In the After

In the After by Demitria Lunetta
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Sometimes combining sci-fi elements works, sometimes it doesn't. Sometimes it's just your average pairing. In this case, it's a little of everything.

We begin with Amy, an extremely competent 13-year old who gets orphaned when an alien invasion happens. Her parents were environmentalists and prepared for the worst, so Amy is in good shape when it comes to survival. She quickly learns how to evade both the creatures and other survivors. One day on a trip to scavenge for food, she finds a toddler walking in an aisle. Oddly, the baby is silent. Amy scoops her up and takes her home and they spend years surviving like sisters, speaking only with sign language and keeping each other out of harm's way. About halfway through the story a dystopian element is introduced. It's the typical supposed-to-be-utopia-but-is-up-to-no-good kind of place run by none other than Amy's mother. From there the story becomes all about Amy getting to the truth.

The strength of this book is it's world building. It was easy to see this post-apocalyptic world, Amy's home and then the compound on which she and Baby go to live. I even got a good sense of what the aliens looked like. The atmosphere was very present and even palpable at times. The tension and suspense grabbed me and held. The story never lost a good pace and although somewhat predictable as these sorts of stories go, it held my interest. Lunetta used flashbacks to tell the story and as the past began to meet the present it got better and better. This story was very well told.

As for characters, I have to say that Amy's mother was done extremely well. I hated that woman - she was extremely flawed, selfish, driven - and yet we never ceased to feel some minute degree of sympathy for her. She allows all sorts of bad things to happen to her daughter in the name of the greater good, let her husband die, allowed evil to flourish right under her nose. I would paint her as the villain, even though there was another clear villain.

Baby, while a necessary part of the plot, really never goes beyond being a happy-go-lucky 7 or 8 year old. Rice the boy genius assistant to Amy's mother is nice because although he is clearly the love interest, romance really doesn't play any part in the story. The police force headed by Kay is a good group, balancing out the cast nicely.

So all in all, a great read. On audio the book is narrated by Amanda Dolan. Her voices for the male characters sound a bit like she's making fun of her dad - but then not every female voice actor can do deeper-voiced male characters well. Her voice for Rice was entirely too old and far too similar to her voice for Dr. Reynolds. So as such, she's not an outstanding narrator. But she was good enough.

It will be interesting to see how the story concludes in the sequel. Lunetta is not afraid to go for the gritty, shocking bad stuff. Maybe the producers of The Walking Dead should have a look at this series for their next project.

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Confess

Confess by Colleen Hoover
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Colleen Hoover is an author that, when you hear she's written a new book - you know it will be good. Confess is no exception.

This time the story is all about Auburn and Owen, two characters who are trapped in their own inability to face confrontation. Owen is an artist, so he paints away his troubles. Auburn is an unhappy hairstylist who needs a second job to finance some legal troubles. She happens by his studio one day when he needs someone to handle clients at his show later that evening. Things go from there.

The hook here is that Owen asks for "confessions" - he has a little mail slot on the door of his studio and he encourages people to anonymously write their secrets and drop them in. He then takes those secret confessions and uses them as inspiration for his paintings. Everybody in this story has something to confess, some secret they're keeping, and the plot is just the slow reveal of those secrets.

The characters here are classic Hoover - poignant and sympathetic without being sappy or cliche. They handle situations in a realistic way that showcases both their strengths and weaknesses. They make dumb decisions, they talk themselves into doing the wrong thing for the right reason. The story starts with heartbreak and then eventually circles back to it but with a more hopeful perspective. This plot device is one of those that seldom works, but we're talking Colleen Hoover here. She always makes it work in a way that is refreshing and clever.

The story is told well but the pacing was a little off for me. There were long stretches of time between events in the characters' lives that didn't have much going on; it seems that the romance could have been a little better developed here. Doing that would also have offset the "insta-connection" - it wasn't really instalove as much as it was a spark that fed the whole forbidden love idea. It was still believable.

On audio the book is narrated from two points of view by Elizabeth Louise and Sebastian York. These two narrators are prolific. But that's their downfall for me; all the characters from all the books sound alike. In this case I was prepared to be disappointed. They turned out to be average, which may have colored my view of the book somewhat. There are just better narrators out there and this story would have benefited from them. While this one isn't terrible on audio, it is probably better read in print overall.

This isn't my favourite of Colleen Hoover's books - but that doesn't mean it isn't fabulous. I'll read anything this woman writes. I'm always waiting for her next story.

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Time's Edge (Chronos Files #2)

Time's Edge by Rysa Walker
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Get ready to re-think time travel as we know it. The adventure continues with a few new characters and a few bits of history that make it interesting.

Kate is back again, having gotten much more comfortable with her time traveling ability. She's managed at this point to return to something akin to her own timeline - which is somewhat unfortunate since her boyfriend is from the one she left. Her grandmother Kathryn has her running all over the world (and history) to obtain the keys which enable travelers to jump from time to time. Kiernan is prominent in the story and all the characters we loved are back.

The character development in this book is substantial. Kate easily jumps with her Chronos key now and it's not just her who's familiar with the way her ability works. It seemed complicated in the first book, and it should have because Kate was new to the whole thing. Now as she understands the way she can travel, so can we. Jumping from timeline to timeline is far easier to understand. This being the case, Kate comes across as a much more grounded person and less the wide-eyed innocent who has no idea why people are out to get her. She's impulsive but in a way that's appropriate for her age. This quality really made her a lot more believable when coupled with how smart she is. She has no tolerance for racism, the demeaning of women or generally being treated without respect. On the other hand, this is normal behavior for a person her age in the world today who has no experience with these things other than in books. She's also conflicted in terms of the love triangle, but not in an annoying way. Love triangles are seldom done well, but this one succeeds. Kate really is pretty committed to one guy but is honest enough to admit that she has feelings for the other - and this hints at perfect relationship versus soulmate. It's tough to choose when you really like both guys.

Kate also has a good sense of humor, especially with Kiernan. We see a lot more of Kiernan in this book and while he is entirely likable, he's also not entirely trustworthy. This was a nice balance for him; Walker could have written him as a swoon-worthy love interest pining for the Kate he knew. Instead, this guy is self-assurred and essentially working undercover as a spy. His loyalties are constantly in question; is he lying to protect Kate and others? Or is he working for the Cyrists? Or is he in it completely for himself? It's never clear, making him completely charming and slightly dangerous at the same time.

The romance with Trey progressed slightly too fast for my taste. This is a guy with no idea who Kate is - she's just some girl who shows up with a video for him and kisses him and then takes off. The important person in the romance of course is Kate, but Trey seemed to fall for her pretty quickly and that smacked of instalove. The balance here is that this romance happened in the first book and that Trey isn't really a major character in this particular part of the story. In fact, Walker really plays on this idea of a past relationship in a different timeline; because both were genuine we have a Kate who is justifiably conflicted. It just works.

The other secondary characters were just deep enough. Connor continues to provide the comic relief, Pru gets more and more crazy, Simon is just as devious as before but we begin to understand why and Saul continues to be the mysterious figurehead. Kathryn shows her true colors. Kate's dad Harry is as wonderful as ever and her friend Charlaine makes an appearance. Eve also returns as a villain, but it's more of a cameo. Oddly this works because she's in cahoots with the bad guys and we don't need her to further define them.

The thing I love most about this series is that it is entirely believable. Rysa Walker set her time travel rules and stuck to them. This means we have characters from the 24th century acting the way they were described: committed to the rules and expecting protocol to be followed. They're good actors who are well-prepared and yet when faced with the reality of history, they have a bit of trouble adapting. They're not supposed to live there, they're just supposed to observe as historians. So when they freak out having to cope with real people from an historical time, it's believable, even entertaining.

The book ends on somewhat of a cliffhanger, just enough to leave us wanting the next book. This story could resolve in so many ways that it's entertaining just to imagine them. This of course means that everyone will have a different view of what should happen in the end and that could leave some readers unhappy. But it's a risk worth taking in this case. It's possible that every imaginable thing could happen. Walker hasn't taken the easy, predictable plot line up to this point, so it's probably safe to say that the ending will be spectacular.

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Time's Echo (Chronos Files #1.5)

Time's Echo by Rysa Walker
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This novella made me fall in love with the character of Kiernan all over again. It's written from his perspective and follows some of the key events from Timebound, the first book in this series. Reading it a second time through raised all sorts of questions in my mind about how the series will end, which is the mark of a very good book. I want to know more!

Nick Podehl is absolutely amazing with his narration. The soft Irish accent of Kiernan combined with all the other character voices was just delightful. It wouldn't have sounded half as good with any other narrator.

The time travel in this particular book is still complex but not difficult to follow. The idea of running into one's self and having to reconcile different sets of memories is far clearer; it lends itself well to the idea that the bad guys really are insane.

I can't wait to move on to the next book in the series. The story is so unpredictable that I'm anxious to see what happens next - and that's saying something about a book. On to more Kate and Kiernan!

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Unchanged (Unremembered #3)

Unchanged by Jessica Brody
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Talk about a fantastic ending to a series. Brody has really given us an incredible, emotionally-laden conclusion that winds things up perfectly.

In this third and final book, Sera has changed dramatically. We knew this would happen at the end of the second book; it's no surprise that she's returned home and has somewhat reverted to the person she originally was. The world has been established with only a few missing details, one being the ultimate goal of the evil corporation. There are a few new characters and relationships, but it's the story that really changes more than the players.

Aaaannnnd . . . enter the complicated love triangle. This one was relatively well done because the protagonist is so sympathetic. We feel her pain and are as conflicted as she is.

Sera was a frustrating character in this book. But understandably so; the story is set up so that we're supposed to be frustrated with her. She doesn't behave out of character but rather as expected within the confines of her situation. It's the situation and the way it resolves that is the thing that made me crazy. Sera is smart, conflicted, wary, driven. She's logical. She evolves naturally through to the end; things never felt forced or contradictory in terms of the way she handled a situation. Her choices may not always have been good, but they were certainy understandable.

Zen is absent for the first two-thirds of the book. And when he makes his entrance, boy is he changed! Brody was expert at keeping the tension very taut here. She danced the tightrope of heartbreak while never allowing us to lose our hope in the romance. To do this while placing Zen in the center of the action was really well done. That's good writing.

Kaelen is the real change here. He is a completely different character than in the second book, almost but not quite to the edge of believability. Brody maintains some thread of a connection to the character we initially met through his devotion to the cause. The distinction between he and Sera is well-established. And their romance is again, just at the edge of believability. Brody plays with the nature vs. nurture idea here very well.

Even the bad guy shows another facet, making him much more complicated. Alixter is still a horrible character but at least we understand some semblance of why. Not that it matters, really. He's bad enough for us to still not forgive him.

In some ways the plot was underdeveloped in spots; the ending, while not forced, could be seen as rushed. But those elements that Brody gave a lighter hand could easily be addressed in a novella. There were no real lags in the action and things moved along at a good pace. The ending was nothing short of spectacular.

On audio, the book was narrated by Julia Whelan. She's an excellent, talented narrator. For me, this was made even better by increasing the narration speed to twice as fast. The dialogue and characters were oddly enhanced by doing this. It didn't sound unnatural at all.

This is a great series. It deserves any and all hype it receives because of it's diversity within a basic plot line. There's a lot to enjoy here. I loved it.

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Unforgotten (Unremembered #2)

Unforgotten by Jessica Brody
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Well, I'm glad we got that whole amnesia thing out of the way.

This second book in the Unremembered series starts off with a bang. We're in 1609 with Sera accused as a witch and being burned at the stake - and this after some disturbing dreams. The dreams thread through the book and become the basic line to follow in terms of the plot. This is nice because while they are at first undecipherable, they're a hint. And when they unfold into scenes that actually happen, the device works beautifully.

Sera is a much different main character in this story. She is no longer desperately trying to find out who she is; her identity was established in the first book. Now we have a focus on her relationship with Zen. That said, this installment really does center in on Sera. When Zen gets sick she goes in search of a cure, leading her to the next really interesting character, Kaelen.

I found Kaelen to be at first mysterious. He was like some kind of hit man sent to retrieve Sera. As things went along, however, he got more and more entertaining and flat out funny. The contrast between he and Sera and her observations of him were highly entertaining. That said, I thought that Kaelen gave Sera way too much leeway for a guy "programmed" to bring her back home. He seemed like a cross between a child and an assassin. It made for some interesting action.

Cody was the real surprise here. His basic personality hasn't changed at all but he's now a grownup. And like in the first book, he is highly likable. The whole geeky/smart thing really works for his character. And the bad guys are still the bad guys. Things are ambiguous enough to keep us interested; there's a lot of "why" to their villainry.

The plot does slow down in spots. There are scenes with Cody and his family when Sera is supposed to be diligently searching for answers under a time limit. These were filled with mindless sorts of activities; why is she having dinner and playing video games when Zen' condition is so desperate? While the whole Cody's family thing was necessary on some level, it did seem a bit of a plot device. The action near the end is great, especially since more secrets are revealed and terrible choices have to be made.

On audio the book is narrated by Julia Whelan. She's very good, although I don't care for her lower, "man's" voice. She does distinguish the male voices exceptionally well, though. I ended up speeding the audio to twice the normal speed and surprisingly it worked! Whelan's speaking voice was fast, but that lent itself to the characters and story extremely well, especially when Sera is being sarcastic.

Overall this second book narrowly avoided middle-book-syndrome. There is enough going on to draw us in, but there were elements that seemed to be just filler. This didn't overwhelm the story, though, making this a very enjoyable read. It works because it turns the focus of the story a different direction in terms of finding the answers to Sera. Brody has another winner here and the story holds the promise for a great ending.

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Flat-Out Matt (Flat Out #1.5)

Flat-Out Matt by Jessica Park
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This short novella is wonderful; it rounds out the story told in Flat Out Love but is told from Matt's perspective.

The baseline story here is so well done. It's all about grief and relationships and while the main story is laid out in Flat Out Love, here we get Matt's view of things. The different slant just adds to what is already a delightful story with depth. It also goes a bit further into somewhat of an epilogue. Matt is already a very likable character. But here, he crosses the line into sweet, caring and witty. We see the depth of his care for Julie.

It's brief but it hits all the high points of the main story, filling it out wonderfully. I loved Flat Out Love - and I think I loved this even more.

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