Illusive (Mini Book Review)

Illusive (Illusive #1)
Emily Lloyd Jones

Hardcover, 416 pages

Published July 15th 2014 by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

 

When the MK virus swept across the planet, a vaccine was created to stop the epidemic, but it came with some unexpected side effects. A small percentage of the population developed superhero-like powers. Seventeen-year-old Ciere Giba has the handy ability to change her appearance at will. She's what's known as an illusionist...She's also a thief.

After a robbery goes awry, Ciere must team up with a group of fellow super-powered criminals on another job that most would consider too reckless. The formula for the vaccine that gave them their abilities was supposedly destroyed years ago. But what if it wasn't?

The lines between good and bad, us and them, and freedom and entrapment are blurred as Ciere and the rest of her crew become embroiled in a deadly race against the government that could cost them their lives.

 

Review:

 

The X-Men meets Ocean's Eleven in this edge-of-your-seat sci-fi adventure about a band of "super" criminals.

Captioned as X-Men meets Ocean's Eleven is SPOT ON! However I would also include Ally Carter's Heist Society series in the mix, as I believe if you loved that series you would love this book.

I discovered and read through this entire book in 24 hours. It was THAT GOOD!

Illusive is a book about a virus that sweeps across America, Scientists do come up with a vaccine for this virus, however, unfortunately, this vaccine has side effects that give some people rather peculiar abilities.

The main character, Ciere Giba, has the ability to illusion herself and her surroundings. (How cool is that!) BUT, (there is always a but in there isn't there) her ability also makes her a target. Both to the government, and other private installations that either want to lock her up, or use her has a weapon.

This (obviously) creates some problems for Ciere.


I would not call this book an amazing work of fiction, I wasn't super invested or emotionally attached to the characters. However, HEISTS AND SUPERPOWERS!!! This book is AWESOME!


Everything works. There wasn't anything in here that just absolutely did not make sense, the characters were well developed, and I had the pleasure of getting to the end of my e-book and finding out there is a sequel! Something that will most likely give me the emotional investment in the characters that I was missing in this first book.

I totally recommend this book!

The Winners Curse (Book Review)

The Winners Curse
Marie Rutkoski

Hardcover, 355 pages

Published March 4th 2014 by Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR)

Winning what you want may cost you everything you love.

As a general’s daughter in a vast empire that revels in war and enslaves those it conquers, seventeen-year-old Kestrel has two choices: she can join the military or get married. But Kestrel has other intentions. One day, she is startled to find a kindred spirit in a young slave up for auction.

Arin’s eyes seem to defy everything and everyone. Following her instinct, Kestrel buys him—with unexpected consequences. It’s not long before she has to hide her growing love for Arin. But he, too, has a secret, and Kestrel quickly learns that the price she paid for a fellow human is much higher than she ever could have imagined.

Review:
I like Fantasy, but I can't say that it is my favorite thing to read. However, seeing all of the end of the year wrap-ups and end of the year surveys from bloggers saying that this was an amazing book, I knew that I HAD to get my hands on a copy.

One Line Review?
I NEED THE SEQUEL RIGHT NOW.

And if that doesn't give you a hint of how much I liked this book let me elaborate.

The Winners Curse drops you into this beautiful world where you can picture everything that is going on. It was like watching a movie.
The plot was beautifully written with plot twists that had me going WHAT??? This book actually surprised my in places (and I don't get surprised very easily). This book was a high fantasy, and even with the wonderful descriptions, I didn't feel like I was lost in a world where nothing was important but the world itself.

This book had great characters. Even though at the beginning Kestrel did bug me a bit, she does get better. Her love for her friends is an endearing trait, as is the fact that she loves music.
Arin, again, bugged me at first. But he also grew to be a character that I admired.

The Winners Curse sets a great beginning to what I believe is going to be an awesome series. I can't wait to see what happens in The Winners Crime, and I really can't wait to see what becomes of the characters and how they will grow.  This book can stand with the best YA Fantasy and I would definitely recommend this one to YA Fantasy fans.

Open Road Summer (Book Review)

Open Road Summer
Emery Lord
342 Pages
Published April 15th 2014 by Walker

Review:
I had heard that this book was good. But honestly that means little to nothing to me anymore since quite a few books that "everyone" seemed to love I have disliked.

But this one surprised me.

First of all, Open Road Summer's characters are some of the most unique characters I have ever read about in young adult contemporary.
Told in Reagan's point of view, you get the view of a girl with a best friend who happens to be a country music star. I loved reading about it. I think that the way that this friendship was executed was almost perfect. They don't always get along, but they do depend on each other.
Throw in Matt Finch. A guy who has problems of his own. And this book has some of the most awesome characters ever.
I didn't necessarily like them all all of the time, but the character's were portrayed realistically. Best part of the book hands down.

I also enjoyed the country music/ music in general elements. I loved the way that they were traveling around and going to different city's in the US.
One thing about this book I didn't like was that I wish it had been longer. I think that some things were done a little too quickly. But this also could have just been me not wanting it to end. And I also had my usual small problems. But overall the good outweighed the bad by a lot. And I really enjoyed reading this book.

I will definitely be reading anything else Emery Lord comes up with