Half-Off Ragnarok: By Seanan McGuire

HALF-OFF RAGNAROK

SUMMARY

What do gorgons, basilisks, and frogs with feathers all have in common? They're all considered mythological by modern science, and some people are working very hard to keep them that way. Alexander Price is a member of a cryptozoological lineage that spans generations, and it's his job to act as a buffer between the human and cryptid worlds—not an easy task when you're dealing with women who has snakes in place of hair, little girls who may actually be cobras, and brilliant, beautiful Australian zookeepers. And then there's the matter of the murders...

Alex thought he was choosing the easier career when he decided to specialize in non-urban cryptids, leaving the cities to his little sister, Verity. He had no idea what he was letting himself in for. It's a family affair, and everyone—from his reanimated grandfather to his slightly broken telepathic cousin—is going to find themselves drawn in before things get any better.

REVIEW

I had heard good things about Seanan McGuire for a while now. I had heard positive things about her Toby Daye series, her Mira Grant books, and her InCryptid series. So deciding I’d start somewhere I picked up Discount Armageddon, the first in the InCryptid series. Let me just tell you, it was fantastic. It was fun, had tons of action, was full of engaging characters and put a great twist on the whole monster that goes bump in the night motif. In fact, I liked it so much that I finished both the first and the second book in the series (Midnight Blue-Light Special) in a manner of days, leaving me wanting more. Luckily for me, Seanan McGuire is an incredibly prolific writer.

Now, the third book in the series, Half-Off Ragnarok is slightly different than the first two books in the series. The biggest difference is that this volume follows Alex Price (Verity’s geekier brother). It still follows the events of Midnight Blue-Light Special, but if a reader had to, they would be able to pick up the story and have a grand ol’ time reading the third book in the series first (now I would recommend reading the books in order, but if you haven’t read the other books and this one happens to be calling your name, then have no fears that you wont be able to follow the story.)

Besides changing the protagonist and the setting this book is very similar to the previous books in the series. It is full of fun action, there is a love interest that is filled with problems, its has hilarious quotes from older Healys and Price’s to start each chapter, and it’s just a good fast read. I personally liked the first two books in the series better, but I think that had less to do with Alex, who I liked quite a bit as a protagonist, and more to do with the nature of the mysteries being solved. That said, I fully recommend Half-Off Ragnarok as well as all of Seanan McGuire’s InCryptid Series, particularly for anyone who wants a series they wont be able to put down.

INFO

Publisher: DAW

Published: March 4, 2014

Price: $7.99

Link to Buy: http://www.amazon.com/Half-Off-Ragnarok-Book-Three-InCryptid-ebook/dp/B00EOARADM/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1393623438&sr=1-1&keywords=seanan+mcguire

Road Rash: By Mark Huntley Parsons

ROAD RASH

SUMMARY

After being dropped from one band, 17-year-old drummer Zach gets a chance to go on tour with a much better band. It feels like sweet redemption, but this is one rocky road trip. . . .

Zach's in control on the drums, driving the band, keeping things moving at the right pace. But when the show is over, his timing is all off. The jealousies and rivalries within his new group keep him off-balance. The awesome original song he recorded backfires. And the girl he left back home is suddenly talking about this other guy . . .

REVIEW

Road Rash is a fun engaging book that has a great voice that will reel you in and wont let go until the last page.

I loved Road Rash, not only did I commiserate with the protagonist, but like a a great song I could feel all the emotions Zach was going through. I could feel his frustration with bend flare-ups, his confusion with girl problems, and most importantly his love and joy of the music. In my opinion, that’s one of the key distinguishing factor between a good YA (heck this is true for any book, but particularly for YA) and mediocre or bad YA, whether or not the audience is able to feel the emotions that the author is going for. If you’ve bought into the book to the extent that you’re riding the waves of emotion that the protagonist is feeling, then the author has done a good job. Well let me tell you, Mark Huntley Parsons has done a great job.

Of course, on top of loving the characters and the writing, I also thought Parsons did a fantastic job balancing all the different storylines, thus creating a healthy medium for them to build off one another without any of them overriding Zach’s main journey (the only storyline that I wanted Parsons to come back to that he didn’t was the postcard storyline (I understand what he was getting at, but I still would have liked to come back to it)). This, coupled with Parsons excellent pacing of the book, kept me reading to the point that I started and finished the book in the same day.

All in all, I really liked Road Rash. I would easily recommend it to anyone looking for a good read, particularly if they liked Tara Kelly’s Amplified, Jacob Slichter’s So You Wanna Be a Rock and Roll Star, Antony John’s Five Flavors of Dumb, or Love Maia’s DJ Rising (all fantastic books!). In fact, all that’s left to say after finishing Road Rash is ENCORE!

INFO

Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers

Published: February 11, 2014

Price: $16.99

Link to Buy: http://www.amazon.com/Road-Rash-Mark-Huntley-Parsons-ebook/dp/B00EMXBD7U/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1392698501&sr=8-2&keywords=road+rash

Grasshopper Jungle: By Andrew Smith

GRASSHOPPER JUNGLE

SUMMARY

In the small town of Ealing, Iowa, Austin and his best friend, Robby, have accidentally unleashed an unstoppable army. An army of horny, hungry, six-foot-tall praying mantises that only want to do two things.

This is the truth. This is history.
It’s the end of the world. And nobody knows anything about it.
You know what I mean.

REVIEW

I think the first and most fitting thing to write in a review about Grasshopper Jungle is that I have never read a book like this before. I don’t say that lightly either. I’ve read hundreds of YA books, and thousands of science fiction and fantasy books, and I can honestly say I’ve never read anything quite like Grasshopper Jungle.

Grasshopper Jungle is one part coming of age/confused sexuality YA, one part end of the world horror story, all rounded out with countless non sequitur that somehow connect to the story in a somewhat meandering and plodding path.

To say this was an odd book would be an understatement. To say this was a bad book would be wrong. No, this was a book that kept me fascinated from the first page, as well as kept me guessing. I think that’s one of the strangest things about this book, the way that Andrew Smith arranges all of these seemingly conflicting story lines into a book that is able to not only able to hold them all in without bursting but also thrives amongst these jarring plots.

While only some of the characters are deep, all of them are true. The statements, analogies, stories, and histories that Smith weaves through his protagonist, Austin, are a strange combination of enlightenment, truth, hormones, and profanity. Through these discoveries on the human condition as well as personal discoveries by the protagonist, readers will reminisce and relate to many of the thoughts and feelings that Austin waxes on about.

All in all, I think most people might be scared off by this book. And that’s fine, this book is not for everyone. What it is though is a book that evokes emotion, captivates the reader, and will leave the reader sitting dumbfounded at the end both wanting to know both more and less all at the same time. I can’t say for certain that others will enjoy this book but I believe that I can say that I did, and that was enough for me.

INFO

Publisher: Dutton Children's 

Published: February 11, 2014

Price: $18.99

Link to Buy: http://www.amazon.com/Grasshopper-Jungle-Andrew-Smith-ebook/dp/B007HU7LNK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1392592266&sr=8-1&keywords=grasshopper+jungle

Reality Boy: By A.S. King

REALITY BOY

SUMMARY

In this fearless portrayal of a boy on the edge, highly acclaimed Printz Honor author A.S. King explores the desperate reality of a former child "star" struggling to break free of his anger.

Gerald Faust started feeling angry even before his mother invited a reality TV crew into his five-year-old life. Twelve years later, he's still haunted by his rage-filled youth--which the entire world got to watch from every imaginable angle--and his anger issues have resulted in violent outbursts, zero friends, and clueless adults dumping him in the special education room at school. No one cares that Gerald has tried to learn to control himself; they're all just waiting for him to snap. And he's starting to feel dangerously close to doing just that...until he chooses to create possibilities for himself that he never knew he deserved.

REVIEW

Some books are great to read, they have action, adventure, great, characters, but they don’t really make you think. That’s ok because that’s not what those books are meant to do, they are written for entertainment and that’s what they do, they entertain.

Realty Boy is not one of those books.

Realty Boy is terrific book, but it’s terrific in vastly different ways. It will make you feel shocked, horrorstruck, and even blessed for your own life. Most of all it will make you feel.

Realty Boy is also beautiful in its own way. There are not magic fixes, this is not a Disney movie where everything is fixed and there is a montage of happy scenes in the end. But it is an incredibly poignant novel about a boy who lives in an abusive household and the struggles he has in taking control of his life. In fact these realization points are some of the most disturbing/shocking/beautifully written events in the book.

All in all A.S. King is a master wordsmith and anyone who is looking for a book that makes you feel a whole range of emotions should read this book. It is not for everyone as it has highly mature topics, but it is strong, well written, and leaves you feeling raw, as a great novel of this sort is supposed to.

INFO

Publisher: Little Brown Books for Young Readers 

Published: October 22, 2013

Price: $18.00

Link to Buy: http://www.amazon.com/Reality-Boy-S-King-ebook/dp/B00BAXFBQO/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1390692668&sr=1-1&keywords=reality+boy

Shadow Ops: Breach Zone: By Myke Cole

SHADOW OPS: BREACH ZONE

SUMMARY

The Great Reawakening did not come quietly. Across the country and in every nation, people began “coming up Latent,” developing terrifying powers—summoning storms, raising the dead, and setting everything they touch ablaze. Those who Manifest must choose: become a sheepdog who protects the flock or a wolf who devours it…

In the wake of a bloody battle at Forward Operating Base Frontier and a scandalous presidential impeachment, Lieutenant Colonel Jan Thorsson, call sign “Harlequin,” becomes a national hero and a pariah to the military that is the only family he’s ever known.

In the fight for Latent equality, Oscar Britton is positioned to lead a rebellion in exile, but a powerful rival beats him to the punch: Scylla, a walking weapon who will stop at nothing to end the human-sanctioned apartheid against her kind.

When Scylla’s inhuman forces invade New York City, the Supernatural Operations Corps are the only soldiers equipped to prevent a massacre. In order to redeem himself with the military, Harlequin will be forced to face off with this havoc-wreaking woman from his past, warped by her power into something evil…

REVIEW

The first thing I have to say about Breach Zone is that it was amazing. I loved Control Point and Fortress Frontier, but I honestly think Breach Zone is the best in the series.

Cole’s writing, while already impressive, has improved with each book in the series. In each book Cole has stretched different writer’s muscles in an attempt to better captivate the reader and tell the story. In Breach Zone Cole expertly jumps back and forth between the past and the present in order to expand readers’ understanding of the overall story behind Scylla, Harlequin, and the limbic  dampener. On top of that, Cole does a fantastic job of showing the enormous terror that latents feel when their powers appear. Even more impressively, Cole is able to create feelings empathy towards one of the most monstrous characters in the novels, humanizing her, yet without lessening the need to take her down.

Of course, besides telling an interesting story that fills in the holes in different characters back stories Breach Zone also has tons of action that will keep even the most ADD reader captivated. Further, not only is this action told from Halrequin’s point of view but readers of the previous books in the series (which I highly recommend (both because they are great books and because it is essential to fully understand and enjoy Breach Zone)) will be excited to know that both Oscar Britton and Alan Bookbinder play large roles in this third and final installment of the Shadow Ops series.

All in all, I really liked Breach Zone. I was impressed with the entire Shadow Ops series with its combination of the military and x-men style powers. Myke Cole is an excellent writer who has improved his craft with each book, and I personally can’t wait to read what he comes out with next.

INFO

Publsiher: Ace

Published: January 28, 2014

Price: $7.19

Link to Buy: http://www.amazon.com/Shadow-Ops-Breach-Myke-Cole-ebook/dp/B00DGZKIPS/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1390843962&sr=1-1&keywords=breach+zone