THE FEAR by Charlie Higson-REVIEW

THE FEAR is the third book in the Enemy series. The reading order is THE ENEMY, THE DEAD, and THE FEAR. The timeline of the novels is a little out of whack, but each novel includes a new main cast of characters so it doesn't matter too much. THE DEAD actually takes place before THE ENEMY and THE FEAR starts after THE DEAD and catches up and passes THE ENEMY.

In this horrifying world, children are battling for their lives against their mothers, fathers, and older siblings. (In THE ENEMY, the reader is introduced to the sickness that has spread through London and affected everyone 15-yrs-old and over, turning them into crazed, diseased killers that feast on the young children left behind.)

This is a frightening world where the children have to fight for survival every minute of the day. In THE FEAR we follow DogNut and Courtney as they travel across London in hopes of finding friends they were separated from a year ago. As they navigate the dangerous streets of London, DogNut and Courtney fight the Mothers and Fathers hiding around every corner.

THE FEAR is filled with death, blood, and violence. It isn't for the faint of heart. Charlie Higson writes one cringe-worthy scene after another.

This one was a tough one to read - so brutal and sad. I can't wait to read the next one, THE SACRIFICE.

LAST BREATH by Rachel Caine-REVIEW

Once again something bad is happening in Morganville. Vampires are disappearing. Nobody knows where they are going once they disappear.

Michael and Eve are determined that they will be married even though Amelie refuses them permission to marry. Both human and vampires alike are against the union.

Amelie obviously knows what is happening in Morganville, but she refuses to share with Claire and her friends what is going on. Amelie is determined to get all of the vampires out of Morganville.

Unfortunately an evil more powerful than Claire and her friends have ever faced before has arrived in Morganville. When tragedy strikes none of them are prepared for what happens next.

At first I thought oh no, here we go again. Claire and her friends are once again fighting for their lives. But Rachel Caine has managed to bring a new twist to their fight for survival that has me once again sitting on the edge of my seat waiting breathlessly for the next book!

Violence=A lot
Sexual Situations=Alluded to, but not descriptive
Language=Quite a bit for my taste

HOW I LIVE NOW by Meg Rosoff-REVIEW

Daisy is being shipped to England to live with an aunt and four cousins she’s never met because her “wicked” step-mother convinced Daisy’s father it was the best thing for her. While she isn’t thrilled with the new arrangement, as soon as she arrives, Daisy feels an overwhelming sense of belonging and connection. She feels more at home with these strangers than she ever has in New York City with her father.

Before Daisy has a chance to settle in, her aunt leaves for a conference out of town, leaving her and her four cousins alone. Shortly after, England is invaded by an unnamed force. Bombings and skirmishes scatter the countryside while Daisy and the cousins live in relative safety on their isolated farm – until the military locates their house and decides to commandeer it for their planning headquarters. The cousins are separated – girls to one location and the boys to another.

Daisy makes it her mission to get the family back together. The reader travels the dangerous roads through the England landscape with Daisy as she witnesses death and destruction. Your heart will go out to her and you’ll be emotionally invested with the family by the time you get to the end of the book. HOW I LIVE NOW is a great choice if you are a fan of dystopian novels. Amidst the war, a beautiful, but unconventional love story unfolds. HOW I LIVE NOW will easily turn into a single-sitting read. Once you start you won’t want to stop.

Sexual Content= There are some tastefully written scenes between Daisy and her love interest. It is who the love interest is that puts this in the edgy category.

Language Content=  Nothing noticeable

Violence Content= There isn't a lot of violence in this book.  A war is going on, but we don't see it from the battle lines or anything.

I'LL BE THERE by Holly Goldberg Sloan-REVIEW

The day that Emily is mortified in front of her whole church by singing a horrible rendition of "I'll Be There", is the day that Sam walks into her life.

Sam and his brother Riddle were taken away from their mother 10 years earlier by their father. Sam's last year of school was when he was in second grade. They have never lived in the same place for long because their father is a thief and when things get too hot for him he takes off.

Sam likes to visit churches. Even though he is not religious he likes to go. The morning that Emily sings he knows that it isn't good, but it is like she is singing to him. Telling him that she will be there for him. 

Sam has always been the caretaker for Riddle. When introduced to Emily's family her mother instantly sees that something is not right with Riddle. Being a nurse she is able to have him checked out and finds that he has asthma. For the first time in years Riddle is able to breathe. Being cared for for the first time in their lives the boys become attached to Emily and her family.

The boys' father finds out that they have been making friends and it is once again time for them to leave a city. But this time the voices are telling him that he would be better off without the boys. Driving them to a remote mountain wilderness sets off a string of harrowing experiences for both boys. Will they be able to survive and make it back to Emily and her family?

I was engaged in the characters. I felt the story was very believable. The problem I had with it was the insertion of irrelevant material. Such as the thoughts of a bear in the mountain. Or the wrapping up the story with little back stories of everyone that the boys had come in contact with. The book was almost 400 pages long and I thought that it drug in spots. By the time I got about 3/4 of the way through I was skimming pages just to hurry it up. For the most part though the story was good and like I said, the characters were engaging.

THE MAZE RUNNER by James Dashner-REVIEW #3

Thomas arrives in the Glade with no memory of his former life. He doesn’t remember who his parents were or what he did to deserve to be sent to this strange place. He is the new “Greenie” that is sent to the Glade once a month. A new boy has arrived in the Glade each month for the past 2 years. Thomas is frustrated because he wants to know everything about the Glade, but nobody is willing to tell him anything on his first day.


The next day the box arrives again with another new arrival. This is an unheard of event. And even more unheard of is that the occupant of the box is a girl. She arrives in some kind of coma with a message crushed in her hand stating that she is the last ever to arrive in the Glade. She arouses enough to whisper that “Everything is going to change.”

Thomas is soon told about the Maze that runners go into each day before the walls close on the Glade. They have gone into the Maze each day for the past 2 years looking for a way out. The only problem is that each night when the walls close to the Glade the pattern of the Maze changes. So it is never the same. Each runner must return before the walls close because creatures that the boys call Grievers come out at night. Nobody has ever survived the Grievers after being locked out at night.

Thomas soon realizes that for some reason he feels that he needs to be a runner. There is something that seems to be familiar about that job to him. When their weekly supplies are cut off and a Griever is found dead in the Maze the boys realize that things definitely are changing. When Thomas sees 2 boys coming back from checking on the dead Griever just as the walls are closing he goes out to save them. They spend a frightening night outside the walls fighting off the Grievers. They are the first boys that manage to survive until the walls are opened once again. This gains Thomas respect and the right to run the Maze. His first day out in the Maze seems so familiar to him. He wishes he remembered why.

When Theresa comes out of her coma her and Thomas realize that they have a gift of communicating with each other through telepathy. The more that things change in the Glade the more they all realize that they must find a way to escape and get revenge on the Creators. Theresa remembers that she and Thomas helped in the creating of the Maze but as she comes out of the coma her memory starts to disappear. Thomas must venture one desperate attempt in order to bring back his memory to save them all.

The Maze Runner was a fast-paced exciting read. It definitely leaves you hanging at the end so I must get my hands on the sequel!

The Maze Runner does have some "made-up" swear words that the boys use. I say this is Edifying because of the self-sacrificing that Thomas and some of the other boys exhibit.

Edifying Meets Edgy - The Hunger Games Trilogy Giveaway

MOCKINGJAY is almost here and Julie and I can't wait! In honor of the release date (August 24th) we are giving away a Hunger Games Trilogy Boxed Set.

Do you want to win?  If so, scroll down and fill out the Google Form.  Julie and I will choose a random entry on Tuesday, August 24th so be sure to submit your entry by Monday the 23rd. Your boxed set will ship to you directly from Amazon.

I absolutely loved both The Hunger Games and Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins. I am looking forward to the end of the series in Mockingjay coming out this month. I can't wait to read it! The first 2 books were exciting page-turners that I recommend to students all of the time. Yes, there is a lot of violence in the books but there is also self-sacrificing and love for family and humanity displayed throughout the pages. It really has become one of my favorite series and I look forward to sharing it with you!

THE HUNGER GAMES and CATCHING FIRE are as close to perfect as you can get in a young adult book.  It appeals to both males and females, includes adventure and romance, and shows a female character in a very strong role. The books will grab you and transport you into the story, making it difficult to stop until  you reach the end. The brutal fight-to-the-death during The Hunger Games, while violent, is presented in such a way to make this book accessible to the younger kids in the young adult category. 

Edifying Meets Edgy Halfway - The Last Survivors Trilogy by Susan Beth Pfeffer

The moon books are great "end of the earth" kind of books. They are full of survival and peril and triumph. I can't fully put them into the Edifying category because of vivid scenes of death and the constant peril that each book has. But they are not just Edgy kind of reads either. I think that the triumph of survival and the love of family that comes through in the books can make them valid Edifying reads also. With little to no cussing or sexual situations I recommend these books all the time.
Julie's Reviews - LAWKI, TDATG, TWWLI

The Moon Series is right up my alley.  I've always been a fan of disaster books.  I enjoy putting myself in the shoes of characters struggling to survive.  LIFE AS WE KNEW IT is told from a first person point-of-view in dairy form.  It reads really fast.  THE DEAD AND THE GONE is told from a boy's point of view, but in third person.  It is also more dark and disturbing.  THIS WORLD WE LIVE IN brings the first two books together and wrap Miranda's and Alex's stories up nicely.

Karin's Reviews - LAWKI, TDATG, TWWLI

NOTE: This trilogy used to be called The Moon Series, but lately it has appeared as The Last Survivors Trilogy.