*[Blog Tour Review] Naked As We Came (The Cassidy Tomei Chronicles #1) by Amberly Wynn

 

 

 

 

Summary:

 

Escaping Earth was the first triumph. Surviving Nyx will be the last…

Sixteen-year-old Cassidy Tomei was one of the lucky few airlifted aboard the Wonder to the planet Nyx. This emergency exodus from Earth was meant to bring new hope for the remaining survivors of humankind, but there’s one problem. Humankind isn’t alone on this mysterious new planet.

On Nyx, Cassidy is one of many living amongst subzero temperatures and with nothing, but a meager ration of food for every household. When the rations deplete, she flees to into unfamiliar wilderness in search of food, but instead discovers debris from a foreign spacecraft that proves humankind is no longer the dominate species.

Soon, everything she knows is at stake and everyone she loves is dead. But she’s got one more battle to fight when she’s taken prisoner within Pelhoi, a concentration camp constructed specifically for humans where hominoid creatures dubbed, “the Achillai” reign supreme.

She seeks freedom, but finds romance with someone who might either save her or get her killed.

Summary & Cover taken from Goodreads.com

Length: 395 pages

Source: Review Copy

Available Formats: Print/E-book

Publication Date: January 21st 2013        

 

Finally, an indie YA Science Fiction Novel that is actually done well! That was my first reaction when I finished Naked As We Came by Amberly Wynn. This one took me completely by surprise and was far better than I had hoped it would be.

 

The book reminded me a lot of the Across the Universe Trilogy by Beth Revis in some aspects but I'm happy to say that the author's own unique voice and way of telling her story really shines through in Naked As We Came. For such a young author I was surprised by how strong her writing is but that goes to show you that age doesn't matter when it comes to writing.

 

I really enjoyed the first book in the Cassie Tomei series, and thought it was well laid out and apart from a few plot holes, spelling errors and it rushing a bit in places that are to be expected in a first novel. I really liked Cassie's character she was really smart and not as whiney as I thought she was in the beginning and by the end I totally loved her (along with the other characters in the book both the good guys and the bad guys). The character development in some of the side characters could have done with a bit more substance I'd say they were pretty well developed overall.

 

The plot though was soooo good. Seriously, I was completely sucked into the story from page one and I just couldn't stop reading (though this became a problem when meal time rolled around). I loved the science fiction aspect of the book a lot. It wasn't one of those completely out there examples of science fiction so I really appreciated that part of the story. The world building was really well thought out and you can tell a lot of attention to detail was paid to it.

 

Overall, I thought this was a pretty darn good debut novel and I can't wait for the author's next book in the series to come out so I can see where things go. The adventure, the drama and the mysterious alien setting all worked out really well in Naked As We Came and I can tell the author has a gift for the craft and think she has a long, and successful writing career ahead of her. I would recommend this to anyone who likes Sci-Fi YA novels and YA novels in general.

 

*I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my free and honest review. All thoughts and opinions expressed herein are 100% my own.

 

Author Bio:

 

Amberly is an avid reader, a writer and a lazy blogger. Raised in the dirty south, she is a lover of BBQ as well. At just the tender age of 22, she's had her share of college and refuses to go back for as long as possible. After earning an associate’s degree in Graphic Design and Media Arts, she returned to her first love of writing full-time. She currently lives in Memphis TN.

Her favorite tales come from a plethora of the classics such as Jane Austen and some of today's modern favorites such as John Green and Laurie Halse Anderson. She's a lover of all things YA and enjoys even more putting her own spin on the genre herself. She writes for horror, suspense and sci-fi audiences of all ages and loves every second of this whimsical writer's life.

 

 

Really Liked It!
★★★★

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Yesterday by C.K. Kelly Martin

 

Summary:

 

THEN: The formation of the UNA, the high threat of eco-terrorism, the mammoth rates of unemployment and subsequent escape into a world of virtual reality are things any student can read about in their 21st century textbooks and part of the normal background noise to Freya Kallas's life. Until that world starts to crumble.

NOW: It's 1985. Freya Kallas has just moved across the world and into a new life. On the outside, she fits in at her new high school, but Freya feels nothing but removed. Her mother blames it on the grief over her father's death, but how does that explain the headaches and why do her memories feel so foggy? When Freya lays eyes on Garren Lowe, she can't get him out of her head. She's sure that she knows him, despite his insistence that they've never met. As Freya follows her instincts and pushes towards hidden truths, the two of them unveil a strange and dangerous world where their days may be numbered. Unsure who to trust, Freya and Garren go on the run from powerful forces determined to tear them apart and keep them from discovering the truth about their shared pasts (and futures), her visions, and the time and place they really came from. Yesterday will appeal to fans of James Dashner's The Maze Runner, Veronica Roth's Divergent, Amy Ryan's Glow, Laini Taylor's Daughter of Smoke and Bone, and Ally Condie's Matched. 

Summary & Photo taken from Goodreads.com

Length: 368 pages (Hardcover)

Source: Toronto Public Library

Publication Date: September 25th 2012 by Random House

 

Time travel, dystopian, romance, young adult those were the key words that made me want to read this book. Well, those words and the fact that it came pretty highly recommended by Kimba @ Kimba the Caffeinated Book Reviewer.

 

Anyways I'm always wanting to read more books written by Canadian authors so when I found out that this novel was written by a Canadian author I made sure that I put my library hold to active so I could get my hands on this one even faster.

 

Yesterday was an entirely unique read and in a book world where so many books are similar in plot it's awesome to come across one that is so refreshingly different. C.K. Kelly Martin was able to create a wonderfully unique plot line with an awesome and seldom used time setting.

 

The book follows Freya a young girl from the future who is sent back in time with her younger sister and mother shortly after there is an epidemic that claims the life of Freya's brother and caused her father to be left behind. However, Freya has no real recollection of the life she led before she landed in Toronto in the year 1985. She has the memories but they feel as though she never really lived them. Despite the holes in her memory she begins to adjust to life in Canada until she sees Garren and something tells her she knows him. From there the novel takes us on a wild ride where we find Freya and Garren running for their lives trying to keep their hands to themselves and trying to find a way to have a future together.

 

For me my favourite thing about the book overall was that it was set in Toronto where I was born, raised and still live in. While the book takes place in 1985 (5 years before I was born) there are some references to locations that I recognized like streets, shops and even the odd bus stop and that really endeared this young adult novel to me. I have no idea why but this city is so seldom used in novels it makes it even more especially when it is used and the fact that the author is actually from this city and grew up in the time period made the book's setting all that much more authentic and I really enjoyed reading about my city.

 

The characters were interesting too while I didn't adore Freya and Garren I did like them. For me Freya was a little too unsure of herself in a lot of situations or she was too confident so it felt as though she had a bit of a split personality disorder. I did like that she was willing to get to the truth about who she, her family and Garren really are and why she things are not what they really seemed.  Garren though was probably my least favourite character. I thought that he was really rude, sometimes cruel in the way he said things and I didn't appreciate the way he treated Freya as an inconvenience for much of the novel. He just didn't sit well with me even after he begins to remember Freya from his past I just couldn't connect to him. Plus, I wish that the author had made Freya and all the other characters a little more detailed I would have liked to have gotten to know them better and I think that would have helped bring the story line together more.

 

The book was a little bit slow at first but it sure sped up and sometimes I was left grasping at straws because things would happen in the novel so quickly that I was left baffled and had to go back and re-read a few pages here and there. The plot was interesting though. I went into the book expecting it to be the typical dystopian book but it turned out it wasn't like that at all in fact to me this novel wasn't much of a dystopian read but I suppose that depends on the reader. To me this was just more of a light sci-fi read. I really enjoyed all the twists and turns in the plot that kept me reading. I never knew what going to happen next and what really hooked me on the book was one big surprise character in the end of the book and I have to say when that character was introduced I fell hard for the story itself and I give huge kudos to the author for adding that character in. I also liked learning about how and why Freya and Garren were placed almost 100 years in the past but I wished that more detail had been used to explain it all. I liked the mixture of romance, science fiction, with a bit of mystery that the author wove into this novel and I thought she wrote a really successful book. The way the book ended also made me wonder if there is a sequel to this book in the works because I have a lot of questions left unanswered.

 

I would recommend this to novel to fans of young adult romances with a sci-fi/dystopian twist. It's a unique read and it's one that I think shouldn't be missed. The author is a fresh voice in this genre and I hope she writes more book this. I for one am going to be reading as many books as I can by this author because she's wonderfully talented!

 

Liked it!
★ ★ ★ 1/2 

 

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A Million Suns (Across the Universe #2) by Beth Revis

 

Summary:

 

Godspeed was once fueled by lies. Now it is ruled by chaos.

It’s been three months since Amy was unplugged. The life she always knew is over. Everywhere she looks, she sees the walls of the spaceship Godspeed.

But there may be hope: Elder has assumed leadership of the ship. He's finally free to act on his vision—no more Phydus, no more lies.

But when Elder learns shocking news about the ship, he and Amy race to discover the truth behind life on Godspeed. They must work together to unlock a mystery that was set in motion hundreds of years earlier. Their success—or failure—will determine the fate of the 2,298 passengers aboard Godspeed. But with each step, the journey becomes more perilous, the ship more chaotic, and the love between them more impossible to fight.

Beth Revis catapulted readers into the far reaches of space with her New York Times bestselling debut, Across the Universe. In A Million Suns, Beth deepens the mystery with action, suspense, romance, and deep philosophical questions. And this time it all builds to one mind-bending conclusion: They have to get off this ship.

Summary & Photo taken from Goodreads.com

Length: 386 pages (Hardcover)

Source: Toronto Public Library

Publication Date: January 10th 2012 by Razorbill

 

Last year I picked up Across the Universe and really loved it and I'd been waiting to finally read the second book A Million Suns for ages before I read it a couple weeks ago.

 

This book picked up 3 months or so after the the ending of Across the Universe which is just where it needed to start off. I thought it was great to get back into the world on the ship Godspeed because to be honest I've really missed the author's writing.

 

Since the first book left off, Amy is trying to adjust to life as she now knows it. She is so different from those on the ship with her and her only ally is Elder, the teenage leader of the ship who took power in the first book.

 

In this book there was a lot more suspense in it than the first one and it was drawn out through the entire novel and I loved that about it. Often in YA fiction the authors do not carry out suspense very well and it ends far too soon and is altogether anti climatic. However, Revis in my opinion did an outstanding job of creating a suspenseful plot.

 

I think that while I enjoyed the first book a lot that the author really did hit her stride with this one. The plot was a lot stronger and better paced than that of the first novel and a lot of the questions I had while I was reading Across the Universe and ones I had after I finished reading it were answered in A Million Suns. However, now I have a whole bunch of questions that I hope the third book will finally answer for me.

 

This book had a lot more violence, intrigue and romance than the first book because now Elder is the leader of the people on Godspeed and the relationship between Amy and he seems to go up and down like a bloody roller coaster. One moment their getting closer and the next events on the ship are tearing them apart turning the book into a bit of an angsty read but I enjoyed that part of it. I'm not a huge fan of "perfect" love stories where everyone gets along and everything is grand and wonderful. The emotions of the book were very real which I think is extremely important.

 

A huge mystery was solved in this book and one would think that that would solve the problems Amy and Elder are facing on the rapidly deteriorating ship Godspeed a whole other can of worms is inevitably opened and it will be very interesting to see where the book goes from here.

 

The only big problem I had with the book was how Elder treated Amy sometimes. It is his fault that she was brought out of cryo-stasis because he thought she was beautiful but in this book he seems to blame her a lot for the discord their relationship causes amongst the people of Godspeed who believe Amy is a freak and he goes so far as to call her one as well. In my opinion he has absolutely no right to be like that with her and if it were me in Amy's place I would have decked him long ago. Instead, I found Amy to be a little to deferential to Elder it was as though the pain he caused her was alright just because he had a lot of responsibility. I felt that Amy had lost a wee bit of the fiery personality that she had in the first book and I hope that she regains that strength in the next book.

 

Overall, I really enjoyed finally reading the second book in this series and I would highly recommend this series to all those who enjoy sci-fi ya romances that aren't too....science fiction-y. If that makes sense. Even if you aren't a fan of the sci-fi genre this series is a great read and if you've read the first one and haven't read A Million Suns yet I highly advise doing so soon. I can't wait to see where the next book leads and I'm glad that book three will be released in January.

 

Really Liked it!
★ ★ ★ ★ 1/2

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Origin by Jessica Khoury

 

Summary:

 

Pia has grown up in a secret laboratory hidden deep in the Amazon rain forest. She was raised by a team of scientists who have created her to be the start of a new immortal race. But on the night of her seventeenth birthday, Pia discovers a hole in the electric fence that surrounds her sterile home--and sneaks outside the compound for the first time in her life.

Free in the jungle, Pia meets Eio, a boy from a nearby village. Together, they embark on a race against time to discover the truth about Pia's origin--a truth with deadly consequences that will change their lives forever.

Origin is a beautifully told, shocking new way to look at an age-old desire: to live forever, no matter the cost.

Summary & Photo taken from Goodreads.com

Length: 394 pages (Hardcover)

Source: Toronto Public Library

Publication Date: September 4th 2012 by Razorbill     

 

Here is another book that I waited for for months to read until last month when I finally got my hands on a copy from the library. Then when I brought it home I read a couple iffy reviews so I went into it very hesitantly, expecting the worst but I was surprised at how much I really enjoyed Origin.

 

The story centers around Pia (love the name) who is a genetically enhanced human who has the gift of being immortal. She's raised in a jungle compound where she is heralded in as the future of humanity and expected to be as cold and calculating as those around her and she is almost convinced that she will be until she escapes the compound and meets the boy of her dreams Eio. However a series of events take place and she finds out what kind of sacrifices were made for her to gain the immortality that those around her so value and she has to fight for the life she truly wants.

 

I thought that the book was great. In many ways it reminded me a lot of The Lost Girl by Sangu Mandanna click here to read my review. Because both novels focus on strong female characters that were somehow made different through scientific advances and there was secrecy and romance in both of these. However, I found that in Origins the author did a much better job at developing the plot a lot more because a lot of the questions I had about how and why Pia was the way she was were answered. I appreciated how well explained the plot was because it created a steady story line.

 

Pia though has to be one of my favourite heroines of the year. She was so strong willed, smart, and kind that there was very little that I couldn't like about her though I do wish she had grown a backbone when it came to certain things a wee bit sooner but it wasn't anything major in terms of effecting the novel. I loved how despite growing up in such a cold atmosphere in the compound where she was raised that she still had a lot of goodness in her.

 

Eio, was a good side character as well I liked how much he showed his love for Pia but it was sadly a week case of the dreaded insta-love that I tend to dislike. However, I didn't mind it as much as I usually would though for me that is the one major draw back in the book.

 

The other side characters were also well developed enough for me to find them interesting enough that I wish I knew more about their side stories as well as Pia's but then the book would have been really long.

 

I really enjoyed learning about how Pia was made/born and the reasons why. I thought the whole immortal flower was a great idea and one that I've only heard about a few times and hopefully it won't be the new thing and other authors start putting them in there novels all of a sudden. I also liked that there was a bit of intrigue and a lot of action in the book as well so that it kept me guessing the whole way through.

 

Overall I thought that this was a great debut by Jessica Khoury who is only a couple months older than I am. In my mind this proves that young authors do have talent and are capable of penning successful novels. With a well developed plot and a great heroine I think this is going on my favourites list of books I've read this year. I would absolutely recommend this book to everyone especially those who like YA novels. I hope Jessica has another book in the works because I think she's going to be an author to watch out for in the future.

 

Really Liked it!
★ ★ ★ ★ 1/2

 

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The Lost Girl by Sangu Mandanna

 

Summary:

 

Eva's life is not her own. She is a creation, an abomination--an echo. She was made by the Weavers as a copy of someone else, expected to replace a girl named Amarra, her "other," if she ever died. Eva spends every day studying that girl from far away, learning what Amarra does, what she eats, what it's like to kiss her boyfriend, Ray. So when Amarra is killed in a car crash, Eva should be ready.

But sixteen years of studying never prepared her for this.

Now she must abandon everything and everyone she's ever known--the guardians who raised her, the boy she's forbidden to love--to move to India and convince the world that Amarra is still alive.

What Eva finds is a grief-stricken family; parents unsure how to handle this echo they thought they wanted; and Ray, who knew every detail, every contour of Amarra. And when Eva is unexpectedly dealt a fatal blow that will change her existence forever, she is forced to choose: Stay and live out her years as a copy or leave and risk it all for the freedom to be an original. To be Eva.

From debut novelist Sangu Mandanna comes the dazzling story of a girl who was always told what she had to be--until she found the strength to decide for herself.

Summary & Photo taken from Goodreads.com

Length: 432 pages (Hardcover)

Source: Toronto Public Library

Publication Date:  August 28th 2012 by Balzer + Bray

 

So I waited months to read this book but to me it felt more like an eternity. So when I finally got to read it in October I could hardly open the book fast enough to begin reading it. I'm not sure what I was expecting from the book but what I got was a good read that I finished in a few hours.

The book focuses around Eva who is an Echo or a clone if you will that was made to replace Amarra if anything should happen to Amarra. Well of course something does and the life that Amara has been training for since the day she was "weaved" has come and she must insert herself into a dead girls shoes but this is not without danger since Amarra lives in India where Echos are outlawed.

So, Eva is fighting what she is supposed to do with what she wants for herself which is to go home to the boy she loves Sean. However, she comes to care for Amarra's family and tries to keep up appearances but one day her secret gets out and sets off a chain of events where she almost gets murdered twice, kidnapped and leads her running away back to the U.K.

For a debut novel I would say that Sangu Mandana's The Lost Girl was a success. There was a lot going on in the novel but somehow she managed to make all the different components work well. I liked the whole "weave" concept that lead to Eva's creation I thought it was pretty unique because unlike a lot of other novels like this she gave Eva a lot of spirit which I loved. I hate when authors write the main characters with little to no personality and Eva had a lot of personality. I really liked her character and I thought that she was the most developed and realistic character.

The plot of the novel was good too. The fact that if she faced being "unraveled" if the "Weavers" deemed her to dangerous to keep on the street added a lot of intrigue to the story but I think that the main premise of the novel was that sometimes you have to fight the world to be the person you wish to be and I think that was a great moral to work into her story.

The novel is a mixture of romance, sci-fi, dystopian, action and a wee bit of romance thrown into the mix. I really enjoyed the writing and the story but at times I wish things have been a little more structured, and flowed a little better. I also think the whole Weaver thing could have been explained in a lot more detail throughout the book. It was 432 pages and very little of it spoke about the weavers and I wish I had known more about them. Also all the other characters with the exception of Eva were pretty one dimensional. I wish there had been a little more life to them and to the book itself. It was like I said a good read but it was such a somber read and I wish it had been a little lighter in parts and I think that would have benefited the whole book.

Overall, I  thought it was an enjoyable read despite my issues with the other characters and the plot holes. Plus, it was a really quick read even at a length of 432 pages I read it in something like 4 hours one night and as a debut novel it could have been better but it could have been way, way worse.

I would recommend this book to fans of YA novels with a dystopian twist or people who just like YA novels that are a little different with a unique heroine but if you're unfamiliar with these types of novels I suggest borrowing it from the library first just to make sure it's the book for you. I do think though that Sangu Mandanna is an author to watch because I can't wait to read her next novel.

Liked It!
★ ★ ★ 1/2

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