[Review] The Prey by Tom Isbell

Title: The Prey
Series: The Hatchery #1

Author: Tom Isbell [Twitter]

Publisher: HarperTeen, an imprint of HarperCollins

Genre: Young Adult Fiction - Science Fiction, Dystopian, Thriller

Release Date: January 20, 2015

Source: eARC provided by the publisher, opinions are honest and my own. – review policy here.

Run!!!!!!!

Immediately we kick off with folks hiding in caves and almost dying in deserts, oddly called the No Water. There's the potential for high action and we know there are some bad and suspicious people in this world. They're called Brown Shirts. They wear Brown Shirts. Be aware of the Brown Shirts.

Twists and Turns
Interestingly we have two POVs, one is first person past/present through Books who is an LT at a boy's camp, and the second is a third person present showcasing Hope. This makes things a bit hard to follow, despite the change in tenses, but more so the change in narratives. I'm really curious why Hope's POV isn't also first person. If there's going to be a third person narrative I'm looking for a lot more regarding world building and character development.

For the first half of the book the world building is laid out depicting a post-apocalyptic US in which the boys and girls have been separated, some people have defects due to, what I can guess is, radiation exposure.

The plot really is the driving force here. The concept of hunting people for sport and using the population for scientific testing is all very intriguing. Tell me more. How did this start? Once the boys and the girls come together in part three things really get moving and the action packed journey begins.

I made little attachments to the characters so when people died it was just a shrug. The character I enjoyed the most is Cat and the story does reveal some info about him that is interesting but he's mostly an unexplored character like the rest. Also Hope's father's past shows some potential to add character value so I'm waiting for more in book two.

Descriptive Disasters
The writing is really interesting here. Putting aside the tenses and POV issues. There are several times I snickered at descriptives such as "purpling," the act of turning purple. There's also the possibility of "masculine smells." At some point I started glazing over them because I found them to be more distracting than off-putting.

Um, no. That's a strong no.

But I stuck with it. Mostly because the plot and concept were still interesting to me and I was curious to see it all play out. Once the ending started creeping up I was excited and anxious to see how the set up for book two played out. Whomp, womp! I was extremely let down. I'm not going to spoil here but I will say it comes off as underwhelming.

I'm not sure I'm reading book two but if I do this is what I'd like to see...

By far to me one of the most interesting character's is Cat, who Books and his friends find in the desert, ahem, No Water. At this point Cat's POV is more interesting than Books' or Hope's. Overall more character development to make me invested in who lives and dies.

The ending was redundant. I really hope book two skips some pieces since this one was already a journey book. So I'm looking for lots of action! 

2.5 Stars – Good premise, but ultimately not for me.

[Review] Love and Other Theories by Alexis Bass

Title: Love and Other Theories

Author: Alexis Bass [ Facebook | Twitter | Website ]

Publisher: HarperTeen, an imprint of HarperCollins

Genre: Young Adult Fiction - Contemporary, Romance

Release Date: December 31, 2014

Source: ARC provided by publisher, opinions are honest and my own. – review policy here.

If you want more, you have to give less.

That’s the secret to dating in high school. By giving as little as they expect to get in return, seventeen-year-old Aubrey Housing and her three best friends have made it to the second semester of their senior year heartbreak-free. And it’s all thanks to a few simple rules: don’t commit, don’t be needy, and don’t give away your heart.

So when smoking-hot Nathan Diggs transfers to Lincoln High, it shouldn’t be a big deal. At least that’s what Aubrey tells herself. But Nathan’s new-boy charm, his kindness, and his disarming honesty throw Aubrey off her game and put her in danger of breaking the most important rule of all: Don’t fall in love. - via Goodreads

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Sexy New Boy!

There's a new boy in town and he's dreamy. He even comes with a BMW and he's completely desirable because Audrey finds him desirable. Or so I'm told, but never shown. Nathan is smart, not really all that honest (much less disarmingly, there's a big secret looming), and not really all that kind. Honestly, I Nathan could've been anyone. The relationship is steamy and tense but I'm not buying the connection.

Old Trope, New Dogs?

So we all know this story. Swear off all love and save your heart. I'll let you read to see how it all shakes out, but there are two to tango with here. I've ranted about Nathan but its Trip that catches my eye. His actions speak louder than any words. He wasn't perfect but I'm totally putting in my application for any vacancies. ;) By far he is my favorite character 

Sex is a weapon? 

So the idea is that through emotional freedom we can achieve hookup bliss? Besides being entirely pessimistic this becomes a flawed message that women's bodies are weapons in a war against... men? Engaging in games to lure men into their clutches by playing hard to get and then "hooking up" and then in "theory" walking away unscathed. Alas, in war someone always loses. You don't "win" anything through hooking up. Sex is not a game, but it can be a lot of other consensually amazing things. 

I would have rather seen teenage girls hooking up on their own terms not to some set of arbitrary rules in warfare. 

This Friendship Is Toxic

Okay enough about boys and sex... onto friends. This quad of girlfriends is completely toxic and screams Mean Girls. Set with their "rules" and head plastic the friends share their boy adventures while constantly worrying about whether they are breaking the rules or not. The girl-on-girl bullying and toxic friendships are a turn off because there's no real resolution in this area.

It Ended How It Needed To End

So.. how does it all end? The only way it could. Despite everything the ending is my favorite part, well other than Trip. 

2.5 Stars – Been there, done again but with a slightly higher shock value.

[Review] #scandal by Sarah Ockler

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Title: #scandal

Author: Sarah Ockler [ Facebook | Twitter | Website ]

Publisher: Simon Pulse, an imprint of Simon and Schuster

Genre: Young Adult Fiction -  Contemporary

Release Date: June 17, 2014

Source: ARC, opinions are honest and my own. – review policy here.

Lucy attends prom in the place of her BFF (she's sick) with her BFF's boyfriend. At the post-prom party pent up feelings from the last four years surface and they're caught kissing. A lot of photos are taken of the party and in the morning end up on Lucy's Facebook page. Lucy's phone is missing and the pictures look worse than they are. and Can Lucy figure out who set her up (and set everything straight) before they graduate and she loses everything? 

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With social media, bullying and cyber bullying on the rise this story has so much to tell. I liked the format and storyline with clips of gossip from Miss Demeanor (Gossip Girl type website) and investigating who set Lucy up and stole her phone. Ironically it's the subplot of Lucy's older sister Jayla Heart that I most enjoyed and wouldn't mind seeing her story in full length. 

Lucy's unlikely investigative team kept me interested even when her core friendships and love interest were in and out. By far the relationship of the book is Lucy and her older sister Jayla. You can tell this relationship has been strained for a while and is in need of some sisterly love. Jayla also serves as some comic relief and a reality check on how the real world is. I really needed more Lucy/Cole (the boy she's liked since Freshman year) and Lucy/Ellie/Griff (the BFFs) connections. Especially the flushing out of Lucy/Cole's relationship and his presence during her investigation. 

The big issue I have with #scandal starts with the title and continues with all the trends and slang. In real life, hashtag "Scandal" refers to the hit ABC drama so, when you use it on Twitter people are going to associate it with the TV show not the book. It's well known for it's ability to harness the power of social media to boost ratings. For example, when I finished the book Goodreads sent the update to Twitter and soon after Reddit_TV favorited the tweet. Luckily May sweeps are over so on release day it should be fine and may get extra exposure from fans who follow the hashtag. 

There are a number of slang words that make an appearance and are out of place.The one that stuck out the most for me was the word "Mollies." Mollies have gotten a lot of attention lately in pop culture and the media due to it's link to teenage deaths. It's typically an MDMA-based drug, which is targeted at teenagers, but in this novel it is slang for a Molotov Cocktail. 

Last but not least, there are a number of scenes that added little value (effecting the pacing) to the overall storyline in the areas of the investigation, character development, or relationship building; which led me to speed read the last quarter. 

The topic of bullying and cyber bullying has become very popular with a lot of good books coming out of the "Issues" Contemporary genre. With that said I feel like each new release faces the pressures of adding something new to the genre and, sadly, #scandal fell flat. 

I've heard a lot of good things about Sarah Ockler's writing so I look forward to trying more of her books in the future.

2.5 Stars – I would recommend this to readers who have not read a lot of the genre lately, or those enjoy Gossip Girl or Veronica Mars and would like a trip down memory lane.