Deadly Little Games by Laurie Faria Stolarz

Release Day: 28th December, 2010

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Publisher: Hyperion Books

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Pages: 304pgs

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The Story

Camelia and Ben have discovered a powerful bond: They both possess the power of psychometry, the ability to sense things through touch. For Ben, the gift is a frightening liability. When he senses a strong threat or betrayal, he risks losing control and hurting people. Camelia's gift is more mysterious. When she works with clay, her hands sculpt messages her mind doesn't yet comprehend.

Before either teen has a chance to fully grasp these abilities, an unresolved family tragedy resurfaces in Camelia's life, irrevocably changing everything she cares about...

The Review

To be honest, I have "mixed feelings" for this third installment of the TOUCH series. It's sort of a love-hate relationship with this series but has become one of my favourites. I mean, from the moment I picked up and read the first book, DEADLY LITTLE SECRET, I was addictively hooked on the storyline Stolarz had written, along with her relatable and loveable but simple characters. Only this time round, I found myself a little disappointed and feeling...distant.

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Well, let's first start with Camelia - the main heroine of the story. I loved her character immediately in the first book, even a little more in the second, but she'd completely threw me off in the third book. When she finally gets her act together and starts a relationship with her psychometric boyfriend, Ben, even though things start to become rocky between the two of them...she still has no clue how to hold a relationship. When Adam enters the picture, the ex-bestfriend of Ben and one whom caused a bit of trouble for Camelia's relationship with Ben, Camelia suddenly forgets all about Ben. It was annoying. Sure, Adam was in trouble and her new found powers pretty much drew her into his path...but seriously?? They were a lot of things that could have been avoided...like a kiss. I won't go into much detail...but you'll get what I'm talking about with Adam's relationship with Camelia.

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Second, let's talk about Ben - the love interest of the heroine. He's mysterious, has the stereotypical look of a "bad boy", has a cool power of touch and obviously cares a lot about Camelia, only he's the type to be secretive...meaning this will drive a gal nuts!! I was disappointed in DEADLY LITTLE GAMES because he was hardly in the book!! The only thing he was good at was disappearing acts!! I hope to see more of him in the next book, cause I won't be happy otherwise. But in any case, he still doesn't open up to Camelia...which he should by now. He kind of reminds me of many other "serious" boys characters like Edward - ones who prefer to ignore their feelings. THAT alone was frustrating to read. Still...I love him for being so serious.

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And thirdly, there's Adam. I liked him a lot in the previous book, DEADLY LITTLE LIES, and even more in DEADLY LITTLE GAMES. He seems nice enough to have around, mainly because he's the complete opposite to Ben. He's open to discussion and just puts his cards on the table, but man, he was pretty stupid. How will you see the signs of this stupidity, you ask? Well, to name one...he has a stalker and leaves his apartment open? Yes, stupid.

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On the whole, still give this book a try, especially if you've already read the first two books in the series! I love mysteries, and even though this one a tad bit predictable (the ending mostly) and the storyline fell a little flat, but I still love Stolarz's writing and her characters. What I loved most about this book, a reason why I'm give it 3 stars rather than 2 1/5 stars, is because of the cool addition of crossword puzzles and audio transcripts that were marked in the book -- between chapters now and then. They were just so...cool. I loved solving the crossword puzzles mostly. It gave you a nice break from the reading.

The Rating

3/5 stars

My Soul to Steal by Rachel Vincent

Release Day: January 1st/4th, 2011

Publisher: Harlequin

Pages: 352pgs

The Story

Trying to work things out with Nash - her maybe boyfriend - is hard enough for Kaylee Cavanaugh. She can't just pretend nothing happened . But "complicated" doesn't even begin to describe their relationship when his ex-girlfriend transfers to their school, determined to take Nash back.

See, Sabine isn't just an ordinary girl. She's a mara, the living personification of a nightmare. She can read people's fears - and craft them into nightmares while her victims sleep. Feeding from human fear is how she survives.

And Sabine isn't above scaring Kaylee and the entire school to death to get whatever - and whoever - she wants.

The Review

From where we left off in the last adventure of the SOUL SCREAMERS series, our strong teenage heroine, Kaylee, has been lied to, betrayed, and was almost killed by the one person she loves and trusts the most: Nash, her bean side boyfriend. Now, in this next addition to the series, Kaylee is trying her hardest to forgive her boyfriend for all his betrayals, but there's another problem coming her way...his ex-girlfriend, Sabine, who suddenly transfers to her high school and enters the scene wanting nothing more than to take Nash back for herself. And boy, does she try!

At first, I hated Sabine just as much as Kaylee did, and I still do hate her as a supporting character - especially with her always throwing herself at Nash. She was very posessive and childish, like a kid crying over a stolen toy. But as the story progresses, you begin to see another side of Sabine, one that shows you that she isn't as tough as she thinks she is. And a girl who needs some help! Haha. Still, I didn't like her mind games...but I liked her ability in nightmares, a great kicker for the storyline!

Like always, it was good to see that Kaylee was growing stronger by the minute in this novel, though she did act childish too over the whole Nash thing. But every girl who has a boyfriend and one of their exes around...I guess we would all do the same jealous thing! The only downer of Kaylee was that I didn't like the way she second-guessed herself with her relationship with Nash. Why does she need to? Yes, he did betray her...but if she still wants him - even the suffering side of him and even with Sabine there - she should fight for him (which she did, but not nearly enough as I wanted her to)!

But as for the other characters, I was glad Todd - my dear funny Todd - was back, with more wise words mixed with his great sense of humor. As for Emma, I was glad she had a bit more of a part in the novel and the same goes for Alec, whom I enjoyed having along for the ride. He was a great character and hope to see more from him in the next book! When it comes to the bad guys, Avari and the whole what-knot, those type of characters never get old!

So, Rachel Vincent has yet brought another great installment to the SOUL SCREAMERS series and it just keeps getting better and better with each new book release. No wonder why she has become one of my favourite authors!

The Rating

4/5 stars

Across the Universe Review by Beth Revis

Release Date: January 1st, 2011

Publisher: Razorbill, Penguin

Pages: 400pgs

The Story

A love out of time. A spaceship built of secrets and murder.

Seventeen-year-old Amy joins her parents as a frozen cargo aboard the vast spaceship Godspeed and expects to awaken on a new planet, three hundred years in the future. Never could she have known that her frozen slumber would come to an end fifty years too soon and that she would be thrust into the brave new world of a spaceship that lives by its own rules.

Amy quickly realizes that her awakening was no mere computer malfunction. Someone -- one of the few thousand inhabitants of the spaceship -- tried to kill her. And if Amy doesn't do something soon, her parents will be next.

Now Amy must race to unlock Godspeed's hidden secrets. But out of her list of murder suspects, there's only one who matters: Elder, the future leader of the ship and the love she could never have seen coming.

The Review

Interesting. Weird. And cool. This is how I would describe ACROSS THE UNIVERSE. Truth be told, I'm not really a huge fan of the sci-fi genre and the whole "space setting", but this one was a pretty great addition to the young adult and sci-fi book market. In ACROSS THE UNIVERSE, we follow Amy and the choice she has made: to be frozen along with her mother and father, and to leave her current world behind to only plan waking up to a future hundreds of years in the making. Of course, when the future comes, she is "unplugged" from her frozen coffin and wakes up many years ahead of schedule. But then she meets a boy, a sixteen-year-old Elder, the future leader of the spaceship Godspeed.

I loved how the author, Beth Revis, weaved a world inside a spaceship and I also enjoyed the fact that it was told in two POVs - both Amy and Elder's perspectives. It was nice to take a break from both of the characters, as well as entering two entirely different minds. It sort of created a balance between the two of them: Amy represents OUR world of today, while Elder represents the world of the future...so it was very interesting to see how much has changed in the future society.

I admit, I wasn't a fan of Amy's character and there were some "awkward" moments in the book, like with the whole mating Season thing and having some scenes that made me go, "What the hell?" but other than that, I really ENJOYED this book. In saying that, all of the chapters - with each and every page turned - it only made me want to read it MORE and MORE. It was addictive - this world of the future. I hope there's a sequel cause I can't wait to see what Revis comes up with next! And did I mention how much I loved Elder? Geez, love that guy!

The Rating

4/5 stars