Review: Playing Hurt by Holly Schindler

Title: Playing Hurt
Author: Holly Schindler
Publisher:  Flux
Publication Date: March 8, 2011
Pages: 303

Summary: Star basketball player Chelsea "Nitro" Keyes had the promise of a full ride to college-and everyone's admiration in her hometown. But everything changed senior year, when she took a horrible fall during a game. Now a metal plate holds her together and she feels like a stranger in her own family.

As a graduation present, Chelsea's dad springs for a three-week summer "boot camp" program at a northern Minnesota lake resort. There, she's immediately drawn to her trainer, Clint, a nineteen-year-old ex-hockey player who's haunted by his own traumatic past. As they grow close, Chelsea is torn between her feelings for Clint and her loyalty to her devoted boyfriend back home. Will an unexpected romance just end up causing Chelsea and Clint more pain-or finally heal their heartbreak?

Review: Chelsea is the all-star player of her high school basketball game and now in her senior year with the plan of going to college on a full scholarship. But after a terrible accident that leaves her not only unable but terrified to play basketball, she’s stuck in a life where she has no idea where she belongs. Clint is a nature loving, formal hockey star that does anything he can to stay way from the sports he once loved.

There should really be more sports related books in the YA area! I mean teens love sports (myself included) and it can really open up your audience! I feel like anyone one’s whose ever been severely injured while playing sports will feel a real connection to this book. It’s tough being taken away from the thing you love to do most and that happens to both Chelsea and Clint.

The stories of why they don’t continue on with the lives they had while playing sports are completely different but both heartbreaking and legit reasons that happen to people all around the world. The relationship that develops between Chelsea and Clint is believe and a very supporting one. Both need each other at this time and they are just so funny together!

Overall, Playing Hurt is an excellent book that I hope will show the true value of adding things such as sports into the plot and how wonderful it can be to find someone that truly understands you.

You can preorder Playing Hurt HERE.

Review: XVI by Julia Karr

Title: XVI
Author: Julia Karr
Publisher: Puffin/Speak
Publication Date: January 6, 2011
Pages: 325
Source: Bought
Challenge: Debut Author Challenge

Summary: Nina Oberon's life is pretty normal: she hangs out with her best friend, Sandy, and their crew, goes to school, plays with her little sister, Dee. But Nina is 15. And like all girls she'll receive a Governing Council-ordered tattoo on her 16th birthday. XVI. Those three letters will be branded on her wrist, announcing to all the world—even the most predatory of men—that she is ready for sex. Considered easy prey by some, portrayed by the Media as sluts who ask for attacks, becoming a "sex-teen" is Nina's worst fear. That is, until right before her birthday, when Nina's mom is brutally attacked. With her dying breaths, she reveals to Nina a shocking truth about her past—one that destroys everything Nina thought she knew. Now, alone but for her sister, Nina must try to discover who she really is, all the while staying one step ahead of her mother's killer.

Review: What a stunning book. With all the dystopian novels coming out now in YA this one definitely stands out among them. Nina is around the age were all her friends are becoming sixteen, which, in her world, means teens are ready for sex. But with her mother’s rebellious words and her mysteriously killed  father Nina soon finds out that there is more to the Governing Council then everyone knows.

Julia Karr’s book takes you into a rather fearful future, where the young is marked at sixteen that they can have sex. It’s an interesting concept, one that some authors would shy away from in the YA department but Karr embraces it and uses it to her advantage. Though it is in no way what the book in centered on. It is really just the base of the corruption that is being fed into the minds of the people. And as Nina uncovers secrets from her past and new friend that share her belief she soon discovers that she may not be allow in her fight against the government.

I also really enjoyed Sal. He was a great character and his personality just entertained me. He added a lot to the story along with Nina’s other friends and the sad conclusion to the book will leave you heart broken and eager to seeing the end to the world where no one – marked or not – is safe.

Review: Delcroix Academy: The Candidates by Inara Scott

Title: Delcroix Academy: The Candidates
Author: Inara Sott
Publisher:  Hyperion Books
Publication Date: August 24, 2010
Pages: 293
Source: Borrowed
Challenge: none

Summary: Dancia Lewis is far from popular. And that's not just because of her average grades or her less-than-glamorous wardrobe. In fact, Dancia's mediocrity is a welcome cover for her secret: whenever she sees a person threatening someone she cares about, things just...happen. Cars skid. Structures collapse. Usually someone gets hurt. So Dancia does everything possible to avoid getting close to anyone, belieiving this way she can supress her powers and keep them hidden.

But when recruiters from the prestigious Delcroix Academy show up in her living room to offer her a full scholarship, Dancia's days of living under the radar may be over. Only, Delcroix is a school for diplomats' kids and child geniuses--not B students with uncontrollable telekinetic tendencies. So why are they treating Dancia like she's special? Even the hottest guy on campus seems to be going out of his way to make Dancia feel welcome.

And then there's her mysterious new friend Jack, who can't stay out of trouble. He suspects something dangerous is going on at the Academy and wants Dancia to help him figure out what. But Dancia isn't convinced. She hopes that maybe the recruiters know more about her "gift" than they're letting on. Maybe they can help her understand how to use it...But not even Dancia could have imagined what awaits her behind the gates of Delcroix Academy.

Review: I’d been really looking forward to reading Delcroix Academy ever since a friend of mine recommended it to me. Now, with all the books I’ve read there are quite a few that take place in boarding schools and academies where the children are usually unsupervised and there because they all have special powers or something. Well, with Delcroix Academy the students there do have very skilled talents but ones that any one of you could have. It’s an interesting concept on people that excel in talents more than others. I really enjoyed seeing how it worked in with the book and Dancia.

The unknown is a strong element in the book. You can’t really trust anyone through out the entire book but it leaves you guessing the motives of each person. Dancia was a fun person to read through. Cam and Jack were so different from each other that it set up a hard chose for Dancia to pick from (but I’m a Jack fan^^).

Overall, Dexcroix Academy is a great read that introduces a new twist to a person’s skills and questioning who you can really trust or love.

Review: A Touch Mortal by Leah Clifford

Title: A Touch Mortal
Author: Leah Clifford
Publisher: GreenWillow Books
Publication Date: February 22, 2011
Pages: 336
Source: Different Area Codes Tour
Challenge: Debut Author Challenge

Summary:Eden didn’t expect Az.

Not his saunter down the beach toward her. Not his unbelievable pick up line. Not the instant, undeniable connection. And not his wings. Yeah. So long happily-ever-after.

Now trapped between life and death, cursed to spread chaos with her every touch, Eden could be the key in the eternal struggle between heaven and hell. All because she gave her heart to one of the Fallen, an angel cast out of heaven.
She may lose everything she ever had. She may be betrayed by those she loves most. But Eden will not be a pawn in anyone else’s game. Her heart is her own.
And that’s only the beginning of the end.

Rating: 4 Stars

Review:

This book totally twisted with my mind! It was nothing like I expected it to be but it a good way. Eden was an extremely interesting character and the whole concept of the book was one I’ve never seen explored. Trust me, the summary does not do it justice.

We first meet Eden on the beach and it’s there that we also meet Az and Gabriel. The beginning of the story is the love development between Az and Eden but then turns horribly wrong when Az’s true identity is revealed and has a terrible accident that forces Eden to take drastic measures and kill herself. It is then that she becomes a Sider, which is a nickname for a person who has committed suicide, and discovers that while trying to escape from life she discovers a whole new one of her own. And one that seems much more dangerous then when she was alive.

Really, this is a very interesting story. There are many different characters and places that you get to experience. There is also an undertone of horror that takes place in the story. I didn’t see that coming and touches of slight horror in YA is something I’d love to see more of. We can take it!

The romance is really complicated by the end of the book. There have been liars and tricksters and you see that who you once trusted were the people against you. New York was definitely the perfect setting for this book.

Overall, with this story you get to explore a whole new New York where maybe the rude attitudes of those New Yorkers come from something not human.

Book Review: The Maze Runner by James Dashner

The Maze Runner by James Dashner

Summary (from Goodreads):
When Thomas wakes up in the lift, the only thing he can remember is his first name. He has no recollection of his parents, his home, or how he got where he is. His memory is black. But he’s not alone. When the lift’s doors open, Thomas finds himself surrounded by kids who welcome him to the Glade, a large expanse enclosed by stone walls.
Just like Thomas, the Gladers don’t know why or how they got to the Glade. All they know is that every morning, for as long as they could remember, the stone doors to the maze that surrounds them have opened. Every night, they’ve closed tight. Every thirty days a new boy is delivered in the lift. And no one wants to be stuck in the maze after dark.
The Gladers were expecting Thomas’s arrival. But the next day, a girl springs up—the first girl ever to arrive in the Glade. And more surprising yet is the message she delivers. The Gladers have always been convinced that if they can solve the maze that surrounds the Glade, they might be able to find their way home . . . wherever that may be. But it’s looking more and more as if the maze is unsolvable.
And something about the girl’s arrival is starting to make Thomas feel different. Something is telling him that he just might have some answers—if he can only find a way to retrieve the dark secrets locked within his own mind.

Rating: 4 Stars

Review: I'm going to start by saying that I really do love reading new Dystopia books, and The Maze Runner is a great addition!

The Story stars out with us meeting Thomas. He wakes up in a "lift" having no idea who he was, where he was, or how he got there. He only remembers his name. Then we are greeted to the people of the Glade, which consist all of boys. Thomas is the new "Greenie", or the newest comer to the Glade. The Glade is surrounded my a giant wall which has an even bigger Maze outside of it. So, why are all these boys here? Well, we don't find that out until later.

The book is told in third person and, personally, I really enjoy third person perspective. The whole concept of this novel is so original! It's one of those books where you have to stop and think about how the author could come up with such a thing!

So, we go on this journey with Thomas, were he wants to become a Runner (one of the several jobs at the Glade), only problem about going into The Maze? You better watch out for Grievers. They are horrible monsters that infect the Maze. I found them to be pretty scaring, let alone extremely ugly, sounding. I get chills just thinking about them.

After several days in the Glade, Thomas witnesses many things that quite honestly would scar a person for life. This is a creepy, exciting story with surprising twists at the end that left my questioning I ever thought could be going on in the book.


Look for the Sequel of The Maze Runner, The Scotch Trails.

You can visit James Dashner's blog --> here.

Book Info.:
Reading Level: YA
Published by Random House (Delacore Press)
375 pages