DEAD IS SO LAST YEAR by Marlene Perez – REVIEW

 

Sandpiper – May 4, 2009

The Giodano sisters are back from a summer vacation in Italy and things in Nightshade are as strange as ever when they get back.

The first thing Daisy wants to do when she gets home is see her boyfriend, Ryan.  She has missed him and can’t wait to get over to his house.  Daisy is disappointed to find out that he is at football practice, but heads over to the school anyway.  She is very surprised by what she sees.  Ryan has really buffed up in the weeks she’s been gone and so, it seems, has most of the other football players.

Since there are still several weeks left in summer, Daisy decides she should get a job.  She notices that Slim’s has a Help Wanted sign in the window and with her love of cooking, she feels this would be a perfect fit.

After leaving work one evening, she notices someone digging in the dumpster in the alley.  Strangely, it appears to be her missing father.  After other strange appearances in town, the Nightshade City Council comes to the conclusion that Doppelgangers are on the loose causing havoc in town.

Daisy and her sisters have to figure out what is going on in town.  Is there something strange causing the football team to get super strong in such a short time?  Who is creating the Doppelgangers?  Is Mr. Giodano really back or is he a Doppelganger too?

DEAD IS SO LAST YEAR is a fun conclusion to a cute trilogy.  Marlene Perez has a knack for writing with user-friendly, non-intimidating language.  The only drawback is you definitely need to read the trilogy in order.  So, readers, take heed – read DEAD IS THE NEW BLACK then DEAD IS A STATE OF MIND and finally DEAD IS SO LAST YEAR.

Dead Is So Last Year

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

THE AWAKENING by Kelley Armstrong – REVIEW

 

HarperCollins – April 28, 2009

Reading book 1 in this trilogy, THE SUMMONING, is recommended before reading THE AWAKENING.

Chloe Saunders can see ghosts.  She can also raise the dead – mostly without meaning to.  After being sent to Lyle House because her dad thought she was unstable (see THE SUMMONING), she found out that it was just a front for the Edison Group – a corporation that studies paranormal activity.  Chloe, Derek, Simon, and Rae escape in hopes of finding Derek and Simon’s dad and putting a stop to the Edison Group’s evil plans.  Freedom doesn’t last long though.  Chloe is captured and forced to reveal the location of Simon and Derek when THE AWAKENING begins.

After regaining her freedom and being reunited with her friends, Chloe begins to learn more about her powers while staying one step ahead of the Edison Group.  Simon, Derek, and Chloe learn some very disturbing information about their genetic makeup and struggle to come up with a plan to bring down the people responsible.  In addition to the struggles she is already dealing with, Chloe is faced with a massive betrayal. 

With the help of an unexpected ally, Chloe and her friends move one step closer to taking down the Edison group.  She realizes there is no way she will ever be able to return to her old life and that she is going to have to find a way to make this new one work.  Chloe’s relationship with Derek becomes stronger, but it is still unclear what is going on with her and Simon.  It will be interesting to see if there is a romantic element in the future and how the brothers will handle it if there is.

THE RECKONING is the third and final book in the Darkest Powers  Trilogy.  Readers will be clamoring for it to find out how everything turns out for Chloe and her friends.

Visit “Chloe’s” blog for a free novella about Simon and Derek and events leading up to their arrival at Lyle House.  It is being written in serial form.  Kelley Armstrong is posting a section on the 1st and 15th of every month.  When it is complete it will be transferred to the locker section of “Chloe’s” website. 

The Summoning
(Darkest Powers, Book 1)

The Awakening
(Darkest Powers, Book 2)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

SKINNED by Robin Wasserman

Lia shouldn’t have been in the car in the first place.  By doing a favor for her sister, she has changed her life forever.  A one in a million chance.  The navigation system in her car malfunctioned and she crashed head on with another car.  Her body broken – her skin burning, Lia waited for help.  Unfortunately, her body didn’t survive the trauma of the accident.  However, her brain remained in tact. 

Lia wakes up several weeks later to find that she is alive.  She has been downloaded into a new body.  A body that isn’t flesh and blood, but circuits and wires covered by synthetic “skin.”  Lia doesn’t want to be a skinner, a mech-head, a freak.  She’d rather be dead.  Instead she has to go through the indignity of learning the most basic of activities all over again. 

Eventually, Lia returns to school only to find that the people she depended on most aren’t as receptive to her as she’d hoped.  Companionship comes from an unexpected person.  Lia doesn’t want to admit she isn’t the same as she was before the accident.  She refuses to believe she is only doing what the computer is programmed to do.

Lia meets a group of radical mech-heads that force her to confront her situation.  Is it dangerous for her to live amongst people acting as if she is exactly like everyone else?  Is she causing the people she cares about the most more harm than good? 

SKINNED by Robin Wasserman is a spell-binding, futuristic story filled with issues of medical ethics, family dynamics, and loss.  If you enjoyed the Uglies trilogy by Scott Westerfeld, you’ll enjoy SKINNED.  The story is powerful and keeps you hooked until the end.  I was excited to see that SKINNED is the first book in a planned trilogy.  I desperately want to see what happens next in Lia’s complicated existence.  Robin Wasserman’s website includes cool downloads based on the book like desktop wallpaper, screen savers, and avatars.  Go check it out.

Disclaimer: contains some mature content and language

 

SKINNED by Robin Wasserman

Lia shouldn’t have been in the car in the first place.  By doing a favor for her sister, she has changed her life forever.  A one in a million chance.  The navigation system in her car malfunctioned and she crashed head on with another car.  Her body broken – her skin burning, Lia waited for help.  Unfortunately, her body didn’t survive the trauma of the accident.  However, her brain remained in tact. 

Lia wakes up several weeks later to find that she is alive.  She has been downloaded into a new body.  A body that isn’t flesh and blood, but circuits and wires covered by synthetic “skin.”  Lia doesn’t want to be a skinner, a mech-head, a freak.  She’d rather be dead.  Instead she has to go through the indignity of learning the most basic of activities all over again. 

Eventually, Lia returns to school only to find that the people she depended on most aren’t as receptive to her as she’d hoped.  Companionship comes from an unexpected person.  Lia doesn’t want to admit she isn’t the same as she was before the accident.  She refuses to believe she is only doing what the computer is programmed to do.

Lia meets a group of radical mech-heads that force her to confront her situation.  Is it dangerous for her to live amongst people acting as if she is exactly like everyone else?  Is she causing the people she cares about the most more harm than good? 

SKINNED by Robin Wasserman is a spell-binding, futuristic story filled with issues of medical ethics, family dynamics, and loss.  If you enjoyed the Uglies trilogy by Scott Westerfeld, you’ll enjoy SKINNED.  The story is powerful and keeps you hooked until the end.  I was excited to see that SKINNED is the first book in a planned trilogy.  I desperately want to see what happens next in Lia’s complicated existence.  Robin Wasserman’s website includes cool downloads based on the book like desktop wallpaper, screen savers, and avatars.  Go check it out.