Red Queen, by Victoria Aveyard

I have to confess that I often judge a book by its cover.  Who doesn't love attractive jacket art?  I'm absolutely the kind of person who will pick up a book at the store if the cover art catches my eye.  And how great is the image to the left?  If you don't want to pick up the book based on that fantastic cover, then you must be blind.  That being said, if you know absolutely nothing about the book at all, you may be thinking you're getting ready to read an historical fiction tale; maybe something about "Bloody Mary" for example.

What you're going to get, however, is a fantasy/sci-fi/adventure story that presents very little that we haven't already seen.  The story opens with Mare Barrow, who lives in poverty with her parents and sister.  Her brothers are off fighting in war, and her sister is apprenticed as a seamstress.  Mare has no skills, so she spends her time picking pockets around town, dreading the day she will be "conscripted" to go the front lines of battle.  At least Aveyard didn't give her a bow and arrow to hunt food for family.  Mare just steals things outright. 

The world in which Mare lives is strictly divided into two castes: the Reds, like her, who are poor laborers and soldiers, and the Silvers, the elite ruling class.  But Silvers don't just merely have silver blood (literally), they also have X-Men like superpowers which keep the Reds in check.  One day Mare runs into Prince Cal, heir to the silver throne.  He takes a liking to Mare and arranges for her to have a job inside the palace, thus freeing her from having to go to war.  In a pivotal moment, Mare is serving the silvers during an exhibition: young women from across the land have come to prove their worth in order to become Cal's bride and future queen.  But this is no Cinderella-like ball.  The girls enter an arena and show off their powers and skills.  One such demonstration causes Mare to lose her balance and she falls into the arena.  Rather than be killed, however, an electrical jolt awakens something within her, and in front of everyone, she begins to produce lightning and electricity.

Because no Red has ever displayed powers before, the royal family quickly concocts a story to explain that she is a long-lost Silver princess, and they move her into the palace to keep a watch on her.

What follows is nothing new: Mare has to attend classes and training exercises.  She might as well be at Hogwarts, except without a wand.  She's also betrothed to Cal's younger brother, Maven.  Although she harbors some feelings for Cal, Mare and Maven begin to bond as she realizes they are both working in secret with a rogue group intent on taking down the royal family. 

I enjoyed a lot of this book, despite the fact that so much of it was familiar.  Towards the end I got a little tired of the fights and scheming and plots, and skimmed the last 100 pages or so to the end.  Naturally we will be set up for a sequel.  Give this one to students who have read Hunger Games and Divergent and still want more.

The Young Elites, by Marie Lu

News that Marie Lu, author of the fantastic Legend series, had a new series on the way was reason for much rejoicing.  Legend (and the others in the trilogy) was a solid addition to the dystopian, sci-fi/action genre that we've seen lately.  The last book in the series, Champion, was a solid and satisfying conclusion, unlike Mockingjay or Allegiant, which left many readers feeling upset.

Therefore, I was very eager to get my hands on her new title.  The book takes place in the fictional land of Kenettra, although for all intents and purposes it's not unlike early Renaissance Italy.  A "blood fever" swept through the land killing many citizens, and leaving the survivors with strange markings and physical changes.  One of these "malfettos" is Adelina, whose hair has turned silver and is missing one eye due to the disease.  Her cruel father knows he cannot marry her off, so instead he more or less sells her to a wealthy merchant as his mistress.  Adelina takes fate into her own hands and runs off into the night with her father in pursuit.  When her father catches up with her and tries to physically force her to return home, Adelina snaps.  In her anger, she summons dark apparitions, terrifying her father and leading to his death.

Soon Adelina is facing execution; malfettos with supernatural abilities - also known as Young Elites - are to be put to death. However, she is rescued at the last minute by Enzo, another Elite.  He takes her to his palace where other Elites train in secret.

This book should appeal to teens who are fan of X-Men, or who enjoy the "Teenagers who develop superpowers" theme that we see in many YA novels these days.  Unfortunately, there is little here that was new to get me excited about the series.  How many times have we seen books where teens gather to train and perfect their abilities?  The Hunger Games, Divergent, Shadow and Bone... even Harry Potter and Dumbledore's Army from Order of the Phoenix.

None of the so-called Young Elites were fleshed out enough for me to care about them, nor was the antagonist, Teren, "bad" enough for me to want to root against him.  The whole thing was just...meh. I will pass on the other books to come in the series.

More Than This, by Patrick Ness

I must open this review with a disclaimer:  I love Patrick Ness as an author.  I think his Chaos Walking trilogy was completely brilliant and I talk it up to students whenever I get a chance.  A few years ago I read A Monster Calls and I was ugly crying by the end.  Lots of books move me, but few make me shed real tears.

That all being said, I absolutely could not wait to get my hands on his latest YA title.  The book opens with a drowning.  Seth is being washed out to sea and he cannot stop these events.  It's brutal and devastating.  The prologue ends with two simple words: "He dies."

But then, he awakens.  But he's not still in the ocean.  He's at home - but a home he hasn't lived in for many years.  There appears to be no sign of any other life around.  Where is Seth?  Is he in Hell?  Purgatory?

So begins More Than This.  I was completely engrossed in the first part of this book.  As Seth explores his surroundings, we also get flashbacks to the events leading up to his drowning.  There are many secrets, and things Seth doesn't quite want to admit to himself.

As the book progresses, Seth unexpectedly finds two other children in this place with him, and they are being pursued by mysterious "driver" in a black van.  Where are they, exactly?

When the revelation finally comes, I was shocked.  Not because it was such a surprising twist of events, but because I was so, so disappointed.  Having loved Ness's earlier books so much, I was let down that this was the "twist" he chose for the book.  I don't want to give away too many spoilers, but I thought, "Really?  Are you kidding me?"  We've seen this all before in other movies and books.  Truth be told, I quit reading it for a while.  It sat on my coffee table, half-finished, for a couple of weeks.

I finally felt guilty and forced myself to finish it.  I didn't really buy into the "twist" and felt there were too many gaps in logic that he didn't explain.  Also, the quasi-uplifting moral at the end came across as a little heavy-handed and obvious.

I still love Patrick Ness and will look forward to his other books.  This one just didn't quite do it for me.