Consider by Kristy Acevedo

Consider is the first YA dystopian book in the Holo series. Alexandra (Alex) Lucas has an anxiety disorder. With panic attacks nearly everyday, the last thing she needs is more to worry about. While Alex is on a train with her boyfriend, Dominick, the train stops because of a hologram and vertex. 500 of them open around the world, telling everyone on Earth that they are from the year 2359 in an alternate dimension. They say that a comet is on a collision course with Earth, and their only hope is to step into a vertex to an alternate dimension.

Right when the book starts, there is instant action with the holograms. I was a little surprised, since most books build up to an event like that, but I liked it. It was pretty much like that the whole book with nonstop events and action.

Her anxiety was very detailed. Alex was very descriptive with the symptoms and emotions that go along with her panic attacks. The amount of detail describing her thoughts and feelings were so realistic and persuasive.

The holograms allowed people to ask them questions about their dimension. At the start of every chapter, there would be a question and answer that relates to the concept of the chapter you are about to read. That was cool, and it put things in perspective while providing more information.

Contribute is the second book in the Holo series and comes out on January 1, 2017. I can't wait to read it! I'm glad I purchased Consider.

Title: Consider (Holo #1)
Author: Kristy Acevedo
Publisher: Jolly Fish Press
Pages: 288
Series: Yes, Book 1
Rating: 4 Stars
Goodreads

Series Review: Pulse by Patrick Carman

Pulse is a YA dystopian trilogy series about having telekinetic powers. In 2051, there are only two states- the Eastern State and the Western State. Faith Daniels lives outside of the states. At her high school, there is only 133 kids when there was supposed to be 2000. At her school, she meets Dylan Gilmore, a student who has a secret. He helps Faith discover that she has a pulse. She can move things with her mind. She discovers that the boy she has a crush on is one, too. Wade and Clara are telekinetic masters, and Dylan needs Faith's help to defeat them.

In the second book, Tremor, Faith discovers she has a second pulse, the ability to withstand damage. They are almost indestructible, with the exception of one weakness. When it is discovered that Dylan's father is part of their enemies, they decide to infiltrate enemy grounds and find out more about the war that they are planning.

In the third book, Wade and Clara release Hotspur Chase, the smartest man in the world. Hawk leaves in the middle of the the night to sneak inside the Western State to find out more about his violent plan. Outside, Faith and Dylan take part in the final battle of Wade and Clara with new help- Jade, who can turn the tide and even the war. One mistake and half of the states' population is wiped out. Hawk might be the only person who can stop it.

In the first book, I did not like the pace. Half of the book was already over before she discovered her pulse, so the second half of the book was rushed and should have been longer. I liked the background information in the first half about living life in an area where there are so few people. I enjoyed when  things floated around the room while the characters were asleep.

I feel like the second book, Tremor, had too much emotion. Faith was either angry or in love scenes with Dylan. I understand the situation that she was in, but I would have liked her to cry a couple of times instead of being so mad. At the same time, I would have liked Dylan to be more emotional. He was basically a rock when he went undercover, but beforehand he got over the news quickly, too. However, Tremor was fun to read! I liked the undercover part and getting the insider scoop on everything that happened on the other side.

The third book, Quake, was my favorite. There was nothing I did not like! It had the most action and suspense. All the secrets were revealed, and there were plenty of surprises. Jade was a great character, and she was very helpful.

I recommend that you read this series!

Title: Pulse
Author: Patrick Carman
Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books
Pages: 371
Series: Yes
Rating: 4 Stars
Goodreads

Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Favorite Book Covers

When I am browsing for books, one of the first things that catches my attention is the cover art. Today, I am celebrating Book Lovers Day and Top Ten Tuesday free choice by blogging about my favorite book covers for middle grade and young adult books.

This week's theme is Top Ten Tuesday Rewind, where you can do any past topic that you missed. Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme created by the Broke and the Bookish blog. If you want to participate, click here.

Cover art can draw a reader in and make them more excited to read a book. These are my top favorite book covers in order with number one being my favorite. Be sure to click each title to read my review.

1. Keeper of the Lost Cities: Everblaze by Shannon Messenger

I love all of the covers in this series, but Everblaze is my favorite! It shows that they are teleporting, which is really cool.

2. The Ward by Jordana Frankel

Even though I did not enjoy the book that much, the cover art is one of my favorites of all time! I love how the main character is in the letter A, and I love how they made the buildings going toward the waterfall! If you pay close attention, you can see the main city way in the distance! 

3. Will to Survive (The Rule of Three Book 3) by Eric Walters

I love how the E is backwards to be a 3. I like the font that was used, and I love the fire and smoke. The power lines were a cool addition.

4. SYLO by D.J. MacHale

I love the purple smoke and the texture of the letters. The island is also cool, as well as the strange aircraft. The green contrasts well with the purple.

5. Breathe by Sarah Crossan

I love the cracks on the ground and the shadows.

6. Man Made Boy by Jon Skovron

I like the bolts sticking out of his wrists. I also like the electricity on the O of Boy in the title, and how it is shaped like a heart. 

7. The Dirt Diary by Anna Staniszweski

I love the look on Rachel's face. I also really like the arrows and the way the title was drawn. The hearts are a nice touch. 

8. Ask My Mood Ring How I Feel by Diana López

I like the drawings in her notebook and the decorations. 

9. Island of Legends (The Unwanteds Book 4) by Lisa McMann

It is cool that the cover is underwater and how the animals are positioned. I like the colors of purple and yellow, which go nicely with blue. 

 

10. The Death Cure (The Maze Runner Book 3) by James Dashner

Even though I did not enjoy the book that much, I love the cover. The snow is really awesome and the yellow is the perfect accent color for white

The Revenge Playbook by Rachael Allen

The Revenge Playbook is an inspirational YA realistic fiction book about equality and revenge. Football players at this school are treated like royalty, and four girls have had enough of it. Peyton is tired of preferential treatment in her geometry class. The teacher even lets them correct their tests! Ana was taken advantage of at a party. When she told the guidance counselor, she told her to not risk him being kicked off the football team! Liv and Melanie Jane were dumped by their boyfriends because their teammates told them to. They come up with a plan to steal the most important thing to them in return for getting rid of the inequality.

Each chapter alternates. One chapter is about the scavenger hunt and stealing the football, and the other chapter is the background stories and prior events. I like how the author did it, but I would have wanted to switch the order. The first chapter was about getting revenge, but without any background knowledge.

This book is inspirational. It deals with self-confidence and standing up for yourself. It showcases empowerment in girls. The Revenge Playbook also deals with bullying and what to do in certain situations.

The characters were interesting and fun to observe. I enjoyed the struggle with Melanie Jane and Ana. They lost their friendship long ago, and it was nice to watch them try to be friends. Peyton was very brave and spoke up about geometry class, and I liked her bravery and determination, especially at the end.

I recommend that you read this book!

Title: The Revenge Playbook
Author: Rachel Allen
Publisher: HarperTeen
Pages: 365 pages
Series: No
Rating: 4 Stars
Goodreads

Top Ten Tuesday: Ten YA Books I Want to Buy Now

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme created by the Broke and the Bookish blog. If you want to participate, click here. The theme for this week is Ten Books You'd Buy Right This Second If Someone Handed You A Fully Loaded Gift Card. (And if I had endless space in my room!)

Before you buy a book, I recommend you see if it is in your local library as this is a great way to save money. These are 10 YA books that I really want to read, starting with the ones that interest me most!

1. Icons (Icons #1) by Margaret Stohl

One day, everyone on Earth dropped dead, and lost a war that they didn't know they were a part of. Four teens lived, and realize that their uncontrollable emotions are the reason they survived the Icon.

2. Pulse (Pulse #1) by Patrick Carman

Dylan Gilmore and Faith Daniels discover that they can telepathically move objects with their mind, and that this power is called a pulse. They must learn to control their powers and join their powers to save the world from evil telepathic masters.

3. The Revenge Playbook by Rachael Allen

In Ranburne, football players are treated like royalty, and treat girls like servants. Instead of getting angry, they decide to get revenge and beat them at their own game.

4. Revolution 19 (Revolution 19 #1) by Gregg Rosenblum

They built the robots to fight for them in the battle fields. Instead, they turned on the humans that created them in the robot revolution of 2071. Kevin, Nick, and Cass hope to save other survivors by attacking the main city controlled by the robots.

5. Doomed by Tracy Deebs

Pandora is an average teen that loves her phone and computer. That is, until one day her father sends her a link to a crazy website that supposedly has her baby pictures on it. When she opens the site, a global computer virus unleases. The only thing that still works is a virtual world game her father created. She must beat the game in order to rescue her father and the world.

6. After Eden (After Eden #1) by Helen Douglas

Ryan Westland shows up at Eden's school. He looks like a typical teenager, but he doesn't remember pizza or other normal things. She finds a book that is a biography of her best friend 50 years in the future. Eden discovers that she might have ruined everything.

7. Flawed (Flawed #1) by Cecelia Ahern

In Celestine North's society, perfection is mandatory. If you make a mistake, you are labeled as Flawed and imprisoned for life. When she makes an impulsive decision and risks being Flawed, she decides to take a stand on what she believes is right.

8. Acid by Emma Pass

In 2113, ACID rules. Nothing can hide from them. They locked Jenna away for life for a crime she doesn't remember. They took her life away from her. When she sneaks out, she tries to uncover the secrets of ACID and what really happened before she was locked away.

9. Solstice by P.J. Hoover

In Piper's world, every day brings hotter and hotter temperatures that will destroy the Earth. On her 18th birthday, she discovers there is another universe that is also in chaos. The greek gods are fighting to take control of the underworld. Piper tries to find the truth about what is happening.

10. Linked (Linked #1) by Imogen Howson

Elissa is getting bruises that appear randomly, having terrifying visions and strange pain. She is given a cure, to have small surgery to get rid of the overactive part of her brain. Right before the operation, she learns that she is seeing the world from her twin sister's eyes, who she never knew existed. She is on the run to protect her dangerous secrets.

. 

The Hidden Oracle (The Trials of Apollo Book 1) by Rick Riordan

The Hidden Oracle is the first book in the new middle grade Greek mythology series, The Trials of Apollo, the follow-up series to The Heroes of Olympus. Following the defeat of Gaea, Zeus blames Apollo for the war because his son is Octavian, and he played a big role in starting the war. Zeus punishes Apollo in one of the worst ways possible- he makes Apollo mortal and takes his powers. He is exiled from Olympus and lands in New York.

He is immediately beat up by some people on the street, defenseless. Just in time a young demigod named Meg, daughter of Demeter, saves him. Apollo can redeem himself by serving a demigod, and Meg happens to be the one. They travel to Camp Half-Blood to get help from his children and discover that an enemy that he fought long ago is taking control of the Oracles, and as the god of prophecy, he might be the only one who can stop it. 

I love Rick Riordan, and I was very excited to read this book. I was not disappointed! I love the idea of telling the point of view of a god, especially my favorite one, Apollo! He is the god of music, archery, prophecy, medicine, the sun, and poetry. The book was very funny and entertaining, especially how he freaked out when he looked at himself! (Apparently, gods have never heard of acne.) Apollo finally experienced the feeling of guilt, which was very interesting and important. It was great to learn more about the family of the gods and their experiences. 

I was also really happy to learn more about the events that happened after the ending of The Heroes of Olympus series. A lot of the things I wanted to know were answered, and I was really happy to learn what happened to Leo. He was my favorite character in that series, and I am really happy that readers get to see more of him in the coming books. 

I highly, highly recommend this book for fans of Rick Riordan and mythology! Unfortunately, readers have to wait a long time for the other books. There are five books that will be in The Trials of Apollo series, and the second book, The Dark Prophecy, comes out sometime in 2017. The third book will be out in 2018, the fourth book will be out in 2019, and the last book won't come out until 2020!!! (Why, Rick Riordan, Why?) Four years might be the longest I have ever waited for a book, but I am very much looking forward to it!!!

The Hidden Oracle is the follow-up series to The Heroes of Olympus, which is the follow-up series to Percy Jackson and the Olympians. Click here to read my series review of Percy Jackson and the Olympians.

Title: The Hidden Oracle (The Trials of Apollo #1)

Author: Rick Riordan

Publisher: Disney-Hyperion

Pages: 376 pages

Series: Yes, Book 1

Rating: 5 Stars

Goodreads

Will to Survive (The Rule of Three Book 3) by Eric Walters

Will to Survive is the final book in the YA dystopian series, The Rule of Three. In order to protect his family and save his life, Adam had to take action. It had to happen, but that has changed Adam. Watching and doing are two different things, but he has to be brave.

In addition, Brett got away. He is out to get Adam and destroy the neighborhood, and he knows all their secrets. Adam has to conquer his fear and face him once again.

Adam, once again, was an incredible character, and I was hooked on how he would react and the decisions that he would make. Adam had to act to protect himself, but it made Adam irritable, upset, and depressed. He was under a lot of pressure and was scared. I loved how his friends helped him, and I liked how he manipulated his enemies.

I would have liked there to be more happy moments, as this book's mood was sad. The cover art is very detailed, which I liked, and it really captures the idea of the story line.

I enjoyed knowing about the city and other developments. That information helped me to make predictions. The ending was sad, but the last sentence of the book was what I was looking forward to. While I wish there could be a fourth book, Will to Survive was a satisfying conclusion to the series.

I recommend that you read this series!

Read my review of the first book in this series, Rule of Three.

Read my review of the second book in this series, Fight for Power.

Title: Will to Survive (The Rule of Three Book 3)

Author: Eric Walters

Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR)

Pages: 320

Series: Yes, Book 3

Rating: 4 Stars

Goodreads

Strike (The SYLO Chronicles Book 3) by D.J. MacHale

Strike is the third book in the YA dystopian series The SYLO Chronicles. When Tucker and his friends are taken prisoner of the air force, they see the opportunity to get some answers. They sneak in the dome and learn that the air force is from the future of 2324. They want to wipe out the 21st century to move in, since the future Earth is nearly destroyed.

With this mind-blowing realization in mind, their only way of survival is to team up with the Sounders, also from that time who don't believe in mass genocide. Their goal is to get help from SYLO to secure the dome on the outside while the Sounders set off a nuclear bomb inside to destroy the "Bridge", a link between the past and the future. This plan guarantees the Sounders' death- but this is their last chance to save the world.

I did not think about the future, and that did not occur to me at all. That was cool, and it makes sense with events before. The author did an amazing job hiding that. I also liked the change in Captain Granger. It was good to see him being nice. There were also funny ironies that you don't realize until the end.

However, the timeline stuff was super confusing and hard to interpret. I did not understand at all how come the butterfly effect didn't happen, or really anything about timelines in general. The author did not give any information about how the 21st century played out afterwards.

I recommend you read this series.

Read my review of the first book in this series, SYLO.

Read my review of the second book in this series, Storm.

Title: Strike (The SYLO Chronicles Book 3)
Author: D.J. MacHale
Publisher: Razorbill
Pages: 448
Series: Yes, Book 3
Rating: 4 Stars
Goodreads

Storm (The SYLO Chronicles Book 2) by D.J. MacHale

Storm is the second book in the YA dystopian series The SYLO Chronicles. Tucker and his friends have escaped from Pemberwick Island, and they went to the main land, looking for people to tell about the horrible things on the island. Unfortunately, there are worse things to worry about. 3/4 of the whole population is wiped out. A plane has the logo of the U.S. Air Force. This means that the second Civil War is happening- the Navy (SYLO) against the Air Force, with weapons powerful enough to vaporize their opponents.

Tucker and his friends are shocked about the mass genocide, and everywhere they go leads to more questions. They want this to end, but are not sure what side to be on. Tucker knows that everything they encounter are somewhat evil- it's just the best of the worst.

Storm's pace was not consistent, and the story line changed a lot. It was hard sometimes to follow along with the book when the events changed so fast. However, I liked the mystery and all the "why" questions. The betrayal stuff was hard to predict, and it was not who I thought it would be. 

Tucker is my favorite character, and he is the most influential. The others look to him as the leader, and his decisions are not always the best due to his grief and anger, but I think that the emotions are just what made him survive. All the characters are different, and I disliked Kent. Olivia was interesting and kind of annoying about wanting to go to relax at the beach in Florida, but it lightened up the mood when things got stressful. 

I recommend that you read this book, and I can't wait to read the final book in this trilogy, Strike.

Read my review of the first book in this trilogy, SYLO.

Title: Storm (The SYLO Chronicles Book 2)
Author: D.J. MacHale
Publisher: Razorbill
Pages: 496
Series: Yes, Book 2
Rating: 4 Stars
Goodreads

Top Ten Tuesday: Ten Facts About Me

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme created by the Broke and the Bookish blog, and any blog can participate. For information on how to participate, click here. I am excited to share these ten facts about me!

1. I love to sing! I sang in the school talent show and took part in the musicals.

2. I love acting, and I played Ms. Darbus in High School Musical!

3. I had a lot of wonderful teachers who made a difference in my life. My all-time favorite teacher is Mrs. Link!

4. I want to be a teacher when I'm an adult. When I'm hopefully a teacher, I would like to teach middle school and teach English.

5. I love random facts! For example, lightning strikes the Earth 6,000 times every minute! Another one is that hummingbirds are the only bird that can fly backwards!

6. I love quotes! One of my favorite ones is "When something goes wrong in your life just yell 'PLOT TWIST', and move on." -Molly Weis (Thanks Mrs. Link for sharing that one with me!)

7. The first book I learned how to read was Hop On Pop by Dr. Seuss.

8. My favorite book that I read in elementary school was Holes by Louis Sachar.

9. Cats are my favorite animal. Although I don't have one, I really want one.

10. My favorite food is peanut butter!