Undercover Game

First Lie Wins by Ashley Elston is full of secrets and twists.

Lucca has spent years of her young adult life on various undercover missions for her unseen boss Mr. Smith. Her current job places her in a relationship with Ryan in order to get as much as intel as possible on his illegal trucking company. She realizes that Mr. Smith may be setting her up to make this her last job.

Events become a game of who can be the first to outsmart and build an arsenal of people to take down the other.

The author does a great job weaving the story by alternating between her present time with Ryan and flashing back to her missions from the past eight years.

This is a fast paced and highly interesting read that will appeal to anyone who loves a good spy/undercover type story.

Dark Aura

Shadow Kiss by Richelle Mead is book three of the Vampire Academy series (two more to go!).

Rose’s Strigoi kills in book two further enhance her shadow-kissed state. Now she is able to see ghosts and has a physical reaction when Strigoi are near. Mason’s ghost keeps appearing and she realizes he is trying to give her a warning. Her bond with Lissa has also changed. Now she is taking on Lissa’s negative emotions which is making Rose more violent at times.

They travel to the royal court for Victor’s trial. The Queen makes her intentions clear- she wants Lissa close by so she can monitor her. She also wants to keep her away from Christian so she can try to match her with her nephew Adrian. Rose and Dimitri’s relationship also progresses, but hits a major roadblock at the end.

Mason’s warning plays out in a massive battle against a large group of Strigoi who manage to break the wards and stage an attack within the Academy. Lives will be lost or turned to Strigoi. Rose decides to leave the Academy, which is where the story ends for now.

Battle Lessons

Iron Flame by Rebecca Yarros is book two in the Empyrean series.

I usually have a tough time staying interested in a series, but this is not one of those times. Book two kept me just as interested as the first book (Fourth Wing).

Violet and her friends are now in year two. Her relationship with Xaden is put to the test now that he is stationed at a far outpost. They are only able to see each other once a week because of their bonded dragons. She is working with him to smuggle weapons as they figure out their own relationship amidst secrets and the presence of his ex-girlfriend.

The school has a new commandant who is determined to break Violet. She is pushed nearly to death. New enemies (and one old) are also introduced. Violet is working on honing her abilities while also further developing bonds with her dragons, Andarna and Tairn.

Ultimately, events build to another rebellion and a final battle amongst venin and wyvern. Riders and fliers will need to overlook their differences in order to fight together.

New Enemies

Frost Bite by Richelle Mead is book two in the Vampire Academy series. I finished it a while ago so this will be brief!

Strigoi are working with humans to attack royal families. The Moroi are fearful, but Christian’s aunt Tasha advocates them to use their powers to fight alongside their guardians.

Lisa and Christian develop a relationship while Rose is in a love triangle between Mason and Dimitri. The story reaches a climax when Rose, Christian, Mason, Mia and Eddie are taken prisoner by Strigoi. Not everyone will survive.

Vampire Hierarchy

Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead is first in a series. One of my library patrons couldn’t stop raving about this book so I had to give it a try. It took me a few chapters to figure out the terminology, and then I was hooked!

Rose and Lissa have a remarkable bond as guardian and Moroi. A Moroi is a good vampire who has an elemental power that mostly goes unused. Moroi have twelve royal families and Lissa is the remaining member of one family. They’re protected from evil vampires known as Strigoi by an assigned guardian (aka Dhampirs). Rose is training to be Lissa’s guardian.

They were in the top social group at their school. Things started to get very odd for them following the accident that killed Lissa’s parents and brother, and that almost killed Rose. These events lead to their escape.

The story is about the aftermath of their time on the run from the academy, while also slowly filling in the pieces as to exactly what prompted them to leave in the first place. Now that they’re back, they have to figure out where they stand socially, and Rose has to train more than ever if she wants to stay connected to Lissa. They also have to figure out why their connection is so different than others.

This was a great story with interesting characters, events, and some romance.

Truth Talks

The Little Liar by Mitch Albom follows events during and after World War 2, starting in Greece under Nazi invasion. Moments of absolute horror are graced by moments of kindness and courage.

There are four main characters and the narrator is Truth. Characters are brothers Sebastian and Nico, their friend Fannie, and Nazi Udo Graf. Their lives intersect and impact one another in different ways throughout the story.

Young Nico is separated from his family when he hides during their evacuation. Udo Graf is the ruthless Nazi in control who moves into Nico’s home. He uses Nico’s honesty to help his cause by having him assure his fellow Jewish people that boarding the trains (destined for concentration camps) will bring everyone back together to a safe, fresh start.

Sebastian resents his brother for staying behind. While on the train, he volunteers Fannie (his childhood crush) to be thrown off as an escape. This sets her on a completely different path.

Each character is in a unique but troubling situation. Sebastian is with his family (father and grandfather) at Auschwitz, Nico is constantly on the move and living a life of lies to survive, and Fannie finds refuge in unexpected ways.

Fannie and Sebastian find each other after the war. Eventually, all characters become reunited during a day meant to commemorate the Jewish people from Greece who lost their lives. Of course, I’m skipping the numerous moments that transpire between for the sake of keeping this brief.

This book reminded me a bit of one of my all-time favorite books, The Book Thief, due to having an omniscient narrator, strong characters and powerful messages about life/survival.

Dragon Riders

Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros is first in a fantasy series that I am hooked on! A student recommended this book, and it was a perfect read during the December break.

Violet is the youngest of three (sister Mira and deceased brother Brennan). Her father was a scribe, and Violet was happy to follow the same path in his memory. Instead her mother, General Sorrengail, forces her into the Riders Squadrant (same as her sister Mira). This is almost certain death considering her fragile body. Riders are given death defying stunts in preparation to become dragon riders and lethal fighters.

The tests are difficult enough for Violet, added to the fact that multiple students would love to kill her for her perceived weakness or as retaliation against her mother for authorizing the death of anyone involved in the rebellion against their kingdom.

The story tells how Violet manages to survive and become a fierce rider, as well as how she becomes aware of secrets being kept by those in charge.

While I am not normally a fantasy fan, this book had so much to keep my interest, including plenty of magic, action, romance, and of course, there are dragons.

Survival

What Beauty There Is by Cory Anderson is a compelling read with plenty of action and interest.

Ava begins each chapter with her point of view from an almost omniscient viewpoint. She is retelling the story of her experience with Jack. They seemed destined to meet and to have a powerful impact on each other.

Their fathers were both involved in a robbery/murder which ended with Jack’s dad in jail. Ava’s dad is truly psychological and she was raised to he as cold and calculating as him. However, she gets involved with helping Jack and his little brother after their mother’s death.

Jack is being hunted by the criminals involved with his and Ava’s dad. He’s trying to protect his brother and thinks the best way to do this is by finding the drug money involved in the robbery.

This begins a a crazy quest for survival. I really enjoyed this book (which was gifted to me). It’s beautifully written while still being edgy.

Amazement Park

Hide by Kiersten White brings fourteen unassuming twenty-somethings into a twisted game. They’ll need to hide in order to survive seven days in an old, abandoned amusement park.

Each character is unique and brings his/her own baggage. Mack is the main character. She feels confident about her chances to win considering that she survived her father’s murderous rampage against her family. She didn’t expect to get close to a few of the other contestants, especially one in particular.

The players come to realize that there is a creature hunting them down two per day. This happens every four years due to a curse upon the town’s founding members. By sacrificing some of their own, they can bring continued prosperity to their families.

But Mack and the few remaining players plan to outsmart the game in order to save their lives. This is a decent read with some creepy parts.

Building Bonds

Heartstopper 4 by Alice Oseman continues developing Charlie and Nick’s relationship.

In this book, Charlie faces his eating disorder with Nick’s support and Nick comes out to his dad.

I am behind on my posts and read this one a while ago. It continues to be an engaging, sweet love story.