Rainbow’s End

Comer, Valerie, et al. Rainbow’s End.
Barbour Publishing, May 2012.

As a geocacher myself, I was intrigued by a book that had geocaching in it.  While it was a geocaching contest that provided the common theme through the book, each section of the book was written by a different author and involved different characters. However, I thoroughly enjoyed it as a quick and entertaining read. Total there were four individual stories by four authors with basically the same premise of romance, but each with different obstacles to overcome on the way to love.  This was a great book for a summer read at the beach.

Honor Redeemed

Lough, Lorlee. Honor Redeemed
Abingdon Press, 2012.

Although this is the second book in Lorlee Lough’s First Responder Series, it apparently isn’t necessary to have read the first to enjoy the second.  Honor MacKenzie is a first responder working Search and Rescue with her dogs.  Through her job she meets Matt who is also a newspaper reporter.  Both of them carry hurts; Honor from the death of her husband and rumors of misconduct on her previous job – Matt from the death of his wife, and his attempt to raise his twin sons alone.  Feelings deepen and romance blossoms, but if many readers are like me, they may be a little dissatisfied with the ending.  Thank goodness, I was soon able to pick up #3 in the series!

Dark Companion

Dark Companion

Acosta, Marta

When Jane Williams was six years old her mother was killed by her stepfather and Jane became a ward of the state. Now an emancipated minor Jane finds herself with a scholarship to the prestigious Birch Grave Academy for Girls where she meets the headmistresses two sons, Lucky, handsome but shallow and Jack, a down to earth musician. But as time goes on she realizes that there’s something odd not just about the school, but the community as a whole. I enjoyed the twist to the whole vampire mythos. It’s always a treat to see science applied to the fantastical world (Which the author succeeded in doing in all but one aspect). I also liked that more than one mythical species lives in this world. I particularly liked the character of Jack and could easily see his song “My Titania” being produced by a real rock band. Unfortunately, at times Jane seemed to be childish, arguing and being obstinent for no apparent reason other than the author wanted a rift between characters

Shift

Shift

Curran, Kim

Scott Tyler is an average teen until the day he is dared to climb a tower, falls, and finds that he is a shifter; someone with the ability to go back in time and change the desicions they have made. The plot thickens as Scott discovers a conspiracy and he may be the only one who can stop it. I loved how the book grounded itself in factual science, mentioning Schrödinger’s cat, wave-particle duality, and how the teenage brain is different from that of an adult brain (it is this difference that allows children and teens to shift, but not adults). Of course, the concept of being able to go back and see all the ”what ifs” in life is a powerful one that grabs the readers imagination.  Really, my only complaint with the book is that it was so short, at less than 200 pages there was plenty of room to develope the story further.

That’s Not A Feeling

That’s Not A Feeling

Josefson, Dan

I was initially interested by the concept of a theraputic boarding school for troubled teens. However, while the concept was interesting the book proved to be very random and poorly written. The story would drop subjects and switch subjects or time frames at random and without warning. Also, the point of view was constantly changing from omnicient to first person without any rhyme or reason. Another complaint is that characters never seemed to use any form of logic or reasoning. Also, the school was supposed to be for troubled teens yet the school had everything from pre-teens to people in their twenties. I also didn’t like how the writer didn’t make proper use of pronouns. The repetition of “alternative boys did this, alternative boys did that” was bothersome. Overall, an interesting concept that just didn’t follow through.

Shiver

Stiefvater, Maggie. Shiver

Sam Roth is living a double life. One as your average 18 year old boy, playing guitar, writing songs, and enjoying the poetry of Rilke, and another as a lycanthrope. He’s had a crush on Grace Brisbane since he was 7 but the lycanthropy makes relationships hard because Maggie Stiefvater has given this story a twist. These werewolves are not controlled by the moon, they are controlled by the weather. When they get cold, they shift to wolf form. So they spend summer in human form, winter as a wolf, and spring and fall oscillating between the two. One day he’s shot by a hunter and winds up on Graces doorstep. The story of shiver is told in alternating first person, switching each chapter between Sam and Grace, allowing you to get into the heads of both characters. Aesthetically Shiver is arresting. The story is in blue ink to match the cover (The sequels follow this pattern in green and red).

The Leap

Stroud, Jonathan. The Leap

When Charlie’s friend Max disapears all the adults think he’s died, drowned, but Charlie knows better. Max has been taken prisoner in an alternate universe reachable only through special portals hidden throughout the world and via your dreams. She is determined to save Max before he is lost forever. The story does a good job of making you question whether it is the adults or Charlie who is right about what has happened to Max. To the last page of the book you are left questioning Charlie’s sanity.