Guy Langman, Crime Scene Procrastinator by Josh Berk
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Guy Langman, Crime Scene Procrastinator is part mystery, part coming of age, and part comedy. Guy himself is a very likeable character, who is going through a rough time. He’s just lost his dad, (he died, he has not been misplaced) and he’s learning to cope with that. His best friend Anoop gets him to join the Forensics club at school, and that’s when the fun begins. There are a couple of mysteries, some definite characters, an unrequited love, and sunken treasure. Overall, I enjoyed the story a lot. The humor was right on, and I enjoyed getting to know the main characters. The one problem I had with the book is that the passage of time feels a bit wonky. I couldn’t get a feel for how much time was passing, or what time of year it was. It just kind of threw me off. Other than that, I think this would be a good book to recommend to a teen who likes funny mysteries.



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Scarlet by A.C. Gaughen

Scarlet by A.C. Gaughen

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Release Date: February 14, 2012
Publisher: Walker Books for Young Readers
Source: Netgalley
Interest: Debut Author; Legends

Fun re-imagining of the Robin Hood legend. Most of the familiar characters at least make an appearance but they are younger than how they have been presented before.



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Slayers by C.J. Hill
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I got an advanced reading copy of this through netgalley(dot)com.

Slayers is the story of a group of kids with super powers who are training to fight the bad guy. How did they get their super powers? Interesting question. The Slayers got their powers from their ancestors. Who is the bad guy? Dragons. And not the cute, friendly anthropomorphized kind either. These are truly the big, bad monsters of olde. They are terrifying, smart and totally dangerous. Oh, and they can be controlled by a dragon lord. This is where Hill really came up with a cool concept. When the history reported that alchemists were trying to turn lead into gold they got it wrong; they were trying to make liquid gold. This liquid gold would give people powers to defeat the dragons. It ended up being fused with their DNA, and can be passed along to their descendents. The powers can only be triggered by a pregnant descendent being in the vicinity of a dragon egg (about 5 miles). It sounds a little out there, but the story really works well.

Most of the Slayers have known each other and gone to camp together every summer when the story opens. Tori is obsessed with dragons and has been all her life. She is afraid of them, but knows everything there is to know about them. This camp should be perfect for her. It’s called Dragon camp. Once she gets there, not everything is what it seems. She meets two guys, and immediately gets off on the wrong foot with both of them. Then, Dr. B, in charge of camp, resident dragon expert, and leader of the Slayers informs Tori that she will be with the ‘advanced’ campers (Slayers, of course). It takes her a while to figure out what’s really going on, and she isn’t super likable at this point. Luckily as the story progresses she redeems herself, and truly becomes part of the tight-knit Slayer group.

Overall, I really liked this story, and I hope I don’t have to wait too long for the next one!


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Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins

Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


Lola thinks that with her hot ne older boyfriend, she has finally gotten over her long-time crush Cricket Bell. But, when Cricket comes back into her life, she has to deal with how she really feels about him.

I really liked Anna and the French Kiss by Perkins and was looking forward to reading this one, but it fell flat for me. The biggest problem I had with it was that I disliked Lola. She was selfish and inconsiderate with just about everyone in her life.





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Halflings by Heather Burch

Halflings by Heather Burch

My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Publish Date: February 1, 2012
Publisher: Zondervan Publishing
Interest: debut author, paranormal romance
Source: Netgalley

Nikki finds herself in some very bizarre and dangerous situations. And every time, she is saved by the same 3 hunky guys. These hunky guys turned out to be halflings, or part angel. The halflings are duty bound to protect Nikki. They don't know why or what her importance is, but their heavenly instuctions are to keep her safe.

This is exactly what I thought it was going to be: a beautiful girl (who doesn't think she is pretty at all) find herself in a love triangle with 2 supernatural beings. Not only will she eventually have to choose between the two but she is also somehow the cornerstone in a plot that could mean the end of all human existance. That's a lot for a 17 year old to have to deal with!



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Erebos by Ursula Poznanski

Erebos by Ursula Poznanski

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Publish Date: January 19, 2012
Publisher: Annick Press
Interest: debut author (in U.S.), realistic
Source: Netgalley

A computer game is sweeping through Nick's high school. People are becoming so obssessed with it that they start to miss school and extra-curicular activities. But, no one is talking about the game; that's one of the first rules when you agree to play. To play the game, you have be invited and you are forbidden to talk about any aspect of the game. Somehow, the game knows when you break the rules and your character is punished, maybe even killed off. It's very unsettling how much the game knows about your personal life; it's as if it is alive. If it's not bad enough that players start to neglect their real-life responsibilities, they then have to start fulfilling missions in the real world that are possibly dangerous and illegal. Nick becomes suspicious of the game and its programmer's motive when he is asked to poison his teacher who has become a threat to the game's existance.

At first, I thuoght this was a thinly veiled story about the dangers of drug abuse: addiction to something that causes you to lose interest in favorite activities and to withdraw from family and friends. But, it was more than that.

I gave it 5 stars because it is the most different book that I have read in awhile. It's realistic without being just about teen angst and hearbreak. There is a little bit of angst and a little bit of "does she or doesn't she like me", but it's very minor. There's also some action and intrigue, but not too much that it is completely unbelievable. You don't have to be a gaming geek to enjoy this, but gamers will get a kick out of it. Highly recommend.



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Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi

Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Publication Date: February 7, 2012
Publisher: Harper
Interest: debut author; dystopian
Source: Baker & Taylor ARC program

Aria is expelled from The Pod, the only home she has ever known, into the outside world where terrible electrical storms are ravenging the landscape. She has no real-life experience with jut about anything; the Pod dwellers experience everything virtually. In the outside world she has to fend for herself until she strikes up a bargain with Peregrine, an Outsider. Peregrine will take Aria to the Pod where her mother has been working and in return Aria will get Peregrine access to the virtual link of her people so that he can track down his kidnapped nephew.

I was a little hesitant to read this. I've been pretty burned out on dystopians but there has been so much hyp about this that I thought I should read it. I'm glad I did. The world building was interesting and the characters were realistic. And I appreciated that the ineveitable sexual tension that arose between Aria and Peregrine was not overbearing. There was a good twist at the end that I didn't see coming (but I'm pretty oblivious to that sort of thing, someone else may have seen in coming a mile away). It's obvious that there will be another book after this one.



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