Review: The Prey by Andrew Fukuda

                                          Book: The Prey (The Hunt #2) by Andrew Fukuda
                                          Pages: 322
                                          Genre: Young Adult, Paranormal, Dystopian
                                          Source: Sent from St. Martin's Griffin                                                              *Will Contain Spoilers

Short Synopsis: Gene and the gang are traveling by the river to escape the hunters. They encounter a missionary which house hundreds of humans, and as they continue to stay at the missionary, they find that not all is as it seems.

My Thoughts: I absolutely enjoyed this novel. I wasn't a fan of The Hunger Games, as this series is compared to, but felt that this novel had all the elements The Hunger Games was missing.

For Gene and the remaining humans—or hepers—death is just a heartbeat away. On the run and hunted by society, they must find a way to survive in The Vast... and avoid the hungry predators tracking them in the dark. But they’re not the only things following Gene. He’s haunted by the girl he left behind and his burgeoning feelings for Sissy, the human girl at his side.
When they discover a refuge of exiled humans living high in the mountains, Gene and his friends think they’re finally safe. Led by a group of intensely secretive elders, the civilization begins to raise more questions than answers. A strict code of behavior is the rule, harsh punishments are meted out, young men are nowhere to be found—and Gene begins to wonder if the world they’ve entered is just as evil as the one they left behind. As life at the refuge grows more perilous, he and Sissy only grow closer. In an increasingly violent world, all they have is each other... if they can only stay alive.
--From Goodreads.

First off, I find Gene's point of view to be very refreshing. Most novels are in a girl's pov, and the fact that this novel is written in a male's pov was very interesting. Gene is a loyal and caring individual that cares for the group of humans he leads along. As things get strange for the group and they discover the missionary, Gene is adamant that the group stick together, even though everyone else wants to explore the new territory. I also found Gene to be the realist of the group, as he asses each situation and tries to figure out a solution in which most can survive. I also found Gene to be very brave, as he's always the first to sacrifice himself to watch out for the group and as he makes sure that everything is safe.

The most annoying character I found to be was Epap, who thought nothing but himself and the feelings he had for Sissy. But as Sissy was treated horribly by the missionary, Epap did nothing to stick up for her. 

The missionary itself was a strange place to read about, as the females are given copious amount of rules, with demerits for their behavior, and the elders are the only male in the missionary who rule over everyone. I found the elders to be very creepy, and like Gene, very suspicious, as there was clearly something off about the place, and they had more information than they were willing to give. I also felt that the Civilization that the elders were talking about was obviously not what they were describing at all, and hope for an escape seemed less and less likely. 

The ending was very 'oh my gosh'. The connection that Gene makes about him and Sissy is very jaw dropping, and I absolutely can't wait for the last in the trilogy. I can't wait to find out what happens next and to read more discoveries in Gene's world. Fukuda definitely has a way with words, and knows how to spin a tale leaving you wanting more. 

Would I recommend this book: Yes! 

Rating: I give this book a 4.5/5

Review: Send Me A Sign by Tiffany Schmidt

                                          Book: Send Me A Sign by Tiffany Schmidt
                                          Pages: 384
                                          Genre: Young Adult, Romance
                                          Source: Library

Short Synopsis: Mia has always had a perfect life, but when a deadly illness threatens it along with the perfect family she's strived so hard to achieve.

My Thoughts: A very heartwarming and sad story about realization and acceptance. I couldn't put this book down. 

Mia is always looking for signs. A sign that she should get serious with her soccer-captain boyfriend. A sign that she’ll get the grades to make it into an Ivy-league school. One sign she didn’t expect to look for was: “Will I survive cancer?” It’s a question her friends would never understand, prompting Mia to keep her illness a secret. The only one who knows is her lifelong best friend, Gyver, who is poised to be so much more. Mia is determined to survive, but when you have so much going your way, there is so much more to lose. From debut author Tiffany Schmidt comes a heart-wrenching and ultimately uplifting story of one girl’s search for signs of life in the face of death.
--From Goodreads

An addictive novel, Send Me a Sign is a very touching tale and reading what Mia had to go through was very moving. 

Mia always strives for excellence. The perfect grade, the perfect family, and being a member of the cheerleading team, life couldn't get any better for Mia. But Mia discovers that she has cancer. Leukemia. And though she tries and fights for her life dealing with treatments and chemo, there are just some days where Mia feels too tired to do anything else. And on top of it all, Mia is torn between two guys. Ryan, who keeps wanting to be her boyfriend, but Mia has doubts, and Gyver, her best friend whose been there forever, and helps her from the beginning of her illness. Mia must get through dealing with her illness, and choosing the right guy for her.

Though I loved the story and the uniqueness of it all, I really disliked most of the characters. First, I disliked Mia and the fact that she was stringing along both guys through her problems. It was obvious that she had feelings for Gyver, but Mia felt insecure about letting Ryan go. All of Mia's friends felt superficial as well. And the way Mia handled her situation of not telling her friends about her illness until the last minute, was definitely not the way to go. 

I also felt that Mia's mother was in fact very selfish. Every time Mia wanted to tell her friends about her illness, Mia's mother finds a way to tell her to keep it a secret. The whole family felt like they were in denial of Mia's illness, and wishing that everything was perfect. The only redeeming character I felt, was Gyver, who stuck through with Mia from beginning till end. Even when they were fighting, if Mia needed Gyver's help, he was always there to give it. 

In general, I loved the story, but some of the characters fell a little flat. A very emotional story, one that you have to be in the right mind frame for. 

Would I recommend this book: Yes

Rating: I give this book a 3.5/5.

Review: Undeadly by Michele Vail

                                           Book: Undeadly by Michele Vail
                                           Pages: 272
                                           Genre: Young Adult, Paranormal
                                           Source: Library

Short Synopsis: Molly Bartolucci always knew her family was different with special zombie-raising abilities, but when she is granted reaping abilities by the god Anubis, things get out of hand, and is shipped off to Nekyia Academy to control her new powers.

My Thoughts: The novel flowed through fairly well, but I wasn't a fan of the names, and some of the terminology was a bit confusing.

The day I turned 16, my boyfriend-to-be died. I brought him back to life. Then things got a little weird...
Molly Bartolucci wants to blend in, date hottie Rick and keep her zombie-raising abilities on the down-low. Then the god Anubis chooses her to become a reaper—and she accidentally undoes the work of another reaper, Rath. Within days, she's shipped off to the Nekyia Academy, an elite boarding school that trains the best necromancers in the world. And her personal reaping tutor? Rath.
Life at Nekyia has its plusses. Molly has her own personal ghoul, for one. Rick follows her there out of the blue, for another...except, there's something a little off about him. When students at the academy start to die and Rath disappears, Molly starts to wonder if anything is as it seems. Only one thing is certain—-Molly's got an undeadly knack for finding trouble....
--From Goodreads

I'm usually not a fan of zombie novels, but one was a bit different. Fun, and original, I kept wanting to know what was going on. With an addictive writing style, Undeadly was hard to put down.

Molly knows that her family isn't the most normal one in town. With special zombie raising abilities, trying to get eaten by a zombie is just another day at the office. But then Molly gets a dream, meeting Anubis, and grants her special reaping powers. And if things couldn't get worse, Rick, the guy that Molly likes, gets into an accident, and Molly uses her special reaping skills to save him. Clearly Molly needs more training with her special powers, and must attend Nekyia Academy. But as Molly starts her first day there, students mysteriously start to die. Molly must learn to get her powers in control, and find out who or what is killing students before it's too late. 

Though the writing style and story flowed through well enough, I wasn't a fan of how immature Molly acted at times. Yes, she's only supposed to be sixteen years old, but the seriousness of her situation and what she was going through, didn't really fit well with the language that Molly seemed to be giving out. 

I was also a bit confused on the reaper terminology and the different kinds of reapers. I think there are supposed to be five different kinds. Does there really have to be that many? 

I also disliked the whole Rick situation. Molly should have known from the get go that something was wrong when Rick came to visit Molly at Nekyia Academy, and seemed to be staying there indefinitely. 

I enjoyed the playful banter with Molly and Rath, and was hoping that they'd become a couple, as Rath had even given Molly a cute nick name, "Brown Eyes." Overall, it was a pretty entertaining fun read, and I can't wait for the next in the series.

Would I recommend this book: Yes

Rating: I give this book a 4/5. 

Teaser Tuesdays!

Hey readers! It's time for Teaser Tuesdays. Hosted by Miz B of Should Be Reading, this week's teaser is...

For Gene and the remaining humans—or hepers—death is just a heartbeat away. On the run and hunted by society, they must find a way to survive in The Vast... and avoid the hungry predators tracking them in the dark. But they’re not the only things following Gene. He’s haunted by the girl he left behind and his burgeoning feelings for Sissy, the human girl at his side.
When they discover a refuge of exiled humans living high in the mountains, Gene and his friends think they’re finally safe. Led by a group of intensely secretive elders, the civilisation begins to raise more questions than answers. A strict code of behaviour is the rule, harsh punishments are meted out, young men are nowhere to be found—and Gene begins to wonder if the world they’ve entered is just as evil as the one they left behind. As life at the refuge grows more perilous, he and Sissy only grow closer. In an increasingly violent world, all they have is each other... if they can only stay alive.
--From Goodreads

My Teasers: "'Her name was Ashley June. Like me, she survived in the metropolis by pretending to be one of them." The words flew out quickly as if pent up for too long. "We'd known each other many years without realizing we were both the same. Until a few days ago, that is, while we were both at the Institute. When our true nature were discovered, she gave her life to save me."
--P.g. 63, "The Prey," (The Hunt #2) by Andrew Fukuda.

To play along with Teaser Tuesdays, all you have to do is:


• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

Be sure to leave you link so I can check out your awesome teasers too! :)

Top 5 Monday Rants!

Hey fellow readers! It's a posting of Top 5 Monday Rants! On to the list!

1) I seriously HATE telemarketers! During the beginning of last week, a number called my cell phone 50 times in a row in the span of an hour. I looked the number up online, and a lot of people had complained that it was a telemarketer saying they won a cruise. I registered my number for the do not call list, but there should be a law on how many times a telemarketer can call in a day. And then that same number also had the nerve to call again the next day. Thankfully I figured out how to use auto reject on my cell. But seriously!

2) The whole last week I was sick. I apologize if there was any misspellings on my posts or on my tweets. I forgot what it was like to be sick, and it literally felt like death. Even as I am writing this post, I am still recovering, but I am way better off than I was at the beginning of the week.

3) I've been reading a lot of novels recently where the main female character seems rather pathetic when encountered in a relationship. There were at least two novels where the main female character was worrying too much about a certain aspect of the relationship, that they forget to eat, and one of them fainted because of it. I just don't understand why that is an appealing factor in women. I'm sorry, but if I haven't eaten all day, I don't care who you are, but my appetite's going to come first. Am I right?

4) Did anyone hear about that attempted school shooting in Texas? I'm not sure if anyone was actually killed, but I know at least three people were injured. Anyone else sick and tired of these crazy psycho mass shootings? It's about time someone do something about stricter gun control laws.

5) All last week everyone's been talking about the Notre Dame scandal with Manti Te'o and the fake girlfriend story. And even though he claims that he had no idea that it was in fact a dude calling him, and that he had no part in it, it still seemed pretty fishy. I don't know the full details of the story, but how could you not confirm the person you were talking to was in fact a girl? That's why online relationships don't really seem real to me. Sorry.

Anyway, that's it for my top 5 Monday Rants. Hope you all have a good Monday :)

In My Mailbox!

Hey readers! It's a posting of In My Mailbox. Hosted by The Story Siren, this week I got...

For Review:

The Prey (The Hunt #2) -- Andrew Fukuda (Special thanks to St. Martin's Griffin)

From Library:

The Darkest Minds -- Alexandra Bracken

The Perks of being a Wallflower -- Stephen Chbosky.

That's all the books I got this week. Be sure to leave your links so I can check out your books too! 

Review: Gabriel's Inferno by Sylvain Reynard

                                          Book: Gabriel's Inferno by Sylvain Reynard
                                          Pages: 545
                                          Genre: Fiction, Romance
                                          Source: Bought

Short Synopsis: Julia Mitchell is a graduate student with a sordid past. She enrolls in a course required for her studies, and finds out that it is taught by a Professor Gabriel Emerson. Together, they go on a whirl wind adventure that neither ever dreamed.

My Thoughts: A bit lengthy, I'm still torn between liking it and loving it. 

Enigmatic and sexy, Professor Gabriel Emerson is a well respected Dante specialist by day, but by night he devotes himself to an uninhibited life of pleasure. He uses his notorious good looks and sophisticated charm to gratify his every whim, but is secretly tortured by his dark past and consumed by the profound belief that he is beyond all hope of redemption. When the sweet and innocent Julia Mitchell enrolls as his graduate student, his attraction and mysterious connection to her not only jeopardizes his career, but sends him on a journey in which his past and his present collide. An intriguing and sinful exploration of seduction, forbidden love and redemption, "Gabriel's Inferno" is a captivating and wildly passionate tale of one man's escape from his own personal hell as he tries to earn the impossible...forgiveness and love.
--From Goodreads

Those who were fans of 50 Shades, might gravitate towards this novel. With a tortured main male character and a female with a horrible past, Gabriel's Inferno brings the student-teacher relationship to a whole new level. 

Gabriel is a professor with a history of drug abuse, an affair gone awry, and a black sheep of the family. Gabriel at times can be a bit demanding, and bossy, but as the relationship with Julia progresses, he seems to genuinely care for her. He constantly showers Julia with gifts, and has a strong jealous side. I found Julia to be a bit on the pathetic side. She has a horrible past that almost consumes her. She also constantly hopes for Gabriel's approval, and is so concerned about their relationships that she neglects to take care of herself on multiple counts. Julia is like a walking door mat, as she rarely stands up for herself, and allows people to constantly hold her as a target. I also disliked a minor character, Professor Singer, who has a history with Gabriel, and propositioned Julia. 

I wasn't a fan of all the Dante references though it was also a major part of the novel. I found that though it was a major part of the story, it also took away from Gabriel and Julia's story, and at times was a bit confusing, as Gabriel constantly calls Julia as Beatrice. 

It was interesting to read how Gabriel and Julia handled their relationship, and with the factor of Paul, Julia's only real friend and minor competition to Gabriel, makes things a bit more interesting as well. I'm still a bit on the fence with the whole Paulina and Maia thing, but I'm still curious as to where the story will go. Hopefully the sequel, Gabriel's Rapture, will be more exciting.

Would I recommend this book: Eh

Rating: I give this book a 3.5/5