Plus One, by Elizabeth Fama

Release Date: April 8th, 2014
Age Group: Young Adult
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Source: Publisher through NetGalley
Overall: 5 Monkeys
Interest: Sci-Fi
Categories: Sci-Fi, Romance
Read on December 2013
Summary:

Divided by day and night and on the run from authorities, star-crossed young lovers unearth a sinister conspiracy in this compelling romantic thriller.
Seventeen-year-old Soleil Le Coeur is a Smudge—a night dweller prohibited by law from going out during the day. When she fakes an injury in order to get access to and kidnap her newborn niece—a day dweller, or Ray—she sets in motion a fast-paced adventure that will bring her into conflict with the powerful lawmakers who order her world, and draw her together with the boy she was destined to fall in love with, but who is also a Ray.
Set in a vivid alternate reality and peopled with complex, deeply human characters on both sides of the day-night divide, Plus One is a brilliantly imagined drama of individual liberty and civil rights, and a fast-paced romantic adventure story.

My Opinion:

What started as a book I thought would go one way ended up being something entirely different, filled with action round every corner and tons of romance! 

What a fantastic way to use a historical fact, as it was using the Spanish flu pandemic of 1918, and turn it into a What If scenario. 

What if we had really been forced to divide our days and separate our population into Day and Night? 

Elizabeth tells a magnificent tale of lies and love through the eyes of seventeen-year-old Sol (short for Soleil), a Night dweller, or as they call each other, a Smudge. 

Sol's lived her life believing the death of her parents was a mere accident; her only relief was drawing on the desk at school with a partner she never knew, him being a Day student, a Ray. 

In their drawings and writings they told each other everything, becoming best friends across a bridge that seemed unsurmountable. 

Each chapter begins with the name of that particular day of the week, and the specific time of day. What seems to be a random naming system (to me at first!), turns out to be significantly important in the layout of the book: being a Smudge, Sol's bound by the Night schedule and she can only be outside after dark and before sunrise. 

The book opens with a "Wednesday, 4:30 a.m.", a pretty crazy hour to be up and working. But for her, it's the end of her day, moments away from the rise of the sun and the beginning of the Ray day. 

I say that I was a little confused by this system because entwined with these chapters were others titled, "Little Doe" and things as meaningful as that. Those chapters offered a glimpse into Sol's previous life, and through them we got to know her story with her desk partner all the better. 

Sol's been abandoned by her brother, Ciel. Or at least, it's how she feels it. She's all but crossed him off her list, until, on her grandfather's final moments -the only parent she's ever known-, he asks her a dying wish: to see Ciel's newborn daughter. 

Sol's life changes dramatically thanks to that one final wish; she's ready to do everything to make it happen, even if it means throwing her own life to the drain. 

It's in that situation that she finds herself in the middle of a wage between Rays and Smudges, criminal Noma (neither Day nor Night felons), her own brother Ciel and a very powerful Night Minister. What Sol thought was a "simple" baby-napping escalates into something much more significant. 

It was one heck of a ride, and I loved every second of it! D'Arcy I loved more. He brought his own personal Sun into the story and I can't wait to read him more. 

QUICKY: External Forces (The Laws of Motion, #1), by Deborah Rix

Release Date: November 26th, 2013
Age Group: Young Adult
Publisher: Dime Store Books
Source: Publisher through NetGalley
Overall: 5 Monkeys
Interest: Dystopia
Categories: Dystopia, Romance, Series
Goodreads / Deborah Rix's Website
Read in October 2013

Summary:

It’s 100 years since the Genetic Integrity Act was passed and America closed its borders to prevent genetic contamination. Now only the enemy, dysgenic Deviants, remain beyond the heavily guarded border. The Department of Evolution carefully guides the creation of each generation and deviations from the divine plan are not permitted.
When 16-year-old Jess begins to show signs of deviance she enlists in the Special Forces, with her best friend Jay, in a desperate bid to evade detection by the Devotees. Jess is good with data, not so good with a knife. So when the handsome and secretive Sergeant Matt Anderson selects her for his Black Ops squad, Jess is determined to figure out why.
As her deviance continues to change her, Jess is forced to decide who to trust with her deadly secret. Jess needs to know what’s really out there, in the Deviant wasteland over the border, if she has any hope of making it to her 17th birthday. Because if the enemy doesn’t kill her first, the Department of Evolution probably will.

My Opinion:

What an awesome debut! With hints at Lauren Oliver's Delirium series, Deborah Rix has crafted a new and intriguing post-apocalyptic world. 

We're introduced to Jess a Divergent... um, DEVIANT! (LOL, jk), in a world where any signs of genetic deviance can cost you your life. Jess's only way to survive is to blend in... and become a part of an army dedicated to erradicate and keep at bay any Deviants.

I really should have written this review as soon as I finished it! I could have told you so much that I now seem to have forgotten!

But I can say that I loved this book so much more than I initially thought I would! Deborah created a world full of secrets and romance and action, a fast-paced world I want more of!

Jess's own personality was brilliant. She was her own woman, fighting to keep her secrets and her life. Her relationship with her new friends was very well developed too. 

DNF: Countdown, by Michelle Rowen

Release Date: October 1st, 2013
Age Group: Young Adult
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Source: Publisher through NetGalley
Overall: 1 Monkey
Interest: Dystopia
Categories: Dystopia, Sci-Fi, Romance
Goodreads 

Summary:

3 seconds left to live. Once the countdown starts, it cannot be stopped. 
2 pawns thrown into a brutal underground reality game. 
Kira Jordan survived her family's murder and months on plague-devastated city streets with hard-won savvy and a low-level psi ability. She figures she can handle anything. Until she wakes up in a barren room, chained next to the notorious Rogan Ellis. 
1 reason Kira will never, ever trust Rogan. Even though both their lives depend on it. 
Their every move is controlled and televised for a vicious exclusive audience. And as Kira's psi skill unexpectedly grows and Rogan's secrets prove evermore deadly, Kira's only chance of survival is to risk trusting him as much as her instincts. Even if that means running head-on into the one trap she can't escape. 
GAME OVER

My Opinion:

To me, first chapters are everything. They're what define if I'll stick with a book or not. 

Sadly, Countdown's first chapters didn't do it for me. I got no substantial backstory (only a brief mention of some Great Plague, which, by the way, wasn't explained in the following chapters). 

Until chapter five I had no idea how Kira looked like. She did detail her and Rogan's clothes, but it was a long list I soon forgot and didn't feel like going back to check again. 

And Kira's power... it just felt forced. The narrative didn't do it for me either. 

In the second stage of the game, Kira magically finds the bell to get them to the next level. Here there's a passing mention of her life before, trying to give the story some backdrop (why would she be so comfortable going through the Dumpster?). But just as easily as it appears, it vanishes, and we're left with Kira and Rogan meeting a random man who wants to fix Rogan's shoulder. This did not seem plausible to me. Kira wanted to run at the first opportunity, so why would she act so nonchalant in front of a stranger who is clearly working for the people who've put her in this game? 

It all happens too fast and it doesn't get a chance to be properly developed. Five chapters were more than enough for me. 

Sorry, Michelle!

Outside In (Insider, #2), by Maria V. Snyder

Release Date: March 1st, 2011
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Age Group: Young Adult
Overall: 5 Stars 
Categories: Sci-Fi, Space Travel, Action
Goodreads Page
Read from November to December 2011

Summary:

Me? A Leader? Okay, I did prove that there's more to Inside than we knew. That a whole world exists beyond this cube we live in. And finding that led to a major rebellion - between worker scrubs like me and the snobby uppers who rule our world. Make that ruled. Because of me, we're free. I thought that meant I was off the hook, and could go off on my own again - while still touching base with Riley, of course. He's the one upper I think I can trust. But then we learned that there's outside and then there is Outside. And something from Outside wants In.

My Opinion:

Thanks to the Insider Series, I now like Sci-Fi books. I didn’t use to; I started Inside Out thinking it was just another Dystopia and ended up being surprised: it was a sci-fi, and I loved it! It was also my first Snyder book, and it got me hooked! Now I want to read every book by her.

Outside In begins where IO left off: the Force of Sheep had won the rebellion, the Insiders learnt they were travelling through Outer Space, the Travas were arrested, a Committee was formed and new levels were discovered. Trella and her friends thought they had nothing else to worry about, but soon they found out how wrong they were.

I truly love how Maria crafts her characters’ personalities, I could sometimes guess how some of them would act, but most of the time, everything was a surprise, which was brilliant!

This book is all about love, trust and betrayal, and making tough choices in the name of everyone on board. Trella must figure out who she can trust and defend everything that’s being threatened in Inside.

A must for Snyder and Sci-Fi fans everywhere!

Spirits of Glory, by Emily Devenport

Release Date: October 24th, 2010
Publisher: Smashwords
Age Group: Young Adult
Overall: 3 Stars 
Categories: Mystery, Sci-Fi, Time Travel
Goodreads Page 
Read in December 2011

Summary:

One morning the people of the North woke up and the people of the South were gone. That's the first thing every child learns on the colony world of Jigsaw. But for one girl, knowing about The Disappearance is not enough. Hawkeye wants to know why.

That's why she spent half her life researching The Disappearance. And that's also why eight Neighbors show up on her doorstep, demanding that she accompany them into the Forbidden Cities ruled by the Southern gods to speak with the Spirits of Glory. Everyone thinks Hawkeye is an expert on Neighbors, these almost-humans who move, talk, and think as if they were born inside one of the Time Fractures. But she can't imagine what they want to ask the ghosts of their ancestors, or why they need her to go along. The Southern gods caused every human inhabitant of the Southern cities to disappear overnight - what else might they do?

But the Northern gods say Hawkeye should go and her curiosity won't let her refuse, even though she's going into more danger than she can imagine. Pain and puzzlement wait along the broken interstate, along with scavengers who want to kill them all. Hawkeye's questions only generate more questions as they move farther and farther into the South, right into the heart of the Disappearance, until Hawkeye's questions have all been answered.

Even the ones she was afraid to ask.

My Opinion:

Spirits of Glory is a short but well crafted novel, with a lot of elements to put together in the end, keeping you hooked to the story. 

I really liked how Emily built this new world -Jigsaw- and how she presented us with its history and background, little by little, making us want more. 

The idea of the Time Fractures was very nicely done (being a Doctor Who fan, I tend to pay a lot of attention to these sort of things): once Hawkeye and Co. were in a Fracture, Time seemed to stretch for them, what would take a minute to do, in a Fracture it takes hours. I also enjoyed the visual of the book; Emily put a lot of detail into it. 

But that's my main argument against this book: there was, perhaps, a little too much detail, and not so much action. Whenever we got action, though, it was brilliant!

Hawkeye's growth throughout the book is also nicely written; we read how she becomes a much more mature (than she already is!) girl and how she learns how to handle things in a much better fashion, despite her disability. There's some romance in there, but the way Emily wrote it was great: it wasn't too fluffy, it was barely there, but it was definitely sweet and it worked for the book. 

It's a standalone (a plus!), I think, and a nice book if you're looking for an interesting sci-fi with a really well built world. 

I really wish we'd seen more action, because I think it would have been a great book with it.

The Maze Runner (The Maze Runner, #1), by James Dashner

The Maze Runner (The Maze Runner, #1), by James Dashner on Goodreads

Release Date: October 6th, 2009
Age Group: Young Adult
Publisher: Delacorte Press Books for Young Readers

Overall: 5 Monkeys
Categories: Dystopian, Post-Apocalyptic, Sci-Fi

Challenge: 100 Books in a Year
Other books in the series: The Scorch Trials (The Maze Runner, #2), The Death Cure (The Maze Runner, #3)
Read in July 2011

Summary from Goodreads:

Imagine waking up one day in total darkness, unsure of where you are and unable to remember anything about yourself except your first name. You're in a bizarre place devoid of adults called the Glade. The Glade is an enclosed structure with a jail, a graveyard, a slaughterhouse, living quarters, and gardens. And no way out. Outside the Glade is the Maze, and every day some of the kids -- the Runners -- venture into the labyrinth, trying to map the ever-changing pattern of walls in an attempt to find an exit from this hellish place. So far, no one has figured it out. And not all of the Runners return from their daily exertions, victims of the maniacal Grievers, part animal, part mechanical killing machines.
Thomas is the newest arrival to the Glade in this Truman-meets-Lord of the Flies tale. A motley crew of half a dozen kids is all he has to guide him in this strange world. As soon as he arrives, unusual things begin to happen, and the others grow suspicious of him. Though the Maze seems somehow familiar to Thomas, he's unable to make sense of the place, despite his extraordinary abilities as a Runner. What is this place, anddoes Thomas hold the key to finding a way out?
In The Maze Runner, Dashner has crafted a creative and engaging novel that's both mysterious and thought provoking.

My Opinion:

I'd read a lot about this book, some really good reviews, and it had always been on top of my TBR list. So when I saw it in my local bookstore, I knew I had to buy it. Not that many American books find their way to Latin America, so I was really happy to find this one. 

Cover of my/Latin American edition.

And it did not disappoint! What an awesome first-book-in-a-series! It left me aching for more!

I missed the buzz over this book when it was first published, so I'm not going to make this a long review, as I imagine you may have read a lot of reviews already, but I am going to say this: I saw The Scorch Trials in my bookstore, and I'm getting it when I have money (lol).

I can't remember ever reading a book about a Maze, this one was something fresh. Every chapter ended leaving you more confused and with more questions than before, and I can definitely see why some people compare it to Lost. It has that mysterious air that the TV show had, and that I loved. I can definitely see myself becoming a fan of this trilogy. 

Another thing that suprised me in a wonderful way, was the fact that James wrote a book where teenage (this is a crucial fact) boys are capable of working and living in a very well crafted community. Yes, they got help from the "Makers" (? - I read the book in Spanish, so I don't know the term in English), the people who put them there, but in the end it was up to them to get things done. Eventually, the girl who arrived at the Glade also participates, but the boys are the ones who've built up everything before she got there. 

Why do I like this? Because it shows teenagers can do more than care for trivial matters! Leaving aside the fact that this is a Sci-Fi, these boys worked hard not to let anguish and pain bring them down. So, kudos to Dashner, Thomas and the Gladers!

This book is full of fast-paced action, suspense, mystery and some laughs thrown in there too. I highly recommend this is you still haven't read it!