YA Book Tour- Florida

The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin represents Florida on the United States of YA. Totally in love with the cover to this book.

Mara Dyer wakes up in the hospital with no memory of what happened to land her there. She has been in a coma for several days after being in a building collapse that kills her best friend and boyfriend. Suffering from some serious PTSD, she convince her family to move to Florida to get away from the memories.

Unfortunately for her, the memories just won't let her go, and she remembers more from the night, the more frightened of herself she becomes.

At her new school, her first run in with other students is the a hottie with an English accent, who looks at her like her knows her.  Turns out Noah Shaw has quite the reputation and he is becoming interested in Mara.  Noah's reputation may not be all that it is made out to be.  He is a boy with secrets of his own, and might be just the help that Mara needs.

I really enjoyed this story with its shades of  Henry James' A Turn of a Screw.  You are definitely questioning, along with Mara herself, is everything in her head or are they possibly real. The book keeps you guessing to the very end, just about.

I really liked the character of Mara. She had me in the beginning when she wanted to save the poor starving dog.  Note to all you authors, the way to a vet student's heart is make your characters animals lovers. I like the fact the she does not just fall into Noah's arms, even if she finds him attractive.  I always feel that it is more realistic when the characters slowly build a relationship.

I am, also, a fan of Noah's character.  Even after he knows what Mara has been through, he does not treat her like a broken doll.  He, too, is an animal lover. At times the arrogance is slightly annoying, but he totally makes up for it with his unguarded moments.

The biggest disappoint for me was the development of the character of Jamie.  He is Mara's first friend at school, and I liked him.  I just feel that he was under-developed and not near enough of him in the book.

Oh, and keep reading to the very end, because there is a huge OMG moment that looks like it will become super important in the rest of the serious.

One more thing, bonus points to Ms. Hodkin for both Lord of Rings and Harry Potter references.

Currently Reading:
Shattered Souls
by Mary Lindsey

YA Book Tour- Ohio

Next on the book tour is I Am Number Four by Pittacus Lore for Ohio. First, I think that it is interesting that the author decided to write under the pen name of what is technically a character in the book.

The Lorien Planet was invaded by Mogadorians who destroyed the whole planet and everyone on it.  Nine Garde children got away.  There was a charm placed on them so that they could only be killed in order. One, two, and three are dead so four and his Cepan, Henri, are once again on the run because he is next.

They go to the small town of Paradise, Ohio where four takes the name John. John settles into the new school making friends with Sam, who is quite the alien believer. He also falls hard and fast for Sarah which does not win him points with her ex-boyfriend, Mark.

As the book progresses, John makes his first real friend and finds love. He, also, learns that hiding your true self is not easy when the ones you love are in danger, and people surprise you all the time.

This was a fast story, that did not drag really at any point, but because of its pace I felt that the author did not develop the characters as well as I would have liked. I liked the characters, I just would have liked to get a better feel for their personalities. The book did leave me wanting to more of the series because I really have so many more questions.  Also, I am dying to know how the use of Pittacus Lore, who one of the elders of Lorien that disappeared, as the author of the book will play into the story line later.

Currently Reading:
The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer
by Michelle Hodkin

YA Book Tour- Michigan

Michigan is next up on the tour with Lisa McMann's Wake.

Janie is a girl from the wrong side of town, who just happens to drop into people's dreams.  It does not matter if she is wide awake when they start dreaming, she gets pulled into them. From dreams she learns some pretty crazy things about people, but none so bad as the nightmare she falls into one night on her way home from work.

She later has the nightmare again in study hall, and learns it is her classmate Cabel's dream. Cabel, who is a slight bit of a mystery, and has become quite the hottie their senior year of high school. After a intense nightmare on a class trip, she tells Cabel, what she has never told anyone else, that she experiences other people's dreams whether she wants to or not.

Cabel has secrets of his own, which keep pushing Janie away despite his serious crush on her.

Here is the thing I liked the characters, and I liked the story itself, but the writing style was awful.

Janie is strong and refuses to allow poor to be her lot in life. She works hard in school, and at her job so that she can go to college.  She is nice, even to the girls who are not so nice to her. And she is loyal to be best friend, despite her best friend being a bit of a screw up at times.

Cabel is sensitive and sweet, and really is a good person even after all he has been through.  He seems just perfect for Janie, there to pull her out and look after her when she has experienced this horrific nightmares.

The writing is a choppy, third person format. At times, the way scenes are describe, I felt like a creepy voyeur into Janie and Cabel's lives.  I think this book would have benefitted from being written in first person from Janie's POV.

At the end of my copy was Cabel's Story, which is a short from Cabel's perspective on the field trip scene.  I thought that was an excellent addition to the book.

Despite the terrible writing style, I do want to read the next book in the series because I liked the characters enough to want to know what happens to them.

Currently Reading:
I Am Number Four
by Pittacus Lore

YA Book Tour- Arkansas

Next stop of the United States of YA tour is Arkansas with John Corey Whaley's Where Things Come Back.

The summer between Cullen Witter's junior and senior year becomes a life changing summer.  First, some guy claims to have seen a woodpecker thought to be extinct since the 1940s, and then his brother, Gabriel, disappears. Cullen is a mostly average teenage boy.  He is kind of a loner with one really great friend, Lucas, but really one great friend is sometimes all you need.  He has quite the active imagination, many times imagining zombie take overs of his town. He learns to deal with disappearance of his bother, who he is super close to, and how to deal other people's reaction to it, too.

Along with Cullen's story is the story of Benton Sage/ Cabot Searcy. Benton starts out as the main person in the parallel story but it morphs into a story about his college roommate Cabot. Benton starts as a missionary in Africa, where frankly I think he totally miss the point about doing God's work. He comes home a failure, and a disappoint to his family.  To try and redeem himself, he goes to college where he meets Cabot. The events of Benton's life have a profound influence on Cabot, which basically makes him a little crazy.

Honestly, this book was a little slightly strange one, and a little depressing at times.  I spent most of the book wondering exactly how the two stories were related, and when they did come together it was definitely on the weird side.  It felt like, at times, that I was playing a six degrees of separation of how the characters from both story lines were going to connect. This one was not my style, but not the worst book I have read.

Currently Reading:
Wake
by Lisa McMann

YA Book Tour- Missouri

Rolling on with the YA book tour and the next stop is Missouri with Tess Gratton's Blood Magic.

Silla whole life was shattered when she came home and discovered the bodies of both her parents.  The investigation concludes her father killed her mother and then himself, but Silla never believes that. Months later a mysterious package shows up for her, a book of spells in her father's handwriting.

While trying out the book in the cemetery, her new neighbor Nick sees her. Nick knows more about this magic than she knows.  His mother worked in it, and it drove her crazy.  Nick recently moved to this small town after he inherited his grandfather's house, and his new stepmom thinks it would be a great place for her creativity process.

Silla and Nick grow closer, and know that there is more than blood magic between them.  They, along with Silla's brother Reese, explore exactly how powerful this magic is.  Together they learn that the power they found draws a darker practitioner of blood magic, and they must find a way to defeat her.

Silla's character never really had me forming an emotional attachment to her. She spends so much of the book hiding behind a mask, that even the reader does not get a real feel for her.  Mostly I can say she is a broken girl, and at the end I am not quite sure if she has healed or even is on the way to healing. She just seems very blah, I feel neither strong like or dislike for her.

Nick, at least, is a little better. I felt that he had more personality of the main characters. You could tell that he was someone that made up is own mind about things and did not just let what other people say form his opinion. He is loyal and funny at times, and for which I liked him.

The story itself, oh so many problems. First, Ms. Gratton angle's the plot so hard toward a suspected antagonist that I knew that it could have been any character but her, rookie mistake.  She, also, has this whole epic battle seen been our heros and the antagonist that feels like it should almost the end of the book, but, no, there is still like 20% of the book left, and it kind of drags after that.  And for characters she makes seem fairly well read, they sure seem to jump into blood magic with no clue.  Even I could tell that messing with blood magic is probably not a good idea, never leads to happy endings.

The idea for this book had so much potential, but it just seemed to fall flat all around.

Currently Reading:
Where Things Come Back
by John Corey Whaley

YA Book Tour- Maine

Lauren Oliver's Delirium is next up on the YA book tour for the state of Maine.

In Lena's world, love is a disease that must be stopped.  When you turn 18, you under go a procedure known as the cure, and Lena cannot wait for her cure date.  She does not want to end up like her mother, who committed suicide because she could not be cured.

On the day of her evaluation, a interview that determines your pairing and fate, the craziest thing happens, the lab is over run by a herd of cattle. The cows bust into her evaluation, and in the chaos, Lena catches a glimpse of a boy with hair the color of autumn leaves laughing from the observation level.

Later on a run with her best friend, Hana, Lena meets the boy, Alex.  While outward he pretends not to know her, he drops hints that remembers exactly what he saw during her evaluation. As the book progress, so does Lena and Alex's relationship,  Lena learns of the lies she has been fed by the government and even family.  Mostly importantly, she learns that love is not a disease, but what makes life worth living.

I have to say the Ms. Oliver presents a frightening concept, a world without love. If there is not love, then how can you passionate about anything.  What would have to all the artist, musicians, and writers? How could doctors truly care about their patients? And how awful it must be to be a child and know your parents are incapable of love?

As for Lena's character, I admit that I was not crazy about her at first.  So willing to be whatever society told her was the way to be, even when it seems unnatural.  She reminded me a little of those cattle lose in the lab, blinding following the herd.  But as the book progresses, she really makes up for her earlier self.  She becomes a truly brave person, and a character I can admire.

Alex I liked from the first moment he was introduced.  There is just something about him that draws the reader, and makes you root for him.

There were several aspect of the book that reminded me of Suzanne Collins' Hunger Games.  The government's lies to the citizen, the cruel enforcement of the rules at times, and even the fence around the border of Portland, but that being said the book definitely has its own identity.

If you enjoy distopian societies, which I do, and a good love story, this is the book for you.

Currently Reading:
Blood Magic
by Tessa Gratton

YA Book Tour Update & More

So it's official, I am over half way done with the United States of YA book tour. Currently reading book number 26 for Maine.

In other news, the cover of Allegiant the final book in Veronica Roth's Divergent trilogy was released this week.  It will be in book stores on October 22, so mark your calendars, and for your viewing pleasure until then the cover: