The Siren

By Kiera Cass

Kiera Cass is one of those sweet, simplistic writers that is perfect for young girls and ladies.  She doesn't need to push boundaries to match the culture. She doesn't need to use crude language or sexual situations to draw you in. She just tells a story, a beautiful story about people drawn together. The Siren is one of those stories. 

Kahlen was crossing the Atlantic on an ocean liner when the Ocean called to her. When Kahlen answered Her amid all the chaos and death of everyone else from the ship, the Ocean welcomed her in to become one of Her own, a Siren. Kahlen, with 2-4 other Sirens, is transformed into a deadly messenger. Whenever the Ocean needs to "eat", the Sirens call and sing all passengers to death.

Eighty years later, Kahlen is still a Siren. She only has 20 more years before she will be released from her sentence, but each passing year weighs heavily upon her. She is the only Siren that has nightmares about what they have done. She keeps a scrapbook about all the passengers she sings to their death.  She does not live in the present but clings to the past. The other Sirens she lives with do not understand her and encourage her to change, but it is just not Kahlen. All she has ever wanted was to fall in love and get married.

But one day, that all changes. She meets a boy. And not just any boy, but a special one. Akinli does not shy away from her quiet nature. (Sirens cannot speak or sing in front of anyone or the Ocean will claim them). He does not fear her different ways. In fact, he is a perfect complement for her. And just as she feels as if he could be the One, she leaves to save him and herself from pain and lose. She is Siren, she cannot age for 20 more years, she cannot speak, and she cannot give away the secret of the Sirens. He would just grow old in front of her and not understand the mystery of her. So Kahlen leaves, pulling her sisters with her to move somewhere else and withdrawing further into herself.

Love has other ideas though.  After a extremely difficult singing, Kahlen "runs" away and ends up right by Akinli, as if they are linked. It had been months since she left, but he takes her in as if it were only yesterday.  They spend a magical, perfect day together, but Kahlen makes a mistake, opening her mouth, speaking a single word. In that instant, Kahlen trades her life for his, adding more time to her sentence in exchange for his safety and life. And though that is sad enough, things are not that simple.

Even though Sirens cannot get hurt or experience pain, Kahlen starts to fall ill. She cannot swim underwater like she used to; she cannot sing to death the way she did before.  She is extremely fatigued, sleeping long hours even though Sirens do not need to sleep. And it's not just her. The other Sirens report back that Akinli has the same symptoms. The two are linked, and just when all hope is lost about saving them, the Ocean finally shares the secret that could save them both.

What I liked: Again, Kiera Cass is a wonderful writer. Her style is straightforward but engaging, sucking readers in. You want to know what happens. You grow closer to these characters even though they aren't real. They are easy to read but sweet and satisfying. The characters are realistic and complex, but unique and fresh. Kiera Cass also wrote The Selection series, and I felt those were just as wonderful!

I would recommend this book, and The Selection series, to ANY middle school and young adult girl. They are amazing books!

Quantum Prophecy

by Michael Carroll

Quantum Prophecy starts with a battle...a huge battle between superhumans.  The ultimate evil guy, Ragnarok, is leading the villains in his super tank, waiting for the right opportunity to release his power damper and strip the heroes of their powers. Things don't go as planned, and an explosion rocked the surrounding area.  In that instand, all the superhumans disappeared.

Ten years later, 13 year olds Colin and Danny are celebrating Mystery Day, the day to honor the disappearance of all the superhumans. But weird things are happening. Danny discovers he has super speed. Colin finds out he has super strength and incredible senses. What they find out is that not all superhumans have disappeared.  They've just...retired after their powers were striped.  In fact, Colin and Danny both have retired superhumans living close to them without even an idea of who they were.

Unfortunately, Danny and Colin, with their emerging powers, are kidnapped by someone they thought they could trust. The plan is to strip them of their powers as well, thereby saving the world from a mysterious prophecy that showed Danny leading an army that would destroy everything they knew. Colin escapes and heads to find help, but it's not enough. They are all betrayed again, and Danny sacrifices part of himself to save thousands.  Does that prove that he's not a bad guy after all? You'll just have to find out in the next book.

What I liked: This was a book that I read to my boys, and they LOVED it. They never wanted me to put it down. It is full of adventure and excitement and super powers.  What's not to love? It's a great boy book, but it's also fun for girls too.  It is the first in a trilogy and one of my sons is breezing through the second book with a lot of ohhs and ahhs about what's happening.  It is also a little bit more of a challenging book to read so upper elementary students might struggle with the some of the descriptions. 

What I don't like: There are a lot of words that are low level swear words, words like crap, damn, hell, and bloody. They also use God's name in vain many times. My boys were not happy about those parts, but as I was reading it aloud, I skipped over many of those parts. They were always offended when those words came up though. 

The Remnant Chronicles

By Mary E. Pearson

The Remnant Chronicles are a trilogy made up of The Kiss of Deception, The Heart of Betrayal, and The Beauty of Darkness. Each book is filled with adventure, romance, intrigue, and deception at each turn.

The Kiss of Deception starts with Lia, or Princess Arabella, First Daughter in the Kingdom of Morrighan.  It is her wedding day, but she is far from excited. In fact, she sneaks away, deciding that she wants a chance to live her own life and fall in love. Lia and her handmaid, Pauline, run away to a small town where two young men track her down. One is the Prince who she was to marry and the other is an assassin from a neighboring country on a mission to kill her. The only thing is...you don't know who is who. She starts to fall in love with one of the young men, but you have no idea if it's the Prince or the Assassin. And she has no idea who they are either. She thinks they are just attractive, young men. When something terrible happens, Lia's guilt drives her to return to her home to make things right. But on the way, she is kidnapped by the Assassin. Instead of killing her, he decides to take her back to his country of Venda to see if she can be used. Essentially, he can't kill her because he loves her. The Prince, finding out this happens, chases after her because he is also in love with her. Lia is hauled across the country, fighting and trying to escape, but learning that her destiny is more powerful than she realizes. The story ends with the Prince finally catching up to her, and they are both led into Venda, a vicious place that never takes prisoners.

In The Heart of Betrayal, Lia is trapped in Venda and must learn to play a twisted game with the Kozimar, or King of Venda. He is bent on destroying the other kingdoms and manipulates those around him to get what he wants. The Assassin fights his feelings for Lia while still trying to protect her and the Prince plays another game of deception to keep his true identity and feelings for Lia hidden.  To gain more power, the Kozimar parades Lia around to the various people of the land to bring them "hope" for a new future. The people of Venda take to Lia, welcoming her in, and she learns that Venda is not full of evil barbarians as she was once taught. As she gains more power and discovers more of her destiny, the Kozimar decides to marry her. On the day of the wedding, the Prince finally finds a way to escape Venda with Lia, but the getaway is not clean. Lia is hurt and dying.

Finally, The Beauty of Darkness. Lia takes a while but recovers from her wounds. Her goal is to return to her kingdom to warn them that the Kozimar is still coming, but the Prince is determined to bring her to his kingdom to keep her safe. The Assassin catches up to them and helps escort Lia back to her kingdom. But her kingdom is not safe for her. In fact, they would like to kill her. New information comes to light and Lia realizes that there are traitors in her kingdom, people who are helping the Kozimar destroy her home and the people she loves. She ousts the traitors, saves her dying father, and rallies her people to war. But they are terribly outnumbered. Little does she know that the Prince has ordered his troops to fight with Lia and her kingdom. Together, the two kingdoms with help from some Vendans will battle an army that is twice their size. Lia, using her special gifts and brilliant mind, concocts a plan. The people around her are starting to trust her and follow along. The battle is bloody, but Lia finds a way to save so many of them all. The Kozimar is killed and peace is brought to the land, peace between kingdoms that hasn't happened ever. All because of Lia.

What I liked: This series is fabulous! I loved the first book because it was a whole guessing game as to who she fell in love with. Was it the Prince she was to marry or the Assassin that was sent to kill her? You do eventually find out, but it's fun to wonder and guess while you don't know. The books also had amazing characters. The three main characters (Lia, the Prince, and the Assassin) were complex and well thoughtout, with backstories that were so interesting. All the twists and turns throughout each of the books were great too. Other side characters, like Pauline, Gwyneth, Berdie, Aster, Sven, and Griz, made the story so much more rich and entertaining. It was a great series!

I would recommend this series to middle school and young adult girls. Though it's not a girly-girl book with lots of romance and moony eyes, it's not really a guy book either. I think that some boys might enjoy it, but it's mostly for girls.