Title: Half Lives
Author: Sara Grant (Twitter)
Publisher: Little, Brown BYR
Publish Date: July 9, 2013
Genre: YA, Dystopian
Pages: 400
Source: Publisher

Seventeen-year-old Icie's parents have given her $10,000 in cash, a map of a top-secret bunker, and instructions to get there by any means necessary. They have news of an imminent viral attack and know that the bunker is Icie's only hope for survival. Along with three other teens, she lives locked away for months, not knowing what's happening in the outside world or who has survived. And are they safe in the bunker after all?

Generations in the future, a mysterious cult worships the very mountain where Icie's secret bunker was built. They never leave the mountain, they're ruled by a teenager...and they have surprising ties to Icie.

Icie lives in a world that's confined to the hidden, underground shelter of a bunker, simply to stay alive. Icie and her unlikely group of friends struggle to survive in this shelter that's devoid of news of the outside world, and, hundreds of years in the future, Beckett's life races through a series of unfathomable events as he tries to understand the mysteries of the very mountain in which Icie and her friends hid so many years ago. These two teens live generations apart, but there is an inexplicable link that will eventually, ultimately be realized.

Half Lives presents a unique opportunity for readers, as well as a bit of a challenge, which is often lacking in the YA genre. Sara Grant has created an intriguing premise for two decidedly different storylines unravel and unfold, all the while winding back into a single connection, which brings the story full-circle. With clever and articulate details, a heroine with whom readers can relate and a surprising new twist on the dystopian genre, Half Lives promises readers two very different and exciting journeys.

There was a lot going on in Half Lives, and I'll be completely honest and say that not all of it worked for me. I'll start, however, with what really did succeed. Icie's storyline was brilliant. Written in first-person perspective, I was offered a unique twist into accessing a teen protagonist's mind. I was worried that viewing the world and events from Icie's eyes would limit my investment in her storyline, or would keep me from understand the secondary characters Chaske, Marissa and Tate, but I was surprised to find that I had more investment in their arcs because of this viewpoint. On the other hand though, Beckett's side of the story was written in third-person perspective, which usually really succeeds for me, but I felt as though his own storyline felt shallow and difficult to follow. Perhaps it was the vernacular, or the chants and prayers, but I felt like I couldn't really get into his side of the novel. I will say that it was a clever and appropriate differentiation between Icie and Beckett's journeys, but I almost feel like Half Lives could have succeeded far better if the first book was written from Icie's POV, while the second followed Beckett's journey. That said, there were aspects of Beckett's future generation that I did enjoy. I think it was really unique and fun that the place in which they lived was called "Forreal." I enjoyed some of the tense revelations, which often led me down the wrong path and surprised me. Unfortunately though, a lot of the depth I wanted from Beckett's end was lost, and secondary characters became mere stereotypes, while the gripping drama of Icie's storyline slowly slipped away and got lost.

In the end, I'm honestly not sure how I feel about Half Lives. I give the author a ton of credit for tackling a lot with this novel and really challenging her creative bounds. I'm just not sure how well some of the story will resonate with readers, as it left me wanting a bit more at times. I give it a 3 out of 5, and I recommend it to fans of YA, especially those who enjoy dystopian and split perspectives.

I received this book free of charge from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This, in no way, affected my opinion or review of this book.

Title: Don't Turn Around
Author: Michelle Gagnon (Twitter)
Publisher: HarperCollins
Publish Date: August 28, 2012
Genre: YA, Mystery, Sci-Fi
Pages: 309
Source: Publisher

Sixteen-year-old Noa has been a victim of the system ever since her parents died. Now living off the grid and trusting no one, she uses her hacking skills to stay anonymous and alone. But when she wakes up on a table in a warehouse with an IV in her arm and no memory of how she got there, Noa starts to wish she had someone on her side.

Enter Peter Gregory. A rich kid and the leader of a hacker alliance, Peter needs people with Noa’s talents on his team. Especially after a shady corporation threatens his life in no uncertain terms. But what Noa and Peter don’t realize is that Noa holds the key to a terrible secret, and there are those who’d stop at nothing to silence her for good.

Noa's never had a single person to trust, and it's been this way since she lost her parents. But life in the system was a far cry from fear she has when she wakes up in an unknown place with no memory of how she arrived there. What Noa doesn't know is that she's an asset, and she holds powerful information that could irreparably change the course of events. Can Peter, Noa's newfound ally, and she discover what this faceless corporation wants from them before it's too late, or will they both lose everything?

I'm a bit of a sucker for thrillers. I always have been, and I always will be, which is odd because they make me fear sleeping for days. I know. I digress. The point is, the synopsis for Don't Turn Around was immediately intriguing to me, and I definitely bought into the idea of a dark and sinister operation and a creepy, mysterious vibe. Author, Michelle Gagnon, has created a powerful heroine with whom the reader is able to go on a spine-tingling journey full of twists, turns and plenty of corruption. With a fast pace and a strong voice, Don't Turn Around is sure to whisk you away in its dark embrace.

Don't Turn Around is one of those novels that had a whole heck of a lot going for it. The writing style is fresh and clean, and we're offered a fast-paced introduction into what promises to be an exciting and tension-filled new series. The strongest suit of this book is simply that the action is non-stop. It's the type of book that I literally felt the need to read in one sitting because each page had me on the edge of my seat trying to figure out exactly what would happen next. Even better, Don't Turn Around provided just enough mystery and little enough foreshadowing to keep me on my toes, so I never felt as though I was getting too much of the story too soon. Rather, I was riveted from the get-go. Unfortunately, there's a flip-side to this, as well. Because the book was so heavily plot-driven, some of the other aspects of the novel sacrificed their time in the limelight. For one, I never felt as though I could really access Noa or Peter throughout the book. While I felt as though I got their framework, and it was definitely solid, I didn't really get to see these two otherwise powerful characters transform much from start to finish. In addition, a lot of key elements to this series were introduced but not really elaborated upon, such as the virus, PEMA. I would have loved to learn more about it in the first book, but I can only assume that this was not an oversight on the author, but rather a calculated risk in furthering the series. 

All in all, Don't Turn Around might be a book you're tempted to overlook on the shelves, but it's one of those action-packed books that I'm sure I'll pick up again to see if I missed something in my haste to eat it up. I give it a really high 3.5 out of 5, simply because I would have loved more detail on the characters, and I recommend it to fans of YA, especially those who enjoy YA, sci-fi and mysteries.

I received this book free of charge from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This, in no way, affected my opinion or review of this book.

Title: Black City
Author: Elizabeth Richards (Twitter)
Publisher: G.P. Putnam's Sons BYR
Publish Date: November 13, 2012
Genre: YA, Dystopian
Pages: 374
Source: Publisher

In a city where humans and Darklings are now separated by a high wall and tensions between the two races still simmer after a terrible war, sixteen-year-olds Ash Fisher, a half-blood Darkling, and Natalie Buchanan, a human and the daughter of the Emissary, meet and do the unthinkable—they fall in love. Bonded by a mysterious connection that causes Ash’s long-dormant heart to beat, Ash and Natalie first deny and then struggle to fight their forbidden feelings for each other, knowing if they’re caught, they’ll be executed—but their feelings are too strong.

When Ash and Natalie then find themselves at the center of a deadly conspiracy that threatens to pull the humans and Darklings back into war, they must make hard choices that could result in both their deaths.

The world has long since been broken. Natalie has lived a privileged life, in terms of the quality of life afforded most people since the wars. Ash, quite simply, has not. When Natalie's picture-perfect bubble is broken and she's forced to move with her family to Black City and endure public school and the realities of life that most people face, she's thrust headlong into a world that is completely unfamiliar. Ash, however, only knows this world, and their kinds should never, ever fall in love. But the feelings are there, the attraction is undeniable and things can only get worse from here.

I've mentioned a lot recently that I think that dystopian novels are fairly outplayed. I think that this happens for most genres, and it really just goes in cycles. Nevertheless, I was excited to read Black City and learn about this dark, bleak world in which danger, war and strife come standard. Elizabeth Richards truly succeeds in crafting a world ruled by corruption and fear and, in terms of dystopian settings, Black City ranks among the craftiest, most twisted around. Merging a powerful and tumultuous love story, an incredibly atmospheric backdrop and a clever mix of genres, Black City leads the pack.

I was pleasantly surprised when I found out that this book was actually a bit more cross-genre than straight dystopian. Whereas so many novels rely solely on pushing a love story into a darker world, Black City embraces the complexities of racial tension and a broken society, weaving complexities in to what could have easily become a very flat story. I found Natalie to be pretty unlikable from the start, if I'm being honest. She's a brat, and she's never had to work for anything, so seeing her complain about her situation made me resent her. However, we do get to see a good bit of character growth as the novel progresses, and she did begin to grow on me. Ash was a complex character, and I found it easier to empathize with him from the start, simply because he has never been dealt the easiest hand in life. He always made the best of it though, and his internal struggles bleed onto the pages, making him extremely relatable to the reader. Their love was quite well-defined, albeit a bit rushed. I think the tension could have been played up a bit more, but I was definitely intrigued by the time-tested concept of girl and boy from opposite sides of the tracks (or, in this case, the wall). The writing is fluid, and the pace is easy, thrusting us into the Black City from the very start. I'll admit that the lack of background on the backdrop of this foreign world left me confused at first, but I began to enjoy how it was peppered throughout. One thing, however, that continues to bug me is that there seems to be a lot of extremes when we take the actions and reactions of the Darklings into context. I'm not sure it painted them, or Ash, in a very good light, and it made it hard to get invested in their plight.

All in all, I really enjoyed the concept of Black City. While there were some plot holes, and the ending left me grasping at straws, it was definitely a solid and engaging read. I give it a 4 out of 5, and I recommend it to all fans of YA, especially those who enjoy paranormal, dystopian and sci-fi stories. 

I received this book free of charge from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This, in no way, affected my opinion or review of this book.