Threader (YA Fic)

AUTHOR: Rebekah Turner (AUST)
PUBLISHED: Harlequin Teen ; 2016.
PAGES/ILL: ~320 pages.

PLOT:
In the year 2050, life is not easy, especially for those designated "non-citizens". The government is also starting to monitor people with "talents"; those with extraordinary abilities like reading minds or traveling through time and space.
Orphan Josie Ryder is discovering she has a "talent": she is a threader and can link her talent with others'. She is trying to stay off the grid, a promise she made to her late father, but when push comes to shove, she ends up at Helios Academy, a training school for "talents". There, she struggles with her intense attraction to another student, one to whom she should not be so attached.
In a complicated series of event, Josie finds herself at risk, manipulated by those who seek power and control.

REVIEW:
I read an ARC, and there were quite a few grammar and punctuation errors which did detract from the flow of reading. These may or may not be picked up and edited for the final edition.

Besides that, the story has a really interesting premise and leaves you wanting to know what happens next. The romance was a little too contrived and "high-schooly" for me, but her target audience will likely love it.

AGE: 13 or 14+.
GENRE: Science fiction.
RATING: 3 1/2 - 4 stars.

Series: The Lunar Chronicles (YA Fic)

AUTHOR: Marissa Meyer (US)
PUBLISHED: Puffin ; 2012-2016.
PAGES/ILL: ~550 pages.
SERIES: The Lunar Chronicles - Cinder; Scarlett; Cress; Winter [and an additional prequel, Fairest].

PLOT: (third book: Cress)
Cress has been a prisoner on a satellite for the last 7 years, doing the bidding of the Lunar queen, Levana. When a rescue mission led by Cinder, along with Scarlett, Wolf, and Thorne (characters from previous books) goes awry, the five are separated. Cinder is determined to carry through with her plan to stop the wedding between the Emperor and Levana. {I don't want to give away spoilers, so this is as much plot as I'll give away}.

REVIEW:
This series uses the characters from old fairy stories. The first two books introduce us to Cinder (Cinderella) and Scarlett (Red Riding Hood), and in this third book we meet Cress (Rapunzel).

It's a coincidence that I picked this up after finishing Spinning Starlight, as they are both sci-fi fantasy based on fairy tale characters. I really enjoyed this book, too, but wish I'd started with the first book in the series. This book ends on a bit of a cliffhanger, so now I have to read the next book in the series, Winter!

AGE: 15+.
GENRE: Fantasy/Science Fiction/Adventure.
RATING: 4 1/2 stars.

Spinning Starlight (YA Fic)

AUTHOR: R.C. Lewis (US)
PUBLISHED: Disney Hyperion ; 2015.
PAGES/ILL: ~330 pages.

PLOT:
Sixteen-year-old heiress and paparazzi darling Liddi Jantzen hates the spotlight. But as the only daughter in the most powerful tech family in the galaxy, it’s hard to escape it. When she escapes a kidnapping attempt and can't get in contact with her brothers, she's drawn into an inter-planetary conspiracy she could never have imagined. When her brothers' captor implants a device in Liddi’s vocal cords to monitor her speech, their lives are in her hands: One word and her brothers are dead.
Liddi travels to another world, where she meets the one person who might have the skills to help her bring her eight brothers home — a handsome dignitary named Tiav. But without her voice, Liddi must use every bit of her strength and wit to convince Tiav that her mission is true.

REVIEW:
I have to admit that this book drew me in and I read it in an afternoon. It is based loosely on Hans Christian Andersen’s The Wild Swans. I think, though, that it would be better to read Spinning Starlight before The Wild Swans so that you aren't trying to draw comparisons and can take the story for what it is on its own.

This is an enjoyable, compelling story. Young teen girls would especially like it.
The author has written another work in the same vein - retelling the story of Snow White in 'Stitching Snow'. I'll be looking out for it.

AGE: 13+.
GENRE: Fantasy/Science Fiction/Adventure.
RATING: 5 stars.

Series: Endgame (YA Fic)

AUTHOR: James Frey (US)
PUBLISHED: HarperCollins ; 2014.
PAGES/ILL: ~460 pages.
SERIES: Endgame. The Calling, Sky Key, (third book title TBA).
TIE-INS: Website, Game, Movie.

PLOT: (First book: The Calling)
At the beginning of civilisation on Earth, "They" descended from the sky. They needed gold and they built our earliest civilisations to mine it for them. Then They left, but they told the the 12 lines of the human race that they would be back, and when they did, a game would be played, with a teenaged Player from each line. For ten thousand years the lines have each had a Player prepared at all times. They have trained generation after generation after generation. In weapons, languages, history, tactics, disguise assassination. Together the players are everything: strong, kind, ruthless, loyal, smart, stupid, ugly, lustful, mean, fickle, beautiful, calculating, lazy, exuberant, weak.
Now the game has started. It started in death and will end in death, with only one winner. The one whose line will continue. The Players must find three Keys, in order. In the first book, The Calling, they are searching for the first, Earth Key. Some bonds will form. Some Players will die.

REVIEW:
This book is like the Hunger Games with aliens. Teenagers who like maths and geography will particularly like it. The books, together with the accompanying website, give clues so that the reader can play along with the characters to solve the puzzles. In fact, there is a competition where if you solve all the clues you can win half a million dollars! (Competition ends on or before October 7, 2016).
This is a book that would probably need librarians to promote it, especially to teens who are interested in codes and puzzles.

Overall, it's an appealing dystopia for sci-fi fans.

AGE: 14+.
GENRE: Science fiction, Dystopia, Adventure.
RATING: 4 1/2 stars.