Book Review: Say You'll Remember Me

Release Date: January 30, 2018
Author: Katie McGarry
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Length: 452 pages
Source: Purchased Book

When Drix was convicted of a crime--one he didn't commit--he thought his life was over. But opportunity came with the new Second Chance Program, the governor's newest pet project to get delinquents off the streets, rehabilitated and back into society. Drix knows this is his chance to get his life back on track, even if it means being paraded in front of reporters for a while.

Elle knows she lives a life of privilege. As the governor's daughter, she can open doors with her name alone. But the expectations and pressure to be someone she isn't may be too much to handle. She wants to follow her own path, whatever that means.

When Drix and Elle meet, their connection is immediate, but so are their problems. Drix is not the type of boy Elle's parents have in mind for her, and Elle is not the kind of girl who can understand Drix's messy life.

But sometimes love can breach all barriers.

Fighting against a society that can't imagine them together, Drix and Elle must push themselves--Drix to confront the truth of the robbery, and Elle to assert her independence--and each other to finally get what they deserve.

    

Review:

Protagonists: After serving time for a crime he didn’t commit, Drix is just trying to get back to a normal life, but being the face of the governor’s new Second Chance program isn’t exactly life as normal for him. He can’t stop thinking of the night of the robbery, why he was there, and who could have committed the crime he paid for. Elle is the governor’s daughter, she’s lived a sheltered life of privilege, however as Elle tries to pursue her passions, she realizes that her charmed life has been controlled by her parents. I love these characters so much and watching them find their place in the world. Their struggles to find themselves and figure out what they want out of life was so inspiring to read. Much like all of Katie McGarry’s books, while the character development of these two characters is connected to their interactions and romance with each other, their development is influenced by so much more such as friends, family, and their own life experiences.

Romance: The relationship between these two characters is fantastic. While their connection with each other is immediate, the chasm between them due to their circumstances feels endless. Because of that, even though their feelings for each other are obvious, they are sort of pushed apart. However, they won't let the world tell them how they should feel about each other and while there is a fair share of angst and self-destructive behavior on at least one of their parts, their romance is something to root for and I loved watching their story unfold. There are many times in this book that while I had a good idea how everything would turn out, I knew that these characters weren't going to be together without causing some collateral damage as they have just so many barricades in the way of their romance and while the end of this book isn't super idealistic, I was surprised at how many barricades they were able to get over, even if they ended up smashing a couple.

World Building: First off, I really liked seeing the story from not only a guy who has been convicted of a crime and while he took a plea deal to get a lighter sentence, he's affected by those choices he made, even though he never actually committed that crime, but we also see a character whose father is a governor, who is probably even more controlled by her parents than Breanna in Walk the Edge, who has had to deal with playing the part of the perfect daughter, and while she believes in her father and his goals, has to figure out who she is. These are two backgrounds that we haven't really seen McGarry tackle in the past, though there are a few tell-tale hallmarks of this author such as the male protagonist having an extended family of friends to watch his back. I really enjoyed McGarry's commentary on the School to Prison Pipeline in this book (which plays a prominent role in the story) and thought that it was handled perfectly.

Predictability: So with most books by this author, there are a few mysteries sprinkled throughout the story, whether they're larger mysteries like who really committed the crime that Drix took the fall for or smaller ones like someone who's been leaking things about Elle and a family friend making them seem like a couple. I do have to say that when it came to all the mysteries I had a pretty good idea what would happen, but there was always a wrinkle in there somewhere that would catch me off guard. As I said in the romance section, I wasn't sure how everything in this story would end, especially when it came to the romance, but that small bit of doubt really helped propel me through the story.

Ending: As I said before, the ending to this story isn't idyllic. This isn't a contemporary where every small little loose end is tied up perfectly with next to no all out for our heroes. There are consequences that our characters have to deal with. The final climax is fraught with tension and after everything comes to a head, I was about ready to explode myself. There are a few dangling threads left at the end of this book, nothing too terrible, as the main components of this story are all tied up pretty securely, but there is a part of me that is sad that even though Drix has a rather large extended family and friends, that this is truly a standalone for now, and a book focusing on one of his "family" members isn't that likely.

Rating:

As someone who tends to love books by this author, I'm not surprised that I loved it. I feel what McGarry can do so well is to write characters with such depth that they come alive on the page, and that's definitely true of this book, I loved the characters and the story and I'm a little sad that this doesn't appear to be a new series as I want to know more about the side characters that we tragically didn't see enough of.

Book Review: Nyxia (The Nyxia Triad #1)

Release Date: September 12, 2017
Author: Scott Reintgen
Publisher: Crown Books for Young Readers
Length: 384 pages
Source: Penguin First To Read Program

Every life has a price in this sci-fi thriller that has the nonstop action of The Maze Runner and the high-stakes space setting of Illuminae. This is the first in a new three-book series called the Nyxia Triad that will take a group of broken teens to the far reaches of the universe and force them to decide what they're willing to risk for a lifetime of fortune.

Emmett Atwater isn't just leaving Detroit; he's leaving Earth. Why the Babel Corporation recruited him is a mystery, but the number of zeroes on their contract has him boarding their lightship and hoping to return to Earth with enough money to take care of his family.

Forever.

Before long, Emmett discovers that he is one of ten recruits, all of whom have troubled pasts and are a long way from home. Now each recruit must earn the right to travel down to the planet of Eden--a planet that Babel has kept hidden--where they will mine a substance called Nyxia that has quietly become the most valuable material in the universe.

But Babel's ship is full of secrets. And Emmett will face the ultimate choice: win the fortune at any cost, or find a way to fight that won't forever compromise what it means to be human.

    

Review:

Protagonist: Emmett Atwater is given a once in a lifetime opportunity to voyage through space to a newly discovered habitable planet where he will be tasked with mining an ultra-rare and expensive material called Nyxia. First, though, he needs to secure his place while onboard the Genesis 11, against a diverse group of teens with backgrounds and pasts similar to him. Only eight out of ten will land on Eden, and Emmett will do whatever is necessary to be one of them. On the whole, I liked Emmett's character. I did feel like some of his character development wasn't quite earned, though that might be more because the author does jump forward in time quite a bit so while we see defining moments, we don't always see a good aftermath and results of those defining moments. There were also a few quirks that Emmett has during the first part of this story that nearly disappear, only to reappear without any preamble or solid explanation toward the end that really bothered me.

World Building: I love the world building in this book. I've sort of started to become a sucker for sci-fi and this story definitely scratches that itch. The way that Nyxia is introduced and all of the intricacies of the material that are discovered over the course of this story are incredible. The competition aspect of this story is fairly text book, but how the contestants treat it isn't quite as predictable. I did really enjoy all of the aspects to the competition. It isn't just one challenge but many that this group is forced to compete in and each challenge will test their mastery of Nyxia, the environment on Eden, as well as their endurance and strength. Overall, I really enjoyed the world building for this story and while there is an extremely diverse cast of characters, I'm in no position to comment on how well represented they are, I didn't find anything I would think of as misrepresentation or offensive, but again I'm in no position to adequately give feedback.

Predictability and Writing: So, my biggest problem with this story is the writing. I appreciate the author trying to subvert all of these common tropes that he includes in this story, but unfortunately, it felt that how he went about subverting these tropes that ended up shifting the normal story structure. Now, not all story structures are exactly the same, but when you boil the most successful ones down there is a similar pattern of climaxes and cooldowns and where certain elements are introduced, and at least for me that's not something that should be subverted, since I've rarely seen a subverted story structure work out very well. There are sections of the story that I love, but there were moments that should have packed more of a punch where I had a similar feeling to the age old "show don't tell" advice where I know I was shown, but given how the story structure worked out, I felt like I was told. There are also characters in this story that do things that don't quite make sense, things feel forced in order to progress the plot that I never fully understood. As for how predictable this book is, since (and I'm starting to feel like a broken record here) the story structure is so off for me, I wasn't able to predict a majority of the twists but as I said earlier, a lot of them didn't pack the punch I felt they were supposed to.

Ending: So the ending is actually something that I wasn't sure about, but after mulling it over I really liked how everything went down. As the end neared, I didn't really notice that there wasn't a big final climax, I mean there's something that could have been, but since (again broken record) the story structure was off I didn't notice it. Then, right at the end, there's this fantastic scene that I can't talk too much about because it's a really twisted scene and it needs to be experienced fully, but it's so good. There isn't really a cooldown period after, but I also didn't feel a cliffhanger vibe from the ending because it ends right where I expected it too, so since I was waiting for it, it didn't hit me as a cliffhanger would, but I don't mind since I'd rather not wait in agony for the next book.

Rating:

I did really enjoy this book. The world building is phenomenal and there are elements to the story that are incredibly compelling, but I did feel some problems mainly with the story structure and how the author went about subverting some classic tropes. Some moments fell flat when I know they should have had more impact. That being said though, I will be back for Book 2.

Book Review: Dark Tide (Waterfire Saga #3)

Release Date: October 13, 2015
Author: Jennifer Donnelly
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Length: 320 pages
Source: Library Book

Once a lost and confused princess, Serafina is now a confident leader of the Black Fin Resistance (BFR). While she works on sabotaging her enemy and enlisting allies for battle, her friends face challenges of their own.

Ling is in the hold of Rafe Mfeme's giant trawler, on her way to a prison camp. Becca meets up with Astrid and learns why the Ondalinian mermaid is always so angry: she is hiding a shameful secret. Ava can't return home, because death riders await her arrival. And it is getting more and more difficult for Mahdi, Serafina's betrothed, to keep up the ruse that he is in love with Lucia Volerno.

If Lucia's parents become suspicious, his life--and all of Sera's hopes--will be extinguished. Political intrigue, dangerous liaisons, and spine-tingling suspense swirl like a maelstrom in this penultimate book in the WaterFire saga

    

Review:

Protagonists: Unlike the previous installments in this series, this book has a much wider range of perspectives. Whereas the previous installments mainly focused on Serafina and Neela, this installment has a focus on Ling and Astrid with smaller storylines focusing on Becca, Sera, and Ava. I was so glad to learn more about these other characters. Astrid has a very strong arc as she's hiding a secret that she believes makes her a liability to the other merls, and because of that she pulls away. Astrid's character development was so great, it wasn't just a quick fix, it's something that takes nearly the entire book to be resolved and it just felt so powerful. Ling's storyline has less to do with her character development, though she does face some growth, and has more to do with escaping Rafe Mfeme aka Orfeo, and finding her ancestor's talisman while on the way making more shocking discoveries. There are smaller arcs such as Sera preparing her rebellion to take back Miromara, Becca helping Astrid come to terms with who she is and finding her own talisman, Lucia (believe it or not) swimming some dark depths to try and discover if Mahdi's love for her is true, and Ava finding out that you can't go home again. I know it sounds like a lot, but it all flows together in a fantastic and strongly spun story.

Romance: Since Sera isn't a main POV in this book I didn't expect very much romance since before now the only real romance has been between Sera and Mahdi. That being said, there is some romance between Sera and Mahdi, but it really only takes up about a chapter, and there are some chapters that show Lucia's twisted "love" for Mahdi. Now for the new romances, I won't say too much about them but I will say that there are two, once for Astrid and one for Becca. Now Astrid's romance I was surprisingly delighted by. It's something that even by the end of the book is still so innocent and new and I felt like it was handled in a fantastic way. Becca's romance on the other hand, while for a while I was totally engrossed by it, it didn't take too long for things to get serious fast. Now there's a wrinkle of complication to her romance and I can see why the author might want to speed it up, but romances that move too fast still really bother me.

World Building: With our new POVs comes a wonder of world building. The most interesting I believe is seeing Ondalina and learning about their culture and how deeply it contrasts with that of Miromara. Ondalina is a very militant place where being different could be perceived as weakness. While I'm not saying I'd move to Ondalina I did find it a very interesting place. While we're there we learn more about Merfolk, such as the and the political situation between the various governing bodies. We do learn about other cultures such as Ava's people and their deep reverence for the Mer gods. There's still so much revealed and unfolded in this story that lends to the deep and fantastic world building that this series has.

Predictability: As much as this series can shock you at times, I have to say that this specific installment does seem to have a problem keeping things secret. There were a couple of things that I didn't quite predict, but for the most part, it was easy to see where this story was going to go for the most part once you have enough breadcrumbs. I think the most shocking thing that this book revealed was something that took me until maybe a page or two before to predict. That being said though the twists aren't annoyingly predictable, I was just missing some of the insane twists we've seen in the past installments.

Ending: This ending was a weird mix of ending too soon and ending too late. It's funny there was one chapter that was like second or third to last that I felt would have been the perfect end to this book, a bit of a cliffhanger with that sort of powerful sentence to leave off before the final installment. However it does go a bit further, it doesn't really start anything new but it just felt a bit... postmature? Is that even a word? That being said, as the story wraps up there are some fantastic scenes that really begin to set up how the final installment in this phenomenal series will unfold. Though I do have to say there are a lot of plot threads that I'll be very impressed if this author can tie them all up in a concise, but not too rushed way, by the end of the next and final installment.

Rating:

So I know it probably seems totally unfair that I'm knocking half a star off because a small romantic subplot went too fast, but it's a serious pet peeve of mine and all the chemistry in the world couldn't change it. That being said everything else in this book is just whar I wanted out of the previous isntallment. It felt like a complete story and that no one was really missing in action.