Review of No More Us for You (Hardcover)

On his first day at his new job working as a security guard at the Long Beach Contemporary Museum, 17-year-old Carlos finds himself cleaning up a pool of urine left by some random guy that just walks in and goes on the floor.

Surrounded by some of the strangest "art" he's ever seen, Carlos is sure that this will be a much easier gig than bagging groceries, and will be a great way to buy some nice things for his girlfriend, Mira. During the urine incident, he meets Vanessa, a relatively new classmate at his school who works as the museum's receptionist.

Another classmate, Isabel, also meets Vanessa for the first time shortly afterward. The one-year anniversary of the car accident that took Isabel's boyfriend's life is approaching, and Isabel can't keep her mind from wandering off from time to time, where it ends up exploring ideas of death and fate. When she and her best friend, Heidi, befriend Vanessa, Isabel ends up in the middle of a friendship triangle while she tries to sort out her own mind and come to terms with Gabriel's death.

Vanessa can tell that Isabel needs some distraction, and she tells Isabel that a guy at her job, Carlos, would be perfect for her. Carlos, on the other hand, is still reeling from a friend's difficult situation, and the hard blow that Mira has just dealt him.

On the fateful night of the Valentine's dance, Isabel and Vanessa meet up with Carlos and his best friend, Snake.Both Isabel and Carlos look forward to this opportunity to get to know one another and forget their troubles, but then tragedy strikes, throwing everyone's lives into turmoil. Is this relationship over before it has the opportunity to start?

I was surprised at the heavy amount of adult content in this story. The very title is taken from a display at the art museum that reads "No More C***us for You," and rough language is tossed around easily and almost without purpose. This book also focuses on some mature themes, such as drugs, gangs, drunk driving, and teen pregnancy.This is definitely a book for the more mature teen.

Reviewed by:Allison Fraclose



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Review of Bloodtide (Blood...) (Paperback)

The city of London is slowly crumbling, with two prominent sides tearing the city apart. There are the half-men who are too grotesque, too unworthy of living the normal life they once had, all because of the way they were transformed against their will. Then there are the humans, the ones who would rather dominate the world around them than save the city from total chaos.

Among these humans are two clans, the Conors and the Volsons. Both have the thirst for power and both are willing to do anything to take over London, then England, and then all of Europe. The leaders are agreeing to combine both clans, with a marriage between Signy, the daughter from the Volson clan, and King Conor.

A betrayal from the Conor clan leads to Signy, who was inspired to do anything for power by her father, the leader of the Volson clan, and Siggy, her twin brother who was skeptical of the entire idea to begin with, on a crazed road to vengeance.

It is up to Signy and Siggy to recapture what was once theirs and hopefully restore London back to what it used to be, and what it used to stand for.

BLOODTIDE takes readers on a futuristic journey that they will never forget. With its raw material and controversial plot, the story is a page-turner that will leave everyone on the edge of their seat. Melvin Burgess continues the story of restoring a city that is completely damaged in the second novel, BLOODSONG.

Reviewed by:Randstostipher "tallnlankyrn" Nguyen

Product Description

PART I

London is in ruins, a once highly advanced city now a gated wasteland. Within its walls, a bloody war rages between two clans. Hope is sparse, but the people believe the gods have risen from the dead.

Odin himself has come to play a part in the lives of two twins, abrother and sister from the Volson clan. Siggy and Signy must come togrips with their destiny as London's future teeters on the edge of aknife....

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Review of Mason (Paperback)

To everyone around him, Mason Avrett isn't the smartest or brightest person on the planet. He has no friends, no parents, and no one to look out for him. The only thing he has going for him is his drawing, and even that can't help him. He does have his Aunt Molly, but she can't protect him against the evil forces of his brother, Gene.

One look at Gene and everyone can tell that he spells trouble. Gene just so happens to find satisfaction in hurting those around him. Since the very beginning, Gene has hated Mason, his parent's "special" son. Gene uses Mason's gullibility as an advantage, making sure and influencing his brother that he is always doing something wrong, that he is "as dumb as a doorknob," someone who just doesn't deserve to even be alive.

Rene Denton is at first skeptical of Mason, but after continuously seeing how rude and dangerous Gene can be, she suddenly feels like she needs to become friends with him. Not caring what her other friends think, Rene begins to spend time with Mason, only to get a better view of what Mason thinks and how his life is.

Getting closer to Mason makes Gene want to hurt Rene even more, and he begins to plot a plan to take his brother's only friend away from him.

Even though people might think Mason's mind is weak, he will soon find out that it is the strongest thing he has and, even though it may help him, past events will show Mason how it ruined his life forever.

Unique, lovely, and all the more scary, MASON takes readers on an adventure they will never forget. Mind-over-matter is important in this novel, and Thomas Pendleton creates well-developed characters you will both love and hate. With an ending that will take your breath away, this is a story that will be remembered forever.

Reviewed by:Rnadstostipher "tallnlankyrn" Nguyen



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Review of A Chalice of Wind (Balefire, No. 1) (Mass Market Paperback)

Thais (pronounced Tie-ees) has had her world turned upside down.Her father has died in an accident.But as the will is settled, she does not get to go with the woman she thought would be her guardian.Instead she is given to the care of a strange woman from New Orleans.She has no choice, at least until she turns eighteen in four months.Her new guardian is strange and seems unconcerned with things like Thais going to school.Thais has to enroll herself for senior year.

But once at school things get even stranger.For also attending school is the identical twin she never knew she had.Then Thais learns her sister (Clio), family, and guardian are all witches and that magic is real.But things just don't settle down.Near-death and romance come into her life as well as the knowledge of her family history and what parts she and her twin may play in it.

The book oscillates between Thais's and Clio's viewpoints with a few others sprinkled in to add necessary information.The flow is good and the revelations just keep coming.I am glad there are only four books in this series because at this pace anything more would be trivialized.Thais and Clio are typical twins having almost opposite personalities.Clio is a firebrand and party animal while Thais is more straight laced and responsible.A large cast of unusual characters make up the rest of the cast.And make sure you have the next book handy because when you read this one you will want to know what happens next.



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Review of Daughters of Eve (Paperback)

This was a great book! How could anyone say it wasn't!I guess a lot of young mystery readers just can't understand it. It is not just about feminism-the whole feminism issue is just an example. What Lois Duncan is trying to get across is that this Daughters of Eve club, is like a cult. It explains what a cult can do to you-how it can suck you in. It also shows how taking things too far, like feminism in this case, can be really screwed up. I loved the way it ended, I didn't expect it to end at that moment! But it did! It was so shocking. Some people say that they hated the book, but that just goes to show that some people can't read anything with a little depth....just read the book; it's awesome.

Product Description
A high school teacher uses the guise of feminist philosophy to manipulate the lives of a group of girls with chilling results.

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Review of Violet Eyes (Mass Market Paperback)

Angel Eastland is different. She always has been. And not just because of her violet eyes, either. She lives in Canada, in the year 1987, at least that's what she's been led to believe. Angel hated Michael Vallant for nine years before she met him. She always had to move every couple of years, but no matter where she went Michael Vallant was there before. So when Angel moved to a town where no one had heard of him, she was thrilled. Until he moved there while she was still there. Angel and Mike immediately start a war with each other, until their common goal brings them together. Escape, ever since they were little Angel and Mike have both wanted out. So when they finally start working together they finally figure out what's been going on. It turns out that the year is actually 2098, and that they are a subspecies of humans. And when a doctor who wants to sell Angel and Mike to the highest bidder decides they aren't worth the trouble, they have to play his games in order to save another of their kind from death. I really liked this book and can't wait for the sequel, Silver Eyes. We really should have known more about Angel sooner since it was from her POV, but not knowing made the book more interesting. The author has a website at http://www.geocities.com/nmluiken/ if you're interested.



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