Above (Above #1) by Mackie Burt

Above (Above #1) by Mackie Burt
Publisher: Carthay Circle Publishing
Publish Date: January 17, 2013
Pages: 354
ISBN: 978-1625150028


I received this book in exchange for an honest review.



Callie Lane dies when she was 17 years old and was selected to be a Guardian. Callie must attend Guardian School and learn from her mistakes so that she can help her Watched (person she looks over). 

The best part was learning about the Guardians lives and hearing about their mistakes and what they learned from them. I enjoyed the characters, they were decently done and much like an average teenager.  But ones that had to face their mistakes right now.

Definitely looking forward to reading the next installment!

Happily Never After (Savannah Shadows #1) by Missy Fleming

Happily Never After (Savannah Shadows #1) by Missy Fleming
Publisher: Melange Books
Publish Date: February 6, 2013
Pages: 180
ISBN: 978-1612355597


I received this book in exchange for an honest review.



Quinn is 17 years old and believes in ghosts. She actually goes ghost hunting, but hasn't had a really scary experience...yet.

This is a dark retelling of Cinderella.  There's a wicked stepmother and two evil stepsisters.  The scariness is subtle, escalating slowly.  It was really well done.  It's hard to have that level of scariness that isn't cheesy or gory, well done!

The characters were well written, but the story is too short to do them justice.  Also, just a small thing, but a different cover would make a huge difference.

The Photo Traveler by Arthur J. Gonzalez

The Photo Traveler by Arthur J. Gonzalez
Publisher: Fahrenheit Publishing
Publish Date: February 20, 2013
Pages: 352
ISBN: 978-0988891611


I received this book in exchange for an honest review.



The premise is a great one - a group of people that have the ability to travel through photos to different places and times.  Awesome, right?

Gavin is adopted. His adoptive mother died, his adoptive dad turned into a drunk. He runs away after his dad beats him up again and he's looking for money or anything to help himself to and finds information about his birth family.

Gavin doesn't really show any great growth throughout the story. He's impulsive, screws things up - sometimes it seems on purpose. I didn't care for Gavin, he just seemed dumb at times, not real teenage boy dumb, but 'grown up trying to think like a teenage boy' dumb.

There's a group of 'evil' photo travelers also.  They want the vials of fluid that seem to hold the secret to photo traveling.  Gavin refuses to give the vials his family has to the other group.

I think that the characters need a bit of development and the plot needs some tweaking also.

Alien Legends - A Selection from the Repository of Imagination by Gill Shutt

Alien Legends - A Selection from the Repository of Imagination by Gill Shutt
Publisher: CreateSpace
Publish Date: March 7, 2013
Pages: 274
ISBN# 978-1481135375


I thought that the cover art was beautiful and the concept - give a story, get a story - was really good.  I love well-written alien stories, thanks to Ray Bradbury.

However, these stories did not fire my imagination.  I didn't even read all of the stories because I got tired of slogging through the ones I did read.  Remember, this is just MY opinion.  The writing is good, I think the stories just need some tweaking for excitement.

The After Girls by Leah Konen

The After Girls by Leah Konen
Publisher: Merit Press
Publish Date: April 18, 2013
Pages: 304
ISBN: 978-1440561085


I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.



Three bff's: Ella, Astrid and Sydney.  They have the summer after high school graduation all planned out.  Then Astrid commits suicide and the other two don't know how to handle it.

The grief, anger and even guilt of the two girls is very well done.  Ella thanks that Astrid is still trying to reach out and wants to figure out why Astrid would kill herself.  Sydney just wants to move on and forget all about it.

The writing is excellent and the characters are wonderful.  Grab a box of tissues, there will be crying.

Breathless (Elemental #2.5) by Brigid Kemmerer

Breathless (Elemental #2.5) by Brigid Kemmerer
Publisher: Kensington Teen
Publish Date: April 30, 2013
Pages: 65
ISBN: 978-0758285539


I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.



We all know that I love the fill-in novellas!  Sometimes...almost more than the actual novel!

This was a great chance to get to know Nick. He's always calm and good, so it was fun to see him 'off' and a little weird.

Nick's journey may be difficult, for himself and his brothers, but sometimes realizing what you really want IS difficult.  This is an excellent addition to the series!

The Name of the Star (Shades of London #1) by Maureen Johnson

The Name of the Star (Shades of London #1) by Maureen Johnson
Publisher: Putnam Juvenile
Publish Date:  September 29, 2011
Pages: 372
ISBN#978-0399256601


American teen Aurora (Rory) Deveaux moves to England from Louisiana with her parents.  She attends a boarding school, so she's pretty far from her parents.  It's a definite lifestyle change and Rory struggles to fit in, finding her niche.

There's a killer mimicking Jack the Ripper in London and the city is buzzing with speculation. 

I did feel a bit annoyed by all the explanation of British words and things.  I mean, the HP books and movies pretty well taught us boarding school lingo.  Also, did we really need a menu/appetite update that frequently?

What pulled me into reading the book was the Jack the Ripper angle.  It's one of the most famous murder mysteries in the world, and there's virtually no hope of ever solving it.  The addition of a super secret society that can see and speak to ghosts was a nice twist.

Generally the characters and story were a bit boring.  It isn't a bad book, just boring.  Perhaps the second book will be better.