A SOLDIER AND A LIAR by Caitlin Lochner

by TPS reader stricklins22

A Soldier and a Liar by Caitlin Lochner is an action-packed tale that will leave you wanting more. Lai is a Nyte, a supernaturally gifted teenager with the ability to read minds. She organizes her own capture so she ends up in prison, demonstrating her capability to fool people. But when rebel Nytes start attacking the city, Lai is recruited, along with three other teenagers with secrets of their own, to take a stand against the rebels. The characters are very realistic and the character development throughout the story was incredible. All four characters each play a part on the team, and they all have a unique talent that makes them special to the team. They all have so much potential, and it was really easy to put myself into their shoes and imagine their situation due to how well written this book was. Once I started reading this book, it was almost impossible to put it down. I finished it in a few hours, and I was left wanting more. The plot twists were so good – I didn’t see any of them coming. One thing I didn’t like; however, was the lack of backstory about the Nytes. It wasn’t really explained where their gifts came from, why they had gifts, and just other details about Nytes, but other than that, it was an amazing book. Caitlin Lochner has spun together a wonderful story, and I can’t wait for the second one. This was an amazing book with a fast-paced plot. This is a story you definitely don’t want to miss.  

RED QUEEN by Victoria Aveyard

by TPS reader birlea22

Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard is an extremely magical fiction novel with a dystopian fantasy genre that is very intriguing. The novel focuses on Mare, stuck in the lower end of a broken society, where humans with red blood are ruled by the noble royalty of the god-like Silvers, who possess exotic superhuman powers that demonstrate their rule over the Reds. She has red blood, not silver, and she lives with her family in a place called the Stilts, where all the poor houses are built on stilts to avoid flooding. Her brothers have been sent off to war, her best friend Kilorn is facing conscription in the immediate future, and her sister, Gisa, is the only legal source of income for the family, as she sells precious hand-sewn silks to the elite Silvers. Mare is forced to steal to provide for her family, which includes a sick father. She plans to save her and Kilorn from conscription by stealing enough money, which is a lot, to smuggle them out of the region through the black market. After her failure, which ends up getting Gisa’s hand broken, she tries to steal from a Silver, who catches her. He takes pity on her, however, and is able to give her a job working as a Red servant at the summer palace. There, a contest called Queenstrial takes place, where princesses from different houses and different abilities compete to earn the hand of a prince, one of which, Mare finds out, is the man who put her in this situation. In a series of accidents and unexplained events, she realizes she has a special ability of her own, but her blood is red. The Royal House, especially the king, try to cover this phenomenon, saying she is a lost Silver princess, and he betroths her to the other prince. She has to learn to live in a strange and unfamiliar world full of enemies, without her family. It is also discovered that there is a Red rebellion on the rise, and she must support them and be their inside hand, without getting caught. She fights for the freedom of the oppressed, though her life and the lives of the ones she loves are at stake with every move she makes.

If you like the supernatural, the unexplained, and the magical, you would love this book, especially if you are a fan of alternate society dystopian theme with social hierarchy and war. The character dynamics with the sibling rivalry and the boy she used to know are very well written. There is also a bit of crazy romance, as Mare tries to figure out who she is and who the princes really are, and how she feels. I love how creative and beautiful but extremely dangerous the world that Victoria Aveyard built is, as she emphasizes that looks can be deceiving. The plot has many exciting twists and turns, you will never be bored, and you will always be longing to know what happens next. I highly recommend Red Queen to all fantasy lovers!

DOROTHY MUST DIE by Danielle Paige

by TPS reader fowlerp20

As the book Dorothy Must Die starts out, Amy Gumm is a high school student from Kansas with a hard, miserable life. She struggles with bullying and other students teasing her about living in a trailer instead of a house. Just to make it worse, Amy’s dad left her and her mom, then her mom became a crazy alcoholic and drug addict. Amy hated her life until a tornado swept through their trailer park and changed her life for the better. The tornado swept away Amy and her trailer into the sky and to the land of Oz. When she arrives, a mysterious boy named Pete rescues Amy from falling into a canyon, and tells her to follow the road to the Emerald City. Amy follows his directions, yet she runs into trouble on the way and becomes captured by the Tin Man who works for Dorothy. Amy now realizes that Oz is the opposite of what it seemed like in the movie that she watched at home. Since Dorothy had taken nearly all the magic out of Oz, it was an unimaginably gloomy place. In addition, Dorothy continues to seek all the power and magic, so with the help of the Revolutionary Order of the Wicked, Amy understands that she was brought here to defeat Dorothy and save the once-happy place.

I would definitely recommend Danielle Paige’s novel Dorothy Must Die to anyone who loves reading unrealistic fiction books with a bit of suspense and excitement. The book has one or two slightly slow parts, but the rest is action-filled, daring you to turn the page.

NIGHT SPEED by Chris Howard

by TPS reads mclaughlina20

Night Speed by Chris Howard is as intense as it sounds. Chris Howard, a renowned writer, centered his story in the middle of a drug epidemic in New York. The new drug that has arisen is called “tetra.” This drug gives people who take it a sudden 9 minute burst of incredible speed and strength. However, the catch is that you have to be under 18 to use it, and even then not everyone’s body reacts well to it. To fight off the bank robbing addicts, Alana West doses up to save everyone. Fighting for revenge of her brother, who was crippled by a “breakneck” (drug abuser), she runs to save the world. Her speed and involvement in the law enforcement, involves her in many dangerous and suspenseful chases until she is charged with the murder of a “breakneck.” This new revelation in her life gets her involved in secret undercover work that has everyone questioning authority.

Chris Howard has produced an excellent piece of literature. If you are one that loves intense action and uncertainty, this is an excellent book for you. From seeking justice to memorable moments to the biggest twists of all time, this book covers it all. Each page keeps you on the edge of your seat and you can almost feel the rush when reading it. Night Speed is a fantastic novel that leaves you wanting more and never knowing what’s going to happen next.

RED QUEEN by Victoria Aveyard

by TPSreader wuerzk19

Mare Barrow lives in a world where everything is divided by the color of your blood. Those with silver blood are the elite who have supernatural abilities, and those with red are the commoners, forced into a life of serving the Silvers. Mare and her family are Reds, struggling to survive in their harsh world and constantly living in fear. Mare steals what she can to provide for her family, but her upcoming eighteenth birthday looms ahead of her, taunting her with the fact that she will soon be forced to join the army and fight for a cause she doesn’t believe in. However when her best friend Kilorn’s apprenticeship is cut short with the death of his master, the knowledge that he too will soon be drafted into the war is too much for her. She goes searching for a way to save him from having to join the army, and it is this that leads to a twist of fate, winding up with her at the royal Silver palace. She starts working there as a Red servant but a shocking event leads to the discovery that Mare is extraordinarily different. Although her blood is red, she has an ability like those of the Silvers. To hide this, she is forced into the role of a long lost Silver princess, and her life is drastically changed forever. As her new role draws her even further into the Silver world, she uncovers secrets and forms deadly alliances, all while her heart is torn between two people. Shocking plot twists lead Mare to discover the hard way what she was told all along… anyone can betray anyone.

This book is completely action-packed, never having a dull moment. It kept me on the edge of my seat the entire time and forced me to keep reading, even when certain things happened that made me want to throw it across the room. By far the best thing about this book was the numerous amount of plot twists; every time I thought I knew what was going to happen I was relentlessly proved wrong. If you enjoyed Shatter Me or The Selection series, you will most likely love Red Queen. It had certain elements that reminded me of both of those books, combining the girl with a unique ability and the girl who transforms from a commoner to a princess overnight. This was definitely an enjoyable read, and Victoria Aveyard did an excellent job of keeping me hooked on every word. I recommend this book to anyone looking for an action-packed story full of plot twists that will make your heart drop.

CHERUB by Robert Muchamore

 

 

TPS Reader mercers18

CHERUB is series of young adult spy novels by Robert Muchamore. CHERUB is a division of the British Security Service which employs children under the age of seventeen. The agents are usually orphans, since they live on the amazing CHERUB campus. There is a shirt system to mark the level of accomplishment by an agent. Orange shirt is for a visiting person. Blue shirt is for an agent going through the rigorous one-hundred-day training. The grey shirt is for an agent who is allowed to go on missions. A navy blue shirt means a great job on a mission. A black shirt is for the best agents who do a good job on several missions. A white shirt is for retired CHERUB. There are two series. The original series is twelve full books and one short book. The second series called The Aramov series has four books and counting. The original CHERUB series follows James Adams. In each book, he performs various missions from drug busts to defeating terrorist groups. The first book, The Recruit, is about James passing basic training and going on a mission to stop an attack on an oil conference by an eco-terrorist group “Help Earth.” Later in the series, the focus turns to his sister Lauren and several other characters. The Aramov series follows Ryan Sharma. Previous CHERUB characters are included. I really love this series. Once I started a book, I never wanted to put it down.