Category Archives: Sci-Fi

Defy the Stars by Claudia Gray

Review: Defy the Stars by Claudia Gray

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Defy the Stars by Claudia GrayDefy the Stars
Claudia Gray
Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Published April 4, 2017

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About Defy the Stars
She’s a soldier.

Noemi Vidal is a seventeen years old and sworn to protect her planet, Genesis. She’s willing to risk anything—including her own life. To their enemies on Earth, she’s a rebel.

He’s a machine.

Abandoned in space for years, utterly alone, Abel has advanced programming that’s begun to evolve. He wants only to protect his creator, and to be free. To the people of Genesis, he’s an abomination.

Noemi and Abel are enemies in an interstellar war, forced by chance to work together as they embark on a daring journey through the stars. Their efforts would end the fighting for good, but they’re not without sacrifice. The stakes are even higher than either of them first realized, and the more time they spend together, the more they’re forced to question everything they’d been taught was true.

My Review
I started this book with pretty high hopes. Right away, I liked the third person present tense writing. It kept the story feeling immediate, and especially made sense to me in Abel’s scenes. I loved both Noemi and Abel straight from the start. Like Abel, I respected Noemi’s willingness to sacrifice herself to save others and her love for her best friend Esther. I felt a bit skeptical of whether Abel’s scenes would really seem like AI or whether they would feel too human. Actually, I really liked him a lot, and I think the internal experiences—rational breakdowns and examinations of emotions worked really well. I liked that over time he experienced character development, too.

The plot took me to some places I didn’t expect. I liked that unexpectedness. On the other hand, I really struggled with the ending. I don’t want to give anything away. But. The whole story had a certain goal and then by the end it felt like that goal sort of got dropped. I didn’t really understand a couple of the details that led up to the goal being abandoned. I mean, I feel like I understood some of the reasons, but I don’t know. It was weird. It felt like a really solid story that took a detour at the end to allow for setting up the rest of the series. Normally that doesn’t bother me—I liked the characters so I’m not sad at all that there may be other adventures, but it felt a little bit like a bait and switch or something.

Still, I’m not at all sorry that I read it. I loved getting to explore so much of the intricate story world Gray created and her masterful characters had me hooked from the first page to the last.

If you liked the recent movie adaptation of Ender’s Game or Ex Machina, you want to add this book to your list. I think fans of Hayley Stone’s Machinations would also find this book appealing.

Recommended for Ages 12 up.

Cultural Elements
Noemi is Latina. Abel has the appearance of a white male.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Strong profanity used infrequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between male and female. When it becomes clear Noemi and Abel will need money to carry out their plan, he offers to sell himself into prostitution, since he has been programmed with the ability to perform those activities. Noemi feels horrified by that idea and refuses to ask him to do such a thing, even though she still considers him a machine. At one point he offers to have sex with her, reasoning that since they are alone and have time to kill, and it would provide her with a form of release, it might be helpful. Noemi tells him her faith mandates that she not have casual sex.

Spiritual Content
On Noemi’s planet, Genesis, faith is of high value. People of all different faiths live together in harmony. Noemi herself is Catholic but has always struggled with her faith. Sometimes she knows she should pray and instead, she feels doubt. She keeps her faith through the story.

Violent Content
Noemi helps a fellow soldier with grave injuries. Abel and Noemi witness a terrorist attack at a celebration.

Drug Content
None.

Note: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

 

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Review: The Methuselah Project by Rick Barry

Book Review and Content, Historical, Sci-Fi, , , , ,

The Methuselah Project
Rick Barry
Kregel Publications
Published September 27, 2015

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After he’s shot down in 1943 Nazi Germany, American pilot Roger Greene endures a medical experiment at the hands of a German doctor. When a bomb destroys the facility, research, and all other participants, Roger finds himself swept away to a secret Nazi compound. There he survives while his captors try to recreate the data from the original experiment, an experiment which leaves Roger able to heal miraculously fast and removes the effects of his body aging.

In 2015, all Katherine Mueller has ever wanted to do is please her guardian and uncle. Lately, though, her uncle’s wishes push Katherine further into the ranks of a mysterious, closed society which begins to feel way too much like a cult for Katherine’s liking. As she wrestles with when and how to break away, the group offers her a deal: an easy assignment that would ensure Katherine’s promotion and her uncle’s pride. All she has to do is track down a young American man who thinks he’s a World War II pilot.

This isn’t my usual genre, since it’s really too old to be considered YA, but it’s a book that a trusted friend has recommended to me several times over the years, so I figured it was about time for me to actually sit down and read it!

Truth is, I really like historical fiction, especially stories that feature World War II. (I blame Bodie Thoene.) So it wasn’t hard to convince me to pick this one up as soon as I knew what it was about.

I liked Roger’s frank but often optimistic nature. He continually tried to see the best in people even when it wasn’t easy. I liked that he was more brain than brawn, but he wasn’t afraid of a fight, either. He doesn’t become a superhero after the experiment, but he does continue to fight for good as a normal human guy. I liked that, too.

Katherine hooked me with her sort of hodge-podge life. She’s trying to make it as a freelance editor, which is her passion, but doesn’t quite pay the bills. She moonlights as a taxi driver to pay her bills, and refuses her wealthy uncle’s aid in everything except membership to a secret society. Her bond with him felt natural and complex. She definitely came across like a girl still in that becoming-an-adult moment.

She also really, really wants a boyfriend, a desire I found both realistic and also sometimes made her seem shallow. I think I wanted her to have bigger aspirations than finding a man, and that being the big Point B she was looking for, if that makes sense. Honestly, though, it’s not unrealistic, and it doesn’t dominate the story. She’s also not looking for just a pretty face– she really wants someone whose strengths compliment her own.

The Methuselah Project definitely puts an interesting spin on a World War II story—it’s part Captain America and part spy novel. I liked the blend and found the characters really interesting. I think anyone who likes historical fiction and light romance, especially fans of The Zion Covenant series by Bodie Thoene and Brock Thoene will find The Methuselah Project to be a great read.

Recommended for Ages 12 up.

Cultural Elements
All major characters are white and either American or German (or both).

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
At one point a woman approaches Roger and seems interested in sleeping with him. He misinterprets her advance and is confused more than anything else. Katherine longs for a boyfriend and spends a great deal of time trying to figure out how to find the right one. At one point a man pressures her to let him come to her apartment to have sex. She refuses, but feels horrible when he says cruel things to her afterward. Later, a man and woman briefly kiss.

Spiritual Content
Roger frequently remembers a woman who cared for him as a child telling him to pray. When trouble finds him, he does just that. While imprisoned, he asks for and receives a Bible and spends a great deal of time reading and studying it.

Violent Content
Roger shoots down enemy planes as a pilot during World War II. He briefly fights his captors. An ally attacks a man and leaves him tied up. An attacker shoots a woman and child who witness something secret. Gunfire is exchanged between Roger, his allies, and opponents a couple other times. No gory details.

Drug Content
None.

Review: Nowhere Near You by Leah Thomas

Book Review and Content, Contemporary, Sci-Fi, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , ,

Nowhere Near You
Leah Thomas
Bloomsbury USA Children’s
Published February 7, 2017

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After Ollie’s mother died, he left home with Dr. Auburn-Stache to travel the United States meeting other kids with bizarre abilities resulting from lab experiments. In letters to Moritz, the German boy with no eyes who has become his best friend, Ollie relates the journey. He meets a boy with bones so brittle they snap like chalk, and a girl who removes her heart when her feelings become too intense. Inspired by Ollie’s cross-country adventure, Moritz makes a journey of his own, joining a prestigious school where he meets a girl with two mouths. Then a terrible discovery leaves eternally optimistic Ollie reeling, and a horrible mistake propels Moritz back into isolation. But the unusual group faces a bigger risk, one that can’t be tackled unless both boys face the very thing they fear most.

Nowhere Near You sat on my bedside table for a crazy amount of time before I finally faced my own fear and picked it up. I loved Because You’ll Never Meet Me, the beginning of Ollie and Moritz’s story, so much that I worried about reading more. Apparently I’m super susceptible to this kind of sequel-pressure, because I worry about this sort of thing a lot.

That said, once I started reading, I felt like I was back in the story world I loved so much in the first book. I love Ollie’s upbeat, indomitable voice—he’s like a Labrador puppy, leaping and bounding all over the place and convinced the world is a fantastic, friendly place. But I also love Moritz’s buttoned-up, melancholy tone. I want a Fieke in my life. She’s the kind of prickly but protective friend that every sensitive person needs, and she definitely added some punch to Moritz’s letters. Klaus was another favorite of mine. His quiet, devoted friendship won me over right away.

But I think one of the unsung heroes of the story has to be Moritz’s dad. I loved Moritz’s description of his dad being a man of few words, so that when he spoke, each word had weight because it was obviously carefully considered. His character bears out that description, too. Even though he’s not in the story much, I liked him and it was obvious that he meant a great deal to Moritz and had a huge impact on his life.

In terms of plot, this was always going to be a story which required a serious willingness to suspend disbelief as so many characters have bizarre traits and abilities. I liked that Leah Thomas used this story to explore Moritz’s lack of sight beyond his supernatural ability to compensate via echolocation. At one point illness robs Moritz of his ability and reminds him how fragile he is and how dependent he is on his hearing for both vision and sound.

If you haven’t read Because You’ll Never Meet Me, you need to start with that one first. You could probably follow a great deal of the story without having read it, but you’ll be on the outside of a lot of inside jokes between Ollie and Moritz, and seriously. It’s really good. So there’s that, too.

Recommended for Ages 15 up.

Cultural Elements
Moritz, who lives in Germany, was born with no eyes. He can “see” using echolocation, but illness interferes with his ability to hear and he can’t discern color, which becomes a problem in school.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Extreme profanity used with moderate frequency.

Romance/Sexual Content
Boy/boy kissing. One brief, vague comment about touching and an insinuation that the boys have had sex. Moritz repeatedly tells Ollie that he loves him.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
An accident involving a school bus injures some kids. A girl has the ability to remove her heart from her chest in a non-gory way. Her heart sits in a pocket in her chest and is completely enclosed, so not bloody or anything when she takes it out. At one point she threatens to put it into a blender (to commit suicide).

Drug Content
A boy from school gives Moritz alcohol to drink.

Note: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

 

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Review: The Infinity of You & Me by J. Q. Coyle

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The Infinity of You & Me
J. Q. Coyle
St. Martin’s Griffin
Available November 8, 2016

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Alicia’s hallucinations are only getting worse: more frequent and more intense. Despite that, she doesn’t want to give them up because the hallucinations are the only place she sees her father. Then he shows up in real life, warning Alicia of incredible danger, and suddenly everything shifts. The people Alicia trusted most have been lying to her, and now she’s on the run from them. The hallucinations are real. In them, Alicia journeys to other universes, ones where more than her life is at stake. She must find an atlas, a map to all of them and stop one critical universe from dying if she’s to save the people she loves and her own life in her home universe.

When I first started reading this book, I was worried it would be too confusing. I wasn’t really hooked by the whole hallucination bit—it seemed like asking a lot for me to invest in the most exciting parts of the story believing they were fake. But once I realized that they were real, I definitely wanted to keep reading. I loved Alicia and Hafeez. Jax, the boy from another universe that she meets, wasn’t my favorite—he’s kind of stubborn and I just didn’t really connect with him very well. I’m totally team Hafeez.

I liked how she had an opportunity to revisit the relationships in her life in other universes. Things were often different in other places than they were in her home universe, but often there was some lesson hiding in those moments or some kernel of truth she could grab onto. I also really liked the references to Sylvia Plath’s poetry and Alicia’s connection with her.

The only thing I really consistently struggled with is the fact that Alicia is so young—almost fifteen—which seems to place the story in the lower end of YA, yet there’s a LOT of profanity. I feel like aging Alicia up a little or reducing the profanity would have made it easier to recommend to readers.

The story ends with lots left unresolved, which hopefully means there will be a sequel. If you liked Seeker by Arwen Elys Dayton or Life at the Speed of Us by Heather Sappenfield, you need to read this one. I think the characters are more even than Seeker, and I liked the way The Infinity of You and Me handled the multiverse better than the way it was in Life at the Speed of Us.

Recommended for Ages 15 up.

Cultural Elements
Alicia’s best friend Hafeez is Middle Eastern. Other characters appear to be white.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Extreme profanity used frequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Brief boy/girl kissing.

Spiritual Content
Alicia jumps between universes to other realities similar and different to her own.

Violent Content
In one reality, a man shoots Alicia and appears willing to hurt her further. Her mother discusses a surgery that could prevent Alicia from experiencing the jumps to other places. She intends to force Alicia to have the surgery without her consent.

A bully picks on Alicia and Hafeez at school. He punches Hafeez.

Drug Content
Alicia’s therapist tries to regulate her experiences with medication. Later, a therapist sedates her and restrains her. She believes her dad may be on drugs—maybe that’s why he’s gone from her life.

Note: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

 

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Review: Counterpart by Hayley Stone

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Counterpart
Hayley Stone
Hydra/Random House
Available October 11, 2016

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About Counterpart

The machines believed their extermination of the human race would be over as quickly as it began. They were wrong. As the war against extinction intensifies, people are beginning to gain the upper hand.

Commander Rhona Long understands survival better than most. Killed in combat, she was brought back to life using her DNA, and she’s forged a new, even more powerful identity. Now the leader of the resistance, she’s determined to ensure the machines are shut down for good.

But victory is elusive. The machines have a new technology designed to overcome humanity’s most advanced weaponry. Despite Rhona’s peacekeeping efforts, former nations are feuding over resources as old power struggles resurface. Worse, someone inside the resistance is sabotaging the human cause—someone who, from all appearances, seems to be Rhona . . . or her exact replica.

My Review

There was something hilarious to me (in a good way, I think) about the idea of Rhona’s clones running around stirring up all this trouble. It was like Multiplicity meets I, Robot.

I loved some of the directions the story took. Actually, I might have liked the plot of this novel better than the first book in the series, Machinations, though I think I liked the writing in the first book better.

There were still great moments in which characters made cultural references that Rhona didn’t get (because she doesn’t have the complete memory of her original) which was kind of funny, too. She always tried to play it off like, of course she knew what you meant by that obscure reference to Star Wars. But sometimes her responses were pretty funny.

Counterpart ends on a total cliffhanger, which isn’t my favorite. But I’ll admit it definitely made me want to read the third book. Is it weird if I hope Rhona the White and Samuel get together? I have this feeling. And he deserves a little happiness!

Recommended for ages: 17 up

Cultural Elements
Zelda and Orpheus are described to have dark skin. Rhona scrambles to arrange alliances with the Russians and North Koreans, though no major characters from those groups are introduced.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Extreme profanity used with moderate frequency.

Romance/Sexual Content
References to sex between Rhona and Camus. There aren’t graphic descriptions of it, but more them talking about the evolution of their relationship and how it’s changed since he began living with Rhona the clone vs Rhona the original.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
Battle scenes with some fatalities and brief descriptions.

Drug Content
None.

Note: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

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Spotlight on The Rift Uprising by Amy S. Foster

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The Rift Uprising
Amy S. Foster
Harper Voyager
Available October 4, 2016

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About The Rift Uprising

Normal seventeen-year-old girls go to high school, binge watch TV shows all weekend, and flirt with everyone on the face of the Earth. But Ryn Whitaker is trying to save it.

Ryn is a Citadel. A soldier. A liar. Ryn and her fellow Citadels were specially chosen and trained to guard a Rift—one of fourteen unpredictable tears in the fabric of the universe that serve as doorways to alternate Earths. Unbeknownst to her family, Ryn leaves for school each day and then reports for duty as an elite, cybernetically-altered soldier who can run faster, jump farther, and fight better than a Navy SEAL—which comes in handy when she’s not sure if axe-wielding Vikings or any number of other terrified and often dangerous beings come through the Rift. A fine-tuned weapon, Ryn is a picture-perfect Citadel. But that’s all about to change.

When a young man named Ezra is pulled through the Rift, Ryn finds herself immediately drawn to him, despite her training. What starts as a physical attraction quickly grows deeper, and Ezra’s curiosity throws Ryn off balance when he starts questioning the Rifts, the mysterious organization that oversees them, and the Citadels themselves—questions that lead Ryn to wonder if the lies she’s been telling her family are just the surface of a much bigger lie told to her. As Ryn and Ezra desperately try to get to that truth, they discover that each revelation blurs the line between the villains and the heroes even more.

About Amy S. Foster

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Amy S. Foster is a celebrated songwriter, best known as Michael Bublé’s writing partner. You might recognize her work in his four hit singles, including “Home” and “Haven’t Met You Yet.” She has also collaborated with Destiny’s Child, Diana Krall, Andrea Bocelli, Josh Groban and a host of other artists. She is also the author of the novel When Autumn Leaves. When she’s not in a studio in Nashville, Amy lives in the Pacific Northwest with her family. Amy is the daughter of singer B.J. Cook and the legendary music producer, David Foster. Fun fact about Amy: Her extended family tree includes Bella and Gigi Hadid, Sara and Erin Foster and Brody and Brandon Jenner, and Clay Aiken! The Rift Uprising, her YA debut, will be released on October 4, 2016.