Mandi

I'll be honest: this wasn't my favorite in the series. BUT - it's still pretty freakin' fantastic.

Some things were tied up (finally) and some things are just getting started.

But these guys will always and forever have a place in my heart.

I didn't reread the synopsis before I picked up this book.

https://twitter.com/mandikaye/status/464777799677779969

So yeah. I had no idea what was going on. But bonus - that helped me relate to the MC because she had no idea what has happening either!
I did, however, figure it out before she did.

Molly Pierce loses time. She'll suddenly find herself in a different place hours later than it should be. She thinks she's going crazy.

One day, she “wakes up” to find herself driving. A boy on a motorcycle appears to be trying to catch up to her, and in his hurry to rush through an intersection his tire is clipped by a passing truck.

This boy that Molly has never seen, who is lying in a puddle of his own blood as his life slips away, seems to know who she is.

And it is this event that sets in motion a course of events that will change Molly's life.

And I am glad I got to take that journey with her. I don't necessarily agree with everything that happened in the book (I loved Mabel and Sayer together), but I understand why it had to go the way that it did.

Hard to read endings are sometimes the best ones, for reasons.

This book opened up with birds going crazy and plunging into the ground (to their deaths) or flying en masse into airplanes causing crashes all over the world.

My first thought was what is happening here?

As I continued reading, I grew more and more fascinated - and more and more confused.

Mysteries, secrets, and conspiracies oh my!

This is one book where I couldn't possibly have predicted what was really going on.

That makes me adore Malinda Lo.

Reese is my favorite kind of main character. As her life is imploding and the world around her seems to be going crazy, she doesn't keep everything to herself (even though the government required her to sign an NDA after her accident). She finds ways to talk to her mom (yes - her mother). She decides - with David - that it's okay to bring her best friend Julian into the loop. She doesn't just suffer in silence and try to fix the world herself. I get so angry with characters who do that!

Her mom is actually involved in her life. That never happens in YA! A large chunk of the book is dedicated to Reese discovering that she likes girls (too). Her mom catches her kissing a girl, and there's no drama whatsoever surrounding the scene. LOVE.

I do think the ending was wrapped up a little too neatly (in what world would the government release Reese and David simply because of media pressure?) but I'm excited to see what happens next. This story is far from over.

I have to admit, I'm a bit torn about this book.

I enjoyed the story. And the characters. I always do when it's by Elizabeth Eulberg. She writes Contemporary YA like nobody's business.

But this book was one of those cases where I went in expecting one thing and ended up getting something completely different.

The book is called Better Off Friends. But the moral of the story is not that Macellan and Levi are better off friends. SpoilerIt's that all along they were perfect for one another and they just couldn't see it because of their friendship.

As a romance, it's a fantastic book. But I was expecting a story about how a guy and girl can be best friends and love each other in a non-romantic way. That's why it lost a star. We need more books that focus on friendship rather than romantic entanglements.

But I promise you this: you will fall in love with Macellan and Levi. We get to know each of them pretty intimately because the story is told in dual POV. At times I wanted to smack both of them. But in the end, I was feeling so giddy and freaking happy at the turn of events that the rest was simply the story that needed to be told to get to HEA.

I don't know how she does it, but Mary Ann Rivers has taken the most unlikable character from Live (the first book in the Burnside Series) and turned him into someone my heart positively aches for.

This book is one of the most shining illustrations of the notion that what you see isn't always what you get when it comes to fucked up humans.

And it's amazing.

(Read the rest at http://www.mandikayereads.com/laugh-mary-ann-rivers-burnside-series-2-review/ on March 21, 2014)

I have issues with food. I don't talk about them often - or ever, really. But they lurk under the surface, and even when I'm working really really hard to overcome them and build healthy habits they can derail me. Today was one of those days. And today was the day I read about Colby.

I didn't expect her story to end up the way it did, but it didn't surprise me. I did spend a bit of time thinking that there's no way anyone's mom would ever treat their daughter the way Colby's mom treated her... but yes they do. And even without her mom as a motivating factor, everything else Colby was dealing with would have been enough to trigger the depression and self-loathing.

I have a mom who loves me very much and I still struggle (at 31) with self-loathing. There are times I self-medicate with food. There have been many days where I didn't want to be on this earth anymore because the pain I felt inside was so bad.

When I read Colby's story, I felt very connected to her.

At the end, the author reveals that she's struggled with binge eating and knows exactly what kinds of emotions can come with it.

Big Fat Disaster wasn't easy to read, but I'm glad I did. It was authentic, painful, yet still uplifting. Though I'll warn you - most of the characters are unlikable and have zero redeeming qualities.

If you - or someone you know - are having thoughts of self-harm, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255.

There was quite honestly nothing about this book that was what I expected. I chose it because I thought it was about a book club - about women who love to read and the times they come together to share their love of books and cultivate friendships.

Boy was I wrong.

It was an odd mixture of the paranormal (in this world fairies exist and people can be diagnosed with invisibility) and the mundane. I was most definitely not expecting the paranormal when I picked up a book about a book club!

The stories (as it wasn't a cohesive whole - each woman got her own story) were good. They weren't great, but I was entertained on a quiet morning.

If you're a fan of “chick lit” - especially with a bit of a paranormal twist - then you would enjoy this one. Jane Tara does offer some insight into shifting your perspective so that you can see the world through your own happy endings. I enjoyed the little life lessons that she imparted through each woman's story.

Confession time. When I picked this book from Netgalley, it was because between the cover and the “Cosmo Red Hot Reads” emblazoned on said cover... I thought it would be something in the erotica genre.

It wasn't.

MISLEADING.

So I had to adjust my expectations, so that I wasn't disappointed. Because when you go into a book expecting erotic scenes and you don't get them - disappointment definitely arises.

I took a step back and looked at it through the lens of romance instead of erotica and then suddenly everything was much better.

Aubrey is the window designer for Le Muse lingerie store (in Manhattan) - and it's Christmas time. This window is a big fucking deal. She's freaking out and doesn't have a single piece of inspiration for the scene when a Hot Guys Trading Card falls from the sky literally into her hand. And suddenly, inspiration strikes - this man must be her muse! So she calls him up and proposes a deal: all the sex he wants until Christmas so that she can be inspired.

“I mean, all I really need from you is lots and lots of sex.”
His next words vanished from his mind. As did most of his working brain cells. “What's that you say?”

Heating Up the Holidays is a bundle of three holiday novellas that are sure to leave you wishing for someone special this holiday season!

Play With Me by Lisa Renee Jones

This one was probably my least favorite of the three stories (though honestly, it's hard to rank them). While reading it, I remember thinking that there were some logical inconsistencies in the writing, but now all I can remember is the sizzling romance. And since it was the romance that left a lasting impression – well that should tell you all that you need to know!

Snowfall by Mary Ann Rivers

Mary Ann is one of my very favorite writers. I raved about her debut novella, The Story Guy, and while this one didn't get me going quite as much as that one did – I wasn't disappointed. Once I figured out what was going on, I found myself yelling at Evan, begging him to talk to Jenny. Any story that gets me that invested and involved in the characters is an automatic win.

After Midnight by Serena Bell

This one has all of the makings of a fairy tale romance. Kissing at midnight, losing touch for a year, and then reconnecting again. It's the stuff dreams are made of – with a hefty dose of reality tossed in for good measure. But Nora and Miles muddle through and they certainly had me cheering them on.

Overall, it was a good anthology. The stories were a bit different than what you'd expect from a holiday collection, but there was steam and sizzle and swoon.

At the beginning of Married for Christmas is an author's note. It explains that while the book is about a pastor, it isn't meant to be Christian fiction. It is a simply a book that explores life from the perspective of someone who has faith. It is not intended to present any sort of religious message. Noelle rightly acknowledges that the challenge of this sort of book will mean that for some there will be too much religion and for others, not enough (I admit, I was convinced I would be in the first group).

Mission accomplished, Ms. Adams.

This book was perfect.
I'm really becoming fond of these “marriage of convenience” books. They're so... romantic. (But Mandi, they're romance novels. They're supposed to be.)
Jessica proposes to Daniel because the church he wants to pastor won't hire him unless he's married (they think he's too young and unstable to be a single/widowed pastor over their congregation). And Jessica has given up hope on ever finding someone to love her. She's ready to settle down, put down some roots, and start a family. Daniel is convinced he will never love again (his wife died three years ago) but once he is certain that Jessica is okay with a marriage that has everything except love, they move forward. And he treats her the way a wife should be treated - mostly.
There are bumps in the road. Grief. Guilt. It broke my heart to watch Daniel dealing with the consequences of sex with Jessica. He didn't do anything wrong - she was his wife after all - but in his heart, he was betraying his dead wife. It was painful and gut-wrenching. But he handled it. And he handled it well. There was one particular scene where he and Jessica were joking about the Christmas tree and how Jessica didn't want to put up his ratty old garland from when he was a child. He finally said, “Lila let me do it!” And Jessica retorted, “Well I'm not Lila.” And you would think that a huge fight would brew as a result of that, but it didn't. Daniel was thoughtful and considerate and he did not lash out.

But Daniel and Jessica truly were made for each other. Watching their feelings grow for each other and how they handled their feelings given the circumstances of their marriage was the highlight of the book.

And if you do read it, I recommend finding one of those old paper fans that you find in Southern churches to fan yourself with - because there are some hot and steamy scenes!

I'm going to be honest here. I gave The Fault in Our Stars 5 stars. I loved it! But this book? Maybe One Day is everything I wished TFioS was - only I didn't know it until I read it.

There was some romance (and can I just say how much I adored Calvin?), but the story was about Zoe and Olivia's friendship more than anything else.

Maybe One Day explores the boundaries of friendship, and what happens when the rules change and the world no longer looks the way you expected it to. And it does so in such a perfectly honest and raw way that you can't possibly be the same person when you finish the book as you were when you began. Melissa Kantor explores grief, love, and illness, but she does it in such a way that you can't stop turning the pages.

My only advice? Have tissues handy. But whatever you do - read this book. We need more books that focus on friendship rather than romance, and I hope this is only the beginning of a new trend.

I have to be honest with you. I don't know why I decided that I should read this book. While I do sometimes read Contemporary YA, it's not very often. And I don't always enjoy it when I do.

But Roomies was getting a little bit of buzz on Twitter. And the cover is reminiscent of a comic book. And then... Netgalley offered it to me for free. It was a goddamn trifecta. How was I supposed to turn it down after that? So I downloaded it. And then it sat in my Kindle library for weeks (if not months) before I finally got around to reading it.

And then something strange happened.

I found myself liking a book in which I couldn't really relate to either of the main characters.

Elizabeth (EB) and Lauren were randomly assigned as college roommates for their freshman year. This book covers the summer before college, as the two build a fledgling friendship over email. Lauren is the oldest of 6 kids and has never really had the “sibling” experience, because she's always been an extra parent in the house. She's anxiously awaiting the day she can leave and finally get some peace. EB is an only child whose parents are divorced (and she's estranged from her dad... who is gay). She also discovers that her mom is dating a married man, who turns out to be the father of her new boyfriend.

Not really relatable.

And usually, not relating to the characters would throw up a huge wall between me and the story, but in this case it didn't. The book was so well written that I could still experience what the girls did and have empathy for them without completely sharing their emotions or thought processes. Though I will admit - EB and I do have one thing in common. We both have one heck of a temper. Even when it's irrational for it to flare.

Roomies was worth the read, and I recommend it if you like coming of age stories that focus more on the journey than the romance or the drama (though don't get me wrong - this book was chock full of drama).

I didn't know that this book was part of a series until after I'd requested it from Netgalley. But looking at the blurb for this one and the one that came before, it looked as if I could read it as a stand-alone – and I was right. This is one of those series where each book focuses on a different set of people – but the people are all intertwined in each other's lives. This book was about Honor Holland, and the first book was about her sister Faith.

Based on what I read in this book, I'm pretty sure I prefer Honor to Faith anyway (though when I do finally get around to reading the first one, I'll fall in love with Faith's story too).

Honor hasn't had much luck when it comes to love. My heart absolutely broke for her when the love of her life compared her to a broken in baseball glove:

“When he puts it on, it's like an old friend, and he knows he'll have a better day because of it. But you don't need that glove every day.”

Douchebag.

Have you ever read a book that seems good on the surface, but the more you think about it the more you dislike it? This is one of those books for me. I remember that I liked it when I read it (my original rating on Goodreads was a 4), but I can't remember why I liked it. The things that had a lasting impression with me are the things that I didn't like so much (insta-love, crazy conspiracies, abusive relationships, and mean girls just to start).

Poor Little Dead Girls had a fair amount of creep factor in it. At first glance, it's about your run of the mill secret society at a prestigious boarding school. Think Skull & Bones. The kidnapping that Sadie goes through doesn't seem so weird when you partner it with a little bit of hazing and the thrill of a secret society.

But then things do get a little weird.

Sadie realizes her mother - who committed suicide - also went to Keating and was a part of this group. And another girl recently disappeared. Sadie begins to wonder if the group could have had anything to do with those events and begins to snoop. But then she learns the real intent behind the society - and I won't spoil that for you here. She decides the group needs to be stopped and does everything in her power to do so.

And in the end, most things are tied up in a neat little bow. But there is one plot point that really bothers me. The group took something from Sadie - something important - and she didn't get it back. The police told her to assume it got destroyed. And then... everything was back to normal.

If it were me, I would NOT be okay with that assumption.

Of course, I suppose this dangling end leaves open the possibility of a sequel one day. A sequel that I won't read.

I really had no idea what to expect when I picked up this book. I knew I had to read it because I loved all of the books in the Goddess Test series and anything else she wrote had to be amazing.

The book blurb wasn't super helpful. What's a VII? Is it a roman numeral seven or is it “vee”? But it didn't matter – Aimee Carter wrote it, so I had to read it. And I wasn't disappointed. The world she created has a caste system based on intelligence. But once you take the test (at seventeen) and are given your rank and assignment, it can never be changed. And for Kitty Doe, choosing a life of prostitution was better than the III and assignment she was given. And that choice changed her life.

I admit, I was surprised by how easily Kitty adjusted to her new life masquerading as Lila Hart. She was truly a pawn, being used for both sides, but she handled herself like a champ. In this book, the rebellion itself wasn't a primary focus. This book was all about character development and world-building. The awesome thing about that is the second book will likely not hit a sophomore slump because we'll get into the meat of the intended story arc.

I truly hope that Kitty is able to help the rebellion from her new station and that the caste system is abolished so that all humans are treated as humans. It's horrifying to see how anyone less than a IV is treated in her world. And one scene in particular – when they go hunting – is harder to read than others. If things go the way I hope they do in the next books, people will once again be treated as people. And that's a world I hope Kitty gets to live in.

Dear Ms. Roth,

When I first heard that spoilers for Allegiant had leaked onto the web, I was angry. I love the way it feels to uncover a story for the first time, savoring the emotions and the experience. That someone wanted to ruin that for me and those like me caused me pain. I knew, based on the veritable outcry from those who saw the spoilers that whatever it was must be bad but I didn't break. I avoided all mention of your book wherever I went online.

When release day came and I couldn't purchase it right away, I stayed away from Twitter and my RSS feed. I knew better than to go to places where my people – those in the book blogging community – would be talking about your book.

It didn't matter.

One person who had never read your books had seen the spoilers and managed to make an errant comment to me, spoiling the ending. Her rationale was, “I'm sorry. It was all over my Twitter feed so I didn't think there was anyone left who hadn't seen it.”

I was devastated. Not only at learning the outcome of your book without the knowledge of the journey, but at being robbed of the experience that might have helped me be okay with your decision.

It took me nearly two weeks to pick up your book after that. I stared at it every day knowing that it was going to break my heart. But I knew that one day I would need to finish Tris and Four's story. I would regret it if I didn't.

And when I closed the final page of the book there were tears streaming down my face. But I understood. I may have been robbed of the initial experience of your intention, but I still grasped the meaning behind your decision. You stayed true to your characters. And that's when I re-learned that just because a book doesn't end the way I wanted it to doesn't mean the book isn't a good one. Allegiant was a great book.

You gave me back the Tris and Four that I fell in love with in Divergent.

And for that, I say thank you.

Mandi Kaye

For Real completely blew my expectations out of the water. I knew that I had absolutely LOVED My Favorite Mistake but I just didn't expect to get that level of quality out of another romance. Yes, I'm a snob.

And, yes I was wrong.

Shannon is a virgin. And she's tired of her friends giving her crap about it. One night they push her too far and she snaps. (Seriously, they go way too far – how she managed to stay friends with those guys is beyond me). She meets Jett (well, re-meets – they'd briefly met once before) and goes home with him. Not to actually have sex with him – just so it looks like she did. But then Shannon and Jett take it one step further – they plan an entire fake relationship to get her friends off her back.

Fake Girlfriend? Meet Fake Boyfriend.

It's adorable.

They make up rules and everything (Rule #3 is no incidental contact unless they're in public where they're expected to be all over each other).

But it turns out... a fake relationship feels an awful lot like a real one. Especially when two people get along as well as Jett and Shannon do.

As the date of doom (the date they planned to “break up”) approaches... things get intense.

And it's just fabulous.

And honestly – it's not just Jett and Shannon that made me love this book! Javi and Hazel (the roommates, respectively) were interesting characters in their own right. Enough so that something tells me the next book might just be about those two.

For Real was honestly the best kind of book. It wasn't insta-love – we got to experience them fall in love as they did. It was sweet. It was beautiful. And it made me remember why I love to read about love.

I really had no idea what to expect from Second Verse. It sounded interesting and I'm always a sucker for a seance. So I volunteered for the tour and crossed my fingers, hoping that I'd like it.

I loved it.

I'd gotten pretty close to burning out again, so I've found it difficult to find books that keep me invested. This one grabbed me early on and I read it in a single sitting. Like Lange, I didn't share the town's fascination with The Hunt. It just sounded too gruesome and macabre for me. But I liked her idea of the seance, especially once I discovered that her old farmhouse and barn were the scenes of a murder/suicide 50 years back. The seance had creepy results – wind, scratching, and a voice that only Lange and Vaughn could hear – and suddenly we're thrown into a paranormal mystery that left me reeling at every turn.

I never once guessed the twist (well twists – there are two) at the end.

But through the mystery – and the unending reminders of death – love is a constant. Lange and Vaughn belong together and watching them realize it, and also understand what that means, was exactly the right amount of lightness needed in the midst of the darkness.

If you like dark and creepy; if you like paranormal mysteries; if you like love conquering all – then this book is definitely the book for you.

I love it when I find a good romance. LOVE IT.

This one had me laughing from the very beginning – but in such a good way.

I was having a terrible, terrible day but then I picked up Seducing the Enemy.

Best. Decision. Ever.

It was funny. It was sweet. It was steamy. This is the best kind of romance read (when you're not looking for a bodice-ripping cowboy, that is).

Etta was a strong, confident woman who, despite her past and limitations, knew what she wanted and went after it. She was polite, but not meek. She was kind, but not submissive. She was the kind of female protagonist that you rarely see in a romance novel (And to top it off – she was a virgin too. The kind of virgin who isn't shy about her body or worried about “doing it wrong” – she just wanted to enjoy herself. Say whaaa?)

Harry was of the more predictable sort. Wealthy, attractive, and temperamental – he reacted first and asked questions later. In fact, it was his temper that gave the book a plot at all! But watching the two interact was fun. Etta put him in his place often and you could tell he just wasn't used to that. The chemistry between them absolutely leapt off the pages; it sizzled.

I am looking forward to reading more from Noelle Adams if this is the kind of romance to be expected. There wasn't anything about the story that I didn't like or enjoy, and in fact – I'll even read it again. I can see Etta and Harry becoming one of my new favorite couples.

Cath and her identical twin sister Wren have always done everything together. Wren's friends were Cath's friends. They shared a bedroom. And most importantly, they shared a love of Simon Snow (Simon Snow is the Harry Potter of this world). So much so that they began to write fan-fiction together. Well, Cath did most of the writing, but Wren helped. And Cath became pretty famous in the fanfic world. Simon and Baz (think Harry and Ron – only not) were real to her. While she didn't create the universe they came from (that would be the author, Gemma T. Leslie), she molded them into new and exciting stories that were completely outside of canon. So much so, that many fans enjoyed her story more than the original.

When it was time for the two to go to college, Cath assumed that they would continue life as normal – together. But Wren had other ideas. She applied for her own roommate and cut her hair. She began spending her time completely apart from Cath, leaving Cath floundering alone in a world that she was uncomfortable in.

Oh how I related to Cath.

She spent the first several weeks eating nothing but peanut butter and protein bars in her dorm room because she didn't know where the dining hall was. That is so me.

I'm the type of person who is completely terrified of the unknown and I will go to great lengths to avoid it. I could see myself in Cath's struggles and it made my heart ache for her so much.

But let's just take a minute to talk about the writing.

Rainbow Rowell was writing a million different things in this book and she did it all flawlessly.

She wrote Cath's story – and let's be real here. It's amazing. Just – go buy it now. I'll wait.

She wrote excerpts from several of the books in the seven-book-long Simon Snow series by Gemma T. Leslie. And I really really wish this were a real series. I mean okay – it's pretty blatantly a Harry Potter rip-off – but it's different. Baz (the Ron character) is kind of evil. And a secret vampire. I would absolutely read the hell out of it.

Then she wrote excerpts from Cath's fanfic from the Simon Snow universe where Cath turns everything on its head (including making Simon and Baz fall in love).

Think about that for a second. How brilliant do you have to be to keep all of that sorted out and then put it together so that it makes sense and flows in the narrative? That's how brilliant Rainbow Rowell is.

And yes – there is romance, in case you're wondering. Without a love triangle. Heart-fluttering, swoon-inducing romance that Cath whole-heartedly deserves.

Serena lives in a country where women are property. They have no rights, no choices, no lives. Their singular purpose is to provide more sons. They are only as valuable as the amount of magic in their blood – magic that they pass on to their sons, but that they aren't allowed to actually use. As property, the women are treated viciously because they aren't seen as people.

Hence the aforementioned rage.

It was straight up hard to read at times. The anger almost made me put it down. Experiencing Serena being treated that way – it just hurt.

But this world is bigger than Serena's country, and this story was about showing her that.

Watching Serena learn to trust and realize that there are good men in the world made for a beautiful story. One that is rarely told, and never told in this much detail. I loved that this relevant theme (recovering from abuse and learning to trust again) was set in an alternate fantasy universe.

You Are Mine was a fairy-tale like no other fairy-tale.

I had never read a book of this nature before. I had seen a movie with a similar premise (Gamer starring one of my Hollywood husbands – Gerard Butler), but frankly this book blew that movie out of the water.

Countdown was one of those rare books where the character development, world-building, and plot all came together in a mystical convergence to create a universe that was absolutely spectacular.

Kira was one of those female MC's who was realistic. She wasn't extraordinary out of the gate. She was a normal girl who was living the life handed to her the best she could. She was, of course, independent (having to live on her own), but she grew over the course of the book to become someone who was strong enough to care for others and to also rely on others when necessary.

Rogan was a mixed bag. You never really knew what to believe when it came to him. We had as much information as Kira, and like Kira, we had to choose what to believe or not. I liked that. I liked that we had to base our beliefs on his actions that we could see, just like she did.

And Gareth? Well... I'll just let you find out all about him on your own. Trust me, it's better that way.

Just make sure you figure it out before the countdown reaches zero.

Have you ever read a book that makes you go what the fuck for most of it? But then you keep reading anyway?

This is one of those books.

It was... odd. But not in a bad way. It was very different from everything I read. The closest thing I can compare it to is The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo - but honestly, it's nothing like that book. I think I feel a resemblance because they're both thrillers that have been translated into English. (I also never made it through Larsson's book - it was boring to me).

Max and Daniel had a fucked up childhood. They were twins raised separately and, as a result, are very very different adults. They really don't have much of a relationship, but when Max writes and asks to see Daniel while in a clinic of some sort, Daniel goes. He's a good soul.

He's a naive soul.

Max convinces him (tricks him) into switching places with him at the clinic (Daniel often wonders is this some sort of rehab clinic?) but promises to come back in a few days.

You know where this is going right? (If not, go read the summary again.)

I just didn't understand why Daniel never figured out the kind of place he was in or what kind of person his brother really was. All the signs were there. All the signs.

In the end, I couldn't put it down. I stayed up late trying to figure out the secrets of the clinic and the town. I wanted to know if Daniel would get out and if Max would be caught. This is the kind of book where the ending is not at all predictable, and you don't see it coming until it happens.

V.E. Schwab (otherwise known as Victoria Schwab) is an evil genius.

When I saw the cover of Vicious, I knew I had to read it. I didn't even know what it was about yet. The beautiful colors and comic-esque style of the rendered art combined with the one word title just called to me.

When I found out it was about villains – I was completely sold.

Then I went to see her do a reading of the book and discovered that I was grossly oversimplifying the subject matter. It's not just about villains. It's about ethics and morality and the choices that we make. It gets deep y'all.

Eli calls himself a hero, therefore Victor must necessarily be the anti-hero (i.e. the villain) because his purpose is to stop Eli.

See how that works? It's fascinating. What do words mean when you take their meaning away? At the reading, Victoria said this was an idea she wanted to explore while she was writing the book but I didn't fully understand it until I read the book.

She writes sociopaths frighteningly well.

And in the end, I think she accomplished exactly what she set out to do. She wrote a book about people with super powers, rather than superheroes. She created a completely new universe out there with rules that defy physics (as most super powers do) and made me believe that it was all entirely possible.

If you're a fan of Marvel, of DC, of Dark Horse, or any of the comic book universes out there then this is absolutely a book you should read. If comics aren't your thing, but you're interested in reading a story about best friends who become mortal enemies then this one will fit the bill. Because the point of this story isn't the super powers – no, the point of this story is what Eli and Victor do with their powers. It's how they live and the choices that they make.

And it's vicious.

A few months ago, I reviewed Mila 2.0.

In that review, I lamented:

“Mila's character is just so... unrealistic. The dichotomy of her very essence just didn't work for me. Part android and part human?”

Freak of Nature by Julia Crane is about Kaitlyn – a girl who donates her body to science when she dies and wakes up one day to find that she is now part robot.

But this time? This time it worked for me.

It wasn't perfect. We were dropped into the middle of the story, so some character development and relationships felt rushed (Kaitlyn and Lucas' relationship felt like insta-love but it wasn't because they had history before the book began).

The climax of the book ended up being a let down to me. It was too easy! Harrington was built up to be an almost-villain and then suddenly he's this almost-father figure to Kaitlyn? Something didn't sit right with me about that (if you read it – and you SHOULD) you'll understand what I mean.

Overall, I enjoyed it. I'm curious to see where the series will go as the book works quite well as a standalone novel.