Book Review - Lies

Lies by Michael Grant
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

After really loving the first couple of books in the series, I found myself almost indifferent to this one. Yes, everyone is still stuck in the FAYZ - Fallout Alley Youth Zone - under the invisible dome with the nuclear reactor at the center, where everyone over the age of 14 vanished one day, leaving kids to fend for themselves. Yes, they're still starving. Yes, they're still infighting. No, no one has made any progress on either diplomacy or finding an exit or anything else for that matter.

I just felt like there was no story progression, and I was sincerely depressed by the "stuck" quality of the main characters. While one of the major threats was removed in the last book, it appears to be back again here, which really means no progress was made. I felt, in some ways, like the plot took a step backward here instead of progressing, and I found myself less inspired to go on with the series. (As such, I'm taking a break rather than plowing through them all as I usually might do).

My overall reaction? Meh.

View all my reviews

Book Review - Gone

Gone by Michael Grant
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

When you were a kid, did you ever fantasize about what the world would be like if all the adults suddenly vanished? I know I did! Unfortunately for the kids of Gone, the adults - everyone over the age of 14 - do vanish, in one moment, and leave them behind to deal with survival, both for themselves and the infants and toddlers that are suddenly in their charge. The struggle inevitably leads to a fight for power and control between two factions, one led by a bully from the private school in town, one led by an unassuming natural leader from the public school.

Along the way, things get strange when kids develop powers, possibly due to the nuclear reactor in town, or maybe a meteorite that hit the area several years ago, or maybe a strange power that lives in a gold mine and calls itself "The Darkness", or maybe the green scary thing with teeth. I think it's a combination of all of the above, but the answers aren't found in this, the first novel in a series.

I found this to be a fun, quick read. I love the character of Astrid, or "Astrid the Genius" as she's known among the kids in this community, because she's smart and charming, which makes her a hero in her own way (along with the tender way in which she looks after her four year old autistic brother). I like that the book is smart and engaging in the way that makes you forget you're reading a YA book.

Were there a couple of moments that made my brows arch and my suspension of disbelief stretch a little thin? Yeah. But that happens to me often; I'm a bit of a realist. However it wasn't to the extreme and wasn't to the point where I didn't really enjoy the book.

When you get to the last eighty pages or so, be prepared to plow through to the end; you won't be able to put it down!

View all my reviews

Book Review - Caught

Caught by Harlan Coben
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I didn't discover Harlan Coben until late last year, and as I ease through his books (I have quite a selection waiting for me now on my eReader) I find myself wishing I'd found him years ago.

This is a solid mystery/suspense novel. It's captivating, kept my attention, and had a wonderful twist at the end that I wasn't expecting. Yay, a surprise! Too often I figure out all the twists way before the end, so I always try to point out the spectacular reads where I don't.

There is a cloud hanging over the head of a group of men who were freshmen suitemates at Princeton decades earlier. A college scandal, swept under the rug, seems to have spawned new scandals that are decimating lives left and right. One intrepid reported, instrumental in one of those scandals herself, is determined to get to the bottom of the crisis, as well as figure out why a young girl from her son's graduating class at the high school has disappeared. Is it connected? Is one of the men responsible for her disappearance? Or perhaps it's the mastermind behind all the scheming?

This was fun. It isn't literary or profound, it's just entertaining and fun and a fast-paced read. I really liked it.

View all my reviews