YA Book Tour- Nebraska

Rolling on in the United States of YA book tour and Nebraska is the next up with Cat Patrick's Revived.

Daisy died when she was four years old in a bus accident, along with 21 other children.  None of which stayed dead, instead they became part of test drug, Revive, program.  Daisy is now fifteen and has died and been brought back five times. After the latest death has her and her handlers, Mason and Cassie, relocating to Nebraska.

Daisy's first day at her new school she meets Audrey, who is bright and bubbly and very much a kindred with Daisy. For the first time in her life Daisy has a real friend at school, not to mention Audrey's hottie brother, Matt.  Daisy feels a real connection to the siblings, but keeping her secret is hard especially as she learns more about her new friend, and that maybe that not everything is what is seems in the Revive program.

I have to admit I was a little skeptical about this book when I first read the description.  It seemed like it might be a too much like Joss Whedon's Dollhouse.  I am glad to report that the book put that fear to rest.  Other than the fact she keeps be revived, there is nothing strange about Daisy.  She is really a normal teenager who just happens to died a few times.

I like Daisy.  She is independent with her own unique sense of style.  She really sees Mason as a father, and I really enjoyed see the dynamics of their relationship. At first, she is very blaise about death, but when she has to face it for real she struggles with concept of death of a loved one.  I find that so very human in her, something that we all encounter at some point in life.

The story was wonderful with a few surprising plot twist.  Ms. Patrick did a wonderful job of ending the story and tying up the lose ends just right.  Kudos to her for not drawing it out at the end, which could have gone horribly wrong. Oh, and how fantastic is that cover, really brings out the visual of piercing the veil between life and death and fits the story so well.

Currently Reading:
A Beautiful Dark
by Jocelyn Davies

YA Book Tour- Nevada

Next up on the YA book tour of the United States is Ellen Hopkins' Crank for Nevada. Fair warning this is another one that deals with drug addiction.

Kristina is a good girl, who as a bad girl inside of her who she calls Bree.  One summer, after eight years of total absence in her life, she goes to visit her father.  He is possibly the poster boy for dead beat dad.  At her father's she meets Adam/Buddy who is her first boyfriend, and the boy along with her father that introduces her to the monster or crank.

When she goes back home, the monster follows her.  She gets deeper into her addiction, even experimenting with new drugs and different ways to have the monster.

This book is definitely not my style.  First off, it is not a subject matter I can relate to at all.  Then there is the fact I feel no emotional connection with the characters.  One of its biggest drawbacks for me is the style it was written in.  It is not novel really, but a collection of poems that tell a story.  Someone of those poems have a very strange layout to them.  I don't know if this is because I read it on my Kindle or not, but some the text got really small and hard to see.

Kristina/Bree says she is not schizophrenic in the beginning, but at times it sure seems like she is.  She has a lot in common the main character from Beneath a Meth Moon because both seem like very weak willed girls. Both let a boy they like get them hooked on drugs.  Kristina really gets on my nerves in her concept of love.  She knows a boy all of like 3 days and has decided she is love with him, and then is shocked when it doesn't last.

If you want to skip a book in the tour, this is one that you probably won't miss.

Currently Reading:
Revived
by Cat Patrick

YA Book Tour- Oregon

Next up on the tour is Oregon with Gayle Forman's If I Stay.  Fair warning, this one is a tear jerker, so have your tissues handy.

Mia is seventeen, and quite the accomplished cellist already.  She has a wonderful family that she is very close to, and  a boyfriend she adores.  Then tragedy strikes Mia's life.

A rare snow cancels school for the day, and Mia and her family go for a drive to her grandparents.  The next thing Mia knows is that their car is a tangled mess and both of her parents are dead.  As she walks around the crash sites, she finds her own body, not dead but badly injured.  As she is sent the hospital and then life flighted to Portland, she continues to have a consciousness separate from her broken body.

The books flashes between Mia's memories of her life and what she witness going on at the hospital.  I think that this book has a fantastic concept.  I love the idea that a coma patient knows what is happening around them, and in the end it is them who decides whether or not to wake up.

I love Mia's character.  She just loves so deeply, her family, her music, her friend, and her boyfriend.  It is wonderful how well Mia's character is developed, and how easy it is to become emotionally attached to her. I totally get her struggle, whether to move on and join her family in the afterlife, or stay for who she has left behind.

Just a fantastic book all around, and I cannot wait to read the follow up Where She Went.

Currently Reading:
Crank
by Ellen Hopkins

YA Book Tour- Iowa

Rolling on with the United States of YA book tour, and the next stop is Iowa with Mike Mullin's Ashfall.

Alex was your typical teenage boy.  More interested in his video games than hanging out with his family.  He rebels just enough that he does not have to go with parents and sister to his uncle's place in Illinois. Super excited about having the weekend alone, too bad the world goes to hell.

The super volcano under Yellowstone erupts, sending ash blanketing places thousands of miles away.  There is no electricity, no running water, and food supplies are quickly running out.  Alex decides the best plan is to make his way to his uncle's to find his family.

Along the way Alex meets Darla, who saves his life more than once.  She is a self-sufficient farm girl with a knack for all things mechanical.

I do quite enjoy a good post apocalyptic novel, and this one was an excellent.  Part of what made it so great was that while not probable, it is possible for the super volcano under Yellowstone erupt. It is fascinating to watch the break down of society, and how everyone copes with it.  The novel beautifully expresses how disasters bring the best and the worst in people.

Alex was wonderfully brave and kind.  He has no idea if his family is alive or not, but he knows he has to find out.  More than once you see his kindness when he meets others less fortunate than him alone his journey.

Overall, I liked Darla, but there was a part in the middle where she was really annoying me.  When she first meets Alex, she is constantly telling him what a dummy he is because he doesn't know the basics of farming.  I was like give the kid a break, he is from the city.  But when something horrible happens, she pretty much shuts down for several days.  It was up to Alex to keep her going then, and that is where I really thought that the author showed Alex as the strong character.

If you are like me and love a good post apocalyptic novel, this one is a must.

Currently Reading:
If I Stay
by Gayle Forman

YA Book Tour- Virginia

Next stop on the YA book tour is Virginia with Maggie Stiefvater's The Raven Boys.

Blue has been surrounded by psychics her whole life with her mother and aunts.  She, however, did not inherit that talent, instead she just makes their energy stronger.  A unfortunate side effect of being around psychics is knowing that if she kisses her true love that he will die. She is sensible girl who has basically decided to avoid boys and thus avoiding this horrible fate.  That all changes when at the yearly ritual of the corpse road on St. Mark's, she sees and talks to a spirit.  Something that has never happened before, and because it is St. Mark's she knows that this boy that the spirit belongs to is fated to die in the next year.

Enter Gansey, a boy who attends the all boys super exclusive private school, Aglionby, and his friends.  Gansey has it all, and yet, he feels compelled to wake this ancient Welch King.  He has been researching the king and ley lines for years.  His friend, Ronan, is a wounded soul who takes his anger out over the lose of his father on the world.  Adam is the scholarship kid, who does not want to owe anything to anyone, and sometimes that pride gets in his way.  And Noah, who is there and not and has quite the secret.

Then there is Blue's strange Aunt Neeve who reasons for being in Henrietta are not what they seem, and the boy's Latin teacher Mr. Whelk, who was once a Aglionby boy who lost it all and wants it back.

Blue and her Raven boys begin their strange journey of learning more about the ley lines and the power they hold.

Once again, Ms. Stiefvater writes a wonderful and engaging story.  Her characters are dynamic in both their strengths and flaws.  Her stories always flow so beautifully and at times her wording has a musical quality to it.

Blue, like a many of the adults in her life tell, is a sensible girl.  She is practical and smart, but as caring and becomes quite loyal to her Raven boys, despite their rocky start.  While she knows her fate, she doesn't let that stand in the way of their friendship, and she even learns to open up a little about it.

Each of the Raven boys their faults and strengths. Gansey is the glue that holds them together, sometimes not just as friends but in their own personal struggles.  At times he comes off a little condescending, but it is not like he means to, he just doesn't seem to realize that his word choices aren't always the best.

Adam lets his pride get in the way too much.  He refuses to accept help even when he needs it the most.  He doesn't understand that his friends want to help because they care not because they think he is a charity case.

Ronan has definitely had something break inside since his fathers murder. He is walking a thin line between normal teenage recklessness and a death wish. Although often caustic with others, he does have glimpses of a softer side.  I think he might be my favorite of the Raven boys, partly because there is more to him than what you see and I can't wait to find out more. (FYI, looks like the next book in the series, The Dream Thieves due out in September, will have a big focus on Ronan.)

Noah is mysterious and strange, but once you find out his big secret it all makes sense. It will be interesting to see how his character will play into the rest of the series.

I am very excited by the start of this series and cannot wait to see how it turns out.

Currently Reading:
Ashfall
by Mike Mullin

YA Book Tour- Wisconsin

I know it has been a while since I last updated, but seventh semester is crazy busy.  I have rotations, surgeries, classes, and still have to find time to study, so my reading is going a little slower now.  I, however, will continue the tour and next is Catherine Gilbert Murdock's Dairy Queen for Wisconsin.

D.J. has a lot of responsibility to deal with for a 16 year old girl. She has basically been running her family's dairy farm since her father's injury. The work is hard and long, and part of the reason she flunked her English class. As if she doesn't have enough to do, a family friend, who happens to coach the revival school's football team, sends over his QB, Brian, to teach him to responsibility and hone his skills.

Who better to help shape up Brian than D.J., after all she knows about responsibility and she helped her older brothers, who both in college on football scholarships, train.  D.J. has issues of her own that maybe Brian can help her with, like her families inability to really talk to each other, or dealing with her best friend's big news.  And all the training makes D.J. realize that she really loves playing football.

This book had that real feeling to it.  The things that D.J. goes through are stuff that people deal with everyday, so it made the book relatable.  I did feel at times that maybe D.J.'s family expected too much from her.  Her dad wanting to keep with everything on the farm, her mom wanting her make up her English grade, and even her older brothers wanting her to take their side in the big family fight.  It seems like a lot of weight on her shoulders.  I totally understand why she so mad and frustrated at times.

Too bad for Brian that she takes that frustration out on him at times. Not to say that he doesn't deserve it.  When he first comes to work with her, he is quite the spoiled rich kid. While his attitude gets better, mostly, there are times when it still pops back up, and I just want to slap him down for it.

So here is the thing, while I liked the story and characters, I thought the book end well, and I not sure how I feel about the sequels.  I may or may not read them later, but currently I am just not that curious as to what happens next.

Currently Reading:
The Raven Boys
by Maggie Stiefvater