Unhinged (Splintered #2) by AG Howard

Once again, totally in love with this series!  But before I talk about the book, I must first thank Abrams Amulet Group and Netgalley, for allowing me to read an e-galley of it.  I am also a part of the Unhinged ARC tour, but since I had this e-galley, I let them skip sending me the ARC so everyone else could get a chance to read it on the tour.  Plus, it would have been really hard to let that slip out of my hands if I had an actual copy of it, because my copy of Splintered is an ARC, so it would be nice to have a matching set.  If you don't remember how much I loved Splintered, go read my review HERE.  The first book kind of left off that there wasn't a sequel needed.  You could tell that it was possible for the story to go on, many reasons for it to, but it didn't have to.  This book however, yeah, cliffhanger in a way.  It HAS to go on now!  And so while I was excited to read Unhinged, I'm now very impatiently awaiting the 3rd book in the series.  Which I know there must be. 
Without spoiling too much, we still have the bit of a love triangle as in the first book, Alyssa with Jeb and Morpheus.  Now, it is Morpheus on the beautiful cover of this book.  But as wonderful as he is, and of course I haven't seen Jeb, I'm still Team Jeb.  I've just never been into that type of "androgynous" guy, as he is described in the story.  I'm more of the boy next door, although things about Jeb make him not quite that way, I have been into a little bit more of the tattooed "bad boy" that Jeb has kind of become.  Jeb has come home from London, where he has been working on getting a place set up for himself and Alyssa to go after she graduates.  He's come back in time to go to prom with her.  His sister Jenara is so excited that she got Alyssa to go, mainly because Alyssa found a dress from a movie about zombies I think, that she wanted to wear.  Of course Alyssa has been getting dreams from Morpheus again, about how horrible things are in Wonderland, and how Red is loose and wreaking havoc.  And Alyssa's paintings come to life with just a drop of her blood, and it turns out that they are prophetic, predicting what is going to happen in this fight with Red to save Wonderland.  Finally Morpheus comes back to try to convince Alyssa to return to Wonderland to help defeat Red.
We learn so many things about the past in this one though, really interesting things!  Alyssa's mom Allison was able to come home at the end of the last book, and we learn what her life might have been like, and how she might have known Morpheus, and what her time in Wonderland did to affect Alyssa.  We also learn that there is something about Alyssa's dad that makes him more than just another "human."  There are also some mysterious characters around.  Like Ivy, the art agent that is trying to help Jeb succeed.  At first Alyssa is jealous of her, until she begins to have premonitions that something might not be quite right about this situation.   And then in Alyssa's mosaics there is a shadowy unknown woman in them, and when they find out who it is, well let's just say it is one more dangerous obstacle in their way to not only save Wonderland, but to go on living.
The tension between Morpheus and Alyssa is there, but she knows she loves Jeb.  To the point that she even sees how much she hurts Morpheus when she tells him that she is in love with Jeb.  But she knows that her netherling side does want to be free, and does want Morpheus.  And while I said that I didn't think I would find Morpheus "hot" right off the bat, he is very sarcastic, and can be quite amusing.  So I can see the attraction in that way. 
This book does not suffer from what I will call the "sophomore syndrome".  Not sure if I heard that somewhere, or what, but 2nd books often are not that great, you can tell they are only a bridge in a way to get to the 3rd.  This book is just as exciting as the first one, although we don't really spend any time in Wonderland proper.  We do get many flashbacks to times in the world, as well as get to experience many of the creatures as they come over to our world.
So, yeah, lots of gushing on my part, but I feel this was kind of an all over the place review, I didn't want to spoil anything, but had to talk about some of the story!  Now, if you still haven't read the first one, Splintered, or have, but would just like to own your own copy, I'm having a giveaway right HERE.  I'm also having a giveaway for a book of your choice up to $18 from when I reached 1800 followers, so go enter that HERE if you are a follower.
Now, off to start harassing Ms. Howard for how long I'll have to wait to read what happens to Jeb and Alyssa and Morpheus and her mom, and her dad, etc.  

Sick by Tom Leveen

First, thanks to Netgalley and Abrams Publishing for allowing me to read an e-galley of this. I did really enjoy it, even though it is yet another zombie book. Something I really liked about it is that although the high school kids are going through all this stress together, they do learn to start seeing that the people they've made fun of may have issues at home just like they do, and really can be cool people, reliable friends. The main characters are a group of buddies, kinda cool maybe, but not jocks. They even end up skipping part of the school day the day this all happens. The main character is Brian, his friends go hang out on one of the guys' roofs. Their friend that was home sick for the day, stops by, and he does seem really, really sick. But he is going to go by the school for the pep rally at the end of the day where his cheerleader girlfriend will be performing. Before they left school, they had run into Brian's sister Kenzie and his ex-girlfriend Laura. Laura says she hopes he'll come to the pep rally, and she also wants to get together with him later that night, saying she has something really important to show him and tell him. Now it wasn't that Brian and Laura had any big issues, she just had an anxiety condition, and he got tired of the hassle it was. In fact, her going to the pep rally is kind of unusual for her. The guys decide to go back too, but when they get there, Brian has gone to his theater class instead of the pep rally, and he and Chad get stuck inside the theater when it seems crazy things start happening. The students and teachers begin turning into zombies. They're able to barricade themselves in, but all Brian can think about is getting out to make sure his sister is safe, as well as Laura. Turns out that Brian Kenzie's mother is a doctor, the kind that deals with diseases, and it has started where she is. Somehow she is able to get through the phone lines to get ahold of him, and let's him know what is going on, and tells him to stay put, she will get help there. While they are stuck there, they learn who each other really is. And who can be counted on. And what they will have to do to survive. They plan some daring rescues, since they can't just go outside in between buildings without facing the zombies. From the roof of the building they're in, they are able to get an idea what is going on around the town, even seeing far enough to see the highway as it gets backed up with people trying to leave town. A good take on the story, and I really feel it could be a one shot story, no sequel needed. It ends on a perfect note, reminds me of how zombie movies, ones that aren't series, would end.

Deviant by Adrian McKinty

Deviant by Adrian McKinty

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


After reading the reviews already posted before I'd really gotten into this book, I was a bit nervous about reading it. But then I got into it and really enjoyed it. The serial killer aspect to the book was very interesting. I liked how really it kept me guessing, it's that guy, no it's this kid, no wait, it's that kid. I love when it takes me a bit to figure out who the bad guy is. As a science teacher I also like how it talked about Tesla and other science topics. As a teacher, can I say that while I don't think that is the proper method for helping children learn, I would be in heaven if I had a classroom of students who sat without talking when they weren't supposed to? HEAVEN!



The main character is Danny Lopez, but he is actually part Native American. He doesn't really know his real dad, but doesn't really like his stepdad either. He's grown up in Las Vegas now moving to Colorado because of a mistake he made. Also his mother will be in charge of the new casino opening up on the reservation here. His stepdad is working at the prison, with the convicts that are really close to being let go for the end of their sentences. Danny meets some interesting prisoners, on in particular who will be a help, but could be the problem later on. The girl who lives right by him, Tony, tends to just walk into his house without knocking, even going into his bedroom when he's still sleeping! But he kind of has a crush on her. He is immediately asked to join one of the secret societies in this school with its unorthodox method of teaching students. There are cats being killed, and this seems to be the work of a serial killer in the way it is being done. Danny has issues with other students at the school of course being the new kid. All in all this was a good book, I can see many boys I've taught that would enjoy it. Danny is also a big skateboarder, which is kind of difficult in Colorado with the snow.

I read this as an egalley from NetGalley.com from Abrams publisher, it will be released in October.



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Misfit by Jon Skovron

This is another egalley I received from Abrams Publishing on Netgalley.com. This book will not be published till August 1st, but it will be on my staff recommendations as soon as it is. The main character is Jael. Jael has never really fit in at any school, but she's moved all her life, almost every two years if not more often, so it hasn't been that big of a deal. She lives with just her father because her mother is dead. Her father is a bitter ex-priest who used to perform exorcisms. Her mother was a demon. So Jael is a half breed. Because of her father's days of being a priest, she has always gone to Catholic schools. Because of being a half breed, her life is in danger from demons who believe in pureblood only, kind of like Voldemort and his hate of mudbloods. But here, it seems that the few half breeds in the past actually could cause problems for demons. Some of them may sound familiar to you, Perseus, and Merlin. The Perseus connection will draw in some Lightning Thief fans I think. So until she's turned 16, and her father gives her a necklace from her mother, Jael doesn't know much about her mother, her father has kept it from her in an effort to save her, as well as out of his feelings of betrayal and sadness of the death of his wife. He tells Jael not to put the necklace on. But even having the necklace, Jael begins to have vivid dreams which are actually flashbacks to the history of her mom and father. And she begins to learn about her past, and what it means to be half demon.

As with all of these types of books, all Jael really wants is to be a normal teen, which she's been unable to do with all the moving they've done throughout her life. She'd finally felt like she was somewhere she fit in, and now it seems she may have to move again to stay alive. I won't give away anymore of the book, except for the first demon she meets, well, let's say you'll really like his character, I did.

I really liked this book. I love the different look at ancient demons and how they weren't necessarily "evil" in what they were doing. I like the change in the view of hell, even how they go so far as to say it is not actually like Dante's version. (That could be because I was unable to get through Dante's Inferno I hated it so much). I really liked the story, liked the characters, and the look back at history. There was even a retake on the story of Samson, and I really liked it! I feel like the story really leaves off for a series of sequels. I don't know if there will be, and I guess the fact that it hasn't even been published means there are no hints about a sequel yet, but I'm hoping for it! I even sent a question to the author on his website asking him about this.

Great book! Read it when it comes out!