her area, her home, the weather patterns, the insects, and more.

While it may seem dull to some, for Veronica and the other girls, this is what they do every day.  They observe and then report their observations to Robbert and Irene, who take note of their observations and keep an eye on them.

The first real moment where Veronica and the girls are revealed to be more than they seem is when Irene presses a button to put them to sleep.  When May arrives on the island, having washed ashore after her uncle's boat sank, the girls realize just how different they are.

Can they figure out the secrets of their own creation and the world around them before it's too late?

Final thoughts:  No.  No they can't.  And that's the failing of this book.  While the premise is interesting, it's too ambiguous overall and there's just not enough details where they're needed.  It's never revealed why the girls are there, what they were created for, or why they're in danger.  There's really no plot to this at all.  Is this just a VERY long exposition for a future book?  Who knows.  Who cares?  Not me.

Rating: 2/5