Uncaged (The Singular Menace) by John Sandford & Michele Cook

Shay Remby arrives in Hollywood with $58 and a handmade knife, searching for her brother, Odin.
Odin’s a brilliant hacker but a bit of a loose cannon. He and a group of radical animal-rights activists hit a Singular Corp. research lab in Eugene, Oregon. The raid was a disaster, but Odin escaped with a set of highly encrypted flash drives and a post-surgical dog.
When Shay gets a frantic 3 a.m. phone call from Odin—talking about evidence of unspeakable experiments, and a ruthless corporation, and how he must hide—she’s concerned. When she gets a menacing visit from Singular’s security team, she knows: her brother’s a dead man walking.
What Singular doesn’t know—yet—is that 16-year-old Shay is every bit as ruthless as their security force, and she will burn Singular to the ground, if that’s what it takes to save her brother

At first, this book was off-putting. It switched POV's frequently and didn't explain much about the current situation, I could definitely tell that this was an adult author trying to write a YA book. The book just continued like that and it really seemed to drag on. Still, without explaining much about the circumstances.

Eventually it seemed to settle on Shay's POV and the reader starts to get his/her balance straight. While a little unrealistic, I loved Twist and his hotel of street kids, I loved his rules and his seemingly soft spot for Shay (because she breaks a lot of his rules and he never does kick her out.) Twist's unusual occupation of statement painting and trouble making makes for a good story. Although his political statements were off-putting as well. I think John could alienate a lot of readers very quickly this way. but I think overall the transition he and the kids made from trouble makers to crime stoppers was fluid. For whatever reason the odd style of writing at the beginning, evens itself out and changes POVs less often.

Certainly the most interesting part of the book was the ending; which was calculated by the crew of teens (down to the iota of detail) and that was perhaps my favorite facet of the story (The crew's calculating nature.) My favorite character of course was Odin, the 17 soon to be 18 year old kid, whom while mildly autistic is also a computer genius. Odin reminds me a lot of myself actually, and I was proud of the moves he made and his resolution to never give up his friends despite being water boarded repeatedly by his captors. This book is definitely for the older crowd. Odin and X were the story savers from my point of view. If they hadn't been there to beef up the story (or if Odin's POV had been left out) I think Shay would have been a very flat character, and the book would have lost whatever spine it had to begin with.

This book was difficult for me to review, while the end was definitely worth it, the book was not without it's major flaws... So I lean towards three stars, but will give it four for the action and solid ending. I am, afterall, looking forward to the next installment.

This book was provided to me by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

About the Authors

John Sandford

Michele Cook

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Neptune's Tears (Timedance #1) by Susan Waggoner

“London, 2218 A.D. Seventeen-year-old Zee is an intern empath. She’s focused on her job, poised for a great career—until one day an attractive patient undoes her hard-earned calm. As an empath, she cannot afford such distractions, but neither can she stay away from David, even when she discovers he’s one of a mysterious alien race. As London comes under attack by anarchist bombings, and as Zee struggles to get a handle on her unusually strong psychic abilities, David starts pulling away. Although Zee’s sure he’s attracted to her, David has secrets he cannot share. But it’s too late for Zee. She’s losing her heart to the gray-eyed alien boy, and she’s determined to follow him—no matter how far it may take her.”

I was entranced by the cover and I'd had it on my to-reads list for a few months..but then….I passed it several times at the Macmillan booth at ALA in Chicago (2013 for future readers reference.) I actually waited an hour in line, at the crazy bull run/zoo on Monday at 12 (where magically, everyone pops up from their crevices and they run down everyone they can to get to the booths that sell their books at noon.)
I waited for an hour, and once I was let in to the booth area, I picked this last beautiful display copy up and went to get a second before checking out. The process sounded peaceful, but what actually happened, was that about 30 people rushed me, crushed me into the booth and left with their precious books without paying for them.
I and three other dignified souls stuck around to express thanks with green paper of monetary value. I’d had my eye on this book for the whole weekend, knowing they only had that display copy. I was overjoyed when I was third in line!
So I made sure that I stuck this one in my plane backpack (which much to my chagrin, I had to take with me every day of ALA to keep track of my medicine and etc.)
The next day, exhausted, I sat on the plane and took this puppy out. I read…and read…and read.
Then I read the rest of it on the drive back home from LAX.
I finished it before we ‘got down the hill’ (it’s what we call the mountain pass that separates LA from my home town.) and I was sorely disappointed.
Yeah, it had lots of precise medical terminology…. But it had no character attachment (oh look, someone died and I don’t care.)
The other thing that drove me crazy? You know the saying “Show, don’t tell”? This book was ALL TELL and no show. Also, the time jumps drove me crazy. You’d go to the next chapter and all of the sudden, it was a month later….What happened in those months and those weeks? Surely she wasn’t put in to a chamber that paused her every thought and emotional turmoil? Yet she was in the same mental state she was before the skip… This definitely contributed to the character detachment.
I just keep waiting for it to get better and it never did. I’m usually such a sci-fi chick! This book held loads of promise, but the way it was written totally put me off. No matter how many unanswered questions there are, I will not be picking up the sequel. Shame. Perhaps it might have been saved if it had a really good (read: ruthless, dictatoresque) content editor.
Don’t pick this book up. There are plenty of others with the same premises that you will enjoy much, much, much better.

The Gaia Wars (Gaia Wars#1) by Kenneth G. Bennett

“Deadly secrets have been buried in the Cascade mountain wilderness for centuries. Hidden. Out of sight and out of mind.
Until today...
Warren Wilkes, age 13, doesn't like what a greedy housing developer has done to his peaceful mountain community, so he vandalizes the developer's property, flees into the wild, and stumbles upon an ancient human skeleton revealed by torrential rain. More than old bones have been exposed, however, and the curious artifact Warren finds makes him question his own identity, and his connection to an ancient terror. A terror destined to rise again and annihilate all that Warren loves. He must fight or see his whole world destroyed."

I LOVED this book. It was amazing. Yes, I’'m a science fiction geekgirl. But, with a lot of science fiction, you lose a sense of reality, or you lose the personal side. Things are often not just new wave, but ‘future’-wave. This book is, alien invasion meets Native American folklore, meets campout nightmare.

Translation for people who don’t speak nerd: It rocked.

It had everything that makes a good story. Even non-science fiction people will love this read. Another thing I have to say, it was FANTASTICALLY written. I have the sequel already, I can’t wait to read it.

False Memory by Dan Krokos

“Miranda wakes up alone on a park bench with no memory. In her panic, she releases a mysterious energy that incites pure terror in everyone around her. Except Peter, a boy who isn’t at all surprised by Miranda’s shocking ability.
Left with no choice but to trust this stranger, Miranda discovers she was trained to be a weapon and is part of an elite force of genetically-altered teens who possess flawless combat skills and powers strong enough to destroy a city. But adjusting to her old life isn’t easy—especially with Noah, the boyfriend she can’t remember loving.
Then Miranda uncovers a dark truth that sets her team on the run. Suddenly her past doesn’t seem to matter... when there may not be a future.”

You guys all know I’m a sci-fi fanatic. TONS of sci-fi releases have happened in the past month, and the flow shows no sign of stopping.  It makes me absolutely GIDDY. I met Dan at BEA12 and had the honor of receiving his first ever signed book. Ridiculous, right? The second I read the synopsis for False Memory, I knew it would be one of the genuine ones. (As in, it’s an honest Sci-fi, not just a romance that happens to have an alien in it.) Dan does a fantastic job of writing in the female perspective! It follows our natural train of thought (completely different from most boys...) Not to mention…this was like an action flick on PAPER. Though it has high action, it also wages psychological warefare. You ask yourself questions like: “Did someone betray them? Who? One of their own team members?” My mind worked a million miles an hour to figure it out!  Even though this book had a moderate amount of cussing, I absolutely recommend this book.  Kudos to you Dan, in the dark alleyways authors have to travel, you found  THE flashlight. I can’t wait for False Sight.

Broken Skies (Broken Skies #1) by Theresa Kay

“In seventeen-year-old Jax Mitchell's world, humans are nearly extinct and alien settlers have arrived.
Until recently, the E’rikon have remained segregated in their city and ignored the few humans who have tried to engage them… but now they have taken Jax’s brother. To rescue him, she forms an uneasy alliance with a teenage E’rikon left stranded in the woods. She agrees to guide him to the city if he sneaks her past the human-proof barrier. Too bad it’s not that simple.
Jax, who cannot stand to be touched, finds that’s she’s drawn to the alien boy with bright green hair and jewel-like scales down his back. And he’s equally affected by her, the courageous redhead with haunted eyes. But she doesn’t know the alien’s true motives and he has no idea that she is much more than she seems.
In this world where alien and human are at odds, the connection forming between the two has consequences. What started off as a rescue mission sets a chain of events in motion which threatens not only the remaining humans and the growing alien society, but Earth itself.”

YES. Just….YES. For anyone who has been around me for any length of time, you know that I totally dig Sci-Fi. It’s my favorite genre, and sometimes, it gets scarce. ESPECIALLY, good sci-fi. A good sci-fi, is like the chances of finding a majestic unicorn in your backyard. Fortunately, I’m half crazy, and I’ve found quite a few unicorns over the years. So I went in to this tour with a high bar, and hesitant expectations (but I always hope for the best when it comes to my favorite genre.)

For the first few pages, I dilly dallied, stopping to do chores and etc. But eventually I hit the sweet spot, and sat down to read all the way through the rest of it.

AMAZING. And that was my thought before I knew it was Theresa’s first (published) novel.

I love aliens, and all that jazz. BUT, Theresa managed to bring a fresh face to her aliens, I’m used to seeing Aliens in YA fiction, as humans with above average looks, intelligence or capabilities… Lir is definitely super human, and he looks human but he’s DIFFERENT. He has something that’s organically different.

On the flipside, There’s nothing I detest more than totally overboard xenologistic authors. I’m sure you’ve attempted to read at least one. One’s where it takes half the novel for you to understand what the heck is going on, and just what and who you’re dealing with.

To give you a more specific taste, I’ll share with you the moment I was riveted to the page.

---
“I pull out a green t-shirt and drop it on
the bed, then I find a pair of faded jeans with a hole in the knee— Jace won’t miss those— and
put them on the bed with the shirt.
I manage not to jump out of my skin when Lir just walks into the room. Don’t aliens know how to knock?
“Change,” I say, sending him a dirty look, and then stride back through the doorway.
Flopping into the chair in the den, I begin making a mental list of supplies we’ll need for
the trip. As I’m tallying the supplies I have on hand and what we may need to trade for, a loud
thump draws my eye to Jace’s doorway where Lir is standing with his back to me— shirtless.
My hand shoots up to cover the sound of my gasp. I’d heard of the green blood, but I’d
never heard of anything like this. Golden scales with green tips extend from the hairline on the
back of his neck in a line along his spine and flare out over his hips, disappearing into the top of
the dark gray uniform pants. The line of scales, the trail down his back only a few inches wide,
is brilliantly colored, almost like jewels. I’ve never seen anything like it and I want to know
what they feel like. Are they soft like a snake’s sun warmed skin or hard and jagged like the
colored rocks they resemble?
I’m up and almost halfway across the room before I realize what I’m doing..
--

AHHHH *fangirl squeal* The book progresses, and changes, and mystifies. Relationships form, hearts break , ideals change, and I was happy, excited and sometimes even embarrassed for the characters.

Speaking of heart break, that end left mine in pieces. Theresa, we need to have a little talk, you can’t just do this to us. You really can’t…It’s just inhumane.

But, I was (very very very) slightly comforted by the fact that the sequel is scheduled for release in September 2014.

Theresa, you have a new devoted fan.

Not to mention, you pulled a fast one on me with Flint. I TOTALLY didn’t see that one coming.

I give it a solid four and a half stars. If you are a sci-fi freak, or you’re in the mood for a whirlwind experience, I recommend Broken Skies. It was a thoroughly enjoyable read.

I received this book in exchange for an honest review! I would appreciate it so much if you'd follow me via RSS and checked out the other wonderful bloggers on this tour. You can access the tour schedule (and links) by clicking on the tour banner above!

*my more conservative followers may not like this novel, but I can’t tell you why…. Because it would ruin a mainstream line of the novel. Sorry folks!

PSI Another Day by D.R. Rosensteel

When spunky teen Rinnie is forced to bust out her secret Psi Fighter moves in school in order to bring downs its drug ring, she encounters a deeper plot…and a more sinister danger.

My name is Rinnie Noelle.
 By day I'm just another girl in high school who likes lip gloss. But by night I'm a Psi Fighter—a secret guardian with a decade of training in the Mental Arts. Kinda like Batman, but without the cape.
Bad guys beware.
After screwing up my first mission, I'm now supposed to fix the problems at my school. Major, fly-catching yawn. Sure, drugs are bad, but what crime fighter wants to put bullies in detention when she can save the world from nefarious villains?  ’Cause I will take you out.
But things heat up fast. Now I have two guys into me—yummy new kid, Egon, and my old nemesis-turned-nice-guy, Mason. Plus, word on the street is that a Walpurgis Knight, the Psi Fighter's worst enemy, has infiltrated the school. And everyone is a potential suspect, even Mason and Egon. Darn. Fingers crossed I find the Knight before he finds me..

*applauds*

This book exceeded my expectations! It had a serious plot, but a lighthearted edge because there was one thing this author NAILED.

It’s HUMOR.

Here's an example:
 ""Stu-dents," she said finally in a staccato voice, She waited until the auditorium quieted. "I have good news for you, and I have news that is less than satisfactory."
"What's the good news, Old Bag?" A voice from the back shouted. The auditorium echoed with laughter at the nasty nickname.
"For me, Mr. Rubric," she said calmly, " good news would be a relaxing breakfast of sausage, eggs, and a honey-covered biscuit, eaten after the joyful discovery that my milk carton had your picture on it."
[Rinnie:] Direct hit, I gave it a ten."

This man made me laugh out loud. And further? It was a humor that ANYONE would find funny. It’s not like other novels I’ve read where you see something that you know some find funny, but find yourself just grimacing at instead.

One thing I’ve noticed in other people’s remarks about this novel, is the seemingly hated “Love triangle.” Usually I’m not one for the dreaded triangle, but this book was so subtle about it, I’m not sure you could call it a triangle at all…(I’m not convinced, because I don’t see proof of two boys chasing a girl simultaneously.)

I also would really like to comment on Mason's story line. I loved to see his clockwork ticking and see his devastating past. I LOVED the discussion he had with Rinnie at the end (Wink, no spoilers...) It was really just a gentle, lovable moment.

I found his characters genuine, and I really empathized with Rinnie. Her voice was so unique and funny (and like a normal teenager, occasionally self-doubting and/or spacey.) Which I found to be attractive.

Even his society was well put together. I expected this book to be somewhat like Ally Carter’s Heist Society (I would typically say Gallagher Girls was closer, except I can’t compare because I’ve never read Gallagher Girls!)

Now, I saw the ending coming, but it was pulled off in a really charming way. (mixed with elements that I didn’t see coming.)

This is yet another example of how underestimated male writers are in the YA field. They really are capable of writing female perspectives and they really can have an iron grasp on female emotional ranges.

I would absolutely recommend this read to anyone looking for something a little whimsical, with a solid serious edge. This was written especially well for a kick-butt against drugs novel...

This novel was provided to me by YA BOUND book tours, in exchanged for a review. My view on the novel was not influence in any way, shape, or form, by the donation of the novel.

Don't forget to see the other lovely ladies' posts, you can find them all on a handy-dandy little list

HERE.

 Add it to your Goodreads to-read!

About the Author

D.R. Rosensteel is a management consultant living in a household of women. He believes that the extreme estrogen level in his house contributes to his writing voice. And his hearing loss. He is a graduate of the Long Ridge Writer’s Group and the Institute of Children’s Literature. Psi Fighter is his first novel. Check out The Psi Academy at www.psifighteracademy.com

Follow him on various sights here!

Pastworld by Ian Beck

Eve has grown up in Pastworld; it’s a Victorian era London. The people inside know nothing about the outside world.
Caleb’s father was one of the original imagineeers for Pastworld theme park and now they get to go to Pastworld as guests. It is the world’s most authentic amusement park, but the last thing they expected was murder.
The Phantom is the murderer, the mass murderer. He has every one where he wants them, fearing his name. His favorite signature? Cutting his victim’s hearts out.

This was the most disturbing book I have ever read (and not in the delightful way.) The gore wasn't bad, but I would just really like to get a psych evaluation on the author. Eve (throughout the book) wants to be strangled. So whenever she meets a new person (with one exception) , she puts their hands on her throat and tells them to strangle her. She takes pleasure in it. Its just mentally disturbing. Don’t read this, it was pointless. I cannot stress enough how disturbing this book was. I will never recommend this book to anyone.